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IAF keen on US’ C-17 aircraft for heavylift transport

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New Delhi, June 16: Keen on replacing its ageing Russian IL-76 transport aircraft fleet, the Indian Air Force has shortlisted US major Boeing’s C-17 Globemaster III for its heavylift aircraft.

“The C-17s have been shortlisted after IAF carried out a thorough study on its capability to take-off and land on short runways with heavy loads,” IAF sources said here on Tuesday.

IAF would place an initial order for 10 of the C-17s through the US government’s Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route, and may later go in for a follow-on order, sources said.

Police search Shiney’s house for more forensic evidence

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Mumbai, Jun 16 (PTI) The medical report of the domestic help, who accused actor Shiney Ahuja of rape, showed she had been sexually assaulted and forensic experts searched his house in an attempt to find additional evidence against him.
“We have received the medical report of the victim and it has corroborated with what the victim has alleged against the actor in the FIR,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Niket Kaushik told PTI.

Manmohan Singh asks Zardari to act against terror

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Yekaterinburg (Russia), June 16: In the first top-level contact since the Mumbai terror attacks, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday met President Asif Ali Zardari here during which he is understood to have made it clear that Pakistan should take concrete action against terrorism directed against India.

Singh, who arrived here on a three-day visit, met Zardari on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.

Obama says nuclear-armed N. Korea ‘grave threat’

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Washington, June 16: President Barack Obama said Tuesday that a nuclear-armed North Korea poses a “grave threat” to the world and vowed to end a cycle of allowing Pyongyang to create a crisis and then be rewarded with incentives to back down.

“This is a pattern they’ve come to expect,” Obama said. “We are going to break that pattern.”

VHP alleges that Gujarat police taps their phones

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Ahmedabad, June 16: Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has alleged that Gujarat police is tapping the phones of its office-bearers including Dr Pravin Togadia, general secretary of the body.

“The Home Department had threatened our activists that thier phones are being tapped including that of Dr Togadia and other VHP and RSS leaders’ phones,” VHP leaders Dinesh Navadia and Utkarsh Patel said in a statement.

Fresh swine flu case in AP, total rises to 31

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Hyderabad, June 16: Adding to the woes of health officials, 13th case of H1N1 influenza has been confirmed in Andhra Pradesh taking the total number of those affected with this deadly disease in India to 31. A nine-year-old child who arrived from New Jersey on a British Airways flight has tested positive for swine flu.

Also, two more suspected cases of swine flu have been detected in Jalandhar and the samples have been sent to Delhi.

Chand can live with Fiza as husband: Cleric

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Haryana, June 15: With former Haryana deputy chief minister Chand Mohammad once again courting his estranged wife Fiza, Islamic clerics are unlikely to come in the way of their reunion. Leading Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband on Monday said Chandra Mohan alias Chand Mohammad, who on Sunday returned to Fiza and apologised for “past mistakes”, can live with her if the word ‘Talaq’ has not been uttered thrice.

“In case Chand has not uttered word ‘Talaq’ thrice, he can still live with Fiza as her husband,” said Mufti Ahsan Kasmi, Deputy inchrge of seminary’s Fatwa Department.

Crisis deepen in TRS, rebel leader ‘necked out’

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Hyderabad, June 15: A day after the suspension of five rebel leaders, the crisis in the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) continued on Monday as a senior rebel leader, who came to attend the emergency meeting of party’s state executive, was ‘necked out’ of the party office here.

High drama was witnessed at the Telangana Bhavan, the party headquarters, as party activists loyal to TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao forced former MP and tribal leader Ravindra Nayak out of the premises.

Full moon again: Chand back to Fiza

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Chandigarh, June 14: Politics makes strange bedfellows, indeed! Chand Mohammad went back to Fiza, his second wife whom he divorced three months ago after a two-month-old wedding, and asked for forgiveness. Fiza had filed a criminal complaint against Chand at the Mohali police station and threatened to contest against Chand, a Congress MLA from Kalka.

With Assembly elections in Haryana due in a few months, many believe this might be Chand’s ploy to keep Fiza at bay.

Woman constable murdered in city , police suspects husband

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Hyderabad, June 14: A woman constable was allegedly murdered by her husband here on Sunday at city outskirts and he remained untraceable emerged as the prime suspect in the case, police said.

Kusum Kumari (38) attached to Charminar police here was found dead in her house at Kukatpally area here this morning with blunt injuries on her face even as her husband Bikshapati, an autodriver who is suspected to have “killed” her is absconding after the incident, Kukatpally police said.

I’m heterosexual but feeling ‘gay’: Abhishek

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Macau, June 14: Abhishek Bachchan felt “very gay” as he accepted the best comic actor for his performance in Dostana at the Idea International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards. He dedicated the award to wife Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh.

“I dedicate this award to two people – Amar Singhji, who is in the hospital, and my wife Ash. I promise I will only love you (Ash). I am a heterosexual, but today I am feeling very gay,” Abhishek said in his acceptance speech.

Indian student from Gujarat becomes latest target in Australia

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Melbourne, June 14: An Indian student from Gujarat has become the latest victim of racial violence here, as the Australian envoy in New Delhi admitted that the spate of attacks on the community has “damaged” bilateral ties.

24-year-old Hardik Bipinbhai Patel from Gujarat was attacked by a group of men here, the latest in a spate of racial assaults targeting the community members in Australia.

Patel, who hails from Surat, was attacked by three people while he was about to enter his car here on Friday night.

Shekhar Suman dons director’s hat, to cast son

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New Delhi, June 14: After juggling careers as an actor, TV host, laughter show judge, singer and aspiring politician, Shekhar Suman is set to don the director’s hat. He says he will direct a romantic film with son Adhyayan in the lead.

“It’ll be a romantic film as I’m a great romantic at heart…it’ll be on the lines of epic romantics like DDLJ (‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’) or ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ or a Hollywood romance drama,” Shekhar told IANS on telephone from Mumbai.

“I Thought Sameera would die after falling from Charminar”: Arshad

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Hyderabad, June 13, (By S.M.Bilal): “I Thought that Sameera would die after falling from Charminar, but her statement before the police had landed me in trouble” the arrested financer Arshad reportedly told his interrogators. The financer who pushed off 18 year old girl Sameera of Talalbkatta from Historic Charminar had yesterday surrendered before the Charminar police.

Iran’s Ahmadinejad wins presidential election with majority of votes

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Tehran, June 13: Iranian incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has won the 10th presidential election with the majority of votes, the official IRNA news agency reported on Saturday.

By getting more than 75 percent of votes in the rural areas of the country, Ahmadinejad determinately wins the election, the IRNA said.

The report came just minutes after Iran’s reformist candidate and former Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi called himself “definite winner” in the presidential election.

Ash teaches women a lesson!

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Mumbai, June 12: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is spearheading a training programme for young underprivileged women that will see her actively champion the cause of promoting education among girls hailing from socially and economically backward areas of India.

Obama sees ‘possibility of change’ in US-Iran ties

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Washington, June 12: US President Barack Obama said Friday that he thought there was a “possibility of change” in US-Iran relations as the Iranian people
voted in closely-fought elections.

“We are excited to see what appears to be a robust debate taking place in Iran,” Obama told reporters.

“And obviously after the speech that I made in Cairo, we tried to send a clear message that we think there’s the possibility of change, and, you know, ultimately the election is for the Iranians to decide.

Sonia gives credit to Rahul for Congress victory

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Lucknow, June 12: AICC president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday attributed Congress’ spectacular performance in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections to the hard work by her son and party MP from Amethi Rahul Gandhi.

“Rahul ke yogdan ke karan Congress ko achcha parinam mila (the Congress got good results owing to the contribution by Rahul)”, Ms Gandhi said while addressing party workers in her Lok Sabha constituency of Raebareli.

Afzal Guru cannot be hanged till other mercy pleas disposed of

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Friday, June 12:Parliament attack case convict Afzal Guru cannot be hanged till other mercy petitions pending before his are disposed of, feels the government.

“The question is that it is not Afzal or anybody. You know you cannot pick and choose and hang people. There is justice,” Law Minister M Veerappa Moily told NDTV.

He was replying to a question on Guru, who is among 28 convicts whose mercy petitions are pending before the President.

Airlines to offer heavy discounts during this monsoon

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Mumbai, June 12: If quick to decide the destination, one can strike a deal which will save him 40 to 50 per cent of the regular air fare this July-September. A Mumbai-Goa-Mumbai trip, for instance, comes for an attractive Rs 2,600, just about Rs 900 more than the bus fare.

The no-frills airline Spicejet, for example, is offering a flight from Pune to Chennai for Rs 1,380, Pune-Delhi for Rs 1,730 and Pune-Bengaluru for just Rs 1,230! Similarly, GoAir is offering flights that would cost approximately Rs 1,350 and Jet Airways has a menu card of fares ranging from Rs 1,600 to Rs 2,100.

Buckle up Indians and Chinese are coming: Obama to Americans

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Chicago,June 12: US President Barack Obama on Friday & nbsp;emphasised the need for improving the country’s education system as its students have to compete with Indian and Chinese kids, who spend more time in school and less time playing “video games”.

President Obama wants to watch Slumdog Millionaire
Obama said while at one time America produced the highest number of school and college graduates, Ph.Ds, engineers and scientists, it has fallen behind now and is no longer “head and shoulders above other countries when it (comes) to education”.
 

Girl pushed off from Charminar by financer dies

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Hyderabad, June 11: A girl Sumera Khatoon who was critically injured yesterday when a Financer pushed of Old city pushed off from Historic Monument Charminar. The dead body of victim girl was preserved in the Mortuary of the Osmania General Hospital.

Judicial remand of Raju, others extended till June 24

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Hyderabad, June 11: The judicial remand of former Satyam Computer Chairman B Ramalinga Raju has been extended for another two weeks in the multi-crore accounting fraud at the IT company.

The XIV Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate extended the judicial remand of Raju by 14 days till June 24, after their remand ended on Wednesday.

The remand of Satyam’s former MD Rama Raju and ex CFO V Srinivas, former auditors of Price Waterhouse S Gopalakrishnan and T Srinivas and three former Satyam employees has also been extended till June 24.

Britney Spears dating her agent?

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London, June 11: Rumours are rife that pop diva Britney Spears is dating her agent, Jason Trawick.

Mirror.co.uk reports that the “Toxic” singer, currently in Britain on her “Circus” tour, was visited by the media man here last weekend and love sparked between the two.

Friends of 27-year-old singer said even her dad Jamie approves of her choice and thinks Trawick apparently makes her very happy and is said to get on well with her two sons, Sean Preston, 3, and Jayden James, 2, by ex-husband Kevin Federline.

Israel fears Hezbollah may get US arms for Lebanon

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Jerusalem, June 10 Israel fears that some US military aid to Lebanon may fall into the hands of Hezbollah, the Shia militia with which it fought a war three years ago, Defence Minister Ehud Barak said on Wednesday.

‘When it comes to Lebanon… we have not much appreciated the delivery of American arms these past months,’ Barak told public radio. ‘We fear that a part of this materiel falls into the hands of Hezbollah.’

Barak’s comments came after a pro-Western coalition defeated a Hezbollah-led alliance in a parliamentary election in neighbouring Lebanon on Sunday.