Samad

Workers strip naked to boost business

by

London, July 03: A GROUP of office staff have discovered they work better together when they are NAKED.

Workers at a design and marketing company onebestway in the UK stripped off at the encouragement of their boss, who thought the move would boost business.

The ailing company had seen six redundancies since the start of the credit crunch when business psychologist David Taylor was brought in to boost team spirit.

The event, dubbed Naked Friday, was deemed a huge success and is even credited with turning around the firm’s fortunes.

Sydney teen raped on Street

by

Sydney, July 03: POLICE are urging vigilance following the alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl in an horrific attack in Sydney’s inner west this week.

The girl has told police she was walking along Norton Street in Leichhardt abound 5pm on Tuesday when she was approached by a black 4WD containing four men.

She was then allegedly taken to a laneway parallel to Lilyfield Road where she was sexually assaulted in the vehicle.

While two of the men held the girl down, she was raped by a third man, inside the vehicle.

Allow gay partnerships, if not gay marriages

by

Ahmedabad, July 03: After the Delhi high court decriminalised section 377 of the Indian Penal Code and, thereby, legalised gay sex among consenting adults, the gay community in Gujarat is happy. It sees the judgment as a ‘historic’ one, and is already optimistic that ‘gay partnerships’, if not ‘gay marriages’, will soon become a reality in India.

Patan girl wins topper’s spot in PTC exam

by

Ahmedabad, July 03: Displaying exemplary determination and courage, the victim of the gangrape at the District Institute of Education & Training (DIET), Patan, has stood sixth in Patan district and has secured 86.40 per cent marks in the state’s PTC examination. The exam results were declared on Thursday (July 2). She is now planning to study for a bachelor’s degree.

Patan girl wins topper’s spot in PTC exam

by

Ahmedabad, July 03: Displaying exemplary determination and courage, the victim of the gangrape at the District Institute of Education & Training (DIET), Patan, has stood sixth in Patan district and has secured 86.40 per cent marks in the state’s PTC examination. The exam results were declared on Thursday (July 2). She is now planning to study for a bachelor’s degree.

Woman fights with hubby, kills daughters

by

New Delhi, July 03: A gynaecologist allegedly killed her twin daughters by injecting them with poison before attempting suicide at a Pitampura hotel on Wednesday.

Roopa Gopari, a gynaecologist at the Baba Ambedkar Hospital, had an argument with husband Rajeev Ranjan, a surgeon at Raja Harishchandra Hospital, over setting up a nursing home. After that she checked into the hotel with their twin daughters, Tanya and Tinkle, sources said.

After checking into the hotel on Wednesday, “Roopa asked for a hotel car and returned at 7.30 pm”, a hotel staff said.

Lalu turns non-veg yet again

by

New Delhi, July 03: Following the failure of his astrologer’s advice, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad, a staunch vegetarian for 12 years, has taken to eating meat with a vengeance.

Lalu’s astrologer had advised him, in the wake of his legal problems over the fodder scam, to turn vegetarian as a panacea to his political and legal problems.

For over 12 years Lalu followed that advice in the belief that keeping meat off his table would act as a magic wand.

Minister is not ‘a raja’: Jaitley

by

New Delhi, July 03: The opposition today raised a clamour in the Rajya Sabha for the head of the Union minister who is said to have telephoned justice R Reghupathi of the Madras High Court and tried to pressure him to grant anticipatory bail to a father-son duo accused of forging marksheets.

Raising the issue during zero hour on the first day of the budget session of Parliament, leader of the opposition Arun Jaitley said the minister called the judge to “persuade and pressurise” him.

Now or 2011? LF mulls early polls

by

Kolkata, July 03: “Is it better now? Will it get worse by 2011?” is the new line of thought in the West Bengal Left Front. While a majority in the party favour an all-out damage-control till the assembly elections in 2011, a minority section feels it is better to face the peoples’ verdict now for the sake of credibility.

India to develop swine flu vaccine ahead of others: Azad

by

New Delhi, July 03: With cases of swine flu on the rise in the country, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad today said the number of testing laboratories has been increased from two to 18 and hoped that India will be able to develop the vaccine ahead of other nations.

“We can now get the testing facility in 18 laboratories instead of two,” Azad said in response to a calling attention motion on the matter in Rajya Sabha.

Acid attack on woman, toddler in AP

by

Guntur, July 03: A farmer attacked his wife and their two-year-old daughter by throwing acid on them in the wee hours today, police said.

The accused B Pulliah (26), in a fit of anger attacked his wife Sivaparvathi and daughter Meenakshi, as she refused to return to his house, police said.

The victim on some domestic issue left her husband and was staying with her parents in Yellamanda village for the last two months. She also took her baby with her, police said.

Pulliah sent feelers for rapprochement, but she didn’t bother to respond, police said.

‘Children used as human shields’

by

Jerusalem, July 03: Amnesty accused Israeli forces on Thursday of war crimes in Gaza, saying they used children as human shields and conducted wanton attacks on civilians, in a report rejected as “unbalanced” by Israel.

The London-based human rights group also accused Hamas of war crimes, but said it found no evidence to support Israeli claims that Gaza’s Islamist rulers used civilians as human shields during Israel’s massive 22-day offensive.

It’s a great victory: Celina Jaitley

by

Mumbai, July 03: The Delhi High Court ruling decriminalising consensual sex between members of the same sex is being loudly cheered by those who have been advocating the repeal of section 377 for years now.

Goa-based fashion designer Wendell Rodricks was one of the first to welcome the development saying, “It’s very good news. We have proven that we no longer live in a backward society. This is a victory for both the gay community and the lawyers who have fought for their rights. From now on, no one will be persecuted for their preferences.”

India Inc presses ctrl+alt+delete on servers

by

Bangalore, July 03: India Inc has cut down spending on computer servers drastically. The cut is so steep that investments in the first quarter of 2009 have come down to Q2, 2006 levels, sounding off alarm bells for overall IT spends. And analysts warn the trend could continue.

India’s overall server market in Q1 declined 29.6% year-on-year to $154 million, the same figure as in Q2 of 2006. This is the second consecutive quarter of revenue declines, latest available data from industry tracker IDC India Ltd show.

British regiment commander killed in ‘huge’ bomb attack in Afghanistan

by

London, July 03: The commander of a British regiment has been killed in Afghanistan, the first to have died in active service since the Falklands war 27 years ago.

Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe, of 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, was killed on Wednesday by what defence officials described last night as a “huge bomb” that shattered the armoured Viking tracked vehicle he was travelling in.

WHO warns swine flu ‘unstoppable’

by

Mexico, July 03: The UN’s top health official has opened a forum in Mexico on combating swine flu by saying that the spread of the virus worldwide is now unstoppable.

World Health Organization head Margaret Chan added that the holding of the meeting in Cancun showed confidence in Mexico, which has been hard hit.

The WHO says most H1N1 cases are mild, with many people recovering unaided.

As the summit opened, the UK alone was projecting more than 100,000 new cases of H1N1 a day by the end of the summer.

Homosexuality is unnatural, inhuman, immoral act: Gen. Secretary Jamiat Ahle Hadees

by

New Delhi, July 03: Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadees has expressed grave concern on the legalization of homosexuality by a Delhi High Court verdict today, and said the judgment is against Indian culture, religious traditions and human values.

Maulana Asghar Ali Imam Mehdi, General Secretary, Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadees, said homosexuality is unnatural, inhuman, immoral act considered unpleasant in every civilized society. To legalize this act will dishonor the sanctity of family relations, affect public health and will gave way to various sexual and physical diseases.

Salman’s wedding bells have not rung: Salim Khan

by

Mumbai, July 03: Salman Khan’s father, the acclaimed writer Salim Khan, has bought the distribution rights of a small budget film titled Kissan which is being co-produced by his other son Sohail and is extremely gung-ho about the project.

However, when probed whether Salman and Katrina Kaif, who have been quite an item for a long time now, were knocking on the doors of marriage, Salim said he does not know whether his son’s eyes have seen Kat as his ideal wife.

UN chief set for mission in Burma

by

Burma, July 03: UN chief Ban Ki Moon will arrive in Burma shortly to seek the release of political prisoners including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Mr Ban will hold talks with Burma’s military leader General Than Shwe.

Ms Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate, has spent much of the past two decades in prison or under house arrest.

Her trial on charges of breaking the terms of her house arrest is about to resume after an interruption of more than a month.

Airlines griped of bilateral blow. They’ve a point

by

New Delhi, July 03: The frequent grouse of some Indian carriers that a liberal bilateral regime has hurt their load factors on international routes is borne out by statistics.

According to figures provided in the Economic Survey 2008-09, as many as 1,05,298 additional seats per week were made available in 2008 to foreign carriers through fresh bilateral agreements.

Obama to tell Putin: Time to move past Cold War

by

Washington, July 03: Days from his first Moscow summit, President Barack Obama declared Thursday that former Russian President Vladimir Putin “still has a lot of sway” in his nation and needs an in-person reminder the Cold War is over.

FlyDubai secures $320 million deal

by

Dubai, July 02: FlyDubai, Dubai’s low-budget carrier, announced yesterday that it has secured a deal to finance four Boeing 737-800 aircraft worth $320 million with GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS).

The sale and leaseback agreement covers the aircraft due to be delivered this year, with two expected in July, one in October and one in December.

UN begins Bhutto assassination investigation

by

Islamabad, July 02: The United Nations formally began a six-month investigation yesterday into the slaying of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, a process that the government hopes will lead to her killers being brought to justice.

The three-member UN commission is being led by Chile’s UN Ambassador Heraldo Munoz, a dissident during the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet. It began its work yesterday, said UN spokeswoman in Pakistan Ishrat Rizvi.

Two killed in road crash

by

Madinah, July 02: Two people were killed and four others injured yesterday when a GMC van carrying a group of women teachers rammed into a truck, a Civil Defense source said.

He said the accident occurred around 9 a.m. and the fatalities were a woman teacher and the van’s driver.

“Civil Defense officers rushed to the accident site and rescued the women teachers trapped inside the mangled vehicle,” the spokesman said.

—Agencies

EADS wins contract for border security

by

Jeddah, July 02: European aerospace and defense contractor EADS has signed a contract with Saudi Arabia to build a high-tech security fence on 9,000 km of the country’s border, the company said yesterday.

In a long-awaited deal, EADS Defense and Security, a subsidiary of the French-German conglomerate, is expected to create a system of security posts and surface and aerial monitoring of the Kingdom’s land and sea borders over the next five years, the company announced.