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One Candidate Withdraws Iran Election Complaints

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Tehran, June 24: A losing candidate in Iran’s disputed presidential election formally withdrew complaints of vote rigging Wednesday, state television reported, opening a rift among those who had challenged the outcome even as other opponents called for continued protests.

Iran Mohsen Rezai, a former hardline commander of the Revolutionary Guards, had complained that he had evidence of 900,000 votes cast for him, while the official count was 680,000, less than two percent of the turnout in the official tally of 40 million.

Aishwarya too busy for motherhood?

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Mumbai, June 24: Speculations are on that Indian celebrity couple Abhishek and Aishwarya Bachchan are planning to start a family next year.

The silence of the couple on the rumours added more fuel to the fire but it looks very unlikely that Aishwarya will quit acting at this stage of her career. In simple words, she seems to be too busy for motherhood.

Sarabjit’s family appeals to New Delhi to intervene

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Bikhiwind,June 24: The wife and daughters of Sarabjit Singh, whose death sentence in 1990 bomb attack cases has been upheld in Pakistan, on Wednesday appealed New Delhi to intervene and ensure his release as he is “innocent” and has undergone a jail term which is more than a life sentence.

Advani not to become party president

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New Delhi, June 24: Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha L.K. Advani on Tuesday denied statements appearing in a section of the press that he was set to become the party president to revive the sagging fortunes of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Mr. Advani and his family members arrived at the junior college helipad here on a five-day private visit. He and family members would be staying at the Orange County resorts near Siddapur.

Akshay Kumar no longer superstitious

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Mumbai, June 24: Bollywood is not short of folks who are superstitious and Akshay Kumar is one of them. But the superstar is now shedding his superstition. At least that’s what it seems.

On every movie release of his, Akshay had an invariable habit of flying out of the country. Not only that, he even used to miss the movie’s premiere shows. Doing that, he believed, brought him luck at the box-office. But now, he’s set to break this ritual.

Maoists ready for talks, 20 rebels detained

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Lalgarh, June 24: The West Bengal government on Tuesday took into custody 20 Maoist extremists, including some top ranking leaders, as the cornered left radicals said they were willing to talk if a ceasefire was declared in Lalgarh where security forces have launched a massive operation to flush out the rebels.

Court awards reality show winner a day in jail due to Drunk driving

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Mumbai, June 24: Ten days after the traffic police arrested Bigg Boss and MTV Roadies winner Ashutosh Kaushik for drunken driving, the metropolitan magistrate’s court on Tuesday sentenced him to a day’s simple imprisonment.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 3100 on him and suspended his driving licence for two years.

Computer failure may have caused D.C. train crash

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Washington, June 24: Investigators looking into the deadly crash of two Metro transit trains focused Tuesday on why a computerized system failed to halt an oncoming train, even though there is evidence that the operator tried to slow it down.

At the time of the crash, the train was also operating in automatic mode, meaning it was controlled primarily by computer. In that mode, the operator’s main job is to open and close the doors and respond to emergencies.

‘Low flying planes damaging Qutub Minar’

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New Delhi,June 23: Vibrations from aircraft flying near the Qutub Minar in the national capital are damaging the 12th century minaret, the Archaeological Survey of India has said and asked the airport authority to immediately change the flight path.

The ASI last month wrote to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to highlight how low flying aircraft could endanger the 72.5 metre red sandstone monument, one of the biggest tourist attractions in the city, and stated that a diversion in the flight route was imperative.

Two die after offering prayers at Amarnath shrine

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Srinagar, June 23: Two pilgrims, including a woman, died of a cardiac arrest after offering prayers at the holy cave shrine of Amarnath, raising the death toll during the ongoing yatra to five, official sources said Tuesday.

Lekh Ram (62), a resident of Rajasthan, died at the 3,880 metre holy cave, 120 kms from here, after having darshan of the naturally formed ice-shivlingam last night, the sources said.

Chargesheet against Varun Gandhi ready: police

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New Delhi, June 23: A chargesheet is ready against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Varun Gandhi, say police in Uttar Pradesh after forensic experts confirmed that three CDs of the hate speeches he allegedly delivered in Pilibhit constituency ahead of elections were genuine.

“The chargesheet against Varun is ready and we are waiting for the government’s nod to file it,” Prakash D, the Pilibhit superintendent of police, told reporters on Tuesday. The Chandigarh-based Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) has said the CD recordings were in Varun Gandhi’s voice.

Lalgarh: it’s wait and watch

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Lalgarh, June 23: Residents of Lalgarh and its surroundings wait to collect rice at the Block Development Office of Lalgarh on Monday.

Due to “Operation Lalgarh,” shops have been closed and people have not been able to get essential items.

Railways’ new time table to be out in October

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New Delhi, June 23:Indian Railways’ new time table for 2009-10 that would contain revised timings of passenger trains will be released in October instead of July as scheduled.

“The new time table will come into effect from October one,” a source in the Railway Ministry told.

“This decision was taken to include trains which are expected to be announced in the upcoming Railway Budget on July 3 in the time table, apart from those announced in the interim Rail Budget,” the source said.

Kareena, Katrina praise Akshay despite flops

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Mumbai, June 23: It doesn’t matter if Akshay Kumar has not delivered a single hit this year, he continues to find support and words of praise from his oft repeated co-stars Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif, who have not lost confidence in one of their “favourite co-stars”.

One of the highest paid actors in tinsel town, Akshay gave two big-budget flops this year with “Chandni Chowk To China” and “8X10 Tasveer”.

47 children killed in day care fire in Mexico; Nine officials arrested

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Mexico, June 23: Seven state and two federal officials were arrested on Monday and nine others were being sought on negligent homicide charges in a day care fire that killed 47 children in northern Mexico.

The state officials worked for the Sonora Finance Department, which operated an adjacent warehouse for cars, tires and paperwork. Investigators say the fire may have started with a short circuit or overheating in the air conditioning system of the warehouse, which lacked fire alarms and extinguishers. Flames spread to the neighboring ABC day care center.

Shiney was not under the influence of alcohol: Medical reports

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Mumbai, June 23: Medical reports of actor Shiney Ahuja, arrested for allegedly raping his 20-year-old domestic help, have suggested that he was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of incident, police said.

“The blood and urine samples have shown that the actor was neither under the influence of alcohol nor drugs. He was in his complete sense when he allegedly raped the maid. We are awaiting the DNA reports,” Assistant Police Commissioner Dilip Suryawanshi told PTI.

Afridi learns to respect bowler

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Islamabad, June 23:Revealing the secret of his sizzling form in the just-concluded Twenty20 World Cup, Pakistan’s flamboyant all rounder Shahid Afridi has said giving respect to bowlers helped him to be among the runs in England.

Afridi said he struggled with the bat in the past because he was not according proper respect to bowlers.

“I thought I could take on any bowler and I showed no respect to them. That is why I was struggling to get runs,” he said in an interview to a private television channel.

World Cup triumph vital for Pakistan’s recovery

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Islamabad, June 22: Former Pakistan players hailed the side’s Twenty20 World Cup win and hoped the victory can go some way towards unifying the troubled nation and restore its position on the international cricket map.

Pakistan crushed Sri Lanka by eight wickets at Lord’s on Sunday, the final win providing a vital lift to a country that has seen the side starved of action following a series of violent attacks that led visiting nations to cancel tours.

Katrina has tough time dubbing for Santoshi’s film

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Mumbai, June 22: The actress, who has a pronounced British accent, has been practising her Hindi constantly with friends as well as in her dubbing, so much so that she almost lost her voice.

For Katrina dubbing is the most difficult part of the acting process. After all, she was initially dubbed by professional artists. She finally won the right to speak on screen in her own voice.

Co-star Ranbir Kapoor has a lot of colloquial Hindi to speak in ‘Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani’ and Santoshi has personally been supervising the dubbing.

Seven naxals arrested in Kanker

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Raipur, June 22: Seven Naxals, wanted in several cases, were arrested on Monday in Kanker district about 140 km from here, police said.

The Naxals Danu Ram Usendi, Sukalu Ram, Vinesh, Suresh Mandavi, Lacchu Ram, Sunher and Shambhu were arrested from Koelibeda police station jurisdiction in the district following a tip off, Kanker Superintendent of Police, Ajay Yadav told PTI.

Danu Ram was an accused of killing a student in a school premises three months ago while others were accused in cases of murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping and other severe crimes, Mr. Yadav said.

–PTI

Jet pilot found dead in African envoy’s farmhouse

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New Delhi, June 22: A 23-year-old Jet Airways pilot was found dead in a swimming pool in the Kapashera area of Southwest Delhi on Sunday.

Kunal Batra, a pilot with Jet Airways was at a farmhouse party at the house of the honorary consul of Togo, according to reports.

His body was found in the water at around 0400 hrs IST. The post mortem report says death was due to drowning.

Police are investigating several possibilities, but Kunal’s parents say he didn’t know how to swim and that it was an unfortunate accident.

Stepmom names two-month-old in dowry FIR

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Mumbai, June 22: In diapers, lying in her mother’s lap and yet to sprout teeth, but Zoya is an accused in a dowry harassment case. The two-month-old baby was named along with seven adults by her stepmother in a complaint letter to the police. What is worse is that the police has included the child’s name in the FIR.

Zoya – who should be playing in crib – had to spend several hours in a police station with her mother, foregoing food and sleep and came very close to being arrested.

Police to issue non-bailable warrant against Shahrukh

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Mumbai, June 22: Police may soon issue a non-bailable arrest warrant against Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan for hurting the sentiments of the Muslims.

This after an FIR was lodged against the actor by a Muslim group by the name of Mumbai Aman Committee which took objection to Shahrukh Khan’s controversial remarks about Prophet Mohammad in a recent interview to the Time n Style magazine.

Student dies nine months after attack

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Chennai, June 22: A second year undergraduate student of engineering who had been in coma for the last nine months, after being attacked by his classmate, died here on Sunday.

Sriperumbudur police have registered a case of murder against the student who is absconding.

According to Prem Anand Sinha, Superintendent of Police, Kancheepuram, the deceased R. Rajkumar (20), a student of Electronics and Communication Engineering in a private college, and his classmate Parthiban of Karaikudi had a scuffle last September. Parthiban hit him with a wooden plank.

Great white sharks hunt just like Hannibal Lecter

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Washington, June 22: Great white sharks have some things in common with human serial killers, a new study says: They don’t attack at random, but stalk specific victims, lurking out of sight.

The sharks hang back and observe from a not-too-close, not-too-far base, hunt strategically, and learn from previous attempts, according to a study being published online on Monday in the Journal of Zoology.

Researchers used a serial killer profiling method to figure out just how the fearsome ocean predator hunts, something that’s been hard to observe beneath the surface.