shameen

A Monolith Falls

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A great tragedy, an irreparable loss, a deep felt vacuum has struck the state of Andhra Pradesh and its near 100 million people in a still incredible and totally unexpected fatal blow of fate which has snatched away the much loved and esteemed and popular Chief Minister of the state of Andhra Pradesh. He seemed to have everything going smoothly for him for the next five years. It is still hard to come to terms with the sudden cruel joke of destiny in snatching away such a dynamic and charismatic and visionary of a leader. Dr. YS RajaShekhara Reddy is no more.

Three: Love, Lies and Bakwas

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Mumbai, September 04: It’s like watching someone bake a classic chocolate cake. You know the ingredients. You know the recipe. You know the technique. Heck, you even know the taste. Only there’s nothing classic or sweet about Vikram Bhatt’s Three-Love, Lies and Betrayal, directed by his assistant, Vishal Pandya.

Even though you know exactly where the plot is headed, the predictability hits a sour note every few minutes with its implausible backdrop and inconsistent screenplay.

Nifty ends above 4670; auto, metals lead

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Mumbai, September 04: Indices closed sharply higher on Friday taking cues from the positive opening of European markets. The rally was led by gains in auto,
Markets.

National Stock Exchange’s Nifty ended at 4677.95, up 84.4 points or 1.84 per cent. The 50-share index touched a high of 4697.20 and low of 4580.35.

Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex was at 15682.32, up 283.99 points or 1.84 per cent. The index touched an intra-day high of 15740.83 and low of 15358.94.

BSE Midcap Index was up 1.05 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index moved 1.04 per cent up.

IGNOU agrees to recognise DU’s correspondence course

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New Delhi, September 04: The legal tussle between IGNOU and University of Delhi over recognition of correspondence courses has been resolved with the former on Friday agreeing to recognise the distant education course provided by DU.

Indira Gandhi National Open University(IGNOU) informed the Delhi High Court that it has agreed to give post facto recognition of the programmes offered through distance mode by the University of Delhi (DU).

Indians falling prey to fake Aus varsities: SC

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New Delhi, September 04: The Supreme Court today asked the Indian High Commissioner and Consulate General in Australia to help prevent Indian students from falling prey to fake educational institutions there.

This order was passed by a Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan after it was informed by Attorney General G E Vahanvati that all the guidelines have been laid down for the students going to Australia for education purposes.

RSS chief meets Vajpayee to discuss political situation

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New Delhi, September 04: RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat Friday held a meeting with NDA Chairperson and senior BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee and is understood to have discussed the current political situation with the ailing leader.

“RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat met Vajpayee today afternoon. He enquired about his health and discussed the current political situation in the country,” Vajpayee’s secretary N C Jhingta said.

Search for missing resumes as Java quake toll hits 59

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Pangalengan, September 04: Rescuers on Friday searched for 34 people missing after a powerful earthquake devastated Indonesia’s Java island and the toll from the disaster reached 59, officials said.

The missing people were among dozens of residents who were buried after a torrent of rocks engulfed their houses in the West Java district of Cianjur after Wednesday’s quake.

Twenty-one bodies were unearthed on Thursday.

About 31,000 homes were damaged and more than 25,000 people were displaced after the magnitude 7.3 earthquake, the National Agency for Disaster Management said.

Taiwan drops annual UN bid as China relations warm

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Taipei, September 04: Taiwan will drop for the first time in 17 years its annual bid to join the United Nations as island President Ma Ying-jeou seeks peace with long-time rival and UN heavyweight China, the Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

Taiwan, recognised by only 23 countries, failed in its previous 16 consecutive UN membership bids due to objections from China, which has claimed the self-ruled island as its territory since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.

S Korea pledges stern response to North’s nuclear claims

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Seoul, September 04: South Korea on Friday pledged a stern response to North Korean “threats and provocations,” after the communist state said it was in the final stages of an enriched uranium nuclear weapons programme.

“We find it very regrettable that the North’s attitude goes against the UN resolutions,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

In a letter to the Security Council, the North said earlier today that an experiment to enrich uranium — a second route to a nuclear bomb — has entered its final phase.

Thai south car bomb kills one, wounds 12: police

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Yala, September 04: A powerful car bomb ripped through a town centre in Thailand’s troubled Muslim-majority south on Friday, killing at least one border policeman and wounding 12 other people, police said.

The device was hidden in a pick-up truck and detonated near a number of parked police trucks as officers bought breakfast in Yala, the main town in the restive province of the same name, they said.

US envoy reiterates willingness to talk with N Korea

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Beijing, September 04: The United States again said on Friday it was willing to negotiate with North Korea but expressed concerns over its apparent progress with its enriched uranium nuclear weapons programme.

“I have been reiterating our commitment to dialogue and willingness to engage in dialogue with the DPRK (North Korea),” the US envoy on North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, said after talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.

Drug treatment centre targeted in Mexico, 18 dead

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Ciudad Juarez, September 04: Neighbours mopped blood from the sidewalk outside a drug rehabilitation centre, cleaning up the carnage after gunmen lined up patients against a wall and then riddled them with bullets, killing 18.

It was the third attack on a drug treatment centre in Ciudad Juarez yesterday. Chihuahua state authorities said they were investigating reports that the centres have turned into hideouts for drug smugglers being sought by police and hit men from rival gangs.

US open to increase troops in Afghanistan: Pentagon

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Washington, September 04: The US is open to the possibility of sending more troops to the Afghanistan war, where President Barack Obama’s government has “limited time” to show improvement, top defence officials said on Thursday.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates told a press conference at Pentagon that he has received the assessment report on the Afghanistan strategy by Army General Stanley A McChrystal, US top commander in the country, and informally forwarded a copy to President Obama.

UK troops to stay in Afghanistan for now: Brown

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London, September 04: Britain’s military will stay in Afghanistan until it can look after its own security, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Friday, dismissing a call from one of his government’s defence aides to begin planning a pullout from the country.

In a major speech on Afghanistan intended to shore up flagging support for the war there and answer critics of his defence policy, Brown was due to tell Britons that “we cannot walk away”.

NATO airstrike in Afghanistan kills up to 90

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Kabul, September 04: An Afghan official say a NATO airstrike on two fuel tankers hijacked by Taliban militants in northern Afghanistan has killed 90 people, including 40 civilians.

Police Chief Gulam Mohyuddin says militants seized the two trucks around midnight near the village of Omar Khel in Kunduz province. He says the alliance launched an airstrike as the Taliban fighters had stopped the trucks at a river crossing.

Obama admin divided over size of US forces in Afghanistan

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Washington, September 04: Amid growing demand for more American troops in Afghanistan from the commanders on the ground, the Obama administration seems to be literally divided on what should be the size of the US forces in the war-torn country.

After assuming office in January, US President Barack Obama has sent nearly 20,000 additional troops to Afghanistan as he shifted the focus of the Administration from Iraq to this country.

As the situation there is getting worse during the past few months, there has been increasing voices from the commanders seeking more troops for the country.

Pak govt briefs PoK leaders on package for Northern Areas

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Islamabad, September 04: Pakistan government on Friday briefed PoK leaders on its new self-governance and reforms package for the Northern Areas, part of Jammu and Kashmir currently under Islamabad’s occupation.

The briefing by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, held at the Foreign Office here, was aimed at taking the Kashmiri leaders on board for the ‘Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self Governance Order 2009’ in the wake of criticism by separatists like Yasin Malik of JKLF and main opposition PML-N.

Oil India fairly priced; Adani, NHPC weigh: Analysts

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Mumbai, September 04: State energy explorer Oil India’s IPO worth up to USD570 million is fairly priced and should leave money on the table for subscribers, may be wary after the last two big Indian listings lagged expectations.

Oil India, the second state-owned firm to go public this year, opens its offering on Monday and has set a price band of 950-1,050 rupees for its shares.

Co-operative banking sector clocks double digit growth

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Ahmedabad, September 04: The co-operative banking sector scenario in the country stands improved as the sector has clocked a double digit growth of 12-13 percent in its deposits, a top official said.

“The deposits of co-operative banks in the country stood at 1.17 lakh crore upto March 2007, and reached Rs 1.38 lakh crores upto March 2008, a hike of 12-13 pc,” National Federation of Urban Co-operative Banks and Credit Societies (NAFCUB) CEO D Krishna told a news agency.

Oil hovers near $68 ahead of US jobs report

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Singapore, September 04: Oil prices hovered near USD68 a barrel on Friday in Asia as investors looked to a U.S. unemployment report later in the day for signs of economic recovery.

Benchmark crude for October delivery was up 25 cents to USD68.21 a barrel by midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract on Thursday slipped 9 cents to settle at USD67.96.

Oil has traded near USD68 a barrel for the last three days as traders look for clues on the strength of the U.S. economy.

WTO to issue landmark aircraft industry ruling

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Geneva, September 04: World Trade Organisation judges will rule on Friday for the first time on whether the European Union handed out illegal subsidies to Airbus in a verdict that could affect planemakers worldwide.

The three-member WTO panel is widely expected to agree with complainant Washington that the billions of euros in “launch aid” Airbus received to build the A380 and other top-selling planes was anti-competitive and violated trade laws.

IMF remains cautious about global economic recovery

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Washington, September 04: Acknowledging that the global economy appears to be emerging from the worst financial and economic crisis in the post-war period, the International Monetary Fund Managing Director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Friday said the recovery will be sluggish and that a jobless recovery remains a risk.

Delivering the 2009 Bundesbank Lecture in Berlin, Strauss Khan argued that the stimulus measures adopted by countries to combat the global crisis should be withdrawn only when the economic recovery has taken hold and unemployment is set to decline.

Are trade talks nearing conclusion? Not quite, says India

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New Delhi, September 04: In what could dash the hopes of WTO chief Pascal Lamy that the ongoing trade ministers’ meeting here would lead to successful culmination of global trade talks, India on Thursday said the end was nowhere in sight.

“In some quarters, it has been suggested the most issues have been settled and we are almost in end-game. However… there are still a few gaps and large number of unresolved issues. In some instances, the architecture of a solution is not yet fully in sight,” Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said.

Rupee rises by 3 paise to 48.88 a dollar in opening trade

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Mumbai, September 04: The Indian rupee on Friday strengthened by three paise against the US currency in opening trade on dollar selling by exporters.

Weak dollar against some other currencies and hopes of fresh capital inflows by foreign funds into equity markets, which may open higher also supported the Indian rupee.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit gained 3 paise to quote at 48.88 a dollar over the previous close. Yesterday, the rupee closed five paise higher at 48.91/92.

Another exciting series on cards: Strauss

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London, September 04: After having regained the coveted Ashes urn, England are ready for a closely contested seven-match ODI series against the revenge-hungry Aussies.

According to latest cricket updates, England captain Andrew Strauss, who had a great Ashes series both as a captain and as a batsman, expects that they would be up against some new challenges in the ODI series against Australia that starts on Friday at The Oval.

But he also said that the feel-good factor after the Ashes win would help them to beat their arch-rivals and improve their ODI rankings.