uzma London, November 24:One of Britain’s most senior former civil servants Tuesday opened an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Britain’s 2003 invasion of Iraq, vowing to “get to the heart of what happened” before and during the war.
Sir John Chilcot is chairman of the much-awaited inquiry, whose inquisitors include Indian-origin member of the House of Lords, Baroness Usha Parashar.
Washington, November 24:Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday said India and the US can do much more to expand security cooperation and warned the US and international community against any premature exit in Afghanistan that will embolden extremists and destabilise the region.
“The US and India enjoy excellent cooperation in sharing of intelligence. We can’t be satisfied with status quo,” Manmohan Singh told American businessmen when asked what can India and the US do to strengthen their security cooperation in South Asia.
New Delhi, November 24:Following is the chronology of the important dates related to the Babri Masjid demolition:
Dec 22, 1949: Idols of Ram Lalla were allegedly installed inside the 16th century Babri mosque in the night by a group of Hindus following which a court ruled that the site be locked against entry to quarrelling Hindus and Muslims.
In 1984 the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) launched a massive movement for opening the locks of the mosque whose ownership was disputed by fanatical Hindus who said it was the site of an ancient Ram temple that was razed by Mughal emperor Babur.
Washington,November 24:It may come as a considerable surprise that the general considers America’s prison strategy in Iraq such an unabashed success, particularly since it wasn’t that long ago that they were scrambling to reform the disastrous system.
And in fact, the recidivism numbers cited are misleading, as one of the most common complaints was that the US tactic of mass arrests had led many innocent people into the prison system simply for being near a militant attack and eventually released without ever being charged with any crimes.
New Delhi, November 23:He would be “very foolish” to leak the Liberhan Commission probe into the Babri Masjid demolition and “embarrass” himself, Home Minister P. Chidambaram said in the Rajya Sabha Monday as an angry opposition demanded an explanation as to how the report had found its way to the media before being tabled in parliament.
Washington, November 23:Bacteria living on the surface of the skin helps in maintaining its healthy texture, says a new study.
“These germs are actually good for us,” said Richard L. Gallo, professor of medicine and paediatrics, who also heads the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) dermatology division.
The study was done on mice and in human cell cultures, primarily performed by post-doctoral fellow Yu Ping Lai.
Colombo, November 23:Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse has decided to opt for a presidential election two years ahead of schedule, government sources said Monday.
Officials said the president had signed the proclamation calling for early presidential election, Xinhua reported.
Rajapakse conveyed his decision to leaders of his ruling coalition, ending months of speculation whether he would opt for the parliamentary or presidential elections.
The election date, likely to be in January 2010, is to be announced later.
Shimla, November 23:The Himachal Pradesh government has launched an insurance scheme for apple growers in the state in view of the adverse weather conditions that hit production this year.
The pilot insurance scheme was launched in Shimla and Kullu districts Sunday to safeguard the Rs.1,500-crore apple industry, a major revenue earner for this hill state, said Horticulture Director Gurdev Singh.
London, November 23:”High School Musical” star Zac Efron has expressed a desire to play a villain in a James Bond movie.
The actor loves the spy series and the iconic British spy so much that he wants a negative role in the next addition in the franchise, which currently stars Daniel Craig as the lead character, reports celebrityrush.com.
“I’m a huge James Bond fan. I’d love to be a Bond baddie. I’ve seen pretty much every Bond film. Sean Connery is my favourite and I really like ‘Golden Eye’ with Pierce Brosnan,” he said.
Washington, November 23:Red blood cells (RBC) infected with malaria become 10 times stiffer and stickier than normal ones in later stages, says a new study. They also tend to affect normal blood flow. This explains some of the common symptoms of malaria, such as anaemia and joint pain.
Dmitry Fedosov and George Karniadakis, doctoral student and professor, respectively, at Brown University, developed models to help predict how the disease will spread and thus enhance current malaria treatments.
Patna, November 23:Police Monday seized about 250 quintals of ammonium nitrate used in making explosives from a Bihar village and arrested three people.
A police officer said the explosive material was recovered from Basa village in Rohtas district, about 150 km from state capital Patna.
Detonators have also been recovered, the officer added.
About a week ago, explosive materials, firearms and live cartridges were recovered from Gaya, Patna and Munger district.
————————IANS
Lucknow, November 23:A group of locals thrashed a pregnant woman and paraded her naked through a village in Uttar Pradesh after she objected to encroachment on her land, police said Monday.
The incident took place Sunday evening at Karnawala village in Bijnor district, about 400 km from Lucknow.
Of the four people who were primarily behind the incident, two have been arrested, police said.
“In the incident, the woman suffered a miscarriage. She is undergoing treatment at a hospital,” police inspector Rajesh Kumar Gautam told reporters.
New Delhi, November 22: The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has been ranked 15th in India in terms of its visibility on the internet and scholarly papers on the worldwide web, university vice chancellor V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai said Sunday.
The ranking by Spain-based public research institution Cybermetric Lab was based on the number of people who searched the details related to the varsity through four search engines – Google, Yahoo, Live Search and Exalead.
Bhopal, November 22:The manager of a petrol pump in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore city was absconding after allegedly stealing Rs.40 lakh of the sale proceeds which he was supposed to deposit in a bank, police said Sunday.
Tarun Bhargava worked as manager at a Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) petrol pump in Indore, some 200 km from Bhopal.
“The matter came to light Saturday evening when a complaint in this connection was lodged at Kshipra police station, Indore,” a police officer said.
New Delhi, November 22:The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) plans to target the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in parliament on the issue of the Madhu Koda scam Monday, said a senior BJP leader here Sunday.
“We will target the Congress and RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) in parliament on this issue. These two parties are the real culprits. The treasury was looted when they were together in the first UPA government. And they supported the Madhu Koda government (in Jharkhand),” said the leader, who did not want to be identified.
New Delhi, November 22: The Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama has said he did not want to be the cause for escalation of tensions between India and China and felt that his host for six decades had stayed firm against China in recent months.
“I did not want things to escalate between India and China,” Dalai Lama told private news channel NDTV in an interview to be broadcast Monday.
China had protested sharply when Dalai Lama visited the Indian province of Arunachal Pradesh, which the former claims as southern Tibet.
Jakarta, November 22:At least four people were killed when a ferry carrying 240 people sank in bad weather off the Indonesian island of Sumatra Sunday, officials said.
Search teams using a number of naval and other vessels continued to scan the waters for those still missing.
Riau police chief Puji Hartanto told MetroTv that survivors were seen floating in the water in the aftermath of the accident.
The Dumai Express 10 was sailing from Batam near Singapore to the island of Dumai in Riau, Sumatra when it was battered by heavy waves and sank.
Karachi, November 22:Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif is hoping to make an emphatic showing in the three-match Test series against New Zealand starting in Dunedin from Tuesday.
Asif, who returned to international cricket in the ICC Champions Trophy after serving a one-year ban for doping, said that the break has proved a blessing in disguise for him.
“I’m sad for having lost almost two years of my career because in modern-day cricket, fast bowlers do not normally have long careers,” he told Deutsche Welle in an interview.
Thiruvananthapuram, November 22:Kerala cyber police Sunday arrested two people for making changes to a mail that showed a mansion with a caption saying that the home belonged to CPI-M state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan.
The arrested include K.R. Manoj, who hails from Kayamkulam and works in Africa as a welding technician. The second person arrested is Karthik, who hails from Kottayam, and is a student doing chartered accountancy, said J. Sukumara Pillai, deputy superintendent of police of the Cyber Police Station.
The two were arrested under the amended Section 66 A of the IT Act.
Baghdad, November 22:A man detonated explosives packed into his car as he approached a police checkpoint north of the western Iraqi city of Falluja Sunday, killing a policeman, authorities said.
Health officials said five policemen and three civilian bystanders were injured.
Police said many military vehicles were been badly burned by the explosion.
Hyderabad, November 22:Unheralded 30-year old Greek Cypriot Anthony Brabin dealt Indian hopes a big blow when he knocked out National champion Pankaj Advani 5-3 en route to the pre-quarter-finals of the ONGC-IBSF World Snooker Championship here Sunday.
However, bringing some cheer to the Indian camp were the Mumbai-based Yasin Merchant who overcame compatriot Alok Kumar 5-1 to advance to the round of 16. Local challenger Lucky Vatnani, who took out Girish Rajashekar 5-2, and Kamal Chawla, a 5-4 winner over Alex Borg of Malta, also reached the pre quarters.
Washington, November 20:Mullah Mohammed Omar, the one-eyed leader of the Taliban, is living in Karachi with the help of Pakistan’s intelligence service, The Washington Times said Friday.
Mullah Omar, who hosted Osama bin Laden and other Al Qaeda leaders when they plotted the 9/11 attacks, had been residing in Quetta, where the Afghan Taliban shura – or council – had moved from Kandahar after the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
New Delhi, November 19:The onset of puberty can be an agonising time for many adolescents. This is the time when a strong emphasis is placed on looks and many teenagers look for peer validation. It is not surprising then that several teens are knocking on the doors of plastic surgeons for nose jobs and liposuction.
Beijing, November 19:A 107-year-old woman shocked her neighbours in Yichuan county in eastern China when she recently started teething again.
Jiao Zhenwa frequently shows off her two new teeth to curious friends, relatives and neighbours, China Daily reported Thursday.
Doctors said it was really rare that a centenarian was growing new teeth.
Jiao lives with her family, which includes more than 60 members from five generations.
Mumbai, November 19:Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan says it is “ridiculous” to think that his mother and censor board chief Sharmila Tagore gave an ‘adult’ rating to “Kaminey” because it starred Shahid Kapoor.
“It is ridiculous to state that anyone had any personal bias against ‘Kaminey’,” Saif told IANS even as his own movie “Kurbaan” is about to release Friday with an A certificate.
“I know for sure that my mother is a great authority when it comes to the censors. My own ‘Kurbaan’ has got an ‘A’ certificate and I know where she is coming from.”