uzma New Delhi, November 19:Stating that the controversy over ‘Vande Mataram’ was uncalled for, several prominent Muslim personalities Wednesday said the issue if Muslims can recite the national song had been resolved with the consent of clerics some 80 years ago.
New Delhi, November 19:Making the contraceptive procedure simpler for women, a US based pharmaceutical company Wednesday launched a birth control vaginal ring that it claims has no side effects.
Launched by pharmaceutical company Organon, Nuvaring is a flexible, transparent ring made of inert plastics. The ring contains hormones that enter the bloodstream directly, thus inhibiting ovulation.
Ahmedabad, November 18:Former captain Mahela Jayawardene cracked a chanceless double-century as Sri Lanka took a 165-run first innings lead against India by the close of third day’s play in the first cricket Test here Wednesday.
At stumps, Mahela was unbeaten on 204 and Prasanna Jayawardene 84 as Sri Lanka piled up 591 for five, in reply to India’s 426, at Motera’s Sardar Patel Stadium here.
With a 165-run lead and five wickets in hand, the visitors can press home the advantage in the remaining two days to record their maiden Test victory in India.
Lucknow, November 18:Three prominent leaders of her party came in Chief Minister Mayawati’s firing line Wednesday days after the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) lost the Lucknow West assembly seat in the by-elections in Uttar Pradesh.
While the ruling BSP bagged nine of the 11 assembly seats for which the polls were held Nov 7, what angered Mayawati was the victory of the Congress in Lucknow, the state capital city.
Panaji, November 18:The Goa police Wednesday admitted that the body of Russian teenager Elena Sukhonova, who was found dead along a railway track in May, has decomposed beyond recognition. A relative of the girl has blamed the mortuary where her body has been kept for seven months.
“The body which was in cut pieces has become darkened due to fungus moisture retention,” Superintendent of Police Atmaram Deshpande said at a press conference, adding that a DNA test was the only way in which the body could be identified.
New Delhi, November 18:The sixth batch of the Indian Aviation Contingent (IAC) Wednesday left on a UN peacekeeping mission in Congo.
Consisting of 243 air warriors, including 37 officers, the contingent was flagged off by the Air-Officer-in-Charge Administration of the Indian Air Force (IAF), Air Marshal J.N. Burma.
“The contingent also comprises Mi-25 and Mi-17 helicopters,” an IAF spokesperson said.
The contingent is led by Group Captain A. Nabh.
New Delhi, November 18: Global travel management firm Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) will move its back office business from other countries to India to tap the fast-growing opportunities in the Indian market, a senior official said Wednesday.
“Certainly, we are looking for double-digit growth in India. We will move our back office services from other countries to India,” said Martin Warner, chief operations officer of CWT for the Asia-Pacific region.
“We will serve more customers through our International Service Centre in Gurgaon (near New Delhi),” Warner said.
Siem Reap (Cambodia), Nov 18 (IANS) Indian golfer Shiv Kapur, who has secured his playing rights in Europe, hopes to keep the same streak going on Asian Tour as he gets ready for a strong showing at the Johnnie Walker Cambodian Open starting Thursday.
Since his debut year, when he won the Volvo Masters of Asia in 2005, Kapur has successfully maintained his full playing rights in Asia but the former Rookie of the Year needs a good result at Phokeethra Country Club to keep his streak alive.
Shimla, November 18:Himachal Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal was Wednesday asked by the Israeli government to help in tracing its nationals who have gone missing in the hill state, an official statement said.
A delegation of the Himachal Pradesh government headed by Dhumal is in Israel these days on an official visit to explore possibilities of cooperation with Israel in various fields.
Dhumal met Israel’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Daniel Ayalon in Tel Aviv.
New Delhi, November 18:US-based multinational company Honeywell plans to set up a new technology centre in India with an investment of $34 million.
“The centre will also include labs for process and applications development for other speciality materials technology areas, including fluorine products and nylon materials,” the company said in a release.
The centre is expected to employ 100 people in five years, it added.
Honeywell will invest $34 million in an existing property to develop the centre at Gurgaon.
Kolkata, November 18:Three suspected Bangladeshi militants, arrested for having alleged links with terror outfits Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), were Wednesday remanded in police custody till Dec 2, police said.
Abdullah Baki, Abdul Rahman alias Nafeez and Md Tahsidul were presented before assistant Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Bankshal Court, Rabi Ranjan Chakraborty Wednesday.
The three were arrested from Kolkata’s Esplanade area Tuesday evening by a team of city police’s Special Task Force (STF).
Kabul,November 18:The British Army’s new counter-insurgency field manual, the guidelines for the 9,000+ British soldiers fighting in Afghanistan, sets sights on a new strategy to fight the Taliban: overt bribery.
The guide advises British troops to buy off Taliban with “bags of gold” instead of fighting them. The commanders are also advised to negotiate with Taliban leaders, including those with “blood on their hands.”
Washington,November 18:More Americans than ever believe the war in Afghanistan is going badly for the United States.
Sixty-nine percent now say things are going badly for the U.S. in Afghanistan, a sharp increase from the 53 percent who said so in September. Just 23 percent say things are going well, down 12 points from September.
The findings reflect the most negative assessment of the war ever measured.
Vienna, November 16:Iran’s late declaration of a new nuclear site raises the question whether there are other still secret facilities, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Monday in its latest report on the Islamic state.
Iran informed the Vienna-based IAEA in September that it has been constructing an additional uranium enrichment plant in Fordu, 20 km north of the city of Qom. The plant is set to become operational in 2011.
The restricted report said that “Iran’s delay in submitting such information to the Agency does not contribute to the building of confidence”.
Shimla, November 16:At least 10 people were killed when an overcrowded bus skidded off the road and fell into a deep gorge in Himachal Pradesh’s Shimla district Monday, police said.
Superintendent of Police (Shimla) R.M. Sharma said the Himachal Road Transport Corporation bus fell into a 1,000-feet deep gorge at around 5 p.m. near Gumma, some 60 km from state capital Shimla.
He said 10 people were killed. Some of the injured have been admitted to the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital here.
Ranchi, November 16:As president of the Mahendra Singh Dhoni fan club, he’s probably officially the biggest fan of the Indian skipper. And with the bat as his election symbol he’s all set to enter the poll fray for the Jharkhand assembly elections.
Jitendra Singh has filed his nomination from Hatia assembly constituency of Ranchi city as an independent candidate.
Singh had earlier laid the foundation stone for a temple in honour of Dhoni. The construction of the temple was halted after Dhoni’s family objected.
New Delhi, November 16:India’s political establishment Monday joined the cricket board to slam Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray after he criticised cricket icon Sachin Tendulkarh’s “Mumbai belongs to all” comment.
From the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), otherwise a Shiv Sena ally, to the perenially critical Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), the entire political class said that Thackeray’s hard-hitting attack on Tendulkar was uncalled for.
Ahmedabad, November 16:Scoreboard on the first day of the first Test between India and Sri Lanka here Monday.
India
Gautam Gambhir b Welegedara 1
Virender Sehwag lbw b Welegedara 16
Rahul Dravid not out 177
Sachin Tendulkar b Welegedara 4
VVS Laxman b Prasad 0
Yuvraj Singh c Dilshan b Muralitharan 68
Mahendra Singh Dhoni c Jayawardene b Prasad 110
Harbhajan Singh not out 2
Extras (b-2, lb-2, w-1, nb-2) 7
Total (for six wickets in 90 overs) 385
New Delhi, November 16:Delhi police Monday claimed to have busted a gang of burglars with the arrest of five men, who used to sometimes set fire to the houses they burgled in order to remove evidence of the crime. A large number of stolen goods were recovered from their possession.
The accused – Sanjay, Ratan, Vishwajeet Bishwas, Mahender and Narender Singh – were arrested Sunday from Harkesh Nagar area in south Delhi on the basis of a tip-off, police said.
Washington,November 16:Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) is the largest of the nation’s many spy agencies. The secretive and enormous independent agency is a subject of almost constant controversy in the nation, where it is totally independent of the civilian government and the military exercises only modest oversight.
But the ISI could arguably be considered completely separately from the Pakistani government. After all, it was revealed today, the group gets roughly a third of its funding not from Pakistan but from the US, through covert CIA deals.
Mumbai, November 16:Taking strong exception to Sachin Tendulkar’s recent comment that “Mumbai belongs to all”, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray has warned the legendary cricketer to “keep off the political pitch” for his own well-being and said his “single cheeky” had made him “run out” in Marathi minds.
He said Tendulkar may not even be aware of the struggle of Maharashtrians for Mumbai, as he was “not even born” then, and said cricketers like him “ultimately play only for themselves”.
New Delhi, November 15:Delhi Police Sunday carried out extensive searches in cyber cafes and hotels in Paharganj area of central Delhi where suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative David Headley had stayed earlier this year.
“An extensive search was carried out in the cyber cafes, hotels and telephone booths in the Paharganj area,” said a police source.
However, it is not clear whether these searches were in connection with Headley, who was arrested in the US last month. He had stayed in two hotels in Paharganj for three days.
Hyderabad, November 15:Tension prevailed in Abids when two groups of Congress clashed with each other.
The Congress ticket here was given to Minister Mukhesh Goud’s brother. However, a party worker, Mohan, protesting the allotment, filed his nomination and tried till the last minute for the party nomination. When the party leadership did not concede his demand, he remained in the fray as Congress rebel candidate.
Hyderabad, November 15:With a view to encouraging and bringing the inherent talent among the youth and to motivate them to improve and enrich their musical skills, A.V College of Arts, Science and Commerce will hold Dr Aruna Memorial Inte-Collegiate Music Competitions on November 18 for girls and on November 19 for boys at its auditorium here at 2 pm.
In a press release, the College authorities said singing competitions will be organized for boys and girls separately, and cash awards will be given to the winners.
Hyderabad, November 15:Skyways, LED control signal system, parallel roads, tax regulation, perfect drainage, comprehensive slum development, a slumless Hyderabad, health and hygiene facilities and protected drinking water were some of the promises made by the BJP in its GHMC elections manifesto.
Making modifications to its four draft election manifestos, which were released earlier, the BJP State unit on Sunday released the final elections manifesto. The party undertook a two-moth exercise to frame the manifesto in tune with the pulse of Hyderabad voters.