wajid Swine flu erupts in Maharashtra, claims four lives
After a lull of six months, swine flu has again reared its head in Maharashtra, claiming four lives in Pune in the past fortnight, including two Friday, putting the state health machinery in a state of high alert, a top official said.
Besides, the four fatalities, another 34 victims are admitted in different city hospitals.
Controversial Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi features on the cover of Time magazine which wonders if he can ever become the prime minister despite his development work in his home state.
“Modi means business but can he lead India,” asks the cover story in the Asia edition of the March 26 issue of the US magazine describing him as a “controversial, ambitious and shrewd politician”.
Actress-turned-politician Jaya Bachchan Saturday filed her papers as a Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate for a Rajya Sabha seat from Uttar Pradesh.
The actress, who is the wife of Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan, filed her nomination in the presence of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and cabinet minister Shivpal Yadav.
Jaya, who was a Rajya Sabha member during 2004-10 on an SP ticket, is among the party’s six Rajya Sabha nominees. Naresh Agarwal, Kiranmoy Nanda, Darshan Singh Yadav, Brijbhushan Tiwari and Munawwar Saleem are the other candidates who have already filed their nominations.
WHEN does the heroine become the hero? “ The day every woman walking down the road is on a par with men,” says Bollywood queen Kareena Kapoor. Taking the podium at the India Today Conclave’s ‘ Superstar One- on- One’ session in an exquisite yellowand- pink Masaba sari, Kareena dwelt candidly on the dilemma of an Indian actress. “ It’s a Catch- 22 situation. If I do a film meant for the classes, I need to balance it with a Salman- starrer,” she said.
She’s clear the characters she essayed in blockbuster hits with Bollywood’s Khans aren’t her most memorable
At least 10 people, including a woman and two children, were killed today when a NATO Turkish helicopter crashed into a house and burst into flames on the outskirts of Kabul, officials said.
“So far we have recovered 10 bodies, eight of them are foreigners possibly Turkish nationals — it is a Turkish helicopter,” said Kabul’s criminal investigations chief Mohammad Zaher. “Two children and a woman, have been recovered from the rubble,” said interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi.
Kofi Annan, the joint special envoy of the UN and the Arab League on the Syrian crisis, said Friday that he has urged the UN Security Council to exhibit unity in its attempt to put an end to Syrian violence and political crisis.
The former UN secretary-general’s statement came as he addressed the press after briefing the UN Security Council here via video conference as it met on the Middle East Friday, Xinhua reported.
US President Barack Obama called up his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai Friday to discuss the process of transition to Afghan-led security while reaffirming its timetable would be completed by 2014, the White House said.
The two presidents took the opportunity to discuss the process of security transition which will see Afghans have full responsibility for security across the country by the end of 2014, Xinhua quoted the White House in a statement.
Haunted by the spectre of a repeat of hooliganism that marred the the 2004-2007 tenure of the Samajwadi Party government, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav Friday issued fresh guidelines with regard to putting up of hoardings and use of party flags on vehicles and asked them to remain within the ‘Lakshman rekha’.
Actress January Jones, who welcomed son Xander last September, says she has shed her pregnancy weight by doing nothing but her maternal duties.
“I haven’t been dieting or working out much. I’ve just been running around, nursing and just keeping busy. I think that is exercise enough,” contactmusic.com quoted the 34-year-old as saying.
Jones also insisted she is having a blast with her baby boy.
Their are no permanent friends or enemies in political arena .Time and again its is proving correct .Congress President Sonia Gandhi sent a letter to Samajwadi Supremo Mulayam Singh thanking him for inviting the Congress members to attend the swearing-in ceremony of CM-designate Akhilesh Yadav. Sonia’s gesture has hinted that Congress is desperate to seek support from SP, the party has grabbed the majority with 222 seats in the state.
Before being killed Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden had ordered for organising special cells in Afghanistan and Pakistan to attack the aircraft of US President Barack Obama and General David Petraeus, the US media reported Friday.
Petraeus had commanded the US forces in Afghanistan at the time.
The plot was discovered in documents taken from Osama’s compound by US forces May 2, 2011, the night he was killed by US special forces, Xinhua quoted The Washington Post citing administrative officials as saying.
They also said the plot was never a serious threat, it added.
The body of baby Falak was Friday handed over her mother Munni by the AIIMS for the last rites of the battered two-year-old who died of cardiac arrest Thursday night after a grim battle with life for nearly 60 days, doctors said.
“We had received a letter from the child welfare committee (CWC) saying that the baby’s mother Munni will be performing the baby’s last rites, which were performed at around 4 p.m.,” Deepak Agrawal, AIIMS assistant professor of neurosurgery, told IANS.
Falak’s death has left a void at AIIMS as doctors and the other staff had become attached to her.
The Delhi High Court Friday issued notice to the health and family welfare ministry on film director Mahesh Bhatt’s plea seeking quashing of a notification prohibiting smoking scenes in movies.
Bhatt said that the government’s notification of Sep 27, 2011 was “illegal and arbitrary” and violated his fundamental rights.
A division bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Rajiv Shakdher refused to stay the notification as sought by Bhatt and asked the government to reply by July 11.
The healthcare industry Friday welcomed Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s announcement reducing excise duty on life saving drugs and emphasis on preventive health check-ups.
“The budget was reassuring. The finance minister ensured a strong focus on inclusive growth and an equally robust thrust to address the bottlenecks in infrastructure development,” said Prathap C. Reddy, chairman of Apollo group of hospitals.
Delayed rainfall in the northeast is likely to affect the overall tea production in Assam this year.
The deficient rainfall in Assam this year has already delayed the arrival of the first flush of tea leaves, which is considered to be very important for the overall production.
Assam accounts for 13 percent of the world’s tea production and around 800 tea gardens in Assam account for 51 percent of India’s annual tea production. Last year, the state had recorded bumper production of 508.74 million kgs (mkgs).
Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has met visiting US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta and discussed bilateral ties.
Sheikh Mohammed, also the deputy supreme commander of the UAE Armed Forces, received Panetta Thursday at the Emirates Palace, a statement said.
Both officials praised the progressive ties of friendship between the two countries and their keen interest in furthering them in all fields.
Indian American student Dharun Ravi has been found guilty of the most serious charges for spying on his roommate, Tyler Clementi, having a gay sexual encounter in 2010, by a New Jersey jury.
Ravi, a former Rutgers University student, was convicted Friday of invasion of privacy, bias intimidation, witness tampering, and hindering arrest, stemming from his role in activating a webcam to peek at Clementi’s date with a man on Sep 19, 2010, according to ABC News.
‘Budget in right direction but short on growth incentives’
Tamil Nadu’s corporate sector Said Fridy Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has acquitted himself well given the circumstances by which he is bound and the budget is in right direction but short on growth initiatives for various sectors.
According to industrialists and corporate officials assembled at the budget viewing session organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here Friday, Mukherjee’s budget mirrored his political maturity for taking in his stride the political issues and assert 6.9 percent growth projection.
The All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation Friday called for a country-wide shutdown March 17 to protest against the government’s budget proposal to increase basic customs duty on standard gold bars, gold coins and platinum by two percent.
“All jewelers and all associations across India have unanimously called for a total bandh of all jewellery establishments March 17, which may also extend to March 18 and 19 based on joint decisions as a mark of protest against the Budget,” the jewellers body said in a release here.
Describing Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) as the most dangerous terrorist group operating in South Asia after Al Qaeda, a US expert has advocated its destruction by the US with or without Pakistan’s help.
“Though India and Kashmir have been LeT’s primary area of operations so far, the group has an unsettling presence internationally,” Ashley J. Tellis, Senior Associate South Asia Programme at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington think tank, wrote.
Actor-producer Aamir Khan turned 47 Wednesday and celebrated his big day with journalists at his residence here.
“I am humbled that you all are here to wish me. My day starts with you, with your good wishes,” said an overwhelmed Aamir who welcomed the media outside his Pali Hill residence. He cut a cake and spoke to reporters.
“I would thank god who has given me all the success and happiness that god has showered on me in my personal life. We were recently blessed with a kid named Azad so I am thankful to god,” said the actor, dressed casually in shorts and a T-shirt.
A Pakistani judicial commission arrived here Wednesday and will record the statements of key officials related to the 26/11 Mumbai carnage probe, an important step Islamabad says will quicken the trial of the Mumbai terror accused.
A judicial commission is visiting India as bilaterally agreed between the two governments to fulfill the legal requirements of the trial of the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks, said the Pakistan high commission in a statement here.
At least 15 suspected militants were killed Tuesday in two drone strikes in Pakistan’s northwest tribal region bordering Afghanistan, media reports said.
In the first strike, drones fired two missiles at a vehicle in Uthghalai village of North Waziristan, killing eight people and wounding two others, Xinhua reported.
In the second strike, seven people were killed in South Waziristan’s Sara Khora village. The drone also fired two missiles at a vehicle suspected to be carrying militants.
The identities of the slain people in both strikes were not available.
India plans to reopen its consulate in the port city of Karachi, said Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Sharat Sabharwal.
Sabharwal said Tuesday that talks were underway for the reopening of the Indian Consulate in Karachi to facilitate Pakistani nationals applying for visas, reported Geo News from Sindh province.
The envoy was interacting with the media during his visit to the Bhutto family mausoleum at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh.
Sabharwal said the Bhutto family had sacrificed their lives for the sake of democracy.
A reshuffle is expected in the Pakistani Army later this year with the retirement of six three-star generals and a number of officers completing their tenures, a media report said Wednesday.
Dawn said that the military hierarchy will see a phased reshuffle that will lead to more than half of the formations getting new commanders.
The Rawalpindi, Lahore, Multan and Gujranwala corps will get new commanders. The Karachi corps already has a new head in Lt. Gen. Ejaz Chaudhry, with Lt. Gen. Zahirul Islam’s appointment as the new chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).