Month: June 2009

Berri re-elected Lebanon speaker

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Beirut, June 26: Lebanese lawmakers overwhelmingly re-elected a pro-Hezbollah Parliament speaker yesterday despite the group’s recent election loss, signaling that the political factions are moving toward a unity government.

Lebanese leaders have been looking for a fresh start after a divisive election. The June 7 vote brought victory for the Western-backed coalition, which fought off a strong challenge from Hezbollah and its allies. But it also underscored the deep divisions among the Lebanese.

ATMs running out of Rs 100 notes

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Hyderabad, June 26: Planning to withdraw money from ATM? You may have to withdraw not less than Rs 500. The reason: shortage of Rs 100 notes.

Of late, ATMs of some banks, especially those belonging to the public sector, have been running out of Rs 100 notes, causing inconvenience to customers who wish to withdraw less than Rs 500 or Rs 1,000.

The boards displaying ‘No Rs 100 notes’ have become a common sight at ATMs of many banks including State Bank of India, its associate banks and Andhra Bank, while it is a sporadic phenomena at private sector banks’ ATMs.

AP Govt to provide safe bottled water from Aug15

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Hyderabad, June 26: As an Independence day gift, the Andhra Pradesh Government will provide ”safe bottled water” to every habitat from August 15, Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy announced today.

”No new development programme has been taken up by the government due to economic recession. But we cannot compromise on providing safe drinking water to people,” he said while inaugurating the two-day District Collectors conference here.

”With just Rs two lakh investment

Heavy rain hits Mumbai, flights and trains delayed

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Mumbai, June 26: The rains finally kept their long delayed date with Mumbai today as they lashed the city and surroundings in full force, bringing welcome relief from the scorching heat.

Along with the rains came a plethora of delays that are common to the city – flights late by 25-30 minutes, suburban trains running behind schedules by 5-15 minutes and road traffic jams all over the city and suburbs.

Several low-lying areas in the city and suburbs were water-logged after overnight heavy showers, causing traffic snarls and delays for office-goers, and school and college students.

Kingfisher Airlines Launches Flights to Bangalore

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Dubai, June 26: Kingfisher Airlines, one of India’s three largest carriers, made its long-awaited foray in the Middle East with the launch on Thursday of its first daily direct flights from Dubai to Bangalore.

Kingfisher hopes to win some of the high-volume passenger business between the UAE and India — routes on which Emirates Airline is firmly entrenched.

Naidu begins damage control, holds talks with Yadav

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Hyderabad, June 26: The main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP), groping in the dark to recover from poll drubbing, today began damage control exercise to mollify Former Minister T Srinivas Yadav who attributed the election debacle to the TDP alliance with the Telangana Rashtra Samiti(TRS) and support for creation of separate Telangana State.

‘Kambakkht Ishq’ is an illogical film: Akshay Kumar

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Mumbai, June 26: Akshay Kumar believes in entertaining audiences even if his films come with an ‘illogical’ tag. He admits that his forthcoming “Kambakkht Ishq” belongs to the same category.

“I don’t want to get into logical films… I am happy doing films where one can keep discussions around logic at home,” Akshay Kumar told IANS on phone from the US where he is currently on holiday.

People with Depression and Anxiety Avoiding Treatment: Experts

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Dubai, June 26: The economic crisis is to blame for the increase in the number of people suffering from depression and anxiety all over the world, according to psychiatrists.

“There is an increase of (people suffering from) depression all around the world due to economic crisis, although other societies are more affected than others,” Dr Adel Zaraa, consultant psychiatrist at Gulf Diagnostics Centre in Abu Dhabi told Khaleej Times.

Three of family dead in Naini town; residents turn violent

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Lucknow, June 26: Some residents of Uttar Pradesh’s Naini town Friday turned violent and tried to set fire to two police jeeps after three members of a family were found dead, police said.

Bablu, Mangesh and Pappu, all in their 30s, were found dead with injury marks all over their bodies Friday in the Naini town of Allahabad district, 200 km from state capital Lucknow.

“They have been killed by a sharp-edged weapon,” district police chief Chandra Prakash told reporters.

White House rejects Iranian Prez’s accusations

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Washington, June 26: The White House on Thursday accused President Mahmoud Ahamdinejad of seeking to cast the United States as the villain in Iran’s post-election political turmoil, escalating a war of words with Tehran.

The latest sharp US comments directed towards the Iranian government came after Ahmadinejad accused Washington and the West of interfering in Iran and fomenting unrest.

“There are people in Iran who want to make this not about a debate among Iranians in Iran, but about the West and the United States,” said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.

Michael Jackson was my guru: Farah Khan

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Los Angeles, June 26: As an era in pop music comes to an end with the sudden death of Michael Jackson, one of the Bollywood best choreographers Farah Khan remembers the ‘King of Pop’ as her guru.

“I officially had no training in dance and whatever I learnt was from watching Michael Jackson by watching his videos, especially ‘Thriller’ over and over again. I consider him as my guru,” Farah said.

Jackson died on Thursday in Los Angeles due to suspected cardiac arrest. He was 50.

With this ring I divorce you, say couple

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Berlin, June 26: A Polish couple living in Germany fell out after tying the knot and decided to end their marriage on the same day.

“He said he never wanted to see her again and wanted an immediate annulment, and she said the same thing,” a spokesman for police in the northern city of Hanover said Thursday.

Right after the civil ceremony Wednesday, the 50-year-old man began rowing with his bride and tried to cut her hair with a kitchen knife, police said.

The 34-year-old woman called police, who issued the man with a restraining order, which he readily accepted, police said.

‘Imperial Hand’ Behind Iran Unrest: Chavez

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Maracay, June 26: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez believes that the United States and European countries have a hand in anti-government protests rocking Iran over the country’s presidential elections.
“People are in the streets, some are dead, they have snipers, and behind this is the CIA, the imperial hand of European countries and the United States,” Chavez said, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Thursday, June 25.

Though he did not offer evidence, he said the unrest in Iran follows a pattern seen in different countries.

We Are Not Oppressed: Burka Women

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Paris, June 26: Every time she opens the newspaper now, Françoise, 29, is struck by photos of a burka-wearing woman accompanied by big, glib headlines describing the outfit as a sign of women oppression in Islam.
“There is nothing oppressive about the burka,” the French woman, who changed her name to Khadija after embracing Islam six years ago and dons a burka, told IslamOnline.net.

YSR behind trouble in Telugu Desam, says Chandrababu Naidu

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Hyderabad, June 26: Telugu Desam Party president N. Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday charged Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy with creating trouble in the Opposition ranks and luring legislators to bolster the ruling party’s strength.

Murky water bottles make a killing in capital

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New Delhi, June 26: Cashing in on the water woes of residents, particularly students, in and around the Delhi University campus, shopkeepers here have started selling low quality bottled water that they themselves admit is not fit for drinking.

Ragini Sharma, a resident of Indira Vihar in north Delhi, for instance, said because of the water shortage, she had been using distilled water – not just for drinking purposes but also for cooking, cleaning, bathing and even filling the air cooler!

Right to Education Bill to be enacted

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New Delhi, June 26: The government will take all steps to enact the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill, 2005 to provide free and compulsory education to children aged 6-14, and push for the process of examination reforms, including making Class X examination optional in accordance with the National Curriculum Framework-2005.

AP CM to undertake surprise visits for benefit of people

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Hyderabad, June 26: Giving District Collectors three month’s time to gear ”delivery mechanism”, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy today announced that he would undertake surprise visits to villages starting from Dasara to see for himself whether the benefits of the welfare schemes reached the targetted people at the grassroots level.

Shiney leaves porn stars behind

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Mumbai, June 26: Bollywood actor Shiney Ahuja might be behind bars in Mumbai’s Arthur Road prison his love making scene from the movie has become an instant hit among netizens.

The clip which has Shiney engaged a sizzling love making scene with co-star Seema Rahman has become one of the highest viewed videos on YouTube.

Air India offers 2-yr leave without pay to 30k staff

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New Delhi, June 26: Cash-strapped and over-staffed carrier, the state-owned, Air India on Tuesday introduced a voluntary leave without pay scheme for its more than 30,000 employees to cut its annual wage bill of Rs 3,000 crore. The carrier has nearly 10,000 excess employees and another 20,000 on contracts.

Salman-Katrina fake MMS video doing rounds

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Mumbai, June 26: A sex video featuring the look-alikes of Bollywood stars Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif has reportedly surfaced in Canada.Going by the reports so far, the amateur video is doubtlessly a fake. It features a male and a female pretending to look like Salman and Katrina through their wigs and make-up. The couple indulges in hardcore sex in the video.

Moreover, an MMS clip from the same video is being circulated among youngsters.

SRK-Salman on Farah’s show?

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Mumbai, June 26: Oh What am I hearing now?! The two warring Khans are together again and good friend Farah is responsible for bringing them together. After all the public display of anger at Katrina’s birthday bash, news of them coming together on a project seems not litte strange. But apparently Farah has made it possible.

Farah, who spends more time judging reality shows these days is set to host a talk show which will feature Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan in different episodes. Oh! Did I forget to mention that? Never mind.

Hawkish US senators claim rigging in Iran election

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Washington, June 26: US Senators claim that Iran’s election has been ‘rigged’ after Tehran firmly warned against any interference in the country’s internal affairs.

The Senators said on Thursday that the recent presidential election in Iran was rigged, promising to support the protesters of the election results.

Republican Senator John McCain, President Obama’s rival in the US election, said that Washington does not “take the side of either candidate” but “the Iranian people”, rejecting Iran’s claims of US meddling in the country’s affairs.

Salman’s best friend is hospitalised!

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Mumbai, June 26: Everyone knows how much Salman Khan loves his pets. After Myson’s death earlier this year, Salman Khan’s other pet dog Myjaan took seriously ill last Sunday.

Myjaan’s condition became so bad that Salman’s vet advised him to take her to the SPCA Hospital in Parel. Salman drove down with Myjaan to the hospital as late as 10.30 pm. But the dog’s condition was so critical that the hospital doctors advised him to admit his pet immediately.

Shahrukh refuses to step into Raj Thackeray’s shoes

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Mumbai, June 26: Shahrukh Khan has been in the news for all the wrong reasons these days. Just on the heels of receiving flak for his alleged comment on Prophet Mohammed, his refusal to play Raj Thackeray has hit the headlines hard.

It is said that Shahrukh turned down the offer to play Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Chief Raj Thackeray in the film Mumbai Tiger by Raju Kokate. Now, Marathi film and stage actor Ashok Shinde has been roped in to play Raj Thackeray’s role.