Month: June 2009

Saina’s achievement bigger than Sania’s: Padukone

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Mumbai, June 30: The hype around tennis ace Sania Mirza may be bigger but ace shuttler Saina Nehwal clearly has the edge in terms of performance, feels badminton legend Prakash Padukone.

Comparing both the Hyderabadis’s achievements, Padukone said the fact that Saina has beaten more higher ranked players than Sania tilts the balance in the shuttler’s favour.

“I don’t go by the rankings which can be achieved by picking and choosing the tournaments one wants to play. But Saina has beaten more top-rated players than Sania and I would rate her performance higher,” the former shuttler said.

Dozens killed in clashes, attacks in Afghanistan

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Kabul, June 30: More than two dozen Taliban and three police officers were killed in a clash in northern Afghanistan and a suicide bombing and US-led coalition airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan, officials said Tuesday.

Officials in the Baghlan province said a clash that lasted several hours late Monday in the Baghlan-e-Markazi district inflicted heavy casualties on the Taliban.

The police started an operation to clear the Kokchinar area of militants and a clash between the two sides started as soon as the police entered the area, provincial police chief Abdul Rahman Saeedkhili said.

Footballer charged over road death after Confed Cup party

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Johannesburg, June 30: South Africa defender Bryce Moon faces a charge of culpable homicide after allegedly knocking down a woman, who subsequently died after being refused admission in two hospitals.

Moon was driving from a party organised by Bafana captain Aaron Mokoena after the Confederation Cup final between Brazil and United States at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Monday when the accident occurred, the Sowetan newspaper reported Tuesday.

According to the reports, Moon was driving a Mercedes Benz when he lost control and hit Mavis Ncube, a domestic help who was walking to work.

Maharashtra govt to increase VAT on mobile phones to 12.5 pc

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New Delhi, June 30: Prices of mobile handsets are likely to increase in Maharastra from tomorrow as the state government has hiked the sales tax on devices to 12.5 per cent from four per cent now.

The hike in value added tax (VAT), a kind of sales tax, on mobile phones to 12.5 per cent will come into effect from tomorrow.

According to analysts, the tax increase would push up the cost of a Rs 3,000 mobile handset by Rs 250.

Workers’ strike cripples Haldia port’s cargo handling

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Kolkata, June 30: Cargo handling at Haldia port has nearly halved following an indefinite strike contract labourers have called since Saturday demanding an increased pay from handling agents.

The strike, which entered the fourth day Tuesday, has seen cargo handling come down to 53,865 tonnes from the normal quantity of 100,000 tonnes, said an official.

A source in the port said the Haldia dock system was losing Rs.10 million daily, while ships – 19 inside the port and 30 waiting at the Sandheads – were getting delayed, inconveniencing exporters and importers alike.

Government to write off ITI losses to hive off viable units

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Bangalore, June 30: The government would write off Rs.2,820 crore (Rs.28.2 billion) losses accumulated by Indian Telephone Industries (ITI) Ltd to enable the state-run undertaking hive off its viable units for private partners, a top official said Tuesday.

“We will write off about Rs.28.2 billion (in losses) accumulated by ITI during the last two-three years to kickstart its revival with a clean slate. We want the company to flourish by diversifying, collaborating and bidding for new projects,” Telecom Secretary Siddhartha Behura told reporters here at a function.

Airlines to assess ATF price hike before raising fares

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New Delhi, June 30: With jet fuel prices being hiked by six per cent, domestic air carriers today said that they would study its impact on their operational costs before taking any decision to increase airfares.

“We will examine the impact of the latest hike and take a call,” Kingfisher Airlines spokesperson said.

Similar views were expressed by officials of other air carriers like Jet Airways and SpiceJet.

Fuel costs amount to almost 40-45 per cent of the total operational cost of the airlines in India.

Armaan survives high-speed crash

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Spa Francorchamps (Belgium), June 30: Armaan Ebrahim, the 20-year old from Chennai, survived a high-speed crash during the second qualifying session here and skipped both the weekend races in the Formula 2 series.

Out on the historic track for the first time, Armaan, who missed the official practice session due to gearbox problems, and had qualified 16th in Qualifying session 1, was up to sixth place in session 2 on a damp track.

Improvement of maternal health a far cry in Orissa

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New Delhi, June 30: In spite of the government’s claims that rural health is undergoing a massive change under its flagship programme, a survey by a federation of advocacy agencies Tuesday said quality of healthcare is too bad in Orissa and women are dying in hospitals during child-births.

“Earlier many women were dying at home during baby-birth and now they are facing the same situation at health centres,” said Nabin Kumar Pati, co-chairman of the White Ribbon Alliance, India.

Israeli drones targeted civilians in Gaza: Rights group

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Jerusalem, June 30: Israel killed 87 civilians, including at least eight children, during its offensive against Gaza militants last winter, with missiles fired from remote pilotless vehicles (RPVs), Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report Tuesday.

The report, titled “Precisely Wrong: Gaza civilians killed by Israeli drone-launched missiles”, details six specific incidents which resulted in 29 civilian deaths.

LPG cylinder booking through SMS now

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New Delhi, June 30: Booking domestic LPG cylinder refill may be just a text message on mobile phone away.

Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, at the inauguration of Indian Oil Corp’s Golden Jubilee celebration, said LPG booking can soon be done through SMS.

“Recently, we have formulated Vision 2015 in the area of marketing. The LPG coverage is available to about 50 per cent of our population currently. Under the Vision, it is to be extended to 75 per cent by 2015,” he said.

For this, the existing scheme of LPG distributorship will be supplemented by a new Scheme of LPG Gramin Vitrak.

Monsoon reaches Delhi, at last (Second Lead)

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New Delhi, June 30: The national capital’s wait for the rains finally came to an end Tuesday as the monsoon reached the city, bringing with it showers and the much-needed respite from days of scorching heat.

The sharp shower in the evening brought smiles to the faces of Delhiites, who have been reeling under acute power and water shortage coupled with rising temperatures over the last few days.

“It was awesome to get drenched in the rain Tuesday evening. It was so humid throughout the day and the evening showers brought a big relief,” said Sudisha Bhola, a scientist.

Roadies fame Tamanna’s sex video leaked out

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Mumbai, June 30:A leading Mumbai tabloid has claimed that they have a clip that features MTV Roadies fame Tamanna indulging in sexually explicit activities. The roadies star has, however, slammed the reports and lashed out at the reporter responsible for the story.
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MTV ROADIES Hell Down Under contestant, Tamanna has once again hit the headlines but this time for a supposed sex video that is doing rounds throughout the country. A leading Mumbai tabloid has claimed that they have a clip that features Tamanna indulging in sexually explicit activities.

Maoist sympathisers protest near CPI-M Delhi office

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New Delhi, June 30: Protesting against anti-Maoist operation in West Bengal’s Lalgarh area by the Left Front government, Leftwing radicals’ sympathisers Tuesday marched to the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) office here.

The Maoist supporters raised slogans against the CPI-M-led government in West Bengal. Police arrested some of the protestors.

Security was tightened at the CPI-M office at the A.K.Gopalan Bhavan after Maoist supporters informed the media that they would stage a march to the CPI-M office to mark their protest against the Lalgarh operation.

Ex-Slovenian envoy bows out of IAEA leadership race

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Washington, June 30: A top Slovenian judge dropped out of the race to succeed U.N. nuclear agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei on Tuesday, two days ahead of an election diplomats fear could be inconclusive like an earlier vote in March.

The governing body of the International Atomic Energy Agency has been struggling to agree on a new chief as it faces the spreading spectre of nations gaining nuclear arms capability, especially Iran.

Indian arrested from Kathmandu airport

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Kathmandu, June 30: An Indian man was arrested from Nepal’s sole international airport in Kathmandu Tuesday.

According to police, Anil Kumar Sharma, who checked in at the Tribhuvan International Airport in the morning to catch an Indian Airlines flight to New Delhi, was arrested after security forces found 140 currency notes of the denomination of Rs.1,000 each from his hand bag.

Nepal has banned Rs.1,000 and Rs.500 notes in a bid to crack down on the growing racket in counterfeit Indian currency.

Sharma has been sent to the revenue investigation department for further probe.

India welcomes Obama’s call for waiving penalty for non-acceptance of emission target

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New Delhi, June 30: India today welcomed US President Barack Obama’s call to the US Senate to reject the penalty proposed in a bill passed by the House of Representatives for countries which do not take binding greenhouse gase emission targets.

“We welcome Obama’s call to the US Senate to reject the part of the bill that seeks to impose trade penalities on the countries which do not take binding emission targets. The Bill is anaemic,” Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said at a press conference here.

Eto’o wants to stay at Barcelona: Agent

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Madrid, June 30: The agent of Samuel Eto’o told the media Tuesday that the star striker wants to stay at European champions Barcelona.

Josep Maria Mesalles said “Eto’o wants to stay at Barca, but he is not going to put any obstacle in the way of the club if they want to get rid of him.”

He refused to confirm that Barca had received an offer of 30 million euros (42.15 million dollars) for Eto’o from Manchester City.

Mesalles added that (Barca coach Josep) “Guardiola has not told us that he doesn’t want the player.”

Police in mega cities to get helicopters: Chidambaram

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Mumbai, June 30: Police forces in mega cities will be provided with helicopters like in New York and London and other big cities of the world, Home Minister P Chidambaram said here today.

“There are plans to provide helicopters for the mega city policing. So when mega city policing project is complete, mega cities will have helicopters,” Chidambaram told reporters after inaugurating the first of the four hubs of elite National Security Guard commandoes here.

“That is the way policing is done in cities like New York and London and other big cities,” he said.

Mumbai sea bridge to be named after Rajiv Gandhi

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Mumbai, June 30: India’s first sea bridge, which was thrown open to traffic in this financial capital Tuesday, will be named after former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan announced here.

Chavan’s announcement was in response to a surprise demand to this effect by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

“Rajiv Gandhi was born in Mumbai, he was a son of the soil and it will be appropriate that the bridge be named after him,” Pawar said in his speech at an inaugural function.

Monsoon reaches Delhi, at last

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New Delhi, June 30: The national capital’s wait for the rains finally came to an end Tuesday as the monsoon reached the city, bringing with it showers and the much-needed respite from days of scorching heat.
The sharp shower in the evening brought smiles to the faces of Delhiites, who have been reeling under acute power and water shortage coupled with rising temperatures over the last few days.

“It was awesome to get drenched in the rain Tuesday evening. It was so humid throughout the day and the evening showers brought a big relief,” said Sudisha Bhola, a scientist.

Darshan’s ‘Yodha’ brings respite to Kannanda film industry

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Bangalore, June 30: Southern star Darshan’s first release of the year “Yodha” has received the biggest opening in recent times and trade analysts say the film could change the tide of Kannada film industry, which was going through a bad phase with downward revenues week after week.

Darshan is on cloud nine as the film has repeated the success story of his last year’s release “Gaja”.

Kashmir tense after Baramulla killings, youth injured

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Srinagar, June 30: Tensions continued in Baramulla town of north Kashmir Tuesday as an agitating youth was critically injured, reportedly in firing by security forces, after mobs defied curfew imposed after clashes with the police and paramilitary in which two protesters were killed Monday.
The youth, identified as Bilal Ahmad, was reportedly hit by a bullet in his head after protesters defied curfew in the old town area and resorted to throwing stones at the deployed police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

No regret on Babri Masjid, ready to be hanged: Uma Bharati

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Bhopal, June 30: As the Liberhan Commission probe report on the 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya was submitted to the government Tuesday, former Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) leader Uma Bharati said she does not regret the destruction and would be ready to be hanged if found guilty.

“I wanted the old structure to be destroyed though not in that way,” Uma Bharati, now heading the Bharatiya Janshakti Party after quitting the BJP, told reporters here.

Bandra-Worli Sea Link named Rajiv Gandhi Setu

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Mumbai, June 30: The Bandra-Worli Sea Link, which was inaugurated by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi here today, will be named as ‘Rajiv Gandhi Setu’.

The proposal for the same was mooted by Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar after the formal inauguration and immediately accepted by Chief Minister Ashok Chavan.

Recalling the late Prime Minister’s contribution in India’s progress as an Information Technology giant, Pawar said it was Rajiv who infused scientific temper in the new generation.