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Month: June 2009
Nitish dividing Dalit community: Paswan
Patna, June 25: LJP today charged Chief Minister Nitish Kumar with deliberately trying to divide Dalits for votes and threatened to launch a state-wide stir if “discrimination” against the community continued.
Referring to the state government’s bid to keep Ravidas (chamaras) and Paswan (dusadhs) out of the ‘mahadalit’ category, LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan said it reflects “dirty politics” to divide Dalits for votes, something his party will “never tolerate”.
He was talking to reporters at the site of a dharna organised by Dalit Sena, headed by Ramchandra Paswan, a former party MP.
Lara enjoys being a comedy actor
Mumbai, June 25: After Bhagam Bhag and Partner, Lara Dutta is confident of taking on more comedy roles. Even in her forthcoming films Do Knot Disturb and Houseful, Lara hopes to get a few laughs with her roles. “These comedies allow me to let myself go in a way I can never do in real life because I’m too private a person,” she said.
Lara confirmed, “Yes, Houseful will be my third comic role in a row. And I’m not worried. It’s a large cast (Deepika Padukone and Jiah Khan). But I have the best part among the girls.”
Congress denies TDP Chief’s charges
Hyderabad, June 25: The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) today denied the allegation of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President N Chandrababu Naidu that Congress was responsible for dissident activities in TDP.
Talking to newspersons here, Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister K Rosaiah said the Congress had no role in the present situation within the TDP. Stating that dissident activities in TDP was its internal matter, Mr Rosaiah said the Congress would not interfere in internal affairs of other political parties.
Man beaten to death by in-laws
Lucknow, June 25: A 35-year-old man was allegedly beaten to death by his in-laws over a petty dispute in Thakurganj area of the city, police said here today.
Vishwanath (35), an employee of a gas agency, was brutally beaten up by his in-laws yesterday, police said adding that he later died at a city hospital.
The attackers have been identified as Santosh, Amar, Guddu and Manish, police said.
Santosh, father-in-law of Vishwanath, also worked in the same agency.
Five persons have been detained by police in this connection.
–PTI
Saudi women train to sell lingerie
Riyadh, June 25: A group of Saudi woman launched a campaign aimed at bringing in female sales personnel at lingerie stores. Only men are allowed to sell underwear in almost all stores in this ultraconservative kingdom, making the experience of shopping for intimate apparel for most women embarrassing.
Body of Air France pilot identified
Paris, June 25: Authorities have identified the body of the chief pilot of the Air France aircraft that plunged into the Atlantic June 1 with 228 people aboard, the airline said on its web site Thursday.
‘Among the victims found in the sea search, two members of the Air France crew have been identified: the flight captain and a steward,’ Air France said.
The carrier’s CEO, Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, extended his condolences to their families on behalf of the company.
Blood collection scam: MCI suspends degree of four doctors
Jaipur, June 25: The Medical Council of India (MCI) has suspended MBBS degree of four doctors in the alleged blood collection scam, a government official said here today.
MBBS degrees of Girish Agarwal, Rajgirish, H N Singh, and Nawab Singh (all doctors) have been suspended for six months, the Karuali district collector Neeraj K Pawan told PTI on telephone.
These doctors would not be able to practice during this period, he said.
Pilot’s body of Air France flight 447 retrieved
Paris, June 25: Authorities have identified the body of the chief pilot of the Air France aircraft that plunged into the Atlantic June 1 with 228 people aboard, the airline said on its web site Thursday.
“Among the victims found in the sea search, two members of the Air France crew have been identified: the flight captain and a steward,” Air France said.
The carrier’s CEO, Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, extended his condolences to their families on behalf of the company.
Antony warns of threat from Pakistani Taliban
New Delhi, June 25: Holding that the Taliban in Pakistan posed a “real threat” to India, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said Thursday that since terrorists were still operating from the other side, India could not afford to lower its guard along the western border, especially in Jammu and Kashmir.
“The Taliban are a threat to world peace, our region and a real threat to India,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the two-day Unified Commanders Conference he inaugurated here.
Court wants unedited video of narco tests in Kerala nun murder
Kochi, June 25: A Kerala court Thursday asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to get within 10 days the unedited video footage of the narco-analysis done on three accused in the sensational 1992 murder of a nun, Sister Abhaya.
The chief judicial magistrate’s direction came after the nun’s father C.Thomas alleged that the video tapes produced before the court had been edited raising suspicion of manipulation.
CBI counsel sought a month to locate the master tape. But the court turned down the request.
Shutdown hits normal life in Assam
Guwahati, June 25: Two militants were shot dead by security forces in Assam on Thursday where an ULFA-sponsored day-long bandh to protest operations against it affected normal life.
A hardcore militant of the ULFA was tracked down by the police at Rani village in Kamrup (rural) district in the outskirts of the city in the early hours. The police shot dead the militant when he tried to escape in a motorcycle. A pistol and a hand grenade were recovered from him.
In another operation, the Army and police shot dead a NDFB ultra Rajesh Basumatary in Kokrajhar district.
Law to prohibit malpractices in education system: Sibal
New Delhi, June 25: A law to prohibit and punish malpractices in the educational system will be brought within 100 days, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said Thursday.
“We are going to bring a law to prevent, prohibit and punish educational malpractices in the country. It is meant to make the system more transparent,” Sibal told reporters of his ministry’s plans in the first 100 days of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government after being returned to power.
Anyone breaching the law should be punished, he added.
Google slammed as China, U.S. quarrel over Internet
Beijing, June 25: China on Thursday stepped up accusations that Google is spreading obscene content over the Internet, a day after U.S. officials urged Beijing to abandon plans for controversial filtering software on new computers.
The growing friction over control of online content threatens to become another irritant in ties at a time the world is looking for the United States and China to cooperate in helping to pull the global economy out of its slump.
SBI cuts prime lending rate by 50 basis points
Mumbai, June 25: State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest lender, today announced a 50 basis point cut in its benchmark prime lending rate (BPLR) to 11.75 per cent.
The cut would be effective from Monday, the bank said. With this, SBI has lowered its BPLR by 200 basis points since November 2008, when the Reserve Bank of India signalled a soft interest rate regime.
Mutton Biryani
Ingredients:
For mutton marination:
Mutton – 2kg
Cinnamon – 4sticks
Cloves – 7 to 8
Cardamon – 10 to 8 pods
Shajeera (caraway seeds) – 1tbsp
White Jeera – 1/2 tbsp
Saffron (kesar) – 6 to 7 strings
Nutmeg – 1/4 tbsp
Mace – 1/4 tbsp
Ginger garlic paste – 2tbsp
Yogurt – 400 gms
Lemon – 1 medium sized
Haldi – 1 tbsp
Red Chilli Powder – 1 tbsp
Potatoes – 1/2 kg
Brown Onions – 250 gms
A pinch of garam masala
Ghee – 1/2 kg
Salt to taste
Rice for Biryani – 1kg
Kneaded Atta for Dum
Method:
West Indies revel in playing at home: Dyson
Kingston, June 25 : West Indies coach John Dyson said his resurgent team will be more dangerous at home turf and will play an aggressive brand of cricket in the One-day seeries against India starting on Friday.
Dyson said they have chalked out strategies to tackle key Indian players, though he admitted the new members in the side could spring a surprise.
India would take field in the first of the four ODIs at Sabina Park here Friday, with key players like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan missing from the series.
Sri Lanka sets date for first post-war polls
Colombo, June 25: Sri Lanka on Aug. 8 will hold elections for the first time since declaring victory over the Tamil Tigers last month, the government said on Thursday.
The local government polls will take place in Jaffna and Vavuniya, two cities that were at the periphery of the territory controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for most of the 25-year separatist war.
The upcoming elections are aimed at entrenching a civilian administration in an area wracked by war for decades.
Iran’s Ahmadinejad compares Obama to Bush
Tehran, June 25: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Barack Obama on Thursday of behaving like his predecessor towards Iran and said there was not much point in talking to Washington unless the U.S. president apologised.
Obama said on Tuesday he was “appalled and outraged” by a post-election crackdown and Washington withdrew invitations to Iranian diplomats to attend U.S. Independence Day celebrations on July 4 — stalling efforts to improve ties with Tehran.
Surat gang rapist sell sex MMS clips, per clip at Rs 5000
Surat, June 25: Shocking disclosures in the Surat gangrape case continues to be made almost every day, the latest being that the three accused were running a veritable cellphone porn industry, using girls whom they befriended at Garba classes.
PCB chief to convince Younis Khan
Karachi, June 25: Pakistan skipper Younis Khan may have announced his retirement from twenty20 internationals but PCB chief Ejaz Butt says he is confident of convincing the senior batsman to reconsider his decision.
Butt told reporters at the reception hosted by the Prime Minister for the World Cup winning team that he would talk to Younis and convince him to change his decision to retire from T20 cricket.
Experts discover 35,000-year-old flute in Germany – Feature
Tuebingen, Germany, June 25: At first glance it looked like a piece of bone that had been thrown away. But what Katharina Koll found in a cave in southern Germany late last year is the world’s oldest known flute. “I picked it up, looked at it and then quickly put it aside,” said the 19-year-old, a trainee at the Institute for Archaeology in Tuebingen.
Her boss, archaeologist Nicholas Conard, said the find demonstrates the presence of a well-established musical tradition at the time when modern humans colonized Europe, more than 35,000 years ago.
Who will play Vijay in KJo’s Agneepath?
Mumbai, June 25: Vijay Dinanath Chauhan — one of the most iconic characters of Bollywood — is set to take his revenge from Kancha Cheena.
However, this time round it won’t be the angry young man of Bollywood but a younger star doing the role. Karan Johar has confirmed that he is all set to re-make the national award winning film, Agneepath.
And KJo promises that his version will be a little different from the original movie. But the big question is who would befit the larger-than-life role of Vijay Deenanath Chauhan.
John left ‘hanging’ by President Obama
Mumbai, June 25: During the shoot for his upcoming Film “New York”, John Abraham was quite the dare-devil as he decided to do his own stunts even though the director and stunt-director had briefed him with the risks involved in the shot.
But John was unaware of how this risky stunt would turn into an incident he would narrate to his friends later.
Apparently the director Kabir Khan, was not happy that the movie had a few stunts, so he decided to add a few more, one of them included John hanging out from a 20th Floor window.
I don’t see Asin as my competitor: Trisha
Chennai, June 25: Popular Tamil actress Trisha is all set to make her Bollywood debut opposite Akshay Kumar, but insists that her foray into Hindi films shouldn’t be seen as competing with Asin.
“I neither wanted frantically to do a Hindi film nor do I treat Asin as my competitor. All I’m concerned about is the films I’m starring in; I hardly have the time to check and monitor others’ career,” said Trisha.