Month: July 2009

Cameron’s radio blunder

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London, July 29: British opposition leader David Cameron, who hopes to become prime minister next year, apologised on Wednesday after swearing on the radio when talking about Twitter users.

Cameron, whose Conservative Party is widely tipped to win general elections due by next June, made the comments when asked if he used the increasingly ubiquitous micro-blogging site.

“No I’m not. I’m not on Twitter. I think that politicians do have to think what we say, and I think the trouble with Twitter (is) the instantness of it – too many twits might make a twat,” he told Absolute Radio.

US may leave Iraq early

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Washington, July 29: Aboard a US military aircraft – The United States is considering speeding up its withdrawal from Iraq because of the sustained drop in violence there, Defence Secretary Robert Gates said following discussions with his top commanders in the war.

“I think there’s at least some chance of a modest acceleration this year”, Gates said.

It was the first suggestion that the Obama administration might rethink its difficult choice to leave a heavy fighting force in Iraq long past the election of an American president who opposed the war.

MSoft, Yahoo ‘near search deal’

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Seattle, July 29: Microsoft Corp appears to have finally locked up rival Yahoo Inc in a long-awaited internet search partnership aimed at narrowing Google Inc’s commanding lead in the most lucrative piece of the online advertising market.

The details of the Microsoft-Yahoo alliance are expected to be announced on Wednesday, a person with knowledge of the talks told The Associated Press. This person spoke on Tuesday night on condition on anonymity, confirming earlier reports, because the deal was not yet final.

Social Democratic Party of India announced

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New political party to cater needs of marginalized people including Muslims, Dalits, tribals, women & some sections of BC

New Delhi, July 29 (Pervez Bari): A new party has emerged on the political horizon of India which would cater to the needs of a large number of extremely marginalized people including Muslims, Dalits, tribals, women and some sections of the backward communities.

Iraq cabinet approves bill on National Oil Company

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Baghdad, July 29: Iraq’s cabinet has approved a draft law setting up a new National Oil Company, a spokesman said on Wednesday, but the company will not be able to operate until a package of delayed energy laws was passed.

The long-awaited creation of a new National Oil Company, which would revive a company originally established in the 1960s and merged into the Iraqi Oil Ministry in 1987, is a central plank of Iraq’s plan to turn around its struggling oil sector and more effectively take advantage of its vast mineral wealth.

Sunbeds: Top cancer threat

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Sydney, July 29: Tanning beds have been ranked alongside cigarettes, arsenic and asbestos as posing the greatest threat of cancer to humans by an international cancer research group.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has moved ultra-violet emitting tanning beds to its highest cancer risk category and labelled them as “carcinogenic to humans” after ruling they are more dangerous than previously suggested.

The France-based agency, which is part of the World Health Organisation, had previously classified sunlamps and tanning beds as “probably” carcinogenic to humans.

200kg of elephant tusks found

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Hanoi, July 29: Vietnamese customs officials have uncovered 200kg of elephant ivory tusks illegally imported from Kenya, official media reported on Wednesday.

The tusks were found hidden in timber inside a container at the northern Hai Phong port, said Cong An Nhan Dan (People’s Police) newspaper.

Authorities are seeking the owner of the container, who did not turn up to receive the goods when they arrived in April, the newspaper said.

It did not say who was listed as the receiver, or give a street value for the ivory.

KZN rhino shot, ranger wounded

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Pietermaritzburg, July 29: A white rhino mother had to be humanely put down by a veterinarian on Tuesday after game rangers were forced to shoot her in self defence and wounded her at Tembe Elephant Park in KwaZulu-Natal on Monday night.

But the baby calf the rhino had been so desperate to protect was eventually tracked down by rangers late on Tuesday afternoon and by about 18:00 was en route to a boma at Imfolozi-Hluhluwe game reserve which is the only Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife game reserve with the facilities to look after orphaned rhinos.

MSoft releases security patch

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Washington, July 29: Microsoft released a security patch on Tuesday aimed at preventing hackers from exploiting a vulnerability in its web browser, Internet Explorer.

The US software giant said that the security update would be automatically installed for Internet Explorer users who have automatic updating enabled on their computers but would need to be installed manually by other users.

It said the update resolves three privately reported vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer.

Moldy ‘tweet’ ticks off firm

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Chicago, July 29: A Chicago company ticked off over a former tenant’s “tweet” about a moldy apartment filed a lawsuit on Tuesday.

In its lawsuit, Horizon Group Management LLC accuses Amanda Bonnen of defaming the company in May when she “tweeted” about moldy apartments.

The lawsuit said she used Twitter, a microblogging service that allows users to give brief online status updates, to tell another user: “Who said sleeping in a moldy apartment was bad for you? Horizon realty thinks it’s okay.”

Panel backs Nasa budget bid

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Cape Canaveral, July 29: The United States needs to boost Nasa’s budget by $1.5bn to fly the last seven shuttle missions and should extend International Space Station operations through 2020, a presidential panel reviewing the US human space programme said on Tuesday.

The 10-member board also proposed adding an extra, eighth shuttle flight to help keep the station supplied and narrow an expected five- to seven-year gap between the time the shuttle fleet is retired and a new US spaceship is ready to fly.

Yahoo gives in to Microsoft

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Sunnyvale, July 29: Microsoft has reached a deal with Yahoo for an internet search partnership, ending years of back and forth negotiations.

The agreement announced on Wednesday gives Microsoft access to the internet’s second-largest search engine audience.

It adds a potentially potent weapon to Microsoft’s internet arsenal as the software maker girds for an online assault against Google.

Police boss ‘key to reducing crime’

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Pretoria, July 29: KwaZulu-Natal MEC Bheki Cele has been appointed as the new national commissioner of police, President Jacob Zuma said on Wednesday.

Cele will step into Jackie Selebi’s shoes in August.

“We pledge that over the next five years the criminal justice system will be overhauled and that crime levels will be reduced. The filling of a key position within the SAPS (SA Police Service) is a key factor towards the achievement of this goal,” Zuma told a media briefing in Pretoria.

India has 53,000 HIV positive children: Govt

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New Delhi, July 29: Nearly 53,000 children in the country are HIV positive, with Tamil Nadu topping the list with new 2,650 cases, health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad told the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

The minister said in 2006, about 2,253 cases were reported, while the following year 24,977 were registered. In November 2008, the figure touched 19,116.

“The cumulative total among children now stands at 52,973 in May 2009,” Azad said.

India has 2.5 million HIV/AIDS cases.

Boy held for throwing acid on minor

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Kanpur, July 29: Apparently frustrated over an abrupt end to his affair, a boy here allegedly threw acid on his 14-year-old beloved, police said. Superintendent of Police KS Peepal said that police arrested accused Anand and also found loveletters and photographs from him.

Kamla (name changed), a class 10 student of Hiswa village was returning home last evening, when Anand threw acid on her body, which caused injuries to her body and was admitted to hospital. According to police, apparently infuriated over no conversation with his dalit girlfriend, Anand decided to take this step.

UPA government needs no lessons on Pakistan from NDA: PM

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New Delhi, July 29: The dossier submitted by Pakistan on the Mumbai terror attack was the first time it had ‘formally briefed’ India on the results of an investigation into a terror attack, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Wednesday and added that his government needed no lessons from the NDA.

The dossier was a 34-page document containing details of the planning and the sequence of events, photographs, a copy of the first information report (FIR) and the communication methods used, the prime minister said in parliament.

Four arrested in murder case of two elderly women

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Mumbai, July 29: A routine vehicle check by police last night resulted in the arrest of four persons who allegedly killed two elderly women and were escaping with their valuables, police said here today. The four, including the car driver of the victims, were nabbed after a policeman who stopped the taxi they were traveling in noticed blood stains on the shirt worn by one and detained them for questioning.

BSE Sensex falls 1 pct; Tata Steel, Sterlite drop

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Mumbai, July 29: The BSE Sensex slid 1 percent on Tuesday, its third consecutive fall, as a sell-off in Shanghai stocks on fears Chinese banks may begin to restrict lending weighed on markets across Asia.

Chinese stocks dropped 5 percent, their biggest fall in eight months, dragging down India’s main index as much as 2.9 percent before it pared losses as analysts said any moves by banks in China were unlikely to affect India.

AICTE chairman suspended over graft charges

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New Delhi, July 29: Chairman of All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) R A Yadav was on Wednesday suspended in connection with the corruption case registered against him by the CBI.

Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal took the step after Yadav defied the Ministry’s instruction to step down or go on leave in view of the inquiry against him in the corruption case filed by CBI early this month.

Japan’s opposition wobbles on Afghan operation

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kabul, July 29: The leader of Japan’s opposition Democratic Party said on Wednesday he would end a refuelling mission in support of U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan in January, appearing to contradict comments by two senior party officials.

Polls show the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), which has promised a diplomatic stance more independent of Japan’s main ally, the United States, is likely to take power from the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party in an Aug. 30 election.

Kenya arrests four Dutchmen near Somalia border

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Nairobi, July 29: Kenyan police are questioning four Dutch passport-holders who were arrested on suspicion of aiding Somalia’s al Shabaab insurgents, a local government official said on Wednesday.

The four men — three who were born in Morocco and the fourth in Somalia — were stopped by police on Monday while on their way to Kiunga on the Kenya-Somalia border.

“The al Shabaab group has been receiving humanitarian and technical help from foreigners and we suspect the people we have in custody were in that area to do exactly that,” Stephen Ikua, Lamu district commissioner, said.

Ireland to take 2 Guantanamo inmates

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Dublin, July 29: Ireland has agreed to accept two inmates from the Guantanamo prison camp in Cuba, Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern announced Wednesday.

Ahern said the two men belong to a group of about 50 inmates who are “no longer regarded as posing a threat to security but who cannot return to their own countries.” He declined to identify them, but other officials confirmed that both are from Uzbekistan and seized in neighboring Afghanistan in bitterly disputed circumstances.

Eight killed in clashes at Iranian exile camp in Iraq

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Baghdad, July 29: Eight people have been killed and more than 455 injured in clashes between Iraqi security forces and an armed Iranian rebel group in northwesten Iraq, authorities said Wednesday.

Abdel-Nasser al-Mahdawi, Governor of Iraq’s northeastern Diyala province, told reporters that eight members of the People’s Mujahidin of Iran (PMOI) organisation were killed and at least 425 others were injured Tuesday in clashes between the group and Iraqi policemen at Camp Ashraf, the group’s base in Iraq.

Hero Honda June qtr net up 83 pct

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Mumbai, July 29: Hero Honda Motors Ltd, India’s largest motorcycle maker on Wednesday reported an 83 percent rise in net profit for the June quarter beating forecasts on high sales volumes, new product launches and lower raw material prices.

The company, in which Japan’s Honda Motor Co holds 26 percent stake, reported a net profit of 5.00 billion rupees ($103 million), up from 2.73 billion a year earlier.

Net sales rose to 38.11 billion rupees from 28.44 billion year-ago.

Tata Steel Q1 India net down 47 pct, misses forecast

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Mumbai, July 29: Tata Steel Ltd, the world’s No. 8 steel maker by output, on Wednesday reported a larger-than-expected 47 percent fall in June quarter profit from its Indian operations as realisations fell sharply on lower commodity prices.

Tata Steel, which acquired Europe’s second-largest steelmaker Corus in 2007, said standalone net profit fell to 7.90 billion rupees ($163 million) for the fiscal first quarter ended June, from 14.88 billion reported a year earlier.

Net sales fell to 55.5 billion rupees from 61.70 billion.