Month: July 2009

Jakarta bomb blast hotels to re-open Wednesday

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Jakarta, July 29: Two luxury Jakarta hotels attacked by suicide bombers earlier this month will re-open on Wednesday, staff said.

The July 17 attacks on the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton left nine dead and 53 injured, including Indonesians and foreigners.

Police have yet to identify the perpetrators but suspect Malaysian-born fugitive Noordin Top, who heads a splinter faction of the radical Islamic group Jemaah Islamiah, may have helped plan the attacks.

The Ritz-Carlton already has guests booked to stay on Wednesday night, said hotel spokeswoman Els Ramadhinta.

Afridi appointed captain for one-off T20 against SL

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Karachi, July 29: Shahid Afridi”s dream of leading the national team came true as the flamboyant all-rounder was today appointed captain for the one-off Twenty20 match against Sri Lanka next month. Pakistan Cricket Board today made an announcement to this effect but there was no mention whether Afridi would continue at the helm of the country”s T20 team.

Indian-born reporter charges that her attacker was Indian

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Melbourne, July 29: An Indian undercover reporter who was assaulted in Sydney during a sting operation while exposing migration and education scams has blasted claims that attack on her was racial, saying that the culprit who assaulted her was a fellow Indian.

“I’m just very, very appalled with the Indian media assuming that this was a racist attack,” the 28-year-old reporter with ABC network, who was not identified by the channel, told The Australian daily.

Maharashtra govt legalises Mumbai slums

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Mumbai, July 29: Just a few months ahead of assembly polls, the Maharashtra government on Wednesday decided to legalise slums in Mumbai built on January 1, 2000 or before.

The state government also announced that the Mumbai slums, the bane of a metropolis that dreams of becoming Shanghai, will be given a permanent status.

Though crucial questions about the pattern of urban development will be raised, the government seems to have made up its mind.

It clearly is a populist move, but one that the Congress had promised long back.

Pregnancy likely to be swine flu shot priority

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Atlanta, July 29: Swine flu has been hitting pregnant women unusually hard, so they are likely to be among the first group advised to get a new swine flu shot this fall.

Pregnant women account for 6 percent of U.S. swine flu deaths since the pandemic began in April, even though they make up just 1 percent of the U.S. population.

FDA says mercury dental fillings not harmful

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Washington, July 29: The US Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday silver-colored dental fillings that contain mercury are safe for patients, reversing an earlier caution against their use in certain patients, including pregnant women and children.

“While elemental mercury has been associated with adverse health effects at high exposures, the levels released by dental amalgam fillings are not high enough to cause harm in patients,” the FDA said, citing an agency review of roughly 200 scientific studies.

Anti-virals may not work for elderly swine flu victims

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London, July 29: If the current swine flu pandemic behaves like the 1918 flu, anti-viral treatment may not be very effective in the case of those above 65, according to the latest research.

Researchers found that, in this situation, it would not significantly reduce mortality among them and could lead to an increase in resistance.

Stefano Merler, from the Bruno Kessler Foundation in Italy, worked with researchers from the Instituto Superiore di Sanit?o model the effect of anti-viral treatment on the spread of influenza.

Teenage smoking still serious in China

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Beijing, July 29: The number of young Chinese picking up smoking habit has more than doubled from previous years, despite health education convincing them not to smoke, a Chinese newspaper reported Wednesday.

A survey conducted among 40,000 students in Beijing showed 17 percent of students at the primary and secondary level smoked cigarettes last year, up from 7 percent from 2005.

10,000 disappeared in China: Uighur leader

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Tokyo, July 29: Exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer said Wednesday that nearly 10,000 people “disappeared in one night” during ethnic unrest in the Chinese city of Urumqi early this month.

“Close to 10,000 people in Urumqi disappeared in one night. Where did those people go?” she said in Japan, speaking in her native language through a translator. “If they died, where did they go?”

Kadeer, 62, the US-based head of the World Uighur Congress, charged that “the Chinese government is trying to destroy the Uighur people. I want to tell the international community about our situation.”

‘Stunts’ banned in India schools

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New Delhi, July 29: The event was stopped after a relative of a minister protested Schools in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu will be instructed not to stage events with “risky” stunts, an official told the BBC.

The move follows an event in which a martial arts trainer drove a motorcycle over the hands of students.

The show, which was being staged during a function at a school in Villupuram, was stopped after the relative of a minister present protested.

Authorities said students’ parents had pressured the school to hold the event.

Iraqi army storms Iran camp

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Baquba, July 29: Iraqi soldiers and riot police stormed a camp housing Iran’s main exiled opposition on Tuesday, triggering violent clashes that left at least 260 people wounded.

The seizure of Camp Ashraf, which was disarmed by the United States in 2003 and surrounded by American forces until recently, comes after months of a tense stand-off at the base north of Baghdad.

Superem Court Upholds RK Anand’s Conviction In BMW Case

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New Delhi, July 29: In a historic judgement, the Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the conviction of advocate RK Anand for contempt of court by attempting to influence controversial witness Sunil Kulkarni in the infamous BMW hit-and-run case.

The three-judge Bench of Justices BN Agrawal, GS Singhvi and Aftab Alam, however, set aside the conviction of Special Public Prosecutor IU Khan. The court although termed his conduct as improper but said there is no ground of a contempt of court case against him.

Singh to outline Pakistan stand

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New Delhi, July 29: The two leaders said terrorism was their common threat
Indian PM Manmohan Singh is due to make a statement clarifying the government’s stand on peace talks with Pakistan.

The move comes a fortnight after a joint statement issued by the two neighbours created confusion.

The statement had said they would fight terrorism without linking such co-operation to wider peace talks.

But after the joint statement Mr Singh said India would not start peace talks with Pakistan until the Mumbai attacks suspects are brought to justice.

Flintoff joins space race to boost England’s Ashes quest

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Edgbaston, July 29: Andrew Flintoff, who has already performed like a man hardly of this earth in the Ashes series, is using space technology to ensure his continued participation. The man who is determined to defy the strains of his body to play the next three matches has been sleeping with a machine designed by Nasa.

Sonia lets Lalu stay in front row seat

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New Delhi, July 29: The Congress and the RJD may have gone their ways in Bihar, and Lalu Prasad may not be a minister anymore, but the rapport between him and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi remains.

Earlier this week Gandhi intervened to ensure that the former railway minister was allotted a front row seat in the Lok Sabha, from the Congress quota. The RJD has four members in the Lok Sabha and has been relegated to the back benches.

UK troops forced out of Iraq as mandate expires

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Baghdad, July 29: Six years and four months after the invasion of Iraq almost all remaining British forces are leaving the country quietly, without any ceremony.

To the embarrassment of the UK Government, the 150 military personnel are having to relocate to Kuwait after the Iraqi parliament failed to ratify an agreement by Friday. Without this accord the troops do not have any legal right to stay on.

Stop asking questions; prosecute Saeed: PC to Pak

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New Delhi, July 29: Taking on Pakistan for its apparent reluctance to act against JuD chief Hafiz Saeed citing lack of evidence, Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said that enough proof has been provided and it’s time that Pakistan starts to act against the perpetrators of the 26/11 attacks.

Criticising Islamabad for inaction, Chidambaram said, “They should stop asking question and get on with the job. There is enough evidence provided in the dossier given to Pakistan.”

The power struggle in Iran

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The role of the Supreme Leader is at the heart of the political crisis

How are we to understand the tumultuous events in Iran over the last few weeks?

In the 30 years since the Islamic revolution which overthrew the Shah, there have been no shortage of rows, crises and factional squabbles.

But this time is different. This time the disputes are out in the open – and the stakes could not be higher.

There is a sense that Iran is at a crossroads.

Gujcoc bill goes back to Centre

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Gandhinagar, July 29: Ignoring all suggestions made by the Centre for changes in the controversial Gujarat Control of Organised Crime (Gujcoc) Bill, the Narendra Modi government on Tuesday re-introduced the bill in the state assembly. The Bill was passed unanimously in the house as opposition members have been boycotting the assembly since Speaker Ashok Bhatt rejected their demand for a debate on the recent hooch tragedy in Ahmedabad. The Bill will now be sent, for the second time, to the Centre for the President’s approval.

Baloch row: NDA blasts govt

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New Delhi, July 29: An NDA delegation which met President Pratibha Patil on Tuesday charged the UPA government with bringing the Balochistan issue to the centre-stage of the Indo-Pak negotiations by allowing Pakistan to make allegations against India in the joint statement.

India did not clarify its stand in the joint statement and thus allowed Islamabad to point an “invisible finger” at New Delhi for the trouble in Balochistan, they alleged.

Ahmadinejad riles powerful allies

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Tehran, July 29: With the row over Iran’s disputed election still bitterly dividing the country, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is now in a new dispute with fellow conservatives.

It is an argument every bit as heated as the election row, and potentially even more damaging to the president.

Just over a month after the election, Mr Ahmadinejad provoked fury amongst his fellow conservatives by promoting one of his vice-presidents, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, to the post of first vice-president.

‘Sanju baba’ turns 50

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Mumbai, July 29: Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt, whose real life could resemble a movie potboiler drama, turned 50 today.

“Sanju baba”, as the macho man of Hindi movies is fondly called, is in Cape Town, South Africa, shooting for Anil Kapoor’s home production No Problem directed by Anees Bazmee.

He will have a quiet “working” birthday but a small get-together on the sets will take place.

The actor’s wife Manyata and close friends from the film industry and outside are already in Cape Town to be with him on his special day.

I want ‘Love Aaj Kal’ to break all records: Kareena Kapoor

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Mumbai, July 29: Her recent release ‘Kambakkht Ishq’ has seen the best opening of 2009 so far.

But Kareena Kapoor wants boyfriend Saif Ali Khan’s ‘Love Aaj Kal’ to even surpass her film’s record and enjoy phenomenal success at the box office.

“I really want ‘Love Aaj Kal’ to break all box-office records. Yes, ‘Kambakkht Ishq’ is my film but then so is ‘Love Aaj Kal’. For both Saif and me ‘Love Aaj Kal’ is a not just a prestigious project but also something which is very close to our hearts”, Kareena said.

Sharapova sails through

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Stanford, July 29: Maria Sharapova shook off the rust to beat Japan’s Ai Sugiyama 6-4, 6-7, 6-1 in the first round of the Stanford Classic on Monday.

Fellow Russian Elena Dementieva joined her in the second round after beating Britain’s Anne Keothavong 6-1, 6-4.

On the comeback trail after shoulder surgery last year, three-times grand slam champion Sharapova conceded she needed more matches to get her form back.

Anil Ambani says KG gas price will increase power cost by Rs 1

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Mumbai, July 29: Anil Ambani, fighting the petroleum ministry and Reliance Industries for enforcement of a 2005 gas deal, has warned that the higher price of gas suggested by the ministry will result in an increase in power costs. He was talking to shareholders at the annual general meeting of Reliance Natural Resources (RNRL).

The ministry had suggested that RIL should charge $4.2 as a base price for its gas from the KG basin, almost double the price at what RIL itself had bid to supply to government owned National Thermal Power Corp (NTPC).