Month: July 2009

We’ve too many spokespersons these days, says Advani

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New Delhi, July 07: Caught in the throes of a vigorous debate after the party’s debacle in the recent general election, senior BJP leader L K Advani, in an apparent reference to the intra-party feud, on Monday cautioned against the growing trend of “every second leader in the party willing to hold forth on virtually everything to see their name in print and face on television”.

“Hamare yahan pravakta bahut ho gaye hain. Keval akhbar mein naam dekhne ke liye aur television mein chehra dekhne ke liye aatur rehte hain (We are having too many spokespersons in the party these days.

Manmohan, Obama likely to meet at G-8: Menon

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New Delhi, July 07: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to meet US President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the G-8 summit in Italy, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon indicated on Monday. He also confirmed the possibility of meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir on the sidelines of the NAM summit in mid-July.

When asked about PM-Obama meeting, Menon said, “I am sure they will be meeting, but we will tell you once we have it all sorted out, (with) precise timings and places.”

Saif and Kareena’s Secret Pact

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Mumbai, July 07: Saif has made a promise to Kareena. He’ll have a double celebration for the success of Kareena’s release Kambhakkt Ishq and his own Love Aaj Kal. But if, God forbid Kareena’s film doesn’t do well, there will be no celebration for Love Aaj Kal.

“That’s true,” admits Saif. “For me my film and Bebo’s are equally important. In fact, if there were a choice I’d rather have her film work than mine. God willing, both films will be hits. And we’ll have a double celebration.”

Fire breaks out at DC office

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Chandigarh, July 07: A major tragedy was averted due to presence of mind of ex-serviceman Gurdarshan Singh as he used fire extinguishers to douse a fire that broke out at the Suvidha centre in the Deputy Commissioner’s office at Phase I in Mohali on Monday.

Though no major loss was reported, the electric wiring and allied installations were reportedly damaged in the inferno.

Dravid makes Champions Trophy probables cut

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Mumbai, July 07: The list of 30 probables for the Indian squad for the upcoming Champions Trophy ODI tournament was announced amid much fanfare on Monday. The most pleasantly surprising aspect for the supporters of Rahul Dravid was his inclusion in the outfit.

Rahul Dravid finds himself back in the ODI reckoning after the former captain was named in India`s 30-member probables list for the Champions Trophy on Monday.

‘Soar left rib’ rules Lee out of first two Ashes Tests

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Cardiff, July 07: A sore- left rib muscles has thrown Australia’s Ashes campaign in troubled waters after their ace paceman Brett Lee was ruled out of first two Tests.

Australia face an anxious wait over the fitness of fast bowler Brett Lee for Wednesday`s first Ashes Test against England after he suffered a rib injury. A scan later revealed a sore rib and threw away Lee’s chances of making a comeback on a grand stage.

Galle Test: Pak sight win after rookies tame Lanka

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Galle, July 07: Debutants Mohammad Aamer and Saeed Ajmal combined to wreck Sri Lanka’s batting and put Pakistan on the road to victory in the first cricket Test.

The pace-spin duo grabbed three wickets each as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 217 in their second innings on the third day, leaving Pakistan a modest victory target of 168 runs.

The tourists, who have never lost a Test series in Sri Lanka, ended the day at 71-2 and have two days to score the remaining 97 runs with eight wickets in hand for a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Bus crushes girl to death, mob breathes fire all around

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Kolkata, July 07: Irate locals set on fire eight buses and a fire engine and ransacked a police van following the death of a girl who was run over by a bus at Uttarjhapar at Domjur in Howrah district. The incident occurred at 5.30 pm on Monday. Twelve shops in the adjoining area were also torched by angry locals.

According to police, Riya Das (13), Class VII a student of St Thomas, had alighted from her school bus at the bus stop and was crossing the road to go home when a route 63 Howrah-Domjur bus run over her. The student died on the spot.

Crying out for justice

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As the latest inquiry into Israel’s war on Gaza hears the harrowing testimonies of Palestinian survivors, Edward Platt exposes the obstacles in the way of truth and a fair trial

‘I don’t know if I can ever top this’: Federer

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Wimbledon, July 07: Roger Federer certainly is not ready to stop at a record 15 Grand Slam titles.

Still, he figures his recent run of success is about as good as it gets: a first French Open title to complete a career Grand Slam and tie Pete Sampras with 14 major championships, followed immediately by a sixth Wimbledon trophy for No. 15 overall.

Record crowd welcomes Ronaldo to Real Madrid

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Madrid, July 07: A capacity crowd of close to 80,000 people welcomed Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid on Monday, setting a new record for turnout at the presentation of a footballer, club officials said.

“I am very happy to be here,” the 24-year-old Portuguese winger told cheering fans at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in the Spanish capital after completing his much-desired move to the club from Manchester United.

‘Rs 1000 cr will go into CPM’s pocket’

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Kolkata, July 07: The budgetary grant of Rs 1,000 crore by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to the state government for relief and reconstruction of the Aila-devastated areas of Sunderbans has left the Congress ally Trinamool unhappy.

Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee has been exerting pressure on the Centre against granting funds to the state claiming these would be misused by the LF government.

Suicide blast kills 2 Afghans near NATO base

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Kandhar, July 07: A suicide car bomber killed at least two civilians in an attack outside a major international military base on Monday in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province, a Taliban stronghold, Army officials said.

The bomber apparently targeted a group of Afghan soldiers and truck drivers providing supplies for foreign troops at the sprawling Kandahar air field south of Kandahar city.

“It was a suicide car attack which killed two truck drivers and wounded 10 more of them, along with two (Afghan) Army soldiers,” said General Sher Mohammad Zazai in Kandahar.

Obama, Medvedev sign pact to reduce nuclear stockpiles

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Moscow, July 07: President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev struck a preliminary deal Monday to reduce their stockpiles of nuclear warheads to as few as 1,500 each, pointing the two countries’ arsenals toward lower levels than in any previous arms control agreement.

The document signed by the two leaders at a Moscow summit, Obama’s first in Russia, is meant as a guide for negotiators as the nations work toward a replacement pact for the START arms control agreement that expires in December. Each country now has about 2,000 warheads.

Too many spokespersons in BJP: Advani

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New Delhi, July 07: Publicly criticising party colleagues for airing criticism of party ideology and strategy to the media apparently after the Lok Sabha poll defeat, senior BJP leader L K Advani on Monday said the party seemed to have “too many spokespersons”.

The urge (among some party leaders) to see their names in newspapers …to see their face on TV for a few seconds … Sometimes, I feel there are too many spokespersons in our party,” Advani said at a function here to mark the birth anniversary of Jan Sangh founder Shyama Prasad Mookherjee.

Happy or sad, over to admission centres

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Mumbai, July 07: The reactions were predictable: students of the state board were disappointed, those of other boards jubilant. Whatever their mood, all got ready for admission, with decks for the process cleared after the verdict.

“It is a victory for parents, students and the Association of ICSE Schools of Maharashtra. Our students can now go ahead with a normal admission procedure,” said Perin Bagli, principal of Activity High School, Gamdevi.

Maha govt’s SSC admission quota illegal: Bombay HC

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Mumbai, July 07: In a major respite to thousands of non-SSC Board students, the Bombay High Court declared the Maharashtra government’s decision to reserve 90% of seats in Class XI admissions for SSC Board pass-outs as illegal.

A division bench of Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice SC Dharmadhikari of the Bombay High Court said, “The Maharashtra government’s 90:10 quota formula for SSC students was illegal as it violated the rules.”

Akshay Kumar is cute and clumsy: Denise Richards

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Mumbai, July 07: Akshay Kumar in conversation with Denise Richards

Akshay Kumar: We have Denise Richards (DR) here with me… So DR What do you think about being in the Indian Film Industry in Bollywood?

Kambhakkt Ishq (KI) was my first Bollywood Film and I didn’t not know what to expect from it. But I felt very comfortable. Bollywood is a very catchy phrase, it sounds cool. All of you welcomed me and made feel so comfortable. Thank you. You all very helpful and very fun people and I love that.

Have you seen any Bollywood film?

Yes, SRK, sex and comedy sells

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Mumbai, July 07: You’ve worked with newly set up production houses before. What are the criteria on which you decide to work for them?
It all depends on who owns or runs the production house. There are so many people who are new comers and want to make films.

99% of them do not want to make films because they love cinema but because they want to know the industry and get to know these gorgeous actresses. People like ABCL, AKFC are in the cinema, know cinema and like cinema. That is the reason I’ve too set up my own production house called ‘Shooting Stars’.

No boardwise quota : Court quashes 90:10 policy, says made with political agenda

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Mumbai, July 07: The state government’s second attempt at wooing the majority SSC (state board) students fell flat on Monday when the Bombay High Court set aside the government resolution that reserved 90 per cent of seats for SSC students and the rest for those of other boards like the ICSE and the CBSE.

The court said it had seen through the government’s political agenda and observed, “The GR has been issued only for political ambitions and to favour students belonging to the SSC board.”

Iraq deaths inquiry approved

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London, July 07: The Ministry of Defence said on Monday there were grounds for an inquiry into the deaths of up to 20 Iraqis whose relatives say they were tortured and killed by British troops in 2004.

In a submission to the High Court delivered by government lawyers, Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth said he “profoundly regretted” a failure to make documents in the case available to the court and conceded a public inquiry should be held.

Upset Kareena is badly missing her Dad

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Mumbai, July 07: Of late Kareena has been bonding big-time with her Dad. And Randhir Kapoor couldn’t have chosen a worse time to be out of the country.

Just when Kareena’s most important film is being released both her sister and dad are out of the country, hence their absence from the special screening on Tuesday night when Kareena invited just her family and no friends, not even best friend Amrita Arora.

I am bringing Jackie Chan to Bollywood

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Mumbai, July 07: Brett Ratner is thrilled to have tied up with Reliance’s Big Entertainment to bring cinematic material from all over the world.

Brett will now make a movie out of Rob Liefeld’s popular Youngblood superhero comics from the 1990s.

Brett can barely contain his excitement. “Youngblood is the no.1 independent comicbook in the world, on a par with Marvel and DC comics. So many studios wanted it.

No question of Barbara Mori coming to Mumbai

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Mumbai, July 07: If all goes well Anurag Kashyap’s Kites will the first Indian film to get a massive opening in Mexico….swine flu permitting.

The film complete and edited and ready.

Says Rakesh Roshan, “Barbara Mori has finished all her work. We won’t need her for the film now until the global premieres across the world in Diwali. So there’s no question of her coming to Mumbai for Kites. We wish her well wherever she is.”

The songs in Hindi by Rajesh Roshan would not only be dubbed in English but also in Spanish for the Latin American market.

Bond recalled to NZ one-day squad but not tests

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Auckland, July 07: Fast bowler Shane Bond has been recalled to the New Zealand national squad for their tour of Sri Lanka starting next month.

Bond, who has only just rejoined the international fold after cutting his ties with the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League (ICL) was included in New Zealand’s one-day and Twenty20 squad but overlooked for the tests.

Wary about his lack of match practice, the national selectors instead picked Bond for the New Zealand A tour of India, which will be held at the same time as the Sri Lanka tests, to get himself fit for the limited-overs matches.