Month: July 2009

Kerala preparing new law to tackle cyber crimes

by

Thiruvananthapuram, July 06: Kerala Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan Monday told the state assembly that a comprehensive law is being prepared to tackle the increasing number of cyber crimes being reported in the state.

“We are working with the legal department to see that a comprehensive law is worked out. The current IT Act does not have enough teeth because it was formed a few years back, and since then the world of technology has changed dramatically. So that has to be amended,” Balakrishnan said.

Rajasthan opposition all set to corner Congress govt in budget session

by

Jaipur, July 06: The Budget session of the Rajasthan Assembly commencing tomorrow is likely to be stormy with opposition BJP all set to corner the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government on many issues, including the racket of forcibly taking out blood from children.

The opposition is geared up to raise deteriorating law and order, water and electricity problem and others in the state.

Van with detonators goes missing in Maoist den in Chhattisgarh

by

Chhattisgarh, July 06: A private van loaded with detonators for industrial use went missing in the Maoist stronghold of Bastar in Chhattisgarh Sunday, leaving police clueless.

“Two Mahindra Max pickup vans loaded with detonators were going from Raipur to Kirandul town in Dantewada district’s iron ore rich Bailadila area when one of them went missing somewhere in Bastar district. A search drive has been launched to locate the vehicle,” Praveer Das, Bastar district superintendent of police, told IANS.

Iran ready to Israel attack on nuclear facilities

by

Tehran, July 06: Iran is ready to take “real and decisive” action if Israel attacks its nuclear facilities, a senior Iranian parliamentary official said Monday.

The remarks by Alaeddin Broujerdi, the head of Iran’s parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy, came after U.S. Vice President Joe Biden signaled that Washington would not try to prevent any such Israeli assault.

“Both the U.S. and Israel are aware of the consequence of an erroneous decision,” Broujerdi told reporters at the Iranian Embassy in Tokyo.

Corporate calling for Aashka

by

Mumbai, July 06: Aashka Goradia who was last seen in Madhur Bhandarkar’s mini-series on Sony has been busy these days with her production company. Mirabell is the name by which her company holds events for the corporate companies.

“I’ve been busy with the events for some corporate companies. This keeps me on my toe and it feels good to do something different. These events are very private and not commercialised,” says Aashka.

Woman along with kids commits suicide in UP

by

Sant Kabir Nagar, July 06:) A 35-year-old woman along with her two kids jumped to death before a train at Mukhlispur railway crossing in the district, GRP sources said today.

Efforts were on to identify the woman, the sources said, adding the two children aged around two and four years.

The bodies have been sent for post-mortem, they said.
–PTI

22 die in Vietnam landslides, floods

by

Hanoi, July 06: The government says the death toll from landslides and floods in Vietnam’s mountainous north has risen to 22.

Thirteen other people are still missing after the heavy rains that struck on Friday night.

The Central Committee for Floods and Storms Control said on its Web site Monday that authorities have recovered seven more bodies bringing the toll to 22.

The committee said the landslides and floods destroyed or damaged more than 500 houses and hundreds of acres (hectares) of rice fields.

Union Budget: 2009-10

by

New Delhi, July 06: Giving relief to Delhi government, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today proposed to substantially enhance the allocations for the next year’s Commonwealth Games to Rs 3,472 crore.

Presenting the Union budget in the Lok Sabha, Mukherjee proposed to increase the allocation from Rs 2,112 crore in the interim budget to Rs 3,472 crore.

“The Commonwealth Games present the country with an opportunity to showcase our potential as an emerging Asian power,” Mukherjee said.

Priyanka’s embarrassing kissing experience

by

Mumbai, July 06: Dunno if Priyanka Kothari can say, ‘never been kissed’ or not. But recently she had a very embarrassing experience, not kissing but while shooting for the Kiss Mix song for her upcoming horror flick Agyaat.

Priyanka and leading guy Nitin were both shooting for the song at Madh Island, where a whole lot of people had gathered to check out the shooting.

Indonesian presidential hopefuls urge change to vote procedure

by

Jakarta, July 06: Three days before millions of Indonesian voters are due to go to the polls, opposition candidates on Monday urged the country’s General Elections Commission to revise to the country’s voter registration procedures.

Two candidates in Wednesday’s presidential election – Megawati Sukarnoputri and Jusuf Kalla – urged the commission to allow eligible voters whose names are missing from the voter lists to cast their ballots using their identity cards instead.

Jones ‘desperate’ to stay at Worcestershire

by

London, July 06: Simon Jones is an anxious man as he waits to find out his fate with Worcestershire. Jones is out of contract at the end of this season and despite a long list of injuries he has said he is “desperate” to stay with the county.

Jones, who has been dogged by injury since he was forced to miss the final Test of the 2005 Ashes series, underwent surgery on his knee in April and at the time it was expected he would be able to play the second half of the summer. Then in June the results of scans delivered further bad news that Jones was out for the season.

Govt raises income tax sops; incentive for farm, exporters

by

New Delhi, July 06: In tune with the poll promises made by the Congress and reflecting the pressures of the global financial crisis, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday presented the Budget for 2009-10 that contained a series of measures that could be termed popular.

The government today announced a slew of tax sops, including an additional Rs 10,000 personal income tax exemption and scrapping of 10 per cent surcharge, while announcing cheaper loans to farmers and incentives for export and infrastructure to attain nine per cent growth.

Another hot and humid day for Delhi

by

New Delhi, July 06: What with no rains in the last few days, it doesn’t seem like much of a monsoon in the capital. And going by the met department’s forecast, Monday will be another day of discomfort with both the temperature and humidity set to remain high.

The minimum temperature recorded early Monday was a notch below the average at 27 degrees Celsius. The maximum is expected to hover around 39.5 degree Celsius.

The humidity level was also high at 58 percent early in the day.

Poor can’t eat promises, G8 must do more: NGO

by

New Delhi, July 06: The heads of government who are meeting this week for the G8 Summit in Italy need to find $23 billion a year to halve hunger by 2015, according to the latest calculations by development agency ActionAid.

“G8 is failing to help over one billion hungry people. In 2008, they made commitments to tackle the food crisis but since last year, the number of hungry has risen by 100 million,” said Angela Wauye, food rights coordinator at ActionAid Kenya. “Poor people cannot eat promises. This year the G8 must do more.”

Pak SC rejects pleas against Saeed release

by

Islamabad, July 06: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday rejected on technical grounds two petitions by the federal and Punjab governments challenging the release of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Mohd Saeed from house arrest, prompting authorities to announce they will file fresh pleas.

Saeed is a key accused in the Mumbai attacks.

The petitions submitted on Saturday though the office of the Supreme Court registrar had not completed formalities for them to be taken up by a bench. The petitions were rejected due to technical flaws, sources said.

Terrorists plan to gatecrash Goa beach party

by

Panaji, July 06: Navy presses even its bruised boats into action; cops fan out on coast after strong intelligence alert.

Pakistan-based Jihadi terror groups including the LeT are making concerted efforts to organise terror attacks in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa.

LeT is likely to target iconic institutions, tourist locations and industrial locations along the coast.

They want to create panic and project India as an unsafe location for tourists and foreign investors.

Excerpts from an intelligence report sent to the Navy, Coast Guard, Maharashtra and Goa police.

BJP terms budget ‘routine’, CPI ‘inconsequential’ Text

by

New Delhi, July 06: The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Monday described the 2009-10 budget presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee as “routine” while the Communist Party of India (CPI) termed it as “inconsequential” and not addressing the real economic issues.

“It is a routine budget. There is no suggestion to meet the global economic recession,” BJP president Rajnath Singh told reporters.

He, however, welcomed the government’s decision to implement one-rank-one-pension scheme for ex-servicemen and for lifting the fringe benefit tax.

Nishank allocates portfolios, keeps key departments

by

Dehra Dun, July 06: Nearly a week after being sworn-in as the Chief minister, Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank has allocated portfolios among his cabinet colleagues but retained most of the key departments with himself.

Nishank, who allocated the portfolios last night, kept a total of 21 portfolios with himself, including home, personnel, power, PWD, Finance, Civil Aviation, Health, Sports, Information and IT, an official release said here.

Viva Palestina to break Gaza siege agian

by

Gaza, July 06: In another attempt to break the crippling Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, a group of ‘Viva Palestina’ activists has arrived in Egypt on a humanitarian mission.

About 100 US activists with tons of medical supplies arrived in Egypt on Sunday on their way to Gaza, hoping to break the deadly Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the territory –home to 1.5 million Palestinians.

The activists are part of a convoy of at least 200 people – all Americans – planned to be in Gaza by July 13. The convoy will head to the border after the rest of the group and supplies arrive.

Malaysian court backs Islamic ruling in religious conversion case

by

Kuala Lumpur, July 06: Malaysia’s High Court on Monday upheld an Islamic court decision that ruled that a Sikh man had converted to Islam before his death, rejecting claims by his family that he did not die a Muslim.

The case of Mohan Singh has taken centre stage in an increasingly controversial issue of religious freedom in multi-ethnic and multi-religious Malaysia.

Islamic authorities had claimed that Singh, a 41-year-old film director who died of a heart attack last month, had converted to Islam in 1992 and therefore should be buried under Muslim rites.

Defence budget hike largest in India’s history

by

New Delhi, July 06: The Indian armed forces got a 34 per cent hike in the defence budget, the largest ever in the country’s history. The hike will help the Indian armed forces pay for new hardware acquisitions this year including a $ 1.2 billion hike in the refit cost of the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov for the navy, artillery for the army and transport aircraft for the IAF besides a slew of coastal defence systems. The budget is also expected to pay the arrears for the sixth Pay Commission.

Two held over fake currency racket

by

Lucknow, July 06: A man and a woman have been arrested in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr district for alleged involvement in a fake currency racket linked to Pakistan, police said Monday.

Acting on a tip off by the Intelligence Bureau, the police raided a hideout in Tajpur village and nabbed the two Sunday night with counterfeit currency totalling over Rs.11 lakh (Rs.1.1 million).

“The two are from Uttar Pradesh and used to bring fake currency into the state with the help of associates in Nepal,” Superintendent of Police (city) Jitendra Sahi told.

–IANS–

Krejza delivers victory for Australia A

by

Melbourne, July 06: Jason Krejza reminded the national selectors of his value with a four-wicket haul that helped deliver Australia A a tense victory over Pakistan A in Townsville.

As Australia consider a spinner-less Test team in Cardiff, Krejza and his fellow slow bowler Jon Holland combined for six wickets on the final day to hand the home team a 1-0 series win.

NKorean launches maybe included new Scud : Report

by

Seoul, July 06: A barrage of ballistic missiles that North Korea test-fired over the weekend may have included a new type of Scud missile with an extended range and improved accuracy that poses a threat to Japan, a South Korean newspaper reported Monday.

Pyongyang launched seven missiles into waters off its east coast Saturday in a show of force that defied U.N. resolutions and drew international condemnation.

UN: Progress too slow to meet 2015 development goals

by

Geneva, July 06: The global economic crisis will likely hamper efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals, which, in part, were already lagging behind the targets, the United Nations warned in a report released Monday.

Aid to the world’s poorest countries was falling short of pledges made by richer states, and the recession would probably cut into assistance budgets further.

The development goals, adopted by the UN in 2000, aim to dramatically reduce poverty and increase food security and access to health care by 2015.