Month: July 2009

Market crosses 15,000 marks as FM announces budget

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Mumbai, July 06: Anticipating an industry-friendly budget, a key index of the Indian equities markets started the week in the green five minutes into trading Monday, rising 116 points from its last closing figure.

The benchmark 30-scrip composite Sensex, which opened higher at 14,962.12 points, was ruling at 15,029.05 points, 116 points or 0.78 percent higher than Friday’s closing figure.

Similarly, the Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was ruling at 4,450.9 points, 0.6 percent higher than its previous close.

Education reform will be for all Indians: Sibal

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New Delhi, July 06: How does Union Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal respond to the criticisms of his educational reforms? Karan Thapar asked him on Devil’s Advocate.

Karan Thapar: Minister, on June 25, at your press conference, did you throw up ideas for public debate or did you announce decisions taken by the Government?

Kapil Sibal: The press release that day suggested that there were some issues which were merely ideas; there were some that were decisions; there were some which were initiatives of policy and there were decisions initiatives and legislations.

Parents can influence kids to increase physical activity

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Washington, July 06: Is your child spending too much time in front of the TV? As parents, handle it by valuing vigorous team sports. That is more likely to influence children to join a team or participate in some kind of exercise, and spend less time watching TV or at the computer, a new study has found.

Researchers from Baylor College and Duke University studied a sample of 681 parents of 433 fourth and fifth graders from 12 schools in Houston, Texas.

12 million new jobs, reduce India’s poverty by half: Finance Minister

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New Delhi, July 06: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee began presenting India’s budget for this fiscal in the Lok Sabha Monday, promising all that his government can do to ensure inclusive growth and address the growing aspirations of the country’s young population.

Dressed in a spotless white bandgala suit, the 73-year-old politician said the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government would push forward an agenda that will ensure 12 million new jobs each year and reduce poverty by half by 2014.

Urban development allocation increased 87 percent

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xNew Delhi, July 06: The allocation for the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission has been increased by 87 percent to Rs.12,887 crore, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said while presenting the union budget in parliament Monday.

Additionally, the Indira Awas Yojna, a housing programme for the poor, has been allocated Rs.2,000 crore, while a Rs.2,000-crore special fund has been set up to finance rural housing projects.

Mukherjee also announced a Rs.3,973-crore allocation for urban poor.

–Agencies

It passes from Ash to Kat

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Mumbai, July 06: What was Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s, is usually Katrina Kaif’s next. First it was a jewellery line and then a doll endorsement that was originally meant for Ash, but was later bagged by Katz.

Now news from the admen has it that a soap that film stars endorse, wants Katrina to sign up. “It is not confirmed whether she will replace Aishwarya,” said an ad guru, “but, yes, Katrina is being considered.”

Budget ’09: Making every rupee count

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New Delhi, July 06: The Union Budget is to be presented today, and there is every expectation that the UPA, which interprets its victory as a mandate in favour of expanding and deepening social sector schemes, will announce that as being one of the government’s spending priorities over the next year.

Deepika found true love in Ranbir

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Mumbai, July 06: Deepika Padukone, at 23, has a sage word of advice for everyone, from her sister Anisha, a golfer, to Saina Nehwal, badminton player and India’s latest female pin-up sportstar. But she doesn’t want to be called ‘wise’ – she’s just 23, after all, she protests!

So ‘23 and unwise’ is cool with her, is it? With a flash of her famous dimple, the actress, who’s going to be in Delhi soon, says, “Not unwise also. I like the fact that I’m a little more mature than the average 23-year-old. As long as I don’t sound like a 50-year-old, it’s fine.”

Income tax exemption limit increased, corporate tax rate unchanged

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New Delhi, July 06: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Monday proposed to increase the income tax exemption limit for senior citizens by Rs.15,000, for women and others by Rs.10,000 each, while keeping the corporate tax rate unchanged.

The exemption limit will now be Rs.240,000 for senior citizens, Rs.190,000 for women and Rs.160,000 for others.

–Agencies

Arabian haze polllutes Iranian cities

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Tehran, July 06: Strong winds have carried dust from the Arabian desert to Iran, forcing a number of flights to cancel after dangerous levels were reached in the country.

The dust storms add extra concentrations of elements to the air pollution problem of some Iranian cities. The winds are so strong that they have carried the haze to the Iranian capital Tehran.

Silicon dioxide, calcium, potassium, carbon, and other elements are found in the haze, which can have damaging effects on people’s respiratory system.

$400m debt killed Michael Jackson, says friend

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London, July 06: Lou Ferrigno, the “Incredible Hulk” star who was training Michael Jackson for his gruelling 50-date London tour, has claimed the singer was killed by the weight of his $400 million debt.

He said the only reason Jackson, who died last month in Los Angeles, was going back on stage was to clear his debt.

“He was under tremendous stress, so much (that) I think it killed him. He was $400 million in debt. In the past he had backed out of doing live shows but this time he was under the gun. The debts put a huge strain on him,” mirror.co.uk quoted Ferrigno as saying.

Suicide blast kills 2 Afghans near NATO base

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Kandhar, July 06: 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.

I am possessive about my clean image as an actress- Gracy Singh

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Mumbai, July 06: Gracy Singh GRACY SINGH tells JYOTHI VENKATESH that she is not in a tearing hurry to settle down in life.

What is your role in Dekh Bhai Dekh?
I play a small town girl called Babli who is a sweet and bubbly girl in the film Dekh Bhai Dekh. What I like best about the film is that my role has grey shades. All the characters in the film are very realistic and not at all larger than life; like the characters one generally sees in hardcore Hindi commercial films these days, though the film is an out and out entertainer.

Speed thrills biker Akshay

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Mumbai, July 06: The rains may try their best to trip Mumbai’s traffic, but Akshay Kumar had no hang-ups when it came to abandoning his car and zooming off on a bike to reach his destination on Saturday.

Until a few years ago, he was one of the few actors who preferred to reach his locations on a bike. The bike rides saved him considerable time, instead of lumbering along in cars with tinted glasses.

Badminton is like ballet dancing: Aamir

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Mumbai, July 06; The weather’s perfect and scores of eager fans wait to catch a glimpse of the rather shy and reticent Aamir Khan.

The star, however is busy on the badminton court, and has eyes for no one — not the fans who crowd the entrance hoping to get his autograph, not his opponents, not anything but the shuttlecock. When he finally takes a breather after his exhaustive session, CT managed to catch him for a few questions.

Saif kisses ladylove Kareena

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Mumbai, July 06: Finally, the inevitable has happened. Bollywood’s most talked-about couple Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor

might have kissed in real life but they have not done that in reel life. For a change, the couple has done some intimate scenes including kissing scene in Rensil D’Silva’s film reportedly titled Jehad.

Mexican ruling party admits defeat in legislative elections

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Mexico City, July 06: The ruling National Action Party (PAN) of Mexico late Sunday admitted defeat in the country’s legislative elections.

“We recognise the election results and congratulate the Institutional Revolutionary Party with becoming the largest party in the Chamber of Deputies,” PAN Chairman German Martinez told reporters.

PRI Chairwoman Beatriz Paredes pointed out that the result of the vote “confirms that Mexico is a country that wants new proposals and new solutions”.

Singrauli blasts toll rises to ten, 49 injured

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Singrauli, July 06: With the recovery of two more bodies, the death toll in the explosions that rocked two private factories manufacturing explosives for coal mining has climbed to 10, police said on Monday.

“Ten persons were killed and 49 others injured in the explosion that took place yesterday in two factories of the Bairhan Industrial area,” Superintendent of Police (SP) Singrauli, Anurag said.

The rescue operation is still going on and the toll may go up, he said.

“The operation, which is going on a war-footing, is likely to be completed by this evening,” the SP said.

Caffeine reverses memory loss?

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Washington, July 06: Caffeine given daily to ageing mice with Alzheimer’s reversed their memory loss, says a new study.

The new findings provide evidence that caffeine could be a viable ‘treatment’ for established Alzheimer’s disease, and not simply a protective strategy,” said study author Gary Arendash, University of South Florida (USF).

“That’s important because caffeine is a safe drug for most people, it easily enters the brain, and it appears to directly affect the disease process,” he added.

Anil Sharma upsets Salman Khan

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Mumbai, July 06: Salman Khan is fuming at director Anil Sharma’s casual and sloppy approach towards their film, Veer. Apparently, Sharma frivolously wasted time in London, which could’ve been avoided if he had been better prepared for the shoot. The cavalier attitude inflated the budget considerably.

Salman had assured producer Vijay Galani that he would put his career back on track. Our source said, “Salman was so irritated by Sharma’s ways that he didn’t shy away from giving the director a earful on the sets.”

Move your body, Shahid

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Mumbai,July 06: The Dhan te nan song from Kaminey, which is high on the popularity charts currently, owes its success to Vishal Bharadwaj, Shahid Kapoor and choreographer Ahmed Khan.

The song, a disco number that has been picturised on Shahid and theatre actor Chandan Sanyal, hasn’t been choreographed. The actors have come up with their own moves for the song.

Indian strategy helps Lee with reverse swing

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Melbourne, July 06: Australian pacer Brett Lee has revealed that he managed to get devastating reverse swing against the England Lions after employing an Indian strategy.

Lee bagged six wickets against the Lions to stake a strong claim for a place in the starting eleven of the first Ashes test.

During Australia’s tour of India last October, pacers Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan bowled with a scrambled seam so the ball would deteriorate and start to reverse swing quicker and Australia is planning to use the same strategy against England in the first Test.

Kerala CM to be axed from CPM politburo

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New Delhi, July 06: Having learnt a lesson from the electoral backlash, the CPM has decided to finally address the decade-old issue of factionalism in its Kerala unit.

The meeting of the CPM politburo approved a set of proposals including removal of Kerala chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan from the politburo, disciplinary actions against certain central committee members, restructuring of the state secretariat and committee and a rectification campaign at various levels of the state party.

Khan Mohammad dies aged 81

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London, July 06: Former Pakistan fast bowler Khan Mohammad, 81, has died in London. Khan had undergone surgery after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

A fine bowler in his day, Khan played 13 Tests for his country between 1952 and 1958, taking 54 wickets at an average of 23.92. He made his debut in Delhi during Pakistan’s first Test series, the tour of India in 1952-53. Khan was the first man to bowl an over in Tests for Pakistan, and the first wicket-taker, bowling Indian opener Panjay Roy on debut. He formed a potent new-ball pair with Fazal Mahmood.

Maya ‘ dumps’ aide to woo back Dalits

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Lucknow, July 06: It is a late realisation but certainly in the interest of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

Many BSP leaders had complained to Mayawati that the Dalits were unhappy to see Satish Chandra Mishra, the party’s Brahmin face and general secretary, with her at every election rally before the Lok Sabha polls.

The Dalits wanted to see a member of their own community with her. But Mayawati had ignored their complaints at that time.