Month: July 2009

Iran lashes out at West’s scientific apartheid

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Tehran, July 06: Iranian Minister of Science, Research and Technology Mohammad-Mehdi Zahedi has condemned the scientific apartheid imposed by certain Western states.

“Certain European countries have created a kind of scientific apartheid. They do not permit researchers of other states do research in specific courses,” Zahedi told IRNA on the sidelines of the UNESCO’s World Conference on Higher Education 2009 in Paris on Sunday.

“We regard this approach as a kind of discrimination and call for a fight against it,” he added.

Pak Army still considers India a threat: Mullen

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Washington, July 06: Despite President Asif Ali Zardari’s assertion that a Taliban insurgency, not India, was the biggest threat to Islamabad, the Pakistani Army still considers India a “threat,” US’ top Army official indicated.

In an interview to CBS “Face the Nation”, Chairman of America’s Joint Chief of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen said the Pakistan Army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani is focused on both – the threat from India and that from internal insurgency.

Pakistan under foreign pressure over Iran deal

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Tehran, July 06: A senior Pakistani official reveals that two major western and Islamic states are exerting pressure on Islamabad to scrap its multi-billion-dollar gas deal with Iran.

The initial agreement of the $7.5 billion Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, also known as the Peace Pipeline, was signed in Tehran in May between the Iranian and Pakistani presidents.

Iran says that via the pipeline it will deliver eight billion cubic meters of natural gas to Pakistan annually.

Doomed Yemeni flight recorders located

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Paris, July 06: French investigators said on Sunday they had detected the signal from the flight recorders from a Yemeni jet that crashed last week with more than 150 people on board. The news came after the Yemeni transport ministry said on Saturday that search crews had located a large piece of debris from the jet, which crashed into the Indian Ocean off the Comoros islands on June 30.

Running improves bone density

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Columbia, July 06: High impact sports such as running appear to improve bone mineral density more than such sports as cycling, swimming, or rowing, according to a study conducted by the University of Missouri.

“Only the skeletal sites that experience increased stress from exercise will become stronger,” according to Pam Hinton, associate professor in the Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at the university’s College of Human Environmental Sciences.

Obama on relation-mending visit to Russia

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Moscow, July 06: Hoping to press the “reset button” in US-Russia ties, President Barack Obama on Monday embarked on a historic trip to Russia to mend the damaged relations between the two countries and finalise a deal to replace a Cold War-era treaty on nuclear arms reduction.

During his three-day stay in Moscow, Obama would hold a US-Russia summit meeting with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev, besides meeting Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and former President Mikhail Gorbachev.

Sensex off to a green start

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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.

Taking revenge is bad for your health, study finds

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Bonn, July 06: Revenge may be sweet, but it could damage your health and make you unhappier than most other people, according to a study by German and Belgian researchers.

The study conducted among 20,000 people by the universities of Bonn and Maastricht also revealed that people who like to pay back perceived injustices also have fewer friends and are less satisfied with life.

The researchers wanted to find out what influence character traits such as positive and negative acts of reciprocation had on “success” and “satisfaction with life.”

Night shift work can cause host of health problems

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Hamburg, July 06: Night shift work is strenuous, but the potential health problems, such as obesity and cardiovascular disease, may be much bigger than previously thought, according to a recent study.

The study conducted by Harvard University in Boston and published in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences revealed a higher risk of diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease among night shift workers.

India, China developed and growing much more quickly: Obama

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Washington, July 06: President Barack Obama has said though the United States remains the military superpower and has the largest economy, countries like India, China and Brazil are fast catching up and growing at a pace which is much faster than in the past.

“In terms of the US’s role in the world, obviously, we remain a military superpower. We still have the largest economy in the world. But the world is becoming more integrated,” Obama told the Itar-Tass/Rossiya TV in an interview.

Paes-Cara Duo Loses In Mixed Doubles Final

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New Delhi, July 06: The top seeded pair of India’s Leander Paes and Zimbabwean Cara Black has lost the final match of the mixed double event of the Wimbledon championship in London on Sunday.

The ninth seeded pair of Mark Knowles of Bahamas and Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany has won the Wimbledon title after defeating Paes-Cara duo in the final match in the straight sets by 7-5.

Knowles-Anna duo made a strong comeback to win the first set after trailing by 5-2 as they won eight games in a row.

History-sheeter shot dead by miscreants

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Ahmeddabad, July 06: A known history-sheeter of the city, Pradeep Kavishwar alias Pradeep don, was shot dead allegedly by two miscreants at Khadia on Sunday afternoon. The incident took place near Bala Hanuman temple in Khadia around 2 pm.

An eyewitness in the case, Uday Upadhyay, has identified the duo, said the police, adding that they will be arrested soon.

A resident of Limda Ni Pol in Khadia, Kavishwar had taken his dog for a walk when the accused, who came on a motorcycle, intercepted him at Pushpkarna Ni Pol near Bala Hanuman temple.

Priyanka wants her name first

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Mumbai, July 06: When producer-director Vishal Bharadwaj landed at a radio station to promote his film Kaminey with lead stars Priyanka Chopra and Shahid Kapur, little did he know that things wouldn’t go his way.

With his lead stars having broken up, things between them were cordial, but cold.

Matters came to a head, when Piggy Chops got miffed during the show.

The reason — she was the last to be introduced.

“She wanted her name to be taken before Shahid’s as she is a lady and his senior,” says a birdie.

140 dead in bloody riots in China’s Xinjiang

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Beijing, July 06: At least 140 people have been killed and more than 800 others injured as ethnic violence erupted in China’s restive Xinjiang region.

A government spokesman confirmed on Monday that at least 140 people were killed, after hundreds of locals took to the streets of the regional capital Urumqi on Sunday — burning and smashing vehicles and confronting police and anti-riot troops — state media Xinhua news agency reported.

Govt accepts tribal truths: Armed action futile without road, water

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Kolkata, July 06: Admitting that little development has been undertaken so far in tribal areas of Bengal, state Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen said without development, the police operations in Lalgarh are meaningless.

He visited Lalgarh and adjoining areas on Sunday to oversee development work and the police operations.

Sen arrived at 10 am, held meetings at Lalgarh police station, Binpur BDO office and later at the circuit house in Midnapore town.

Bips gets chance to catwalk in Milan

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Mumbai, July 06: Bipasha Basu will soon be seen on the ramp. Having walked down the ramp for most Indian designers, the hot actress is now planning to hog the limelight in international fashion.

This will not be her first international ramp walk though. In her initial days of modelling, Bips had spent six months in Paris and made friends in the fashion world there. She has, all the while, kept in touch with her Paris friends.

Recently, when Bips visited the country, a designer friend offered her to walk the ramp at Milan, the fashion capital of Europe.

Tight security on Ayodhya attack anniversary

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Kucknow, July 06: Observing the fourth anniversary of terror attack at the disputed shrine of Ram Lalla on Sunday at Babri Masjid, a security blanket was thrown around Ayodhya for over 24 hours.

Paramilitary forces along with Provincial Armed Constabulary remained on their toes from Saturday evening to Sunday evening, searching vehicles, trains and hotels.

On July 5, 2005, six heavily armed terrorists had entered the disputed site by blowing up the eastern barricade and advanced towards the makeshift temple in order to capture or blow it with explosives.

One night of rain, three deaths, many flooded streets

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Mumbai, July 06: Overnight rain brought about the usual chaos in the city on Sunday, despite claims of monsoon preparedness by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Three people died, crushed by buildings or trees or electrocuted, the queue of sick people mounted at hospitals, streets were waterlogged and railway services went haywire.

Thackeray again admitted to hospital

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Mumbai, July 06: Shiv Sena Chief Bal Thackeray was on Monday admitted to a hospital in suburban Bandra.

Sena sources said that the 82-year-old has been admitted to the Lilavati hospital for a routine check up and there is no cause for concern.

Thackeray was last month hospitalised after he complained of breathlessness.

–PTI

Priyanka Chopra, follows SRK’s lead and gets gifting on the sets

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Mumbai, July 06: Shah Rukh Khan is known to buy gifts for his personal crew and cast of his films on the last day of shoot. Now, Priyanka Chopra (who was last seen with SRK in Billu) has done the same. But she didn’t wait for her film, Pyaar Impossible to end.

She bought thoughtful gifts for everyone from her make-up artist to spot boys and from actor-turned-producer Uday Chopra to other crew members, on the last day of the first schedule of the film.

Israel ‘has right to rein in Iran’

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Jeruselam, July 06: Israel has a sovereign right to decide how to deal with Iran’s nuclear ambitions whether the United States agrees or not, Joe Biden, the US vice-president, has said.

In an interview on Sunday, Biden said Israel can determine for itself how best to deal with the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran.

“We cannot dictate to another sovereign nation what they can and cannot do when they make a determination, if they make a determination, that they’re existentially threatened,” Biden said.

Aamir Khan played a doubles match with the Padukones and won

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Mumbai, July 06: On Sunday evening, Deepika Padukone and dad Pakash Padukone played a doubles badminton match against Aamir Khan and Aparna Popat, at the annual tournament for the Padukone Academy run by the one-time badminton champion.

Even though the actress lost the match against Aamir, Deepika believes it’s the sportsmanship that won at the end of the day. In her words, “I know that Aamir plays badminton at the Khar gym. He’s extremely fit and a great player. It was an incredible experience to play opposite him.”

Shruti Haasan says it’s no big deal to don swimwear for a film

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Mumbai, July 06: Kamal Haasan has yet to see his daughter Shruti’s B-Town debut, Luck. Apart from singing and performing stunts for Soham Shah’s actioneer, the newbie has also shed her inhibitions. Shruti’s skinfest in a bikini for Luck was because as is it is said in B-Town lingo the scene needed it.

Says Shruti, “When Soham narrated the script, I did not even consider the bikini thing as a big deal it was logical to the premise. While shooting for it, the weather was very weird that day. It was freezing cold, but apart from that it was like any other scene in the film for me.”

Kambakkht Ishq is not vulgar or offensive: Akshay

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Mumbai, July 06: After two flops Chandni Chowk To China and 8X10 Tasveer actor Akshay Kumar is back on the silver screen with Kambakkht Ishq, which is going strong at the Box Office.

In an interview the actor talks about his new film, the critical reviews and strong collections it’s gathering; the Shiney Ahuja being charged with rape and the Levi’s Jeans ‘unbutton’ act controversy.

Rajeev Masand: Your new film Kambakkht Ishq has just released and the opening figures are very impressive, however, the reviews aren’t quite.

Iran seconds US in VIP automaking

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Tehran, July 06: Iran has showcased an SUV limousine luxury vehicle dubbed Emperatoor (Emperor), to become the second country to make VIP cars.

The luxury vehicle manufactured by the Khodrosazan-e Jonoub Company was introduced in a ceremony on Sunday, IRIB reported.

According to the managing director of the company Siavash Hojjat, 50 percent of the vehicle including the body, chassis and the luxuries are domestically built. However, the SUV runs on an eight-cylinder Toyota motor engine.