Month: July 2009

Harmison defends Flintoff after media backlash

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Worcester, July 04: England fast bowler Steve Harmison is certain his friend Andrew Flintoff will rebound from his disciplinary issues this week in time for the Ashes.

Flintoff, England’s leading all-rounder, was reprimanded by team officials and heavily criticized in media after he missed the bus that was taking the team to a war memorial site in Flanders, Belgium on Saturday while on a team-bonding trip.

Harmison said on Friday that Flintoff will not be affected by the backlash when the Ashes series starts in Cardiff on Wednesday.

Zac Efron, Megan Fox get cosy

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Los Angeles, July 04: Hollywood star Zac Efron and model-turned-actress Megan Fox were seen enjoying a romantic dinner date at Pace, an upscale restaurant here.

“They were very friendly and their faces were close when they talked,” aceshowbiz.com quoted a source as saying.

The report suggests that both were embarking on a love relationship despite the fact that Efron is still dating actress girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens.

HC bars security forces from leaving Shopian

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Srinagar, July 04: The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has ordered that no one can leave Shopian without special permission and the police must exhume the bodies of two women, who were allegedly raped and murdered in the town.

The court’s order is binding on personnel of the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the state police. The court also ordered that two key witnesses in the alleged murders of the women undergo a narco-analysis state.

Vaas to quit Tests: chief selector

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Colombo, July 04: Veteran Sri Lankan seamer Chaminda Vaas has decided to retire from Test cricket, the country’s chief selector Asantha de Mel told AFP on Saturday.

The 35-year-old left-armer, who has served Sri Lanka at the top level for 15 years, will, however, still be available for one-day and Twenty20 cricket, the official said.

“Chaminda has told me he does not want to play Test cricket anymore, but he will continue in the shorter formats,” de Mel, a former Sri Lankan fast bowler, said.

‘Bhai’ tries to extort Rs 2 cr from hotshot

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Hyderabad, July 04: “Bhai ka aadmi baat kar raha hoon. Do karod dene ka, nahi to..” On June 26, when a well-known citybased businessman received a telephone call with this threat, he thought it to be a prank.

But as the frequency of calls increased and with the caller claiming to be part of the “Bhai’s gang from Mumbai”, the businessman realised that the matter was serious and promptly approached the police.

As the investigators began their probe, they initially thought that the caller was having links with the DCompany.

Andhra Pradesh fixes upper fee limit for private schools

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Hyderabad, July 04: A panel constituted by the Andhra Pradesh government has recommended that private schools in urban areas should not charge more than Rs.24,000 per annum as tuition fee up to Class 5 and Rs.30,000 up to Class 10.

The six-member panel was constituted last month following public complaints that several schools effected a steep hike in tuition fees from the academic year 2009-10.

Hear, hear! Swank wireless sets for Hyderabad police

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Hyderabad, July 04: The wireless sets that the police are seen fiddling with, to get in touch with their colleagues, were indeed a test of patience, felt several Hyderabad City police officials.

Usage steps involved pressing the knob to start speaking, waiting for a subordinate or colleague to reply after a brief pause and of course listening to the ever present static.

All this resulted in the senior repeating instructions till he or she lost all patience. Further, wireless sets were turning out to be a major setback in times of emergencies.

But not anymore.

Opening partnership laid the foundation for win: Dhoni

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Gros Islet, July 04: West Indies skipper Chris Gayle praised the captain’s innings played by Mahendra Singh Dhoni but felt a bit more aggressiveness on the part of his bowlers could have helped the team win the third one-dayer at the Beausejour Stadium, here.

Frequent rain interruptions affected the West Indies momentum but Ramnaresh Sarwan ensured they registered a competitive 185 for seven from 27 overs.

City institute gets AICTE nod for MBA course

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Ahmeddabad, July 04: The city-based C K Shah Vijapurwala Institute of Management on Friday said that the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the Union HRD Ministry have granted it permission to offer MBA course from the academic year beginning August 1.

Rajesh Khajuria, Director and Member-Secretary of the institute told that the B-school is affiliated to Gujarat Technological University.

The two-year full-time Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme is approved by the AICTE and the Ministry, he added.

Supervisor beats worker over salary issue; dyeing, printing units torched

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Ahmeddabad, July 04: Around 500 labourers torched the dyeing and printing units at the Raghunath Silk Mills at Jolwa village in Palsana taluka in Surat district on Thursday night following a minor conflict with the factory supervisor over salary.

The workers also attacked fire brigade officials when they tried to extinguish the blaze. The police had to lob 29 teargas shells to bring the situation under control.

Abuses against Muslims in US

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The day US President Barack Obama reached out to Muslims around the world through his speech at the Turkish Parliament, saying the United States “is not and will never be at war with Islam,” Muslim Americans described what looked like a war on their community in the US. The American Muslim Taskforce (AMT) on Civil Rights and Elections, a coalition of major national Islamic organizations, discussed their concerns at a briefing at the National Press Club on April 6.

Two militants, soldier killed in Kupwara encounter

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Srinagar, July 04: Two militants and a soldier were killed in a gunbattle in Kupwara district of North Kashmir, police said on Saturday.

The gunbattle broke out at Wadderbala forest in Zachaldara, 90 kms from Srinagar, around 11 am yesterday when a joint search party of police and Rashtriya Rifles confronted hiding militants. The hiding militants fired upon the search party and in the ensuing gunbattle which lasted nearly 24 hours, two militants and a soldier were killed.

While one militant was killed yesterday, another ultra and the army jawan were killed early on Saturday.

Unbuttoned: Akshay happy to be sued!

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Mumbai, July 04: Akshay Kumar is for real. He’s playing a stuntsman in his next, and he actually came down to perform a stunt in Delhi to promote it, jumping off a 60-foot high structure.

But he looked very tired afterwards. “ Main thaka hua sirf lag nahin raha hoon, main thaka hua hoon ,” he admitted wearily. “But that’s the fun of it, yaar!”

Three’s a crowd, Sunju!

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Mumbai, July 04: This Diwali, movie aficionados will definitely have an overdose of Sanjay Dutt with three of his films releasing on the same day.

Ajay Devgan’s All The Best, Ashtavinayak Cinevision’s Blue and Eros’s Aladin are scheduled to release on October 16.

Bahrain girl’s team in hijab standoff lauded

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Manama, July 04: Lawmakers here heaped praise on the members of Bahrain’s women’s basketball team for refusing to remove their hijab in an international competition.

“The attitude of our national team was honourable and truly indicated the players’ deep commitment to Islamic values. They conveyed a strong and genuine message to the whole world that Muslims value their traditions and principles and are not ready to give them up for the sake of a game,” said MP Ebrahim Busanadal.

Reward increased on Delhi blasts militants

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New Delhi, July 04: Delhi’s Police Commissioner Y. S. Dadwal on Friday enhanced the reward on three militants allegedly involved in the serial blasts in the Capital last year from Rs.1 lakh to 5 lakh and announced a reward of equal amount on alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba operations chief Abu Alkama.

The three alleged militants are Iqbal Batkal, Riyaz Batkal and Amir Raja Khan.

Abu Alkama, an alleged mastermind behind the creation of Indian Mujahideen, is responsible for the blasts in Delhi, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Uttar Pradesh, the police said.

UP govt. gives go-ahead to filing of chargesheet against Varun

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Lucknow, July 04: The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday gave the green signal for filing of chargesheet in a court against BJP MP Varun Gandhi for making allegedly inflammatory speeches in Pilibhit, moving a step closer to his trial in the case.

“The government has given a go-ahead to the District Magistrate of Pilibhit to file chargesheet against Gandhi accused of delivering inflammatory speeches during Lok Sabha polls”, Secretary (Home) Mahesh Gupta told PTI.

Humid weekend in store for Delhi

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New Delhi, July 04: Delhiites will face an uncomfortable weekend with high humidity levels but little rain, a met official said Saturday.

The humidity level will oscillate between 79 and 51 percent. The maximum temperature Saturday will hover around 37 degrees Celsius and the minimum will be about 28 degrees Celsius, the official said.

“The sky will mainly remain partly cloudy. Later in the day, there is possibility of rain and thundershowers,” said an official of the met department at Safdarjung.

Although the monsoon reached the capital June 29, there hasn’t been much rain.

Mamata does a balancing act

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New Delhi, July 04: Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee has done a good balancing act. Even while keeping her promise of presenting a pro-people budget she has initiated measures for yielding revenue and sustaining the commercial viability of the railways.

She has revisited the Tatkal scheme reducing the time factor and the charges.

To please the youth she has promised a low-cost train; urban women would now have special trains in Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata, and the unorganised labour would be given monthly season tickets of Rs. 25.

Sonam, Amrita shop till they drop!

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Mumbai, July 04: Meet the newest gal pals in Bollywood — Sonam Kapoor and Amrita Rao.The two young actresses have apparently bonded really well. In fact, we hear that the two spend a lot of time together, indulging in typically girlie activities like shopping, spa visits, partying and gyming. Recently the two girls went on a shopping spree at a popular designer’s store and literally ransacked the place.

Tonnes of artificially ripened fruits seized

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Chennai, July 04: The Chennai Corporation on Friday seized and destroyed five tonnes of mangoes and two tonnes of papaya that were ripened using chemical substances.

During the raids conducted on wholesalers and retailers across the city, it seized 300 kg of calcium carbide in stone and powder form. Two wholesale shops in the Koyambedu Wholesale Fruit Market were sealed by officials of the civic body’s Health Department with police assistance.

Saifu is no Pappu!

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Mumbai, July 04: There is a Shah Rukh Khan, a Salman Khan and Aamir Khan and then there is Saif Ali Khan… perhaps the only Khan who can’t dance! The actor tagged in the industry as a non-dancer has now excelled in this art and has left everybody awestruck.

Kambakkth Ishq is better than Love Aaj Kal: Bebo

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Mumbai, July 04: Though she chose to be with her beau Saif when he was promoting his first home production, Bebo personally feels that her film Kambakkht Ishq is better than Love Aaj Kal.

Being aware of the fact that Love Aaj Kal has been generating a lot of buzz and excitement amongst audience, Kareena defends her film saying KI is a power packed film. When asked about it she smartly replied, “I believe Love is definitely fun, painful and dangerous. It’s a mixture of everything. But according to me Kambakkht Ishq is a power packed film which will rock Aaj and Kal.”

Strike will send a wrong message: Patel

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New Delhi, July o4: Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has termed “unfortunate” the decision of a section of Air India employees to go on a two-hour strike even as the national carrier is trying to tide over the worst financial crisis in its history.

The Minister feels that any kind of agitation by the employees would create a “wrong impression” among the travelling public and people would shun flying Air India.

UT multimedia programme increases middle school interest in science

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Washington, July 04: Middle school students who were part of a unique science learning programme developed by The University of Texas School of Public Health showed significant increases in interest and achievement scores compared to other students, a recent study found.

Results from the study are published in the June issue of the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Academic Medicine.