Month: July 2009

Mamta vs Lalu railway ministry; then and now

by

New Delhi: If the previous Railway Minister Lalu Prasad made Patliputra or Patna his focus of development, the current Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee may just have some sops ready for her home state of Bengal.

Lalu Prasad gave new projects to Bihar and Mamata Banerjee is likely to follow him in that aspect by looking farther eastwards.

But speaking to mediamen, Mamata Didi categorically denied having any plans to favour one state over the other.

She said, “I am taking charge from Bengal, it doesn’t mean that the work will be limited to Bengal.”

Shilpa Shetty on Dus Ka Dum

by

Mumbai, July 03: The hot, sizzling and vivacious actress, Shilpa Shetty will be soon seen with the hunk Salman Khan on the show Dus Ka Dum. She has already shot for the episode and it was fun and masti.

Our khabroo from the sets revealed that, “Shilpa had a gala time on the sets with Salman quizzing her. She also talked about her personal life, her plans and showed some moves (Tumka) on the show.”

Dancing in the streets after gay sex declared legal in India

by

New Delhi, July 03: Jubilant crowds cheered outside a Delhi court yesterday after judges announced that gay sex was not a crime – a landmark ruling for India that spells the end for a 150-year-old law introduced by the British Raj.

Activists danced in the streets after the Delhi High Court ruled that “consensual sex amongst adults is legal which includes even gay sex and sex among the same sexes”.

The judgment, which technically only applies to the country’s capital but which will have national implications, will boost the small but increasingly vocal gay rights movement.

When two veterans stars met

by

Mumbai, July 03: Dharmendra is one of the most loved actors in the film industry simply because he endears himself to one and all by his gestures.

No wonder when he came to RK Studios for the shoot of Salman Khans 10 Ka Dum, Randhir Kapoor who never goes out to meet any actor shooting in the studio, specially dropped in to meet Dharamji. Dharamji a huge fan of Raj Kapoor he had acted in Mera Naam Joker. He has also acted with Randhir Kapoor in Manmohan Desai directed Chacha Bhatija.

Luck favours Akshay Kumar’s Kambakkht Ishq?

by

Mumbai, July 03: Akshay Kumar’s bad luck run at the box office is all set to end with his latest release Kambakkht Ishq that releases in theaters on July 3rd. At least that’s what numerology suggests according to famous astro-numerologist Bhavikk Sangghvi.

Iraq’s top Shiite clerics silent on Iran

by

Baghdad, July 03: There is no place outside Iran that has closer links to Tehran’s ruling establishment than Iraq’s holy Shiite city of Najaf, where the silence during Iran’s post-election crisis says much about the deep complexities of their cross-border bonds.

“Simply put, the whole affair does not concern Najaf,” said Sheik Ali al-Najafi, son of and spokesman for Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Bashir al-Najafi, one of the city’s four top Shiite clerics. “We will not interfere in the internal affairs of a dear, next door neighbour.”

Jackson ex-wife shows interest in custody of kids

by

Los Angeles, July 03: The future of Michael Jackson’s children was thrown into question Thursday when his ex-wife emerged and won a delay in a custody hearing while she decides whether she wants to raise her two offspring.

It was the first legal move from Deborah Rowe since the entertainer’s death. Jackson’s will asks for his mother, Katherine, to get permanent custody of all three of his children.

Soldier captured by rebels as US launches Afghan offensive

by

Page 1 of 2 View as a single page 11:07AM Friday Jul 03, 2009
By Kim Sengupta
Washington, July 03: In the biggest military offensive of the Obama presidency, more than 4,000 US Marines, backed by heavy artillery and helicopter gunships, stormed into the Taleban heartland yesterday, the first assault in what one commander called a “summer of decision” aimed at stabilising Afghanistan ahead of next month’s elections.

As the mission unfolded, news broke that a US soldier had been kidnapped in Paktika province further south.

Three dead in Mysore communal violence

by

Mysore, July 03: Attempts to construct a place of worship on a disputed land led to a communal clash between two groups in Mysore’s Kyatamaranahalli area on Thursday. The flare-up claimed three lives, including that of a 15-year-old boy.

Over adozen people were injured, six of them seriously, as the riot spread to other parts of the area. Although the police managed to bring the situation under control, tension was visible in Mysore, especially in the communally-sensitive area of Udayagiri where it all started.

Bar employee arrested for killing cashier

by

Mumbai, July 03: The Santa Cruz police on Wednesday arrested an employee of a bar for allegedly murdering the cashier in February this year. According to the police, the accused had killed the cashier to steal money from the safe.

The accused has been identified as Sagar Kumar (22) and the victim as Uday Shetty.Kumar. Kumar has been remanded to police custody till July 13. The police are now looking for the stolen booty.

India industry on way to recovery – econ survey

by

Mumbai, July 03: Indian industry is recovering from the economic slowdown, but the sector has to maintain its cost advantage in the emerging new global industrial order, a government report said.

India’s industrial output grew 2.4 percent in the year to March, compared with 8.5 percent in the previous year, hit by the global slowdown and a decline in domestic demand.

It rose an annual 1.4 percent in April after contracting three times in four months, government data showed.

Liberhan report should be made public soon: Lalu

by

New Delhi, July 03: RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Thursday called upon the government to make the Liberhan Commission report on the Babri Masjid demolition public at the earliest.

“The report is already delayed. It should be tabled in the present session of the Parliament,” Lalu said outside Parliament.

The one man Commission headed by Justice M S Liberhan submitted its report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday.

Reacting to the fuel price hike, Lalu said, “It will adversely affect the agriculture sector in the backdrop of a delayed monsoon.”

Nazir may return for ODI series against Lanka: Bari

by

Karachi, July 03: Pakistan”s acting chief cricket selector Wasim Bari has hinted at the return of opener Imran Nazir to the national fold. Nazir is one of the four Pakistani players to have shunned ICL but the PCB Chairman Ejaz Butt had said Nazir would not be considered for national selection because of his behaviour in the final of the national Twenty20 championship.

Bari said that Nazir had been cleared by the Board over the incident in the final when the opener had shown dissent towards an umpire, who ruled him out. “He was cleared on June 30 over the discipline issue in the RBS Cup.

‘Loose nukes greatest danger in Pakistan’

by

Washington, July 03: The threat of insiders in the nuclear establishment working with outsiders seeking a bomb is nowhere greater than in Pakistan, according to a former officer of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

‘Pakistani authorities have a dismal track record in thwarting insider threats,’ writes Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, who served as a CIA officer for 23 years, in the July/August issue of Arms Control Today, published by the Arms Control Association.

Palestinian girl killed in Gaza shelling – hospital

by

Gaza City, July 03: A Palestinian teenage girl was killed by a shell that exploded in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and which hospital workers and Hamas officials said was fired by an Israeli tank.

Israeli military officials said an initial investigation showed the girl was probably killed by a misfiring mortar round fired by Palestinian militants during clashes with soldiers near a border crossing in the area.

The Palestinian hospital workers said three other people were wounded when the shell struck near a house in al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, killing the girl.

Patnaik seeks re-deployment of central forces in Kandhamal

by

Bhubaneswar, July 3 (IANS) Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has opposed the withdrawal of central forces from Kandhamal district, which witnessed communal riots last year, and demanded their re-deployment to ensure peace in the region, officials here said Friday.

‘Patnaik has requested the central government to re-deploy the forces till the situation becomes completely normal,’ a senior official of the chief minister’s office told IANS.

Cyber war over legalising gay sex

by

New Delhi, July 03: Bringing out the deep divisions in Indian society about homosexuality, netizens have given a mixed reaction to the court ruling legalising gay sex, with some terming it as a “great judgement” and some saying same-sex relations are “unnatural” and against Indian culture. Comments poured in blogs and media websites after the Delhi High Court gave the path-breaking judgement legalising gay sex between consenting adults.

US sanctions Pak Lashkar man, cites his Samjhauta blast link

by

Washington, 03: The United States has imposed sanctions on four Pakistan-based terrorists including a Lashkar-e-Toiba operative accused in the 2007 Samjhauta blasts and 2006 Mumbai train bombings, freezing their assets and travel in the US.

Arif Qasmani, chief coordinator and fundraiser for the Lashkar, and three others — Ameen Al-Peshawari, Yahya Mujahid and Nasir Javaid — can’t enter into financial transactions in the US, or with a US national.

Afghan Taliban may enter Pakistan, warns Gilani

by

Islamabad, July 03: Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani warned against possible infiltration of Afghan militants into Pakistan in the wake of fresh offensives by the US and NATO soldiers in Afghanistan.

Gilani made the remarks during a meeting at his house with Admiral Edouard Guillaud, an advisor to the French president, the Online news agency reported.

The Pakistani leader has urged France to provide military equipment and other assistance to deal with militancy.

India’s train bombings: US freezes assets of 4 Pakistanis

by

Washington, July 03: The US has frozen the assets of four Pakistani terrorists for their alleged involvement in a series of terrorist activities in India, including the July 2006 train bombing in Mumbai and February 2007 bombing in the Samjhauta Express train that goes to Pakistan.

The US treasury department Wednesday slapped sanctions on the four – Arif Qasmani, Fazeel-A-Tul Shaykh Abu Mohammed Ameen al-Peshawari, Mohammed Yahya Mujahid and Nasir Javaid – by designating them as part of support networks of Al Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taeba (LeT) in Pakistan.

Jordanian king names Hussein as crown prince

by

Amman, July 03: Jordan’s King Abdullah II issued a decree naming his eldest son, Hussein, as crown prince, according to a royal court statement.

The 15-year-old Hussein, whose mother, Queen Rania, descends from Palestinian origins, will be “vested with all rights and privileges pertaining to this decree”, the statement said.

The post of heir apparent in Jordan had been vacant since 2004, when King Abdullah stripped his half brother, Hamzeh, of the title of crown prince.

King Abdullah succeeded his father, late King Hussein, to the throne in 1999.

-Agencies

Pastor Rick Warren to address American Muslim

by

New York, July 03: Sayyid Syeed remembers an interfaith event several years ago when a Jewish leader went to embrace him, saw someone snapping a photo, then suddenly pulled back.

“He said to the man, ‘Stop,”’ Syeed recalled, “‘I’ll lose my job.”’

Medical student makes bomb hoax call for ‘fun’, arrested

by

Rajkot, July 03: An 18-year-old son of a police constable was nabbed by Gujarat Railway police for making a bomb hoax call in Rajkot.

The Special Operations Group of Western Railways, Vadodara division, played a key role in tracking down the teenager, who had got the police on their toes by making bomb hoax call.

Rahul Laiya, a first-year student of Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) studying in SDA Medical College in Ranchi was at home in Jamnagar during the summer vacations.

Here, he came across a disposed sim card and planned to use it in making free calls.

UAE Requests Saudi to Increase Haj Quota

by

Abu Dhabi, July 03: The General Authority for Islamic Affairs and Auqaf has submitted a request to Saudi Arabia to increase the UAE’s quota of pilgrims from 6,228 to 16,000 for this year’s Haj season.

Mohammed Obeid Al Mazrouie, head of the official UAE Haj Mission, told Khaleej Times that he expected the Saudi authorities to respond positively to the UAE’s request given the friendly bilateral ties.Al Mazrouie, also Executive Director of Islamic Affairs at the authority, added that Saudi Arabia increased the UAE’s quota of pilgrims from 6,000 to 10,000 last year.

Saddam Hussein sought familiar refuge

by

Baghdad, July 03: After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Saddam Hussein stayed in Baghdad until he saw “the city was about to fall.” Months later, he was caught hiding at the same farm where he had fled in 1959 after taking part in an attempt to kill the country’s prime minister.

Unclassified FBI interviews conducted during his incarceration at a U.S. detention center offered new details Thursday about the late Iraqi dictator’s life on the run both before and after he was ousted.