Mumbai, July 01: The Cricket Board has given the short shrift to one of India’s iconic cricket arenas, the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, again while deciding on the venues to host the seven ODIs against Australia in October-November.
The BCCI’s Tour Programmes and Fixtures Committee met here today and decided that Guwahati, Delhi, Mumbai, Mohali, Hyderabad, Nagpur and Jaipur will host matches in the India-Australia ODI rubber in October-November.
Mumbai, July 01: Actor Akshaye Khanna says that he was trying his best to change his image as a moody and temperamental person to become more at peace with himself.
“I am a little moody…but certainly not snobbish as people perceive. But I am trying my best to change this image and become more at peace with myself,” Akshaye said in an interview.
The actor said he was not comfortable talking about his personal life.
New Delhi, July 01: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader LK Advani has expressed concern at Taliban-imposed jizya – protection money being forcibly collected from religious minority in Pakistan – and urged the Indian government to take steps “to prevent hardships and persecution of Hindus and Sikhs” in that country.
“The BJP urges the Indian government to take all necessary steps with the government of Pakistan to prevent any further hardships and persecution of the Hindus and Sikhs in that country,” the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said Wednesday.
Los Angeles, July 01: The legions of Michael Jackson fans who have collected in Los Angeles from around the world will get a chance to pay their final tributes to their idol during the public viewing of King of Pop’s body that will be held at his fantasy themed abode, ‘Neverland’ ranch.
Jackson’s body will be taken to the ranch, north of Santa Barbara, California, on Thursday in preparation for viewing Friday and a private memorial service will take place on Sunday, reported CNN.
New Delhi, July 01: In the wake of a meeting on Wednesday between the Prime Minister and Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, the govt decided to hike petrol and diesel prices by Rs 4 and Rs 2 respectively.
However, the LPG and kerosene prices were left untouched.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora told reporters at a hurriedly convened press conference here that the new prices take effect from the midnight of Wednesday.
Dubai, July 01: At least one person died and 29 others, including Indians, went missing after a commercial vessel capsized off the coast of Qatar, officials said on Wednesday.
The ‘Damas Victory’ boat, which belonged to Dubai-based Demas Marine and was hired by Qatar firm HBK Power Cleaning, sank about two nautical miles off Doha early yesterday, a spokesman for Qatar’s Ministry of Interior said.
Five persons were rescued and one body was recovered while search for the remaining people was underway. Among the rescued were three Indian nationals.
Mumbai, July 01: Guwahati, deprived of international cricket due to reasons varying from weather to security, was among the seven cities picked by BCCI today to host the India-Australia one-day series scheduled in October-November this year.
Delhi, Mumbai, Mohali, Hyderabad, Nagpur and Jaipur were the other six cities chosen for the series.
New Delhi, July 01: Still sore about the warning he received from the Sports Ministry last month, ace wrestler Sushil Kumar believes he has silenced his critics with the gold medal he won in last week’s German Grand Prix.
Sushil said he was hurt after the Steering Committee of the Sports Ministry censured him for being overweight and getting disqualified from the Asian Championship in Thailand.
The hurt grappler, however, took it in stride and bounced back in style, winning the gold in the 66kg freestyle category in the German Grand Prix in Dortmund.
St Lucia, July 01: In-form West Indies opener Runako Morton said the hosts will look to replicate their series-levelling show of Sabina Park when they take on India in the third ODI at the Beausejour Stadium here on Friday.
Aware that whoever wins the third ODI would be spared the ignominy of a series defeat, Morton said he personally would settle for nothing less than a win.
“The series is level 1-1. As always I will be looking to win,” he said.
Hyderabad, July 01: This city will soon get a training centre for over 5,000 commandos, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram said here Wednesday while inaugurating a regional hub of the elite anti-terror National Security Guard (NSG) – as part of capacity building plans post 26/11.
“We had made a promise after the terrorist attack in Mumbai in November that we will set up four regional centres of the NSG so that the reach and capacity to tackle terror is considerably enhanced throughout the country,” he said.
Mumbai, July 01: Real estate body, CREDAI, focused strongly on slum eradication, slum prevention and providing affordable housing, during its meeting with President Pratibha Patil here.
“During our meeting, CREDAI presented a paper to the President, giving its ideas on the three key issues,” Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India’s Vice-President, Dharmesh Jain, told PTI here today.
Chennai, July 01: TVS Motor Co has seen its June sales of two-wheelers increasing six percent over that registered in the corresponding month last year, the company said Wednesday.
In a statement, TVS said last month’s two-wheeler sales totalled 115,448 units as against 109,082 units sold in June 2008.
However, this was lower than its May sales, when it sold 118,574 units.
During the period under review, domestic sales totalled 105,361 units showing a 12 percent increase over sales logged in June 2008.
New Delhi, July 01: Extending its losing streak for the fourth straight session, gold prices today fell by Rs 120 at Rs 14,680 per 10 gram in the bullion market here on aggressive selling by stockists, triggered by a weakening trend in the US market.
Meanwhile, silver also declined by Rs 700 to Rs 22,050 per kg.
Marketmen said trading sentiment turned bearish as gold prices in the US market, which normally sets price trend here, fell to 922.10 dollar an ounce last evening as dollar rebound, reducing demand for the precious metal as an alternate investment
New Delhi, July 01: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked cash-crunch Air India to improve its business plan and submit a new strategy within 30 days in this regard.
The Prime Minister has also asked the officials to close offices in the countries it doesn’t fly to save the expenses that is being spent uselessly.
He also asked country’s leading civil aviation company to review all technical and commercial agreements and put a check on the financial plan which has been ignored by the consultants.
–Agencies
New Delhi, July 01: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Murli Manohar Joshi Wednesday said that the Congress-led government lacked a road map to improve the education system and added that it should evolve consensus among all stakeholders before introducing reforms.
Lucknow, July 01: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court Wednesday directed the government to reply to a public interest litigation that alleged the statues installed at the crossings in this Uttar Pradesh capital were disrupting the flow of traffic.
A petition filed by Satveer Singh Yadav, a lawyer, said the big statues constructed at various roundabouts in the city by Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo and Chief Minister Mayawati were disrupting traffic.
Manila, July 01: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $100-million loan to undertake developmental projects in China’s northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, officials said Wednesday.
The Xinjiang Urban Transport and Environmental Improvement Project, which will receive the money, will also initiate projects to protect the environment, the bank said.
Beijing, July 01: China has backed down from its Wednesday deadline for computer makers to pre-install controversial internet filtering software, following a backlash from inside and outside the country.
The delay in installing the Green Dam Youth Escort firewall is to allow computer manufacturers more time to comply with the new requirement, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a statement.
The ministry said it will continue to provide free downloads of Green Dam and install it on more computers at schools and internet cafes.
New Delhi, July 01: The government will help set up 350 new food processing units in the next 100 days as part of its efforts to create 10 million jobs in the sector by 2015.
“We will extend financial help of up to 25 percent or a maximum of Rs.50 lakh (Rs.5 million) in setting up each of these units,” Minister for Food Processing Industries Subodh Kant Sahai said here Wednesday while releasing his ministry’s 100-day action plan.
These 350 processing units will be in the fields of fruit and vegetable, meat, dairy, fish, grain and consumer food industry.
Jamnagar, July 01: Eye donation is believed to be noblest cause in the present era. In India, it is still a rare phenomenon.
People are not fully aware of eye donation. However, Some of the responsible citizens are coming forward to donate their eyes after death.
It is really shameful if donated eyes are not preserved due to negligence of hospital and lack of facilities to preserve donated corneas.
New Delhi, July 01: Countering naxals in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand cost more lives of CRPF personnel as compared to that during operations in militancy ridden Jammu and Kashmir and the north-east in the first six months this year.
CRPF lost 39 personnel in the naxal infested states of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand as compared to only two in Jammu and Kashmir and the north-east between January-June this year, according to official records.
Interestingly, in both J&K and north-east states, the CRPF has had better success rate in terms of militants killed.
Ghaziabad, July 01: A youth was shot dead by three unidentified assailants in the broad day-light here at Loni area in the NCR, sources said.
According to the sources, car-borne three assailants overtook a DTC bus and stopped it near Loni. Later trio climbed up in the fully packed bus and opened fire on a youth.
The incident sparked off panic among the other passengers and they started to ran away from the bus.
Meanwhile, police have reached on the spot and investigation is underway.
—Agenices
New Delhi, July 01: Days before the general budget, the government today hiked petrol and diesel prices by Rs four and Rs 2 per litre, respectively, with effect from midnight tonight.
It, however, decided against decontrol of petrol and diesel prices, while leaving LPG and Kerosene prices unchanged.
Provisions would be made in the budget, to be presented on July six, to cover the loss on account of LPG and kerosene, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said.
The decision to increase the price was taken after Deora met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today.
New Delhi, July 01: Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio has returned from New Delhi after holding a series of meetings with the Union Ministers and Government representatives on various developmental issues pertaining to the state. According to official sources here today, the Chief Minister met the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Friday and congratulated him on being appointed for a second tenure.
Lucknow, July 01: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court Wednesday directed the government to reply to a public interest litigation that alleged the statues installed at the crossings in this Uttar Pradesh capital were disrupting the flow of traffic.
A petition filed by Satveer Singh Yadav, a lawyer, said the big statues constructed at various roundabouts in the city by Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo and Chief Minister Mayawati were disrupting traffic.