Month: July 2009

Uncertainty over India’s tri-series in Lanka

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New Delhi, July 01: Sri Lanka Cricket’s Interim Committee is still not clear over India’s plans for the forthcoming triangular series also involving India and New Zealand.

The Sri Lankan cricket board recently announced the inclusion of India in an already finalised bilateral series with New Zealand.

When announced, BCCI secretary N Srinivasan had only mentioned that India had been invited to play in the triangular which would provide them with preparation for the Champions Trophy in late September.

I learnt from Vaughan: Strauss

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London, July 01: England captain Andrew Strauss heaped praise on Michael Vaughan, who announced his retirement on Tuesday, saying his predecessor’s ability to outwit opponents set him apart from the crowd.

“I count Michael as a good friend as well as a team-mate and I know what a tough decision this will have been for him as he took so much pleasure and pride in representing his country,” said Strauss.

The 34-year-old Vaughan decided to cut short his career after failing to make the cut for the Ashes series against Australia.

‘Violence can’t be stopped by imposing ban’

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Kolkata, July 01: The CPI’s tirade against the Left Front government in Bengal continued with party MP Gurudas Dasgupta saying the continuous violence that has rocked several districts following the Lok Sabha polls, including Lalgarh, cannot be stopped by imposing bans.

Last week, the CPM-led LF government had agreed to implement the Centre’s ban on the CPI-Maoist party.

Flintoff’s folly frustrates Atherton

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London, July 01: Michael Atherton said the fact England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff was in the news for missing the team bus during a squad weekend away was an unwanted “distraction” ahead of the Ashes.

Ex-England captain Flintoff, 31, joining up with the squad for the first time after several months out with a knee injury, missed the team bus for Saturday’s visit to the World War One trenches at Ypres in Belgium.

PCB unhappy with FTP proposed by BCCI

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Karachi, July 01: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is unhappy with the Future Tours Programme (FTP) drafted by its Indian counterpart BCCI since it does not include any bilateral series between the arch-rivals.

PCB sources said that the ICC had asked all Test playing nations to submit draft FTPs after consulting each other and the one proposed by India does not include any bilateral series with either Pakistan or Bangladesh.

Windies’ Gayle breezes in for Aussie T20

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London, July 01: West Indies captain Chris Gayle has signed up for Western Australia’s Retravision Warriors for this year’s domestic Twenty20 competition, officials said on Wednesday, hailing a major coup.

The left-hander, who is the world’s only international Twenty20 centurion, will play the ‘Big Bash’ competition between the Windies’ Test and one-day series here in November and December.

“With Chris we have secured one of the game’s best Twenty20 players,” said coach Tom Moody.

Priyanka Chopra thrown out of ‘Paris’

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Mumbai, July 01: The Bollywood actress certainly hasn’t been humiliated in the French capital but has been thrown out of Sanjay Gadhvi’s upcoming movie 7 Days In Paris.

The reason, well believe it or not Priyanka demanded a whooping amount of Rs. 5 Crores for the movie. Priyanka had hiked her price since the success of Fashion and Dostana and felt she deserved the fee after being offered Rs 3 Crores for Pyaar Impossible by Yash Raj Films.

Priyanka believed since she would star opposite newcomer Imran Khan in the movie the movie will ride on her shoulders.

Suppliers lose Rs57L for Kambakkht Ishq

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Mumbai, July 01: The much-awaited Kambakkht Ishq, which stars Sylvester Stallone, Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor, paid a heavy ‘price’ before its release. An investigation carried out by BMC’s vigilance department has revealed that more than 819 boxes of colour positive films, used for copying the original film and distributing them across cinemas, was brought into the city without paying octroi duty.

Make Liberhan report public: Maya

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Lucknow, July 01: Chief Minister Mayawati has demanded that the Centre makes public the Liberhan Commission report without any delay.

She also blamed Congress and BJP for the demolition of the “disputed site”. Mayawati said this while addressing mediapersons on Tuesday.

The chief minister said the Commission taking 17 years to complete its probe is not in the interest of the people.

Poverty-stricken descendant of Mughals to get a job

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Kolkata, July 01: State-run Coal India Ltd (CIL) has decided to offer employment to Madhu, the poverty-stricken fifth generation descendant of India’s last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar.

Madhu, 33, is the daughter of Sultana Begum and the late Muhammad Bedar Bakht, the great grandson of Bahadur Shah Zafar.

“On behalf of Coal India Ltd, I feel pleasure in offering employment to Madhu. It will be a great tribute to the last Mughal emperor who played a key role during the first war of independence in 1857,” Coal India Chairman Partha Bhattacharyya said.

Ranbir topples Akshay Kumar

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Mumbai, July 01: Ranbir Kapoor seems to have toppled Akshay Kumar for being the most paired actor with hottie Katrina Kaif. Now, Ranbir Kapoor has a string of releases lined up with Katrina Kaif.

Earlier the trend of paring up Aki and Kats had become a hit Bollywood formula and the two managed to create some magic at the box office.

North Korea faces new food crisis, UN warns

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Beijing, July 01: The United Nations on Wednesday warned that North Korea faces another growing food crisis, with signs of increasing malnutrition among children.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) can currently distribute food to about 2 million of its targeted 6.2 million North Koreans, said Torben Due, the agency’s country representative in North Korea.

“It’s a very difficult situation for many people in North Korea,” Due told reporters in Beijing.

After the stick, Buddha’s babus camp in Lalgarh with carrots

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Kolkata, July 01: After the deployment of security forces in Lalgarh, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is now sending senior IAS officers as a confidence-building measure among the people. Out of the first batch of eight officers, six left for Ground Zero on Tuesday.

They will be divided into three groups and stationed in Ramgarh, Lalgarh and Pirakata.

Federer, Murray eye dream Wimbledon final

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London, July 01: Roger Federer and Andy Murray are locked on collision course for a dream Wimbledon final, but a giant Croatian and a wily Spaniard stand in their quarter-final paths on Wednesday.

Federer will be playing his 25th Grand Slam quarter-final while 6ft 10in (2.08m) Ivo Karlovic has never before got this far in the majors.

But he still represents a huge barrier to Federer’s ambitions of winning a record 15th Grand Slam title having not faced a break point in four rounds so far.

Reliance BIG TV inks ‘Recharging Deal’ with Oxigen

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New Delhi, July 01: Reliance BIG TV has entered into a strategic partnership with “Oxigen”, a premium recharge service provider to enable its customers to enjoy uninterrupted television viewing.

Under the tie up, Reliance BIG TV will offer its customers the entire portfolio of Oxigen’s easy recharge option. The deal is considered as a part of its customer service motto to offer convenient and user-friendly customer service experience.

Come December, you can track your PF account online

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New Delhi, July 01: Beginning December, the over 4 crore Provident Fund subscribers will be able to track their accounts online, a Labour Ministry official said.

This comes eight years after the Employees Provident Fund Organisation began computerising its operations. EPFO covers over 5 lakh firms and a corpus of Rs 2.22 lakh crore. Since April 2009, a test-run is being implemented at EPFO’s office at Karnal, Haryana.

Army’s special forces to be used for NSG hubs: PC

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Chennai,July 01: Special forces of the army will be used to set up anti-terror hubs in Bangalore and Jodhpur, Home Minister P Chidambaram said on Wednesday.

Inaugurating the second National Security Guard hub in Chennai, he said setting up of NSG units did not mean there was an increase in terror threat to the country.

“We are also using special forces of the army. Bangalore hub is by the special forces of the army. I am trying to set up a special forces of the army in Jodhpur and one in Guwahati using the Border security force”, he said.

Preity heartbroken; Ness finds new love

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Mumbai, July 01: While Preity Zinta cools her heels in US her ex beau Ness Wadia seems to have found his new ladylove. The business tycoon is dating Ayesha Thapar, the heiress of Thapar Industries.

The two were recently spotted mingling like a love struck couple at a party. The two have been close to each other for a few months now but their proximity gained momentum once Ayesha announced separation from her foreigner husband Engin Yesil.

Indians’ death details suppressed: The Age

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Melbourne, July 01: Australian authorities have suppressed the details of the deaths of more than 50 overseas students in their country within a year; nearly half of them were Indian. There is evidence to indicate that the death toll is higher than what the Federal Government has admitted, a local daily claimed.

Smith bags top honours in SA cricket awards

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Johanesburg, July 01: South African captain Graeme Smith’s inspirational leadership and prolific batting in the season gone by, fetched him the twin honours of ‘Cricketer of the Year’ and ‘Test Cricketer of the Year’ at the country’s annual cricket awards here.

In a glittering ceremony here last night, the other major winners were AB de Villiers (One-Day International Cricketer of the Year and Fans’ Cricketer of the Year) and JP Duminy (Pro20 Cricketer of the Year, SA Players’ Player of the Year, and KFC Taste the Action Performance winner).

Taliban scrap peace deal in Pak

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Islamabad, July 01: Taliban militants in a tribal region bordering Afghanistan say they have pulled out of a peace deal with the government, raising the prospect of wider unrest as the Pakistani army extends its efforts to eliminate insurgents.

The militants in North Waziristan blamed continuing U.S. missile strikes and army offensives against the Taliban for their decision, which was announced in the wake of a Taliban ambush that killed 16 soldiers.

UN assembly condemns Honduras coup

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United Nations, July 01: The United Nations General Assembly has condemned the military coup that forced Honduras’ elected president from power.

The assembly on Tuesday adopted a resolution calling for the “immediate and unconditional” return of Manuel Zelaya to the Honduran presidency, two days after he was forced into exile.

Zelaya, who was attending the meeting of the 192-member body in New York, thanked the assembly for the “historic” resolution, saying that it mirrored the world’s “indignation” at the court-backed military coup.

Zionists prepare to demolish more Palestinian homes

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Gaza, July 01: The Zionist regime army has handed out demolition orders for the destruction of Palestinian homes and structures located in Al Kahder town in the occupied West Bank.

The demolition plans are in accordance with Israel’s policy of changing the demography of Jerusalem (al-Quds) and the surrounding area in order to turn Islam’s third-holiest city into a “Jews only” region.

Red-hot Venus, Serena close in on Wimbledon final

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London, July 01: Wimbledon braced itself for a fourth all-Williams singles final on Tuesday after Venus and Serena stormed into the semi-finals as their outclassed opponents melted in 33-degree heat.

Five-time champion Venus eased to a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska while Serena, a two-time champion, saw off Belarusian eighth seed Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 6-3.

The sisters have made 12 Wimbledon finals appearances and there were few signs today that the family monopoly is about to be broken.

US, NATO losing in Afghanistan, Ashdown says

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Washington, July 01: A top British diplomat says that all foreign troops are losing in Afghanistan because their leaders do not know how to handle the war.

“We’re losing,” Paddy Ashdown, the former British representative for Bosnia, said on Tuesday.

He also added the US- and NATO-led coalition faced defeat unless operational changes were made.

“We’re on our way to losing and our young men are dying out there because politicians won’t get their act together,” according to Ashdown.