Boston, August 31: Sen. Edward Kennedy’s family fortune not only fueled his brothers’ presidential campaigns and his eight terms in the U.S. Senate, it also helped drive the family’s liberal legacy and forge Kennedy’s lifelong crusade for universal health care.
Just how wealthy was Kennedy when he died Tuesday at the age of 77 after a yearlong battle with brain cancer?
Chennai, August 31: Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister M.K.Stalin left for London Monday and is expected to return Sept 9.
While there was no official reason given for the trip, it is said Stalin has gone to London for a health check-up, but no details were mentioned.
Stalin was to visit the US along with state government officials to discuss modalities of cleaning the Cooum river flowing through Chennai. He was to go to London from there.
Los Angeles, August 31: The U.S. Forest Service says a wildfire in the mountains north of Los Angeles nearly doubled in size overnight and continues to threaten a broadcasting antenna complex and thousands of homes.
Spokeswoman Dianne Cahir says the fire had burned 134 square miles of brush and trees by early Monday.
Jersey City, August 31: Heath Slocum drained a 21-foot par putt on the final hole on Sunday to claim a one-shot win at The Barclays, the first of the US PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoff series.
Slocum’s effort denied a possible playoff that would have included world number one Tiger Woods, Steve Stricker – who is second on the FedEx Cup points list – as well as three-time major champions Ernie Els of South Africa and Padraig Harrington of Ireland.
Slocum shot a four-under 67 on Sunday for a nine-under total of 275.
New York, August 31: Rafael Nadal declared himself 100 percent fit for the US Open after battling knee tendinitis for three months, the Spaniard eager to make the most of his first chance to complete a career Grand Slam.
On the eve of Monday’s start of the year’s final major, the reigning Australian Open champion and US Open third seed said he has fully recovered from an injury that kept him from defending his 2008 Wimbledon title.
“I’m 100 percent well to play this tournament. I don’t know if I’m playing at my best level, but I am 100 percent,” Nadal said.
New Delhi, August 31 : Indian Premier League franchisees are up in arms against the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s decision to terminate event manager IMG’s contract with the league on Saturday.
Mumbai Indians owner Mukesh Ambani, Knight Riders’ Shah Rukh Khan as well as the owners of Team Delhi and Team Jaipur have thrown their weight behind IMG and protested at not being consulted on the decision by shooting off letters to BCCI president Shashank Manohar, former board chief Sharad Pawar and IPL commissioner Lalit Modi. Copies of the letters are in TOI’s possession.
New Delhi, August 31: Former Pakistan captain and legendary pacer Wasim Akram on Monday made it clear that he would only assist Kolkata Knight Riders as a consultant and not a full time coach but promised to take “a lot of load off the captain’s shoulder”.
Akram, along with John Wright, Richard Pybus, Sandeep Patil and Praveen Amre, is in the running for the job left vacant by John Buchanan.
But he seems to be in for a “specific” role after he described his meeting with owner Shah Rukh Khan as a “positive” one.
Karachi, August 31: The Pakistan Cricket Board would not be involved in organising the 2011 World Cup following last week’s financial settlement ended its row with the ruling body, an official said on Monday.
“We will now just take part in the tournament as a participating nation, not as a host country,” a senior PCB official, who did not wish to be named said.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) board had in April stripped Pakistan of its 14 matches over security concerns, moving them to co-hosts India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
New Delhi, August 31: Senior batsman Sachin Tendulkar feels Rahul Dravid’s inclusion has added “value” to the ODI team and his experience would come in handy during the tri-series in Sri Lanka and the subsequent Champions Trophy in South Africa.
“It should help the team. He brings in a lot of experience on the table and also a lot of skill. I think his will be good value addition to the team,” Tendulkar said.
Mumbai, August 31: The sequel to Partner is allegedly stuck due to lack of a good script; Salman, Govinda dates wasted….
David Dhawan’s Partner may be a brand name on par with Golmaal and Dhoom. But while Golmaal and Dhoom are racing to the third segment of their franchise, Partner is still stuck for a sequel as a good script plays truant.
First, Katrina Kaif decided not to be a part of the sequel, thus putting the film on the backburner. And now it seems unlikely that Partner 2 will see the light in the near, or even distant future.
Riyadh, August 31: Saudi cement sales rose 33.4 percent in July with some producers reporting their highest-ever monthly sales, NCB Capital said Sunday.
The Saudi investment company said total sales stood at 3.45 mt for the month, compared to 2.66 mt for the same period last year. It said sales rose 4.7 percent month-on-month.
Yamama Cement and Saudi Cement reported their highest-ever monthly sales in July, NCBC said. It said cement exports rose 56 percent to 109,000 tonnes in July, compared to 70,000 tonnes a year ago, boosted mainly by Northern Region Cement Co (NRCC).
Dammam, August 31: Worshippers in the Eastern Province have been warned they could be arrested by officials if they conduct prayers in mosques sporting “unsuitable” fashions.
A notice from mosque Imams in the region has reportedly been circulated informing of a ban on persons wearing “unusual and immodest clothes” from entering mosque premises, including those with “strange hairstyles or who use women’s bands in their hair”.
Jeddah, August 31: Dr. Abdulrahman Bin Abdullah Bin Abdulrahman Al-Hamidi was Sunday appointed as Deputy Governor of Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) at the excellent rank, a Royal Order said.
The order instructed the authorities concerned to carry out the order with immediate effect, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.
The appointment should not lead to any policy changes at the central bank, analysts say.
Jeddah, August 31: Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior, defended Saturday the policy of welcoming the return of repentant militants after Thursday’s failed assassination attempt on his son, Prince Muhammad, but warned that further, more violent attacks, could follow.
“In this country we are targeted… The situation could change and could intensify, not in terms of the number [of attacks] but rather in their nature, and that is more dangerous,” the minister said.
Mumbai, August 31: Farah Khan, who is a common friend of Bollywood superstars Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan, wants to play the peacemaker between the two actors. The choreographer-turned-director, believes that the fight between the actors is getting longer.
“I wish I could bridge the gap. I love both of them. It’s (the fight) getting longer now,” Farah told PTI.
Farah, who has turned a chat-show host with ‘Tere Mere Beach Mein’ had Salman Khan and his mother as her first celebrity guests while she is planning to bring Shah Rukh in the final episode.
Bangalore, August 31: A software engineer from Andhra Pradesh, who had lost his job over a year ago, committed suicide by jumping in front of a moving train on Saturday night. Railway police said he may have been depressed after losing his job.
His body was found on the tracks between Thanisandra and Nagawara. The deceased Nagaraj, 30, from Vizag, was working with a software company here, police said.
Ghaziabad, August 31: The Ghaziabad police has arrested four persons for allegedly murdering a 25-year-old bus helper. The accused have been identified as two of the biggest bus transporters in northeast Delhi Sanjeev Juneja and Ramesh Maurya. The two others arrested are Veerpal and Dipak, employees of the two accused.
Mumbai, August 31: The high-priced acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and dipping volumes have taken their toll on Tata Motors, which reported a loss of Rs.328.78 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, as compared to a profit of Rs.719.69 crore logged in the same quarter the previous fiscal.
The company’s consolidated gross revenue for the first quarter of the current fiscal stood at Rs.16,953.63 crore, while it was Rs.15,496.28 crore in the year-ago period.
New Delhi, August 31: India’s sports minister MS Gill on Monday snubbed Force India F1 owner Vijay Mallya’s snide that F1 was indeed a viable sport in India. He stuck to his stand and refused to acknowledge it as nothing more than an expensive entertainment of the western world.
He told reporters, “F1 is the most expensive entertainment in the West.”
He reverberated his previous stand on the issue saying, “I will stand by my earlier comment that F1 is not a sport.”
London, August 31: More than 400 children were being held in British immigration detention centres with their families, a report said on Monday, citing official figures.
The Guardian newspaper said 470 children, many from countries suffering poverty and conflict such as Zimbabwe, Sudan, Sri Lanka and Democratic Republic of Congo, were locked up after arriving in Britain.
The figures from the Home Office were provided for a single day, on June 30 this year.
Most of the children were aged under five, and almost one third were held for longer than 28 days, the newspaper said.
Gurgaon, August 31: One hundred people who died in 1,696 accidents on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway since January 23, 2008 are anonymous entities for both the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the concessionaire firm, DSC Limited. Which means that if they are asked to pay compensation as a result of an ongoing case in the Punjab and Haryana High Court – in which both are party – there is no way they can trace the victims.
New Delhi, August 31: Pakistan has rejected a media report that said it illegally modified US-supplied missiles Pakistan’s foreign ministry said it “categorically rejected” the American accusation.
US accused Pakistan of illegally modifying US-made missiles to target land-based objects.
The US has also said Pakistan conducted an unannounced missile test on April 23.
Pakistan modifying missiles is a potential threat to India.
India’s outgoing navy chief Sureesh Mehta says the Harpoon missile controversy is a serious one and that India has taken it up with the US in the past.
Patna, August 31: A five-day-old strike by the junior doctors in a hospital in Patna has claimed the lives of at least 38 patients even as the Bihar government on Monday served notices to the medicos and asked them to return to work or face action, an official said.
A day after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed his anger at the doctors’ strike that has paralysed health services in the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), Health Secretary C K Mishra served notices on doctors asking them to report back to duty.
Ghaziabad, August 31: HAZIABAD: Police on Monday gunned down two criminals who allegedly fled in a vehicle of a doctor here after threatening him.
The two unidentified outlaws in their 20s, beat up a doctor around 2:30 AM today and took away his car, SSP Ghaziabad Akhil Kumar said.
Following a complaint by the doctor, the police swung into action and challenged them, he said adding that in the exchange of fire the duo was killed. Some arms were recovered from the spot.
A policeman was injured in the encounter and was rushed to hospital, he said.
—-Agencies
Karachi, August: A Pakistani court today issued fresh notices to former President Pervez Musharraf and Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain after they failed to appear before it in connection with a case related to violence during a protest by lawyers two years ago.
The Sindh High Court had on August 20 issued notices to Musharraf, Hussain, former provincial interior minister Waseem Akhtar and others to appear before it today. Neither Musharraf nor his counsel appeared in the court and Hussain also was not represented in today’s hearing.