New Delhi, September 30: Sixty women, some of them survivors of breast cancer, will drive from Delhi to Agra spreading awareness about the disease that kills 40,000 women in India every year. The car rally, which will see doctors, health and community activists accompany the women, will begin here Oct 2.
Islamabad, September 30: Former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf has said that he allowed late slain former premier Benazir Bhutto’s return to Pakistan, as no corruption charges were proved against her, a private TV channel reported on Monday.
Islamabad, September 30: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday admitted for regular hearing a petition by Punjab government seeking to defer by-polls on two National Assembly and two provincial assembly seats on one of which former premier Nawaz Sharif is a candidate.
The court issued notices to the Election Commission, Sharif, former federal minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmed and other candidates. The government said law and order situation in the province was not conducive to holding of elections which have been powstponed many times for past nearly ten months.
Lucknow, September 30: Nearly 125 activists of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) were Tuesday booked for violating prohibitory orders and firing in the air during Dussehra celebrations in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi district, police said.
“An FIR has been registered against about 125 RSS activists, who despite the prohibitory orders, Monday assembled in large numbers and fired in the air during ’shastra poojan’ (as part of Dussehra festivities),” additional superintendent of police Jagdeesh Singh told IANS over telephone.
Islamabad, September 30: The eight-member group of MPs from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) have submitted their resignations en bloc to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in protest against persistent neglect of their constituencies disbursement of development funds.
The group that included two ministers and a parliamentary secretary have also demanded immediate removal of governor of North West Frontier Province (NWFP) Owais Ahmad Ghani, accusing him of being too authoritative and inaccessible.
Geneva, September 30: Switzerland, which represents Washington’s interests in Tehran, was allowed access on Tuesday to three American hikers detained in Iran since July, the Swiss foreign ministry said.
“Swiss diplomats had access today to three American citizens detained in Iran,” a ministry spokesman said, without providing details on the Americans’ detention or where the meeting took place.
Washington, September 30: Around 109 million US commuters, or three quarters of the workforce, drove into work alone last year, data released Tuesday by the US Census Bureau showed.
In percentage terms, solo commuters fell slightly from 76.1 percent of the workforce in 2007 to just over 75.5 percent last year, but a head count would have shown there were three million more cars carrying one person into work on US highways last year than in 2007, the data showed.
Washington, September 30: The State Department on Tuesday welcomed Iran’s decision to allow Swiss diplomats to meet with three Americans who have been detained in Iran since being arrested for illegal entry in late July.
The move could be seen as a conciliatory gesture on Iran’s part, coming two days before a high-profile meeting between Iran and five world powers seeking to persuade Iran to abandon any effort to build nuclear weapons.
San Francisco, September 30: Microsoft on Tuesday released free software that people can use to protect computers against viruses, spyware and other malicious codes in arsenals of cyber criminals.
Microsoft Security Essentials is available for download at microsoft.com/security_essentials and is built on technology that the global software giant uses in computer security programs it designs for businesses.
Wellington, September 30: An earthquake of magnitude 7.9 struck off the South Pacific island nation of Samoa on Wednesday, the US Geological Survey reported, at a depth of 85 kilometres (53 miles) beneath the sea.
The quake was strong enough for the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre to issue a tsunami warning for a large swathe of the South Pacific including Fiji, New Zealand and Tonga.
In a preliminary earthquake report, received by AFP via email, the USGS put the epicentre 204 kilometres (130 miles) south-southwest of Samoa’s capital and main city Apia.
Washington, September 30: The White House is weighing sanctions targeting Iran’s dependence on gasoline imports and insurance firms that underwrite the trade, even as they focus on diplomacy, including a meeting in Geneva on Thursday, to rein in Iran’s nuclear program.
U.S. President Barack Obama warned Iran last week to come clean about the program, which Washington fears is a cover to build atomic weapons, or face “sanctions that bite.” His warning followed the disclosure of a secret uranium enrichment facility near the holy Iranian city of Qom.
Kolkata, September 30: Former Pakistan speedster Wasim Akram will join the Kolkata Knight Riders’ camp, which begins in Gurgaon Oct 1.
“He will join the KKR camp at Gurgaon to oversee the proceedings,” former KKR skipper Sourav Ganguly said at the Eden Gardens here Tuesday.
However, as Akram will be busy doing commentary for the ongoing Champions trophy, where the final is slated for Oct 5, he will join the KKR camp only in the later stages.
The camp is scheduled to continue till Oct 8. Till Akram joins, Ganguly will be in charge of the camp.
Panaji, September 29: Goa’s Tourism Minister Mickky Pacheco was Tuesday arrested before being released on a personal bond after a casino dealer accused him of extortion, police said here.
Pacheco was arrested under section 506 (ii) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for criminal intimidation and was immediately released on a Rs.5,000 bond and on furnishing a local surety.
The news of the arrest was kept under wraps all day. Speaking to IANS late Tuesday night, Crime Branch Police Inspector Sunita Sawant confirmed the controversial minister’s arrest.
Mumbai, September 30: Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif have a natural knack for comedy. A unit hand said, “Ranbir and Katrina possess a great sense of humour. The two make jokes at a drop of hat. Their one-liners can have you in splits. It is this off the set chemistry that has come across on screen too.”
The comic sequences have turned out to be simply hilarious. In fact, the unit could not help control their laughter while the comic scenes were being shot. “Not only Rajkumar Santoshi and Ramesh Taurani, but also the entire crew would break into laughter.”
Mumbai, September 30: Sparkling like old wine Shatrughan Sinha and Hema Malini proved once again that old is gold. The two of them had the audience thrilled to bits with their presence. There was happy banter, laughter jokes, a rapid fire round, dialogue delivery and even antakshari.
Hema Malini, looking better with every passing day, delighted the audience with her Basanti dialogue, which she said she had to recite at each meeting during the election campaigns.
South Pacific, September 30: A massive earthquake struck the South Pacific on Wednesday morning, according to officials, generating a possibly destructive tsunami. Tsunami warnings are in effect, but there was no immediate word on the casualties, which are expected to be high.
Mumbai, September 30: What’s Your Rashee, which opened on screens yesterday, saw a good response from the audiences. Hurman Baweja the lead actor in the movie has received appreciation for his role in the movie. “The audiences are liking him and girls are messaging him complimenting for his role,” said a source.
Mumbai, September 30: “BIGG BOSS’ GETS BIGGER WITH “BIG B’ PLAYING “POP PHILOSOPHER’. After keeping millions of Indian households glued-on to “Bigg Boss Season 2′ last year, COLORS (a Viacom18 brand), India’s most popular channel, today announced the launch date of “Bigg Boss’ season 3– the show starts airing on October 4th at 9.00 p.m., everyday…only on COLORS. And this year, “Bigg Boss’ gets even bigger, with the big boss of Bollywood, Amitabh Bachchan, playing “Pop Philosopher’.
Johannesburg, September 30: New Zealand sailed into the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy, beating England by four wickets in a Group B match at the Wanderers here Tuesday.
An explosive 39-ball 48 from wicketkeeper Brendan McCullum and a patient 53 from Martin Guptill saw New Zealand achieve the target of 147 in 27.1 overs by losing six wickets. With the win New Zealand spoiled Sri Lanka’s chances of making the semi-finals while England were the first team to make it to the last four.
New York, September 30: US stocks fell Tuesday amid a drop in consumer confidence and concerns about unemployment, even as data showed housing prices soared in July by the most in four years.
Consumer confidence dropped fell to 53.1 points from a revised 54.5 in August, amid rising unemployment, the New York-based Conference Board said Tuesday.
Investors were also concerned about September unemployment figures that are due out Friday. The US unemployment rate jumped to 9.7 percent in August, soaring to a 26-year-high, as employers slashed an additional 216,000 jobs.
Mumbai, September 30: Akshay Kumar says when “Blue” director Anthony D’Souza approached him for the underwater thriller, the first thing he asked him was “Are you capable of making the movie?”. Touted to be India’s first underwater film, which is said to match international standards of filmmaking, “Blue” promises to bring with it some never-seen-before visuals and stunts.
Washington, September 30: Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based group widely believed to be behind the Mumbai terror attacks, remains largely intact and determined to strike India again, The New York Times has reported citing current and former members of the group and intelligence officials.
Despite pledges from Pakistan to dismantle militant groups operating on its soil, and the arrest of a handful of operatives, Lashkar has persisted, even flourished, since 10 recruits killed 163 people in a rampage through Mumbai last November, the influential US daily said in a report from Karachi.
New Delhi, September 30: Indian films, food, dances and handicrafts will deck up Argentina this November, with the Festival of India set to be held not only in Buenos Aires but also in other cities of the Latin American country.
“Encouraged by the success and the enthusiastic response to the festival last year, we are going to celebrate the second edition of the festival showcasing the flavours of India,” Indian Ambassador to Argentina R. Viswanathan said in an e-mail message.
The event will be held from during Nov 5-15.
New Delhi, September 29: Engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro on Tuesday said it can build nuclear power plants with generating capacity of 3,000-4,000 MW a year.L&T chairman and manging director A.M. Naik told reporters that the company had set up an integrated nuclear shop and forging facilities at Hazira in Gujarat.
“We can build nuclear plants up to 3,000-4,000 MW a year, but I don’t think that we will do more than 2,000 MW as the domestic industry is not scaling up yet,” he said.
Johannesburg, September 29: England were all out for 146 runs in 43.1 overs by New Zealand in a Group B match of the Champions Trophy at the Wanderers here on Tuesday.
Fast bowler Grant Elliot picked up four for 31 while Shane Bond got three for 21. Paul Collingwood (40) and Ravi Bopara (30) played crucial knocks as England put a respectable target on board.
–IANS