New Delhi, September 29: After Orange, Vodafone too has joined the ranks of mobile service providers who offer iPhones on their platforms. Vodafone has struck a deal with Apple to sell iPhones in the U.K. and Ireland from early next year, said a brief company statement Tuesday in London.
New Delhi, September 29: Delhi Metro is set to get a splash of rainbow colours on its network-after operating on its red, blue and yellow lines, the next three to be opened by Oct 2010 will be coded green, violet and orange lines, an official said.
“The three new lines-Inderlok to Mundka connecting north and northwest Delhi, Central Secretariat to Badarpur connecting Delhi’s centre to its southern fringes, and the Airport Express Line -will be coded as the Green Line, Violet line and Orange line respectively,” a senior Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) official said.
New York, September 29: Xerox has agreed to buy Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) for $6.4 billion cash-and-stock deal that would expand the copier company into outsourcing and data management.
As per the agreement, Xerox will pay $18.60 and 4.935 Xerox shares for each share of ACS, amounting to about $63.11 per share, based on closing prices on September 25. According to Ursula Burns, Chief Executive of Xerox, revenue from services will triple to an estimated $10 billion next year from $3.5 billion in 2008.
Chandigarh, September 29: Projecting itself as a viable alternative to the Congress, the BJP here on Wednesday released its manifesto for the October 13 Haryana Assembly elections, in which it has tried to woo every section including farmers, youth, women and backward classes.
The manifesto of the BJP, which is contesting on all the 90 Assembly seats on its own, was released by its leaders including Arun Jaitley, Vijay Goel and State unit president Krishan Pal Gujjar.
The manifesto in Hindi, starts with alleged failures of the Congress government in the State.
New Delhi, September 29: Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel on Tuesday urged Air India pilots to give up their agitation and report back to work, and assured them that any decision regarding wage cuts would be taken after consulting them.
“No formal decision regarding cut in productivity linked incentives (PLI) or others has been taken. I urge all employees and pilots to report to work. I see no reason. The government is committed to seeing Air India flying high,” Patel told reporters here.
Srinagar, September 29: Two paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed and a woman bystander injured in a guerrilla hit-and-run attack in north Kashmir’s Sopore town Tuesday, police said.
Police said a group of CRPF men were busy shopping near Sopore bus stand when militants fired at them from close range, killing two personnel and injuring the woman.
The area has been cordoned off and search is on to nab the militants, a police official said.
—IANS
Johannesburg, September 29: New Zealand (NZ)skipper Daniel Vettori won the toss and elected to field first against England (Eng).
Today’s encounter has been crucial for New Zealand to seal the semi finals berth while England has already been qualified for the super four.
Sri Lanka’s fate will also be decided with the result of NZ vs Eng. If England defeat New Zealand with good run rate, Sri Lanka will qualify for Semifinal.
New Zealand has made two changes for today’s match. Injured Jesses Ryder has been dropped while SR Tuffey has paved the way for Ian Buttler.
—Agencies
New Delhi, September 29: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday informed the Supreme Court that it wanted to end all prosecution against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi for his alleged involvement in the Bofors payoff case.
According to reports, Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam, who represented the government, made the statement before a bench of Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan during the hearing of a lawsuit of 1997, which had made an abortive demand for freezing of Quattrocchi’s London bank account.
Jalandhar, September 29: Police had to be use force to control hundreds of boys and girls seeking student visas for Britain outside the Visa Facilitation Service (VFS) centre in this Punjab city on Tuesday, as the aspirants tried to beat the Oct 1 deadline when new and stricter visa guidelines come into effect.
The Punjab police, which were called out to control hundreds of visa applicants and relatives accompanying them, resorted to cane charge and pushing the applicants away several times to control entry into the VFS centre.
Manila, September 29: The Philippine government says the death toll from flooding caused by tropical storm Ketsana has risen to 240 as rescue teams continue to pull bodies from swollen rivers and debris-strewn streets.
The government has called for international help, amid warnings that it may not have sufficient resources to withstand another storm that forecasters say is brewing east of the country and could hit as early as Friday.
United Nations, September 29: Manuel Zelaya, the ousted president of Honduras, has addressed the UN General Assembly by telephone, appealing to the world body to restore the rule of law in his country.
“I call on the United Nations to restore the rule of law and the freedom that Honduras deserves,” he said on Monday from the Brazilian embassy in the capital Tegucigalpa, where he is currently sheltered, over a mobile phone held by Patricia Rodas, his foreign minister.
Washington, September 29: The United States Secret Service is investigating an online poll which asked whether people thought Barack Obama, the US president, should be assassinated.
The poll, posted on the social networking site Facebook, was titled “Should Obama be killed?” and offered answer choices of yes, no, maybe, and “If he cuts my health care”.
The survey was taken off the site on Monday, two days after it was launched.
“Once we found out about it, we worked with Facebook to have it removed,” Malcolm Wiley, a Secret Service spokesman, said.
Afghanistan, September 29: Nato’s new secretary general has acknowledged fading public support for the war in Afghanistan and called for a new approach.
Speaking in Washington DC on Monday, Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the decline in support was marked by the perception that the coalition was “not getting anywhere”, adding that “things are going to have to change”.
Europe, September 29: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has outlined plans to form a swift coalition with the Free Democrats (FDP) after a major win in Sunday’s election.
Mrs Merkel said the result was a great vote of trust, and that a government would be formed by 9 November.
She said a coalition between the pro-business FDP and her centre-right CDU/CSU bloc would have the momentum to tackle Germany’s challenges.
Germany has been enduring its most severe recession since World War II.
Washington, September 29: The interim leader of Honduras, Roberto Micheletti, has said civil liberties could soon be restored in the country.
They were suspended in response to a call for protests by deposed President Manuel Zelaya, who remains holed up in the Brazilian embassy in the capital.
A senior UN official has warned that any attempt to storm the embassy, would be a “disaster”.
Meanwhile, the Organisation of American States (OAS) has been invited to return to Honduras for talks.
Conakry, September 29: At least 87 people have been killed after troops in Guinea opened fire on a huge opposition rally in the capital Conakry, reports say.
An earlier death toll of 58 rose by nearly 30 late on Monday, according to unnamed police sources.
Some 50,000 people rallied against Capt Moussa Dadis Camara who seized power in Guinea in a bloodless coup last year.
The rally was triggered by indications he is to reverse a pledge not to run in a presidential vote set for January.
England, September 29: Fiona Pilkington, 38, committed suicide and unlawfully killed her daughter Francecca Hardwick, 18 after repeatedly asking for help, an inquest jury ruled.
The jury said Leicestershire police and two councils were partly to blame.
The inquest heard the family had endured years of abuse at the hands of neighbours in Barwell, Leicestershire.
The police were called 33 times in seven years as Ms Pilkington and her daughter were subjected to abuse, vandalism and even violence from local youths.
Washington, September 29: In his first speech in the US as secretary-general, Mr Rasmussen said the campaign in Afghanistan was one of necessity, not choice.
The speech comes after the top US and Nato commander in Afghanistan warned of likely failure without more troops.
But rising casualty figures have hit public support for the operation.
Mr Rasmussen pointed out 40% of the Nato troops involved in the operation were from non-US countries and that soldiers from more than 20 countries had been killed.
France, September 29: Brice Taton, 28, was attacked in a Belgrade bar ahead of the Europa League match between Partizan Belgrade and Toulouse on 17 September.
Days later an Australian man, 25, was attacked in a Belgrade park.
The attacks have raised concerns of a surge in extremist violence in Serbia, where police have arrested dozens of members of far-right groups this year.
Last Friday night, a Libyan man was taken to hospital with a head injury after he was attacked by an unidentified group.
Vietnam, September 29: The storm, packing winds up to 144kmh, hit central Vietnam, on Tuesday afternoon bringing down trees and powerlines around the cities of Hue and Danang.
Earlier flights to and from both cities were cancelled while residents in the area reinforced their homes and carried valuable items to shelter.
More than 170,000 people have been evacuated from the areas considered most at risk.
Fishing boats in the area have been ordered to return to port.
Ketsana was upgraded to a typhoon shortly after moving over the Philippines into the South China Sea.
United Nations, September 29: Addressing the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday, Richard Goldstone said a lack of accountability for war crimes committed in the Middle East had reached “crisis point”, undermining any hope for peace in the region.
The former South African judge rejected criticism by Israel that the 575-page report was politically motivated.
He said his team was led by a belief in the rule of law, human rights and the need to protect civilians during war.
‘Lack of justice’
New Delhi, September 29: The company says that a significant number of flights have been disrupted after pilots reported sick for a fourth consecutive day as part of a protest.
The pilots are protesting against the cancellation of performance-related bonuses by the cash-strapped airline.
Talks between pilots and management failed to reach a solution on Monday.
The BBC’s Sanjoy Majumder in Delhi says that the Indian aviation industry has been hit hard by the global economic turndown with increased costs of operation and travellers opting for low-cost airlines or train services.
Mumbai, September 29: The ace actress seems to be smitten by Pataudi khandaan after meeting Sharmila Tagore. That’s probably why she has expressed a desire to meet Saif Ali Khan and his beloved Bebo.
Roberts who’s currently shooting for Eat, Pray, Love in Pataudi, met Sharmila Tagore recently and gelled quite well with her.
The actress immediately expressed a desire to meet Sharmila’s son Saif Ali Khan and his beloved Kareena Kapoor.
Bangalore, September 29: Over 3,500 Karnataka government doctors Tuesday submitted their resignation protesting the “meagre” hike in salaries. The treatment of patients was, however, not affected as the doctors have given the government two weeks to either accept their demands or their resignations.
The doctors went ahead with their letters, rejecting the appeal of the state’s retiring Chief Secretary Sudhakar Rao to wait till Oct 4.
New Delhi, September 29: Calling arrested Maoist leader Kobad Ghandy a ‘role model’ for the youth, the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) Tuesday also urged people to unite against ‘state terror’.
The CPI-Maoist, in a statement, termed the operation against their cadres a ‘cruel war’ led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
It said the ‘Sonia-Manmohan-Chidambaram fascist clique has upped its cruel war by launching the biggest-ever armed onslaught on the adivasis and CPI-Maoist in Chhattisgarh’.