Month: September 2009

Fifteen killed, dozens wounded in Iraq attacks

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Iraq, September 28: At least 15 people, including 12 members of Iraq’s security forces, were killed and dozens wounded in bomb attacks on Monday, the worst violence to hit the country in more than two weeks.

In the deadliest incident, a suicide attacker killed seven police and wounded 10 when he blew up a water tanker packed with explosives at a quick response unit’s headquarters on the highway from the western city of Ramadi towards Jordan and Syria.

New UNESCO chief plans Arab visits

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Paris, September 28: New UNESCO chief Irina Bokova of Bulgaria said Sunday that she would make visiting Arab countries a priority in a bid to ease tensions over her battle with Egypt’s Faruq Hosni for the job.

Bokova insisted she was “a friend of the Muslim world” after her defeat of the Egyptian culture minister to become the UN’s cultural head triggered a storm of protest in his home country over the interference of pro-Israeli lobbying.

Rosaiah writes to Sonia, regrets Khammam incident

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Hyderabad, September 28: Andhra Pradesh chief minister K Rosaiah has written a letter to AICC chief Sonia Gandhi expressing sincere regrets over the unfortunate and uncalled for incidents wherein supporters of Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy tore down a banner containing her picture in Khammam and torched two APSRTC buses in Rajahmundry.

France seeks to woo Islamic finance

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Paris, September 28: As France debates whether to ban the burqa, the government is leading a drive to attract billions in investment from Muslim countries by turning Paris into the European capital of Islamic finance.

The French parliament this month has approved changes to legislation to allow Islamic “sukuk” bonds to be issued and the Qatar Islamic Bank has applied to be the first such bank to open in France.

Sudan President lifts censorship of newspapers

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Khartaum, September 28: President Omar al-Beshir on Sunday announced the immediate lifting of state censorship on the press.

In a decree carried by the official SUNA news agency, Beshir put an end to “pre-censorship,” a system where newspapers are screened by state censors every night before hitting the stands to purge them of “sensitive” articles.

“As of today, censorship is over and journalists have complete freedom,” Ali Shimo, head of the Press Council told AFP, adding that editors, journalists’ associations and censors had signed an “ethics code” for practicing journalism.

Egypt detains 16 opposition members

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Cairo, Septmeber 28: Egyptian authorities have detained 16 members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, the movement’s number two said on Sunday, bringing to 250 the number of members in jail.

Security officials carried out the arrests late on Saturday in the Nile Delta province of Beheira, detaining former MP Gamal Heshmat as part of the group, Mohammed Habib said.

While members of his oppostion group are periodically detained, Habib believes the latest wave could be linked to next year’s parliamentary elections in which the Brotherhood is planning to run.

Yemen Zaidi rebel leader vows to fight on

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Sanaa, September 28: The leader of Shiite rebels embroiled in a war with the Yemeni army accused the government on Sunday of discriminating against his group, the Zaidis, vowing to continue the fight against the state.

“(The war) is part of the official discrimination, marginalisation and separation practised against us as a social group described by the authorities as a minority,” Abdul-Malek al-Huthi said in remarks published on a website that carries the rebels’ news.

“As long as we are being attacked, our choice would be to defend ourselves.”

Iran winds up ‘successful’ defensive missile tests

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Tehran, September 28: Iran on Monday wound up two days of “successful” missile tests as part of war games, with all the targets hit, the elite Revolutionary Guards said.

“The last stage of the ‘Great Prophet’ ballistic missile manoeuvres were carried out successfully this morning. Thus the manoeuvres have ended, with all the targets hit,” the Guards said on its Sepahnews website.

Iran’s Guards on Monday test-fired its two-stage long-range Sejil missile, the Fars news agency and English-language Press TV channel reported.

Meeting US deadline to close Guantanamo ‘tough’: Gates

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Washington, September 28: US Defense Secretary Robert Gates acknowledged on Sunday it will be “tough” to close the US prison at Guantanamo Bay by a January deadline set by US President Barack Obama. “It’s going to be tough” for the Obama administration to meet the January 22 deadline to shut the camp condemned as a “legal black hole” by rights groups, Gates said.

Hard for Iran to make peaceful nuke claim: Hillary

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Washington, September 28: The U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she doesn’t believe Iran can convince the U.S. and other world powers that its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes, putting Tehran on a course for tougher economic penalties beyond the current “leaky sanctions.” The Defence Secretary Robert Gates played down the effectiveness of military strikes against Iran’s newly disclosed secret uranium-enriching facility.

Multiple credit cards users will not be allowed the luxury of using either if found default

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New Delhi, September 28: Customers having multiple credit cards will now not be allowed the luxury of using either in case they default on making payments for even one, thanks to stringent measures being adopted by the banks.

As per the prevalent practice, banks are blocking only that card on which there is a payment default and the other cards held by the customer are not touched.

However, the banks have now revised their credit card terms and conditions, pursuant to which all the cards would be blocked if there is a payment default on even one.

Jaganmohan supporters suspended for tearing Sonia poster

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Hyderabad, September 28: The tearing of Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s flex banner at the Khammam District Congress Committee office allegedly by followers of Jaganmohan Reddy has snowballed into a major controversy with senior leaders sharpening their knives against the Jagan camp saying that no one is above the party and that even late CM Y S Rajasekhara Reddy had won polls using the name of Sonia.

Talks fail between management and pilots, AI may suspend flight operations

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New Delhi, September 28: Beleaguered Air India which carries about 30,000 passengers each day mulled suspending its operations for about 15 days from midnight tonight after fresh talks with the striking Executive pilots failed to break the three-day deadlock over cut in perks.

Sources in the airline in Delhi and Mumbai said tonight the state-owned carrier has stopped accepting bookings and that it was seriously considering suspending the operations. A formal order to suspend the flights is being discussed and expected to be issued soon, sources said.

Ranbir’s intimate birthday with Deepika and family

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Mumbai, September 28: Bollywood’s young heartthrob, Ranbir Kapoor, turns 27 today! The scion of the Kapoor family, whose much-awaited film ‘Wake Up Sid’ is all set for release in his birthday week, says that he doesn’t have any big plans for the special day, and intends to keep the celebration very quiet and subtle.

Ind vs Aus: Rain stops play; Aus- 234/4

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Centurion, September 28: Heavy shower stopped the crucial ODI between India and Australia here at SuperSport Park in Centurion.

Australia were at 234/4 when rain interrupted. Australia were heading towards big total at this moment.

Some poor bowling by Indians helped Aussies to post good core on board. Especially Ishant Sharma and Harbhajan Singh appointed skipper Dhoni.

Australian skipper Ricky ponting, Tim Paine and Mike Hussey smashed half century for the side. Ponting and Paine scored 65 and 56 respectively. While Hussey score 67 before caught by Tendulkar off Ishant Sharma.

Teenaged boy drowns during Durga idol immersion

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New Delhi, September 28: Durga Puja festivities for a family in northwest Delhi came to a tragic end Monday when their 17-year-old boy drowned while immersing an idol of Goddess Durga.

The victim, identified as Arvind, was a resident of Nangloi.

The boy was immersing the idol in the Yamuna river in Timarpur when he drowned.

“We received a frantic call at 1.05 p.m. that the boy had drowned at the immersion site. His body was retrieved at around 4 p.m.,” a police officer told.

Philippines storm toll crosses 200

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Manila, September 28: Philippine authorities were struggling on Monday to help hundreds of thousands of people displaced by devastating floods in the capital and outlying areas as the death toll topped 200.

Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said the government was focussing on providing relief to nearly 500,000 people affected by tropical storm Ketsana.

“Right now, we will concentrate really on providing food and other necessities,” he said.

Weather may play the spoilsport in India vs Australia match

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Australia, September 28: In the Current ongoing match between India and Australia the Weather may play the spoilsport as there are dense clouds all over the ground but no rain started as yet. It is expected to rain during the second innings.

Currently Australia is comfortably placed at 227/4 in 40.3 overs. Australian innings is built around Tim Paine, Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey who scored 56 , 65 and 67 respectively. Right now the crease is occupied by Cameron White and Callum Ferguson.

RBI likely to start hiking rates by April 2010: Citi

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New Delhi, September 28: The Reserve Bank is likely to reverse its soft rate regime by as early as April next year and increase its key policy rates by 125 basis points each by 2010-end due to rising food prices, global financial major Citigroup has said.

“Headline inflation is now rising, inflation momentum is notably picking up the most in India … Korea is still likely to hike first in Q1, 2010, followed by India and Singapore by April 2010,” Citi economist Anushka Shah said in a note.

DLF garners Rs 100 cr from bookings of Delhi flats

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New Delhi, September 28: The country’s largest realty firm, DLF, has mopped up about Rs 100 crore as booking amount for flats it had offered in the second phase of its housing project in the heart of the National Capital.

The company had launched 1,250 apartments in the second phase of its housing project, ‘Capital Greens’, at Shivaji Marg, near Moti Nagar in New Delhi. It sold all the apartments within just two hours of opening the bookings last week.

EU seeks to turn down MP3s music player volumes

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Brussels, September 28: The European Commission issued new volume standards for MP3 players on Monday to help prevent music lovers damaging their hearing.

The new standards will require small technical changes to I-Pods and other MP3 devices so they play at a safe volume by default. There will also be a health warning so consumers who choose to override the default settings know the risks.

Opera urges EU regulators not to rush Microsoft case

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Brussels, September 28: Norwegian browser maker Opera urged European Union antitrust regulators on Monday not to rush to close its antitrust case against Microsoft before ensuring a level playing field among browsers.

China finds bird-like dinosaur with four wings

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Hong Kong, September 28: Chinese researchers have unearthed the fossil of a bird-like dinosaur with four wings in northeastern China, which they suggest is a missing link in dinosaurs’ evolution into birds.

In a paper in the journal Nature, they said they found the well-preserved fossil of the “Anchiornis huxleyi,” which roamed the earth some 160 million years ago, in a geological formation in China’s northeastern Liaoning province.

High tech may pinpoint Antarctica sea rise risks

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Oslo, September 28: Dismayed by ice and storms, British explorer Captain James Cook had no regrets when he abandoned a voyage searching for a fabled southern continent in 1773.

Finding only icebergs after he was the first to cross the Antarctic Circle, he wrote ruefully that if anyone ventured further and found a “land doomed by nature…to lie for ever buried under everlasting ice and snow”:

“I shall not envy him the honor of discovery, but I will be bold to say that the world will not be benefited by it.”

Things may be worse than he thought.