New Delhi, September 05: I see God in every human being. When I wash the leper’s wounds, I feel I am nursing the Lord himself. Is it not a beautiful experience?: Mother Teresa.
“Saint on Earth”, “Saint of Gutters”, “Angel of Mercy”, “Living Saint of Calcutta”. Mother Teresa, one woman who needs no introduction.
New Delhi, September 05: Concerned over teachers in the country being professionally “disempowered”, Vice President M Hamid Ansari on Saturday pitched for reforms in the education system to nurture their skills and competence.
The Vice President, who gave away the National Awards to Teachers here, described the recently passed Right to Education Act passed by the Parliament “as more empowering, in terms of its impact, than the Right to Vote”.
Tiruchirapalli, September 05: Police arrested a 44-year-old passenger for possessing a fake passport at the airport here yesterday.
Police said during the routine checking by the immigration authorities at the airport, it was noticed that the accused Iyeppan, while producing his documents, had possessed fake passport.
Iyeppan, hails from Sillathur village in Pudukkottai District of Tamil Nadu.
He was remanded to judicial custody.
—-Agencies
Mumbai, September 05: After six years of hard struggle in the Bollywood, ‘Fashion’ girl Priyanka Chopra has topped the most popular and success actress of Indian film Industry.
The six-year long journey of Piggy Chops was not an easy task but finally she tested success in form of Fashion, Dostana and latest blockbuster ‘Kaminey’.
As the actress is riding high on three successes in a row, she went on two-week vacation, sources said.
If sources are to be believed, Priyanka has taken leave from the busy schedule and moved to unknown location for vacation.
Muzaffarnagar, September 05: Five policemen and three others were today asked to appear before a session court here in connection with the death of two youths including a dalit during their custody at Budhana police station in the district six years ago. The Judicial Magistrate Ranu Rao today sent the case to a session court and asked all the eight accused to appear before it on September 17.
New Delhi, September 05: India on Saturday condemned an attack on two Indian priests at the famous Pashupatinath temple in Nepal by a group of Maoists who have been agitating over their recent appointments there. The assailants entered the fifth-century Hindu shrine in Kathmandu Friday and beat the two priests recently appointed from the southern Indian state of Karnataka.
Speaking in Karnataka’s capital, Bangalore, Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna said Nepal had failed to provide adequate security for the Indian priests.
Gaza, September 05: A Palestinian child has died of gunshot wounds after Israeli troops opened fire on him in the northern sector of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian and Israeli medics say.
The 13-year-old boy, Ghazi Maher Al Zaaanen, was shot in the head by Israeli troops stationed east of the town of Beit Hanoun.
He was taken to al-Shifa hospital, where he received an emergency operation. The boy remained in critical condition for several hours before his death, International Middle East Media Center reported.
Washington, September 05: Eight security guards at the US embassy in Kabul have been fired in a hazing scandal and two others have resigned, the US State Department said Friday. The State Department has asked the ArmorGroup, the private firm that employed the guards under a contract to protect the embassy, to replace its senior management team in Kabul, spokesman Ian Kelly said.
“We did ask the ArmorGroup to remove all personnel involved in these disgusting events that you have seen in the photos,” he said.
Tehran, September 05: Iran has called on the candidates in Afghanistan presidential election to refrain from making judgments before the official results are announced.
The two main contenders for presidency, Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah, have both claimed victory throughout the gradual announcements of election results.
Abdullah has accused Karzai of massive vote rigging and warned he would reject the result if fraud played a part in the outcome.
Tehran, September 05: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez arrived in Tehran Saturday for talks with his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the news network Khabar reported.
The two reportedly planned to increase cooperation and continue talks on a 10-year bilateral plan aimed at tackling the global economic crisis.
Ahmadinejad and Chavez, who both are avid critics of the United States, have several times called for a new world order and reform of the United Nations Security Council.
Tehran, September 05: Iran appreciates the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for resisting ‘political pressure’ by certain western countries over Tehran’s nuclear dossier.
In an eight-page letter to the outgoing IAEA Chief Mohamed ElBaradei released on Saturday, Iran’s ambassador to the agency, Ali-Asghar Soltaniyeh, said Iran along with many other member states shared the view that the IAEA ‘resisted the political pressure’ by a few of Western countries trying to derail the agency from its ‘professional technical mandate’.
Tehran, September 05: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran was prepared for Western pressures in case of renewed sanctions against the country, official news agency IRNA reported Saturday.
“It is a grave mistake (by the West) to think that we would give in to accusations, impoliteness, insults and spread of and retreat from our (nuclear) rights,” Ahmadinejad said in a meeting with war veterans.
Mumbai, September 05: The chirpy girl, Kanchi Kaul who was last seen in Myaaka is coming back soon on small screen, but in a different avatar. For the first time she will be seen as the host of a comedy reality show.
“I am hosting Comedy Circus 3 on Sony and I’m very excited about it. I am really looking forward for the shoot to start,” says Kanchi.
Elaborating more on the show she quips, “I have seen the show, and now I am a part of it, which makes me feel good. The shooting of the show will start by the end of the month.”
Cairo, September 05: Leaders of rival Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas are to conduct separate meetings with Egyptian officials in Cairo on Saturday, to discuss reconciliation between their factions.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to meet with Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak, to discuss Cairo-mediated Hamas- Fatah reconciliation talks, as well as the Arab-Israeli peace process and Abbas’ recent tour of European capitals.
Mumbai, September 05: Looks like Karan Johar is no mood to let filmmaker Ram Gopal Verma take a breather. KJo, who appeared on a TV show recently, made sure that he created quite a stir, even if that meant doing it at Ramu’s cost.
According to reports, Karan Johar, while appearing on Farah Khan’s show ‘Tere Mere Beach Mein’ recently, went ahead and showed his disapproval of RGV’s style of filmmaking.
Mumbai, September 05: The proposed helipad atop ‘Seawind’, Mukesh Ambani’s residence in south Mumbai, has got clearance from the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA), a senior official said today.
“The helipad has been granted clearance by the Authority,” Environment Secretary Valsa Nair Singh told PTI here.
The Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Limited had sought permission from the government for the helipad atop the building in posh Cuffe Parade area.
New Delhi, September 05: Valentino Rossi talked with Ferrari about racing in the team’s second car at next weekend’s Formula One Italian Grand Prix but decided against it, the MotoGP world champion has said.
“I talked with Ferrari about racing at Monza. But without testing… it would not have been logical,” he told Saturday’s Gazzetta dello Sport.
Ferrari instead opted for Force India’s Italian driver Giancarlo Fisichella, who will race for the world champions for the remainder of the season.
Caracas, September 05: President Hugo Chavez, who arrived in Tehran, said in remarks rebroadcast on Venezuelan television that Iran will “not back down” in its quest for peaceful nuclear energy.
Chavez, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s main ally in Latin America, arrived in Iran after visiting Syria, Libya and Algeria. He is later scheduled to go to Belarus, Russia, Turkmenistan and Spain.
The visit comes one day after Ahmadinejad said that Iran will not bow to pressure in meeting any deadline set by world powers and is ready for more sanctions over its nuclear programme.
Peshawar, September 05: Pakistani troops killed 30 suspected militants and destroyed one of their bases in an ongoing operation in the northwestern Khyber tribal region, authorities said Saturday.
Militants frequently attack trucks along the famed Khyber Pass, one of the main routes used to ferry supplies to NATO and U.S. forces in neighboring Afghanistan.
The Taliban-affiliated group Lashkar-e-Islam has been a main target of the latest government offensive, which authorities say has killed scores of alleged militants.
Bangalore, September 05: Team India middle order batsman Yuvraj Singh does not forsee the demise of 50-over cricket though he felt the rising profile of Twenty20 has overshadowed other formats.
“There is no doubt that Twenty20 has taken over a lot of cricket but 50 overs is here to stay,” Yuvraj said.
“We got 50 overs World Cup which is a big thing,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the launch of Mangalore United team in the Karnataka Premier League here today.
Dhaka, September 05: Former finance minister and senior member of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party M. Saifur Rahman was killed in a car crash on Saturday, police said.
The car fell into a ditch when hit by a bus near Brahmanbaria town, 100 km east of the capital Dhaka. Doctors declared him dead at a hospital.
Saifur was travelling to Dhaka from his home in the northeastern city of Sylhet to attend an emergency meeting of the BNP on Saturday evening, to be chaired by party chief Begum Khaleda Zia, party officials said.
—-Agencies
Washington, September 05: It’s not only humans who wonder if the grass is greener elsewhere. Even monkeys do have the desire to explore options in hopes of finding something better, a new study has revealed.
In fact, researchers at the Duke University have based their findings on an analysis of brain scans of monkeys, the findings of which are published in the latest edition of the ‘Current Biology’ journal.
Hyderabad, September 05: Supporters of Y S Jaganmohan Reddy on Saturday sought to step up the campaign for making him the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh even as the interim incumbent K Rosaiah ruled out the possibility of any division in the party.
A day after Rajasekhara Reddy was buried in his home district, Union Law Minister and Congress party in charge of the state M Veerappa Moily said that the party was not going to apply its mind on the issue of succession.
London, September 05: Veteran Bollywood director Yash Chopra has been named the Asian filmmaker of the year by organisers of the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) to be held in South Korea next month.
Chopra’s popular films, including “Lamhe”, “Dhoom 2″, “Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi” and “New York”, will be showcased in a retrospective section at the fest, said a press release from Yash Raj Films.
Kabir Khan, who directed “New York”, which is about three friends and the impact of 9/11 on their friendship, has also been specially invited to the festival.
Mumbai, September 05: Big Brother winner and Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty said she was not surprised with Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan taking over her in hosting Big Boss season three.
Big Brother’s Indian version show Big Boss season two was hosted by Shetty but in Big Boss season three Mr Bachchan was approached and he gave his nod for it. ”This piece of news didn’t come as a surprise as I was told before by the Creative head of the channel, and I feel happy that they’ve got him to say yes.” wrote Shetty while reacting on it in her blog posted yesterday.