New Delhi, September 02: Heavy rains lashed several parts of the national capital for the second consecutive day today, raising the humidity to a maximum of 91 per cent. The rain gauges measured 0.6 mm of rains till 2:30 pm and the minimum temperature was recorded at 27.8 mm, the MeT Department said.
The city has received 404.8 mm of monsoon showers this season so far. Yesterday, the capital received 8 mm of rains.
—PTI–
Islamabad, September 02: Unknown gunmen opened fire on a government minister’s vehicle in the Pakistani capital Islamabad Wednesday, injuring the official and killing his driver, witnesses said.
Hamid Saeed Kazmi, the minister for religious affairs, was a few hundred meters from his office in the centre of the city when a man fired several shots with an AK-47 rifle at his vehicle, said Jamil Ahmad, a vendor who witnessed the attack.
Kolkata, September 02: A 43-year-old man, suffering from ‘Aplastic Anaemia’ for over a year, has got a new lease of life after undergoing a successful ‘mismatched and unrelated cord blood transplantation’ at a cancer research institute here.
‘Aplastic Anaemia’ is a haematological disorder stemming from bone marrow which is incapable of producing blood cells.
Kuala Lumpur, September 02: An Indian woman, who had stabbed her Malaysian employer to death after he allegedly asked her for sexual favours, was today ordered to be released from prison after a court here turned down a prosecution plea to enhance her term.
S Selvi, a mother of two, had admitted murdering her employer in 2006, and had been in prison for five years.
The court upheld the local High Court’s decision to sentence Selvi to four years’ jail and ordered her release since the term had already been served.
New Delhi, September 02:The Indian Air Force (IAF) Wednesday afternoon joined the search for a missing helicopter carrying Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, pressing four choppers into service, an official said.
“We have deployed four helicopters for the rescue mission. They include two Chetaks, besides one Mi-8 and one ALH (advanced light helicopter),” an IAF spokesman here said.
London, September 02: Nearly 12 years after Princess Diana and her boyfriend Dodi were killed in a Paris car crash, a British lawyer, who represented the al-Fayeds at the inquest into the mishap, has claimed her death was not an accident.
In his book, ‘Memoirs of a Radical Lawyer’, Michael Mansfield has said that the 1997 car crash in the Alma Tunnel in Paris still poses some unanswered questions despite lengthy inquest at the High Court.
New Delhi, September 02: Samajwadi Party will field Dimple Yadav, daughter-in-law of party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, for the Ferozabad Lok Sabha by-poll.
The by-election has been necessitated as Akhilesh Singh Yadav, the SP chief’s son, vacated the seat and retained Kannauj. Akhilesh also heads the party’s Uttar Pradesh unit.
The candidature of Dimple was announced here today by SP general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav at a press conference where he rejected a suggestion that SP was promoting dynastic politics.
Tirunelveli (TN), September 02: A 67-year-old woman here kept the body of her husband in their house for three days before neighbours noticed the foul smells yesterday and informed the police.
75-year old Krishnamoorthy had died three days ago, but his wife Lakshmi Ammal did not tell anyone and kept his body inside the house where the elderly couple was staying alone, police said.
The incident came to light when neighbours complained to police about the foul smell emanating from the house that was locked from inside.
Later, police took the body in their possession, they said.
–PTI
Mumbai, September 02: In the backdrop of 26/11 terror strikes, transport authorities here have decided to equip the newly introduced buses with bullet and blast proof window panes.
“For the first time in the country, public buses in Mumbai will have window panes that will be bulletproof, blast proof, fire proof and will ensure passenger safety,” said Harvinder Suri, an official of the company entrusted with the task of fixing such glasses.
New York, September 02: Indian ace Leander Paes and his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy pulled off a hard-fought win against Romanian pair of Victor Hanescu and Gabriel Trifu to enter second round of the US Open men’s doubles event here.
The fourth seeds handed a 7-6 (13/11) 7-6 (7/4) defeat to Hanescu and Trifu in the gruelling match that lasted for 1 hr 47 minutes last night.
It was a see-saw battle from the very beginning but Paes and Dlouhy held their nerves to bag the first set through a tie-breaker.
Mumbai, September 02: Actress Suchitra Krishnamoorthi has revealed that she went through a harrowing experience of casting couch while she was struggling to get a break into Bollywood.
The actress says that though she managed to escape but the incident left a scar in her mind.
Suchitra, the former wife of noted filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, made her debut in 1994 with Shahrukh Khan starrer ‘Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa’.
She described the “scary” incident in her blog, which occurred when she was still in her teens looking for a career in the film industry.
New Delhi, September 02: Learn Mathematics and Science through activities –this is the new mantra of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to help students better grasp the subjects.
With most of the students failing in Mathematics, the CBSE has asked the affiliated schools to introduce novel activity based teaching-learning process in classrooms.
The CBSE has developed activity books in Science and Mathematics. It has asked all the heads of the affiliated institutions to follow such books and make the teaching more fun and interesting.
Mumbai, September 02: Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Shashank Manohar was Wednesday authorised to resolve the IMG issue and report back to the Cricket Board at its annual general meeting on September 24
The BCCI last week snapped ties with IMG, claiming the sports management firm was overcharging the Board for providing its services to conduct Indian Premier League
IMG received close to Rs 43 crore for the inaugural edition of the IPL, held in 2008 and is set to receive Rs 33 crore for this year’s IPL-II staged in South Africa
Cairo, September 02:Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu arrived in Cairo on Wednesday for a meeting with Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak, the official MENA news agency reported.
Davutoglu is expected to meet with Egypt’s intelligence chief Omar Suleiman on Thursday as well as get together with Egyptian journalists, opinion leaders and representatives of non-governmental organizations.
New Delhi, September 02: A keen tussle is on the cards in the Ferozabad Lok Sabha by-poll in Uttar Pradesh, with Samajwadi Party making it a prestige issue by fielding Dimple Yadav, daughter-in-law of party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, to take on Raj Babbar of Congress.
BSP has announced fielding S P Singh Baghel from the constituency, where by-election has been necessitated following resignation of Akhilesh Yadav, the SP chief’s son.
Akhilesh who contested and won from both Ferozabad and Kannauj, vacated Ferozabad and retained Kannauj. He also heads the party’s Uttar Pradesh unit.
Hyderabad, September 02: The Home Minister, Ms Sabitha Indra Reddy, on Wednesday, visited the Hussain Sagar Tank Bund area and reviewed the arrangements being made for the immersion of Ganesh idols in the lake on Thursday.
New Delhi, September 02:Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and in-form Sri Lankan batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan have each been nominated in three categories for this year’s International Cricket Council (ICC) awards.
Dhoni has an opportunity to pick up a second consecutive one-day international player of the year award, and also features in the cricketer and test player categories in the list of nominations released by the sport’s governing body on Wednesday.
Dilshan has been named among the nominees for the cricketer, test player and Twenty20 international performance of the year.
England, September 02: Ashes-winning captain Andrew Strauss and England team-mate Graham Onions are among 14 players nominated for the ICC cricketer of the year award.
Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson, who became Australia’s spearhead last summer before losing his way for a time during the recent Ashes campaign, is also among the contenders for the accolade, which takes in the period from August 13, 2008 to August 24 this year.
Chandigarh, September 02: Union Home Minister P Chidambaram today visited the Central Forensic Science Laboratory here and inspected its working.
”It was a routine visit of Mr Chidambaram during which he wanted to know the facilities available in the laboratory,” CSFL Director Dr S K Shukla told UNI on the phone.
The Minister released a CD on Speaker Identification and also interacted with the officers during his one-and-half hour visit, he said. Mr Chidambaram later returned to New Delhi.
—-Agencies
Kabul, September 02: At least 23 people were killed in a suicide bomb attack in eastern Afghanistan, said Sayed Ahmad Safi, a spokesman for the governor of Laghman province, where the attack took place.
The spokesman said the 23 dead included Abdullah Laghmani, deputy head of the country’s National Directorate of Security intelligence agency, as well as the heads of the provincial council and the provincial executive body.
—Agencies
Raipur, September 02: Four people, including an eight-year-old girl, Wednesday tested positive for swine flu, taking the total number of influenza A (H1N1) cases in the state to eight, a health official said.
‘The latest lot of sample results received from Delhi confirmed four more people suffering from swine flu,’ health services deputy director S.M.M. Murthy told IANS.
He said the state has reported eight positive swine flu cases and death of a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) constable due to the virus.
Washington, September 02: US President Barack Obama celebrated the Ramadan holiday by hosting a dinner at the White House on Tuesday. He greeted all his guests with the traditional Ramadan Karim.
The dinner is seen as a way for Obama to reach out to Muslims in the country and rebuild relations with the Muslim world.
He honoured the contributions of Muslim Americans at the event referring to Islam as a religion of justice and progress.
Washington, September 02: A new iPhone application enables users to track and report outbreaks of infectious diseases like H1N1 or swine flu in real time.
The application, ‘Outbreaks Near Me’, builds upon the mission and proven capability of HealthMap, an online resource that collects, filters, maps and disseminates information about emerging infectious diseases.
Washington, September 02: US President Barack Obama Tuesday told a report released showing that manufacturing is on the rise is a sign that the economy is improving.
‘The steps we are taking to bring our economy back from the brink are working,’ Obama said.
The Institute of Supply Management released its report showing that production expanded for the first time in 19 months. Manufacturing had it’s biggest two-month gain by rising by 52.9 percent in August.
Tehran, September 02: Iran has “prepared an updated nuclear package” and is ready to hold talks with world powers says the country’s state-run Press TV.
According to reports from Press TV, Iran will offer the new package to the five veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council and Germany. The six countries are likely to be meeting in Frankfurt on Wednesday to discuss Iran’s nuclear program.
The news network says Iran has also promised to cooperate in order to alleviate mutual preoccupations in the international arena.