Month: September 2009

US condemns terrorist attack on Saudi Minister

by

Washington, September 02: United States Wednesday condemned the terrorist attack on a Saudi Minister last week and reiterated its commitment to dismantle Osama bin Laden-led al-Qaeda network.

“The US Government strongly condemns the cowardly attack late last week against Saudi Arabia’s Assistant Minister of Interior Prince Muhammad Bin Nayif,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement here.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has claimed responsibility for the attack, which was unsuccessful.

Andhra student dies in car accident in US

by

Washington, September 02: A 22-year-old student from Hyderabad was killed in a freak car accident in the US.

Naresh Dacha, first year MS (EE) student at Wright State University, was driving from his home to the university yesterday morning along with his friend Varun when his car hit a tree on Route 22 in Dayton, Ohio.

The incident happened around 5.30 am when Naresh hit the tree in an effort to save a cat.

Varun, who was in the front passenger’s seat, is safe with minor injuries, said Prasad Thotakura, president-elect of Telugu Association of North America (TANA).

$600 for a Kalashnikov – a sign of bloodshed to come in Afghanistan

by

Kabul, September 02: The price of Kalashnikovs has doubled in Afghanistan. For a country awash with arms, the fact that the weapons are now fetching $600 apiece is a cause of some surprise, but a surge of demand is to blame for the increase, with a steady stream of weapons said to be heading for the north.

This is the Tajik constituency of Abdullah Abdullah, the presidential candidate who claims the election is being stolen by the incumbent Western-backed President, Hamid Karzai.

Pak enhancing its nuke weapons capabilities

by

Washington, September 02: Pakistan is enhancing its atomic weapon capabilities across the board by developing and deploying new nuclear-capable missiles and expanding its capacity to produce fissile material, two US experts have said, estimating Islamabad has an arsenal of 70-90 warheads.

In an article published in the latest issue of “Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist,” Robert S Norris and Hans Kristensen estimate that Pakistan’s nuclear stockpile has jumped to an estimated 70-90 warheads from a previous figure of 60.

Iran moves to split UN with ‘updated nuclear proposal’

by

Tehran, September 02: US officials said last night that they were still awaiting concrete signs that Iran was ready to accede to demands that it cease its uranium enrichment programmes, despite reports from Tehran that the regime had fresh proposals to resolve the continuing standoff with the West.

The chief nuclear negotiator in Iran, Saeed Jalili, was quoted as saying that the government of President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad was ready with an “updated nuclear proposal” to settle concerns of the US and other governments.

Centre not to object Delhi HC’s ruling on homosexuality: Report

by

New Delhi, September 02: Notwithstanding the divergent views on the issue, the Centre has reportedly made up its mind to not object the Delhi HC’s ruling that legalises gay sex among consenting adults.

As per newspaper reports, the decision was taken after the three ministries Home, Health and Law together gave the consensus to go ahead with the Delhi High Court (HC) verdict.

On July 02, Delhi HC had decriminalised gay sex, calling it a violation of fundamental rights, and scrapped Section 377 of the IPC, to allow consensual sex between two adults of the same sex.

Gmail outage challenges Google engineers

by

San Francisco, September 02:A disruption to Google’s Gmail service frustrated users throughout the world Tuesday and flummoxed engineers at the giant internet company.

Google said the problems started early in the morning and were not resolved until approximately 2330 GMT.

The problem prevented users from accessing Google email and stymied customers who use the popular software to sync their information with the Microsoft Outlook email programme.

US support for war in Afghanistan at all-time low

by

Washington, September 02:Support for the war in Afghanistan has fallen to an all-time low in the United States, according to a national poll published Tuesday by CNN.

Fifty-seven percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey said they opposed the war, while 42 percent backed the mission. The number of respondents against the war is up by 11 percentage points since April and was the highest in a CNN poll since the conflict began in October 2001.

Saudi Arabia not in favour of Musharraf’s trial

by

Jeddah, September 02: Saudi Arabia said it is not in favour of a trial against former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf which could further deteriorate the volatile political situation in that country, the Online news agency reported.

Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Tuesday urged the Pakistani leadership to abide by the agreement reached at the time of Musharraf’s resignation that no action would be taken against the former president.

India simplifies Haj quota allocation for private tour operators

by

New Delji, September 02: The Indian Government has simplified the Haj quota allocation process for private tour operators (PTOs), by doing away with the mandatory requirement of having experience in this regard, reported the Press Trust of India (PTI).

According to the report, the decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Indian External Affairs Minister Somanhalli Mallaiah Krishna in compliance with the various court cases of 2008 and 2009.

The decision was taken for ensuring openness, transparency, equity and providing equal opportunity to those PTOs.

New School Rule: UAE National Anthem

by

Abu Dhabi, September 02: Students will have to polish their Arabic language skills after the Ministry of Education asked all public and private schools in the United Arab Emirates to sing the national anthem every morning.

All schools, including international, will have to fly the UAE national flag and sing the national anthem to mark the beginning of school activities, according to a circular issued by Humaid Al Qattami, the Minister of Education.

Almost all schools in the UAE fly the national flag but the anthem is only sung during special occasions in many international schools.

Grieving Ranbir learns to dance

by

Mumbai, September 02: Ranbir Kapoor was in no mood to dance this week after his grandmother’s death.

The young actor was very close to his mom’s mom, who lived in Ranbir house, and in fact in a room right opposite his and was constantly in and out of her favourite grandson’s space.

The death in the family hit Ranbir hard. But the very next day he was dancing to Ahmed Khan’s choreography at Yashraj Films for a special last-minute song in the songless Rocket Singh Salesman Of The Year.

Rani tests Salman’s patience

by

Mumbai, September 02: The actress, who was on his show 10Ka Dum took so much time to answer the question that Salman Khan had to say that she was taking even longer than Aamir Khan to answer.

A source said,”Salman Khan went and sat on the sofa, asking her to tell him when she was ready with the answer. Only then, he said, he would take his position back on the show.”

Burqa Furor Scrambles French Politics

by

It is a measure of France’s confusion about Islam and its own Muslim citizens that in the political furor here over “banning the burqa,” as the argument goes, the garment at issue is not really the burqa at all, but the niqab.

A burqa is the all-enveloping cloak, often blue, with a woven grill over the eyes, that many Afghan women wear, and it is almost never seen in France. The niqab, often black, leaves the eyes uncovered.

Is Carla Bruni pregnant?

by

London, September 02: Speculation is rife that Carla Bruni may be pregnant after a holiday photograph showing hubby French President Nicolas Sarkozy protectively patting the 41- year-old former Italian supermodel’s belly has emerged.

Bruni, a mother of one, has made no secret of the fact that she is longing to have a baby with her 54-year-old husband who has three children from two previous wedlocks.

“Halal” search engine launched for Muslims

by

New York, September 02: Potential Muslim internet users who might previously have avoided the internet for some of its less wholesome content, now have a safe option in the new search engine Imhalal.com.

“Our main goal is to become the number one website in every Muslim home,” Reza Sardeha, Founder of ImHalal.com, told.

RSS trains guns on LK; holds him responsible for LS defeat

by

New Delhi, September 02: After sending out a stern message to crisis-ridden BJP to put its house in order, RSS has trained its guns on senior leader L K Advani, holding him responsible for the party’s debacle in the Lok Sabha elections.

The RSS, which has been building pressure on BJP to end its internal bickerings and is favouring younger leadership, feels it was a blunder to project Advani as BJP’s prime ministerial candidate and making the party’s poll campaign Advani-centric.

Auto driver held for duping woman from Philippines

by

Bangalore, September 02: An autorickshaw driver has been arrested for allegedly taking away belonging of a woman from the Philippines, police said here today.

Sajjad Ahmed, 24, was arrested for taking away the baggage of Makeme Mariah Ido, who hired his auto to take that to a lodge in the city last week.

Ido, who came here from Hyderabad, had put her luggage in Sajjad’s auto while she followed in another three-wheeler, but the accused fled with the luggage.

Based on information given by the driver of the second auto, police arrested Sajjad from Padarayanapura area here.

Ramadan Drummers Back in Peaceful Kashmir

by

Srinagar, September 02: They are again roaming the dark alleys in the pitch-dark early hours, beating drums to wake people up for their last meal before another dawn-to-dusk fast during Ramadan.

They are the Sehar Khans, a centuries-old tradition in Muslim-majority Kashmir that has returned to the region along with long lost peace.

“The militancy has disappeared now, that is why I decided to resume this sacred family job,” Mohammad Rafiq, a Sehar Khan, told Reuters on Tuesday, September 1.

No power better than electrocution

by

Hyderabad, September 02: When S Ranga Ram was frantically calling the emergency helpline of the power supply department, the only thought running through his mind was of survival.

“The entire neighbourhood could have got electrocuted saab,” he said, sitting on the damp remains of what used to be mattresses used by his family.

The scene was from Saicharan Colony at Vidyanagar, where storm water drain walls collapsed, leading to massive flooding of the surrounding areas.

Main roads turn into bathtubs

by

Hyderabad, September 02: The roads of Hyderabad are known for being ‘water-friendly’. When it rains the water and slush remain on the roads for a couple of days causing traffic snarls and inconvenience for pedestrians.

Pools of water had formed on the busy Rashtrapati Road thoroughfare and motorists merrily splashed water on everyone around while driving through it.

Traffic came to a grinding halt on Tarnaka, Secunderabad, Mettuguda, Ranigunj, Paradise, Lakdi-ka-Pul, Khairatabad, MJ Market, Abids and Nampally.

Burkini Stirs Row in Egypt

by

Cairo, September 02: The impression Omayma Mansour got from her last visit to Egypt was that Islam could also be unwelcome even in one of its lands.

The Egyptian-American mother of two was staying at the Moevenpick in El Gouna resort in Hurghada when she received a shock that might take her months to recover or understand.

Seeing her youngest son, 2, struggling in the swimming pool, she went into the pool with her burkini, a waterproof swimsuit that covers most of the body, to help her kid.

Mansour was immediately asked by a swimming pool attendant to exit the pool.

Heavy rain paralyses life in city

by

Hyderabad, September 02: The unexpected downpour in several parts of the State threw normal life out of gear. As if this was not enough, the Met Department predicted more rain in the next 24 hours particularly in coastal districts under the influence of a trough in upper air that had formed over the main land of the State.

The State capital faced the full fury of the heavens throughout last night.

Fardeen puts up lap dance for Ajay Devgan

by

Mumbai, September 02: At the wrap party of All The Best in Hyderabad, Fardeen Khan gave a lap dance to producer and co-star Ajay Devgan.

It had all the cast and crew cracking up. It was a perfect ending to the film, that had them in splits all through it’s making. A lot of male bonding took place on the sets between Sanjay Dutt, Ajay, Fardeen and director Rohit Shetty.

AP assembly adjourns sine die

by

Hyderabad, September 01: Andhra Pradesh Assembly was today adjourned sine die after adoption of appropriation bills amid uproarious scenes.

TDP member D Narendra made some allegations against the Congress government and its leaders during Finance and Legislative Affairs Minister K Rosaiah’s speech on the bills.

The TDP members entered into the well of the house as Deputy Speaker N Manohar put the bills to vote. The bills were adopted amid the din after which the House was adjourned sine die.

–PTI