Month: September 2009

Cuttack now houses China’s Buddhist monument, Sati temple !

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Cuttack, September 26: A Buddhist monument of China or Rani Sati temple in Rajasthan besdies replicas of many other great structures were now cynosures of puja pandals here.

Thanks to a favorable climate, lakhs of people are now enjoying the five-day mega event that began yesterday with Mahasaptami puja of Goddess Durga and would culminate on Monday with immersion of deities.

Large number of devotees offered puja at various puja mandaps today on the “Mahastami” of the Goddess.

Australia beat West Indies by 50 runs

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Johannesburg, September 26: Australia defeated the West Indies by 50 runs in a Group A Champions Trophy cricket match at New Wanderers stadium here today.

Brief Scores:

Australia 275 for 8 in 50 overs (Ricky Ponting 79, M Johnson 73 not out; N Miller 2/24, D Bernard 2/63).

West Indies: 225 all out in 46.5 overs (A Fletcher 54, T Dowlin 55; N Hautitz 2/23, S Watson 2/34, P Siddle 2/37).

—Agencies

Pak considering naming Riaz Khan as spl envoy on India:Qureshi

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New York, September 26: Pakistan is contemplating appointment of veteran diplomat and former foreign secretary Riaz Mohd Khan as its special envoy on Indian affairs, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said here today.

“Yes, we are considering very senior former diplomat, former foreign secretary – a gentleman called Riaz Mohd Khan,” Qureshi told CNN-IBN, referring to reports that Pakistan was to name a special envoy for informal talks with India.

Khan held the post of Foreign Secretary from 2005 to 2008 and retired from it citing personal reasons.

Ugandan Gorillas Get Friendly On Facebook

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South Africa, September 26: He’s hairy, his table manners are atrocious, and he wants to be your friend on Facebook.

No, it’s not the ex-boyfriend. It’s Muhozi, an endangered Ugandan mountain gorilla, who’s appearing online as part of a fundraising program the Ugandan Wildlife Authority is launching Saturday to help save the species.

US preparing for Manmohan Singh’s Nov 24 visit

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New York, September 26: The United States is hard at work preparing for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s state visit on Nov 24 as it views India as one of its most important partners in the 21st century.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton conveyed this to External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna as they met here Friday to discuss the shape of their emerging strategic partnership.

Air India pilots not ready for talks, to go on mass leave

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Mumbai, September 26: Around 400 Air India pilots, who threatened to go on mass sick leave to protest the airline’s decision to cut their incentives, Saturday rejected the management’s offer for talks and said they will stick to their agitation plan.

Senior executives as well as other pilots have decided not to take part in the negotiations with the management Sunday, a pilot said.

While 400 senior executive pilots will go on sick leave en masse, 700 others are still discussing their options.

National Book Festival book festival Washington DC

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New Delhi, September 26: National Book Festival book festival Washington DC. Authors James Patterson, George Pelecanos, Nikki Grimes, Marilynne Robinson, Sharon Creech, Daniel Silva and W. Ralph Eubanks will be among the writers and illustrators joining the stellar lineup for the ninth annual National Book Festival, to be held on the National Mall from today. The event is free and open to the public.

MP3 forced to turn down the volume

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Australia, September 26: TENS of millions of people will be forced to listen to portable music at permanently reduced volume under European Commission proposals to be unveiled next week.

The plans, trailed ahead of talks between European Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva and gadget manufacturers on Tuesday, are aimed at reducing health hazards but also nuisance complaints.

Vietnam ‘making a mockery’ of rights obligations, says Human Rights

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Vietnam, September 26: Vietnam is making a mockery of its obligations under the UN Human Rights Council, an international rights group said.

The communist country has rejected a raft of recommendations to improve its rights record raised during a periodic review by the UN Human Rights Council that ended this week, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement.

“Vietnam – a member of the UN Security Council – has made a mockery of its engagement at the UN Human Rights Council,” said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director of the New York-based organisation.

Saudis launch hi-tech university

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Riyadh, September 26: Saudi Arabia has opened the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), its first co-educational university.

Authorities hope the mixed-gender centre will help modernise the kingdom’s deeply conservative society.

The high-tech campus will focus on science and technology, with professors and students drawn from around the world.

The multi-billion-dollar university is being seen as an attempt by King Abdullah to promote reforms in the kingdom.

Women will also not be required to wear veils in the co-educational classes.

US drone crashes into Iraq political party office

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Baghdad, September 26: An unmanned U.S. reconnaissance drone crashed in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul early on Saturday, hitting the offices of one of Iraq’s biggest political parties, the U.S. military said.

No injuries were reported, and there was no indication the aircraft was shot down, said Major Derrick Cheng, a military spokesman in northern Iraq.

Cheng said it was a coincidence that the drone struck the local offices of the Iraqi Islamic Party, Iraq’s biggest Sunni Arab political group, the military said.

NTSB: 3 killed in medical helicopter crash in SC

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Georgetown, September 26: Authorities say three people were killed when a medical transport helicopter crashed in coastal South Carolina.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the Friday night crash in Georgetown County. NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson says no patients were on board. There were no survivors.

Knudson says the helicopter had dropped off a patient at about 9:35 p.m. Friday in Charleston, about 60 miles southwest of Georgetown County. He says the helicopter went down about 11:30 p.m.

Delhi will host successful 2010 Games: Brumby

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New Delhi, September 26: Premier of the Australian state of Victoria John Brumby Saturday said that he was very impressed with the architecture of the infrastructure coming up for the 2010 Commonwealth Games (CWG), scheduled to take place in the Indian capital next year.

During a visit to the headquarters of the Organising Committee of the 2010 CWG here, he said he had not forgotten the cultural show Delhi had put up at the closing ceremony of the Melbourne Games in 2006.

IAEA to inspect Iran’s new nuke plant: Official

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Tehran, September 26: The head of Iran’s Atomic Organization said Saturday that agreements have been made with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to inspect the new uranium-enrichment plant near Tehran.

“Considering the suitable cooperation between Iran and the IAEA, there will be an inspection of the new plant in due time,” Ali-Akbar Salehi told state television without giving a precise date.

He said the new plant is located 100 km south of the capital Tehran and would become operational in more than one year. The first enrichment plant of Natanz is located in central Iran.

Indians collect three golds in Asian Clay Shooting

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New Delhi, September 26:Indian shooters won three golds in the double trap event in the Asian Clay Shooting championship at Almaty, Kazakhastan, Saturday.

According to information received here, Ronjon Sodhi won the individual gold and India won the team gold. Sangram Dahiya won the third gold in the junior section.

Sodhi shot an excellent score of 188 (144 + 44) for the gold. The team comprising Sodhi (144), Vikram Chopra (132) and Vikram Bhatnagar (124) put up a splendid performance for the team gold.

Five more deaths take India’s swine flu toll to 290

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New Delhi, September 26:Five more swine flu deaths – four in Karnataka and one in Andhra Pradesh – were reported Saturday, taking India’s toll due to the influenza A (H1N1) virus to 290, health authorities said here.

Three more suspected swine flu deaths have been reported from Andhra Pradesh, but officials said they were awaiting the laboratory reports for confirmation.

Meanwhile, 208 fresh swine flu cases were reported in the country, taking the total number of people infected with the flu to 9,492.

Tharoor says he’d tweet, but in moderation

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New Delhi, Sep 26 (IANS) Unfazed by the controversy surrounding his comments on the microblogging site Tweeter, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor is upbeat about using this “innovative method of communication” used by the likes of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

“(US President) Barack Obama uses it, (Secretary of State) Hillary Clinton used it while she was in Delhi and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd does it,” Tharoor said in an interview to the India Today magazine.

Two held for molesting Australian woman in Uttar Pradesh

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Lucknow, September 26:Two men were arrested Saturday for allegedly molesting a 37-year-old Australian woman in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur district, police said.

The incident took place Saturday in the Collectorganj locality in Kanpur when the woman with her husband was going to meet their friends in the locality, police added.

“Saleem and Naushad – both in their early 20s – misbehaved with the woman and also assaulted her husband while the couple, sitting on a pedal-rickshaw, were on their way to their friend’s house,” inspector Mahendra Kumar told IANS over phone.

Mobile phone to verify your Indian identity: Nilekani

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New Delhi, September 26:Move over passport and PAN card! Identity authentication at banks, gas connection centres or while providing rural jobs will just be an SMS away, Unique Identification Authority chief Nandan Nilekani said Saturday.

“Our project will provide a unique identification (UID) number, not a card. The authentication will be made by using mobile phones,” Nilekani said.

SP to contest 33 Assembly seats in Haryana

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New Delhi, September 26: Samajwadi Party is contesting 33 seats in Haryana assembly elections while its alliance partner Bahujan Sangharsh Party-Kanshi Ram (BSP-KR) would be putting up candidates on 13 seats. “We feel that with none of the parties having any pre-poll alliance, SP has nothing to lose from the situation and we only stand to gain in a post-poll scenario,” SP Haryana unit in charge Sahib Singh told PTI here today.

People are liking Rahul”s secret visits: Vora

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Lucknow, September 26: Amid objections by Uttar Pradesh government to the secret visit of Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi to the state, a senior party leader today said people were liking his unannounced tours. “People are really liking these unannounced visits where Rahul has to often introduce himself to people,” AICC treasurer Motilal Vora said here.

On the state government”s objections to Rahul”s recent visit to some districts, Vora said, “state apna jane.

janata bahut pasand kar rahi hai (state should think about it.

18 Taliban killed in combat with Afghanistan police

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Kunduz, September 26: Eighteen Taliban militants were killed in a gun battle with the police after they attacked a district headquarters in northern Afghanistan, the provincial governor said Saturday.

The militants fired rockets and mortars at Dashti Archi district headquarters early Saturday, sparking a seven-hour combat with Afghan police forces, Mohamamd Omar, the provincial governor told DPA.

‘Our police forces killed 18 Taliban, including some of their commanders and wounded 10 others,’ he said, adding that three police officers also sustained injuries.

Pakistan court adjourns Mumbai attacks hearing

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Islamabad, September 26: A Pakistani court adjourned until Oct. 3 a hearing for seven Islamist militants suspected of involvement in last year’s attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people, a lawyer said.

The foreign ministers of India and Pakistan are due to meet in New York on Sunday, but India has said formal peace process talks will only be resumed after Pakistan takes decisive action against perpetrators of the assault on its financial capital.

Saudi Arabia urges pregnant women, old and ill to avoid Haj

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New Delhi, September 26: Saudi Arabia Saturday recommended those at a high risk of catching swine flu, like children, pregnant women and people suffering from chronic ailments, to avoid Haj pilgrimage and help curb the spread of the pandemic.

“Ministry of Health, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, recommends that elderly, pregnant women, people with chronic diseases and children should postpone the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages this year for their own safety,” the advisory from Saudi Arabia said.

The country has written to several swine flu-affected countries, including India.

Rat delays Air India flight by 11 hours

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Amritsar, September 26: Rat! It’s that creature again that held up a London-bound Air India flight by nearly 11 hours from the Rajasansi airport here Saturday.

Flight AI-187, which was scheduled to depart at 6.30 a.m. Saturday, finally left for London around 5.26 p.m. after Air India provided a new aircraft.

There were 238 passengers on the flight.

“The flight finally left at 5.26 p.m. today. Air India provided a new aircraft to take the passengers to London,” Air India manager Ashwini Kumar Arora told IANS.