Month: September 2009

India should initiate talks to resolve Kashmir issue: Qureshi

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New York, September 26: Ahead of the meeting with his Indian counterpart, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi Saturday said New Delhi should engage itself in talks to resolve the Kashmir issue.

“We hope New Delhi will realise the ground reality and world trends which essentially include negotiations and talks on resolving outstanding issues,” he said.

Qureshi was addressing a press conference after his meeting with All Parties Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.

Investigate KVP’s role in chopper’s accident: N J Reddy

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Hyderabad, September 26 (Siasat News): As the sudden demise of YSR still haunting the people and they have yet to come in full terms with the life, the clouds of suspicion is still hovering on some or the other leader.

TDP leader and MLA Mr. N Janardhan Reddy in a press conference demanded the role of KVP Ramchander Rao, late YSR’s close aide, in chopper’s accident probe.

Who’s the real Prem Chopra?

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Mumbai, September 26: What do Ajay Devgn and Ranbir Kapoor have in common, especially since they are as different from each other as chalk is from cheese?

Apparently they both have the same on-screen name in their respective forthcoming films! And the common name is that of the Bollywood baddie of yesteryears — Prem Chopra!

Anil Kapoor’s back in LA

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Mumbai, September 26: Anil Kapoor, who was in the city recently to spend time with his daughters, who’re shooting for Aisha (Sonam’s the actress and this is her sis Rhea’s debut as a producer), is now back to a city he must’ve started calling ‘second home’ by now – Los Angeles.

Cong leaders taken into custody

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Bangalore, September 26: About 30 Congress leaders, including KPCC President R V Deshpande and leader of opposition in the state Assembly Siddaramaiah, were today taken into custody when they tried to lay siege to the state Secretariat to protest the BJP government’s “failures”.

Defying prohibitory orders, the protesters including MLAs and former legislators headed towards the Vidhana Soudha to highlight what the party termed as failures of the B S Yeddyurappa government but they were blocked by police, who had set up barricades at all entry points.

No pageants for Deepika

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Mumbai, September 26: Model-turned-actress Deepika Padukone says she always wanted to carve a niche for herself in the glamour industry but without participating in a beauty pageant, unlike many of her colleagues.

“I had set up an objective to become a model without winning any beauty pageants,” Deepika told choreographer-turned-director Farah Khan on her chat show.

Two children hacked to death, mother injured

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Pratapgarh (UP), September 26: Two children were hacked to death and their mother was seriously injured by unidentified persons in Hathigawan area following which angry locals blocked the Allahabad-Lucknow highway demanding arrest of the culprits, police said here.

Sakshi (7) and Prince (3) were hacked to death and their mother Kiran (30) was seriously injured at their residence by unidentified persons in Phoolmati village, about 60 kms from here, last night, they said.

Kiran was rushed to district hospital, from where she was referred to Allahabad Medical College, police said.

Bebo has a date with Julia Roberts

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Mumbai, September 26: That Julia Roberts is shooting for Ryan Murphy’s Eat, Pray, Love in Pataudi, everybody knows.

What nobody is aware of is that the Hollywood superstar met up with the Begum of Pataudi, Sharmila Tagore, and expressed the desire to meet actor Saif Ali Khan and his girlfriend Kareena Kapoor. Julia was particularly keen to meet Kareena when she learned that Bebo will be playing her part in Karan Johar’s Hindi adaptation of the Hollywood hit Step-Mom.

Stammering is hell: Hrithik

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Mumbai, September 25: Haklana or stammering is a handicap faced by many young children and adults. As traumatic it is for them, Bollywood superstar Hrithik Roshan also admits to having this problem.

Hrithik shared his trauma, fears and how he overcomes his speech impairment with host Farah Khan on Tere Mere Beach Mein.

Salman Khan’s riding high post Wanted

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Mumbai, September 26: It’s Salman Khan time in Bollywood. With his full-on actioner Wanted becoming a hit, the superstar has millions of rupees riding on his shoulders with three more big-budget films lined up.

And all his friends in the industry – from David Dhawan to Vipul Shah – are rejoicing at the actor’s success.

Wanted earned about Rs 38 crore (Rs.380 million) across the country in its first week and industry experts feel that the film’s good business will help Salman’s forthcoming releases – Main aur Mrs. Khanna, London Dreams and Veer.

RCF demands price parity with NTPC, RNRL for gas from RIL

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Mumbai, September 26: State-owned Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers has demanded price parity with NTPC and Anil Ambani Group firm RNRL for the gas supplied by Mukesh Ambani’s RIL, saying it would improve the profitability of the company by 20 per cent.

RNRL and NTPC are fighting legal cases separately for obtaining gas at USD 2.34 per mmBtu, lower than the government approved rate of USD 4.34 per mmBtu from Reliance Industries’ K-G D6 fields.

Private polytechnics warned against overcharging

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Lucknow, September 26: Taking note of reports of private polytechnics overcharging from students, Uttar Pradesh government has warned that stern action will be taken against such institutions.

In a letter sent to divisional commissioners and district magistrates, principal secretary, technical education, Vrinda Swaroop said the government had fixed Rs 14,500 annual fee per student in polytechnics.

However, there have been complaints that some private institutes were charging as much as Rs 40,000 from students.

Sony India targets 25 pc growth for Diwali in Andhra

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Hyderabad, September 26: Sony India, one of the largest consumer electronics brands, has set a target of 25 per cent growth during festive period (September/October) in Andhra Pradesh.

Addressing the media here last evening, Masaru Tamagawa, Managing Director, Sony India, said the last year’s sales turnover during the two months was Rs 45 crore in Andhra Pradesh.

Sony is banking on Bravia LCD TVs, cyber-shot cameras and home theater systems to drive the sales, he said.

Stability in Afgh, Pak critical to Af-Pak mission: Obama

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Pittsburgh, September 26: US President Barack Obama today underlined that the stability in Afghanistan and Pakistan is critical to the American mission of defeating the al-Qaeda and the Taliban in the region.

Obama said his overriding goal is to dismantle the al-Qaeda network, to destroy their capacity to inflict harm not just on the US, but people of all faiths and all nationalities all around the world.

“Stability in Afghanistan and in Pakistan are critical to that mission,” the President told mediapersons at the end of the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh.

I don’t want to sing “crap” in Bollywood: Sonu Nigam

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New Delhi, September 26: After a host of foreign concerts and producing his independent music, versatile singer, Sonu Nigam is back on the Bollywood front, but this time he means business and that is not to sing “crap”.

The 36-year-old singer whose ‘Chiggy Wiggy’ with Australian pop star Kylie Minogue and ‘Don’t Say Alvida’ from Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor starrer ‘Main Aur Mrs Khanna’ have turned out to be the new chartbusters, said that he consciously cut his Bollywood assignments because he did not want to be associated with low quality music.

Rat delays Air India Amritsar-London flight

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Amritsar, September 26: A rat delayed a London-bound Air India flight from the Rajasansi airport here Saturday morning.

Flight AI-187, which was scheduled to depart at 6.30 am on Saturday, had not left the airport even three hours later. There were 238 passengers on the flight.

“A rat entered the aircraft and the staff was searching for it. The flight has been delayed. Air India is getting a new aircraft to take the passengers to London,” airport director Chinson Panakal said.

Man Arrested in Tainted Dollar Scam

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Dubai, September 26: A man of African origin, who allegedly tried to cheat people by claiming to multiply money, was arrested in an undercover operation by 
Dubai Police.

Major Abdul Rahman Obaidalla, Director of Anti-economic Crimes Section, said that on September 7, the General Department of Criminal Investigation received a tip-off that an African was trying to cheat people by offering to multiply their money.

The man claimed that he had inherited $5million from his father who was a minister in his country and wanted to bring the amount to the UAE.

Two in Custody For
 Blackmailing Woman

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Fujairah, September 26: The Public Prosecution 
of Fujairah is investigating a case in which two Arab men residing here are accused of extorting money from a woman from a GCC country by threatening to post her personal photographs on the Internet.

Earlier, the Fujairah Police were tipped off by the woman through the Interpol that an Arab residing in the emirate was threatening to post her personal photos on the Net if she did not transfer some money to him.

Three Caught Eating, Smoking in Public During Ramadan

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Dubai, September 26: Three persons, who ate and smoke in public during daytime in 
Ramadan, were arrested by the General Department of Criminal Investigation, according to a Dubai Police officer.

Among those arrested were a 
European and two Arabs, who insisted on eating in public, despite being 
Muslims.

The officer, who asked not to be named, said that usually no action is taken against violators if they apologise and are unaware of the local culture. But action is taken against those who knowingly breach the rules.

‘Roaming Bus’ Promotes Dubai Public Transport

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Dubai, September 26: A ‘Roaming Bus’ that tours the city, splashed in advertisements luring potential riders, is being used by the Roads and Transport Authority to promote public transport.

Dubai Metro, part of the authority’s push to encourage public transport use, has attracted more than 800,000 riders since it launched on September 9.

On Wednesday, 51,861 commuters travelled aboard the trains.

Eisa Abdul Rahman Al Dosari, CEO of the Public Transport Agency at the authority, said the initiative began at the end of the first half of this year.

October Dedicated to Breast Cancer Awareness

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Al Ain, September 26: Breast cancer has been identified the first of the ten most common cancers among national and expatriate women and the second leading cause of deaths of women 28 per cent in 
the UAE.

Dr Shamsa Al Awar, chairperson of Tawam Breast Cancer Awareness Committee, said recently that these findings were listed in the Abu Dhabi Community Profile prepared by the Global 
Initiative for Breast Cancer Awareness Team at the Health Authority of Abu Dhabi (HAAD).

Abdullah Meets World Leaders

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New York, September 26: Bilateral relations between the United Arab Emirates and other countries, the latest regional and international developments and other issues are the focus of meetings which Foreign Minister Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan is holding with top officials of some countries on the sidelines of the 64th United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York.

Tight Race as all Haryana Poll Segments 
Witness Multi-cornered Contests

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Chandigarh, September 26: Unlike the previous assembly elections, especially the last one in 2005, the polls in Haryana next month will be a multi-cornered one in all 90 seats.

The ruling Congress, whose government led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda got the previous assembly dissolved seven months ahead of schedule, seems to be on a strong political footing. But there are many other players wanting to test the waters for the October 13 polls.

Ex-MP Lashes Out at Kerala CPM Secretary

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Tiruvanthapuram, September 26: Left fellow traveller and former Member of Parliament Sebastian Paul has hit out at Communist Party of India (Marxist) Kerala secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, saying he was surrounded by a coterie.

The journalist-turned three-time MP from Ernakulam was reacting to an article in the party’s mouthpiece ‘Deshabhimani’ on Thursday, berating him for his reported criticism of the party’s approach towards the media.

India Adopts Aggressive
Policy Against Maoists

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New Delhi, September 26: Shifting tack in its fight against left-wing extremism, India has drawn up a multi-pronged strategy that will target top leaders, win people through a propaganda war and offer cadres a surrender-and-rehabilitation policy while launching an extensive armed operation in Maoist strongholds across the country.

The strategy that also involves delinking development imperatives from an armed crackdown has gained urgency with a grand offensive to be launched to secure the Maoist belts and provide governance there, said top home 
ministry sources.