Month: September 2009

Manna Dey to get Dada Saheb Phalke award

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New Delhi, September 30: Renowned playback singer Manna Dey has been nominated for the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke award for the year 2007.

Officials in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said on Wednesday that Dey’s name was finalised earlier this week by a five-member committee.

The 90-year-old singer will be conferred the award in a ceremony on October 21st by President Pratibha Patil .

Dey, one of the greatest playback singers in Indian cinema, ruled the playback music scene from the 1950s to the 1970s. He has sung more than 3,500 songs.

Kerala to convene high-level meet on Brahmos land acquisition

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Thiruvananthapuram, September 30: Chief Minister V. S. Achuthanandan said here on Wednesday that he would be convening a high level conference of the officials concerned to resolve the problems in the acquisition of land for the second phase of the Brahmos missile development project in Thiruvananthapuram.

Replying to questions from the media, the Chief Minister said that the conference would be held on October 13. He would be eliciting the reasons for delay in acquisition of nine acres for the project.

Malaysian PM directs govt depts to address concerns of Indians

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Kuala Lampur, September 30: Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has directed relevant government departments and agencies to address several long-standing social, economic and educational issues affecting the minority ethnic Indian community in the country.

“We raised several issues for approval and many of them received the nod from the Prime Minister,” vice-president of the country’s largest ethnic Indian political party, MIC, Dr. S. Subramaniam, has said.

Nuclear energy benefits should not remain confined to a few: Manmohan

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New Delhi, September 30: Seeking international cooperation in its efforts for a major expansion in the nuclear programme, India today said benefits of atomic energy should not remain confined to a “privileged few” as it was vital to meet power requirements of developing countries.

“We need the concerted and collective efforts of the international community to promote peaceful uses of nuclear energy as widely as possible,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said at a function where IAEA chief Mohammad ElBaradei was conferred the coveted Indira Gandhi Peace Prize.

3 CPI-M leaders shot dead near Lalgarh

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Midnapore(WB), September 30: Maoists killed three local CPI-M leaders by thrusting rifle barrels in their mouth and pressing the trigger at a village near Lalgarh in West Midnapore district, officials said today.

District Magistrate Narayan Swarup Nigam said the Maoists last night abducted local party leaders Anadi Mahato, Radhanath Mahato and Bhakti Mahato from Ranjia village in Salboni and killed them.

Soon after the incident, residents left the village in panic even as police went there to recover the bodies lying on the side of the road.

CPI-M activists to form 500 km human chain in Kerala

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Thiruvananthapuram, September 30: Over 30 lakh Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) activists in Kerala will form a 500 km human chain from here to Kasargode on Oct 2 to protest the free trade agreement signed between New Delhi and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Party general secretary Prakash Karat, state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan and Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan will form the last link in the human chain in front of the official residence of Kerala Governor R.S. Gavai.

New chip can detect cancer early

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Toronto, September 30: In a major breakthrough for early cancer detection, Canadian researchers have developed an inexpensive microchip that is sensitive enough to detect the type and severity of the disease.

The microchip has been successfully tested on prostate cancer, and head and neck cancer models.

It can also be used to diagnose other cancers, as well as infectious diseases such as HIV and the H1N1 flu.

Researchers at the University of Toronto here used nanomaterials for the first time to build the sensitive microchip.

Global financial stability improves, but risks of reversal high: IMF

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Washington, September 30: Global financial stability has improved following unprecedented policy actions and signs of economic recovery, but overall risks remain elevated and the risk of reversal remains significant, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

IMF estimate of global losses arising from the crisis for 2007-10 now stands at roughly $3.4 trillion largely due to rising securities values, it said in the October Global Financial Stability Report (GFSR), released in Istanbul Wednesday. The new estimate is around $600 billion lower than the last GFSR.

Dhaka sleuths learn what it takes to be recruited into JMB

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Dhaka, September 30: Learning to blow up or be blown up and to pull a cycle rickshaw — these are among the tests a recruit must pass before being inducted into the militant group Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

With the trainer holding the trigger, he must walk with live bombs and explosives tied to his body.

The cycle rickshaw bit has a dual purpose: It helps shed any conceit and also allows the youth to move around incognito and listen to what others say.

Death toll rises to 41 in Bihar boat tragedies

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Patna, September 30: The death toll in Bihar’s twin tragedies, when two boats carrying Durga Puja revellers capsized in the Kosi and Bagmati rivers, has gone up to 41 with 11 more bodies being recovered, officials said Wednesday.

‘Eleven more bodies have been recovered,’ Khagaria District Superintendent of Police Indranand Mishra said. Till Tuesday evening, 21 bodies were recovered from the Bagmati river in Khagaria, about 200 km from here.

CPI-M activists to form 500 km human chain in Kerala

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Thiruvananthapuram, September 30: Over 30 lakh Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) activists in Kerala will form a 500 km human chain from here to Kasargode on Oct 2 to protest the free trade agreement signed between New Delhi and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Party general secretary Prakash Karat, state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan and Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan will form the last link in the human chain in front of the official residence of Kerala Governor R.S. Gavai.

China, U.S. risk rifts in Middle East: former Chinese envoy

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Beijing, September 30: China and the United States risk deepening rifts over influence and oil in the Middle East, Beijing’s former envoy to the region has said, urging his nation to bolster ties with Iran and other energy-exporting powers.

Sun Bigan was China’s special envoy on the Middle East until March, and in a new essay he said U.S. President Barack Obama’s effort to improve ties with Islamic states in the Middle East was a tactical shift that had not removed the potential for friction between Washington and Beijing in the region.

Bhadohi fake encounter case; 9 policemen sent to jail

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Varanasi, September 30: Nearly a decade after four persons were killed in an alleged fake encounter in adjoining Bhadohi district, nine policemen wanted in the case surrendered before the local court which remanded them to judicial custody.

Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bhadohi, Intakhab Alam yesterday rejected the bail application of the nine policemen and sent them to judicial custody for 14 days.

Twenty-one other policemen involved in the fake encounter in Bhadohi on October 17, 1999 are still on the run and the court directed the police to arrest them.

Sensex crosses 17,000-mark for the first time in 16 months

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Mumbai, September 30: Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today surged past the 17,000-points level for the first time in 16 months in early morning trading on the back of sustained buying by foreign funds in heavy-weight stocks in anticipation of strong quarterly earnings.

The Sensex shot up by 175.88 points, or 1.1 per cent to 17,028.79 points at 1100 hrs, a level last seen on May 23, 2008. The barometer ended 159.91 points higher yesterday.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty also gathered 43.90 points at 5,050.75.

Ketsana wreaks havoc across Southeast Asia

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Manila, September 30: One of the most destructive storms in years extended its deadly path across Southeast Asia, blowing down wooden villages in Cambodia and crushing Vietnamese houses under mudslides after submerging much of the Philippines capital.

The death toll Wednesday was at 298 and rising.

“We’re used to storms that sweep away one or two houses. But I’ve never seen a storm this strong,” said Nam Tum, governor of Cambodia’s Kampong Thom province.

IIM-A okay with govt on pay

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Ahmedabad, September 30: The Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) has “in principle” agreed to toe the government line on salary for faculty.

But it will be implemented only after a month to make room for negotiations with the human resources ministry on the proposed recruitment and promotion policies. IIM-A director Samir Barua said its faculty council had some reservations on the ministry’s recommendations on these issues. But it will accept the recommendations on compensation.

I was illegally detained, claims Gandhy

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New Delhi, September 30: Kobad Gandhy, a Polit Bureau member of the banned CPI (Maoist), on Wednesday alleged that he was kept in illegal detention for four days in the national capital before police recorded his arrest on September 21.

However, police denied the allegation and said they arrested him on September 21 from Bhikaji Cama Place acting on intelligence inputs.

“I was detained on September 17 but the arrest was recorded on September 21 only,” Gandhy said at G B Pant Hospital where he was brought by police for medical check.

Typhoon kills nearly 50 in Vietnam, Cambodia

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Cambodia, September 30: Typhoon Ketsana has killed at least 11 people in northeastern and central Cambodia, police and government officials said Wednesday, after the storm left another 38 dead in Vietnam.

Nine were killed and 35 injured in central Cambodia while two died in the northeast overnight as the country was battered by the storm, officials said.

“At least nine people were crushed last night when their houses fell down,” said Chea Cheat, chief of the Red Cross office in central Kampong Thom province.

Balladeer stirs row by singing in praise of YSR

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Hyderabad, September 30: Revolutionary balladeer Vangapandu Prasada Rao, whose popular “Em pillado” was a war cry and stimulated hundreds to join the Naxalbari movement in Andhra Pradesh, has stirred a row by using the same song to praise the late chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

By singing in praise of YSR, who died in a helicopter crash early this month, the Telugu writer and poet has invited anger from revolutionary artists in the state, who termed it an “act of hypocrisy”.

States to file compliance report on unauthorised places of worship

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New Delhi, September 30: The Supreme Court has directed the Collector/Magistrate/Commissioner of the district concerned in each State and Union Territory to ensure total compliance with its Tuesday’s order banning unauthorised construction of any temple, church, mosque or gurdwara in public streets/public spaces across the country. They should send a report to the Chief Secretary who, in turn, would file a report to the court within eight weeks.

Senate panel rejects gov’t health insurance option

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Washington, September 30: In a long-anticipated showdown, liberal Democrats twice failed on Tuesday to inject a government-run insurance option into sweeping health care legislation taking shape in the Senate, despite bipartisan agreement that private insurers must change their ways.

Pietersen targets Tests in South Africa

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Johensberg, September 30: Kevin Pietersen has underlined his determination to make the plane for England’s tour of South Africa in November.

Pietersen admits he is frustrated by setbacks in his recovery from surgery on his Achilles tendon. But he has not given up hope of being fit in time for the start of a South Africa trip that will feature two Twenty20s, five ODIs and four Tests.

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Manmohan for wise use of power of atom

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New Delhi, September 30: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here on Tuesday that India had a comprehensive export controls system on nuclear technology and was committed to non-transfer of sensitive technologies and equipment to other countries that do not possess them. It was also participating “constructively” in negotiations on the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty.

Recipe: Palak Paratha

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Try these yummy-healthy spinach parathas as morning breakfast.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Spinach
• 2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
• ¼ cup Coriander Leaves, chopped
• ¼ tsp Chili Powder
• 1 tsp Cumin Seeds, roasted
• 1 tsp Carom Seeds (Ajwain), roasted
• 1 Onion, chopped
• 2 Green Chilies
• Salt to taste
• Oil/butter (as required)

Procedure:

• Boil water in a pan and add palak. Simmer for 3 to 5 minutes. Strain out the water and allow the palak to cool.
• Grind the coriander leaves, palak and green chillies to make a fine paste.

Notice served on ArcelorMittal venture

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New Delhi, September 30: The Union Coal Ministry has warned ArcelorMittal and GVK Power that the allotment of joint coal block at Seregarha in Jharkhand would be cancelled for the inordinate delay in carrying out developmental work at the property.

Officials in the Ministry said a show cause had been served on September 23 to both the companies and replies have been sought within 15 days asking for reasons for the delay in developing the mines allotted for captive use.