Month: October 2009

Jayalalitha recalls help to Maharashtra; seeks support in poll

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Mumbai, October 06: All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general secretary J Jayalalitha has appealed to voters in Malad and Sion-Koliwada assembly constituencies to elect her party’s candidates in the October 13 elections.

The former Tamil Nadu chief minister, in a statement, cited many instances where she helped Maharashtra government and people of the state.

“In 1993, when Latur was devastated by an earthquake, the government headed by me donated Rs2.33crore to Maharashtra government for relief of the quake-affected people,” she said.

15-year-old girl gang raped by three youths

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Moga, October 06: A 15-year-old girl was allegedly gang raped after being kidnapped by three youths in Daulatpura Neewan village in the district, police said.

The victim, a student of class ninth, was kidnapped by her neighbour Manjit. The trio then gang raped the girl at his residence last night.

The medical examination of the victim has confirmed rape, they said.

A case has been registered against Manjit Singh, Sandeep Singh and Satnam Singh, who are absconding after the incident, they said.
–PTI

Gulf region to stay with dollar for oil: UAE central bank source

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Abu Dhabi, October 05: Gulf Arab oil exporters will stay with the dollar as the currency for trading crude, a source in the United Arab Emirates central bank said on Tuesday.

“They are going to stay with the dollar,” the source told Reuters, asking not to be named. “For so long oil pricing is in dollars and it would be difficult for producing countries to change.”

Rahul Gandhi to campaign extensively for Maharashtra assembly polls

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New Delhi, October 06: Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi will campaign extensively in Maharashtra for the October 13 assembly elections, addressing as many as four rallies in a day.

The party leader will launch the campaign on October 8 from Panvel assembly constituency in Raigad district.

The same day, he will address meetings in the Pune Cantonment constituency and Shahada constituency in Nandurbar district, and another meeting in Aurangabad constituency.

The next day, Gandhi will address four more meetings.

Arrest warrant against Raj Thackeray

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Muzaffarpur, October 06: A Bihar court today issued an arrest warrant against MNS chief Raj Thackeray for making “hate speeches” against Biharis and asked the Mumbai police commissioner to produce him before it on November 2.

Sahab Kaushar, first class judicial magistrate, Muzaffarpur, took exception to non-compliance of the order of the court by Thackeray to represent his side on previous dates.

Kaushar ordered issue of arrest warrant against the MNS chief with a directive to the Mumbai police commissioner to arrest and produce Thackeray before him..
–PTI

Floods, bus strike lead to vegetable price hike in Orissa

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Orissa, October 06: Devastating floods in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka coupled with the private bus operators strike in Orissa have led to a steep rise in the prices of vegetables in Orissa.

The prices of almost all vegetables in Berhampur, the biggest commercial town of the southern Orissa, have increased about 50 to 70% during the past week, vegetable sellers said.

P T Usha bursts into tears after shabby treatment at National meet

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Bhopal, October 06: Apalled by the sub-standard accommodation provided to her at the 49th National Open Athletics Meet here, the legendary P T Usha broke down in tears as she lambasted Sports Authority of India (SAI) officials for the shabby treatment of athletes.

The celebrated sprinter, here to attend the meet, was left stunned by the apathy of officials, who later apologised to her.

The organisers had arranged her stay at the SAI hostel here but Usha found the accommodation sub-standard and demanded a better place.

Construction of memorials: SC orders contempt proceedings against UP Chief

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New Delhi, October 06: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed initiation of contempt proceedings against the Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh for “flagrant” violation of its orders on stoppage of work at the construction sites for the statues and memorials in Lucknow.

“Having heard the counsel for the parties perusing the affidavit filed by the Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh and others and having given anxious considerations to all of them, a strong prima facie case is made out for initiating contempt proceeding,” a bench comprising Justices B N Agrawal and Aftab Alam said.

Evil efforts are on to drive out Muslims from India like Spain: Zahid Ali Khan

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New Delhi, October 06 (Md. Mubashiruddin Khurram): “There is not much difference between the AP and Gujarat governments. In Gujarat, those police officers got promotion who were involved in fake encounters of Muslims and in AP the judicial cases were registered against those newspapers who unveiled the face of an eminent official who was involved aiding Sohrabuddin’s fake encounter. Another example of AP police is that constable Abdul Qadeer who was involved in gunning down a communal officer and later served 19 years term in jail.

Pratibha Patil to visit LoC

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Srinagar, October 06: President Pratibha Patil will visit forward positions of the Indian Army along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir Friday, an official said Tuesday.

‘She is visiting (LoC) to boost the morale of the soldiers guarding the most challenging terrain,’ an army official told IANS.

Patil would visit the forward posts in Rajouri district, which of late has seen attempts by terrorists in Pakistan to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir.

We missed Vettori: McCullum

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Centurion, October 06: Disappointed by New Zealand`s meek surrender in the Champions Trophy final against Australia, stand-in captain Brendon McCullum said the Black Caps badly missed inspirational regular skipper Daniel Vettori.

“Losing him (Vettori) was a huge blow. He`s a huge player who we look to not only for performance but also for inspiration, so to lose him was obviously disappointing,” said McCullum after the six-wicket loss to Australia last night.

Ricky Ponting lauds cool Watson

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Centurion, October 06: Australia captain Ricky Ponting praised Shane Watson`s coolness after the all-rounder`s century steered the champions to a six-wicket win over New Zealand in the Champions Trophy final.

Australia, chasing 201 for victory, had slipped to six for two before Watson proved guided them to victory with 105 not out off 129 balls, following his 136 not out in the semi-final against England.

Pak captain, coach sacked over fixing allegations

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Karachi, October 06: Clouds of match fixing stormed over Pakistan cricket as captain Younis Khan and coach Intikhab Alam were sacked by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) following reports that the semifinal match of the Champions Trophy, which they lost to New Zealand by five wickets, was fixed.

Both the mainstays of the Pakistan cricket team were also said to have fixed the stage one match against Australia, throwing it away in the final overs. The loss incidentally pushed India out of the tournament.

Tech Mahindra wins USD 50 mn Saudi Telecom deal

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News Delhi, October 06: Tech Mahindra has won an IT implementation contract from Saudi Telecom, valued between USD 40 million to USD 50 million, a newspaper report said on Tuesday.

The Indian firm has won part of a contract from Saudi Telecom, which is rolling out GSM services in Bahrain, the Economic Times newspaper said, citing an unnamed person familiar with the development.

Samsung sees record operating profit in Q3

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Seoul, October 06: South Korea’s Samsung Electronics on Tuesday estimated it made a record quarterly operating profit of USD 3.5 billion in July-September.

The company, the world’s top maker of memory chips and flat TV screens, said in a statement it estimates consolidated operating profit for the third quarter at 4.1 trillion won (USD 3.5 billion).

This would exceed its previous record quarterly operating profit of 4.0 trillion won in the first quarter in 2004. It compares with 1.48 trillion in the third quarter of 2008.

Manmohan for simplifying tax structure on processed food

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New Delhi, October 06: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday acknowledged the need to rationalise and simplify tax structure for processed food sector, which grew at 14.7 per cent in the last fiscal despite economic slowdown.

“I recognise that we need to look at taxation structure in the industry. Though primary agricultural commodities are mostly exempted from taxes, processed foods are subjected to multiple levies. There is an urgent need to rationalise and simplify the tax structure,” he said.

Cuba seeks help to buy swine flu vaccine

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Havana, Oct0ber 06: Cuba has asked the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization for help in acquiring a new vaccine against swine flu, a minister said.

Luis Estruch, deputy health minister for hygiene, epidemiology and microbiology, said that the vaccine is “highly effective” but also “very expensive”, in an interview published by the Communist Party daily Granma Monday.

In another recent statement, he said that Cuba will concentrate on preventing contagion because each dose of the vaccine costs between $10 and $20.

New software can recreate criminal faces efficiently

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London, October 06: Criminals are going to have a really tough time hiding their faces, thanks to a new software that can recreate their faces.

The software is being used by approximately 15 police departments in the UK as well as half a dozen European countries, including France and Switzerland.

In field trials conducted by the Derbyshire police force, it led to twice as many identifications of suspects as traditional methods.

Law enforcement agencies worldwide traditionally employ sketch artists, who piece together faces.

High mortality rates may explain people’s small size

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London, October 06: High mortality rates in small-bodied people, commonly known as pygmies, may partly explain their small stature, says a new study.

The study by Jay Stock and Andrea Migliano, both of the University of Cambridge, helps unravel the mystery of how small-bodied people got that way.

Why people in these populations are so small remains a mystery, but several hypotheses have been proposed. Stock’s and Migliano’s study provides the first long-term evidence for the mortality hypothesis.

Beyonce cycles to unwind

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London, October 06: American singer Beyonce Knowles says she has taken to riding a bicycle to travel around cities when she is away on tour and that she enjoys the anonymity being on two wheels gives her.

“It’s amazing how I’m able to ride around on a bike. People kind of see it’s me but since I’m on a bike, they think, ‘No, it’s not her.’ And by the time they realise it’s me, I’m already gone. It’s great to do something normal every day. It keeps me grounded,” dailystar.co.uk quoted Beyonce as saying.

Breaches in Krishna embankments flood more Andhra villages

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Hyderabad, October 06: The flood situation in Andhra Pradesh continued to be grim Tuesday as the Krishna river breached its embankment at a few places, inundating dozens of villages in Krishna and Guntur districts. The floods, billed as the worst in 100 years, have claimed 52 lives and affected over 1.6 million people.

Cure for glaucoma soon, says new research

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Toronto, October 06: Cure for glaucoma which leads to blindness may be on its way.

Canadian researchers have discovered an unidentified form of circulation in the human eye which may provide important clues to glaucoma.

The human eye is considered to lack lymphatics – a circulation responsible for pumping fluid and waste out of tissues.

But now researchers at the University of Toronto and the local St Michael’s Hospital say the inability to clear that fluid from the eye is linked to glaucoma which currently affects over 66 million people worldwide.

Violent upbringing may lead to domestic violence

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Washington, October 06: Early exposure to a violent environment is likely to lead to domestic violence later in life, new research suggests. Furthermore, people who experience violence at an early age may have trouble adjusting to healthy, adult romantic relationships, including married life.

Feelings of insecurity, abandonment anxiety, and intimacy issues are also likely to plague these romantic connections.

Additionally, the dynamics of the way couples react and communicate with each other is also related to the likelihood of domestic violence within a relationship.

Jay-Z wants to work with Liam Gallagher

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London, October 06: Rapper Jay-Z wants to work with rocker Liam Gallagher after they had a spat over Jay-Z performing at the Glastonbury festival.

Thesun.co.uk reports that after Noel Gallagher quit the rock band Oasis, Jay-Z wants to work with younger brother Liam.

“I hear Snoop Dogg might be teaming up with Noel. If that’s the case then I would love to work with Liam. Their music is tight and I think we could blend our styles well. When I teamed up with Linkin Park nobody expected that to work but we made a massive success of it. The same could happen with Liam,” Jay-Z said.

British comic is in love with Katy Perry

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London, October 06: Britain’s outrageous comic Russell Brand, who has been dating US singer Katy Perry, believes he is in love with the pop star.

“I think I’m in love,” thesun.co.uk quoted Brand as saying.

When asked about his nights with Perry, he simply responded: “I don’t think I should be drawn on that.” Perry had revealed that they spent a memorable night in Thailand.

The two started dating after they met at the MTV Video Music Awards. Brand sent her a love poem and they hit it off.