Dubai, October 05: The United Arab Emirates has adopted a civilian nuclear energy law that paves the way for contracts worth 41 billion dollars for the construction of power plants, WAM news agency reported on Monday.
The law, issued on Sunday by presidential decree, prohibits the enrichment of uranium, the process by which the substance is transformed into nuclear fuel and atomic bombs, the official agency reported.
Jerusalem, October 05: A Peace Now report said on Monday that some 800 new housing units are being built in illegal Jewish settlements across the occupied West Bank, despite US calls for Israel to freeze all settlement construction.
The Israeli settlement watchdog said that work got underway over the past three months in 34 settlements for the construction of the units.
In addition, some 55 buildings are in the process of being completed and foundations are being laid for an additional 50, the report said.
Kuwait City, October 05: Kuwaiti writer and publisher Zayed al-Zaid, known for his anti-corruption campaigns, has been injured in an attack by an unidentified assailant, his electronic newsletter Alaan reported on Monday.
The assailant hit Zaid on the face with a metal object while he was sitting in his car immediately after giving a lecture about corruption in the oil-rich Gulf state late on Sunday, according to Alaan.
He was rushed to hospital where he underwent minor surgery.
New Delhi, October 05: Lost your luggage at the airport? Don’t fret. In a “first of a kind” initiative that will come as a relief to all such harried travellers, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) Monday launched a ‘lost and found’ section on its website that will help one trace missing baggage.
The initiative, a brainchild of the CISF’s director general, is certain to come as a relief to many. The CISF handles security of 57 airports in India. Its website is www.cisf.gov.in
Khartoum, October 05: Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir on Monday invited the country’s opposition for talks aimed at avoiding clashes in next year’s general election, a week after they threatened to boycott it.
“We wish to have general elections without violence. I invite all the parties to a dialogue… in order to reach a positive climate to hold elections,” Beshir told parliament.
Africa’s largest country is to hold presidential, parliamentary and local elections in April 2010, its first general election since 1986.
Abu Dhabi, October 05: Cityscape, the Gulf’s major annual real estate show, opened in Dubai on Monday as a scaled-down version of past years, reflecting the sharp deterioration in the emirate’s property sector.
Floor space used by real estate developers has slumped by 30 percent compared to 2008, while attendance at the four-day event was expected to drop by 20 percent, organisers said ahead of the exhibition.
Some 1,500 firms from 150 countries took part in last year’s event.
Tel Aviv, October 05: Israeli vice Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon recently cancelled a planned trip to London over fears that he could be put on trial for alleged war crimes, his spokesman said on Monday.
He called off the trip for fear human rights groups in London might seek his arrest for his role, as military chief-of-staff at the time, in the 2002 deaths of 15 people, among them a Hamas leader and eight children.
Hyderabad, October 05:The Andhra Pradesh government has renamed Kadapa district as Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy district in memory of the former chief minister who died in a helicopter crash last month.
The government Monday issued the order renaming Kadapa, the native district of Rajasekhara Reddy.
YSR, as the late chief minister was popularly known, died in a helicopter crash in the dense forests in Kurnool district on Sep 2 while he was on his way to Chittoor district to launch a government programme.
New Delhi, October 05: More than 400,000 children die within 24 hours of their birth in India every year – the highest anywhere in the world, a study by an international charity said.
While globally this figure stands at two million babies dying within a day of their birth, the shocking and tragic fact is that the reason for these deaths are diseases and infections that are easily treatable, and therefore the deaths are preventable.
Najaf, October 05: Iraq’s top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani has warned that he may call for a boycott of January’s general election if MPs adopt a closed voting system, an aide said on Monday.
Iraqi MPs are working on a law that will govern the vote and on Sunday they moved to adopt a system that would list parties contesting the ballot without disclosing the names of individual candidates.
New Delhi, Oct 5 (IANS) The National Commission for Women (NCW) Monday formed a panel to probe the charges of assault levelled by an Air India air hostess against two pilots who were allegedly involved in a mid-air scuffle with her during a flight.
The air hostess had filed a formal complaint with the women’s panel.
Hyderabad, October 05: The Andhra Pradesh government has renamed Kadapa district as Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy district in memory of the former chief minister who died in a helicopter crash last month.
The government Monday issued the order renaming Kadapa, the native district of Rajasekhara Reddy.
YSR, as the late chief minister was popularly known, died in a helicopter crash in the dense forests in Kurnool district on Sep 2 while he was on his way to Chittoor district to launch a government programme.
Lucknow,October 05:The opposition Congress and Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh Monday charged the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) of shielding officials of a private hospital who are accused of forcibly taking sexual favours from students to award them certificates.
Students of a private hospital in Lucknow Sunday lodged an FIR against the administration of K.K. Hospital, accusing them of forcibly taking sexual favours from students to award them certificates.
Washington, October 05: Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf says it would be “disastrous” for the United States to pull out of Afghanistan now, according to a media report.
The Americans need to prepare for the likelihood that more US troops will be needed in Afghanistan and that they will be there many years, he told Des Moines Register in Iowa.
If the Taliban are allowed to return to power, he said, they surely would allow Al Qaida terrorists to rebuild strength in Afghanistan, destabilising the region and posing a major threat to the US.
Baghdad, October 05: A suicide bomber walked into an Iraqi funeral tent and blew himself up on Monday, killing at least six mourners and wounding 15, Iraqi police said.
The toll from the attack in the town of Haditha, 190 km (120 miles) west of Baghdad, could rise, police said.
Once the heartland of a raging Sunni Arab insurgency, Iraq’s western Anbar province has calmed down since Sunni tribes allied with U.S. troops kicked out Al Qaeda in 2007.
Mumbai, October 05: While WAKE UP SID and DO KNOT DISTURB are working quite well with their target audiences, there is something that has surprisingly gone almost unnoticed. Before the box office clash of Karan Johar and David Dhawan cinema, there was also a relatively smaller clash between KAMINEY and LIFE PARTNER around two months back.
Washington, October 05: President Barack Obama’s National Security Adviser James Jones sees no immediate danger of Afghanistan falling to the Taliban.
“I don’t foresee the return of the Taliban,” Jones said on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday. “And I want to be very clear that Afghanistan is not in danger – imminent danger – of falling.”
Mumbai, October 05: ‘Reading maketh a man’. It is a wise old saying, that in the age of internet and cell phones has taken a backseat, and gone are the days when people of all ages could be seen immersed in their books, at the slightest hint of free time at hand. However, it appears that Shah Rukh Khan is going to change all that and will soon make reading a fashion statement once again.
Shahrukh Khan to introduce Mammootty…!
Mumbai, October 05: With the super success of BAL GANESH, Shemaroo Entertainment brings back the kids’ favorite ‘Gannu’ who captured the imagination of millions. This Diwali, BAL GANESH 2 is all set to woo children once again with new exciting adventure of baby Ganesh’s childhood days. The escapade unfurls on screens across the country on October 23rd, 2009.
Mumbai, October 05: Mugdha Godse has goofed up. And she has goofed up big time. All of this is for the character of Vidya that she plays in her upcoming film ALL THE BEST. Such is her bad luck in the film that she goofs up with whatever she says, does or think. As someone who is a ‘vaastugiri expert’, she is also quite superstitious. However, these very superstitions don’t just lead to hilarious situations but also mess up the lives of other protagonists in the film.
Mumbai, October 05: Jacqueline Fernandez, the Sri Lankan beauty who would be making her debut with ALADIN, is keeping her fingers crossed for her BIG day – 30th October. This is the day when she would be seen for the first time on the big screen and she is happy that the project that she chose was something like ALADIN.
Hyderabad, October 05: Telugu Desam Party president N. Chandrababu Naidu has faulted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for not yet visiting the flood-ravaged areas in Andhra Pradesh since a calamity of such magnitude was not witnessed for the past 100 years.
Mumbai, October 05: Slow and steady wins the race! This old proverb holds true for Bollywood’s newest superstar, Ranbir Kapoor.
Mumbai, October 06: In two weeks flat, WANTED has turned out to be the second biggest money spinner of 2009. While LOVE AAJ KAL leads the honours with 66 crores already under its belt, WANTED has crossed 50 crores in two weeks flat. The first week’s collections of the film read 34 crores while the second week has recorded further 18 crores, hence making the film a 52 crores earner.
Riyadh, October 05: Teachers and pupils reportedly fled in panic as the ceilings in three classrooms at a secondary school building in Riyadh’s Khanshalilah District started to collapse Sunday.