Month: October 2009

Karnataka, Andhra seek Rs.16,000 crore as floods wreak havoc

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Bangalore/Hyderabad, October 05:Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh Monday sought immediate central assistance of Rs.16,000 crore for rehabilitation work as large parts of the states were hit by torrential rain and flash floods that killed over 240 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless.

The demand came as Congress president and United Progressive Chairperson Sonia Gandhi made an aerial survey of the havoc wrought by the rain that started Wednesday as a result of deep depression in the Bay of Bengal.

Babu makes aerial survey of floods

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Hyderabad, October 05: Leader of the Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu conducted an aerial survey of the flood-affected areas and also flagged off a vehicle carrying relief materials provided by Telugu Desam workers.

In a tactical move, Naidu did not make any adverse comments on the government.

“It is not the time for politics. Let us all extend a helping hand to the government,’’ he told his party workers.

Talking with reporters at the Begumpet airport after the aerial survey, Naidu said Kurnool district people escaped a major damage thanks to the blessings of Lord Mallikarjuna.

Police: At least 6 dead in Iraq suicide blast

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Baghdad, October 05: A suicide bomber struck a funeral Monday in western Iraq, killing at least six mourners for a member of a prominent tribe with ties to security forces, a police official said.

The bomber detonated an explosive belt inside a funeral tent in the mostly Sunni area of Haditha, about 140 miles (220 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad. At least 15 people were injured, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media.

The funeral was for a member of the al-Daghaytha tribe, which includes members of the police and army.

KVP, Moily hold talks

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Hyderabad, October 05: Rajya Sabha member KVP Ramachandra Rao was closeted with AP Congress affairs in charge and Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily for over two hours at Lake View Guest House this night. According to sources, they discussed YSR’s succession issue but no details were immediately available. The meeting assumed significance in view of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s scheduled visit to Hyderabad for an aerial survey of flood-affected districts tomorrow.

Traffic on Hyd-B’lore highway hit

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Hydeabad, October 05: Hundreds of trucks, buses and other vehicles were stranded at several places on National Highway Number 7 (NH-7), which connects Hyderabad and Bangalore, due to breaches caused by the unprecedented rains in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Officials say that it will take at least two days to restore normal traffic on the arterial road.

NH-7, which is one of the major national highways passing through the State, was breached at several places by the flood waters of furious Tungabhadra river.

Kamran Khan advances in PSA Indian Challenger-4 squash

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Chennai, October 05: Malaysian junior Kamran Khan, the top seed in the qualifying rounds of the PSA Indian Challenger-4 squash tournament, defeated Sandeep Jangra in the first round here Monday.

Keeping the ball to good length, Kamran was in control of the match from the start. However, Sandeep managed to pull back the third game with his aggressive drops and volleys.

Vikas Jangra and Karim Gawad (Egypt) were also taken to four games by Abhishek Pradhan and Balamurugan, respectively.

—IANS–

Egyptian lawmakers want to ban fake hymen

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Cairo, October 05: Conservative Egyptian lawmakers have called for a ban on imports of a Chinese-made kit meant to help women fake their virginity and one scholar has even called for the “exile” of anyone who imports or uses it.

Salman is the most-kissed star

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Mumbai, October 05: Salman Khan is the most kissed star at Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum, beating Shah Rukh Khan and superstar Amitabh Bachchan. Recently, Salman Khan has been seen campaigning in the Lok Sabha elections and wooing the aam junta.

According to the spokesperson at Madame Tussauds, “Salman beats all the Indian personalities in popularity chart.”

“He is the most kissed and most photographed amongst the lot. Khan joins the likes of Hollywood’s Justin Timberlake who is the most-hugged at the museum,” added the spokesperson.

–Agencies–

Centre urged to declare national calamity: CM

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Hyderabad, October 05: To recover from the devastation created by floods, the State Government is urging the Central Government to declare it a national calamity and extend funds generously.

The State has also sought help from the National Calamity Contingency Fund.

Before conducting an aerial survey of the flooded areas, Chief Minister K Rosaiah said that all possible help was being extended to flood victims by the State Government.

About 2.57 lakh victims were being accommodated at 293 relief camps in the districts of Kurnool, Mahboobnagar, Krishna, Guntur, Nalgonda and others.

Nature’s fury engulfs even Alampur Sakti Peetham

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Hyderabad, October 05: Even God could not escape Nature’s fury as the gushing waters of Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers swamped several historic temples in Krishna, Nalgonda, Kurnool and Mahaboobnagar districts.

With the Krishna being most furious in its 100-year history, several temples, which have a great history and religious importance, were submerged in the flood water.

The Alampur Jogulamba temple in Mahaboobnagar district, one of the nation’s 18 Sakti Peethams, was submerged under Tungabhadra waters.

Sonia Gandhi assures help to flood-hit Andhra

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Hyderabad, October 05: United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi Monday conducted an aerial survey of Andhra Pradesh’s flood-hit districts and assured all possible assistance from the central government.

Accompanied by union Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Chief Minister K. Rosaiah, she flew over the worst-affected districts of Mahbubnagar and Kurnool to assess the damage caused by the inundation.

Congress general secretary and Andhra Pradesh in-charge M. Veerappa Moily and state Congress president D. Srinivas also accompanied Gandhi.

Floods threaten Vijayawada, many Andhra villages

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Hyderabad, October 05: Andhra Pradesh’s Vijayawada city and hundreds of villages in Krishna and Guntur districts faced the prospect of massive floods Monday with the water level in the Prakasam barrage across the Krishna river reaching the maximum level.

The inflows in the barrage have crossed a record million cusecs, inundating parts of Vijayawada, one of the state’s biggest cities with 1.2 million people, located on the banks of the river. Thousands of people are still being evacuated from villages downstream.

It rains, pours but reservoirs still want more

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In an expected scenario, the heavy rains that have been lashing Greater Hyderabad and its outskirts for the past one month, should have been enough to fill the two reservoirs Osmansagar and Himayathsagar to the brim. Unfortunately such has not been the case. Built by the Nizams, Osmansagar popularly known as Gandipet and Himayathsagar are the two major sources of drinking water supply to the citizens of Hyderabad city for the past 100 years. Numerous encroachments around the catchment area of the two lakes is one of the major reasons for the reservoir not being full to its capacity.

UN: Russia should reform immigration practices

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Moscow, October 05: Russia should ease barriers to immigration in order to reduce the impact of labor shortages, slower economic growth and other pressures brought on by its ongoing demographic crisis, a United Nations report said Monday.

The report said that Russia should adopt legal and other reforms that insure basic rights and access to services for millions of migrants, many of them from other former Soviet nations, who work in construction and other industries. These workers often face discrimination, exploitation and occasionally even violence.

169th health lecture on swine flu

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Hyderabad, October 05: The health-conscious morning walkers of Public Gardens had an educative programme lined up on Sunday morning. The Public Gardens Walkers Association organised a lecture on swine flu to mark its 169th lecture in its monthly series of health lectures. PV Gopal Krishna, a pediatric professor from Lotus Hospital delivered the lecture.

Explaining the formation of the H1N1 virus, Krishna said that the virus had undergone mutation in the intestine of pigs. H1N1 virus is a mixer of the avian strain and human strain.

COWE trade carnival to begin from October

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Hyderabad, October 05: Confederation of Women Entrepreneurs (COWE), a city-based non-profit business organisation will organise a three-day COWE Trade Carnival from October 10 to 12 at People’s Plaza, Necklace Road. The carnival, that is being organised with the help of Government of Andhra Pradesh, will be the third in the series of annual fairs being organised by COWE. ZDH/ Sequa partnership and Indo-German Chamber of Commerce will also support the carnival. A loan-mela will also be organised to facilitate banker-entrepreneur interactions for quicker loan processing.

CAR rolls out relief to Mahaboobnagar

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Hyderabad, October 05: Extending help to flood-affected people of the State, the police dispatched six lorries containing clothes and food material to the neighbouring Mahaboobnagar district on Sunday. The initiative was taken by the officers of City Armed Reserve (CAR) based at Petlaburj in the Old City.

21 barrages to be built across Hussainsagar

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Hyderabad, October 05: The State Government proposes to construct 21 barrages (gates) across the Hussainsagar near Hotel Marriott to control the outflow of flood water into the downstream of Hussainsagar Surplus Drain.

The decision was announced by the Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD), Anam Narayana Reddy during inspection of the low-lying areas situated on the Hussainsagar surplus nala.

Rain fury claims 240 lives in three states

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Vijayawada, October 05: The heaviest flood in over a 100 years in India’s southern and western part, Monday hit the Prakasam Barrage on Krishna River threatening several villages downstream even as the toll due to heavy rains and rampaging floods in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra climbed to 240.

River Krishna virtually turned into a sea in all its fury as a record 10.61 lakh cusecs of flood water reached Prakasam Barrage.

Jermaine Jackson comes to dinner

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Mumbai, October 05: Last night, Shilpa Shetty hosted a dinner for the late Michael Jackson’s brother Jermaine, who is her close friend

Shilpa Shetty is extremely happy that the late pop star Michael Jackson’s brother Jermaine Jackson has come to India to record an album with Adnan Sami. Shilpa, who became friends with Jermaine during her stay as a contestant at the Big Brother house in London, hosted a special dinner for him at her new house in Juhu.

Help, Farhan’s fainting!

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Mumbai, October 05: The shot called for a telephone wire to be tied around Farhan Akhtar’s neck. He fainted. Read on…

Farhan Akhtar revealed his fun-loving side while shooting for the first schedule of his home production Karthik Calling Karthik. For a scene, which required Farhan to have a telephone wire wound around his neck, the filmmaker-actor decided to give a scare to the cast and the crew of the film by pretending he was choking.

Rishi is proud of Ranbir!

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Mumbai, October 05: Rishi Kapoor can’t stop smiling. His son Ranbir’s “Wake Up Sid” has got an overwhelming response from audiences and critics alike, but Kapoor senior is cautious and says his son will have to continuously prove himself as it is not the surname but one’s performance that ultimately counts in the film world.

Skip Do Knot Disturb!

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Mumbai, October 05: When this piece of parodic perversity is mid-way through two questions strike us. What is the otherwise-classy Sushmita Sen doing in this atrocious

homage to the spirit of unstoppered revelery, most of it situated in the lobbies and corridors of a super-luxury hotel in Abu Dhabi?

And then the second question strikes us almost immediately. What are we doing watching all these wonderful glamorous actors making fools of themselves in a plot that seems to have been written with the express purpose of extolling the ‘virtues’ of infidelity and seduction?