Month: October 2009

Mittal may drop Jharkhand, Orissa plans;look elsewhere in India

by

London, October 05: World’s largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal may pull out of its $20-billion plan to build steel plants in the states of Jharkhand and Orissa, due to delays in land acquisition process, and look elsewhere in the country for the projects, its chief Lakshmi Mittal has said.

“If we cannot make progress in these two sites we will have to abandon the idea of starting the projects there and look for other places in India for our expansion,” ArcelorMittal Chairman and CEO Mittal told British daily Financial Times.

Flood situation improves in Karnataka after rains relent

by

Bangalore, October 05: With rains relenting, the flood situation in northern and coastal regions of Karnataka that claimed 168 lives, improved considerably on Monday.

The administration heaved a sigh of relief after the rains subsided last evening. “Death toll appears to have stabilised,” a Revenue Department official said.

About 1.78 crore people in 15 districts have been affected by the torrential rains triggered by cyclonic weather conditions.

Police pickets set up in Bihar villages after massacre

by

Patna, October 05: Police pickets have been set up in two Bihar villages, three days after 16 people were massacred by suspected Maoists, as a precautionary measure to prevent further violence, officials said Monday.

‘Police pickets have been set up in Amousi and Ichwara to give a sense of security to the people and ensure peace in the two villages,’ said Inspector General of Police (Operations) S.K. Bhardawaj.

District Magistrate Abhay Singh said that the villagers were a little scared and had demanded a police picket soon after the killings took place in Amausi Thursday night.

Delhiites wake up to pleasant Monday

by

New Delhi, October 05: Delhiites woke up to pleasant weather and light showers Monday morning after rains ended days of uncomfortable humidity Sunday.

‘Till 8.30 a.m. Monday, 1.9 mm of rain was recorded. The sky is expected to be generally cloudy,’ an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official told IANS.

‘There is a possibility of one or two thundershowers also. The maximum and minimum temperature would hover around 29 and 22 degrees Celsius,’ the official added.

The change in weather was welcomed by residents of the city.

Adviser downplays threat of renewed al-Qaida haven

by

Washington, October 05: A top U.S. commander’s public plea for more troops in Afghanistan prompted a mild rebuke Sunday from the White House national security adviser, as the administration heads into a second week of intensive negotiations over its evolving Afghan strategy.

8 US troops killed in fierce Afghan fighting

by

Kabul, October 05: Hundreds of insurgents armed with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades stormed a pair of remote outposts near the Pakistan border, killing eight U.S. soldiers and capturing more than 20 Afghan security troops in the deadliest assault against U.S. forces in more than a year, military officials said.

The fierce gunbattle, which erupted at dawn Saturday in the Kamdesh district of mountainous Nuristan province and raged throughout the day, is likely to fuel the debate in Washington over the direction of the troubled eight-year war.

GRBA to have its first meeting today

by

New Delhi, October 05: Newly-formed Ganga River Basin Authority (GRBA) will meet for the first time on Monday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to streamline steps to clean up the river.

In the meeting, chief ministers of states through which the Ganga flows such as Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh will discuss ways to clean up the river in a much systematic way than has been the case so far.

This will be yet another bid to make the river, known as the lifeline of northern India, pollution free.

Giant size plant fossils discovered near Jodhpur

by

New Delhi, October 05: The largest non-carbonaceous plant fossils, 140 times bigger than today’s algae species, have been discovered in western Rajasthan, opening a new window for understanding evolution of life on earth.

A team of researchers from the University of Lucknow have discovered the fossils with physical characteristics of Vaucheriacean plant, a type of yellow-green algae found in fresh or marine water, five kms from Jodhpur in Sursagar mines region.

Rupee rises by 17 paise to 47.57 a dollar in opening trade

by

Mumbai, October 05: The Indian rupee on Monday strengthened by 17 paise to almost a two-month high of 47.57 against the US currency, following dollar’s weakness against other currencies.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit appreciated by 17 paise to quote at 47.57 a dollar.

The rupee had closed 36 paise higher at 47.74/75 in the previous session.

Dealers said increased capital inflows into equity markets and weak dollar overseas following weaker-than-expected US job data, mainly boosted the rupee sentiment.

—PTI

India may fall short of its goal in under-5 mortality rate reduction

by

New Delhi, October 05: With four lakh newborns dying annually within the first 24 hours in India and the nation being home to one in every three malnourished children in the world, it will not be able to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to reduce the under-five mortality rate by two-thirds by 2015.

IPL sources rule out ban on Akram

by

New Delhi, October 05: Sources from the Indian Premier League have, on Monday, told TIMES NOW that there is ‘no ban’ on Wasim Akram commentating in India.

The clarification comes after reports emerged in Pakistan that the pacer-turned-commentator had reportedly been denied permission by the Indian government to commentate in the upcoming T20 Champions League tournament starting in India from October 8.

Schools hold class in tents after Indonesia quake

by

Indonesia, October 05: Hundreds of children went back to class in schools set up in tents in Indonesia’s earthquake zone to get counseling on the loss of loved ones and homes.

The authorities tried to restore normalcy after the disaster. UNICEF provided tents and basic supplies for schools in three of 10 districts along the western coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra island that was hit by Wednesday’s 7.6 magnitude temblor — likely to have killed thousands.

Train derails in Thailand, killing 7

by

Bangkok, October 05: A train from southern province Trang to Bangkok derailed on Monday morning in Hua Hin, killing at least seven passengers and injuring more than 60, Thai media reported.

The accident happened at about 4:45 a.m. at Khao Tao station in Hua Hin district, a resort city about 200 kilometers south of Bangkok, with ten of the train’s 15 compartments derailing, said The Nation online.

For Kazakhs, Indira magic continues

by

Almaty, October 05:The charismatic former Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi’s half-a-day stay here left such an impact on Kazakhs that many decided to name their daughters after her. And the trend still continues.

3 villages in Indonesia’s Padang to turn into mass graves

by

Jakarta, October 05: Indonesia’s West Sumatra provincial government will turn three villages in the valley of Gunung Tigo to be mass graves following a landslide triggered by a 7.6-Richter Scale earthquake that hit the area and buried about 300 villagers, the Kompas daily reported on Monday.

Meanwhile, the province’s Disaster Mitigation Squad said that in the fifth day after the earthquake, 605 people were confirmed dead.

100 ways to find out you are a Nobel ‘schnook’

by

Stockholm, October 05: Some are woken by a phone call in the wee hours or the pilot of a plane they are in emerges to tell them, but for most Nobel laureates news of the triumph comes comes as a big surprise.

Tracking down laureates is always tricky for the Nobel prize committees, which try to alert the winners just before the announcement is made public.

The 1998 Medicine Prize laureate, Louis Ignarro of the United States, thought someone was playing a prank on him.

Indians bash up two Australians following racial row

by

Melbourne, October 05: Two locals, who allegedly abused a group of Indians and vandalised their car, were bashed up by them here, police said on Monday.

The incident took place at a carpark outside Meadowglen International Athletics Stadium in Epping when a local skateboarder damaged the rear window of a car belonging to an Indian.

The skateboarder also used the abusive language against some Indians who were coming out of the stadium where a Kabaddi match had ended on Sunday night.

Nitish rules out naxal link in Khagaria carnage

by

Patna, October 05: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday ruled out the possibility of naxal involvement in the Khagaria carnage. In what is being described as one of the worst incident of land dispute in the State, 16 villagers were shot dead on Thursday night.

The deceased belonged to Icharwa village and cultivated on fertile piece of land in Amausi village, 4 km away.

Sensex opens weak, slips 0.89 percent in early trade

by

Mumbai, October 05: A key Indian equities market index opened weak Monday and fell 1.11 percent from its previous closing figure, about 15 minutes into trade.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), opened at 17,062.01 points and was ruling below the 17,000-mark at 16,943.52 points, 191.03 points or 1.11 percent lower than its previous close.

The S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was also in negative terrain at 5,023.8 points, down 1.17 percent from its last close.

UAE aims for first Gulf N-reactor

by

Washington, October 05: The United Arab Emirates aims to have a nuclear reactor — the first in the Gulf Arab states — in commercial operation in 2017 as part of a $40 billion atomic energy programme, a top official said on Sunday.

“Today we are in the advanced stage of evaluation before moving into the implementation stage and so far it is positive,” Hamad Al Kaabi, the Gulf Arab state’s representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told reporters.

“Plans are on track for the first reactor to be commercially operational in 2017,” Kaabi said.

India will look into Buddhi case: Krishna

by

New Delhi, October 05: External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna on Sunday assured the family of Vikram Buddhi, who has been in a U.S. federal jail since 2006 for allegedly posting anti-Bush remarks on a website, that the Indian mission there would look into his case.

“I can assure his family that I will see to it that the Indian mission takes due interest in this case. The whole idea is that India is particular that a fair trial be given to Mr. Vikram Buddhi,” the Minister told CNN-IBN.

Mr. Buddhi, a Ph. D. student at the Purdue University, was arrested in April 2006.

Salman, Aamir are similar: Asin

by

Mumbai, October 05: After working with Aamir Khan in her Bollywood debut ‘Ghajini’, southern beauty Asin will now be seen with Salman Khan in ‘London Dreams’. She says

while the two superstars are very similar as people, their working styles are poles apart.

“As people, there are a lot of similarities between Aamir and Salman. Both are extremely warm, very friendly and down to earth. Not at all pretentious,” Asin told IANS over telephone from Mumbai.

Al-Qaeda has developed new devices: report

by

London, October 05: Al-Qaeda has developed new explosive devices that enable suicide bombers carry them hidden in stomach to breach airline security measures, media reported on Sunday.

An Al-Qaeda militant passed through several airline security checks with a bomb hidden in his intestine and made an abortive bid to assassinate a prominent Saudi Prince reently, The Sunday Telegraph reported.

Prof Hamilton to take charge as Oxford’s 271st vice-chancellor

by

London, October 05: Professor Andrew Hamilton, an expert in biochemistry and biophysics who served as Provost at Yale, will formally take charge as the 271st vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford on Monday.

Professor Hamilton began his new responsibilities on October 1 but will be formally admitted to the office at a ceremony in the Sheldonian Theatre on Monday.

The ceremony witnesses the change of Vice-Chancellors and takes place at a meeting of Congregation (the University’s ’parliament of dons’).