Month: November 2009

‘Rajneeti’ shoot plays havoc on Manoj Bajpayee’s weight

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New Delhi, November 09: Shooting for Prakash Jha’s “Rajneeti” in Bhopal took a toll on Manoj Bajpayee’s weight as he couldn’t help gorging on chicken biryani and mutton dishes every other day.

“During the whole shoot of this film too much indulgence in food prevailed. Though I sometimes exercised too, but wondered about the restlessness of my tongue. In Bhopal, every other day we are treated with chicken biryani or a mutton dish,” Manoj posted on his blog manojbajpayee-en.itzmyblog.com.

Ridder takes charge as East Bengal coach

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Kolkata, November 09: Taking charge as East Bengal’s new football coach, Belgian Philippe de Ridder Monday said he was taking his “tough” assignment as a challenge.

Ridder, who was earlier East Bengal coach in 2005, said: “The last time I was new to East Bengal. This time there are lot of expectations on me. So this year my work will be tough and challenging too.”

Under de Ridder, East Bengal had been on course for the National League title but ultimately finished runners-up to Mahindra United. They, however, won the Super Cup.

Children dash parents’ poll dreams

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Hyderabad, November 09: The two-child norm has become their nemesis. They cannot fight the GHMC elections though they have enough resources.

They believe they have brighter chances of winning too, but for the ‘‘obnoxious’’ Act in 1995 which barred all those having more than two children from contesting elections.

Promises are all that these residents hear

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Hyderabad, November 09: Walk into any house at New Hafeezpet in Serilingampally and one would come across residents suffering from Chikungunya.

The unhygienic conditions prevailing at New Hafeezpet paints a grim picture of the hardships these residents face.

Owing to leaking sewage lines, mosquitoes breed all over the locality.

Adding to these problems, most of the houses in the locality do not have proper registration. All the houses were bought on notary basis and because of that they do not pay a single penny towards property tax.

Rejected by girls’ parents, youth kills his love

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Hyderabad, November 09: An autorickshaw driver allegedly killed his `love’ and later took his own life by consuming pesticide in the neighbouring Ranga Reddy district as the family members of the girl refused to perform their marriage allegedly on the ground that the two families belonged to different castes.

Anusha suicide, a wake-up call for colleges

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Hyderabad, November 09: The shocking suicide by B.Com final year student Anusha at the prestigious Villa Marie College recently has raised sharp doubts over the presence, and efficacy, of anti-ragging cells in city educational institutions.

A casual visit to most junior and degree colleges reveals the extent of the problem. Even elite colleges like St Francis, St Ann’s (Mehdipatnam), St Mary’s and Villa Marie seem to have no permanent counselling mechanism beyond some kind of orientation at the beginning of the academic year.

Divided, will they stand to gain?

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Hyderabad, November 09: ‘United they stand, divided they fall’. This adage is, perhaps, not applicable to today’s politics. The parties, if they are divided, may stand to gain in the GHMC elections. Political parties are divided in their approach to campaigning in the GHMC polls to beat the common rivals.

There is unity in perception among political parties though they are poles aprt in ideology.

Chiranjeevi to hit campaign trail on November 11

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Hyderabad, November 09: Praja Rajyam party president Chiranjeevi will campaign on behalf of his party candidates in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections from November 11 to 21.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the campaign committee headed by former minister K Subbarayudu.

Besides Subbarayudu, the committee comprises B Srinivas, T Manohar, K Srinivas and Sravan and several other division leaders.

Jeffery Archer charm hits bullseye

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Hyderabad, November 09: When Jeffery Archer began reading his bestseller Kane and Abel 30 years after it was published in 1979, he began making a few changes and after nine months of making the changes, he’d re-crafted his masterpiece.

It is 7,000 words shorter but there’s no change in the plot, assured Archer at an interactive session with Hyderabadis at Landmark bookstore at Road 12, Banjara Hills on Sunday.

AICC move on Bundelkhand raises KCR’s T-hopes

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Hyderabad, November 09: Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) chief K Chandrasekhara Rao is making a feverish attempt to regain control over the Telangana movement after the drubbing the party received at the last Assembly elections.

Zipping about with a purpose

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Hyderabad, November 09: Biker volunteers hit the roads on Sunday on an awareness campaign ‘Let’s Vote’. The youngsters rode around on 50 BSA bikes to spread awareness among citizens about the importance of casting their vote in the forthcoming GHMC elections, to be held on November 23.

The rally began at Necklace Road and covered densely populated parts of Hyderabad, including LB Nagar, SD Road, Begumpet and Somajiguda and returned to the point from where they started. The event was inaugurated by Hyderabad District Collector Naveen Mittal.

Flood alert in Prakasam

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Oongole, November 09: Prakasam District Collector, Kantilal Dande, today alerted the low-lying villages of Allaboinapadu, Ankireddypalem, Sitarampur, Kaluvakonda, Naidupuram and Rallapadu villages under Rallapadu project as the Rallapadu project has been receiving heavy inflows due to incessant rain in the neighbouring Nellore district.

The officials said the Rallapadu project has received 1,000 cusecs and the water level stood at 19 feet.

CM’s meet on drought serves no purpose, says TDP

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Tirupati, November 09: District Telugu Desam leaders today alleged that no concrete decision was taken at the review meeting held by Chief Minister K Rosaiah to tackle the drought in Chittoor.

Talking to newsmen here, TDP MLAs Gali Muddukrishnama Naidu, B Gopalakrishna Reddy, Hemalatha and N Amarnatha Reddy and MP N Sivaprasad said everyone expected that the Chief Minister would announce a relief package for the district. But the review meeting on drought proved to be a routine affair, they said.

Palestinian education under Israeli siege

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Tel Aviv, November 09: Some 838 students formally offered places and/or enrolled at foreign universities are unable to leave Gaza, according to the Palestinian interior ministry and Gisha, an NGO campaigning for freedom of movement.

Of the 1,983 Gazan students in this position, only 1,145 have been able to leave Gaza since the beginning of 2009 due to a combination of travel restrictions and bureaucratic hurdles.

Many studying in the USA, for example, cannot get a US visa as they have been prevented by the Israeli authorities from travelling to the US consulate in Jerusalem.

KCR decries ‘false’ propaganda on temple

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Karimnagar, November 09: Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhar Rao today asked Andhra land lords and those who occupied lands here illegally to leave Telangana voluntarily.

He, along with his wife, visited Sri Rajarajeshwara Swamy temple, Vemulawada today and performed ‘abhishekam’ and special poojas. Speaking to reporters here, he decried that some Andhra rulers were creating false propaganda over the temple sending wrong message to people.

Sudan’s Beshir cancels Turkey visit

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Khartoum, November 09: Sudan’s President Omar al-Beshir, the target of an international arrest warrant, has scrapped a visit to Turkey to join key political negotiations in Khartoum, official SUNA news agency said on Sunday.

Beshir rang Turkish President Abdullah Gul to say he cannot spare the time to attend a meeting on Monday of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Istanbul, SUNA said.

Stone laid for medical college

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Tirupati, November 09: Chief Minister K Rosaiah has said the credit of establishing three IIITs and 16 universities, including a horticultural varsity, in a record time goes to Andhra Pradesh in the country.

Obama to meet Netanyahu

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Washington, November 09: US President Barack Obama will hold talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday as US efforts to revive Middle East peace talks appear in deep crisis.

The White House announced the closed-door meeting only after Netanyahu’s arrival in Washington, where he will address a Jewish gathering, forcing the Israeli official to deny that the last-minute invitation signals a snub to the hawkish premier.

Saudi scaling back assault on Yemen rebels

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Riyadh, November 09: Saudi Arabia is scaling back its assault on Yemeni rebels along the mountainous border and has captured 200 or more rebel fighters, a government advisor said on Monday.

“The actual heavy shelling of the area is all finished,” the advisor said on condition of anonymity.

“There are now tactical units deployed there. We want to make sure they (the rebels) are neutralised.”

Ferro-alloys manufacturing unit at Bobbili soon

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Hyderabad, November 09: Chief Minister K Rosaiah will lay the foundation stone soon for construction of a ferro alloys unit at Bobbili in Vizianagaram district soon.

The project, with an initial capital of Rs 200 crore, will be set up by Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited, Visakhapatnam in association with Manganese Ore India Limited, Nagpur.

According to an official press release here today, Union Minister for Steel A Sai Pratap has made request to the chief minister to lay the foundation and the latter gave his consent.

‘Kosher’ comics prove hit with Israel’s anti-technology Jews

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Israel, November 09: A far cry from the thrills of Spiderman and the sexy glam of Lois Lane, chaste and religious comics have become a hit among ultra-Orthodox Jews determined not to pollute their children’s minds.

For the reclusive Haredi society that shuns television, Internet and video viewed as a source of moral corruption, the no-sex, no-violence comics offer benign entertainment and a fun way of teaching tradition to their children.

Ruler: Economic crisis will not deter Dubai’s plans

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Dubai, November 09: Dubai will pay its massive debts and will go ahead with its ambitious development projects, the emirate’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum told an economic conference on Monday.

The economic crisis “will not deter Dubai’s ambitions of implementing its development plans and will not divert it from its leading position and will not keep it from playing its role in the arena of the international economy,” Sheikh Mohammed said.

Hariri puts final touches to new cabinet

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Beirut, November 09: Lebanon’s prime minister-designate Saad Hariri on Monday was putting the final touches to a new government line-up after nearly five months of tough talking with his Hezbollah-led rivals.

An announcement on the new cabinet was expected early in the week after Hezbollah and its allies agreed to Hariri’s latest line-up.

The 30-member cabinet will have 15 ministers from the Hariri camp, 10 from the opposition, and five nominated by President Michel Sleiman.

No clear progress on nuclear plant proposal

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Hyderabad, November 09: Establishment of a nuclear power station in the State seems to remain a dream as the preparatory work on the project is going at a snail’s pace.

Signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Nuclear Power Corporation (NPC) and the AP Power Generation Corporation (APGenco) for establishing a nuclear power plant has already been delayed by 10 months and its possibility looks remote. Though the two organisations are engaged in exchanging preliminary information, no substantial work on the ground has commenced so far.