Month: November 2009

CIC reserves decision on ex-CEC’s letter to Prez on Chawla

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New Delhi, November 06: The CIC on Friday reserved its decision regarding the disclosure, under the RTI Act, of a letter written by former chief election commissioner R Gopalaswami to the President about the incumbent Naveen Chawla.

President’s Secretariat had refused to give copy of the letter which had hogged limelight as it was alleged that Gopalaswami had recommended to the President for Chawla’s removal from office for alleged “partisan” functioning.

Committee formed to study Brahmaputra river

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Guwahati, November 06: In the wake of reported diversion of water and construction of dams in the upper reaches of Brahmaputra river in China, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has directed the chief secretary to constitute an expert committee headed by a former Gauhati University professor.

The committee with Dulal Chandra Goswami as chairman would examine water availability, hydro electric potential scenario, flood and related issues such as erosion, sedimentation load in the light of China’s reported move to divert water from the river, official sources said.

Raj Kundra plans to ride on chariot to marry Shilpa

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Mumbai, November 06: Instead of the traditional mare bringing the groom to Shilpa Shetty’s doorsteps, Raj Kundra has decided to ride an elaborate chariot.

It will set the tone for an elaborate yet exclusive Shilpa-Raj Kundra marriage Nov 22 where, according to a close friend of Shilpa, “Tarun Tihiliani has designed the wedding outfit that no bride in Bollywood or outside has ever worn before”.

PDP protests against prepaid connection ban in Kashmir

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Srinagar, November 06: Kashmir’s opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) activists led by president Mehbooba Mufti Friday undertook a peaceful march to Lal Chowk to protest the decision to withdraw prepaid mobile phone facilities in the state.

“The decision casts a shadow of doubt on the entire ten million population of the state,” Mehbooba Mufti told reporters.

VIP security must be more sensitive, says Chidambaram

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Hyderabad, November 06: VIP security must be sensitive to the “emergency needs” of the people, union Home Minister P. Chidambaram said here Friday while describing as unfortunate the death of a patient outside a Chandigarh hospital when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was visiting.

Chidambaram hoped that the Special Protection Group (SPG) and state police had learnt their lesson and that such incidents would not happen again.

UP by-polls prestige issue for ruling BSP

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Lucknow, November 06: The by-elections to 11 state assembly and one Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh Saturday have become a prestige issue for the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), with around 40 ministers deployed to various constituencies to ensure victory of the party nominees.

Real Madrid, Portugal worried about Ronaldo injury

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Madrid, November 06: Cristiano Ronaldo is set to be out of action for at least two more weeks due to an ankle injury, so he will miss the play-off round with Portugal en route to the 2010 World Cup.

Real Madrid said in a statement Thursday that the tests that specialist doctor Cornelius Nicolas Van Dijk carried out on Ronaldo, 24, in Amsterdam confirmed the club’s diagnosis.

“We are going to continue the treatment that was being carried out in Madrid, and in 15 days he will be examined by Dr. Van Dijk again,” the statement said.

Djokovic shows no mercy in first-ever bagel rout

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Basle (Switzerland), November 06: Second seed Novak Djokovic made quick work of Jan Henrych as he smothered the Czech 6-0, 6-0 at the Swiss Indoors to earn the first “double bagel” of his career at the elite level Thursday.

The Serb was unstoppable in 52 minutes as the journeyman donated 40 unforced errors in the hammering.

“I know the crowd wanted him to win the last game, but I felt the need to win every game. There’s no room for sympathy, we are professionals,” said the world number four.

Triumphant Maoists call off another protest

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Kathmandu, November 06: Their morale boosted by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urging for a national government in Nepal, the former Maoist guerrillas Friday called off another protest that was deemed as going against the peace pact, in a renewed bid to woo the international community.

The former rebels, who agreed to call off a proposed blockade of the country’s only international airport scheduled for Tuesday after 12 western governments expressed grave concern, have now also decided not to declare a restructuring of the country Monday.

Mexico no longer in recession, says president

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Mexico City, November 06: The Mexican economy grew 2.7 percent in the third quarter and has therefore climbed out of its worst recession in decades, President Felipe Calderon has said.

“This result is very good news because it indicates the end of the recession, of the economic contraction in the country and we’re working hard so this recovery continues and broadens in the coming years,” the head of state said while inaugurating the Bloomberg Mexico Economic Forum in this capital Thursday.

Bengal by-polls: Beleaguered Left faces another challenge

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Kolkata, November 06: With the Left fast losing its grip over West Bengal under the assault of the Trinamool Congress-led opposition, the by-polls to 10 assembly seats Saturday will be a trailer to the elections in the state in 2011.

After 32 long years in power, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-led Left Front is facing its gravest crisis, having lost ground in all elections in the state over the past 18 months.

Princeton university to host Indian festival in chapel

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New York, November 06: America’s prestigious Princeton University will host its official celebration of the Indian festival of Diwali at the university chapel Nov 14 as part of its recently created Hindu Life Programme.

The Diwali celebration will be hosted by the university’s recently created Hindu Life Programme with Vineet Chander as a full-time coordinator. The unique appointment makes Chander the first Hindu chaplain in the more than 200 year history of the prestigious university.

India better prepared to face any challenge, says Chidambaram

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Hyderabad, November 06: Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram Friday asserted that India was better prepared to face any challenge to its security, sovereignty and integrity but said there was much work to be done.

Addressing trainee police officers at the passing out parade at Sardar Vallabhbhai National Police Academy here, he said the country should always be vigilant.

“As a nation growing not only in numbers but also in influence, growing as economic power, a regional power, an Asian power, we can never afford to sleep. We must always remain vigilant,” he said.

Madhya Pradesh church castigates Rajnath Singh

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Bhopal, November 06: The Catholic Church in Madhya Pradesh has strongly criticised the recent speech made by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh on “mass illegal conversions” during a senior BJP leader’s 75th birthday.

Drugs sold near night clubs, shacks in Goa: CBI

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Panaji, November 06: Soft sticks of charas or hashish casually dumped on vegetable chopping boards in beach shacks at Anjuna, drugs freely available near the parking lot of a popular night club run by a former aide of a Congress MP — these are some of the stunning revelations in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chargesheet filed in the Scarlett Keeling murder case.

The chargesheet was filed in the Goa Children’s Court Oct 21.

Marriage programmes in Kurnool washed out—Siasat appeals to cloth merchants

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Hyderabad, November 06 (Siasat News): Though the destruction brought by the rains and floods will take substantial time for the people to resettle but here the point is that what is going to happen for those who had assembled each and every house hold items to be given to their daughters in marriages including money.

There are various families in Kurnool who were hand to mouth but left no stone unturned to gather the necessities required for the marriage. Not only the belongings of the house but the items, which were specially bought, were also washed out in the recent floods havoc.

12 dead, 31 wounded in firing at US military base

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Fort hood texas, November 06: An Army psychiatrist set to be shipped overseas opened fire at the Fort Hood, Texas, army post on Thursday, authorities said, a Major Malik Hasan, US army doctor identified by authorities as a suspect in a shooting at a US army base in Fort Hood, Texas. rampage that killed 12 people and left 31 wounded in the worst mass shooting ever at a military base in the United States.

LeT torn between Denmark, India?

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New Delhi, November 06: As the details of a fresh Lashkar plot to target India emerge, it appears that a conflict of priorities may have come in the way of its plan to launch another Mumbai-style attack.

Wheat futures up 0.83 pc as govt raises MSP

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New Delhi, November 06: Wheat futures prices today rose up to 0.83 per cent as speculators enlarged their positions after an increase in the government’s support price of the grain.

Firming trend in markets on account of marriage season also supported the uptrend in wheat prices in futures trade.

At the MCX counters, wheat for delivery in December contract rose by 0.83 per cent to Rs 1,437 per quintal with turnover in 8 lots.

The grain for delivery in November contract also traded 0.69 per cent higher at Rs 1,440 per quintal in turnover in 17 lots.

Nandigram wives wait for missing husbands to return

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Nandigram (WB), November 06: Eleven years after she got married, Sushma Maity of Southkhali Jalpai village in Nandigram is today neither a wife nor a widow.

Her husband, Bhagirath Maity, went missing on November 10 two years ago when goons attacked a rally brought out in protest against farmland acquisition for Special Economic Zone at Gokulnagar in Nandigram.

Bhagirath is one of the twelve persons officially reported missing since trouble began in Nandigram two years ago.

Bitter pill after Sachin thrill

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Hyderabad, November 06 : Sachin Tendulkar wielded his willow like a magician, scoring a breathtaking 175 off 141 balls, but chasing 351, India fell short by an agonising three runs in the fifth One-day International on Thursday.

In the process, Australia seized a 3-2 lead in the seven-game series at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. It was a game India should have pulled off but they failed to hold their nerve yet again following Tendulkar’s dismissal.

Scarlett rape case: Charge sheet exposes drug cartel

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Panaji, November 06: The statements made by witnesses in CBI charge sheet in Scarlett Eden Keeling death case has exposed the underbelly of drug cartel run in Goa through beach shacks.

The 300-page charge sheet filed before a local court in Goa has quoted Murli Sagar Bolloju, who was present at Lui Cafe shack, where Scarlett spent her last day, stating that drugs are readily available in Anjuna beach village.

Priyanka Chopra spreads awareness on leprosy

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Mumbai, November 06: Priyanka Chopra is spreading awareness about leprosy. She recently shot a documentary for an organization, Alert India.

According to Veera Rao, the director of the organization, the documentary will be presented at a charity dinner.

The documentary was supposed to be in English only, but Priyanka asked them to do a Hindi version too because it would appeal to the rural masses and rid their false notions about the disease.

Tendulkar disappointed his effort went in vain

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Hyderabad, November 06: Describing his epic knock of 175 against Australia as one of his best innings, Sachin Tendulkar said his effort would have been even more satisfying if it could have guided the team to victory in the pulsating fifth one-dayer.

Tendulkar’s 45th one-day century, a rollicking 141-ball knock, almost pulled off a great win for India yesterday but the lower-order batsmen could not score the required 19 runs from 17 balls.

Dentures changed Amitabh Bachchan’s personality

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Mumbai, November 06: Amitabh Bachchan accomplished the feat of talking and singing in a 12-year-old child’s voice, thanks to the specially designed dentures he used for his role in Paa.

The dentures were made especially for Amitabh’s character Auro in the film. The shape and size of the dentures transform Amitabh’s voice and give him a lisp. The dentures were worn by Amitabh throughout the film’s shooting and also while dubbing. According to director Balki, they changed Amitabh’s personality completely.