Month: November 2009

Woman boxer found dead in hostel

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Hyderabad, November 05: A national-level woman boxer from Hyderabad was found dead in her room at the Centre of Excellence, a sports hostel run by the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh, here at Lal Bahadur Stadium.

Eighteen-year-old Amaravati was lying on the bed when the coach Omkar Yadav came there around 7 a.m. to find out why she had not turned up for the practice session. She was clad in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. The coach called in 108 ambulance service to rush her to the hospital. But the doctor of the ambulance service declared her dead.

Specially designed clay pieces form my look in ‘Paa’: Amitabh

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Mumbai, November 05: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who plays a 12-year-old progeria patient in “Paa”, says he had to stick on several pieces of specially crafted clay to get the right look for the movie.
The actor couldn’t wait to upload the first poster of the film on his blog bigb.bigadda.com Wednesday, and wrote at length about what went behind his look of a child suffering from progeria, a rare disease that causes premature ageing among children.

Israel seizes weapons-smuggling ship off coast

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Tel Aviv, November 05: Israeli naval commandoes Wednesday seized a cargo ship smuggling weapons from Iran to the Hezbollah guerrilla group in Lebanon, the military said.

The Antigua-flagged, German-owned Francop was stopped some 160 km off the Israeli coast before dawn, military spokeswoman Lieutenant-Colonel Avital Leibowitz told DPA.

After the ship was redirected to the southern Israeli port of Ashdod, 36 large shipping containers containing the arms were laid out on the dock.

Small gains for US stocks as Fed keeps rates steady

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New York, November 05: US stocks posted mild gains Wednesday as the Federal Reserve kept interest rates at their record low of close to 0 percent.

The central bank signalled it would continue to keep its benchmark federal funds rate at 0-0.25 percent for an “extended period” despite the start of a mild economic recovery.

The central bank’s board said economic conditions “continued to pick up” since its last meeting in September but were likely to “remain weak for a time”.

Italian court sentences US agents in abduction case

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Milan, November 05: A Milan court Wednesday sentenced 23 US citizens, most of them believed to work for the CIA, to multi-year prison terms for the kidnapping of a Muslim cleric six years ago in a controversial rendition case.

The Americans, who were convicted in absentia, as well as two Italian agents received jail terms ranging from three to eight years for the 2003 abduction of Abu Omar, who was lifted off a Milan street then flown to Egypt via the US air base at Ramstein, Germany. He was held until 2007 without charges and alleges he was tortured.

Colombian navy seizes 2.5 tonnes of cocaine

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Bogota, November 05: Colombia’s navy Wednesday seized 2,219 kg cocaine off the Andean nation’s Pacific coast, authorities said, adding that a US Coast Guard vessel aided in the seizure.

The operation, which was carried out 100 km from Bahia Solano, got under way after naval units detected the presence of a boat with six crewmembers on board that was heading for the North Pacific.

The cocaine, which authorities said was ready to be transferred onto another vessel which was to take it to Central America, was valued at more than $66 million, the navy said.

When Rahul Bose couldn’t do justice to himself

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Mumbai, November 05: He has hardly been seen this year. But actor Rahul Bose promises a wide variety of movies in 2010, saying he is confident he will not disappoint the way he did in “Maan Gaye Mughall-e-Azam”.

“I don’t have any problems admitting that I acted very poorly in ‘Maan Gaye…’ What’s the point of sticking on to something unnecessarily and defending it when you know deep down that you haven’t quite done justice to yourself as an actor,” says Rahul, who was also seen in “Shaurya”, “Tahaan” and “Dil Kabaddi” last year.

Liquor likely to cost more soon

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Hyderabad, November 04: ‘‘It’s your life, make it large!’’ tempts a leading liquor brand. Want to make a large then? At least, a Patiala peg? Well, pause a minute before you rush in. That peg or two could leave a bitter taste in your mouth and a bigger hole in your pocket if your favourite brand has its way.

The State Government is all set to allow increase in liquor prices reportedly under tremendous pressure from liquor manufacturers.

GHMC polls: voter list on website

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Hyderabad, November 04: With the final master voter list coming out on November10, the GHMC is making arrangements to enable voters to check out for their names in the list and also the polling station where they should exercise their franchise for the civic poll slated to be held on November 23.

Voters can log on to ghmc.gov.in and refer to the ward concerned, number of elector photo identity card or the name of the Assembly constituency to get information of the polling station.
Call centre

Specially designed clay pieces form my look in ‘Paa’: Amitabh

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New Delhi, November 04: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who plays a 12-year-old progeria patient in “Paa”, says he had to stick on several pieces of specially crafted clay to get the right look for the movie.

Specially designed clay pieces form my look in ‘Paa’: Amitabh
The actor couldn’t wait to upload the first poster of the film on his blog bigb.bigadda.com Wednesday, and wrote at length about what went behind his look of a child suffering from progeria, a rare disease that causes premature ageing among children.

DS still hopeful of truck with PRP

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Hyderabad, November 04: The alliance between the Congress and the Praja Rajyam Party may be off for now, but efforts to get megastar Chiranjeevi into the Congress fold or at least have an electoral understanding with his party in the next Assembly elections are definitely on.

Leona Lewis wants to go on a world tour

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London, November 04: British singer Leona Lewis has vowed to confront her stage show fears and go on a world tour next year.

The “Bleeding Love” singer has admitted that she was terrified ahead of playing her first-ever full length concert in London this week but enjoyed the experience so much that now she plans a string of concerts around the world, reports contactmusic.com.

“I wasn’t nervous until I got to the side of the stage, then I started shaking. I felt it went so fast and now I just want to do it again. I can’t wait to tour next year,” said Lewis.

Chinese Army conducting exercises in areas adjoining Arunachal Pradesh

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Guwahati, November 04: The Chinese Army is conducting exercises in areas adjoining Arunachal Pradesh. This was disclosed by Major General SS Jog, General Officer Commanding the Red Horn Division, during a seminar on counter terrorism organised by the Army for officers and allied personnel engaged in anti-insurgency operations in Guwahati on Wednesday.

Apart from the serving officers, several retired personnel of the Indian Army and para-military forces shared their views and expertise in counter-insurgency operations.

Ajay Devgan’s new project to feature Kajol

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Bhopal, November 04: Bollywood actor Ajay Devgan is planning a new project. Blueprint for the project is likely to be ready by the next month.

Talking to reporters, Devgan said that he is planning to prepare a film that will feature his wife Kajol and daughter.

When asked about Prakash Jha’s Rajneeti, he said, “It is too early to make a comment on the issue.”

Devgan, the acclaimed actor of comedy and action movies, commended people of Bhopal for their cooperation during the shooting of the movies.

State seeks 9,747 cr. to tackle drought

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Hyderabad, November 04: A week after the visit to the State by a Central team on floods, a group of 11 officials arrived here on Tuesday to assess the drought conditions, while the State government revised its estimates and sought Rs 9,747 crore to fight its effect.

Cuba to host international folklore conference

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Havana, November 04: Cuba will host the 39th Conference of Organisations for Folklore Festivals November 8-15.

Representatives from more than 40 countries, including Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Pacific regions, will participate in the conference.

Various activities, including exhibitions of books and craftworks, will be organised.

The International Council of Organisations for Folklore Festivals (CIOFF) was founded in 1970, Currently, more than 90 countries are its members.

The UNESCO, CIOFF and the Cuban culture ministry will sponsor the event.

—IANS

Cong to release first list tomorrow

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Hyderabad, November 04: Union Minister and AICC incharge of AP affairs M Veerappa Moily along with Chief Minister K Rosaiah and Pradesh Congress Committee chief D Srinivas will finalise and release the list of candidates for the GHMC elections on November 5.

Moily will come to the city tomorrow for the purpose.

EU, US seek WTO settlement over Chinese export restrictions

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Washington, November 04: The European Union (EU) and the US on Wednesday called on the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to rule against export restrictions applied by China on raw materials used by the steel, aluminium and chemicals industries.

The decision to turn to the WTO’s dispute settlement process follows unsuccessful attempts to resolve the issue through talks in Geneva, officials in Brussels said.

Mexico supported the EU and US move.

CordLife targets India as potential stem cell market

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Kolkata, November 04: CordLife, one of the leading stem cell banking groups in the Asia Pacific region, is targeting expansion of its network in India and China, considering the huge birth rate in these two Asian nations, a top official said on Wednesday.

“We’re looking at India and China as two big markets in terms of our stem cell business in the Asia Pacific region – keeping in mind the huge birth rate in these two countries,” CordLife group chief executive Steven Fang told media persons Wednesday on the sidelines of a press conference here.

Jubilant loyalists flock to Jagan

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Hyderabad, November 04: Loyalists of the late YSR’s family, who strongly opposed the move for an alliance between the Congress and the Praja Rajyam of Chiranjeevi, flocked to the residence of Kadapa MP Jagan Mohan Reddy at Begumpet here today.

Rs. 14 lakh missing from ATM

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Kakinada, November 04: A sum of Rs 14.47 lakh was reported missing from ICICI Bank ATM on the main road in Peddapuram. Bank officials lodged a complaint with the police on Tuesday while the money was allegedly stolen on November 1 afternoon.

The security guard told police that he went for lunch when the money was taken away by some persons suspected to be employees of the bank.

–Agencies

Suspected Maoist arrested in West Bengal

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Kolkata, November 04: A suspected Maoist guerilla was arrested from West Bengal’s West Midnapore district Wednesday, police said.

“Sunil Kisku was arrested from Belpahari region, a Maoist stronghold in the district. He was an active Maoist ultra and used to operate in the region,” Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Surajit Kar Purakayastha told.

He said that Kisku has been charged with launching attacks on various joint forces’ camps in the region. He is also allegedly involved in some murder cases.

Bopanna-Junaid bow out of Germany challenger

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Germany, November 04: India’s Rohan Bopanna and Australia’s Rameez Junaid bowed out of the doubles first round of 30,000 euros Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) challenger.

The third-seeded Bopanna-Junaid lost 7-5, 3-6, 13-11 to Austrian pair Martin Fischer and Philipp Oswald here on Tuesday.

Fischer and Oswald now play Germans Dieter Kindlmann and Marcel Zimmermann.

–IANS

TDP first list today

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Hyderabad, November 04: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) will release its first list of candidates for GHMC polls tomorrow. Briefing reporters after the Politburo meeting, party leader N Janardhan Reddy said that the first list would be released tomorrow.

He said that politburo decided to continue talks with the Left on seat sharing issue. The Politburo also discussed the health situation in the State, especially the spread of dengue and viral fevers.

–Agencies

Norway to fund UN project for women’s role in panchayats

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New Delhi, November 04: The Norwegian government on Wednesday signed an agreement to grant the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) $9 million for strengthening participation of women in local governance in India.

The partnership agreement was signed by UNIFEM executive director Ines Alberdi and the Ambassador of Norway to India Ann Ollestad.

“This signature is an initial step in working to promote women’s participation in local governance and government in India,” Alberdi told reporters here at the UN office.