Month: November 2009

Rukhsana Kausar seeks permanent job in paramilitary force

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New Delhi, November 03: Kashmiri girl Rukhsana Kausar, who shot into limelight after killing a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist, today demanded a permanent government job, ideally in a paramilitary force, and said she should be shifted out of her home district of Rajouri in view of the threat to her family.

The 20-year-old also said she favours imparting military training to children in schools so that they can “overcome fear and prepare themselves for taking on terrorists”.

Congress clears 26 candidates for Jharkhand polls

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New Delhi, November 03: The Congress Tuesday announced its first list of candidates for the coming elections to the Jharkhand assembly.

“The central election committee (CEC) chaired by party president Sonia Gandhi Monday approved 26 names of the candidates for the phase one, two and three,” a Congress leader here.

The list of the candidates was released by CEC in-charge Oscar Fernandes.

The five-phase Jharkhand poll begins Nov 25 and ends Dec 18. The votes will be counted Dec 23.

—IANS

3 more in Orissa school found to have swine flu

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Bhubaneswar, November 03: Three more students tested positive swine flu in a residential girls’ school in Orissa’s Sundergarh district, officials said Tuesday. Two girls had already been detected to be infected Sunday.

“Four swab samples had been sent to regional medical research center. Three of them were found to be positive,” Gopinath Mahalik, director of health, told IANS.

He, however, said that there is no need to panic.

Sri Lankan opposition forms alliance to contest polls

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Colombo, November 03: Thirteen opposition parties, including the main opposition faction, led by former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, formed an alliance Tuesday to contest the presidential and parliamentary elections expected to be held next year.

Wickremesinghe, who is also the current leader of the opposition in parliament, formed the alliance with a breakaway party from the government led by a former minister, the main Muslim party in the country and a party representing the Tamil ethnic minority.

Merkel decries Iranian denial of Israel’s right to exist

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Washington, November 03: Iran’s denial of Israel’s right to exist is unacceptable and Tehran must be prevented from obtaining a nuclear weapon, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a speech before the US Congress Tuesday.

A nuclear armed Iran would pose a threat to international security, Merkel said, adding that there is limited patience in the ongoing talks with Iran to come clean about its nuclear activities.

“Iran needs to be aware of this, Iran knows our offer, but Iran also knows where we draw the line,” Merkel said.

Was Israel willing to negotiate with 26/11 perpetrators?

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Mumbai, November 03: Was Israel willing to negotiate with the 26/11 Mumbai attack terrorists, who had taken hostage some Jews at Nariman house, or was it buying time?

This question came to the fore as a CD of a telephonic conversation between an Israeli officer and terrorists was played in the special court trying the Mumbai attacks case.

The Israeli officer had spoken to the terrorist to ensure the safety of their brethren in Nariman house.

In the conversation recorded by the police, three voices–those of an Israeli officer, an interpreter and a terrorist–were heard.

Scheme to tackle malnutrition launched in Madhya Pradesh

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Bhopal, November 03: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan Tuesday launched the “Sanjha Chulha” (community kitchen) scheme, which he termed a “revolutionary step” towards the challenge of eradicating malnutrition.

The scheme was launched in Parwalia Sadak village in Bhopal district.

Under the scheme, Anganwadi and school children will get freshly cooked food, prepared in same place as for the mid-day meal scheme by self-help groups. The scheme will be monitored in coordination with panchayats (village councils) and the community.

Ajay Chautala resigns from Rajya Sabha

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Chandigarh, November 03: Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) secretary general Ajay Singh Chautala resigned his membership of the Rajya Sabha Tuesday.
Chautala, elder son of INLD leader and former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala, was last month elected to the Haryana assembly from the Dabwali seat.

His term in the Rajya Sabha was to end in August 2010.

Chautala had earlier been Lok Sabha member from Bhiwani parliamentary constituency in Haryana.

The INLD won 31 seats in last month’s assembly election in Haryana. The Haryana assembly has 90 members.

—IANS

PM appeals to Vishva Bharti students to end stir

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New Delhi, November 03: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday urged the agitating students of Vishva Bharati University to “desist from disrupting normal life” and end their stir to protest the theft of a CD containing paintings and unpublished documents of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.

The prime minister said he had been “deeply pained” by the turn of events at the Vishva Bharati University during the last few days leading to the disruption of academic activities and normal life on the campus, according to a statement here.

Ben Kingsley to be guest of honour at IFFI

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Panaji, November 03: Noted British actor and Academy award winner Sir Ben Kingsley will be the guest of honour at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), which will be held later this month in Goa, state Chief Secretary Sanjiv Srivastava said Tuesday.

“Sir Ben Kingsley will be coming. He will be our guest of honour at the inaugural ceremony of the 40th edition of the IFFI, which will be held in Panaji from Nov 23 onwards,” Srivastava told reporters Tuesday evening, after attending a meeting of the governing council, which oversees the arrangements for the festival.

China sentences woman crime boss to 18 years in jail

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China, November 03: A court here Tuesday sentenced the head of an organised criminal network to 18 years in prison.

Xie Caiping is dubbed as “godmother of the underworld” in southwest China.

Twenty-one other people, including officials who offered protection to the gang members, were given jail terms ranging from one to 13 years by the Intermediate People’s Court, Xinhua reported.

Xie was found guilty of running a criminal organisation, gambling places and giving bribes to officials, among others. She was also fined 1.02 million yuan ($149,430).

Iraq signs first oil contract with foreign consortium in 36 years

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Baghdad, November 03: The government of Iraq Tuesday signed a contract with a Chinese-British consortium to develop southern Iraq’s massive Rumaila oil field, a spokesman said.

Iraqi oil ministry spokesman Assim Jihad told the DPA that the contract, Iraq’s first with a foreign firm since Iraq nationalised its petroleum resources in 1972, was signed in the presence of Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani and the Chinese and British ambassadors.

Margao blast indicates intelligence failure: Naik

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Panaji, November 03: Goa Home minister Ravi Naik has admitted to an intelligence failure in the Margao blast in which two members of a right wing Hindu group were killed, 30 kms from here.

“State intelligence agencies had no knowledge of the blast in the commercial town, which clearly indicates the failure,” Naik told a local channel during a television show, last night.

Army Chief warns of 26/11-type attacks

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New Delhi, November 03:Army Chief Deepak Kapoor on Tuesday warned that 26/11-type Mumbai terror attacks were a possibility and that India has to take all steps to counter such strikes.

“We have to take all steps to prevent any Mumbai-type attacks. We cannot rule out apprehensions of such possibilities,” Kapoor told reporters here on the sidelines of an Army function.

To a question if there were any terror alerts in the recent times, he said the South Asian region is infested with terror groups. Be it India, Afghanistan or Pakistan, “we have to collectively battle such threats.”

Two aides of Bajrangi arrested, being brought to Delhi

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New Delhi, November 03: Two aides of Munna Bajrangi who are allegedly involved in cases of extortion and dacoity were arrested by Delhi Police today from Benares and Thane respectively.

Miraj Hussain and Iftikhar were arrested by two separate teams of the Special Cell of the Delhi police, official sources said.

The duo, both in their forties, have worked with Bajrangi earlier, they claimed. They are being brought to Delhi for interrogation.

DCP (Special Cell) Alok Kumar confirmed the arrest to PTI.

12 worshippers die in tempo-bus collision

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Jammu, November 03: Twelve pilgrims, including 10 members of a family, returning to the city after paying obeisance at a famous temple in Himachal Pradesh, were killed when their tempo collided with a bus on Jammu-Pathankot National Highway early today.

Seven people, also occupants of the tempo, were injured in the accident which took place at Baghial Morh, 80 kms from here, at around 0200 hours, police said.

The family, which included five women, was returning to their home in Jammu after offering prayers at the Jawala Ji temple when the collision occurred.

Special colour coding in new railway time table

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New Delhi, November 03: Indian Railway has introduced special colour coding schemes for different class of trains in the newly released time table.

As per the colour coding scheme, pink has been chosen for Rajdhani Express, Shatabdi Express, Jan Sahtabdi Express, Garib Rath Express and Duronto Express.

Yellow is the colour for other super fast trains and blue/white for other mail and express trains.

NC responsible for sufferings of youth: Mehbooba

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Srinagar, November 03: Slamming the National Conference, the main opposition PDP today said the party had done nothing to improve the lot of the youth in Jammu and Kashmir.

The NC had rendered the youth of the state handicapped as successive governments headed by it pursued policies inimical to their interests, People’s Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti said.

The NC was responsible for their current sufferings, she told a convention of her party’s youth wing here.

Special pooja for flu-hit Modi

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Porayar (TN), November 03: The BJP’s Puducherry unit today performed a special pooja for the speedy recovery of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who is suffering from swine flu.

The pooja was organised at Lord Saneeswara temple in Tirunallar in Karaikal district .

Modi is undergoing treatment for swine flu at his residence. On October 30, he tested positive for the virus after his return from Russia.

The pooja was also performed for the recovery of senior BJP Leader E Ganesan, who is recuperating after heart surgery at Chennai, a party member said.

Mexico begins restoration of beaches after hurricane

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Mexico, November 03: The restoration work of the beaches washed away during Hurricane Wilma has begun in Mexico’s Caribbean resort city of Cancun, officials said.

More than seven million cubic meters of sand will be required for the project in Cancun and Maya Riviera, but the current source in La Ollita has only 1.5 million cubic meters of sand, Felix Gonzalez Canto, governor of the Quintana Roo state, said Tuesday.

The decision to meet the shortfall will be taken in the coming days, he said, adding that the project will be completed by the yearend.

China changes tack, says Dalai Lama trying to wreck India ties

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New Delhi, November 03: In a subtle shift of stance, China Tuesday accused Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama of trying to “wreck” Sino-Indian ties by his proposed visit to Arunachal Pradesh, but refrained from condemning New Delhi for allowing the trip.

The Dalai Lama is planning to visit the northeastern Indian state, over which Beijing claims sovereignty, Nov 8.

China has repeatedly criticized the trip and asked India to stop it.

China’s foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu Tuesday flayed the Dalai Lama for his “separatist” activities.

Sherlyn Chopra makes fun of Kamal Khan

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Mumbai, November 03: Hot and bold bollywood actress Sherlyn Chopra, who was recently evicted from Big Boss’ house, made fun of her friend Kamal Khan. She criticised Khan for talking big on each and every issue.

Having come out of house of Big Boss, Sherlyn said, “Kamal is a bogus person. He tells a lie.” Reacting to Kamal’s proposal to give her a role in an upcoming project, she said that she wouldn’t act in his movie as she didn’t have any attention to retire from movies.

Hostel for northeastern students in south Delhi: Dikshit

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New Delhi, November 03: A hostel for northeastern students will be set up in south Delhi, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit Tuesday said and assured the students from the region of full security in the national capital.

“No Delhiite should have any feeling of insecurity. We are here to integrate everyone, not to isolate anyone,” she said after a meeting with the office bearers of North Eastern Students Union (NESU).

The NESU office bearers along with three member of parliament – Oscar Fernandes, Takom Sanjoy and Thokchom Meniya – met Dikshit at the Delhi secretariat here.

Second disaster management conference begins Wednesday

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New Delhi, November 03: The second India Disaster Management Congress will be held in New Delhi from Wednesday and is expected to bring together 1,500 scientists and scholars from various global universities for interaction and integration of knowledge on various aspects of disaster risk reduction and management.

The congress will focus on disaster risk reduction, management, emergency response and various cross-cutting issues during disasters.

Google admits it scanned books under Chinese copyright protection

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Beijing, November 03: Google has admitted to having scanned more than 20,000 books under Chinese copyright protection, a media report said Tuesday.
The world’s largest internet search engine has been in negotiations with China’s copyright watchdog for scanning works for its online library without permission, the China Daily reported.

The US company emphasised the Chinese books they scanned were from US libraries and some of them were available for public use.