Month: November 2009

Iran wants to build 10 more uranium enrichment sites

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Tehran, November 30: Iran’s government has ordered construction of 10 more uranium enrichment sites, the ISNA news agency reported.

Construction of five of the sites at existing locations should start within the next two months, and suitable locations will be found for the remaining five, said an order handed down to the Iranian atomic agency after Sunday’s cabinet session.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in the session that for the generation of 20,000 megawatts of electricity, Iran needed 500,000 centrifuges, preferably new devices with higher speeds.

Madhu Koda arrested in Jharkhand

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Ranchi, November 30: Former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda, who is in the centre of a Rs.2,500-crore money laundering scam, was arrested Monday, police said.

Koda was arrested in Chaibasa, about 200 km from here, and is being brought to the state capital here by a police team, an official said.

Koda is alleged to have laundered thousands of crores of rupees during his stints as the chief minister between 2006 and 2008.

Contest for Mayor post hotting up

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Hyderabad, November 30: With each passing day, the contest for the prestigious Mayor post is hotting up among the three political parties – Congress, Telugu Desam and Majilis Ittehadul-e-Muslimeen (MIM).

The election to the post of Mayor and Deputy Mayor would be held on December 4 at Jubilee Hall, Public Gardens.

Hyderabad-bound Indigo flight grounded after bomb threat, 1 held

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New Delhi, November 30: A Hyderabad-bound Indigo flight received a bomb threat at the IGI airport here on Sunday night forcing authorities to ground the aircraft and evacuate the passengers.

A man, who is suspected to have made the hoax call at the IndiGo call centre late Sunday claiming that there was ammunition in the plane, was arrested in the early hours on Monday, police said.

The Hyderabad-bound IndiGo flight, which was carrying 164 passengers, was grounded and a security drill was carried out amid security threat at the Delhi airport.

German opposition for probe into cover up of Afghan strike

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Berlin, November 30: Opposition parties in Germany on Monday joined forces to demand a parliamentary inquiry into alleged cover up of civilian casualties in a NATO strike in Afghanistan and probe whether Chancellor Angela Merkel and Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg had any role in it.

German Labour Minister Franz Josef Jung, who was in charge of the Defence Ministry, stepped down on Friday taking “political responsibility” for the ministry’s handling of the information on the air strike in Kundus last September, in which 124 civilians were killed.

’93 blasts: Sanjay Dutt appears in court

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Mumbai, November 30: Five accused in the 1993 bomb blast case, including film actor Sanjay Dutt, on Monday appeared before a designated TADA court which exempted them from personal appearance until further orders.

The designated TADA court, which reopened after Diwali vacation on Monday, has already decided the fate of 74 accused and would continue delivering remaining verdict from November 2.

Stop using insurgents as strategic tool: Obama to Pak

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Washington, November 30: In a stern message to Pakistan, the United States has asked it to shed its policy of “using insurgents” like LeT as a strategic tool and warned that if it cannot deliver against terrorists, the US may be impelled to use “any means” at its disposal.

The message, which has been conveyed in a letter from US President Barack Obama to his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari, also includes an offer by him to try to “reduce tensions” between India and Pakistan, media reported here.

Shahbaz Sharif asks Zardari to relinquish powers immediately

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Lahore, November 30 : Pakistan Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has that President Asif Ali Zardari to abolish the 17th Amendment of the Constitution and relinquish most of his powers.

The Independent quoted Sharif as saying that Zardari should, without delay, renounce his powers to fire an elected government and appoint military chiefs.

Recently, in an attempt to ease some of the mounting pressure, the beleaguered Pakistan president had announced that he was transferring command of the body that oversees the country”s nuclear arsenal to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.

Former Jharkhand CM Koda arrested

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Ranchi, November 30: Former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda, who is in the centre of a Rs.2,500-crore money laundering scam, was arrested Monday, police said.

Koda was arrested in Chaibasa, about 200 km from here, and is being brought to the state capital here by a police team, an official said.

Koda is alleged to have laundered thousands of crores of rupees during his stints as the chief minister between 2006 and 2008.

All hell breaks loose at OU

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Hyderabad, November 30: Students of the Osmania University fought a pitched battle with policemen on the campus here today, protesting the thwarting of Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhara Rao from beginning his indefinite fast for statehood for Telangana in Siddipet.

A physiotherapy student and TRS activist is battling for life after he immolated himself at L B Nagar, while more than 25 OU students were injured and scores of others were taken into custody.

Kazmi sacked as Kasab’s lawyer

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Mumbai, November 30: A Mumbai special trial court hearing the 26/11 trial, on Monday, removed Abbas Kazmi as lawyer for Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist captured alive during the Mumbai terror attacks a year ago.

The court cited non-cooperation on the part of Kazmi while removing him.

Abbas Kazmi on Friday had tendered an unconditional apology to the trial court hearing the Mumbai attack case for his remark that he did not care about affidavits of witnesses filed by the prosecution.

US surge in Afghanistan ‘may destablize Pakistan’

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Pakistan, November 30: Pakistani Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani says that the US’s decision to send thousands of extra troops to Afghanistan may destabilize his country.

Gilani, in an interview with DPA, said in Islamabad on Sunday that an increase in US troops in Afghanistan is likely to lead to a spill over of militants inside Pakistan.

Civilians and military officials in Islamabad say the US troop build up could force Taliban militants to infiltrate into Pakistani southwestern province of Balochistan that borders Helmand.

Iran lawmakers urge limited cooperation with IAEA

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Iran, November 30: Iranian lawmakers have passed a motion calling on the government to downgrade its cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog in reaction to its recent resolution against the country.

In a Sunday statement read in the Iranian Parliament (Majlis), the lawmakers asked President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government to submit a bill that maps out a plan for reducing interaction with the International Atomic Energy Agency .

Iran demands change in IAEA structure

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Iran, November 30: Iran’s top nuclear envoy says the structure of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) gives an unfair advantage to Western states.“The structure of the Board of Governors has been molded in such a way that gives Western states the majority votes and so the ability to manipulate the Agency’s activities,” Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA told a local news agency on Sunday.

Gayle says he won”t quit Windies captaincy

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Melbourne, November 30 : A defiant West Indies cricket captain Chris Gayle has said that that he won”t quit Test captaincy despite his team’s humiliating innings and 44 run defeat to Australia in last week’s Gabba Test.

According to Fox Sports, in a News Limited column, Gayle says he has the respect and support of his players and will not walk away from the captaincy.

Tiger Woods takes blame for car smash

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London, November 30 : Tiger Woods has taken responsibility for the recent car accident that left him with cuts and bruises.

The crash happened after Thanksgiving, outside the ace golfer’s mansion in Florida.

The world No1 was said to have stormed out of the house and jumped into his car following a heated argument with wife Elin Nordegren, 29, over reports of romance with New York socialite Rachel Uchitel, 34.

His SUV ploughed into a fire hydrant and a tree and rumours emerged that his wife attacked the car with one of his clubs in a fit of jealous rage.

Kareena-Priyanka make up time

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Mumbai, November 30: Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra may not be the best of friends, but they have certain common interests. The latest bone of contention between PC and Bebo is a make up artiste, Pompy. Pompy is a soft-spoken, wheat complexioned, lean Punjabi who is a magician with the powder puff and brush.

Salman’s super impressed

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Mumbai, November 30 : Salman Khan can’t stop talking about the mammoth scale on which Veer has been shot. The actor says, “The action sequences involve hundreds of fighters, 1,000 plus horses, hundreds of elephant and camels, including huge sequences such as, a train robbery and a full-fledged war on the battlefield with a combat between troops.

Today, it’s rare to shoot with these large numbers, but director Anil Sharma felt it was a must to have larger than life sets, real locations with real animals, props etc. Art director Sanjay Dhabade has done an excellent job.

BJP’s 12-hour shutdown hits life in West Bengal

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Kolkata, November 30 : The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) 12-hour shutdown to protest the rise in prices impacted life in several parts of West Bengal Monday with supporters stopping public transport, damaging private vehicles and blocking important roads.

The dawn-to-dusk shutdown affected life in Kolkata as well as adjoining Howrah district. Police said BJP workers stopped public transport vehicles and demonstrated on Howrah Bridge, disrupting traffic movement during peak office hours.

Radiation leak at Karnataka N-plant was deliberate: Kakodkar

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Mumbai, November 30: In a case of sabotage, Atomic Energy Commission chief Anil Kakodkar on Sunday said somebody “deliberately” put radioactive tritium in a water cooler at the Kaiga Nuclear Power Plant that exposed about 50 workers to increased level of radiation.

People involved will be punished under the Atomic Energy and other acts after investigation, he said.

“Somebody deliberately put the tritiated water vials into a drinking water cooler. Therefore, we are investigating who is behind the malevolent act,” he told in Mumbai.

China’s economy reaps a golden age of weddings

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Beijing, November 30: Meng Ni and Fan Zhiqing said “I do” to each other in the same month that they said “we do” to their real estate agent.

China is in the midst of a golden age of weddings, a boon for businesses from photo studios to global platinum miners. Yet nowhere is the economic impact so potentially profound as in the housing market.

A flood of newlyweds such as Meng and Fan buying their first homes could help power China’s property sales for years, even as some investors fear that prices are already in dangerous bubble territory.

Raj Thackeray wants to help Balasaheb

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Mumbai, November 30: After leaving the Shiv Sena bleeding with a hundred cuts the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray may give the rancour a brief burial. If the Sena manages to hold on to the mayor’s post again, it could well be Raj’s gift to his embattled uncle Bal Thackeray.

KCR was arrested only as preventive measure: CM

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Hyderabad, November 30: The State Government today claimed to have arrested TRS president K Chandrasekhara Rao only as a preventive measure to tackle law and order situation.

Chief Minister K Rosaiah stated that the Government would have no objections to any agitation or protest if it takes up the Gandhian path of nonviolence.

Israel’s Netanyahu falls ill, delays Germany visit

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Jerusalem, November 30: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has postponed talks in Germany scheduled for Monday until next year after coming down with a fever.

Mark Regev, a spokesman for Netanyahu, said on Sunday the Israeli leader, 60, was not seriously ill but his doctor advised him to rest at home.

A statement from Netanyahu’s bureau said his physician had “diagnosed a viral infection and fever” and that talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel had been rescheduled for January.

Rajya Sabha adjourned briefly over West Bengal violence

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New Delhi, November 30: The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for 15 minutes following uproar over Centre sending a team to West Bengal to go into political violence in the state.

Demanding suspension of Question Hour, Sitaram Yechury (CPI—M) said the decision to send the Home Ministry team to study the situation in the state was “unconstitutional“.

Supporting him, Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley said the UPA was sending the team perhaps under pressure from its allies – a reference to Trinamool Congress.