Month: December 2009

Lucknow University to confer degree on eminent nuclear scientist

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Lucknow, Dec 31: The Lucknow University (LU) will confer a doctorate degree on eminent nuclear scientist and former chairman of Atomic Energy Commission of India Anil Kakodkar at its convocation in February, an official said Thursday.

‘The decision to award Doctorate of Science (Honoris Causa) has been taken by members of the varsity’s executive council,’ said LU proctor A.N. Singh.

‘Kakodkar will also be the chief guest for the ceremonial function and deliver the convocation address,’ he added.

Issue of racial attacks dominate Indo-Australian ties

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Melboune, December 31: Indo-Australia ties were in the news in 2009 for all wrong reasons — a spate of racial attacks on Indians, particularly students, forced the two governments to act to contain the fallout even as they agreed to take their strategic relations to a new level.

Relations between India and Australia started to stress out in June this year after racial attacks on Indians prompting the government in Australia to control the damage by assuring New Delhi that Australia was indeed the best place for students pursuing higher studies.

Maoists blast two schools in Bihar

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Aurangabad (Bihar), December 31: Armed Maoists blew up two school buildings early Thursday in the naxal-hit Aurangabad district, police said.

Over 200 ultras surrounded a state-run school at Chandaur and blasted the building with dynamites in the wee hours, district SP N K Tiwari said.

In another attack, the naxalites detonated dynamites to blow up another school building at Belowa early morning, he said.

However, there are no reports of any injury or casualty.

A combing operation has been launched in the area to nab the ultras.
–Agencies

Police closely watching movements of extremists: DGP

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Hyderabad, December 31: Andhra Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) R R Girish Kumar today said the police was closely watching the movements of Naxalites in the border areas as there were reports of their resurfacing in the State.

Addressing the press with Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) A K Khan here, the DGP said police arrested 326 Maoists this year as against 462 last year. He said 91 extremists surrendered before the police and 81 arms recovered from them.

Issue of racial attacks dominate Indo-Australian ties

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Melboune, December 31: Indo-Australia ties were in the news in 2009 for all wrong reasons — a spate of racial attacks on Indians, particularly students, forced the two governments to act to contain the fallout even as they agreed to take their strategic relations to a new level.

Relations between India and Australia started to stress out in June this year after racial attacks on Indians prompting the government in Australia to control the damage by assuring New Delhi that Australia was indeed the best place for students pursuing higher studies.

CPI favours consensus on formation of Telangana

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Bangalore, December 31: The Communist Party of India (CPI) has favoured formation of Telangana as a separate state but only after evolving a consensus among the people and other political parties in Andhra Pradesh.

“We support Telangana as a separate state. But the process should be taken up after forging a consensus through wider consultation with the people of the state and various political parties in the undivided state,” CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan told reporters here.

Five deaths due to swine flu in Chandigarh

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Chandigarh, Dec 31: Five more deaths due to the influenza A (H1N1) virus were reported in this union territory (UT), taking the toll to 55, officials said on Thursday.

“Five deaths were reported in Chandigarh hospitals yesterday (Wednesday) evening. The deceased were identified as Chandigarh resident Rajan Kumar, 52, Ganga Ram, 65, from Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh, Ritu Gulati, 34, from Ambala in Haryana and Lajwanti, 66, and Pooja, 20, both from towns in Punjab,” H.C. Gera, UT nodal officer for swine flu, said.

No ‘proclaimed or unproclaimed Prez rule’ in AP: CM

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Hyderabad, December 31: Maintaining that there ”is no proclaimed or unproclaimed President’s rule in the state”, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah today made it clear that Governor E S L Narasimhan had not held any law and order review meeting soon after assuming charge on Monday.

”The Governor is the Head of the State and it is his government.

The Governor did not call for any meeting. ”We incidentally briefed him about the happenings in the State,” the Chief Minister told reporters at the Secretariat.

Oil prices rises in Asia after US crude stockpiles fall

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Mumbai, Dec 31: Oil prices headed toward $80 a barrel Thursday in Asia, the final day of trading for 2009, after U.S. crude stockpiles fell for the fourth week in a row.

Benchmark crude for February delivery was up 28 cents at $79.56 a barrel at late morning Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract added 41 cents to settle at $79.28 on Wednesday.

The Energy Information Administration said U.S. crude supplies shrank by 1.5 million barrels last week, less than the expected drop of 2.2 million barrels. Gasoline supplies also fell.

Saif and Kareena fail together

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Mumbai, December 31: There’s something about real-life couples coming together on the Bollywood screen. Their films don’t seem to be working at all at the box office. This seems to have become the golden rule these days. In the year 2009, Kurbaan being the latest example of a real-life pair’s film failing at the ticket windows.

Katrina Kaif is jobless!

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Mumbai, December 31: She may be one of the most sough after actresses in the industry, but believe it or not Katrina Kaif has no films on her hand after Prakash Jha’s Raajneeti.

The actress who is currently in London after undergoing an appendix surgery has no project officially on her hand. There are rumours that Katrina is calling all the producers and directors from her contact list to consider her for their next projects but hasn’t been able to strike any deal as yet.

Friends kill Delhi Public School student in Etah

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New delhi, December 31: Azharuddin, a class IX student of Delhi Public School in Gurgaon, was kidnapped and murdered by his friends in Uttar Pradesh when his family refused to pay a ransom of Rs50 lakh.

“Azharuddin’s friends Manoj and Syed Aftab called him out of his house for an evening walk in Bhodasi, Gurgaon, on December 21 and then abducted him, “a senior police officer said.

Later Anish, Aniyansh and Ravi joined Manoj and Aftab and all five took the 16-year-old Azharuddin to Etah in Uttar Pradesh, the officer said.

What bonds Shahrukh and Salman

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Mumbai, December 31: Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan may to see eye-to-eye and regularly take a dig at each other but there is something which bonds the two Khans.

It’s not their movies but their love for painting. Both the stars are know to be regulars with the brush with Salman Khan being a thorough professional. The Bollywood hunk has time and again amazed us all with his skills.

Last year he had gifted Ranbir Kapoor with a painting of his legendary grandfather Raj Kapoor when he had come to Salman’s show 10 Ka Dum.

Kajol states working with SRK is a bad habit

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Mumbai, December 31: After Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham the trio of Shah Rukh, Kajol and will be back once again with Karan Johar’s My Name Is Khan. Kajol is excited as she is back with a film after a two year gap. Her last was her home production U Me Aur Hum. But the actress says working with Shah Rukh is a bad habit. “Once you work with him you are spoilt.

Salman’s alcoholism caused Veer makers Rs. 60 lakhs

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Mumbai, December 31: Salman Khan’s alcoholism caused the makers of Veer a whopping Rs. 60 lakhs of Rupees. No it wasn’t the bill of his alcohol drinking on the sets mind you! Read on to know why it cost a bomb for them.

An unit source revealed, “During the entire making of Veer had Salman indulged in less alcohol, partied less and slept on time it would save his producers many lakhs of rupees. Believe it or not the producer of the film ended up spending around Rs. 60 lakh to only digitally improve his look.

Maoists blast two schools in Bihar

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Aurangabad, December 31: Armed Maoists blew up two school buildings early today in the Naxal-hit Aurangabad district, police said.

Over 200 ultras surrounded a state-run school at Chandaur and blasted the building with dynamites in the wee hours, district SP NK Tiwari said.

In another attack, the Naxalites detonated dynamites to blow up another school building at Belowa early morning, he said.

However, there are no reports of any injury or casualty. A combing operation has been launched in the area to nab the ultras.

–Agencies

Party suspense still on

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Hyderabad, December 31: With the Telangana agitation casting a shadow on Hyderabad’s preparations to welcome 2010 with gusto, the hotels and event organisers who have already spent a lot of money on the arrangements have been pushed into a great dilemma – whether to drop the plans altogether and silently suffer the loss and discontent of the clientele or take some risk and go ahead with the parties and keep the resolute revellers happy.

The party animals, on the other hand, seem to be modifying their plans to keep their revelry going.

US Pinpoints Al-Qaeda Strike Targets in Yemen

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Washington, December 31: The United States and Yemen are identifying targets for potential US retaliatory strikes against Al-Qaeda in Yemen after the failed Detroit plane attack.

US special operations forces and intelligence agencies and Yemeni counterparts are working to identify potential Al-Qaeda targets in the Arab country, a senior US official told.

The all-news network said this was part of a new classified security agreement with Sana’a which allows the US to use cruise missiles, fighter jets or unmanned armed drones against targets in Yemen with the consent of its government.

BSE Sensex rises to highest level since

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Mumbai, December 31: The BSE Sensex hit its highest level in nearly 20 months, led by index heavyweights Reliance Industries and Infosys Technologies, and was set to post its biggest yearly gain since 1991.

At 11:01 am (0531 GMT), the 30-share BSE Index was trading 0.96 percent higher at 17,510.88, with only one components declining, to be up more than 81 percent for the year.

The benchmark rose to a high of 17,513.90, it highest level since May 5, 2008.

Taliban claim blast that killed 8 ‘CIA agents’

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Kabul, December 31: The Taliban are claiming responsibility for a suicide bombing at a base in eastern Afghanistan that killed eight American civilians, believed to be CIA agents.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said that a Taliban bomber wearing a military uniform and a suicide vest entered the base in Khost and blew himself up inside the gym.

A US Congressional official told a news agency that CIA employees are believed to be among the dead in the Wednesday bombing.

The CIA has not yet commented on or confirmed the deaths.

Scientists Discover Working of Mushroom Derived Cancer Drug

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London, December 31: Scientists had, sometime back, discovered a promising cancer drug in a mushroom which is commonly used in Chinese cooking, and now it can be made more effective thanks to an extensive research which has led experts to understand how the medicine actually works.

The research, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, was successfully carried out at The University of Nottingham.

Kashmiris Disappointed at Obama

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Srinagar, December 31: Approaching the end of his first year in office, people in the Muslim-majority disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir are frustrated at US President Barack Obama for neglecting their cause for the interest of warm relations with India.

“When Obama came, there was so much hope to reclaim those happy times in Kashmir,” Pervez Imroz, a lawyer and head of a coalition of civil society groups, told.

“But when it comes to human rights, we feel really let down. It’s been nothing more than election rhetoric.”

Centre Calls All- Party Meet

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New Delhi, December 31: THE Centre has called a meeting of all political parties from Andhra Pradesh on January 5 to arrive at a political consensus on the Telangana issue.

Home minister P. Chidambaram sent invitations to leaders of the Telugu Desam Party ( TDP), TRS, CPM, CPI, BJP, Praja Rajyam Party ( PRP), MIM and the Congress for the meeting to be held in the Capital.

The JAC of political parties spearheading the campaign for a separate Telangana welcomed the Centre’s decision.

Iraq Opts for Same-sex Schools

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Baghdad, December 31: The Iraqi government is planning to separate boys and girls in schools, a decision that is generating debate about how far it can help in the country’s development.

“We aren’t forcing gender division but building an environment where education can improve,” Wafa’a al-Marasma, senior official at the Ministry of Education in Baghdad, told.

“Recent international studies suggest that such division can help in teaching and learning process and we are happy to try in Iraq.”

A Return to Single-Sexed Classes?