Karachi, January 29: Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq has expressed his willingness to work with the national cricket team as a batting coach to improve their dipping performance.
However, Inzamam has made it clear that he would accept such a role on his own terms and conditions.
Inzamam, one of Pakistan’s most successful batsmen, said the national team needs the services of experts to work on its batting and fielding.
New Delhi, January 29: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who was in the capital to attend the premier of his latest movie ‘Rann’, said he was moved to tears after a thunderous applause by the audience in the middle of the film.
“I cannot remember it happening to me in recent times, nor in times past, an audience applause in the middle of my film, at the end of a scene or dialogue. But it happened tonight at the premier of Rann,” Big B wrote on his blog.
Washington, January 29: As part of stringent measures to beef up airport security, US authorities may use an Israeli-made mind-reading scanner that allegedly predicts whether a passenger is a potential threat or not.
The Transportation and Safety Administration (TSA) and the Homeland Security are considering the installment of a controversial mind-reading system, that was recently developed by the Israeli-based WeCU Technologies, in all American airports, AP reported on Thursday.
London, January 29: Iran leaves the world no recourse but to apply penalties aimed at curbing a fast-track nuclear program, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said on Thursday.
In London ostensibly for conferences on Afghanistan and Yemen, Clinton has devoted significant time to Iran ahead of a US-led sanctions push at the United Nations expected by the end of the week.
Her discussions here are intended to win support from countries whose backing the United States and its allies need to win and enforce new UN sanctions.
Mumbai, January 29: Members of the inquiry committee set up by the Press Council to examine ‘paid news’ met Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, whom the EC has served a notice after complaints that he allegedly paid newspapers for publishing stories in his favour before Assembly polls.
“We met the Chief Minister at his official residence ‘Varsha’ yesterday and recorded his statement on the issue. He denied that he or his associates paid money to newspapers to publish complimentary articles,” Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, a member of the two-member inquiry committee, told PTI.
Mumbai, January 29:The Shiv Sena hit out at actor and Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner Shah Rukh Khan Friday for his comments on Pakistani cricketers with one leader saying he should play his matches in Lahore and another declaring that the star’s films would not be allowed to be screened in Thane.
Attacking Shah Rukh for espousing the cause of Pakistani players who were ignored in the recent Indian Premier League (IPL) auction, Shiv Sena’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said if the actor was so interested in them “he could go play his matches in Lahore, not in India”.
New Delhi, January 29: There seems to a disparity in expenditure on advertisements for remembering national icons, with the government spending nearly triple the amount for glorifying Rajiv Gandhi in two months than what it did for Lal Bahadur Shastri in 10 years.
The DAVP has spent nearly Rs three crore over a period of two months on advertisements to glorify late prime minister Gandhi as against only Rs 87 lakh over a period of 10 years for Shastri, also a former premier.
New Delhi, January 29: The brightest and biggest full moon of 2010 will be seen tomorrow.
The full moon tomorrow will be around 15 per cent bigger and 30 per cent brighter as compared to other full moons during the year.
“The moon will not only shine brighter but will also appear bigger as compared to other full moons during the year,” Science Popularization Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE) Director C B Devgun said.
The full moon will be at its best at around 8 PM, he said.
Melbourne, January 29: A Sydney-based Indian man in Australia was today found guilty on charges of raping an aspiring lingerie model after he promised her break into the industry.
Paul Rajendran used a bogus MySpace profile, using the pseudonym James Carter, to arrange a meeting with the 23-year-old woman in early March 2009. He then raped her in a nearby office block, prosecutors alleged.
Prior to the meeting in Sydney’s CBD, the pair exchanged emails in which Rajendran falsely claimed he worked for the lingerie firm La Perla.
Tokyo, January 29: Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has made it clear that he will not let the US Marine Corps’ Futemma Air Station stay in the current site in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture.
Noting that Japan and the United States came up with the relocation plan with the aim of taking the danger of the Futemma facility away from the city and helping local people feel safer, Hatoyama said: “I’m determined not to let (the facility) go back there”.
New Delhi, January 29: In a surprise move, the government has postponed to the next fiscal auction of spectrum for 3G telephony which was expected to bring in Rs 35,000 crore to the exchequer.
According to senior officials in the Department of Telecom, Law Minister Veerappa Moily, who is member of the EGoM, has opined that the auction should he held when the spectrum is available.
Washington, January 29: Appreciating his efforts to pass “meaningful” health-care reform in the US, an influential Indian -American doctor’s association today welcomed President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address.
Representing the influential Indian American doctors community, Vinod Shah, president of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) said, “The President was both focused and articulate, and we are very pleased that he is continuing his efforts to pass meaningful health care reform.”
Mumbai, January 29: The Reserve Bank of India today increased mandatory cash reserve of banks held by it by 75 basis points in a bid to suck excess liquidity to combat rising inflation.
However, short-term lending and borrowing rates between RBI and banks were kept unchanged, leading to speculation that banks’ commercial lending rates may not change.
The apex bank also upped its economic growth projection to 7.5 per cent from its earlier estimate of 6 per cent for the current fiscal.
New Delhi, January 29: Sympathies continued to pour in for Pakistani cricketers snubbed by the Indian Premier League franchises with Bollywood actor Aamir Khan today saying that he would have included a good player in his team irrespective of his nationality.
“National boundaries are man-made. If someone is a good cricketer, then I would want him in my team. I don’t care which country he belongs to,” Aamir said.
“Sometime cricket brings us together and sometimes we fight each other even more. When we fight I feel it is silly.
Ranchi, January 29: Jharkhand Government has told the High Court that a CBI probe into corruption charges against former Chief Minister Madhu Koda was not needed as investigations by Vigilance Bureau were satisfactory.
Filing an affidavit through a government official before the bench headed by Chief Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra yesterday, the state government said the vigilance probe was progressing satisfactorily.
Jaipur, January 29: Filmmaker Arun Dutt, son of legendary director Guru Dutt, today inaugurated a three-day long Jaipur International Film Festival (JIFF) scheduled to screen 89 movies and documentaries from 21 countries.
After the lighting lamp ceremony, Dutt said in the past the short films and documentaries were neglected due to low profile technology.
But now with the technology upgradation and the internet, world has become a global village, hence such festivals should be organised inviting foreign countries in parts of the country, he added.
Bhanu (Haryana), January 29: A history of sorts was created today with the induction of the first batch of 209 women constables in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police here.
It was a big day for the 209 women recruits of the ITBP when they joined the ranks of the force that maintains border vigil over the world’s highest mountain range.
Gurgaon, January 29: Denizens in this satellite city will soon have the comforts of travelling in a Metro train with the DMRC today beginning trial runs on the much-awaited line.
Union Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy and Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda flagged off the trial runs from HUDA City Centre Metro Station.
Delhi Metro expects to inaugurate services between Qutub and Hooda City Centre by the first half of May and extend it to Jahangirpuri by June.
New Delhi, January 29: The brightest and biggest full moon of 2010 will be seen tomorrow.
The full moon tomorrow will be around 15 per cent bigger and 30 per cent brighter as compared to other full moons during the year.
“The moon will not only shine brighter but will also appear bigger as compared to other full moons during the year,” Science Popularization Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE) Director C B Devgun said.
The full moon will be at its best at around 8 PM, he said.
Dhaka, January 29: Flags of all the eight participating nations were hoisted at historical Pantha Kunja monument near the SAARC Square to mark ceremonial beginning of the 11th South Asian Games here today.
The flags were hoisted in Bengali alphabetic order with the Indian tri-colour coming fourth after Afghanistan, Nepal and Pakistan.
The Indian flag, which was hoisted by the chef-de-mission Paresh Nath Mukherjee, was followed by Bhutan, Maldives, Sri Lanka and hosts Bangladesh, respectively.
As per the protocol, the chef-de-missions of each country hoisted their respective flags.
New Delhi, January 29: Allrounder Manan Sharma, a member of India’s under-19 team, was not allowed to board his flight back home from New Zealand because his hand injury was not properly dressed.
“Manan Sharma, a member of the Indian under-19 team that was on its way back from New Zealand earlier today, was not allowed to board flight SQ 298 CHC – SIN flight. The airline refused to let him travel with his teammates as his hand injury had not been dressed properly,” BCCI Secretary N Srinivasan said in a statement.
Thiruvananthapuram, January 29: Charging the Centre of not doing anything to check the prices of essential commodities, BJP today said the increase was not just due to bad management but also a result of corruption.
“While the Congress is blaming food minister Sharad Pawar for allowing things to drift, the latter, in turn, was arguing that PM’s policies are primarily responsible for the rise,” BJP National Secretary Balbir Punj told reporters here.
Coimbatore, January 29: The creme de la creme of Indian music and dance, both Hindustani and Carnatic, would converge at Isha Yoga Centre, on the city outskirts, for a 14-day fete, beginning from tomorrow.
The festival, ‘Yaksha’, would be held in the presence of Yogi Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudeva, founder of Isha Foundation.
‘The inaugural piece would be by critically acclaimed danseuse Aditi Mangaldas and troupe, blending Kathak with a modern sensibility, M S Rajarathnam, Managing Trustee of the foundation, told reporters here today.
New Delhi, January 29: Army Chief Deepak Kapoor has refused to accept a 20 per cent hike in his pension provided on the basis of his disability suffered during service.
61-year-old Kapoor was last November found to have suffered impairment in his left ear after exposure to booming sound of artillery guns during a demonstration on anti-terror operation in the US in July last year.
Mumbai, January 29: Shiv Sena today attacked Shah Rukh Khan for lamenting exclusion of Pakistani players from IPL and dared him to take the players in his team Kolkata Knight Riders.
“If Shah Rukh wants Pakistani players to play here, he should go to Karachi and Islamabad to play with them…If he includes Pakistani players in his team, he should be aware of the consequences,” Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut told reporters here.