Month: January 2010

I don’t see myself winning Grammy: Ustad Zakir Hussain

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Mumbai, January 29: Tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain has said that Grammy nominations for three Indians including himself is a proof that the world is recognising Indian art but the veteran is not too sure of himself grabbing a trophy.

“Three Indian representations for Grammy nominations is incredible and something that has never happened before,” Zakir told PTI.

But, he feels Ustad Amjad Ali Khan who has been nominated in the best traditional world music category for “Ancient Sounds” made in collaboration with Iraqi Oud Soloist Rahim Alhaj has a good chance of winning.

Five persons killed in mishap

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Badaun (UP), Jan 29 (PTI) Five persons were killed and 11 injured in a head-on collision between a bus and a car at Saidpur here today.

The condition of three of the injured is serious and they have been rushed to a Bareilly hospital, police said.

–Agencies

Mohammad Sami upbeat about future

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Sydney, January 29: Mohammad Sami, the Pakistan fast bowler, is upbeat about his international prospects after returning to the national side for the second Test against Australia in Sydney.

The Test was Sami’s first in more than two years – he had participated in the ICL in the interim – and he impressed in the first innings, taking 3 for 27 to help his team bowl out Australia for 127.

However, he was left out of the third and final Test in Hobart but Sami, though disappointed, claimed he was a much-improved bowler and had the wherewithal to succeed at the highest level.

Hussey, Hauritz swing Australia to 277

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Adelaide, January 29: Pakistan battled and battled as they have through the entire series, but let Australia get away at a critical stage once again on a hot day at the WACA, as contrasting fifties from Michael Hussey and Nathan Hauritz took them to a challenging 277.

For much of the innings control was a loose concept. Every time Pakistan struck, an Australian partnership settled in. But every time a partnership or batsman threatened to take over, Pakistan struck, so that momentum never rested decisively with either side.

Salman Khan’s bodyguard misleading fans

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Mumbai, January 29: Salman Khan’s bodyguard, Shera, is using the star to his advantage. Salman’s female fans are misled and made to believe that in order to meet Salman, they need to be nice to Shera.

Salman seems to be unaware about this at present but Shera thinks he is a bigger star than Salman. Earlier, Shera had been sacked for the same reason.

We hope the actor realizes that Shera’s doing this, lest his innocent female fans get deceived.

——Agencies

UN deadline for Gaza war report expires Friday

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London, January 29: The UN General Assembly’s three-month deadline for its internal report on the 22-day Israeli war on the Gaza Strip will expire on Friday.

The General Assembly has already endorsed an investigation, headed by South African Judge Richard Goldstone, on Israel’s onslaught in December 2008 and January 2009.

The 575-page report drew criticism from Israel and its ally, the US, for highlighting the Israeli army’s deliberate targeting of civilians on the run and striking edifices known to be hosting civilian assemblies, among other crimes.

Aishwarya Rai To Groove On Amitabh Bachchan Apni To Jaise Taise

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Mumbai, January 29: Latest Bollywood News Remember the yesteryear’s Amitabh Bachchan chartbuster ‘Apni to jaise taise, thodi aise ya waise’ that got the nation crooning? The song that became an instant rage in the early 80s is all set to be re-created with none other than Amitabh’s daughter-in-law Aishwarya.

Aussie cash for Taliban converts

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Canberra, January 29: AUSTRALIA last night announced $100 million in new civilian funding for Afghanistan, including $25m for a new fund to reward Taliban fighters who lay down their arms.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith unveiled the funding at an international conference in London as Western powers strived to revive the flagging process of stabilising Afghanistan.

Indo-Pak can’t afford war, must talk

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New Delhi, January 29: India and Pakistan should resume their dialogue as neither can afford a war, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousef Raza Gilani said Thursday in an interview to an Indian television channel.

Referring to the Mumbai terrorist attack of November 2008, Gilani said: ‘If we are hostage to one incident then the beneficiaries are terrorists and, therefore, we should move ahead.’

Israel kills top Hamas commander in Dubai

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Gaza, January 29: Israel has assassinated a senior Hamas military commander in Dubai, an official in the Palestinian Islamist group said on Friday.

Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was killed on Jan. 20, Izzat al-Rishq told .

“I cannot reveal the circumstances. We are working with the authorities in the United Arab Emirates,” said Rishq, who is a member of Hamas’s politburo.

Rishq said Mabhouh was an “important” member of Izz el-Deen al- Qassam brigades, Hamas’s military wing named after a Syrian religious leader who fought British colonial forces in Palestine in the 1930s.

Snow and rains hit parts of Jammu and Kashmir

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Srinagar, January 29: Breaking nearly a month-long dry spell, parts of Jammu and Kashmir today received snow and rains. The upper reaches of Kashmir valley including the famous hill resort of Gulmarg and Kupwara received snowfall while rains lashed plains this morning, Met department said.

Five persons killed in mishap

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Badaun (UP), January 29: Five persons were killed and 11 injured in a head-on collision between a bus and a car at Saidpur here today.

The condition of three of the injured is serious and they have been rushed to a Bareilly hospital, police said.

—PTI

Lalu, Rabri upbeat after success of Bihar shutdown

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Patna, January 29: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasasd and his wife Rabri Devi are elated with the overwhelming success of the dawn-to-dusk statewide shutdown called by the party to protest rising prices of essential items. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, on the other hand, said Thursday’s shutdown was opposed to development.

“Yes, we are happy that, after all, people’s anger was reflected and evident with the total success of the shutdown in Bihar,” Lalu Prasad told IANS here Friday.

He added that the shutdown was supported by the people.

I don”t see myself winning Grammy: Ustad Zakir Hussain

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Mumbai, January 29: Tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain has said that Grammy nominations for three Indians including himself is a proof that the world is recognising Indian art but the veteran is not too sure of himself grabbing a trophy.

“Three Indian representations for Grammy nominations is incredible and something that has never happened before,” Zakir told PTI. But, he feels Ustad Amjad Ali Khan who has been nominated in the best traditional world music category for “Ancient Sounds” made in collaboration with Iraqi Oud Soloist Rahim Alhaj has a good chance of winning.

Nationality of a cricketer doesn’t matter to me: Aamir

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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.

Blair faces grilling on Iraq war choices

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London, January 29: Former Prime Minister Tony Blair faces harsh questioning on Friday on the 2003 decision to invade Iraq — the fateful decision blamed by many for cutting short his political career.

Mr. Blair’s testimony is expected to provide the highlight of the Iraq Inquiry, a wide-ranging investigation of the behind-the-scenes machinations that brought Britain into a costly and unpopular war. The audience will include family members of soldiers and civilians killed or missing in Iraq.

BJP upset as Jharkhand refuses CBI probe against Koda

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Ranchi, January 29: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a key partner of the Shibu Soren government in Jharkhand, is unhappy over the decision not to hand over the money laundering scam case involving former chief minister Madhu Koda to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

“The state government’s decision is a shameful act and unfortunate. BJP will take up the issue with the central party leaders,” senior BJP leader Saryu Rai told reporters.

Genelia to endorse fairness cream

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New Delhi, January 29: Bollywood actress Genelia D’Souza, who shot to fame with “Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na”, has joined Deepika Padukone and Sonam Kapoor in signing up as the face of a fairness cream brand.
She will now endorse Garnier’s new product Garnier Light, said a press release from the firm.

Williams sisters win 4th Australian Open doubles title

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Melbourne, January 29: The mighty Williams sisters — Venus and Serena — won the women’s doubles title at the Austrlian Open for the fourth time on Friday after beating Zimbabwe’s Cara Black and America’s Liezel Huber 6-4, 6-3 in the final.

Venus and Serena are the reigning Aussie Open champs, having beaten Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova and Japanese Ai Sugiyama in last year’s women’s doubles finale.

The super sisters now own 11 major doubles titles, three of which came last year.

—Agencies

Penelope, Javier to rebuild schools in Haiti

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London, January 29: Hollywood couple Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem are digging deep to help the victims of earthquake-ravaged Haiti. They’ve each promised to donate $50,000-a-year until 2015 to rebuild the country’s schools.

The Spanish stars joined British writer-director Paul Haggis at his Los Angeles home, Sunday, when he hosted a celebrity brunch for his charitable organisation Artists for Peace and Justice to raise funds for Haiti, reported hollywood.com.

3G spectrum auction put off to next fiscal

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New Delhi, January 29: The government has postponed auction of spectrum for 3G telephony to the next fiscal. The auction 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 a member of the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM), has opined that the auction should he held when the spectrum is available.

Telecom Minister A. Raja could not be contacted immediately for his comments. Officials, however, said that the auction is expected to take place in August-September this year.

Jharkhand files chargesheet against Madhu Koda

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Ranchi, January 29: The Jharkhand vigilance bureau Friday filed a chargesheet against former chief minister Madhu Koda and ex-minister Kamlesh Singh and accused them of possessing assets four times more than their known sources of income.

“We have filed chargesheet against Koda and Singh in a disproportionate assets case,” Jharkhand vigilance bureau Inspector General of Police M.V. Rao told IANS.

‘Salman, his family looked after me’, Katrina

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Mumbai, January 29: Katrina Kaif might be frustrated over Salman Khan’s over-possessive nature but the actress could not get out of the relationship because it was Salman Khan and his family and friends who supported her in every way during her struggling days in Bollywood.

And this truth has come from the horse mouth Katrina Kaif itself.

Katrina might be very diplomatic about her relationship with Sallu Miya but she cannot totally cut ties from him for the help and support that he has landed to her when she was ignorant about Hindi film industry.

RBI on warpath against inflation; raises CRR by 75 bps

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New Delhi, January 29: In a “harsher-than-expected” move, the country’s central bank on Friday raised the Cash Reserve Ratio by 75 basis points (bps), making a strong pitch for the government’s fight against rising inflation.

The CRR, or the portion of deposits banks are required to park with the apex bank, will be hiked in two stages — 50 basis points from February 13 and another 25 basis from February 27 – from the present 5 percent, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor D Subbarao told the chief executives of commercial banks here.

I don’t see myself winning Grammy: Ustad Zakir Hussain

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Mumbai, January 29: Tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain has said that Grammy nominations for three Indians including himself is a proof that the world is recognising Indian art but the veteran is not too sure of himself grabbing a trophy.

“Three Indian representations for Grammy nominations is incredible and something that has never happened before,” Zakir told PTI.

But, he feels Ustad Amjad Ali Khan who has been nominated in the best traditional world music category for “Ancient Sounds” made in collaboration with Iraqi Oud Soloist Rahim Alhaj has a good chance of winning.