Month: January 2010

Three-Idiot fever rubs on Telangana protestors

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New Delhi, January 05:’3 Idiots’ fever rubbed off even on pro-Telangana protesters who used the publicity posters of the Aamir Khan starrer today in a bid to generate some effect.

The images of the heads of actors–Aamir, R Madhavan and Sharman Joshi–were substituted with TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu, Praja Rajya Party chief Chiranjeevi and Congress MP from Vijaywada L Rajagopal as the protesters carried the posters into the high-security area in the Capital.

Ward boy sexually abuses woman in nursing home

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Haldwani (Uttarakhand), January 05: A woman has been allegedly sexually abused at a nursing home here by its ward boy who has been arrested, police said today.

The woman, who was under treatment at the private nursing home for her fractured leg, was allegedly sexually abused by Jeevan Singh last night.

According to complaint registered by the victim’s husband, Singh had asked him fetch some medicines when the incident happened, police said.

The ward boy was arrested today, they said

–Agencies

Political leaders appeal for peace in Andhra Pradesh (Lead) Text

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New Delhi, January 05: Representatives of the eight political parties from Andhra Pradesh who met Home Minister P. Chidambaram Tuesday to deliberate on a mechanism to break the logjam on the issue of statehood to Telangana have appealed for peace and law and order in the state.

“We have expressed our views at the meeting and they have been noted by the central government,” said the leaders in a brief joint statement.

“Meanwhile, it is our earnest appeal that peace, harmony, and law and order should be maintained in the state.”

How the State Manufactures a Terrorist

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An acclaimed writer digs into the story of Afzal Guru, who’s on death row

THE reason I had come to Kashmir was to meet Tabassum Guru, the wife of Mohammad Afzal Guru, who is on death row for his role in the attack on the Indian Parliament.

However, when I reached her in Sopore, north of Srinagar, she waved me away saying she had no desire to meet with journalists.

Mohammad Afzal Guru was the main accused in the attack on the Parliament.

Welegedara curbs Indian score to 279

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Dhaka, January 05: Indian batting order has put some satisfactory score against Sri-Lanka, where the opponent has to chase score of 280 runs to win the second ODI in the Idea cup. Yuvraj Singh has scored maximum runs by contributing 74, and helpful hand of Sehwag 47, propelled thescore to 279 for the loss of nine wickets.

Welegedara was the prominent wicket taker from the Lankan side, who has taken five wickets by sparing 66 runs. More was anticipated from the Indian batsmen, but didn’t turn up in sufficient manner, and lankans succeed to restrict thescore under 300 runs.
–Agencies

Protest outside North Block, 21 detained

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Hyderabad, January 05: Nine MLAs and an MP from Andhra Pradesh are among 21 protestors taken into preventive custody on Tuesday when about 100 activists gathered at high-security North Block violating prohibitory orders, as a meeting on Telengana issue was being held in the Home Ministry.

Catching the security officials off-guard in the VVIP area, the anti and pro-Telengana protestors gathered before the building and raised slogans.

At least 1,000 people homeless on Solomons after tsunami

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Honiara, January 05: Landslides and a tsunami unleashed by a major earthquake destroyed some 200 houses on one Solomon island
, leaving about one-third of the population homeless, a disaster management official said Tuesday.

Visual assessments from the air showed extensive damage on a remote western island after a 7.2-magnitude temblor struck near the Pacific Solomon Islands on Monday, said disaster management office director Loti Yates.

Akmal said ‘sorry mate’ three times – Kaneria

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Melbourne, January 05: Danish Kaneria had a good day but it could’ve been better. He took 4 for 117 in a familiar marathon spell, leading Pakistan as close to a Test victory against Australia as they have been in 15 years.

Yet he could’ve had more; four catches were dropped of his bowling, of which he was at fault for one. A familiar name was at fault for the other three.

Telengana meeting over, deadlock continues

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New Delhi, January 05: The multi-party meeting chaired by union Home Minister P. Chidambaram to discuss statehood for Telangana ended in a logjam Tuesday with no consensus on the controversial issue.

TRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao, who is spearheading the agitation for a separate Telangana state to be carved out of Andhra Pradesh, said no decision was taken at the meeting. “We are waiting for the final response” from the central government, he told reporters.

WFP suspends operations in much of southern Somalia

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Nairobi, January 05: The UN’s World Food Program (WFP) has suspended its work in much of southern Somalia due to threats against its staff and unacceptable demands by al Shabaab rebels controlling the area, a WFP spokesman said on Tuesday.

The WFP has been central to international efforts to address an acute humanitarian crisis in the drought- and conflict-torn Horn of Africa nation. Experts say half the population need aid.

Chris Cairns removed from IPL auction list

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Wellington, January 05: The IPL has removed Chris Cairns from its auction list over what it said were allegations of match-fixing when the player was with the ICL. Cairns was among the players available for auction when the list was released last week but his name has now been taken off.

“The [IPL] governing council has decided against keeping him on the list,” Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, told Cricinfo. “We have removed him from the list for his alleged allegation [sic] as we have zero tolerance for this kind of stuff.”

Anil Sharma: I want everyone to look at VEER positively

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Mumbai, January 05: Release of VEER is round the corner (22nd January) and the Salman Khan starrer has started creating good buzz at just the right time.

Director Anil Sharma is also relieved that finally the film is being talked about for all the right reasons when earlier (during last couple of years) there were some stories about his so-called problems with Salman spread around, film’s working stills leaked into media as well as false stories being spread around the film’s budget.

Mahatma Gandhi is son of Africa, says Zambian speaker

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New Delhi, January 05: Mahatma Gandhi is the son of Africa and was also influenced by the principles of non-violence during his days spent in that continent, said Amusaa K. Mwanamwambwa, Speaker of the Zambian National Assembly, here.

‘He (Gandhi) is the son of Africa. We also share with India the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi,’ Mwanamwambwa told IANS on the sidelines of the Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of Commonwealth Countries (CSPOC) Tuesday.

Sensex surges over 127 pts, reaches 23-month high

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Mumbai, January 05: The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark index Sensex today surged by over 127 points to touch a 23-month high on sustained buying by funds in heavyweight stocks led by metals, mostly copper and aluminium stocks.

The Sensex had a gap-up opening of over 171 points today and closed the day with a gain of 127.51 points to close at 17,686.24, a level seen in February 2008.

The key index touched the day’s high of 17,729.78. This is the second consecutive rally of the market after the first trading session of the year yesterday when the index gained94.

Iran repeats offer for ‘gradual’ nuclear fuel swap

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Tehran, January 05: Iran repeated today its counter-proposal for a staged swap of its low enriched uranium (LEU) for nuclear fuel from abroad for a research reactor, leaving “details” open to discussion.

“If the other side expresses readiness for the gradual and staged swap, we will discuss the details,” foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters.

Iran has rejected an offer drawn up by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) aimed at allaying fears about Tehran’s nuclear drive by shipping most of its LEU stockpile abroad to be further enriched into reactor fuel.

Genelia on Laughter Ke Phatke

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Mumbai, January 05: Genelia D’Souza showed her pearlies on Laughter Ke Phatke episode which was aired on Monday night. She also pramoted her new film Chance Pe Dance on the show.

“The viewers of Laughter Ke Phatke will be in for pleasant surprise to see Genelia as celebrity guest of tonight’s episode. She will also shake her leg to one of the songs of Chance Pe Dance. She was impressed by the contestants.

Sania Mirza starts 2010 with a win in ASB Classic

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Auckland, January 05: Sania Mirza made a winning start to the new season, getting the better of Swiss Stefanie Voegele in a hard-fought first round encounter of the USD 220,000 ASB Clascic WTA tournament here today.

The 57th ranked Indian came from behind to beat her opponent, placed 18 places below her in the ranking chart, 5-7 6-1 7-5 in opening round of the hard court event.

Sania has a tough pre-quarterfinal opponent in fourth seed and world number 17 Francesca Schiavone of Italy, who beat French Stephanie Cohen-Aloro 6-2 6-3 in her first round match.

Omar wants Centre to hold talks on autonomy

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Srinagar, January 05: Stepping into the second year in office as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah today said the Centre should initiate dialogue with political parties in the state on the issue of autonomy.

He also feels that the quiet diplomacy launched by Union Home Minister P Chidambaram by talking to separatists including Hurriyat Conference would be sustained and would find a lasting solution to Kashmir issue.

‘Pak terror groups have strategic intent to strike India’

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Washington, January 05: Pakistan-based terror groups have a “strategic intent” to launch major new attacks on the Indian soil to trigger a conflict between the two countries, according to a US intelligence and security think-tank.

In its annual forecast released today, Stratfor predicted that 2010 might see the US intensifying its drone strikes in Pakistan as the bulk of the al Qaeda leadership is believed to be hiding there.

Youth commits suicide after his mother’s insistance to work

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Puducherry, January 05: Irate over his mother pressurising him to continue his job, a 25-year-old youth allegedly committed suicide by hanging at his house early today.

Police said Bhaskaran(25), son of a Rajnivas employee, Ezhumalai, an attender with a private engineering college, at Kirumambakkam abstained from his work for a few days and was sitting idle in his house.

The youth’s mother Suseela reportedly scolded him for this action and presurised him to attend his work, following which he hanged himself by using a sari of Suseela.

I’m not getting married to anyone: Genelia

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Mumbai, January 05: Genelia D’Souza is upset with rumours of her wedding with actor Riteish Deshmukh. The actress says she isn’t getting married to anyone for the time being.

‘To set the record straight, I am not getting married to anyone. I have always maintained that my personal life is not something I would like to discuss. But this time since it was something that would affect my family, I decided to take a stand,’ said Genelia in a statement released here Tuesday.

Shilpa to bring Bollywood glamour to beleagured British parliament

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London, January 05: The British parliament, down in the dumps over a long-running expenses scandal, is set to brighten up to a touch of Indian glamour Wednesday when it hosts a wedding dinner in honour of Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty and her husband Raj Kundra.

The dinner at the House of Commons is to be hosted by Keith Vaz, Britain’s longest serving MP of Indian origin, and is expected to be attended by prominent British MPs and ministers led by the Leader of the House of Commons and Equality Minister Harriet Harman.

Donald in line for India’s bowling coach

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New Delhi, January 05: Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s recent demand to bring in a bowling coach for the Indian team has already grabbed the BCCI’s attention and former South African pacer Alan Donald has emerged as the front-runner for the job, although no confirmation has been received so far.

On October 15, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) sacked Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh as the bowling and fielding coaches respectively, after India’s lacklusture performance in both the departments.

Eight steel workers die in China

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Beijing, January 05: Eight workers died after falling unconscious while working in a steel plant in China’s northeastern Liaoning province, an official said Tuesday.

The workers fainted Monday evening while repairing an electrical device in a small underground workshop in the plant in Dalian city, Xinhua reported.

Preliminary blood tests showed no sign of electrocution but there were signs of carbon monoxide and other unidentified gases in the blood, said a local official.

—Agencies

Kalyan floats new party, ends speculation on BJP return

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Lucknow, January 05: Ending speculation about his return to BJP, its former leader Kalyan Singh floated a new political outfit – Jan Kranti Party – on the occasion of his 77th birthday.

“Respecting the sentiments of my supporters, who suggested that instead of joining any other party we should have our own organisation, I today announce to float the new party,” Singh told reporters in Lucknow.

He made the announcement nearly two months after parting ways with SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav.