Kolkata, January 28: With the Trinamool Congress having announced total ”non-cooperation” with West Bengal government, it today demanded the removal of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and fresh assembly elections in the state.
The demand was made by a party”s delegation led by Leader of the Opposition Partha Chatterjee to newly appointed Governor M K Narayanan here.
Srinagar, January 28: Four persons were today mauled by a leopard in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said.
A cub had intruded into village Gagrota in Kalakote tehsil of Rajouri district and was caught by the villagers.
The leopard, who was following the cub, pounced on them and four persons were injured, they said, adding the animal later fled.
The cub was later handed over to the Wildlife Department officials by the villagers.
—PTI
Tokyo, January 28: More than two-thirds of Japanese voters are worried about Tokyo’s strained ties with ally Washington, a survey showed on Thursday, the latest sign that a row over a U.S. airbase is eroding support for Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.
The Jan. 26-27 survey by the Nikkei business daily also showed that 47 percent of voters did not back Hatoyama’s 4-month-old government, outpacing the 45 percent who did.
Ranchi, January 28: Former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda, who was grilled by the Enforcement Directorate here, has given a detailed written statement denying any involvement in the multi-crore illegal investments and hawala case registered against him.
According to jail sources, the Directorate had given to Koda a questionnaire of over 100 queries that it had prepared based on the investigations carried out by it over the last three months and the statement of Koda’s aide Vikash Sinha.
Washington, January 28:President Barack Obama, trying to save a stalled bill to fight climate change, said on Wednesday clean energy investment could power jobs growth and made no mention of creating a market in planet-warming emissions
The bill aims to cut carbon pollution by putting a price on the emissions from utilities, refineries and factories and creating a market for pollution permits. It also commits the United States to carbon reduction targets for the next 40 years.
New Delhi, January 28: The government on Thursday appointed S. Sundareshan as the new Petroleum Secretary.
Mr. Sundareshan, who currently is Special Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG), will assume office on February 1, official sources said.
He replaces R.S. Pandey who retires from service after attaining superannuation age of 60 years on January 31.
Mr. Sundareshan, 57, will be at the helms of affairs of MoPNG till his retirement on October 31, 2012.
Tegucigalpa, January 28: Porfirio Lobo was inaugurated as Honduras’ new president.
Some 30 international representatives were present at the swearing in ceremony in Tiburcio Carnas Andino National Stadium, reported.
During the ceremony, National Congress president Juan Orlando Hernandez placed the presidential band on Lobo.
‘I pledge to be faithful to the republic and ensure its laws are enforced,’ Lobo said in his oath.
‘We are ready to face the future united … I am sure that the dialogue solves everything,’ he added.
Tehran, January 28: Iran executed two people on Thursday over widespread street unrest that erupted after the Islamic Republic’s disputed presidential election in June, an Iranian agency reported.
The two were among 11 people sentenced to death on charges including moharebeh (waging war against God), trying to overthrow the Islamic establishment and membership of armed groups, the ISNA students agency said.
The executions were the first carried out for election-related incidents and may further increase tension in Iran ahead of possible new anti-government protests next month.
New Delhi, January 28: Lawyers of five district courts in the capital today called off their strike after the case pertaining to the attack on noted criminal lawyer R K Naseem was transferred to crime branch of Delhi Police. “The SHO of the police station has been sent to police lines.
Jamshedpur, January 28: A villager was shot dead and two others, including a woman, were injured by CPI(Maoists) in Ghunandi village in the wee hours today.
The victim, Sagar Mahto, along with other members of the newly floated anti-Naxal committee formed by the villagers, was on night duty when around a dozen Maoists with firearms challenged them, police said.
Muzaffarnagar, January 28: Two factory owners were allegedly killed by their workers, who later dumped the bodies in the Ganges, police said today. Om Pal (50) and his brother Mangey Ram (48) were yesterday strangled to death by two workers, Anil and Samoj, who also looted a large amount of cash, Superintendent of Police Rajiv Malhotra told reporters.
The police recovered the bodies today and efforts are on to nab the culprits, he said. Meanwhile, bodies of two persons bearing bullet injuries were found at Fugana and Itawa villages in the district, police said.
—Agencies
Mumbai, January 28: The BCCI selection committee today named Karnataka pacer Abhimanyu Mithun and West Bengal wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha in the 15 member Test squad for the first Test against South Africa.
Tamil Nadu’s Subramaniam Badrinath who has been in the fringes of the Test side for last couple of years was also named as a cover for Rahul Dravid who will not be available for the first Test against South Africa due to a fractured cheek bone and have been advised a three weeks rest.
Mumbai, January 28: Zarine Khan is the latest entrant in the B-town. However, unlike many other newbie debutants who are ever so happy to rent a quote or make holier than thou statements when it comes to skin show, Zarine chooses to walk a different path.
Instead of out rightly rejecting any tempting offers that may require her to wear a bikini, she acknowledges her limitations. She admits that given the kind of body structure that she has, she would never be able to don a bikini on screen.
Mumbai, January 28: Well, gossipmongers have already been talking about Shahid-Anushka’s special bonding, and now it seems that Shahid has really managed to impress the damsel! Yes, the ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’ actress is all set to wear some extra padding on the bum to make them look heavier.
Earlier, it was reported that heartthrob Shahid Kapoor wore ‘bum bags’ to accentuate his assets with a rotund derriere.
Kabul, January 28: Britain and the US are backing a new strategy to buy off “soft” supporters of the Taliban in a radical attempt to end nine years of war in Afghanistan. The plan, to be approved at a 60-nation conference in London today, comes amid unexpected signs of growing political support for the equally high-risk idea of talks leading to a political settlement with the Taliban leadership.
Mumbai, January 28: These days, Katrina Kaif is picking roles that will provide her the chance to prove her mettle as an actress. She is rumoured to be a part of Zoya Akhtar’s movie which stars Farhan Akhtar, Abhay Deol and Hrithik Roshan.
Colombo, January 28: The high drama staged by retired General Sarath Fonseka, main opponent of the incumbent President who was declared elected for a second time with a huge margin and the defeated candidate in the Sri Lanka Presidential election, ended on a tame note late on Wednesday night after Gen. Fonseka chose to return to his residence from a local hotel where he had taken shelter.
New Delhi, January 28: This time, she has posed for a photo shoot wrapped in the American flag, and if it is of value in terms of nonsensical records, she is the first Indian celebrity to do so.
Mallika posed for the photo-op as part of the promotional drill for her upcoming international flick, Love, Barack. Soon after the shoot, Mallika uploaded the photograph, shot by noted lensman Ash Gupta, on her Twitter page.
Nagpur, January 28: Senior Congress leader and former Union minister Vasant Sathe on Thursday asked the party high command to fulfil its promise on carving out a separate state of Vidarbha as it was “high time” to act on the issue.
“When myself and my senior colleague former Union Energy Minister N. K. P. Salve resorted to fast-unto-death pressing for statehood to Vidarbha in Nagpur on December 12, 2003, the then Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde messaged us that we have been invited by the Congress high command,” Mr. Sathe told PTI in an interview from Delhi.
Davos, January 28: French President Nicolas Sarkozy, in a broad riposte to free-market capitalism, told a room full of international bankers and CEOs just what they didn’t want to hear: Brace for bonus curbs, tighter banking regulations and new bookkeeping rules.
London, January 28: Tony Blair’s most senior legal adviser changed his mind about the legality of the Iraq war after a three-week lobbying campaign prompted by Downing Street, it has emerged.
New Delhi, January 28: The food price index rose 17.40 percent in the 12 months to Jan. 16, rising for the first time after falling for three consecutive weeks, while the fuel index was up 5.70 percent, the government said on Thursday.
The rise in food price index was higher than an annual rise of 16.81 percent in the previous week.
The annual wholesale inflation rose to 7.31 percent in December 2009, compared with 4.78 percent rise in November and 6.15 percent a year ago.
–Agencies
Hyderabad, January 28: The all-party Joint Action Committee’s (JAC) deadline for the central government to make an announcement on the formation of Telangana state ended Thursday. The legislators belonging to all the parties barring the ruling Congress are determined to quit Friday.
All eyes are on New Delhi as leaders of the Congress from Telangana are still hopeful that the government would announce in the next 24 hours a time-bound programme for carving out the separate state.
New Delhi, January 28: The food price index rose 17.40 percent in the 12 months to Jan. 16, rising for the first time after falling for three consecutive weeks, while the fuel index was up 5.70 percent, the government said on Thursday.
The rise in food price index was higher than an annual rise of 16.81 percent in the previous week.
The annual wholesale inflation rose to 7.31 percent in December 2009, compared with 4.78 percent rise in November and 6.15 percent a year ago.
—-Agencies
London, January 28: A new research carried out by the Sleep Research Centre (SRC) at Loughborough University in UK revealed that women need around 20 minutes of more sleep as compared to men.
The study also disclosed the fact that women are comparatively busier than men and they have a multi-tasking mind that requires better sleep.
Professor Jim Horne, Director of SRC said, “Women’s brains are wired differently from men’s and are more complex, so their sleep need is slightly greater.”