Month: January 2010

Headley worked for Americans and for FBI: Bhatt

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London, January 27: Rahul Bhatt, son of prominent film director Mahesh Bhatt, is “convinced” that Pakistani-American LeT operative, David Headley was working for the FBI when he was in Mumbai before the 26/11 terror attacks.

“I’m convinced Headley was working for the Americans, for the FBI. I’d nicknamed him agent Headley,” Rahul said in an interview to UK’s Channel 4.

“It was the Americans’ deepest wish to infiltrate al-Qaeda. And David did exactly that for them. I had a hunch then and I have a hunch now that he was an American agent of some sort,” Rahul said.

S M Krishna meets Miliband, discusses terrorism

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London, January 27: India and the UK today decided to coordinate their efforts to deal with the menace of terrorism as External Affairs Minister S M Krishna met his British counterpart David Miliband here.

Krishna met Miliband on the eve of a crucial meeting on Afghanistan convened by Britain.

International terrorism, including the 2008 Mumbai attacks, figured in discussions between the two leaders, sources said.

The two countries decided to coordinate their efforts to deal with the scourge of terrorism, they said.

–Agencies

Afridi takes u-turn, says not interested in IPL

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New Delhi, January 27: In a virtual u-turn, flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi today made it clear that he was “not interested” in taking part in the Indian Premier League and said mere apologies could not compensate the humiliation the Pakistani cricketers faced in the auction.

A day after a website had quoted Afridi as saying he has gotten over the anger at being “snubbed” in the IPL auction and was open to play in the Twenty20 event in future, the star cricketer today took a different and more strident stand on his availability.

Former DSP arrested in murder case

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Ropar, January 27: A retired police officer was arrested today in connection with the killing of a Panchayat Samiti member here last week.

Didar Singh, a former DSP, was nabbed after villagers and relatives of the slain panchayat functionary Netar Singh held a demonstration here demanding his arrest.

He has been sent to two days’ police custody by a local court.

Netar Singh was killed at the mini secretariat complex here last Monday over a dispute regarding the ownership of an auto showroom.

–Agencies

16 people injured in road accident due to thick fog

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New Delhi, January 27: Sixteen people, including three women, were injured when a Haryana Roadways bus rammed into a roadside tree after dense fog blinded the driver in Outer Delhi, police said today.

The bus was on its way to Haryana when the incident took place in Alipur on NH-I of Outer Delhi around 11:30 PM yesterday, a senior police officer said. All the 16 people on board the bus, including the driver and conductor, were injured in the incident.

President, PM congratulate Rajapaksa

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New Delhi, January 27: President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today congratulated Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on his re-election and expressed confidence that the country would find lasting peace in which all communities would live with dignity and harmony.

India said the peaceful polls augur well for Sri Lanka’s future and hoped the post-poll scenario would be free from violence as well.

UPA failed on inflation and security front: Advani

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Ahmedabad, January 27: Senior BJP leader L K Advani today said the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre has failed on inflation and security front.

“Not only poor people but even the middle class are facing the brunt of high prices of food items,” Advani told reporters after attending Garib Kalyan Mela in Dehgam town near here.

“The government has failed on removing poverty over the years. Moreover, it has totally failed on the front of inflation and security,” he said.

130 school students suffer food poisoning

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Ahmedabad, January 27: Over 130 students of a primary school in Junagadh district of Gujarat suffered from food poisoning after participating in mid-day meal today, police said.

The incident took place in a government-run primary school of Navadra village, they said.

“Nearly 160 students took the mid-day meal at the school today, out of which 130 complained of feeling sick,” Junagadh District Development Officer (DDO), Banchhandi Pani told PTI.

MP CM teaches yoga to school children

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Shahpur (MP), January 27: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan here today donned the mantle of a Yoga teacher in a government school in the tribal Dindori district of the state.

Chouhan after exchanging greetings with the students who were overwhelmed with his presence in their school taught them the benefits of different yoga exercises like ‘Pranayam’ and ‘Surya Namaskar’.

When the children told him that they were not aware of how to do these exercises, Chouhan performed Pranayam in the class itself and later asked them to do it in front of him.

Two-year-old run over by speeding car

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New Delhi, January 27: A two-year-old girl was killed today when she was run over by a speeding car barely 100 metres away from her residence here, police said.

The incident took place in Aman Vihar at around 10.50 am this morning when Pooja, the victim, was accompanying her parents to the neighbourhood market.

Her mother Sunita was carrying her when she and her husband Krishna were crossing the road, said Atul Katiyar, Deputy Commissioner of Police, outer Delhi.

Rupee tumbles by over 24 paise Vs dlr

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Mumbai, January 27: The Indian rupee today tumbled by 24 paise to close at a three-week low of 46.3650/3750 against the US currency following sustained capital outflows due to sluggish equities amid month-end dollar demand.

According to a forex dealer, the rupee fell mainly because of distinctly weak trend in local equities where the benchmark Sensex today crashed by nearly 491 points or 2.92 per cent. The key index had plunged by a total 1,171.26 points or 6.64 per cent in the straight six-sessions.

Sustained capital outflows put pressure on the rupee.

Padma Shri winner Saif thankful to his directors

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Mumbai, January 27: Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan is highly elated about his winning Padma Shri award for his remarkable contribution towards Indian cinema.

“I am very proud and honoured to have received this honour. I would like to thank my family and loved ones who have been there for me and the industry for supporting me,” says Saif in an excited tone.

Doctor couple robbed in Delhi

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New Delhi, January 27: A doctor couple was robbed by two unidentified bikers near BJP headquarters on Ashoka Road in the national capital when they were travelling in an autorickshaw, police sources said.

Sidharth Shankar Sahu and his wife Vipra, both doctors, were on their way to Panchkuian road in central Delhi when two bikers started trailing their auto near BJP headquarters.

After some distance, the motorcyclists waylaid them and fled with Vipra’s purse.

A case has been registered against unidentified men.

–Agencies

Clash of the unconventional: ISHQIYA v/s RANN!

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Mumbai, January 27: Two stalwarts of the Hindi film industry, Vishal Bhardwaj and Ram Gopal Varma, clash for honours at the box-office. Both the filmmakers are known for churning out some unusual and unconventional films and their latest projects too are quite anticipated and awaited by filmgoers who desire to see something different from the usual ‘masala’ fare being dished out.

Former DSP arrested in murder case

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Ropar, January 27: A retired police officer was arrested today in connection with the killing of a Panchayat Samiti member here last week.

Didar Singh, a former DSP, was nabbed after villagers and relatives of the slain panchayat functionary Netar Singh held a demonstration here demanding his arrest.

He has been sent to two days’ police custody by a local court.

Netar Singh was killed at the mini secretariat complex here last Monday over a dispute regarding the ownership of an auto showroom.

–Agencies

Katrina: Salman looked after me

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Mumbai, January 27: Salman Khan may have cast Zarine Khan as the princess in VEER, but it is his real life girl Katrina Kaif, who actually looks like a princess for sure.

Katrina is Karan Johar’s celebrity guest this week on Sony’s Lift Kara De… and she definitely “lifted” the show with her presence.

She is fun, she is sporting and for once she isn’t all that politically correct.

To Karan’s probing questions there are candid answers.

What’s in a name Vidya?

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Mumbai, January 27: Why is Vidya Malvade fuming at all and sundry? It seems that too many people have been mixing her up with Vidya Balan!

Recently at the STRIKER shoot, Vidya’ husband had been sending her flowers every day. This had become a daily ritual and the unit of STRIKER knew that if there was a flower delivery guy around it was most probably for Vidya.

—Agencies

Fog effect: 49 trains cancelled, 42 rescheduled

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New Delhi, January 27: Dense fog in parts of north India once again threw train schedules out of gear with the Railways cancelling 49 trains and rescheduling 42 others today.

Over 60 trains arrived in the capital several hours behind schedule, a Railways official said.

Lucknow Shatabdi was among the trains cancelled. The Bhopal Shatabdi, North East Express and all Rajdhani trains, including the trains to Howrah, Rajendra Nagar (Patna) and Sealdah were rescheduled.

Meanwhile, Northern Railway has opened special counters to cater to passengers cancelling their tickets.

After Hrithik, Anurag Basu to direct Abhishek

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Mumbai, January 27: After KITES with Hrithik Roshan, filmmaker Anurag Basu now ropes in Abhishek Bachchan for his next.

The latest news to hit the scene is Anurag Basu’s decision to cast Abhishek Bachchan in the lead for his next film which will be produced by none other than good friend Goldie Behl (who last directed DRONA starring Abhishek Bachchan).

After his latest KITES Anurag Basu is ready to take on filming at an even bigger scale with support of producer Goldie Behl.

Ranbir spends ‘amazing’ moments with NBA stars

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New Delhi, January 27: Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor has spent some “amazing” moments with the United States’ National Basketball Association cagers and NBA star Kobe Bryant gifted the Indian actor his favourite pair of sneakers.

The actor, who was thrilled to meet the basketball stars, received a warm welcome from Bryant and the latter gifted the sneakers to the him after a match against the New York Knicks on January 22, a release said today.

Country wide pre-release media screening for RANN

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Mumbai, January 27: Press screenings for about-to-be-released films isn’t a new phenomenon. For years, media has been shown Bollywood films in advance so that they can roll out reviews to coincide with the theatrical release. However, majority of these press screenings are metro centric and happen primarily in Mumbai and Delhi. For his film RANN though, Ram Gopal Varma is creating history by organizing special screenings of the film across the country for media a day before the release of the film.

AVATAR beats TITANIC at the global box office!!

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London, January 27: Epic action adventure AVATAR sunk the global box office record set in 1997 by TITANIC to become the highest grossing film of all time.

On Monday, January 25th, AVATAR touched $1.859 billion, officially passing TITANIC ($1.843 billion) to become the Industry’s Biggest Film in history at the Worldwide Box Office.

The milestone cements the place of Cameron, who produced, directed and wrote both TITANIC and AVATAR as the most successful moviemaker of all time.

Salman’s VEER grosses 41 crores in its opening weekend

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Mumbai, January 27: Eros International announced that Salman Khan starrer – VEER in its opening weekend, has had gross collections of Rs. 41 crores worldwide at the box office. VEER did a first weekend business of Rs. 32 crores (Rs. 19.50 crores net) in India with Rs. 9 crores coming in from overseas. Salman’s last hit WANTED netted Rs. 17.25 crores for the same period.

Abhishek plays ‘Hide & Seek’ with Vivek Oberoi

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Mumbai, January 27: Abhishek Bachchan and Vivek Oberoi were together…under one roof. And the occasion being the music launch of Apoorva Lakhia’s film HIDE & SEEK recently held at a posh hotel of Mumbai.

But the duo perfectly timed their arrival to avoid bumping into each other.

—Agencies

Madhur Bhandarkar off to Washington for a whirlwind trip

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New Delhi, January 27: Film maker Madhur Bhandarkar isn’t resting. After travelling to Ajmer Sharif to thank the almighty for two more National Awards that have been attached to his name (courtesy FASHION), the film maker has now left for Washington for a quick trip. He would be there on 30th January, 2010 as a Cultural Ambassador and Guest of Honour in a function organized by Indian community to celebrate India’s 60th year of independence. Madhur will share the stage with Honorable Governor of Washington, Senators, Congressmen and Community convener.