Month: January 2010

Exclusive wine club for women

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New Delhi, January 31: Want to chill out with a glass of wine with like-minded women and learn more about the drink that is fast catching the fancy of discerning Indians? Welcome to the Wine Women and Wit (W3) club, meant exclusively for women who want to know more about wine and enjoy it too.

Dharti Desai, founder and CEO of Finewinesnmore, an importer and distributor of wine, along with Chandni Dhall, entrepreneur, formed this club to create awareness about wine by organising events where wine experts will throw light on the art of wine making.

Archaeologists trace millennium-old Maya culture

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Mexico City, January 31: Archaeologists in Mexico have claimed to have found a sarcophagus belonging to a nearly thousand-year-old Maya civilisation.

The researchers at the Mayan acropolis of Tonina working in the jungles of the southern state of Chiapas discovered a sarcophagus which could help clear up the mystery of the fall of the Maya civilisation.

Juan Yadeun, who heads the team in Ocosingo, said that the sarcophagus measures two metres long, 70 cm wide and 60 cm deep, and it is similar to the “Red Queen” discovered in 1994 in Palenque, Chiapas.

Seven killed in Afghanistan fighting

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Kabul, January 30: Four Afghan army soldiers were killed in a clash with US Special Forces in central Afghanistan, while two US soldiers and one civilian were killed in eastern region, officials said Saturday.

The ‘friendly fire’ incident occurred when the Afghan army troops clashed with US soldiers returning from a nighttime operation in the central province of Wardak early Saturday, a spokesman for the provincial governor said.

No more controversies please, says Vivek Oberoi

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Mumbai, January 30: Vivek Oberoi is clearly not happy about being tagged as a ‘stalker’ or a ‘gatecrasher’ and says he is ‘genuinely sick’ of all controversies.

‘Suddenly I’m a stalker one day and one day I’m a gatecrasher. Mela laga hua hai kya (Is it a fair of controversies)? Will anybody say anything and walk away? What nonsense is this? It’s very irresponsible and I completely disapprove of it. It’s rubbish. If there was an element of truth in this, I can understand. But this is nonsense,’ Vivek told IANS.

Taliban say no decision yet on Karzai offer of talks

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Kabul, January 30: Taliban leaders have no immediate answer to President Hamid Karzai’s offer of talks with the Afghan government but will respond soon, a militant spokesman said on Friday, after Karzai invited them to a peace council.

In the country’s south, suicide attackers launched an assault in the capital of Helmand, Afghanistan’s most violent province, with gunmen holed up in three buildings, battling government and NATO troops who returned fire with helicopter strikes.

Gandhi and Modi both work for the poor: Gadkari

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Porbandar, January 30: On his first visit to Gujarat as BJP president, Nitin Gadkari today drew parallels between the Mahatma Gandhi and Narendra Modi, saying both believed that politics was an instrument to alleviate poverty. Gadkari, whose visit coincides with the 61st death anniversary of Mahatma, also said that Gandhi and BJP”s founding father Deen Dayal Upadhyaya believed in the same ideals of national unity and equality.

Saif Ali Khan defends his Padma Shri

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New Delhi, January 30: Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan”s name in the list of Padma Shri awardees may have raised some eyebrows but the star says that he deserves the honour and will try his best to live up to it. “If you look at the awardees over the last couple of years, all of them have not exactly invented a nuclear bomb,” the actor told a news channel.

Magician Hrithik Roshan teaches cool tricks to his kids

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Mumbai, January 30: Hrithik Roshan, who will be seen as a magician for his forthcoming flick ‘Guzaarish’ is now teaching some cool magic tricks to his kids.

Right from Dilip Kumar who played sitar in ‘Azad’ to Shabana Azmi who learnt Carnatic sangeet for ‘Morning Raga,’ actors have acquired various skills in order to get into the skin of their characters. Hrithik Roshan learnt the craft of magic for his forthcoming flick ‘Guzaarish’ from a Ukrainian magician.

Al Qaeda group claims crime lab bombing in Baghdad

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Baghdad, January 30: An al Qaeda front group in Iraq claimed responsibility on Saturday for a suicide car bombing earlier this week at Baghdad’s main crime lab that killed at least 22 people.

The claim for the Tuesday blast, posted on militant Web sites, was the second this week from the Islamic State of Iraq. The group previously said it carried out suicide car bombings at three Baghdad hotels on Monday that claimed at least 41 lives.

‘New ideas’ raised on Iran nuclear fuel: Iran FM

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Tehran, January 30: Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has said “new ideas” on the supply of nuclear fuel to Iran were raised in talks with French and Brazilian officials in Davos, reports said on Saturday.

Mottaki also said that Tehran’s own ideas on the exchange of its low-enriched uranium for higher-enriched fuel remain on the table, Iranian media reported from the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort.

China suspends military exchanges with US

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Beijing, January 30: Chinese state media says the Defence Ministry is suspending military exchanges with the United States over its planned USD 6.4 billion arms sale to neighbouring Taiwan.

The state-run Xinhua News Agency says the suspension of the scheduled visits by military personnel is because of the “bad impact” of the weapons deal on the two countries’ military relations.

China has already warned the United States the planned arms sale would harm overall relations.

Details of the arms sale were posted on Friday on a Pentagon Web site.

Maoists open fire in West Bengal village, three injured

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Kolkata, January 30: Three villagers were injured when armed Maoist guerrillas attacked a local club in West Midnapore district of West Bengal, police said Saturday.

Eight rebels opened fire at the villagers late Friday when they assembled to see a folk theatre arranged in the premises of a local club. The incident took place at Dhanshola village under Shalboni police station.

Gujarat’s top cop wants apex court remark against her deleted

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New Delhi, January 30: Gujarat Police’s Inspector General Geetha Johri has moved the Supreme Court for deletion of some of the court’s critical remarks against her during her probe into Sohrabuddin Sheikh killing case.

Ujjain man Sohrabuddin Sheikh was killed in a staged gunbatle by a Gujarat police team near Ahmedabad in November 2005. The state police then claimed Soharabuddin was a terrorist and planned to kill Chief Minister Narandra Modi. His wife Kausar Bi and family friend Tulsiram Prajapati, witnesses to the killing, were subsequently eliminated.

Resume dialogue with Pakistan, PDP urges centre

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Jammu, January 30: Jammu and Kashmir’s main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Saturday asked the central government to resume the dialogue with Pakistan without any delay, saying that would be the only positive response to the yearnings for peace of the people of the state.

Jammu and Kashmir legislators to get laptops

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Jammu, January 30: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has cleared a proposal to give laptops to all the legislators of the state.

The laptops will enable the legislators to check records of their constituencies at any time and at any place, an official said.

“This is a move that has been mooted by the Chief Minister,” he added.

The Chief Minister and his aides carry laptops and use them to stay updated on issues such as electricity requirement to road connectivity to villages.

India continues to be on terror radar: US

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Washington, January 30: The US continues to receive information about terrorist groups planning attacks against India, the State Department has said and advised its nationals to be alert during their travel to the country in the coming months.

“The Department of State alerts US citizens to ongoing security concerns in India. The US government continues to receive information that terrorist groups may be planning attacks in India,” the US State Department said in its latest terror alert.

‘Pak intel behind counterfeit Indian currency racket’

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Dhaka, January 30: Pakistani intelligence is involved in marketing counterfeit currency in India and Bangladesh to patronise militant groups like LeT for their cross-border operations, a media report here claimed on Saturday.

Quoting Bangladeshi police and intelligence agencies, the mass circulation Prothom Alo newspaper said several detained suspected members involved in such activities said a Pakistani intelligence agency patronised them and their operations were being regulated from Karachi.

French PM seeking a law banning full Islamic veil

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Paris, January 30: French Prime Minister Francois Fillon has asked France’s top court to help the government draft a law banning the full Islamic veil, his office said.

The government’s move comes three days after a French Parliament report called for a ban on the burqa and niqab, saying Muslim women who fully cover their heads and faces pose an “unacceptable” challenge to French values.

Delhi Police pulled up over firing near PM residence

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New Delhi, January 30: Delhi police has been pulled up by the top brass of the security agencies for reportedly trying to cover up an incident of firing in the vicinity of the Prime Minister’s residence here.

Official sources said the Home Ministry has sought a detailed report from the local police over the incident, which happened on January 28.

They said the top brass of the agencies have asked the Delhi Police why it did not keep them informed about the incident.

I feel lonely inside: SRK

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Mumbai, January 30: Thanks to his irrepressible sense of humour, Shah Rukh Khan comes across as an easy going person. But in real life the Bollywood star is little different and one of the things he is extremely finicky about is his socks.

“I have a strange attachment to socks. They should feel right. I could be missing a flight, but if my socks are wrong, I have to take them off… I won’t wear nylon socks with sneakers. The only time I get disturbed during shooting is over my socks. I hate brown socks and different-coloured socks,” said Shah Rukh said in an interview to a magazine.

Maoists in J’khand agree to conditional talks

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Ranchi, January 30: Stating that it would not lay down arms, banned CPI (Maoist) on Saturday said that it was open to talks with the Jharkhand government provided the ban over it was lifted along with the release of its cadres.

The outfit’s self-styled spokesman Gopalji said in a release, “Stop fake encounters, book policemen responsible for such encounters and compensate victims. Withdraw para-military forces from villages.”

The release demanded release of Maoist Politburo members Shushil Ray, Sheela and Amitabh Bagchi and others.

Afghan Taliban deny meeting with UN

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Kabul, January 30: The Taliban on Saturday denied reports that their representatives met with a UN official to discuss prospects for peace in Afghanistan, calling them “futile and baseless” rumours.

The UN in Afghanistan has not confirmed the meeting between the Taliban and the world body’s local chief, Norwegian diplomat Kai Eide.

But US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Eide, who is leaving his post within weeks, wanted to “get his own conclusion about the mindset of some of the Taliban members.”

Suicide blast kills 9, injures 15 in Pakistan

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Peshawar, January 30: A suicide bomber on Saturday blew himself up in a crowded market in Pakistan’s Bajaur tribal region, killing nine persons and injuring 15 others.

The bomber detonated his explosives when he was stopped by security personnel at a check post in the main market in Khar, the headquarters of Bajaur Agency, witnesses said.

Witnesses and local officials said nine persons, including two security personnel, were killed in the attack. Fifteen others, including several security personnel, were injured.

SP rebel leader Amar Singh woos Mayawati

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New Delhi, January 30: Trying to warm up to Mayawati, rebel SP leader Amar Singh on Saturday said the BSP supremo has proved herself against all odds and he can understand her “pain” when she was “humiliated” by Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Stating that he was not without alternatives, Singh, who has been sparring with his SP detractors ever since he quit key party posts, also heaped praise on Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Both Mayawati and Gandhi have “proved themselves against all odds”, Singh, who is under pressure to quit his Rajya Sabha seat, said.

Committee on Telangana issue should stick to Dec 9 prog: JAC

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Hyderabad, January 30: The committee proposed to be appointed by the Centre to go into Telangana issue should stick to the December 9 time-frame, all-party Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) spearheading the agitation for the separate state said here on Saturday.

“They should commit to the December nine programme and have a clear time-frame. These are our two expectations,” JAC Convener C Kodandaram told a news agency here today.