Mumbai, February 03: Once bitten twice shy – that’s Katrina Kaif for you. The scene in Kabir Khan’s New York, where she kissed her co-star, still seems to haunt her. Now, she has declared loud and clear that she wouldn’t kiss or wear bikini in the future.
Mumbai, February 03: It seems filmmaker Boney Kapoor is yet to get over Wanted. The latest we hear is that he is planning to remake a South Indian film in Hindi with Salman Khan in the lead and Prabhu Deva as the director.
It is said that Boney saw Malayalam film Bodyguard in Ernakulam and liked it so much so that he has decided to remake it in Hindi. The news has it that he has even met Johnny Sagarika, the producer of the film for the remake rights.
Tehran, February 03: Iran on Wednesday unveiled three new satellites and a satellite carrier, a year after it placed its first domestic research satellite into orbit.
The three satellites — Tolou, Mesbah 2 and Navid — are telecommunication satellites and have been designed and produced domestically.
In the inauguration ceremony attended by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian Aerospace Organization also unveiled the country’s first homemade satellite carrier engine, called Simorgh.
On February 3, 2009, Iran placed a research satellite, Omid, into orbit.
Washington, February 03: The White House claims that 20 percent of the former detainees discharged from the notorious Guantanamo Bay prison camp have returned to anti-US battlefields around the world.
In a letter to the speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, the White House acknowledged that the intelligence community assesses that 20 percent of the detainees transferred from Guantanamo are confirmed or suspected of engaging in “recidivist activity.”
Beijing, February 03: China warned President Barack Obama on Wednesday that a meeting between him and the Dalai Lama would further erode ties between the two powers, already troubled by Washington’s arms sales to Taiwan.
The White House confirmed on Tuesday that Obama will meet the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader reviled by Beijing as a “separatist” for seeking self-rule for his homeland.
Washington, February 03: President Barack Obama still plans to meet with the Dalai Lama despite a warning from Beijing that a meeting with the exiled Tibetan religious could hit US-China relations, the White House said.
“The president told China’s leaders during his trip last year that he would meet with the Dalai Lama and he intends to do so,” Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton told reporters aboard Air Force One Tuesday on way to Nashua, New Hampshire.
Ahmedabad, February 03: Swine flu has claimed three more lives in Gujarat, taking the death toll in the state to 242, while 19 more persons on Tuesday tested positive for the infection.
According to Health Department officials, two patients infected with H1N1, Hasumatiben Patel (55) and Arjun Solanki (50), died at Civil Hospital here today. The third victim, Joshna Ramanlal, succumbed at the Hospital yesterday.
The new cases were reported from Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Rajkot, Jamnagar and Porbandar, they said.
New Delhi, February 03: MPs from Telangana and Andhra regions have intensified lobbying in the national capital for and against bifurcation of the State as time is running out fast for them. Union Home Minister P Chidambaram had said on Monday that a panel on the contentious issue would be formed this week.
While Telugu Desam Andhra MPs – K Yerran Naidu and N Kistappa – conferred with Union Home Minister P Chidamabram, Telangana Congress MPs G Vivek and Madhu Yahski met AP Congress affairs in-charge Veerappa Moily on Tuesday.
London, February 03: Socialite heiress Paris Hilton is in trouble again after a man reportedly filed for a restraining order against her, accusing her of “numerous sexual assaults”.
In the hand scribbled legal papers obtained by Hollywood’s TMZ website, Ramiro Benitez alleges Hilton has threatened him both sexually, physically and financially, reports metro.co.uk.
Benitez wants protection for his 14-year-old son and his seven-year-old niece and is demanding the court to order Hilton to keep 100 yards away from him at all times, including his home, workplace, son’s school and his car.
New Delhi, February 03: Bollywood actor Sunny Deol literally sweated it out in the capital’s winter. No, it wasn’t due to global warming, but because fans had swamped him here Tuesday.
Dressed in a blue jeans, red jacket and sporting a stubble, Sunny almost got crushed in a stampede by fans and media. The actor, who was last seen in dud “Fox” (2009), had to shift spots for breathers before giving bytes to the journalists and photo and autograph opportunities to fans.
New Delhi, February 03: Government on Wednesday constituted a five-member expert committee on Telangana issue headed by former Supreme Court Judge B.N. Srikrishna.
A Home Ministry spokesperson said the committee will hold wide-ranging consultations with all sections of people and different political parties and groups in Andhra Pradesh.
Other members
Tokyo, February 03: Toyota Motor Corp. has been hit by over 100 complaints in the U.S. and Japan about brake problems with the popular Prius hybrid, the latest in a spate of quality troubles for the automaker as it grapples with massive global recalls.
The Japanese company’s sales are being battered in the U.S. — Toyota’s biggest market — after recalls of top-selling models to fix a gas pedal that can stick in the depressed position.
Tehran, February 03: In a day of curiously mixed signals, the regime in Tehran yesterday accused the United States of stirring “Iran-phobia” in the Middle East by laying plans to deploy new missile defences in the region, yet only hours later suggested that it was ready after all to accept a compromise deal to end the stand-off with the West over nuclear arms.
Melbourne, February 03: Star all-rounder Shane Watson and pacer Doug Bollinger today returned to Australia’s 13-member squad after a brief break for the first two one-dayers of a five-match series against the West Indies starting February 7.
The first match of the series will be played here and the second ODI is scheduled in Adelaide on February 9.
“The National Selection Panel has named a largely unchanged squad for the opening two Commonwealth Bank Series matches against the West Indies,” NSP Chairman Andrew Hilditch said.
New delhi, February 03: Children these days are simply not reading as much as they did in the past? The publishing industry doesn’t seem to think so. They say the recession period saw the sale of children’s books go up and make profits.
Shantanu Duttagupta of Scholastic India Pvt Ltd said: “It’s a misconception that children these days are losing interest in books. If that were true, we wouldn’t have published the number of books that we do every year and wouldn’t have made profits during the recession period last year!“
New Delhi, February 03: Government today constituted a five-member expert committee on Telangana issue headed by former Supreme Court Judge B N Srikrishna.
A Home Ministry spokesperson said the committee will hold wide-ranging consultations with all sections of people and different political parties and groups in Andhra Pradesh.
Kabul, February 03: NATO forces say that two U.S. service members were killed in a bomb strike in southern Afghanistan.
The international military coalition said the attack happened Tuesday but did not provide further information. The military typically holds back details on attacks until families have been informed.
Volatile southern Afghanistan has seen increasing violence over the past 12 months with an increase in NATO forces, particularly deaths and injuries from planted bombs targeting vehicles of international forces or soldiers on foot patrols.
Washington, February 03: Martina Hingis can’t help but contemplate yet another comeback when she sees the success Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin are having after being away from tennis.
She said she would rule out the possibility of a return to the tour “at this point,” primarily because of all the travel.
“If it was played in the backyard,” Hingis said from her home in Switzerland, “then I’d probably think about it twice.”
Washington, February 03: US military chief demands more money for Afghanistan war, saying the funds are vital in order to contain Taliban’s growing influence across the war-weary country.
Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen on Tuesday urged Congress to approve USD 159 billion for the combined wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Mullen says that without Congress’s continued support, the US army will not be able to show meaningful progress in what he called its fight against the Taliban.
Mullen claimed that the Afghan people desperately need the US support.
Washington, February 03: The US intelligence chief warns of serious cyber-security threats that could cripple the country’s economy.
US Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair issued the warning on Tuesday while addressing the Senate Intelligence Committee. He said the recent reports of cyber-attacks on the giant American Internet search corporation Google should serve as a wake-up call.
“Malicious cyber activity is occurring on an unprecedented scale with extraordinary sophistication,” Blair stated in a prepared testimony.
Islamabad, February 03: US drones have fired several missiles into Pakistan’s north-western region, killing at least 18 people and injuring several others.
Reports say eighteen missiles were fired by the drones into the Degan area of North Waziristan near the Afghan border on Tuesday.
The US refuses to comment on the CIA-run drone program in Pakistan. Islamabad, however, strongly criticizes the strikes, saying that they have mostly killed civilians.
The attacks are said to target militant hideouts on Pakistani soil.
New delhi, February 03: Government on Wednesday constituted a five-member expert committee on Telangana issue headed by former Supreme Court Judge B.N. Srikrishna.
A Home Ministry spokesperson said the committee will hold wide-ranging consultations with all sections of people and different political parties and groups in Andhra Pradesh.
Other members
Chennai, February 03: A Coimbatore-bound Paramount Airways flight with 48 passengers on board returned to the parking bay just before take off following a technical problem.
Airport sources said the aircraft was on the runway when the problem was detected. The passengers were accommodated on another private airliner.
—-PTI
London, February 03: Former minister Clare Short accused Tony Blair of lying over the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and said she believed the government’s chief lawyer at the time had misled the Cabinet over its legality.
Short, a long-time Blair critic who was then international development secretary, disputed evidence the former prime minister gave last week to an inquiry into the war, saying he had sidelined the Cabinet and kept ministers in the dark.
Caracas, February 03: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez celebrated 11 years in power on his 55th birthday and hopes to continue as head of state for another similar term.
‘I like that number 11. And the next 11 (years) I promise to take care of myself a little more, and if you want, I’ll be 66 (years old then) and god willing 22 (years) as president,’ he said on the occasion of his 55th birthday Tuesday.
‘But I don’t want to think about the 11 years after that because that would be 77 years and 33 (as president) and that would be too much time,’ he said in a nationally broadcast speech.