Month: February 2010

BSNL told to stop mega GSM line tender – paper

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New Delhi, February 01: The Central Vigilance Commission has asked state-run telecoms Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd to stop an ongoing tender for 93-million GSM lines, part of which was to go to Ericsson and Huawei, the Hindu Business Line newspaper reported on Monday.

The paper, citing anonymous sources, said the Commission had been investigating whether BSNL had followed rules during the tender process.

BSNL might have to call for fresh bids, though a final decision has not yet been taken, the paper said, citing unnamed sources.

All is not well at Saif’s production house Illuminati Films

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Mumbai, February 01: Word on the B-Town street is that the banner owned jointly by the actor and his buddy Dinesh Vijan, may soon be dissolved.

The plans to launch their second film Agent Vinod have been put on hold. There is definitely stress between the buddies-turned-businessmen.

It is learnt that their second film together was to start shooting in January 2010, but seems nowhere on the mark, to get set and go.

Budget cuts

RBI pitches for recovery with price stability

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New Delhi, February 01: In its third quarter review of its monetary policy the Reserve Bank of India has retained the policy interest rates, the repo and the reverse repo, at 4.75 and 3.25 per cent, respectively but hiked the cash reserve ratio by a substantial 0.75 percentage point to 5.75 per cent in two stages. The hike is expected to impound Rs.36,000 crore. The Bank Rate, which has not been used for quite some time now, remains at 6 per cent.

Beyonce wins five as Grammy Awards open

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Los Angeles, February 01: Pop diva Beyonce won Song of the Year and four other Grammy Awards Sunday, justifying her position as frontrunner for the top popular music prize in the US.

The 28-year-old singer-actress had 10 nominations coming into the awards show, including album of the year for “I Am … Sasha Fierce”, song of the year for “Single Ladies” and record of the year for “Halo”.

Harper for stronger Canada-India ties

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Toronto, February 01: Canada and India must forge stronger trade, investment and educational ties to build a more productive friendship, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said.

“Canada stands besides India as a steadfast and faithful friend,” Mr. Harper said in a message to a function organised by Panorama India to commemorate India’s 61st Republic Day celebration here.

Harper for stronger Canada-India ties

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Toronto, February 01: Canada and India must forge stronger trade, investment and educational ties to build a more productive friendship, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said.

“Canada stands besides India as a steadfast and faithful friend,” Mr. Harper said in a message to a function organised by Panorama India to commemorate India’s 61st Republic Day celebration here.

New Zealand may introduce safety measures in taxis

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Melbourne, February 01: New Zealand government may introduce mandatory safety measures in taxis after an Indian origin cabbie was stabbed to death in Auckland over the weekend.

NZ government was considering such a move after a 39-year-old Hiren Mohini was killed for a USD 20 fare in one of Auckland’s nicest suburbs, an ABC report said.

Taxi companies in the country are now asking government to pay for screens and cameras in cabs.

Mohini, who was stabbed in the neck and chest, rammed his taxi into a wall. A man in twenties was seen running from the scene, the report said.

Saudis call for retaliatory security checks for passengers from US

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Riyadh, February 01: Outraged at the humiliating “extraordinary” security checks of Saudis at various US airports, several Saudi citizens urged the authorities to take retaliatory measures through introducing similar checks for passengers coming from the United States at Saudi airports.

As part of a protest against the US move, they also demand suspension of sending Saudi students to the US for higher studies, and transferring a portion of Saudi investments, designed for the US, to some other countries.

Three-month long Doha trade talks start from today

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Doha, February 01: Negotiators from key WTO members, including India, China and the US, will begin the marathon three-month meeting in Geneva from Monday to sort out vexed issues hampering conclusion of the Doha Round of trade talks.

The trade negotiators, who are working against a tight schedule, will engage themselves in intense deliberations and prepare the ground for a high-level stalk taking meeting scheduled in March.

Moily for separate law to tackle cyber crimes

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Chennai, February 01: Law Minister M Veerpan Moily on Sunday advocated enactment of separate laws and creation of a specialised agency to deal with the menace of cyber crimes, as amending the existing IT Act will not solve the problem.

“I think instead of amending the IT Act we should have separate laws for each of the classification of the cyber crimes. It is a matter we need to deal with, instead of tinkering with the IT Act from time to time to meet the contingencies,” Moily said.

Cong leaders from Telangana to discuss JAC issue today

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Hyderabad, February 01: Congress leaders from Telangana region would today discuss the party’s directive that they should “withdraw” from the all-party Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC).

The matter would be discussed at a meeting of the leaders from Telangana, Congress MLA B Saraiah told reporters last night.

He said the JAC was formed at the residence of senior MLA and former minister K Jana Reddy and that it never acted against the party.

Another senior leader and former minister T Jeevan Reddy said formation of Telangana state would solve all problems.

Sunny morning greets Delhiites

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New Delhi, February 01: Delhiites woke up to a sunny morning today even as the mercury dipped to 7.3 degree Celsius, two degrees below normal.

The maximum temperature was 23 degree Celsius which was a notch above normal with no trace of fog.

Yesterday, the minimum temperature was 8.5 degree Celsius, the Met Department said.

The weatherman has predicted a misty morning tomorrow with partly cloudy sky later in the day with maximum and minimum temperature hovering around 23 and nine degrees Celsius respectively.

—–PTI

Eight missing as boat sinks in Philippines

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Manila, February 01: Two fishermen were rescued and eight others were missing Sunday when their boat sank off the coast of Bataan province in the Philippines, the Coast Guard said Monday.

Coast Guard spokesman Commander Armand Balilo said a search is on to locate the missing fishermen, reported.

—-IANS

Beyonce takes 6 Grammys; Kings of Leon win record

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Los Angeles, February 01: Beyonce has set a record for the most wins by a female in one night at the Grammys as she won six awards, including best female pop performance and song of the year for her anthem “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It).”But the Kings of Leon’s “Use Somebody” trumped her “Halo” to win record of the year.

Beyonce was Sunday night’s top nominee with 10 nods. Her wins also included best contemporary R&B album for “I Am … Sasha Fierce.”

Occupiers experience deadliest Jan. in Afghanistan

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Kabul, February, 01: Last month was the deadliest January for foreign troops in Afghanistan since the 2001 US-led invasion of the country.

At least 44 foreign troops, most of them American, have been killed in Afghanistan since the beginning of the year, which is almost twice as many deaths as in January 2009.

Meanwhile, at least four foreign soldiers were injured in clashes with Taliban militants in the southern province of Helmand on Sunday.

‘Iran will deliver telling blow to global powers on Feb. 11’

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Tehran, February 01: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the nation will deliver a harsh blow to the “global arrogance” on this year’s anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

“The Islamic Revolution opened a window to liberty for the human race, which was trapped in the dead ends of materialism,” Ahmadinejad said during a cabinet meeting on Sunday.

“If the Islamic Revolution had not occurred, liberalism and Marxism would have crushed all human dignity in their power-seeking and money-grubbing claws. Nothing would have remained of human and spiritual principles,” he added.

Three CPI(M) supporters killed

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Kolkata, February 01: Three supporters of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), including a local leader, were killed in an attack, allegedly by supporters of the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal’s Birbhum district on Sunday evening.

“Faizul Karim, Jalal Sheik and Khandu Sheik were sitting at a tea stall at Kazipara in Labhpur on Sunday night, when they were suddenly attacked by a group of miscreants, who hurled bombs at them,” the district’s Superintendent of Police Rabindranath Mukherjee told.

—-Agencies

NATO kills baby, 4 other civilians in Afghanistan

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Kabul, February 01: NATO forces have killed at least five people, including a baby, during a night raid targeting militants in central Afghanistan.

Afghan officials say the foreign forces killed the civilians in an attack on a village house in Uruzgan province on Saturday night.

NATO claims the casualties occurred when the joint forces came under fire from several locations as they approached a compound in the region.

The NATO alliance has confirmed the death of the baby and expressed regret for what it called a tragic loss of innocent life.

Turkey can’t be silent about Israel’s crimes in Gaza

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Ankara, February 01: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticized Israel’s conduct in Gaza, saying Ankara cannot be silent when innocent civilians are killed, phosphorus bombs are used, infrastructure is destroyed, and people are forced to live in an open-air prison.

“I am telling the truth… And I will keep telling the truth. Turkey has an age-old history as a state. When you talk to such a state you must be careful.

Beyonce takes 6 Grammys; Kings of Leon win record

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Los Angelles, February 01: Beyonce has set a record for the most wins by a female in one night at the Grammys as she won six awards, including best female pop performance and song of the year for her anthem “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It).”But the Kings of Leon’s “Use Somebody” trumped her “Halo” to win record of the year.

Beyonce was Sunday night’s top nominee with 10 nods. Her wins also included best contemporary R&B album for “I Am … Sasha Fierce.”

New online form introduced for processing US visa applications

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Riyadh, February 01: Beginning Feb. 8, the US missions in the Kingdom will require a new consular form in order to process visa applications, the US Embassy in Riyadh announced here, on Saturday.

The US Embassy in Riyadh and its consulates in Jeddah and Dhahran will require applicants for tourist, student and other nonimmigrant visas to use the new online visa application, Form DS-160.

Karzai urges Taleban to lay down guns

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Kabul, February 01: Afghan President Hamid Karzai appealed to Taleban fighters Sunday to lay down their weapons and accept Afghan laws as the government and its international allies push a program to entice militants away from the insurgency.

US, Pak officials believe Mehsud is dead: report

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Washington, February 01: Pakistani and US officials are increasingly convinced that the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Hakimullah Mehsud, who was behind the suicide attack on a CIA base in Afghanistan in December, had died from wounds sustained in a drone strike, The New York Times reported.

The newspaper said the Pakistani military, which mounted a major offensive against Mehsud and his loyalists in South Waziristan last year, said it could not confirm the report.

Iran plans to counter sanctions by building seven refineries

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Washington, February 01: Iran plans to build seven new oil and gas refineries in a bid to diminish its vulnerability to sanctions from foreign refineries.

According to the official Iranian news agency IRNA, the new oil and gas refineries will allow Iran both to meet domestic demand and become a gas exporter, although the agency failed to state when construction was due to start.

Israeli forces declare West Bank area ‘closed’

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Ramallah, February 01: Israeli forces on Sunday declared the West Bank area of Al-Baq’a, east of Hebron, a closed military zone in order to help Jewish occupiers plant trees.

Palestinian sources said Israeli forces barred Palestinian farmers and local and foreign journalists from entering the area. The sources said “about 200 occupiers from nearby settlement of Kharsina arrived in the area and started planting trees they brought with them.”