Month: March 2010

Dial four wrong entries to talk to railway enquiry executive!

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New Delhi, March 27: Tired of trying to reach a call centre executive in Indian Railways’ passenger information system 139? Just dial the number and then make four wrong entries and your call will be directly transferred to an executive.

It is weird but that’s how it works. The revelation was made by an official of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) during a hearing at the Central Information Commission (CIC).

Hanuman Sharma, a resident of Rajasthan, wanted some information regarding 139. When he did not get satisfactory answers, he approached the CIC.

Fierce gunbattle on in J&K

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Srinagar, March 27: A fierce gunbattle is currently on between militants and security forces in Jammu’s Rajouri district.

It is believed that a group of militants are involved in the encounter at Baji Kurlian village in Kalakote area of Rajouri.

Firing is still continuing in the area. There have been no reports of casualties on either side.

In a similar encounter in Rajouri last month, two militants managed to escape even as one of the top Hizbul Mujahideen militant was killed.

—Agencies

Sarah Palin stumps for ‘Maverick’ John McCain in Arizona race

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Tucson, March 27: Conservative darling Sarah Palin urged a cheering crowd on Friday to vote for her former running mate John McCain, lending much-needed support as he faces the toughest re-election battle of his long career in the US Senate.

India and Pakistan should resolve differences mutually: Roemer
“If you want conservative solutions and common sense leadership … to fight for what this state and country needs, I’m asking you to vote for John McCain,” Palin told several thousand people packed into a fairground in Tucson, Arizona.

Prithvi-II ballistic missile test fired in Orissa

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Balasore (Orissa), March 27: ‘Prithvi-II’ ballistic missile, which has a maximum range of 295 km, was successfully test fired from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, about 15 km from here, off the Orissa coast early today.

The indigenously developed surface-to-surface missile was test fired at around 0548 hours from a mobile launcher from the ITR launch complex-3, defence sources said.

PM greets nation

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New Delhi, March 27: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday greeted the nation on the occasion of Mahavir Jayanti, the birth anniversary of Lord Mahavira, saying his teachings help us live a “life of happiness and contentment”.

Mahavir Jayanti will be celebrated in the country Sunday.

Lord Mahavir’s life and teachings inspire us to be compassionate and simple. His teachings show us the path to a life of happiness and contentment, the prime minister said in a statement.

“Lord Mahavir’s profound message remains a beacon of hope in today’s world,” he said.

Pak-origin Chicago taxi driver arrested on terror charges in US

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Chicago, March 27: A Chicago taxi driver was arrested on Friday and accused of sending money to a Pakistani militant with al Qaeda ties and of planning to bomb a US sports stadium, authorities said.

Raja Khan, a US citizen since 1988, told an undercover government agent he had met Ilyas Kashmiri, a Pakistani Islamic militant accused in a separate case of plotting to attack a Danish newspaper, according to court documents.

UAE President’s brother missing after plane crash

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Abu Dhabi, March 27: UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed’s younger brother Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was missing after his plane crashed in Morocco.

A sailplane carrying Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Managing Director of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, has crashed into a lake in Morocco Friday night, WAM news agency reported.

The pilot was rescued but search is still on for Sheikh Ahmed, it said.

–IANS

Sameera Reddy had recently lost her laptop

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Mumbai, March 27: Sameera Reddy had recently lost her laptop that had some really personal pictures, e-mails and her diary; luckily, she got it back

The tech-savvy diva Sameera Reddy recently found herself in a soup when discovered that she has lost her laptop.

Fortunately, she got it back, as the authorities of the hotel, in which he had put up, found it in the lobby.

Reddy said, “I was in Chennai with my sister for an event and had put up at a 5-star hotel. Soon after the event, we had to leave for Mumbai and in the commotion I forgot my laptop in the hotel corridor.

Taslima finds her voice again – on twitter

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New Delhi, March 27: Controversial Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen has found a new outlet for her opinions – on the social networking web tool, Twitter.

She had opened her account in January, but had so far made only three tweets in the last three months. But, after the National Commission for Minorities chairman Mohd Shafi Qureshi had asked for her permission to stay in India to be revoked, Nasreen has become a regular on twitter from Wednesday.

U.N. panel suspends 2 more carbon emissions auditors

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United Nations, March 27: The reputation of a Kyoto Protocol carbon finance scheme was dealt another blow after a UN climate panel late on Friday suspended the third emissions cut verifier in 15 months, and partially suspended a fourth.

The scheme’s executive board suspended emissions auditors TUEV SUED and partially suspended Korea Energy Management Corporation (KEMCO) after spot checks at the companies’ offices revealed procedural breaches.

The board, an arm of the UN’s climate change secretariat, said it will work with TUEV SUED and KEMCO to ensure timely resolution of the issues.

Scheme to connect all varsities online, says Raja

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Chennai, March 27: Union Communications and IT Minister A Raja tonight said the Centre has approved a scheme to connect all universities through an online portal over a five year period.

“A scheme has been approved at a cost of Rs 7,000 crore to set up an online portal connecting all universities in the country…the portal would act as a one stop point for communicating with all universities in the country,” Raja said at function organised by Anna University here.

Israeli troops die on Gaza border as cabinet meets

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Jerusalem, March 27: Two Israeli soldiers and two Palestinian militants were killed yesterday during fierce exchanges of gunfire across the Gaza border in one of the worst ground-fighting incidents since the offensive in the territory last year.

The bloodshed came as the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was holding a crucial meeting of his inner cabinet to consider US demands for confidence-building measures to help bring the moderate Palestinian leadership into political negotiations.

President’s brother missing

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Abu Dhabi, March 27: UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed’s younger brother Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was missing after his plane crashed in Morocco.

A sailplane carrying Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Managing Director of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, has crashed into a lake in Morocco Friday night, WAM news agency reported.

The pilot was rescued but search is still on for Sheikh Ahmed, it said.

–IANS

Maliki beaten into second place in Iraq poll

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Baghdad, March 27: The Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, was last night poised to lose power as final election tallies showed that Iyad Allawi, the secularist challenger, had won most seats in the 325- member parliament.

‘CIA seeks using Afghan women to promote war’

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Washington, March 27: The CIA has called for recruiting Afghan women in a public relations bid to persuade Europeans to support war in Afghanistan, a document leaked to the media has revealed.

“Afghan women could serve as ideal messengers in humanizing” the mission for European audiences, particularly in France, according to the CIA analysis, posted on WikiLeaks, a whistleblower website, AFP reported.

Afghan women’s views would carry special weight as they could express “their aspirations for the future, and their fears of a Taliban victory,” it said.

Allawi vows to work with all parties in Iraq

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Baghdad, March 27: Former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said Friday he will work with all parties to form a new government, after his Iraqiya list won the most seats in the parliamentary election.

Allawi won 91 seats in the 325-seat parliament, only two seats ahead of prime minister Nuri al-Maliki’s State of Law coalition, the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) announced.

The long-awaited results from the March 7 elections also showed that the Iraqi National alliance, a coalition led by Shiite religious groups, came third with 70 seats, while the Kurdish Alliance won 43 seats.

It will still build in Jerusalem

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Jerusalem, March 27: Israel insisted on Friday it would not change its policy of building homes in East Jerusalem, but vowed to seek agreement with the Obama administration on how to renew stalled peace talks with Palestinians.

The statement on Jerusalem came as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened senior cabinet ministers to consider confidence-building steps for reviving negotiations, as proposed by U.S. officials while Netanyahu was in Washington this week.

Colombian “boy bomb” killed at police station

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Bogota, March 27: A schoolboy carrying a rebel-made bomb died when it exploded before he reached its police station target, officials said on Friday, marking the rare use of a child in such attacks in Colombia’s war.

The 12-year-old walked up local police headquarters on Thursday in the southern town of El Charco, near the Ecuadorean border, carrying a package laden with explosives.

It detonated before he reached the station, local authorities said.

Girl student made to take off shirt during exam

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Ghaziabad, March 27: A girl student appearing for her high school examination was made to take off her shirt in the classroom by a woman invigilator who suspected her of concealing some written material for cheating inside her clothes. The girl’s parents Friday protested against the incident.

The girl was appearing for the Uttar Pradesh board high school examination in Modi Nagar of Ghaziabad Thursday.

Pakistani Army officers involved in 26/11

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New Delhi, March 27: Lashkar-e-Taiba operative David Headley has told a U.S. court that serving Pakistani Army officers were involved in the 26/11 terror mayhem in Mumbai, and one of them was “on the other side of the telephone line” with the terrorists during the 2008 attack, news reports said on Friday.

According to Outlook Editor-in-Chief Vinod Mehta, the involvement of the Pakistani Army officers proves their “direct link” with the terror carnage in India’s commercial and financial capital in 2008 that left 166 people dead, including foreigners.

World to go dark for Earth Hour

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Sydney, March 27: Global landmarks from Sydney’s Opera House to the Forbidden City, to the glittering Las Vegas Strip, will be plunged into darkness Saturday as activists bid to reinvigorate the climate change fight.

Hundreds of millions of homes, in scores of cities scattered around 125 countries will also join the great Earth Hour switch-off, which comes just months after disappointing UN climate talks in Copenhagen.

Obama, Medvedev seal deal on nuclear arms pact

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Washington, March 27: President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sealed an agreement on a landmark treaty to slash their nuclear arsenals by a third and will sign it on April 8 in Prague.

After months of deadlock, a breakthrough deal on a replacement for the Cold War-era START pact marked Obama’s most significant foreign policy achievement since taking office and also boosts his effort to “reset” ties with Moscow.

‘LeT expanding to other South Asian nations’

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Washington, March 27: Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba, predominately a threat to India, is fast expanding operations to other South Asian countries including Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives, a top US military official told US lawmakers on Friday.

The dangerously expanding influence of LeT, which was responsible for the Mumbai attack in 2008, is an issue of concern for the Obama administration, said Admiral Robert Willard, Commander of the US Pacific Command in his testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Russia ready to import poultry from India

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Moscow, March 27: Russia is ready to import poultry from India if the US does not resume its supplies, Russian Agriculture Minister Yelena Skrynnik has said.

India, a major poultry producer, has already expressed its readiness to supply its products to Russia, as well as Turkey and Thailand, Skrynnik said.

“At the moment, actually this week, we found out that we have excessive stocks of poultry products on our farms, so we stopped discussions by now. But, theoretically, if we need poultry, we can buy it from India,” she said after a meeting with her Indian counterpart Sharad Pawar.

Kate Moss kiss raises Rs 3 lakh

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London, March 27: Hosh Ibrahim, who paid £5,000 (Rs 3.3 lakh) to live out the fantasy of thousands of men by kissing Kate Moss, says the experience was worth every penny.

Ibrahim bid to lock lips with the British supermodel in the Mummy Rocks! auction to raise money for Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital last year.

After a year-long wait the charitable bidder was finally able to claim his prize at the 2010 Mummy Rocks event.