Riyadh, April 30: Saudi newspapers ran front page pictures on Friday of King Abdullah and Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz in a crowd of women with their faces bared, adding fuel to the growing debate over mixing in the kingdom.
The undated photograph showed the kingdom’s two most powerful men together with more than three dozen smiling women at a seminar on health and the community in the southwestern city of Najran held several weeks ago.
Hyderabad, April 30 (Siasat News): The Traders in the twin cities particularly in the Begum bazaar area are angry at the Police’s highhandedness in arresting traders under various sections meant for murderers cheating etc and have demanded the Police to immediately withdraw these sections and also release the persons arrested.
Kolkata, April 30: City-based UCO Bank posted a net profit of Rs.379.80 crore (Rs.3,798 million) for the fourth quarter (January-March) of 2009-10 compared to Rs.102.56 crore (Rs.1,025.60 million) in the corresponding period of 2008-09.
Total income increased from Rs.2,520.62 crore (Rs.25,206.20 million) to Rs.2,690 crore (Rs.26,900 million) for the quarter ended March 31, 2010.
—Agencies
Mumbai, April 30: Once and for all Akshay Kumar sets the record straight on his pairing with Priyanka Chopra by saying he won’t mind teaming up with her again if she is interested in doing comedies.
“But will she do a film with me? The ball is in her court. I mostly do comedies. I think Priyanka hardly ever acts in comedies,” Akshay told web media.
Akshay and Priyanka’s first movie together was “Andaaz” in 2003. After that they gave hits like “Aitraaz” (2004), “Mujhse Shaadi Karogi” (2004) and “Waqt – The Race Against Time” (2005).
Mumbai, April 30: Bollywood’s evergreen actor Dev Anand was on Friday conferred the Phalke Ratna award here while iconic villain Pran was honoured with the Phalke Icon and Legendary Cine Versatile Cine Star award. The honours were given away on the 141st birth anniversary of Dadasaheb Phalke, considered the father of Indian movies.
New Delhi, April 30: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh laid the foundation stone of three key projects in Bhutan on Friday before returning home after a hectic three-day trip to the Himalayan kingdom for the 16th SAARC summit during which he held ice-breaking talks with his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani.
On the last day of his visit, Manmohan Singh held a bilateral meeting with Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and laid the foundation stones of the India-funded state-of-the-art medical institute, two hydroelectricity plants and an IT project.
New Delhi, April 30: Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor left behind a brigade of other celebrities in popularity to top the Bollywood Barometer ranked by eBay India.
The Bollywood Barometer judges on the basis of number of celebrity products available for sale on eBay India.
Shah Rukh tops amongst the actors, followed by Akshay Kumar and John Abraham. Kareena tops amongst the actresses, followed by Rani Mukherjee and Aishwarya Rai, according to a statement.
Chicago, April 29: A 57-year-old Indian man has been charged with criminal sexual abuse of a 20-year-old Indian woman who considered him a father figure and trusted him because of her relationship with one of his children.
Rajenderkumar Patel, a resident of Melrose Park here, was brought in for questioning about the incident Tuesday night and arrested late on Wednesday, according to Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart.
Patel knew the victim because of her relationship with one of his children and she trusted him because of that bond, she told investigators.
Mumbai, April 30: Fashion designer Archana Kochhar, who designed clothes for yesteryear actress Zeenat Aman for an event, says the actress is still a style icon and comes without any baggage and prejudice.
“It was a pleasant experience and great privilege to dress up the diva herself – Zeenatji. She came without any baggage and prejudice and looked like a dream in what we have designed for her,” Kochhar told news agency in an interview.
Colombo, April 30: India is looking forward to assist Sri Lanka in the development of the crucial Palaly air base and the Kanakesanthurai port in Jaffna peninsula, as the country works to rebuild the war-torn Tamil-dominated North.
These opportunities have once again opened up, creating numerous openings not only for Sri Lankans but also for Indian companies.
Mumbai, April 30: A benchmark index for Indian equities on Friday ended flat even as midcap scrips outperformed larger stocks.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 17,503.47 points, ended at 17,527.82 points (provisional), 24.35 points or 0.14 percent higher than its previous close at 17,503.47 points.
At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty was ruling at 5,271.95 points, a gain of 0.34 percent or 17.8 points from its previous close at 5,254.15 points.
New Delhi, April 30: The government will set up a Directorate of Currency to check circulation of fake Indian currency, the Finance Ministry told the Lok Sabha today.
“The government proposes to set up a Directorate of Currency in the Ministry of Finance,” Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena said in a written reply.
The DOC will have the mandate to monitor and review the best practices around the world and instances of breach of security features in India, identify new security features and fund research and development on a continuing basis.
New York, April 30: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar and Nobel-winning economist Amartya Sen are among nine Indians who figure in the annual Time magazine list of 100 most influential people while its alumnae chart is topped by Bollywood beauty Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
Other Indians on the list of most influential people are: Eye specialist Perumalsamy Namperumalsam, humanitarian worker Sanjit Buker Roy, writer Chetan Bhagat, Indian-America doctor and Harvard professor Atul Gwande, paramedic from Toronto Rahul Singh and entrepreneur Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw.
New Delhi, April 30: Two persons, including a woman, have been arrested in the national capital for allegedly duping over 2,000 people of around Rs 100 crore by promising enhanced returns for their investments, police said today.
Manmohan Singh (42) and Akansha Sharma (26) were apprehended for their alleged involvement in the fraud. Singh is the managing director of Metro Cruise Ltd while Sharma is its director.
They allegedly cheated people by luring them to join a car rental service and assuring them a monthly return on their investment.
New Delhi, April 30: Social security benefits under the ESI scheme will now extend to more workers as the revised wage limit for eligibility comes into effect tomorrow coinciding with the International Labour Day.
The scheme provides medical, sickness and maternity benefits to workers in addition to rehabilitation allowance, vocational rehabilitation and unemployment allowance Under Rajiv Gandhi Shramik Kalyan Yojana.
The government had recently issued notification raising the maximum wage limit for availing the facility from the existing Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 per month.
New York, April 30: Gold climbed to a four- month high here today as a drop in the value of the dollar spurred demand and some investors bought the metal as a haven from possible losses in the credit markets.
Gold futures for June delivery advanced USD 6.70, or 0.6 per cent to USD 1,175.50 an ounce on the Comex in New York, after touching USD 1,178.50, the highest price since December 4.
Assets in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest investment fund that buys bullion, jumped the most in a year this week.
Kolkata, April 30: A manager with the Indian Overseas Bank was among six persons arrested by the CBI for defrauding the bank of over Rs 5 crore.
The manager at the bank’s Berhampore branch was arrested and produced before a court along with the five persons on the charges of defrauding the bank of Rs 5.38 crore, a statement issued by the CBI said today.
One of the accused was remanded in CBI custody, while the others were sent in judicial custody for 14 days.
–Agencies
New Delhi, April 30: A Delhi court today sent to 14 days of judicial custody a property dealer, arrested in Mumbai in connection with at least 48 cases of snatching, bank robbery and land grabbing here, after he was produced before it on conclusion of his custodial interrogation.
Metropolitan Magistrate Saurabh Kulshrestha remanded Anup Kumar Juneja to judicial custody till May 13 after the investigators told that his custodial interrogation was no more required in the cases.
Earlier, the court had allowed police to quiz him for ten days in custody.
Agartala, April 30: The Central government has begun withdrawing central paramilitary forces from the North-East for deployment in Maoist-hit areas, a top Tripura police official said today.
The Centre is in the process of withdrawing six companies of CRPF from Tripura, Manipur and Assam for deployment in Maoist-hit areas, Director General of Police Pranay Sahaya said.
New Delhi, April 30: Major General C S Nair, the senior most law officer in the Army, will take over as the new Judge Advocate General tomorrow.
Nair will advise Army Chief General V K Singh on all legal issues concerning the force in his capacity as the head of the law branch.
A post-graduate in English and an alumnus of the Kerala Law Academy, Nair was commissioned in the Army Education Corps (AEC) in December 1978.
Before joining the Army, the officer had practised law in the Kerala High Court.
Srinagar, April 30: Scuttling an infiltration bid, the army today gunned down three heavily-armed militants near the Line of Control (LoC) in Kupwara district of north Kashmir.
A group of three militants made an abortive attempt to sneak into this side of LoC but were shot dead by troops in Machil sector, 150 kms from here, in the wee hours, defence spokesman Lt Col J S Brar said here.
Chennai, April 30: The Madras High Court today gave two weeks time to slain LTTE chief Prabakaran’s ailing mother Parvathi Ammal, deported from here to Malaysia recently, to represent to the state government if she wanted to undergo medical treatment here.
Passing interim orders on a PIL, a bench comprising judges Elipi Dharmarao and K K Sasidharan said the state government had submitted that it had not received any representation from Parvathi for allowing her to stay in the state to undergo medical treatment.
Hyderabad, April 30: (Siasat News) The Telugu Desam Party President, Mr. N. Chandra Baba Naidu has written a letter to the State Chief Minister urging him to appoint immediately the candidates who have passed DSC in 2008, even if the announcement was in temporary one.
He has demanded that he should make the appointments for 22,571 Vacancies as per the announcement made by the Government. He regretted that only 20,000 candidates got the appointment. Mr. Naidu pointed out that a lot of students were deserting schools because of storage of teachers.
Hyderabad, 30 April (Siasat News): The Member of the legislative council Mr. K. R. Amos has appealed to people to avoid more criticism and regard the 4 reports submitted separately by telangana leaders as one only.
Addressing a press meet in the assembly of Friday he said state congress president Mr. D. Srinivas was a strong supporter of Telangana and his criticism should be avoided.
Bangalore, April 30L Karnataka Government today said underworld elements and betting lobby were behind the April 17 twin low-intensity bomb explosions outside the Chinnaswamy Cricket stadium before an IPL match.
“Underworld normally has links with betting lobby. Some elements wanted to scare away people and shift the two IPL semi-finals from the city to Mumbai,” Home Minister V S Acharya told reporters here.
The probe into the explosions and recovery of crude bombs outside the stadium was progressing, he said but declined to divulge details.