Month: April 2010

Four Palestinians dead after tunnels destroyed

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Gaza City, April 29: Four Palestinians were killed and 10 injured when a smuggling tunnel under Gaza’s border with Egypt collapsed on Wednesday, medical sources said, as security officials on the other side said they destroyed tunnels.

Witnesses said the cave-in occurred after an explosion on the Egyptian side of the tunnel, but security services in Gaza did not confirm that account.

However, Egyptian security officials said they had destroyed four tunnels north of the Rafah border crossing with Gaza, although they were unaware of any casualties.

40 arrested for communal clash in Rae Bareli

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Lucknow, April 29: Around 40 people have been arrested for their involvement in a communal clash that left at least 12 people injured in Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli district, police said Thursday.

An altercation Wednesday between boys of two communities playing cricket Wednesday in Rae Bareli’s Jais town, some 80 km from Lucknow, snowballed into a clash as adults from both the communities joined in and resorted to arson and vandalism, police said.

CBI arrests Ahmedabad cop

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Gandhinagar, April 29: An Indian Police Service (IPS) officer posted in Ahmedabad was Wednesday arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh killing in faked shootout, taking the number of cops held in the case to 15.

Ahmedabad crime branch’s Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Abhay Chudasama, 44, a 1999 batch IPS officer, was one of the conspirators who abducted Sohrabuddin and his wife Kauserbi, the CBI said.

Firm must pay compensation for delaying salary, rules court

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Abu Dhabi, April 29: The Labour Court in Abu Dhabi has said that non-payment of the salary of workers on time is a sort of arbitrary termination of service which deserves financial compensation.

The compensation will be determined by the court if the value of the compensation exceeds the salary for three months based on the last basic salary in all circumstances, it said, as it ruled against a construction company in Abu Dhabi in a case filed by a driver, Adel Ismail, at the labour disputes section of the Ministry of Labour.

Ayad Allawi former PM urges interim government in Iraq

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Baghdad, April 29: The front-runner in Iraq’s recent parliamentary elections on Wednesday called for the formation of an impartial, internationally supervised caretaker government to prevent the country from sliding into violence and counter what he says are efforts to change the vote results.

Former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite whose cross-sectarian coalition narrowly won the most votes in the 7th March polling, said that disqualifying candidates and holding recounts is an attempt to “steal the will of the Iraqi people.”

India announces climate change fund

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Bhutan, April 29: India on Wednesday announced setting up of a fund that would help South Asia effectively meet urgent adaptation and capacity building needs posed by the climate change and also proposed establishment of innovation centres in the region to develop sustainable energy technologies.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made the announcement at the 16th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit that began in Thimphu on Wednesday with an apt theme –“Towards a Green and Happy South Asia’.

Kareena to play a spy

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Mumbai, April 29: Kareena Kapoor starts shooting for Agent Vinod in two weeks. She plays a negative character in it, while beau Saif Ali Khan plays the title role.

An insider reveals, “The first schedule will be in Mumbai. Kareena plays a Pakistani CIA agent in the film, and sports five different looks — a first for her. She will be wearing different looks with prosthetics (think Hrithik’s guises in Dhoom 2).”

‘Very excited’

Egyptian national identity cards to be issued in UAE

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Dubai, April 29: The Egyptian expatriates living in the country may get new or renew their country’s national identity cards in the UAE itself by the end of May.

Mohammed Abdul Hakam, Assistant Foreign Minister for Consular Affairs and Egyptians Abroad, will lead a consular mission to the UAE from May 25 to 29 in this regard.

“The mission’s visit to the UAE is in line with the Egyptian government’s keenness to keep in touch with the community abroad and solve their problems,” said Egyptian Ambassador to the UAE Tamer Mansour.

Patil sworn in as Rajasthan Governor

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Jaipur, April 29: Punjab Governor Shivraj Patil, who has been given additional charge of Rajasthan following the demise of Prabha Rau, was sworn in on Wednesday in Jaipur.

Rajasthan High Court Chief Justice Jagdish Bhalla administered the oath of office to Patil at a simple function in Raj Bhawan.

Two minutes silence was observed as a mark of respect to late Governor Rau.

The swearing-in ceremony was attended by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, cabinet ministers and other senior state bureaucrats.

Prabha Rau had died due to a heart attack in New Delhi on Monday.

Big B’s evening with Tabu

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Mumbai, April 29: Amitabh Bachchan posted on his blog that he spent a fun evening with his Cheeni Kum co star Tabu.

“Tabu, the wonderful Tabu, dropped by in the evening. She had not met me for long and had just seen Paa on DVD.

So we talked and talked and talked on everything under the proverbial film related sun. Films and directors, scripts and performances, present times and past times, actors and actresses, media and media. Endlessly… a delight,” the actor posted on his blog.

‘Spurt in breast cancer cases due to better diagnoses’

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Abu Dhabi, April 29: Oncologists in the country have observed a rising number of women aged 20 to 40 with breast cancer in the Gulf. While some attribute this spurt in numbers to genetic predisposition, the others say this has more to do with better diagnoses and awareness these days.

Shilpa Shetty to stick to traditional wear on Zara Nachke Dikha

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Mumbai, April 29: If you don’t particularly like the idea of the actress sticking to traditional wear on a dance show blame her Tweeple

In her first outing on television as Mrs Raj Kundra, Shilpa Shetty has decided to stick to traditional and Indo-western wear on Zara Nachke Dikha.

The actress is one of the judges on Star’s dance-based show that premieres this weekend.
Says a channel source, “She has said that she will stick to stuff like saris and has ditched her dare-bare avatar as seen in her earlier small screen outings.”

Suzie promotes Barbie

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Mumbai, April 29: Now that Barbara Mori is in town, she will just not be promoting Kites but also her Spanish films. Helping her introduce her foreign films to our desi audience is none other than her new BFF Sussanne Roshan.

Recently, Suzie watched Barbie’s latest Spanish release and gushed about it on her social networking account.

Apart from praising Mori’s work, she also recommended the film highly and urged everyone to watch it. Mrs Roshan continues to confound us.

Barbara Mori and her brother Kintaro now come as a package deal along with Hrithik Roshan and his wife Sussanne.

Home ministry joint secretary in CBI trap over graft charges

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New Delhi, April 29: The central Bureau of Investigation ( CBI) has registered a corruption case against O. Ravi, joint- secretary ( disaster management) in the Union ministry for home affairs ( MHA). He has been accused of conniving with six private distilleries to cause an evasion of Rs 340 crore in excise duties and value added tax in the Union Territory of Daman.

Shah Rukh Khan demystifies Ra.One

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Mumbai, April 29: Shah Rukh Khan has solved one mystery for many of his fans the meaning of Ra.One. He tweets, “Ra.one means random access version one, will understand when u see the film ¦i am the hero in ra.

One ¦the superhero is called g.one ¦ ra.one site will be up soon.” Now that will definitely put to rest all comparisons with Raavan.

——–Agencies

India to set up resource centre for workers

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Abu Dhabi, April 29: The Indian Embassy will soon start a resource centre in Dubai to provide a range of services for the welfare of the expatriate workers, including a 24-hour helpline.

The Indian Workers’ Resource Centre (IWRC) would provide services like the facility for registering and monitoring grievance petitions and providing legal, financial and medical counselling, M. K. Lokesh, Indian Ambassador to the UAE, told Khaleej Times.

He said the centre would be an outsourced facility.

Anushka sulks

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Mumbai, April, 29: Anushka Sharma prematurely claimed she’d bagged Imitaz Ali’s Rockstar opposite Ranbir Kapoor.

Unfortunately, after auditioning for the film, she was rejected. A new face has been signed for the part, and her identity is a closely guarded secret.

Sources reveal Anushka hasn’t taken the news well and has been sulking. She even tried to convince Imtiaz to reconsider her for the part.

The source adds, “She’s a huge Ranbir fan and has been dying to work with him. Even though she worked with SRK in her first film, she needs someone young to connect with the audience.

Blood money must be paid
in worksite accident case

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Abu Dhabi, April 29: The Federal Supreme Court has upheld the verdicts of lower courts that ordered a contractor to pay Dh200,000 in blood money to the heirs of a worker who was killed while on duty due to the former’s negligence in taking adequate safety measures and Dh5,000 in fine.

The public prosecution had charged the contractor with causing the death of the worker by failing to put in place proper safety and security systems. The worker died on the spot as he fell from a scaffolding at a worksite in Sharjah on December 18, 2008.

Dantewada massacre report says CRPF men had few jackets

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New Delhi, April 29: The inquiry into the April 6 Dantewada massacre, conducted by ex- BSF director general E. N. Rammohan, shows only a handful of the 81 CRPF men had bulletproof jackets.

The home ministry has conceded that the paramilitary force is short of about 40,000 bulletproof jackets.

A tender floated last July, to procure 59,000 modern light- weight bulletproof jackets for the CRPF and other paramilitary forces, has still not been finalised.

Zoya miffed with Shekhar

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Mumbai, April 29: Hrithik Roshan might be doing Shekhar Kapur’s Paani, but it doesn’t bear good news for another director Zoya Akhtar. Recently at a meeting, Shekhar asked Hrithik if he could try and give dates as early as July-August.

However, those dates are with Zoya and when she found out Shekhar was trying to encroach on her territory, the film maker threw a fit.

“Shekhar was to start Paani in September, but Hrithik is so kicked about the project that he wants to start shooting sooner.

Prison for fake Hollywood surgeon

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Dubai, April 29: He had the same first name as a renowned Hollywood plastic surgeon, a coincidence he used to practise on unsuspecting clients in Dubai a specialisation he did not have. But the show is now over.

The Court of Misdemeanour here, presided by Judge Jamal Jbeili, on Wednesday sentenced a 40-year-old American general surgeon to two months in jail and deportation.

He got a month in jail for using a fake labour card that said had been sponsored by the American Academy Hospital for Plastic Surgery and another month for practising without due authorisation.

BSP MLA’s son pushes youth to his death in Bijnore

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Lucknow, April 29: A Bahujan Samaj Party ( BSP) legislator’s son allegedly pushed a Dalit youth under the wheels of a speeding bus on the Delhi- Paudi Highway- 119 in Bijnore district of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday.

Govind Singh, 32, was crushed to death after Dushyant, son of Najibabad legislator Shish Ram Singh, pushed him in front of the bus in public. Ironically, the MLA is also a Dalit.

More than 200 residents of the Jabtaganj area in Najibabad, where Govind used to live and work at a petrol pump, are up in arms, demanding the arrest of the MLA’s son.

CBI arrests Gujarat cop for fake encounter

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Ahmedabad, April 29: The CBI on Wednesday arrested Abhay Chudasama, deputy commissioner of police ( DCP) of Ahmedabad’s crime branch, in connection with the fake encounter killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh.

Chudasama was posted as superintendent of police ( SP) in Valsad district in south Gujarat in 2005, when the encounter was staged. Chudasama had moved through the state police ranks before becoming an IPS officer.

US office survival guide sees humor in job misery

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New York, April 29: Sometime during the recession, work — or the lack of it became funny.

From oversleeping and missing a job interview to being fired for no reason, job woes are now a great source of humor, say Gregory Bergman and Jodi Miller, authors of “WTF? Work: How to Survive 101 of the Office’s Worst F*#!-ing Situations,” a new book that offers tongue-in-cheek job advice.

Air India rolls out big jet to please ‘ VIPs’

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New Delhi, April 29: National carrier Air India may be undergoing an austerity drive and financial restructuring after the Rs 7,200 crore loss it posted last year after its merger with Indian Airlines, but those rules apparently do not apply to civil aviation minister Praful Patel’s family.