Month: April 2010

Pak govt will support Shoaib in marriage row

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Hyderabad, April 06: Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi today said the government will extend all assistance to former cricket captain Shoaib Malik, who has been slapped with cheating and harassment charges in India by Ayesha Siddiqui who claims to be his wife.

“I have asked the High Commissioner to India to contact India’s Foreign Ministry and get information about the nature of the FIR and what is in it,” Qureshi told reporters outside parliament.

Reliance to buy Codemasters

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Mumbai, April 06: Reliance Big Entertainment Ltd, the ADA group company, will acquire 50% stake in UK’s Codemasters for an undisclosed sum.

London-based Codemasters is a leading developer and publisher of world-class video games with around $150 million in revenues in the last fiscal.

It holds franchises in cricket games, racing games, performance games and military simulations.

Illegally detained Muslims in Hyd released

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Hyderabad, April 06: The corporator of Azampur Amjadullah Khan had registered a complaint to the Chiarperson of Andhra Pradesh State Human Rights Commission (APSHRC) Sri Subramanya Reddy against the arreas and illegal detention of Muslim Youth by the Hyderabad police.

While passing an interim order, Mr Reddy demanded the Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad to submit a report with this regard.

Poll date announce today

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London, April 06: Amidst intense speculation that Britain is heading for a hung parliament, Prime Minister Gordon Brown will be travelling to the Buckingham Palace on Tuesday and request Queen Elizabeth to call general elections on May 6.

Prime Minister Brown is scheduled to travel to the Buckingham Palace at 10 am GMT (3.30 pm IST) on Tuesday, and make the formal announcement of the May 6 election at 10, Downing Street, at 11 am (4.30 pm IST).

Sania bhabhi must stay in Pak

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Karachi, April 06: Despite all the drama surrounding the upcoming wedding of Sania Mirza with Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik, Miss Pakistan Ayesha Gilani is all too eager to welcome Sania ‘bhabhi’ to Pakistan. “Sania bhabhi and Shoaib make a great couple and both are from sports; they suit each other.

Journalist’s house burgled in Ghaziabad

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Ghaziabad, April 06: A journalist’s house in Ghaziabad was targeted by burglers, who stole gold, Rs.60,000 and 2,000 pounds in cash while he was away, police said Monday.

S.P. Singh’s house was burgled Saturday when he was away, along with his family.

“I was out of town for two days. On Sunday night, my tenant, who was also out of town, came back, discovered the break-in and called me,” Singh said.

“I cautioned him from entering the house, and asked him to call the police immediately,” he added.

The tenant’s portion was also not spared by robbers.

People-to-people contact can build bridges: Fatima Bhutto

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Bangalore, April 06: People-to-people interaction could help build bridges between Pakistan and India, Fatima Bhutto, the granddaughter of former Pakistan president Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, said here on Monday.

“It is when people of both countries travel and learn how both the nations are run and how people live, there could be better understanding between the two neighbours,” Bhutto said while interacting with readers at a book reading session of her book ‘Songs of Blood and Sword’ that traces among other issues events surrounding her father Murtaza Bhutto’s killing.

Batman comic book artist dies of cancer

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London, April 06: Batman and Green Lantern comic book artist Dick Giordano has died after losing his battle with leukaemia. He was 77.

Giordano passed away at the Memorial Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Florida Saturday, reports contactmusic.com.

The former executive editor at DC Comics is best known for re-imagining older comic book characters for new audiences, and oversaw projects including “The Dark Knight Returns”, about an ageing Batman, “Green Arrow” and “Watchmen” adapted for the big screen in 2009.

Buddha tells PC to mind his language

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Kolkata, April 06: West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee lashed out at Union home minister P. Chidambaram on Monday asking him to “ mind ( his) language”. Bhattacharjee was reacting to the home minister’s statement at a meeting in Lalgarh on Sunday that the “ buck stops at the chief minister’ table” in case of a breakdown in law and order in the state.

“ Of course the responsibility is mine. ( But) ‘ buck’ is the not the language of politicians. It is a slang,” Bhattacharjee said.

Highly-educated women more likely to have drinking problem

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London, April 06: A new study has shown that women who are highly educated are more likely to consume alcohol than their less-educated counterparts.

The research led by London School of Economics and involving thousands of 39-year-old British women and men, showed a similar link between educational attainment and alcohol consumption among men, but the correlation was less strong.

“The more educated women are, the more likely they are to drink alcohol on most days and to report having problems due to their drinking patterns,” telegraph.co.uk quoted the report as saying.

Simple blood test to detect breast cancer

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London, April 06: Scientists have developed a simple blood test that is capable of detecting breast cancer in women before it can be detected by standard screening methods.

Normal breast screening checks using x-rays – only detect a tumour once it is three of four times bigger, by which time it may have started to spread beyond the breast.

Woman leaders join forces to stall quota bill

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New Delhi, April 06: Two powerful women joined the ranks of saboteurs of the Women’s Reservation Bill in its original form, thus torpedoing Congress’ bid to push the legislation to provide for 33 per cent quota for women in central and state legislatures during the budget session of Parliament.

Middle aged women drinking more than in their teens

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London, April 06: Middle aged women are drinking more than they did in their teens putting their health at risk, reveals a survey.

A joint survey by the British Liver Trust and Prima magazine has found that more than one in three women aged over 35 drinks more than they did in their teens.

Since 1991 the number of women between the ages of 35 and 54 dying from alcohol-related causes, including alcoholic liver disease, has more than doubled.

Govt hires top UAE lawyer to defend 17 convicted Indians

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Chandigarh, April 06: The Centre has hired a top lawyer in Dubai to file an appeal against the death sentence to 17 Indians, minister of state for external affairs Preneet Kaur said on Monday. She assured a delegation of families of the convicts here that the government would do its best to ensure justice in the matter.

Preneet Kaur said the Indian consulate in Dubai had been sounded on the matter. The families interested in visiting their wards in Dubai would be granted visa relaxation, she said.

6 killed in explosion at US coal mine

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Washington, April 06: An explosion at a coal mine in the US state of West Virginia killed six miners Monday.

Ron Wooten, director of West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health Safety and Training, told media that six miners were dead and 21 were missing following an explosion at Upper Big Branch mine in Raleigh County, an underground mine operated by Massey Energy subsidiary Performance Coal, Xinhua reported.

The mine is located bout 50 km south of Charleston, capital of West Virginia.

Dutch navy frees hijacked German hip

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Hague, April 06: The Dutch naval frigate Tromp Lynx intervened to free a hijacked German merchant ship and arrested 10 pirates off the coast of Somalia, the Netherlands’ defense ministry said Monday.

In a statement, the ministry said that the Dutch navy received an emergency call from the German container ship MS Taipan Monday morning, which was attacked by pirates in an area around 500 nautical miles east of the Somali coast, Xinhua reported.

7 killed in explosion at US coal mine

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Washington, April 06: An explosion at a coal mine in the US state of West Virginia has killed seven miners.

Ron Wooten, director of West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health Safety and Training, told media that six miners were dead and 21 were missing following an explosion at Upper Big Branch mine in Raleigh County, an underground mine operated by Massey Energy subsidiary Performance Coal, Xinhua reported.

The mine is located bout 50 km south of Charleston, capital of West Virginia.

2 killed in Mexico earthquake

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Mexico City, April 06: Two people have been killed and 233 injured in the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that hit the northwestern Mexican state of Baja California, the state’s governor said Monday.

Most of the damage in the earthquake that occurred Sunday was concentrated around Mexicali, a city of nearly 1 million people that serves as the state capital, Governor Jose Guadalupe Osuna told Televisa.

Lara: ‘Housefull’ is mad, not mindless

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Mumbai, April 06: She has done drama and action, but Lara Dutta is partial to comedies. And now she is ready with another laugh riot “Housefull” which she says is mad but not mindless.

“It’s not a mindless comedy. It has a tight screenplay. So if you are not following because of all the confusion, you might lose the plot somewhere. It’s a big entertainer with great music with great comic talent. We hope we entertain,” Lara told IANS in an interview.

All about education system in Paathshaala’

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Mumbai, April 06: “Paathshaala” director Milind Ukey is tired of people constantly comparing his film with Aamir Khan’s “Taare Zameen Par” and says he is highlighting macro issues of the “education system at large”.

“People are comparing ‘Paathshaala’ to ‘Taare Zameen Par’, but when they see the film they will realise both are very different,” Ukey told IANS in an interview.

” ‘Taare Zameen Par’ was about one child suffering from dyslexia and my film talks about the education system at large. Our issue and scope are bigger,” he added.

Pakistani cab driver pleads ‘not guilty’ to terror charges

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Chicago, April 06: A Pakistan-born Chicago cab driver has pleaded not guilty to charges that he attempted to aid Al Qaeda by sending money to Ilyas Kashmiri, a terrorist leader believed to be in Pakistan.

Raja Lahrasib Khan, 56, a naturalised American citizen, appeared briefly before US District Judge James B. Zagel here Monday to enter his not guilty plea then returned to the Metropolitan Correctional Centre where he is being held without bond at government request.

GHMC to plug transport leaks

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Hyderabad, April 06: In view of the alleged large-scale corruption in the Transport Section of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), the authorities have proposed a series of reforms to stem the rot.

The measures include replacing the security personnel, installing vehicle tracking technology and strict monitoring of vehicle maintenance operations besides improving the productivity of the workforce.

Grave situation for burns patients

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Hyderabad, April 06: When a 22-year-old student, Srikanth, who suffered 60 percent burns in an act of self-immolation recently, was rushed for medicare, his kin were made to knock on the doors of three hospitals before they finally got admission at the Gandhi Hospital. Another victim, P Jayamma, (28) who attempted suicide a few days ago, also met with a similar fate.

Tragically, they were turned away not due to any legal or medical reasons, but simply because the hospitals either lacked a burns ward altogether or the one they had was too small for even a few patients.

39 main accused arrested in city riots

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Hyderabad, April 06: Police on Monday claimed to have arrested 39 main accused in the communal violence that broke out in the city even as the curfew relaxation period has been increased by one more hour with normalcy returning in the violence-hit areas.

Pentagon lobbying for pressure on India: Report

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Washington, April 06: The Pentagon, the US defence department, is actively lobbying for “more pressure” on New Delhi to ease tensions between India and Pakistan to win Islamabad’s cooperation in Afghanistan, the Wall Street Journal has reported. It has also revealed that US President Barack Obama had issued a “secret directive” to intensify diplomacy towards that aim.