Month: April 2010

World Cup Kabaddi declared open

by

Patiala, April 03: A captivating and colourful opening ceremony gave a befitting start to 11-day World Cup Kabaddi with Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal declaring the event open here today.

After Badal declared the event open, the stage was set for nine nations to vie for Rs. 2.2 crore prize money in the World Cup Kabaddi. The nine nations collectively vowed to play the games in sportsmanship spirit.

The presence of cine star Dharmender and his son Sunny Deol in turbaned outfits added a zing to the tournament.

Two seriously hurt in accident

by

New Delhi, April 03: Two persons were seriously injured today after their car was hit by a truck here.

The incident happened early in the morning near Maurya Sheraton Hotel when they were travelling in a car towards India Gate. The truck hit their car, police said.

Pawan Kumar (22) and Deepak (23) sustained injuries as they were trapped in the car following the accident, police said.

They were rescued after police cut the vehicle by gas cutter. They were taken to RML Hospital where their condition is stated to be critical.

–Agencies

Fear of poverty motivated Shakira to taste success

by

London, April 03:Popular singer Shakira claims her drive for success comes from seeing poverty during her childhood.

“My dad went bankrupt when I was eight-years-old. I remember the day I realised that pretty much all of the comfort of our lives had gone. We had had very decent lives — two cars, my dad had a successful business, and then from one day to the next we lost everything,” contactmusic.com quoted her as saying.

Abusive childhood inspired Aguilera’s next film

by

London, April 03:American singer Christina Aguilera says her abusive childhood was the motivation for her new movie role in “Burlesque”.

“The girl I play, Ali, has a rough past. Her mother dies when she’s very young and she’s been in foster homes. I could relate to that pain, growing up in an abusive household,” contactmusic.com quoted her as saying.

“That gave me great motivation to provoke my tears for the scenes where I had to really pour it on. I felt it deeply, to go through a lot of those things that brought up a lot of painful memories.”

Minor fire at restaurant in central Delhi

by

New Delhi, April 03: A minor fire broke out in a closed restaurant-cum-bar in central Delhi Saturday afternoon, fire officials said. No casualties were reported in the incident.

The incident took place around 2.10 p.m. at the Blue Star restaurant and bar near Minto Bridge. The restaurant and bar has been closed for the last few years.

“Rushing to the spot two fire tenders doused the flames within half-an-hour. The furniture kept at the premises had caught fire, but the reason for the fire is yet to be ascertained,” the fire official added.

—————-IANS

India asks China not to issue stapled visas for Kashmiris

by

New Delhi, April 03:Ahead of External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna’s visit to Beijing, India Saturday asked China to stop the practice of issuing stapled visas to Indians from Jammu and Kashmir and said Beijing should be sensitive to New Delhi’s “core concern” on this issue.

“We have asked the Chinese side to do away with dual visa policy policy,” Gautam Bambawale, joint secretary in charge of China and East Asia in the external affairs ministry, told reporters here.

Maoist rebel killed in Jharkhand

by

Ranchi, April 03:A Maoist rebel was shot dead in a gun battle with police in Jharkhand’s East Singhbhum district Saturday morning, police said.

The body of Sunil Gorai was recovered after the gunfight near Banporia village under Patmda police station of the district, around 160 km from Ranchi.

According to police, Gorai was commander of “Dalma Firing Squad” of the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist).

——————IANS

Criminal gunned down in Uttar Pradesh

by

Mau (Uttar Pradesh), April 03: A gangster wanted in over 20 criminal cases was Saturday gunned down in this Uttar Pradesh town by a team of the state police’s special task force (STF), police said.

Raja Chauhan, 35, who was wanted in several cases of murder, abduction, loot and other heinous crimes, was shot dead in Dakshintola town in Mau district, about 280 km from Lucknow.

IGNOU to offer courses in tie-up with TASMAC London

by

New Delhi, April 03:The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has signed a memorandum of understanding with TASMAC (Training and Advanced Studies in Management and Communications), London School of Business, to open an international partner institute.

According to the MoU, signed by IGNOU registrar U.S. Tolia and TASMAC’s chairman and managing director Giri Dua, “the institute will offer about two dozens of IGNOU academic programmes and these would benefit not only learners of the Indian diaspora but also transnational students”, IGNOU said in a statement Saturday.

Robin came up with a special innings: Pietersen

by

Bangalore, April 03: Kevin Pietersen, the Man-of-the-Match in Bangalore’s victory over a struggling Punjab side, lauded his team’s batting performance. He said that Uthappa’s hitting was some of the best he had ever seen. Uthappa came up with a crucial cameo of 22 off just 8 balls to tilt the balance in Bangalore’s favour.

“I think it was a great victory. Robin Uthappa (22 off eight balls) came up with a special innings. That was some of the best hitting I’ve ever seen. I saw it on TV in Bangladesh the other day, but to come here and see at the opposite end was incredible.

We have plans for Sachin: Lehmann

by

Bangalore, April 03: Last year’s defending champions, the Deccan Chargers, are slipping increasingly behind in their race for a semi-final spot, with just 3 wins from 7 matches, and coach Darren Lehmann said that they needed to improve in all areas ahead of their key clash against table toppers Mumbai.

“It’s a big game on Saturday. We are looking to improve in all areas – batting, bowling and fielding,” said the former Australia batsman.

Lehmann said the team had worked out strategies against Mumbai captain Sachin Tendulkar and spinner Harbhajan Singh.

Chennai can turn it around: Hussey

by

Bangalore, April 03: Chennai were looking down and out before their last game, but a victory against a top side in the Royal Challengers Bangalore seems to have lifted their spirits, with a semi-final berth not yet out of the question. In addition, their Australian recruits – Michael Hussey and Doug Bollinger – have also arrived, boosting the team immeasurably.

Hussey was positive that Chennai would see an upswing in fortunes from now.

The curse of the Bollywood owner

by

Bangalore, April 03: In season one and two (and maybe three) it was the Kolkata Knight Riders, in season two it was Rajasthan Royals and now, it’s undoubtedly the Kings XI Punjab.

The Mohali based side are officially the laughing stock of this edition of the Indian Premier League and the reason, besides being their obvious cricketing failure, seems to be something a little fishier. It appears that Punjab and Preity Zinta have finally succumbed to the Bollywood cricketing curse.

Adnan Sami Marries Afghan-German Woman

by

Islamabad, April 03: Singer Adnan Sami has tied with the knot with an Afghan woman named Zoya Fariyabi in Mumbai, a private TV channel has claimed. The 36-year-old Khan’s walima ceremony was organized in Islamabad.

Azaan, Sami’s son from his first wife Zeba Bakhtiyar, made the arrangements for the ceremony, reports a daily news.

Zoya, a German by origin, told the channel that Adnan was perfect for her and that she loved him.

Zoya works as a project manager in a US-based company which functions from Germany.

——–Agencies

Minissha rues her loss in WELL DONE ABBA

by

Mumbai, April 03: Minissha Lamba may have seen good appreciation coming her way for WELL DONE ABBA and also carried a nice pay check back home.

However, it’s the loss of Rs. 500 that she regrets most while working on the film. Reason being that this amount had a certain prestige attached to it and for Minissha, it was an opportunity of the life time to be bestowed with this honour.

So what transpired actually?

Sajid: How can I not be friendly with Shirish?

by

Mumbai, April 03: Though Sajid Khan’s sister Farah Khan is married to Shirish Kunder, there have been speculations galore around stressed relationships between the two men.

While both Sajid and Shirish have maintained a cordial personal relationship with each other, rumours have floated in the past about assumed tension between the two film makers who have one movie each to their credit – HEYY BABYY and JAAN-E-MANN respectively.

Ahmadinejad warns Israel against second Gaza war

by

Tehran, April 03: Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has warned against a reported Israeli plan to launch a second military offensive against Palestinians in Gaza.

Israeli deputy prime minister Silvan Shalom said Friday that a military operation will soon be launched in response to rocket attacks from Gaza, which involve home-made rockets that usually carry little or no explosive warhead.

On Thursday, a single Qassam rocket landed near the Israeli town of Ashkelon on Thursday and caused some minor damages but no casualties.

Lieberman: Abbas urged Israel to topple Hamas in Gaza war

by

Jerusalem, April 03: Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman says the Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas urged Israel to topple Hamas in last year’s Gaza war.

According to Lieberman, Abbas urged Israel to topple the Hamas government in Gaza during the Operation Cast Lead campaign last year, then turned around and blamed Israel for war crimes.

“Over the past year, I witnessed Abbas at his best. In Operation Cast Lead, he called us personally, applied pressure and demanded that we topple Hamas and remove it from power,” Lieberman told Israel’s Maariv daily.

Gitmo inmates ‘donate food’ to Haiti’s quake victims

by

Guantanamo, April 03: A group of inmates interned at detention camp on the US Naval Base Guantanamo Bay in Cuba have reportedly set aside some of their food rations as a donation to Haiti’s earthquake victims.

A lawyer for one of the prisoners says she was told that inmates from Camp 4 believed it was common sense to ask if they could contribute to Haitians suffering from the country’s devastating earthquake in January.

Kareena Kapoor steps into the shoes of Marilyn Monroe for Madhur Bhandarkar’s next

by

Mumbai, April 03: If there was anyone who could play the dreamlike Marilyn Monroe it’s the reigning czarina of Bollywood Kareena Kapoor who is soon to play a character sketched much on the lines of the American actress.

Kareena Kapoor who is to star in Madhur Bhandarkar’s next is set to not just scorch the screen with her sheer beauty and poise but some heavy duty acting as well.

Aamir Khan to Host KBC?

by

Mumbai, April 03: A buzz has come to us that “Mr. Perfectionist’ of Bollywood, Aamir Khan, will be the next celebrity to host “Kaun Banega Crorepati’(KBC). The show has been hosted by noted celebrities like Shahrukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan. Now, surprisingly, Aamir has been approached to host KBC.

Jaipal Reddy criticises Thackeray for comments on Sania

by

New Delhi, April 03: Criticising Bal Thackeray for his comments on Sania Mirza’s decision to marry Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik, Union Minister S Jaipal Reddy today said the Sena chief’s remarks are highly “symptomatic of his notorious tendency” to lend a communal colour to every issue.

Reddy, the Union Urban Development Minister, said it was unfortunate that Thackeray has chosen to criticise the decision of tennis star Sania to marry a Pakistani cricketer on political grounds.

26th anniversary of first Indian in space Monday

by

New Delhi, April 03: India will Monday celebrate the 26th anniversary of its first astronaut Rakesh Sharma’s trip to space.

The Russian Centre of Science and Culture in the capital will organise an interaction with Sharma, where he will share his experiences.

Sharma, then a squadron leader in the Indian Air Force (IAF), embarked on the historic mission on April 3, 1984, as part of a joint space programme between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Soviet Intercosmos space programme. He spent seven days, 21 hours and 40 minutes in space.
–IANS

IGNOU to offer courses in tie-up with TASMAC London

by

New Delhi, April 03: The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has signed a memorandum of understanding with TASMAC (Training and Advanced Studies in Management and Communications), London School of Business, to open an international partner institute.

According to the MoU, signed by IGNOU registrar U.S. Tolia and TASMAC’s chairman and managing director Giri Dua, “the institute will offer about two dozens of IGNOU academic programmes and these would benefit not only learners of the Indian diaspora but also transnational students”, IGNOU said in a statement Saturday.