Karachi, April 02: Former Pakistan captain Younis Khan seems all set to take the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to court over the board’s refusal to give reasons for a ban slapped on him last month.
Younis was banned indefinitely by the PCB last month while six other leading cricketers were also severely punished in the wake of a disastrous tour of Australia during December-February.
Islamabad, April 02: A landmark constitutional reforms package aimed at striking down the President’s sweeping powers and strengthening democratic institutions was today tabled in Pakistan’s Parliament, with the ruling PPP describing it as a “bill of hope.”
The package, popularly referred to as the ’18th constitutional amendment,’ will be debated by the Senate and National Assembly after President Asif Ali Zardari addresses a joint session of both houses of Parliament on April 5.
Washington, April 02: US President Barack Obama has urged his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao to assist Washington in its drive to impose further sanctions against Iran.
Obama made the request in an hour-long telephone call with the Chinese chief executive on Thursday.
According to the White House, Obama “underscored the importance of working together to ensure that Iran lives up to its international obligations.”
Moscow, April 02: A Russian rocket carrying two cosmonauts and a US astronaut took off on a six-month mission to the International Space Station (ISS) from the Baikonur space centre Friday.
Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Korniyenko and US astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson, part of the ISS Expedition 23, are scheduled to land at the orbital station Sunday. They will return to earth Sep 16.
Docking at the ISS is planned for 9.26 a.m. Moscow time (0525 GMT).
Mumbai, April 02: Dimple Kapadia, who plays a Parsi woman in “Tum Milo Toh Sahi” which released Friday, says she won’t mind doing more films if she gets good scripts.
“There aren’t enough good scripts. Besides, I am lazy! There you finally got the honest truth out of me! I did ‘Tum Milo Toh Sahi’ with Nana Patekar because I loved the script. I honestly need good scripts and directors. I just hope it happens soon,” Dimple, 52, told IANS.
She perks up while talking about her new release “Tum Milo Toh Sahi” in which she plays a Parsi woman who falls in love at the fag end of her life.
Sydney, April 02: New mums can beat the blues and increase their well-being with exercise, says a new study.
In a first study of its kind, 161 postnatal women with no previous depressive symptoms were divided in two groups to test the effect of a physiotherapist-led exercise and education programme on well-being.
The experimental group received an eight-week “Mother and Baby” programme, including specialised exercises provided by a women’s health physiotherapist combined with parenting education.
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Jammu, April 02: A government school teacher has been suspended by the Jammu and Kashmir government for allegedly raping a girl student in Udhampur district.
Noor Mohammad, a teacher of Government Higher Secondary School in Jakhed in Ramnagar tehsil of the district, has been suspended by Chief Education Officer of Udhampur, officials said today.
Noor had allegedly raped a class 12 student in the school premises and was arrested on March 31.
–PTI
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Mumbai, April 02: Last Friday saw the release of Shyam Benegal’s much awaited WELL DONE ABBA in India and as we had already predicted in one of our columns (WELL DONE ABBA: Boman’s ‘double’ triumph after 3 IDIOTS), it was a Boman Irani show all the way.
Just like 3 IDIOTS, the audience as well the critics are elated with Boman’s award worthy performance in this Shyam Benegal directed film. Some have even gone to the extent of proposing the highest honour for Boman, a National Award for his excellent portrayal in WELL DONE ABBA. And we second that!
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Mumbai, April 02: Hrithik Roshan has not just acted in the much awaited film KITES but has also played an important role in its melodious music making.
Now, we hear that Hrithik Roshan made his uncle Rajesh Roshan include a special number in the film by making him hear trance music from all over the world. Hrithik insisted that a trance number be added in the album. So, in order to do that, the actor personally sat down with his uncle in the selection and making of the said song.
Mumbai, April 02: Sajid Nadiadwala and Sajid Khan’s HOUSEFULL starring Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Lara Dutta, Randhir Kapoor, Ritesh Deshmukh, Arjun Rampal, Boman Irani and Jiah Khan seems to have one funny incident after another happening on the sets.
This time around Jiah Khan ended up holding veteran actor Randhir Kapoor’s ear and got the entire set into splits.
Beijing, April 02: Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Chen Jian has said his country will make its own decisions on the foreign exchange policy.
“The Chinese government will make responsible and independent decisions on the foreign exchange policy based on its economic and monetary situation,” Chen told reporters on Friday.
The Chinese official further rejected US accusations that the yuan is undervalued.
“This is nothing to be criticized. China’s foreign exchange rate is not undervalued,” he added.
Mohali, April 02: Brushing aside the reports suggesting that he was not having cordial relationship with team mates, Kings XI Punjab’s batsman Yuvraj Singh has said ”there is no rift between anyone in the team”.
Media reports had said Yuvraj was frustrated on losing the captaincy of Kings XI Punjab to Sri Lankan Kumara Sangakara.
”If anybody is out of form, it does not mean that you (media) can write anything. You (media) cannot just go on and on and write that one is against the other without any basis,” Yuvraj said here yesterday.
Hyderabad, April 02: Jr Ntr Has Two Plus points : Ileana, Ileana doesn’t known acting when doing her first film it seems. She did a film with Jr.NTR in ‘Rakhi’ at her early stage of Career. Heroine is once again pairing with Jr.NTR in ‘Shakthi’.
Working in two films she said that NTR has two plus points.Ileana said, “While doing I have seen fire in NTR and now I am seeing fire and activeness together in Slim NTR”. Also says those two are NTR plus.
——–Agencies
Hyderabad, April 02: Ten additional companies of para-military forces brought and mounted police deployed around the historic Mecca Masjid, which was virtually encircled, even as the Hyderabad police braced up for the crucial Friday prayers in the riot-hit old city area of Hyderabad today.
With already 21 companies deployed in the 25 police stations in two zones, 17 in south and 8 in west, the Hyderabad police took no chance as it laid a two layer barbed wire security fencing on the desolate roads in various parts, particularly in the vicinity of Charminar.
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London, April 02: Men who drink a litre of cola every day could be harming their sperm count, according to a new Danish study.
On an average, these men’s sperm counts were almost 30 percent lower than those who didn’t drink cola, reports dailymail.co.uk.
While the sperm count would still be considered normal by the World Health Organisation, men with fewer sperm generally have a higher risk of being infertile.
Mumbai, April 02: By now it’s a known fact that Jacqueline Fernandez a.k.a Jackie, who is of Sri Lankan origin and is still learning Hindi, has dubbed her own lines in ‘Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai’.
However, what is not known to many is that she wasn’t too comfortable with the idea and was getting jitters in the dubbing studio. Further surprise came from the fact that right through the shooting of the film; she was told that her voice would be dubbed by a professional once the film reaches the editing stage.
Lucknow, April 02: If all goes well, Uttar Pradesh will soon get a temple dedicated to Chief Minister and Dalit icon Mayawati, whose statues already dot the sprawling state.
The temple is proposed to be erected in the poverty-stricken Mahoba district in Bundelkhand, economically the most backward region in Uttar Pradesh.
It will come up in Natpura village, about 300 km from here.
“Of course, we are planning to install her idol in the temple that will come up on my private land,” Kanaihya Lal, a Mahoba-based lawyer, told IANS over telephone.
Hyderabad, April 02 (Zahed Farooqui): It seems like ghost vendors are active in riot-ravaged Hyderabad. When curfew was relaxed for two hours in the Old City of Hyderabad on Thursday, the prices of all essential commodities recorded four to five time extra from its normal price.
We are unable to buy vegetables and other commodities because of curfew relaxation timings are in two phases. “Hamare Shouher Auto Chalate, roz kamana roz khana hai, 4 din se ghar mein hai” said Mrs. Ghousia a resident of Fathe darwaza.
Pune, April 02: In a shocking incident, a 25-year-old married woman was gang-raped by three persons after they offered her a lift in their car and took her to a desolate location, police said Friday. Two of the three accused have been arrested.
The victim was staying alone in Hinjewadi area, a suburb on the outskirts of the city, in a rented accommodation since the past fortnight.
Jerusalem, April 02: The Israeli deputy prime minister has warned that Tel Aviv would soon launch another large-scale military operation in the Gaza Strip.
Silvan Shalom made the remarks on Friday after Israel carried out a series of airstrikes, injuring three Palestinian children, aged two, four and 11.
The deputy premier said that the new offensive will be launched in the near future.
He added that the military attack is a response to rocket fire from Gaza. Tel Aviv holds Hamas responsible for the rocket raids.
New Delhi, April 02: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today expressed confidence that the measures announced in the Budget for 2010-11 would revive private investment and put the economy back on a 9 per cent growth trajectory.
“I am optimistic that the measures I have outlined in this year’s budget will revive private investment and put the economy back on the growth path of 9 per cent,” he said at a SIDBI function here.
He said that the economy in 2009-10 is expected to grow by 7.2 per cent, which is “impressive by global standards”.