Month: April 2010

NBA demands stopping work on Maheshwar project

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Bhopal, April 01: Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) today demanded that the work on Maheshwar Private Power Project should be stopped immediately, alleging that it was being carried out without rehabilitating the oustees.

Over 60,000 people have been affected by the dam being built as part of the power project in the Narmada Valley and work is going on without the company submitting the detailed Relief and Rehabilitation Plan for the oustees, NBA leader Alok Agrawal told a press conference here.

I-League: Churchill wallop JCT, move to third place

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Margao, April 01: Churchill Brothers capitalised on their rivals loose defence to script a thumping 6-0 win over JCT and move to third place in the 19th round of the I-League played at Nehru Stadium here today.

Churchill who led 3-0 at half time, scored through Nascimento Silveira (9th), Felix Chimaokwu (10th), Lalrindika Falte (38th), Odafe Okolie (77th, 89th) and Ogba Kalu Nnanna (injury time).

Churchill Bros continued their good performance that they had displaced in the AFC cup and dominated the match throughout and went into the lead in the ninth minute through a self goal.

6 LeT militants killed in encounter in JK

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Jammu, April 01: Six Lashkar-e-Taiba militants of Pakistani origin, who had escaped from Triyath forest after a brief encounter three days ago, were killed by security forces after they tracked them down in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir today.

Police and security forces tracked down the group of militants in Talli Dharaman-Sarothi belt (Triyath) of Kalakote tehsil of Rajouri district and trapped them around 1430 hours, Senior Superintendent of Police, Rajouri, Shafkat Watalie told PTI, giving details of anti-terrorist ‘Operation Khoj’.

Affordability not a concern – healthy demand for homes at current prices: ICICI Securities survey

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Mumbai, April 01: ICICI Securities, the largest integrated securities
firm, today released a proprietary real estate survey. The survey was
conducted across 8 Indian cities (Mumbai, Delhi/NCR, Bangaluru, Chennai,
Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Pune) among 2697 online, 6767 offline
buyer respondents as well as 57 property consultants.

As per the survey, Indian home buyers are cautiously optimistic about the
property prices. They are primarily interested in mid-income housing (Rs.
2-5 million) and are conservative on ticket size. End-user demand is higher

My book is about treating men, women equally

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New Delhi, April 01: Her biographical work on Nargis and Sunil Dutt brought into fore many details about the actor couple, and now author Kishwar Desai has chosen to address issues like unwanted girl child, gender prejudice and bias and men-women equality in her first fictional account.

“My book ‘Witness the Night’ deals with many issues but of course, the main one is to treat men and women equally, to respect the rights of women, and to bring up girl children with love and care,” says Desai.

Zardari wanted UN to quiz Rice on Bhutto killing

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Islamabad, April 01: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari asked the UN to delay a report on the assassination of Benazir Bhutto as he wanted investigators to quiz four personalities, including former US top diplomat Condoleezza Rice, who had prior information on threats to her life.

Youth commits suicide after killing parents, brother

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Jaipur, April 01: A youth allegedly committed suicide after killing his parents and brother in Rajasthan’s Barmer district, police said today.

22-year-old Sawai Ram last night attacked and killed his father Prabhu Ram (60), mother Satiya (55) and elder brother Ramaram (33) with a sharp-edged weapon in Ramasaria village.

He later jumped into a water tank located in the house, police said.

Prima facie, it appears that Sawai Ram was mentally unfit after his accident about two months back. He probably committed the crime in a disturbed state of the mind, they added.
–PTI

BJP will decide after Uma approaches: Gadkari

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Kolkata, April 01: The BJP today said it would take a decision on the return of Uma Bharti after she approached the party leadership on this.

“We will take our stand when she tells me. As of know, there has not been any talk with her,” BJP President Nitin Gadkari told reporters here.

Bharti had recently resigned from Bharatiya Jan Shakti (BJS), the party she floated four years ago, following her expulsion from BJP, amidst speculation of her return to the parent party.

Rakhi Sawant to contest against ex-boyfriend in dance show

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Mumbai, April 01: Bollywood item girl Rakhi Sawant will contest against her ex-boyfriend Abhishek Avasthi in an upcoming celebrity dance reality show “Zara Nachke Dikha”, to be aired on STAR Plus soon.

Rakhi, however, declined to comment on the issue.

“I am a performer. Whoever comes and performs, be it Abhishek (Avasthi), Shah Rukh or Aamir Khan, I am going to fight equally. I don’t care for anyone. I am not scared of any one. The girls team will win for sure,” Rakhi told reporters at a press conference Thursday.

Sangakkara, Yuvraj dismiss reports of rift

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Mohali, April 01: Kings XI Punjab skipper Kumar Sangakkara and star player Yuvraj Singh today dismissed reports of a rift between them and said too much should not be read into the side’s rough patch in the ongoing Indian Premier League.

Stories are doing the rounds that Yuvraj, going through a prolonged bad patch in the Twenty20 tournament, is sulking after losing captaincy to Sangakkara, who doesn’t enjoy the full support of some players.

Cyclonic storm kills seven, damages 16,000 houses

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Agartala/Aizawl, April 01: At least seven people were killed and nearly 16,000 houses destroyed as pre-monsoon rains accompanied by strong winds and hailstorms continued to create havoc in Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur and southern Assam, officials said here Thursday.

According to officials, between Sunday and Wednesday night, a cyclonic rainstorm accompanied by heavy lightning killed three people each in Tripura and Mizoram while a woman tea worker died in southern Assam.

TVS to roll out uni-sex ‘Wego’ this month

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New Delhi, April 01: India’s third biggest two-wheeler maker, TVS Motor Company, would roll out ‘Wego’, a metal bodied scooter with unisex styling, in phases across the country from this month.

The company in a statement Thursday said it posted a 15 percent growth in two-wheelers sales at 1,521,912 units in fiscal 2009-10 against 1,325,754 units in the previous financial year.

The company also said it had sold 146,736 two-wheelers in March as against 118,000 units in the same month last year, registering a growth of 24 percent in sales.

Joshna-Dipika win International Doubles Squash C’ship

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New Delhi, April 01: Ace Indian doubles pair of Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal held their nerves to register a sensational victory over the experienced Australian duo of Kasey Brown and Donna Urquhart in the final of the ESR International doubles championship in Manchester.

The Indian pair humbled Urquhart (world number 20) and Brown (world number 10) 11-10 3-11 11-10 in a 72-minute thriller last night.

Modi eyes dollar revenue through ‘IPL Carnival’

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New Delhi, April 01: Indian Premier League is eyeing additional revenue by holding exhibition matches overseas from next year, which will be the icing on its over one-billion dollar domestic business.

But, the main show will always continue to be in India.

“All teams will play 4-5 matches a year at overseas venues… These matches will be beyond the main annual season,” IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi told PTI.

Iran marks Islamic Republic establishment

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Tehran, April 01: Iran is celebrating the 31st anniversary of the establishment of the Islamic Republic — a new Islamic system that replaced a US-backed monarchy.

On April 1, 1979, less than two months after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, millions of Iranians cast their ballots in a national referendum on a new system of government.

They were offered to vote on whether they wanted Iran to become an Islamic Republic.

An astonishing 98.2 percent of the votes endorsed the establishment of an Islamic Republic and the creation of a new constitution.

Sania committed to India: AITA

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New Delhi, April 01: Pakistan may want Sania Mirza to play for them after marrying cricketer Shoaib Malik but the tennis ace remains committed to representing India, the All India Tennis association said here today.

“Sania Mirza and her parents have informed AITA that she will continue to play for India after her marriage with Shoaib Malik. She has confirmed to be part of the Indian team in the 2010 Commonwealth Games at Delhi, Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, the 2011 Fed Cup and the 2012 Olympics at London,” AITA Secretary General Anil Khanna said in a statement.

Gold falls on lack of buying support

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New Delhi, April 01: Gold prices declined by Rs 30 to Rs 16,560 per ten grams in the bullion market here today on reduced offtake even as the metal ruled firm in the overseas markets.

Standard gold and ornaments fell by Rs 30 each to Rs 16,560 and Rs 16,410 per ten grams, respectively, while sovereign remained steady at Rs 13,900 per eight-gram piece.

A positive trend in the metal in the overseas markets failed to influence the prices in the domestic market.

The metal remained firm in the Asian region and rose by USD 3 to USD 1,116.60 an ounce today.

Amar defends Sonia, Rahul over Congress attack on Amitabh

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New Delhi, April 01: The Congress’ attacks on mega star Amitabh Bachchan over being brand ambassador of Gujarat have not been at the behest of party president Sonia Gandhi or her MP son Rahul Gandhi, expelled Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh said Thursday.

‘Personally, I have full faith that this whole act (the Congress’ statements) could not have been done at the level of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi,’ Amar Singh, a close friend of Bachchan, said in the latest post on his blog.

No excuses for another Ashes failure, warns Ponting

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Hamilton, April 01: With a convincing win against the Black Caps in the just-concluded Test series, Australian captain Ricky Ponting was convinced that his team was capable of toppling England in their own den, and has warned that there won’t be excuses for another failure in the Ashes, starting later this year.

”We can’t be any better placed at the moment,” said Ponting.

”We have two Tests to play in England (against Pakistan in July), then it’s straight into it (the Ashes).

”There will be no excuses from where we are sitting.

Kareena Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan Want Date Night

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Mumbai, April 01: After Kurbaan, fans have been eagerly awaiting to see more of the sizzling chemistry between Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor. While they still have Agent Vinod to look forward to, sources close to the couple have indicated that they are scouting for some more interesting projects to work together on.

John Abraham-Bipasha Basu Call it Quits

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Mumbai, April 01: It seems that is the season of break-ups in Bollywood. After Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone.John Abraham and Bipasha Basu have parted ways. They were touted as one of the best couples of Bollywood. Marriage was also on the cards. Alas! Destiny had some other plans.

John and Bipasha were dating each other since 2002. It is believed that since last year.The couple was having constant fights and distance was the factor, which led to the split. Sources close to couple state,John Abraham is known to have.

Lalu, Paswan hail verdict; NDA to consult experts

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Patna, April 01: The Supreme Court order that Bihar Government had no authority to challenge Lalu Prasad’s acquittal in a disproportionate assets case has not gone down well with ruling NDA, though the RJD chief and his LJP counterpart Ram Vilas Paswan welcomed the verdict.

Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said the state government would decide its new course of action after consulting legal experts.

Modi said he had full respect for the Supreme Court and legal experts will go through the judgement and see what other recourse was there in the law.

Shahid & Anushka get into a heated argument

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Mumbai, April 01: In an absolute reversal of what was meant to be a cheery, fun-filled shoot, Bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor let off steam and lost his cool during the shooting of a special episode of his upcoming movie BADMAASH COMPANY at the Zoom studios earlier this week.

Shahid was along with Anushka, Chang and Vir-his co-stars to shoot for the special episode ‘Badmaash Company in Zoom’.

Mugdha Godse’s midnight Fashion Show

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Mumbai, April 01: IPL fever is spreading far and wide, whether it’s the corporate world or the Bollywood world and this fever has now caught on to the fashion world!

Midnight fashion shows are taking place as a part of the IPL Celebrations. Various designers are displaying their collections at these midnight shows which take place once the last match of the day is over.

The ravishing Mugdha Godse recently walked the ramp for designer Mandira Virk. The sizzling show stopper looked fabulous in the designer ensemble…the only hitch- the shoot was delayed for two hours!

Lara Dutta not to tie-knot anytime soon

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Mumbai, April 01: The speculations surrounding the relationship between bollywood actress Lara Dutta and tennis ace Mahesh Bhupati have been put to rest.

Lara has denied all reports that she would be tying the knot with Bhupati anytime soon. She has also refrained from commenting that her relationship with Bhupati is getting stronger by the day.

It must be recalled that the romance between Lara and Bhupati has been donning the headlines in the past. Recently, Mahesh Bhupati rented an apartment in the city just to be close to his lady love.