Month: May 2010

Amar Amar gets Dimple as co-star in film down south

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New Delhi, May 04: Far from the political limelight, former Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh appears to be honing his acting skills.

Braving the summer heat in Kerala, he is trying to breathe life into a character ( his third in films) at a picturesque location in Kochi. Singh plays a Hindustani musician, Ustad Mallika Manzoor, in the Malayalam film Bombay Mittai . Singh has landed an important role in the film and appears to be enjoying the work.

Can parent convert kids without consent? Malaysian court to decide

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Kuala Lumpur, May 04: Does a parent have the right to convert children without the consent of the spouse? That’s the question posed by a woman, whose husband converted to Islam, before Malaysia’s Federal Court.

The lawyer of the woman, whose husband was a Hindu before his conversion, argued before the court Monday that “it is about family life”.

‘Israel may need to expand govt.’

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Jerusalem, May 04: Israel’s defense minister has said it may be necessary to expand the hawkish government of Benjamin Netanyahu to make a breakthrough in the Middle East peace talks.

Addressing Knesset (parliament) members on Monday, Ehud Barak said the parliament has to consider every way to achieve a breakthrough in the upcoming peace talks with the Palestinians, Ynet reported.

“If it turns out that the government must be expanded; (we) will have to seriously consider an expansion,” he added.

Four villagers missing from border areas in Poonch

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Srinagar, May 04: Two girls are among four persons who have gone missing from border villages close to the Line of Control in Poonch district, police said today.

The four – 23-year-old Javed Iqbal, 27-year-old Jahangir, 21-year-old Mohireem Bi and Robina Nabi – had gone missing on April 19.

The case of missing of the border dwellers was registered by police on the information of village authorities. The four are believed to have crossed over to Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).

—-PTI

Obama extends sanctions on Syria for one year

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Washington, May 04: President Barack Obama Monday renewed US sanctions on Syria for a year, accusing Damascus of supporting “terrorist” groups and pursuing missile programs and weapons of mass destruction.

There had been no expectation that Obama would lift the measures, but the renewal came at an especially sensitive time in often tense US-Syria relations, despite efforts by the administration to return an ambassador to Damascus.

Clinton tries to isolate Iran as nuclear ‘outlier’

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United Nations, May 04: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sought to isolate Iran at UN nuclear talks here Monday when she dismissed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s anti-US charges as “wild accusations.”

At the opening of the three-week long nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference, Clinton put Iran among a “few outliers” that have flouted international rules designed to check the spread of atomic weapons.

North Korea is another outlier, the chief US diplomat said in a speech.

Chandra Shekhar’s portrait unveiled in parliament

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New Delhi, May 04: Vice President Hamid Ansari Tuesday unveiled the portrait of former prime minister Chandra Shekhar in the central hall of Parliament House here.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and leaders of various political parties in parliament attended the function.

–IANS

Head of Qaeda-linked Ansar al-Islam arrested in Iraq

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Baghdad, May 04: Iraqi troops on Monday arrested the head of the Ansar al-Islam insurgent group in Baghdad, US forces said in a statement.

“Iraqi Security Forces arrested the alleged leader of Ansar al-Islam and seven criminal associates during a series of joint security operations conducted in Mansour and Adhamiyah,” it said, referring to areas of Baghdad.

The man, Abu Abdullah Al Shafil, “is believed to have served the terrorist organisation since its inception” and “held association with Osama Bin Laden.”

The classic beauty contest winners!

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Mumbai, May 04: Beauty Pageants and bollywood have long been associated with each other, almost like the Sun and the Moon.

In recent years, bollywood has been flooded with a whole lot of A class heroines, most of whom have been winners of the beauty contests like Miss India and Miss Universe, to even Miss World.

The bandwagon has many stars to its credit. Actresses like Aishwarya, Susmita, Lara, Priyanka etc, have been on top of these National and International contests and emerged great winners.

Rights groups welcome pardon for Sri Lanka editor

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Colombo, May 04: Media rights groups Tuesday welcomed Sri Lanka’s decision to pardon a Tamil editor sentenced to 20 years in prison, but urged the government to ensure he was allowed to return to work freely.

Paris-based RSF — Reporters Without Borders — said J. S. Tissainayagam, who wrote about the plight of the minority Tamil ethnic group during the country’s 37-year civil war, should be free to practice his profession.

May won’t be as hot as April

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New Delhi, May 04: There is good news for Delhiites. The weather office has predicted that the heat in May will be less severe than what the capital experienced in April.

‘The heat in the capital will be less severe in May than in April,’ an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

‘The maximum temperature expected for today (Monday) will be 35 degrees Celsius and the minimum was recorded at 26.8 degrees, three notches above average,’ he added.

Two killed in clashes over bursting crackers

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New Delhi, May 04: An argument over bursting crackers at a wedding claimed the lives of a youth and a middle- aged man in the Kotwali area of north Delhi late on Sunday.

Twenty- three- year old Altamash Qureshi, a resident of Gokulpuri, was stabbed to death while Syed Abdullah ( 50), a resident of Ajmeri Gate, died after he was beaten up by people from the bridegroom’s side.

Kat quits on Salman

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Mumbai, May 04: The strong buzz in Bollywood is that Katrina Kaif has had enough of her tumultuous relationship with Salman and called off the relationship for good.

The couple, who has been having issues since last year, post Katrina’s success at the box-office, had taken time-off and decided to be good friends but that didn’t work out for them either.

According to sources Katrina decided to end the relationship because, “she felt suffocated and stifled with him.”

Mom held for ‘ honour killing’ of journalist

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New Delhi, May 04: Monday saw developments in the alleged “ honour killing” of Delhi- based journalist Nirupama Pathak in the Capital as well as Koderma, her hometown in Jharkhand.

While Pathak’s friends met National Commission for Women ( NCW) chairperson Girija Vyas and sought speedy justice in the case, the Koderma police arrested Pathak’s mother Sudha Devi on charges of murder.

Pathak, who was working with a business daily in New Delhi, was found hanging on April 29 at her home in Koderma.

Katrina to don desi look in next

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Mumbai, May 04: Tees Maar Khan has just wrapped up its first schedule and director Farah Khan is ecstatic. “In just a month’s time, we’ve wrapped up 50 per cent of the film,” she says.

“It’s amazing how much work we packed into every day.” The highpoint of the shoot at Malshej Ghat, she asserts, was a dance number picturised on Katrina Kaif who made a pretty picture in a ghagra-choli.

The song is a typically Indian, gloriously uninhibited number, reminiscent of Madhuri Dixit’s Dhak dhak chartbusters.

Rail drivers’ strike paralyses Mumbai

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Mumbai, May 04: Suburban train services in Mumbai continued to be disrupted on Tuesday on the second day of motormen’s strike even as 20 of them were dismissed for refusing to report for work.

“Ten motormen of Central and Western railway each have been dismissed as they refused to work,” railway officials said in Mumbai.

The western and eastern express highway also continued to be jammed with commuters opting for road transport to reach their destinations.

Major changes proposed in driving syllabus

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Dubai, May 04: Night training, highway lessons and Novice Driving Programme are some of the proposed features of a new driving curriculum that RTA is planning to introduce soon.

The RTA is proposing some of the Novice Driving Programme to be implemented at the federal level, while also working with the five driving institutes in Dubai to iron out a new unified syllabus for all the institutes.

Australians say ties hit by racist attacks

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New Delhi, May 04: An Opinion poll by the Lowy Institute, a leading independent think tank based in Sydney, reveals that an overwhelming majority of Australians — 74 per cent — believe that their country’s relationship with India has been damaged following the recent attacks on Indian students in Melbourne.

Labour ministry sets up system to settle disputes

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Abu Dhabi, May 04: The Ministry of Labour has implemented new mechanism to solve workers’ complaints and problems by introducing disputes settlement system, known as Natawasal. Disputes and complaints will be examined and solved within three days from the date of being lodged and registered at the Labour Relations Department.

Cloudy weather for two more days, rain predicted

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Abu Dhabi, May 04: Strong winds kicked up sand in the Capital on Monday morning and reduced the visibility level significantly particularly on city outskirts.

Cloudy weather conditions will prevail for the coming two days in different parts of the country and perhaps bring in rain, weather forecasters said.

Low air pressure in the atmosphere coming from northern parts of the country resulted in winds that kicked up dust, lowering visibility to 800 metres at the Abu Dhabi International Airport and 1,000 metres in other places.

Anand draws again, leads 4-3

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Bulgaria, May 04: World champion Viswanathan Anand survived a scare from Veselin Topalov and settled for a draw in a hard-fought game of the seventh match of the World Chess Championship here.

Anand had to stave off a stiff challenge from Topalov, who prepared a brilliant new idea to combat the Indian ace in the Catalan opening.

The game was evenly poised for a long time but Anand had to do most of the thinking in the first part of the game.

Soni says broadcast regulatory body to be set up soon

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New Delhi, May 04: The Government plans to set up a Broadcast Regulatory Authority of India on the lines of telecom regulator TRAI to address various issues concerning the broadcast sector.

The regulator will address “ concerns of the broadcasters” over issues such as spectrum, TRP ratings, down- linking and content code.

Information and broadcasting minister Ambika Soni said the issue was under the consideration of a committee headed by the ministry’s secretary, Raghu Menon.

Gurgaon farmers sell land to multiple buyers

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Gurgaon, May 04: Cases of land fraud are rampant in the real estate haven of Gurgaon and it’s usually farmers who claim to be the victims. But this time, they have emerged as suspects in a case of land fraud.

The Gurgaon revenue department has found that over 600 acres in Rohak Gujera village between Bhondsi and Sohna was sold four times over.

Sources said a total of 5,400- acre land is under the scanner, though the fraud was committed only on a part of it — 600- 1,000 acre.

“ We got to know about it during checking of records.

Zaheer enjoying mentor’s role in the Indian team

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St Lucia, May 04: When he made his international debut, he was a tearaway fast bowler, raring to hit the deck to extract pace and bounce.

Ten years on, Zaheer Khan has emerged successful, matured, intelligent seamer who uses the conditions to the hilt to get maximum results.

Along the way, he has shouldered the responsibility of spearheading the Indian attack and mentoring young fast bowlers. But Zaheer is enjoying every moment of his responsibility.

Thai protesters cautious over PM’s election offer

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Bangkok, May 04: Thailand’s “Red Shirt” anti-government protest movement reacted cautiously Tuesday to the prime minister’s proposal to hold elections in mid-November as a way out of a crippling political crisis.

But leaders of the mostly poor or working-class Reds, who have been rallying in Bangkok since mid-March, did not reject Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s offer outright, offering a ray of hope for an end to the tense standoff.