Month: May 2010

Plane lands safely in US after bomb threat

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Chicago, May 02: A United Airlines flight from the city’s O’Hare International Airport landed safely in Philadelphia after crew members found a threatening message in the plane’s lavatory that said “Bomb on, will die”.

The plane, an Airbus A-320 with 113 passengers and five crew members on board, was headed to Philadelphia International airport.

The crew found a hand-written bomb threat on a bathroom wall on the plane during the flight and notified authorities.

Madhuri Gupta picked up packet for Pakistani handler in Jammu

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Srinagar, May 02: Madhuri Gupta, the Indian diplomat arrested on charges of spying for Pakistan’s ISI, had picked up a packet for her Pakistani handler during her visit to Jammu on March 30, intelligence sources here say.

Gupta, who was sent to 14-days judicial remand by a Delhi court Saturday, had picked up the packet in Raghunath Bazar area of Jammu city, the sources said.

However, who handed over the packet to her could not be ascertained, the sources added.

Somali militants increasing use of child soldiers

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Mogadishu, May 02: Sharif says he was 10 when his religious teacher led his class into a poor neighborhood of Somalia’s capital to pray for a sick relative. Suddenly Islamist fighters jumped from the shadows and ordered the children onto buses, the beginning of a terrifying two years as a child soldier.

‘Unlike Europe, Iran never hurt Jews’

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Cairo, May 02: An Iranian lawmaker representing the country’s Jewish minority says Iran has never harmed its Jewish community, condemning Western propaganda against Iran.

“While Jews were hurt by European churches during the Middle Ages, no case of a crackdown against Jews by Muslims has been reported in historical records,” Siamak Morsadegh said in a conference on religious minorities that was held in Paris on Saturday.

Iran’s embassy in France had organized the conference that brought together a number of French intellectuals and scholars.

Taiwan-China flight diverted after explosive claim

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Taipei, May 02: A flight from the Taiwanese capital to the eastern Chinese city of Shanghai was diverted to a nearby Chinese airport after a passenger told cabin crew his luggage contained explosives.

Spokesman Bruce Chen of Taiwan’s China Airlines said the plane landed safely at Hangzhou and Chinese authorities took the passenger away for questioning.

Chen identified the detained passenger as George Lin and said he was travelling on a US passport. He said that Lin did not appear to have been drinking excessively.

Sarkozy blasted for focus on burqa

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Paris, May 02: A former French presidential candidate has blasted President Nicolas Sarkozy for his focus on banning the Islamic veil in public instead of paying attention to farmers’ issues.

Socialist Segolene Royal urged the French leader to concentrate his efforts on ‘real problems’ rather than the Muslim veil, known as the “burqa.”

Thousands of grain farmers had gathered in Paris on Tuesday to protest the sharp fall in grain prices and the steep decline in their income.

Royal noted that more than 800 farmers committed suicide last year.

I’m suicidal, says man who killed Indian American doctor

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New York, May 02: The Chinese doctor who shot dead his former Indian American supervisor after stalking him, says “I may kill myself”, a police report said.

Lishan Wang, 44, was arraigned Tuesday on charges that he shot Dr. Vajinder Pal Toor, 34, five times in Branford, Connecticut last Monday in the parking lot of Toor’s condominium complex.

He had been fired two years ago from a Brooklyn hospital after a confrontation with Toor.

Tharoor in Parliamentary panel on External Affairs

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New Delhi, May 02: Shashi Tharoor lost his job as junior minister in External Affairs over the IPL Kochi row but his links with the key ministry will not be snapped.

The ebullient Lok Sabha MP has been nominated by Speaker Meira Kumar to be a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs.

Tharoor, a former UN Under-Secretary General, had to resign in the wake of the controversy in connection with the IPL Kochi franchisee.

Now Lohan embroiled in fashion line lawsuit

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London, May 02: Actress Linday Lohnan’s troubles are mounting – the actress is embroiled in a lawsuit from a photographer alleging she hasn’t paid him for pictures he took for her fashion line.

Photographer Scott Nathan filed papers on Friday claiming he was hired to take photographs of the Mean Girls actress for her clothing label 6126, reports contactmusic.com.

In the documents, obtained by TMZ.com, Nathan alleges he was promised one percent interest from the fashion line in return for the images, but he has reportedly received nothing.

Four Indians convicted in Bangladesh were militants: Police

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Shillong, May 02: Four Indians convicted of arms smuggling and imprisoned for 17 years in Bangladesh last week are members of the Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC), a militant outfit in Meghalaya, a senior police official said Sunday.

“Sketchy reports from various networks confirmed that the four convicted Indians in Bangladesh are members of the outlawed HNLC,” Additional Director General of Police (Special Branch) S.K. Jain told IANS.

92-year-old widow fights son’s killer

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New Delhi, May 02: When a teary-eyed 92-year-old widow in a wheelchair deposed in a city court, she took a small but crucial step forward in her 16-year-long battle against a senior Punjab cop who allegedly killed her financier son and a relative in 1994.

Amar Kaur, dressed in a peach coloured suit, appeared before Additional Sessions Judge Poonam Chaudhary and questioned how prime accused Sumedh Singh Saini – the then senior superintendent of police (SSP) of Ludhiana, now posted in Punjab vigilance department – was continuing in office despite serious charges against him.

I don’t even know Shoaib: Dia

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Mumbai, May 02: Though actress Dia Mirza claimed that reports about her imminent marriage to Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar were baseless, the Pakistani media was claiming to have proof to the contrary.

One news organisation in the neighbouring country even claimed to have confirmatory quotes from the actress on this breaking news.

Some media houses speculated that Dia was getting engaged next month. They have sources close to Shoaib’s family giving them information about the development.

Major higher education reforms bills in LS tomorrow

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New Delhi, May 02: Government’s initiatives on higher education reforms will be put on fast track as four bills, including one on allowing entry of foreign universities to the country, are expected to be introduced tomorrow in Lok Sabha.

The other bills relate to checking of malpractices by educational institutions, setting up of a national accreditation agency and having specialised educational tribunals to adjudicate disputes in campuses.

According to the list of business slated for Monday, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal is expected to move the four bills.

Salman refuses to go by the script

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Mumbai, May 02: Salman Khan recently put his foot down and refused to stick to the script that was written for him as he was taking part in an awards function. It was for a television awards function that Salman Khan was supposed to be interviewed by the show’s host Vidya Malavade and the organisers of the show had an elaborate script in place for the Salman interview for which Vidya Malavade was the host.

Anyone below 18 is a child: Dhaka

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Dhaka, May 02: The Bangladesh government has pledged a policy that redefines a ‘child’ as anyone below 18 and they would be kept out of the work force.

Some outlines of a national children policy were announced on May Day.

Bangladesh has a 3.2 million child work force as per 2003 statistics. Of them, 1.29 million children are involved in hazardous work, and the new policy would have direct impact upon them, The Daily Star said Sunday.

US lobbyists spend $1-bn in first three months of 2010

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Washington, May 02: Amid a raging debate over corporate lobbying in Indian power corridors, the US government has disclosed expenses totalling about USD one billion by lobbyists there in the first quarter.

An analysis of lobbying reports filed with the US Senate Office of Public Records show that companies, trade bodies, unions and other groups spent nearly USD one billion on lobbying during January-March 2010.

Man robbed of Rs15 lakhs and assaulted in Mumbai

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Mumbai, May 02: A fifty-year-old man, Kartik Parikh, was robbed of Rs15 lakh and assaulted by an unknown person on Saturday afternoon.

The victim was in a rickshaw, on his way to Vile Parle to hand over cash to his employer, and the robber was in another rickshaw.

The Andheri police have registered a robbery case against the unknown person and suspect both the rickshaw drivers to be involved in the crime.

Verdict tomorrow on Kasab’s fate

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Mumbai, May 02: Seventeen months after terror merchants from Pakistan unleashed death and destruction on the country’s financial capital, a court in Mumbai will pronounce its verdict tomorrow on the fate of lone surviving 26/11 gunman Ajmal Kasab and two alleged Indian conspirators.

Kasab, a native of Faridkot, along with nine slain terrorists, has been charged with killing 166 people, including 25 foreigners, and injuring 304 others at the instance of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Sachin feted in New Delhi

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New Delhi, May 02: Sachin Tendulkar was the cynosure of all eyes during a function here to celebrate ‘Maharashtra Divas’ during which eminent persons from various walks of life were felicitated.

He was mobbed by people and had to leave the function without having his dinner.

Tendulkar came in for praise during the speeches by those on the dais, including an indirect reference by former cabinet minister Vasant Sathe, who said that people honoured on Saturday included ones who deserved to get the ‘Bharat Ratna’.

Blackmailing by jilted lover can be abetment to suicide: Bombay HC

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Mumbai, May 02: A threat by a jilted lover to ‘destroy’ a girl’s life, which leads to the girl committing suicide is a clear case of ‘abetment to suicide’, the Bombay high court has held.

Devesh Datta Pathrikar had filed a petition seeking discharge from the case of abetment of suicide against himself and his parents.

According to the police case, one Sangeeta (name changed) committed suicide on December 30, 2005, allegedly because Devesh was blackmailing her.

Security beefed up in Gurgaon after terror alert

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Gurgaon, May 02: Security was beefed up in the Gurgaon satellite township of the national capital after the US and three other countries issued advisories to their citizens warning them of terror attacks in Delhi, police said Sunday.

“Though we have not received any advisory from the home affairs ministry about the recent terror alert, security has been enhanced at sensitive places,” Gurgaon police commissioner S.S. Deswal told IANS.

Come to India to solve the world’s problems: Sibal

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Bangalore: Three bills pertaining to higher education are ready to be presented in parliament on Monday, said Kapil Sibal, Union minister for human resources development. He was speaking at the dedication of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) campus on Saturday.

One bill relates to the setting up of educational tribunals in this country. “That would be necessary as we move forward in reforming the higher education sector. A lot of disputes will emerge, especially in the private sector.

13-year-old booked for raping minor in Bhopal

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Bhopal, May 02: A 13-year-old boy has been booked for raping a 10-year-old girl in this Madhya Pradesh capital, police said Sunday.

The incident took place Saturday when the girl was returning home after grazing goats in the fields near her home.

“Spotting the girl alone, Dharmendra Sen dragged her to nearby bushes and raped her. He also threatened to kill her if she disclosed the incident to anyone,” a police officer said.

However, the girl narrated the incident to her parents who took her to a police station.

Dharmendra is absconding.
–IANS

Shahid don’t want to play in different costumes

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Mumbai, May 02: Actor Shahid Kapoor, who broke out of the chocolate boy image in Vishal Bharadwaj’s “Kaminey”, says he doesn’t want to play himself in “different costumes”.

“I don’t want to play Shahid in different costumes. I hope I can break that. It has happened a couple of times and I hope I can do it once in a while,” Shahid told IANS.

Shahid feels that no actor is bigger than the script of the film he gets to do.

Woman Maoist surrenders in Orissa

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Bhubaneswar, May 02: A 19-year-old woman Maoist, accused in several cases of attacks, including one that killed at least 13 policemen, surrendered Saturday in Orissa’s Rayagada district, police said.

Manika Kumbruka alias Kumari was a deputy commander of one of the leading groups of the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) in the state, district Superintendent of Police Anoop Krishna told IANS.

Rayagada is 390 km from here.