Tirupati, June 03: Home Minister P Chidambaram offered prayers at the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala near Tirupati early this morning.
Chidambaram, who arrived Tirupati last night, participated in the ‘Suprabhatham’ (hymns chanted by priests to wake up the Lord) at the sanctum sanctorum. He was in the temple for about an hour, temple sources said.
Later, he offered prayers to the main deity of Lord Venkateswara.
Washington, June 03: Facebook has a new member. Former US president George W Bush joined the fast-growing social network and his profile page attracted more than 2,000 fans within a few hours.
The first post on the page touted Bush’s accomplishments since leaving office in January 2009.
“President Bush has remained active,” it said.
Ranchi, June 03: JMM president Shibu Soren today said he would make an attempt to form an alternative government in Jharkhand, even as his estranged ally BJP demanded mid-term polls if any alliance failed to stake claim within next few weeks.
Chidambaram urges BJP to maintain bipartisan approach in tackling Maoists
Lalu not happy with Gadkari’s apology for ‘abusive’ tongue
Indecision jeopardizes Jharkhand govt formation once again
“I will try to form a government as I am in favour of a popular government and not president’s rule,” Soren told newsmen in Giridih.
Washington, June 03:India and the US will hold their first strategic dialogue here Thursday with External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna expecting a very positive outcome from the talks he leads with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
“There are very positive vibrations,” he told IANS after Wednesday’s foreign policy dialogue between Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and US Undersecretary of State William Burns to set the tone for Thursday’s ministerial level talks.
New Delhi, Jun 03: A Court of Inquiry into the Mangalore air crash, which claimed 158 lives, is likely to be notified shortly, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on Thursday.
“We are going to notify the Court of Inquiry shortly,” he told reporters here.Replying to questions, he said the data and material has been collected by various agencies, including Air India, DGCA and the US National Transportation Safety Board.
Chandigarh, Jun 03: The Punjab and Haryana High Court today deferred till tomorrow pronouncement of its verdict on the bail plea of disgraced former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore, who is undergoing an 18-month prison term for molesting 14-year-old Ruchika Girhotra 20 years ago.
Vacation Judge Justice Ajay Tewari, who had reserved his order for today, has deferred his verdict till tomorrow, the court’s reader said. No reason was given for postponment of the verdict by another day.
Ghaziabad, June 3 (PTI) A lady doctor was arrested after a woman, who underwent an abortion at her clinic here bled to death, police said.
37-year-old Gita was admitted to the clinic at Khora colony for the abortion on Tuesday. However, the doctor Bina Sharma, who performed the procedure, could not control the bleeding and referred Gita to a hospital in Delhi, SP (City) A K Vijeta said.
The family members of the woman rushed her to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital in Delhi where she died on Wednesday.
New Delhi, Jun 03: The Central Information Commission will move the Supreme Court challenging the decision of Delhi High Court scrapping the procedures followed by the transparency panel for disposal of appeals.
A decision in this regard was taken at a meeting of all the Information Commissioners early this week.
The Commission while deciding to move the Apex Court has taken cognisance of a Patna High Court ruling which had allowed the State Information Commission to frame its own rules for the conduct of its business.
London, June 03: The Indian government has demanded the return of the “cursed” Koh i Noor diamond, a symbol of imperial power and the inspiration for the Victorian author
The diamond has been in British possession since East India Company forces in India defeated the Maharaja of Punjab in 1849 and forced him to hand it over to Queen Victoria as a tribute following the Treaty of Lahore.
It was last worn in public by the late Queen Mother and last seen set inside the Maltese Cross on the crown placed on top of the coffin at her funeral.
Kabul, June 03: Afghan authorities suspended two Christian foreign aid groups today on suspicion of proselytising in the strictly Islamic nation and said a follow-up investigation would include whether other groups were trying to convert Muslims.
US-based Church World Service and Norwegian Church Aid will not be allowed to operate while the allegations, aired yesterday on Afghan television, are investigated, said Mohammad Hashim Mayar, the deputy director of the Afghan government office that oversees nongovernment organisations, known as NGOs.
Somali, June 03: Soldiers from Somalia’s Puntland region stormed a Panama-flagged cargo vessel held by pirates, but gang members killed the captain in the operation, a minister said on Thursday.
“Our troops stormed the Panama-flagged vessel and engaged the pirates. There was brief fighting before they defeated them,” Said Mohamed Raage, Minister of Ports and Marine Transport, told.
“We arrested seven pirates after they killed the captain of the ship.”
Srinagar, June 03: A Pakistani national was arrested by security forces near the International Border (IB) in Pallanwalla sector in Jammu district, police said in Jammu on Thursday.
Fifty-year-old Allah Ditta, a resident of Bukam in Pakistan, was taken into custody by the army troops soon after he crossed into the Indian side in Pallanwala sector last evening, they said.
Nothing incriminating was recovered from his possession, they said, adding he was later handed over to the police after questioning.
—-Agencies
Balaghat, June 03: Naxals torched two machines and a pick up vehicle engaged in road construction near Balaghat in Madhya Pradesh, police said today. A group of four Maoists set afire the JCB machines and the vehicle last night near Machhurda police post, about 100km from Balaghat, Inspector General of Police C B Muniraju told PTI.
The spot is close to Rajnandgaon in Chhattisgarh. The property torched by the extremists belonged to a contractor who had been threatened and asked some time back not to construct the road, police sources said.
Mumbai, June 03: The unusual pairing of Sonam Kapoor and Imran Khan in ‘I Hate Luv Storys’ has generated quite a buzz and filmmaker Karan Johar who is producing the rom-com says that it is the freshness of the two young actors which is the USP of the film.
Johar says that the film and its lead pair are sure to click with the younger generation who no more accept the old fashioned ideals of love.
Panaji, June 03: The controversial death of Goa Tourism Minister Mickky Pacheco’s alleged paramour should be probed by an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer or by a former high court judge and not by the local police, opposition leader Manohar Parrikar demanded Thursday.
Addressing a press conference at the state secretariat, the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader hinted that there was a possibility that the state cadre police officers had been compromised and would not be able to effectively investigate ‘a serious complaint against a cabinet minister’.
Mumbai, June 03: Finally the suspense about who feature as contestants on the third season of Khatron Ke Khiladi, with Priyanka Chopra as a host, is over. Colors, the channel helming the show in India, admits that the cricketers are no longer on board for the action-reality show and that they will shortly be replaced by young and ‘good-looking’ men from diverse fields.
Istanbul, June 03: Several activists wounded in Monday’s Israeli raid were transferred to a hospital in Ankara.
Turkish forensic experts have confirmed that the nine activists killed during the Israeli raid on the Gaza aid flotilla were shot with guns.
Eight were Turks and one a US national of Turkish origin, the news agency reported on Thursday as funerals got under way in Istanbul.
The remaining activists, including some who were injured in the Israeli raid, landed in the Turkish city early on Thursday.
Kabul, June 03: Eight civilians, including four bothers, were killed in a firefight and an explosion in southern Afghanistan, a provincial spokesman said Thursday.
Four civilians were killed in crossfire between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters in Marjah district in the southern province of Helmand, Daoud Ahmadi, spokesman for the provincial governor, said.
Four others – all brothers – were killed in the detonation of a roadside bomb in Helmand’s Nawzad district, he said. ‘The brothers were all riding on a motorbike, when the roadside bomb struck them.’
Tehran, June 03: Banned after the 1979 Islamic revolution, cosmetics like lipstick and nail polish have flooded Iran so much in recent years that it is now the Middle East’s second largest beauty products market.
Following the revolution, the morality police patrolled the streets, fining or even arresting women who flaunted the strict rules until they were eased after the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.
And most women were quick to catch on after a decision to allow imports in the mid-1990s with many taking to the streets all dolled-up, especially chic young urbanites.
Washington, June 03: American teenagers are using condoms more when they have sex but some may be losing their fear of pregnancy, according to a government survey released on Wednesday.
The survey on teen sex found that 95 percent of 15- to 19-year-olds who had ever had sex had used a condom at least once. But it also found that just 12 percent of boys who had avoided sex did so because they feared getting a girl pregnant.
Harare, June 03: Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura won the toss and elected to bowl against India in their tri-series ODI cricket match here today.
Zimbabwe made one change to the side that lost to Sri Lanka in their previous match, bringing in Tatenda Taibu in place of Chris Mpofu.
Teams:
Zimbabwe: Elton Chigumbura (c), Hasan Masakadza, Brendan Taylor, Tatenda Taibu, Greg Lamb, Craig Ervine, Charles Coventry, Andy Blignaut, Graeme Cremer, Prosper Utseya, Ray Price
London, June 03: Trying to impress a man? Then don’t wear harem pants, jump suits and gladiator sandals, however trendy you might think they are, because men just can’t stand them.
A survey for the website MSN reveals nine of the season’s most popular garments and accessories as total turn-offs, reports dailymail.co.uk.
Writer Liz Jones lists the nine items:
Harem Pants: These were first seen on the catwalk at Yves Saint Laurent three years ago, and have been churned out by every high street label since. Men hate them. They scream fashion victim.
Balrampur, June 03: A girl was burnt alive, while 15 others sustained injuries after almost 50 houses caught fire in Tulsipur area of the district late last night.
They said the fire accident occurred when food was being prepared in a house. Anjali (5) was burnt alive in the incident.
The fire-fighters took four hours to put off the blaze.
—-Agencies
Imphal, June 03: Office of the Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) of Ukhrul district of Manipur was set ablaze by some miscreants, reports claimed Thursday.
Some miscreants set afire the (ADC) office yesterday, reports said.
They said police would investigate whether the incident was connected with some organisations which had called for indefinite blockade on national highways and against the elections to Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) in Manipur hills.
Srinagar, June 03: The Jammu and Kashmir Police will seek the custody of an Indian Army major accused of killing three villagers April 30 in a staged shootout in the Machil sector of the Line of Control (LoC) that divides the state between India and Pakistan.
“The accused officer has been identified as Major Bhupender of 4 Rajputana Rifles and we are completing formalities to seek his custody from the army,” a senior police officer said here.
He said the papers for custody of the accused officer would be sent to the army within two days.