Hyderabad, June 01: Sania Mirza isn’t happy about Hyderabadi Damaad , an upcoming low- budget Bollywood film. It is reportedly based on the controversy surrounding her marriage to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik.
Slamming the film’s producer for drawing inspiration from her life for the script, Sania has stated that she is intrigued that the filmmaker didn’t bother to inform her.
Algiers, June 01: A senior member of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Athmane Touati, alias Abou El-Abbes, has surrendered to the security services in Algeria, a security source said on Monday.
The security services “succeeded on May 25, 2010 in obtaining the surrender” of Touati, an AQIM officer in the central zone east of Algiers, and a member of the leadership of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC/AQIM), the source said, according to the APS news agency.
Jerusalem, June 01: Israel has detained 480 pro-Palestinian activists captured in its deadly commando raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla and will expel 48 others, public radio reported on Tuesday.
Those detained were being held at the southern Israeli prison of Ashdod, while the other 48 were being taken to Ben Gurion international airport to be sent back to their home countries, said the report.
The raid aboard Turkish-backed aid ships bound for Gaza in a naval operation left nine people dead and sparked an international outcry.
Mumbai, June 01: Ravi Bhoya, a cook working for a police officer, was stabbed to death by his roommate in Tardeo, after he accused the latter of stealing money from his bag. The accused Ripu Das (24) fled after the incident on Monday morning to avoid arrest, said the police.
The other roommates of the duo rushed Bhoya (30) to Nair Hospital but he was declared dead on arrival. The accused and the victim belonged to the same village in Orissa and had been staying together as tenants in a room at the Gujarati Mandal in Tulsiwadi since the past few years.
New Delhi, June 01: Arjun Bajpayee, who scaled the world’s highest peak, the 8,848 metre Mt Everest at the young age of 16, today returned home to an overwhelming reception, a week after achieving the feat.
Bajpayee, a resident of Noida, had briefly become the youngest person to climb the Mount Everest last week but his feat overturned hours later by a 13-year-old American.
After reaching home, he went to his school and shared his experiences with his schoolmates.
New Delhi, Jun 01: A minor fire broke out in a factory in the city this morning, fire brigade officials said. The blaze was reported from the third floor of the factory located in Daya Basti at around 9:45 am, they said.
“The fire broke out in a room where scrap were stored. It was a minor fire which was doused in a few minutes,” the said.
The cause of fire is suspected to be short circuit. No one was injured in the incident.
—-PTI
New Delhi, June 01: In a blow to tenants, the Supreme Court has ruled that landlord is the “best judge of his need” and entitled to take possession of his premises for bonafide personal reasons though not as a ploy to evict them.
The apex court said that merely because the tenant is living for several years, it does not mean that the landlord can be compelled to manage his own requirements in a smaller accommodation.
“The landlord is the best judge of his need, however, it should be real, genuine and the need may not be a pretext to evict the tenant only for increasing the rent.
Mumbai, May 01: Remember Ali Fazal aka Joy Lobo of 3 Idiots? After a blink and miss role in the superhit feature, Fazal has now landed himself a lead role in an upcoming film. Sources say that Fazal will be seen with the likes of Giselli Monteiro of Love Aaj Kal fame and Amrita Arora in the Red Chillies Production, Ek Tho Chance.
The film will be directed by Saeed Mirza. Ek Tho Chance, says the source, is not an out-an-out commercial venture and has three parallel stories.
Fazal is the lead in one of the tracks. The actor refused to confirm or deny this news.
Mumbai, June 01: When the bullet was fired, we didn’t pay much attention, thinking it was a firecracker bursting. It was only later that we saw the bullet wound and realised that a shot had been fired. Police came and began investigating.
I am surprised and my supporters are shocked. Such a thing has never happened before. My ashram is open, we don’t keep any security at all. On Sundays, thousands turn up at the ashram.
Washington, June 01: India and the United States open high-level talks this week, hoping to cement gains in a partnership still bedeviled by doubts despite vows of deeper political and economic cooperation.
Indian concerns focus on growing U.S. ties with its arch-rival Pakistan — a key player in the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan — while U.S. officials will likely press for more progress in opening India’s huge market to U.S. companies in the energy, retail and education sectors.
Mumbai, June 01: Chief minister Ashok Chavan likes to play on a safe wicket, but not his detractors.
Chavan’s strategy to field only three candidates for the council polls was shot down by revenue minister Narayan Rane and Union industries minister Vilasrao Deshmukh who convinced the central leadership to allow a fourth candidate as the party has surplus votes. Candidates across the parties filed nominations for the council polls on Monday at Vidhan Bhawan.
New Delhi, June 01: Against the backdrop of conflicting voices emerging from the party over the issue of caste census, Congress today said both the government and the party are on the same page on the issue.
“There may be various views by party members but the stand of the party and the government will be same,” Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan told reporters.
She also said the party does not endorse ministers publicly airing their views on the matter when it has already been referred to an Empowered Group of Ministers.
Mumbai, June 01: From being just another pretty face, to becoming one of India’s most loved actresses, Katrina Kaif really has a story to tell the world.
Says Katrina, who was recently voted Asia’s Sexiest Woman:
“Me? Hot and sexy? Nah. People should see me at home. I’m painfully unglamorous. Just another working girl making a living.”
Kats is all excited and nervous about the release of her most awaited film, Rajneeti which is all set to hit the theatres this Friday.
Watch out for her mind blowing performance this Friday
–Agencies
Mumbai, June 01: Bollywood’s bold and beautiful Mallika Sherawat, prefers to be seen with the Chings-&-Changs and Yin-&-Yangs these days.
Well, this time round its California, that Mallika is making news in.
She turned a no of heads with her trademark deep neck, recently at a fund-raising, wine-testing luncheon in Malibu.
Grapevine is that, the actress, was auctioned, and the winning bidder got to spend a day with her – you know the usual lunch, photo-shoots and all.
The money ($1400) of course went towards charity.
–Agencies
Mumbai, June 01: Munna Yadav was addicted to tobacco. Whenever he had a craving for nicotine, he used to throw tantrums. Usual story this. The only unusual part of it is that Munna is just a five-year-old kid.
The boy’s parents are now relieved because he has stayed away from tobacco for the past seven months following his treatment at the KEM Hospital, Parel. But the withdrawal symptoms keep returning to haunt Munna.
Mumbai, June 01: A woman village-head in Uttar Pradesh has sought a local court’s intervention to get a criminal case registered against Amitabh Bachchan in Barabanki district, where the megastar has bought land to build a women’s college.
The mega star had acquired five bighas of land Daulatpur village (UP), to build a college in the name of his star daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai.
Raj Kumari, ‘gram pradhan’ (village head) of Daulatpur village,has accused Bachchan of “playing fraud” on the people of the village by not keeping his word of building a women’s college.
New Delhi, June 01: It was a glorious day for the Marathwada Mitramandal College of Commerce (MMCC) as Vishwanjali Gaikwad, a student of the science stream topped in the English language in the Pune division. It is very rarely that the science stream students rank first in languages.
Vishwanjali scored 94 marks in English to set a record. Incidentally, she has scored a 96.33 per cent in the science stream. Vishwanjali’s success is all the more credible since she did not attend any private coaching class.
Chicago, Jun 01: A team of Indian investigators arrived in the US today to interrogate for the first time David Coleman Headley, accused of helping Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists carry out the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
The team comprises officers of the National Investigation Agency and a law officer. This will be for the first time that 49-year-old Pakistani-American Headley will be facing direct questions from Indian investigators since his arrest in October last year.
Vancouver, June 01: Despite China remaining the economic powerhouse of Asia, more and more Canadian companies are now eyeing the mounting investment opportunities in India, says a survey by the Asia Pacific Foundation here.
The Asian Investment Intentions Survey, released by the foundation here Monday, has found upsurge in interest among Canadian companies to invest in India.
From eight percent in 2005, the percentage of Canadian companies showing interest in India has gone up to more than 13 percent in 2010, said the survey.
Mumbai, June 01: By allegedly forcing deletions in Prakash Jha’s film “Rajneeti”, the Congress had resorted to moral policing and harked back to the Emergency era when “Aandhi” was banned and reels of “Kissa Kursi Ka” were burnt, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley said Saturday.
Referring to the episode of deletion of certain scenes from “Rajneeti” apparently following objections by the Congress, Jaitley, a former minister for information and broadcasting wrote in his blog:
New Delhi, June 01: After six consecutive increases, state-owned oil retailers on Monday slashed price of jet fuel, or ATF, by over seven per cent, a move that will cut fuel bill of airlines.
Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) rates in Delhi have been reduced by Rs. 3,052, or 7.17 per cent, to Rs. 39,504 per kl effective midnight tonight, an official of Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the nation’s largest oil firm, said.
The reduction follows more than a $10 per barrel drop in international crude prices to around $72-73 per barrel.
Chicago, June 01: A team of Indian investigators arrived in the US Tuesday to interrogate for the first time David Coleman Headley, accused of helping Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists carry out the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
The team comprises officers of the National Investigation Agency and a law officer. This will be for the first time that 49-year-old Pakistani-American Headley will be facing direct questions from Indian investigators since his arrest in October last year.
Pune, June 01: Four days after the Mangalore disaster, passengers of an Air India flight had a narrow escape as the plane plunged thousands of feet and almost came in the path of another aircraft.
According to reports, the Dubai-Pune Air India Express flight 1X-212 was on autopilot, which became disengaged when the commander, Anupam Tiwari, was in the washroom.
The co-pilot couldn’t manage the aircraft and it lost altitude rapidly after hitting an air pocket over Muscat. The Boeing 737-800 dived 5,000 feet before it was brought under control.
Mumbai, June 01: Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray targeted Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday, asking her what religion she would mention as hers in the census.
It was Thackeray’s way of reasserting his opposition to a caste-based census. He appealed to all Hindus to register as Hindu only.
“On the occasion of the census, I have a question regarding Sonia Gandhi and her family. Keep the caste aside. Which religion will Sonia mention as hers in the census? The country must know it,” Thackeray stated in an article in party newspaper Saamna.
New Delhi, June 01: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will present to the people Tuesday a ”report card” on the performance of his government in the first year of its second tenure.
The ”Report to the People” was originally scheduled to be unveiled at a function on May 22, exactly a year after the United Progressive Alliance-II returned to power.
However, the function was cancelled in view of the Air India Express plane crash in Mangalore in which 158 people were killed. The report card will list achievements of various ministries and departments.