Month: August 2010

Flat pitches made India-SL Test series ”dull”: Akram

by

New Delhi, August 08: Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram feels apart from Sachin Tendulkar”s tremendous form the just-concluded Test series between India and Sri Lanka turned out to be a rather “dull” affair due to placid tracks.

Akram was especially disappointed with the way the fast bowlers were hammered during the three-match series in the island nation. “Fast bowlers got murdered and it was not fun at all, believe me. The 1-1 draw is a fair result but it has to be said that apart from two or three brilliant performances, it was a dull series,” Akram told ”ESPN-STAR”.

Tejaswini Is India’s 1st Woman Shooter To Win Gold

by

New Delhi, August 08: Tejaswini Sawant on Sunday became the first Indian woman shooter to clinch a gold medal at the World Championship by finishing on top with a world-record equalling score in the 50m Rifle Prone event in Munich, Germany.

Sawant shot a score of 597 (100,100,100,99,99,99), equalling the 1998 record set by Marina Bobkova of Russia.

The 29-year-old Commonwealth Games gold medallist was level with Poland’s Ewa Joanna Nowakowska in the final score but managed to clinch the top honours with a better perfect score tally.

Angry Butt storms out of media interaction

by

Lahore, August 08: Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ijaz Butt returned home today from England amid speculation of his sacking and cut short a media interaction at the airport after being asked some tough questions.

A tired and angry-looking Butt came out of the airport terminal building to be greeted by a group of journalists and the interaction was not very cordial. “You people think you know everything about cricket and selection, why do you keep on asking me these stupid questions?” said Butt and then walked off towards the parking lot.

I want to see all Telugu-speaking people under one umbrella: Chiru

by

Nellore, August 08: Praja Rajyam Party president K Chiranjeevi on Sunday reiterated that the party would continue its fight against government failures on various public issues.

Talking to reporters after participating in the Praja Chaitanya Yatra at Kavali in Nellore district, he said the party would not spare the government in the Assembly if it fails to address people’s problems.
He urged the government to make efforts to waive off overdue loans of handloom weavers, including the principal and interest, as they are in dire straits.

TRS stages rasta roko against Seemandhra Ministers

by

Hyderabad, August 08: Activists of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi on Sunday started their ‘rasta roko’ to protest against the reported description of those seeking a separate Telangana state as ‘traitors’ by Seemandhra Ministers.

The protestors managed to disrupt traffic at Kataram and Mahadevpur mandals in Karimnagar district and also in front of the Pochamma Grounds in Warangal district.

Raising slogans against the Seemandhra Ministers, the TRS activists squatted on the road and held up the traffic.

Yousuf goes back on criticism of cricket in Ramazan month

by

Karachi, August 08: Former Pakistan captain Muhammad Yousuf has retracted from a recorded statement in which he criticised the holding of cricket matches during the ongoing holy month of Ramazan.

Yousuf was rushed to England last week to bolster the Pakistan team but chose not to immediately play in the second Test at Edgbatson because he has not competed since February.

Bombing kills dozens in western Iraq

by

Baghdad, August 08: At least 30 people have been killed and 50 others have been wounded in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi, according to witnesses.

The car bomb explosion occurred on Sunday, a Press TV correspondent reported.

The attack followed Saturday’s triple bombing, which claimed the lives of at least 60 people and injured 70 others in the center of the southern port city of Basra.

Iraq has been under daily attacks and bombings since the United States and its western allies invaded the country in 2003.

BJP-Left volte face on Telangana : Govt Whip charge

by

Hyderabad, August 08: Andhra Pradesh Government whip S Shailajanath has said he wondered how the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) can dream of ”Akhand Bharat” (United India) and yet favour smaller states.

Talking to mediapersons at the CLP here, Mr Shailajanath said the BJP and the Left parties were in favour of bifurcation despite the fact that they had fought for integration of the state at the time of its formation in 1956.

He claimed that smaller states would increase the risk of failure of law and order.

Centre accepted telangana state demand after TRS Prez hunger strike

by

Vijayawada, August 08: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) today felt that the demand for Telangana as a separate state has got a fillip only after the UPA government at the centre had given the consent in response to the hunger strike by TRS President K Chandrasekhara Rao in December 2009.

However, faced with the counter movement for a united Andhra, the Centre has ”backtracked and set up the commission headed by Justice Krishna to look into the demand”, the party said in its draft political resoultion, which was circulated to the media here.

Astronauts fail to fix ISS cooling pump

by

Washington, August 08: Two NASA astronauts have failed to replace a faulty cooling pump module aboard the International Space Station (ISS) after a lengthy effort.

Doug Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell Dyson, two US astronauts, spent over eight hours outside the space station, but were unable to completely disconnect and remove the 780-pound pump module, NASA announced on Saturday.

It was the longest spacewalk in the floating observatory’s history.

The orbiting lab’s ammonia pump failed last Saturday, disabling half of the station’s cooling system.

Israel fires warning shots towards Lebanese boat

by

Jerusalem, August 08: Israel’s navy today fired warning shots towards a Lebanese fishing vessel in the Mediterranean, a military spokeswoman said.

“Warning shots were fired after a Lebanese fishing boat entered a closed zone,” she said without confirming whether the boat had entered Israeli territorial waters.

After the shots were fired, causing no damage or injuries, “the Lebanese boat changed course,” she added.

No Italian Job for Katrina

by

Mumbai, August 08: Why Katrina Kaif has chosen to walk out of the much-talked-about The Italian Job is a mystery. After months of speculation, the actress quit Abbas-Mustan’s Bollywood remake of F.

Gary Gray’s 2003 original. Katrina has cited date problems for walking out of the film. Recently.

She signed a new project with Yash Raj Films. Simultaneously. When Dostana 2 was postponed to December, her original dates for the film had to be changed.

Tipu Sultan throne finial to be auctioned

by

London, August 08: A gem-encrusted gold finial from the decorated throne of Tipu Sultan and an eyewitness account of the battle that led to his defeat at the hands of the British are being put up for auction here on October seven.

The gem-encrusted figure, shaped like a tiger has emerged after more than 200 years in the home of a Scots family, auctioneer Bonhams said.

The previous throne finial sold at Bonhams went for 389,600 pounds.

The British – through the East India Company defeated the ruler and his throne was broken up in 1799.

Non-Muslims fast in Ramzan

by

Mumbai, August 08: On one of the days this Ramzan, 57 year old Prakashc Gidwani will wake well before dawn, in sync with Muslims across the city.

After a light breakfast of fruits and a glass of water, he plans to fast strictly all day, and at sunset, will eat at the local durgah in Versova only after his Muslim friends have finished their namaz.

For this Sindhi social activist, fasting at least once every Ramzan is a tradition he created for himself more than thirty years ago, to express his respect and love for Islam.

When a don wanted to be gentleman

by

New Delhi, August 08: Underworld-don-turned-politician Arun Gawli had every intention of changing his ways, but police kept pushing him “back to his past” – or so said his counsel during a hearing in the Supreme Court.

While hearing the petition by the Maharashtra government challenging the Bombay High Court verdict that granted bail to Gawli, counsel Makarand D. Adkar said his client wanted to reform but was not being allowed to do so.

Cong prefers ‘saffron’ to ‘Hindu terror’

by

New Delhi, August 08: It is not only the RSS that is worried over the “frequent reference” in the media of newly coined term “Hindu terror” but the Congress too has problem with its usage. Wary of using the term in political discourse, the party instead wants it to be called either “Saffron Terror” or “Sangh Parivar
Terror”.

“Hindu” is a wider term. Not every Hindu is a terrorist. The terrorist activities are carried out by Hindu extremists whose association with the saffron or Sangh Parivar organisations have been established,” a senior Congress functionary said.

When night becomes day for Kashmir

by

Srinagar, August 08: It is commerce by night — the milkman knocks at your door at around 4 AM, the vegetable seller follows; the bakery is open from 2.30 AM till sunrise and petrol pumps from midnight for a few hours.

This is how days and days of curfew and violence on the streets of this city and some other urban areas of the Kashmir Valley has changed the life of its citizens. Night has become day.

Life has come to a standstill; yet life has to go on.

Thus traders as well as citizens have invented ways of survival out of necessity. Call it ingenuity of Kashmiris.

Rehana Mirza brings mental illness out of hiding

by

Washington, August 08: South Asian filmmaker Rehana Mirza has chosen to tackle the taboo of mental illness in her directorial feature debut “Hiding Divya” and hopes to begin a dialogue with the community in America to not let silence take over and make it worse.

“I think it begins a dialogue on what mental illness is,” says Mirza of her writing and film that won much acclaim when it played at film festivals in New York, London, and other cities.

Muslim organisations planning to set up education board

by

Lucknow, August 08: In a bid to improve the standard of education and to provide better educational opportunities to their youth, Muslim organisations in the country have taken an initiative to set up a separate board on the lines on ISC and CBSE.

“It has been decided to set up a Muslim Education Board on the lines of ISC and CBSE boards which will give affiliation to religious and non-religious educational institutions in the country,” member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahali told PTI.

Bhang chocolates – New appetite

by

New Delhi, August 07: Chocolates as such are considered intoxicating for many, and an American entrepreneur now wants to give it a new high by lacing the bitter-sweet dessert with very much an Indian intoxicant ‘Bhang’ and trademark it too.

The product, to be produced and sold in the US for now and possibly in our country later, will be called ‘Bhang: The Original Cannabis Chocolate’ and the New Mexico-based chololateur has sought a trademark for the same. If the trademark is granted, the Bhang word cannot be used for a chocolate or candy product by anyone else.

Muslim couple killed in honour killing

by

Lucknow, August 08: In yet another case of honour killing, a Muslim couple was shot dead by the girl’s brother in Aligarh.

The couple had eloped only to return after being promised a traditional wedding by both the families. However, they walked straight into the trap and were killed on their return.

Nothing Islamic about terrorism: US special envoy

by

New Delhi, August 08: There is nothing like Islamic terrorism as terrorism has no religion and is rejected by good people the world over, including Muslims, says Rashad Hussain, the Indian-origin US special envoy to the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

“Religious leaders throughout the world and communities should make it clear that this (terrorism) is an ideology that is rejected by people in all faiths and has roots in no religion,” Hussain, an American of Indian descent who is tasked with bridging the gap between America and Muslim nations, told IANS.

Salman made me hit the gym everyday: Sonakshi Sinha

by

New Delhi, August 08: She lost 30 kgs to fit into her role in ”Dabangg” opposite Salman Khan and debutante Sonakshi Sinha says that the superstar made sure she maintained her figure by sweating it out everyday. “It was tough losing those 30 kgs.

I worked out and also followed a strict diet. Salman helped a lot, he made sure that I went to the gym after everyday”s shoot and not get lethargic about it,” said Sonakshi.

British couple `in shock’ after 11 mn pound lottery win

by

London, August 08: A British couple were “in shock” after winning an 11 million pound lottery.

Peter Redikin and his wife Jacqueline hit the jackpot Wednesday night and it is the single biggest win on the Lotto since April 2008. They won 11,178,334 pounds.

The couple, from Cheadle Heath, Greater Manchester, won the lottery bonanza from the same numbers they have used since the lottery began, The Sun reported Sunday.

And now they want the good life to roll.

They plan to go on a trip on the Orient Express.

Shahid, Priyanka’s love story on the track again

by

Mumbai, August 08: Relationships in the glam world are very fickle. It takes a second to break and get into a relationship. Breaking and then patching up is not new in Bollywood. Shahid Kapoor who frequently breaks and then mends relationship with his co-stars is said to have patched up with his girlfriend and actress Priyanka Chopra.

Recently, he had a cozy dinner with Priyanka Chopra and the reason of their split Mubina Rattonsey, the executive producer of Kaminey. It was reported that Shahid’s growing closeness with Mubina had created a crack in their relationship.