Mumbai, August 21: The Reliance Broadcast Network Limited (RBNL), part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group and CBS Studios International, has launched three new English entertainment channels at a function at the JW Marriot here.
The channels will offer new and current CBS programmes, including some of the world’s most popular TV programmes. CBS Studios International is a division of CBS Corporation.
Beyonce London, August 21: Singer Beyonce Knowles says she has a habit of staying untidy and messy but admits she is trying her best to get rid of it by staying clean.
“I promise I’m working on this, but I could be less messy at home and keep the clothes in my closet and off the floor,” femalefirst.co.uk quoted her as saying.
The 28-year-old also admits she is a workaholic and can’t stop thinking about her career, even during her time off.
Canberra, August 21: Voting in Australia’s general election began Saturday amidst poll surveys that Prime Minister Julia Gillard led Labor Party is running neck-and-neck with Tony Abbott led Coalition, media reports said.
More than 14 million people are enrolled to vote to choose from 1,198 candidates for 150 seats in the House of Representatives and 40 of the 76-member Senate, Xinhua reported.
Polling stations opened at 8 a.m. About 43 million ballot papers were stockpiled at the stations in 7,700 locations and will be supervised by some 70,000 electoral staff.
New Delhi, August 21: Lok Sabha members in the opposition complained against their salary hike by holding a mock drill of House proceedings on Friday.
The Union Cabinet has given its assent for the salary of a member of parliament to be raised from Rs16,000 to Rs50,000, a three-fold increase. The government has doubled other benefits too.
Ahmedabad, August 21: TV journalists arrested after coaxing man to immolate himself outside police station and filming him as he died
THE GREED for ratings led two television journalists in Gujarat to coax a man to immolate himself in front of their camera. The police on Thursday registered a case against the two journalists, Kamlesh Raval and Mayur Raval, who are now reportedly absconding.
New Delhi, August 21: Bowing to pressure from the opposition, the government made 18 changes in the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, 2010, while adopting most of the recommendations made by the parliamentary standing committee.
Islamabad, August 21: A second wave of floods has inundated several areas in Balochistan even as the worst deluge in Pakistan’s history led to mass evacuation in Sindh regions where around 3.6 million people have been affected and over 600,000 displaced.
Floodwater on Friday inundated new areas in Sindh where, 1,447 relief camps have set up where 610,614 affected are taking refuge, according to officials.
The UN said “significantly more donor support” is needed to provide relief to the millions of people affected by the worst deluge in Pakistan’s history.
Lucknow, August 21: A two-year-old girl died after she was allegedly thrown out of a running train in Uttar Pradesh’s Lalitpur district by four men following an argument over seat-sharing with the girl’s parents, an official said Friday.
The four men, who are absconding, threw Nisha out of the Jhansi-Bina train after a verbal duel with her father Ram Kishore and mother Phul Kumari.
Mumbai, August 21: However, things got ugly when the matter became public and Rajni’s family threatened to kill them for the fear of public shame. Rajni and Sunitha approached the Mayur Vihar police station, seeking protection but by that time Rajni’s family members and some colony residents had also reached there.
Rome, August 21: The Al Qaeda terror network has claimed responsibility for a suicide blast at an army recruitment centre in Baghdad that killed at least 59 people and wounded over 100.
In a message posted on Islamist websites, the Al Qaeda network in Iraq (Islamic State of Iraq) said Tuesday’s bombing targeted Shias and “apostates”.
“We struck at a group of Shias and apostates who sold their faith for money and are a tool in the war on Iraqi Sunnis,” said the statement.
Hyderabad, August 20: In the wake of recent arrest of foreign nationals in connection with selling narcotics here, the city police has decided to constitute an anti-drug cell to crack down on drug racketeers, a top police official said today.
“There is a need to keep a stern vigil on foreign nationals of some countries including students who are overstaying in Hyderabad and are indulged in drug peddling,” Hyderabad Police Commissioner A K Khan told reporters here.
New Delhi, August 20: Lalu Prasad was the ‘Prime Minister’ and Gopinath Munde was the ‘Speaker’. This was the scene in the Lok Sabha after it was adjourned for the day in view of uproar created by members over salary hike demand and protest of passage of Indian Medical council Bill without discussion. As soon as Deputy Speaker Karia Munda adjourned the House, members from RJD, SP, BJP staged a dharna inside the well.
Later they staged a mock session in which Munde, Deputy Leader of BJP, became the Speaker and RJD chief Prasad posed as the Prime Minister.
Sana’a, August 20: At least 11 policemen and three suspected members of Al Qaeda were killed in clashes in southern Yemen Friday, police sources said.
The sources told DPA that the militants fired rocket-propelled grenades at an armoured personnel carrier in Loudar district of Abyan province, killing eight policemen on the spot.
Three other policemen and three militants were killed in clashes that followed the ambush, the sources said.
The assault is the latest in a series of attacks that have targeted security personnel in the southern Yemen in recent months.
Gandhinagar, August 20: Gopinath Pillai, the father of Pranesh Pillai alias Javed Sheikh who was killed in an alleged staged shootout, has filed a petition in the Gujarat High Court seeking a review of its order transferring the probe in the Ishrat Jahan case to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing some of the 2002 riot cases.
Pillai was one of the three people killed along with Ishrat in a police shootout in June 2004.
A division bench of Justices Jayant Patel and Abhilasha Kumari had on Aug 12 ordered transfer of probe to the Supreme Court-appointed SIT.
New Delhi, August 20: The Group of Ministers Friday directed all the agencies involved in Commonwealth Games projects to hand over Games venues to the Organising Committee by Aug 31.
The GoM, headed by Union Development Minister Jaipal Reddy, met here Friday and also directed that the testing of various equipment for the mega event will commence Sep 1.
Speaking to reporters, Reddy said the focus of the meeting was on technology networks. “Prasar Bharati, MTNL, TCIL have to get their act together before the equipment is set up at the sites.”
New Delhi, August 20: The Delhi High Court Friday held that investigating agencies can intercept phone calls of an individual if there is sufficient evidence to prove that he or she is involved in anti-social activities.
The court dismissed the plea of an accused involved in drug trafficking cases challenging the government’s decision to tap his mobile phone six years ago.
Haji Usman contended interception of telephonic conversations between him and his family members was in violation of his right to privacy guaranteed under the constitution.
London, August 20: Pop diva Madonna is in talks for a $1 billion deal by signing up for a five-year residency in Las Vegas, which can make her the third richest female entertainer in the world.
The “Frozen” singer is said to be in discussions with promoters to establish a run of shows in the US gambling capital, and if she signs the deal, she will be following in the footsteps of other performers such as Elton John, Cher and Celine Dion, who have all made huge sums through Vegas contracts, reports contactmusic.com.
Washington, August 20: US President Barack Obama picked up some summer reading Friday on the first full day of his 10-day vacation on the Massachusetts vacation island of Martha’s Vineyard.
Obama, relaxing in jeans and a polo shirt, dropped into the local bookstore Bunch of Grapes with his daughters Malia and Sasha and emerged carrying two shopping bags.
The shop was also popular with former president Bill Clinton, who also vacationed on Martha’s Vineyard, a popular destination for the nation’s elite and where Obama also spent time at a rented home last summer.
New Delhi, August 20: It was a mock session in which Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Gopinath Munde became “speaker” and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav became “prime ministers”, but the exercise drew disapproval from Speaker Meira Kumar.
The mock session happened soon after the Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day following the uproar created by members over salary hike demand and protest over passage of the medical council bill without discussion.
New Delhi, August 20: Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari has asked a senior official to look into the “mishandling” of a parliamentary panel’s report on the civil nuclear liability bill, official sources said Friday.
The sources said that Rajya Sabha Secretary General V.K. Agnihotri will look into the matter.
The standing committee on science and technology, headed by Congress Rajya Sabha member from Andhra Pradesh T. Subbarami Reddy, tabled its report on the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, 2010, in Parliament Wednesday.
New York, August 20: Governments pledged more than $200 million during a debate in the UN General Assembly convened to show solidarity with flood-ravaged Pakistan, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Friday.
The new funds will add to an estimated $250 million already raised as part of a $460-million appeal launched by the UN last week to meet emergency needs by flood victims in the next three months.
Ban said countries around the world have come out “strongly in solidarity and support for the people of Pakistan”.
Ahmedabad, August 20: A designated CBI court Friday granted the plea of former Gujarat minister Amit Shah, a prime accused in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh staged shootout case, to appear before it through video-conferencing.
The court also extended his judicial custody till Sep 3, when the video-conferencing would take place.
Shah had applied through jail seeking the court’s permission to appear before it through video-conferencing due to security concerns.
The court however initially rejected his plea in “the interest of justice”, but extended his judicial custody.
Hyderabad, August 20: Congress leaders close to Kadapa MP Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy today disagreed with party high command’s idea of consoling the kin of those who died after Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s death by assembling them at respective district headquarters.
“I don’t think it is proper to ask the family members of those who died after Rajasekhara Reddy’s death to assemble at the district headquarters for offering them financial assistance. True consoling would be by going to their homes,” Jagan’s uncle and MLC Y S Vivekananda Reddy said.
Bellary (Karnataka), August 20: Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj on Friday alleged that BJP ministers from Bellary were approached with allurements to switch over to Congress in an attempt to "break" the B S Yeddyurappa government in Karnataka and "save" the Rosaiah government in Andhra Pradesh.
Srinagar, August 20: Condemning the latest killings in the valley, opposition PDP today said Kashmir is currently passing through its worst political, administrative and humanitarian crisis in pursuit of justice with a “heartless” government at the helm.
“Words of sympathy, solidarity and condemnation have now lost their meaning and impact in the face of an impervious and heartless government”, PDP Patron and former chief minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed said in a hard hitting statement here.