Month: September 2010

RBI Governor earns less than 5 pc of top-paid bankers

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New Delhi, September 05: In an irony of sorts, RBI gets to approve salaries of all the top-level bankers in the country, but the central bank’s top officials themselves get less than 5 per cent of what is paid to the bank chiefs. An analysis of salaries paid to top officials of Reserve Bank of India and of banks licensed by it to do business in the country shows that RBI Governor D Subbarao’s total remuneration is less than not only the chiefs of private sector banks, but also most of the public sector lenders.

Remake cannot meet the level of original: Aamir Khan

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Mumbai, September 05:Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan, who played the lead role in the Hindi remake of Tamil film ‘Ghajini’, says it is hard to recapture the emotions that go in the making of the original.

“It is difficult to recapture the emotions that go in the making of the original. Though an artist takes liberty of remaking and venting out his excitable hormones, a remake can’t meet the level of its original predecessor,” Aamir said on the sidelines of the screening of Shammi Kapoor’s ‘Teesri Manzil’ at Radio Mirchi’s Purani Jeans Film Festival.

Lucas Tete’s body laid to rest

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Simdega (Jharkhand), September 05: Body of Bihar policeman Lucas Tete, abducted and killed by Maoists, was laid to rest at his village Porhatali in Simdega district with his relatives accusing rebels of targeting tribals and rejecting their claims of fighting for their cause.

“We are innocents, therefore we have become the target,” said a sobbing Pyari, Tete’s wife.

Tete’s daughter Angela said, “My father fought in the interest of the nation and had become a martyr. I am proud of him.”

Monsoon remains active in north India

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New Delhi, September 05: Monsoon remained active in north India with rains lashing most parts of the region disrupting normal life and causing water levels of major rivers to rise.

In Uttarakhand, the pilgrimage to Gangotri shrine remained suspended for the second consecutive day as landslides triggered by heavy rains blocked road traffic.

Moderate to rather heavy rainfall lashed several parts of the state where major rivers Ganga and Yamuna were flowing near danger mark, the Met office said.

BJP attacks Rahul Gandhi for targeting Bihar govt

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Patna, September 05: Senior BJP leader Kiran Ghai today lambasted Rahul Gandhi for his accusations during his election meetings in Bihar that central funds did not reach the targeted people in the state, saying the Congress leader had no knowledge of the country’s federal structure.

“It appears that the AICC general secretary has no knowledge of the federal structure and distribution of resources between the Centre and the state,” Ghai said in a statement here.

Mamata warns of strong action against rail sabotage

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Howrah, September 05: The Railways would take strong action against acts of sabotage targeting rail network and those preventing such incidents would be given jobs in the organisation, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said today.

“Acts of sabotage will not be tolerated. Railway tracks are being cut. Pandrol clips are being opened. Signals are being rendered inoperative. It is not possible to police every inch of track. If anyone prevents sabotage, the Railways will give him a job,” she said at a function at Howrah station.

Pressure on BlackBerry to provide access to mail service

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New Delhi, September 05: With the security agencies already putting to test BlackBerry’s messenger service, its maker Research In Motion (RIM) has been asked by India to provide technical solution to intercept its enterprise mailing service which provides a private virtual networking among a group of people.

The BlackBerry has provided with a technological facility of intercepting its Messenger service between two handsets after providing the Personal Index Number (PIN), official sources said.

Taleban vow to disrupt Afghanistan election

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Kabul, September 05: Afghanistan’s Taleban said on Sunday they would attempt to disrupt elections this month and warned Afghans to boycott the vote, the first explicit threat against the poll by the hardline Islamists.

The threat came just a day after Afghan President Hamid Karzai said he would soon announce members of a peace council to pursue talks with the Taleban, another step in his plan for reconciliation with the insurgents.

Swine flu cases on rise in Bangladesh

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New Delhi, September 05: A total of 557 swine flu cases have been detected in B Bangladesh this year.

The statistics, released here Sunday by the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research, said 125 cases were detected in August, 129 in July, 62 in June, 56 in May and 98 in April, web media reported.

Two women died this year – one in April and another in August

—Agencies

Twin blast in Baghdad, ten died

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Iraq, September 05: Ten people were killed and dozens of others were wounded in two suicide blasts in the Iraqi capital on Sunday, web media reported.

The attack took place around 10.50 a.m. in central Baghdad.

Three suicide bombers tried to attack an operations command of the security forces in Risafa area.

Two of them detonated their explosives during a shootout with security forces while the other one was captured, an interior ministry source said requesting anonymity.

Bhupathi out of US Open

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Washington, September 05: India’s Mahesh Bhupathi’s US Open tennis campaign ended with early losses in the men’s doubles and mixed doubles events.

Bhupathi and his Belarussian doubles partner Max Mirnyi, seeded fourth, lost 4-6, 6-3, 6-7(4) in the second round to Argentine pair Eduardo Schwank and Horacio Zeballos here on Saturday.

Bhupathi and Miryi were the 2002 champions at the Flushing Meadows.

In the mixed doubles, Bhupathi and Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia crashed out 4-6, 2-6 to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia and Swede Robert Lindstedt in the first round.

I will slap bookie: Harbhajan

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New Delhi, Sepember 05: Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh on Sunday said he has never been approached by a bookie in his career and would slap anybody who dares to approach him to fix games.

I will slap any bookie who will come near me, big time, said Harbhajan when asked what he will do in case a bookie approaches him to fix games.

“I have never been approached by a bookie and I have not also seen these things happen in my career. I never feel that any one can do such things,” he told at ‘Walk the Talk’ programme.

RSS seeks consensus on Ramjanmabhoomi issue

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Kolkata, September 05: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Sunday pitched for a national consensus on the controversial Ram Janmabhomi issue and said parliament should discuss the matter after a court delivers its judgment later this month.

“We want that a national consensus be created on the issue,” RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav said in an interaction with the media.

“We also want that after the court delivers the verdict, there should be discussion in parliament on the issue to create a consensus. As it is the government which will implement the court’s verdict,” he said.

Suspended trio should stay away from dressing room: Afridi

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Cardiff, September 05: Pakistan’s one-day captain Shahid Afridi Sunday said the suspended trio of Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif should stay away from the dressing room ahead of the T20 matches and one-day internationals against England.

The tainted trio was earlier suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) over spot-fixing allegations.

Afridi said keeping them away from the dressing room is in the best interest of the team.

I wish I was an actor in 1950s-60s: Aamir Khan

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Mumbai, September 05: Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan is so fond of films of the 1950s-60s that he wishes he was an actor in that era, which he describes as the golden period of Indian cinema.

“To me the 1950s-60s were the golden period of Indian cinema. During that time the creative talents be it director, actor, lyric writers, composers, writers and in every department used to be excellent,” Aamir told reporters at the screening of Teesri Manzil in Purani Jeans Film Festival.

“I think that people during that time were more passionate about filmmaking,” he said.

Palestinians chastise Ahmadinejad over Mideast talks remarks

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Ramallah, September 05: The Palestinian leadership has chastised Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for criticising the renewed Middle East direct peace talks, the Maan news agency reported Sunday.

“The one who does not represent the Iranian people, who falsified election results, who oppressed the Iranian people and stole authority has no right to speak about Palestine, its president or its representatives,” Nabil Abu Rudaineh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, was quoted as saying.

Suspense over release of abducted Bihar cops

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Patna, September 05: The suspense over the release of three Bihar policemen abducted by Maoists deepened Sunday evening with police saying that there was information that they had not been freed. Local media earlier claimed that the hostage crisis had ended.

An abducted policeman’s wife told reporters earlier in the day that Maoists had informed her that her husband had been released but police refused to confirm the development.

Sonia supports INTUC on Sep 7 general strike

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New Delhi, September 05: Congress president Sonia Gandhi has backed the party-affiliated Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) in joining the other trade unions’ call for a nation-wide shutdown Sep 7 against the “anti-worker” policies of the central and state governments, a party leader said Sunday.

BJP accuses Centre and Cong leaders of propping Maoists

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New Delhi, September 05: The BJP today accused Congress president Sonia Gandhi, her party leaders and the Centre of being directly responsible for the rise in Maoist menace in Bihar with their “pro-naxal statements”.

“Naxalites have become audacious in Bihar. The Centre, Sonia Gandhi and her party leaders are directly responsible for it. By their pro-naxal statements, they have boosted the morale of Maoists,” BJP spokesperson Tarun Vijay charged at a press conference here.

BrahMos cruise missile successfully test-fired

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Balasore (Orissa), September 05: Bolstering its defence capabilities, India today successfully test-fired an “advanced manoeuvrable” version of the 290-km range BrahMos cruise missile from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur off Orissa coast.

“User’s trial of BrahMos conducted by the Indian Army was successful,” ITR Director S P Dash said after the missile blasted off from a mobile launcher at around 11:35 AM from the complex-3 of the test range near here.

Heroin worth over Rs 6 cr recovered in Jammu, four held

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Jammu, September 05: Four persons were arrested and 1.2 kg of heroin worth over Rs 6 crore in the international market was seized from their possession in Jammu city, police said.

On a tip off, police nabbed the persons from Gandhinagar and Gangyal areas of the city last night, they said, adding two of them have been identified as Mustaq Ahmed and Majeed Dar of south Kashmir.

–Agencies

I will slap any bookie who approaches me: Harbhajan

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New Delhi, September 05: Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh today said he has never been approached by a bookie in his career and would slap anybody who dares to approach him to fix games.

“I will slap any bookie who will come near me, big time,” said Harbhajan when asked what he will do in case a bookie approaches him to fix games.

“I have never been approached by a bookie and I have not also seen these things happen in my career. I never feel that any one can do such things,” he told NDTV at ‘Walk the Talk’ programme.

Police: Women sexually exploited in Maoist groups

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Ranchi, September 05: Police have alleged that the Maoists have been sexually exploiting women, specially in remote and backward villages.

Most women Maoists who either surrendered or were arrested, including one who recently gave herself up in West Bengal, have alleged that they were sexually exploited, a senior Jharkhand police officer said.

“They are exploiting economic weakness, social weakness and remoteness of villages, which are mostly situated near or surrounded by forests,” Inspector General of Police, R K Malik told PTI.

Dhoni nominated as Uttarakhand’s first wildlife warden

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Dehradun, September 05: India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was today nominated as Uttarakhand’s first honorary wildlife warden as part of the hill state’s tiger conservation campaign.

An announcement to this effect was made by Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank following a meeting with the cricketer, an official release said.

Nishank also declared Dhoni as the brand ambassador of the save tiger campaign in the state which houses two major national parks — Jim Corbett and Rajaji, which are natural habitats for tigers.

Bad news for CWG preparations, MeT predicts more rains

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New Delhi, September 05: In what appears to be further bad news for Delhi’s preparations for the Commonwealth Games, the MeT Department has said that heavy rains are likely to continue in northern India, including in the capital, for some more days.

In its weekly forecast, it said the western end of the monsoon is likely to oscillate north-south of its normal position leading to fairly widespread rainfall with heavy falls over Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi during the half of the week.