Month: September 2010

Obama says his economic policies halted ‘bleeding’

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Washington, September 06: President Barack Obama, previewing a big push on the US economy next week, defended policies that he said ”have stopped the bleeding” and put the middle class on the road to recovery.

Obama, struggling to bring down the 9.6 per cent jobless rate, is to spend next week talking up proposals on improving the economy.

He hopes to gain some traction with impatient voters as they ponder whether to toss out his Democrats in the November 2 congressional elections.

4th Pak cricketer comes under investigation for alleged match fixing

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Islamabad, September 05: A fourth Pakistan cricketer is under investigation by the sport’s world governing body over alleged match-rigging, it has been reported. The unnamed player joins team captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir as the subjects of an International Cricket Council investigation.

Pawar Says, Tainter Pak Trio Will Have Opportunity To Defend Themselves

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New York, September 05: ICC president Sharad Pawar said the cricket governing body has not yet punished any of the three Pakistan players allegedly involved in spot-fixing and the trio have an opportunity to put their side of story.

Pawar’s comments came a day after Pakistan High Commissioner to UK Wajid Shamsul Hasan termed the trio’s suspension as an conspiracy and blamed the International Cricket Council (ICC) president for the same.

“We have not punished anybody yet,” Pawar told PTI.

Concession agreement signed for Hyderabad Metro

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Hyderabad, September 05: The concession agreement for the Rs.12,132-crore Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) project was signed here Saturday.

The Andhra Pradesh government signed the pact with Larsen & Toubro Hyderabad Metro Rail Pvt. Ltd for development of Hyderabad Metro Rail project in public-private partnership (PPP) mode.

Leading construction group Larsen & Toubro, which bagged the project in July this year, has formed a special purpose vehicle for developing the project on design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) basis.

Muslim clerics appeal Valley protesters to shun violence

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New Delhi, September 05: Leading Muslim clerics of the country have expressed pain and anguish over the violent protests in the Kashmir Valley during Ramzan and appealed to the protesters to use “democratic” means to convey their views which should not affect education.

Head of Islamic Studies department at Jamia Milia Islamia, Prof Aktharul Wasey said the whole nation is concerned over the happening in Kashmir for the past few days.

“Whatever is happening in Kashmir for the past few days is painful and unfortunate and the whole nation is concerned about it,” he said.

Girl says ‘I love you’ to dad and jumps to her death

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George Town, September 05: The 14-year-old girl who was found sprawled on the ground floor of her flat on Thursday had sent her father a text message saying “I love you”, before jumping to her death.

Amy Shahira Chin, a Form Two student who was alone at home, had sent the SMS to her father Firdaus Chin half an hour before the incident.

According to her neighbours, she was spotted walking down from her 17th floor apartment but no one saw her jump.

40% of domestic violence victims are male

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London, September 05: About two in five of all victims of domestic violence are men, contradicting the widespread impression that it is almost always women who are left battered and bruised, a new report claims.

Men assaulted by their partners are often ignored by police, see their attacker go free and have far fewer refuges to flee to than women, says a study by the men’s rights campaign group Parity.

8 buried alive as mudslide hits bus

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Guatemala City, September 05: A passenger bus was buried in a mudslide triggered by torrential rains in Guatemala, killing at least eight people and injuring 25.

“It has been pretty difficult to recover the victims because of the tonnes of mud that fell on the bus,” a spokesperson for the volunteer firefighters said Saturday.

Witnesses said that part of the hill near the Kilometre 83 region on the Inter-American highway broke away and came down as a mudslide just as the bus was passing by.

‘Sanctions will hurt West but not Iran’

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Tehran, September 05: “The sanctions on Iran will leave 150,000 to 200,000 people jobless in Western countries while creating job opportunities for Iranians,” Mohammad Reza Rahimi said in the northeastern city of Mashhad on Saturday.

Tehran stands firmly against the extremism of the arrogant powers, he noted.

He added that the United States and its allies imposed sanctions on Iran over the past 30 years to damage the Islamic Revolution, the Founder of the Islamic Republic, the late Imam Khomeini, and his ideals.

However, they will never attain their goals, he said.

‘SRK, Aamir can make a difference to society’

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New Delhi, September 05: Issues like poverty, malnutrition and sex trafficking concern Bollywood actress Chitrangada Singh, who feels that if saleable names from the Indian film industry like Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan support such causes, they can bring about a positive change in society.

“Bollywood is very strong in India and even Indians anywhere in the world follow the film industry. So I definitely feel if stars as big as Aamir or Shah Rukh support a cause, they will generate a lot of media interest and, so, will create awareness,” Chitrangada told in an interview.

I was to play Salman’s role in ‘Dabangg’: Sonu Sood

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Mumbai, September 05: Known for doing intense roles, actor Sonu Sood plays a young politician in upcoming film “Dabangg”. But he reveals that he was actually supposed to play the lead role, now being essayed by Salman Khan.

“The film was brought to me before Salman came on board. Initially I was supposed to do Salman’s role of a cop… but when he decided to be a part of the film, I was offered the role of the youth politician that I’m now playing,” Sonu told IANS in an interview.

Doing voice-over tougher than acting: Manoj Bajpai

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Mumbai, September 05: After playing a role inspired by the Mahabharata’s Duryodhan in “Rajneeti”, Manoj Bajpai has lent his voice to the character of Ram in 3D animation film “Ramayana – The Epic”. He says doing the voice-over for an animation film is far more difficult than acting.

Siddharth to bake cake with Deepika

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Mumbai, September 05: Who knows what’s cooking between them, but Sidhartha Mallya seems to be close enough to actress Deepika Padukone to ask her to bake a cake for him!

‘Bake me a cake,’ Sidharth, the son of liquor baron Vijay Mallya, posted to Deepika on micro-blogging site Twitter.

The request came soon after the 24-year-old actress posted a picture of an oven and wrote: ‘Love this old fashioned industrial oven… Reminds me of the days when I would come back from school and bake chocolate cake for my mum!’

Akshay’s helicopter schedules

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Mumbai, September 05: Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar is so busy at times that he needs to travel in and around Maharashtra by helicopter.

Recently, Akshay had to make multiple trips to the sets of Star Plus’ upcoming show MasterChef India at Karjat. As the shoot had got delayed and he had to be in Mumbai for an important meeting, he left the shoot halfway and rushed to town.

He used the helicopter instead of the usual car to travel to and fro, said a source from the sets.

Maharashtra CM receives threat call

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Mumbai, September 05: An unidentified person called Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan’s bungalow claiming to be a member of the terrorist outfit al-Qaeda, police said on Saturday describing it as a “prank call” and that the prankster has been identified.

The person telephoned Chavan’s official residence on Friday and asked his whereabouts.

“It was a prank call. We have identified the prankster and will take him into police custody soon,” said Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjeev Dayal.

Pak opener claims colleagues fixing ”almost every match”

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London, September 05: Pakistan opener Yasir Hameed has reportedly claimed that his teammates were allegedly involved in fixing “almost every match”, even before the dust is yet to settle over the allegations of spot-fixing against three fellow players during the team”s tour in England.

99 lashes for woman facing execution in Iran

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Tehran, September 05:An Iranian woman who’d already been condemned to death faces another sentence of 99 lashes because of a case of mistaken identity in a photograph, according to foes of the execution.

Iranian authorities imposed the sentence after they saw the photo of a woman without a head scarf in a newspaper, the International Committee Against Stoning, a human rights group, said Friday.

Woman gives birth in helicopter

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Queensland, September 05: A baby girl has made an adventurous start to life being born in the back of a rescue helicopter in central Queensland.

A rescue helicopter spokesman said they were flying the mother back to the mainland from Hamilton Island this morning when she was delivered.

”Flight paramedic Mel Bernas delivered the baby while the aircraft was on descent into Mackay airport only 14 minutes prior to landing,” the spokesman said.

”The baby and mother were in good spirits and transported to Mackay Base Hospital.

Report: Blackwater created shell companies

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Washington, September 05: The security company Blackwater Worldwide formed a network of 30 shell companies and subsidiaries to try to get millions of dollars in government business after the company faced strong criticism for reckless conduct in Iraq, The New York Times reported.

The newspaper said Friday that it was unclear how many of the created companies got American contracts but that at least three of them obtained work with the U.S. military and the CIA.

Quran burning riles Muslims

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Jakarta, September 05: Thousands of Indonesian Muslims rallied outside the US Embassy in Jakarta on Saturday to denounce an American church’s plan to mark the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks by burning copies of the Quran.

The Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, said it will burn the Islamic holy book Wednesday, the ninth anniversary of the terror attacks.

Aamir regards uncle Nasir Hussain as guru

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Mumbai, September 05: On the eve of Teacher’s Day, Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan, who made his debut in acting as a child artist in Nasir Hussain’s “Yaadon Ki Baarat” (1973), revealed that he regards his late uncle to be his guru as he had worked with him for four years as an assistant director.

Kareena fit for my role in ‘Teesri Manzil’ if film remade: Asha Parekh

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Mumbai, September 05: Veteran actress Asha Parekh walked down memory lane Saturday as she recalled her blockbuster film “Teesri Manzil” and said if the film is remade today, actress Kareena Kapoor should play the role she essayed.

“Its very difficult to choose one actress to play my role in ‘Teesri Manzil’ because all of them are so good, but if I have to then I think Kareena should do it. She will be very good in it,” the 67-year-old actress told reporters at the screening of her 1966 film “Teesri Manzil”, organized by Radio Mirchi.

Tiger makes halfway cut at Deutsche Bank Ch’ship

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Norton, September 05: Tiger Woods ensured he would make the halfway cut at the Deutsche Bank Championship with a six-under 65 in Saturday’s second round.

After an opening 72, the world number one knew he needed a low score to maintain his involvement in the remainder of the FedExCup series.

Woods responded in style, shrugging off a stiff morning breeze at the Boston TPC to compile a bogey-free round.

“I hit it really good today,” the American told reporters after finishing with a five-under tally of 137. “I missed a few but the only bad putt I hit was at 16.

Aamir wish, he was an actor in 1950s-60s

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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 PVR Phoenix Mill, where he came to attended the screening of “Teesri Manzil” in Purani Jeans Film Festival organized by Radio Mirchi.

India to host Asian Nuclear Prospects conference in October

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Chennai, September 05: Around 250 nuclear scientists, technologists and industrialists are expected to participate in the three-day Asian Nuclear Prospects 2010 conference to be held near here in October, a top official of atomic research unit said Saturday.