Month: September 2010

Sania’s family confirms she will stay at Games Village

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New Delhi, September 28: The family of the Indian tennis star Sania Mirza today dismissed as rumours the buzz that she may not stay at the Commonwealth Games Village here.

While the international stars have started coming to Games Village, the latest buzz at the sprawling athletes’ facility was that Indian tennis stars Sania and Mahesh Bhupathi may not stay there.

It was said that Sania may prefer staying with husband Shoaib Malik — a former Pakistan cricket captain — and Bhupathi may stay with fiance Lara Dutta, a Bollywood actress.

US drone attacks in Pakistan peak in September

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Islamabad, September 28: The US has intensified missile attacks by unmanned drones against suspected militant hideouts in Pakistan’s tribal region along the Afghan border.

September was the deadliest month since the US launched the drone campaign, with 21 air strikes, nearly twice as many as were launched in January, the month with the next highest total.

At least 123 alleged militants including some foreign fighters linked to Al Qaeda have been killed in the CIA-operated attacks.

AP govt has failed on law & order front, says TDP chief

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Vijayawada, September 28: The TDP today said law and order machinery has virtually collapsed in the Congress-ruled Andhra Pradesh and the government has become “inefficient”.

“All systems of governance have failed and law and order situation in the state has worsened,” TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu told reporters here, referring to the murder of party leader Chalasani Venkateswara Rao on Sunday in Hyderabad, before leaving for Ventrapragada village to attend the funeral.

Fake currency gang busted

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Ambala (Punjab), September 28: Police today busted an inter-state gang involved in running fake currency racket with the arrest of six members here.

Around 300 fake currency notes of Rs 1,000 and 600 notes of Rs 500 were recovered from the gang.

The accused were produced in a local court today which remanded them in police custody for eight days.

Superintendent of Police (Ambala) Shashank Anand said that three of the accused were residents of Ambala while the remaining belonged to other states.

–Agencies

Buddhadeb’s help sought in tracing missing trekkers

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Kolkata, September 28: The intervention of West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was today sought for taking up the issue of eight trekkers missing since September eight in Uttarakhand with the government there.

R Lakshmi, the wife of one of the trekkers, N P Rao, appealed to the chief minister through officials of his secretariat to help in tracing her husband and the others.

India committed to expand defence ties with US: Antony

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Washington, September 28: Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony Tuesday conveyed to the US “India’s commitment to add even greater substance” to their defence partnership in the years ahead, but as expected, no deals were announced.

At the conclusion of Antony’s two-day visit, during which he met US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and National Security Advisor General James Jones, Indian officials said he had expressed satisfaction “at the increasing range and depth of defence cooperation”.

KBC-4 to have Rs 5-crore prize money

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Mumbai, September 28: Amitabh Bachchan-hosted ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ (KBC) game show, which begins its fourth season from the megastar’s birthday on October 11, has increased the prize money to Rs 5 crore.

This was announced today at a press conference here by Bachchan and Sidhharth Basu of Big Synergy, the producer of the popular quiz show to be aired on Sony TV.

“Even though the basic format remain unchanged, the show will be faster and crispier this time. There will be 12 questions for Rs one crore and the last one would be the jackpot of Rs 5 crore,” Bachchan said.

TRS chief slams TDP over its protest plan

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Hyderabad, September 28: TRS leader K Chandrasekhar Rao today hit out at TDP leaders for announcing that they will hold a sit-in in front of Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s residence in Delhi to push her towards taking steps for formation of separate Telangana.

“TDP leaders are enacting a drama. Why should they do that? It was after the meeting of the Congress Core Group, headed by Sonia Gandhi, that the Centre announced the decision to form separate Telangana.

Andhra HC reserves order on advocate’s writ petition

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Hyderabad, September 28: The Andhra Pradesh High Court today reserved its orders on a writ petition filed by an advocate objecting to withdrawal of resignation given by a sitting judge of the High Court.

Justice C V Nagarjuna Reddy resigned protesting against vandalism by Telangana lawyers in his court on September 16 and subsequently withdrew his resignation on September 18 following persuasion by Chief Justice Nisar Ahmed Kakru.

Attempts to defame YSR will fall flat, says Jagan Mohan

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Ongole (AP), September 28: In an apparent dig at detractors like TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, Congress MP Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy today said attempts by certain quarters to “defame” his father and former chief minister late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy would not succeed.

“People have given a permanent place for Rajasekhara Reddy in their hearts. Out of zealously, some people are trying to defame him. Their attempts to defame a dead person shows the worst kind of politics. But they would not succeed.

Manmohan appeals for peace

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Mumbai, September 28: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday urged the people to maintain peace and harmony after the Allahabad High Court delivers its verdict on Thursday in the 61-year-old Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute in Ayodhya.

Whatever be the nature of judgment, I think everyone should make every effort to maintain peace, harmony and tranquility in the country, Manmohan Singh told reporters on the sidelines of a book release function here on Tuesday.

He recalled that the appeal for peace had been mentioned in the resolution adopted by the union cabinet Sep 16.

JMM leader shot dead in Jharkhand

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Jharkhand, September 28: A local JMM leader was on Tuesday shot dead by unidentified assailants in Godda district of Jharkhand.

Three bike-borne men fired at Deb Narayan Murmu when he was walking at Mohan Chowk at Mahagama, killing him on the spot, police said.

Police have sealed the borders and launched raids to arrest them, they said.

—Agencies

95 more Dengue cases in Delhi

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New Delhi, September 28: Dengue cases in Delhi continued to mount with 95 more confirmed cases reported on Tuesday, taking the total number of people infected with the mosquito-borne disease to 3,108.

According to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the number of dengue cases this year seem certain to cross the 2006 figure of 3,366 cases.

The disease has claimed five lives in the city so far this year.

South Delhi continues to be the worst affected area with 446 cases this season, followed by the Civil Lines zone (401) and Rohini zone (363).

—Agencies

Boy arrested for attempt to rape

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Rajhasthan, September 28: Police on Tuesday arrested a teenaged boy who allegedly attempted to rape a minor girl at Mohangarh village of the district in Rajasthan.

The boy identified as Dadu Ram first dragged the ten-year-old school going girl to an isolated area and attempted to rape her this morning but fled from there after locals spotted him, police sources said.

Furious over the incident, villagers and the girl’s family members staged a protest outside the Mohangarh police station demanding immediate arrest of the boy who was later apprehended, they said.

—Agencies

Policeman shot two dead

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Jharkhand, September 28: A police officer shot dead two colleagues and injured one in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh district, police said on Tuesday.

Suresh Chaudhary, an Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI), started firing at his colleagues at Vishnugarh police barrack of Hazaribagh district, around 145 km from Ranchi.

The injured policeman has been admitted to hospital and is said to be out of danger.

BJP to announce list of candidates

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New Delhi, September 28: BJP and JD(U) is said to announce the list of candidates for the up-coming State Assembly polls in Bihar on Tuesday.

JD(U) is to contest with 141 candidates and BJP with 102 seats-identical number of constituencies they contested separately in 2005-respectively in the October-November assembly polls. Bihar assembly has strength of 243.

Doctors to resume duty in Kolkata

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Kolkata, September 28: Services in four government hospitals here were hit as strike by junior doctors entered the fourth day today, even as the government claimed that a section of the protestors had resumed duty in ‘some places’ and the agitation will be withdrawn soon.

We have information that a section of the striking junior doctors have already resumed duty in some places. We are hopeful that the strike will be formally withdrawn in a few hours, Director of Medical Education Soumendranath Banerjee told news agency.

Bihar polls: CPI(ML) release list

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Bihar, September 28: The CPI(ML) on Tuesday released the list of 48 candidates for the first three phases of Bihar assembly polls beginning from October 21 next.

While sitting MLA Amarnath Yadav has been renominated from Raghunathpur assembly seat, another sitting MLA Munnas Alam has been replaced by his brother and ex-MLA Mehboob Alam from Balrampur assembly constituency, CPI(ML) state committee secretary Nand Kishor Prasad told reporters here.

Another former MLA Satya Dev Ram has been given ticket from Darauli (SC) assembly seat.

Deadline ends in Chhattisgarh kidnap cops

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Chhattisgarh, September 28: Even as the Chhattisgarh government held “secret talks” with Maoists to end the hostage crisis, the fate of the four kidnapped policemen hung in limbo after the 48-hour deadline set by the Maoists ended on Tuesday evening.

The government has established a backdoor contact with a section of the military unit of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist). It is holding secret talks with the rebels, a reliable source told.

Bandh affects normal life in Jhalawar

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Jhalawar, September 28: Bandh still affects normal life in the Manoharthana area of Jhalawar after tension prevailed for the third day even as administrative officials tried to pacify the members of Bhil community on Wednesday.

The Bandh was forced after two persons of the tribe were killed in a clash with the police on Monday, while one more person died on Tuesday, after a tribal woman was raped by three persons of a minority community. Around 25 policemen were also injured in the scuffle.

Maoists set afire vehicles in Orissa

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Orissa, September 28: Maoist ultras on Tuesday burnt down two stationary trucks in Orissa’s Sundargarh district, though the police had claimed to have sealed the Jharkhand border following a major encounter in Saranda forest in the neighbouring state.

Police said, the Maoists torched two trucks parked along the NH-215 in Roxi area under K.Balang police station and left several posters at about 5.30 am.

IRCTC records 16 pc growth

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New Delhi, September 28: Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a Railway subsidiary, has posted over 16 per cent growth in its earnings during the last financial year.

The earnings could, however, take a hit in view of the latest catering policy which has stripped the PSU of its catering responsibilities.

Considered its core business area, the catering department fetched 97.5 per cent of its revenue.

IGI gets new monitoring station

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New Delhi, September 28: In a first of its kind, the Indira Gandhi International airport on Tuesday got an automatic ambient air monitoring station which will disseminate round-the-clock data regarding air quality.

Inaugurated by Delhi’s Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta, the air monitoring station at the airport is the first such at any airport in Southeast Asia.

“It will disseminate data on critical parameters to the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) every 15 minutes. It will go a long way in formulation of policies of the government,” Mehta said.

–Agencies

Cheryl Cole scared of being single

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London, September 28: Singer Cheryl Cole was scared of being single following her split from cheating husband Ashley Cole, but always knew dumping him was “the right thing to do”.

It’s a very different feeling being out there on your own. Slowly but surely I’m finding my feet, web media quoted Cheryl as saying.

“It was scary and exciting at the same time, but definitely the right thing to do,” she said.

Since the separation, Cheryl, 27, has been romantically linked to professional dancer Derek Hough.

Katie Price using phone while driving?

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London, September 28: Glamour model Katie Price has denied she was using her mobile phone while driving.

The 32-year-old star was caught by police using a mobile phone while driving her vehicle in West Sussex. She caused two other vehicles to move away as she drifted into their lane, a court was told.

Prosecutors said Price, also known as Jordan, was seen on the phone by officers in a patrol car, international news reported.

Phillip Mann, of Sussex Police, told the court he saw Price making a texting motion on an iPhone-type handset before pulling her over.