Month: December 2010

US companies to re-enter race for sale of gunships to India

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Washington, December 30: American military aviation companies have announced their intention to re-enter the race for India’s massive $1.4 billion contract for purchase of 22 attack helicopters, almost a year after withdrawing from the hunt.

The American intentions were made clear with the Pentagon notifying US Congress about the possible sale of helicopter gunships to India and clearing the sale of AGM-84L Harpoon Block II missiles to the country to arm Indian Navy’s about to be delivered P-81 Neptune maritime patrol aircraft.

Mumbai Cops Save Katrina From Fans

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Mumbai, December 30: Bollywood star Katrina Kaif got a dose of the flip side of stardom when she turned out at a suburban Mumbai mall to promote her new film, Tees Maar Khan.

As delirious fans got out of control and tried lunging at the star, organisers of the event had to hurriedly call for police protection from the local thana . It wasn’t quite the ‘ fan following’ Katrina expected when she went in for the event at the mall in Mulund on Saturday evening, says a media report.

Krishna water verdict: Andhra gets biggest share

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New Delhi, December 30: The Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal gave its verdict on sharing of the river water with Andhra Pradesh getting the biggest share, followed by Karnataka and Maharashtra. The verdict running into 2000 pages was given on Thursday on the water sharing dispute.

Out of total water available Andhra Pradesh will get 1,001 thousand million cubic feet (TMC feet), Karnataka’s share will be 911 TMC feet and Maharashtra will have to do with 666 TMC feet.

Bomb blast outside court in Athens

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Athens, December 30: A bomb exploded outside a court in the Greek capital Athens Thursday after an anonymous warning call, a police source and witnesses said.

The device was planted on a motorbike parked in front of the building in the city centre, according to unofficial reports from the police.

Witnesses reported seeing burning cars and a cloud of smoke coming from the building.

There were no immediate reports of injuries. A witness told reporters that police evacuated the building before the explosion.

Sallu-Kat are back as couple!

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Mumbai, December 30: Katrina Kaif is planning to fly down to Dubai and bring in the New Year with her ex Salman Khan and his family.

Says a source, “Katrina has been seen bonding again with Salman and his family lately She was spotted at his Tees Maar Khan trial and then went to wish him before he left for Dubai to bring in his birthday with an entourage of forty friends and family members.

The actor will return on the morning of December 31 to shoot Bigg Boss and will then fly back to welcome 2011 with his near and dear ones.”

Beauty contest for goats begins in Saudi Arabia

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Riyadh, December 30: A beauty competition for goats began Wednesday in Saudi Arabia, as part of an auction bringing together traders and herders in the holy Muslim city of Mecca.

Auction supervisor Fawzi al-Subhi said that over 170 animals are competing for the coveted title ‘most beautiful goat’. He expects the winner to be sold for at least $18,000.

According to al-Shams newspaper, the four-legged contestants are purebred Hijazi goats, a distinct breed named after the province in which Mecca is located.

British feared Israel would nuke Arabs

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London, December 30: British diplomats feared Israel would use nuclear weapons in the event of another war with its Arab neighbours, secret files have shown.

In 1980, British officials were concerned that Israel could be heading for a new conflict, despite signing a peace treaty with Egypt the year before, according to official papers released from the National Archives after being kept secret for 30 years.

Iran is now a nuclear state: Ahmadinejad

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Tehran, December 30: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said Iran is now a nuclear country and that it has achieved nuclear know-how for energy purposes, a media report said.

“Though the US and its allies have been exerting political and propaganda pressure and have issued resolutions against Iran over its nuclear programme, all their efforts have failed and Iran has now become a nuclear country,” Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by Press TV.

Denmark foils hit on toon paper

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Copenhagen, December 30: Denmark’s intelligence service arrested four people suspected of planning an “imminent” terror attack against a newspaper that printed the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) cartoons. Swedish police said they arrested a fifth suspect.

This Is Not The Way To Honor Him

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News reports have detailed the arrests of five people on suspicion of an “imminent” terror attack on the offices of the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, for their publication of the cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). According to authorities:

Mumbai cop accused of minor’s rape dead

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Ahmednagar, December 30: Dismissed Mumbai Senior Police Inspector Arun Borude, on the run since November 8 after being accused of raping a 15-year old girl in the financial capital, was found seriously injured on the railway tracks in Ahmednagar district Wednesday afternoon after being hit by a train.

He died from his injuries hours later. The local police are yet to ascertain how the incident near Shrirampur railway station took place.

CM, Ministers, Babus get new fleet of cars at Rs 36 cr

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Hyderabad, December 30: Even as the farmers and NGOs groan under uncertainty and reel under the problems they are facing, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy is going ahead with plans of purchasing a fleet of brand new Toyota Fortuner cars each costing Rs 50 lakh as a New Year Gift for himself, his Cabinet Colleagues and bureaucrats.

The fleet will ofcourse serves his security providing cover against bomb attacks possibly from Maoists among others.

Shammi & Shashi Kapoor in hospital

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Mumbai, December 30: Two of the most loved actors of their generation, brothers Shammi Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor, aged 79 and 72 respectively, have been hospitalised for the past few days. While Shammi, who suffers from kidney ailments, is recuperating at Breach Candy Hospital, Shashi has been admitted at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Andheri.

Congress denies disowning Sanjay Gandhi

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New Delhi, December 30: The ruling Congress on Wednesday denied that it tried to disown its late leader Sanjay Gandhi for the excesses committed during the Emergency days — as said in the recently published historical account of the party, and recalled that then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had herself expressed regret over some of the 1975-77 actions.

2 Indians Killed While Trying to Save Their Wives

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Melbourne, December 30: Two Indians have been killed while trying to save their wives as they were crossing a dangerous sandbar from Penguin island in Perth in Australia.

Pavan Ghanasala and Praveen Srikanth, both in their 30s, sacrificed their lives while they were lifting their wives above the water to help them breathe yesterday.

Rangers were in the process of closing access to the sandbar when the two men drowned, according to media reports here.

The two died on the shore despite efforts to resuscitate them after they were swept into deep water off the popular island.

State may witness midterm polls: KCR

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Hyderabad, December 30: Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday predicted that the country and state will witness midterm elections, with the governments at Centre and State collapsing in January 2011.

He told party cadres to get ready to face elections.

Talking to media persons after emerging out of a party Executive Committee meeting at Telangana Bhavan on Wednesday, the TRS chief predicted that state might witness midterm elections in next year.

JNTU to conduct EAMCET again

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Hyderabad, December 30: The Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) will once again conduct the Engineering Agriculture and Medicine Common Entrance Test (EAMCET) for 2011.

According to State Council of Higher Education officials, the government has taken the decision to entrust the JNTU with conducting the EAMCET after consulting officials in this connection.

Prof Ramanarao has been appointed Convener for the EAMCET-2011.

With this the JNTU is going to conduct the EAMCET for 13th time.

Woman ends life due to harassment from husband

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Hyderabad, December 30: Unable to bear harassment from her husband, a 36 old woman committed suicide by pouring kerosene and setting herself ablaze under Alwal police station limits late on Tuesday.

It is said that D Swaroopa was a resident of Balaji Nagar in CPI colony. She married Ramgopal Chary seven years ago and was blessed with two children.

Since their marriage, Ramgopal used to consume alcohol daily and argue with his wife over petty issue. He also used to regularly beat her up.

‘Saudi Arabia supports terrorism in Iraq’

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Baghdad, December 30: Several Iraqi authorities have accused extremist Wahhabi elements in Saudi Arabia of supporting terrorist attacks in the war-wrecked country.

“We hope that our neighboring countries do their best to help the Iraqi government control the borders and improve the security,” Fawzi Tarzi of Sadr movement told a Press TV correspondent on Wednesday.

Members of Iraqi national coalition said some circles in Saudi Arabia offer financial and moral support to terrorists, who have been behind numerous attacks in the war-torn country.

Temple priests demand hike in salaries

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Visakhapatnam, December 30: Temple priests from north Andhra on Wednesday took out a rally and staged a demonstration in front of the office of Deputy Commissioner, Endowments here, demanding a hike in their salaries.

Addressing the gathering, Visakhapatnam District Archaka Sangham president Rejeti Adiseshu and general secretary Ayiluri Srinivasa Deekshithulu lamented that even minimum wages were not paid to them. They wanted salaries on a par with temple managers and clerks for whom pay revision was being implemented to increase the salaries from Rs.15,000 to Rs.22,000.

Snow shuts Jammu-Srinagar National Highway

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Srinagar, December 30: The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was closed for traffic Thursday due to snowfall in the Kashmir Valley which has been covered with a blanket of snow.

In view of the snowfall, traffic authorities decided to stop movement of traffic on the highway from both sides.

The heavy snowfall also led to power disruptions in many parts of the Valley.

Snowfall was reported from many parts in south and north Kashmir, including famous ski resort Gulmarg.

Road clearance operations have already begun in the areas which have received snowfall.

Arundhati Condemns Sen’s Conviction

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New Delhi, December 30: Writer-activist Arundhati Roy today condemned conviction of rights activist Binayak Sen, who was sentenced by a Raipur court to life imprisonment for sedition, saying the evidence produced and the judgement were just not connected to each other.

“The evidence was so weak…Even Narayan Sanyal who seems to be the kingpin around whom the whole sedition case was built up was not accused of sedition when Binayak was arrested,” she said.

Nitish cracks the whip, asks IAS officials to declare assets by Jan 31

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Patna, December 30: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar , who has promised an assault on corruption, has directed IAS officers of the state to declare their assets and those of there kin by January 31.

The babus will be required to furnish three copies of their assets by January 31 to the government. The government has said that the declaration should also include the details of their ancestral property besides that of their wives and close relatives.

30,000 pirated CDs seized, two held

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New Delhi, December 30: A staggering 30,000 pirated VCDs and DVDs of latest English and Hindi movies, including the just released Tees Mar Khan and Toonpur Ka Superrhero, have been seized following the arrest of two people in south Delhi, police said Wednesday.

“Following a tip-off from a company that two people were involved in the illegal business of manufacturing and selling DVDs, VCDs, CDs and fake inlay cards in the capital, we raided a shop in Lajpat Nagar Monday,” a police officer said.

The accused have been identified as Abhay Kumar Jain, 38, and Sarfaraz, 26.

Facebook helps Goan couple set up choco trade

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Panaji, December 30: While millions of people are hooked to social networking website for varied purpose, there is a success story brewing in the coastal village of Goa about a couple who have managed to turn their hobby into small scale enterprise, thanks to Facebook.

Andrew Felix Vieira, a banking professional and his wife, Rosy, with a professional training in baking, has carved out a full time profession for them which stems from their hobby.