Month: December 2010

Qatar makes history

by

Doha, December 03: There was jubilation and celebration in Saudi Arabia and the whole of Middle East as Qatar created history by putting the Gulf and the Middle East on the soccer world map after being picked to host the 2022 World Cup finals.

Earlier, FIFA, the soccer world governing body, had named Russia as host of the 2018 finals, another first-time hosts.

Though many applauded the choice of Russia, it was the second announcement — Qatar to host the 2022 event — that brought raptures to the whole of Middle East.

Patel rejects airlines proposal for fare hike

by

New Delhi, December 03: Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel Friday rejected a proposal by domestic airlines for a massive hike in air fares and said an economic advisory council would be formed to look into tariff related issues.

“We have decided and put in effect immediately the establishment of a Civil Aviation Economic Advisory Council,” Patel said.

According to the minister, the council would be on the lines of the Civil Aviation Safety Advisory Council set up after the Mangalore air crash.

Crops not affected by temperature rise: Minister

by

New Delhi, December 03: There has been no major impact on wheat production of the rising temperature in India, Minister of State for Agriculture K.V. Thomas said Friday even as experts say global warming threat looms large over farm productivity.

“There is no major impact observed on wheat production due to rising temperature in the recent past. There has been an increasing trend in wheat production since 2007-08,” Thomas said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

New Zealand hopeful of McCullum playing tomorrow: Vettori

by

Varoda, November 03: Faced with a do-or-die situation to stay afloat in the five-match series, New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori today said his injury-hit side was hoping that dashing batsman Brendon McCullum would be available tomorrow to bolster the batting line-up in the third ODI against India here.

New Zealand had been lacking the spark in their batting in the absence of McCullum in the first two matches and Vettori said he was hoping that the aggressive opener, who took part in the net sessions today, is available tomorrow.

Opposition is trying to mislead people: Pranab

by

New Delhi, December 03: Hitting back at the Bharatiya Janata Party for demanding a joint parliamentary committee probe into the 2G spectrum allocation, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday said it had no right to speak on the issue as the Tehelka sting operation had earlier exposed its party president taking a bribe on camera.

‘SIT’s clean chit to Modi’ vindicates BJP

by

New Delhi, December 03: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday said the Supreme Court- appointed Special Investigation Team reportedly giving a clean chit to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 riots cases vindicates the party’s stand on the issue.

“This issue is in court. We are not aware of what the SIT has said, so we will not be able to make a detailed comment. But if such an outcome is there then it will be a truth which will vindicate our stand on the matter,” Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and MP from Gujarat Arun Jaitley said.

Urban development funds based on states’ performance: Montek

by

New Delhi, December 03: The central government Friday said that funds under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), to fast track planned development of urban infrastructure and basic services, would be allocated according to the performance of the states.

Speaking on completion of five years of the programme, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, said: “Performance of states on reforms linked to the mission was not encouraging, and future allocation to the states would be strictly linked to performance on the reforms side.”

PSU banks lend Rs.86,000 crore to farmers

by

New Delhi, December 03: Public sector banks provided Rs.86,000 crore concessional loans to farmers during the first five months of the current fiscal, Minister of State for Agriculture K.V. Thomas said Friday.

“The total loan amount disbursed to farmers during April-August period by the public sector commercial banks is Rs.86,284.70 crore. It has benefited 77.68 lakh farmers for meeting their credit requirements for agricultural operation purposes,” Thomas said in written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

70 schoolkids fall ill after being given iron tablets

by

Lucknow, November 03: As many as 70 students of a primary school in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi district were hospitalised Friday after they fell ill on consuming iron and de-worming tablets given by government medical staff, officials said. All the students are now out of danger.

Over 100 students of the government-run Durgapur Primary School were administered the tablets in a health camp organised at school between 11:30 a.m. to 12 noon.

Haryana to launch drive to recover power dues

by

Chandigarh, December 03: Defaulters of electricity bills in north Haryana will be targeted under a special recovery campaign to be launched Sunday, senior Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) official said here Friday.

“The UHBVN would launch a special defaulting amount recovery campaign in district Panchkula, Ambala, Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Karnal, Panipat, Sonipat, Rohtak, Jhajjar and Jind from Dec 5 to 31, under which strenuous efforts would be made by the field staff to recover the outstanding amounts,” UHBVN managing director Arun Kumar said.

Street plays to increase awareness on climate change

by

New Delhi, December 03: With climate change talks on at Cancun in Mexico, several voluntary groups are organising street plays, photo exhibitions, signature campaigns and talks in the capital to make people aware on issues related to climate change.

An initiative of Oxfam India, Greenpeace India and Global Climate Action, street plays will be held at Dilli Haat Saturday and Sunday.

New ’super-earth’ 40 light years away might have water

by

London, December 03: A planet, which is 2.6 times bigger than Earth and orbiting a star 40 light years away, possibly has water in the form of steam, research suggests.

The planet has given scientists their first chance to analyse the atmosphere of a world outside the solar system.

Astronomers using the European Southern Observatory’s 3.6-metre telescope in Chile discovered possible evidence of water in the form of steam shrouding the planet, reports the journal Nature.

Miffed Andhra ministers still waiting for key portfolios

by

Hyderabad, December 03: The impasse in the Andhra Pradesh cabinet continued Friday with some ministers who were unhappy with their portfolios refusing to take charge and waiting for Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy to redress their grievances.

A day after showing strong resentment over the way they were treated in the allocation of portfolios, eight senior ministers stayed away from the state secretariat.

Miffed Andhra ministers still waiting for key portfolios

by

Hyderabad, December 03: The impasse in the Andhra Pradesh cabinet continued Friday with some ministers who were unhappy with their portfolios refusing to take charge and waiting for Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy to redress their grievances.

A day after showing strong resentment over the way they were treated in the allocation of portfolios, eight senior ministers stayed away from the state secretariat.

Ayodhya issue: Das, Ansari to present solution before SC

by

Ayodhya, December 03: Two main litigants of the Ayodhya title suit case, Mahant Gyan Das and Hashim Ansari, said they would put forth a formula before the Supreme Court to resolve the vexed issue.

“We would await all the petitioners in the case to reach the apex court for challenging Allahabad High Court judgement as decided by them and there we would present the formula worked out by us in a written form,” Das and Hashim Ansari told newspersons in a joint press conference.

Yesterday, Ansari had reportedly said the formula would be made public by December 10.

YSR fan dies of shock

by

Vishakapatnam, December 03: An ardent fan of late CM YSR allegedly died of shock in Bayyavaram of Makavarapalem mandal in Visakhapatnam district on Monday afternoon.

Lingampalli Nookaraju, 55, a farmer, collapsed suddenly in his agriculture field when one of his friends informed him about the resignations of Jagan and his mother Vijayalakshmi from the Congress. By the time other ryots and farm workers rushed to his help, he breathed his last.

Doctors later confirmed that Nookaraju had died of cardiac arrest and sudden bout of anxiety.

-Agencies

sites use bug to track user’s browsing history

by

Washington, December 03: Adult entertainment sites are using a bug to track user behaviour and serve targeted ads.

Researchers at the University of California San Diego in the US found 485 popular websites exploiting the bug.

The bug allows hackers to see what other sites a user has visited, and to use this information to serve up targeted advertising, reports the Telegraph.

Teacher found hanging inside school’s classroom

by

Lucknow, December 03: A teacher in a government school in Uttar Pradesh was Friday found hanging from a ceiling fan inside a classroom, police said.

Pannalal Shukla, headmaster of the Yakootganj Junior High School, appeared to have committed suicide, police inspector V.K. Mishra told reporters in Farrukhabad, about 200 km from here.

“Though the exact reason of death would be ascertained in the post-mortem report, going by the preliminary investigations it appears to be a case of suicide,” Mishra said.

Teacher found hanging inside school’s classroom

by

Lucknow, December 03: A teacher in a government school in Uttar Pradesh was Friday found hanging from a ceiling fan inside a classroom, police said.

Pannalal Shukla, headmaster of the Yakootganj Junior High School, appeared to have committed suicide, police inspector V.K. Mishra told reporters in Farrukhabad, about 200 km from here.

“Though the exact reason of death would be ascertained in the post-mortem report, going by the preliminary investigations it appears to be a case of suicide,” Mishra said.

Anil Kapoor amazed by Tom Cruise”s dedication

by

Chandigarh, December 03: Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor, fresh from filming ”Mission Impossible 4” with Tom Cruise, marvels at the Hollywood superstar”s dedication and hard work. Kapoor, who plays an Indian in the action film, praised his famous co-star, saying, “Tom Cruise is very dedicated and hardworking.

Some days he slept for just three hours. That is the kind of drive and dedication which makes you so successful.

It (Hollywood) is like a Premier League,” he said. ”Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol” is likely to hit theatres in December next year.

Meri Umeedon Pe Paani Fer Diya Aapki Govt Ne: Musharraf

by

Abu Dhabi, December 03: An angry Pervez Musharraf has said he will never go to India, after the Indian government refused to grant him visa for delivering a lecture in Delhi.

“I believe in my honour and dignity”, Musharraf told India Express over phone from Dubai. “When Indian and Pakistani forces were eyeball-to-eyeball in 2002, I went to attend the SAARC Summit in Kathmandu, for which I was permitted to fly over Indian airspace..I chose to route my plane via Beijing instead.”

Saina eyes Hong Kong and India Open title

by

New Delhi, December 03: Asian Games loss still hurts but Saina Nehwal is overall satisfied with the way the year has unfolded and is now eyeing the Hong Kong Super Series and India Open title to end the season on a high.

The 20-year-old Indian, who resumed her world number two ranking recently, said she has to improve a lot and work on her weaknesses continuously to win more tournaments.

CPI(M) to observe “Anti Corruption week”

by

Shimla, December 03: Himachal Pradesh state secretariat of the CPI(M) has decided to observe December 6 to 13 as ‘Anti Corruption week’.

A massive campaign will be launched to expose the corrupt deals of the UPA-2 government at the Centre and the BJP government of the state, Tikender Singh Panwar Member, State Secretariat of party said in a press statement yesterday.

Dowry takes on greedy groom, returns home sans bride

by

Alwar, December 03: A prospective groom’s insistence on dowry of Rs one lakh resulted in his would-be wife tying the knot with another boy and the marriage party to return home empty-handed in Kathomar town of this district yesterday.

As per the settled programme, Pushpendra of Bharatpur came to Kathomar along with the marriage party, to marry Shivsingh’s daughter Sunita. But, the groom’s side demanded dowry of Rs one lakh in cash before the wedding rituals could begin.

Sebi-ban has 4 cos shares in tailspin; Welspun down 27 pc

by

Mumbai, December 03: Market regulator SEBI’s decision to bar four companies, including USD 3 bn worth Welspun Corp, from trading due to their unfair trading practices, dragged their share down, with the latter falling by 27 per cent in the early trade on BSE.

Yesterday, SEBI had barred Murli Industries, Ackruti City, Welspun Gujarat Stahl Rohren Ltd (now Welspun Corp Ltd), Brushman India and their respective promoters from trading on the bourses for allegedly indulging in unfair trading practices.