Month: January 2011

TDP marches against corruption

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Hyderabad, January 30: Andhra Pradesh’s main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) organised a march against corruption here Sunday and demanded that the Lokpal Bill be passed in the budget session of parliament with necessary amendments.

Led by former chief minister and TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu, the party leaders and activists walked from Golconda Military Hospital to Bapu Ghat in Langar Houz and paid their homage to Mahatma Gandhi.

Veteran Telugu journalist Potturi Venkateshwarlu administered an oath to the participants that they would fight corruption in every sphere of life.

4 German soldiers killed in Afghanistan

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Kabul, Janaury 30: Four German soldiers have been killed when a bomb struck their military vehicle in Kunduz province in northern Afghanistan, bringing the foreign death toll in the Asian country to more than 30 in 2011.

“The area of blast is cordoned off by the German troops and no one else is allowed inside,” Afghan district official Abdul Wahid Omerkhil said on Sunday.

——Agencies

SRK, Kajol win ‘Black Lady’ at 56th Filmfare Awards

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Mumbai, January 30: Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol won coveted ‘Black Lady’ statuette at the 56th Filmfare Awards held here last night.
The pair won the Best Actor and Best Actress awards respectively for their roles in ”My Name is Khan” and director Karan Johar was awarded the Best Director award.

The Best Film award was picked by 2010 box office jaggernaut ”Dabaang”.

India will share info on Samjhauta blast with Pak:PC

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Davos, January 30: Home Minister P Chidambaram has said “some evidence” has emerged in the 2007 Samjhauta blast case and India will share information with Pakistan once the probe is over.

“We have not said that we will not provide evidence.

These are early phases of investigation…once the investigation is complete we will share the evidence with Pakistani authorities,” he said.

Chidambaram said that he had conveyed India’s position to his Pakistani counterpart Rehman Malik.

Naidu to launch his anti-corruption agitation

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Hyderabad, January 30: TDP president and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu today said that he would launch his anti-corruption agitation with a foot-march (padayatra) tomorrow, on Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary.

Mr. Naidu told reporters here that his “war on corruption” would be waged on an apolitical platform, through the NTR Memorial Trust. Jana Chaitanya Vedika, a voluntary organisation too would be a part of the agitation.

Mr. Naidu appealed intellectuals, celebrities, professionals, the media and the common people to join in.

Three NATO tankers attacked in Pakistan

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Karachi, January 30:Some unidentified gunmen opened fire on three NATO tankers in Wadh area of Balochistan’s Khuzdar District Sunday.

Two of the tankers caught fire while the third fell off the bridge, the daily Dawn reported Sunday.

According to police sources, the tankers were going to Quetta from Karachi, when unidentified motorcyclists opened fire on them near Wadh area.

No casualties were reported in the ambush.

–IANS

Cyclone headed for Australia’s flood-ravaged north

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Brisbane, Janaury 30: A cyclone raced toward Australia’s flood-ravaged northeast on Sunday, rattling nerves in a region that has already suffered billions of dollars worth of damage from a monthslong crisis.

Cyclone Anthony intensified to a Category 2 storm with winds of 80 mph (130 kph) and was expected to cross the Queensland state coast early Monday morning. The Bureau of Meteorology warned residents in coastal communities to brace for destructive winds and more flooding.

German train crash near Magdeburg leaves 10 dead

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German, January 30:At least 10 people are reported to have died in a train crash in eastern Germany.

A local passenger train and a goods train collided head-on in the state of Saxony-Anhalt late on Saturday, near the city of Magdeburg.

The passenger train, the HarzElbeExpress, was travelling on a single track section between Magdeburg and Halberstadt.

The cause of the crash, which left 33 injured, is unclear.

Several carriages were derailed after the collision near the village of Hordorf at about 2230 (2130 GMT).
Map

Syed Kirmani: India has maximum number of match-winners

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New Delhi, January 30: The Indian team for the 2011 World Cup is one of the most well-balanced units comprising maximum number of match-winners, according to 1983 World Cup winning team member Syed Kirmani, who feels it is the best chance for the Men In Blue to bag the coveted title.

Dhaka may arrest top Islamist leader for war crimes

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Dhaka, January 30:Bangladesh’s top Islamist leader Ghulam Azam, who chaired the formation of the militia that allegedly killed thousands of unarmed civilians four decades ago, may be arrested on charges of committing “war crimes”, a media report said.

Mohammad Abdul Hannan Khan, the senior-most member of the International War Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh, said “some progress” in investigation into the allegations against Azam had been conducted.

He, however, did not mention about any time-frame for Azam’s arrest, The Daily Star reported Sunday.

Maha chief minister meets Sonawane’s family

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Nashik, January 30:Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has met the family members of additional collector Yashwant Sonawane, who was murdered by oil mafia earlier this week.

Chavan met Sonawane’s wife Vijaya and others at the slain officer’s house here last night.

Talking to the reporters, Chavan said in future government will not tolerate such things happening in the state.

When asked if the case would be handed to CBI, the chief minister said there was a demand to that effect from some quarters and it would be considered.

–PTI

JK to expand job opportunities for youths: CM

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Jammu, January 30:The Jammu and Kashmir government is working towards expanding the orbit of employment opportunities for the youths in the state, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has announced here.

“I am here to create opportunities for your career and facilitate in all respects in this direction. But it is up to you to grab the chances and be successful,” Omar said here yesterday as he handed placement orders to 273 job seekers selected by 19 private sector companies at an employment fair.

People pelt stone at Satyagrah Express

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Bahraich, Jan 30 (PTI) Agitated over closed doors of bogies, ticket holders pelted stones at Satyagrah Express on Gonda rail division, but no one was injured in the incident, an official said today.

Some passengers pelted stones at Satyagrah Express at Jarwal road station when doors of its coaches did not open late last night, public relation officer Alok Srivastava said.

He said that no passenger was injured in the stone pelting and only window panes of some coaches were damaged.

–PTI

New Google service solves sudoku

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Berlin, January 30:If you’re stuck on your sudoku puzzle, there’s hope. New photo recognition software for Android mobiles – Goggles – can help solve the puzzle.

Just hold the numerical puzzle up to the camera on your mobile. Goggles will then recognize the numbers already in the puzzle and calculate the missing values.

Goggles, now in version 1.3, is also capable of reading ads in US magazines and newspapers and pulling up the appropriate websites. Recognition of bar codes has also gotten better, reported Google in its blog.

Missing foreign tourists found in JK

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Srinagar, January 30:Three tourists, including two foreign nationals, who had gone missing in the skiing resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir, have been rescued by police, an official spokesman said here today.

“Police Station Gulmarg received information that two foreign nationals and one Indian national have gone missing from skiing site at Affarvat. In this regard a joint search operation was launched by Police and Tourism Department,” the spokesman said.

AIADMK holds seat sharing talks with CPI

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Chennai, January 30:AIADMK today held seat sharing talks with CPI for the coming Tamil Nadu Assembly polls at the party’s headquarters here.

A CPI team led by state Secretary D Pandian, Assistant General Secretaries C Mahendran and K Pazhanichami held discussions with AIADMK senior leader O Pannerselvam.

AIADMK had yesterday held seat sharing talks with its allies by holding first round of talks with CPI(M).

The left party’s state Secretary G Ramakrishnan had handed over a wish list of 25 constituencies to the AIADMK team.

Medical experts warn against post-polio syndrome

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New Delhi, January 30:Government may be trying to eradicate polio from the country but doctors now caution of an emerging post-polio syndrome that can severely impair body function of those who are already infected with the virus.

The syndrome strikes people even years after they recover from the acute attack of the poliomyelitis virus.

Malaysian Indian lawmaker quits party, alliance

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Kuala Lumpur, January 30:Malaysian Indian lawmaker N. Gobalakrishnan has resigned from the membership of People’s Justice Party (PKR) and the opposition alliance People’s Alliance (PR) after falling out with its leadership.

The first-timer from Padang Serai constituency in Kedah state said Saturday that he plans to stay as an independent.

Gobalakrishnan’s action to quit Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), coming after several weeks of a public spat with PKR leaders and speculation, holds significance amid talk of parliamentary elections likely to take place this summer, analysts said.

Ashok Chavan named as accused in Adarsh scam

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Mumbai, January 30:In an embarrassment to Maharashtra’s ruling Democratic Front government, former chief minister Ashok Chavan has been named as one of the 13 accused in the FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society scam, top sources in the CBI said here Sunday.

Besides Chavan, the first information report (FIR) filed before a Mumbai court Saturday afternoon also names 12 people, including politician Kanhaiyalal Gidwani, former Mumbai collector Pradeep Vyas, a former major general M.M. Wanchu and R.C. Thakur, sources said.

Clijsters may reconsider tennis plans with Olympic medal beckoning

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Melbourne, January 30:The weekend title success at the Australian Open may have Kim Clijsters even more confused than ever about her tennis future after the 27-year-old beat China’s Li Na to win her fourth major trophy.

“I do think this is probably my last full season that I will be playing,” said the Belgian mother of one who quit once to have her child and then returned in 2007.

Egyptians defy curfew, call for Mubarak to go

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Cario, January 30: Egypt’s president gave the first indication on Saturday he was preparing an eventual handover of power by naming a vice-president for the first time in 30 years after protests that have rocked the foundations of the state.

Hosni Mubarak’s decision to pick Omar Suleiman, his intelligence chief and confidant, as his No. 2 is the first time the 82-year-old leader has hinted at a succession plan and may suggest he will not run in an election scheduled for September.

10 killed as protesters storm Cairo building

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Cairo, January 30: Over 10 protesters were killed in clashes with police near the Egyptian Interior Ministry building in Cairo in the early hours of Sunday, RIA Novosti said quoting Al Jazeera.

The protestors’ crowd was trying to storm the building, located in the centre of the Egyptian capital, forcing police to open fire, the TV channel Al Jazeera stated.

In the Faiyum Governorate, an administrative division, located about 81 miles (130 km) to the southwest of Cairo, unknown gunmen shot dead the chief of a local prison, freeing several hundred prisoners, the report stated Sunday.

No politics please, only cinema, says Arjun Singh’s grandson

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Mumbai, January 30: With his political lineage, he would seem just right in politics. But Congress veteran Arjun Singh’s grandson Arunoday is clear that Bollywood is where he belongs. He plays a gangster in “Yeh Saali Zindaagi” by Sudhir Mishra, whom he calls a hard taskmaster.

“I’ve always been interested in acting. Since my school days I have been doing theatre. I’m not interested in politics at all. As it is I feel there is enough politics in Bollywood,” Arunoday Singh told IANS in an interview.

Memorandum submitted to M. P. Governor to protest demolition of Indore Masjid

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Bhopal, January 30 (Pervez Bari): Adv. Haji Mohammad Haroon, president Jamiat-e-Ulama Hind, Madhya Pradesh unit, has submitted a memorandum to the state Governor Rameshwar Thakur urging him to use his good offices to prevail over the concerned authorities and agencies engaged in widening of roads to restrain them from demolishing Masjids that are coming in the way. The memorandum has also been sent to Government of India and chairman of the state Waqf Board.

Memorandum submitted to M. P. Governor to protest demolition of Indore Masjid

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Bhopal, January 30 (Pervez Bari): Adv. Haji Mohammad Haroon, president Jamiat-e-Ulama Hind, Madhya Pradesh unit, has submitted a memorandum to the state Governor Rameshwar Thakur urging him to use his good offices to prevail over the concerned authorities and agencies engaged in widening of roads to restrain them from demolishing Masjids that are coming in the way. The memorandum has also been sent to Government of India and chairman of the state Waqf Board.