Month: January 2011

ISAF drone goes down in Afghanistan

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Kabul, January 30: Taliban militants say they have shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle operated by the US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in western Afghanistan.

The Taliban claim that they successfully targeted the aircraft on Friday in Gazra district of Herat province, the Afghan Islamic Press reported on Saturday.

However, ISAF dismissed the Taliban’s claim, saying the drone crashed due to a mechanical failure, but did not announce the exact location of the incident.

US, UK issue travel advisories on Egypt

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Washington, January 30: The US Department of State has called on all US citizens to put off all non-essential travel to Egypt due to massive anti-government protests in the North African country.

In a travel alert issued on Friday, the State Department described the situation in Cairo and other cities as volatile.

It said US citizens in Egypt now should remain in their homes or hotels until calm is restored.

Obama, security team discuss Egypt

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Washington, January 30: US President Barack Obama has met his national security team in Washington to discuss the uprising in Egypt and has urged the Egyptian government to embrace reform.

Obama also advised Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to tell his security forces to show restraint toward protesters.

During the one-hour meeting on Saturday, the US president was updated on the situation in North Africa.

He said the US is opposed to violence, upholds universal rights, calls for restraint, and supports Egyptian efforts at political reform.

PA writes to UN over settler violence

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Gaza, January 30: The Palestinian Authority (PA) has lodged a complaint with the United Nations over a recent wave of Israeli settler violence against Palestinians.

Palestinian delegate to the UN Riyad Mansour wrote a letter to the Security Council on Friday, calling for “urgent attention and serious action” to curb settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, the Ma’an news agency reported.

Obama leading Americans to ‘tragedy’

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Washington, January 30: The US president is incapable of coping with the changing world, brought along by ignorance of its own internal welfare, a professor of binary economics says, describing the situation as a “tragedy” for Americans.

“President Obama’s foreign policy is bankrupt and his domestic policy is bankrupt as well,” said Rodney Shakespeare, adding, “I regret to say that America has lost its way domestically in exactly the same way as it has lost its way in foreign policy.”

Armani big fan of Kate Middleton’s style

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London, January 30: Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani reveals he is a great admirer of Kate Middleton’s sense of fashion and is looking forward to see her choice of outfit for her wedding with Prince William.Armani, who will design Charlene Wittstock’s wedding dress when she marries Monaco’s Prince Albert in July, admits Middleton is “so discreet and straightforward and is highly aware of fashion trends”.

Firing cabinet not enough, Mubarak must go: El Baradie

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Cairo, January 30: Protests in Egypt continued unabated as the pro-democracy leader Mohamed El Baradie stuck on the demand of President Hosni Mubarak’s resignation and said the appointment of a new vice president and a prime minister was not enough.

The comment by the Nobel laureate came after Mubarak Saturday swore in intelligence chief Omar Suleiman as vice president and appointed former air force commander and aviation minister Ahmed Shafik as the new prime minister in an effort to quell the mass unrest against his 30-year rule.

Pregnant Silverstone poses for Vogue

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London, January 30: Following in the footsteps of Demi Moore and Britney Spears, Alicia Silverstone is the next Hollywood star to become a pregnant cover girl.After announcing her pregnancy last week, the 34-year-old showed off her burgeoning baby bump for the high-end fashion magazine Vogue during a photoshoot, reports dailymail.co.uk.

The shoot took place at an animal sanctuary, a charity of which she has been a big supporter.

But unlike Spears and Moore, she did not pose nude.

Obama committed ‘true global, strategic partnership’ with India

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Washington, January 30: US President Barack Obama has reaffirmed his commitment to building a “true global, strategic partnership” with India at a meeting with National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon.

Obama dropped in as Menon was meeting with his American counterpart Tom Donilon at the White House Friday and stayed on for about 15 minutes reflecting his focus on strengthening the India-US relationship.

Obama committed ‘true global, strategic partnership’ with India

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Washington, January 30: US President Barack Obama has reaffirmed his commitment to building a “true global, strategic partnership” with India at a meeting with National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon.

Obama dropped in as Menon was meeting with his American counterpart Tom Donilon at the White House Friday and stayed on for about 15 minutes reflecting his focus on strengthening the India-US relationship.

Vegetables parks to come up in several cities: Pawar

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Kanpur, January 30: Vegetable parks will be set up in all Indian cities with a minimum population of one million to ensure availability of quality produce at reasonable rates, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar announced Saturday.”We propose to shortly start the process of acquiring land for the purpose and would therefore urge all state governments to extend their cooperation,” he said inaugurating a seminar at the Indian Institute of Pulses Research here.

Geri Halliwell enjoys designing swimwear

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London, January 30: Former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell says she found it easy to design her new swimwear range because she has always created her own clothes.Halliwell, who recently created her own range of swimwear for Britain high street brand Next, admits it was not too difficult for her to get involved because she has been working on her own clothes since she was a child.

Firth not a fan of royal family

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London, January 30: Hollywood actor Colin Firth has admitted he is not a fan of the royal family because he has a problem with unelected bodies.The actor is nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of stuttering King George VI in acclaimed royal drama “The King’s Speech”, while he also won a Golden Globe award for the role earlier this month, reports dailystar.co.uk.

Compare CPI-M, Trinamool’s development record: Mamata

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Siliguri, January 30: Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee Saturday said West Bengal’s ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) should compare what they had done for implementation of railway projects in West Bengal during UPA-I government with what has been done by her party during UPA-II. “The CPI-M) can only criticise and sabotage railway projects. Before criticising our projects, they must think how many railway projects they had implemented during UPA-I regime, when they supported the Congress with 41 MPs,” said Banerjee.

Sikhs urged to celebrate March 14 as Environment Day

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Washington, January 30: An international Sikh group has appealed to all Sikh gurdwaras and institutions to celebrate March 14, the day Guru Har Rai became the 7th Sikh Guru in 1644 AD, as Sikh Environment Day.EcoSikh said it has received confirmation of participation from many Sikh institutions in India and abroad. EcoSikh has also launched a website for gurdwaras and Sikh institutions to register their participation internationally.

Guru Har Rai is known to be a great humanitarian who had special sensitivity towards nature preservation and animal well being.

Azeri lawmaker insults hijab

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Tel Aviv, January 30: A “pro-Israeli” Azeri lawmaker says the Islamic veil is a “sign of ignorance and backwardness,” and Muslims who wish to observe it should wear it in the privacy of their homes.

As Baku struggles with a wave of protests against a ban on hijab, a member of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party, Eldar Ibrahimov, criticizes the Islamic dress code, IRIB reported on Saturday.

“What does hijab give us? What has hijab bestowed on Iran that it could also impart to Azerbaijan?” he told local media on Friday.

“Hijab does not signify sense of honor,” he added.

Women spend more on looks than health

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London, January 30: An average woman spends more money on cosmetics than on gym membership or vitamins, statistics have revealed.The average bill for hair products, make-up and fake tan in a bid to look young is $540 while just $360 is spent on healthcare, reports express.co.uk.

The statistics emerged in a study of 3,000 women from age 18 to 65 quizzed on attitudes when faced with choosing between image or health.

Nearly 19 percent admitted to crash-dieting and one in 20 have resorted to laxatives to squeeze into tight-fitting fashions.

National Games opening, closing ceremonies to see Bollywood stars

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Ranchi, January 29: The opening ceremony of the 34th National Games here Feb 12 will see either Kareena Kapoor or Priyanka Chopra take part, while Katrina Kaif will perform at the closing ceremony Feb 27, an official said Saturday.

‘We have awarded Cineyug contract for opening and closing ceremonies. In the opening ceremony, either Kareena or Priyanka Chopra will take part and Katrina Kaif will take part in the closing ceremony,’ a senior official told IANS.

CAB accuse ICC of double standards on Eden Gardens

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Kolkata, January 29: The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) virtually accused the International Cricket Council (ICC) of double standards after the international body Saturday turned down its plea of retaining the historical Eden Gardens as the venue for the India-England World Cup match.

CAB joint secretary Biswarup Dey said the ICC has different principles for different venues.

‘Remove infrastructure bottlenecks for travel industry’s growth’

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New Delhi, January 29: Growth in India’s travel industry can be achieved only if the required infrastructure is developed, experts said Saturday at the 18th South Asia Travel and Tour Expo (SATTE) here.

‘We need infrastructure to support the growth in all streams related to the travel industry especially the aviation segment. We need better airport, roads, logistics and services to cater to the growing market,’ said Navin S. Berry, chief coordinator, SATTE travel and tourism exhibition.

Pak releases 37 Indian fishermen

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Vadodara, January 29:Pakistani Marine Security Agency (PMSA) has released all the 37 Indian fishermen along with their four seized boats and sent them back to Gujarat’s Okha port.

Released in two batches, these boats and fishermen reached Okha port late last night, owner of one of the released boats ‘Shankhnad’ Dhansukh Gonsiya told PTI tonight.

“It is perhaps for the first time, the PMSA has shown such a nice gesture of releasing all the fishermen and their boats,” he said.

Two Moscow malls evacuated after terror alert

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Moscow, January 29:Visitors were evacuated Saturday from two shopping malls in Moscow after they received a terror threat, police said.

Police evacuated the Mega-Belaya Dacha shopping centre in southeast Moscow after they found a written message saying an explosion would occur at 9 p.m. (1800 GMT), a spokesperson said.

Another bomb threat caused the evacuation of the Mega-Tyopli Stan shopping complex in the southwest of the Russian capital.

The evacuation caused large traffic jams in both the areas.

Jagan to undertake Polavaram Walk

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Hyderabad, January 29: YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, along with his entourage, will undertake Polavaram Walk from Ravulapalem in East Godavari district to Polavaram for three days beginning on February 7.

The former Kadapa MP will undertake the padayatra, Polavaram Sadhana Yatra, covering a distance of 70 km.

According to Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose, MLA and former minister, the Polavaram Walk is meant to demand early execution of the project which was the dream of the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy.

–Agencies

India protests as students of sham US varsity tagged

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Washington/New Delhi, January 29:After being duped by a ‘sham’ university in California, some of the affected Indian students have been forced to wear radio-trackers around their ankles to the chagrin of the Indian community. India Saturday said it has told US that the use of monitors was “unwarranted” and demanded the immediate removal of the measure.

Some 1,555 students of Tri-Valley University, 90 percent of them from India, mostly Andhra Pradesh, face the prospect of deportation following the closure of Tri Valley University in Pleasanton on charges of selling student visas.