Month: January 2011

Telangana: Uttam, Sambasiva may represent Cong

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Hyderabad, January 03: The ruling Congress is likely to be represented by its MLA N Uttam Kumar Reddy and MP K Sambasiva Rao in the meeting of eight political parties convened by the Centre on January 6 to discuss the Srikrishna committee report.

“I met state Congress president D Srinivas. He told me that I may have to attend the meeting convened by the Centre. He asked me to be prepared for that,” Reddy told reporters here.

To a query, Reddy said he felt that the meeting was convened only to hand over the Srikrishna committee report.

Ajmer blast: ATS proposes cash reward on suspects

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Jaipur, January 03: The Rajasthan Anti-Terrorism Squad has submitted a proposal to the state home department to declare a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh each for information of three suspects of Ajmer Dargah bomb blast case.

“We recently submitted the proposal to the state home department and awaiting response. We have proposed to declare cash rewards of 5 lakh each for the arrest of Jayanti Bhai, Ramesh Gohil and Mafat Bhai of Gujarat,” Additional SP (ATS) Satyendra Singh said on Monday.

US envoy for North Korea to visit Seoul

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Washington, January 03: The US’ envoy for North Korea was scheduled to arrive in South Korea Tuesday, on a four-day trip which was also to include China and Japan.

Stephen Bosworth was expected to discuss ways to defuse tensions between North and South Korea, and how best to resume the stalled six-party talks on Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme, the US State Department said Sunday.

Bosworth planned to arrive in Seoul Tuesday, travel to Beijing the next day and to Tokyo Thursday.

BJP names Jaswant Singh to build inter-party ties

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New Delhi, January 03: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari Monday entrusted senior party leader Jaswant Singh with the task of building relations with other political parties.

The announcement comes months ahead of assembly elections in many states including Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Assam where the BJP is expected to look for alliances.

According to BJP sources, the party is keen to strengthen the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which has shrunk since the BJP-led NDA lost the 2009 Lok Sabha election.

Sophie’s New Year starts with cold

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Mumbai, January 03: It is just the beginning of the New Year and actress Sophie Choudhry is already under the weather.

“3rd Jan. Sore throat, blocked nose & what feels like a sprained neck! I know they say bad things come in 3s but this is ridiculous!? (sic),” Sophie posted on Twitter.

However, she lived up the New Year’s eve with a livewire performance in Bangalore.

——–IANS

Abhishek plans to gym it all the way!

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Mumbai, January 03: Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan started the year in the gym, and plans to sweat it out all through 2011.

“They say what you do on the 1st of jan determines what you’ll do for the rest of the year… started the year in the gym!! God it’s going to be a tough year! Bring it on. Happy new year everyone,” Abhishek posted on microblogging site Twitter.

In 2011, Abhishek will be seen in “Game” and “Dum Maro Dum”.

——–IANS

Blood donation on Diya’s mind

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New Delhi, January 03: Actress Diya Mirza has a noble New Year resolution – she wants to donate blood regularly.

“Good morning 🙂 have a super day at work! One of my resolutions for this year, going to donate blood every quarter. (sic),” Diya posted on her Twitter page Monday.

The former beauty queen was last seen in “Hum Tum Aur Ghost”.

——–IANS

Sania fails to qualify for ASB Classic main draw

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Auckland, January 03: India’s Sania Mirza Monday failed to enter the main draw of ASB Classic tennis tournament here and bowed out in the qualifiers.

The 141-ranked Indian lost 1-6, 7-6(7), 6-7(5) to Germany’s Sabine Lisicki in the last round.

Sania lost the first set in a jiffy before drawing parity. She was leading 5-2 in the final set tie-breaker before losing her way.

——–IANS

Ponting to undergo surgery on his fractured finger

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Sydney, January 03: Australian captain Ricky Ponting, who missed the final Ashes Test, will undergo a surgery on his fractured finger Tuesday.

Ponting will also be out of the Commonwealth Bank ODI series against England, but is expected to be fit in time for the World Cup starting Feb 19.

“Ricky had further X-rays today on his fractured finger which have shown that the bone fragment has further displaced and will not heal without surgery. As such Ricky will have surgery tomorrow,” said Cricket Australia physio therapist Alex Kountouris.

I want to be captain England, says Cook

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London, January 03: England opening batsman Alistair Cook dreams of leading the team after full-time captain Andrew Strauss quits.

Cook has been groomed as Strauss’ heir apparent for the past two years and stood in for him during England’s Bangladesh tour last spring.

US seeks to scan travellers at Pakistani airports

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Islamabad, January 03: The US has sought data of all passengers flying out from Pakistan and proposed to deploy American security officials at Pakistan’s airports to thwart terror attacks on its soil, a Pakistani Foreign Office official has revealed.

According to the official, Washington had been pushing Pakistan for months to give it access to the Passenger Name Record (PNR) – a manifest of passengers used by airlines and travel agency databases, the Express Tribune reported Monday.

Aarushi murder closure report to be heard Jan 7

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Ghaziabad, January 03: The Central Bureau of Investigation’s report in the Aarushi Talwar murder as an unsolved case will be heard by the CBI special court here Jan 7.

In her order, CBI Special Magistrate Preeti Singh instructed the agency’s investigative officer to be present in the court with all the documents Jan 7.

The CBI’s report seeking closure of the Aarushi Talwar murder case as unsolved was Monday registered in the court here. The court, however, earlier questioned the agency about what was its reason for the haste to shut the case.

Sharapova effects a sell-out in Auckland

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Auckland, January 03: Maria Sharapova underlined her pulling power on Monday with Auckland Classic organisers confirming they had sold out all of the day sessions for the entire tournament just minutes before she stepped on court for her first round match.

A limited number of tickets for the three night sessions were left available, though all of Sharapova’s matches will be played during the day and organisers said it was the first time the tournament, with a total prize pool of just $ 220,000 (141,706 pounds), had been effectively sold out by the first day.

Blast hits NATO oil tanker in Pakistan

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Islamabad, January 03: An explosion has targeted a NATO oil tanker in Pakistan’s troubled northwest among the spate of attacks on supplies for US-led forces in Afghanistan.

Militants in the rugged tribal areas of Pakistan have staged violent attacks in recent months, torching hundreds of NATO vehicles and containers destined for foreign troops in war-ravaged Afghanistan.

In response, Pakistani authorities have deployed large contingents of police and military forces on all major arteries in the area to curb the attacks.

——–Agencies

Fresh violence claims seven in Baghdad

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Baghdad, January 03: Seven Iraqis, including senior members of the security and police forces, have fallen victim to a new surge of violence that has hit the country’s troubled capital.

An Iraqi policeman was killed in northeastern Baghdad on Monday after he came under attack by a group of gunmen armed with guns fitted with silencers, Aswat al-Iraq news agency reported.

The assailants targeted the officer as he was driving on Baghdad’s Sarrafiya Bridge before fleeing to an unknown location, security sources said.

Imran Khan to host wedding party on January 8

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Mumbai, January 03: Ahead of his wedding on January 10, actor Imran Khan will host a mehendi-cum-reception party to which he has invited all his leading ladies amongst others.

The lovely women are really going out of their way to be a part of it except for Katrina and Sonam who have dropped out due to prior work commitments.

Imran is all set to tie the knot with his long-time girlfriend and fiancee Avantika Malik on January ten.

The wedding party has been planned for January 8. Sources close to the actor said Imran wants to invite all his friends to be part of the celebrations.

Seven drug traffickers hanged in Iran

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Tehran, January 03: Seven convicted drug traffickers were executed Monday in western Iran by hanging, Fars news agency reported.

They were hanged in a prison in the city of Kermanshah after their sentences were confirmed by the Supreme Court, Fars reported.

Murder, rape, armed robbery and trafficking in more than 5 kg of drugs are among crimes punishable by death in Iran.

——–IANS

Speeding lorry knocks down youth

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Hyderabad, January 3: An employee killed when he was knocked by a speeding lorry while crossing road Moosapet under Sanathnagar police station limits on Saturday night.

According to Sub-Inspector R Vidya Sagar Reddy, the victim has been identified as A Kumar (28), a resident of Bhavaninagar in Moosapet.

The mishap occurred when he was returning to his house after his work.

He was shifted to nearest hospital for treatment where doctors declared his death.

Police registered a case Under Section 304(A) IPC. The body was shifted to Gandhi hospital for autopsy.

INN

Rani Chatterjee’s extortionist accuses lyricist Ritu Raj

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Mumbai, January 03: Actress Rani Chatterjee (real name Sabiha Sheikh) might be little relieved after the man, who was threatening her to kill unless she pays more than Rs 15 lakh, has been arrested by the police. Ajay Pandey, a school teacher by profession, has admitted the crime saying that he was asked by lyricist Ritu Raj to threaten the actress, who has been seen in the films like Munnibai Nautankiwali and Sasura Bada Paisawala.

Iran’s nuclear power plant to go on line in February

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Tehran, January 03: Iran’s nuclear power plant is to be connected to the national electricity network in February, one month later than stated earlier, the country’s Atomic Energy Organisation chief Ali-Akbar Salehi said Monday.

In November, Salehi had said that the Russian-built 1,000-megawatt reactor at Bushehr would be on line by January. The announcement of the new deadline was reported by ISNA news agency Monday.

February also marks the 32nd anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution of Iran.

Auto crushed between lorries, four die

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Medak, January 3: Four persons were killed and while another was left with injuries in a major road accident which occurred at Pragnapur Crossroads, Gajwel mandal in Medak district, on Sunday evening.

According to Inspector Chatur Singh Rathod, the mishap occurred when an auto-rickshaw proceeding towards Pragnapur was hit by a lorry coming from the opposite direction. Meanwhile, another lorry coming from behind also hit the auto-rickshaw, crushing the vehicle.

Identify, reveal ‘Telangana traitors’: Rajaiah

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Warangal, January 3: Warangal MP Sircilla Rajaiah on Sunday called upon leaders to come out with details of those ‘traitors of Telangana’, who are working against the formation of a separate state.

Talking to media persons here today, Mr Rajaiah asked the Telangana leaders to make public the ‘traitors of Telangana’ who are colluding with Seemandhra leaders and obstructing the formation of a separate state.

KK calls on T protagonists to unite and fight

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Hyderabad, January 3: Senior Congress leader Keshav Rao on Sunday called on leaders across the political spectrum in the Telangana region to unite and put aside their political differences to work for the achievement of separate Telangana state.

Israel preparing for large scale war: cable

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Oslo, January 03: Israel’s army chief told a U.S. Congress delegation in late 2009 he was preparing for a large war in the Middle East, probably against Hamas or Hezbollah, leaked U.S. diplomatic cables showed Sunday.

“I am preparing the Israeli army for a large scale war, since it is easier to scale down to a smaller operation than to do the opposite,” Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi was quoted as saying in a cable from the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv, according to AFP.

Congress attacking RSS to divert attention: Mohan Bhagwat

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Pune, January 03: Reacting to the politics of ‘Hindu terror’, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief, Mohan Bhagwat, on Sunday warned that the consequences would be disastrous if the patience and tolerance of the RSS is tested by linking it to terrorism.