Month: February 2011

After floods, Australia”s Queensland braces for cyclone

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Melbourne, February 01: A severe tropical cyclone ”Yasi” is roaring towards flood-ravaged Australian province Queensland as residents braced for what is predicted to be one of the fiercest storms in the region.

Winds of more than 250kmph could be expected from the high-category four system, state premier Anna Bligh said today. The storm is likely to hit province”s north coast tomorrow.

The premier compared Yasi with Cyclone Larry that hit the state in 2006 and was a mid-level category four system.
Larry damaged about 10,000 homes and caused damages of ASD 1.5 billion.

James Bond only role to get Eastwood out of retirement

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London, February 01: Clint Eastwood says he would be tempted to come out of acting retirement only if he gets to play James Bond on screen.The 80-year-old actor-turned-director previously claimed “Gran Torino” in 2008 would be his last movie role. But now he admits he could be tempted to come out from behind the camera if he was offered the right project, reports contactmusic.com.

“I would act if the right role came along. But I’m not looking out because there are not that many great roles that would be something different for me to play, to conquer,” he said.

Shahid, the only person Priyanka thought of during raid

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Mumbai, February 01: The sudden income tax raid at her residence in Mumbai’s Versova area and the presence of actor Shahid Kapoor there was a double whammy for actress Priyanka Chopra.The actress, however, declined any tax evasion, and said because Shahid stays at a stone’s throw from her house, he was the only person she could think of in such an unfortunate situation.

Vanessa Paradis can’t please everyone

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London, February 01: Vanessa Paradis doesn’t worry about people criticising her, because she knows she can’t always please everyone.The French singer-actress, who has children Lily-Rose, 11, and seven-year-old Jack with partner Johnny Depp, was upset when she once heard a TV presenter criticise her vocal ability. But learned to accept the fact that not everyone will enjoy her work, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Nicholson no longer irresistible to women

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London, February 01: Hollywood actor Jack Nicholson thinks at the age of 73, he is no longer irresistible to women.The legendary Hollywood heartthrob is famous for dating a string of beautiful women, including Lara Flynn Boyle and Anjelica Huston, but says that now he doubts his power over the opposite sex, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

“I am definitely still wild at heart. But I’ve struck bio-gravity. I can’t hit on women in public any more. I didn’t just decide this, it just doesn’t feel right at my age,” he said.

Is Rihanna bisexual?

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London, February 01: Singer Rihanna is being rumoured to be a bisexual after a Hollywood socialite made indirect claims in a book.Model Tajah Burton’s book “Low Down Dirty Shame” is yet to be published, but extracts have been leaked on the internet, sparking off the speculation.

Burton has revealed she had an affair with a singer from Barbados.

Rihanna, 22, was born on the Carribean island and admitted earlier that she is attracted to women, reports thesun.co.uk.

Though Burton is not ready to name the singer, she shared her experience.

Mona Lisa with moustache, gun and dog

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New Delhi, February 01: Mona Lisa, the 16th century muse of Italian artist Leonardo Di ser Piero da Vinci, is fodder for neo-contemporary geek art even 500 years after the eponymous painting was created.The wife of the Florentine silk merchant, Lisa del Giocondo, made famous by Vinci’s painting, reigns on the collective aesthetic imagination with her enigmatic smile in a variety of avatars that ranges from the hairy, masculine, clownish, aggressive to the surreal.

Chinese man sentenced to death in demolition case

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Beijing, February 01: A man in north China’s Shanxi province has been sentenced to death after he killed one man and injured another during an illegal demolition last year.Gao Haidong was given the death penalty after being convicted of intentional injury and property damage, Xinhua reported citing the verdict by a court in Taiyuan city.

Two other accused – Wu Ruijun and Li Yanzhong – were given death sentences with a two-year reprieve and life imprisonment respectively.

Sajid-Wajid give credit to Salman for awards

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Mumbai, February 01: The composer duo Sajid-Wajid are on cloud nine after winning a series of awards for their music in last year’s blockbuster “Dabangg” and the two give credit to Salman Khan for their success.They bagged best music director awards at Star Screen Awards, Apsara Awards, Zee Cine Awards and Filmfare Awards for the funny cop drama in which Salman Khan played the lead role.

Six pack abs with surgery? It’s illusionary but real!

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Mumbai, February 01: Phew! Still huffing and puffing away in a gym to get six pack abs like your favourite actors Hrithik Roshan and Shah Rukh Khan? Experts say you can now get illusionary abs – with artistic cosmetic surgery.Introduced in the country about three years ago, Vibration Amplification of Sound Energy at Resonance (VASER) is a revolution of sorts as it’s not only used for body contouring but also helps in getting illusionary abs.

Rajesh Khurana, president of Timpac Healthcare, says the illusion can be created by an artistic cosmetic surgeon.

Priyanka shocked by ”unsubstantiated” reports on I-T raids

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Mumbai, February 01: Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra tonight said that she was shocked and deeply hurt by the “unsubstantiated” reports related to the income-tax raid on her premises last week.

“I was shocked to find unsubstantiated media reports and ”source” based news. I experienced this for the first time in my career. It hurt me deeply and affected me a lot,” the actress said during her first media interaction after the raids.

Ice-cream parlour sex scandal gives Kerala’s UDF jitters

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New Delhi, February 01: For Kerala’s Congress-led United Democratic Front , looking forward to a lip-smacking victory in the upcoming assembly polls, the ghost of the ice-cream parlour sex scandal is back, threatening to blow up on its face.

In tourist-friendly Kerala, an ice-cream parlour should be part of the landscape, but an ice-cream parlour in Kozhikode was allegedly a facade for running a sex racket in the late 1990s.

Ajmer blast accused moves court for FIR against CBI

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New Delhi, February 01: An RSS functionary, accused in Ajmer blast case, Monday moved a Delhi court seeking registration of an FIR against CBI and Tehelka magazine for making public right-wing activist Swami Aseemanand’s confessional statement.

Devendra Gupta, against whom a charge sheet has been filed by the Rajasthan’s Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), moved the application before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sanjay Bansal, who reserved his order on it till tomorrow.

Clashes over airport in Bangladesh: 1 dead

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Dhaka, February 01: Demonstrators outside the Bangladesh’s capital burned down a police station during a protest on Monday against a planned new airport, officials said. At least one person was killed and dozens injured in clashes with police.

The protesters blocked a major highway in protest against the government plan to build the airport that villagers say will take away their lands and destroy a wetland, said local police chief Shafiqul Islam.

One policeman, the 45-year-old Motiur Rahman, died after he was taken to a hospital in the capital, Dhaka, Islam said.

Italy arrests three for suicide mission training

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Italy, February 1:Police arrested three Moroccans in southern Italy Monday on suspicion of involvement in international terrorism and training others in how to make bombs and suicide explosive belts, Ansa news agency said.

The three men, including an imam and his son, are suspected of downloading documents on weapons and explosives use from jihadist sites though the police investigation, launched in 2007, found no concrete plans for attacks.

Mubarak to leave by Friday, Egyptians

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Cairo, February 01: Embattled President Hosni Mubarak on Monday sacked his interior minister in a revamped cabinet and appointed a new intelligence chief to mollify opposition groups which called for a million people to take to Cairo’s streets tomorrow to demand his ouster.

Habib al-Adly, widely despised by the protesters, was axed and was replaced by Mahmud Wagdi, a police general and former head of criminal investigations department.

Raja quizzed by CBI for the third time

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New Delhi, February 01: CBI Monday questioned former Telecom Minister A Raja for the third time in connection with the funding and allegedly showing favours to some telecom companies in granting 2G spectrum between October 2007 and 2008.

Raja, who was questioned earlier on December 24 and 25 last year, was called to CBI office this morning and quizzed for nearly nine hours, official sources said.

The DMK MP was asked about his convesrations with corporate lobbiyst Niira Radia and the reasons of advancing the cut-off date of allocation of the spectrum in 2007.

Iran summons freed US woman for trial

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Tehran, February 1:An American woman, who was arrested in Iran on charges of spying and later freed on bail, has been summoned by an Iranian court for trial, the IRNA news agency reported.

US hiker Sarah Shourd and her two friends – Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer – were arrested in July 2009 for illegally entering Iran.

Shourd was released on bail of around $500,000 last year due to her failing health, while Fattal and Bauer remain jailed in Tehran.

Mamata to apprise Centre about police ‘attack’ on media

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Midnapore (WB),February 01:Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee tonight said she would give a report to Centre about the ‘brutal’ police lathicharge injuring several scribes and party workers in West Midnapore while rubbishing her party’s alleged links with Maoists.

Claiming that allegations about Maoist links of two arrested Trinamool men from the TC-run relief camp in West Midnapore was false, Banerjee told reporters here that “the (police) operation has been captured on video, evidences cannot lie.”

James Bond only role to get Eastwood out of retirement

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London, February 1:Clint Eastwood says he would be tempted to come out of acting retirement only if he gets to play James Bond on screen.

The 80-year-old actor-turned-director previously claimed “Gran Torino” in 2008 would be his last movie role. But now he admits he could be tempted to come out from behind the camera if he was offered the right project, reports contactmusic.com.

“I would act if the right role came along. But I’m not looking out because there are not that many great roles that would be something different for me to play, to conquer,” he said.

Winehouse back in hospital

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London, February 1:Singer Amy Winehouse has checked into a private medical facility in London after falling ill with influenza, according to her publicist.

The “Rehab” singer has been admitted to a clinic in Harley Street. It is the same facility where she had a breast augmentation in 2009, reports dailystar.co.uk.

The 27-year old singer returned to the clinic several times during 2010 due to complications following the procedure, as well as checking in after injuring herself in a drunken fall.

TDP to hold dharna in Delhi on February 9

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Hyderabad, January 31: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) along with other like-minded parties will organise a massive dharna in Delhi on February 9 against price rise.

TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu held an all-party meeting at his residence here today to chalk out the programmes.

CPM, CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc leaders attended the meeting.

Speaking to reporters later, Naidu said that nine parties have decided to participate in the Delhi dharna on price rise. CPM, CPI, JD(S), AIADMK, BJD, AIFB, RLD, RSP and TDP would take part in the dharna to be held in Delhi on Feb 9, Naidu said.

March against corruption

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Hyderabad, January 31: The participants marched along Necklace Road on the banks of Hussain Sagar lake in the heart of Hyderabad. Led by jm Lyngdoh, activists of Youth for Better India carried banners and placards with anti-corruption slogans like “Bring the Lokpal Bill”.Bureaucratturned- politician Jayaprakash Narayan, physician KS Ratnakar and film director Raja Mouli were among the key participants in the rally, which coincided with Martyrs’ Day, the death anniversary of the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi.

SLOGANS

‘Too many options to choose from’

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Hyderabad, Janaury 31: Students gathered at the Career Guidance session organized by city-based KAB Educational Consultants said they were confused about career options because of having too many options to choose from.

“I am here to gather information about all career options that I might have missed out on, although I am sure I want to get into engineering,” said an Intermediate passout, V Chitra.

Another student said he wanted to apply for two to three courses and then choose from the ones he got through.

Students caught in desperate dilemma

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Hyderabad, January 31: The US authorities may have shown the way out to the Indian students of Tri-Valley University by allowing them to apply to other universities or come back home to apply again, but there was little relief for them especially those facing deportation.

Many of the detained Indian students of Tri-Valley University facing deportation are continuing to languish in detention centres in California because to get out they would have to furnish bonds to the tune of $5,000-22,000 depending on the state where they are detained.