Mumbai, March 30: The Maharashtra government is planning to ban the book, Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle With India, by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Joseph Lelyveld after it created a furore in the legislature on Tuesday. The book reportedly alleges that the Mahatma was a bisexual and a racist.
New Delhi, March 30: (By Ram Puniyani) Baba Ramdev has been probably most successful of God men of recent times. He claims to have a following of over a billion people. There are an infinite number of people claiming that his yoga therapy and medicines work wonders for their health.
Baba in a short span of time has built a multi million empire, his Trust is owning series of Ashrams, ayurvedic drug factories, yoga training centers and many such things, in India and abroad. Overall the medicines prescribed-marketed by him are selling like hot cakes.
Sacramento, March 30: Scientists from the University of California has given the all clear as far as safety of the full body scanners is concerned. Passengers have been worried that walking through the body scanners could cause health problems due to the risk of radiation exposure.
Lucknow, March 30 (IANS) The administration’s decision to not allow theatres to screen the India-Pakistan World Cup cricket semifinal Wednesday due to security reasons has disappointed many enthusiasts in this Uttar Pradesh capital.
The decision came late Tuesday evening. However, by then a large number of cricket fans had reserved their seats in movie theatres by buying tickets ranging from Rs.150-500 to watch the match on the big screen.
Miami, March 30: India’s Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi Wednesday entered the men’s doubles third round at the Miami Masters tennis tournament, defeating Spanish pair Marc Lopez and David Marrero 7-6(5) 6-4, here.
The third-seeded Indian pair will next meet the winners of the match between Belgian Savier Malisse and Briton John Murray and Frenchman Michael Lodra and Serb Nenad Zimonjic.
London, March 30: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged western powers to increase pressure on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
The UN Security Council’s Resolution 1973, adopted March 17, imposed a no-fly zone over Libya and measures to protect civilians from Gaddafi’s forces, but stopped short of authorising ground operations in the North African country.
“All of us must continue to increase the pressure on and deepen the isolation of the Gaddafi regime through other means as well,” said Clinton at the opening of international talks in London.
Tripoli, March 30: Nicaragua says the government of embattled Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi has named former Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Miguel D’Escoto as its representative to the United Nations.
Ali Triki, who was previously named as Libya’s envoy to the United Nations, has been denied a visa by the United States. Thus, the Libyan regime has made the decision to name D’Escoto as its UN envoy, according to a spokesman for Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s government, AFP reports.
Ankara, March 30: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has described the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) as a major obstacle to further expansion of ties between Ankara and Baghdad.
“The main obstacle to stronger ties is a terror organization that has bases in the north… I wish that we fight this terrorist organization together,” AFP quoted Erdogan as telling Iraqi legislators in the capital Baghdad on Monday.
Tripoli, March 30: Loud blasts were heard Tuesday in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, without immediate reports of casualties, Xinhua reported.
The blasts were heard near the residence of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, said local witnesses.
Explosions were also heard in the Bab Al-Azizya district, they said.
It was not immediately clear whether the explosions were fresh air strikes by the West-led coalition forces.
The city has witnessed frequent bombardment over the recent days as the multinational coalition carried out military intervention in the Northern African country.
Mumbai, March 30: Indian model Poonam Pandey swears that she will bare all if Indian cricket team lifts the World Cup. Poonam, who is a cricket fanatic and die-hard supporter of Indian cricket team, believes that this is her way of supporting the team.
Like lingerie models Larissa Riquelme and Luciana Salazar, who had vowed to go nude if their football teams win the FIFA world cup, Poonam has also decided to bare it all for Indian cricket teams victory in World Cup.
London, March 30: Singer Mariah Carey celebrated her 42nd birthday by painting her baby bump with a huge picture of a butterfly.
Carey, who is expecting twins – a boy and a girl – with husband Nick Cannon,adorned her huge bump with a picture of a butterfly, and said she’s now ready to welcome her children into the world, reports the femalefirst.co.uk.
“My attempt @ festiveness on 327! For ATLITL thank u + I(heart)U! Comin soon #dembabies! LYMA+thanx 4 making me happy:)(sic),” the singer posted on microblogging site Twitter.com.
–IANS–
London, March 30: Singer Gwen Stefani says she can’t compete with top quality designers when it comes to her own fashion range because she’s not qualified.
The “No Doubt” singer launched her clothing line L.A.M.B. in 2004. Though she thinks her lack of formal training means she may never be an equal to couture designers like Vivienne Westwood or John Galliano, Gwen admits she prefers designing casual wear.
Hyderabad, March 30: Priceless Rolls Royce is to be on display at Chowmahalla Palace in Hyderabad.
It may sport a bygone look, but it still sets hearts aflutter. A timeless classic that gives the present lean and mean machines a run for their money.
London, March 30: Actress Dame Helen Mirren has cast her hands and feet in cement outside Hollywood’s famous Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, joining stars like Johnny Depp and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“There have been three real moments of triumph in my life. The first was being made a Dame of the British Empire of which I am enormously proud. Second was winning an Oscar and the third was having my hands and feet outside Grauman’s Chinese Theatre,” femalefirst.co.uk quoted Mirren as saying.
The 65-year-old actress felt that it was a proud moment for her.
New York, March 30: Trace amounts of radiation from Japan have been detected in New York State, State health officials were quoted as saying in a media report Tuesday.
“There are very small amounts of radioactive material from Japan in the air over the US,” Xinhua quoted New York State Health Department spokeswoman Claudia Hutton saying on CBS 6.
“When it rains or snows, the material is washed to the ground and onto surface waters, such as lakes, rivers and reservoirs. Water quality is being monitored, and the drinking water throughout New York is safe,” she added.
London, March 30: Actress Kate Winslet has said she found it hard to shoot emotional scenes for her upcoming US TV drama “Mildred Pierce” because the scenes reminded her of split from husband Sam Mendes.
She also admitted to have often felt numb when she used her own heartbreak to help act out the part.
“It was tough. There were moments like that one where I was using things from my own life in my performance. There were days when I’d almost feel comatose,” contactmusic.com quoted Winslet as saying.
Moscow, March 30: NASA’s Messenger spacecraft, the first ever to enter the orbit of Mercury, has fetched its first photo, the project’s website said.
The image, the first ever obtained from a spacecraft in orbit around Mercury, was taken as the spacecraft sailed high above the planet’s south pole. It features portions of Mercury’s surface not previously seen by spacecraft.
Washington, March 30: Russia and the US may ease or even cancel visa regime fairly soon, the head of the State Duma’s committee on international affairs said Wednesday.
Vladimir Putin told US Vice President Joe Biden in early March that Russia and the US would take an “historic step” by abolishing visas.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said some two weeks later that Moscow is currently persuading the US to sign an agreement to scrap visas for visits lasting under 90 days.
Washington, March 30: Two Republicans in US House of Representatives have introduced a bill which seeks to put an end to US military involvement in Libya unless explicitly authorised by Congress.
The bill was sponsored by Republicans Timothy Johnson and Justin Amash. It would cut off all funding related to the Pentagon intervention in Libya, Xinhua reported.
The Congressmen contend the administration’s role in the military campaign in Libya is unconstitutional without the blessing of the Congress.
Tokyo, March 30: Japan’s industrial production edged up a seasonally adjusted 0.4 per cent in February from the previous month, which marks its fourth-consecutive monthly increase, government authorities said Wednesday.
February’s figure follows a revised 1.3 per cent increase logged in January and beat the median market forecast for a 0.1 per cent fall in the recording period, Xinhua reported.
Chandigarh, March 30: All roads leading to Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) stadium in Mohali where the second semifinal of World Cup will be played between India and Pakistan on Wednesday. Chandigarh has turned into a fortress. Hotels are running packed for two days not only in Chandigarh but also at Panchkula, Mohali and Parwanoo.
Lahore, March 30: A Pakistani court on Tuesday asked the Defence Ministry to respond by April 19 to a petition filed by Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed asking the government to defend him in a US lawsuit filed by relatives of two persons killed in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Justice Umar Ata Bandial of the Lahore High Court issued notice to the Defence Ministry after Deputy Attorney General Nasim Kashmiri informed the court that the matter did not fall in the jurisdiction of the Interior Ministry and that only the concerned ministry could file a reply in the case.
Mumbai, March 30: Southern actor Rana Daggubati, who is paired with Bipasha Basu in his Bollywood debut “Dum Maaro Dum”, is not dating his co-star but praises her for making him comfortable on the sets of the crime thriller.
The film, which also stars Abhishek Bachchan and Prateik Babbar, is releasing April 22.
“Being a newcomer in Bollywood, I had initial jitters, but I must say my co-stars – Bipasha and Abhishek – really helped me to pull it off. Bipasha helped me a lot and took care of my comfort during shoots,” Daggubati told IANS.
Mohali, March 30: Ahead of the crucial India-Pakistan cricket World Cup semi-final, the skies cleared up Wednesday morning after a thunderstorm followed by light rain in Mohali and Chandigarh.
Met officials said the skies would remain clear for most of the day. They added, however, that there was possibility of light showers towards the evening.
The high-voltage semi-final clash between India and Pakistan starts at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) stadium here at 2.30 p.m. It will be a day-night encounter.
New Delhi, March 30: Beatles, bats and mosquitoes have suddenly found a place in the realm of public art in the Indian capital.
Opening up points of intersection between art, ecology, science and urban landscape is the public art residency programme, “In Context: Public.Art.Ecology” with its nervecentre in Saket and fanning out across the city.
For instance, British artists Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey have turned a sliver of urban space near Saket – home to three mega shopping malls in south Delhi – into a green breather.