Month: March 2011

Unprecedented security cover for Indo-Pak match

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Mohali, March 29: Unprecedented security cover was thrown in and around the Punjab Cricket Association stadium here today ahead of tomorrow’s high-profile World Cup semi-final between India and Pakistan, which will be witnessed by the Prime Ministers of both the countries.

Over 2200 cops drawn from various districts of Punjab have been put on duty to ensure foolproof security for the day-night match.

Tomorrow’s semi-final between India and Pakistan is the first match between the two cricket-crazy nations on the Indian soil since the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

Acting world always enchanted me: Deepak Dobrial

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New Delhi, March 29: He debuted with a walking part in Vishal Bhardwaj’s ‘Maqbool’ and impressed as the side-kick to Saif Ali Khan’s evil Langda Tyagi in ‘Omkara’. And now, Deepak Dobrial is all set to debut as a lead in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s next ‘Teen They Bhai’.

Coming from a small village in Pauri Gadwal, acting was not a career choice for Deepak but a chance encounter with theatre in Delhi decided the way forward for the actor, who in his own words, was completely enchanted by what he saw on the stage.

Cricket fans hooked to websites for live WC updates

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New Delhi, March 29: The online medium is abuzz with a large number of cricket lovers flocking to the digital world for live updates and match results of the World Cup.

The biggest tournament of cricket caused a surge in visitation to cricket websites in the country as fans glued to internet for latest updates, reveals a new study.

ComScore, a digital marketing intelligence platform, noted that the sites reached their highest volume of traffic for the month during the week ended March 13.

Make Hasan Ali’s disclosures public: Naidu

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Hyderabad, March 29: Telugu Desam Party president N. Chandrababu Naidu on Monday wanted the Centre and the Enforcement Directorate to make public the names allegedly mentioned by businessman Hasan Ali Khan who is facing money laundering charges.

New embroidery designs in market soon

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Hyderabad, March 29: Better and newer designs in embroidery will come out in the twin cities in the days to come. The craft is in for technology up-gradation as artisans engaged in the trade are getting their skills improved.

The A.P. Handicrafts Development Corporation began a six-month-long course on Monday to further hone the skills of the 2,500 women working in the zari and zardosi trade, mostly in old city.

The artisans, who comprise 143 self-help groups, will be trained by master designer, Rajeh Surniganti.

Brutality involved in Sambasivudu murder indicates Nayeem’s role

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Hyderabad, March 29: The brutality associated with the killing of former Maoist leader and TRS polit bureau member Konapuri Ilaiah is one of the reasons why investigators believe that it was the handiwork of former naxalite Nayeemuddin.

The ‘demonstrative violence’ exhibited in hacking to death of Ilaiah, who was more popularly known by his party nom de guerre Sambasivudu, and the decades-old rivalry between Nayeem and the former Maoist leader buttresses the theory of Nayeem’s involvement, argue police officers who had either handled or interacted with the elusive man.

No two of us are alike, even identical twins

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Toronto, March 29: Just like snowflakes, no two people are alike, even if they’re identical twins, a study suggests.

Molecular geneticist Shiva Singh from the University of Western Ontario, Canada, looked at about one million markers of identical twins (and parents) where only one twin had schizophrenia.

“The most informative feature of schizophrenia is that it sometimes runs in the family,” said Singh, according to the journal Public Library of Science ONE.

Bangladesh court adjourns Yunus hearing till April 4

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Dhaka, March 29: Bangladesh’s Supreme Court Tuesday adjourned till next Monday the hearing on an appeal of Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus and his supporters challenging his removal as the managing director of Grameen Bank.

The seven-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice A.B.M. Khairul Haque passed the adjournment order as the petitioners did not get the certified copy of the high court verdict that upheld his removal earlier this month.

A lawyer for Yunus told the Daily Star that he will file an appeal with the apex court against the high court order by April 4.

Bill to bring local bodies under Lok Ayukta purview passed

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Hyderabad, March 29: Mayors of Municipal Corporations, Chairpersons of Municipal Councils, Zilla Parishad and Mandal Parishad Chairpersons and other elected members of all these local bodies will now come under the purview of Lok Ayukta.

The Assembly passed three Bills, including the Lok Ayukta (Amendment) Bill 2011, for bringing the local bodies under the purview of Lok Ayukta on Monday with a voice vote.

Other bills passed

Kashmir cautious ahead of India-Pakistan match

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Srinagar, March 29: A day ahead of the World Cup semifinal clash between India and Pakistan in Mohali, authorities here are worried about the impact of the match on the law and order situation in Jammu and Kashmir, where an India-Pakistan sports clash traditionally evokes strong reactions.

“Prohibitory orders are in force in the city and no assembly is permitted here without prior permission of the concerned district magistrate,” a senior police officer said here.

‘Attack’ on YSR pains Jagan

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Vizianagaram, March 29: Former MP Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, who began his nine-day ‘Odarpu Yatra’ from Kothavalasa in the district from Monday, condemned what he called “the mudslinging” by the TDP “in collusion with the Congress” against his father and former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

“They are casting aspersions on YSR even after his tragic death about two years ago, which is unfortunate.”

No terror threat to World Cup: Interpol

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New Delhi, March 29: Interpol, the world police organisation, conveyed to India on Monday that there was no threat to the ongoing Cricket World Cup and media reports in this regard were “absolutely wrong.” The international agencyconveyed this to the Central Bureau of Investigation, saying there was no intelligence input from their side which suggested any terror strikes on the ongoing cricketing tournament, the agency said.

Keep distance from detractors, Viveka told

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Vijaywada, March 29: YSR Congress leader Ambati Rambabu on Monday appealed to Agriculture Minister Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy to “understand the reality”, identify his family’s detractors within the Congress and maintain a distance from them.

Not enough being done to trace money trail abroad: Apex court

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New Delhi, March 29: The Supreme Court Tuesday rapped the central government for not doing enough to trace the sources of money stashed by multi-billion tax evader Hasan Ali Khan and others in foreign banks based in tax havens.

An apex court bench of Justice B. Sudarshan Reddy and Justice S.S, Nijjar said: “No consistent efforts have been made to trace the sources of money (stashed away). Fact remains that even today we have not made any progress in tracking the sources of money.”

Narrow escape for two Karnataka Ministers

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Hyderabad, March 29: Karnataka Minister for Tourism Gali Janardhana Reddy and Health Minister B. Sriramulu had a miraculous escape when one of the tyres of their chartered flight burst while landing at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here on Monday morning.

Air operations were disrupted for sometime. The chartered flight, Hawker-400XP, was on its way from Vidyanagar airport near Bellary in Karnataka to Delhi with the two Ministers, two crew members, and another person. The private plane was landing in Hyderabad for refuelling at 11 a.m.

Plenty at stake as arch-rivals India and Pak clash

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Mohali, March 29: Billed as the ‘mother of all clashes’, bitter rivals India and Pakistan go into the high-voltage World Cup semi-final battle here tomorrow in what promises to be an epic tussle of nerves and skills between two teams desperately seeking to regain the coveted trophy.

When the two captains walk out for the toss, two estranged nations who have fought wars in the past but have a common passion for cricket, will virtually come to a standstill with millions glued to the television sets to watch the blockbuster unfold.

Top Maoist surrenders in Vizag

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Vishakhapatnam, March 29: The CPI (Maoist) is experiencing ups and downs; it is strong in some States and weak in some, which is a normal feature of an armed struggle, said Ponnojula Parameswara Rao, alias Nandu, a top Maoist leader, who surrendered to the police here on Monday.

“The party is facing some problems in the east division (Andhra-Orissa border area). The steps being taken by the Government, surrenders, and drop in strength are some reasons,” he said.

“Minister lowered Council’s image”

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Hyderabad, March 29: Leader of the Opposition in the Council Dadi Veerabhadra Rao said that if only the Government had taken serious action against those who disrupted the Governor’s address, caused injury to the Council Chairman and attacked Lok Satta MLA Jayaprakash Narayan, things would not have come to such a pass in the Assembly.

Steps mooted to protect straying Ranthambore Park tigers

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Jaipur, March 29: The union ministry of environment and forest plans to take steps to ensure the safety of the tigers that sneak out of the Ranthambore National Park in Sawai Madhopur district of Rajasthan, an official said Tuesday.

“The ministry has sought suggestions from the state forest department after (environment minister) Jairam Ramesh held a meeting with some international experts on tiger conservation in New Delhi recently,” a senior state forest department official told IANS.

‘Manhandling’ student: protests staged in front of DEO’s office

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Sangareddy, March 29: Tension prevailed for some time at the district headquarters as some tribal people held a ‘dharna’ in front of the District Education Officer’s (DEO) office on Monday. They demanded that the in-charge DEO be suspended for allegedly ‘manhandling’ a student at an examination centre.

According to sources, in-charge DEO Mr. Raghavender visited a class ten examination centre at Saint Anthony School in the district headquarters.

Copy paper

Government promises to protect teachers’ benefits

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Hyderabad, March 29: Secondary Education Minister K. Parthasarathy said that the Government will do its best to protect the spirit of GO 330 and continue the benefits given to language pundits.

The language pundits appointed in Grade II category were given benefits of Grade I based on their eligibility under the Act 1/2005. But later, the Government decided to recover the additional increments, which was opposed by the teacher unions.

Injury issues for Pak; Team India fully fit: Dhoni

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Mohali, March 29: Pakistan were dealt with a major blow ahead of the all-important World Cup semi-final against India as skipper Shahid Afridi was plagued with injury issues with his team. “Shoaib Akhtar is not 100 per cent fit. Will take a call tomorrow,” Afridi told reporters.

On the other hand, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was confident of a good show with all his players registering fit. “All players fit for tomorrow`s World Cup semi-final match against Pakistan,” he said.

Opposition reiterates demand for JLC

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Hyderabad, March 29: At last, the Assembly took up the debate on land allotment issue on Monday, nine days after it was first raised in the House. Members of the TDP, CPI, CPI (M) and BJP, who got the opportunity to speak on the issue, reiterated their demand for an inquiry into the land deals by setting up a Joint Legislature Committee (JLC) or a House Committee.

Next government must focus on peace: Bengal intellectuals

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Kolkata, March 29: With mounting violence ahead of the April-May assembly elections, noted intellectuals in West Bengal feel restoration of peace and welfare of the poor should be the topmost priorities of the next government.

“The restoration of peace and law and order should be topmost priority for the new government. It doesn’t matter which party forms the next government. Peace and tranquillity should be restored at any cost,” said author Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay.