Month: March 2011

Fresh cases of bird flu in Tripura

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Agartala, March 06: Fresh cases of avian influenza or bird flu have been detected in another Tripura poultry farm, and culling of birds is expected to start Monday, an official said here Sunday.

“At least 400 poultry birds have died since March 1 at the Gandhi Gram government poultry farm. Central government experts tested the samples of the dead birds and found them positive for the H5 strain of avian influenza,” Tripura animal resource development department Joint Director Jyotirmoy Chakraborty told IANS.

DMK pullout: Congress on ‘wait and watch’ mode

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New Delhi, March 06: Jolted by the DMK’s decision to pull out of the government, the Congress is on a “wait and watch” mode and weighing its options. According to a Congress party source Sunday, DMK leaders have indicated at a possible reconciliation if the Congress scales down its demand of seats.

The DMK Saturday evening decided to pull out of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and provide only “issue-based” support after its seat-sharing talks with the DMK for the upcoming assembly polls in Tamil Nadu collapsed.

NRIs Allowed to Vote in Assembly Elections

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New Delhi, March 06: NRIs hailing from the five poll-bound states will be able to vote in the elections for the first time but they will have to be physically present in their place of origin to exercise their franchise.

The Election Commission has already issued guidelines for enrolment of names of NRIs in the rolls after holding several rounds of discussions with the ministries of External Affairs and Overseas Indian Affairs.

Bengal heads for a watershed Assembly election

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Kolkata, March 06: As the bugle for West Bengal Assembly polls have been sounded, it has become an inevitable tryst with destiny that awaits the CPI(M)-led ruling Left Front and Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress in a watershed battle, beginning April 18.

In what is being billed as the toughest electoral battle in recent times, the polls assume great significance with no one being able to write off the possibility of a political change in the state, ruled by the Left for 34 successive years.

Gaddafi son’s LSE thesis ‘written by Libyan academic’

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Libya, March 06: Fresh evidence emerged yesterday revealing how Saif Gaddafi, the son of the Libyan leader, plagiarised his PhD thesis at the London School of Economics. One Libyan academic drafted in to help Saif Gaddafi was later rewarded with an ambassador’s posting to Europe. The new details came as a Tory MP called for the LSE’s entire governing council to resign. The beleaguered institution also faced allegations that an academic had been pressured to admit a relative of an aide to President Bill Clinton to study there.

SDPI Urges Indian Govt. to Restrain US & NATO from Military Intervention in Libya

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Bhopal, March 06 (Pervez Bari): The Social Democratic Party of India, (SDPI), has called upon the Indian Government not to remain a silent spectator but use its good offices to restrain the United States of America, (USA), and NATO from executing their evil designs of military intervention in the name of restoring peace and check Human Rights violations in Libya.

Libyan interim opposition council meets

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Tripoli, March 06: Libya’s self-declared opposition council has held its first formal meetings to discuss the overthrow of Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi as pro-government forces continue their attacks on anti-regime protesters.

The Libyan opposition, fighting to overthrow the beleaguered ruler, gathered secretly on Saturday for the first formal meeting of the self-declared, interim national council while declaring their refusal to enter talks with the government until Gaddafi leaves office.

Bhopal gas tragedy survivors’ protest force Dow Chemical to withdraw from Aquatech trade fair

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Bhopal, March 06(Pervez Bari): The survivors of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, the world’s worst industrial disaster, scored a victory when they forced Dow Chemical, the owner of the Union Carbide, to withdraw from the Aquatech 2011 water technologies trade fair being held in Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai from March 2 to 4. The Union Carbide pesticide factory had spewed deadly poisonous gas in December 1984 killing thousands of people.

Indian-American wins for first time seat on Chicago City Council

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New York, March 06: The son of a family which immigrated from Mumbai created history by becoming a member of the Chicago City Council.

To begin with Ameya Pawar, who is 30, was unknown but was later able to resonate with the aspirations of people of a ward that had been represented by one Gene Schulter for more than three decades.

Though the veteran did not seek re-election, Schulter strongly supported his former associate Tom O’Donnell for 47th Ward, the council seat vacated by the veteran councilman.

4 NRIs Appointed Queen’s Counsels

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London, March 06: A leading London-based barrister Kalyani Kaul and three others of Indian origin have been appointed Queen’s Counsels (QCs) by the Queen.

50-year-old Kalyani, who has handled high-profile cases in the UK, is one of the 120 QCs appointed this year and one of the four NRIs chosen. She is currently working as a Recorder and presides over hearings in county courts.

The other three NRI QCs appointed this year are Poonam Arjandas Melwani, Rajiv Menon and Rohan Anthony Pershad.

SRK to share screen with DiCaprio

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Mumbai, March 06: Bollywood’s King Khan will soon be seen sharing screen with Hollywood superstar Leonardo DiCaprio in a cross-cultural thriller ‘Xtreme City’.

The film will be directed by Hollywood writer-director Paul Schrader and will be produced by American filmmaker Martin Scorsese and David Weisman.

Shah Rukh will essay the role of an underworld gangster while DiCaprio will be playing a New York cop.

SRK’s biographer (Still Reading Khan) and screenplay writer Mushtaq Sheikh has penned the script with Paul Schrader.

Kalmadi’s name missing from CWG legacy report

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New Delhi, March 06: Former Commonwealth Games Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi’s name is not mentioned in the Games legacy report prepared by authorities here to give a bird’s eye view of delays, successes and other issues in the conduct of the sporting extravaganza.

Sources said the four-volume legacy report and a 50-minute film on the Games, which focuses on minute aspects of preparations of the event held here between October 3 and 14 last year, mentions every thing except the sacked top boss of the OC.

Vidya Balan refuses to gain weight for ‘Dirty Picture

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Kolkata, March 06: Presenting her own interpretation of the voluptuous Southern siren Silk Smitha’s tragic life in the bio-pic ‘Dirty Picture’, actress Vidya Balan has turned down the director’s request to gain weight for the role.

“For the first time, my director and producer told me to put on a little weight. But I don’t want to. With an Indian face and an Indian body structure, I will manage it. If I increase it for this film, then I will also have to reduce it afterwards,” Vidya said here.

SRK to play Indian don in ‘Xtreme City’

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Mumbai, March 06: If all goes well, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan will be seen sharing screen space with his Hollywood counterpart Leonardo DiCaprio in a cross-cultural thriller ‘Xtreme City’, a tale about two men from radically different worlds.

SRK’s biographer (Still Reading Khan) and screenplay writer Mushtaq Sheikh has penned the script with Hollywood writer-director Paul Schrader, who will direct the movie.

DMK to Pull Out of UPA Government

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New Delhi, March 06: In an apparent act of brinkmanship, the DMK today decided to pull out of the Congress-led Government at the Centre after talks between the two parties on seat-sharing for the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections failed.

DMK President M Karunanidhi, who had last night accused the Congress of being unreasonable in its demand, today charged the ally of trying to push it out of the UPA.

The meeting of the party’s high-powered committee presided over by him adopted a resolution to pull out of the government and to give issue-based support.

Israeli troops scuffle with protesters

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Jerusalem, March 06: Israeli security forces have clashed with a group of demonstrators demanding an end to illegal Jewish settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories.

An elderly man was wounded in the neck when the Israeli soldiers scuffled with anti-settlement demonstrators that included Palestinians, Israelis and foreigners near the West Bank village of Beit Ummar on Saturday, Reuters reported.

The Israeli soldiers fired teargas grenades from close range on the demonstrators in order to disperse them.

Saudi Arabia bans protests, gatherings

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Riyadh, March 06: Saudi Arabia has banned all kinds of rallies and gatherings, as anti-government protests demanding democratic change and the release of political prisoners gain momentum in the monarchy.

Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry described protests as “illegal” in a Saturday statement and declared that security forces were “authorized by law to take all measures needed against those who try to break the law.”

Nine die in pub fire in Taiwan

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Taipei, March 06: Nine people died and 12 others were injured when a fire ripped through a pub in the central Taiwanese city of Taichung.

The official from the Taichung Fire Department says preliminary investigations show that the fire broke out at the pub early on Sunday after a performance involving the use of LED lighting went awry. The official declined to be identified because she is not authorised to speak to the press.

Divorced parents protest in Pakistan city

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Lahore, March 06: A group of divorced parents, mostly fathers, held a protest in this Pakistani city over delay in legal proceedings that denies them access to their children.

The demonstrators demanded a legal provision so as to have quick access to children while parents pursue a legal course for separation or dissolution of marriage, Daily Times reported Sunday.

The protesters Saturday held banners and placards with messages, like “I love my kids”, “How long shall our children wait for us”, and “I have the right to be with my child”.

IAEA in Iran deadlock but slight progress on Syria

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Vienna, March 06: The UN nuclear watchdog IAEA starts its board meeting from Monday with the Iranian nuclear issue still deadlocked but amid slight progress on Syria’s disputed programme.

In its last report on Iran, the International Atomic Energy Agency, whose 35-member board of governors will meet from Monday to Friday in Vienna, said it had “new information” of possible military dimensions to Tehran’s programme.

After DU, Delhi slum children to study in Australia

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New Delhi, March 06: If Mumbai’s slum children could walk the red carpet at the prestigious Academy Awards ceremony in 2009 for Danny Boyle’s ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, Delhi’s urban poor youth would have a chance to go all the way to Australia for studying.

Under an exchange programme between Delhi-based NGO Asha and the University of Melbourne, selected students from around 400 slum youths currently studying in Delhi University will get this golden opportunity.

India successfully test-fires missile interceptor

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Bhubaneswar, March 06: India Sunday successfully tested a ballistic missile interceptor from a defence base in Orissa as part of its endeavour to create a shield against incoming enemy missiles, officials said.

The indigenous interceptor was fired from Wheeler Island off the Orissa coast near Dhamra in Bhadrak district, about 170 km from here.

It successfully destroyed an incoming ballistic missile – a variant of the Prithvi II fired from Integrated Test Range at Chandipur on sea in Balasore district, about 70 km away from Wheeler Island across the sea.

Heavy gunfire persist in Tripoli

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Tripoli, March 06: Sustained automatic gunfire has been reported in Libyan capital of Tripoli as tensions continue to run high in the country between forces loyal to embattled ruler Muammar Gaddafi and the revolutionary forces.

It was not immediately clear where the shots were coming from. They were heard early Sunday at a hotel not far from the capital’s Green Square area, AFP reported.

Opposition forces, meanwhile, report that they have downed two aircraft belonging to the forces loyal to embattled ruler Muammar Gaddafi.

WB settlements quadrupled: Report

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West Bank, March 06: Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics says illegal settlement construction in the occupied West bank has climbed sharply in the past five months.

The data, released by the bureau on Saturday, indicates that the Israeli regime started over 114 settlement units during the 10-month construction freeze Tel Aviv announced in November 2009, Ha’aretz newspaper reported.

22 killed in clash over land in S Sudan

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Sudan, March 06: At least 22 people have been killed after armed members of two tribes clashed over a disputed stretch of land in South Sudan’s Jonglei state.

The state’s governor Kuol Manyang said on Saturday that the fighting broke out between armed members of Ayual and Dachuek tribes in the Nyak Payam area, located in the Twic East region of western Jonglei state, on Thursday.

According to Manyang, 22 people have died and 43 others were wounded. “They have been transported to hospital in Bor and Juba by the UN,” he told AFP.