Month: March 2011

Verdict on Thomas biggest blow to government: BJP

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New Delhi, March 03: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Thursday termed the Supreme Court’s decision to set aside the appointment of P.J. Thomas as central vigilance commissioner (CVC) “historic” and the “biggest blow” to the central government.

“This is the biggest blow to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the Congress government,” BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy told reporters.

Serena Williams Has Blood Clot Removed from lung

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Los Angeles, 03 March: Serena Williams, a former world number one and a 13-time Grand Slam singles champion, had emergency surgery to remove a blood clot from her lungs, a representative for the tennis star said on Wednesday.

Nicole Chabot confirmed that the 29-year-old American underwent an emergency operation at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on Monday and continues to be hospitalized so physicians can monitor her recovery.

Flood-drought tolerant rice can feed world’s hungry

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Washington, March 03: Flood-tolerant rice plants can surprisingly survive drought and feed more of the world’s hungry, says new research.

Plant scientists at the University of California, Riverside have made a discovery that can greatly benefit rice growers and consumers everywhere, the journal The Plant Cell reports.

They have demonstrated in the lab and greenhouse that rice that is flood tolerant is also better able to recover from a drought, according to a University of California statement.

Muslim man sues FBI for tracking his movements

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Washington, March 03: A California Muslim man sued the Obama administration and the FBI on Wednesday for violating his constitutional rights by tracking his movements with a GPS device hidden on his car.

Yasir Afifi, a 20-year-old American citizen studying in Santa Clara, California, was alerted to the tracking device by a mechanic last October when he took his car for an oil change. He was confronted by FBI agents days later after removing it.

Woman strangulated by husband

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New Delhi, March 03: A 33-year-old woman was strangled to death allegedly by her husband in Narela area in the capital, police said on Wednesday.

The deceased has been identified as Shikha and her husband Ranjeet is absconding, they said.

“Ranjeet is believed to have strangulated his wife last night,” a senior police official said.

Asin Thottumkal is back to class

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Mumbai, March 03: South siren Asin Thottumkal runs a school for the underprivileged and orphans in Kerala, the state she hails from. The school provides education to nearly a 100 children.

While the actress has never talked about it, her do-gooder side became known when she invited a few of her co-stars to come to the school and interact with the children.

DMK, Cong Clash Over Seat Sharing Talks Still On

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Chennai, March 03: The stalemate in seat sharing talks between DMK and Congress for the April 13 Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu persisted with AICC president Sonia Gandhi’s special emissary Ghulam Nabi Azad leaving for New Delhi today after his inconclusive talks with DMK chief M Karunanidhi.

The scheduled meeting between Karunanidhi and Azad this morning was cancelled with the Congress leader deciding to rush to New Delhi.

Congress Minister may quit over Telangana issue

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Hyderabad, March 03:Andhra Pradesh Endoments Minister Jupally Krishna Rao is thinking of quitting his post over the Telangana issue, sources close to him said today.

Rao, who hails from Mahabubnagar district, would soon give the details on his plan, they said.

The development comes against the backdrop of increasing pressure on the Congress leaders to quit their posts in support of separate Telangana demand.

–PTI

Rebels in Libya Win Battle with Loyalists

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BREGA, Libya, 03 March: From the feeble cover of sand dunes, under assault from a warplane overhead and heavy artillery from a hill, rebels in this strategic oil city repelled an attack by hundreds of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s fighters on Wednesday. The daylong battle was the first major incursion by the colonel’s forces in the rebel-held east of the country since the Libyan uprising began.

SC criticises Raja for being disrespectful to PM

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New Delhi, March 03: Former Telecom Minister A Raja, prime accused in the 2G case, was on Wednesday criticised by the Supreme Court for using “intemperate” and “objectionable” language in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue of spectrum allocation policy.

The apex court was anguished over the tone and tenor of Raja’s letter to the Prime Minister wherein words like “unfair, discriminatory, capricious and arbitrary” were used.

Obama, Clinton outraged at assassination of Bhatti

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Washington, March 03: US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined the international community in expressing their outrage at the assassination of Pakistan’s Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti.

“I am deeply saddened by the assassination of Pakistan’s Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti in Islamabad and condemn in the strongest possible terms this horrific act of violence,”Obama said in a statement.

Egyptian Military Jails Activist

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Cairo, March 03: The arrest and sentencing of Amr Abdallah Elbihiry, 33, an Egyptian activist, has sparked outrage among pro-democracy activists and human rights groups in Egypt.

Elbihiry was convicted and sentenced to five years in military prison on Wednesday by Egypt’s Supreme Military Court, after being charged with assaulting a public official on duty and for breaking curfew.

Slogan shouting forces adjournment of AP Assembly

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Hyderabad, March 03: Slogan shouting by TDP, BJP and CPI MLAs in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly forced its adjournment for half-an-hour this morning.

TDP MLAs from Andhra-Rayalaseema regions rose to their feet as soon as the House began and raised slogans in support of a unified state.

To counter them, BJP and CPI, which have two and four MLAs, respectively, raised slogans in favour of Telangana. The two parties, in fact, gave notices for an adjournment motion for a discussion on the statement made by Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on the statehood issue.

Libya owns assets in 35 countries

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New York, March 03: Libya has spread its wealth across at least 35 nations in investments ranging from real estate in Britain and hotels in the Middle East to a stake in Italy’s Juventus football franchise, a media report said.

Libya’s financial tendrils have reached the four continents in the span of a few years through various financial institutions, the CNN reported Wednesday.

‘Kabhi Khushi, Kabhie Gham’ for India at UN

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United Nations, March 03: The never ending debate over Security Council reforms reminds the Indian envoy to the UN of the hit Bollywood movie “Kabhi Khushi, Kabhie Gham” or “Joy sometimes, despair at other times” as he himself translated.

“The title of the movie summed up our efforts here,” said India’s Permanent Representative Hardeep Singh Puri, at an informal plenary meeting Tuesday on the intergovernmental negotiations for equitable representation on the top UN decision making body.

Telangana lawyers trigger civil war in Congress

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Hyderabad, March 03: The siege of Eluru MP Kavuri Sambasiva Rao’s Banjara Hills residence by Telangana lawyers on Wednesday led to a confrontation between Telangana and Andhra leaders of the Congress.

The lawyers, accusing Sambasiva Rao of working against the Telangana cause, marched to his residence and staged a dharna, raising slogans that they would not allow such leaders to live in Hyderabad or hold meetings. Though police detained them, the incident triggered a rash of protests, challenges and counter-challenges between leaders of the two regions.

Karzai warns NATO on ‘daily killing’ of civilians

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Kabul, March 03: Afghan President Hamid Karzai Wednesday warned against the”daily killing”of civilians in NATO-led operations, saying the international force could face”huge problems”if the deaths did not stop.

The statement came after Afghan officials said nine children were killed in an air strike yesterday in the northeastern province of Kunar, which has seen a string of such reported civilian deaths recently.

Pakistani, Kiwi writers pen for the desi young adult

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New Delhi, March 03:Besides being popular writers, what is the connection among New Zealand’s David Hair, Pakistan’s Sheba Karim and Subroto Bagchi of India?.

Their works have been selected by Penguin publishers for its’Young Adult’series.

Aimed at people in their mid-teens to adults, the books are a mix of fantasy, romance, short stories, thought-provoking fiction and non-fiction and have been written with the contemporary Indian young adult in mind.

Rights group says 6000 dead in Libya

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Tripoli, March 03: At least 6000 people have died since the start of the revolt against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s regime two weeks ago, a spokesman for the Libyan Human Rights League says.

“Victims in the whole country were 6000,” Ali Zeidan said in Paris overnight, adding that this included 3000 in the capital Tripoli, 2000 in the rebel-held second city Benghazi and 1000 in other cities.

“This is what people told us, but it can be more,” he said.

——–Agencies

Anti-gay US church can picket funerals

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Washington, March 03: The US Supreme Court has ruled that a small, controversial anti-gay church has the right to picket military funerals as part of the US Constitution’s free-speech guarantee.

“Speech is powerful. It can stir people to action, move them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and – as it did here – inflict great pain,” the justices said.

They ruled eight-to-one in favour of the Westboro Baptist Church, which had been sued by the father of Marine Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder, who was slain in Iraq in 2006 and whose funeral was picketed by members of the Kansas-based church.

More firefighters head to NZ

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Christchurch, March 03: Firefighters from flood and cyclone-affected communities in Queensland will be among a second contingent of rescuers headed to earthquake-devastated Christchurch today.

The Queensland Government says the team of firefighters and paramedics will help with search and recovery efforts.

Queensland’s Fire Commissioner Lee Johnson said among the team are firefighters from flood or cyclone-affected communities.

NATO say sorry for Afghan children deaths

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London, March 03: The commander of international troops in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, says he is “deeply sorry” for the deaths of nine civilians in a coalition air strike.

Gen Petraeus’s personal apology came hours after President Hamid Karzai issued an angry statement saying nine young children died in yesterday’s strike as they collected firewood in Darah-Ye Pech district of northeastern Kunar province.

My dad does not fight my battles: Sonam Kapoor

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New Delhi, March 03: Sonam Kapoor has denied she is having ego problems with her’Mausam’co-star Shahid Kapoor and her actor father Anil Kapoor helped her to iron out differences between the two.

The actress, who is shooting for Abbas Mustan’s Players in New Zealand, says she does not need her father to fight her battles.

“Shahid and I are both grownups. If we had problems we would sort them out without the involvement of our parents. My dad has never fought my battles,”Sonam said.

University defends live sex class

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Chicago, March 03: Northwestern University has defended a live sex demonstration on campus, watched by more 100 students as part of a lecture, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Wednesday.

The display – which involved a naked 25-year-old woman, her 45-year-old fiance, and a sex toy – took place in an after-class session in a course called “Human Sexuality.”

Four members of Chicago’s fetish community had been invited to speak and answer questions about “bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism,” but were then invited to demonstrate their sexual behavior, also known as BDSM.

Quake rocks Sikh pilgrim centre of Nanded

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Nanded (Maharashtra), March 03: The famous Sikh pilgrim city of Nanded and surrounding areas were rocked by a quake early Thursday, forcing people to come out on the streets, police said.

The quake measuring 3.27 on the Richter Scale shook the district at 3.17 a.m.

As people were forced to run out of their homes, there were at least 17 aftershocks since then but of lower intensity, a police official said.