Hyderabad, March 02: Voicing concern over dipping budgetary allocation of state governments towards education, the Minister of State for HRD has said the imbalance is proving to be a major hindrance in achieving a provisional target of six per cent of the GDP for this sector.
Tripoli, March 02: Public calls amongst top US officials to funnel weapons to the “Free Libya” movement that is on the verge of ousting long-time dictator Moammar Gadhafi have once again been spurned by leaders of the protest movement, who insist that they are fully capable of liberating what little of the nation means under regime control on their own.
“We are against any foreign intervention or military intervention in our internal affairs,” insisted Abdel-Hafidh Ghoga, a human rights lawyer and the spokesman for one of the protesters’ major organizations.
London, March 02: Former Arab League Ambassador to the UN Clovis Maksoud says the West’s delay in condemning the recent repressions by the Libyan regime is partly due to its concerns over oil supplies from the country.
The West showed “reluctance” to denounce the repressions by Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi’s regime “partly because of the oil factor … [and] that was one factor to inhibit many of those who are importing oil from Libya,” Maksoud said in an interview with Media.
Mumbai, March 02: “Who knows!” is what actress Deepika Padukone told on the show Koffee With Karan when Karan Johar asked about her relationship with Siddharth Mallya. It’s true, ‘who knows’ in which way will the truth come out to the people.
Well finally the cat’s out of the bag! All the speculations about Deepika dating Siddharth has now met to its confirmation when England Cricketer Kevin Pietersen tweeted yesterday, “Just had a lovely lunch with Sidhartha Mallya & his girlfriend Deepika Padukone.”
Mumbai, March 02: Tennis star Mahesh Bhupati, who tied the knot with Bollywood actress Lara Dutta recently, is making his debut as a film producer with ‘Chalo Dilli’ starring his wife and comic actor Vinay Pathak.
Mumbai, March 02: Minissha Lamba and Neha Sharma of Crook — It’s Good To Be Bad, fame join the cast of the Amitabh Bachchan starrer Buddha directed by Puri Jagannath.
The movie’s cast already includes Hema Malini, Raveena Tandon and Sonal Chauhan.
Wonder how many women will the Big B romance in the film?
–Source: Celebden
Mumbai, March 02: Kangna Ranaut refused to wear a bikini for a scene that has Sanjay Dutt and Ajay Devgn ogling at her. Kangna Ranaut, known for her insatiable ability to sport the quirkiest and the most fashionable outfits in Bollywood, recently shied away from wearing a bikini.
This turned out to be a volte-face because the actress had agreed to wear it initially and was in fact quite excited about it. But last week, while shooting for David Dhawan’s Rascals, Kangna suddenly threw a big fit on one of the beaches in Thailand, when Dhawan asked her to wear her bikini.
Mumbai, March 02: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan blessed for Colin Firth? Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s first appearance at the Oscars proved lucky for Colin Firth who came away with the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Aishwarya was rooting for Colin Firth who is a dear friend and also a co-star on Last Legion…and sure enough he won an Oscar for Best Actor. Abhishek and Aishwarya are holidaying in the US and both the actors were in LA after Abhishek’s Players shoot.
Mumbai, March 02:Actress Vidya Balan is on a new agenda these days. She is busy planning strategies to avoid interaction with the media. According to sources from the industry, Vidya is trying hard to minimize her interaction with media ever since her Goa pictures with UTV’s Siddharth Roy Kapur have made their way to newspapers.
Mexico, March 02: Authorities found a mass grave containing at least 17 bodies in Mexico’s Pacific coast state of Guerrero, state police said.
“As of this evening they have confirmed that 17 bodies have been found in a common grave” in the town of San Miguel Totolapan, Fernando Monreal of the state police said on Tuesday.
Authorities called off recovery work at nightfall, with 17 bodies found, and were to resume work early on Wednesday, he added.
Tehran, March 02: Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations has warned against the disintegration of Libya and the interference of foreign powers in the internal affairs of the North African country.
“If an interim government is established in Libya, it has to be watchful against the disintegration of this country into two parts,” Mohammad Khazaei told IRNA on Tuesday.
He also urged the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and other regional organizations like the Arab League to be vigilant so that the “the sovereignty of Libya and the unity of its nation” are not harmed.
Tehran, March 02: Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi has called for a boost in the exportation of Iran’s non-oil products in the coming Iranian calendar year starting March 21.
Lauding the country’s exemplary exporters at a ceremony on Tuesday, Rahimi predicted that the figure for Iran’s non-oil exports will top $45 billion in the next year, Mehr news agency reported.
He noted that under the government’s plans, exporters will have representatives in the Supreme Council for Non-oil Exports to help remove the obstacles in the way and increase the volume of non-oil exports.
New York, March 02: Charlie Sheen’s estranged wife Brooke Mueller has been granted a restraining order against the actor.
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge slapped a restraining order on the actor, which restricts him from going within 100 yards of Mueller, reports people.com.
Meanwhile, Sheen’s show Two and a Half Men was put on a halt following a series of scandals in his private life and his public rants against Chuck Lorre, creator of the television show.
–IANS
Amman, March 02: Hundreds of people have staged a rally in Jordan’s capital, Amman, to call for the release of over eighty political prisoners.
About 400 people took to the streets to protest as 27 inmates launched a hunger strike.
The anti-government protesters chanted slogans and held posters in front of the Grand Husseini Mosque in central Amman to urge King Abdullah to release their jailed relatives held at Swaqa prison, 50 kilometers south of the capital.
Rome, March 02: The jailed lawyer for an Iranian mother of two who was condemned to death by stoning claims he has been tortured in prison.
Javid Houtan Kian was representing Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who last year was sentenced to death by stoning for adultery and helping murder her husband.
Her stoning sentence has since been suspended following an international campaign to save her life but there are fears she could still be executed.
Rio de Janeiro, March 02: Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has said that she has opened the way for every girl in the country who dreams of being president.
“What is most important about my being president is that now all girls can aspire to be president and it will be seen as completely normal in Brazil that a woman becomes president,” the head of state said Tuesday on the popular Globo TV programme “Mais Voce” (More You), during which she cooked a cheese omelette.
London, March 2: The London School of Economics (LSE) said Tuesday it was looking into claims that Colonel Muammer Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam, had plagiarised his doctorate thesis.
“LSE is aware that there are allegations of plagiarism concerning the PhD thesis of Saif Gaddafi,” the university said in a statement.
“The School takes all allegations of plagiarism very seriously, and is looking into the matter in accordance with standard LSE procedures.”
Saif al-Islam studied at the LSE between 2003 and 2008 and left with a Master of Science degree and a doctorate.
Islamabad: A suspected suicide bomber was killed when the explosives he was carrying went off prematurely in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi, police said.
The explosion occurred close to a police post near Shah Latif Town in Karachi, police officials told the media.
The body parts of the suspected suicide bomber were found at the site of the blast, they said.
Police said they believed the dead man was a suicide bomber who intended to target the police post.
Security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation.
—PTI
Hyderabad, March 2: In view of Telangana agitation MMTS train services between Secunderabad and Falaknuma stations have been cancelled till 12 PM on March 2.
Chief public relations officer SCR Chandrima Rai told that due to the Rail Roko Agitation by Telangana Joint Action Committee MMTS services will be cancelled till March 2, 12 PM.
Siasat news
Christchurch, March 02: Strong winds whipped up huge dust clouds in earthquake-hit Christchurch Wednesday, as officials defended the devastated city’s building standards.
Gusts of 70 kilometres per hour (44 mph) buffeted emergency crews in the ruins of New Zealand’s second largest city, hampering the search for bodies amid fears of masonry dislodging and trees toppling.
“The conditions have been difficult, the wind is picking up and it’s very dusty in the inner city, which is making the rescue efforts more difficult,” district police commander Dave Cliff told reporters.
Hyderabad, March 2: Two persons including a minor boy died near Petlaburuj when an RTC bus mowed them down.
Nanaji (22) and Praveen (4) who were uncle and nephew were going on a bike towards high court when an RTC bus crushed them dead near maternity hospital while a youth named Suresh (20) was severely injured.
According to inspector Charminar Prasad, Tanaji’s motor cycle got out of control after hitting a woman who was crossing the road and came within the range of RTC bus coming from behind.
New York, March 02: A US court has issued summons to India’s Congress party to answer charges of “conspiring, aiding, abetting and carrying out organized attacks on Sikh population of India in November 1984.”
The US District Court for the Southern District of New York issued the summons Tuesday in a class action law suit filed by Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), a US based community group along with several Sikh survivors of the 1984 attacks.
Ahmedabad, March 02: The source visited this town to get the first hand feel of the ground situation nine years after the Godhra tragedy provoked communal riots across Gujarat in which 1,200 people were killed, most of them Muslims. And fault lines are still apparent here.
But a stark contrast came to light right in the heart of the town where a practice match was going on between Godhra and Goa, both preparing for an annual trophy. Team Godhra was created by Kapil Dev after the Gujarat riots to improve communal harmony.
Melbourne, March 02: Mike Hussey says he’s injury free and ready for a recall to Australia’s World Cup squad.
The 35-year-old Hussey, one of Australia’s most important batsmen, was a controversial omission from the original 15-man squad because selectors were concerned about his fitness after surgery to repair an injured hamstring.
But with selectors leaving open a spot when paceman Doug Bollinger was injured and ruled out of the World Cup, there’s been growing calls for Hussey’s recall.
Islamabad, March 02: Pakistan on Wednesday said it was hopeful that upcoming talks with India will lead to a “meaningful and sustained process of engagement” that will bridge the trust deficit between the two countries and help resolve all outstanding issues, including the Kashmir dispute.
Reacting to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s speech in the Indian parliament on February 24 in which he said dialogue is the only way to resolve differences between the two countries, Foreign Office spokesperson Tehmina Janjua said Pakistan “desires good neighbourly relations” with India.