Month: March 2011

CWG scam: Bhanot, Verma sent to 14 days’ judicial custody

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New Delhi, March 01: A Delhi court Tuesday sent Lalit Bhanot and V.K. Verma, former high ranking officials of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) Organising Committee, to 14 days’ judicial custody in connection with financial lapses in a contract with a Swiss company.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge Talwant Singh sent the OC’s former secretary general Bhanot and former director general Verma to judicial custody till March 15.

Katrina gives Anuhska a ride? Read on to find out how…

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Mumbai, March 01: Since debuting in Boom (2003), Katrina Kaif has remained more or less aloof from and reserved with other actresses.

That attitude seems to be changing, beginning with Anushka Sharma.

You’d expect the senior actress to snark at the new actress, given that she is slowly but surely trying to step into Sheila’s shoes.

Not only was Sharma’s last release with Kat’s fav actor Akshay Kumar, but the Band Bajaa Baraat girl was boldly trying hard to cosy upto Ranbir Kapoor, in the presence of Kat at a party last month!

Me, too?

Indian women clutch it up

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New Delhi, March 01: Hollywood’s Anne Hathaway and Jeniffer Lopez flaunt them, so do Bollywood’s Aishwarya Rai and Sonam Kapoor. And now flashy, bejewelled and palm-sized clutch bags have made it to every fashion fanatic’s wardrobe in India – never mind if they defy practicality.

Kareena is not my rival: Priyanka Chopra

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Mumbai, March 01: Priyanka Chopra features on the cover of the March issue of Harper’s Bazaar that is also its second anniversary special.

Extracts from the interview in the mag…

On her rivalry with Kareena and Katrina: “Just because we’re contemporaries, doesn’t mean that we have to be at loggerheads. I don’t think anyone of us has the time to bother about such things.

I respect their work immensely, and I am just happy to do my own thing. Rivalries don’t exist for me because I only compete with myself.

Kangna can’t say No to this man…

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Mumbai, Marc 01: Khiladi Akshay Kumar will star in Bhansali’s new flick. Sallu hires Thai stunt director for Dabangg 2 — the stage is set for next year’s big action flick

Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Salman Khan, once close friends, are now ready to give each other stiff competition. Caught unwittingly in the crossfire is hapless Sonakshi Sinha.

Bhansali’s untitled action production to be directed by Prabhu Deva will feature Akshay Kumar in an avatar that will take him far beyond his Khiladi image — the movie, say insiders, promises pyrotechnics Kumar has never done before.

Dilip Kumar on Priety Zinta’s TV show?

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Mumbai, March 01: Dilip Kumar will now feature on television! The thespian has been requested to feature in a reality drama on the small screen.

The yesteryear star has been approached to be part of Guinness World Records Ab India Todega.

As Dilip Kumar holds the record for winning the maximum number of awards by an Indian actor, the makers want him to be on board. The programme highlights Indians who want to set their own world records.

The desi version of the international show hosted by Preity Zinta and produced by Miditech is slated to air on Colors.

Parts of brain can switch functions

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Washington, March 01: Evidence is mounting that brain regions can take over functions they were not genetically destined to perform, says a new study.

When your brain registers the aroma of your morning coffee or the sound of a honking car, that input gets shuttled to the appropriate brain region for analysis. The coffee aroma goes to the olfactory cortex, while sounds are processed in the auditory cortex.

That division of labour suggests that the brain’s structure follows a predetermined, genetic blueprint, the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports.

Pakistan offered to trade Davis for Aafia Siddiqui: Report

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Islamabad, March 01: The Pakistan government offered to trade suspected CIA contractor Raymond Davis, arrested for gunning down two men in Lahore, for Pakistani terror suspect Aafia Siddiqui, who is currently serving a 86-year prison term in the US, according to a media report.

The Pakistan government proposed trading Davis for Siddiqui, an MIT-educated neuroscientist, but the offer was immediately dismissed by the US administration, ABC News quoted an unnamed senior American administration official and a Pakistani official as saying.

Hawala Trial: Geelani Stopped from Going to Srinagar

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New Delhi, March 01: Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, facing probe in a hawala case, was today stopped by Delhi Police from going to Srinagar after he tried to leave the city despite a notice by police against him.

The Delhi Police had served the notice to Geelani asking him not to leave the capital but he allegedly proceeded this morning for the airport to catch a flight to Srinagar. Geelani, who had been given the notice last month, was served a fresh notice last night.

Sarkozy keen to repair France’s image

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Paris, March 01: France has said it will send two flights of medical aid to the opposition-held city of Benghazi to help ease the pressure on hospitals in eastern Libya.

With President Nicolas Sarkozy keen to repair France’s image in the Arab world after his government’s clumsy handling of the Tunisian revolt, Paris has sought to position itself as a leading western voice in support of the Libyan rebels.

HSBC Profit Doubles last year..

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New York, March 01: HSBC has gained profit more than doubled last year, but that it expects new capital rules to weigh on the bank’s return on equity. Profit rose to $13.2 billion last year from $5.8 billion in the year before, as two units returned to profit and loan losses almost halved. But the earnings missed some analyst expectations, and HSBC said that new regulation that requires banks to hold more capital would lead to a return on shareholders’ equity of between 12 percent and 15 percent in the long-term — less than previously estimated.

Fearing arrest, Samuels declined World Cup offer

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New Delhi, March 01: Controversial West Indies batsman Marlon Samuels apparently rejected an offer to play in the World Cup as a replacement for injured Dwayne Bravo fearing that police officials might arrest him here over charges of match-fixing.

25 Indian VCs for Canada education summit

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Toronto, March 01: Twenty-five Indian vice-chancellors will participate in the Canada-India Education Summit to be held at Ottawa’s Carleton University as part of the Year of India in Canada.

The two-day education summit will be held May 16 and 17.

A statement Monday said Carleton University will host the summit in collaboration with the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (Canada), the Indian high commission and the Association of Colleges and Universities of Canada (AUCC).

Keep kids away from internet on mobile: Survey

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Beijing, March 01: As cell phones provide a more convenient and inconspicuous alternative to net surfing, Chinese children are obtaining access to the internet at a much younger age, triggering concerns that they may be exposed to harmful information, a survey has found.

A study, released Monday, shows that nearly 60 percent of the respondents had access to the internet for the first time when they were below 10 years old, Xinhua reported.

Upcoming financial legislative initiatives

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New Delhi, March 01: With an eye to growth through economic reforms, the government hopes to introduce at least seven financial legislations that found mention in Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s budget speech. Following is a brief description and current status of these bills:

Toyota recalls 145,000 Corolla cars in Brazil

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TOKYO, March 01: Toyota is recalling 145,000 Corolla cars in Brazil for fuel leaks in the latest in a slew of global quality problems ailing the world’s biggest automaker.

Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday its Brazilian unit issued a recall over the weekend to fix the fuel hose, tank and pump parts of the Corolla compact manufactured in Brazil between March 2008 and December 2010, and sold only in Brazil.

Toyota, which makes the Prius hybrid and Lexus luxury models, has been plagued by defects in a range of models, and has recalled more than 14 million vehicles globally since late 2009.

Iran slams West military option on Libya

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Tehran, March 01: Iran has warned the West against any military intervention in Libya, saying Western countries should not take advantage of the popular movement in Libya to turn the country into a military base.

Declare crop damage due to frost as national calamity: BJP

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NEW DELHI, March 01: A demand for declaring the damage to crops caused by frost in Madhya Pradesh as a national calamity generated heat in the Lok Sabha today.

The House was adjourned for almost 90 minutes after BJP members from the state stormed the well demanding immediate relief to the affected farmers by the Centre.

Salman Khan Changed….

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Mumbai, March 01: Salman Khan is more than behaving himself on the sets of ‘Ready’, a film that is being shot in Thailand currently. And Salman Khan who is the main lead in the movie has changed a lot and he is discipline personified.

He has become a treat to work with. Salman Khan, it is heard, reports to the sets on time, does what is asked of him, and is giving this movie his cent per cent, so much so that the completion of ‘Ready’ is way before schedule.

Sonali Bendre shows off her panty

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Mumbai, March 01: Bollywood actress Sonali Bendre has done the daring act again.

The actress, who was recently spotted pantyless at Karan Johar’s party, made her underwear visible this time.

Sonali in a short sky blue dress attended the inauguration event of Sussanne Roshan’s store The Charcoal Project.

Sonali sat in such a position in the car that her panty was visible to the paparazzi.

Well, the reporters present at the event wasted no time and clicked the pictures of Sonali Bendre.

——–Agencies

‘People’s era has come in Bahrain’

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Manama, March 01: Leader of Bahrain’s opposition Haq movement Hassan Mushaimaa says Bahrainis must shape the coming political era in the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom.

“I want to tell you really good news. This is your era, the era of the people, the era of speech and era of victory,” Reuters quoted Mushaimaa as saying in an address to a group of followers at a mosque in the Bahraini capital, Manama, on Monday.

“Today is our day, the day of the people. We must pay attention to that and raise our heads and feel pride and dignity,” the Bahraini opposition figure added.

Russia urges rationale on Iran N-case

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Moscow, March 01: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has expressed his country’s opposition to unilateral sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, urging logic to deal with the case.

“We are strongly against politicization of Iran’s nuclear case and call for debating the issue through legal and technical channels,” Mehr news agency quoted Lavrov as speaking in a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi in the Swiss city of Geneva on Monday.

‘Iran’s ground forces in top readiness’

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Tehran, March 01: A top Iranian military commander says the ground forces of Iran’s Army are at the peak of their strength and capable of powerfully thwarting any potential invaders.

“The Ground Forces, equipped with modern and domestically-built equipment, are at the zenith of power and capable of simultaneously confronting the enemy in multiple fronts in case of any potential invasion,” Commander of the Iranian Army’s Ground Forces Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan told IRNA on Monday.

Italian soldier killed in Herat blast

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Herat, March 01: A blast in Herat province in war-torn Afghanistan has left at least one Italian soldier dead, bringing the number of US-led foreign forces killed in the Asian country to 68 in 2011.

An earlier report said three other US-led foreign forces were wounded in the Tuesday blast targeted at foreign forces in the war-ravaged country.

NATO has not yet released the exact location of the incidents.

———Agencies

NINE YEARS AFTER GULBARG MASSACRE…

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Hyderabad, March 01: The Gulbarg Society massacre took place on February 28, 2002, during the 2002 Gujarat riots, when a mob attacked the Gulbarg Society, a lower middle-class Muslim neighbourhood in Chamanpura, Ahmedabad. Most of the houses were burnt, and at least 35 victims including a former Congress Member of Parliament Ehsan Jafri, were burnt alive, while 31 others went missing after the incident, later presumed dead, bringing the total of the dead to 69.