Month: March 2011

US stocks continue rise on economic optimism

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New York, March 31: US markets continued their upward swing Wednesday as traders were buoyed by optimism that jobs data due out later in the week would point to continued economic recovery.

Telecommunications stocks led the rally after AT&T chief executive Randall Stephenson outlined the benefits of a planned takeover of smaller rival T-Mobile, a subsidiary of Germany’s Deutsche Telekom.

Traders expect the US jobless rate to continue to fall when monthly figures are released Friday. The rate stood at 8.9 percent in February.

40,000 women a year from China go to Hong Kong to give birth

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Hong Kong, March 31: Hong Kong’s public hospitals are struggling to cope as 40,000 women a year from China cross the border to give birth in the wealthy city, a minister was quoted as saying Wednesday.

Health Secretary York Chow said the number of mainland Chinese women giving birth in the city had risen from a few hundred six years ago to nearly half Hong Kong’s 88,000 births in 2010.

“It really puts pressure on our obstetrics services and neonatal intensive care units and even maybe paediatric services,” Chow was quoted as saying by the South China Morning Post.

We’ll win the final also: Shah Rukh Khan

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Mumbai, March 31: Superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who caught the historic India-Pakistan World Cup semifinal with a group actor of friends at his residence Mannat, said India was going to win the final as well.

King Khan is going to watch Saturday’s India-Sri Lanka final at Wankhade Stadium with his children.

“We will win the final also. I have bought an extra T-Shirt for that… so I have to go there and watch the finals Inshallah! The kids want to go and see,” Shah Rukh told reporters at Mannat.

India’s population pegged at 1,210.2 million

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New Delji, March 31: India’s population is now pegged at 1.21 billion, an increase of more than 181 million in the last 10 years, according to the provisional 2011 Census report released on Thursday.

The population comprising 623.7 million males and 586.5 million females is almost equal to the combined population of the United States, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Japan put together.

The population has increased by more than 181 million during the decade 2001-2011, the report said. The growth rate in 2011 is 17.64 per cent in comparison to 21.15 per cent in 2001.

I have no interest in Indian politics: Chatwal

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New York, March 31: “I have no interest in Indian politics,” said high-profile Indian American hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal as he again denied a purported WikiLeaks report suggesting that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was trying to win Akali Dal support during the 2008 trust vote through him.

“I have no interest in Indian politics because I live in this country and spend most of my time here,” said Chatwal.

Talks with Manmohan Singh positive: Yousuf Raza Gilani

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Mohali, March 31: Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani tonight termed his talks with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh as “positive” and said they discussed all the core issues between the two countries.

“Talks were positive. We discussed all the core issues between the two countries,” Gilani told the Pakistan media in a brief chat after his dinner meeting with Singh in the midst of the World Cup cricket semifinal with India here.

Assam CM’s press advisor killed in road accident

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Guwahati, March 31: Assam chief minister’s press adviser Debo Kumar Bora was killed in a road accident Thursday and his wife critically injured.

A police spokesperson said the accident took place near the Kaziranga National Park in eastern Assam, about 220 km east of here.

“The vehicle carrying Bora, his wife, and son, hit a stationary truck parked on the roadside and he died on the spot,” a police official said.

Bora’s wife has been shifted to the Jorhat Medical College Hospital with serious injuries. His son, who studies in Australia, escaped with minor injuries.

Excited to play final in Mumbai: Harbhajan

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Mohali, March 31: Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh is excited that India are playing in Mumbai in the World Cup final on Saturday as the city has become his second home after basing there for three years as Mumbai Indians player.

“We bowled well and fielded well. We deserved to win. We are so excited to be going to Mumbai and play the final. I play for Mumbai Indians and it is like second home to me,” he said after India’s 29-run win over Pakistan in a high voltage semifinal clash here today.

Battle Mohali won! India one step from WC glory

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Mohali, March 31: India beat archrivals Pakistan in a thumping fashion to script a final showdown with Sri Lanka on Saturday. Chasing 261 to win, Pakistan fell short by 29 runs at Mohali, a result that saw India’s World Cup record remain intact (India have won all five encounters against Pak in World Cup).

The victory saw the tournament favourites sending a strong warning to the Lankans as Team India set sights on World Cup immortality.

Imran blames ‘terrible’ fielding for Pakistan’s loss

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New Delhi, March 31: Former captain Imran Khan today lashed out at Pakistan players for their “terrible” work in the field and said that a team cannot afford to win a match by dropping a player like Sachin Tendulkar four times.

Pakistan dropped Tendulkar four times, allowing the champion batsman to play a knock of 85, which helped India eke out a 29-run win over the arch-rivals in the semi-final of the World Cup in Mohali today.

“No team deserves to win the way Pakistan fielded,” Imran said.

It has been a privilege to be with this team: Kirsten

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Mohali, March 31: He has been a quiet backroom man monitoring things meticulously and no wonder that’s the precise reason why every Indian player wants Gary Kirsten to remain the coach of the national team.

But Kirsten who now only has one more match left to complete his tenure as India coach termed the experience as a “great one”.

“The next match will be my last as India coach. It’s been a great experience. It was a privilege to be with this team.

Hopefully, we will play well against a great team (SRi Lanka) in Mumbai,” Kirsten said in one of his last post-match interviews.

2,773 candidates in fray for TN Assembly polls

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Chennai, March 31: A total of 2,773 candidates are in the fray for the April 13 elections to the 234-member Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations ended today.

In total, 313 candidates withdrew their nominations and there were 2,773 candidates, including independents, in the fray, an Election Commission release said here tonight.

Among the prominent candidates in the fray are Chief Minister M Karunanidhi (Tiruvarur), AIADMK General Secretary J Jayalalithaa (Srirangam) and actor-politician Vijaykanth of DMDK (Rishivandhiyam).

Secret tapes show Rajaratnam traded on tips from Goldman source

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New York, March 31: Hedge fund tycoon Raj Rajaratnam told a colleague in secretly taped telephone conversations that he would trade on a tip by a source on the Goldman Sachs board about its unanticipated losses.

“I heard yesterday from someone who’s on the board of Goldman Sachs that they are gonna lose $2 per share,” Sri Lankan born Galleon Group founder is heard telling in tapes played in a New York court Wednesday in the biggest US insider trading trial.

NIA claims breakthrough in Samjhauta blast case

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New Delhi, March 31: The National Investigation Agency (NIA), India’s premier anti-terror probe body, Wednesday claimed a “breakthrough” in the probe into the 2007 Samjhauta Express train blast that killed 68 passengers, including 43 Pakistanis.

A day after India and Pakistan agreed on anti-terrorism cooperation – that includes sharing probe information on the Samjhauta blast and the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, the NIA, without naming anybody, said it has arrested a “key conspirator who confessed his involvement in the criminal conspiracy” of the train blast.

Libyan foreign minister defects, arrives in Britain

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London, March 31: Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi suffered another blow on Wednesday when his foreign minister flew into Britain telling officials he no longer wanted to represent the Tripoli regime.

Mussa Kussa arrived at Farnborough Airfield on Wednesday, a Foreign Office statement said.

“He travelled here under his own free will. He has told us that he is resigning his post,” it added.

“Mussa Kussa is one of the most senior figures in Gaddafi’s government and his role was to represent the regime internationally, something that he is no longer willing to do,” the statement continued.

Gujarat bans Lelyveld’s book on Gandhi, CM Modi calls it perverse

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Gandhinagar, March 31: A controversial book on Mahatma Gandhi was banned in his native state of Gujarat Wednesday, with Chief Minister Narendra Modi saying its contents were perverse and defamed the icon of non-violence.

A resolution to ban it was moved in the assembly by Modi and was passed unanimously. The book, “Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle With India”, by Pulitzer winning journalist Joseph Lelyveld, created a controversy after reviewers said it suggested that the Mahatma was a bisexual.

‘Obama signs secret order on Libya’

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Washington, March 31: The US president has signed a secret bill to authorize covert operations allegedly in support of the Libyan revolutionaries who are fighting to topple the long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi.

American government officials said on Wednesday that the US President Barack Obama signed the secret presidential finding during the past two or three weeks, Reuters reported.

The White House spokesman Jay Carney has refused to comment on the issue, saying intelligence matters would not be discussed.

Assad vows to defeat foreign ‘plot’

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Damascus, March 31: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says his government is ready to continue on the path of reforms and vows to defeat a foreign “plot” against his country.

Syria has been planning reforms for a long time, especially to improve the people’s standard of living, he said addressing the parliament on Wednesday.

He said enemies have taken advantage of the people’s legitimate demands in order to create division and undermine Syria’s stability, Reuters reported.

UNSC slaps sanctions on Gbagbo

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London, March 31: The UN Security Council (UNSC) has slapped sanctions on Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo due to his refusal to cede power to the president-elect Alassane Dramane Ouattara.

The UNSC unanimously voted to impose sanctions against Gbagbo on Wednesday in a bid to end the growing violence in Ivory Coast, the Associated Press reported.

The sanctions include travel bans and asset freezes targeting Gbagbo, his wife, and three of his closest allies. This comes after pro-Ouattara forces seized control of the capital, Yamoussoukro.

Iranians slam Arab world crackdowns

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Tehran, March 31: Iranians have demonstrated in Tehran to condemn the killing of civilians in brutal government crackdowns against peaceful protests in Bahrain and other Arab countries.

The protesters gathered on Wednesday in front of the United Nations office in the capital to voice solidarity with repressed anti-regime protesters in Arab states, IRNA reported.

“Death to America…death to the Israeli regime,” chanted the protesters, mostly university students, and condemned what they called “the Zionist Saudi regime” and “US-style Islam.”

Air raid on Tripoli, explosions in south-east suburb

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Tripoli, March 31: Explosions shook an eastern suburb of Tripoli today as warplanes staged a raid on the Libyan capital, a witness told Media by telephone.

Shortly after the aircraft flew over the east and south-east suburbs of the city, explosions could be heard in the south-east Salaheddine district, said the witness, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The raids had targetted a military site in the area, the witness added.

——-Agencies

Man guilty of garden sex act with girl, 3

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South Wales, March 31: A Man who suggested a lawn mower fall caused his stepdaughter’s injuries has been found guilty of having sexual intercourse with the three-year-old girl.

In the New South Wales District Court today, Judge Robert Sorby found the 32-year-old Sydney man guilty of having sexual intercourse with a girl under his authority and at the time causing her actual bodily harm.

During his trial, which was heard by the judge without a jury, the man pleaded guilty to aggravated neglect of the girl and her sister.

British man charged with sex offences with teen

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London, March 31: A British man who befriended a 15-year-old boy in Adelaide using Facebook has been arrested and charged with sex offences after arriving from the United Kingdom.

Police said the 40-year-old man was expected to appear in the Elizabeth Magistrates Court today charged with indecent assault and making communication with a child for prurient purposes.

“Police will allege the man met the teenager over the internet and has been corresponding with him for the last two years via Facebook,” a police spokesman said.

BJP demands Karuna”s resignation

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Chennai, March 31: BJP”s Tamil Nadu unit today demanded the resignation of Chief Minister M Karunaidhi over the alleged transportation of money meant for voters in police vehicles.

“The Election Commission”s submission in Madras High Court that even money was being distributed in police jeeps only confirms continuing violations of electoral rules by the ruling party,” a party statement said.

“Karunanidhi who is heading the police department should immediately resign owning responsibility for transportation of money in police van,” it said.

187 candidates in fray for 30 Assembly seats in Puducherry

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Puducherry, March 31: A total of 187 candidates are in the fray for the April 13 Puducherry Assembly elections, as revealed today, the last day for withdrawal of nominations.

Of the 378 nominations filed, as many as 100 were rejected during scrutiny. With 91 candidates withdrawing their nominations, a total of 187 candidates are now in the fray for the 30 Assembly seats, an official release said.

Notable contestants are Assembly Speaker R Radhakrishnan, Chief Minister V Vaithilingam and all his ministerial colleagues —