Month: April 2011

Thirteen MLCs administered oath

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Hyderabad, April 01: Thirteen newly elected MLCs from various political parties, representing the graduates and the local authorities constituencies, took oath of office on Thursday.

Pro tem Chairman Singam Basavapunnaiah administered the oath to the members, who began their six-year term today. M.V.S.Sarma, who was elected from the Graduates constituency for the second successive term, was the first to take oath. Former Chairman of the Council A.Chakrapani and Legislature Secretary Raja Sadaram were present.

Sensex extend gains, surges 117 points in opening trade

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Mumbai, April 01: The BSE benchmark Sensex rallied by over 117 points in opening trade today, extending its gains for the ninth session in a row on the back of steady capital inflows from foreign funds and easing inflation.

The 30-share index of the Bombay Stock Exchange rose by 117.33 points, or 0.60 per cent, to 19,562.55 points in opening trade. The Sensex has gained over 1,606 points in the previous eight sessions.

Stocks of realty, banking, oil and gas, metal, capital goods and auto coampanies led the rally.

Woman kills infants, self

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Bagalkot, April 01: Unable to bear ill treatment by her mother-in-law, a 25-year-old woman killed her two young children and herself by jumping into a pond along with them in a village in this district of Karnataka today, police said.

Rekhavva Prabhu Karosi tied her two children aged one and one-and-half years to herself and jumped into the pond situated on the outskirts of Jalageri Village, they said.

Rekhavva’s mother-in-law forcing her to do labour work was stated to be the motive behind her extreme step, police said.

-Agencies

EAMCET exams postponed to March 22

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Hyderabad, April 01: Andhra Pradesh government today postponed the Engineering, Agriculture, Medicine Common Entrance Test (EAMCET), scheduled to be held on May 8, to May 22.

“The Election Commission made the announcement regarding bypolls to Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency and Pulivendula Assembly seat on May 8. After considering all aspects, we have decided to postpone the EAMCET from May 8 to 22,” a top government official told reporters here.

EAMCET is hugely popular in the state with lakhs of people taking the test every year.

-Agencies

Court acquits MNS-Sena activists accused of rioting

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Mumbai, April 01: A local court today acquitted 54 Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) activists, accused of rioting and pelting stones at each other in Central Mumbai in October, 2006.

The sessions court here acquitted 23 MNS activists, including party spokesperson Shirish Parker, and 31 Shiv Sena activists, including former MLA Sada Sarvankar and former city Mayor Milind Vaidya.

BJP top brass to cheer team India

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New Delhi, April 01: After giving a deliberate miss to the crucial cricket match between India and Pakistan in the semi-finals in Mohali, the BJP top-brass is all set to go to Mumbai to watch the finals over the weekend, where India and Sri Lanka will clash for the World Cup.

Vijaykant videos morphed: AIADMK

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Chennai, April 01: AIADMK today claimed that visuals showing DMDK leader Vijaykant allegedly assaulting his party candidate were morphed by pro-DMK channels to create his negative image among voters and sought the intervention of election officials to stop such “false propaganda”.

BJP protests increase in circle rates in Faridabad

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Faridabad, April 01: To protest against the increase in circle rates of property in the district, local BJP leaders went on a day-long hunger strike at the Secretariat here today.

“The BJP is against the Congress government’s decision to increase the circle rates in Faridabad district. We have called for a Faridabad-bandh on April 15 to force the government to take back their decision,” BJP’s district secretary Ajay Gaur said.

The state government’s decision to increase circle rates in the district is being opposed from various quarters, especially the property agents’ associations.

Mini emergency in TN, says Karuna

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Erode (TN), April 01: With the Election Commission’s restrictions on use of money power in the April 13 Assembly polls, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today accused some officials of acting like in the days of emergency to defeat the DMK-led alliance.

“To defeat the DMK-led alliance in the coming election, some officials are acting like in emergency period, intercepting vehicles and pedestrians checking them whether they are carrying money and giving troubles to the innocent.

This is like a mini emergency period in Tamil Nadu,” he told an election meeting here late tonight.

Opposition walkout in Maharashtra legislative council

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Mumbai, April 01: Opposition Shiv Sena and BJP members today staged a walkout in Maharashtra Legislative Council over a technical issue.

Earlier, the Upper House was adjourned as the opposition demanded that the Governor’s directives on Statutory Development Boards were not made available to them.

The Governor’s directives on the Statutory Development Boards include allocation of funds to Vidarbha, Marathwada and rest of Maharashtra for irrigation purpose.

SP to go it alone in UP polls

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Meerut, April, 01: Samajwadi Party today said it will go it alone in the next Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh to be held in 2012.

“Samajwadi Party is no mood to have a tie-up with any party, including the Congress, in UP Assembly polls. We want to go it alone,” SP general Secretary Ram Gopal Yadav told reporters here.

The SP leader was here to meet party MLA Vijay Mishra, lodged in Meerut jail in connection with the bomb attack on UP Cabinet minister Nand Gopal Gupta ‘Nandi’ last year.

Replying to a question he said Mishra had been framed in the case.

-Agencies

Yousuf Raza Gilani wants India to play in Pakistan

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New Delhi, April 01: Acknowledging that cricket has become a uniting factor for the India and Pakistan, prime minister Manmohan Singh during a dinner meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani at Mohali on Wednesday, said the sporting links between the two countries should be normalised as early as possible.

The two premieres also talked about ending Pakistan’s isolation in cricket terms of hosting matches while discussing “reconciliation” and “healing wounds.”

Airfares to Mumbai hit the sky

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Mumbai, April 01: If you have a last-minute plan to watch the World Cup finals live in Mumbai on April 2, be prepared to shell out a lot of money, for the tickets and for the airfare here.

Wisconsin Judge halts anti-union law

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Wisconsin, April 01: A judge in the US state of Wisconsin has forced Governor Scott Walker to halt the implementation of a budget bill that would restrict the rights of unions.

Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) on Thursday against legislation that would curb public workers’ collective bargaining rights and reduce their wages, Reuters reported.

The TRO could force the state government to change its budget plans for the current fiscal year due to the delay.

Bieber, Kutcher team up for new film

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London, April 01: Singer Justin Bieber is set to make his movie debut alongside actor Ashton Kutcher with “Kenny”.

According to Los Angeles Times, the “buddy comedy” presented by Sony Films is about “a relationship between a 17-year-old and his thirtysomething self”.

The film is described as an R-rated comedy that was originally set to be produced by MGM/United Artists in 2008.

However, the new draft is “less raunchy” and involves Kutcher’s character jumping back in time to help his younger self, played by Bieber, reports contactmusic.com

–Agencies

Italy bars TV cameras from Berlusconi’s ‘Ruby’ trial

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Milan, April 01: Television crews will be barred from the courtroom where Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is due to be tried for paying for sex with an underage erotic dancer nicknamed ‘Ruby’, according to a Thursday ruling.

Italy’s attorney general Laura Bertole Viale and state prosecutor Manlio Minale signed the ordinance. It reversed an earlier ruling saying that only Italy’s public broadcaster RAI could film the trial, which begins April 6 at a court in the northern Italian city of Milan.

Nehra may have to sit out final with a fractured finger

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Mumbai, April 01: India may have to take the field in Saturday’s Cricket World Cup final against Sri Lanka here without left arm pacer Ashish Nehra who has fractured the middle finger of his right hand, according to team media manager Ranjib Biswal.

The official said Nehra sustained the injury while fielding during Wednesday’s semifinal against Pakistan at Mohali, where he finished with figures of 2/33.

Kerry Katona to relaunch singing career

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London, April 01: Singer Kerry Katona is planning to relaunch her music career.

“Career-wise, because you get your hopes up and then get let down, you’re best off just taking it easy. But there’s definitely music in the pipeline and acting. But nothing I can confirm right now, mirror.co.uk quoted the former Atomic Kitten star as saying.

“Lots of offers have come in, I’m just deciding which one to do,” she added.

–Agencies

Wall Street cheers strong gains in first quarter

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New York, April 01: US stocks traded mixed in the last trading day of the first quarter, with blue chips achieving the best quarterly gains since 1998.

Investors were concerned that a possible inflation risk might hurt the US economic recovery as oil prices Thursday hit the highest level since September 2008, Xinhua reported.

The market stayed uneasy as issues such as the nuclear radiation in quake-hit Japan and the unrest in the Middle East and North Africa remained unsettled.

The CBOE Volatility Index, widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, fell below 18.

Afridi`s daughter breaks into tears after Pakistan`s defeat

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Karachi, April 01: Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi`s eldest daughter broke into tears after watching the national team lose the World Cup semi-final to India in Mohali.

“I am hurt and sad that we lost the match. I was so excited that we will beat India,” Aqsa said before breaking down into tears on camera on Geo News channel.

Afridi`s youngest daughter blamed Misbah-ul-Haq for the defeat.

“Misbah realised very soon that he needed to score runs,” she said sarcastically.

Sharapova reaches final of Miami tennis tournament

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Moscow, April 01: Russia’s Maria Sharapova broke into the final of the Sony Ericsson Open tennis tournament with $4.5 million up for grabs in prize money after defeating Germany’s Andrea Petkovic.

Sharapova (16-seed), playing for the first time in Miami since 2007, began her semifinal encounter Thursday with a first set defeat, but rebounded quickly in the following two breathtaking sets to clinch a confident victory over Petkovic (21-seed) 3-6, 6-0, 6-2.

Women buy gifts for bosses, pets, not for partners

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London, April 01: Women across the world buy more presents for their pets and bosses rather than their partners.

Half of British women interviewed said they had around 100 pounds per month in disposable income. Around two-thirds is spent lavishly on their children while 10 percent bought gifts for their boss, the Daily Express reported.

Facebook to be worth $234 billion by 2015

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New York, April 01: Facebook will have market value of $234 billion by 2015, up from its current valuation of $85 billion, according to an analysis by brokerage firm Wedbush Securities that analyzes the valuations of private companies.

Wedbush Securities analyst Lou Kerner, who made this guess in a report last week on the what he called the ‘Second Internet’, says by 2015 Facebook will earn $11 billion on $22 billion and have a market value of $234 billion, Business Insider said Thursday.

Indians among top three among new US green card holders

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Washington, April 01: Mexico, China and India topped the list the countries whose nationals were among over a million foreigners who became permanent legal residents of the United States in fiscal year 2010 ended in September.

While Mexico topped the list as the country of birth with 13 percent of the 1,042,625 new legal permanent residents or green card holders, China and India accounted for seven percent each, the department of homeland security said Thursday.

Tharoor hired for hefty amounts: Shunglu panel

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New Delhi, April 01: The V K Shunglu Committee report has criticised the CWG’s Organising Committee (OC) for hiring Shashi Tharoor, former Union Minister for State, as a consultant for hefty amounts without justifying his corresponding role and work.