Kolkata, May 31: Taking a dig at former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for criticising her new government which took office just 10 days back, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said she took pity on him for becoming ‘restless’ so soon. ”We are in the government for just 10 days and you have become restless so early?
Bangalore, May 31: Refuting reports that BJP was distancing itself from the Reddy brothers on the illegal mining issue, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Tuesday gave them a clean chit, denying their involvement in the matter.
“It is not correct to say that they are involved in illegal mining. There is no truth in it,” Yeddyurappa told reporters when asked about the action he proposed to take against the Reddy brothers over illegal mining.
Mumbai, May 31: Sachin Tendulkar and former all-rounder Salim Durrani bagged top honours, while the World Cup winning Indian team led by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was felicitated by the Cricket Board at it annual awards function this evening.
Tendulkar was bestowed with the `Polly Umrigar Award for India`s best cricketer of 2009-10` and received a trophy and cheque for Rs five lakh, while Durrani was felicitated with the CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award for which he received a trophy, a cheque for Rs 15 lakh and a citation.
Mumbai, May 31: After having had excelled on small screen as a producer, Ekta Kapoor is leaving no stone unturned to supersede her counterparts with her foray into film production. The queen of television soaps and serials, Ekta is contemplating shooting the sequel of her 2010 blockbuster ‘Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai’ in Pakistan.
Buzz has it that filmmaker Milan Luthria and the Kapoor girl are keen to shoot certain portions of the film across the border to give an authentic look to the film based on real life don Dawood Ibrahim.
Mumbai, May 31: Just days after coming out in support of Bollywood film financer Karim Morani, Shah Rukh Khan took a u-turn today after he said that he has no professional terms or tie-ups whatsoever with Morani who has been accused in the 2G scam.
Interestingly, only yesterday Karim Morani’s daughter Zoa, who debuts in SRK’s production ‘Always Kabhi Kabhi’ said that Shah Rukh is their family’s most trusted friend.
Distancing himself from the controversy, SRK denied any links with the Moranis. He requested media not to drag him into the 2G storm.
Dubai, May 31: The number of followers tracking the activities of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on the social networking sites, Facebook and Twitter, has hit an unprecedented 840,000 according to the latest reports.
Riyadh, May 31: Saudi Arabian officials said there is no blanket plan to revoke work permits for foreigners who have held jobs in the kingdom for six or more years, clarifying a statement by the labour minister.
Adel Fekyeh, the minister, was quoted Monday as decreeing that such long-term foreign workers would not be given renewed work permits — a measure aimed at boosting job opportunities for Saudis. Unemployment in the oil-rich country stands at 10.5 per cent. Fekyeh had not made clear precisely who would be affected or when.
Dubai, May 31: An Arab Spring we can all get behind. Quick, somebody ask Obama how he feels about Muslim women standing up for themselves.
A Turkish woman set fire to a man in a mosque in southern Germany on Saturday. She says she acted out of revenge after the man raped her.
The 36-year-old poured petrol over the 38-year-old man in a mosque in the city of Reutlingen, in Baden-Württemberg, before setting him alight. The woman was taken into custody on Sunday, on charges of attempted murder, according to the state prosecutors office and the police.
Saudi women have defied the ban by launching a campaign on Facebook and Twitter under the motto ‘I will drive, starting June l7’.
Recently the authorities arrested a woman who did indeed challenge the ban in a major street of Khobar. She was released a few hours later, but her brother had to sign a statement, promising the misdemeanour would not be repeated.
While the campaign is drawing massive support from many women and a number of men, there is now a counter campaign, launched by men who threaten to use their iqal (headgear) and whip women who drive openly.
Tripoli, May 31: South African President Jacob Zuma held talks with Muammar Gaddafi Tuesday and said the Libyan leader was ready to accept an African Union plan for a ceasefire, CNN reported.
Zuma emerged from a meeting with the long-time Libyan leader, convinced that Gaddafi was ready for an end to hostilities, including air strikes and the fight with the Benghazi-based opposition.
The South African president, however, gave no indication that Gaddafi was prepared to step aside, the report said.
Dubai, May 31: About 17.2 per cent of Dubai residents smoke and one-third of the Emirate’s population is exposed to the risk of smoking, either directly or as passive smokers, revealed the Dubai Household Health Survey (DHHS).
Adults in Dubai reportedly smoke an average of 12 cigarettes a day. Men in Dubai are five times more likely to smoke as compared to women, and the prevalence of smoking among nationals is at 8.6 per cent, added the study, which examines the prevalence and risk factors of tobacco use in the Emirate.
New Delhi, May 31: Seeking to widen consultations, the Centre today wrote to all Chief Ministers and leaders of political parties eliciting their views on issues including whether to bring the Prime Minister under Lokpal.
A day after civil society activists on the Joint Drafting Committee on the Bill threatened to take to streets, Home Minister P Chidambaram and HRD Minister Kapil Sibal addressed a press conference to make it clear that the government was committed to bringing a Bill in the Monsoon session of Parliament.
Hyderabad, May 31:Though the wedding is happening in Hyderabad, the excitement of it is no less in Mumbai as well. We are talking about the marriage of Mallika, the granddaughter of industrialist GV Krishna Reddy to Siddharth Reddy. Their engagement ceremonysaw actor Katrina Kaif groove to Sheila Ki Jawani and actor Akshay Kumar do some daredevil stunts.
A source confirmed that special chartered flights are leaving for Mumbai airport which will be ferryingthe guests for the wedding which is slated to happen on June 11.
Karachi, May 31: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Tuesday revoked the No Objection Certificate (NOC) granted to Shahid Afridi that will prevent the retired cricketer to play in county cricket and other Twenty20 leagues.
A day after Afridi announced his retirement and blamed PCB’s ill-treatment towards him as the reason for his decision, the board also issued him a show-cause notice.
Tripoli, May 31: Muammar Gaddafi is emphatic he will not leave Libya, South African President Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday after talks with the Libyan leader that left prospects for a negotiated end to the conflict looking dim.
But new questions emerged over how long Gaddafi could hold on after a senior United Nations aid official said shortages of food and medicine in areas of Libya controlled by Gaddafi amounted to a “time bomb.”
Hyderabad, May 31: Angry villagers in Andhra Pradesh Tuesday burnt alive a man in the presence of police after he attacked an 18-year-old girl, critically injuring her, police said. The Class 12 student Mounica has been taken to a Hyderabad hospital.
Babu, 23, a farm worker, was killed in Zafargarh village near Raghunathpally in Warangal district. A resident of Perumallagudem village in the same district, Babu was married and had three children, according to a police official.
Washington, May 31: As Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley returns to the stand Tuesday to testify in a high-stakes terrorism trial in connection with the 2008 Mumbai attacks, questions are being raised about his credibility.
The question whether Headley aka Daood Gilani, Washington-born son of a Pakistani father and an American mother is telling the truth will hover over the Chicago trial of his one-time friend Pakistani Canadian Tahawwur Rana.
London, May 31: German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s flight to India was delayed Tuesday as Iran’s government allegedly refused it permission to fly over the country.
Merkel’s plane was forced to circle over Turkey for about two hours as a result, BBC quoted the German government stating in a report.
“We have never experienced anything like this before,” Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said. He said the incident was “unusual to say the least”.
“Strange start to Indian trip – Iran temporarily denies overflight to chancellor’s plane. Delayed landing in Delhi,” he tweeted.
New Delhi, May 31: Madhur Bhandarkar is having a tough time deciding on an actor to play Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s young lover in Heroine.
While Arjun Rampal has been signed to play a male lead, there’s another role for a younger actor who Ash romances and gets into a serious relationship with, in the film. The three actors in running for this role are Ranbir Kapoor, Imran Khan and Prateik.
Ghana, May 31: A 19-year-old former student of the Wa T.I Ahmadiyya Senior High School woke Tuesday morning without her ears – both had been chopped off.
Amina Karim Donlaa woke up Tuesday morning and was shocked by her blood soaked dresses.
Flummoxed by the situation she shouted for help and neighbours came to the rescue.
London, May 31: A teenage Muslim girl was stoned to death under ‘Sharia law’ after taking part in a beauty contest in Ukraine.
Katya Koren, 19, was found dead in a village in the Crimea region near her home.
Friends said she liked wearing fashionable clothes and had come seventh in a beauty contest.
Her battered body was buried in a forest and was found a week after she disappeared.
Police have opened a murder investigation and are looking into claims that three Muslim youths killed her, claiming her death was justified under Islam.
Hyderabad,May 31: The ruling Congress in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday expressed confidence over facing a no-confidence motion, in case it is moved on the floor of the assembly.
“Moving a no-confidence motion is the right of the opposition parties. We have no objection to it. We are ready to face it,” state Congress president D Srinivas told reporters here.
He was replying to a query about the war of words between Kadapa MP YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and main opposition TDP on tabling a no-trust vote against the Congress government.
New Delhi, May 31: Former President Giani Zail Singh’s role during his tenure as Punjab chief minister has been criticised as also that of Sanjay Gandhi for the Punjab crisis of the 80s in a book on Congress.
The fifth volume of the series ‘A Centenary History of the Indian National Congress’ makes critical observations on “dirty politics” in the name of religion in Punjab that it concluded was one of the factors for terrorism and the Khalistan agitation in Punjab.
Islamabad, May 31: A senior leader of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party was gunned down and four others were injured in an attack by unidentified men in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday, police said.
Maulana Salimullah, a former head of the JUI chapter in Karak district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, was killed instantly when the gunmen attacked him in Latambar area, police officials said.
Four other persons were hit by bullets and were taken to a nearby hospital.
The attackers fled from the scene. Police cordoned off the area and launched a search operation.
Belfast, May 31: A church youth group leader who had sex with a 15-year-old girl has been jailed for three and a half years.
Jamie McKeag, 23, from Wedderburn Gardens in Belfast, pleaded guilty to four offences of sexual activity with a child over a two-month period in 2010.
Appearing in Belfast Crown Court on Tuesday, McKeag was banned from working with children and placed on the police sex offenders register for life.
The judge told McKeag it was her duty to “signal society’s abhorrence”.