Jakarta, May 29: A shallow-undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 jolted Sumatra island earlier Sunday, however, suggested no potential danger of a tsunami, Xinhua quoted the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency as saying.
The quake, which struck at 00.07 a.m. (Jakarta time) Sunday (1707 GMT Saturday), had its epicentre at 119 km southwest Krui of Lampung province and a depth at 10 km under sea bed, an official of the agency stated.
London, May 29: Popstar Cheryl Cole, who was recently sacked from the judging panel of the show `X Factor USA`, will receive the full pay of USD 2 million for four days of work.
The 27-year-old was let go by Fox network which makes the show, because of “lack of chemistry” with fellow judges. And despite being on the panel for just four days, Cole will take home full pay for the series, reported a website.
Fellow judge Simon Cowell who brought the singer to US for the show has broken his silence on the matter saying, “I feel guilty”.
Kathmandu, May 29: Nepal’s main political parties agreed Sunday to extend parliament’s term for three months, leaders said, in an eleventh-hour deal that will see the prime minister step down.
The agreement followed days of tense negotiations over the future of Nepal’s parliament, or Constituent Assembly (CA), elected in 2008 on a two-year mandate to write a new constitution for the young republic.
Despite being granted an extra 12 months last year, it has been unable to complete the task, amid fierce disagreements between the main political parties.
Alwarpet, May 29: Chief Minister Jayalalithaa will launch the free rice distribution scheme at a function at Alwarpet here on Wednesday. This will be her first public function after assuming office.
A senior official said that early this week, she gave away assistance to fisher folk, but the event took place at Fort St. George housing the Secretariat. As part of the scheme, 1.83 crore cardholders are entitled to 20 kg of rice a month subject to fulfilling the norms.
Hyderabad, May 29: Congress Legislature Party said that nothing is visible to Telugu Desam Party chief Mr. N Chandrababu Naidu except CM’s chair. The TDP who has lost confidence of its own leaders has failed in playing constructive role as opposition. Govt. Chief Whip Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka on Saturday told this during a press conference at CLP office.
With her remarks on Arun Jaitley regarding Reddy brothers threatening to snowball into a major row, BJP President Nitin Gadkari today stepped in to virtually snub Sushma Swaraj saying any debate on the choice of ministers in Karnataka in the media is “totally unnecessary”.
Gadkari came out with a statement this evening after former party president Rajnath Singh and Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa claimed responsibility for inducting the controversial Reddy brothers, mining magnates, into the state cabinet, from which Swaraj had distanced herself.
New Delhi, May 29: India has affirmed a “continuing commitment to Palestine” and voiced support for “the Palestinian people’s struggle for a sovereign, independent, viable, and united State of Palestine.”
Addressing the Non-aligned Movement (NAM) Committee on Palestine in Bali, Minister of State for External Affairs, E. Ahamed, said: “India welcomes the recent reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas on the West Bank and Gaza.”
Hyderabad, May 29: Having a distinguished identity in the world of jewellery, Jos Alukkas has now announced to open a splendid showroom in the capital city of Andhra Pradesh. Telugu film star Prince Mahesh Babu will inaugurate the showroom on June 4 at 11 am at Panjagutta.
Several significant personalities related to social and cultural sectors will attend the function. Jos Alukkas has many showrooms in Kerala, Karnataka, Tamilnadu and Pondichery however the showroom which is going to open at Punjagutta Hyderabad will be extremely modern and extensive spread over an area of 12000 sqft.
Azamgarh, May 29 (UNI) The All India Anti-Terrorist Front Chaiman M S Bitta has demanded that Parliament attack case convict Afzal Guru be hanged immediately.
The politics over the death sentence of Afzal was unfortunate and all parties should unite to deal firmly with terrorism,” he said.
Talking to mediapersons here last night, Mr Bitta, former All India Youth Congress chief said when the judiciary has found Afzal’s involvement in the attack then why is there so much delay in executing the orders.
Mumbai, May 29: Superstar Rajinikanth flew to Singapore on Friday for further mecical treatment after being discharged from the Sri Ramachandra Medical Centre, Porur. The actor is expected to meet specialists at the National Kidney Foundation in Singapore. Senior cardiologist Dr. T.R. Muralidharan accompanied him.
Rajni has been suffering from acute gastro-intestinal and respiratory problems since April 29. The actor was booked as a ‘wheelchair passenger’. His wife Latha, daughters Aishwarya and Soundarya also accompanied him.
Srinagar, May 29:Vowing to expose the killers of Maulana Showkat Ahmad Shah, Jamiat-e-Ahlihadees president, Ghulam Rasool Malik, Saturday said that Maulana became victim because of his rising popularity among people.
Talking to KNS, Malik said, “There won’t be any compromise in exposing Maulana’s killers and whole nation is behind us on this issue. Double faced killers have become a mystery in Kashmir. They will be exposed by the nation soon.”
New Delhi, May 29: Sending a message to Pakistan in the wake of the Karachi attack, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said its leadership should realise that the terror machine there was “equally hurting” them and must take more effective action against jihadi groups targeting India.
He asserted that terrorism as an instrument of state policy of Pakistan was “simply not acceptable to people in the civilised world” and said India will use every possible opportunity to convince them about it.
Hyderabad, May 29: Alleging that TDP had taken an ambiguous stand on the separate statehood issue, the Telangana Political Joint Action Committee asked the party to pass a pro-Telangana state resolution during its ongoing annual conclave.
“TDP does not have a clear stand on Telangana. They are voicing region-wise demands. If the TDP passes a resolution at the ongoing ‘Mahanadu’ (annual party conclave), then we can increase pressure on the Congress government at the Centre,” JAC Convener M Kodandaram told reporters here.
Kolkata, May 29: A Delhi-Bangkok Kingfisher Airlines flight made an emergency landing at the N S C Bose International Airport here today due to a technical snag, officials said.
The plane made a safe landing at around 4 a.m, they said.
The passengers will be accommodated in another plane of the airline as engineers are inspecting the aircraft to detect the problem, officials said.
——–PTI
New Delhi, May 29: Voicing concern over the terror machine still remaining intact in Pakistan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked the leadership in Islamabad to “now wake up” and stop jehadi groups operating from its soil to target India.
Sending a message to Pakistan in the wake of the Karachi attack, Singh has said its leadership should realise that the terror machine there was “equally hurting” them and must take more effective action against the terror groups.
New Delhi, May 29: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has expressed confidence that his government will be able to achieve 8.5 per cent growth during the current fiscal despite concerns over high oil prices.
“As of now I have not seen any sign that we should change our view with regard to our ability to sustain a growth rate of 8.5 per cent… I am confident that we will be able to sustain a growth rate of 8.5 per cent this year,” Singh told reporters last night who accompanied him on his visit to Africa.
New Delhi, May 29: A four-year-old orphan tiger, shifted recently from a rehabilitation centre in Assam to Van Vihar National Park in Bhopal, seems to have brought cheers to the officials as they hope it will add to the gene pool of the wild cats in the breeding centre.
The tiger, named Vivek, reached Van Vihar on Friday evening after a five-day journey covering 2012km on road from the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) near Kaziranga in Assam.
Bangalore, May 29: Anti-graft activist Anna Hazare appeared to target Congress President Sonia Gandhi, saying “remote control” is creating “problems” even as he praised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a “good person”.
“Prime Minister is a good person. Prime Minister is not bad. Problem comes because of the remote control,” he told a public meeting, in an obvious reference to the Congress President without naming her.
Then he went on to say: “Now, we are all confident that in every government, people’s power is the strongest.”
Imphal, May 29: Manipur government have imposed restrictions on both print and electronic media in the state from publishing news items, reports or statements which directly or indirectly supported unlawful activities, official sources said today.
A government order in this connection was issued yesterday by the state special secretary (Home) A K Sinha.
New Delhi, May 29: The attempt of a woman, embroiled in a legal battle with her estranged husband and his family, to stop her NRI sister-in-law from going offshore for vacation was thwarted by a Delhi court which said every citizen has a “fundamental right to go abroad”.
“All Indian citizens have a fundamental right to go abroad. Undoubtedly, the said rights to an Indian citizen to go abroad can be restricted by imposing certain reasonable conditions,” Additional Sessions Judge Raj Kumar Chauhan said.
Bhatkal, May 29: A horrendous mistake committed by a lab technician in Bhatkal could become a reason for divorce and could also kill an unborn child along with the pregnant lady. Aasma, W/o Mohammed Raahil, who is in the seventh month of her pregnancy, was declared HIV positive according to the report given by Seema Diagnostic Laboratory in Bhatkal.
London, May 29: A private estate that is home to a host of celebrities – including former Chelsea star Claude Makelele and Big Brother contestant Shilpa Shetty – is being taken over by a gang of squatters, reports Daily Telegraph.
And well-heeled residents of the gated St George’s Hill community in Weybridge, Surrey, are being asked to be ‘vigilant’ following the arrival of their new neighbours.
Six squatters moved into the abandoned £3million, six-bedroom Woodlawn Cottage on the exclusive estate last month, and claim they are not acting illegally.
Hyderabad, May 29: The succession war between the families of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) founder N.T. Rama Rao, or NTR, and his son-in-law and party chief N. Chandrababu Naidu came out in the open on Saturday at the annual conclave of the party here.
Angry over Naidu’s attempts to project his son N. Lokesh as his successor, N.T. Rama Rao’s son Nandamuri Harikrishna refused to address the conclave and left the venue in a huff.
New Delhi, May 29: Bollywood actress Preity Zinta seems to have got quite bored with her constant link-up to Australian fast bowler Brett Lee, who now plays for her Indian Premier League team Kings XI Punjab.
The actress, who was earlier dating industrialist Ness Wadia, took to micro-blogging site Twitter to tell her friends and fans that she is just friends with Lee.
“I think being romantically linked to Brett every year is outdated and stale news now! So sorry to say folks NO NEWS here! FRIENDS yeesss (sic),” posted Preity.
New Delhi, May 29: Being a housewife in contemporary India is a tedious task and comes with a new set of pressures, says writer-publisher Namita Gokhale who also believes that Indian feminists balance and suppress a lot.
“There is the pressure of looking young, slim and beautiful. As one gets older, one has to look younger. It is very hard work to be a Delhi society lady; a minute by minute struggle!” Gokhale, who has penned 10 books, told IANS in an interview.