Month: May 2011

Archaeologists dig out 500-yr-old remains of Mona Lisa ‘model’

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London, May 29: Archaeologists in Italy’s Florence city have uncovered a skeleton they believe could be the 500 year-old remains of the noblewoman who is believed to have posed for Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa masterpiece. FLORENCE: Archaeologists in Italy’s Florence city have uncovered a skeleton they believe could be the 500 year-old remains of the noblewoman who is believed to have posed for Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa masterpiece.

Man grooms teen girls for sex on Fb!

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London, May 29: In a bizarre incident, a 19-year old British man has been charged for having sex with girls as young as 13 whom he groomed on Facebook.

Jake Ormerod, from Torquay in Devon, admitted 13 charges related to eight girls when he appeared at a local court.

Ormerod was part of a paedophile gang that used Facebook to groom schoolgirls before meeting them, plying them with drink and drugs and sexually abusing them, The Sun reported.

The group hung around schools and preyed on young, vulnerable, missing children, police said.

UK training Saudi forces used to crush Arab spring

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London, May 29: Britain is training Saudi Arabia’s national guard – the elite security force deployed during the recent protests in Bahrain – in public order enforcement measures and the use of sniper rifles. The revelation has outraged human rights groups, which point out that the Foreign Office recognises that the kingdom’s human rights record is “a major concern”.

Renuka, Jaya Prada denies Hasan Ali links

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New Delhi, May 29: Former Union minister and Congress leader Renuka Choudhary and expelled SP leader Jaya Prada today denied having any links with Pune stud farm owner Hasan Ali Khan, accused of stashing black money abroad, after his associate Kashinath Tapuriah named them in his interrogation.

Tapuriah, a Kolkata-based businessman and co-accused in multi-crore money laundering case, had named several politicians in his statements to Enforcement Directorate.

Both Chowdhry and Jaya Prada refuted the allegations.

This is no age to marry, village teenagers tell peers

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Siddharthnagar, May 29: Gautam Kumar, a student of Class 10, eagerly waits for his school to get over so he can join his friends – not to play games, but asking others his age not to marry.

The 16-year-old is among around 200 members of a young brigade, striving to prevent child marriages in villages of Siddharthnagar district, some 350 km from Lucknow.

“Our main aim is to convince the locals not to marry off their sons and daughters before they turn 21 and 18 respectively,” Gautam, a native of Dohni village, told IANS.

Slumdog Millionaire did not deserve Oscar

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Mumbai, May 29: Bollywood music director Ismail Darbar has alleged that the coveted Oscar award conferred upon movie ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ in 2009 was compromised and had been “bought” by the recipients.

Slumdog Millionaire, a small budget British film made by Danny Boyle, was named best picture at the Academy Awards in 2009.

Bollywood music director A R Rahman also clinched the Oscars for original score and original song in the film to become the first Indian composer to strike gold at the annual Hollywood awards.

No ventilators at Gandhi, surgeries halted

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Hyderabad, May 29: Once again, the Gandhi Hospital is in the news for wrong reasons. On Saturday, all emergency medical services and major surgeries were postponed as ventilators failed to function properly, due to lack of oxygen supply.

Rs 55 Lakh worth assets seized of GHMC official’s

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Hyderabad, May 29: Raids conducted by Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) sleuths on Saturday unearthed disproportionate assets worth Rs 55 lakh possessed by an assistant city planner of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).

ACB officials raided G Amruth Kumar’s house at Srinagar Colony and his office and found that he possessed two flats at Kundanbagh and Kutbiguda, a house at P&T colony and four plots. Other assets included a car, motocycle, 897 grams of gold, 800 grams of silver, fixed deposit of Rs 4 lakh, bank balance of Rs 2.3 lakh and Rs 46,000 cash, a release said.

Cong to replace Mumbai unit chief

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New Delhi, May 29: The Congress high command has decided to remove Mumbai Congress chief Kripashanker Singh, who has been battling a slew of charges including his links with former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda and his son Narendra Mohan’s dealings with the Dynamix Realty group. He will be removed as soon as Congress chief Sonia Gandhi makes up her mind about his successor, it was reliably learnt.

Congress MPs Eknath Gaikwad, Milind Deora and Priya Dutt, besides state minister Suresh Shetty, are the main contenders for the post.

Babu sings a fresh Telangana tune

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Hyderabad, May 29: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu appears to have become a changed man as far as the separate statehood demand for Telangana is concerned.

Naidu played Batukamma, a tradition of Telangana, along with a large number of women on Saturday. He also called up the Cyberabad police commissioner and requested him to drop all cases against Osmania University students who staged a protest at the entrance of Mahanadu on Friday. All the students were subsequently released by the police.

‘Jallad’ who wanted to hang Kasab is dead

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New Delhi, May 29: The country’s lone hangman is no more. Mammu jallad whose life’s ambition was to hang Parliament-attack convict Afzal Guru and Mumbai-attacks convict Amir Ajmal Kasab, breathed his last at his hometown Meerut, in the week gone by, his last wish to put the duo to the gallows remaining unfulfilled.

Ironically, the matter of his death came to notice only when Tihar Jail authorities started preparing the gallows for Davinder Pal Singh Bhuller and Mahender Das.

Pakistan must curb monster of terror: PM

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New Delhi, May 29: In the wake of disclosures by Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley about ISI’s role in the 26/11 attack, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday asked Pakistan to effectively curb the jihadi outfits and underlined it is in Islamabad’s interest to control the monster of terror it has created.

UPA humiliated Karuna with Kanimozhi arrest: Mulayam

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New Delhi, May 29: Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav today accused the Congress-led UPA government of humiliating DMK leader and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi over the 2G scam by arresting his daughter Kanimozhi and former Union Communication Minister A Raja.

No plans to attack Pakistani nukes: Taliban

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Kabul, May 29: The Taliban has said they have no plans to attack Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal as their stepped-up violent campaign to avenge Osama bin Laden’s death has renewed fears that the country’s warheads could be vulnerable.

Declaring that “Pakistan is the only nuclear power state,” Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said that his group had no intention of changing the fact, Wall Street Journal reported.

‘TDP should come clean on Telangana’

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Hyderabad, May 29: Telugu Desam Party leader Nagam Janardhan Reddy, who was suspended from the party, has reiterated his demand for announcement of a clear stand in favour of separate Telangana failing which it will be difficult for the TDP to survive in the region.

India, Pak were ready to solve Kashmir issue in 1999

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Islambad, May 29: Former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif on Saturday said that India and Pakistan were ready to resolve the Kashmir issue in 1999.

“The then Indian prime minister (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee and I were ready to resolve the Kashmir issue in 1999 but General (Pervez) Musharraf did the misadventure in Kargil and then overthrew my government,” Sharif said while addressing a function on Saturday to mark the anniversary of Pakistan carrying out nuclear tests.

Minor maid raped, murdered in Thane

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Thane, May 29: A 14-year-old maid was raped and murdered by her employer in Vasant Vihar area of Maharashtra’s Thane city, police said Saturday. Her employer has been arrested.

“The victim was a maid at an apartment in the Panchvati building in Vasant Vihar. She was found unconscious on the steps of the building by neighbours, who rushed her to hospital,” inspector Shahaji Jadhav told IANS.

Police have arrested her employer Vikram Jasra, 68. He has been charged with rape and murder.

Nato Forces In Gaddafi Compound

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London, May 29: Nato forces including RAF Typhoons have carried out air strikes on Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s compound in the capital, Tripoli. To view this content you need Flash and Javascript enabled in your browser.

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The explosions on Saturday followed a fifth straight night of air strikes and signal a possible switch in tactics by the forces trying to end Colonel Gaddafi’s 41-year reign.

Yemeni government, armed tribesmen agree on ceasefire

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Sana’a, May 29: Yemeni government and armed tribesmen, led by the opposition tribal chieftain Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar, have reached a temporary truce to end pitched battles in the capital where at least 127 people have been killed, Xinhua quoted tribal mediators as saying.

The agreement includes the hand-over of government buildings occupied by the armed tribesmen during the conflicts to the mediators, who would later hand them over to the government.

Wives to the rescue of ‘cash-rich-lockers’

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Hyderabad, May 29: Standing in a court room in Delhi about 10 days ago, DMK leader M K Kanimozhi tried hard to cash in on her ‘I am a woman’ card to evade arrest in the 2G scam case. The attempt failed and the court packed her off to the barracks of Tihar Jail. Kanimozhi’s appeal for sympathy on grounds of being mother to a school-going child also paled before the grave charges she faced. While Kanimozhi couldn’t use her gender card to evade arrest, it often comes in handy to men for various other purposes, for using their names and permanent account numbers to stash their cash.

Ban on polythene carry bags from July 1

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Hyderabad, May 29: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) will strictly enforce ban on polythene carry bags in Greater Hyderabad limits from July 1. Any trader violating the ban will have to cough up a hefty penalty (10 times of licence fee) or risk closure of the business establishment. Also, a steep fine of Rs 500 will be imposed on individuals found using polythene carry bags.

The corporation will take up an awareness campaign in June through hoardings, advertisements, slides in cinema halls, etc.

Two black bucks killed by stray dogs

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Hyderabad, May 29: Two black bucks were killed by stray dogs at Nehru Zoological Park four days ago. Although zoo authorities tried to hush up the matter, the incident came to light on Saturday. This is the second such incident in the last four months.

Confirming the incident, zoo officials said that on May 24 night two stray dogs scaled the compound wall and entered the zoo. “Black bucks are shy animals. To save themselves from the menacing dogs, they ran fast and dashed the fence and died. One more got injured,” said K Sekhar Reddy, curator (incharge), zoo park.

Naidu demands Bharat Ratna for NTR

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Hyderabad, May 29: Paying glowing tributes to TDP founder and former chief minister NT Rama Rao on his 88th birth anniversary on Saturday, leader of the opposition N Chandrababu Naidu has demanded that the government confer ‘Bharat Ratna’ upon the veteran leader. Reiterating his demand to install a life-size statue of NTR in the Parliament complex in New Delhi, Naidu rued that nothing had happened in the last three years despite the House panel’s decision to install a statue there.

Ekta bans cell phones on the sets

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Mumbai, May 29: Ekta Kapoor More PicscKaran Johar tried hard to keep every character’s role in his rendition of Agneepath from leaking out. But to no avail. Mumbai Mirror on April 19, revealed lead actor Hrithik Roshan’s ‘Vijay Dinanath Chauhan’ look, for example.

To make sure that this doesn’t happen to her, producer Ekta Kapoor has gone one step ahead to secure the look and feel of her forthcoming film Dirty Picture. She has banned cell phones from the sets of the film.

Two UK soldiers killed in Afghanistan

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Kabul, May 29: Two British soldiers serving in the US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) have been killed by a homemade bomb in southern Afghanistan.

“The Royal Marines, from 42 Commando, were on an operation on Friday with Afghan forces to clear parts of Nad-e Ali district in Helmand province when they were hit by the blast,” AFP cited a statement released by Britain’s Ministry of Defense on Saturday.

Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are by far the most lethal weapon Taliban militants use against foreign troops, Afghan forces as well as civilians.