Riyadh, July 30 – Violence, poverty, conflict, turmoil and the total chaos that is gripping the world should serve as a reminder for Muslims to contemplate on and appreciate Allah’s blessings of stability, prosperity and peace of mind, the Kingdom’s Grand Mufti said in the Friday sermon here.
Mumbai, July 30: A great party went sour when Salman Khan took to fighting with his close friend Sanjay Dutt, say the sources.
Reports stated that a heated argument had taken place as Sanju had refused to plays Salman’s father in ‘Bodyguard’.
Clearing the air Sanjay Dutt says, “No there were no fights or arguments at all. As a fact Salman had clearly stated that ‘Only if you are comfortable then go for the role of my father’.”
Rijal Alma, July 30 – Twelve persons from three different families were taken to the General Hospital in Rijal Alma’ for suspected food poisoning immediately after partaking a traditional meal in a Jubail restaurant, Thursday.
The victims included women and children. The restaurant has temporarily been closed down after food samples were taken for laboratory tests, officials said.
Buraidah, July 30– Agritourism – where tourists spend time on farms to experience rural life – is growing rapidly in the Kingdom, with scope for even greater growth.
According to 2007 statistics from the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities, over 250,000 farms are working to achieve economic and social returns in agricultural areas.
These farms satisfy the desires of citizens, the region’s inhabitants and expatriates who want to experience the country life.
Riyadh, July 30– Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in the Kingdom were on Thursday warned against “5-6 loans” or lending or borrowing money at usurious rates. An advisory from the Philippine Embassy said any dealing of this type is a criminal offense in the Kingdom.
The advisory was issued after the embassy received requests for assistance from Filipinos who contract or act as guarantors for such loans.
Jeddah July 30 – A leading Islamic scholar Thursday lauded the efforts of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, in bringing about the unity of the Ummah and world peace by bridging the gap between civilizations through his initiative of dialogue among monotheistic religions.
Hail, July 30 — The Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) has successfully restored electricity to 2,911 subscribers in parts of Hail city following a defect in a cable in Al-Kahfa.
The defect forced two power converters out of service.
In a statement, SEC said a specialized team was immediately assigned to restore the current to the affected subscribers.
Restoration of service was gradually managed by the company for the remaining 600 subscribers until the problem was completely resolved, SEC said.
–Agencies
Tabuk, July 30 – Dysfunctional air-conditioners in the women’s internal medicine department of King Khaled Hospital here have been causing a lot of trouble to the patients. Some patients have even bought their own fans to beat the offensive weather.
Umm Mohamad, one of the patients, said that “I’ve been here for 10 days and every day the air-conditioner gets worse. I decided to buy an electric fan myself.”
Some embarrassed nurses and doctors have said that the air-conditioners of the department have not been functioning well for about a year.
Riyadh, July 30 — The Kingdom spends 57 percent on developing its human resources but receives very little return in terms of productivity, according to a study presented at the Riyadh Economic Forum.
The study said the contribution of national human resources to the economic growth is about seven percent compared to 20 percent in emerging and developed economies. The country has an inefficient education and training system, the study found.
Makkah, July 30– The Council of Ministers has reorganized the status of Twafa establishments for their smooth functioning during the Haj and remove certain shortcomings, Dr. Fouad Abdulsalam Al-Farsy, Minister of Haj, said here Thursday.
Dr. Al-Farsy said that the General Committee for the Council of Ministers has returned the reorganized system for Tawafa establishments to his ministry.
The minister said nobody can claim to be perfect and in this regard his ministry has welcomes criticism on some of its works from members of the Shoura Council.
Jeddah July 30– A special committee of artists has been formed to protect and preserve some of the city’s most beautiful monuments damaged by environment and negligent citizens.
Jeddah has several monuments designed by Saudi and international artists.
Mayor Dr. Hani Abu Ras decided to form the committee to preserve the artistic, historical and monetary value of Jeddah’s monuments and to turn the city into one of the most beautiful in the world. This would be a dream come true for Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah region.
Hyderabad, July 30: Two students died on the spot while two others were injured after they were hit by a concrete readymix lorry at Hayathnagar on Friday.
K Bhargavi and N Mamatha were students of Sanjay Gandhi polytechnic college. Cyberabad police said that Bhargavi and Mamatha were crossing the road along with two other students near their college.
Suddenly, a speeding readymix lorry hit all the four students. “Bhargavi and Mamatha died on the spot while the remaining two were rushed to the hospital,” police said. The two deceased hail from Chotuppal of Nalgonda district.
Hyderabad, July 30: The joy of a speedboat ride in the Hussain Sagar nearly turned out be a disaster on Friday, when three women had a narrow escape after their speedboat hit a paddle boat.
Lake Police inspector Srinivas said it was around 6 p.m when two tourist boats collided with each other.
Three women of a family, going on a joyride, fell in the waters of Hussain Sagar lake. Panic-struck tourism officials quickly swung into action and expert swimmers were immediately pressed to save the tourists from drowning.
Hyderabad, July 30: Born in Chennai and having completed higher education in the United States of America, actress/ producer Lakshmi Manchu had to deal with discrimination in the United States before she made it big. Recalling her struggles as a woman entrepreneur, Manchu narrated how difficult it was to secure a job in the west after completing a film production course there.
Hyderabad, July 30: It seems the monsoon has brought back the dreaded swine flu! With a fresh swine flu case reported, Hyderabad district medical and health officials have directed superintendents of government hospitals and health centres to take precautionary measures to prevent outbreak of the disease.
Dr BL Veena Kumari, District Medical and Health officer said, “A 40-year-old housewife from Maredpally was admitted in a private hospital with severe fever, cold and cough on July 25.
Hyderabad July 30: “E-services should be designed in such a way that they provide end-to-end services by reducing the need for manual intervention or involvement,” said J. Satyanarayana, special chief secretary to the chief minister during the inaugural of a day-long consultation workshop on ‘Citizen centric e-government’ here on Friday.
He advocated greater use of information technology and communications in health and education sectors to benefit the common man.
Hyderabad, July 30: Scores of girl students at the English and Foreign Languages University gathered in front of the administrative block on Friday and shouted slogans against professor Suchetra, warden of the Mahlaqa Bai Chanda Hostel, demanding her resignation. They alleged that Prof Suchetra has been harassing students living in the hostels by imposing strict rules and regulations.
“There have been certain developments within the women’s hostels we are concerned about. New rules and regulations were imposed on hostelers without any consultation with the students.
Hyderabad, July 30: Chiranjeevi’s son-in-law Sirish Bharadwaj, who allegedly harassed his wife Srija for additional dowry, was sent to two days of police custody on Friday.
Women’s police station inspector S Jyothi Lakshmi said Sirish will be in their custody for two days.
Meanwhile in the court, the prosecution cited several allegations about how Sirish harassed Srija and an opportunity should be given to investigating officials to gather material evidence.
Kolkata, July 30: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Saturday attacked union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s reported comment against giving funds to her government by going beyond constitutional provisions, saying the state was only “demanding its due” and not begging.
Banerjee took particular exception to Mukherjee’s comments reported in a section of the media that he could not dole out money like emperor Mohammad Bin Tughlaq to ensure a special package for the state.
Mumbai, July 30: With his newly acquired confidence as a box office champ, Salman Khan is now working on proving himself as the best dancer among all the Khans.
This was his brief to his current favourite choreographer Mudassar Khan, when they started shooting the track “Desi beat” for his upcoming “Bodyguard”.
“Salman is hell-bent on proving he’s the best dancer among the Khans. When ‘Desi beat’ was being planned, Salman very clearly told Mudassar that he wants to be the best dancer among all the Khans. Salman shot the song like crazy,” a source says.
Mumbai, July 30: Like a phoenix rising from its ashes, Salman Khan has reinvented himself in his two decade long career. Yet, this bad boy of Bollywood, who is known for his lady-killer image, has always been an instant hit among masses.
Post the super duper success of ‘Wanted,’ ‘Dabangg’ and ‘Ready,’ Salman has become the most bankable stars of B-town, whose films often set the cash registers ringing at the Box Office. Buzz has it that the hunk has now decided to increase his fees.
Hyderabad, July 30: The government has evolved plans to bring under irrigation 10 lakh acres under Indira Jala Prabha programme at an estimated cost of Rs 1600 crore.
This is another novel scheme introduced by Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy at a high level review meeting chaired by him at the Secretariat on Saturday.
Once the land irrigated as designed providing all the facilities to the farmers, the production would be huge, said Rural Development Minister Dokka Manikya Varaprasad Rao to media persons here, briefing about the outcome of the review meeting.
Hyderabad, July 30: Chiranjeevi’s son-in-law Sirish Bharadwaj, who surrendered himself before Nampally court and sent to Chenchalguda jail on a 14 days remand, has been handed over to police for interrogation on Friday.
The police have asked the court that they need two-day custody of Sirish Bharadwaj for interrogation in connection with the dowry harassment case filed by his wife Srija in March this year. After hearing the arguments of both sides, the court sanctions two-day custody of Bharadwaj. The court will take-up his bail petition on Monday.
New Delhi, July 30: The Karnataka Chief Minister Yedurappa’s resignation drama seems to come to an end with his party high command giving him a deadline up to Saturday evening to quit his post.
It asks him to step down without dictating any terms and conditions to party. KS Eesawarappa, the state BJP president has told this to media on Saturday morning. He has summoned all the MLAs and Ministers of his party to his office at Malleswaram in Bangalore to finalize the name of Yedurappa’s successor.
Hyderabad, July 30: Handlooms and Textiles Minister P Shankar Rao on Saturday wondered why the Telangana Political Joint Action Committee was unwilling to wait another 70 days for the Centre to take a positive separate statehood decision when the issue had been delayed for decades.
Talking to media persons at the Congress Legislature Party Office, Dr Shankar Rao said that his personal observations have led him to be sure that the Centre will announce a positive decision by mid-October.