Month: August 2011

New Delhi, August 26: The government Friday said it has decided to introduce 100 crore polymer bank notes in denomination of Rs 10 on trial basis.

It will be on field trial basis at five locations in the country, Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

“A final decision will be taken depending on the results of the field trial,” he said.

The Reserve Bank had floated a global tender for introduction of 100 crore plastic currency in 2009.

New Delhi, August 26: Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah was on Friday appointed as the new Tamil Nadu Governor while Jharkhand Governor M O H Farook was shifted to Kerala in a slew of announcements for gubernatorial posts by President Pratibha Patil.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister today gave green signal to the demand made by National Commission for Minorities (NCM) of Rupees 3 lakh should be paid to each victim as compensation those wrongly implicated in the Mecca Masjid blast case .He made this announcement during Iftar party hosted by him at Nizam collage Grounds.

But victims feel that the real compensation would be punishing the policemen who tortured and subjected them to third degree methods. and they want the cloud of suspicion hanging over them to be lifted first.

THE CALL by Jama Masjid’s Imam Bukhari asking Muslims not to join Anna Hazare’s campaign is symptomatic of a much larger malaise afflicting the community since Independence. It has nothing to do with the merits or demerits of the anti-corruption movement. One may have reasons to join or stay away from Hazare’s campaign irrespective of what community one belongs to.

Tripoli,August 26 :A grisly scene was discovered in Tripoli today, when reporters came across a former Gadhafi camp in central Tripoli where pro-regime fighters were found massacred, including a number that were bound before their execution.

In a discovery the UN termed “alarming,” a number of the victims were also found in the field hospital, having been executed there while receiving treatment for wounds. Reports have the death toll in this single incident at over 30.

Hyderabad, August 26: The ruling Congress in Andhra Pradesh on Thursday said it is ready to face by-polls if the resignations of 26 MLAs, who quit in support of Kadapa MP YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, are accepted.

“Is it preventable? If elections come, we have to be prepared. If resignations are made, we have to see the alternatives. We have to do our work in the interest of the party,” State Congress President Botsa Satyanarayana told reporters here.
 
He was asked if the state Congress is gearing up to face the polls if it becomes inevitable.

New York, August 26: Shaken by the 9/11 attacks and the ensuring hostility against Muslims, the curiosity of many Americans to know more about Islam have led them to embrace the faith.

“It seemed kind of crazy to do,” Johannah Segarich said, the Huffington Post reported on Thursday, August 25.

“I was a middle-aged professional woman, very independent, very contemporary, and here I was turning to this religion, which at that point was so reviled.”

Hyderabad, August 26: Though city police have started cracking the whip on clubs after the suicide of a gambler at the Country Club, managements of these businesses say they have been running their activities for years, right under the nose of police. Sources say police get their due amount to allow the clubs to run their activities.

The managements of these recreation spots, spas and clubs reportedly offer ‘mamool’ to police for organising activities like gambling and card games inside their premises.

Mumbai, August 26: The beautiful Pakistani model-turned-actress Humaima Malik is not amused or flattered by being constantly linked with cricketer Wasim Akram.

Lashing out at Indian journalists for making Humaima the next in Wasim Akram’s line of girlfriend after Sushmita Sen, Humaima says, “Wasim has kids, I’ve a family. We’re both answerable to people in our lives.

Mumbai, August 26: Tired of played sedate, butter-won’t-melt-in-the-mouth roles Prachi Desai is all set to loosen up and let her hair down.

Not only is she ready for a complete makeover in the Bhatts’ Informer for Rohit Shetty’s Bol Bachchan Prachi teams up with Abhishek Bachchan. And she’s already going into the fun zone big time.

Prachi who has lately been struggling with bad press.

Mumbai, August 26: It seems actress Bipasha Basu has taken the practical approach after her break up with John Abraham.

She says she has moved on and doesn’t miss him anymore.

“Nobody plans a break up or any negative thing in your life, when it happens you deal with it, life is such that it teaches you, it heals you and you move on. I don’t miss John, ” Bipasha said on Zoom’s “Superstar Weekends” show.

The couple broke up after dating for eight years. They first came together in Mahesh Bhatt’s “Jism” and later did films like “Madhoshi” and “Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal”.

Mumbai, August 26: Priyanka Chopra and Ranbir Kapoor shooting for Anurag Basu’s Barfee in Kolkata.

The wig that Priyanka is wearing looks strangely familiar… is it borrowed from the sets of her earlier flick Saat Khoon Maaf?

Meanwhile…

The cast and crew celebrated the completion of the shoot in Kolkata with a cake.

Since Ileana D’Cruz is the youngest among the cast, Ranbir and Priyanka insisted she cut the cake.

And when she did, they teased her by singing a Happy Birthday song for her!

-Agencies

Mumbai, August 26: To break the monotony of tipping gender scales, IIMs have now decided to award special marks to girls and non-engineering students.

All the six new IIMs and the ones at Lucknow and Kozhikode feel it’s time to rebalance the gender scales in office spaces. So while IIM-Rohtak will give 20 marks to each girl and another 20 to a non-engineer, IIM-Raipur will add 30 marks to the overall scores of each girl-non-engineer. IIM-Lucknow hasdecided to grant five marks to each girl and two to non-engineers.

Mumbai, August 26: Actor Neil Nitin Mukesh admits he and Deepika are more than friends but is adamant it doesn’t mean they are dating.

“Deepika and I are definitely more than friends but that doesn’t mean that we need to get linked up.

Deepika is one of the finest co stars I’ve worked with and she’s someone whom I would want to work with again and again, ” Neil said on Zoom’s Superstar Weekends.

The actor also denied he was ever involved with Asin Thottumkal.

“Asin and I are just friends, we were never a couple, ” he added.

-Agencies

Washington, August 26: NASA’s discovery mission programme – GRAIL – is making final launch preparations for its Sept 8 launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the space agency announced Thursday.

The Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory twin spacecraft are tasked for a nine-month mission to explore Earth’s nearest neighbour in unprecedented detail.

They will determine the structure of the lunar interior from crust to core and advance our understanding of the thermal evolution of the moon, Xinhua reported.

Washington, August 26: The State Department expressed confidence Thursday that Libya’s raw nuclear material and deadly chemicals are secure, trying to dispel fears that the near collapse of Moammar Gaddafi’s regime means terrorists could get their hands on weapons of mass destruction.

In a statement issued Thursday night, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the leaders of the rebel government in Libya, the Transitional National Council, had obligations to the international community as well as to their own people as they took control of the Arab country.

Tokyo, August 26: Japan’s unpopular leader Naoto Kan is expected to resign Friday, fulfilling a promise to step down after parliament approved two key pieces of legislation.

That would set the stage for a leadership election Monday within Kan’s ruling Democratic Party of Japan and a new prime minister — Japan’s sixth since 2006.
The two bills were approved Friday and local media reports said Kan would resign at a party gathering later in the day.

Potential successors include former Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Trade Minister Banri Kaieda.

Islamabad, August 26 : The son of assassinated Punjab governor Salman Taseer was kidnapped Friday from Lahore, a media report said.
Shahbaz Taseer was abducted from Lahore’s Gulburg area Friday, Geo News reported.
Punjab governor Salman Taseer was shot dead Jan 4 by Mumtaz Qadri who was member of the governor’s special security squad.
Sources said Shahbaz was travelling with his friend when four armed men abducted them on gunpoint.
His friend, who was later released, informed police about the kidnapping.

—Agencies

London, August 26: British Home Secretary Theresa May will soon meet executives from social networks like Facebook, Twitter and BlackBerry to discuss the recent riots in the country.

May announced she will hold the meeting after officials suggested social network websites should be shut down during public disturbances to prevent spreading of trouble, Sky News reported.

Those present at the meeting will discuss whether users of such websites should be blocked when they are seen to be planning violence or criminality.

Bahamas, August 26: Powerful Hurricane Irene destroyed hundreds of homes on small Bahamian islands but largely spared the capital Nassau on Thursday as it tore over the sprawling archipelago on its way toward the U.S. East Coast.

There were no immediate reports of deaths in the Bahamas from the Category 3 hurricane, but some small settlements reported up to 90 percent of their homes damaged while assessments from other islands were not in because telephone lines were down.

Islamabad, August 26: President Asif Ali Zardari will visit China from Aug 30 to Sep 1 to take part in an exposition and meet the Chinese vice premier.
Zardari’s visit comes close on the heels of Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar’s trip to China.

Foreign Office Spokesperson Tehmina Janjua Thursday said Zardari would meet Chinese Vice Premier Li Kequang at Urumqi during his stay there. The China-Eurasia Expo is being held in Urumqi.
Zardari will also meet leaders of Chinese corporate sector in Urumqi, she added.

Hyderabad, August 26: He had an original Indian passport when he fled to Dubai and then to Abu Dhabi.

But when an Arab woman, with whom he fell in love, insisted that her family traditions demanded that she marry only an Arab, a love-struck Hadi obtained a fake passport under an Arab name, only to be arrested years later.
Hadi (39), who had earlier been arrested in the city for selling a firearm and ammunition to an alleged Lashkare- taiba militant Muhammed Nissar, had jumped bail in 2003 and fled the country.

Hyderabad, August 26: Muslims in the Old City look forward to the Jummat al Vida (last Friday of Ramdan). With no much time left the elderly people in the community along with the young lads help in giving a facelift to the Masjids starting from cleaning the prayer hall, lighting, security and alloting spaces for stalls to distribute dry fruits, ajwaan, sheer Korma to accommodate and facilitate millions of devotees for celebrating this auspicious day in a grand manner.

On this day, Muslims perform, the faithful walk towards the mosque proclaiming aloud the glory and praise of Allah.

Hyderabad, August 26: There is never a dearth of exhibitions in Hyderabad all year round.

Locals have the luxury of picking out from a range of traditional handloom goods and handicrafts almost at any point of time in the year.
The industrial exhibition that occurs every year spanning almost over 70 days has pretty much become synonymous with the city.

Besides this, there are the government sponsored exhibitions that bring in artisans from across the country, either as an independent exhibition or through initiatives like Shilparamam or the Hyderabad Utsav.

Hyderabad, August 26: Political leaders and representatives of Backward Classes (BC) organisations would be conducting a conference on August 28 at Jubilee Hall, Public Gardens in the city on their demand that the state and central governments draw up a ‘special component plan’ for the development of Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

“The BCs have been ignored by the government in providing reservations and other benefits.