Chennai, December 31: The deaths due to cyclone Thane that hit the Tamil Nadu coast Friday morning went up by nine to 46 Saturday. Though life started limping back to normalcy in the worst affected Cuddalore district, people were poised to usher in the New Year in darkness.
On Saturday, nine more deaths were reported in three districts of Cuddalore (5), Kanchipuram (3) and Theni (1) in accidents caused by heavy rains.
New Delhi, December 31: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday promised to work personally for providing an “honest and efficient government.”
“I want to assure you all on this New Year’s day that I personally will work to provide an honest and more efficient government; a more productive, competitive and robust economy and a more equitable and just social and political order”, the Prime Minister said in his New Year message to the nation.
Mumbai, December 31: The government Saturday expressed confidence that ally Trinamool Congress will come on board when the Lokpal bill is taken up in the budget session of parliament after accepting one or two of its amendments.
Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, however, indicated that the Trinamool’s demand for deletion of provisions related to state Lokayuktas from the bill may not be easy to meet.
New Delhi, December 31: At a time when the opposition is targeting the government on the Lokpal fiasco, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said that his government is committed for a strong Lokpal Bill.
“Lokpal and Lokayuktas are important to fight corruption. The government is committed to enact an effective Lokpal act”, the Prime Minister said in his “musings message” to the nation on the eve of new year.
“The rise of graft is a serious issue for the country. It needs a multi dimensional response”, Singh observed.
New Delhi, December 31: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran Lal Krishna Advani Saturday said the coming year is sure to bring “big changes in national politics”.
In a year-end message issued by the BJP office here, Advani said: “As I look ahead, I have no doubt that year 2012 is pregnant with the certainty of big changes in national politics.”
“The UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government’s ‘fleedom at midnight’ in the Rajya Sabha Thursday, as my colleague Arun Jaitley has memorably described, has rendered Manmohan Singh a lame duck prime minister,” he said.
New Delhi, December 31: BJP leader L K Advani on Saturday hit out at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the Lokpal fiasco in Rajya Sabha, alleging that he had chosen “conspiratorial silence and acquiescence” while the government ran away from a vote on the Bill.
In a statement issued today, Advani said, “For the UPA government, 2011 was annus horribilis (horrible year). The Congress-led government found itself in the quagmire of one corruption scandal after another, each of which robbed it of its legitimacy to rule.”
Hyderabad, December 31: It’s that time of the year when everyone wants to spend some time with their family and friends.
Tennis ace Sania Mirza, who is in town, says that she’s really looking forward to spending the holiday with hubby Shoaib Malik.
Sania tells, “I’m really enjoying some quiet time with my husband here in Mumbai. I am not sure about my New Year plans yet. All I know is that I’ll be in Auckland as I will be playing there.
Mumbai, December 31: For someone who can get all the attention he likes with his raspy voice, drop-dead good looks and quick wit, it’s surprising that Atif Aslam keeps such a low profile. And, he intends to keep it that way.
Gearing up to judge a reality show (though till now he hasn’t held reality TV in very high regard), Atif tells CS why he likes to stay low-key, literally:
Moolah matters not
There’s just so much happening in my life that I don’t want to add to my problems by discussing things in public. I want to be able to give my time to my mom and dad, my family and friends.
Mumbai, December 31: Shah Rukh Khan is having a perfect New Year`s holiday in Dubai with his kids.
“Awesome fun with kids on the beach… atv rides… fights in the sand… temple run game… but think I overdid the fights… aching all over,” Shah Rukh posted on micro-blogging site Twitter.
The actor, who had a packed year with projects like ‘RA.One’ and ‘Don 2: The King Is Back’, had been wanting to catch up on books and devote time to his “babies” – Aryan and Suhana. He is getting to do exactly that and more during his Dubai sojourn!
-IANS
London, December 31: Facebook was cited as a reason for a third of broken marriages last year and is increasingly being used as a source of evidence in divorce cases.
A law firm called Divorce-Online said that 33% of the 5,000 behaviour based divorce petitions filed with the firm in the past year mentioned the site.
“Facebook has become the primary method for communicating with friends for many people,” the Daily Mail quoted Mark Keenan, managing director of Divorce-Online, as saying.
“People contact ex-partners and the messages start as innocent, but lead to trouble
Hyderabad, December 31: Telugu Desam party president Nara Chandrababu Naidu has alleged that the Congress government in the State had miserably failed to check the spiraling prices of essential commodities and solve the chronic power problem.
Speaking to mediapersons at NTR bhavan here on the eve of New Year, the TDP president charged the Congress government with imposing Rs 10K-crore tax burden on the people, who were already groaning under several problems. He also accused the Kiran Kumar Reddy government of transforming the State into a mafia regime in 2011.
Hyderabad, December 31: Applications are invited from unemployed youth for Computer training cum placement programme under Rajiv Yuva Karnalu programme for the year 2011-12.
Free training will be offered for MS office, Auto cad, hardware, A C packages. The last date to submit applications is December 31.
Educational qualification should be SSC, age between 18-23 years.
This training will be available at Charminar, Riyasat Nagar, Mehdipatnam, Sayeedabad, Chandrayangutta and Secunderabad. Interested candidates can contact on phone no 9347236999 and 9959568004.
Siasat news
Hyderabad, December 31: Teacher Eligibility Test is scheduled on January 8. Mock test for the candidates appearing for the TET will be held on Sunday, January 1, 11 am at Siasat Golden Jubilee Hall, Siasat premises, opposite Ram Krishna Theatre, Abids.
Candidates will be given a paper. English lecture is also arranged. Preparation material is also available. TET passed candidates are eligible to write DSC.
Siasat news
Hyderabad, December 31: The world Urdu editors’ conference organised by Siasat daily is continued at Jubilee Hall public garden which is not only one of the most beautiful buildings of Hyderabad but of whole India. The clear proof of this is that it has been honoured with Heritage award in 2011.
Ahmedabad, December 31: Kaushangini Kadia and Altaf Mirza are suffering for committing a mistake of not following procedure of obtaining permission from authority for religious conversion.
Altaf is in jail for past nine days along with the maulvi who converted the Hindu girl to Islam before her marriage with Altaf.
The couple got married in October last year as per Islamic rituals. Before the marriage, the maulvi in Navtad mosque near Ghee Kanta converted Kaushangini into his fold.
Mumbai, December 31: Gambling, partying and letting their hair down – Kareena Kapoor and Imran Khan will be seen doing all that in ‘Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu’, one of the few films that has Las Vegas as its backdrop.
Director Shakun Batra says the place has such defined character that it is difficult for the filmmakers to accommodate it in any or every movie like other foreign locales.
Mumbai, December 31: At a press conference, ex-Bigg Boss 5 participant Pooja Mishra revealed that Akashdeep Saigal aka Sky gave her a love bite on her neck while she was sleeping in the Bigg Boss house.
At a press conference held yesterday, Pooja Mishra narrated an incident that occurred in the Bigg Boss 5 house. Pooja said that on one of the days in the night, when she was sleeping after taking her medicines, someone sneaked into her bed and bit her on her neck. Pooja says that though she didn’t see the person, she was sure that it was Sky.
Hyderabad, December 31: Right to Education act is among the distinct qualities of a welfare state. This act holds the government responsible for providing education to every citizen of the country. The act is also welcomed in the country as well as strongly criticized by some corners.
Hyderabad, December 31: We are on the threshold of the year 2012. The new leaf of calendar will be before you within few hours. Revelers arrange drinking and dancing parties at the New Year night; burst crackers, sing songs and dance to the tune of music.
Young girls and boys will go crazy in the glee of welcoming the New Year. The enjoyment will go to such an extent that many women will lose their modesty.
Celebrating New Year with cakes and other delicacies at homes are also the part of the western culture which has been penetrated in the Indian society.
Bilariyaganj, December 31: Breaking the stereotypes associated with madrassas, a 50-year-old Islamic seminary here teaches subjects like personality development and home science, runs an elaborate teacher training programme, has a higher girl enrolment ratio and has students who are no less active on social networking websites than their counterparts in the metros.
Hyderabad, December 31: Dum Biryani: “Hyderabad bole toh Biryani-ich yaaron.” How often would a visitor to the city have heard this self praise by the city’s denizens. But true to the point, Hyderabad’s most recognisable dish remains the biryani.
Be it at Paradise, Bawarchi, Bahar or umpteen small restaurants dotting the city, the prices of chicken, mutton, egg, vegetable and even the jumbo pack biryanis, have all gone up by atleast Rs 10.
Hyderabad, December 31: Encroachment of footpaths all over the state capital became a common and perennial problem and it was high time the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation took stringent measures to ensure that the footpaths were free of encroachments, justice CV Nagarjuna Reddy of the High Court observed on Friday.
Hyderabad, December 31: The cashier of Andhra Bank, Dundigal branch, and a part-time sweeper in the bank were arrested on Friday for misappropriating lakhs of rupees from the accounts of the customers.
According to police, the fraud came to light after the bank manager AUBL Narasimha Murthy, lodged a complaint with the police against the duo alleging that they siphoned off Rs 41 lakh by forging the signatures of the customers.
Cases were registered and after investigation the duo were arrested.