Month: April 2012

Justin Bieber ‘too young’ for marriage

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The ‘Boyfriend’ hitmaker claims he is not yet old enough to get wed his actress and singer girlfriend Selena, but hopes she is not offended by his decision.

Asked by French newspaper Le Parisien if he has plans to propose, he said: “No, I’m too young. One day, I will get engaged, when I have found the right person in five or 10 years. It doesn’t mean Selena is not the right person though! She’s going to kill me if I say that!”

Justin admits being in a public relationship can be hard, but knows it is something he signed himself up for when he became famous.

Not poaching among BJP for Bahuguna’s seat: Rawat

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The Congress is not “poaching” any Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member to ensure Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna’s election to the state assembly as its own legislators were willing to offer their own seats, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Harish Rawat said Friday.

Rawat, who was also an aspirant to the post of chief minister, said the Congress was not “going for poaching”.

“There is no question of poaching. But if BJP MLA (legislator) leaves (his seat) after feeling frustrated with his party’s policies, how I can stop him,” Rawat told IANS.

Property tax: GHMC to conduct survey through Google maps

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GHMC plans to streamline property database and for this details will be collected from house to house. This way it will get to know which properties have been assessed for tax and which are not.

Commissioner GHMC Krishna Babu told that notification has been issued for property tax assessment on the basis of Geographic Information System.

Plinth area of the properties will be assessed on the basis of the data collected through Google maps.

KFC to pay $8.3 mn for causing brain damage

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An Australian judge has ordered KFC to pay AUD 8 million (USD 8.3 million) to the family of a Sydney girl left brain damaged after eating one of the fast food giant’s chicken wraps.

Monika Samaan’s family sued KFC, claiming the then-seven-year-old girl contracted salmonella poisoning from a KFC chicken wrap in 2005. Samaan was in a coma for months and left with brain damage.

New South Wales Supreme Court Justice Stephen Rothman ruled last week that KFC was responsible for the food poisoning. On Friday, he ordered KFC to pay AUD 8 million damages plus legal costs.

Seven dead, 20 wounded in Damascus suicide bomb

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Seven people were killed and 20 wounded, including members of the security forces, in a suicide bombing in the central Damascus district of Midan on Friday, Syria’s state news agency SANA said.

Opposition activists said the explosion occurred as worshippers were coming out of the Zeen al-Abadeen mosque.

“About 30 minutes ago, I heard a really heavy blast. It felt like I was shaking and I think everyone in Damascus must have heard it,” said Mar Ram, an activist living in Midan, a focus of regular protests against President Bashar al-Assad.

Taliban website hacked; Afghan cyber war heats up

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Hackers have for the third time in less than a year crippled the main website of the Afghan Taliban, with a Taliban spokesman on Friday blaming Western intelligence agencies amid an intensifying cyber war with the insurgents.

The unidentified hackers broke into the Taliban’s El Emara website twice on Thursday, replacing usual insurgent victory messages with images of executions and support for the Afghan government and security forces in English, Arabic and Pashto.

Payment of Property tax without fine

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Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has appealed the citizens to avail the opportunity of payment of property tax without fine till April 30.

Commissioner M.T. Krishna Babu told that 165 crore property tax is due for collection for the year 2009-10, 70 crore for the year 2010-11 and 320 crore for the year 2011-12. Thus a total of 555 crore rupees are due for collection.

Siasat news

Burqa-clad Criminals Worry US Muslims

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A new series of crimes involving men dressed in Muslim full face veil is sending shock waves among Philadelphia Muslim minority, resulting in increasing concerns of rising Islamophobia and stigmatizing of the religious minority in the US Northeastern County.

“It just makes me sad that they would portray our religion in this manner,” Keziah Ridgeway, a teacher at the Al-Aqsa Academy in Philadelphia, told NewsWorks on Friday, April 27.

‘Osama planned to attack Pak before death’

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Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden had planned to mount indiscriminate attacks on the Pakistani soil before his killing in a covert US raid in Abbottabad, the documents seized by the Americans from the slain terrorist’s compound in the Pakistani garrison city have suggested.

The CIA shared intelligence about possible al Qaeda attacks inside Pakistan when officials of the two countries met to explore the way forward in resetting bilateral ties, the Dawn newspaper reported quoting its sources.

Afghan govt bans motorcycles; Taliban shut schools

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The Taliban have closed down about 50 schools in southeastern Afghanistan, while the Afghan Government has banned the use of motorcycles in the southern districts of Ghazni Province.

The Ghazni administration banned the use of motorcycles after insurgents used unmarked bikes to carry out terror strikes, The Washington Post reports.

Militants responded to the ban by warning educators and families to keep their children at home, the Afghan officials said.

Pakistani threatened to hijack plane, arrested

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Police on Friday detained a passenger who threatened to hijack an aircraft on a domestic flight, a media report said.

After the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight PK 588 took-off from Karachi, the passenger told a cabin crew that he could hijack the plane.

The captain promptly decided to turn around the aircraft that was flying from Karachi to Bahawalpur in Punjab province, reported Geo News.

Airport Security Force personnel entered the plane at the Jinnah International Airport and apprehended the passenger who had made the threat.

Pak deports Osama bin Laden family to Saudi Arabia

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Pakistani authorities deported Osama bin Laden’s three widows and his children to Saudi Arabia early Friday, less than a week before the first anniversary of the unilateral American raid that killed the al Qaeda leader in his hideout in a military town.

The departure of the family closed another chapter in an affair that cemented Pakistan’s reputation as a hub of Islamist extremism and cast doubt on its trustworthiness as a Western ally.

CPI-M against sharp increase in Delhi Airport fees

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Opposing a whopping 346 per cent hike in charges by Delhi Airport, a CPI-M member in Rajya Sabha Friday wanted to know how such an increase was effected even as a related legislation was pending in Parliament.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, K N Balagopal said the hike has made the Delhi Airport the world’s costliest airport where user fee is charged from even incoming passengers in the name financial crisis being faced by it.

4 killed, 14 injured in Kashmir

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Four people were killed and 14 others injured in different road accidents in the Kashmir valley overnight, official sources said here today. They said a passenger vehicle skidded off the road and dashed with a tree at Nambal Awantipora in south Kashmir district of Pulwama resulting in on the spot death of Imran Khan and injuries to eight other passengers. The injured were admitted to different hospitals, they said. Three people injured were when a load carrier skidded off the road and fell into Baba canal at Arhama Ganderbal in central Kashmir.

CAG to audit NRHM spending by states: Govt

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Government Friday announced that the Comptroller and Auditor General will audit the fund allocations under the National Rural Health Mission in the wake of the multi-crore NRHM scam in Uttar Pradesh.

Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad told the Lok Sabha that following irregularities found in UP and other states, the Centre had asked the CAG to audit the funds allocated under NRHM.

“The CAG has agreed to it…It will audit future allocations and let us see if it can audit the past records too,” he said in reply to discussion on Demand for Grants for the Health and Family Welfare Ministry.

MP’s death: Samajwadi Party accuses Delhi Police

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The Samajwadi Party today alleged in Rajya Sabha that the Delhi Police handled the death of sitting party member Brij Bhushan Tiwari in a callous and insensitive matter, triggering demands for a probe and reference of the issue to the Privileges Committee.

Tiwari, who had taken oath as a member of the Upper House on April 24 on being elected for the second term, died here of cardiac arrest on April 25.

Karachi sees ten people killed in violence

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That unidentified gunmen shot dead a local leader of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party identified as Malik Muhammad Khan, in the Lyari area of the provincial capital, Karachi, on Friday. The victim died on the spot.

The assailants later fled the scene and their whereabouts remain unknown.

Security forces cordoned off the area and initiated a search operation after the attack. However, no arrests have been reported so far.

Ganguly’s name should also be considered for Rajya Sabha: CPI

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A day after cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar was nominated to the Rajya Sabha, CPI on Friday demanded that former Indian cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly’s name should also be considered for the Upper House.

“I welcome the decision to nominate Tendulkar to the Rajya Sabha. But at the same time when Sourav is in his top form, his name too should have been considered (for the Rajya Sabha),” CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta told reporter outside Parliament.

He also said that besides film stars, writers, people associated with culture and poets should also be sent to the Upper House.

‘Baich Khaate Hain Jo Islam Ka Madfan Tum Ho’

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Mosques hold great importance in Islam. They are the most sacred places on earth and the favourite places of Allah. The better the administrative system of the mosques, pleasant will be its effects on the individual and collective lives of Muslims. Hence the president of the mosque committee should be an able person and a practicing Muslim. He should atleast be punctual in five times prayers, honest, well mannered, just and should have knowledge of the Muslim issues.

Governance concerns weakened biz sentiment in India: IMF

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Calling for renewed efforts to revive India’s flagging structural reform agenda, the IMF on Friday said governance concerns have weakened business sentiment in the country.

IMF’s Asia-Pacific Regional Economic Outlook released today pointed out that domestic factors have also played a role in India’s growth slowdown over the second half of 2011.

Gold rises to over 4-month high of Rs 29,440 on seasonal demand

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Gold prices gained Rs 100 to touch over four-and-a-half-month high of Rs 29,440 in the bullion market here, Friday on strong buying by stockists and retailers to meet the wedding season demand.

The precious metal, which was last seen at this level on December 5, has gained 450 in the last six-sessions.

The price of silver also rose by 400 to Rs 56,400 per kg on increased offtake by industrial units and coin makers, ending three-day losing streak.

ICICI bank Q4 net profit jumps 31% to Rs 1,902 crore

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Country’s largest private sector lender ICICI Bank on Friday reported 31 percent jump in net profit at Rs 1,902 crore for the fourth quarter of the 2011-12 fiscal.

It had profit of Rs 1,452 crore in the January-March quarter, 2010-11, ICICI Bank said in a statement.

During Q4, its total income increased to Rs 11,403 crore, from Rs 8,797 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal, the bank said.

Also, the lender’s net interest margin improved to 3.01 per cent in Q4 FY’12, from 2.74 per cent during the same period the previous fiscal.

IPL 2012: White powers Chargers to first victory

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A power-packed innings from Cameron White helped Deccan Chargers register their first victory of IPL 2012 as Ganguly-led Pune Warriors disappointed the home crowd at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium, Pune.

Scorecard »I Points table »

Pune never looked like they were going to make a match of it. None of their batsmen tried to setlle down and stabilize the innings. The run-rate kept soaring and towards the end, Ganguly’s boys fell short by 18 runs.

Bilbao to meet Atletico in all-Spanish final

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Fernando Llorente netted a dramatic late winner for Athletic Bilbao to eliminate Sporting and Atletico Madrid comfortably held on to a first-leg lead to oust La Liga rivals Valencia on Thursday and set up an all-Spanish Europa League final.

A 3-1 success for Bilbao, chasing their first continental title, and the presence of their compatriots and 2010 winners Atletico, who won 1-0 on the night, in the May 9 showpiece in Bucharest may help ease Spanish pain in Europe this season.