Month: April 2012

No need for Gilani to quit, says Pakistani cabinet

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The federal cabinet Thursday stood by Yousuf Raza Gilani whom the Supreme Court convicted for contempt of court, saying there was no need for the prime minister to step down. The opposition has demanded his immediate resignation.

The cabinet decided to wait for the detailed Supreme Court verdict in the contempt case, Geo News reported.

It was decided that the case was of political nature and there was no need for Gilani to resign on moral grounds.

Deoband heat ‘forces’ univ to scrap Rushdie paper

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Chaudhary Charan Singh University (CCSU) in Meerut has cancelled the post- doctoral fellowship of Prabha Parmar, who was awarded research work on the novels of three authors, including controversial writer Salman Rushdie.

Darul Uloom Deoband had opposed any study on Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses , which is banned in the country, though Parmer’s ambit of research reportedly did not cover the novel.

Three strikes and you’re out, Afghan clerics told

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Afghanistan has stepped up efforts to stop clerics from inciting violence or preaching anti-government slogans in mosques, giving unruly mullahs three chances to change their ways or face dismissal and possibly jail.

In Afghanistan, where most men go to Friday prayers, sermons are a critical influence on both sides of the conflict with insurgents looking to gain support and recruits, and NATO and Afghan forces aiming to counter militant messages as Western combat troops look to pull out by the end of 2014.

Pak SC convicts Gilani for contempt, no jail term

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The Supreme Court on Thursday convicted Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani for contempt for refusing to reopen an old corruption case against the country’s President Asif Ali Zardari.

Gilani was sentenced until the rising of the court.

The sentence lasted for barely 30 seconds, a reprieve for the 56-year-old Prime Minister who could have been jailed for six months.

Gilani smiled when the verdict was read out in a packed court house.

IPL 2012: Rohit, Rayudu guide MI to a thrilling win in Mohali

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Piyush Chawla will remember his last over of the match against Mumbai Indians that he bowled in front of his home crowd, not for long but at least for this season. It was the over that changed the entire course of the match and cost the hosts Punjab a certain win against their opponents, Mumbai Indians.

MI (171/6) beat KXIP (168/3) by 4 wickets

Dada’s Warriors look to bounce back against Deccan today

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After suffering a comprehensive defeat against Delhi Daredevils in their previous match, Pune Warriors would look to bounce back in the tournament when they take on bottom-placed Deccan Chargers in their Indian Premier League match on Thursday.

The Warriors lost to Daredevils by eight wickets with four overs to spare yesterday but they start as clear favourites against the winless Chargers tomorrow.

Real Madrid pay penalty as Bayern Munich through to final

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Bastian Schweinsteiger sent his penalty kick slicing straight down the middle, and then ripped off his shirt with a roar of triumph.

No way Bayern Munich was going to miss the big party at its own house.

Bayern Munich became the first team to advance to a Champions League final it is hosting Wednesday night, beating Real Madrid 3-1 on penalty kicks when Schweinsteiger converted the final shot after Sergio Ramos skied his over the crossbar.

Sharapova books last eight spot after Cornet retires

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World number two Maria Sharapova eased into the quarter-finals of the Stuttgart indoor tournament after France`s Alize Cornet retired with an injury at the start of the second set.

Sharapova, hoping to complete her set of Grand Slams with victory at the French Open, had added the Stuttgart clay court event to her calendar to prepare for next month`s tournament at Roland Garros.

Cornet, however, gave her a short start on the indoor clay courts retiring with a shoulder injury while trailing 6-3 1-0.

Intel to challenge antitrust fine in EU court

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US chipmaker Intel Corp will ask Europe’s second-highest court in July to scrap a 1.06 billion euro ($1.4 billion) EU antitrust fine, arguing regulators failed to prove it blocked a rival in their 2009 decision.

The European Commission, which acts as EU competition regulator, penalized Intel with its largest ever corporate fine because of anticompetitive tactics against arch-rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

The decision came after an eight-year-long investigation.

India’s second moon mission Chandrayaan-2 to wait

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India’s second Moon mission Chandrayaan-2, slated for 2014, will have to wait till the country’s space agency flies two of its heavy rocket – Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) – successfully, a top official said Thursday.

Speaking to reporters after the successful launch of indigenously built Radar Imaging Satellite I (Risat-1) from here, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K. Radhakrishnan said: “We plan to fly two GSLV rockets at an interval of six months before the Chandrayaan-2 mission.”

Tiny ‘spherules’ tell tale of Earth’s asteroid impacts

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Researchers are learning details about asteroid impacts going back to the Earth’s early history by using a new method for extracting accurate information from tiny “spherules” embedded in layers of rock.

The spherules were created when asteroids crashed into the Earth, vaporizing rock that expanded into space as a giant vapour plume.

Small droplets of molten and vaporized rock in the plume condensed and solidified, falling back to Earth as a thin layer.

Longer breastfeeding with ART could prevent babies from HIV

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Scientists had revealed that giving daily antiretroviral drugs (ART) to HIV-infected moms or their breastfeeding babies for 28 weeks proved safe and effective for preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission through breast milk.

It was an early results of a large-scale randomized study published in 2010 and led by researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Now, they have found that early weaning – stopping breastfeeding before six months – is of little, if any, protective value against HIV transmission nor is it safe for infant survival.

High salt intake linked to higher stroke risk

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Older adults with salty diets may have an increased risk of suffering a stroke, a new study suggests. The new findings strengthen the case for heavy salt intake as a stroke risk factor, according to Dr. Francesco P. Cappuccio, of the University of Warwick in the UK, who wrote an editorial published with the study in the journal Stroke.

Obesity epidemic behind rheumatoid arthritis

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Obesity epidemic may be linked with the rising incidence of rheumatoid arthritis, a painful condition which causes inflammation of the joints, especially among women, says a study.

Mayo Clinic researchers studied hundreds of patients and found a history of obesity that places women at significant risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

RA tends to initially impact the hands and feet and then spread to the knees, ankles, hips and shoulders. Complications can include heart problems, lung disease, osteoporosis, the journal Arthritis Care & Research reported.

Daily aspirin cuts bowel cancer death risk

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People suffering from bowel cancer who take aspirin daily could cut their chance of dying from the disease by about one-third, a decade-long study has said.

The study in the British Journal of Cancer looked at 4,500 bowel cancer patients living in the Netherlands, BBC reported.

All the bowel patients took a low dose of aspirin — 80 mg or less a day. This dose is already recommended for people with heart disease.

Berries can help keep your brain sharp in old age

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A high intake of flavonoid rich berries, such as strawberries and blueberries, can delay memory decline in older women by 2.5 years.

This is the conclusion of a new study by researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH).

“What makes our study unique is the amount of data we analyzed over such a long period of time. No other berry study has been conducted on such a large scale,” explained Elizabeth Devore, a researcher in the Channing Laboratory at BWH, who is the lead author on this study.

`Vicky Donor` earns Rs.13.40 crore, Shoojit Sircar ecstatic

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‘Vicky Donor’ is going places. After receiving rave reviews from the critics as well as the audiences, it has earned Rs.13.40 crore in the opening weekend. Director Shoojit Sircar is on cloud nine and says the film`s success proves that the moviegoers have matured over the years.

‘Vicky Donor’ is a light-hearted take on the taboo attached to infertility, sperm donation and artificial insemination.

Impulsive John might get married to Priya next week!

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The man who is riding high on the success of his first production venture ‘Vicky Donor’, John Abraham has much to look forward to this year. The actor has tasted success with ‘Housefull 2’ and ‘Vicky Donor’ this year and is now thinking of settling down.

John started dating banker Priya Runchal last year. In a candid interview to a leading daily, John admitted that he knew Priya was ‘the one’ just two months after he started dating her. And now the couple is thinking of taking the next step forward.

No other movie till ‘Jism 2’ is out: Sunny Leone

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Amidst speculation that Sunny Leone is being showered with plump offers by Bollywood A-listers, what has come as a surprise is that the actress does not want to think beyond her debut flick ‘Jism 2’.

Reportedly, Ekta Kapoor has signed the porn star for ‘Ragini MMS 2’ and even the producers of new ‘Zanjeer’ are keen to have Sunny on board as an item girl for the film.

But looks like Sunny wants to channelise her focus only on Pooja Bhatt’s ‘Jism 2’.

`Sarkar 3` on cards, sans Aishwarya

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Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has begun working on ‘Sarkar 3’ and clarifies that while Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan will reprise their roles, Aishwarya Rai won`t be part of the cast.

It was speculated that Aishwarya will return to the arc lights post-pregnancy sabbatical with “Sarkar 3”, but Varma has set the record straight.

“`Sarkar 3` is being planned… Amitji and Abhishek will feature in it but contrary to reports Aishwarya won`t be… script is still under progress,” Varma tweeted.

Crime In Hyderabad (26.4.2012)

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Minor girl kidnapped

(Siasat News): An unidentified woman kidnapped a 6-year-old girl from Hayathnagar. As per the details, Keertana, was playing with her brother and a neighbour.

Just then a stranger woman came there and carried all three of them in an auto rickshaw. After reaching Gandhi statue, she asked the other two to get down from the auto and took Keertana along with her.

Auto strike in twin cities from May 2

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The autorickshaws in twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad would go off the roads indefinitely from May 2 in protest against the government’s ‘inordinate delay’ in increasing the existing auto fares and also demanding a total ban on the overloaded share autorikshaws. In a release, Telangana Auto drivers Joint Action Committee Convenor Mohd Amanullah Khan here welcomed the announcement of the Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy in implementing pension scheme to auto driver in the entire state.

Seized 4 Passports on fictitious names: 1 held

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The city police have arrested one person, who obtained three passports from Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra on fictitious names and different addresses. On credible information, Commissioner’s Task Force, East Zone team arrested Syed Moinuddin (41) of Chanchalguda for the offence, a police release here said. The release said the accused obtained passport from Hyderabad,on the name of Syed Moinuddin Bukhari and visited USA and returned to India in the month of June, 2000. While staying in USA he renewed his Passport at Chicago, USA.

Protest against irregularities in Urdu University

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Comrade Nusrath Mohiuddin, Convenor, struggle and Action Committee against the irregularities committed by Urdu University in recruiting non-Urdu knowing teachers to teach Urdu medium students, told that a dharna will be organized to lodge a protest against the irregularities in Urdu University.