Month: April 2012

No change in visa norms for Indian students: US

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The US has said that there is no change in its policy towards issuing visas to Indian students. “I don’t think we’ve changed our policy with regard to the way we interview applicants,” State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters at her daily news conference.

“I think what we are doing is making sure that the sponsoring organisations truly are what they say they are in the United States; that if they say that they are bringing students over to educate them, that they intend to educate them, not put them to work, et cetera,” she said.

Putin steps down as leader of United Russia party

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President-elect Vladimir Putin tried to distance himself from the fraud-tainted ruling United Russia party on Tuesday, announcing he was stepping down as its chairman.

Keen to protect his own ratings which are higher than those of a party discredited by claims its victory in a parliamentary election in December was achieved with the help of fraud, Putin proposed outgoing President Dmitry Medvedev as its new leader instead.

No sex, no work for Sunny Leone!

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No sex, no work! Yes, this is what few producers of Bollywood film industries told Sunny Leone, when they offered her roles in their movies.

The Casting couch is the dark side of the industry and it has probably existed as long as Bollywood film industry has. The latest victim of the casting couch is Sunny Leone. According to a website, when Sunny was in India during Big Boss 5, she was asked to give favours to the producers.

Neil and Sonal spotted getting intimate at a night club!

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Neil Nitin Mukesh and Sonal Chauhan are the latest love birds of Bollywood. And they are not leaving any opportunity to show their public display of affection.

According to a website, Neil Nitin Mukesh and Sonal Chauhan were seen getting intimate at a nightclub, where they were celebrating a friend’s birthday. They did not hesitate to show anyone that how comfortable they are with each other. Not only this, Neil and Sonal did not even stop anyone from clicking them in intimate poses.

Decision of Telangana is not in the hands of Azad or Ravi

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(Siasat News) Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mr. Ravi, Union Ministers met the suspended Congress M.P.’s of A.P and discussed Telangana issue for two hours. The M.P.’s reiterated their stand that they would continue to agitate for the cause of Telangana.

Eight Congress M.P’s were suspended from Lok Sabha for four days for disrupting the proceedings of the house. They were shouting slogans “We demand Telangana”. They staged dharna in the Parliament. The speaker had suspended all of them for four days.

Govt. relaxed rules to admit a student in Engineering course

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(Siasat News) As a token of goodwill Govt. issued a G.O. relaxing the minimum age condition for admission into Engineering course. Ms. B. Akhila was born on 13th January 1997 and as per rules, she was falling short of 13 days for writing EAMCET 2012 for admission into Engineering stream of professional courses. State Council of Higher Education had informed the Govt. that the candidate falls short of 13 days to become eligible to write entrance test.

As a gesture of goodwill Govt. issued a G.O. relaxing this condition and allowed her to write the test.

–Siasat News–

I hope US has transparent elections: Chavez

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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he hopes the United States has transparent elections in November and has advised the US to scrap the indirect Electoral College system so it can become a more democratic society.

Chavez made the remarks in Havana on Tuesday in response to US President Barack Obama’s recent statement, in which he said he hoped that Venezuela’s upcoming elections would be transparent.

The Venezuelan president, who traveled to Cuba on April 14 for his latest round of cancer treatment, was appearing in video images for the first time in 10 days.

Pakistani safe havens hinder Afghan war: US

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Pakistani safe havens and corruption are two factors retarding the progress of NATO forces in Afghanistan, according to a senior US military commander.

Pakistan represents a safe haven for terror groups working inside Afghanistan, Maj. Gen. John A. Toolan, commander of the 2nd marine division and the former commander of regional command-South West, told reporters Tuesday.

Apple doubles profit on solid iPhone sales

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Proving the sceptics wrong again, Apple nearly doubled its profit last quarter thanks to much stronger-than-expected iPhone sales to raise the cash hoard of world’s most valuable company to an astounding $110.2 billion.

Apple said Tuesday it sold 35.1 million iPhones during the first three months of 2012, soundly beating analysts’ expectations. That was a relief to investors, following weaker-than-expected iPhone activations from Verizon and AT&T during the quarter.

US helping India to establish community colleges

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The United States is working with India to flesh out an initiative to set up hundreds of community colleges in India on the American pattern, according to state department spokesperson Victoria Nuland.

“Well, obviously, we support this initiative,” she told reporters Tuesday when asked about the visit of education ministers from several Indian states to explore the possibility of opening such publicly funded two-year institutions that primarily attract students from the local community.

Eagle tries to snatch woman’s dog in Spain

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An eagle attacked a British woman who was walking her two dogs in a field outside Benalmadena, a city in southern Spain, and tried to snatch one of the canines.

Suzanne Dodd was walking with her two dogs last Saturday afternoon when the raptor swooped in, but she managed to fight off the bird of prey.

The eagle had a strap on it and “did not appear afraid of people”, 43-year-old Dodd told EFE Tuesday.

The raptor landed on one of Dodd’s Jack Russell Terriers and started to pull the small dog by the head.

US housing prices at lowest point in a decade

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Prices of single-family homes in the 20 largest US metropolitan areas fell 3.5 percent in February from a year earlier, leaving the national averages at their lowest level since early 2003, according to the latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices.

Both the 10-City and the 20-City Composite Home Price Indices slipped by 0.8 percent between January and February, show the indices released Tuesday by Standard and Poor’s.

Inter-annual price declines eased from 4.1 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively, in January, to 3.6 percent and 3.5 percent in February.

Romney sweeps five states, readies to battle Obama

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Mitt Romney has swept five Republican primaries to effectively clinch the Republican nomination to challenge President Barack Obama in the November general election.

With his nearest rival, Rick Santorum out of the race, the former Massachusetts governor built up a big lead in delegates with victories Tuesday in Connecticut, Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

“A better America starts tonight,” Romney told a cheering victory rally in New Hampshire. “The last few years have been
the best that Barack Obama can do, but it’s not the best America can do.

Odisha MLA to be realeased tomorrow

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Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLA Jhina Hikaka, who has been in Maoist captivity for over a month now, could be released tomorrow, say sources. According to reports, the MLA may be presented today in the Maoists’ ‘Praja’ Court, which may decide to release him. The Maoist deadline for the state governments of Odisha and the Chhattisgarh ends today.

Mr Hikaka was kidnapped by the Maoists in his home district of Koraput on March 24.

Aamir Khan shoots with his son Azaad!

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It seems Aamir Khan wants the ‘Mr. Perfectionist’ tag for his son Azaad too as he recently shot promos for his upcoming television reality show ‘Satyameva Jayate’ with his five-month-old tot! However, the video is kept under wraps; exclusively for the family.

Reportedly, one of the promos was shot at Aamir’s Bandra residence featuring his son Azaad but his wife Kiran Rao didn’t allow him to use those footage for the show promotion.

Shahrukh Khan plays criminal, Juhi judge in TV ad

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Shahrukh Khan and Juhi Chawla, one of the best romantic pairings onscreen, will soon be seen in an advertisement.

Scripted and directed by Kabir Sadanand, the ad is a sequel to the last edition of the Matrix Forex TV commercial.

Set in a courtroom, the ad shows Shahrukh as a criminal and Juhi as a judge.

The duo was last seen together in 2008 film Bhootnath and this is said to be their first commercial together.

Sachar, Mishra, Harsh Mander, yet the Silent Budget of 2012

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The annual budget of a country reflects the Government’s priorities. It is, in fact, the preface of the financial year’s book. However, there is no noticeable mention of Muslims and other minorities in the budget presented by the Finance Minister in the Parliament for 2012-13. It indicates that the Central Government does not seem to be interested in the welfare of Muslims and other minorities during 2012-13.

Progress requires Muslims to be educated

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Members from All India Muslim Education Society said majority of the Muslim community need education. The women and children of the community have to become literate to witness progress in one of the largest minority population of the country.

“Instead of the focus being given to the religious sentiment of the minorities, education should have been given similar importance. Muslims are lagging behind in education,” said Azam Baig, member of the society in a conference on Tuesday.

Aamir keeps his word for his rickshaw puller friend

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Aamir Khan, who befriended rickshaw puller Ram Lakhan in Varanasi during his country wide promotion of “3 Idiots”, has been invited to his son’s wedding.

The 47-year-old actor met Lakhan two and half years ago while traveling in disguise in North of India without any bodyguards to promote his film.

Lakhan has now invited Aamir to attend his son’s wedding in the holy city tomorrow.

Lakhan, who too Aamir on a tour around Varanasi while he was disguised as an old man, developed a strong bond with the actor in three days.

Code of conduct in force with poll notification: Banwarlal

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With the Election Commission of India (ECI) has issued schedule for by-elections to the constituencies which fell vacant in the country, State Chief Electoral Officer Banwarlal on Tuesday announced that model code of conduct came into force in 12 districts in which by-elections would be conducted for 18 Assembly constituencies and one Lok Sabha segment. He made it clear that the ongoing Prajapatham program would be immediately stopped in these constituencies.

Andhra liquor scam: ex-IAS officer among 12 arrested

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The anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has arrested a retired District Collector and 11 others in connection with the liquor scam in Andhra Pradesh. N Nageshwar Rao, former Collector and District Magistrate of Khammam and others have been accused of not initiating any action on the cancellation of licenses of 16 liquor shops in Khammam.

CM should apologize or take action against Botsa: TDP

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Strongly protesting obstruction of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu’s dharna against liquor syndicates in Vizianagaram on Tuesday, Leader of Opposition in the Council Dadi Veerabhadra Rao has demanded that Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy either apologise to the people or take action against his cabinet colleague and PCC chief Botcha Satyanarayana for taking law into his hands.

Madonna’s naked photo to fetch 5,000 pounds?

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A naked picture of Madonna is expected to fetch 5,000 pounds as it goes under the hammer at Bonhams’ auction house next month.

The black-and-white image taken by photographer Steven Meisel, shows a topless 32-year-old Madonna reclining in bed while smoking a cigarette.

The photograph was a part of a series of X-rated photographs, which were never used in the singer’s controversial 1992 book “Sex”, reports aceshowbiz.com.

The sale will come as a blow to the 53-year-old pop superstar who has previously claimed she has never been able to put the erotic tome behind her.

Bomb found in Pakistan train

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A powerful bomb was found Tuesday night in a bag on a Peshawar-bound passenger train in eastern Pakistan.

Experts defused the bomb at the Attock railway station in Punjab province, Geo News reported. The train was on its way to the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Earlier Tuesday, two people were killed when a powerful blast ripped through the Lahore railway station, the capital of Punjab. At least 40 people were injured.

–IANS–

Fact finding Report: Hyderabad Communal Violence

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A fact finding team of Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee consisting of Prof. Rehana Sultana, Lateef Mohd Khan, Kaneez Fathima, Shefali Jha, S.Q.Masood, M.Mandakini, Yahiya Khan and Mohd Ismail Khan visited parts of Hyderabad city where communal violence erupted on the morning of 8th April 2012 and it had an effect on other parts of the city as well.