Month: May 2012

Paan and porn bazaar in Sharjah’s Rolla

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A bustling bazaar of banned porn and paan flourishes every night in a rundown corner of Sharjah, with sellers and buyers breaking the law in blatant defiance.

The narrow alley network of what is called the Bengali Bazaar in Rolla is teeming with peddlers pushing underground sex tapes and paan, an illegal chewing tobacco craze linked to mouth cancer.

Hundreds of men, mostly south Asian expat workers, can be seen chewing and spitting paan on the streets while browsing through explicit DVDs.

Obama campaign accuses Romney of outsourcing jobs to India

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The Obama Campaign has stoked a controversy with its new ad accusing presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney of outsourcing jobs to India when he was the Massachusetts Governor, contrary to the US President’s stand during his maiden visit to New Delhi.

“What about Mitt Romney? As a corporate CEO, he shipped American jobs to places like Mexico and China. As governor, he outsourced state jobs to a call center in India. He’s still pushing tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas,” said the advertisement which will run in the key States of Virginia, Ohio and Iowa.

85% Indian-Americans want second term for Obama

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Indian-Americans are overwhelmingly in favour of Barack Obama and his Democratic Party, and disdainfully dismissive of his Republican rival Mitt Romney and his party.

A new survey, results of which were released on Tuesday, showed that 85% Indian-Americans had a favourable
impression of President Obama. And 56% of them thought poorly of Romney.

Asked who they would vote for if elections were held today — Indian Americans were totally for Obama over Romney (76 to 8%), over Santorum (72-8) or any other Republican candidate.

Ignore Ramdev’s rants: Congress

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Describing yoga guru Baba Ramdev’s controversial jibe at MPs as against Indian culture, the Congress Thursday appealed to the media to ignore such persons.

“Such remarks are against Indian culture… media should ignore their remarks,” Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi told reporters.

He said the yoga guru’s remark that the MPs were “dacoits and murderers” was not only an insult to parliament but to the people as well.

Liplock not bold anymore: Kunal Deshmukh

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Kunal Deshmukh admits that the sensuality factor is high in his forthcoming movie Jannat, which has Emraan Hashmi in the lead role. But at the same time he clarifies that he doesn’t consider kissing a bold gesture. “There are no bold scenes in the film. I don’t think a liplock is bold anymore. This film is not pushing on sex. I wanted a small love making sequence and a couple of lip locks which Esha Gupta was comfortable as an actor,” Deshmukh told IANS.

Global solar industry set to shine again

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The slump in the global solar industry may be over soon due to industry consolidation and improving demand, the world’s leading solar cell maker has said.

Solar stocks were hit last year as manufacturers, mainly Chinese companies, ramped up production while governments in Germany and Italy, the traditional market, slashed subsidies for new installations, the Shanghai Daily reported Thursday.

Cao Min, chief financial officer of Nasdaq-listed JA Solar Holdings Co, said Thursday the bad times may end in the second half of 2012 or the first half of next year.

Jailed legislators helped Congress: BJP

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Jharkhand’s ruling BJP, which lost the Rajya Sabha polls from the state Thursday, has accused the Congress of winning by securing the support of independents and jailed legislators.

“We managed to secure 20 votes. Congress secured 25 votes by managing to get the votes of two jailed legislators and by luring independent legislators. We did not venture into securing the votes of tainted legislators,” Jharkhand BJP president Dineshanand Goswami told reporters.

Narasimhan sworn-in as AP Gov

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Mr E Srinivas Lakshmi Narasimhan, was today sworn-in as Andhra Pradesh Governor for a second term at the Raj Bhavan here.

Andhra Pradesh High Court Chief Justice Madan Bhim Rao Lokur administered the oath of office and secrecy to Mr Narasimhan at a brief ceremony.

Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha, Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker Nadendla Manohar, Council Chairman A Chakrapani, opposition leader in the council Dadi Veerabhadara Rao, Cabinet Ministers and Director General of Police V Dinesh Reddy were among those present on the occasion.

34 killed in Nigeria market attack

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Over 34 people were killed and 29 others injured today when heavily armed gunmen opened indiscriminate fire at a bustling cattle market in north-eastern Nigeria, eyewitnesses said.

The market in Potiskum, Yobe state, regarded to be biggest of its kind in the town was set on fire by the attackers in reprisal for a gang member who was burnt alive by an angry mob during a failed earlier attack yesterday.

Residents say traders had thrown a gallon of petrol and hung a tyre around the neck of the captured man and set him
ablaze.

Pak cricketer Mohammad Asif released from jail

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Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif was on Thursday released from a British jail after completing half of his one-year sentence for his role in a spot-fixing scandal.

Asif, 29, was set free from the Canterbury Prison in Southeast England this morning, his London-based law firm SJS Solicitors said.

Asif was jailed in November after Southwark Crown Court in London found him guilty of conspiring to cheat and accept corrupt payments over deliberate no-balls bowled during the Lord’s Test against England in August 2010.

Man, mother get life term in dowry death case

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A court today sentenced a man and his mother to life imprisonment for allegedly killling his wife for dowry two years ago.

Ajay Tewatia, Additional Sessions Judge sentenced the victim Sanju’s husband Sushil Kumar and her mother-in-law
Santosh Devi to life imprisonment.

Manoj Kumar, Sushil’s elder brother and a co-accused in the case, had died during the course of trial.

According to the prosecution, Sanju, daughter of Kailash Chand of Mahendergarh district, was allegedly burnt to death
for bringing insufficient dowry by her in-laws on April 27, 2010.

Mother kills newborn, stuffs it in bag

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In a horrifying act, a 24-year old hospital canteen worker killed her newborn girl and stashed the body in a handbag here today, intending to dispose it, police said.

The woman gave birth to the girl in the bathroom of the hostel where she was staying and choked the infant to death,
they said.

She kept it inside the bag intending to dispose off the body.

The incident came to light when she was admitted to a hospital following bleeding after delivery, they added.

——————–PTI

Nepal parties reach power sharing deal

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Major political parties in Nepal Thursday reached a power sharing deal that will pave the way for the dissolution of the cabinet.

Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai was expected to dissolve the cabinet later Thursday and request the political parties to form a national consensus government.

The new 11-15 member cabinet will be announced in the next two days, Xinhua reported.

2 Muslim men sue over inmate strip searches

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Two Muslim men have sued the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections saying their beliefs were violated when they were strip searched at a western Pennsylvania prison in the presence of female staff and other inmates.

The Philadelphia-area men, 58-year-old Pearlie Dubose Jr. and 57-year-old Elwood Small say in their federal lawsuit filed in Johnstown that Islamic law “prohibits a man from exposing his genitals to anyone but his spouse.” A corrections spokeswoman declined comment.

Brazilian coach hails award to ‘Inshallah Football’

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Brazilian football coach Juan Marcos, who has been coaching Kashmiri players for several years, Thursday expressed happiness over the national award to Ashvin Kumar’s documentary ‘Inshallah Football’ but added that his programme has been facing serious hardships in the Valley.

“I am extremely happy to hear about the award to the director of the documentary, but it does not make much difference to my work in Kashmir as I have been facing serious hardships here,” Marcos told IANS.

We have the team to beat anyone: Sangakkara

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Battered and bruised in the early part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign, the Deccan Chargers still entertain hopes of pulling off a win against the Chennai Super Kings here Friday given the vicissitudes of the Twenty20 format, according to Kumar Sangakkara.

The Chargers captain had a tough task rallying his troops together after a bad start, but two wins against Pune Warriors seem to have opened the doors for the Hyderabad team.

Over 41 mn mobile users want to change operators

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Over 41 million mobile subscribers have submitted requests till the end of March to port their number to a different network through mobile number portability (MNP) with 4.76 million requests made in the month alone, official data showed.

“By the end of March 2012, about 41.88 million subscribers have submitted their requests to different service providers for porting their mobile number,” said the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in a statement Thursday.

“In the month of March 2012, total number of subscribers who have submitted their request for MNP is 4.76 million,” it added.

Andhra Pradesh tops in domestic violence cases

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Andhra Pradesh recorded over 9,600 cases of domestic violence – the highest in the country – during 2007-2010, the Rajya Sabha was informed Thursday.

Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath told the upper house that a total of 26,808 domestic violence cases were reported across India during the period.

State-wise list shows that Andhra Pradesh, with 9,639 cases, reported the highest number of such cases followed by Maharashtra with 5,393 and Tamil Nadu with 3,141.

—Agencies

Raman Singh speaks to freed collector on phone

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A relieved Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh Thursday said he had spoken on phone to Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon who was released by Maoists after 12 days in captivity.

Addressing media persons in the state capital Thursday evening, Singh said he had spoken to Menon and advised him not to travel much and take rest.

He enquired about Menon’s health and told him to stay the night at the Chintalnar Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) base camp.

‘I am fine, don’t worry,’ Menon tells wife

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Sukma District Collector Alex Paul Menon, who was released by Maoists Thursday after 12 days of captivity, had to wait one more day to be reunited with his pregnant wife Asha, but spoke to her over phone to say “I am fine” and that she should not worry.

Security agencies decided to arrange Menon’s night halt at para-military base camp at Chintalnar because the area is heavily laid with landmines and unsafe for a road journey at night.

Court warns youth not to threaten suicide

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The Bombay High Court Thursday warned a youth, who threatened to commit suicide if his petition on sex change surgery was adjourned, saying that he cannot pressurise the court before his petition was heard and orders passed.

After the court Wednesday adjourned Bhidan Barua’s case to May 7, the 21-year-old wrote to the chief justice of the high court seeking permission to commit suicide.

A division bench of Justices S.J. Vazifdar and A.R. Joshi Thursday summoned Barua’s lawyer Ejaz Naqvi and said that Barua “cannot indulge in such pressure tactics and threaten the court”.

Uttar Pradesh lawmaker Mukhtar Ansari’s trial begins May 22

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A Delhi court Thursday framed charges under a stringent law against Mukhtar Ansari, mafia don-turned-politician and Uttar Pradesh legislator, for allegedly being a member of an organised criminal gang. His trial will begin May 22.

Additional Sessions Judge Savita Rao framed charges against Ansari under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) for being a member of organised crime.

The court also framed charges under MCOCA against Ansari’s associates and alleged gangster Prem Prakash alias Munna Bajrangi.

Indian newsprint could help Pakistani dailies become cheaper

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This is one fine print of a high in India-Pakistan ties. A consignment of 10 tonnes of newsprint from India was Thursday sent to Pakistan via the Attari-Wagah land border, and could actually help reduce the price of newspapers there.

The consignment was sent by the Amritsar-based Khanna Paper Mills for Pakistan’s leading media houses – the Dawn and Jang groups.

This is the first time ever that Indian newsprint has been sent to Pakistan via the Attari land border, 30 km from here.

Life in prison for glorifying Gaddafi or insulting Islam

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The Islamisation of Libya puts national reconciliation in jeopardy. Yesterday, the National Transitional Council (NTC) adopted a number of laws that include life in prison for glorifying Moammar Gaddafi, insulting Islam or denigrating the 17 February Revolution. For the Libya’s rulers, the country is still at war and such restrictions are needed to prevent it from beings destabilised ahead of next June’s parliamentary elections.

Action sought against Jagan over Tirupati row, YSR party hits back

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A day after YSR Congress party leader Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy’s visit to Tirumala temple kicked up a row, leaders of Andhra Pradesh’s ruling Congress and opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Thursday demanded action against him for flouting temple rules.

The leaders of both the parties accused Jaganmohan Reddy, a Christian, of showing disrespect to other religions and disturbing the sanctity of the Balaji temple.

YSR Congress party hit back at TDP, questioning its secular credentials and said it was for the temple authorities to judge who should file a declaration.