Month: May 2012

Raj Kapoor’s ‘Awaara’ added to Time’s 100 greatest films

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Time magazine has included Raj Kapoor’s 1951 classic ‘Awaara’ among 20 new entries added to its All-Time 100 list of the greatest films made since 1923, the beginning of the prestigious US periodical.

Rethinking the movie masterpieces, Time critic Richard Corliss describes Raj Kapoor as ‘the great star-auteur of India’s postcolonial golden age of movies – Cary Grant and Cecil B. DeMille in one handsome package.’

“The ’50s films he headlined and directed became huge hits not just in his newly freed homeland but also across the Arab crescent from Indonesia to North Africa,” Time noted.

Zina: The Easy Option?

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All praise is due to Allah, the One Who says:
[And do not come near to the unlawful sexual intercourse.] (Al-Israa’ 17:32)

And peace and blessings be upon His slave and Messenger Muhammad, who said, “When a man commits fornication, faith departs from him and there is something like a canvas roof over his head; and when he quits that action, faith returns to him” (Abu Dawud 40:4673).

Kerala CPI-M leader charged with murder, conspiracy

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Two days after a top CPI-M Kerala leader claimed his party had physically annihilated foes in Idukki district, police on Monday registered three cases of murder and conspiracy against him.

According to police, cases were registered in Thodupuzha, around 220 km from state capital Thiruvananthapuram, against MM Mani, Idukki district secretary of the Communist Part of India-Marxist.

Mani sent shock waves on Friday night when he told a public rally in the Santhampara area in Thodupuzha that the CPI-M has in the past resorted to killing political foes and listed out four such murders.

‘News International tried to blackmail UK MPs’

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British police probing illegal news gathering methods by media tycoon Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper group are now investigating whether News International attempted to blackmail politicians.

The alleged plot centres on News International’s apparent efforts to warn off UK MPs on a parliamentary committee from disproving its discredited defence that phone hacking was the work of a single ‘rogue reporter’.

Traitor doctor can turn to higher courts: Gilani

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Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has fended off criticism over the conviction of Dr Shakil Afridi, who helped the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) track Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad last year, saying he could defend himself in the higher courts under the country’s existing laws.

Gilani said although Dr Afridi’s actions were “wrongful”, he should still hope for justice through normal courts, reports The Express Tribune.

3 killed, 6 injured in sectarian attack in Pak

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Militants on Monday ambushed a bus carrying members of the minority Shia community in the restive Kurram tribal region of Pakistan, killing at least three persons and injuring six others, officials said.

The militants attacked the bus near Charkhel village in Kurram Agency, officials of the local political administration said.

All passengers on the bus belonged to the Shia community, they said.

The vehicle was going from Parachinar, the main town of Kurram Agency, to Peshawar in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province when it was attacked.

IOC hints at up to Rs 1.50 a litre cut in petrol price

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Days after raising petrol price by a steep Rs 7.54 a litre, nation’s largest oil firm Indian Oil Corp (IOC) hinted at a Rs 1.25-1.50 per litre cut in rates later this week.

“We will certainly pass on any decline in international oil price to consumers,” IOC Chairman R S Butola told reporters here.

Oil companies revise petrol prices on 1st and 16th of every month on the basis of average international oil price and the foreign exchange rate in the previous fortnight.

Rupee fall not to impact India’s ratings: Moody’s

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Global agency Moody’s Monday said the sliding rupee will not impact India’s sovereign ratings, but may hurt private sector companies with large overseas debts.

“Significant Indian rupee depreciation is insignificant for sovereign credit… The direct effect of depreciation on the government’s own debt repayment capacity is limited,” Moody’s Investors Service said in its report.

The report further pointed out that the current rupee volatility will be “less damaging than in 1991, when low reserves and a widening current account deficit prompted India’s last balance of payment crisis”.

Coal India Q4 net down by 4.9%

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State-owned Coal India (CIL) Monday reported a 4.9 percent dip in consolidated net profit at Rs 4,013 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, due to higher staff expenses.

The company clocked a net profit of Rs 4,220 crore during January-March quarter of FY 2010-11, the company said in a filing to BSE.

The income from operations of the public sector firm for the quarter, however, increased to Rs 19,418 crore over Rs 15,004 crore for the same period a year ago, it added.

Your next smartphone might come from Myanmar, not China.

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Yangon China enjoys a monopoly on rare earth that is needed as much in your smart phone as in hybrid cars. The world is now looking at Myanmar to have an alternate source of this precious commodity.

Myanmar is known to have rare earth like Xenotine, Monazite, Columbite and Tantalite, says crcnetbase.com

The reforms brought about by President Thein Sein has led the tech-savvy and wide-eyed industrial giants to look at Myanmar’s deposits.

6 major champions reach 2nd round at French Open

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Six major champions successfully made their way through the first round of the French Open on the opening day. One didn`t.

Venus Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam champion, recovered from a slow start to beat 19-year-old Paula Ormaechea of Argentina 4-6, 6-1, 6-3. It was her first match at a major tournament since revealing she had been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease.

Bahraini rights activist released on bail

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Bahrain, A prominent Bahraini human rights activist who was arrested this month was released on bail Monday, according to his Bahrain Center for Human Rights.

Nabeel Rajab was released on 600 Bahraini dinars bail (nearly $1,600), according to Maryam al-Khawaja, acting president of the human rights organization. His case is ongoing, she said, and he probably will face a travel ban.

Jagan held, mother sees a Sonia plot

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Criminal court in Hyderabad today sent YSR Congress chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to 14-day judicial custody in connection with the alleged disproportionate assets case.

Earlier, the Kadapa MP was brought into the special CBI court at Nampally amid heavy security.

The CBI sought 14 days custody of Kadapa MP alleging that he “sent (bribe amount) abroad and got it reinvested in his business through hawala racket”.

Saudi Arabia to recruit nurses from Kochi

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The Saudi Arabian health ministry is on a recruitment spree for nurses in Kerala. A 13-member team of officials, including interviewers and admin staff, headed by the director-general of Saudi health ministry, will recruit in Kochi from June 7 to 10.

Antony triples service chiefs’ financial powers

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With criticism mounting over delays in defence acquisitions, Defence Minister AK Antony on Monday hiked the financial powers of the three armed forces headquarters to allow purchases worth Rs 150 crore ($30 million), a three-fold increase from the existing Rs 50 crore ($10 million) limit.

The decision was taken at a meeting Antony had with the Army, Navy and Air Force Chiefs here during which there was a detailed review of the security situation, a defence ministry spokesperson said.

Annan in Syria with message for ‘everyone with a gun’

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Syria, International envoy Kofi Annan arrived in Syria on Monday amid growing fury over a gruesome massacre that killed 108 people in one town.

He vowed “serious” discussions with President Bashar al-Assad and said he had a message for “everyone with a gun”: to halt the violence.

Rebel leaders have said Annan’s six-point plan is already “dead” following the killings in Houla, a suburb of the anti-government bastion of Homs. U.N. monitors in Syria said 49 children were among those slaughtered there Friday.

IPL 2012: Manvinder Bisla — The Knight who made the Kings bow

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IPL has had a history of making stars out of the most unlikely of all candidates. Sunday night was no different.

On a stage like IPL and that too in the final, wicketkeeper batsman Manvinder Singh Bisla played the most significant knock of his career so far that handed his team the title for the first time in five years.

In a team boasting of explosive wicketkeeper batsman Brendon McCullum, Biswa’s role was to play a second fiddle to the Kiwi. Before the final he had featured in six matches for KKR and churned out ordinary performances scoring just 124 runs in the 2012 season.

Sania-Mattek lift Brussels Open title

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Sania Mirza won her second WTA doubles title of the season and 14th overall, when she combined with Bethanie Mattek-Sands to lift Brussels Open trophy with an emphatic straight set win over Alicja Rosolska of Poland and China`s Zheng Jie, here.

In a one-sided contest, the fourth seed Indo-American pair took an hour and 10 minutes to dispatch third seeded pair 6-3 6-2 in the final of the USD 637,400 clay court Premier event.

We targeted Gambhir but Bisla changed the game: CSK coach

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Chennai, A dejected Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming admitted that Kolkata Knight Riders opener Manvinder Bisla changed the course of the final here.

The Super Kings lost to the Kolkata outfit by five wickets despite scoring 190 runs with Bisla (89) and veteran Jacques Kallis (69) doing the bulk of scoring in the Indian Premier League final Sunday.

“Bisla’s knock was outstanding. We targeted Gambhir, but Bisla stood up well with Kallis who has the experience. This partnership gave them the belief.

No plan to revise diesel, LPG or kerosene prices: Reddy

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NEW DELHI, The government has no immediate plans to raise the retail prices of diesel, kerosene and LPG, Oil Minister S. Jaipal Reddy said on Monday, days after a move to raise petrol prices prompted a backlash that may result in a partial rollback.

Reddy’s remarks do not rule out a price hike, however, and there were unconfirmed TV reports that a group of ministers could consider such a move on June 1 or 2.

Sania-Mattek lift Brussels Open title

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Sania Mirza won her second WTA doubles title of the season and 14th overall, when she combined with Bethanie Mattek-Sands to lift Brussels Open trophy with an emphatic straight set win over Alicja Rosolska of Poland and China`s Zheng Jie, here.

In a one-sided contest, the fourth seed Indo-American pair took an hour and 10 minutes to dispatch third seeded pair 6-3 6-2 in the final of the USD 637,400 clay court Premier event.

Internet Protocol: IPv6 launch on June 6

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In a move signalling the advent of a new era, the Internet Society will shift from the current IPv4 regime to IPv6 on June 6.

The ‘World IPv6 Launch’ will see a number of Internet Service Providers (ISPs), hardware makers and websites, including a few from India, running the new generation of Internet Protocols.

IPv6 will make not much difference to most users because they will most probably continue to use IPv4 by default, as the switch to IPv6 is possible only when their computers, the networks and the content and service providers are ready for it.

Chennai ready for Venus transit on June 6

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The Breakthrough Society, which has been working towards popularising science, conducted an awareness programme at Marina Beach in Chennai on Sunday on the rare occurrence of the transit of Venus, scheduled to take place on June 6.

Members of the society distributed solar filters and carried out an awareness campaign on viewing the transit of Venus on June 6.

The society has also set up telescopes to let people view the craters on the moon and planets like Saturn and Mars.

I am not doing `Wanted` sequel: Shahid Kapoor

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Actor Shahid Kapoor has denied reports that he is starring in ‘Wanted’ sequel planned by choreographer-director Prabhu Deva.

“I don`t think anyone can replace Salman Khan. I think because me and Prabhu Sir have been meeting up to do a film together and he is choreographing IIFA ( International Indian Film Academy awards) …people are jumping to conclusions,” the 31-year-old said here Sunday on the Indian Premier League show Extra Innings.

Afsar Khan nominated as Hyderabad Telephone Board member

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Mr. Mohammad Zainul Abiden Afsar Khan, Vice president Greater Hyderabad City Congress Committee has been nominated as member of Hyderabad Telephone Board.

On the direction of Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, Congress President Advisor Mr. Ahmed Patel nominated him as board member.

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