Month: June 2012

All parties decide to protest against new excise policy on June 26

by

All political parties barring ruling Congress have decided to organize protest programs against the State government’s action for conducting lottery on June 26 for allotment of liquor shops.

Liquor Control Movement Committee and APSA have jointly organised a meeting at Sundaraiah Vignana Kendram here on Sunday. It demanded that the State government disclose its policy on belt shops. It also demanded that the government alone should operate the liquor shops on its own.

After Mahi, youth dies in Howrah falling into well

by

Rescuers today pulled out the body of the youth who fell into a well in West Bengal’s Howrah district, more than 10 and half hours after he fell into the well.

Rausan Ali Mondal, a mason by profession, slipped and fell into the 30-feet deep well at Eksara village in Howrah district at around 3.30 PM yesterday, hours after rescuers pulled out the body of four-year-old Mahi from a deep borewll in Haryana where she was trapped for the last four days.

Tunisia extradites ex-Libyan PM

by

Libya’s ex-prime minister Baghdadi Mahmoudi, who served under slain leader Muammar Gaddafi, has been extradited from Tunisia to his native country, state-run TAP press agency reported.

Mahmoudi had fled to neighbouring Tunisia during the uprising against Gaddafi but was arrested in September 2011, Xinhua reported.

According to Tunisia’s Radio Mosaique FM, the ex-prime minister was immediately taken into custody by Libyan authorities upon arriving in the capital Tripoli Sunday.

Bees hospitalise over 70 monks in Thailand

by

Over 70 monks of a Buddhist temple in the north of Thailand have been hospitalised after an attack by a swarm of bees, a media report said.

According to the Bangkok Post, the incident happened in the Chedi Luang temple in Chiang Mai province Saturday.

According to the temple abbot Ratcha Jetiyajarn, bees from the hives kept in the temple attacked a group of novices monk while they were cleaning the territory.

The temple head, however, could not explain the reason for sudden aggression of bees.

–IANS–

UP cop hit by speeding bus, critical

by

A station officer (SO) of the Uttar Pradesh police was mowed down by a speeding roadways bus here, police said.

The incident took place late Sunday at the Cantt road when officer Varun Singh was driving back in motorcycle for night duty.

According to police, the officer was crossing Khandari road when a speeding UP Roadways bus hit him from the front. He was dragged for a few metres.

The officer was rushed to the Balrampur hospital. He was referred to the Trauma Center because of severe loss of blood and “critical head injury”, police said.

Israel to ease visa norms, open office in Mumbai

by

With Indians emerging as the largest group visiting the Jewish state, Israel is mulling easing visa restrictions in a bid to double the numbers of visitors from India.

The Jewish state is opening a tourist office in Mumbai and invest about $660,000 to attract more visitors from India that has emerged as Israel’s single largest source of incoming tourists in the continent, overtaking South Korea.

No premium for lethargic approach of state or its agencies: SC

by

No special consideration can be given to the government or its instrumentalities if they are lethargic in pursuing a legal case after the limitation period as provided under the statute, the Supreme Court has held.

A bench of justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhaya upheld an appeal filed by a land owner challenging a Bombay High Court permitting Municipal Corporation of Brihan Mumbai to file an appeal more than seven years after a civil suit was decreed against it.

The maximum permissible period for filing the appeal is normally 90 days.

Fire breaks out at Kashmir shrine

by

A fire broke out at the more than century old shrine of Dastageer Sahib in the Khanyar area of the city, officials said.

Fire tenders have been rushed to the spot to bring the blaze under control at the shrine that is mostly made up of wood, they said.

Police and locals are also assisting in the operation, officials added.

–PTI–

Pranab to resign from ministry on June 26

by

UPA presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee has said he would resign form the Union Finance Ministry on June 26 before he starts campaigning for his run-up to the post of President.
Announcing this shortly after his visit to his ancestral home at Mirati in Kirnahar village here, Mr Mukhrejee said in two-three days time soon after he relinquishes his post as the finance minister, he would also resign from the Congress Working Committee.

India launches bio-toilets for rural homes

by

India Sunday introduced in rural homes bio-toilets which are being currently used by soldiers for safe disposal of human excreta in high altitude regions, an official said.

Developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the bio-digester technology uses bacteria that digest the waste and turn it into methane and water and carbon dioxide.

Beer drinkers more likely to have early sex

by

Men and women who enjoy a pint are 60 percent more likely to sleep with someone early in a relationship, statistics show.

This applies to both gay and straight people, according to Christian Rudder, a Harvard graduate who set up dating website OKCupid, Daily Mail reported Sunday.

After analysing the profiles and interactions of hundreds of millions of users, Rudder found that beer-drinking was the most useful indicator of whether people are likely to have casual sex.

Air Arabia introduces new baggage policy

by

UAE’s Air Arabia Sunday introduced a new online baggage policy, enabling passengers to pay for only the luggage weight they need.

The policy, effective for all tickets purchased on or after July 1, 2012, allows passengers when booking a flight with Air Arabia to pre-book a checked baggage weight allowance (20kg, 30kg or 40kg).

Passengers who pre-book a 20kg checked baggage allowance will pay just 10 UAE dirhams (nearly $3), while passengers booking 30 kg will pay just 20 dirhams.

Bengal teenager who fell into well brought out dead

by

A teenage boy who fell into an open 30-feet-deep well in West Bengal’s Howrah district Sunday noon was brought out dead early Monday following ten-and-a-half hour rescue efforts, officials said.

He fell into the well around the same time when Mahi, the little girl in Haryana’s Manesar town, was brought out dead from a 70-feet deep tubewell after about 90 hours.

The 17-year-old Roshan’s lifeless body was pulled out from the well in Liluah town’s Eksara area by local divers around 2.30 a.m. Monday.

Putin to undertake Middle East tour

by

Russian President Vladimir Putin will Monday start his tour of the Middle East, according to presidential aide Yury Ushakov.

During his two-day visit to the region, Putin will discuss bilateral relations as well as international problems, including the Palestinian-Israeli settlement, the situation in Syria and the Iranian nuclear programme, with the leaders of Israel, the Palestinian National Authority and Jordan.

“The head of state’s busy trip to the Middle East stresses the region’s significance in the system of our foreign policy priorities,” Ushakov said.

Russia denies supplying gunships to Syria

by

The Russian ship — MV Alaed — carried overhauled disassembled helicopters to Syria and not new gunships as was claimed by western media, according to Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

“We are not going to make any excuses because we did not breach anything,” Lavrov said in an interview to Rossiya-1 TV channel Sunday.

“We violated neither international law nor UN Security Council resolutions nor our national legislation on export control, which is one of the tightest in the world.”

India, Israel ink pact to boost tourism

by

India and Israel have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to boost their bilateral ties in the tourism sector, with Israel opening a tourism office in Mumbai and increasing the number of El Al flights to India.

The pact was signed between Indian and Israeli tourism ministers Sunday, Xinhua reported.

The agreement aims to increase tourism to and from Israel, India by half in the next three years, it was announced here during a press conference of Israeli Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov and his Indian counterpart Minister Subodh Kant Sahai.

Big B feels Indian cinema is at its best

by

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan heaps praises on director Anurag Kashyap’s latest offering “Gangs of Wasseypur” and says it is Indian cinema at its best.

The 69-year-old actor also said that the most appealing thing about the coal mafia drama is its authenticity, which is missing from most of the escapist commercial cinema that are being made.

Ayushmann excited about next project ‘Hamaara Bajaj’

by

Actor Ayushmann Khurrana, who won accolades for portraying the character of sperm donor in “Vicky Donor”, says he is all excited to work again with director Shoojit Sircar’s “Hamaara Bajaj”.
The 27-year-old actor made his debut with Sircar’s film and said he shares a comfort zone with the filmmaker. “He is my favourite director with whom I share a special comfort factor, I liked the way he etched out the role in Vicky Donor.

In my next outing ‘Hamara Bajaj’with him, I would be playing the role of a young man,” he told PTI.

Want to create cinema that lives beyond me, says John Abraham

by

His maiden production “Vicky Donor” gained a lot of critical and commercial acclaim and actor-turned-producer John Abraham says he wants to continue making films that have an indelible impression on the audience.
The 39-year-old actor, who made the film with a new star cast and a budget of Rs seven crore, ended up earning close to 40 crores just from the Indian box office and John says he is loving his stint as a producer.

Outsiders not taken seriously in Bollywood, says Prachi Desai

by

Ruing that outsiders are never taken seriously in Bollywood, actress Prachi Desai has said it is only now that the industry is opening up to her despite she being working for last five years since her debut film ‘Rock On’.

“I think the industry is opening up to me. And it is high time it does. I am truly not the person I have been made up to be. I feel that industry can be unfair sometimes. When you are an outsider, people don’t take you seriously,” Prachi told PTI.

Dalit girl faces sexual assault in Uttarakhand

by

A teenaged dalit girl was allegedly raped by two youths in a village in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district, police said today.

The 16-year-old girl, a student of class eight, was grazing cattle in the forest when she was allegedly raped by two youths in Kwitar village on Friday.

The girl informed her parents about the incident who lodged an FIR with police in this connection.

The medical examination of the girl confirmed she was criminally assaulted, police said.

The alleged rapists, who belonged to Kwitar village, were absconding and would be nabbed soon, they said.

Obama congratulates Egypt’s president elect

by

US President Barack Obama called Mohamed Morsi and congratulated him for winning the Egypt’s presidential elections and reaffirmed America’s continued support to his country, the White House said.

Congratulating him on his victory in Egypt’s presidential election, Obama underscored that the US will continue to support Egypt’s transition to democracy and stand by the Egyptian people as they fulfill the promise of their revolution.

India to seek formal help from Four nations in Israel car bombing

by

With no word from Tehran yet, India is all set to send legal request letters to four nations including Iran seeking help in its probe into the bombing of an Israeli embassy’s vehicle here in February.

Official sources said today that Letters Rogatory for Iran, Malaysia, Thailand and Georgia has been sent to Union Home Ministry for vetting after which it would sent to Legals and Treaty Division of Ministry of External Affairs to be sent to these respective countries.

Over 10K applications received on last day of passport mela

by

Over 10,000 people today availed services at passport melas held to address the growing demand for the document in seven cities.

Officials at the Ministry of External Affairs said more than 15,000 applicants availed the services in the two-day mela which ended this evening.

More than 10,500 applicants availed the services today with Delhi topping the list at around 2,200 people followed by Bangalore 2,850, Hyderabad 2,800 and Chennai 1,875. The passport melas were organised to address the growing demand for the document.