Month: August 2012

No question of my resignation: PM on coal issue

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On Board Air India One: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday hit back at the opposition for demanding that he step down over his alleged role in the coal blocks allocation issue.

Speaking to reporters on board Air India One while returning from the NAM Summit in Tehran, the PM said the BJP was resorting to diversionary tactics.

“There is no question of me resigning. I have to maintain the dignity of the office of PM,” Dr Singh said.

He added that “if I was resigning, I would not have been here”.

Kashmiri migrants on hunger strike for hike in dole

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Kashmiri Pandit (Hindu) migrants in Jammu Friday began a hunger strike demanding a hike in the cash relief they have been getting from the government.

Kashmiri Pandits living in Jagti migrants township, on the outskirts of Jammu, began their hunger strike under the leadership of Ajay Bhat, demanding an increase in the cash relief they have been getting from the present Rs.5,000 per family per month.

Will not get into slanging match with opposition: PM

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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said he did not want to get into a slanging match with political leaders and it was better for him to remain “silent”.

“Can’t get into slanging match with political leaders. It is better, as said I earlier, I keep silent,” prime minister said on board after his four-day trip to Tehran.

Manmohan Singh said that he had to maintain the dignity of Prime Minister’s office.

He blamed “lack of cohesion” in domestic politics as one of the reasons why the country was not able to move forward economically.

Breaking News: Naroda Patiya case: All convicts, including BJP MLA Maya Kodnani, given life sentence

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A special court on Friday pronounced the quantum of punishment for 32 convicts in the 2002 post-Godhra Naroda Patiya riots case in Ahmedabad. BJP’s senior MLA Maya Kodnani awarded 18 years of imprisonment while Babu Bajrangi got life imprisonment till death by the special trial court in Naroda Patiya massacre case of 2002 riots.

A special Gujarat court Friday sentenced Bharatiya Janata Party legislator and former Gujarat minister Maya Kodnani to 28 years in jail for her involvement in the 2002 post-Godhra riots in Naroda Patiya where 97 Muslims were killed.

4 states declare drought in more than 390 taluks

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Four states Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan — have declared drought in over 390 taluks so far and central teams will visit these states to assess the situation, Parliament was informed today.

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said four states have declared drought so far. “The central teams have been constituted to visit these states for assessing the situation.”

Harvard University probes largest mass cheating scandal

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About 125 Harvard University undergraduates are being investigated for cheating in a final exam last year, the largest academic misconduct scandal in the prestigious institution’s history.

The Harvard College administrative board is reviewing the allegations of “academic dishonesty,” ranging from “inappropriate collaboration to outright plagiarism, on a take-home final exam,” dean of undergraduate education Jay Harris said in a note sent to students.

Assam violence a cause of worry: PM

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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday said the ethnic violence in Assam that has claimed over 80 lives is a “cause of worry”.

Speaking to newspersons on board his special aircraft, the prime minister said: “The ethnic tension, the disturbing of peace in Assam is certainly a cause of worry.”

He termed as “not good” the fleeing of thousands of people belonging to the northeast from Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune and other southern cities, adding that his government would work for the return of cohesion in the country.

Mother, daughters jump to death in Kolkata

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Kolkata, August 31: A 75-year-old woman and her two daughters jumped to their death from a high rise building in Kolkata’s South City, police said Friday.

“Amita Mukherjee and her two daughters Keya and Mukuta, both in their thirties, committed suicide by jumping from the roof of a high rise building. There were probably suffering from depression after the recent death of Amita’s husband,” deputy commissioner Sujay Chanda said.

The police have also found a letter in which the women bequeathed their property to a city university.

Court grants bail to BJP leader Gupta

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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vijender Gupta was Friday granted bail by a local court in a defamation case filed by Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit.

Metropolitan Magistrate Saumya Chouhan granted bail to Gupta on personal bail bond of Rs.15,000 with one surety of like amount.

Gupta appeared in the court with large number of lawyers and supporters.

There was high voltage drama in the court room when Dikshit’s counsel Mehmood Pracha moved her personal exemption application and Gupta’s lawyers opposed it.

Parliament paralysed for eighth day

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Parliament remained parlaysed for the eighth consecutive day on the issue of CAG report on coal block allocation as BJP stuck to its demand for resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh which was vociferously countered by the Congress-led alliance.

Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned till noon after opposition triggered ruckus on the issue.

As soon as Lok Sabha met for the day, BJP members trooped to the Well raising slogans against the Prime Minister for allegedly extending “undue benefits” to private parties to the tune of Rs 1.86 lakh crore while allocating coal blocks.

Santa Interview Joke

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In an interview,
interviewer: How does an electric motor run?
Santa: dhuurrrrrrrrrr..
Interviewr shouts: stop it !
Santa: dhurr dhup dup dup dup..I

Germany’s first Islamic bank to start in October

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Turkey’s Kuveyt Turk investment fund plans to open the first Islamic bank in Germany in October, the Financial Times Deutschland reported.

Kuveyt Turk plans to open its first branch, following the principles of the Islamic sharia law, in Frankfurt-am-Main in cooperation with Ernst & Young auditing company and Norton Rose law firm.

Sharia law prohibits a fixed or floating payment or acceptance of specific interest or fees on loans.

As for mortgages, the Islamic bank purchases houses and then sells it to a client for a higher price.

Kareena gets the brandwagon for ‘Heroine’

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Women-centric films have caught the right attention in recent times, thanks to unique content and strong roles. But for “Heroine”, Kareena Kapoor has gone a step ahead and managed to bring as many as eight brands on board – said to be the most for any female-oriented Hindi movie so far.

According to industry sources, an estimate of at least Rs.20 crore of brand-spends will be blocked for promotions of Madhur Bhandarkar’s “Heroine”, releasing Sep 21.

Girl accused of burning Quran remanded in prison

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The Christian girl who was arrested in Pakistan for burning the pages of Quran was produced in court on Friday. She will remanded in prison for a further two weeks.

Rimsha Misah, aged 11 years was accused of blasphemy and has been held for a fortnight. The girl appeared before a district court in Islamabad on Friday. The judge is due to decide whether to free her and is considering a medical report that concluded Rimsha was 14, but had a mental age considerably lower and should be treated as a minor.

Homeopath who claims ‘boys only’ pregnancies held for cheating

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Thane police on Thursday arrested a homoeopathic doctor Abdullah Babu Sheik for allegedly cheating married couples by offering sex-selection treatments. After receiving a number of complaints by the couples, a social organization conducted a sting operation in which Abdulla Babu Sheik was found claiming that his treatments allowed women to conceive only boys and could even turn a baby from a girl to a boy.

Abdullah Babu Sheik who has a degree but is not registered with the Homoeopathic Council of Maharashtra would charge Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 50,000 for his treatment.

2 IAF choppers collide midair killing 9

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2 Mik-17 choppers of Indian Air force (IAF) crashed into each other midair, killing nine defence personnel, including five officers. The air accident occurred soon after the choppers took off from Jamnagar airbase on Thursday afternoon, when the rotor wings of the two choppers came into contact during a close formation flying mission.

Wing Commander A Sharma, Wing Commander V Singh, Wing Commander S Saxena, Squadron Leader V Manoj, Flying Officer M Srijeet, Junior Warrant Officer R Murugan, and Sergeants R K Rana, R P Sahni and H K Patel are among the victims of the tragic collision.

Hookah smoking as bad as cigarettes for lungs: Study

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Hookah can cause as much harm to lung function and respiratory system as cigarette smoking, a new study has claimed.

Hookah is thought to be “less dangerous” than cigarettes because it forces the smoke to go through water before it reaches the lungs.

Most physicians believe it filters out the harmful toxins.

But researchers from Iran, headed by Dr Mohammad Hossein Boskabady found that water pipe smoking and deep inhalation cigarette smoking had the same effects on respiratory system, `The Jerusalem Post` reported.

US Open 2012: Bhupathi, Sania advance

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Mahesh Bhupathi put behind the his shock first-round exit from the men`s doubles event by advancing to the mixed doubles second round, while Sania Mirza and her women`s doubles partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands also cleared the first hurdle in the US Open here.

Bhupathi`s successful partnership with Sania in the mixed doubles circuit ended after he “sacrificed” her in the infamous Olympic selection row in July.

The veteran along with his new partner, Andrea Hlavackova of Czech Republic, beat the American combo of Mitchell Krueger and Samantha Crawford last night.

Teenaged girl helps nab traffickers on tip from TV serial

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A teenaged girl saved herself and another girl from the clutches of human traffickers in the Bihar capital after she sensed trouble, thanks to scenes she recalled from her favourite Hindi TV serial on crime investigation, police said Friday.

Police arrested Mohd Shahjahan and his wife Suman Thursday on charges of human trafficking and recovered Salma Khatoon and Ayesha Bano (changed names) from their clutches.

Aamir set high standards in the industry: Akshay

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Even though two of his recent films have crossed the 100-crore mark, Akshay Kumar says he isn’t at peace yet, as the pressure has been built ever since Aamir Khan’s “Ghajini” first set the box office milestone.

Both ‘Rowdy Rathore’ and ‘Housefull 2’ grossed well but Akshay said the monkey is not off his back as one needs to live up to people’s expectations everyday in this industry.

—-PTI

Six more Bangladeshis arrested in Manipur

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Six more Bangladeshi nationals were arrested during massive combing opertions in different parts of the Manipur capital complex today by police forces.

Official sources said with this, the number of arrested Bangladeshi nationals for entering Manipur illegally and without valid documents has gone upto 49 in the past 24 hours.

Some of the arrested were women and children, they said.

Lokpal bill delayed, select committee to give report in winter session

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Bringing further delay to the passage of the anti-graft Lokpal bill, the term of the select committee of Rajya Sabha, which is looking into the bill was given an extension Friday. The committee will now submit its report in the winter session.

The select committee was formed in May this year, during the budget session, to look into the bill after the opposition raised objections over the format of this legislation as passed by the Lok Sabha.

India committed to curb leprosy, stigma: WHO ambassador

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India is committed to curbing leprosy cases in the coming years and eliminating the stigma associated with the disease, World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Goodwill ambassador for leprosy Yohei Sasakawa said here Friday.

Sasakawa, on a seven-day visit to India, met senior officials from the ministry of health and family welfare to discuss the country’s projects on leprosy.

Two charlatans in the guise of Muslims held

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Two charlatans who were fooling around gullible women in the guise of Muslims were arrested from Karwan. Thanks to some knowledgeable local women gullible Muslim women were saved from the lust of non Muslim fraudsters. The imposters had donned the attire of devoted Muslims, they had donned green turban on their heads. Small copies of the Holy Quran, leaves of Quranic ayas and surahs, and a large number of amulets containing various numbers and sketches were seized from them.

Spending crores on promotion doesn’t guarantee success: Panda

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“I Am Kalam” director Nila Madhab Panda, whose second film “Jalpari: The Desert Mermaid” has released Friday withou too much of publicity, says splurging money on promotion does not promise success. He feels a good story line is a must for a film to do well.

“If a film has a good story line, it is well made and sends across a message then it will work for sure. If it is not, then even if you spend crores (of rupees) on its promotion it won’t be successful. Maybe for a day or two you will be able to fool audience but not in the long run. They are also very smart now,” Panda told IANS.