Month: September 2012

trooper of the elite Tripura State Rifles (TSR) kidnapped his senior colleague and a driver at gunpoint before opening indiscriminate fire and later shooting himself with his service weapon late Thursday, police here said Friday.

“A police team, led by sub-inspector Debasish Saha, was doing routine vehicle checking in the city Thursday night when a TSR trooper, Thakur Das Paul, fired two rounds and forced Saha in a vehicle and compelled the driver to speed up,” Inspector General Nepal Das said.

Five people were killed in a fire at a gold mine pit in northwest China’s Shaanxi Province.

The accident took place yesterday as welding sparks ignited the fire on wooden scaffolding at the mine run by Xinglong Mining Coompany in Tongguan county that was undergoing a safety overhaul, state-run news agency reported.

All six trapped underground by heavy smoke were pulled to the ground by this morning, but four died and the two others rescued were in a stable condition.

One rescuer was also killed by carbon monoxide poisoning during the rescue operation.

PTI

Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman has teamed up with Yash Chopra for the first time for the veteran filmmaker’s much-talked about directorial venture “Jab Tak Hai Jaan”. The music maestro says with the project his Hindi film career is complete.

“Yashji saw one of my concerts in London. We had invited him and I think may be he felt that I should be in his film and was kind enough to call me. So it was a great honour for me because I had not worked with him. My whole Hindi film career is now complete,” the 46-year-old said here Thursday at the announcement of Royal Stag Mega Music event.

Argentina’s planning minister sought Thursday to attract Chinese interest in his country’s ambitious energy programme, which includes plans to build a large hydroelectric complex in 2013 and two nuclear reactors.

In his first day in Beijing, Julio de Vido tried to woo investors for a hydro project in the southern province of Santa Cruz that will include construction of the Nestor Kirchner and Gobernador Jorge Cepernic dams.

Pakistan supports objective behind US drone strikes over its territory, but it should be carried out in manner that is lawful and not counterproductive, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said Friday.

Khar said Pakistan does not disagree with the drones being used to go after terrorists.

“What the drones are trying to achieve, we may not disagree. We do not disagree. If they’re going for terrorists — we do not disagree,” the minister said.

“But we have to find ways which are lawful, which are legal and not counterproductive,” Khar said.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Friday took a dig at the media for trying to portray the recent comments of Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on the security of village representatives as some sort of tussle between the two.

“Have to love the media’s priorities when my imaginary battle with Rahul is more important than what the president says in Kashmir,” Omar posted on micro-blogging site Twitter.

The local media in the last three days has been abuzz with reports on a statement by Rahul Gandhi over the mass resignations of Panches and Sarpanches in north Kashmir.

Mars rover Curiosity has found definitive proof that water once ran across the surface of Mars, US space agency NASA announced.

There is earlier evidence for the presence of water on Mars, but this evidence — images of rocks containing ancient streambed gravels — is the first of its kind. NASA scientists presented their findings of the former streambed on Mars at a news conference Thursday.

Scientists are studying the images of stones cemented into a layer of conglomerate rock, reported Xinhua.

Once again the students of Osmania University had clashes with the city police on Thursday after they were stopped from taking out a rally in support of ‘Telangana March’ proposed in Hyderabad on Sept 30.

The university campus turned into war zone as several students injured after police fired tear gas shells at student activists, who resorted to stone pelting when they were blocked at the entry point of the university campus. A TV channel correspondent was also hit during the stone pelting.

The United States expects more high profile attacks in Afghanistan from the Taliban, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said, noting that this challenge in this war-torn country can’t be ignored.

“Even as we recognize these many positive trends, that we cannot and will not ignore the significant challenges that remain. The enemy we are dealing with, as we have said before, is adaptive and resilient. Their focus has shifted to carrying out high-profile attacks in order to undermine the new sense of security that has been felt by ordinary Afghans,” Panetta told reporters.

Eight core industries grew at a slower pace of 2.1 percent in August, as against 3.8 percent in the same month last year due to negative growth in crude oil, natural gas, fertiliser and cement.

During April-August this fiscal, the growth has slowed to 2.8 percent, from 5.5 percent in the year ago period, according to official data released on Friday.

“The moderation in growth was on account of the negative growth in the production of natural gas, cement, fertilisers and crude oil, besides a decline in the growth rates of steel and electricity production,” it said.

Sri Lanka clinched a thriller beating New Zealand via the Super Over after their Super Eights clash ended in a tie in the World Twent20 cricket tournament at the Pallekele International Stadium here Thursday.

While New Zealand were extremely lucky to stretch the match into the Super Over, Sri Lanka were simply superb in the one-over eliminator after both teams were tied on 174. The win brighetened Sri Lanka’s chances of making the semi-final.

President Pranab Mukherjee left summer capital Srinagar Friday morning at the end of his three-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir.

Governor N.N. Vohra, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, senior civil servants and army officers were present to see the president off at the Srinagar International Airport.

—-IANS

An incident of offending religious sentiments occurred last night, 2 days ahead of the grand Ganesh immersion procession. It is said that some miscreants tore off pages of the Holy book and scattered over the road during the Ganesh immersion procession which was taken out at Shah Ali Banda of old city area. Members of local minority community retaliated in protest.

Police intervened in time and prevented any untoward incident. Police later removed the scattered pages of the Holy book. The local people told that some miscreants were raising provocative slogans amidst the procession.

This is probably one of the biggest health myths: that it’s just men who are at risk of heart disease. Researchers have now busted that myth.

Doctors note that statistics prove that women, especially those who have attained menopause, are prone to heart ailments, and also less likely than men to recover.

South Korea’s industrial output decreased 1.7 percent in August from a month earlier due to falling output in the export manufacturing sector affected by the global economic slowdown, a government report showed Friday.

All-industry index, which gauges overall industrial activities, stood at 130.2 in August, down 1.7 percent from a month before, according to Statistics Korea. The figure was down from a 0.2 percent on-month rise for July, reported Xinhua.

This is probably one of the biggest health myths: that it’s just men who are at risk of heart disease. Researchers have now busted that myth.

Doctors note that statistics prove that women, especially those who have attained menopause, are prone to heart ailments, and also less likely than men to recover.

There is an Australian twist to “Dhoom 3” with model-turned-actress Tabrett Bethell joining the likes of Aamir Kahn and Katrina Kaif in the action thriller, which marks her debut in the Hindi film industry.

“Please welcome the lovely Tabrett Bethell who joins the cast of ‘Dhoom 3’ today,” co-star Uday Chopra tweeted Thursday night.

“Dhoom 3” is the third instalment of the successful action-adventure “Dhoom” franchise and it also stars Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra who were in the first two films.

Political parties across the spectrum in Jammu and Kashmir today welcomed President Pranab Mukherjee’s speech, saying they were hopeful that steps will be initiated by the Centre and the state government to address the grievances of people of the state.

“It was a welcome speech. When a person no less than the President of the country admits that there are grievances, it indicates that the grievances of the people are genuine,” ruling National Conference spokesman Tanvir Sadiq told PTI.

India are likely to go in with five specialist bowlers to plug their bowling loopholes when they take on the mighty Australians in its opening `Super Eight` fixture of the ICC World Twenty20 on Friday.

The comprehensive victory against England and Harbhajan Singh`s brilliant comeback has raised questions as to what exactly will be a winning combination against George Bailey`s men who have looked good in both their group league matches against Ireland and West Indies respectively.

President Pranab Mukherjee has asked Vice Chancellors and educationists to imbibe Nobel laureate poet and writer Rabindra Nath Tagore’s spirit of universalism and pluralism.

Mukherjee made these remarks during an interaction with a group of intellectuals at the Raj Bhavan last evening after receiving a briefing on higher education scenario in Jammu and Kashmir.

The President called upon them to not just achieve high standards but also maintain them on a sustained basis.

Actress Mallika Sherawat, who is known for her bold roles, has refused to comment on her alleged link up with Hollywood actor Antonio Banderas while saying that she would not get married ever in life.

“I don’t think I will ever get married. I say so because I feel it is outdated, marriage is outdated. I am loving being single. Why would I sacrifice the love and devotion of so many fans,” Mallika told PTI.

“I have never really thought of what kind of a man I am looking for. I am busy right now doing films here and abroad, travelling and enjoying life,” she said.

After the successful landing of ‘Curiosity’ rover on Mars, scientists now plan to navigate the seas of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan.

According to scientists presenting their proposals at the European Planetary Science Congress, this outlandish scenario could soon become a reality.

The new project, called the Titan Lake In-situ Sampling Propelled Explorer, proposes a boat-probe, propelled by wheels, paddles or screws.

Mars rover Curiosity has found definitive proof that water once ran across the surface of Mars, US space agency NASA announced.

There is earlier evidence for the presence of water on Mars, but this evidence — images of rocks containing ancient streambed gravels — is the first of its kind. NASA scientists presented their findings of the former streambed on Mars at a news conference Thursday.

Scientists are studying the images of stones cemented into a layer of conglomerate rock, reported Xinhua.

Catholic groups Wednesday protested the portrayal in bad light of the clergy and community in Bollywood movies, with specific reference to ‘Kamaal Dhamaal Malamal’ and ‘Kya Super Kool Hai Hum’.

In a flash protest, starting from St. Peter`s Church in suburban Bandra in northwest Mumbai, over 100 representatives of five groups took out a procession to Indian Motion Picture Producers (IMPPA) and Film Makers Combine (FMC) office a few kilometres away.

Veteran filmmaker Yash Chopra, who turned 80 Thursday, announced in a chat with actor Shah Rukh Khan that he will not be directing any more films after ‘Jab Tak Hain Jaan’.

“Bahut ho gaya abhi. My heart says bahut ho gaya abhi. I will not direct any other film after `Jab Tak Hain Jaan`. I have got lot of love in all these years. I think now the time has come to pay back. I want to help directors, actors, technicians who I could not help all these years,” said Chopra.