Month: November 2012

Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh called Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and offered central help for flood affected areas.

Dr Manmohan Singh directed the Chief Minister to constantly monitor the situation and extend all possible assistance for relief and rehabilitation. He also extended sympathies to those who have lost their family members in Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, West Godavari and Krishna districts.

–Agencies

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi on Tuesday alleged that farmers from Telangana region were being discriminated in the distribution of relief and rehabilitation measures.

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The sister of a man suspected to have shot and injured teenage Pakistani rights activist Malala Yousufzai has apologised to her, saying that he has brought shame to their family.

Teenager Malala, since she turned 11, has been encouraging fellow Pakistanis to stand up to the Taliban, who have been trying to push girls out of classrooms. She was shot at Oct 9.

In an interview with CNN Sunday at her village home in Pakistan, the suspected attacker’s sister, Rehana Haleem, said: “Please convey a message to Malala, that I apologise for what my brother did to her.”

If Bollywood’s big Khans are eyeing Rs.100 crore and Rs.200 crore club, internationally acclaimed Irrfan Khan says he has already surpassed that with “Slumdog Millionaire” and “The Amazing Spider-Man” collections.

” ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ has earned more than Rs.800 crore, Spider-Man must have gone beyond that and ‘Life Of Pi’ will definitely go bigger because the cost itself is Rs.500 crore. So, I am working in both kinds of films and I am in the Rs.1,000 crore zone,” Irrfan told IANS.

Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar was presented with the Order of Australia by Simon Crean, Minister for Regional Australia, at a felicitation ceremony here Tuesday.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard had made the announcement on her visit to India last month, making Tendulkar only the third Indian to receive the honour after Mother Teresa and former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee.

Simon Crean, who presented the award to Tendulkar, is also the minister for regional development and local government and minister for the arts.

Improving the quality of education is central to achieving the GDP growth aims set by India, Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor said Monday.

“The biggest challenge is that there has been no significant improvement in terms of quality education delivery. The issues of skill gaps, skill shortages and unemployable graduates still persist,” Tharoor said at the FICCI higher education summit.

Veteran batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who was today conferred with the Order of Australia, said the first trip Down Under way back in 1991-92 changed him as a cricketer and pointed out that the Aussies had a role in his transformation into a “tougher” player.

“It (the 1991-92 tour of Australia) completely changed me as a cricketer. It was a critical moment of my career. Three and half months changed me completely.

Bihar’s ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader and former central minister Mohammad Taslimuddin quit Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s party and joined the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) led by Lalu Prasad here Tuesday.

After questioning Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s agenda of development and good governance, Taslimuddin announced at a press meet here that he joined the RJD. He was accompanied by Lalu Prasad.

Taslimuddin said Nitish Kumar was neither a “development man” nor a “good governance man” and that under his rule, development and good governance have become a farce.

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said here Tuesday that social activist Anna Hazare should identify a judge willing to take charge as Lokayukta.

Parrikar was speaking to reporters in Panaji, a day after Anna Hazare told a public meeting here that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief minister should live up to his promise of appointing a Lokayukta in Goa within 100 days as promised before polls.

“Anna Hazare should identify the right judge willing to take charge as Lokayukta,” Parrikar said.

Filmmaker Anees Bazmee, currently busy with “No Entry” sequel, plans to unite with Sohail Khan for a southern remake.

“I was in Cochin and I just had a causal chat with Sohail Khan. If things fall in place, then we both will collaborate and make a film together. But it’s too early to talk about it right now,” Bazmee told IANS on phone from Cochin.

He added: “Right now Sohail is busy with ‘Sher Khan’ and I am busy with ‘No Entry Mein Entry’. Once we are done with our films, we may talk about it.”

Though an international border separates east and west Punjab provinces of India and Pakistan, their leaders Tuesday agreed to set up a joint business committee for greater trade ties between the two sides through the Attari-Wagah land border.

The decision was the main offshoot from a meeting between Indian Punjab’s Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and Pakistani Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif in Lahore (Pakistan) Tuesday, an official said here. Badal is on a four-day visit to Pakistan to boost trade ties between two Punjab provinces.

Qatar Airways is offering customers across India and around the world with great savings to more than 100 destinations during its latest three-day global sale.

The 72-hour marathon sale, which starts at 0001 hrs Nov 7 (local time in each market) and ends at 23:59 on Nov 9 (local time in each market) offers customers the opportunity to travel to a variety of destinations in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas at very attractive fares.

Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi Tuesday sought immediate remedy to the woes of passengers who have been troubled in recent months by successive diversions and cancellation of Gulf-bound flights from states like Kerala.

The minister, who was also overseeing the aviation portfolio earlier, met his successor in the ministry, Ajit Singh, and flagged the tribulations of air passengers to Gulf nations, which is home to some six million Indians, while seeking immediate action.

President Vladimir Putin relieved Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov of his duties Tuesday, and appointed Sergei Shoigu as his replacement.

“Taking into consideration the situation that has emerged regarding the Defence Ministry, in order to create the requisite conditions for an objective investigation of all the issues, I made the decision to relieve Defence Minister Serdyukov of his duties,” Putin said.

Russia’s Defence Ministry has recently become embroiled in alleged real estate scams involving nearly $100 million run by subcontractor Oboronservis.

Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz is the new interior minister of Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi monarch removed Prince Ahmad bin Abdulaziz from the post of interior minister and replaced him with Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz.

The royal decree, issued Monday by Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, said the king relieved Prince Ahmad from the post “upon his request”.

The king instructed the authorities concerned to immediately implement the decree, Xinhua quoted the Saudi press agency as saying.

An overwhelmed US President Barack Obama concluded his last speech of the election campaign Monday night with a tear rolling down his cheek.

The crowd noticed it as the incumbent president wiped it off from his eye in front of a huge crowd in Iowa state.

Seemingly swept up in the significance of the event in Des Moines, the usually-stoic president appeared to weep from his left eye as he made his last plea to voters on the last night of campaigning, Daily Mail reported.

Tremors of an earthquake of light intensity hit Himachal Pradesh Tuesday, triggering panic.

No loss of life or damage to property has been reported.

“Tremors of an earthquake measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale were felt for some seconds at 5.51 p.m.,” state Meteorological Office director Manmohan Singh said.

He said the epicentre was on the border of Chamba and Kangra, near Jammu and Kashmir.

Last month, the hill state was twice hit by earthquakes of light intensity. The epicentre of both the quakes was on the border of Chamba and Lahaul and Spiti districts.

Pressure intensified on Nitin Gadkari to step down Tuesday as party MP Ram Jethmalani said BJP leaders Yashwant Sinha, Jaswant Singh and Shatrughan Sinha were with him in seeking the party chief’s ouster over controversies linked to him.

Gadkari, who is facing allegations of financial wrongdoing by a company linked to him, kicked off another row Sunday with his remark comparing the IQ level of Swami Vivekananda and fugitive Mumbai don Dawood Ibrahim.

The rupee is likely to see some strengthening and is expected to touch 51 level against the US dollar by December, a report by Bank of America Merrill Lynch has said.

According to the report, higher forex reserves are key for the recovery or rupee and the Indian currency is not likely to “sustainably strengthen” beyond Rs 50 a dollar without the intervention of the Reserve Bank of India.

The rupee on Tuesday fell to a two-month low of 54.78 against the US dollar.

State Bank of India (SBI), the lead bank to ailing Kingfisher Airlines, on Tuesday cautioned the carrier that it “will not fly” if it fails to bring in fresh capital by November 30.

“Banks’ consortium has done everything possible to make the company (Kingfisher) work. Only the company is not working… The management has to get capital. We have given time till November 30 that they should get capital otherwise the company will not fly…,” SBI Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri said.

He further said the airline would not be able to get investors if it is not flying.

Hindalco Industries on Tuesday reported 28.62 percent dip in consolidated net profit for the July-September quarter at Rs 359 crore on costlier raw materials.

The Aditya Birla Group flagship company, which is mainly into production of copper and aluminium, had clocked Rs 503 crore net profit in the same quarter last fiscal.

Higher cost of inputs not only impacted the bottomline of the company during the reporting quarter, it might tell upon the balance sheet of the company in the near future as well, it said in a statement.

Rising for fifth straight day, the BSE benchmark Sensex on Tuesday closed 54 points higher at one-month high of 18,817.38, helped by a jump in Cipla shares and gains in banking majors SBI and HDFC Bank ahead of the festive season.

Sensex consolidated its gains after rising 332 points in the previous four trading sessions amid global stock markets remaining mostly mixed as investors remained cautious ahead of US Presidential polls and a Greek parliamentary vote on key austerity measures.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Tuesday called on President Pranab Mukherjee and discussed a host of bilateral issues, including Canadian investment in ensuring India’s food security.

Mukherjee, during the meeting, told Harper that both the countries need to build a firm partnership as he said there is a “need to encourage more investment in both directions, from Canada in India’s infrastructure and from India in Canada’s resources sector.”

Denmark on Tuesday assured India that it would undertake further techno-legal examination of its request for the extradition of Danish national Kim Davy, the main accused in the 1995 Purulia arms drop case, and initiate discussions on that basis.

This was conveyed by Denmark Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, who met External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on the margins of the ASEM Summit here.

“During the meeting, Denmark Prime Minister recognised that the developments regarding extradition of Kim Davy to India required to be addressed.