Month: February 2013

It is quite a responsibility to always be stylish, actress Kareena Kapoor said at the launch of her book — “The Style Diary of a Bollywood Diva” here Wednesday.

She also said the book had something for everyone. “There is something for people from 14 to 35 years. My husband is 40 plus so there has to be something for the 40 plus,” Kareena, who co-wrote the book with Rochelle Pinto, said.

The book has Kareena’s take on styling and has been published by Shobhaa De Books and Penguin India.

Actress Kareena Kapoor, who tied the knot with actor Saif Ali Khan four months ago, will be busy shooting for Prakash Jha’s film, “Satyagraha”, in Bhopal on Valentine’s Day (Feb 14).

“This year, my Valentine’s Day will be with Amit-ji (Amitabh Bachchan), Ajay Devgn and Prakash Jha. So it’s not bad,” Kareena told reporters at an event Wednesday.

On what gift she give to Saif on V-Day, she said: “This year, Saif will have to gift me, I gave him the biggest gift in October. I have transformed myself into a ‘begum’ (wife). He should come and give me a gift.”

A Russian Soyuz-2.1a rocket carrying six telecom satellites has blasted off from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan, Russian space agency Roscosmos said.

The launch was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but was postponed due to bad weather, Xinhua reported.

The rocket lifted off at 8.04 p.m. Moscow time.

It is tasked with sending six Globalstar telecom satellites into an orbit some 900 km from the Earth.

Osmania University students have declared “Bandh” today on the occasion of University’s convocation. Governor, Mr. E.S.L. Narasimhan is attending the convocation as the Chacellor of this University. He will award degrees to the successful graduates.

The call for Bandh was given by Progressive Democratic Students Union (PDSU). The organization alleged that the Governor has given a report to the Central Govt. against the formation of separate Telangana state.

Australia’s High Court ruled in favour of Google Inc Wednesday in a case over the search-engine giant’s responsibility for deceptive advertising in sponsored links.

Google appealed to the High Court last year after a lower tribunal ordered the company to take steps to ensure ads in sponsored links were not misleading.

The legal battle began in 2007, when the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission brought a suit against Google after discovering that the content in some sponsored links was deceptive.

At least seven houses were gutted while eight other partially damaged in a major fire at Geku village in Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh.

The cause of the fire which broke out yesterday could not be ascertained, official sources said here today.

There were no reports of loss of life, the sources said.

Local MLA and Parliamentary Secretary J K Panggeng rushed to the spot to make arrangements for providing immediate relief to the victims.

Mr. Mohammed Sirajuddin, President of Minority Cell of Congress condemned the demolition of a Mosque in Rajiv Palem village of Prakasham District and demanded suspension of the concerned M.R.O. & D.S.P. and also to take action against those who demolished the Mosque.

He said that the members of the Majority community demolished the asbestos roof of the mosque with the held of a group of women. Local residents objected to offer funeral prayer to a Muslim dead body.

Under an organized conspiracy, the members of the majority community demolished the Mosque.

Some unknown miscreants demolished a mosque in Rajiv Palem village in Prakasham district using women as shield. On the representation made by the local Muslims and Jameetul Ulema, 12 women and a man was taken into custody.

Local political leaders and S.P. of the District have given assurance for the reconstruction of the Mosque and for taking necessary action against the miscreants.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi will visit Nagaland on Thursday to campaign for the February 23 Assembly Elections in the state.

She will address two public meetings at Mokokchung and Dimapur districts respectively tomorrow, Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) General Secretary (Admn) Medokul Sophie told reporters.

As part of the campaigning, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and AICC vice president Rahul Gandhi will also address public rallies in Kohima, Mon and Tuensang districts tentatively on February 9 and 14, he said.

Three person were killed while several others were feared trapped beneath the debris after a portion of an under-construction bridge collapsed near the international airport here late Wednesday.

Eight fire tenders and four ambulances have been rushed to the spot and rescue operations are underway, the officials said.

The officials said that those trapped beneath the debris are mostly workers.

Further details are awaited.

–PTI

From a VHP platform, BJP chief Rajnath Singh today raked up the Ayodhya issue saying his party is committed to the construction of the Ram temple.

The new BJP president made the declaration moments after former VHP chief Ashok Singhal bragged about the demolition of Babri masjid in the early 1990s during the campaign for construction of Ram temple.

A day after a man brutally assaulted a young girl who resisted rape attempt, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit Wednesday targeted Delhi Police once again, saying women do not feel safe here and “fears have risen” following the incident.

“Women don’t feel safe in Delhi. There is no feeling of security. What had happened yesterday in Lajpat Nagar is shocking. Fears have risen after the incident,” Dikshit said when asked to comment on the incident.

New US Secretary of State John Kerry has called up External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid who said India was looking forward to take the bilateral ties to a higher level encompassing diverse sectors.

Kerry, who favours strong ties with India, thanked Khurshid and appreciated his congratulatory letter soon after his confirmation as Secretary of State by the US Senate.

Over 12 percent of Goa’s population will come under the Lokayukta scanner, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said Wednesday.

“Everyone, including politicians, bureaucrats, sarpanches (village headmen) and NGOs who get funding of Rs.1 lakh plus from the government, will come under the ambit of Lokayukta. Volumes of frivolous complaints will make the organisation less effective,” Parrikar told reporters here.

“Over 12 percent of Goa’s population comes under the ambit of Lokayukta,” he said.

Actress Kareena Kapoor Wednesday said she would think about writing her autobiography one day.

“I don’t want to write about my struggles. People know about that and I don’t think that’s interesting,” she said at the release of her book, “The Style Diary of a Bollywood Diva”, here.

“This style diary is something that reflects my style personality. I don’t know what my next book would be but if at all I write will an autobiography. Autobiography definitely but not now,” she told told reporters.

She also admitted she had lost weight and said she was practicing a new style of yoga.

A young man was arrested Wednesday for allegedly putting up threatening posts against Kashmir Valley’s first all-girl rock band Pragaash on a social media site, police said.

A special investigation team (SIT) of Jammu and Kashmir Police arrested the youth, who has not been identified, from Babawayil village in Ganderbal district.

The SIT was formed following lodging of an FIR here two days ago on the directions of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

Police sources said a hunt was on to arrest the others responsible for posting threats against the three-member band.

Fashion designers Stella McCartney and Vivienne Westwood’s environmentally-friendly stylish creations won them a People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) honour.

The group recently launched its first-ever Vegan Fashion Awards, and Paul McCartney’s daughter landed the honour for most stylish women’s shoes, while Westwood picked up the prize for most stylish handbag, reports dailystar.co.uk.

Actress Sadie Frost and socialite Meg Mathews were the judges.

Frost was impressed with the winners’ efforts.

Claiming that India lacks a national leader, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav today said Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi’s work will decide whether he would be able to lead the country.

“Rahul is a leader big enough to take command of (Congress) party as he has worked and is also a member of Parliament. Congress has accepted him as a leader, but whether he will be able to become the leader of the country or not will depend on his work. It will depend on his policies,” he said.

Tension prevailed in the gathering organized to collect public opinion on the setting up of a power generation unit at Balabhadrapuram in East Godavari district. The collector had to abruptly adjourn the meeting amid tension and chaos.

The collector and other district officials came here to collect public opinion as the residents of nearby villages are opposing the power project.

PCC Chief Botcha Satyanarayana on Wednesday visited Care Hospital and consoled former minister Dr P Shanker Rao. He enquired with the doctors about Shanker Rao’s health condition.

It may be mentioned here that Shanker Rao was admitted to the Care Hospital after his arrest by Neredmet police a few days ago. (NSS)

Exuding confidence that they were ready to face elections whenever held in the State, TDP leaders today demanded that the Centre order either a CBI inquiry or a Central Vigilance Commission inquiry into the irregularities revealed by the CAG in its report in the implementation of JNNURM schemes in the State.

Speaking to the media here on Wednesday, TDP senior leader Kambhampati Ramamohan Rao alleged that the Congress had won the Cooperative Societies’ elections by misuse of power only. He said the farmers were ready to give a verdict in TDP favor whenever elections are held.

Andhra Pradesh Governor E S L Narasimhan has cleared the appointment of four Congress workers as state information commissioners today ignoring widespread pleas against the move. Earlier, the governor had rejected the appointment of these four candidates as information commissioners exactly a year ago, but has given in, after a fresh recommendation by the state government.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy today said people need not panic as February 15 is not the deadline for Aadhaar-linked LPG subsidy, even as a mad scramble for Aadhaar enrolment continued for the third day, particularly in Hyderabad and neighbouring Ranga Reddy district. The Chief Minister conducted a high-level review meeting and directed officials to open additional 300 Aadhaar enrolment centres in Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts. Services would also be provided in 60 Mee Seva centres in these two districts to address the ‘lost card’ and ‘did not receive’ cases.

The Andhra Pradesh government is preparing a five-year draft plan for the food processing sector, which will be implemented from the next financial year, a senior state government official said today. The proposed plan will cover the entire sectors of ambit of the food processing industry such as food parks, integrated cold chains and schemes for marine, aqua, dairy and poultry products, state’s Principal Secretary (Food Processing) Sabyasachi Ghosh told reporters here.

Three twelfth standard girl students of a private higher secondary school will embark on a 1,400 km cycle expedition from here to Kanyakumari and back from tomorrow to stress the need to provide protection for women against various atrocities. The girls told reporters here that they would travel through various cities en route non-stop on three cycles. The girls said they also wished to break the record set by Vipul Sharma of Uttar Pradesh in 2009 who cycled 1,200 km in 76 hours 10 minutes. “We intend to cover 1,400 km from here to Kanyakumari and back in 72 hours,” they said.