Month: February 2013

Over 100 people were injured when villagers opposing a proposed power plant at Bikkavolu in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh clashed with police during the public hearing near in Kakinada on Wednesday, police said.

People from at least 12 villages in the vicinity are opposing the proposed 100-MW captive power plant of KPR Fertilisers at Bikkavolu, apprehending pollution and damage to crops.

The clash started when a team of district officials, led by Collector Neethu Kumary, tried to initiate the hearing on the contentious issue near Donthamuru village.

Iran’s president on Wednesday offered to help rescue Egypt’s failing economy with a “big credit line,” another sign of improving relations between two regional powers after a freeze of more than three decades.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made the proposal during the first trip to Egypt by an Iranian leader since 1979. It came at a time when his own economy is staggering from the effects of Western sanctions over Iran’s suspect nuclear development program, and it was unclear how he could spare funds or credit for his new ally.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Wednesday imposed a complete ban on the transfer and development of land around shrines of minority communities in the wake of allegations about the illegal sale of a gurdwara’s property by a state-run body.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, which was hearing a case regarding the illegal sale of the gurdwara’s land by the Evacuee Trust Property Board, ruled there would be a complete ban on transfer of such land as well as development of roads or any development work.

Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor today said that post-marriage, she has transformed herself into a begum (princess). Kareena and Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan tied the knot in Mumbai in October last year after a five-year courtship. Saif, 42, son of late Nawab of Pataudi and former Indian cricket captain Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and actress Sharmila Tagore, sealed his relationship with Kareena, 32, through a registered marriage.

The East Godavari district administration in Andhra Pradesh was on Wednesday forced to postpone a public hearing over setting up of a coal-based power plant in a village following opposition by some local residents.

The public hearing at Dontamuru village in the district was marred by tremendous opposition by some of those who gathered there.

Raising slogans against the move to set up the coal-based power plant by a private company, the protesters alleged that it would cause massive environmental damage.

Taking serious objection to N Chandrababu Naidu’s remarks, YSR Congress has said that the party has full faith in the legal system and brushed aside his allegation that TDP is being pressed to move no trust move only to strike a deal with Congress.

In a speech with barely disguised claims of what he was capable of, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday appealed for a re-branding of India to make it a global power.

In an hour-long speech at the Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) here, Modi underlined that the government’s job was not to run businesses but to provide good governance.

Amid repeated applause, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran told the hundreds of students and faculty that Indian political leaders should view the young as “new age power”, not as “new age voters”.

Application forms for the Haj 2013 were issued this morning by Minister for Minorities Welfare, Wakf and Urdu Academy Syed Mohammed Ahmadullah at Haj House Nampally.

Speaking on the occasion, Ahmadullah said the State government and the State Haj Committee would provide all facilities to the Haj pilgrims of the State. He said this year the Haj Committee of India has made it mandatory for all the Muslims to perform Haj only once in a life time and as per that decision the forms would be accepted from those persons who did not perform Haj earlier.

Uneasy calm prevails on the Osmania University campus on the eve of Governor and Chancellor ESL Narasimhan’s visit on Thursday to participate in the 79th convocation of the University.

Tense atmosphere prevails on the campus as the PDSU called for bandh on Thursday in protest against the Governor’s visit. It also warned that it would not allow the Governor to visit the campus to participate in the convocation.

The governor ESL Narasimhan had to yield to the recommendation of the Chief Minister by appointing the same persons whom he had rejected earlier as Information Commissioners.

When the government sent some names for appointment as Information Commissioners, the governor rejected four names as they were all politically connected persons, which was against the norms. He sent the file back, directing the government to make alternative suggestions. But the Chief Minister once again sent the same names for appointment and the governor had to oblige.

With the Mayor Majid Hussain abruptly adjourning indefinitely the Special Budget Session of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation on Wednesday, the TDP and BJP corporators squatted in the Mayor’s Conference Hall in protest. Besides, several woman corporators laid a siege to the chamber of the Mayor.

Estranged former minister Dr P. Shanker Rao’s daughter P. Sushmitha on Wednesday lodged a complaint with the Musheerabad police against Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy alleging that he had made the police to arrest her father by registering cases as her father had refused to withdraw case filed against the Chief Minister with regard to Red Sanders smuggling.

The Begum Bazaar Police have submitted to the High Court that they had filed a charge-sheet against TNGOs’ Union former president Swamy Goud with regard to the TNGOs’ Housing Society issue.

Insects and teenagers have quite a lot in common – they are constantly grooming themselves to attract the opposite sex, a study has found.

According to scientists, the personal hygiene procedure is vital in keeping their sensory organs ship-shape, allowing them to identify members of the opposite sex, the Daily Mail reported.

Grooming – specifically antennae cleaning – removes environmental pollutants and chemicals produced by the insects themselves.

Bollywood singer Mika Singh was today detained at the international airport here for allegedly carrying Indian and foreign currency beyond permissible limit.

Singh, who arrived here from Bangkok by a private airline around 7.30 pm, was intercepted by customs officials.

During checking, he was found in possession of USD 12,000 and Rs 3 lakh in cash, a senior Customs official told PTI.

As per Customs norms, Indian passengers coming from abroad and carrying over Rs 7,500 and USD 5,000 need to make declaration about the same upon arrival, he said.

In a speech with barely disguised claims of his capabilities, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday portrayed himself as a visionary who wants to see India as a global power.

In an hour-long speech at the Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) here, Modi underlined that the government’s job was not to run businesses but to provide good governance — and he was doing so in Gujarat.

As Modi spoke in Delhi University’s second oldest college, hundreds of leftwing protesters screamed slogans against him for his role in the 2002 communal riots in the state.

A nine-year-old girl has given birth to a daughter in Mexico, a media report said Wednesday.

Authorities are hunting for the baby’s 17-year-old father after the girl fell pregnant aged just eight and gave birth last week, the Mirror daily reported.

The baby was born Jan 27 in Mexico’s western Jalisco state.

“We are looking for the young man to get his story because she does not understand what has happened. This is a rape or child sex abuse case,” Jorge Villasenor, from the state prosecutor’s office, was quoted as saying.

Two suspected paedophiles, aged 66 and 70, have been arrested as police investigated a 1980s case of child sex abuse at a guest house and care home.

The men were arrested in raids at their homes in Norfolk and East Sussex, The Sun reported.

The allegations were linked to Elm Guest House and the Grafton Close care home in Barnes, southwest London.

The guest house was allegedly run as a male brothel in the early 1980s and boys from the care home are alleged to have been taken there to be used by adult men, the daily said.

Amid massive protests from the Left wing students, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi arrived at the Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) here on Wednesday for his first public address in the national capital after achieving a thumping electoral win in his state in December 2012.

Scores of students, who have gathered outside the SRCC here, are raising slogans of ”Narendra Modi Go Away”. The protesting students here say that they are against Gujarat”s development model.

Delhi Police, which has baton-charged some of the protesting students, have imposed Section 144 in the area.

According to new research from the University of Leeds Natural, chemicals found in green tea and red wine may disrupt a key step of the Alzheimer’s disease pathway.

In early-stage laboratory experiments, the researchers identified the process that allows harmful clumps of protein to latch on to brain cells, causing them to die. They were able to interrupt this pathway using the purified extracts of EGCG from green tea and resveratrol from red wine.

The findings offer potential new targets for developing drugs to treat Alzheimer’s disease.

The “obesity paradox” that says, at age 65 and older, having an elevated BMI won’t shorten your lifespan, and may even extend it has been proved wrong in a new study.

Researchers have found that as obese Americans grow older, in fact, their risk of death climbs.

A couple from Arkansas got double lucky when they won the state lottery with two separate tickets bought the same day at the same store.Stephen and Terri Weaver of Stuttgart, Arkansas, scooped more than 1 million dollars after buying two winning lottery tickets from the same convenience store in the space of a few hours, the New York Daily News reported.

The couple were on a fishing trip to Greers Ferry Lake when they bought their first ticket from T-Ricks in Pangburn.
They then stopped again at the same store, about 60 miles northeast of Little Rock, for another shot at the prize.

A male escort company from Australia thinks there’s a market in Brisbane for a non-sexual escort service.However, critics doubt that women will take to the idea, instead, preferring genuine companionship.Male Escorts Brisbane, which is the brainchild of entrepreneur Anthony Clark, said that he believed the agency was the first of its kind in the River City for women seeking male company.

Refence lawyers in the Delhi gangrape case on Wednesday began cross- examination of the key eyewitness and co-victim of the incident at the fast-track court in the Saket Court Complex here.

The cross-examination came after the male friend of the deceased victim, who is the chief prosecution witness, had on Tuesday identified the bus on which the gruesome crime took place on December 16, and also the five accused.

A circus animal trainer was mauled to death by a Royal Bengal tiger during a performance in Mexico.

Children screamed in horror as 35-year-old Alexander Crispin was attacked by the tiger during the Circo Suarez show in Etchojoa.

The man suffered severe injuries, including bites on the neck, as he was dragged around the cage by one of two tigers present in the ring.

He later died in hospital from hypovolemic shock which can occur after severe blood loss.

A video posted on YouTube shows the tiger suddenly lunging at its victim, pinning him to the ground.