Princess Diana dressed up as a ‘male model’ to enjoy an anonymous night out with Queen singer Freddie Mercury and television entertainer Kenny Everett at a well-known gay bar here, a new book has claimed. The late Princess of Wales was a fan of the Kenny Everett Television Show and had struck up a friendship with him and his friend Cleo Rocos.
Suspected LeT operative and key plotter of 26/11 terror strikes Abu Jundal has threatened to go on hunger strike if not taken out of solitary confinement.
Suspected LeT operative and key plotter of 26/11 terror strikes Abu Jundal has threatened to go on hunger strike if not taken out of solitary confinement.
He said this in a letter submitted today by authorities of Arthur Road jail, where he has been lodged, to the special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act (MCOCOA) court which is trying him in connection with the 2006 Aurangabad arms haul case.
Sunita Williams holds a world record for the longest space flight by a woman but as a child the Indian American astronaut had never thought about voyaging into space ever.
“I never envisioned to be an astronaut and had many failures, but ultimately I reached here,” said Williams while interacting with students at the National Science Centre here.
Williams, has a total of 50 hours and 40 minutes of spacewalking time over seven spacewalks, the record for number of spacewalks for a female, and most spacewalk time for a female.
Averroès High School in Lille has been in the spotlight for a decade. Ten years ago, it was France’s first private Muslim school to follow the national curriculum. Now, it’s one of the country’s top-rated schools.
The classes may be a source of envy for many a harried high school teacher trying to instil discipline and impart knowledge to a roomful of teenagers interested in anything but spending their days in a classroom.
BJP leader Yashwant Sinha has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ensure former telecom minister A. Raja is allowed to depose before the joint parliamentary committee examining the 2G spectrum allocation, said BJP sources Monday.
Members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had earlier boycotted the JPC, demanding the prime minister and Finance Minister P.Chidamabaram be called to depose before it but later gave up their demand.
Earlier, Raja too had written to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and JPC chairman P.C. Chacko to allow him to depose before the parliamentary panel.
The CBI today moved the Supreme Court seeking its permission to drop certain charges against gangster Abu Salem under TADA and Explosive Substances Act in view of its commitment to Portuguese government at the time
of his extradition that he shall not be awarded death penalty or detained in custody for more than 25 years if found guilty.
–Agencies
The Commissioner of Police Hyderabad has denied any apprehension or illegal detention in connection with the two bomb blasts that took place at Dilsukhanagar.
The city police chief in his counter reply filed before the State Human Rights Commission today, said that a complaint was lodged by a practicing Advocate against the state police for blaming Muslim community and Muslim youths in the case of February 21,Dilsukhnagar twin blasts.
On March 6,the Chairman State Human Rights Commission has issued notice to the Director General of Police and asked to file a reply.
Chennai, April 1 (IANS) Southern actress Shruti Haasan, daughter of actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan, is so busy with multiple projects that she had to forego an opportunity to act with her father in his upcoming Tamil directorial venture “Bitter Chocolate”.
“Right now I’m a part of six films super busy and working away! Will let you all know myself when I sign or confirm a film as I always have. I’m not a part of ‘Bitter Chocolate’ with my father I’m both sad and happy to say I have no dates at the moment,” posted Shruti on her Twitter page.
Hyderabad, April 1 (IANS) Pharma major Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd Monday named its vice-chairman and CEO G.V. Prasad as the new chairman and CEO, succeeding founder chairman K. Anji Reddy, who died last month.
The board of directors made the appointment based on the recommendations of the Nomination, Governance and Compensation Committee, the company said in a statement.
Prasad is the son-in-law of Anji Reddy, who died on March 15 at the age of 73 following brief illness.
New Delhi, April 1 (IANS) Industry honchos as well the common people will get to hear Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi’s views on economic and growth imperatives for India at an industry body meet April 4, party leaders said Monday.
“Rahul Gandhi would address a special plenary session of the Confederation of Indian Industry on April 4,” a senior Congress leader told IANS.
“It would provide an opportunity to the industry, both in India and abroad, as well as the people of the country to get to know his thought process on economic issues confronting the nation,” he said.
Gandhinagar, March 31 (IANS) India’s major roads may double up as solar highways, if an innovative proposal by some scientists gets the government’s approval. The proposal is the brainchild of scientists at the Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute (GERMI) in the state capital.
In a paper just published in the International Journal of Energy, Environment and Engineering, the scientists say highways can be used to generate solar power, if a roof of solar panels was laid over them, across the length of the roads.
Cairo, April 1 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Egypt has prepared technologies and equipment to block access to websites with pornographic content, the deputy head of the National Telecom Regulatory Authority Sherif Hashem said.
“Technologies to prevent pornographic content from being shared on the territory of Egypt are fully ready for use,” he said Sunday.
Since January, internet service providers have been installing filters to block access to such websites.
Kolkata, April 1 (IANS) Ahead of their Indian Premier League (IPL) season opener against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Wednesday, the Delhi Daredevils (DD) are wary of KKR’s mystery offie Sunil Narine, who played a crucial role in his team winning its maiden IPL crown last year.
“He (Narine) is really difficult to play. In all conditions he always bowls well. You can’t really play big shots to him. You don’t know which way the ball is going to turn from his action,” DD all-rounder Andre Russell said here Monday.
Kolkata, April 1 (IANS) As the curtains go up on a mix of cricket and culture at the opening ceremony of the sixth edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) Tuesday, fans of cricket and Bollywood lined up at the Salt Lake Stadium’s gates since early morning Monday to claim their share of tickets of the inaugural event.
London, April 1 (IANS) Cutting British forces in Afghanistan too quickly could “endanger” the progress in the war-torn country at a critical time, Britain’s top commander there has said.
Lt. Gen. Nick Carter, deputy chief of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), told The Independent daily that passing control of security to Afghan forces was going well.
But he warned any move to thin out British forces too soon would be unforgivable.
NATO combat operations against the Taliban in Afghanistan are scheduled to finish by the end of 2014.
Washington, April 1 (IANS) Calling a new Medical Council of India (MCI) entrance test adopted by some state governments as discriminatory to NRI students, several Indian community organisations in the US have sought its gradual implementation over two years.
The new test requirement will hamper NRI students applying for medical and dental college admission in India as there are no test centres in the US, Europe and other countries with a large NRI population, the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin said in a media release.
London, April 1 (IANS) Princess Diana was once taken inside a gay bar dressed as a man by Queen star Freddie Mercury. She later sent a note saying: “We must do it again!”
Cleo Rocos, who went with the princess, said Diana looked like a male model, The Sun reported.
Disguised Diana was delighted when she was served in the bar without being recognised. She was wearing a camouflage army jacket, black leather cap and aviator sunglasses.
The princess had a wine and a beer.
Baghdad, April 1 (IANS) The Iraqi justice ministry Monday said it has executed an Al Qaeda leader and three others convicted of terrorist and criminal activities.
The four included Munaf Abdul Raheem al-Rawi, the top leader of the militant group in Baghdad province. He was arrested in March 2010 over masterminding massive attacks in the capital, including against ministries, hotels, foreign embassies, mosques and churches, Xinhua reported.
As Pakistani authorities denied that Indian prisoner Chamel Singh had died after being assaulted by jail staff, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said Monday that India was waiting for a full and detailed report on the circumstances of his death.
Khurshid, asked if he accepted Pakistan’s explanation of the death, said: “I don’t have to take Pakistan’s explanation… We are awaiting the autopsy, and when a full report is given to us and detailed investigation report given, we will be able to reflect on it.”
A suspected spy for Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency was arrested in Tripura, police said here Monday.
“Acting on a tip off, BSF (Border Security Force) troopers arrested Rasel Mia, 30 from Bishalgarh area bordering Bangladesh late Sunday night. Later, he was handed over to the Tripura police,” a police officer told reporters.
The officer said that some telephone numbers of Pakistani and Bangladeshi citizens were found in his mobile phone. “He is suspected to be an ISI spy.”
Senior police and intelligence officers have been interrogating Rasel Mia.
–_IANS
A dentist, who was arrested on charges of enticing a girl and raping her, was sent to 14 days’ judicial custody by a local court here today.
Jasbir Singh, who ran a dental clinic in Bappan village, was booked for abducting the girl after the victim’s family members lodged a complaint.
Jasbir is a resident of Lakdanwali village and during the course of investigation, the girl was recovered from Chittorgarh in Rajasthan, police said.
–_PTI
Kashmiri leader Dr. Shabir Choudhry has categorically described Jamaat-ud-Dawa leader Hafeez Saeed as a killer of Kashmiris.
In an interview given to ANI here recently, Dr. Choudhry said: “Hafiz Saeed from one point of view is the killer of Kashmiris. And I am saying this quite openly. Maybe, there could be repercussions for me calling Hafiz Saeed a killer on T.V. It is not a small thing, but I am saying this. And, if my death is at the hands of his men, I can’t change that. I say this that they have killed the innocent Kashmiris.”
Indian American astronaut Sunita Williams, who holds the world record for the longest spaceflight by a female astronaut, on Monday inspired the youth in India to take up career in space.
Addressing a gathering of students and teachers at the National Science Centre here, Williams told the youth to follow their dreams despite failures.
Williams said that it is important to inspire the young to take up research in science, maths and technology.
The decision to cut the price of petrol by 85 paise per litre has evoked mixed reactions from people across the country. Shiekh Farooq, a hotel manager from Hyderabad, seemed to be disappointed with this move, saying it makes no sense at all. “If the price has to be reduced then reduce it by at least 10 rupees. This makes no sense and then the Congress will advertise this fact and ask for votes,” he said, while venting his ire against the ruling Congress Party. Meanwhile, Ashok Godani, a local from Bhopal, termed the whole exercise to be a mere drama.
The Election Commission of Pakistan Monday shut down its website after it experienced overwhelming traffic following the uploading of nomination papers of candidates aspiring to contest the general election.
Around 50,000 people were visiting the website per minute which slowed it down, Geo News reported.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) decided to shut down the website to avoid any loss.
A senior technical official from the ECP said measures were being taken to restore the website.