Month: May 2013

India, Iran review on-going cooperation in hydrocarbons sector

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India and Iran on Monday reviewed the on-going cooperation in the hydrocarbons sector during the visit of Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Ghasemi.

Rostam Ghasemi, Minister of Oil of Islamic Republic of Iran visited India for discussions with his counterpart, Dr. M. Veerappa Moily, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India. In the meeting held today, the two delegations reviewed on-going cooperation in the hydrocarbons sector, said a joint press statement on the visit of Iraqnian delegation.

Naxal attack: Rajnath Singh, Jaitley to meet slain leaders” families tomorrow

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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Rajnath Singh and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley, will visit Chhattisgarh on Tuesday to meet the family members of the slain Congress leaders.

The BJP Parliamentary Board, which met here today, condemned the brutal attack on Congressmen by the ultras in Chhattisgarh.

“We discussed the tragic Naxal attack on the Congress convoy. We condemn it and pay our tribute to the victims,” BJP leader Ananth Kumar told mediapersons after the Parliamentary Board meeting.

Probe in terror funding led to cricket spot-fixing

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The lid on spot-fixing in IPL matches was blown when police was tracking alleged terror financing, officials say.

It all started when police and security agencies were looking into terror financing and they came across this
element of spot fixing, official sources said.

There are links with terror finance but it will be premature to jump to any conclusions.

Individual cases have still not been probed and it was far too early to come to any conclusion, the sources said.

—————————— PTI

RBI imposes restrictions on bank loans against gold

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In a bid to curb demand for gold, the Reserve Bank today imposed restrictions on banks and NBFCs for providing loans against gold coins as well as units of gold ETFs and mutual funds.

It is advised that while granting advance against the security of specially minted gold coins sold by them, banks
should ensure that the weight of the coin does not exceed 50 grams per customer,” RBI said in a notification to banks.

Baby killer sentenced to death in China

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A man in China’s Jilin province has been sentenced to death for strangling a two-month-old baby to death while stealing a car with the infant inside, a court announced Monday.

The Changchun Intermediate People’s Court announced in its verdict that Zhou Xijun, 48, was being sentenced to death and deprived of his political rights for life for the murder, reported Xinhua.

Zhou was also sentenced to five years in jail and fined 50,000 yuan (about $8,000) for car theft. Besides, he would have to pay the baby’s family 17,098.50 yuan to compensate for economic losses.

David Beckham gifts car to mother, mother-in-law

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Soccer ace David Beckham has reportedly gifted one Audi Q3 car each to his mother Sandra and mother-in-law Jackie Adams to show his gratitude towards them.

David is married to singer-fashion designer Victoria.

David announced he was retiring from football this month after playing the game for more than 20 years. Gifting the cars is his way to thank both the ladies for supporting him in his sports career, reports thesun.co.uk.

Pink balloon or a mini-skirt show?: Taliban

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The official Taliban website has published an article criticising an art project in which 10,000 pink balloons were given away for free in Kabul, saying the event encouraged un-Islamic behaviour.

Under the headline “Was it a balloon show or a mini-skirt show?”, the piece said that the conceptual artwork was a trick to promote Western values among the young Afghan volunteers who helped hand out the balloons.

IPL scam: Six bookies arrested in Goa

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Six bookies allegedly involved in the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot fixing scandal were arrested by Goa Police Monday. Delhi Police picked up another two bookies from Hyderabad and one from Greater Noida late evening.

“Ketan Chavera, Amit Papat, Ritesh Patel, Paresh Asad Kota, Sandeep Asad Kota and Nikunj Lalan were arrested from a beach resort in Candolim after the Delhi Police intimated the Goa Police about them hiding there,” said a Delhi Police officer.

Pakistan’s interim government to transfer power June 5

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Pakistan’s interim government will transfer power to the new government June 5, a cabinet minister said Monday.

Information Minister Arif Nizami said that the interim government will relinquish responsibilities on the same day, reported Xinhua.

Talking to newsmen in Islamabad, Nizami said the members-elect of the National Assembly will take oath June 1.

Caretaker Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso has sent an advice to the president to summon the Assembly Saturday, the prime minister’s office said.

Britain: EU ends arms embargo on Syrian opposition

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The European Union said its member states within days will be able to send weapons to help Syria’s outgunned rebels, seeking to pressure President Bashar Assad’s regime ahead of planned peace talks mediated by the
United States and Russia.

Though no EU country has any such plans now to send arms, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the decision “sends a very strong message from Europe to the Assad regime.”

Salman to romance Jacqueline in ‘Kick’

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After featuring in this year’s box- office hit ‘Race 2’, actress Jacqueline Fernandez has more to cheer as she has been paired opposite Bollywood star Salman Khan in the upcoming film ‘Kick’.

The former Sri Lankan beauty queen is having a good time professionally as two of her movies, ‘Housefull 2’ (2012)
and ‘Race 2′ (January 2013), made it to the Rs 100-crore club and she has now landed a project with one of the most sought after actors in the Hindi film industry.

Kick’, directed by Sajid Nadiadwala, is an action film.

Birkin handbag sells for record 63,800 euros at auction

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A crocodile-skin Birkin handbag made by luxury goods firm Hermes has sold for a record 63,800 euros (USD 82,600) at an auction in Paris, auction house Artcurial said today.

The bag, manufactured in 2006 and marked by its unusual combination of orange, red and pink colours, was sold at above its estimate of 40,000-50,000 euros at the auction on May 21, Artcurial said.

It did not disclose details about the purchaser.

The previous record sale price for a Birkin bag was 61,000 euros, during a 2011 auction in Paris.

Bahrain bans contact with Hezbollah

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Shiite-majority Bahrain banned today opposition groups from having contact with Lebanon’s Hezbollah, a day after the foreign minister of the Sunni-ruled kingdom branded the Shiite group’s head as a “terrorist”.

“Political associations are prohibited from having any form of contact with the Hezbollah organisation,” Justice
Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ali Al-Khalifa said in a ministerial decree.

A second clause in the same decree stated that the Iran- and Syria-backed group is a “terrorist organisation.”

Minor girl molested by neighbour

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An eight-year-old girl was allegedly molested by her neighbour, police said today.

Joseph Chistie was arrested from Chhani area on the outskirts of the city today for allegedly molesting the girl,
they said.

He and the girl were taken to hospital for a medical check-up, after her mother lodged a complaint against the
accused, they added.

————–PTI

Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy visits Narendra Modi

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Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy paid a visit to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today at his office in Gandhinagar.

Swamy, who arrived here in the afternoon, drove to the CM’s office in Gandhinagar at around 5 PM. Both the leaders spent time together for around 45 minutes, sources said.

Swamy met Chief Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the prevailing political situation and the next Lok Sabha election,” sources privy to the meeting said.

—————–PTI

Madhuri feeling nervous to perform with Birju Maharajee

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Actress Madhuri Dixit, who would be performing with noted classical dancer Birju Maharaj, feels honoured that she would dance with him but is nervous at the same time.

The legendary Kathak guru and his disciple will soon be seen in a special jugalbandi act on the dance reality show
‘Jhalak Dikhla Jaa’.

“I am happy and honoured that I will be dancing with him in ‘Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa’. I am afraid…getting butterflies in my stomach. I am nervous if I would be able to match up to him. I will treasure this moment,” Madhuri told reporters here at the launch of the show.

Range of famous personalities to contest in ‘Jhalak’

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Famous personalities including television actors Drashti Dhami, Siddharth Shukla and singer Shaan are among the contestants who will be showing their dancing skills in reality show ‘Jhalak Dikhla Jaa’.

The sixth season of the popular dance show will have a dozen celebrity participants, a group of people from different backgrounds. These include actors, dancers, singers, a comedian and child artistes.

Other prominent contestants are model-actor Aarti Chhabria, international dancer and ‘ABCD’ famed Lauren

Wave of bombings in Iraqi capital kill at least 66

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A wave of car bombings tore through mostly Shiite Muslim neighbourhoods of the Baghdad area starting today afternoon, leaving at least 66 dead in the latest outburst of an unusually intense wave of bloodshed roiling Iraq.

The blasts are the latest indication that Iraq’s security is rapidly deteriorating as sectarian tensions exacerbated by months of Sunni-led anti-government protests and the war in neighboring Syria are on the rise.

Iraq has been hit by a wave of bloodshed that has killed more than 350 people in the past two weeks alone.

2 dead, 5 injured after series of Texas shootings

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Two people are dead and five injured after a gunman in Texas shot at several vehicles, apparently at random, authorities said.

The Texas Department of Public Safety said yesterday the gunman was among the dead. His identity was not released, but authorities said he was a 23-year-old.

DPS said the shootings began early Sunday when the gunman shot a motorist. Over the next 90 minutes, he was suspected of shooting two people who were sitting in a car at a convenience store and then another motorist. Then a 41-year-old woman, Alicia Torres, was found dead in her car.

Air hostess suicide case: Trial against Kanda begins

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A fast track court today commenced trial in the suicide case of an ex-air hostess in which former Haryana minister Gopal Goyal Kanda is the main accused.

Kanda is facing trial for alleged offence of rape, unnatural offence and abetting suicide of the air hostess, who
had worked in his company.

His aide Aruna Chadha is also an accused and has been charged with abetting the offences of rape, unnatural sex and
the victim’s suicide.

Eight formal witnesses were examined before additional sessions judge M C Gupta. They included police personnel and

CM lauds ‘sparkling’ performance by Delhi govt schools

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Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today congratulated teachers, students, parents and entire team of Education department for sterling performance of the city government schools in CBSE class XII examination.

Delhi Government-run schools in the city achieved a success rate of 88.65 per cent in the examination against last
year’s 87.72 per cent.

I congratulate students, teachers, parents and the entire team of Education Department for the sparkling
performance of our schools in CBSE class-XII examination,” Dikshit said.

18th century weapon used to perpetrate killings in C’garh

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An 18th century firing technique called ‘bharmar’ (muzzle loading) was used by Naxalites to launch the deadly attack which claimed the lives of top Congress leadership in Chhattisgarh last Saturday.

A squad of Naxalites, comprising 100-odd ‘jan militia’, an armed Maoist cadre with basic training, swooped down with these age-old guns on Congress leaders’ convoy traversing through a jungle the Bastar region and fired innumerable volleys killing people and crippling vehicles.

Six injured in stampede during BSF recruitment test

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At least six youths were injured in a stampede when a large number of candidates rushed to enter the BSF camp at Kalyani in Nadia district today to participate in a recruitment test, police sources said.

Thousands of youths had gathered to gain entry to the BSF camp on the NH 34 to participate in the physical test for the post of Constable, the sources said.

As soon as the gates were opened there was a mad rush among the candidates to gain entry. In the stampede at least six youths were injured, the sources said.

Teacher burnt alive by colleagues

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In a horrific incident, a school teacher was burnt alive by his colleagues inside the school premises in Purnia district today.

Superintendent of police Kim alleged that a group of teachers along with the principal of a middle school under
Maranga police station took the teacher Ranjit Kumar (40) to a toilet, tied his hands and legs and poured kerosene on him before setting him on fire.

The ghastly incident took place before the classes began this morning and students were yet to come in.

SC stay on Ashram demolition, drive now on hold

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The Supreme Court’s stay on the proposed demolition of Ananta Gopal Ashram here last week has given a new lease of hope to other religious structures of the city which are in the line of fire.

Following the apex court’s stay order restraining Cuttack district authorities from demolishing ‘Ananta Gopal
Ashram’ here and subsequent appeal from other religious trustees, the state today indicated that the ongoing illegal temple demolition drive would be halted till the SC’s order is examined.