Month: March 2014

Two more food parks in West Godavari and Nizamabad districts

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The Centre has sanctioned two more mega food processing parks in West Godavari and Nizamabad districts of Andhra Pradesh, a senior state official said here today.

Work on two new foodparks in West Godavari and Nizamabad districts will be completed by the end of 2015, Andhra Pradesh Department of Industries and Commerce (Food Processing) Principal Secretary J S V Prasad told reporters here on the sidelines of a national conference on the food processing sector.

Want to contest LS polls to solve people’s woes: Rakhi

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Bollywood starlet Rakhi Sawant has said she wants up to wake up Members of Parliament from their sleep to look into the issues of common man.

“I want to contest the Lok Sabha election to wake up the MPs from their deep sleep. Political leaders are sucking blood of the people,” Rakhi, who is going to contest the Lok Sabha election from Mumbai North-West constituency, told reporters here yesterday after offering prayers at the Saibaba temple.

Dhoni pays Rs 20 crore income tax in 2013-14

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Team India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has paid Rs 20 crore income tax in 2013-14 to retain his pole position as the highest individual tax payer in the Bihar and Jharkhand region, a senior Income Tax official said today.

Dhoni has paid an income tax worth Rs 20 crore in 2013-14 to emerge as the highest tax payer in individual category in Bihar and Jharkhand region for sixth consecutive year, Principal Chief Commissioner, Patna, R K Rai told reporters.

After ‘Har Har Modi’, it’s ‘Ya Modi Sarvbhuteshu’ in Varanasi

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Even as the controversy surrounding ‘Har Har Modi’ slogan is yet to die down, supporters of BJP’s prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi have released a new poster in this temple town using a “modified” version of a ‘shloka’ eulogising Goddess Durga.

The poster to greet the people ahead of Navratri, a festival dedicated to the worship of Goddess Durga, carries a picture of Modi showing a victory sign and a “modified” version of a ‘shloka’ of Durga Saptshati, a religious text describing Durga’s victory demon Mahishasura.

Sabir Ali joins BJP

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Former Janata Dal (United) leader Sabir Ali joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday.

“I visited Gujarat and spoke to the people there, and then came to the conclusion that whatever ill has been said about Modi was baseless. After looking at his work I decided to join the BJP. I will serve the party will complete dedication,” said Ali.

Sabir Ali was expelled from JD (U) on Monday for praising BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s work.

An upset Ali who was denied a nomination to the Rajya Sabha had accused the JD-U of treating him unfairly because he was a Muslim.

Women traffic wardens to patrol Lahore roads on bikes

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Breaking yet another glass ceiling, women traffic wardens, trained by a Sikh, will patrol busy roads on heavy bikes in the Pakistan’s second largest city.

The first batch of seven wardens formally started the patrolling today after completing its training.

Riding Harley Davidson look-alike bikes with wind shields, the women zoomed on the roads wearing helmets and sunglasses.

They have been trained to drive 250-CC heavy bikes by experts from Atlas Honda and Sikh traffic warden Gulab Singh.

I am not joining Aam Aadmi Party, says Kapil Dev

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India’s World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev Friday refuted reports that he would be joining Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and campaign for their candidates in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

“Let me clarify it through the national news agency that I am not joining Aam Aadmi Party. There has been reports that I will be officially joining AAP and but I can assure you that nothing of that sort is happening,” Kapil, who came to the media box told PTI here.

Guj development balloon will burst: Rahul on Modi

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Launching a blistering attack on the BJP over the “India Shining” campaign, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi today said the balloon of Gujarat’s development model will burst.

“They had made a balloon of “India Shining” in 2004 and 2009. They have filled a balloon with gas (of Gujarat’s development model), which will be blown again,” Gandhi said addressing a election rally here.

Mocking Gujarat’s development model, he said 17 per cent of India’s GDP comes from Maharashtra.

Entire country wants Third Front, says Akhilesh Yadav

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Samajwadi Party today said it will win over 39 seats in Uttar Pradesh in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls and claimed the Third Front will take shape after the elections as the “entire country wants it”.

“The performance of the party will be the best in this elections… We will win more than 39 seats. The Third Front will take shape after elections as the entire country wants it… Everyone knows economic policies of Congress and BJP are the same…So only option is Third Front,” he said.

Foreign funding: HC directs action against Cong, BJP

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The Delhi High Court on Friday held that the Congress and the BJP had “prima facie” violated the provisions of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act and directed the Central government and the Election Commission to probe their funding receipts within six months.

Foul language against Modi started by Sonia, says Jaitley

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BJP leader Arun Jaitley Friday accused the Congress of using inappropriate language, saying that it started with Sonia Gandhi’s “Maut Ka Saudagar” comment on prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

Jaitley said this in his blog after Imran Masood, the Congress candidate from Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur Lok Sabha seat, said Modi will be chopped into pieces.

Temple priest arrested for sexually harassing minor

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A septuagenarian temple priest was arrested today for allegedly sexually harassing a minor girl at the temple premises at a nearby area, police said.

The 73-year-old-man, a widower, sexually harassed the eight-year old girl after yoga class yesterday evening by inappropriately touching her, they said.

The priest was allegedly often in the habit of doing this to other minor girl students.

The girl informed her parents, who then rushed to the premises along with other villagers, caught hold of him and handed him over to police.

Taliban refuses to free former Pakistan PM’s son

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The Taliban has refused to free the sons of former Pakistan prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and slain Punjab governor Salman Taseer, media reported Friday.

The shura members of the Tehrik-iTaliban (TTP), however, have agreed to release Ajmal Khan, former vice-chancellor of Peshawar’s Islamia College, in return for the government freeing two of their men who are in a jail in Sindh, Dawn online reported.

Ajmal Khan was kidnapped at gunpoint from Professors’ Colony in the University of Peshawar along with his driver and has been in custody since Sep 7, 2010.

Bihar’s ‘Osama bin Laden’ is now an untouchable

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A Muslim man whose uncanny resemblance to Osama bin Laden made him actively woo Muslim votes for Lalu Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan years ago now feels shunned by everyone in Bihar.

The times have changed, and Meraj Khalid Noor admits that no one wants him any more in their campaign meetings.

Patna-based Noor was once the darling of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and former chief minister Lalu Prasad and the Lok Janshakti Party’s (LJP) Ram Vilas Paswan.

Oil extraction plant in Manipur provides employment to many

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Manipur’s smart society is working towards providing job opportunities to unemployed youth in the region by utilizing easily available natural resources. It recently set up an oil extraction and refinery plant in Imphal, the first of its kind in the northeast.

This is the first compact oil extraction and refinery plant in the northeastern region, set up by the SMART society under the Salai Agro Products Pvt. Ltd at Tera Loukrakpam Leikai in Imphal.

The plant operates with international level advanced oil technologies and equipments.

Freida Pinto proud of India becoming ‘polio free’

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Freida Pinto, who serves as Global Brand Ambassador of Plan International’s “Because I am a Girl” campaign, talked about World Health Organization declaring India polio free.

The 29-year-old actress said that though the experts believed that India, which had half the world’s cases in 2009, and 200,000 in the 1980s, would remain the most polio-endemic region in the world, the country hasn’t reported a new case since early 2011, CNN reported.

Father-son duo breaks ‘longest ping pong rally’ world record with 32K-shot marathon

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A father-son duo has broken the world record of “longest ping pong rally” with a whopping 32,000-shot marathon .

Peter and Daniel Ives’ rally lasted for 8hrs, 40mins and 5secs and raised 1,400 pounds for Prostate Cancer UK, the Mirror reported.

Daniel, from Bristol, said that the eight hours drove them absolutely insane and his shoulder was killing him, and that he could only got through it with energy drinks and painkillers and Jaffa Cakes.

The rally was broadcast live on the internet to more than 7,000 ping pong fans across Britain. (ANI)

Sridevi not a part of ‘Hawaa Hawaai’: Saqib Saleem

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Actor Saqib Saleem has denied reports that screen diva Sridevi is going to make a special appearance in his upcoming film ‘Hawaa Hawaai’.

Saqib, who will be seen in a prominent role in the Amole Gupte’ directed out-and-out masala film, said the name of the film has been derived from Sridevi starrer iconic song ‘Hawaa Hawaai’ from 1987 hit ‘Mr India’.

“Srideviji will be launching the music of the film today but she is not a part of the project. The film is incomplete without her presence because ‘Hawaa Hawaai’ symbolises her,” Saqib told PTI.

Now, `borrow` your dream dress from a stranger online

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A new website lets women ” borrow” garment from a total stranger’s closet online.

StyleLend.com lets women rent dresses from one-tenth of the retail price from a stylish woman nearby, ABC News reported.

The lending period is one week and the website, which only available in San Francisco currently, offers high end designer dresses for 15 dollars to 350 dollars. (ANI)

‘God-fearing’ Fawad Alam ‘never lost hope’ of international comeback for Pak

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Pakistani cricketer Fawad Alam has said that he never gave up hope regarding a comeback to the international team and always believed that one day he would be rewarded for his efforts.

Although he dominated in the domestic platform, Alam has had a stop-start international career which currently boasts three Test matches, 29 ODIs and 24 Twenty20s, although he was rewarded for his patience and domestic efforts when he was chosen for the 2014 Asia Cup squad.

Zaheer to lead Mumbai in T20 zonals

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Pacer Zaheer Khan, who is not part of the India ODI or T20 squads, will lead Mumbai in the West Zone T20 League games to be played at two grounds here from March 30 to April 4.

Mumbai selectors also included two India under-19 cricketers – Sarfaraz Khan and Shreyas Iyer – in the squad, as well as leg spinner Pravin Tamble who plays for Rajasthan Royals in IPL.

Mumbai’s league games: Mar 30: v Baroda at Wankhede Stadium (D/n); Mar 31: v Gujarat at BKC ground (Day); Apr 2: v Saurashtra at BKC ground (Day); Apr 3: v Maharashtra at Wankhede Stadium (D/N).

New York college to offer classes on Miley Cyrus

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Pop star Miley Cyrus will become a subject of discussion according to the latest curriculum of Skidmore College.

The course is called ‘The Sociology of Miley Cyrus: Race, Class, Gender and Media’ and will be available at the college which is located in Saratoga Springs, New York, reported Huffington Post.

The college, which is one of the most expensive in the country, will be offering a summer class on the 21-year-old singer to serve as a “lens” on race, gender, class, and media issues.

Senior Iranian aide warns Pakistan of cross-border raid to set free border guards

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Iran has warned Pakistan of a cross-border raid by an elite task force to free its abducted border guards from Jaishul Adl’s bases.

Syed Hossein Naqavi Hosseini, rapporteur of Iran’s parliament on national security and foreign policy, said if there was no cooperation from the security authorities of Pakistan, Iranian task force units would attack the base of terrorists inside Pakistan.

According to the Express Tribune, Hosseini added that Iran was prepared to act independently to crush the Jaishul Adl terrorist group if the Pakistan government is incapable of doing so.

Shazia Ilmi has nearly Rs 59,000 electricity dues

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Firebrand AAP leader Shazia Ilmi has declared a liability of Rs 59,000 as power bill dues even as she holds assets of over Rs 4.42 crore.

In addition, her husband Sajid Malik owns over Rs 25 crore worth assets, as per Ilmi’s affidavit for Lok Sabha election from Ghaziabad.

Ilmi, a journalist-turned-politician, was at the forefront of last year’s AAP-led agitation against alleged inflated bills given by power distribution companies in the national capital.

Sex-buyers are well educated men in relationships

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Most of the people who buy sex are well-educated men in relationships and over 90 percent of them are above 42 years, a study has revealed.

Most of the men out on the street for paid sex are earning more than €20,000 (above Rs.16 lakh) per year.

The study, published by the European Commission, was done in Ireland where the sex-trafficking industry is a €250 million (over Rs.2,000 crore) affair.

According to the study, one in five people said they had come across young girls who had been trafficked, reported The Nationalist.