Month: April 2014

Shabnam Hashmi attacked by BJP goons in Raebarely

by

Renouwned social activist Shabnam Hashmi attacked in Rai Barley at about 12.30 on April 28 while she with her associates Mr. Pratap Singh were distributing leaflets brought out by JAVAB- Janvadi Vichar Andolan Bharat barely 100 metres from the Gadaganj Police Station inside the Rai-Barely constituency.

According to Shabnam Hashmi they were attacked by a gang of 25-30 BJP goons who snatched all the Leaflets while pushing and abusing Shabnam Hashmi in the most foul terms and smashed their vehicles.

Former union minister K.S. Rao joins BJP

by

Former union minister Kavuri Sambasiva Rao Monday resigned from the Congress and announced his decision to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Rao, who resigned as the minister earlier this month, told reporters in Eluru that he would join the BJP on May 1 at Bheemavaram in the presence of party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. He said he was joining the BJP for the state’s development.

Rao resigned from the cabinet on April 3 to protest bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. He has also announced that he would not contest the Lok Sabha polls on Congress ticket.

Statehood issue, personal attacks mark Telangana poll campaign

by

A bitter campaign for the April 30 elections to 17 Lok Sabha and 119 Assembly seats in Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh came to an end on Monday.

While Telangana (statehood) remained the main campaign theme of all parties, vitriolic personal attacks against rivals by some leaders marked the electioneering in the region that will soon become a new state.

‘Renewable energy could address India’s energy needs’

by

Harnessing of renewable energy like wind, solar and biomass could address India’s energy needs, a senior Indian official averred here Monday.

Speaking at a National Conference on “Nano Technology and Renewable Energy”, organised by Jamia Millia Islamia, Dr. Alok Shrivastava, additional secretary in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, emphasised that the field of renewable energy, which has witnessed rapid growth in the last few years, could offer a solution to India’s energy security needs.

Campaigning ends in Telangana

by

Campaigning ended Monday evening for first phase of simultaneous elections to Andhra Pradesh assembly and Lok Sabha.

Elections to 119 assembly and 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in all 10 districts of Telangana will be held Wednesday.

About 28.16 million voters are eligible to cast their votes to decide the political fortunes of 265 candidates who are in fray for Lok Sabha polls and 1,669 candidates in assembly constituencies.

On the last day, the leaders of major parties criss-crossed the region in a last minute bid to woo the voters.

Anti-dalit comments: Raut demands Ramdev’s arrest

by

Maharashtra EGS Minister Nitin Raut today demanded immediate arrest of Yoga guru Ramdev for his alleged “anti-dalit” and “anti-women” remarks and wrote to President Pranab Mukherjee, seeking his intervention.

“Spontaneous protests were taking place in various parts of the country as dalit sentiments have been hurt. Police cases have been filed against Ramdev in Nagpur as well,” said Raut, a dalit leader from Nagpur, while addressing a press conference here.

Qazmi quits AAP, alleges party-corporate nexus

by

Adding to the heat and dust of general elections, Maqsood ul Hasan Qazmi resigned Monday as a member of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s national council, expressing his displeasure over the alleged nexus between the party and certain corporate groups.

At a press conference here, Qazmi, also the president of Imam Council of India, made a number of allegations about the AAP and said AAP founder-leader Arvind Kejriwal mentioned only two business houses in his public speeches – referring to the party’s scathing attacks against Reliance Industries and the Adani Group.

‘2 States’ rakes in over Rs.75 crore

by

“2 States” is yet to complete two weeks at the box office and it has already collected over Rs.75 crore on home turf.

The Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt-starrer has earned Rs.76.3 crore in the country, say sources.

Said to be made on a budget of approximately Rs.45 crore and co-produced by Karan Johar and Sajid Nadiadwala and distributed by UTV Motion Pictures, “2 States” released in over 2,000 screens in India April 18.

Campaigning ends for LS, Assembly polls in Telangana

by

Campaigning by political parties came to an end today in Telangana, where 2.82 crore electorate are eligible to exercise their franchise on April 30.

Chief Electoral officer Bhanwarlal said as many as 1.40 lakh police personnel, including 162 companies of central security forces, will be deployed to oversee security arrangements on the polling day.

Simultaneous polling for 119 Assembly and 17 Lok Sabha constituencies will be held in over 30,000 polling stations, he said at a press conference.

Pharrell Williams keen to start store for hats

by

Singer Pharrell Williams definitely has a thing for hats and wants his own concept store with an entire floor dedicated to them.

The “Happy” hitmaker has considered opening a fashion emporium dedicated to hats in Miami, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

“A concept store like (Paris’) Colette in Miami could be cool. I don’t know what the best location would be. Perhaps Lincoln Road or even Bayside. Inside, you’d find lots of products imported from Europe as well as my own collections. I would have a whole floor dedicated to hats and caps, I can’t get enough of them,” said Williams.

Women prefer to keep hair extensions a secret: Survey

by

Faking it in the hair department is a whole lot easier to do these days. Over a third of women regularly wear hair extensions and almost 90 percent of them keep it a secret, according to new research.

According to a poll conducted by online hair and beauty expert Hairtrade.com, 38 percent of women use hair extensions as part of their beauty routine, and 87 percent of them keep it a secret from their friends and family, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

MH370 may not be found on ocean surface: Abbott

by

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott today said it was now “highly unlikely” that any debris of the missing Malaysia Airlines plane will be found on the ocean surface, as he announced a more intensive underwater search expanding to new areas that may take up to eight months.

Describing the hunt as “probably the most difficult search in human history”, Abbott said the search for the missing flight MH370 will be entering a new phase that will use private contractors and may cost about USD 60 million.

Sonia should lodge case if info in CD on Vadra is false: BJP

by

BJP leader Nitin Gadkari today challenged Sonia Gandhi to lodge a case against the party if she believes that the information given in the CD and booklet on alleged land deals of Robert Vadra is false.

Replying to a question regarding the timing of the CD, Gadkari said, “the issue is not of timing. Soniaji must answer. She must say it is wrong and if it is false, she should lodge a case.

“It would have been better if Soniaji had taken an initiative for a judicial inquiry in the Vadra issue,” he said.

Emma Stone sports bangs

by

Actress Emma Stone, who has been seen in dyed red hair for long, may not have changed her tress colour but she got a new cut – bangs.

“The Amazing Spider-Man 2” star debuted bangs during her visit to New York City, reports usmagazine.com.

The natural blonde occasionally had her face-framing long layers swept across her face in a bang-like fashion. But the New York City style is a more blunt cut, falling to her eyebrows.

Stone has also played with her hair colour. She has tried out various shades of blonde, red, and even brown.
(IANS)

Third Ladakh International Film Festival June 27-29

by

The third edition of the Ladakh International Film Festival (LIFF) will be held in Leh June 27-29. Over 700 entries from around 30 countries across the world have been received by the organisers, but the focus this year will be on Korean cinema.

“Apart from international cinema, what is heartening is the participation of lesser known filmmakers from places such as Manipur, Nagaland and Meghalaya in addition to Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Punjabi, Bengali, Assamese and Hindi cinema,” Melwyn Williams Chirayath, founder and festival director, LIFF, said in a statement.

East Ukrainian mayor shot, critically injured

by

The mayor of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine was shot Monday and is critically injured, a media report said.

Gennady Kernes, 54, was reportedly shot in the back by unknown gunmen as he was on his way for a morning swim, BBC reported.

Kernes is still undergoing emergency surgery at the Surgery Institute in Kharkiv.

“Several internal organs have been injured. There’s bleeding and shock. The bleeding has been stopped, and emergency doctors are treating him for shock,” said the head of the hospital where Kernes is admitted.

Liverpool’s Suarez named PFA player of the year

by

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez was named the Professional Footballers Association’s (PFA) ‘player of the year’ for 2013-14, becoming the first non-European to win the award.

Suarez was Sunday night recognised for scoring 30 goals in the Premier League this season, firing Liverpool to the top of the standings, reports Xinhua.

The Uruguayan was presented with the award at a ceremony here after his side’s 0-2 defeat to Chelsea, which means Manchester City can secure the title if they win their three remaining games this season.

Modi lashes out at Farooq Abdullah; Omar dares Modi

by

Narendra Modi and the father-son duo of Farooq and Omar Abdullah were today engaged in bitter sparring with the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate alleging that the biggest blow to secularism in India was delivered in Kashmir from where Kashmiri Pandits were forced out due to their religion.

Both Farooq and Omar came out all guns blazing against Modi, saying Modi’s intention was to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution which gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and asserting that this will never be acceptable to the people of the state.

Real Madrid look to book Champions League final berth

by

Spanish club Real Madrid travel to Munich Monday to prepare for their Champions League semi-final return leg against Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena Tuesday night.

Apart from Pepe, who didn’t play at the weekend, Carlo Ancelotti has no fresh injury worries, other than long term absentees Alvaro Arbeloa, Jese Rodriguez and Sami Khedira and he will have been happy to see Gareth Bale in full training Sunday after the Welshman missed Saturday’s 4-0 win at home to Osasuna through injury, reports Xinhua.

Honda launches automatic variant of Activa scooter

by

Two-wheeler major Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI), Monday launched its largest selling scooter brand Activa’s 125cc automatic variant priced between Rs.52,456 and Rs.58,196 (ex-showroom Delhi).

“Propelled by new third plant near Bangalore, Honda is all set to excite customers with new products with speed. In this background, Activa 125 is Honda’s next strategic step towards reinforcing market leadership and facilitating Indians to step up their daily ride for more power,” said Keita Muramatsu – president and chief executive, HMSI.

Del Piero to leave Sydney FC

by

Sydney FC confirmed Monday that Italian veteran Alessandro Del Piero would leave the A-league football club after both parties failed to agree to a new contract.

The Italian striker and Sydney FC had been in discussions for months about extending Del Piero’s two-season stay in Australia, but Sydney FC chairman Scott Barlow said the 39-year-old player had decided to end his time with the team, reports Xinhua.

Electric paint to fix remote control in a jiffy

by

You need not see red if you find your remote control broken just before the start of a match as you can now fix it just by painting it with a brush. All you need to do after that is wait for it to get dried up!

A London-based company now offers paint that becomes conductive once it dries.

The black paint uses carbon to conduct electricity when it dries.

The electric paint, developed by the firm Bare Conductive, can be applied to paper, wood, cement and textiles, among other materials, and becomes conductive once it dries.

Mohammed Ali Baig received Padma Shri

by

Hyderabadi theatre revivalist, playwright, director and actor Mohammad Ali Baig,received their coveted Padma Shri honours from the President of India on Saturday at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Due to the elections and President’s engagements, the award ceremony of this year was conducted in two batches.

DD likely to rope in Tahir as Coulter-Nile’s replacement

by

With their spin cupboard almost bare in the ongoing Indian Premier League, Delhi Daredevils in all likelihood will rope in South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir to bolster their slow bowling department after paceman Nathan Coulter-Nile got injured.

Currently the Daredevils have only two specialist spin bowlers in left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem and leg-spinner Rahul Sharma.

Tahir was not picked at the auctions but had a fantastic ICC World T20 in Bangladesh where he was one of the top wicket-takers with 12 scalps in the tournament at a very economical average.

Clinching evidence to arrest Modi, Shah in Ishrat case: Sibal

by

Union Minister Kapil Sibal today raked up alleged fake encounter of Ishrat Jahan to hit out at Narendra Modi saying the BJP’s PM nominee and Amit Shah were being “shielded” despite existence of “clinching” evidence to arrest them.

“I want to ask who is shielding Modi and Shah when, as per lawyers like us, there is a clinching evidence to arrest them in the case of fake encounter of Ishrat Jahan and three others,” Sibal told reporters here.

The hard-hitting attack by Sibal came on the last day of campaigning for the single-phase polls in Gujarat to be held on April 30.