Month: December 2014

Amitabh Bachchan enjoys editing process of ‘Shamitabh’

by

Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan says he enjoys being a part of the editing of his upcoming film Shamitabh and is impressed by the high technology used in the process.

The movie helmed by Paa director R Balki, also stars Raanjhanaa actor Dhanush and Kamal Haasan’s younger daughter Akshara in her debut.

“The day was spent with Shamitabh. Discussions on its promotions, its release plans and the involvement of others!,” said the actor while praising the high technology and computerised execution, used in film editing now.

‘Kochadiyaan’ producers assure bank to repay loan dues

by

The Rs 20 crore loan taken from EXIM bank in connection with the production of Rajinikanth-starrer ‘Kochadiyaan’ will be paid by March next after notice was issued for its recovery and the actor’s wife, who was the guarantor, will not be burdened, the film’s producers said on Tuesday. This was stated by Mediaone Global Entertainment Limited, one of the producers of the film, amid reports that EXIM bank had issued a notice to Lata Rajinikanth asking her to repay over Rs 22.21 crore that was due to the bank in July this year, since she was the guarantor for the loan given to them.

Services bowlers check Hyderabad surge on Day 3

by

Services bowlers struck back to check Hyderabad’s first innings lead to just 32 runs on Day 3 of the Group C Ranji Trophy cricket match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, here today.

Resuming on their overnight score of 210 for three in the four-day encounter, Hyderabad were bowled out 338 after losing seven wickets for just 117 runs.

Centurion Hanuma Vihari (119) added just five runs to his overnight score before being scalped by left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar, who bagged four wickets in the innings.

Palestinian teen seriously wounded by Israeli gunfire

by

A Palestinian teenager was seriously wounded by Israeli gunfire in the West Bank, his family said today, with the army saying he had thrown a suspected explosive device at troops.

Family members said the incident happened as Mohammed Awwad, 17, was travelling in a car with his 19-year-old brother back to their home in Beit Ummar, between the southern cities of Bethlehem and Hebron.

As the two drove past an army outpost at the entrance to the village, soldiers opened fire, with one bullet hitting Awwad in the head and a second hitting his older brother in the thigh, the family said.

AirAsia plane with 159 aboard overshoots Philippine runway

by

Philippine officials say an AirAsia Zest plane with 159 passengers and crew members overshot a runway in a central province after landing in windy weather from Manila.

Giovanni Hontomin, who is in charge of AirAsia Zest’s operations, said crew members activated an emergency slide to help passengers disembark safely from the Airbus A320-200 today.

There were no immediate reports of injuries and the plane remained stuck on a grassy area near the runway’s end.

Ex JD-U MP Sabir Ali compliments Narendra Modi for development initiatives

by

Prime Minister Narendra Modi File Photo RNA Research & Archives
A conference of Muslims organised by former JD-U MP Sabir Ali on Tuesday extended support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his policy initiatives for development of the country.

Addressing the Qaumi Ittehad conference at the Talkotara stadium, Ali said the new government must be given an opportunity to ensure welfare of the Muslim community.

Maharashtra government to support Kalyan International Film Festival

by

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that the state government would extends its support to the five-day Kalyan International Film Festival on the lines of other global cinematic events being held in the state.

Fadnavis was speaking as a chief guest last night at the first Kalyan Film Festival here.

He said that presently there were only two international film festivals held in Maharashtra one the Pune International Film Festival and the other MIFF (Mumbai International Film Festival), both of which have come a long way in entertaining film buffs and theatre lovers.

AP govt. releases 83 Cr. for fee-reimbursement and scholarships for minority students

by

Andhra Pradesh government released Rs. 83 Cr. for fee reimbursement and post matric scholarship for minority students. I/C Special Secretary Minority Welfare Shaikh Mohammed Iqbal issued two separate orders in this connection.

Rs/- 703,2,74,000 were issued for free reimbursement scheme under GO RT 185 while Rs/- 12,50,78,000 were released towards post matric scholarship for minority students under GO RT 184.

Siasat news

Sex hormones put women at allergy risk

by

Female sex hormones called oestrogens can worsen allergic reactions in women, says a study.

“Women are more likely to suffer lethal allergic reactions because the female sex hormone makes the condition worse,” says a Telegraph report, quoting the study by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the US.

Researchers found that oestradiol – a type of oestrogen – enhances the levels and activity of the chemical which drives life threatening allergic reactions in women.

L&T gets contracts worth Rs 2,521 crore

by

Engineering firm Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on Tuesday said it bagged contracts worth Rs 2,521 crore in its building and factories business in both domestic as well as international markets in December.

The company’s overseas subsidiary L&T Oman from the ministry of transport and communications, Sultanate of Oman, has secured an order for the construction of a new passenger terminal at Duqm Airport in Oman, a release issued said.

AirAsia disaster rekindles pain for MH370 relatives

by

Tearful relatives of those on board missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 today said their torment has been awakened anew by the AirAsia loss in Indonesia, nine months into their nightmare.

“It is just like what happened nine months ago when I heard the news of MH370,” said Steven Wang, whose 57-year-old mother was on the flight which remains one of the biggest aviation mysteries ever.

“I can feel the desperation that the next-of-kin are suffering now. It is terrible. It is horrible,” he said.

Gold, silver weaken on low demand, global cues

by

Gold prices eased by Rs 60 to Rs 27,150 per ten grams at the bullion market in the national capital on Tuesday owing to slackened demand from jewellers and retailers amid a weak global trend.

Silver also dropped by Rs 600 to Rs 36,650 per kg on poor off take by industrial units and coin makers. Marketmen said besides low demand from jewellers and retailers at prevailing levels, a weak global trend as the dollar touched a five-year high, damping investor demand for the metal as a safe-haven, weighed on gold prices.

Hindu Yuva Vahini attacks theatre showing ‘PK’ in Bareilly

by

Activists of a right-wing organisation today staged a protest against the screening of Aamir Khan-starrer ‘PK’ at a theatre here and burnt the effigy of the Bollywood actor.

The activists of Hindu Yuva Vahini entered the premises of ‘Prasad Talkies’ this afternoon, tore posters of the film, forced the theatre officials to cancel the show besides burning the effigy of Aamir Khan.

SP, City Rajiv Malhotra confirmed that the show was cancelled.

Ex JD-U MP Sabir Ali compliments Modi for devp initiatives

by

A conference of Muslims organised by former JD-U MP Sabir Ali today extended support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his policy initiatives for development of the country.

Addressing the Qaumi Ittehad conference at the Talkotara stadium, Ali said the new government must be given an opportunity to ensure welfare of the Muslim community.

Dhoni’s decision comes as a huge surprise: Gavaskar

by

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar said that Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s retirement news was as surprising to him as to anybody and he never expected the ‘Captain Cool’ to quit Tests altogether.

“The decision comes as a huge surprise. Though it is not sudden. I was expecting him to step down from captaincy after the Sydney match but did not think he will retire as a player. I still think that he had 2 or 3 more years of cricket left in him,” Gavaskar told NDTV.

Twitter world flooded with messages on Dhoni’s retirement

by

Cricketers from across the world reacted with surprise and lavished praise on Mahendra Singh Dhoni after the Indian cricket captain today decided to call it quits in the Test format.

The retired batting great, Sachin Tendulkar, also a long-time teammate, encouraged Dhoni to retain the World Cup, scheduled to be held next year in Australia and New Zealand.

“well done on a wonderful career in test cricket @msdhoni. Always enjoyed playing together. Next target 2015 WC my friend!!,” Tendulkar wrote on his twitter handle.

Salman Khan donates 300 lenses to visually challenged in Sri Lanka with Jacqueline Fernandez

by

Bollywood star Salman Khan visited Sri Lanka on Monday to prop up the incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa’s re-election bid, the first Indian actor to be roped in for a poll campaign in the country.

Khan, along with Sri Lankan-born Jacqueline Fernandez and five other Bollywood performers are set to appear on stage in support of Rajapaksa.

The duo participated in a health camp there, and Salman donated 300 lenses for cataract operations for the visually challenged.

Handwritten passport will not be accepted after Nov’15: RPO

by

The ministry of external affairs (MEA) has advised citizens holding “non-machine readable passports (handwritten)” to get them reissued from the regional passport office (RPO), as the handwritten passports will be becoming invalid post November 2015.

As RPO, Hyderabad, had issued handwritten passports till 2005, officials said thousands of people might have to seek fresh passports.

Winston Churchill Wanted To Convert To Islam, But His Family Stopped Him

by

The family of Sir Winston Churchill urged him to “fight against” the desire to convert to Islam, a newly discovered letter has revealed.

The Prime Minister who led Britain to victory in World War Two was apparently so taken with Islam and the culture of the Orient that his family wrote to try and persuade him not to become a Muslim.

Dhoni did not take decision in haste: BCCI secy Sanjay Patel

by

Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s decision to retire from Test cricket with immediate effect might have stunned a lot of people but BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel said that “it wasn’t taken in haste” and came after a lot of “soul searching and deliberations”.

Although Patel did not divulge details of his discussions with Dhoni, he did admit that he knew that Dhoni wanted to “quit one of the formats” in order to concentrate on remaining two formats.

ID proof must to enter Gurgaon pubs

by

The district authorities on Monday asked pub owners to verify the identity of people visiting their premises and not to allow entry of people below 25 years of age.

“Pub-going couples will also have to prove their identity. The main motive behind the exercise is to check the entry of people under the age of 25 years as mandated by in the law,” a police officer said.

Hamas accuses Palestinian govt of failing Gaza

by

The Palestinian consensus government has failed to meet its commitment to rebuild the war-torn Gaza Strip, former Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya has said.

Speaking late today shortly after a ministerial delegation from the West Bank arrived in Gaza, Haniya accused the government of failing “to keep its commitments, by not carrying out reconstruction, nor unifying institutions under the Palestinian Authority nor organising elections.”

Pakistan PM chairs meeting to review anti-terror plan

by

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif chaired a high-level meeting Tuesday to review the progress in implementing the National Action Plan for countering terrorism in the country.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Information Minister Pervaiz Rasheed, Army Chief Gen. Raheel Sharif, Director General of Inter Services Intelligence Gen. Rizwan Akhter, Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Maj. Gen. Amir Riaz and Federal Law Secretary Barrister Zafarullah attended the meeting.

SpiceJet will have to itself resolve financial problems: Raju

by

Troubled carrier SpiceJet will have to itself resolve its financial problems and the government can only help in the process, civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said on Tuesday.

“The government is here to be helpful and the government can be helpful but the SpiceJet problem is its finances which it will have to sort out,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the state aviation ministers’ meet here to discuss the Draft Civil Aviation Policy.

Iraqi army recaptures town from IS

by

The Iraqi military, with the help of volunteer forces, has managed to fully liberate the town of Dhuluiya in Salahuddin Province from the Islamic State (IS) terrorists, media reported Tuesday.

“The Iraqi forces succeeded in taking full control of the Tigris river town, 70 km north of the capital Baghdad from the IS terrorists,” Press TV quoted Karim al-Nuri, a top commander of Badr volunteer fighters, as saying.

Assaults to retake the town, which were launched Sunday and continued into Monday, broke the IS terrorists’ siege of Dhuluiya.