Month: January 2015

Odisha BJP upbeat about Amit Shah’s visit

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The Odisha BJP is hoping that party president Amit Shah’s visit to the state from Jan 6 will revitalise and strengthen its position after the drubbing it received in the assembly and general elections, state party leaders say.

The party leaders believe that Shah’s two-day visit to the state would boost the party workers’ morale.

Even though the BJP’s vote percentage increased to 21.5 percent in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from 16.89 percent in 2009, the party managed to secure only one seat out of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

Toure says ‘hides’ from female admirers to escape from being hounded

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Manchester City ace midfielder Yaya Toure has admitted that he tries to dodge his female admirers in order to escape from being hounded by them.

The powerhouse talisman said that in order to escape them one has to change his phone number regularly as they had all got good contacts, the Mirror reported.

Admitting that he hides from them, he said that there was one who openly courted him, adding that she asked for his phone number and in response, he gave her a wrong number in order to get away from her, the report added.

Hafeez fails to clear second bio-mechanics test for illegal bowling action in Chennai

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Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez has reportedly failed to clear the second bio-mechanics test conducted to assess the legality of his bowling action in a lab in Chennai, India.

An anonymous Pakistan Cricket Board official revealed that the bending of Hafeez’s arm both round and over the wicket exceeded the limit of 15 degrees, the legal level set by the ICC for bowlers.

The official disclosed that over the wicket, Hafeez turned his arm at angles measuring from 16 to 18 degrees while round the wicket it ranged between 12 and 19 degrees, The Dawn reported.

Watson is harsh on himself: Chris Rogers

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Australia opener Chris Rogers has said out-of-form all-rounder Shane Watson’s biggest problem is he sets very high playing standards and judges himself too harshly.

“He’s an interesting character, he does put a lot of pressure on himself and he’s desperate to do well. He’s probably overly harsh on himself at times,” Rogers was quoted as saying by dailytelegraph.com.au Sunday.

J Lo went through intense pain during divorce with Marc Anthony

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Jennifer Lopez has talked about the pain she went through during her divorce with her former husband Marc Anthony in her latest documentary ‘ Dance Again ‘.

The ‘Live It Up’ singer mentioned in her new HBO documentary that all her dreams and her fairytale got blown into pieces and that was the moment when she felt like dying as the thought of trying damn hard but still couldn’t making it shattered the singer, the Daily Express reported.

Toure says ‘hides’ from female admirers to escape from being hounded

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Manchester City ace midfielder Yaya Toure has admitted that he tries to dodge his female admirers in order to escape from being hounded by them.

The powerhouse talisman said that in order to escape them one has to change his phone number regularly as they had all got good contacts, the Mirror reported.

Admitting that he hides from them, he said that there was one who openly courted him, adding that she asked for his phone number and in response, he gave her a wrong number in order to get away from her, the report added.

NIA approaches US, others in ISIS case; LR to Iraq soon

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A probe into the activities of Areeb Majeed, an alleged recruit of the dreaded terror group ISIS, has led National Investigation Agency (NIA) to send requests to the US among other countries for cyber evidence.

The NIA has approached the authorities in the US, Canada and Australia for providing cyber evidence under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT), official sources said here.

Pentagon seeking candidates to fill 183,300 dollars ‘Yoda’ position

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The US Defense Department is reportedly inviting in applications for the post of director for its Office of Net Assessment in order to replace Pentagon’s exiting ‘Yoda’.

According to the Washington Post, the position was held for decades by Andrew W. Marshall, 93, who founded the Pentagon’s internal think tank in 1973 and was the only leader it ever had.

Marshall was popularly referred to as Yoda- a wise alien character in the Star Wars film series.

BJP takes on Vadra, says wrongdoers won’t be spared

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Launching a frontal attack on Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra after the Rajasthan Government cancelled mutation of the land purchased by his firm Skylight Hospitality Private Limited in Bikaner, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday said that the wrongdoers would not be spared.

Petition against liquor Co for Gandhi images on beer bottles

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Petition against liquor Co for Gandhi images on beer bottles. DH Illustration For representation purpose only
An advocate has filed a petition in a local court against New England Brewing Company accusing it of insulting Indian Constitution and Mahatma Gandhi by printing his images on its beer bottles.

In the petition before XI Metropolitan Magistrate, Cyberabad, Sunkari Janardhan Goud submitted that Gandhi’s image on the alcohol cans and description of the Father of the Nation by the brewery is highly condemnable and punishable under Indian laws.

Lata Mangeshkar’s emotional tribute to ‘Pancham da’

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Remembering Rahul Dev Burman, fondly called Pancham Da, on his 21st death anniversary Sunday, melody queen Lata Mangeshkar paid an emotional tribute to the noted Bollywood composer.

“Aaj Pancham yaane R D Burman ki 21vi punyatithi hai (Today is the 21st death anniversary of Pancham alias R D Burman). Aisa guni kalakar sadiyo’n me ek paida hota hai, wo gaane compose bhi karta tha aur khud bhi accha gaata tha (Such talented artist is born once in ages, he used to compose songs and was also a very good singer),” she tweeted.

Gomez moved on from Bieber?

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Singer Selena Gomez, who has been in an on and off relationship with pop star Justin Bieber, has reportedly found a new man.

According to a source, the 22-year-old, who celebrated New Year in the United Arab Emirates with her friends, has allegedly developed a close relationship with her tour guide Harith Bukhash, reports mirror.co.uk.

In the photographs posted by Bukhash, the duo has been seen enjoying days out as well as dinner together.

Pakistan spinner Hafeez fails second bowling test

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Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez has failed an unofficial test to rectify his bowling action in a bio-mechanics test in Chennai, according to media reports in Pakistan.

A Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official has said the bending of Hafeez’s arm both round and over the wicket exceeded the permissible limit of 15 degrees – the legal level set by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for bowlers, reports the Dawn.

Kashmir border calm but villagers stay away

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The Jammu and Kashmir border was quiet Sunday, a day after Pakistani shelling killed two Indian soldiers and a civilian and forced hundreds to flee their homes along the frontier.

Although no firing or shelling was reported Sunday, frightened villagers chose to stay away in makeshift camps in Samba and Kathua districts where they have been sheltered, an official said.

“Since yesterday evening there has been no ceasefire violation by the Pakistani troops on the international border in the two districts,” a senior official told IANS.

Cyber-terror crackdown: No contacts for many blocked sites

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As the government cracks down on websites purportedly carrying anti-India propaganda of terror groups such as ISIS, security agencies have found that many of these portals do not have contact details of their owners and have servers based outside the country.

The concerned agencies are finding it difficult to proceed with legal action against these websites in the absence of any co-operation from domain registrars and other entities in the US and Europe where their servers are based, official sources said.

More than 80 pc of Rome’s police took sick leave on New Year’s Eve

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More than 80 percent of Rome’s police officers took sick leave on New Year’s Eve, putting the Italian city’s security in jeopardy.

According to the Mirror, the stunning mass desertion sent shockwaves through Italian politics, with Prime Minister Matteo Renzi expressing his dismay on Twitter and promising to change the rules for public sector workers.

Renzi wrote in his tweet that 83 per cent of police did not work ‘because of illness’ on December 31, following which the rules of public sector employment would undergo changes in 2015.

Has Selena Gomez moved on from Justin Bieber?

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Selena Gomez has been spotted with a new man Harith Bukhash in Dubai which gives wings to the fact that the singer has moved on from Justin Bieber.

The 22-year-old singer posted some of her vacation pictures of New Year in the United Arab Emirates on Instagram and captioned it that she was the luckiest girl in the world, as she has met the most beautiful people on this trip, the Mirror reported.

The former Disney star was tagged in the pictures uploaded by the new guy in her life named Bukhash, who is supposedly a tour guide.

‘Confident’ Kejriwal claims ‘Delhi will answer to BJP’s violence’

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Asserting that last night’s clashes reflected nervousness on the part of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said that the people would give a befitting reply to the lotus in the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls.

“If they think that they will win the elections by resorting to violence, they should know the citizens of Delhi are watching them. The people of Delhi will take revenge of the act during the elections,” said Kejriwal.

DCW pulls up Kori for putting onus on society to check crimes

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The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Sunday criticized Uttar Pradesh Women and Child Welfare Minister Aruna Kori for putting onus on the society to check crimes.

DCW chairperson Barkha Shukla Singh said that the onus lies on those who are in power to help bring transformation in the society by enacting strict rules.

“There is no doubt that there is a role of the society…….there is a big role of the police, government, and the judiciary. If there is no fear of law in the minds of the criminal then he does such acts,” she told ANI.

UK College Offers Selfie Course for USD 160

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A UK college here is offering its students a new course on the art of selfies and chance to become fully qualified selfie-takers.

City Lit College will offer a first ever ‘selfie course’ for Euro 132 (USD 160) starting this March called “The art of photographic self-portraiture”.

The month-long course consisting of lectures and seminars will help students “improve critical understanding of the photographic self-portrait,” The Telegraph reported.

Students can look forward to explore notions of identity, selfhood and memory.

Top nine Sensex cos add Rs 54k cr in market valuation

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The combined market valuation of top nine Sensex companies surged by Rs 53,751.86 crore last week with TCS and HDFC emerging as the biggest gainers.

Barring RIL, rest of the nine companies, including ONGC, ITC, CIL, SBI and HDFC Bank saw rise in their market capitalisation (m-cap).

TCS’ m-cap soared by Rs 12,800.28 crore to Rs 5,03,559.58 crore, the most among the top 10 most valued Indian firms.

HDFC added Rs 9,078.62 crore to Rs 1,84,213.31 crore in its valuation and that of Infosys surged by Rs 7,246.86 crore to Rs 2,31,239.16 crore.

Air India Kolkata office receives threat call

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An anonymous telephone call threatening that an Air India plane would be hijacked was made to the Kolkata office of the state-owned carrier on Saturday evening, police said.

A senior Kolkata police official said it was a brief call in Bengali threatening that an Air India flight would be hijacked. The official, however, did not specify which flight would going to be targeted.

‘Make in India’ is Centre’s biggest digital initiative

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The central government Sunday annouced that “Make in India” has become its largest and fastest growing digital initiative with 2.1 billion impressions on social media.

In the process, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion initiative has “left behind every other government department like the MEA (ministry of external affairs), home ministry or the ministry of information and broadcasting”, the commerce and industry ministry said in a statement here.