Gurgaon, June 03: Chicago-based IT consultancy ThoughtWorks that provides systems development and transformation services and products to Global 1000 companies has extended its footprint to north India with an office in this tech hub on the outskirts of the national capital, its fourth facility in the country.
Karachi, June 03: Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar and former captain Shoaib Malik were recalled to the Pakistan squad for the 2010 Asia Cup to be played in Sri Lanka from June 15-24.
A Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) source told IANS that both Akhtar and Malik passed strenuous fitness tests on Wednesday in Lahore.
National selectors and Pakistan team management met in Lahore on Thursday and voted in favour of the inclusion of Akhtar and Malik in the 15-man squad for the four-nation Asia Cup.
Mumbai, June 03: Seasoned Bollywood actor Anupam Kher will Friday be honoured with the Presidential Award at the ongoing International Indian Film Academy weekend here for his contribution to cinema.
“I will get the Sri Lanka president award at the FICCI-IIFA Global Business Forum tomorrow (Friday) for my work in cinema. It’s an honour,” Anupam, 55, who will receive the award from Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, told IANS.
Noida, June 03: Unidentified armed men barged into a house in Noida and fled after robbing Rs.200,000 in cash and jewellery at gunpoint, police said Thursday.
The incident occurred Wednesday night in Sector 12 of this town adjoining the national capital.
The robbers barged into the house when the owner of the house, Rajesh Gupta, was sitting in the courtyard. They held a gun to his head and took the keys of the house and fled with Rs.200,000 in cash and jewellery.
“We have registered a case and are trying to nab the criminals,” Superintendent of Police A.K. Tripathi said.
Helsinki, June 03: Finnish mobile telephone maker Nokia Thursday unveiled a bicyle charger unit aimed at offering “free and environmentally friendly electricity” for handset users.
The kit includes a charger, a dynamo, and a handset holder.
The dynamo – a small electrical generator – uses the movement of the wheels to charge the handset, Nokia said, adding that the dynamo was connected to a jack used in most of the group’s mobile phones.
New Delhi, June 03: In a major embarrassment for the Army, a Lieutenant General has been forced to resign following allegations of sexual misconduct against him by the wife of an officer during a visit abroad last month.
Army sources told reporters here today that Lt Gen A K Nanda, the Engineer-in-Chief, was asked to put in his papers by Army Chief Gen V K Singh after a complaint that he molested the wife of his technical secretary during a visit to Israel.
Washington, June 03: Breast cancer cells, even the most aggressive type, died after treatments with peach and plum extracts in lab tests.
Texas AgriLife Research (TALR) scientists say the results are deliciously promising. Not only did the cancerous cells keel over, but the normal cells were not harmed in the process.
AgriLife Research scientists say two phenolic compounds are responsible for the cancer cell deaths in the study.
The phenols are organic compounds that occur in fruits. They are slightly acidic and may be associated with traits such as aroma, taste or colour.
New Delhi, June 03: The Congress will benefit in election-bound Bihar with a new state unit chief as the appointment will help to end factionalism, a party leader said Thursday.
“The formation of the new team is a welcome move. I feel it will bring a positive change though not much time is left for the assembly elections. It will help end factionalism,” Shakeel Ahmed, a former chief of the state unit himself, told IANS.
Washington, June 03: Insulin pills that could make blood sugar control easier for millions of diabetics worldwide are finally moving ahead in clinical trials and a step closer to the medicine cabinet.
Drug manufacturers have tried for years to develop oral insulin without much success. Insulin is a peptide hormone that people with diabetes currently take by injection to bring their blood sugar within normal levels.
But doing so requires uncomfortable, inconvenient injections that can make patients reluctant to use the drug frequently enough to adequately control their blood sugar.
Tirupati, June 03: Home Minister P Chidambaram offered prayers at the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala near Tirupati early this morning.
Chidambaram, who arrived Tirupati last night, participated in the ‘Suprabhatham’ (hymns chanted by priests to wake up the Lord) at the sanctum sanctorum. He was in the temple for about an hour, temple sources said.
Later, he offered prayers to the main deity of Lord Venkateswara.
Washington, June 03: Facebook has a new member. Former US president George W Bush joined the fast-growing social network and his profile page attracted more than 2,000 fans within a few hours.
The first post on the page touted Bush’s accomplishments since leaving office in January 2009.
“President Bush has remained active,” it said.
Ranchi, June 03: JMM president Shibu Soren today said he would make an attempt to form an alternative government in Jharkhand, even as his estranged ally BJP demanded mid-term polls if any alliance failed to stake claim within next few weeks.
Chidambaram urges BJP to maintain bipartisan approach in tackling Maoists
Lalu not happy with Gadkari’s apology for ‘abusive’ tongue
Indecision jeopardizes Jharkhand govt formation once again
“I will try to form a government as I am in favour of a popular government and not president’s rule,” Soren told newsmen in Giridih.
Washington, June 03:India and the US will hold their first strategic dialogue here Thursday with External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna expecting a very positive outcome from the talks he leads with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
“There are very positive vibrations,” he told IANS after Wednesday’s foreign policy dialogue between Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and US Undersecretary of State William Burns to set the tone for Thursday’s ministerial level talks.
New Delhi, Jun 03: A Court of Inquiry into the Mangalore air crash, which claimed 158 lives, is likely to be notified shortly, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on Thursday.
“We are going to notify the Court of Inquiry shortly,” he told reporters here.Replying to questions, he said the data and material has been collected by various agencies, including Air India, DGCA and the US National Transportation Safety Board.
Chandigarh, Jun 03: The Punjab and Haryana High Court today deferred till tomorrow pronouncement of its verdict on the bail plea of disgraced former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore, who is undergoing an 18-month prison term for molesting 14-year-old Ruchika Girhotra 20 years ago.
Vacation Judge Justice Ajay Tewari, who had reserved his order for today, has deferred his verdict till tomorrow, the court’s reader said. No reason was given for postponment of the verdict by another day.
Ghaziabad, June 3 (PTI) A lady doctor was arrested after a woman, who underwent an abortion at her clinic here bled to death, police said.
37-year-old Gita was admitted to the clinic at Khora colony for the abortion on Tuesday. However, the doctor Bina Sharma, who performed the procedure, could not control the bleeding and referred Gita to a hospital in Delhi, SP (City) A K Vijeta said.
The family members of the woman rushed her to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital in Delhi where she died on Wednesday.
New Delhi, Jun 03: The Central Information Commission will move the Supreme Court challenging the decision of Delhi High Court scrapping the procedures followed by the transparency panel for disposal of appeals.
A decision in this regard was taken at a meeting of all the Information Commissioners early this week.
The Commission while deciding to move the Apex Court has taken cognisance of a Patna High Court ruling which had allowed the State Information Commission to frame its own rules for the conduct of its business.
London, June 03: The Indian government has demanded the return of the “cursed” Koh i Noor diamond, a symbol of imperial power and the inspiration for the Victorian author
The diamond has been in British possession since East India Company forces in India defeated the Maharaja of Punjab in 1849 and forced him to hand it over to Queen Victoria as a tribute following the Treaty of Lahore.
It was last worn in public by the late Queen Mother and last seen set inside the Maltese Cross on the crown placed on top of the coffin at her funeral.
Kabul, June 03: Afghan authorities suspended two Christian foreign aid groups today on suspicion of proselytising in the strictly Islamic nation and said a follow-up investigation would include whether other groups were trying to convert Muslims.
US-based Church World Service and Norwegian Church Aid will not be allowed to operate while the allegations, aired yesterday on Afghan television, are investigated, said Mohammad Hashim Mayar, the deputy director of the Afghan government office that oversees nongovernment organisations, known as NGOs.
Somali, June 03: Soldiers from Somalia’s Puntland region stormed a Panama-flagged cargo vessel held by pirates, but gang members killed the captain in the operation, a minister said on Thursday.
“Our troops stormed the Panama-flagged vessel and engaged the pirates. There was brief fighting before they defeated them,” Said Mohamed Raage, Minister of Ports and Marine Transport, told.
“We arrested seven pirates after they killed the captain of the ship.”
Srinagar, June 03: A Pakistani national was arrested by security forces near the International Border (IB) in Pallanwalla sector in Jammu district, police said in Jammu on Thursday.
Fifty-year-old Allah Ditta, a resident of Bukam in Pakistan, was taken into custody by the army troops soon after he crossed into the Indian side in Pallanwala sector last evening, they said.
Nothing incriminating was recovered from his possession, they said, adding he was later handed over to the police after questioning.
—-Agencies
Balaghat, June 03: Naxals torched two machines and a pick up vehicle engaged in road construction near Balaghat in Madhya Pradesh, police said today. A group of four Maoists set afire the JCB machines and the vehicle last night near Machhurda police post, about 100km from Balaghat, Inspector General of Police C B Muniraju told PTI.
The spot is close to Rajnandgaon in Chhattisgarh. The property torched by the extremists belonged to a contractor who had been threatened and asked some time back not to construct the road, police sources said.
Mumbai, June 03: The unusual pairing of Sonam Kapoor and Imran Khan in ‘I Hate Luv Storys’ has generated quite a buzz and filmmaker Karan Johar who is producing the rom-com says that it is the freshness of the two young actors which is the USP of the film.
Johar says that the film and its lead pair are sure to click with the younger generation who no more accept the old fashioned ideals of love.
Panaji, June 03: The controversial death of Goa Tourism Minister Mickky Pacheco’s alleged paramour should be probed by an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer or by a former high court judge and not by the local police, opposition leader Manohar Parrikar demanded Thursday.
Addressing a press conference at the state secretariat, the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader hinted that there was a possibility that the state cadre police officers had been compromised and would not be able to effectively investigate ‘a serious complaint against a cabinet minister’.
Mumbai, June 03: Finally the suspense about who feature as contestants on the third season of Khatron Ke Khiladi, with Priyanka Chopra as a host, is over. Colors, the channel helming the show in India, admits that the cricketers are no longer on board for the action-reality show and that they will shortly be replaced by young and ‘good-looking’ men from diverse fields.