Bangalore, October 18: No Indian team was left in contention for the semi-finals of the Champions League Twenty20 after Banglaore Royal Challengers thrashed Delhi Daredevils by eight wickets in the Super Eight match at M. Chinnaswamy stadium here Saturday.
Chasing a victory target of 139 runs, Royal Challengers reached the target in just 15.1 overs. Ross Taylor (65) and Rahul Dravid (32 not out) shared 93 runs for the second wicket.
New York, October 18: French President Nicolas Sarkozy has offered his support to Hollywood filmmaker Roman Polanski who has been detained by Swiss authorities for a sex offence.
Sarkozy has insisted that a 76-year-old man should not have been arrested for crimes he committed 32 years ago, reports.
The moviemaker, who fled to France in 1978 as he awaited sentencing for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl at a Hollywood party, was arrested by Swiss authorities while attending a film festival in Zurich last month.
Los Angeles, October 18: NASA’s much-hyped mission to hurl a spacecraft into the moon turned out some worthwhile data after all, scientists said.
New images show a mile-high plume of lunar debris from the Cabeus crater shortly after the space agency’s Centaur rocket struck on October 9.
“We were blown away by the data returned,” Anthony Colaprete, the mission’s chief scientist, said in a report on Friday from the Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif., which managed the launch.
“The team is working hard on the analysis, and the data appear to be of very high quality.”
Baghdad, October 18: A military delegation from Iraq will visit Moscow soon to discuss the purchase of Russian weaponry, an Iraqi parliament member has said.
“A large delegation from the Iraqi defence ministry will travel soon to Moscow for talks on arms purchases (from Russia),” Abbas al-Bayati said in an interview with the Al Iraqiya television.
According to the Iraqi MP, Baghdad is seeking to sign arms contracts with Russia, Germany, France, Serbia and the US by the end of 2011 “to complete the creation of Iraqi Armed Forces and security forces”.
Washington, October 18: Researchers have decoded the atomic structure of a key human enzyme, potentially opening the way towards less toxic HIV drugs.
“Many anti-HIV drugs are designed to stop the process of DNA replication,” says Whitney Yin, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Texas-Austin (UT-A).
“That turns out to be a great thing to do to help cure virus infections, because it stops the processes of viral replication,” adds Yin.
Patna, October 18: This is festival shopping season, but a village market in Bihar’s Aurangabad district wears a deserted look as it has been forced to shut down by Maoists, police said on Saturday.
Not a single shop in Dewaria Bazaar in Aurangabad, about 120 km from here, has opened since Friday after the Maoists issued a diktat to close down the market for 15 days apparently because traders there had violated an earlier shutdown call by the rebels.
“The Maoists forced the closure of the market,” a police official said.
Mexico City, October 18: Mexico City authorities have begun the second phase of a programme to get overweight police personnel in the capital to lose weight.
The Police Department’s Comprehensive Obesity Care Programme began five months ago when a sample of 1,800 officers was studied, of whom 70 percent were found to be overweight, the municipal public safety department said in a communique.
Osaka, October 18: Sania Mirza’s brilliant run at the WTA Japan Open ended with a crushing 2-6 1-6 mauling in the semifinal at the hands world number 26 and fourth seed Francesca Schiavone Osaka on Saturday.
Sania’s defeat meant that the Indian has now lost all three encounters against her Italian friend.
The Hyderabadi had beaten Shahar Peer and Marian Bartoli en route to the last-four stage. It was for the third time in the season that Sania had made the singles semifinal of an WTA event.
Santiago, October 18: A thief died and two others were seriously injured when they were crushed by an automatic teller machine they had stolen from a petrol pump, Chilean police said.
The incident occurred in the early hours Friday, when some 15 individuals arrived at a filling station on the southwest side of Santiago in three vehicles, broke a window and grabbed the ATM.
The thieves tied it to their SUV with ropes and sped away. They were pursued by police, who had been alerted by the alarm of the establishment and by workers at the filling station, Col. Mauricio Toro said.
Chandigarh, October 18: A senior doctor at a leading hospital here has tested positive for the influenza A (H1N1) virus, a health official said on Saturday.
He is among the dozens of doctors and other medical staff here who have contracted swine flu.
“The patient is a resident doctor of Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER). He was exhibiting symptoms of swine flu like running nose, high fever and bad throat. We had collected his throat and nasal swab samples Thursday and his report has come positive,” a health official said.
Shimla, October 18: Himachal Pradesh’s centuries-old Lavi fair, synonymous with trade in traditional items like woollens and dry fruits, will start Nov 11 in Rampur town, an official said.
“The four-day Lavi fair will begin in Rampur from Nov 11 in which tribals from Kinnaur, Lahaul and Spiti districts will participate too,” Deputy Commissioner (Shimla) J.S. Rana told.
He said besides the fair, an exhibition of horses would also be held in Rampur Nov 4-7.
“During the exhibition of horses, the main attraction will be the sale and purchase of Chamurthi horses,” he said.
Dhaka, October 18: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has called corruption “the biggest barrier to poverty eradication”, but her warnings to political colleagues have gone unheeded, media reports said.
District level officials have sent in reports that a section of the Awami League leaders are ?grabbing’ contracts through manipulation of rules and coercion of the bureaucracy, New Age newspaper said Sunday.
New York, October 18: India’s relationship with African countries is independent of China’s activities in the continent and competition with Beijing does not determine its policies for Africa, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor has said.
“As far as we’re concerned, our relationship with the very many countries of Africa is independent of what China is doing there,” Tharoor told a news agency during his first official visit to New York.
“It is unconstructive to see any of these relationships in terms of a third country,” he said.
Mumbai, October 18: A US aircraft with 205 American Marine commandos on board was on Sunday made to land at Mumbai airport for allegedly violating the Indian airspace.
The chartered plane was on its way from Fujiriah in Middle East to Bangkok, an airport official said. The aircraft was using a civilian call sign, officials said.
“A US aircraft with 205 US Marines on board, on its way from Fujiriah to Bangkok, was forced to land in Mumbai while overflying Indian airspace as there was some confusion about its call sign,” a Mumbai International Airport Limited spokesperson said.
New York, October 18: In a major step towards growing replacement for parts of damaged heart, Harvard researchers have created a strip of pulsing heart muscle from mouse embryonic stem cells.
The new study, which was published in the journal Science today, begins to confront what will be a major frontier for stem cell biology: translating recent basic science advances to meet the promise of regenerative medicine by finding ways to make such cells functional and potentially useful for therapies.
Los Angeles, October 18: NASA’s much-hyped mission to hurl a spacecraft into the moon turned out some worthwhile data after all, scientists said.
New images show a 1.6 kilometre-high plume of lunar debris from the Cabeus crater shortly after the space agency’s Centaur rocket struck October 9.
“We were blown away by the data returned,” Anthony Colaprete, the mission’s chief scientist, said in a report Friday from the Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, which managed the launch. “The team is working hard on the analysis, and the data appear to be of very high quality.”
New Delhi, October 18: Three years after the passing of the law prohibiting domestic child labour, the Union Labour Ministry has no record whatsoever of its implementation during the year 2009.
The department could only provide data for the years 2006 and 2008. And even for these two years, the data makes for a dismal reading.
Most of the states and the Union Territories have not bothered to check how many child workers are employed in homes and eateries.
Delhi, that is suspected to have the highest number of child labourers, has had no inspections at all so far this year.
Islamabad, October 18: Pakistani soldiers attacked militant bases in the main al Qaida and Taliban stronghold along the Afghan border on Saturday, as the nuclear-armed country launched its most critical offensive yet against insurgents threatening its stability.
Five soldiers and 11 militants were killed as the more than 30,000 troops deployed to the region met stiff resistance in parts of South Waziristan, a possible hide-out of Osama bin Laden and a base for jihadists bent on overthrowing the US-backed government, attacking the West and scuttling the US war effort in Afghanistan.
Mumbai, October 18: Just one film old in Bollywood, Asin Thottumkal has had more than her share of controversies. The miffed actress, who is a superstar down south, wonders why “people are targeting” her.
“Please tell me why people are targeting me? I don`t know why everybody is trying to give me a hard time. I am a newcomer, what have I done (in Bollywood)?” asked an exasperated Asin. “I am clueless why people are just interested in creating stories which are not true about me. I haven`t figured that out,” she added.
Bangalore, October 18: Bangalore Royal Challengers captain Anil Kumble today rued that one bad game, against Victoria Bushrangers, did his side in as they crashed out of the Champions League Twenty20 here.
Bangalore lost to Victoria in their first League B Super Eight match on Thursday and despite today’s eight-wicket win over Delhi Daredevils, Kumble’s side are out of semifinal contention.
New Delhi, October 18: Discretionary relaxation or alteration in requisite eligibility qualification, relating to appointments or admissions, cannot be allowed at the fag end of the process, the Delhi High Court has said.
“The general rule is that while applying for a post or admission a person must possess the eligibility qualification on the last date fixed unless there is an express provision to the contrary. There can be no relaxation in the matter of holding the requisite eligibility qualification by the date fixed,” Justice Sunil Gaur observed.
Margao, Occtober 18: Four persons from a right-wing Hindu group linked to 2008 Malegaon blast accused sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur were detained in connection with the explosion in Goa’s Margao town in which two members of the outfit were killed.
SP Atmaram Despande said the investigations so far showed IED was used in the blast and the two activists of Sanatan Sanstha who perished in the incident probably wanted to target the crowded Diwali-eve market.
London, October 18: The controversial decision to free the Lockerbie bomber was in line with the principles of India’s Mahatma Gandhi, Scotland’s First Minister said today, drawing criticism from opponents.
Alex Salmond praised his Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill for taking the decision to release Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds in August.
Megrahi has terminal cancer and is now back in Libya, his homeland.
Sydney, October 18: An Australian schoolgirl bidding to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world began her journey today, despite urgings from officials to abandon the perilous endurance test.
Sixteen-year-old Jessica Watson set sail on her bright pink yacht from Sydney Harbour at about 9:00 am (0330IST), amid cheers from well-wishers and accompanied by a collection of kayakers and small boats.
Kabul, OCtober 18: Several international political leaders, including Gordon Brown, have phoned the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, in what appeared to be a diplomatic offensive over the country’s disputed presidential election.
The calls came just before the UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission was due to announce the findings of its investigation into allegations of fraud in the 20 August ballot.