No action against Jaswant: BJP

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New Delhi, June 12: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Friday ruled out taking action against veteran leader Jaswant Singh for voicing in the media criticism of the party after the poll debacle but it said the leadership does not approve of such issues being discussed publicly.

“There is no proposal (for action) against Jaswant Singh (and so) there is no question of taking any action,” BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.

“Interpreting his words as charges against some party leaders is wrong. The media is wrong in saying that action will be taken against him,” he told reporters.

CIA chief says bin Laden in Pakistan

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Washington, June 12: CIA Director Leon Panetta said on Thursday the U.S. intelligence agency believes al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is hiding in Pakistan and hopes joint operations with Pakistani forces will find him.

Asked whether he was sure that bin Laden was in Pakistan, Panetta told reporters: “The last information we had, that’s still the case.”

Bin Laden, who has eluded a U.S. manhunt since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, has issued audio and videotapes over the years demonstrating that he is still alive.

Sonia gives credit to Rahul for Congress victory

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Lucknow, June 12: AICC president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday attributed Congress’ spectacular performance in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections to the hard work by her son and party MP from Amethi Rahul Gandhi.

“Rahul ke yogdan ke karan Congress ko achcha parinam mila (the Congress got good results owing to the contribution by Rahul)”, Ms Gandhi said while addressing party workers in her Lok Sabha constituency of Raebareli.

Afzal Guru cannot be hanged till other mercy pleas disposed of

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Friday, June 12:Parliament attack case convict Afzal Guru cannot be hanged till other mercy petitions pending before his are disposed of, feels the government.

“The question is that it is not Afzal or anybody. You know you cannot pick and choose and hang people. There is justice,” Law Minister M Veerappa Moily told NDTV.

He was replying to a question on Guru, who is among 28 convicts whose mercy petitions are pending before the President.

Airlines to offer heavy discounts during this monsoon

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Mumbai, June 12: If quick to decide the destination, one can strike a deal which will save him 40 to 50 per cent of the regular air fare this July-September. A Mumbai-Goa-Mumbai trip, for instance, comes for an attractive Rs 2,600, just about Rs 900 more than the bus fare.

The no-frills airline Spicejet, for example, is offering a flight from Pune to Chennai for Rs 1,380, Pune-Delhi for Rs 1,730 and Pune-Bengaluru for just Rs 1,230! Similarly, GoAir is offering flights that would cost approximately Rs 1,350 and Jet Airways has a menu card of fares ranging from Rs 1,600 to Rs 2,100.

Deepika all set for item number in Telugu

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Mumbai, June 12: Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone is all set to give all the item girls a run for their money as she has given a nod to do her second item number.

Deepika Padukone has become one of the most sought-after names after her item song with Shah Rukh Khan in ‘Billu’. After its success, Deepika has turned to South this time. She has agreed to shoot an item number for the forthcoming venture ‘Love 4 Ever’ from June 24. This is her first such attempt in Telugu film industry.

Producers-multiplexes end row, new films being released

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Mumbai, June 12: Film buffs in Karnataka can heave a sigh of relief-the Kannada film industry’s long stand off with the multiplexes over revenue sharing has ended and two new films-“Olave Jeevana Lekkachara” and “Karanjji”- are being screened at multi-screen theatres Friday.

Buckle up Indians and Chinese are coming: Obama to Americans

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Chicago,June 12: US President Barack Obama on Friday & nbsp;emphasised the need for improving the country’s education system as its students have to compete with Indian and Chinese kids, who spend more time in school and less time playing “video games”.

President Obama wants to watch Slumdog Millionaire
Obama said while at one time America produced the highest number of school and college graduates, Ph.Ds, engineers and scientists, it has fallen behind now and is no longer “head and shoulders above other countries when it (comes) to education”.
 

No rumors with Neetu Singh: Deepika Padukone

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New Delhi, June 12: Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone has dismissed rumors that her boyfriend actor Ranbir Kapoor’s mother Neetu Singh is upset with her.

“I believe that if there was any truth in this, she (Neetu) would tell me herself and not through newspapers and media. I think she’s an extremely talented and mature person, so why would she tell the media and not speak with me directly?” Deepika said on Zee News’ celebrity chat show “Kahiye Janab”.

Italy invites Bollywood to shoot movies

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Macau, June 12: Rome, Milan, Florence and Venice – with locales as exotic as these, the Italian tourism board is trying to woo Bollywood filmmakers here at the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) to come, visit and shoot their films in Italy.

If the locations in Italy are shown through Bollywood films, it will be a “long-term investment” to promote tourism in their country, according to Salvatore Iannielo, representative of the ENIT – Italian State Tourist Board – in India.

Woman, paramour held for husband’s murder

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New Delhi, June 12: A married woman and her paramour allegedly killed her alcoholic husband after he caught them together in their north Delhi shanty four days ago, police said Friday, adding the duo have been arrested.
Kashmira and her paramour Amit allegedly stabbed an inebriated Mohinder Singh to death in their hut in Kishan Ganj area June 8. They hid the body in the house for over 30 hours and then threw it near a drain.

Mars, Venus could hit Earth

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Paris, June 12: A force known as orbital chaos may cause our Solar System to go haywire, leading to a possible collision between Earth and Venus or Mars, according to a study released on Wednesday.

The good news is that the likelihood of such a smash-up is small, around one-in-2500. And even if the planets did careen into one another, it would not happen before another 3.5 billion years.

Flight 447 pic: hoax revived

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Cape Town, June 12: A fake email dating from a 2006 plane crash has been revived for the Air France Flight 447 crash, with “two shots taken inside the plane before it crashed”.

But the blurry shots of a passenger being sucked out of a gaping hole in an aircraft were ascertained to be screen shots from the pilot trailer for the popular series, Lost.

The hoax dates from an October 2006 posting by Brazilian blogger Carlos Cardoso, which he later revealed as an attempt to show that people are not sceptical enough of what they find on the internet.

Anil Kapoor hops across continents

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Mumbai, June 12: It seems actor Anil Kapoor is a bundle of high energy these days. The actor won’t mind hopping continents when it come to his loved ones, like he did when he globe-trotted to attend her daughter’s birthday celebrations despite running hectic schedules.

Not only that, the actor is also travelling extensively to promote his film SHORTCUT and also shooting for his upcoming thriller series 24. Now, with so much to do at this age, it seems Anil Kapoor energy levels must be a source of inspiration for the younger lot.

—Agencies

Aamir’s labour pain

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Mumbai, June 12: After Aamir Khan refused to do an anti-child labour campaign, the Maharashtra state government is planning to approach SRK to be the face of the campaign. Aamir, who is already part of some social awareness campaigns refused the offer thinking that it would dent his credibility as a messenger.

Though Aamir is known for his concern to raise public awareness like he did in his campaigns for elections and tourism, but it seems this time Aamirs loss is going to be the gain of another Khan.

—Agencies

Hrithik hits the bottle

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Mumbai, June 12: Though he is known for his disciplined lifestyle among the industry circles, but it seems Hrithik Roshan is letting it go this time around. Buzz is that the actor has hit the bottle big time in order to deal with the stress in his personal life.

Move over ZooZoo, Hrithik Roshan is here

The actor has been in news for all the wrong reasons in the recent past. Apart from the news of his alleged affair with KITES co-actor Barbara Mori, Hrithik Roshan is also believed to have developed differences with his dad adding to the stress in his personal life.

Adhyayan Suman: JASHNN brought new emotions in me

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Mumbai, June 12: In his first film HAAL-E-DIL, Adhyayan Suman hardly had a role that he would want to remember. In his very second film RAAZ – THE MYSTERY CONTINUES he turned villain with vengeance and gave a good account of himself as Kangna’s boyfriend turned tormentor.

Now in JASHNN, a romantic musical entertainer, he turns into a quintessential lover boy. Add to that his character of an aspiring rock star and you know that Adhyayan is looking at this Raksha Mistry and Hasnain Hyderabadwala film as a huge platform to showcase his versatility as an actor.

Soha and Shiney finally make love

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Mumbai, June 12: Though they share cold-vibes on the sets, but Soha Ali and Shiney Ahuja finally shot some intimate scenes in their forthcoming film ACCIDENT.

Shiney-Soha share cold vibes

After recent reports that the duo can’t stand each other face-to-face worried the makers of the film, the sheer professionalism displayed by the two actors has put the smiles back on their lips. In their earlier film KHOYA KHOYA CHAND too there were reports that the two cannot stand each other on the personal front.

Jaitley asks Karnataka BJP leaders to maintain discipline

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New Delhi, June 12: Amid reports of dissidence in its Karnataka unit, BJP on Friday asked party leaders to maintain discipline and work unitedly and refrain from doing anything that will tarnish the image of the state government.

“I have directed all senior leaders to maintain discipline and do nothing that would dent the image of the government and the party,” senior party leader Arun Jaitley told reporters at the end of his two-day trouble-shooting mission.

I want to be a star: Sonam Kapoor

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Macau, June 12: Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor, who turned 24 recently, says she always wanted to be a star and not just another actor.

“For me, stardom is a new and novel experience… it’s lovely. That’s why I became a film actor… I wanted that… I wanted to act and be something. If I only wanted to be an actor, I would have done theatre. But I actually wanted to be a star and I make no bones about that,” Sonam told media in an interview here.

Six-year-old is India’s latest H1N1 flu case in Hyderabad

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Hyderabad, June 12: India on Friday reported one more H1N1 flu patient, taking the number of cases to 16, with a six-year-old girl who had arrived here from the U.S. testing positive for the H1N1 virus.

The samples of the girl, who arrived here along with her parents and six-month-old brother from New York on June 9, had tested positive for influenza AH1N1, doctors said.

She has been quarantined and is being treated at the Andhra Pradesh Chest Hospital, the nodal centre for dealing with flu cases.

Akshay Kumar on the battle of the sexes

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Mumbai, June 12: Akshay Kumar on the battle of the sexes Bollywood is back with a bang is what Akshay has said in his blog on facebook.

He had been enjoying all these while from his mother-in-law surprise birthday bash to the end of the strike of multiplexes strike. Now Akki is all set for the battle of sexes on screen with his up coming movie Kambakht Ishq.

Zadari rejects CIA chief’s claim bin Laden still in country

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Washington, June 12: A spokesman for President Asif Ai Zardari has rejected CIA chief Leon Panetta’s claim that Osama bin Laden is still in Pakistan and challenged the organisation to hand over any evidence it has to back it up.

Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar told reporters Friday, “There is no truth in this CIA statement. These are all rumors.”

Babar said, if the CIA knows he is in Pakistan, then it “should also know his exact location” and share it with Pakistan.”

Bombers strike two Pakistan mosques

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Lahore, June 12: At least two people have been killed in near-simultaneous blast in Pakistan, officials say.

One blast took place inside the offices of the Jamia Naeemia religious school and mosque in the eastern city of Lahore soon after Friday prayers, police said.

One of those killed in Lahore was a prominent religious leader known to oppose the Taliban, police said.

“Unfortunately, Maulana Sarfraz Naeemi has been martyred,” Pervez Rathore, a Lahore police chief, told the Reuters news agency.

Another person was killed and at least six others hurt in the attack.

Anil flies in for Sonam’s birthday

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Mumbai,June 12″ Anil Kapoor’s supply of energy seems inexhaustible. He flew 18 hours from Los Angeles, to Mumbai on June 8, only to fly to Macau a day later. The reasons were emotional and personal, as he flew in for daughter Sonam’s birthday and to work out the details of his next film, Shortkut – The Con is On’s release.