Ugly ducklings of mutual funds are the new darlings

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Mumbai, June 01: As the wheels of fortune roll on, winners turn losers and losers, winners. With the gush of foreign money chasing stocks, the worst performers have beaten the odds and mutual fund schemes, which were blamed for destroying investor wealth, have doubled their wealth (or whatever was left of it) in less than three months.

Infrastructure, mid-cap, and banking are the three prominent categories of funds among the top return-earners in the post-March rally.

Mother’s body was stored in freezer for 20 years

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London, June 01: London police is questioning an Indian-origin women for storing her mother’s corpse in a freezer for 20 years.

The corpse of Gulbani Freedon Murzdan, who died 20 years ago, was discovered on Thursday in the freezer in South-east London. The police is treating the case as unexplained.

Obama May Need ‘Magician’ Skills in Cairo to Reach All Muslims

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President Barack Obama says he hopes his June 4 speech to the Muslim world will repair broken trust. He may find his audience disagrees on what needs to be fixed.

Resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, say some. Dispel Western perceptions all Muslims are terrorists, say others. Then there are those focused on what the U.S. should — or shouldn’t — do about civil-liberties breaches in Islamic countries.

Jadeja designed a scheme to dupe people,invested Rs50 cr in property, gold

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Ahmedabad, June 01: Ashok Jadeja involved in the scam of crores of rupees, was arrested by the CID crime on Sunday morning. A source said that Jadeja designed a scheme to dupe people because his clinic in Sarkhej gaam did not fetch him enough. He presented himself as a priest of the Mata Sikotar temple and claimed to have divine powers. He promised people to return thrice the amount of money they entrusted him with in three days, said a source.

Aamir-SRK made for each other

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Mumbai, June 01: The two actors “who still have personal unresolved issues,” according to their own personal confession, have shown remarkable composure on the professional front, says a Bollywood producer to BT.

“Each of the United Forum Producers and Distributors meeting that these two Bollywood superstars have attended have once again highlighted that these two superstars have a crackling chemistry,” says the producer, who attended the meeting to resolve the multiplex crisis at a film Studio, a week ago.

Katrina goes ‘nude’

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Mumbai, June 01: Katrina Kaif has decided not to apply any make-up during shoots from now on — or if needed, the very bare essentials only.

Sources close to Katrina reveal that lately the star has become very concerned with the damage on her skin due to heavy make-up and constant exposure to stark arc lights. Katrina has henceforth decided to shun heavy make-up altogether.

‘He killed my bosses, let me kill him’

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Mumbai, May 31: Police Constable Arun Jadhav had miraculously survived when Lashkar-e-Toiba gunmen Ajmal Amir Kasab and Abu Ismail attacked the police vehicle he was in and killed six policemen, including top cops Hemant Karkare, Ashok Kamte and Vijay Salaskar, on the night of November 26.

Jadhav, who was in the back of the Toyota Qualis, was injured but played dead as Kasab and Ismail hijacked the vehicle and drove it around the city until its tyres went flat.

Salman Khan wins reality TV show ‘Dance India Dance’

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Mumbai, May 31: After eighteen weeks of grueling hard work, Salman Khan, a 23-year-old from Bangalore, was announced the winner of Zee TV’s dance reality show “Dance India Dance” at the grand finale that concluded here Saturday night.

Khan beat Mumbai-based Siddesh Pai and Alisha Singh from Ranchi to walk away with the winner’s cap as well as a contract worth Rs.5 million with Zee TV.

“I thank god, my mother and the audience for giving me so much love,” Khan said after being announced the winner.

Rahul plans rejig in party structure

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New Delhi, May 30: Government formation completed, Congress mandarins have turned their attention to restructuring the party. AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi, who has set a timeframe of two to three years to revitalise the Congress, plans to rejig its makeup shortly.

Apart from bringing in new faces to bolster the organisation in the wake of as many as five senior partymen taking over as ministers in the Manmohan Singh government, Rahul plans to go in for a massive membership drive and party elections. Sources said he has set a deadline of December 2010 for completing the polls.

Taleban stronghold in Swat cleared by Pak military

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Islamabad, May 30: Pakistani forces cleared a Taleban stronghold in Swat and drove militants out of a town in the northwest valley, the military said yesterday, amid worries over the return of more than two million displaced people.

The army said that it successfully cleared the Taleban’s stronghold at Peochar village as its cordon and search operation continued to wrest back complete control of strategic Peochar Valley.

1/3 EU Muslims suffer discrimination

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Cairo, May 30: Nearly one third of Muslims living in the European Union have been discriminated against last year, with ethnic background, not religion, is the main cause of discrimination, a EU report has found.
“On average 1 in 3 Muslim respondents were discriminated against in the past 12 months, and 11% experienced a racist crime,” the EU Fundamental Rights Agency said in a new report.

The report, which surveyed 23,500 members of ethnic minorities and migrant communities, said Muslims were largely discriminated against in the labor field.

Obama and the Muslim world

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Washington, May 30: US President Barack Obama will deliver his long-awaited speech to the Islamic world on 4 June in Cairo.

Already in his inaugural speech, he clearly stated the United States’ desire for a renewed relationship with the Muslim world, based on mutual interests and mutual respect.

Obama welcomes decision to begin negotiation on FMCT

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Washington, May 30: US president Barack Obama has welcomed the agreement at the Conference on Disarmament to begin negotiations on a Fissile Material Cut-off Treat (FMCT), which will end production of fissile materials for use in atomic bomb.

President Obama wants to watch Slumdog Millionaire
“There is no greater security challenge in the world today than turning the tide on nuclear-proliferation, and pursuing the goal of a nuclear-free world,” Obama said in a statement.

US condemns terrorist attacks inside Iran

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Washington, May 30: The United States has condemned the terrorist attack on a mosque in Zahedan city of Iran, killing 19 people and injuring 125 others.

“No cause justifies terrorism, and the United States condemns it in any form, in any country, against any people,” the White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said on Friday in a statement, condemning the recent terrorist attacks inside Iran.

“The American people send their deepest condolences to the victims and their families,” Gibbs said.

Reliance MF to launch Islamic fund in Malaysia soon

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New Delhi, May 30:Reliance Mutual Fund will shortly launch an Islamic fund in Malaysia, a top company official said.

“We have set up a subsidiary and it is launching an Islamic fund in Malaysia shortly,” Reliance Capital Asset Management CEO, Sundeep Sikka, told reporters on the sidelines of a press meet here.

The company now plans to open its first office in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

Reliance Capital, together with Kuwait’s Global Investment House, were given the nod last November by the Securities Commission (SC) to establish their Islamic fund management operations.

Kidnapped boy found murdered in Patna

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Patna, May 30: A nine-year-old boy, who was kidnapped from near his residence here on Thursday, has been murdered allegedly by his two neighbours, sparking protests by locals on Saturday.

Satyam, a class IV student of Doon Academy in Kankarbagh locality, was last seen playing near his house in the People’s Cooperative colony in the same area on Thursday evening.

India calls for swift action against attacks in Australia

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India calls for swift action against attacks in Australia
30 May 2009, 0908 hrs IST, TNN

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New Delhi,May 30: As incidents of violence against its students in Australia continue unabated, an angry India called upon authorities in that country to take swift measures to stop the atrocity.

Food security act pledge in Prez’s address

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New Delhi,May 30: A national food security act to guarantee 25 kg of rice or wheat a month to BPL families, consolidation of rural employment and Bharat Nirman, a focus on terrorism and India’s neighbourhood, initiatives for urban employment and a promise to battle recessionary trends are likely to be part of President’s address to Parliament.

Karunanidhi makes Stalin Deputy Chief Minister

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Chennai,May 30: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi’s son and Local Administration Minister, M.K. Stalin, has been re-designated as Deputy Chief Minister, making him next in the line of succession, and number two in government.

A Raj Bhavan press release said on Friday: “On the advice of the Hon. Chief Minister, His Excellency the Governor has appointed Thiru M.K. Stalin, Minister for Rural Development and Local Administration, as Deputy Chief Minister.

Omar meets PM, PC, discusses dialogue with separatists

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Srinagar, May 30: Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah on Friday met PM Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram during which a need for initiating an internal dialogue with separatists groups was discussed.

Omar began his day by meeting the Prime Minister during which he requested Singh to convene a high-level meeting to review the recommendations of the four working groups on Kashmir on internal confidence building measures, external confidence building measures, good governance and economic confidence building measures.

AP govt moots more powers to Panchayat Raj: Minister

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Hyderabad, May 30: The Andhra Pradesh government will further study the possibility of transferring 29 subjects to the Panchayat raj institutions as enshrined in the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act.

“We have so far transferred about 11 subjects and conferred powers on the panchayat raj bodies to discharge those functions. We will have to study further into the issue of transferring more powers and funds to these institutions, AP’s new Panchayat Raj Minister Botsa Satyanarayana said on Friday.

Cong revamp soon, “one-person-one-post formula likely”

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New Delhi, May 30: After completion of govt-formation and distribution of portfolios, Congress would soon embark on a change in its organisation and a reshuffle in work allocation in the AICC.

“Changes will be brought in the organisation soon,” AICC media department chief Janardan Dwivedi told reporters at New Delhi on Friday.

Dwivedi parried questions on how soon the reshuffle would take place.

Railways to re-start recruitment under disabled category

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New Delhi, May 30: Thousands of disabled persons can now look forward for an employment opportunity with the country’s largest government employer – Railways – after it submitted an affidavit in the Delhi High court in this regard.

The Railways have submitted a “tentative time frame for finalising special recruitment drive” to fill up backlog vacancies of physically handicapped persons” in group C and D posts along with the top most group A.

‘Love Aaj Kal’ is like Test cricket, T20 rolled into one

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New Delhi,May 30: “Love Aaj Kal”, Saif Ali Khan’s maiden venture as producer that also stars Deepika Padukone, is like Test cricket and Twenty20 rolled into one.

The makers of the film, about love across generations, have even tied up with the ICC T20 World Cup, says co-producer Dinesh Vijan.

“‘Love Aaj Kal’ has major similarities with cricket. Like there is Test cricket and T20, the film too has love of two generations – love ‘aaj’ and love ‘kal’,” Vijan told IANS over telephone from Mumbai.