Friday, May 14, 2010

Daily Latest News

Daily Latest News

Pakistan set 192-run target for Australia

Posted: 14 May 2010 11:19 AM PDT

Gros Islet (St. Lucia), May 14 (IANS) Defending champions Pakistan made 191 for six in 20 overs against Australia in the semi-final of the World Twenty20 at the Beausejour Stadium here Friday.

Umar Akmal made 50 while his elder brother Kamran was unbeaten on 56.

Enter your email address:

I never believed I was fat, says Khloe Kardashian

Posted: 14 May 2010 11:16 AM PDT

London, May 14 (IANS) Reality TV star Khloe Kardashian says she never thought she was fat despite constant criticism.

“I’d always be in tight dresses. In my head I did not think I was ever fat. Other people did, but I didn’t think I was – ever! Because of my family base, I always accepted my natural shape or what I thought it was. I appreciate it now and I want to help other people,” femalefirst.co.uk quoted Kardashian as saying.

The 25-year-old socialite who recently lost 30 lbs admits she was never concerned about her figure as she was always taught to appreciate the assets she had.

Vijender Gupta is new Delhi BJP chief

Posted: 14 May 2010 11:07 AM PDT

New Delhi, May 14 (IANS) Vijender Gupta was Friday appointed as the chief of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Delhi unit, the party said.

“BJP president Nitin Gadkari has nominated Vijender Gupta as the Delhi state president of the party,” a BJP statement said.

Gupta had unsuccessfully contested against Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal from Chandni Chowk constituency in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections

Shutdown affects life in north Bengal towns

Posted: 14 May 2010 11:07 AM PDT

Siliguri, May 14 (IANS) Normal life was affected in the urban areas of several north Bengal districts Friday following a 24-hour shutdown called by the Bangla O Bangla Bhasa Bachao Committee against the demand of a seperate Gorkhaland state.

The committee, which seeks to save the state and the language and stridently opposes the demand for creation of a Gorkahland state out of parts of north Bengal, also protested against the tri-partite talks held in Delhi with the pro-Gorkhaland Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM).

Siliguri town in Darjeeling district virtually came to a standstill with shops, markets and commercial establishments downing shutters. Private vehicles did not ply, the district court remained closed, while offices recorded thin attendance.

The impact of the shutdown was also felt in Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri towns of the districts with the same names.

However, it was business as usual in the three Darjeeling district hill sub-divisions of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong.

Tea gardens were also open in the Dooars or the Himalayan foothills in Jalpaiguri district.

Nine shutdown supporters were arrested from Siliguri for attempts to disrupt normal life, said Sub-divisional Officer (Siliguri) Rajat Kumar Saini.

Meanwhile, the GJM has called a two-day shutdown in the “proposed Gorkhaland territory” May 15 and May 16, demanding a separate state.

~ Rest Continues Below ~

Political tempers are again running high in the hills with the GJM calling a 10-day shutdown from June 12-21 on the demand for the separate state.

GJM activists – headed by party president Bimal Gurung – have been agitating for the separate Gorkhaland state besides opposing special status to the hill governing body, the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC).

50 kg of explosives recovered in Chhattisgarh

Posted: 14 May 2010 10:56 AM PDT

Raipur, May 14 (IANS) At least 50 kg of improvised explosive devices (IED) were recovered during a search operation in a forested stretch in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district, police said Friday.

“Nearly 50 kg of active IED material was recovered by a joint team of the District Force (DF) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in a forested area in Dantewada district,” Amresh Mishra, district superintendent of police, told IANS.

He said a 15-kg claymore mine was also recovered in a pocket between Chintalnar and Mukram village where 76 security personnel were massacred by the Maoists early last month.

Officials here at police headquarters claim that up to 25,000 sq km of Chhattisgarh's 40,000 sq km restive Bastar region has been intensively mined by the guerrillas who hold sway in interiors of the region.

EXIM Bank gets 150 mn euro loan from European Investment Bank

Posted: 14 May 2010 10:56 AM PDT

Kolkata, May 14 (IANS) The Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank) has recently received a loan of 150 million euros from the European Investment Bank to promote green energy projects in India, a bank official said here Friday.

“EXIM Bank has got the loan for promoting non-conventional power projects in the country,” chairman and managing director T.C.A. Ranganathan said here at a conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

EXIM Bank had also signed a pact with the African Development Bank for financing the projects in African countries, he said.

“The MoU (memorandum of understanding) will leverage the resources of both the banks to enable them to finance larger number of projects,” he said.

Scarlett Johansson, Michael Urie get top theatre awards

Posted: 14 May 2010 10:55 AM PDT

London, May 14 (IANS) Actress Scarlett Johansson and “Ugly Betty” star Michael Urie have picked up major theatre awards at the 66th annual Theatre World Awards.

Johansson was honoured for her role in “A View from The Bridge” and Urie claimed his prize for “The Temperamentals”, Contactmusic.com reported.

The duo will receive the honours at an invitation-only gala in New York June 8.

Congress blames BJP for political uncertainty in Jharkhand

Posted: 14 May 2010 10:44 AM PDT

New Delhi, May 14 (IANS) The Congress Friday blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the political deadlock in Jharkhand which it said was causing trouble to people of the state.

“Whatever decision has to be taken should be taken soon. The people of Jharkhand are suffering because there is uncertainty in the government,” Congress spokesman Shakeel Ahmed told IANS.

He said that there is a standstill situation in the state for more than a week because of the efforts of the BJP to lead the coalition government in the state after it threatened withdrawal of support to the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led Shibu Soren government.

“If the uncertainty continues, the party urges leaders holding constitutional posts to fulfill their responsibility,” Ahmed said.

Asked if he was demanding imposition of president’s rule in the state, Ahmed said that the Congress had not made any such demand so far.

He did not rule out the possibility of the Congress trying to form an alternative government with support of its partners.

The state is in the midst of a political crisis sparked off by Soren’s vote against the BJP cut motions in the Lok Sabha.

That led the BJP, a junior partner in the ruling state coalition, to threaten to withdraw support to the Soren government. The BJP is now trying to cobble a team to govern the state by itself with support from Soren’s Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.

28 of marriage party electrocuted in Madhya Pradesh

Posted: 14 May 2010 10:37 AM PDT

Bhopal, May 14 (IANS) Wedding festivities ended in mournful wailing for the near and dear ones of 28 people who were electrocuted Friday when the bus, in which they were going home in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandla, came in contact with a high-voltage cable.

“There was a metal cabinet on top of the bus which came in contact with a high-voltage power cable, resulting in the electrocution of 28 of the wedding guests. They included 23 women, two children and two men,” Mandla Superintendent of Police K.K. Sharma told IANS over phone.

Many people were injured in the horrific accident that took place near Gopalpura village in Mandla district, about 450 km from Bhopal.

Giving details, after preliminary inquiries, police said a high-tension overhead wire came in contact with the metal cabinet kept on the roof of the bus and high voltage current electrocuted 25 passengers who got stuck inside. Three of the 15 injured died on the way to hospital.

All the passengers in the bus were returning from a marriage in Pindrai to Mandla town.

“Twenty-eight people have died in the accident that occurred when the fully-packed private bus collided with the electric pole,” Balaghat Inspector General of Police C.V. Muniraju told IANS. The crash caused the high-voltage cable to snap and fall on the bus.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs.100,000 for the families of those killed and Rs. 10,000 for those injured.

District Collector K.K. Khare, who reached the spot with a rescue team, has ordered a magisterial probe while a criminal case has been registered against the bus owner and driver. The driver, who had run away after the incident, has been arrested.

The injured have been admitted to Mandla district hospital.

Swaziland sympathetic to India’s bid for UN seat

Posted: 14 May 2010 10:37 AM PDT

New Delhi, May 14 (IANS) The king of Swaziland, a land-locked southern African country, has assured his country’s broad support for India’s bid for membership of the UN Security Council.

The intention to support India’s candidacy for a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council for 2011-2012 was conveyed when Swaziland’s King Mswati III met Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar at Lozitha Palace Wednesday.

“He was very sympathetic to India's case for membership of the UNSC,” said the Lok Sabha secretariat in a statement here Friday after Meira Kumar returned from a six-day visit to the African country of a little over than one million people.

The king showed great interest in furthering bilateral ties and expressed his appreciation for all the support India has been providing Swaziland in the area of development cooperation, said the statement.

Meira Kumar was in Swaziland, which is surrounded by South Africa on three sides and shares a border with Mozambique, to attend the executive committee meetings of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.

Earlier this week, India offered $10 million line of credit to the African country for setting up a science and technology park in Swaziland.

Meira Kumar had assured the leaders of Swaziland of India’s continued support in its development efforts as part of South-South Co-operation.

The aid for science park reflects India’s thrust on human resource development and training in its engagement in Africa.

Maharashtra concerned about its official abducted by Bodos

Posted: 14 May 2010 10:36 AM PDT

Mumbai, May 14 (IANS) The Maharashtra government is concerned over the reports of a senior bureaucrat allegedly kidnapped by Bodo militants in Arunachal Pradesh where he had gone on a vacation, an official here said.

The state government is also in touch with Arunachal Pradesh security officials for details of the whereabouts of the missing Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer, Vijay S. Bardekar.

In his early 50s, Bardekar, an officer of the 1984 IFS batch, is currently the joint director (administration) in the social forestry directorate, and is based in Pune.

Reports reaching here Friday said, Bardekar was reportedly kidnapped from Daimara village in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh, late Thursday night when he was preparing to spend the night there.

Two other locals accompanying him were brutally assaulted by the suspected militants, who abducted Bardekar.

The suspected kidnapping was carried out by around a dozen militants belonging to the National Democratic Front of Bodoland, which also refers to itself Bodo Security Force.

“He (Bardekar) was on leave to pursue his hobby of watching butterflies, which abound in that region,” the official told IANS.

It is suspected that Bardekar may not have been discreet enough about his identity as required for any government officers travelling in troubled areas or border areas, the official said.

Bardekar may not have exercised precautions like avoiding use of cell-phones, identifying himself openly in public and other minor indiscretions which could have alerted the alleged kidnappers.

On a fortnight's leave, Bardekar was expected to resume his duties in Pune from May 24.

Two arrested with Rs.11 lakh in fake notes

Posted: 14 May 2010 10:35 AM PDT

Lucknow, May 14 (IANS) Two men were arrested Friday in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut district with counterfeit currency with face value of Rs.11 lakh, police said.

“Acting on a tip-off, a team of STF (Special Task Force) arrested Vinay Kumar and Monu Kumar from the Sadar Bazar area of Meerut,” Additional Director General (Law and Order) Brij Lal told reporters.

Meerut is 350 km from Lucknow.

“The two, who are residents of Haridwar in Uttarakhand, have confessed circulating fake notes in parts of Uttar Pradesh, particularly the eastern regions,” he added.

According to police, the two men work for an inter-state gang involved in manufacturing and supply of fake currency notes.

22 Chhattisgarh villagers nabbed for holding officials hostage

Posted: 14 May 2010 10:35 AM PDT

Raipur, May 14 (IANS) A total of 22 villagers in Chhattisgarh's coal-rich Raigarh district were detained Friday for questioning about their alleged role in holding officials of a private company hostages, a police official said.

A strong contingent of police stormed into Darramunda village Friday and took 22 villagers to a police station to interrogate them for their role for holding hostage three senior officials of S.K.S. Ispat and Power Ltd. Thursday. The officials had gone to the village, some 220 km from Raipur, for a survey work of a proposed 1,200 MW coal-fired power plant.

“The villagers have been detained clearly for their role in keeping three officials hostage for eight hours, blackening their faces, forcing them to do sit-ups in the scorching 46 degrees Celsius temperature and later clashing with police team that reached the village to rescue the officials,” Dhruv Gupta, Raigarh’s acting superintendent of police, told IANS over phone.

Gupta said the three officials led by general manager (projects) K. Hariharan, went to the village Thursday early hours for holding talks with the villagers about the project. But the entire populace of around 250 took hostage of all the three officials at around 9 a.m. and the officials managed to escape only 5 p.m. after a strong police squad reached the village and resorted to a baton charge to disperse the mobs.

“Police are interrogating the villagers and will initiate strong legal action against those found to be involved in the abduction, assault and clash with police,” he added.

Rastogi in final, Ranjeet-Yuan win doubles title

Posted: 14 May 2010 09:48 AM PDT

New Delhi, May 14 (IANS) India’s Karan Rastogi overpowered China’s Yu Chang 6-3, 6-4, and will face top seeded South African Rik De Voest who breezed past Ranjeet Virali-Mirugesan 6-1, 6-0 in the $15,000 men’s International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament here Saturday.

Ranjeet, however, won the doubles title partenering Yu Xin-Yuan of China. The Sino-Indian combination, seeded fourth, overcame the fighthing Thailand pair of Kittiphong Wachiramanowwong and Weerapat Doakmaiklee, seeded third, 3-6, 6-1, 11-9.

In the singles title clash Saturday, it will be 23-year-old Rastogi’s second successive final on the trot. He lost to Uzbek Murad Inoyatov in Kolkata last week. De Voest knocked out Inoyatov here Thursday.

It was solid showing by Rastogi. Back on circuit after a two-year injury lay-off, the former Indian Davis Cupper played aggressively against the athletic Chan who shocked fourth seed Rohan Gajjar of India in the first round.

The Chinese matched Rastogi in the baseline battle. Though he came up with some stunning returns, he was far too erratic to hustle the Indian.

Rastogi was also the better server, hitting to Chan’s relatively weaker backhand side to clinch critical points. Chan’s serve paled in comparison.

A double break gave the Indian the first set, though the Chinese pulled one back.

Chan started the second set on a rousing note and Rastogi was rattled a bit to drop his first service game. The Indian soon steadied himself to break back in the seventh game. He then reeled off the next three games to win the set and the match.

“I lost my concentration in the second set, but I recovered in time to see that the match did not go into a decider. Chan came up with some very good returns but his passes went awry,” said Rastogi, who is yet to drop a set in the tournament.

In the first semifinal, De Voest seems to get better with each outing. He simply toyed with third-seeded Ranjeet, who could do little to stop him. He did not concede a single point on his serve in the first set and the only time Ranjeet managed to hold his serve in the entire match was in the third game of the first set.

Rastogi acknowledges De Voest’s powerful game. “He has been playing really well, but I will focus on my strengths.”

Insurance firms told not to blacklist hospitals arbitrarily

Posted: 14 May 2010 09:42 AM PDT

Gandhinagar, May 14 (IANS) The Gujarat High Court Friday directed insurance companies that they cannot blacklist any hospital and refuse passing mediclaims without giving them the opportunity of being heard.

The petitioner hospitals – Life Care Institute of Medical Science and Research, Karnavati Super-Speciality Hospital, May Flower Women’s Hospital, Hetvi Hospital, Aditya Multi-Speciality Hospital, Sanjeevani Heart And Medical Hospital, and Polyclinic – approached the high court challenging insurance companies’ decision to blacklist them.

United India Insurance Co. Ltd, New India Assurance Co. Ltd, National Assurance Co. Ltd and Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd had blacklisted these hospitals for their alleged irregularities in mediclaim billing.

The insurance companies alleged that the hospitals indulged in corrupt practices and these were revealed during the inspection at these hospitals. Due to these malafide mediclaims, these medical facilities were blacklisted.

However, the hospitals claimed they were not given an opportunity of being heard and the insurance companies stopped passing claims of patients from these hospitals without any notice to them.

A division bench of Chief Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya and Justice Akil Kureshi said the respondents cannot refuse mediclaims of patients from these hospitals without giving them any show cause notice or without following procedure.

The bench ordered the insurance companies to hear the hospitals and then decide whether or not to blacklist them after issuing necessary notices before Aug 15.

Aguilera’s relationship with father ‘non-existent

Posted: 14 May 2010 09:38 AM PDT

London, May 14 (IANS) Singer Christina Aguilera says her relationship with her father is “pretty non-existent”.

“Our relationship is pretty non-existent. I’m in a place in my life where I just don’t see a reason for it,” contactmusic.com quoted Aguilera as saying.

Regularly witnessing her mother getting abused by her father, Fausto Aguilera, drifted 29-year-old Christina away from the relationship.

“To remember the chaos that my mother went through, the abuse, I don’t know how she did it. But it’s amazing how much you can trick your mind into surviving when you have to,” she said.

“There’s always room for forgiveness. And I do forgive – but you grow up and make choices for your family.”

Christina is concentrating on her new family life and credits her husband Jordan as being her rock.

“Jordy was the calm in the storm when everybody else was driving me crazy. I had a lot of older people around me who were conniving – and these people do that so you cling to them. He was the person who reached down, pulled me out and made me see reason. I’m very lucky to have him,” she said.

Government taking steps for sustained growth: Sharma

Posted: 14 May 2010 09:35 AM PDT

New Delhi, May 14 (IANS) The Indian government is taking all necessary steps to create a conducive environment which would help sustain the industrial recovery and growth momentum of the economy, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma here Friday.

“I am confident that in partnership with industry, academia and all stakeholders, we will be able to create a conducive environment, which would sustain the momentum of our economy and manufacturing in particular,” Sharma said, addressing the members of the consultative committee of his ministry.

The agenda of the meeting was ‘Indian industrial production in the wake of global economic crisis and the performance of manufacturing sector’.

Sharma said the government is well aware of the industry’s concerns over appreciating rupee, hardening interest rates, inadequate availability of physical infrastructure and shortage of critical skills.

“The government is conscious of these constraints and is taking calibrated steps to have a judicious policy mix that would sustain industrial recovery and at the same time result in fiscal consolidation,” he said.

On the manufacturing sector’s growth, he said sustained recovery of the sector is encouraging and the Indian economy “cannot ignore the sector. A modern manufacturing sector is essential for the development of our economy”.

The manufacturing industries, particularly textiles handicrafts, leather, gems and jewellery and auto components, were hit due to the slowdown in the second half of 2008-09.

To counter the adverse impact of the global slowdown on the Indian economy, appropriate fiscal and monetary policies were initiated.

The Indian government announced fiscal stimulus amounting to Rs.186,000 crore.

“As a combined impact of various fiscal stimulus measures and the supporting monetary policy the industrial sector was able to reverse the declining trend in its growth since June 2009. Industrial growth continued to become strong and broad based and was particularly buoyant in emerging segments,” he said.

Seven killed, hundreds injured in Iraq blasts

Posted: 14 May 2010 03:04 PM PDT

Baghdad, May 14 (DPA) At least seven people were killed and hundreds injured in twin blasts north of Baghdad Friday, Iraqiya TV channel reported.

A suicide bomber detonated his explosives and a car bomb went off in a football stadium in Tel Afar town, in the northern province of Nineveh.

Earlier, at least 18 people were injured after an explosive device went off after Friday prayers in Hilla, a police source said.

The bomb was planted beside the Shiite Imam al-Kadhim mosque in the city, 100 km south of Baghdad.

Write ‘I am poor’ outside houses of poor: Chouhan

Posted: 14 May 2010 03:04 PM PDT

Bhopal, May 14 (IANS) The Madhya Pradesh government plans to write ‘I am poor’ on walls of houses of people who hold ‘below poverty line’ (BPL) cards to discourage the non-deserving families from availing benefits of the scheme, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said Friday.

Talking to newsmen on the conclusion of the four-day special assembly session, convened to discuss the issue of creating a golden state, the chief minister said the government was compelled to curtail the foodgrain quota of the poor because the central government was providing grains for 41 lakh BPL families while there were 61 lakh such families in the state.

Chouhan said: ‘Since there have been too many complaints of well-off people getting themselves included in the BPL list, the government is planning to write ‘I am poor’ on the walls of the houses of the BPL card holders as a last resort to force the non-deserving people to surrender their cards.’

On whether this move would humiliate the poor, the chief minister said: ‘Why would the poor mind it? On the contrary, well-off people would surrender their cards’.

Chouhan also vowed to convert Madhya Pradesh into a ’swarnim’ (golden) state, and appealed to all, including the opposition, to contribute towards fulfilling that dream.

‘I have a development plan as per the members’ suggestions and will leave no stone unturned to achieve the objectives,’ Chouhan added.

Main opposition Congress boycotted the session while denouncing it as unconstitutional and protested through demonstration at the assembly’s main entrance.

Earlier in August 2009, the Narasinghpur district administration had come in for flak for initiating a move to paint the walls of the economically poor and the poorest in blue and yellow colours respectively corresponding to the colours of the cards for the two categories of villagers.

Apex court SIT submits report on Gulbarg Society massacre

Posted: 14 May 2010 09:33 AM PDT

New Delhi, May 14 (IANS) The Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigating Team (SIT) Friday submitted to the apex court registry its report on the Gulbarg Society massacre in which 69 people, including former Congress MP Ehsan Jaffri, were killed during the 2002 Gujarat communal riots.

The panel, headed by former Central Bureau of Investiogation (CBI) director R.K. Raghvan, probed the allegation of inaction by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, his cabinet colleagues and several senior officers of the state to prevent or tackle the carnage.

In all, 63 people were named in the complaint by Zakia Jaffri, widow of Ehsan Jaffri.

Raghvan submitted the report to the registry in a sealed cover as directed by the apex court bench of Justice D.K. Jain, Justice P. Sathasivam and Justice Aftab Alam.

On April 27, 2009, the bench headed by Justice Arijit Pasayat (since retired) had asked the SIT to “look into” the complaint of Zakia alleging involvement of 63 people for their inaction in the incident.

It may be recalled that the Gulbarg Society situated in the Chamanpura locality of Ahmedabad was attacked by a frenzied mob Feb 28, 2002. The mob set the society on fire in which at least 37 people were burnt alive. The rest were reported missing and were later declared dead. In the rioting, at least 85 people were injured.

During the hearing of the case May 6, 2010, the Supreme Court bench headed by Justice D.K. Jain gave the SIT time till May 15, 2010, to file its final report.

The SIT had sought more time as it wanted to complete the questioning of Vishwa Hindu Parishad general secretary Praveen Togadia, who was eventually questioned for three hours on Monday last.

Prior to Togadia, Chief Minister Modi was grilled March 27, 2010, to ascertain his alleged inaction against the massacre. It is alleged that Jafri made frantic calls to Modi when he was under seige and calls went unanswered.

After submitting to the questioning of SIT, the Gujarat government has now challenged the powers of the SIT to investigate them.

Senior counsel Ram Jethmalani, who is appearing for one of the 63 people named by Zakia in her complaint, has challenged the April 27, 2009, order of the apex court itself, saying that it amounted to changing the law of the land.

He told the court that no orders of investigation could be passed without affording an opportunity to the person named in the complaint.

Posted by Suresh at 3:05 PM

0 comments:

Post a Comment