Thaindian News

South Korean tourists abducted in Egypt

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:36:04 +0000

Cairo, Feb 11 (IANS) Three South Korean tourists and their Egyptian guide were abducted in southern Egypt Friday, police said. The tourists, two males and one female, all above 50 years old, were kidnapped on their way back from the Saint Catherine monastery to the resort city of Sharm el-Sheihk. They were abducted by [...]

UN chief seeks to ease Falkland tensions

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:15:39 +0000

United Nations, Feb 11 (IANS) UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon Friday called upon Argentina and Britain to prevent “an escalation” of tensions over the Falkland Islands. The secretary-general made the appeal when he was meeting Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman at the UN Headquarters in New York, Xinhua reported. “The secretary-general expressed concern about the increasingly [...]

Oscar is boring: Dustin Hoffman

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:36:48 +0000

Los Angeles, Feb 11 (IANS) Hollywood veteran Dustin Hoffman says being at the Oscar ceremony isn’t as glamorous as it looks. “Oscar is boring. It lasts forever. And don’t think you’re seeing spontaneous behavior. You see couples who are suddenly smooching, and, well, there’s a guy sitting on the ground with the camera at [...]

US stocks drop on Greece worries

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:01:29 +0000

New York, Feb 11 (IANS) US stocks dropped Friday as Greece’s crucial international bailout was put on hold by eurozone finance ministers. Eurozone finance ministers said Greece had to save an extra $430 million in order to be granted bailout funds, while Greek workers staged a nationwide strike against the new austerity plan, Xinhua [...]

Moore seeking spiritual advice from Deepak Chopra?

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:34:04 +0000

London, Feb 11 (IANS) Actress Demi Moore is reportedly seeking advice from Michael Jackson’s former spiritual guru, Deepak Chopra.According to contactmusic.com, the 49-year-old is said to have consulted with Chopra in the wake of her hospitalisation last week after suffering a seizure. While her whereabouts is unknown, it is rumoured she had [...]

Justin Bieber just too humble

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:45:40 +0000

London, Feb 11 (IANS) Members of British band “The Wanted” rave about their new bandmate Justin Bieber and say that despite being a star he is very humble and do not interfere. Teen sensation Bieber, 17, joined the British band, reports femalefirst.co.uk. Singer Max George told MTV: “He’s not someone that really gives advice. I [...]

Sri Lankan president orders security for Nasheed’s wife

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:11:43 +0000

Colombo, Feb 11 (IANS) Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has instructed the police chief for providing security to the wife of ousted Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed, said a presidential statement here Friday. After arriving in Sri Lanka Wednesday, Nasheed’s wife Laila had contacted Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa over the telephone. Rajapaksa [...]

UAE seeks stronger relations with Kyrgyzstan

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:22:42 +0000

Abu Dhabi, Feb 10 (IANS/WAM) The United Arab Emirates has reiterated its interest in boosting bilateral relations with Kyrgyzstan in all spheres. “Relations between the two countries have recently seen significant growth,” Assistant Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs Khalid Ghanem Al-Ghaith said upon concluding a visit to Kyrgyzstan. An agreement was signed during the [...]

‘Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu’ a chilled-out romcom (IANS Hindi Film Review)

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:14:00 +0000

Film: “Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu”; Starring: Kareena Kapoor, Imran Khan; Directed by: Shakun Batra; Rating: *** 1/2 She is fun, feisty and ….well, full-on. He needs to loosen up. Urgently!! Son of two stuffed-up high-society mannequins Rahul Kapoor is a repressed child going into depressive manhood. Since this is a rom-com, and one [...]

World’s strongest man championship in UAE

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:10:03 +0000

Abu Dhabi, Feb 10 (IANS/WAM) The United Arab Emirates will host the World’s Strongest Man championship here Sunday. A total of 22 contestants from 23 countries will participate in the three-day event being held in Abu Dhabi for the first time. The contestants will be demonstrating their strength in activities such as pulling bulky [...]

Two minors gang raped in the capital

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:06:32 +0000

New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) Two minor girls were gang-raped in separate incidents in the capital, police said Friday. In the first incident, a minor girl was gangraped inside a moving car by two friends of her brother-in-law Tuesday in west Delhi’s Kanjhawla area. The accused, identified as Amit and Manoj, in their [...]

Nazi surgical set withdrawn from auction

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:40:25 +0000

London, Feb 10 (IANS) A set of surgical tools once used by a Nazi war criminal was withdrawn a day ahead of its scheduled auction Saturday following phone and e-mail threats. The wooden box of tools belonged to Anton Burger, a Major in the German dictator Adolf Hitler’s paramilitary organisation Schutzstaffel (SS), who worked [...]

New Zealand firm to manage Indian enterprises’ data with CMC

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:39:14 +0000

Bangalore, Feb 10 (IANS) New Zealand-based data management solutions’ provider Pingar has tied up with CMC Ltd to manage unstructured data of enterprise clients for improving the quality of business process and content management programmes. As part of the agreement, Pingar will also provide access to its global clients across diverse verticals such as [...]

Three British Muslims jailed for anti-gay campaign

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:38:01 +0000

London, Feb 10 (IANS) Three Muslim extremists who distributed leaflets calling for homosexuals to be hanged, stoned and burned to death were jailed by a British court Friday. The trio were found guilty at Derby Crown Court last month. The group had handed out the material in the street as well as posted it [...]

One dead, one injured in goods train accident in Goa

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:35:22 +0000

Panaji, Feb 10 (IANS) One person was killed and another was injured when they leapt off a truck being ferried on a goods train near Pernem railway station in north Goa, 45 km from here. A Konkan Railway spokesperson said that the incident occurred around 8 p.m. Friday when a truck on board [...]

Megan Hilty & Katharine McPhee to star in NBC show ‘Smash’

Aishwarya Bhatt — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:30:11 +0000

Los Angeles, Feb 10 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Megan Hilty and Katharine McPhee are all set to star in the NBC show Smash, which is all set to premiere at 9pm on Mondays. The whole show is about the going-ons behind making a Broadway show. It would also showcase the lives and times of all the tireless [...]

Convicted stalker of Madonna, Halle Berry on run

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:13:04 +0000

London, Feb 10 (IANS) A 54-year-old man, convicted of stalking pop star Madonna in 1996 and having “very violent tendencies”, has escaped from a psychiatric hospital. He was jailed for 10 years in 1996, and after his release he was transferred to a hospital and established to be a “mentally disturbed offender”, according [...]

Nasheed threatens to hit streets in the Maldives

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:11:30 +0000

Male, Feb 10 (IANS) The Maldives’ ousted president Mohamed Nasheed said Friday that his party would hit the streets and demonstrate in the absence of international support but “we cannot join this government as we believe it is illegal”. Nasheed resigned Tuesday morning on the national TV after prolonged protests over detention of [...]

Congress downplays Khurshid’s remarks

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:08:33 +0000

New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) A day after the Election Commission censured Law and Justice Minister Salman Khurshid for announcing a sub quota for minorities ahead of Uttar Pradesh polls, the Congress Friday downplayed another of his controversial remarks on the Batla House shootout. “Khurshid told me that it was misinterpretation of [...]

Ahead of meet with GJM, Mamata rejects Bengal’s division (Lead)

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:02:44 +0000

Siliguri, Feb 10 (IANS) Ahead of a meeting with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), which has threatened to re-start the Gorkhaland campaign, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Friday said she wants a unified state and does not support those who want to divide the plains and the hills. “We don’t want division, [...]

Pennsylvanian couple claims to have caught a purple squirrel

Aishwarya Bhatt — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:59:19 +0000

Pennsylvania, Feb 10 (THAINDIAN NEWS) A Pennsylvanian couple claims to have caught a purple colored squirrel in their own backyard. Percy Emert and his wife Connie set up a trap to lure animals with peanuts and they were surprised to the core when they caught a purple squirrel. Since the squirrels damage their bird [...]

India, EU to clinch FTA soon, to combat terror (Lead)

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:58:25 +0000

New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) India and the 27-nation European Union (EU) Friday agreed to intensify talks to conclude a broad-based trade and investment accord soon and signed two agreements, including on research and innovation cooperation. The two sides also decided to step up their cooperation in combating terrorism and piracy as [...]

High court does not allow minor to live with boyfriend

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:53:38 +0000

New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Friday denied permission to a Class 9 girl to live with her boyfriend, a student of Class 12 of the school she was in, and handed over her custody to her parents. The girl from a private school in Paschim Vihar had moved the court [...]

28,000 died in Russian road accidents in 2011

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:47:00 +0000

Moscow, Feb 10 (IANS/RIA Novosti) About 28,000 people were killed in nearly 200,000 traffic accidents that occurred across Russia in 2011. According to Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev, Russia continues to suffer from an alarming traffic fatality rate. “A total of 27,900 people were killed and 252,000 injured in 199,900 traffic accidents across Russia [...]

Indian investments safe in Maldives, says envoy

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:43:49 +0000

New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) Indian investments in politically troubled island nation of the Maldives are safe, the country’s envoy to India said Friday. “All investments and people are safe, it is our first priority to make Maldives the preferred destination for Indian investment. From our side we have all the safeguards, all [...]

Lady Gaga launches her social networking site LittleMonsters.com

Aishwarya Bhatt — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:38:01 +0000

Los Angeles, Feb 10 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Lady Gaga has launched her own social networking site LittleMonsters.com Her fans are over the moon as they would be able to interact with the singer more directly. They would also be able to make their own videos on the site, share their pictures with friends and also talk [...]

Witch hunting: Villagers set woman ablaze

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:26:56 +0000

Guwahati, Feb 10 (IANS) In a case of witch hunting, a 45-year-old tribal woman was burnt alive by villagers in upper Assam’s Sivsagar district on Friday. At least 24 people have been arrested for the crime, police said. The victim was identified as Phuleswari Halowa. Police said villagers at Hasong Basti area of Joloha village [...]

India, EU decide to step up trade deal talks, sign research pact

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:13:29 +0000

New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) India and the 27-nation European Union Friday signed two key pacts, including a joint declaration on research and innovation, and agreed to step up negotiations for a broad-based trade and investment pact which continues to be mired in “complex issues.” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held the 12th India-EU [...]

Bengal bars media conference at the assembly, CPI-M objects

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:10:16 +0000

Kolkata, Feb 10 (IANS) The West Bengal assembly Friday barred press conferences at the media centre in the assembly premises when the house is not in session, drawing protests from the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M). “Henceforth, no press conference at the media centre inside the assembly premises will be held except during [...]

Kashmiri students on ‘mission’ to know India meet Chidambaram

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:07:36 +0000

New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) A group of Kashmiri students, mostly from the families affected by militant violence, who are on a pan-India “know the country” tour, Friday met Home Minister P. Chidambaram here to share the experiences of their life-time trip. The students, in the age group of 15 to 24, are [...]

Adele responds to Karl Lagerfeld’s “fat comments”

Aishwarya Bhatt — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:06:29 +0000

Los Angeles, Feb 10 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Karl Lagerfeld had commented that Adele was ‘too fat’. He had of course taken care to soften the unflattering comment with a positive comment that she had a divine voice. He had also added that in comparison, he was fond of Lana Del Rey and Florence Welch. Now Adele has [...]

13/7 Mumbai blasts: Police remand of three extended

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:58:21 +0000

Mumbai, Feb 10 (IANS) A Mumbai court Friday extended the police custody of three accused in the July 13 serial blasts case that killed 27 people and injured over 125, a lawyer said. “The court has extended the remand of Naqi Ahmed Vasi Ahmed Shaikh, 22, and Nadeem Akhtar Ashfaque Shaikh, 23, till Feb [...]

Numeric Power sells UPS business for Rs.859 crore

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:54:56 +0000

Chennai, Feb 10 (IANS) City-based Numeric Power Systems Ltd will deploy the sale proceeds of the uninterrupted power systems (UPS) business in strengthening its renewable energy (wind and solar) and steel business, said a top company official. The company Friday announced the sale of its Indian, Sri Lankan and Singapore UPS business to Legrand [...]

Model Kylie Bisutti quits Victoria’s Secret over her religious beliefs

Aishwarya Bhatt — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:50:05 +0000

Los Angeles, Feb 10 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Model Kylie Bisutti quits Victoria’s Secret as her religious beliefs do not match with those of the brand. It may be recalled that she won the modeling contract from Victoria Secret when she was just 19 years old. There were more than 10,000 other contenders for the title and [...]

Reliance Communications quarterly revenue rises at Rs.5,052 crore

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:49:25 +0000

Mumbai, Feb 10 (IANS) Leading telecom firm Reliance Communications Friday reported an increase in total revenue at Rs.5,052 crore for the quarter ended Dec 31 against Rs.5,040 crore during the previous quarter. The company’s wireless revenue also rose to Rs.4,447 crore during the quarter under review against Rs.4,417 crore in the previous quarter, the [...]

‘Poll panel raid on priest creating communal tension’

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:49:12 +0000

Panaji, Feb 10 (IANS) Even as the Congress has accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of inciting communalism in Goa, poll officials here have said that they only stuck to official guidelines when they raided a Catholic priest Tuesday, following an anonymous call. “We have only acted as per the guidelines [...]

Indian wins prize in photo contest

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:47:19 +0000

Kolkata, Feb 10 (IANS) The lone Indian contestant in the World Press Photo Contest has won a honorary prize in the Spot News category in Amsterdam. Salil Bera, who works for The Week magazine here, was the only Indian among 5,247 contestants from 124 different countries to get the prize. In its 55th year, the [...]

Will make Delhi slum-free, says Dikshit

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:47:00 +0000

New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit Friday said the city government will try to make the capital slum free at the earliest. “The Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation must concentrate on construction of low-cost houses for economically weaker sections with an aim to make Delhi a slum free [...]

Death for three confirmed in 2003 Mumbai blasts case (Lead)

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:45:20 +0000

Mumbai, Feb 10 (IANS) The Bombay High Court Friday upheld the death sentence of three people, including a woman, convicted for the 2003 Mumbai twin-bomb blasts that killed 52 people. A division bench of Justice A.M. Khanvilkar and Justice P.D. Kode upheld the verdict of the special Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) court here. The [...]

Baichung gets inaugural Banga-Samman award

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:44:49 +0000

Siliguri, Feb 10 (IANS) Legendary Indian footballer Baichung Bhutia was among the 10 luminaries from diverse fields honoured with the inaugural Banga-Samman award by the West Bengal government Friday. The award is in recognition of their contribution to arts, culture, music and sports Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee gave the awards to the winners [...]

Modi to campaign in Uttar Pradesh

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:41:21 +0000

New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will campaign in Uttar Pradesh, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Mukhtar Abbas Nazvi said Friday. “Yes, he will participate in the election campaign. The dates are being finalised,” Naqvi told reporters here. The second phase of the seven-phase assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh [...]

Karnataka to provide Indian medicine at hospitals

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:39:54 +0000

Bangalore, Feb 10 (IANS) Government hospitals in districts and local bodies across Karnataka will provide the Indian system of medicine as an alternative treatment, Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda said Friday. “Our government has recognised the importance of yoga in daily life and has given priority to promote the Indian systems of medicine through [...]

Army chief age row unfortunate: BJP

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:39:26 +0000

New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Friday questioned the “silence” of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the row over the age of army chief General V.K. Singh, calling it unfortunate. “It is a sad incident… An issue which could have been resolved [...]

Delhi Metro chief inspects ongoing work

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:37:48 +0000

New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) Delhi Metro Rail Corporation(DMRC) managing director Mangu Singh Friday inspected the ongoing tunnel and boring work on a 3-km underground corridor between the Central Secretariat and Mandi House, which is part of the phase 3 project. He also reviewed the progress of the civil work on the stretch that [...]

Kylie Minogue tweets about her stalker & alerts the police

Aishwarya Bhatt — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:29:23 +0000

Sydney, Feb 10 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Singer Kylie Minogue has been plagued by a stalker problem and apparently she was so fed up with dealing with the issue on her own that she took the matters in her hands. She tweeted about her stalker issue on the popular microblogging and social networking site Twitter and also [...]

Spreading awareness about tech innovations the Microsoft way

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:28:17 +0000

New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) Software giant Microsoft has launched its annual DreamSpark Yatra to to share knowledge and spread awareness about innovations in technology that aims at targeting 60,000 students in 100 cities across the country. “The DreamSpark Yatra is our annual initiative aimed at driving wide-spread enthusiasm for, and awareness of the [...]

BSE SME exchange may come up by March-end

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:24:53 +0000

Kolkata, Feb 10 (IANS) The much-awaited Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) platform may come up before the end of this fiscal. It targets to list 500 SMEs in three years. “The process is on and we are trying to launch it within this fiscal. Going by our estimates we should [...]

Sarojini dubs CPI-M ‘male dominated party’

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:22:08 +0000

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 10 (IANS) Sarojini Balanandan, a leader of the CPI-M, Friday broke down after she realized that she had been shunted out of the 84-member Kerala state committee. The 74-year-old was seen wiping her tears in front of the CPI-M state headquarters as she waited for a taxi to take her home in [...]

Gayle smashes 44-ball century in BPL

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:19:02 +0000

Mirpur (Dhaka), Feb 10 (IANS) West Indies star batsman Chris Gayle struck an unbeaten 44-ball 101 to guide Barisal Burners to a 10-wicket win over Sylhet Royals in a Bangaldesh Premier League (BPL) match at the Sher-e Bangla National Stadium here Friday. Chasing a target of 166, Barisal Burners made 167 in 13.1 overs [...]

Army chief loses court battle on age row (Roundup)

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:17:06 +0000

New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) Indian Army chief General V.K. Singh suffered a blow Friday in the Supreme Court, forcing him to withdraw his plea demanding that his birth date be treated as May 10, 1951 and not 1950 as the government maintains. Judges R.M. Lodha and H.L. Gokhale made it clear that his [...]

‘Samajwadi Party will get full majority in UP’

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:16:39 +0000

New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) Ahead of the second phase of assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party leader Mohan Singh said Friday the party will get a majority in the 403-member house. “We will win at least 235 seats,” Rajya Sabha MP Mohan Singh told IANS. Asked if party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav [...]

Russia jails military officer for spying for CIA

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:10:19 +0000

Moscow, Feb 10 (IANS/RIA Novosti) A Russian military district court Friday sentenced an engineer of the country’s Plesetsk Space Centre to 13 years in prison on charges of state treason, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said. The Plesetsk Space Centre is the only space launch facility on Russian territory and is mainly used for [...]

Cash-for-vote: Police likely to file another charge sheet

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:07:46 +0000

New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) Delhi Police Friday told a court hearing the cash-for-vote case that they are likely to file another charge sheet soon. “We may file another charge sheet in the case,” public prosecutor Rajeev Mohan told Special Judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal here Friday. “The case is not in the stage of [...]

Pattaya Open: Sania out of singles, doubles hopes alive

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:04:08 +0000

Pattaya, Feb 10 (IANS) Sania Mirza’s campaign in the singles of the WTA Pattaya Open tennis ended Friday with her 5-7, 3-6 quarterfinal defeat to Chinese Taipei qualifier Su-Wei Hsieh. The Indian, however, kept alive her title hopes by making the semifinals of the doubles. Sania, ranked 111, went down to talented Su-Wei in [...]

Maldives crisis deepens, India pushes for political deal (Roundup)

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:59:19 +0000

New Delhi/Male, Feb 10 (IANS) With the crisis in the Maldives deepening as former president Mohamed Nasheed took to streets to protest his ouster, India Friday sent a special envoy to meet key political figures in the archipelago nation to push for a political deal on forming a broad-based national government of [...]

National Grass Court Tennis: Top seed Myneni in final

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:55:32 +0000

Kolkata, Feb 10 (IANS) Men’s top seed Rakesh Myneni and women’s fourth seed Vaishnavi Peddi Reddy sailed into the finals of Indian Jute National Grass Court Tennis Championships here Friday. Myneni of Andra Pradesh secured a place in the final, defeating fourth seed Nitten Kirrtane 6-2, 6-4. Myneni broke him in the very first [...]

Don’t quit, government tells army chief

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:53:16 +0000

New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) The government Friday went out of its way to placate Indian Army chief General V.K. Singh, urging him not to quit over his age row. Attorney General G.E. Vahanvati made the appeal in the Supreme Court, where Gen Singh withdrew his petition seeking to correct his day of birth [...]

Australia edge Sri Lanka by five runs

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:49:45 +0000

Perth, Feb 10 (IANS) Angelo Matthew’s valiant 50 went in vain as Australia scored a five-run victory over Sri Lanka in the third match of the ODI tri-series here Friday. Sri Lanka looked down and out at 147 for seven while chasing 232 before Matthews took the match to the last over where the [...]

‘Nasheed never sought India’s help’

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:47:26 +0000

New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) India has denied that former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed had sought New Delhi’s intervention to prevent his ouster and underlined that it has urged the new Maldivian dispensation to ensure his safety. On the fateful morning of Feb 7, an hour before Nasheed announced his resignation on [...]

Halder meets chief of NDFB anti-talk faction

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:45:57 +0000

Guwahati, Feb 10 (IANS) The central government’s proposed peace process with the anti-talk faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) appears to be headed in the right direction. This became evident Friday when the government’s peace interlocutor for the northeast, P.C. Halder, met the outfit’s chief Ranjan Daimary inside a prison here. This [...]

nivio secures $21 million funding

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:44:13 +0000

Hyderabad, Feb 10 (IANS) Cloud computing start-up nivio has secured $21 million funding from the Videocon Group and AEC Partners, a US-based private equity firm with specialised holdings in telecommunications and technology. The investment is for expanding engineering efforts in nivio’s Palo Alto officein California, US, and further roll-out of the cloud [...]

Fix reserve price at Rs.1,658 crore in 2G auction: Uninor

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:42:25 +0000

New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) Telecom service provider Uninor Friday signalled its participation in the upcoming auction of 2G licences, asking the telecom regulator to fix the reserve price at Rs.1,658 crore and limiting it to only new players. “The spirit of 2008 should be maintained. It was about issuing new licenses. Therefore, incumbent [...]

Protest after woman’s audacious abduction

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:40:35 +0000

New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) More than 100 people blocked streets and raised slogans Friday after a 25-year-old woman was kidnapped from a crowded area here, witnesses said. Kiran Negi was seized by the abductors and dragged into their car from near a Hanuman temple in west Delhi’s Chhawla area Thursday evening. She was [...]

Ten injured in grenade attack at Imran’s rally

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:39:08 +0000

Islamabad, Feb 10 (IANS) Ten people, including four police personnel, were injured in a grenade attack and firing at a rally of cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan in Swabi area of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province Friday. Imran, increasingly emerging as the central piece in Pakistan’s politics, escaped unhurt as he had already left the venue when [...]

Godrej Properties to raise Rs.500-600 crore to reduce debt

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:36:23 +0000

Chennai, Feb 10 (IANS) Godrej Properties Ltd, the real estate arm of the Godrej Group, plans to raise Rs.500-600 crore through the institutional placement programme (IPP) soon to reduce its debt burden and is also looking at private equity investors, a senior company official said Friday. Speaking to reporters here, executive director Pirojsha Godrej [...]

Gen. V.K. Singh: Tough soldier who lost a legal battle (Profile)

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:33:46 +0000

New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) Indian Army chief General Vijay Kumar Singh, who withdrew his petition against a government order recording his birth date as May 10, 1950 after the Supreme Court asked him to do so, is a highly distinguished soldier who may have lost perhaps his first battle — albeit in [...]

Four BSF officers killed in Maoist blast (Lead)

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:30:44 +0000

Bhubaneswar, Feb 10 (IANS) Four Border Security Force (BSF) officers were killed and two others critically injured when Maoists blew up their vehicle in Odisha’s Malkangiri district, police said. The rebels triggered the blast near Balimela using an improvised explosive device, Inspector General of Police Y.B. Khurania told IANS. “There were four fatalities.” The [...]

Tearful farewell to murdered teacher

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:26:20 +0000

Chennai, Feb 10 (IANS) A woman teacher who was stabbed to death by a student was consigned to flames here Friday, with hundreds of teary-eyed relatives, friends, colleagues and students packing the funeral. Uma Maheswari stabbed to death Thursday by a disgruntled Class 9 student in the class room of St. Mary’s Anglo Indian [...]

Court summons Haryana minister on charges of poll fraud

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:23:24 +0000

Gurgaon, Feb 10 (IANS) A district court here has summoned Haryana’s Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs Subhash Kataria and some of his relatives on charges of playing fraud in the 2009 assembly elections, a petitioner said Friday. The minister, however, said he was yet to get any summons. Rights group Matdata [...]

India, Pakistan must remove barriers to boost trade: Ficci

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:16:51 +0000

New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) India and Pakistan must axe non-tariff barriers to boost bilateral trade to $10 billion in the next three years, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry said Friday. Ahead of a business delegation visit to Pakistan, Ficci president R.V. Kanoria said: “Bilateral trade, now at about $3 [...]

Iran: EU seeks India’s leverage, Manmohan backs diplomacy

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:14:44 +0000

New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) The European Union, which has imposed fresh sanctions against Iran, Friday asked India to use its leverage to broker talks with Tehran over its suspect nuclear programme even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pitched for the resolution of the issue by giving “maximum scope” to diplomacy. “We will [...]

My job is to communicate with the junior players: Ignace

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:12:21 +0000

New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) Ignace Tirkey was there in Santiago when eight times Olympic hockey champions missed qualifying for the Games in Beijing for the first time in 80 years. The linkman doesn’t want another heartbreak this time. Now a senior pro and only one of the two players in the squad - [...]

India steps up diplomatic outreach to stabilise Maldives

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:11:04 +0000

New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) With the crisis in Maldives deepening after the resignation of Mohamed Nasheed as president, India is mobilising international support and has reached out to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to help bring stability to the Indian Ocean nation. Two days after the resignation of [...]

70,000 faithful throng Hazratbal shrine (With Images)

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:10:19 +0000

Srinagar, Feb 10 (IANS) More than 70,000 people offered congregational prayers at the Hazratbal Shrine here on the last Friday of the 10-day long Milad-e-Nabi festivities. Files of devotees who gathered for the Friday prayers spilled over from inside the main mosque to the huge lawns of the shrine and thence to the roads [...]

Slim women prefer unsexy undies on date

IANS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:09:30 +0000

London, Feb 10 (IANS) While people may be extra cautious about what they wear on a date, a British survey has found slim women wear the least sexiest underwear for such an occasion. Women size eight and below are most likely to wear sensible cotton pants. But size 16s make the most of their [...]