Latest News

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• Cyrus wants to do charity in Indonesia
• This India team is better than 2003: Kumble
• Late selling pulls Sensex 267 points down
• Goa tourism raises concern over ‘Dum Maro Dum’ content
• Former Kerala minister sent to prison
• JMM eyes Jameshedpur Lok Sabha seat after Munda victory
• Apex court seeks status report on K.G. Balakrishnan
• CBI raids CWG offices CBI raids CWG offices
• Mobile phones don’t up brain cancer risk
• Egypt to celebrate first week without Mubarak

Cyrus wants to do charity in Indonesia Posted: 18 Feb 2011 02:46 AM PST Teen superstar Miley Cyrus wants to take a break from her singing and acting career to work as a missionary in Indonesia. The “Hannah Montana” star reveals charity work is high on her list of things to do in 2011 and she is keen to help build wells to improve access to clean water in villages in the impoverished nation. “Honestly, I cannot sleep at night because I get so excited about doing good things for the world, changing the world,” contactmusic.com quoted her as saying.

This India team is better than 2003: Kumble Posted: 18 Feb 2011 02:43 AM PST Former India captain Anil Kumble feels that the current crop is better than the team which made the final of the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. The legendary leg-spinner, who featured in just two group matches against Australia and Pakistan in South Africa, feels the team captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni is more balanced than the 2003 team, which was led by Sourav Ganguly. “Overall, in terms of balance and conditions here, this is the better side (than 2003). If you look at the track record of this team, in the last one-and-half year or so they have done exceptionally well, especially at home. They have all the elements that a great one-day side needs,” Kumble was quoted as saying by a TV channel. Kumble, who is now the president of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), also pointed out that two seamers Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan, who were part of the team in 2003, have cut down on their pace. “It is a better team overall than 2003, but if you go back to 2003 then Ashish and Zaheer and all these bowlers were younger and were bowling at the speed of 140 which does not happen now. But what has impressed me most is how they have won in losing situations. In South Africa, Munaf Patel won one match, Yusuf Pathan won a game, so it’s not a one-man team at all,” Kumble said. “Whenever you embark on a World Cup tour the same 15 never play the next edition. It has never happened. So all the 15 members think this is their best chance and as a team you have an opportunity to create history.” India play Bangladesh in the tournament opener in the latter’s backyard in Dhaka Saturday. Kumble is excited about India’s neighbours co-hosting their first ever World Cup. “It is brilliant for Bangladesh. The first major event they hosted was ICC knockout in 1999. This is a great moment for Bangladesh to host the Cup and have the opening ceremony there,” he said.

Late selling pulls Sensex 267 points down Posted: 18 Feb 2011 02:38 AM PST Late selling pushed down a benchmark index for Indian equities markets Friday, which closed 267 points lower than its previous close. Broader markets slipped down too. The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 18,564.08 points, closed at 18,238.97 points (provisional), down 267.85 points or 1.45 percent from its previous close at 18,506.82 points. It had risen to an intra-day high of 18,690.97 points and touched a low of 18,159.82 points. The 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange moved down 1.43 percent at 5,467.1 points. Broader markets saw heavier selling, with the BSE midcap index closing 1.96 percent lower and the BSE small cap index ending 2.32 percent down.

Goa tourism raises concern over ‘Dum Maro Dum’ content Posted: 18 Feb 2011 02:36 AM PST Two months before its release, Rohan Sippy’s “Dum Maro Dum” has rattled Goa’s tourism industry as initial reports about the Abhishek Bachchan-starrer suggest that the movie delves a lot into the state’s narcotics mafia and sex trade. Both the contentious issues have put Goa on the international map of infamy and with “Dum Maro Dum” only set to reinforce the same negative image, the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) is simply not happy. “The censor board should have cut out the objectionable parts, if it portrays the state in a bad light,” Gaurish Dhond, president of the TTAG, told reporters here Friday. Comprising of stakeholders of the travel and tourism industry in Goa, the TTAG for nearly three decades now has been the voice of the trade here. “The film could have bad repercussion for tourism in Goa, if it throws up scenes of prostitution and drugs,” Dhond said. Set in Goa, the film sees Abishek as a police officer and also stars Deepika Padukone and Bipasha Basu. The first look of the Fox Star-produced movie has all the nefarious ingredients, which has put the state under negative spotlight in the recent past. In bold big-sized letters, ‘Drugs’, ‘Cocaine’, ‘Sex’ and ‘Ecstasy’ run through the racy promo, which also shows rave party scenes and sexy bikini-clad foreigners. “British (teenager) Scarlet Keeling’s death case was hyped so much that people started feeling that our beaches are unsafe, which was not true at all in the first case. And now this,” Dhond said. Known for its beaches, Goa annually attracts 2.4 million tourists, nearly half a million of whom hail from European countries. Accusing the media and filmmakers of going overboard while portraying Goa as a sex destination, Dhond said the reputation of Goa is at stake. “Goa has been built as a tourist destination over the years. You cannot allow some film to condemn it overnight. We have worked very hard for this brand. Why is Goa only being projected in a bad light? Drug abuse, rapes are being highlighted in a big way like this, which spoils the reputation of the state,” he said. “Dum Maro Dum” is set for an April 22 release. Superintendent of Police Atmaram Deshpande said they have not written to the producers of the film seeking a pre-release screening. “We have not issued any letter to the producers of the film,” said Deshpande, a spokesperson of the Goa police.

Former Kerala minister sent to prison Posted: 18 Feb 2011 02:08 AM PST Former Kerala power minister R. Balakrishnan Pillai surrendered before a special court and was sent to the Central Prison here Friday, a day after the Supreme Court handed him a one-year jail term in a corruption case. Special court judge B. Vijayakumar directed police to take both Pillai and another accused, contractor P.K. Sajeevan, to the prison. The Supreme Court had Feb 10 held Pillai and two others guilty, reversing an acquittal order passed by the Kerala High Court, in the Idamalayar dam corruption case which is nearly 30 years old. Just before entering the court room, Pillai told reporters: “This is a politically motivated case and I have done no corruption.” Pillai was accompanied by a large number of his supporters. He is chairman of Kerala Congress (B), an ally of the Congress-led opposition. He was also accompanied by his son K.B. Ganesh Kumar, an actor-turned-legislator and his son-in-law T. Balakrishnan, a senior bureaucrat in the state. Pillai requested the court that he be treated as an A class prisoner and as a political prisoner. He also said he fears for his life. He sought permission from the court that his immediate family be allowed to visit him once a week and that he be provided medical help as he is a cardiac patient. A police official visited another accused in the case, the Electricity Board chairman Ramabadran Nair, to execute the arrest warrant. Nair is past 80 and is lying in a partially unconscious state in his home here. The policeman then called up Nair’s doctor and took a statement from him. Police will now file his report in the special court Saturday. Pillai has initiated steps to file a review petition before the apex court bench which sentenced him. The case goes back to 1985 when reports came out that the Idamalayar tunnel had developed cracks. In 1988, a judicial report suggested that there were lapses in the project and the Left government ordered a Crime Branch probe. In 1999, a special court charged Pillai and others and sentenced them to a five-year jail term. Pillai and the others appealed in the Kerala High Court, which in 2004 exonerated them. Following this, Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan petitioned the apex court in his personal capacity and fought the case.

JMM eyes Jameshedpur Lok Sabha seat after Munda victory Posted: 18 Feb 2011 02:02 AM PST The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) Friday congratulated Chief Minister Arjun Munda, of alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), for his victory in the Kharsawa assembly by-poll. It also took the opportunity to ask for Munda’s Jamshedpur Lok Sabha seat. JMM chief Shibu Soren congratulated Munda and, referring to the coalition dharma, spoke of focusing on development in the state. His son, Deputy Chief Minister Hemant Soren, however, said emphatically: “Personally, I feel that the Jamshedpur Lok Sabha seat should be given to us.” He, however, added that any decisions would be taken after consultations with the partners. Supported by the JMM and the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), Munda Thursday won the Kharsawa assembly by-election by over 17,000 votes, defeating Krishna Gagrai of the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P). Munda needed to win the election and become a member of the state assembly to fulfil a constitutional necessity as the six-month period since his swearing-in as chief minister in September last year is about to end.

Apex court seeks status report on K.G. Balakrishnan Posted: 18 Feb 2011 02:00 AM PST Supreme Court Friday asked Attorney General G. Vahanvati to submit the status report on the home ministry’s investigation into a complaint alleging former chief justice K.G. Balakrishnan possessed wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income. An apex court bench of Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia, Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan and Justice Swatantra Kumar gave the attorney general 14 days to file the status report on the complaint against Balakrishnan, who is chairman of the National Human Rights Commission. The court told the attorney general that a complaint was filed before President Pratibha Patil, who in turn forwarded it to the home ministry for further action. The court asked the attorney general that it wanted to know the status of action taken by the home ministry. One M. Furquan, in a letter to the president May 4, 2010, alleged, “Justice Balakrishnan is a very corrupt man and he should not be appointed the NHRC chairman”. He also sought investigation against Balakrishnan on the grounds that he had amassed wealth and his son had travelled to Dubai nine times in the last one year.

CBI raids CWG offices CBI raids CWG offices Posted: 18 Feb 2011 01:52 AM PST The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Friday conducted raids at several locations in the capital in connection with irregularities in overlays contracts for the 2010 Commonwealth Games (CWG), officials said. “Searches are being carried out, but we can’t give out the names of the officials and places raided,” a CBI official told IANS. Large scale allegations of corruption in the CWG overlays contracts – estimated to be over Rs.600 crore – were reported after the Games concluded Oct 14. Overlays works included the supply of tents, portable toilets and air conditioners. Former CWG Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi’s aide Shekhar Deorukhkar was arrested Feb 11 for his alleged role in the scam. Earlier, the CBI had also arrested the head of event management companies Meroform India and GL Events Beenu Nanu, senior CWG officials T.S. Darbari, Sanjay Mohindroo and M. Jayachandran in connection with the scam. Darbari, Mohindroo and Jayachandran have already been granted bail.

Mobile phones don’t up brain cancer risk Posted: 17 Feb 2011 10:15 PM PST Mobile phone use doesn’t seem to increase the risk of developing brain cancers by any significant amount. Researchers from the University of Manchester used publicly available data from the UK Office of National Statistics to look at trends in the rates of newly diagnosed brain cancers in England between 1998 and 2007. The study, published in the journal Bioelectromagnetics, reported no statistically significant change in the incidence of brain cancers in men or women during the nine-year period under observation. “Cell phone use in the United Kingdom and other countries has risen steeply since the early 1990s when the first digital cell phones were introduced,” said lead researcher Frank de Vocht, an expert in occupational and environmental health at Manchester. “There is an ongoing controversy about whether radio frequency exposure from cell phones increases the risk of brain cancer,” according to a Manchester University statement. “Our findings indicate that a causal link between cell phone use and cancer is unlikely because there is no evidence of any significant increase in the disease since their introduction and rapid proliferation.”

Egypt to celebrate first week without Mubarak Posted: 17 Feb 2011 10:12 PM PST Egypt’s opposition youth movement has called on people of Egypt to stage a million-strong demonstration on Cairo’s central Tahrir Square Friday to mark a week without Hosni Mubarak. “The revolution has not been concluded yet. It will be concluded after all demands [of the Egyptian people] have been met and the creation of a stable democratic system has started,” the April 6 Youth Movement, one of the organisers of anti-government protests that swept Mubarak from power, said in a statement. Mubarak stepped down as the country’s president last Friday following 18 days of anti-government protests that broke out in Cairo Jan 25 and spread throughout Egypt, leaving more than 350 people dead and about 5,500 injured. The Higher Military Council, which took over power in the country after Mubarak’s resignation, has pledged to launch democratic reforms and hold fair elections in September. The country’s opposition continues to push the country’s transitional authorities to meet their demands such as to imprison corrupt officials and lift the state of emergency that has been in place in the country since Mubarak took power in 1981. The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s most influential Islamist group, which had been banned under Mubarak’s rule, said they would join Friday’s demonstration.

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