Latest News

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• Awareness needed for Delhi’s women: Dikshit
• Public support has always boosted Pakistan, says Afridi
• Tripura on bird flu alert; central teams arrive
• Retire aging monkeys, Pamela Anderson urges AIIMS
• Bollywood tweet-cheers for India in World Cup
• Hilton’s birthday cake stolen
• Arshad Warsi signs up for comedy show
• 16-year-old refused to recognize Preity
• Shilpa praises Piggy Chops
• Saif teaches Big B how to use iPad

Awareness needed for Delhi’s women: Dikshit Posted: 19 Feb 2011 03:32 AM PST Delhi’s women need to be made aware about their rights and the importance of their empowerment, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said here Saturday. “We need to make women aware about their powers, only then will they feel empowered. Awareness is more important than legal empowerment,” Dikshit said as she flagged off the ‘bell bajao’ campaign against domestic violence. The campaign, by global human rights organisation Breakthrough, will reach people through video vans that will aim at engaging and educating communities to spread awareness about the protection of women through the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act of 2005. “The motto should be to reach out to maximum number of women. Aware and sensitive neighbourhood are the keys to curb the menace of domestic violence,” Dikshit said. The campaign, which has already reached over 140 million people across different parts of the country, has reported a 15 percent increase in the reporting of complaints against domestic violence. “Women are forced to stay mum. That’s what we are raising the campaign for. We want women to come out of the four walls and speak up on the issue,” Delhi Women and Child Development Minister Kiran Walia told IANS. Members of Breakthrough emphasised on the need to sensitise men and women equally. The 15-day campaign will culminate with the International Women’s Day celebrations. “It is a call to change cultural norms and bring domestic violence to a halt. To set the perfect example, young girls from a theatre group in Lucknow will be a part of this campaign,” said Mallika Dutt, president of Breakthrough.

Public support has always boosted Pakistan, says Afridi Posted: 19 Feb 2011 03:28 AM PST Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has asked his countrymen to rally behind the team saying their support can propel them to win the World Cup. Not many critics are giving Pakistan much chances of regaining the World Cup title, but Afridi seems quite confident that his team can go all the way in the 14-nation event. Afridi believes Pakistan will benefit from the fact that it is not being counted among the major contenders for the title. “I think it’s good for us that we won’t go into the World Cup as favourites because that would ease a lot of pressure off our shoulders,” Afridi was quoted as saying by Life Illustrated. “But it doesn’t mean that I agree with the experts. As a member of the Pakistan team as well as its captain I’m confident that we can do it. We can bring back the Cup home,” stressed the flamboyant allrounder. “I believe that our main strength is our unity. Individual brilliance can produce good results, but not enough to win a World Cup. Only a team that plays together can think about winning the World Cup. As captain, I’m really pleased that Pakistan are finally playing like such a team,” he stressed. Afridi believes that World Cup 2011 will be Pakistan’s Cup. “I’m never comfortable with making predictions but I must say that my heart tells me that it is going to be our World Cup. That’s because the team is playing well and the boys are fully motivated and really hungry for World Cup glory,” he said. “I derive a lot of strength from the fact that our people are really supporting us. Public support has always been a major factor behind Pakistan’s success in the sporting arena. I still remember the 1992 World Cup when people’s prayers turned out to be a major factor behind Pakistan’s success as they came back from the jaws of elimination to win the title.” Afridi said that his team’s morale is high as it lands in Sri Lanka Sunday ahead of its opening match against Kenya in Hambantota, Wednesday. “We have played a lot of cricket in the last eight or nine months but thankfully our players are fully fit and the level of energy is high amongst them. I have great expectations from all of my boys – the seniors and the juniors. “Senior players like Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Akhtar and Umar Gul will have to inspire young kids like Umar Akmal, Ahmed Shehzad and Asad Shafiq to give their best. For the seniors, it will be one more opportunity to tell the world that Pakistan’s cricketers are among the best in the world. For the juniors, it will be a perfect platform to get the sort of breakthrough they deserve,” he said.

Tripura on bird flu alert; central teams arrive Posted: 19 Feb 2011 03:20 AM PST Following an outbreak of the deadly avian influenza, Tripura Saturday sounded a bird flu alert and intensified surveillance. Two central government teams comprising scientists and doctors arrived in Tripura Saturday to assist the state authorities. They are closely monitoring the situation, an official said. “We have deployed 16 Rapid Response Teams (RRT) in the affected areas of west Tripura district and have asked officials to look for signs of any bird flu outbreak elsewhere,” Tripura animal resource development department (ARDD) joint director Jyotirmoy Chakraborty told IANS. With a fresh outbreak of bird flu at the Radha Kishore Nagar government farm, 25 km north of Agartala, in western Tripura, more than 3,000 ducks have been culled till Friday. Chakraborty said: “We will cull over 1,000 more ducks and poultry birds in three villages adjoining R.K. Nagar farm at the earliest to check the spread of the viral disease.” A central team from the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) in Uttar Pradesh’s Izatnagar in Bareilly and another from the North Eastern Region Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (NERDDL) in Guwahati have arrived in Tripura to assist the state authorities. “The Tripura government has sounded a ‘red alert’ across the state and asked ARDD doctors and other officials to keep a close surveillance on the death of birds. If any death is reported, samples should be sent to the laboratories immediately,” Chakraborty said. He added: “After the death of some ducks at the government-run farm, we have sent samples to various laboratories. The Eastern Region Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (ERDDL) in Kolkata and the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL) in Bhopal have confirmed that the samples are positive for the H5 strain of avian influenza.” The surveillance will cover an area of up to 10 km around the stricken farm. The government has asked for daily report on the control and containment operations. According to ARDD commissioner Sriram Taranikant, with the culling of 3,000 ducks and destruction of thousands of eggs, birds’ fodder and other materials, the estimated loss would be around Rs.800,000. “The state government has requested the central government to bear 90 percent of the cost,” an official said. Tripura was affected by avian influenza in April and May 2008, forcing the authorities to cull over 200,000 poultry birds.

Retire aging monkeys, Pamela Anderson urges AIIMS Posted: 19 Feb 2011 03:17 AM PST International celebrity Pamela Anderson Saturday wrote a letter to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) director N.C. Deka, asking him to free the aging monkeys at the premier health institute’s central facility. Anderson sent the letter on behalf of People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India after watching video footage taken secretly inside AIIMS. “It broke my heart to see the suffering that is documented in the enclosed video. But the animals suffering behind closed doors at AIIMS must endure this nightmare every day,” the actress wrote. “I was shocked to see that rabbits are forced to live in wire-floored cages; the sharp wire digs into their sensitive footpads and can cause their feet to become stuck,” she added. In the letter, the former “Baywatch” star who recently also made a brief appearance at “Bigg Boss” pointed out that many of the monkeys at AIIMS have been languishing in cramped, rusty cages for more than a decade and that one monkey has been suffering in these conditions for nearly 20 years. According to the legal framework, laboratories in India are required to rehabilitate animals after three years of biological use. The video shows horrifying conditions under which the animals have been caged, including rabbits suffering from an infectious skin disease and rats with wounds being denied veterinary care. “Please, won’t you at least agree to retire the animals who have been at AIIMS the longest to a sanctuary?” Anderson asked Deka in the letter. PETA India demands the shifting of caged animals to a sanctuary and switch to modern, humane non-animal research and training methods.

Bollywood tweet-cheers for India in World Cup Posted: 19 Feb 2011 03:10 AM PST Many Bollywood stars, including Akshay Kumar and Bipasha Basu, cheered for the Indian cricket team in the first match of the World Cup Saturday. India are playing Bangladesh in Dhaka in the Cup opener. “Big day today! India will win for sure! Wishing Mahi n his team to do the magic:) We want the Cup!!! Let’s cheer for them (sic),” Bipasha posted on her Twitter page. An excited Akshay Kumar posted: “Da Greatest Festival of evry Indian has finaly arrived” da Cricket World Cup” All da Best 2all da teams, especialy INDIA. Ps: Husbands do not neglect ur wives”. Legendary singer Asha Bhosle was quite upbeat about catching the match on TV. “I don’t know about you but I’ll be glued to the idiot box this afternoon for 1st match of The World Cup. JAI HIND!” she posted. Some actors like Diya Mirza and Jackky Bhagnani, who are busy with work, have asked their fans to keep them in the loop for the updates on the match. “Too much happening with our shoot on right now. Going to miss watching all the world cup action! Keep me posted! INDIA! let’s go for GLORY,” said Diya. Jackky, who will be seen in “F.A.L.T.U.” soon, wrote: “Jeetege bhai jeetege india jeetega! What’s d score guys, I am dubbing!” Even former beauty queen-turned-actress Neha Dhupia missed out on the match, and remarked: “Long day at work and i’m only half way through… envy those who are home, watching the match!”

Hilton’s birthday cake stolen Posted: 19 Feb 2011 03:06 AM PST Socialite Paris Hilton’s 30th birthday cake was stolen by a Los Angeles musician, who crashed her party. The hotel heiress threw a bash at V-Moda Fortress, a private house in the Hollywood Hills, Tuesday night and an uninvited guest Paz, who got into the bash through his “well-connected buddy Kevin”, decided to take the three-tiered red cake after realising it wasn’t being served to the 300 guests, femalefirst.co.uk reports. “I woke up this morning with a $2,000 birthday cake in my living room. It’s big. It’s red. It says ‘Paris’ and its delicious … At an inebriated moment I decided no one was going to waste $2,000 worth of anything on my watch. I had to rescue that cake,” Paz posted on his Facebook page. Paz admits he had to come up with a scheme to get the cake out of the house without any of the security guards employed realising what he was doing. He managed to convince the head of security that he had been told to remove the dessert and was soon in his car with his unusual loot.

Arshad Warsi signs up for comedy show Posted: 19 Feb 2011 03:01 AM PST Actor Arshad Warsi has been roped in to be part of a comedy reality show. “Signed up for a comedy show on Star TV ‘Comedy Ka Mahamukabla’”, Arshad confirmed on microblogging site Twitter. Arshad has previously hosted the first season of “Bigg Boss” and second season of dance reality show “Zara Nachke Dikha”‘.

16-year-old refused to recognize Preity Posted: 19 Feb 2011 02:57 AM PST Bollywood actress Preity Zinta was surprised when a 16-year-old boy refused to recognise her. “Ended up at a wedding party with some friends… Love the farm houses & space in delhi ! 1 16year old boy kept coming up to me & saying…..,” Preity wrote on microblogging site Twitter. “OMG! U look so much like Pz! Can u imagine if she was here? After 10 minutes I told him it was me & he laughed… U WISH ! Haha ! Ting ! (sic)” she added.

Shilpa praises Piggy Chops Posted: 19 Feb 2011 02:47 AM PST Now this is a rare compliment coming from an actress for another actress – Shilpa Shetty is all praises for Priyanka Chopra’s work in Vishal Bharadwaj’s “7 Khoon Maaf”. “Watched 7 Khoon maaf,las night Well directed@priyankachopra rockd,really complex role but u did a gr8 job effortlessly,U go girl,all d best (sic),” Shilpa posted on her Twitter page. In the film, Priyanka plays the role of a woman who kills her seven husbands. It released Friday.

Saif teaches Big B how to use iPad Posted: 19 Feb 2011 02:40 AM PST Megastar Amitabh Bachchan’s hectic shooting schedule in Bhopal for “Aarakshan” is proving to be quite a learning experience. “Saif (Ali Khan) introduces me to a cool application on iPad – ‘Rehearsal’. Particularly useful for us (artists) in reading scripts, making comment,” Amitabh wrote on microblogging site Twitter. The film based on the sensitive issue of reservations is being directed by Prakash Jha and stars Deepika Padukone apart from Saif.

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