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(Reuters) – China’s central bank said on Sunday it would keep the yuan at a reasonable, basically stable level, and that there will be no one-off revaluation, after the government said it would make the currency more flexible.
China said on Saturday it would gradually make the yuan more flexible, in a gesture that may deflect foreign criticism at next week’s G20 summit but will not quickly yield a big move by its currency.
(Reporting by Huang Yan and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Simon Rabinovitch)
Hyderabad, Jun 6 (PTI) An Andhra Pradesh minister has been booked for allegedly assaulting a realtor following a dispute over laying a drainage pipeline, police said today. On a complaint by real-estate businessman S Ram Reddy, Banjara Hills police last night registered a case against Health Minister Danam Nagender, a local Congress corporator and her husband under sections 448 (trespass) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC, they said.
According to police, Reddy was constructing a building on Road No 12, where a drainage pipeline was being laid. However, Banjara Hills corporator B Bharati and her husband Baba Naik arrived at the construction site yesterday and reportedly told the workers to stop the work saying it was illegal.
Reddy further complained that following a phone call from the corporator and her husband, the minister arrived at the site along with his supporters and indulged in an heated argument asking him to stop the work and allegedly assaulted him, a senior police officer said. Meanwhile, following a counter complaint lodged by the corporator, the police have also registered a case against the realtor under section 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of IPC. Further investigations were on in both the cases, the police officer added.
Making it clear that Trinamool Congress would remain a “trusted” ally of UPA government for its full tenure, party chief Mamata Banerjee has kept her cards close to her chest on an alliance with Congress for the West Bengal Assembly polls, saying that “nothing is closed”.
“I will speak on what is happening today. I will not speak about the future. We have gone to the people when all others had left us and they (people) have supported us. When opportunity comes in the future, we will speak. Nothing is closed,” Banerjee said in an interview after her party’s triumph in civic polls which it fought without a tie-up with the Congress.
“When the UPA-II government was formed, we as an ally made a commitment to remain in it for five years. We will stay unless we are pushed out,” Banerjee said.
55-year-old Banerjee, however, said, “those who are saying that we are not to be trusted, should understand that we are more trusted then anybody else. There cannot be comparison between our commitment and those of others. We only want love and respect.”
Stating that the Left parties were the main allies of the UPA-I before they quit on the nuclear deal issue, she said her party will remain in UPA-II “as long as CPI(M) is not there.
“If there are relations with the CPI(M) we cannot stay. We cannot co-exist with the CPI(M) just as and DMK and AIADMK cannot coexist,” the TC supremo, whose party is the second largest ally in the UPA with 19 MPs, said.
On her ties with the UPA, the Railway Minister said that there should be reciprocity “in the way we love and respect them. We also want a reciprocal gesture. We don’t want anything more than that.”
Describing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as “a good man and a gentleman”, she said, “We have got all his blessings and support. He is a good administrator. He has information about who is doing what.”
Asked about a senior Congress leader saying in the acrimonious run-up to the civic polls that alliance could not be made at the cost of the party, she said, “I respect senior leaders of the Congress.
“I have no comment. Anybody can make some comment. It is their prerogative and their choice.”
On suggestions by a section of Bengal Congress leaders that the party could not be written off because of the the civic poll outcome and was in a position for seat-sharing on honourable terms with the Trinamool for the 2011 assembly polls, she said, “They got the verdict of the people. The verdict itself speaks about performance.”
To a question on CPI(M) Politburo member Biman Bose’s statement that Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee would not step down and there was no question of advancing the assembly elections, she reiterated, “We are in favour of the early elections.
She accused the CPI(M) of raising the bogey of post-poll violence.
“If there was violence, it would have erupted within 72 hours,” she said when asked about CPI(M) statement that the chief minister had skipped the CPI(M) Politburo meeting in New Delhi to control post-poll violence in in the state.
“That there was no post-poll violence, credit should go to us since we have told our workers not to take out victory processions maintain restraint. By raising the bogey of violence, the ruling party is trying to instigate violence.”
ATHENS, June 1 (Reuters) – Greek betting group OPAP’s (OPAr.AT) sales agents are threatening to strike over tax changes and exclusivity rules on June 11 and 12, the first two days of soccer’s World Cup, their head said on Tuesday.
The move highlights unrest triggered by Greece’s drastic belt-tightening to counter a debt crisis that has shaken the euro zone and undermined Europe’s single currency.
OPAP, which has a monopoly on sports betting and lotteries in the country until 2020, is 34 percent owned by the state. Its 5,000 Greek agents are the only ones allowed to sell its products.
Under a new tax regime decided as part of reforms aimed at plugging Greece’s fiscal gap, OPAP’s agents will now be taxed on their profits instead of paying a flat rate on their revenues. Agents say this will hurt their business.
They also demand fast-track parliamentary approval of an agreement signed with OPAP which will continue to bind the firm to its agents.
“We are planning a 48-hour strike during the World Cup,” the head of OPAP’s agents, Kyriakos Toptsidis, told Reuters.
“But if the two issues have moved forward by June 11, we might decide to call off the strike as a gesture of good will to find a way out,” he added.
The agents walked off their job during the Champions League soccer final in May in a strike expected to have cost OPAP up to 17 million euros ($20.83 million) in lost revenue. The betting firm made 5.44 billion euros in revenues in 2009. (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Michael Shields)
British Airways said it would resume talks with the union of striking cabin crew later on Wednesday in an attempt to avert further industrial action.
Cabin attendants are in the third day of a five-day strike, protesting over staffing levels and cuts to benefits. The stoppage follows seven days of walkouts in March.
Previous negotiations in the long-running dispute have been acrimonious. The last round of talks ended in chaos over the weekend when left-wing protesters stormed the negotiations.
“I really hope we can pick up the momentum of the talks from where we were on Saturday before we were invaded,” Tony Woodley, joint general secretary of the Unite union, told the BBC.
He said Saturday’s meeting was the first time that he felt that was a genuine will to work towards a settlement.
Unite, which represents the bulk of the airline’s cabin crew, has threatened another 10 days of strikes if the dispute is not resolved.
BA said it was upping the number of flights it plans to run during the next wave of strikes, from May 30 to June 3, after more staff than expected decided to work during this week’s industrial action.
The airline said its Heathrow longhaul schedule would be increased to more than 70 percent of flights, from 60 percent this week, while the shorthaul schedule would rise to 55 percent of flights, from 50 percent.
Woodley repeated his offer to postpone the strikes if travel allowances for cabin crew, which have become a major sticking point in the conflict, are reinstated.
“Put the travel back as a gesture, and we will postpone the strike to finalise any other discussion,” he said.
(Reporting by Avril Ormsby and Kylie MacLellan; Editing by David Cowell)
The podium can be an intimidating place. Even seasoned public speakers feel anxious when standing in front of a microphone. Here are four tips for making your next speech from the podium hum with confidence:
1. Keep your feet planted and stand up straight. This will convey poise and strength, even if that’s not what you’re feeling.
2. Don’t memorize. Unless the speech is very short, the anxiety of trying to remember your lines will only make your task harder.
3. Find a place for your hands. Put your hands in one place – for example, on the sides of the podium – and then forget about them. You will bring them up naturally to gesture as long as they have a place to return to.
4. Practice, practice, practice. Rehearse as many times as you can, in an environment as close to the real experience as possible.”
(The management tips are adapted from “Speaking from a Podium: Simple Tips to Get Started” by Daniel Kennedy.)
Western powers said on Tuesday Iran’s continued stockpiling of enriched uranium devalued its deal to give up some of its potential nuclear bomb material, signalling Tehran would not evade more sanctions this way.
Under the deal agreed with Turkey and Brazil last week, Iran would send 1.2 tonnes of its low-enriched uranium (LEU) to Turkey for safekeeping until Tehran received specially processed fuel for its medical isotope reactor around a year later.
But Western critics said the accord, echoing one brokered by the U.N. nuclear watchdog in October involving the same amount of LEU, would still leave Iran with enough material for one bomb, if enriched to high purity, since it is estimated to have almost doubled its LEU reserve with daily enrichment since then.
The United States, France and Russia — parties to the original deal in principle — saw it as a way to divest Iran of enough LEU to prevent covert “weaponisation”, while giving Iran the means to maintain care for some 850,000 cancer patients.
But U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned Iran’s gesture, six months after it backed away from the accord, as a “transparent ploy to avoid (U.N.) Security Council action” to pass a fourth Iran sanctions resolution now on the table.
Clinton, speaking after talks with Chinese leaders in Beijing, and French officials said Iran’s launch of higher-level enrichment in February seemed to eclipse any fuel swap deal.
“We discussed at some length (with the Chinese) the shortcomings of the recent proposal put forward by Iran … There are a number of deficiencies with it that do not answer the concerns of the international community,” Clinton said.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said that even if Iran followed through on the deal, it would still retain half of its LEU reserve — sufficient for one nuclear warhead.
HARSHER SANCTIONS STAY ON TABLE
“I believe it is time to ratchet up that pressure, and the timetable is short. This government has a clear objective to ensure stronger U.N. and EU sanctions against Iran,” Cameron said during parliamentary debate in London on Tuesday.
France’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said Iran’s extended uranium enrichment activities were problematic for its proposal, conveyed on Monday to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which passed it on to Paris, Washington and Moscow.
Iran’s simultaneous reiteration that it would not rein in enrichment in any way, defying a series of resolutions by the IAEA and Security Council, “is being taken into account and it’s part of the problem,” spokesman Bernard Valero said.
“At the time (of the October deal) we were talking about 1,200 kilogrammes and now the stockpile must be around 2-2,400 kilogrammes,” Valero said. “There’s a bit of a difference between the two and that is also part of the problem.”
Iran insists its uranium enrichment programme is for solely peaceful purposes of electricity generation and medical care. But it has a history of hiding sensitive nuclear activity from the IAEA and continues to restrict U.N. inspections.
In Moscow on Tuesday, Iran’s ambassador to Russia was quoted by Interfax news agency as warning that Tehran would reconsider the new deal if further sanctions were imposed. Iran has called for renewed talks with the big powers on details of the pact.
“If there are new sanctions, it will become obvious to the Iranian public that the ’5 + 1′ group is hiding evil intentions and pursuing political objectives. This would force us to revise the Tehran accords,” Mahmoud Reza Sadjadi was quoted as saying.
“We believe that by this (deal) Iran has demonstrated its goodwill,” Sadjadi said. “After all that lobbying by Brazil, Turkey and other countries, we believe that it makes no sense to talk about new sanctions.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, Iran’s arch regional enemy, dismissed Tehran’s nuclear offer as “empty”.
“(That’s because Iran)…continues to enrich uranium it has at a high level, and reserves the right, according to this proposal, to take (what) it’s meant to transfer to Turkey back to Iran at any time,” Netanyahu told the Israeli parliament.
The draft sanctions resolution agreed by six world powers — the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and France — last week is being discussed with other Security Council members for what Washington hopes will be approval next month.
The extended sanctions provisions would target Iranian banks and call for high-sea inspections of vessels suspected of carrying cargo related to Iran’s nuclear or missile programmes.
(Additional reporting by Tim Castle in London, Vicky Buffery in Paris, Ari Rabinowitch in Jerusalem, Dmitry Solovyov in Moscow; Writing by Mark Heinrich; Editing by Michael Roddy)
London, May 04 (ANI): Action hero Sylvester Stallone has killed plans of starring in the fifth Rambo movie, insisting it would be seen as “mercenary”.
Stallone, 63, who first starred as troubled Vietnam veteran John Rambo in 1982, had previously hinted that the next Rambo adventure would see the hero take on a “slightly different genre,” reports the Daily Express.
He told: “Yeah, we are doing another Rambo but the conflict is whether to do it in America or a foreign country.”
But now, it appears that Stallone has abandoned the previously announced project even after the fourth Rambo effort in 2008 made 74 million pounds worldwide.
He says that despite the critical and commercial success of the iconic character of boxer Rocky Balboa in 2006, he’s gone off the idea of playing Rambo again.
He says: “I think Rambo’s pretty well done, I don’t think there’ll be any more. I’m about 99 per cent sure. I was going to do it. I said I’d never talk about this but I feel that with Rocky Balboa, that character came complete circle. He went home.
“But for Rambo to go on another adventure might be, I think, misinterpreted as a mercenary gesture and not necessary. I don’t want that to happen.”
“I’m very happy with the last episode because I didn’t pull any punches on it. So where do you go from there?” he added. (ANI)
Designed Exclusively to Take Full Advantage of Revolutionary Form and Function
of iPad
SAN FRANCISCO–(Business Wire)–
PlayFirst® Inc., a leading publisher of emotionally engaging interactive
entertainment, today announced its Diner Dash®: Grilling Green App for iPad is
now available from the App Store. Developed specifically for iPad, Diner Dash:
Grilling Green incorporates Multi-Touch gesture-enabled features that allow
players to cook and serve simultaneously by utilizing the game`s innovative new
“Touch Cooker 3000,” a gesture-based cooktop that enables players to chop, stir,
pinch and flip menu orders.
“The Diner Dash: Grilling Green App for iPad is a whole new world of time
management gameplay made possible by the magical new iPad. The use of
Multi-Touch enabled gestures creates a truly hands-on and immersive experience
for players,” said Mari Baker, president and chief executive officer of
PlayFirst. “We are only just beginning. You`ll continue to see PlayFirst
innovation in updates to Diner Dash: Grilling Green and exciting future apps for
iPad.”
In Diner Dash: Grilling Green, Flo® is on a mission to give DinerTown a healthy,
eco-friendly makeover and she`s whipping up a batch of fresh new kitchen
innovations to get the job done. With the Touch Cooker 3000, Flo`s all-new
touch-screen food preparation surface, players tap to chop carrots, swirl to
stir soup, and more as they prepare healthy, delicious food for their customers
while simultaneously seating, serving, and clearing dishes. In another Diner
Dash first, players can now enlist a friend to jump behind the counter for
two-player shifts and play Diner Dash: Grilling Green in any screen orientation.
“PlayFirst games on iPhone and iPod touch have been downloaded over 4 million
times, and after 600 days in the App Store, Diner Dash is still a Top 10 game,”
said Chris Williams, director, mobile & console at PlayFirst. “With Diner Dash:
Grilling Green we`ve taken all of our learning from the iPhone, combined with a
`dash` of new innovation, and created something truly unique for iPad.”
The Diner Dash: Grilling Green App is available for $4.99 from the App Store on
iPad or at www.itunes.com/appstore/.
Since its debut in 2004, the Diner Dash series has been downloaded more than 550
million times across the globe, making it one of the most popular and
recognizable gaming franchises of all time. Diner Dash has been successful on
multiple platforms including mobile, iPhone®, Xbox® Live Arcade, PlayStation®
Network, WiiWare®, and Nintendo® DS. With the launch of Diner Dash: Grilling
Green, PlayFirst is marking its commitment to growing its presence on emerging
gaming platforms.
About PlayFirst
PlayFirst, a leading publisher of emotionally engaging interactive
entertainment, is committed to providing compelling experiences that always
delight customers. By creating engaging story worlds that capture the
imagination, PlayFirst teams publish quality gaming experiences across popular
platforms worldwide including PC, Mac®, iPhone, Facebook, and consoles. The
company’s game portfolio includes world-renowned titles, such as Diner Dash,
Wedding Dash®, Cooking Dash®, Chocolatier®, and Dream Chronicles®. PlayFirst
games are available in major retailers and on more than 500 sites in 20
languages. For more information, visit www.playfirst.com.
PlayFirst, Diner Dash, Flo, DinerTown, Wedding Dash, Cooking Dash, Chocolatier
and Dream Chronicles are registered trademarks, and TouchCooker 3000 is a
trademark of PlayFirst, Inc. All other trademarks are property of their
respective owners.
For media information, visuals or interviews:
ONE PR Studio for PlayFirst
Anne Marie Stein, 510-893-3271 ext. 109
annemarie@oneprstudio.com
or
Dana Whitney, 510-893-3271 ext. 101
dana@oneprstudio.com
Copyright Business Wire 2010
London, Mar 31 (ANI): Inter Milan boss Jose Mourinho broke his media silence to admit that he still misses the English Premier League.
The ex-Chelsea boss, now at Inter Milan, has staged a press blackout since receiving a three-game touchline ban in Serie A for a handcuffs gesture towards a referee.
But Champions League rules saw him break his exile ahead of tonight’s quarterfinal first leg game against CSKA Moscow, The Sun reports.
He said: “I miss the Premiership and the Premiership misses me.”
Asked if he would consider a summer offer from an English club, he replied: “At Inter I’m very busy with the championship, Italian Cup and Champions League, this takes up all my time.”
The CSKA players are expected to wear black armbands in memory of those killed in Monday’s Moscow suicide bombings. (ANI)
London, Mar 26 (ANI): Cheryl Cole has launched a deliberate Twitter rant, denying that she is flaunting her new single status to wind up cheating husband Ashley.
It was rumoured that the X Factor judge was deliberately showing off her bare ring finger.
But in an angry outburst on her Twitter account, Cole said that she’s not playing “some silly game”.
Cheryl had merrily displayed her hand, minus her gold and diamond marriage band, in Paris just 24 hours earlier.
However, she said that it had not been a point-scoring gesture aimed at Chelsea defender Ashley, 29.
The 26-year-old has dumped Cole over claims he cheated on her with five different women.
But she made it clear that she had no intention to not wind him up after taking advice from top divorce lawyers.
“I just wanted to clear up the stories about whether I am wearing my wedding ring,” the Daily Star quoted the Girls Aloud as saying on Twitter.
“There have been many occasions where I have not worn my wedding ring, many of those when I was pictured with Ashley. I find it crazy that people would think I use this as some sort of msg.
“Believe it or not Ashley is fully aware of any situation going on in our personal lives.
“He does not need to see a picture of me moving the hair out of my face to explain anything. It is not some silly game I am playing. That is not me and not my style,” she added.
A spokesman at her PR firm added: “Cheryl decided to Tweet as she has had enough of the sh*t written about her. This allows Cheryl to have her say in her own words.” (ANI)
The Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has been criticised for describing the formal acknowledgement of traditional owners of land at functions as tokenistic.
Tony Abbott says acknowledgement of traditional Aboriginal owners of land can fall into formalism and tokenism if it is overused.
Labor backbencher Steve Gibbons says the comments are mean spirited.
“They’re taking the redneck line in a cheap attempt to try and win some votes,” Mr Gibbons said.
Brisbane Indigenous activist Sam Watson says the practice is important.
“It’s a sign of respect and it’s acknowledgement of history of the land,” he said.
But an Alice Springs based native title body says it agrees with Mr Abbott’s comments.
The CEO of Lhere Artepe Aboriginal Corporation, Darryl Pearce, says there has been a hollowness in the gesture when made by politicians on some occasions.
“But I think the other side of it is when Aboriginal people are welcoming people to country there is some really heartfelt and truthful performances in terms of encouraging people to share our country,” he said.
“So I guess in one sense it’s kind of now asking the politicians to match us with actions rather than just words.”
Mr Pearce says he welcomes the debate.
A Michigan boy reportedly has been suspended from school for curling his hand into the shape of a gun and pointing it at another student.
Erin Jammer, said her son, Mason, was just playing around when he made the gesture Wednesday, the Grand Rapids Press reported.
But officials at Jefferson Elementary School said the behavior made other students uncomfortable, and they suspended Mason for the remainder of the week, the paper reported.
School officials also told the paper that Mason had been warned repeatedly against pretending to aim his hand at students but continued the behavior over several months.
Jammer told the paper her son isn’t violent and doesn’t have toy guns at home. She suggested a less harsh punishment, like taking Mason’s recess away, might be more effective in teaching him not to make a gun with his hand.
“He’s only six and he doesn’t understand any of this,” she said.
London, Sep 18 (ANI): Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas has hit back at former teammate and Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor, who left him with a nasty scar during the game.
Speaking for the first time about Adebayor’s antics during last weekend’s defeat at Manchester City, the Arsenal skipper lifted his tracksuit bottom to reveal a nasty three-inch gash across his right calf.
“That was the result of an X-rated Adebayor tackle and, pointing to the wound just above the ankle, Fabregas said.
“I think this is a red card here. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that was from Adebayor,” he added.
Fabregas also blasted Adebayor for his tackle that could have left him with a broken ankle.
“I was lucky my foot was in the air when it happened. You know this is football and it can happen. Well… it’s not football but it can happen,” he said.
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger blasted Adebayor’s behaviour, but Fabregas’ gesture revealed the level of resentment towards their one-time teammate.
All I tried to do when he was at Arsenal was to create opportunities for him to score,” The Sun quoted Fabregas, as saying.
“So I think I didn’t do too badly for him. I don’t know. It is a bit strange. We don’t think about him any more. He doesn’t play for Arsenal so we just have to concentrate on our game and our players,” he added.
Adebayor, who quit the Emirates in bitter fashion this summer, is also facing a further ban from the FA after running the full length of the pitch to celebrate his goal. (ANI)
Islamabad, Sep.12 (ANI): Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has a special liking for Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, as the latter gave him a patient hearing when the two leaders had met days before the Mumbai terror attacks.
Qureshi revealed that he was impressed by Singh’s gesture during the talks.
“The meeting left me very impressed. I spoke at length on the water issue and how it was becoming a new dispute between the two countries. Mr. Manmohan Singh gave me a very patient hearing. I still remember his words, ‘Foreign minister, I am so happy to meet a young politician who is also so far-sighted,” Qureshi told The News.
When enquired about the then Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Qureshi said he found the senior leader’s response during his talks with him in May 2008 very ‘positive’
“I proposed a more liberal regime where certain categories like journalists, lawyers, businessmen and academicians would not need visas. We could start exchanging newspapers, magazines and films. Mukherjee appeared positive,” Qureshi said.
When asked how did he feel about the furor created over former Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh’s book ‘Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence’, Qureshi said it was ‘emotional’ as well as ‘shocking’ to see such a response from Indian political leaders. (ANI)
Namakkal (Tamil Nadu), Aug 31 (ANI): In a unique and loving gesture, students presented a house to their former teacher at Gurusamypalayam village in Tamil Nadu.
Eighty-three-year-old Soballapuram V Venkataraman, who has been living in a rented run-down house at the village in Namakkal district even after 25 years of retirement with his aged wife and a widowed daughter, will now have a new place to live.
Venkataraman will soon shift into the new house, which is spacious and much larger than his present accommodation.
The house, built in an area of 1,200 square feet, is nearly ready and will be formally gifted to the guru on the ‘Teachers’ Day’ on September 5.
Venkataraman says even though his students have been successful in life he never ever expected anything like this from them. He recalls he never complained about his financial problem to them. However, he said he was overwhelmed by this gesture.
“I have been teaching from 1954 to 1985 for 32 years. And during the course of my teaching profession, I have taught about nearly 1,500 students. Many of them are now working as industrialists, doctors, engineers, senior administrative officers,” said Venkataraman.
Venkataraman taught Tamil language at the Sengunthar Mahajana Higher Secondary School at Gurusamypalayam village and inspired many of his students with his knowledge of poetry and oratory.
Two years ago when his former students came to meet him, they were sad to know about his living conditions, and the financial debt he incurred for the marriage of his two daughters.
Even though he receives a monthly pension of Rs.9,000, it’s inadequate to meet the daily expenses of his family, let alone living a better life.
The students who had achieved success and made it in their professional life decided to alleviate their loving teacher’s suffering in their own unique way.
“We took up a list of our old students, we collected their addresses, and we printed a small notice and sent it to them. The old students responded and we were able to collect nearly 10 lakh. We constructed this house. We are very much pleased to hand over this house as ‘Guru Niwas’ to our teacher as a ‘gurudakshina’,” said Dr Mohan Raj, a physician and former student of Venkataraman.
Money was sent by students who are now settled in various parts of the country. It took two years to build a two-storey house at the cost of Rs 10 lakh. By Jai Kumar (ANI)
Lahore, Aug. 31 (ANI): During the recent ‘explosive’ meeting between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and US special envoy Richard Holbrooke, Karzai is reported to have whipped off his distinctive karakuli cap and slammed it onto the dinner table.
“For an Afghan man to do that, it’s a big gesture,” a local businessman was quoted. “It’s like throwing down the gauntlet,” the Daily Times quoted an Afghan businessman, as saying.
According to reports, Holbrooke suggested holding a second round run-off following reports of massive fraud during the recent presidential elections.
Sources said, Karzai reacted very angrily at Holbrooke’s suggestion and the meeting ended shortly afterwards.
“They were discussing different scenarios and one of them was the possibility of a run-off,” the paper quoted a Karzai insider as saying. “That’s when there was a misunderstanding. There were strong words from both men.”
The Obama administration has not hidden its “disdain” for Karzai for running a corrupt government, the Sunday Times had reported.
US officials had downplayed the row and said they believed “Karzai’s agents leaked a selective version of the meeting to make it look as if he was resisting US pressure to force him to hold a second round when he was already the winner”, the report added.
However, the spokeswoman for the US embassy in Kabul has denied of any such altercation.
She denied reports about Holbrooke storming out of the meeting, and also refused to divulge details of the meeting. (ANI)
Washington, Aug 31(ANI): Actress Jennifer Aniston still wears the gold Rolex watch gifted to her by ex-boyfriend John Mayer.
The former ‘Friends’ star has been seen with the luxury watch amid rumours she and Mayer have rekindled their romance “John gave Jennifer the Rolex when they were at the height of their romance in May 2008. Jennifer hardly took the watch off, but when they split she stopped wearing it. In recent weeks she’s started wearing it again to show John he’s still in her thoughts,” Contactmusic quoted a source as saying.
Aniston, 40, and Mayor, 31, had been together for around four months last year. They paired together again earlier this year only to call it off in April.
However, it is believed Aniston has started flirting with the musician again.
The source added: “She’s even been sending him flirty texts and emails…. Jennifer’s plan is obviously working – John is a keen Rolex collector and Jennifer knows how symbolic the gesture is to him. He’s been replying to her with racy pictures and emails.
“It’s only a matter of time before they officially announce they’re back together.” (ANI)
Nevada (US), Aug.13 (ANI): Oscar winner musician A. R. Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire) will deliver a free concert in Sydney (Australia) to make a “statement of peace” in view of recent racial attacks on Indian students in Australia.
He reportedly said that this concert, to be held at Parramatta Park on January 16, was an attempt to “reunite culturally and spiritually” in view of the recent bad vibe. He hopes that it creates a “bridge of understanding and love” and breaks down “cultural misunderstandings”. Premier Nathan Rees of New South Wales has congratulated Rahman for this offer.
Prominent Australian entertainers should respond with a similar gesture of a free concert in a major city of India, said Indian American leader Rajan Zed.
Rahman, who has reportedly recorded sales of over 300 million, was called “Mozart of Madras” by Time magazine. Pop icon Michael Jackson reportedly approached him before his death to partner on a peace anthem on the lines of “We are the World”.
Rahman sees music as a “way to connect to spirituality and embrace it”. (ANI)
Bangalore, Aug 9 (ANI): The statue of Tamil saint- poet Thiruvalluvar was unveiled on Sunday in Bangalore amidst tight security, bringing to an end of 18-year-old dispute.
Both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka Governments expect the installation of the statue to normalize relations between the two feuding states.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi unveiled the statue at the Ulsoor Lake Park in the presence of Karnataka Chief Minister B.S.Yeddyurappa.
In a reciprocal gesture, Tamil Nadu Government will unveil the statue of 16-century Kannada poet Sarvajna in Chennai on August 13.
Speaking at the ceremony Yeddyurappa said, “I have cleared everything. The question of a bandh does not arise. People are going to support in the entire state. We are continuing with the programme of unveiling the statues of Thiruvalluvar and Sarvajna.”
Bangaloreans did not respond to the shutdown call given by pro-Kannada outfits who have expressed unhappiness over the unveiling of the statute.
Earlier, the Karnataka High Court had issued an order warning against calling for a shutdown or indulging in acts of violence by any organisation.
The dispute has a long history, The Karnataka Tamil Sangam had wanted to install the statue of Thiruvalluvar since 1968, and accordingly had placed request before every Chief Minister who had ruled the state till 1991.
In 1991, then Chief Minister S.Bangarappa and his cabinet colleague K.J. George took a special interest and allotted land near the Ulsoor Lake. Sangam installed the statue, but some pro-Kannada organizations succeeded in obtaining a stay on the unveiling from the Karnataka High Court.
Sangam appealed against the ruling and the High Court transferred the case to a Civil Court and the matter was pending for the last 18 years.
After assuming power, Yeddyurappa convinced the Sangam authorities to withdraw the case and announced the unveiling of statue and as a reciprocal gesture Karunanidhi announced the unveiling of the Sarvajna statue in Chennai. (ANI)
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