Kashmir schools to include State history in syllabus

Srinagar, Apr 6 (ANI): The Jammu and Kashmir Education Department has decided to introduce lessons on the history of the three regions-Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh-in the curriculum of schools till the secondary level.

Though, the final syllabus has not been approved, the Government plans to have a separate section on the State in the history books. A committee will be constituted to finalise the syllabi.

“The board of school education has been assigned the job to ensure that the history of Jammu and Kashmir be included in the curriculum. We teach our students Indian history, British history and world history, but they do not know much about their own history and culture, ” said Shagufta Parveen, the director of education board of the state.

The fact that Muslims and Hindus of Kashmir lived in harmony, since the Sufi-Islamic way of life that Muslims followed in Kashmir complemented the Rishi tradition of Kashmiri Pandits, will be included in the books.

With the incorporation of local history in the curriculum, the students from different religions and social backgrounds in the region would become more aware about the place they live in. This will not only give them a better insight but also help in the integration of the state

“Even after being a resident of Srinagar we do not know much about our state. So if the history of Kashmir is included in our education, it is a good thing, it is a very important thing,” said Hardeep Singh, a student of Woodlands Public School in Srinagar.

The knowledge about ‘mixed’ roots in the State will intensify the bonds among the people of next generation. It will inculcate the concept of communal harmony. Students can now be taught about their Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic past and they can look at things from a different perspective. By Showket Jan(ANI)

Obama wows Europeans as Bush era is consigned to history

From cheering fans lining the streets to an adoring crowd packed into a sports arena, Obama-mania was in full swing in Europe on Friday.

The excitement generated by U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to both sides of the French-German border was a sharp contrast to the angry protests that often greeted his predecessor George W. Bush on trips to the continent.

“I wanted to tell you that your name in Hungarian means ‘peach’,” a girl from Heidelberg, Germany, gushed to Obama, at a townhall meeting.

The style and substance of Obama’s tour were also different to Bush, who was unpopular among Europeans because of the Iraq war and a list of contentious policies.

While Bush usually confined his European itinerary to contacts with the political and business elite, Obama set out on Friday to hear the voices of ordinary citizens.

“What we thought was important was for me to have an opportunity not only to speak to you but to hear from you,” he said in the French city of Strasbourg where he held a townhall-type meeting, a question-and-answer forum he used in the presidential campaign.

Obama made the case for more NATO help to win the war in Afghanistan, seeming to test whether his pop-star popularity could be leveraged into policy gains with European leaders.

Not everyone was convinced.

“It will take a lot more for us to believe the war in Afghanistan is worth it,” said English teacher Stephanie Houley, 30.

HITTING THE RIGHT BUTTONS

From a stage at the Rhenus Sports Arena, he hit the right buttons for a European audience, admitting partial U.S. blame for the global economic crisis and promising a greater U.S. role combatting climate change than Bush.

The crowd cheered when Obama spoke of his plan to close the internationally condemned U.S. military detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and reiterated that torture would not be allowed on his watch.

Since taking office on Jan. 20, Obama has moved to roll back some of Bush’s more divisive security policies as part of his effort to repair the United States’ image abroad.

In scenes repeating his European visit last year as a presidential candidate, Obama was cheered when he arrived in Strasbourg and received a kiss from a woman in the crowd as he headed for talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Imparting advice to his mostly youthful audience, Obama also sought to counter a stereotype of Americans as a driven only by material wants, a view that only deepened by Wall Street excesses at the heart of the global economic crisis.

“I found at a very young age was that if you only think about yourself — how much money can I make, what can I buy, how nice is my house, what kind of fancy car do I have — that over the long term I think you get bored,” he said.

He also used his visit to France, a country that has sometimes had strained relations with the United States, to speak out against “casual” anti-American sentiment.

And he took his fellow citizens to task for “times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive” toward Europe.

Some in the Bush administration derided “Old Europe” for refusing to go along with some of its foreign policy moves.

Obama also said he missed the days when on a trip to Europe “I could just wander down to a cafe and sit and have some wine and watch people go by.”

U.S. experts say much rides on North Korean rocket

North Korea would demonstrate an ability to hit much of the United States with a long-range missile if it succeeds in launching a satellite in space, the former head of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said on Friday.

“If they have a successful Taepodong-2 space launch shot they should be able to range most of northwestern United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, as well as part of the mainland, even with a two-stage missile,” said retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry Obering, who ran U.S. missile-defense development until Jan. 1.

Much depends on whether Pyongyang has succeeded in developing advanced propellants for the rocket that satellite images show it is readying to launch as soon as Saturday.

South Korea and Japan have said the North’s declared goal — sending a communications satellite into orbit — is mere cover for a test of the long-range Taepodong-2 missile.

A similar missile blew apart about 40 seconds after launch in July 2006.

If the North successfully puts a satellite in space using a three-stage missile, as many experts predict it will try to do, “they would be able to range about half of the continental United States,” Obering said. “And with advanced propellants … they could range all of the United States.”

“That’s one of the reasons that we have our ears up and (are) very alert — because it’s a major step forward,” he told a briefing organized by the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, a grass-roots- and industry-funded group that backs a layered anti-missile shield the Bush administration began deploying in 2004.

The extent of North Korea’s mastery of advanced rocket propellants was uncertain at the time he left the U.S. government, Obering said. “But we do know that they have demonstrated the ability to go beyond the basic SCUD-propellant technology from the 1980s.”

North Korea also is estimated to have enough ingredients for at least half a dozen nuclear weapons, the U.S. Congressional Research Service said in a Feb. 12 report.

A successful space shot would show the North was “closer to gaining a capability that can be used to hold hostage a number of American cities — and thereby in a regional crisis in the future, serve as a weapon of intimidation,” said Robert Joseph, the State Department’s top arms-control official during part of

President George W. Bush’s administration.

“When you watch North Korea … you should be thinking of Iran,” he said. “In the ballistic missile business, these two countries are tied together at the hip.”

Joseph Bermudez, who analyzes North Korea’s missile program for Jane’s, a publisher of authoritative weapons-related reference material, said converting a space launch vehicle to deliver a warhead involved “trading out just the tip of the system.”

But the production of a reliable ballistic missile warhead is “extremely difficult,” he said. “You have to solve the problem of extreme vibration, rapid acceleration and deceleration as well as big swings in heating and cooling.”

After G20, Obama to discuss Afghan plans with NATO

U.S. President Barack Obama, after helping broker a deal to tackle the global economic crisis, heads to France on Friday to try to secure NATO backing for a new strategy to turn the tide in Afghanistan.

On his first major foreign trip since taking office on Jan. 20, he called Thursday’s accord at the G20 summit in London a “turning point” for the world economy.

He will be hoping for a similar breakthrough on the worsening crisis in Afghanistan and looking to other NATO leaders for support at the military alliance’s two-day summit being held on both the French and German sides of the Rhine.

His new Afghan strategy was unveiled last week, and aims to try to get a grip on rising violence by Taliban militants driven from power in 2001 but never completely defeated.

It broadens the focus to include Pakistan and puts the highest priority on the defeat of al Qaeda militants who Obama says are plotting new attacks on the United States.

Having already announced plans to add 17,000 more U.S. combat troops to the 38,000 already there, Obama said he would send 4,000 more to help train the Afghan army and add civilian personnel to tackle problems such as the booming narcotics trade and government corruption.

He has stressed the need for international cooperation to turn the tide, with insurgent violence reaching its highest level since U.S.-led forces toppled the Taliban in 2001.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai also said this week he needed regional cooperation to tackle terrorism.

The NATO mission has been criticised for disorganisation but European leaders have been reluctant to commit more forces to an increasingly unpopular war among voters.

Obama arrives in France in mid-morning and will hold bilateral talks with President Nicolas Sarkozy and take part in a U.S.-style “town hall” meeting before hopping across the border for discussions with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The NATO summit starts in the evening with a dinner.

Anti-NATO demonstrators have vowed to disrupt the summit and riot police clashed with hundreds of protesters on Thursday in Strasbourg in France, repeatedly firing tear gas and rubber bullets and arresting around 200 youths.

SYMBOLIC CELEBRATION

Obama has said that countries that felt unable to commit more military forces to Afghanistan should at least boost help for the civilian effort.

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has called on non-U.S. allies to send up to 4,000 more troops to safeguard August elections. He also wants them to make up a long-standing shortfall in training teams for the Afghan army and commit to a revamped police training mission under NATO command.

The summit marks NATO’s 60th anniversary and its venue straddling the frontier of foes-turned-allies France and Germany will be packed with symbolism aimed at celebrating an alliance originally created to defend Europe’s borders.

Leaders will welcome France’s return to full NATO participation after a Franco-U.S. schism dating to the days of Charles de Gaulle and usher in new members Albania and Croatia.

They will look at ways too to rebuild ties with Russia, whose help it sees as vital in a host of global security issues.

De Hoop Scheffer is due to stand down in July and NATO had wanted to name his successor at the summit, but concerns over its image in the Muslim world and elsewhere are hampering the quest for the right candidate.

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen is the front runner, but NATO member Turkey is unhappy with his handling of a 2006 row over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad that caused riots in the Muslim world.

Disgraced mogul Horie decries Japan’s legal system, AS

TOKYO (AP) He was convicted of fraud, jailed and humbled a bit, but former Japanese dot.com mogul Takafumi Horie was undaunted Thursday in blaming his fall from grace on a flawed legal system that unfairly crucifies the rich and famous.

In his first public comments about his case, Horie accused overly zealous prosecutors of targeting high-profile individuals even for relatively minor transgressions in order to generate the highest buzz factor. “If you become famous, you need to watch out because the public prosecutors may come after you,” Horie, who still maintains his innocence, said at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan.

“If you are not only famous but also make a lot of money, you need to be aware of the fact that there will be people around you who are going to be envious. They may eventually go to the public prosecutors office and give them information that will lead to your downfall.

” Horie, 36, was once celebrated as the face of Japan’s new generation of entrepreneurs, a defiant symbol challenging a corporate culture that values conformity and deference to the status quo. He gained fame as head of his Internet services startup Livedoor Co.

, tried to buy a professional baseball team and then take over a radio broadcaster. He even ran for a parliamentary seat.

Though unsuccessful, the efforts heightened Horie’s glamourous image, helping attract investors to Livedoor stock. The beginning of the end came on Jan.

17, 2006, when prosecutors raided Livedoor headquarters in Tokyo. The incident and Horie’s subsequent arrest sparked a frenzied market sell-off dubbed “Livedoor shock” that forced the Tokyo Stock Exchange to close early due to overwhelming trading volumes.

Horie spent 95 days in jail undergoing interrogation and was found guilty a little more than a year later for masterminding a network of decoy investment funds to manipulate earnings at Livedoor. His sentence? Two years and six months in prison unusually harsh for a white collar crime in Japan.

He is now out on bail, awaiting the Japanese Supreme Court’s decision on his appeal. In the meantime, he is jumping back into the spotlight, eager to repair his tarnished image, rattle Japanese society again, and promote his new book “Total Resistance.

” He said he wrote the book, some of it behind bars, to “help future executives and entrepreneurs navigate some of the unique idiosyncracies of doing business in Japan.” “I believe it’s my role to be provacative,” said Horie, whose outfit du jour featured a white skull on his back and some bling on the front.

His latest venture may be his boldest yet he wants to explore space, seeking to develop a mannned rocked engine within five years. “Many people have accused me of being someone who worships money,” he said.

“I’m not at all interested in saving money. I’m only interested in using money to invest in my dreams.

Disgraced mogul Horie decries Japan’s legal system, AS

TOKYO (AP) He was convicted of fraud, jailed and humbled a bit, but former Japanese dot.com mogul Takafumi Horie was undaunted Thursday in blaming his fall from grace on a flawed legal system that unfairly crucifies the rich and famous.

In his first public comments about his case, Horie accused overly zealous prosecutors of targeting high-profile individuals even for relatively minor transgressions in order to generate the highest buzz factor. “If you become famous, you need to watch out because the public prosecutors may come after you,” Horie, who still maintains his innocence, said at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan.

“If you are not only famous but also make a lot of money, you need to be aware of the fact that there will be people around you who are going to be envious. They may eventually go to the public prosecutors office and give them information that will lead to your downfall.

” Horie, 36, was once celebrated as the face of Japan’s new generation of entrepreneurs, a defiant symbol challenging a corporate culture that values conformity and deference to the status quo. He gained fame as head of his Internet services startup Livedoor Co.

, tried to buy a professional baseball team and then take over a radio broadcaster. He even ran for a parliamentary seat.

Though unsuccessful, the efforts heightened Horie’s glamourous image, helping attract investors to Livedoor stock. The beginning of the end came on Jan.

17, 2006, when prosecutors raided Livedoor headquarters in Tokyo. The incident and Horie’s subsequent arrest sparked a frenzied market sell-off dubbed “Livedoor shock” that forced the Tokyo Stock Exchange to close early due to overwhelming trading volumes.

Horie spent 95 days in jail undergoing interrogation and was found guilty a little more than a year later for masterminding a network of decoy investment funds to manipulate earnings at Livedoor. His sentence? Two years and six months in prison unusually harsh for a white collar crime in Japan.

He is now out on bail, awaiting the Japanese Supreme Court’s decision on his appeal. In the meantime, he is jumping back into the spotlight, eager to repair his tarnished image, rattle Japanese society again, and promote his new book “Total Resistance.

” He said he wrote the book, some of it behind bars, to “help future executives and entrepreneurs navigate some of the unique idiosyncracies of doing business in Japan.” “I believe it’s my role to be provacative,” said Horie, whose outfit du jour featured a white skull on his back and some bling on the front.

His latest venture may be his boldest yet he wants to explore space, seeking to develop a mannned rocked engine within five years. “Many people have accused me of being someone who worships money,” he said.

“I’m not at all interested in saving money. I’m only interested in using money to invest in my dreams.

Inflation rates up to 0.31 percent

New Delhi, Apr 2 (ANI): The rate of inflation for the week ended March 21 rose marginally to 0.31 percent, from 0.27 percent a week earlier, government data showed on Thursday.

The inflation rate, as measured by the wholesale price index, was 7.8 per centuring the corresponding week of the previous year.

Price of certain food items such as tea, gur, aerated water and imported edible oil has risen during the period.

While the price of blended tea increased by 48 per cent, packaged tea and aerated water became expensive by 22 and 10 per cent, respectively.

Besides them, the list of items, which became expensive comprises of oil cake, bajra, soft drinks, condiments and spices, soyabean, niger seed, raw rubber, groundnut, mustard seed and raw cotton.

Cement, rubber, plastic products and PVC fittings also became dearer.

However, prices of fruit and vegetables, barley, jowar, raw silk, khandsari, salt, mustard and coconut oil became cheaper.

Prices of furnace oil, textile items, hair oil, steel ingots and bars also decreased.

Meanwhile, the commerce ministry has lowered the inflation rate for the week ended Jan 24 to 4.70 percent from the provisional 5.07 percent reported earlier.

It didn’t give any reasons for the revision in the rate. (ANI)

Centuries old mosque in Srinagar gets a face lift

Srinagar, Mar 15 (ANI): Renovation work at the centuries old Mosque of Akhund Mulla (also referred as Akhoon Mulla) at Srinagar in Kashmir is underway to restore the old grandeur of the monument.

The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) has taken the responsibility to restore life in the much-neglected heritage.

Akhund Mulla is said to be a mosque within a mosque. The main sanctuary is a separate and detached building, placed within a courtyard surrounding the mosque.

Built in Circa 1049 by Dara Shikoh, son of the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan, to honour his tutor Akhun Mulla Shah, the little mosque is a grey limestone structure, located just below the Makhdum Sahib mosque.

The stone lotus erected over the podium is the only model of its type existing in Kashmir and has an inscription dated back to 1649.

The main feature of the mosque is the specially constructed prayer chamber. This mosque had also Islamic library, Hostel facilities and Hamam (Royal bathroom).

“It is a very big project that we have undertaken. The monument is very big, very old and in a very bad state. But thankfully, it can be restored. We would restore it in a manner that the historical significance is maintained,” said Saleem Beig, INTACH head of Kashmir.

Even the locals feel that attention should be paid to such monuments, which are a reflection of the heritage and culture of the region.

The Kashmiri students as well as students from across the country at the time of emperor Shah Jahan used to come to Kashmir for Islamic studies.

“It feels really sad when we see this kind of degradation taking place. No one is paying any attention to these monuments. The government says a lot but what is required is that work should also be done. Monuments like this are our heritage,” said Mohammad Sayed, a local resident.

With the INTACH taking this project, the locals of the area have hailed this decision. By Shaukat Jan (ANI)

Audi India: Records impressive sales growth of 95 pc in Feb 2009

Mumbai, Mar 4 (ANI/Business Wire India): Audi, the German luxury car manufacturer, today announced an increase in its performance with the sales of 113 cars in February 2009 – a growth of 95 percent in comparison to February 2008 (58 cars).

In spite of the challenging market situation, the first two months (Jan-Feb) of this year have been impressive for Audi India as sales grew constantly by 95 percent in both months: In January 2009, 109 units were sold, up 95 percent in comparison to January 2008 (56 cars). In the year 2008, Audi India’s vehicle sales volume grew by 201 percent with sale of 1,050 cars as compared to 349 units in 2007.

“Our steady growth in India is reflected once again in our sales performance last month that has almost doubled when compared to February 2008. To gain additional market share we are looking forward to introducing new models and expanding our dealerships network to mini-metro cities this year. This reaffirms our commitment to Indian customer by offering superior performance and great value through the core essence of ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’,” said Benoit Tiers, Managing Director of Audi India.

The Audi model range comprising the new Audi A4, Audi A6, Audi A8, Audi Q7, Audi TT and Audi R8 is available in India at present in twelve dealerships across the country: in Delhi, Gurgaon, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Ludhiana, Chennai, Kochi and Kolkata.

AUDI AG will present the complete results for the 2008 business year at its Annual Press Conference on March 10, 2009 in Ingolstadt / Germany. (ANI)

Polling begins for Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal by-elections

Umroi, Jan 25 (ANI): Voting has begun for the assembly by-election at Bhadohi reserve segment in Sant Ravidas Nagar in Uttar Pradesh this morning.

The polling will decide the fate of sixteen contestants. The main contenders are from Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party (SP), Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Three hundred sixty five polling booths have been set up for three lakhs forty five thousand voters to cast their votes. One hundred fifty three polling booths have been identified as sensitive.

The by-poll has been necessitated following the death of a BSP MLA.

Counting of votes will take place March 1.

Tight security arrangements have been made to avoid any kind of untoward incident.

Nearly twenty companies of security forces including five companies of Central para military forces, fifteen companies of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC), and 1000 state police have been pressed into service.

Inter-district borders of the segment with Allahabad, Mirzapur, Varanasi and Jaunpur has already been sealed.

Voting is also underway in West Bengal for Bishnupur (West) assembly by-election.

This seat had fallen vacant due to death of CPI (M) MLA Ratin Sarkar. (ANI)

Heath Ledger’s daughter granted privacy

London, Feb 25 (ANI): A U.S. judge has granted late actor Heath Ledger and actress Michelle Williams’ young daughter Matilda privacy.

Superior Court Judge Luis A. Lavin told the court that the late Ledger’s 3-year-old daughter should be protected from public scrutiny.

“She is not a celebrity. She is a minor child,” the Daily Express quoted Judge Lavin, as saying.

Judge Lavin’s ruling was made after attorneys for her trust and insurance company Reliastar announced that they have reached an agreement to settle a 6.9 million dollar lawsuit.

It involved a life insurance policy Ledger took out for Matilda seven months before his death from an accidental prescription drug overdose last year (Jan08).n attorney for the tragic star sued the company, claiming the firm’s bosses refused to pay out pending an investigation on whether his death was a suicide.

Details of the settlement will not be disclosed to the public. Judge Lavin added that Matilda had ‘a right to privacy.’ (ANI)

Heath Ledger’s daughter granted privacy

London, Feb 25 (ANI): A U.S. judge has granted late actor Heath Ledger and actress Michelle Williams’ young daughter Matilda privacy.

Superior Court Judge Luis A. Lavin told the court that the late Ledger’s 3-year-old daughter should be protected from public scrutiny.

“She is not a celebrity. She is a minor child,” the Daily Express quoted Judge Lavin, as saying.

Judge Lavin’s ruling was made after attorneys for her trust and insurance company Reliastar announced that they have reached an agreement to settle a 6.9 million dollar lawsuit.

It involved a life insurance policy Ledger took out for Matilda seven months before his death from an accidental prescription drug overdose last year (Jan08).n attorney for the tragic star sued the company, claiming the firm’s bosses refused to pay out pending an investigation on whether his death was a suicide.

Details of the settlement will not be disclosed to the public. Judge Lavin added that Matilda had ‘a right to privacy.’ (ANI)

McCullum brothers to finally play together for New Zealand at home

Christchurch (New Zealand), Feb.25 (ANI): Nathan McCullum will join younger brother Brendon on the field for the first time in New Zealand colours at home when the Black Caps meet India in tonight’s Twenty20 cricket international in Christchurch.

The Otago pair have played together at international level twice at the 2007 World Twenty20 Cup in South Africa and this month against Australia.

No spectators will be watching the match more intently than their Christchurch-based parents, Stu and Jan McCullum.

“It’s a great thrill for us and we are hoping they do well,” Stu McCullum, a former long-serving Otago representative, said yesterday.

It is the second time the couple have watched their sons of late after being shouted to Sydney when the brothers almost carried New Zealand to victory,

Brendon making 61 from 47 balls and Nathan 10 not out in four balls at the finish as New Zealand fell one short.

While Brendon has taken much of the cricketing spotlight with his dashing blade and athletic glove work, brother Nathan, who is a year older at 28, has earned a reputation of being a similarly attacking player with his brisk off-spinners, aggression with the bat and breath-taking fielding skills.

Both debuted in the 1999-2000 season.

New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori said yesterday that although Nathan McCullum was inexperienced at international level, he would play tonight at AMI Stadium after his Sydney showing.

“He went well there and gets another opportunity but (it) will be a massive test for him against India.”

Apart from being classy all-round cricketers, the duo have also been fine all-round sportsmen. Nathan played football to national league level for Caversham while Brendon was first five-eighth for King’s High School and played inside All Black Dan Carter in a southern region schools selection.

McCullum said his boys had started playing on the street outside the family home in St Kilda, Dunedin.

“There was the odd broken window,” said McCullum, who is still involved with the game coaching the Marist-Harewood premier grade men’s team.

The McCullums have another cricket-watching appointment with their sons this weekend when they support the blue and golds against Canterbury in the Twenty20 domestic final in Dunedin on Sunday.

The McCullums are the 10th set of brothers to play for New Zealand.

They join the Hadlees (Richard, Barry and Dayle), the Crowes (Martin and Jeff), the Bracewells (Brendon and John), the Harts (Matthew and Robbie), the Hornes (Phil and Matt), the Webbs (Murray and Richard), the Howarths (Geoff and Hedley), the Parkers (John and Murray) and most recently the Marshall twins (Hamish and James). (ANI)

Alleged sperm donor offers to help Octomum raise kids

Washington, Feb 23 (ANI): A man has alleged that he is the biological father of Nadya Suleman’s octuplets, and has even offered help to raise her brood of 14 children.

Speaking in an interview on ABC’s Good Morning America, the man, whose identity is being kept under wraps, claimed that Suleman brought him to donate sperm at the clinic where she received in vitro fertilization.owever, Suleman denied that the man was the father of her children.

Her representative, Victor Munoz, has denied the man’s claims by saying that he’s not the sperm donor who fathered the babies.

“The real sperm donor knows who he is. This guy is definitely not the one. It’s kind of comical. Nadya’s not sure why he’s doing this,” People magazine quoted Munoz as saying.

However, the alleged donor said that he was “shocked [and] surprised” when he came to know that Suleman had delivered octuplets on Jan. 23.

He has claimed that he dated Suleman from 1997 to 1999, and is even pushing for a paternity test.

And now, he is even willing to help Suleman raise the children because he thinks that she can’t do it on her own.

“Either which way, you know, know that if she needs it I’ll lend a helping hand,” he said. (ANI)

Virgin boss wants to name plane after Miranda Kerr

Melbourne, Jan 22 (ANI): Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson is so smitten by Aussie model Miranda Kerr’s beauty that he wants to name a plane after her.

The hell-raising aviation bigwig is set to arrive in town in preparation for the inaugural flight of the VAustralia service from Sydney to Los Angeles.

And he wants to name one of the seven aircraft in the VAustralia fleet after the David Jones/Victoria’s Secret model.

A spokesman for A V Australia has confirmed that Kerr is being considered as the airline’s answer to Nancy Bird Walton – the late aviatrix, after whom the Qantas 380 was named.

“The first VAustralia aircraft is the Didgeree Blue,” News.com.au quoted the spokesman, as saying.

“The aircraft are usually female in persona and will likely be named after inspiring contemporary women, who match the brand personality for Vaustralia,” he added. (ANI)

Ferguson challenges Man-U to become the ‘Invincibles’

London, Feb.20 (ANI): Sir Alex Ferguson has challenged Manchester United’s ‘Untouchables’ to become the ‘Invincibles’ by winning every game they play between now and the end of the season.

According to The Telegraph, the European and Premier League champions are now best priced at just 14-1 by the bookmakers to complete an unprecedented quintuple this season by adding the Carling Cup, Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League trophies to the FIFA Club World Cup won in Japan two months ago.

Wednesday’s 3-0 victory against Fulham lifted United five points clear of closest rivals Liverpool in the race for the championship and that lead will become eight points by Saturday evening if Ferguson’s team defeat Blackburn at home ahead of Liverpool’s game with Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday.

But with United on a 10-game winning streak in all competitions and goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar now unbeaten in 14 consecutive league games, the prospects of an historic end to the season at Old Trafford are now increasing.

Ferguson, whose team were described as “untouchable” by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger last week, has raised the bar ever higher for his players by insisting that they target wins in all of their remaining fixtures this season.

Ferguson said: “We are in excellent form. We may not win every game between now and May, but that will be our aim. There is a mental toughness about the team these days and that will stand us in good stead as the pressure builds.

“This current group of players has been together for a couple of seasons and they have developed strong bonds and, as we enter the final months of the season, I think we are going to take some beating.”

United have not dropped points in the league since a 0-0 draw at Tottenham on December 13, with the Carling Cup semi-final first-leg reverse at Derby on Jan 7 their only defeat in 25 outings in all competitions.

Next Tuesday’s Champions League date with Italian champions Inter Milan in the San Siro will provide a stern test of United’s quintuple hopes, but despite the confidence generated by the recent run, Ferguson insists that complacency will not be an issue. (ANI)

Post Durrani, Pak may do away with NSA post altogether

Lahore, Jan.14 (ANI): In an apparent damage control exercise after the sacking of the National Security Advisor, Mehmood Ali Durrani, the Pakistan government is seriously thinking of doing away with the post in the country.

“The government is considering abolishing the post of adviser to the Prime Minister on national security after the sacking of Mehmood Ali Durrani,” the Daily Times quoted a private television channel, as saying. Although several names are circulating as potential contenders for the office, the government may just do away with the post altogether,” the channel said.

Durrani was sacked by the Prime Minister, Yusuf Raza Gilani last week, after he admitted that Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist of the Mumbai attacks, belonged to Pakistan.

According to a Pak official, the government wants to avoid further contradictions in the ‘official statements’ issued by the top of its functionaries.

“The government does not want too many channels reporting on issues of a sensitive nature simultaneously,” the official said. (ANI)

Hefner’s new girlfriends move into Playboy Mansion

New York, Jan 14 (ANI): Soon after Hugh Hefner’s ex-girlfriends Holly Madison, Kendra Wilkinson and Bridget Marquardt moved out of the Playboy mansion, the octogenarian mogul has opened doors of his love pad for his new playmates.

Hefner’s new girlfriends Crystal Harris and Kristina and Karissa Shannon have officially moved into the mansion, confirmed his rep.

Late last week “Girls Next Door” star Marquardt announced that she has decided to leave the Mansion, following in the footsteps of Holly and Kendra and “become her own person.”

Now, the mansion is home to the 19-year-old Shannon twins, who have become permanent accessories for their 82-year-old shared boyfriend.

And Hefner’s third girlfriend, Harris, recently wrote on an E! message board over the holidays that the foursome are considering expanding their posse.

“There are a couple [girlfriends] that we have interest in. As for now, it is just us three,” The New York Daily News quoted her as saying. (ANI)

Naidu blames Rajasekhara Reddy for Satyam scam

Hyderabad, Jan 14 (ANI): Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has said alleged that greediness and mania for money of the present state Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy were responsible for the fiasco of Satyam.

“This present Chief Minister has manipulated everything for his favour, for his greediness and also money,” Naidu said here on Tuesday evening.

Naidu denied that in 2002 when his party was ruling the State, it knowingly ignored a report of irregularities in Satyam’s performance.

On Tuesday, the government ordered the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) to probe the Satyam scandal.

Corporate Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta told reporters here that the SIFO would submit its report in three months.

The probe has been ordered after receiving a report from the Registrar of Companies (RoC) in Hyderabad, which inspected the books of accounts of Satyam Computer Services and eight other companies belonging to the kin of the former chairman B Ramalinga Raju.

Meanwhile, the CB-CID conducted raids at the office of the Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) in Hyderabad.

The CID has also reportedly taken into custody Ramakrishna, an auditor with the PWC to unravel the criminal conspiracy. (ANI)