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Button favourite to win McLaren battle against Hamilton: Sir Jackie Stewart

April 30, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

London, Apr 30(ANI): Former Scottish Formula One legend Sir Jackie Stewart believes that reigning champion Jenson Button is the favourite to beat Lewis Hamilton at McLaren and potentially become the first Briton to claim back-to-back world titles.

Stewart had earlier said that Button had entered a “lion’s den” by choosing to join McLaren, a team that brought Hamilton through the ranks of world motorsport and made him Formula One’s youngest ever world champion in 2008.

However, after two wins in his first four races for the team, Stewart admits he was wrong about Button’s move.

“It is working much better than I think anyone could have expected,” The Telegraph quoted Stewart, as saying.

“I did say that Jenson would be walking into the lion’s den. What he has proved is that he can handle that den very well. That is not to say that he is better than Lewis or vice-versa, but Jenson is in that zone at the moment where he is making the right decisions at the right time.”

“I think if he keeps driving the way he is I would have to say he is the favourite of the two,” he added.

Stewart further said that there does not seem to be any fireworks between Button and Hamilton, as anticipated before the start of the season.

“The drivers themselves seem to get on very well together. There is a good communication there,” Stewart said. (ANI)

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Ex-Rio Tinto exec fined for inside trading

April 17, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

A former Rio Tinto executive has been convicted and fined $30,000 for insider trading.

UK-based John O’Reilly, 65, pleaded guilty in the Victorian Supreme Court to buying 50,000 shares in Indophil Resources while knowing of an imminent takeover of the company by mining giant Xstrata.

He was a director of Lion Selection, which part-owned Indophil at the time of the offence in 2008, and made a $29,000 profit when the share price jumped after Xstrata’s acquisition.

O’Reilly was fined and released on an 18-month good behaviour bond.

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Rajasthan Government demands lion’s share in Cairn project

August 29, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Barmer (Rajasthan), Aug.29 (ANI): The Government of Rajasthan on Saturday demanded a lion’s share of the value added tax (VAT) that would be generated from the extraction of crude oil from the Mangala Processing Terminal ( MPT) here.

According to sources, the issue will be settled later when state government representatives meet the officials of this Cairns Energy India-ONGCjoint venture.

ONGC Chairman R.S. Sharma said that it would take at least four years to meet this demand of the Rajasthan Government, which was made by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. Sharma said that the approach of the state government would determine the way forward on the issue of revenue sharing.

Officials attached with the joint venture said they are leaving no stone unturned in doing their bit for the local people.

The media contingent accompanying the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, on the inaugural visit to the project site were shown the entrepreneural centre where various social projects for local people are showcased.

Cairn India CEO Rahul Dhir emphasised the point that the maximum number of labourers are locals, and added that out of the 700 contractors, a majority are local people.

Inaugurating the project, Dr. Singh said the present venture is an indication that foreign investment in the country will grow and that the Indian Government will honestly provide all facilities to attract foreign investment.

He also congratulated the technical personnel for successfully finding oil reserves.

It maybe recalled that the Dutch firm Shell had abandoned the search for oil in this desert area. cairn india then stepped in, and after four years of continuous labour, was able to discover oil. arlier, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora described the activation of the Mangala Processing Terminal ( MPT) as a historic achievement, as the crude oil production from this block will meet about 20 percent of the nation’s current crude oil production.

He said this will enable the country to save seven percent of the crude oil import bill and reduce import dependence.

Deora also emphasised the need for stabilising crude oil prices for ensuring the sustained economic growth of the country, Deora said the MPT find is a significant step towards achieving this goal.

Cairn has invested about Rs.10000 crores in the area.

The total investment in this project will be more than Rs. 20000 crores. The government will get Rs. 46000 crores as profit petroleum revenue over the life of the project and will provide job opportunities for more than 6000 people.

According to company sources, the supply terminal to the Mangala field, the second largest oil discovery in the country in two decades, will be a giant step towards curtailing the country’s oil import bill.

With an initial 30,000 barrels capacity per day (bpd), Cairn India plans to add another 1,00,000 bpd over the next 18 months.

Mangala oil field officials are confident of reaching the target of producing 1,75,000 bpd in the next 20 months.

The project would contribute more than 20 per cent of India’s domestic crude oil production by 2011, the company sources said. By Pankaj Chaudhary (ANI)

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No more kids for Heidi Klum, Seal

August 21, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Aug 21(ANI): Heidi Klum and hubby Seal have decided to limit their family to four children after the pregnant supermodel gives birth to a kid later this year.

Klum says she will have no more children, as four kids are “a lot of work”.

The ‘Project Runway’ already is a mother to three children: five year old daughter Leni, and sons Henry, three, and one year younger Johan.

Contactmusic quoted Klum as saying: “We’re outnumbered. Four is perfect. Three is a lot. But four? It’s a lot of work. We’re hands-on, and we feel like this is what we can handle.”

The 36-year-old beauty says they feel pressured to choose a perfect name for their unborn baby.

She said: “Because we know it’s going to be our last baby, it’s way harder. We’ve never had this back and forth before. Before it was like, ‘This is the name and that’s that.’ We’re going to wait until we see the baby and hopefully the light bulb will come on and then it’ll be like, ding-ding-ding!”

The stunner admitted that her three children have “taken over” the family home.

She explained to the USA Today newspaper: “They have taken over already. I’m not someone who is like, ‘OK, this is a museum, and you can’t sit here and you can’t touch this and everything has to be put in its place.’ They live there as much as we do.

“You come into our house, and there is a giant elephant and lion to welcome you. We have those big stuffed animals, and we have toys and things everywhere.

“Someone always has to be the captain of the ship. I’m definitely the organiser of who is doing what. What are we eating, where are we going, what’s the plan for the day, making sure everything runs smoothly.I would have been a very good event planner. Or a personal assistant!” (ANI)

Filed Under: Entertainment News Tagged With: elephant, Event Planner, giant elephant, Heidi Klum, heidi klum seal, hubby, johan, Leni, light bulb, Lion, lot, project runway, stuffed animals, stunner, supermodel, Toys, unborn baby, usa today

Imran Khan, Benazir Bhutto were an item, claims book

August 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Aug 19 (ANI): Author of a new biography of Imran Khan claims that the cricketer-turned-politician was romantically involved with late former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto when both of them studied together at Oxford University.

In his book, Christopher Sandford writes that Bhutto became infatuated with Khan, and the pair enjoyed a “close” and possibly “sexual” relationship.he author has also alleged that Khan’s mother even tried to organise an arranged marriage between the pair, but to no avail.

It was believed that Khan and Bhutto had always been at loggerheads, both politically and personally.

In fact, Khan openly criticised the former Prime Minister just days before her death.

But Sandford, who interviewed both Khan and his ex-wife Jemima for the book, claimed that a source told him that Bhutto was 21, and in her second year of reading politics at Lady Margaret Hall, when she became close to Khan in 1975.

The source also revealed that she had been “visibly impressed” by Khan, and might even have been the first to call him the “Lion of Lahore”.

“In any event, it seems fairly clear that, for at least a month or two, the couple were close. There was a lot of giggling and blushing whenever they appeared together in public,” the Telegraoh quoted Sandford as having told the Daily Mail.

He added: “It also seems fair to say that the relationship was “sexual”, in the sense that it could only have existed between a man and a woman. The reason some supposed it went further was because, to quote one Oxford friend: ‘Imran slept with everyone.’”

However, the former Pakistan cricket captain has rebuffed these claims, saying that he never had a sexual relationship with Bhutto.

Although he agreed to having been interviewed for the book, but claimed to have not read it as yet.

“Yes, I was interviewed, but I know nothing about the rest of what has been written. So it is not official,” he told the Daily Mail.

“It is absolute nonsense about any sexual relationship or my mother and an arranged marriage. We were friends – that’s all,” he added. (ANI)

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Satyameva Jayate | Meaning of Satyameva Jayate | Truth Alone Triumphs | National Emblem – India

August 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Satyameva Jayate | Meaning of Satyameva Jayate | Truth Alone Triumphs | National Emblem – India

“Satyameva Jayate” (satyameva jayate सत्यमेव जयते) (Sanskrit: “Truth Alone Triumphs”) is the national motto of India. It is inscribed in Devanagari script at the base of the national emblem, which is an adaptation of the Lion Capital of Asoka at Sarnath, near Varanasi in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The origin of the motto is a well-known mantra 3.1.6 from the mundaka Upanishad . Full mantra as follows.

satyameva jayate nānṛtaṁ
satyena panthā vitato devayānaḥ |
yenā kramantyṛṣayo hyāptakāmā
yatra tat satyasya paramaṁ nidhānam ||

In devanaagri :

सत्यमेव जयते नानृतम् सत्येन पन्था विततो देवयानः । येनाक्रमत् मनुष्यो ह्यात्मकामो यत्र तत् सत्यस्य परं निधानं ॥

Meaning:

Truth alone triumphs; not falsehood.
Through truth the divine path is spread out by which
the sages whose desires have been completely fulfilled,
reach where that supreme treasure of Truth resides.

Source – Wikipedia

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Without customary bad boys of NAM, summit lacks excitement

July 16, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Sharm-el-Sheikh (Egypt), July 16 (ANI): Without the presence of 21st century enfant terrible of the Middle East Mohammad Ahmadinejad, the towering personality of Fidel Castro or the biting wit of Venezuelian President Hugo Chavez, the 15th Non-Aligned Movement Summit meet lacks the glamour element.

The media room has journalists wondering which world leader to chase for bites. Ultimately the general consensus is that it can only be India-Pakistan talks, whether they happen or not, that can really be the only ‘story’.
Even the once flamboyant Muammar Gaddafi seems like an aged lion dressed in orange robes and purple turban. All he could say was “We are the world” referring to the over 100 heads of government of mostly developing nations who have gathered here in Sharm-el-Sheikh.

Gaddafi called for reforms of the United Nations, which he said should better, represent developing countries’ interests. “We are facing new challenges and we need to reconsider, reevaluate the international situation in order for the world to benefit from this huge gathering,” he said.
Iranian President still smarting from the election fiasco gave this summit a miss. Iran is a member of NAM and the chair of the coming summit in 2012. However, Egypt’s relations with Iran are lukewarm as Egypt opposes what it considers Iran’s interference in the Arab affairs.

So when the Egyptian President extended the invitation to Ahmadinejad, it was accepted initially but later it was declined and Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki came instead. But he too suddenly left Egypt for Iran Tuesday afternoon after the 15th ministerial meeting of the NAM leading to speculation that Ahmadinejad might suddenly turn up today. But it did not happen.

Hugo Chavez is made for television. Even Obama couldn’t resist his charm or else as cynics say, his huge oil deposits. Though Chavez did not attend the meet, Venezuela’ rebel status got quite a fillip at the ministerial level meet.

The foreign ministers included its support of the constitutional government of President Hugo Chavez and its support to the people of Venezuela to elect their own form of government and determine the economic, social and political system without foreign intervention.

The NAM also added their concern for the growing intelligence activity against Venezuela and Cuba and condemned the attempts and recent conspiracies aimed at assassination plots against President Hugo Chavez.

From the time of the 7th summit in New Delhi, when Fidel Castro gave Prime Minister Indira Gandhi a bear hug and called her his sister, Castro has been the hero for the Indian media.

The octogenarian who is battling poor health was the towering figure of many a NAM summit meet. He swept into power more than 50 years ago and though his detractors are many his admirers in Cuba and rest of the world are a legion to themselves.

Watching him thump his hand in the air in his military fatigues while calling the US names gladdened many a liberal heart in the sixties and seventies.

In today’s world, not many can have that effect on crowds. Most world leaders are slaves to teleprompter or Ivy League speech writers. Or worse, bureaucrats from the stable. By Smita Prakash (ANI)

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Lions form ‘street gangs’ to win turf wars

June 30, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, June 30 (ANI): A new study has revealed that lions can act much like street gangs, gathering together to form prides to defend their turf against other lions.

According to a report by BBC News, the study analyzed the behavior of 46 lion prides living in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania.

Conducted by ecologists Anna Mosser and Craig Packer of the University of Minnesota in St Paul, US, the study collated data about the prides’ behavior over 38 years, including where they ranged, their composition and how they interacted.

Across Africa and Asia, lions form prides of varying sizes comprising one or more males and often numerous females and cubs.

Mosser’s and Packer’s key finding was that competition between lion prides significantly affects the mortality and reproductive success of female lions.

Larger prides with more adult females not only produced more cubs, as might be expected, but the females within these prides were less likely to be wounded or killed by other lions.

Prides with more females were also more likely to gain control of areas disputed with neighbouring prides, and those prides that recruited lone females improved the quality of their territory.

“The most important way to think about this is that lion prides are like street gangs,” said Packer.

“They compete for turf. The bigger the gang, the more successful it is at controlling the best areas. The main difference from humans is that these are gangs of female lions,” he added.

Both researchers think the study, alongside other work they have yet to publish, finally confirms that bigger prides form to defend territory.

“The advantage of large group size for group-territorial animals has been suspected for a long time, but had never been proven with data,” said Mosser. “With this paper, we were able to do just that because of the many groups studied over a long period,” she added.

According to researchers, the territorial advantages gained by coming together into larger social groups would have driven the evolution of social behavior in lions.

Such insights will help with the conservation of lions, the numbers of which are suspected to have fallen by at least a third across Africa over the past two decades. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: adult females, asia, bbc, composition, craig packer, Cubs, female lions, group size, large group, Lion, London, long-time, mortality, mosser, reproductive success, serengeti national park, Social Groups, street gangs, territorial animals, turf, Turf Wars, university of minnesota

Lightweight saddles to ease burden of elephants

May 28, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Jaipur, May 28 (ANI): A Canada-based voluntary organization working for the cause of animals has come to the rescue of jumbos in Jaipur, by providing them with lightweight saddles to ease their burden.

The speciality of the saddle is that it weighs only 20 kilograms and is five times lighter than the traditional one, which weighs over 100 kilograms.

Due to the huge reduction in the weight, the elephant feels much more comfortable.

An initiative of ‘Help In Suffering’, these saddles are aimed at helping the elephants worldwide, to prevent injuries to them.

Designed by Charlie Grey, President, International Elephant Foundation, the lightweight saddle has been successful in Canada as well as Thailand.

The success story of the saddles in these two countries has encouraged ‘Help In Suffering’ activists to bring this saddle to India as well. A total of five saddles have been put to test on eighty elephants ferrying tourists at the Amer Fort in Jaipur.

“The five saddles will be tested for six months. We will see if the injuries are gone or no new injuries have aroused from the new saddle. After six months, if the elephants community is happy with the saddle, then we will encourage them to build the same saddle to improve the welfare of the Jaipur elephants,” said Scarlett Magda- Saddle Designer from Canada, (African Lion Safari, Canada)

If the elephant community is happy with this saddle after the six months trial time, more will be made available. By Lokendra Singh (ANI)

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DMK wants 7 Cabinet berths in the new UPA govt.

May 17, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Chennai, May 17 (ANI): Having played a key role in ensuring a United Progressive Alliance’s success in Tamil Nadu, the M.Karunanidhi-led Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam is likely to ask seven cabinet berths in the new set up of government at the Centre.

DMK wants to retain Surface Transport and IT ministry among others, a Times Now report quoted sources as saying on Sunday.

DMK sources had earlier stated that they were eyeing cabinet posts for Kanimozhi, Maran and Azhagiri.

Sources said that DMK chief and chief minister of Tamil Nadu, M. Karunanidhi would visit the national capital on Monday (May 18) to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi over the matter.

Putting up a strong showing, the UPA constituents DMK and Congress were racing to capture a lion’s share of the 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu. “I give credit to the DMK government in Tamil Nadu. The mandate is clear,” said Maran, former Communication and IT Minister.

M K Azhagiri, Chief Minister M Karunanidhi’s son, registered success from the Madurai Lok Sabha seat trouncing CPI-M’s P Mohan by a margin of over 140,000 votes. (ANI)

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Hormonal treatment to big cats in Jaipur zoo

May 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Jaipur, May 14 (ANI): The veterinarians of a zoo in Jaipur are giving hormonal treatment to big cats to help them breed faster.

The big cats include tiger, lion and panther. The Jaipur zoo authorities initiated this special course of ten days as most of the male as well female animals were turning impotent.

The animals kept in captivity become prone to impotency. There are two lions, five tigers and four panthers in Jaipur zoo.

The hormones are being given in the shape of drugs.

“In hormonal treatment, we are giving a preparation of PGF12 alpha. Hormones are effective when ovaration doesn’t happen in animals. A hard structure of corpus lithium develops on ovary. Ovaration cant’ take place until this structure doesn’t regresses. Hence, we are giving hormones for ovaration,” said CP Singh, veterinary doctor, Jaipur zoo.

Hormonal treatment has been proved to be good for deer.

“Hormonal treatment is very important for breeding. We have a limited number of tigers and lions comprising males and females. Some of them are ready for breeding. Big cat population will increase by hormonal treatment,” said Laxman Gaur, superintendent, Jaipur zoo.

Experts believe that population of big cats like tiger is declining at an alarming rate in India. By Lokendra Singh (ANI)

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Cave painting in Australia depicts extinct marsupial lion

May 11, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 11 (ANI): A newly discovered cave painting in Australia offers a glimpse of an extinct marsupial lion’s external appearance.

Accoridng to a report in the Natural History Magazine, known as Thylacoleo carnifex, the marsupial lion roamed the continent of Australia about 30,000 years ago.

Several well-preserved skeletons of the leopard-size beast have been found. Now, a newly discovered cave painting offers a glimpse of the animal’s external appearance.

In June 2008, Tim Willing, a naturalist and tour guide, photographed an ancient painting on a rockshelter wall near the shore of northwestern Australia.

Kim Akerman, an independent anthropologist based in Tasmania, said that the painting unmistakably depicts a marsupial lion.

It shows the requisite catlike muzzle, large forelimbs, and heavily clawed front paws, and it portrays the animal with a striped back, a tufted tail, and pointed ears.

Previously known rock paintings hinted at marsupial lions, but were rudimentary and could have depicted the other striped marsupial predator, the dog-size Tasmanian “tiger.”

That species succumbed to competition from humans in 1936, much as the marsupial lion may have done millennia before. (ANI)

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White tiger adopted by Tata Indicom in Bhopal’s National Park

May 6, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Bhopal, May 6 (ANI): Tata Indicom has adopted a white tiger, an inhabitant of the Van Vihar National Park in Bhopal.

Ten-year-old Bhagat was adopted under the animal adoption project run by the park, on an annual basis by Indicom.

The initiative is an attempt by the park authorities to provide better facilities to its inmates through the money given by the companies.

Tata Indicom became the first company to have adopted three big cats including a lion, panther and the white tiger at the park.

“Tata Indicom has become the first company for Van Vihar which has adopted three big cats of the park, a lion, tiger and panther on annual basis. It is a good thing that corporates are also joining the project. The best part is that the animal has been adopted before it is put on display,” said S.S. Rajput, Director, Van Vihar National Park.

The adoption is an attempt by the Tata Indicom to do their bit in saving the species.

“This tiger has been adopted under the Tata Indicom corporate social responsibility under the ‘Save the Tiger’ initiative. We have adopted a lion Inder, white tiger Bhagat and a panther Triga. This is an attempt to save the species and thus we have adopted the animal,” said Anil Verma, official, Tata Indicom.

Launched just four months back, the ‘Adopt An Animal’ project of Van Vihar has become quite successful with 13 inmates of the park already been adoptedy individuals and companies. (ANI)

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‘Never seen a weak Sikh’, says Rahul Gandhi

May 6, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Barnala (Punjab), May 6 (ANI): Taking a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi has said that he ‘has never seen a weak Sikh.’

Wooing Sikhs who form the majority in Punjab, Gandhi lashed out at the BJP for calling the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ‘as weak.’

“They call our prime minister weak, the lion of Punjab, who has earned a name to the country in the world. I have not seen a weak Sikh in my life,” Gandhi told anlection rally at Barnala.

Continuing his attack on the saffron outfit during his address to a poll rally in national capital, he targeted the BJP of playing divisive politics.

Congress takes on BJP in Delhi, whose all seven seats will go to polls in the fourth phase on Thursday.

A total of 85 parliamentary constituencies across the states of Bihar, West Bengal, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi will go to polls in the fourth-phase.

The outcome of the five-phased elections will be declared on May 16. (ANI)

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Geri Halliwell adopts two baby lions

May 4, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, May 03 (ANI): Former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell has adopted two lion cubs.

The singer has adopted the pair of rare white lions, a boy and a girl, and has named them Rudi and Aphrodite.

“I’m passionate about wildlife conversation, I love animals, especially lions. I’m delighted to add Rudi and Aphrodite to my family,” News of the World quoted Halliwell as saying.

However, the 36-year-old will only have a certificate to take home to her other baby – daughter Bluebell Madonna, three.

The baby lions will have to remain at Paradise Wildlife Park where they were born.

However, the wildlife centre in Hertfordshire will let her have access and give her regular updates on their progress.

Park owner Peter Sampson said: “They are amazing parents, given this is their first litter. We would also like to thank Geri for her kind support.” (ANI)

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White tigers reach Bhopal’s Van Vihar National Park

May 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Bhopal, Apr 28 (ANI): A pair of white tigers have been transported to the Van Vihar National Park in Bhopal.ften termed as the pride of Bhopal, Van Vihar is home to a number of animals, including the white tiger, the panther and the lion.

The tigers have come from the Nandankanan National Park of Orissa under an Animal Exchange Programme of Central Zoo Authority (CZA). In return, a yellow tigress and a pair of jackals have been sent to the Nandankanan.

“There was no tiger in the Van Vihar after the death of a tigress named ‘Rini’ in September 2008. The 18-year old white cat died of cancer a few months ago. Since white cats were the main attraction of this zoological garden, visitors were urging us to bring white tigers to the zoo,” said S S Rajput, director, Van Vihar National Park.

White tigers get their colour, including blue eyes and chocolate stripes, through an unusual genetic condition and are sometimes bred intentionally as exotic zoo animals despite the risk of birth defects. (ANI)

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India gets lion’s share of 2011 World Cup matches

May 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Mumbai, Apr.28 (ANI): India will get the lion’s share of the 2011 World Cup matches, given the unstable and precarious security and political situation in the three other host countries – Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Addressing a press conference here, International Cricket Council (ICC) CEO Haroon Lorgat said that India will host 29 matches in eight venues, Sri Lanka would host 12 matches in three venues and Bnagladesh would host eight matches in two venues, adding that in all, 49 matches would be played at 13 venues in three countries.

Lorgat said that this decision has been taken in the wake of the ICC deciding to deny Pakistan the right to host the World Cup in wake of the March 2009 terror attack on Sri Lankan cricket players.

He told the media that the opening ceremony of the World Cup would be held in Dhaka, Bangladesh on February 18, 2011, while the first match of the tournament would be played in the same city on February 19, 2011.

Lorgat said that Bangladesh would host two quarterfinals, while India and Sri Lanka would host one each. India and Sri Lanka would host a semi final each, while India would host the final of the tournament.

He also said that the working groups of the World Cup Secretariat would henceforth operate from Mumbai till the conclusion of the tournament. (ANI)

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NYT wins five Pulitzers

April 21, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New York, Apr.21 (ANI): The New York Times picked up five Pulitzer Prizes today, the most of any publication.

Times reporter David Barstow won the Investigative prize for his report on the relationship between the Pentagon and TV military analysts.

The Times also won staff awards for Breaking News in covering the Eliot Spitzer scandal – which included as many as 25 reporters – and International for political fallout in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Art critic Holland Cotter won for Criticism, and Damon Winter took the prize for Feature Photography.

The St. Petersburg Times won two awards: National Reporting (for PolitFact) and Feature Writing (Lane DeGregory).

The Washington Post, after picking up six last year, took home one award – Eugene Robinson for Commentary.

Other awards went to the Las Vegas Sun (Public Service) Los Angeles Times (Explanatory Reporting); Detroit Free Press (Local Reporting); Mark Mahoney of The Post-Star, Glens Falls, N.Y. (Editorial Writing); Steve Breen of The San Diego Union-Tribune (Editorial Cartooning); and The Miami Herald’s Patrick Farrell (Breaking News Photography).

Newsweek editor Jon Meacham won the Biography award for his book “American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House.”

The rest of Letters, Drama and Music were as follows: “Olive Kitteridge” by Elizabeth Strout (Fiction); “Ruined” by Lynn Nottage (Drama); “The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family” by Annette Gordon-Reed (History); “The Shadow of Sirius” by W.S. Merwin (Poetry); “Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II” by Douglas A. Blackmon (General Nonfiction); and “Double Sextet” by Steve Reich, premiered March 26, 2008, in Richmond, Va. (Music). (ANI)

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Australian tots to get career advice

April 17, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Sydney – A ballerina, Spiderman, a vet, a train driver and sometimes even a sea lion: these are the jobs that toddlers see themselves in when they grow up.

Kate Castine, an adviser to Australia ‘s department of education, isn’t happy about this and wants 4-year-olds to be more serious about their career options.

As well as the danger of the nappy-bound hankering after non-existent jobs such as that of a mermaid even, there is a risk that they will just want to copy mum and dad and be farmers or housewives, doctors or welfare dependents.

Castine wants proper career counseling to be in the national childcare curriculum the department is busy drawing up.

“The argument that children should be exposed to career development concepts at an early age has been endorsed by current worldwide research,” she said. “Reference to career development competencies needs to be explicit so (kindergarten) teachers understand its importance.”

Castine’s recommendations have been criticized by some who see them as an attempt to hijack childhood and burden little ones with worries about what to do when their schooling is over.

Barrie Elvish, head of a big Queensland childcare provider, argues that careers advice should come much later. “It’s bad enough that kids in years 11 and 12 have to choose a career,” he said. “How on earth can you get a 4-year-old to think about what they’ll be doing in 20 years’ time?” (dpa)

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Taiwan bike maker Giant to open bicycle travel agency

April 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Taipei – Taiwan bicycle manufacturer Giant Inc plans to launch a travel agency to promote bike tourism , a newspaper reported Tuesday. Giant has applied to the Transport Ministry to operate a Class-A travel agency and hopes to launch the new venture in May, the Taipei Times quoted Giant general manager John Ho as saying.

Ho said the new travel agency was initially expected to bring in more than 100 million Taiwan dollars (nearly 3 million US) in annual revenue, but Giant’s goal is not making money but to promote bike riding as a way of life.

Giant plans to sign an agreement with Taiwan’s largest airline, the China Airlines, which will offer discount bicycle shipping services to capture new business opportunities.

Aside from teaming with China Airlines, Giant said it would continue to reinforce its collaboration with Lion Travel Service Co. Giant is now in charge of Lion Travel Service’s bicycle tour programmes.

Giant is eying business opportunities brought by an increasing number of tourists who travel across the Taiwan Strait via a third destination and plans to offer two-day, one-night bike tours between Kinmen and Xiamen in the second half of 2009, the Taipei Times said.

Kinmen is a Taiwan-held islet a few kilometres off China’s south- east coast.

Fueled by the growing popularity of cycling, Giant sold 390,000 bicycles last year in Taiwan, with about 4 billion Taiwan dollars (118 million US dollars) in sales.

The company’s 2008 sales surged 140 per cent from 2007, when Giant sold 230,000 bicycles and reported sales of 1.65 billion Taiwan dollars (48 million US dollars).

According to the Taipei Times, Giant expects domestic sales to drop to about 350,000 units in 2009 due to the economic downturn. (dpa)

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