Majority | SilverScorpio.Com

Sri Lanka Parliamentary elections to be held on April 8

April 5, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Colombo, Apr 5 (ANI): Sri Lanka parliamentary elections will be held on Thursday, two months ahead of schedule to select 196 members of the parliament from 22 districts.

The other 29 will be chosen from the national lists of political parties and independent groups, based on the national volumes of votes they received in the parliamentary election.

The newly elected parliament will convene on April 22 for the inaugural session. he current parliament was elected in 2004 completes its six-year term by April 22.eanwhile, President Mahinda Rajapakse looks set to consolidate his hold on power in parliamentary elections.

Rajapakse called Thursday’s vote after his thumping re-election in January and his Freedom Alliance party is in line for an easy majority in the 225-member national legislature.

The opposition, which united behind a common candidate, former army chief Sarath Fonseka, for the presidential poll, has now split, giving Rajapakse’s party a clearer run in the election.

Fonseka is now under detention and faces another hearing in an ongoing court martial process on Tuesday that could see him jailed for years for allegedly engaging in politics while in uniform and making illegal army procurements.

Rajapakse and Fonseka were close allies in the defeat of Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger separatists last year, which ended their 37-year violent struggle for a homeland for ethnic Tamils in the north and east of the island nation.

At the January presidential poll, Rajapakse won the votes of most of the Sinhalese ethnic group, to which he belongs, but lost out in all Tamil areas to Fonseka. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: mahinda rajapakse, majority, presidential poll, re-election, sinhalese

Veraval riots: Nanavati Commission not to issue notice against Modi

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Ahmedabad, Sep.19 (ANI): In a major reprieve for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the Justice Girish Thakorlal Nanavati Commission on Saturday confirmed that it would not be issuing any notice to him in connection with the communal riots in Veraval.

However, the commission has asked the State Government to give it transcripts of the conversations that took place prior to the riots, during the riots and in its aftermath.

The commission has so far given a clean chit to Modi in the post-Godhra events. The Nanavati Commission said there was no evidence to show there was lapse in Modi’s or his ministers’ role in providing protection, relief and rehabilitation to the victims of communal riots or in the matter of not complying with the recommendations and direction given by the National Human Rights Commission.

Communal attacks on Muslims took place in Gujarat between February and May 2002.

The riots occurred after the burning of the Sabarmati Express. According to official figures tabled in the parliament, more than a thousand people were killed (790 Muslims and 254 Hindus) in the violence after the train incident. More than two hundred and fifty thousand people were displaced (about 200,000 Muslims and 40,000 Hindus).

Organizations such as Human Rights Watch criticized the Indian government for failure to address the resulting humanitarian condition of people, “overwhelming majority of them Muslim,” who fled their homes for relief camps in the aftermath of the events.

Many of the investigations and prosecution of those accused of violence during the riots have been opened for reinvestigation and prosecution. According to an official estimate, 1044 people were killed in the violence, including those killed in the Godhra train fire. Another 223 people were reported missing, 2,548 injured, 919 women widowed and 606 children orphaned. About 100,000 Muslims and 40,000 Hindus were in relief camps. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: aftermath, Ahmedabad, ANI, burning, Chief, Chief Minister, chit, clean chit, commission, communal, communal riots, condition, connection, direction, estimate, evidence, Express, failure, February, Fifty, fire, Girish, Godhra, Government, Gujarat, hindus, human, human rights commission, incident, Indian Government, Justice Girish, lapse, majority, matter, May, minister, Modi, Muslim, muslims, Nanavati, narendra, Narendra Modi, national, national human rights commission, notice, organizations, overwhelming majority, parliament, place, post, prosecution, protection, rehabilitation, reinvestigation, relief, relief camps, Reprieve, rights, role, Sabarmati, Saturday, Sep, state, state government, Thakorlal, train, Train Fire, veraval, Violence, watch

Govt. to help grant 150,000 illegal Indian citizens Italian citizenship: Krishna

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Istanbul (Turkey), Sep.18 (ANI): In a unique landmark exercise, the Indian Government has undertaken a massive action plan to help over 150,000 illegal Indian immigrants acquire Italian citizenship within the next fortnight.

Revealing this information exclusively to ANI TV, Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said the Italian Government has given New Delhi fifteen days to formalise the required documentation.

Krishna further revealed that about 50 percent of the over 150,000 illegal Indians hailed from Punjab and a majority of them were doing odd jobs in agricultural farms in Italy.e said the Indian Government has taken the matter up with Italy and the latter has agreed to grant citizenship to illegal immigrants.

Krishna told ANI TV that he has ordered officials from Punjab to reach Italy to facilitate the process, adding that P.M. Meena, a Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, would oversee the whole exercise.

The External Affairs Ministry would be issuing over 75,000 thousand passports in the next ten days to formalise a process which is unique anywhere in the world, he disclosed.

There are three types of illegal immigrants (a) those who have left India on their own passport with short term visa and have overstayed after expiry of visa; (b) those who have left India on their own passport to a transit country like Ukraine, or Russia etc. but stayed in Italy without passport or visa and (c) those who have left on some else’s passport or under a fake identity and entered Italy illegally. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: action, affairs, Agricultural Farms, ANI, citizenship, country, documentation, exercise, expiry, external, External Affairs Minister, external affairs ministry, fake identity, fifteen, fifteen days, formalise, fortnight, Government, govt, identity, illegal immigrants, India, Indian, indian citizens, Indian Government, indian immigrants, information, Istanbul, istanbul turkey, italian, Italian Citizenship, Italian Government, Italy, joint, krishna, landmark, latter, majority, massive action, matter, Minister S M Krishna, ministry, ministry of external affairs, New Delhi, odd jobs, P.M. Meena, passport, percent, plan, process, Punjab, revealing, Russia, secretary, Sep, term, Term Visa, transit, Transit Country, Turkey, Ukraine, visa, world

Women lawmakers outperform male counterparts, says study

September 17, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sep.16 (ANI): A study conducted by Stanford University and the University of Chicago reaerchers has concluded that women lawmakers in Congress introduce more bills, attract more co-sponsors and bring home more money for their districts than their male counterparts do.

The study, accessed by Politico, examined the performance of House members between 1984 and 2004, and found that women delivered roughly nine percent more discretionary spending for their districts than men.

While there are obviously variables beyond gender – seniority, party affiliation, majority/minority status and the differing priorities of a freshman and a veteran lawmaker – the researchers say they’ve accounted for those in making their male-to-female comparisons.

The researchers also found that women introduced more legislation than men who served in their same districts, often hitting the ground running in their first terms.

“We find that, on average, women sponsor about three bills more per Congress per term than their male counterparts. They co-sponsor more bills than other members, and they also obtain more co-sponsors for their own bills,” said one of the researchers.

Since 1789, women have constituted just two percent of the total congressional population. The ratio of female to male representatives has increased in recent years, but the pace is still fairly glacial: Nearly 17 percent of House members are women today, compared with about 3 percent in 1979.

Researchers say the small number of female members may have something to do with their effectiveness. Women who run and win are likely the most politically ambitious and talented of their pool, having potentially overcome hurdles including voter bias and self-doubt about their ability to win.

Female candidates also tend to attract more challengers. Politically eligible women tend to doubt their ability to get elected and raise money more than men do, multiple studies have indicated.

Once women get to Capitol Hill, those hurdles may drive them to perform better, on average, than male counterparts who have faced a less contentious road. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: 1789, ability, affiliation, ANI, average women, bias, capitol hill, challengers, Chicago, Co Sponsors, co-sponsor, Congress, Discretionary Spending, effectiveness, Eligible Women, female, female candidates, female members, freshman, gender, ground, hitting the ground, home, house, hurdles, lawmaker, lawmakers, legislation, majority, Majority Minority, male counterparts, minority, Minority Status, MONEY, number, pace, party, Party Affiliation, percent, performance, politico, pool, population, ratio, road, Self Doubt, seniority, Sep, something, spending, stanford, stanford university, status, study, term, three bills, today, University, Veteran, Veteran Lawmaker, voter, Washington, Women

Oz gays want marriage as personal choice

September 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Melbourne, Sep 14 (ANI): While homosexual marriages are not legal everywhere, most of the gays in Australia prefer marriage to other form of relationships, a survey has revealed.

Researchers at the University of Queensland (UQ) conducted a survey of those attracted to the same sex in Australia.

They also found that a huge majority of homosexuals felt marriage should be an option for same-sex couples in Australia.

The survey revealed that the majority (54.1 per cent) of same-sex attracted participants selected marriage as their personal choice and close to 80 per cent felt that same-sex couples in Australia should be allowed to marry if they want to.

Researcher Sharon Dane, from UQ’s School of Psychology, said marriage was still the personal choice of the majority irrespective of the current legal status of participants’ same-sex relationships.

“The findings work to dispel the myth that most same-sex people do not wish to marry or are content with de facto status,” News.com.au quoted Dane as saying.

“This majority preference for marriage may be a reflection of the fact that fewer same-sex couples feel the need to live their lives in secret.

“A generally less hostile environment means same-sex couples can live their lives more openly and honestly and in doing so wish to be treated like everyone else,” she added. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: ANI, Australia, cent, choice, com, content, Dane, environment, everyone, fact, form, Gays In Australia, Homosexual Marriages, homosexuals, Hostile Environment, majority, Majority Preference, marriage, Melbourne, myth, need, NEWS, option, Oz, participants, Personal Choice, preference, psychology, Queensland, reflection, researcher, Same Sex Couples, same sex relationships, school, school of psychology, secret, Sep, Sex, Sharon Dane, status, survey, University, university of queensland, Uq

Delhi CM says preparations for Commonwealth Games on schedule

September 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Sep.14 (ANI): Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Monday rebutted criticism of her government’s efforts on preparations for the Commonwealth Games to be held in the national capitalext year.

Reacting to Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) president Mike Fennell’s concerns about the organizing committee’s ability to deliver, Dikshit said that she had not received or read Fennell’s letter to Suresh Kalmadi, but was confident that the games preparations are going as per schedule.

Dikshit’s reaction came a day after Fennell sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s intervention to expedite preparations for the 2010 event.

In his letter to the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (CWOGC), a furious Fennell asked Kalmadi to arrange a meeting with Prime Minister Singh next month.

“Our main concern relates to the capacity of the Organising Committee to deliver operationally. Preparations for the Games are significantly behind, so much so that the Commonwealth Games Federation is extremely worried about the Organising Committee’s ability to deliver the games to any comparable standard to that of the last two editions of the Games in Manchester and Melbourne,” Fennell wrote in his letter

Fennell claimed that the vast majority of functional areas were considerably behind schedule and that an overhaul in the management culture and operation of the organising committee was needed, else the Games “will fail from an operational perspective”.

“With only a year to run until the Games, I feel I must personally brief the Prime Minister of India on the lack of preparations and to seek his input in developing an appropriate recovery plan. I have asked the Chairman of the Organising Committee to facilitate such a meeting on my return to Delhi in early October for our General Assembly,” he said. (ANI)

Filed Under: Sports News Tagged With: ability, ANI, capacity, capitalext, cgf, chairman, Chief, Chief Minister, committee, commonwealth, commonwealth games federation, concern, criticism, culture, CWOGC, day, Delhi, delhi cm, event, federation, functional areas, General Assembly, Government, India, input, intervention, lack, letter, majority, management, Management Culture, manchester, manmohan, Manmohan Singh, meeting, Melbourne, Mike Fennell, Minister Sheila Dikshit, Monday, month, New Delhi, October, operation, Operational Perspective, organising, organising committee, organizing committee, overhaul, perspective, plan, Preparations, president, president mike, prime minister manmohan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, prime minister of india, Prime Minister Singh, reacting, reaction, recovery, return, schedule, Sep, Sheila Dikshit, Singh, standard, Suresh Kalmadi, year

Mobiles, computers making UK teens ‘dumb’

September 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, September 10 (ANI): Teenagers’ obsession with mobile phones and computers is taking a toll on their education, suggests a new research.

Andrew Kakabadse, professor of international management development, Cranfield School of Management, found that almost 60 per cent of teenagers were submitting coursework downloaded from the web without reading, rewriting, or understanding it.

The survey also found that the students’ addiction to text messaging was also affecting the standard of English, reports Times Online.

Three in ten respondents used text-message abbreviations, such as l8 (late) or RU (are you) in their coursework, with more than half of the 260 pupils saying they were either quite or very addicted to their mobile phone.

Kakabadse said the study “showed that technology obsession hinders spelling skills, implicitly encourages plagiarism and disrupts classroom learning”.

He added: “Despite school policies restricting mobile phone usage, students use the phone frequently with the majority making calls from the toilets.” (ANI)

Filed Under: Entertainment News Tagged With: addiction, Andrew Kakabadse, ANI, cent, classroom, coursework, Cranfield, Cranfield School Of Management, Development, Education, english, half, International Management, London, majority, management, Management Development, mobile phone usage, Mobile Phones, Mobiles, obsession, Online, Phone, plagiarism, professor, pupils, reading, Research, respondents, school, school of management, School Policies, September, Spelling Skills, standard, study, survey, survey also found that, Technology, teenagers, text, Text Message Abbreviations, text messaging, times, toilets, toll, U.K, uk teens, understanding, usage, web

US in delicate spot over Afghan vote fraud claims: NYT

September 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sep.9 (ANI): Though Obama administration officials are reluctant to confirm that there has been wholesale fraud in the presidential elections in Afghanistan, they have recognised that with President Hamid Karzai getting a slim majority, that they will have to keep dealing with him for another five years.

While there are clearly numerous egregious instances of fraud or vote-rigging, these officials said, it would take further investigation to judge whether, as one put it, “this whole thing is rotten, top to bottom.”

According to the New York Times, their caution reflects the fact that while the initial vote-counting has reached its conclusion, the Electoral Complaints Commission, an Afghan and international panel that will certify the final count, is still in the early stages of an investigation that could take several weeks.

They know that raising too many doubts about Karzai’s legitimacy could make it impossible to work with him later.

“Even if we get a second round of voting, the odds are still high that Karzai will win. We have a fundamental interest in building up the legitimacy of the Karzai government,” said Bruce Riedel, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who advised the administration on its Afghan policy.

European diplomats have also expressed a similar frustration that they were powerless to do much now except wait.

“There’s a great perception out there that Karzai has stolen this,” one diplomat said.

“I’m realistic enough to know that there’s not much we can do about that right now,” he adds.

The American ambassador in Kabul, Karl W. Eikenberry, has briefed US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and has also delivered a blunt message to Karzai: “Don’t declare victory.”

The slim majority tentatively awarded to Karzai, has put the Obama administration in an awkward spot: trying to balance its professed determination to investigate mounting allegations of corruption and vote-rigging while not utterly alienating the man who seems likely to remain the country’s leader for another five years.

“We realize that the allegations have reached such a level that we need to be very careful to allow the process to breathe,” said an administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

“The message was, Let’s make sure that the electoral bodies do their work, and do it rigorously,” he added.

On Tuesday, the United Nations-backed commission that is the ultimate arbiter of the vote said it found “clear and convincing evidence of fraud” at several polling stations and ordered a partial recount.

Election officials said Karzai won 54.1 percent of the vote, a percentage that, if certified, would spare him a runoff against his main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, who received 28.3 percent. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: ''wait, Abdullah Abdullah, administration officials, administration., Afghanistan, ambassador, American ambassador, ANI, anonymity, arbiter, Awkward Spot, Brookings, brookings institution, bruce riedel, building, caution, challenger, commission, complaints commission, conclusion, condition, corruption, count, country, determination, diplomat, don, Eikenberry, Election, elections in afghanistan, electoral, evidence, fact, fellow, fraud, fraud claims, frustration, Fundamental Interest, Government, hamid karzai, Hillary Rodham Clinton, institution, interest, investigation, kabul, Karl W. Eikenberry, leader, legitimacy, level, majority, man, message, Nations-backed, New, New York Times, NYT, Obama, official, panel, percent, percentage, perception, policy, polling, President Hamid Karzai, presidential elections, process, recount, round, runoff, secretary, Sep, Slim Majority, spot, state, thing, times, Tuesday, united, US, victory, vote, vote fraud, vote-rigging, voting, Washington, work, york

Women better beer tasters than men

September 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Melbourne, Sep 9 (ANI): While a new brewery is all set to open in Australia’s Warnervale on the Central Coast, it is believed that more women would be hired as professional beer tasters, for they apparently make better tasters than men.

With the opening of the new Bluetongue Brewery, almost 100 jobs will be created, out of which 10 and 15 will be of full-time beer tasters, and that too without any experience.

The 120 million dollars brewery will open in late 2010, and is expected to produce enough bottles daily to stretch 109km.

And to make sure that every beer tastes right, owners are expecting that the majority of the jobs would go to women because they make better beer tasters.

“Women typically are better able to detach a smell from the object,” the Courier Mail quoted Bluetongue’s head brewer Tim Williams as saying.

Williams said that women could smell a liquid in a cup and say “strawberry” whereas men “have to see the strawberry”.

Unlike wine, beer tasters must swallow.

“A lot of beer’s bitter characters are detected at the back of the throat,” Mr said Williams. (ANI)

Filed Under: Entertainment News Tagged With: ANI, Australia, back, beer, Beer Tasters, Bluetongue, Bluetongue Brewery, brewer, brewery, Central Coast, courier, courier mail, cup, detach, experience, full-time, head, head brewer, jobs, liquid, lot, mail, majority, Melbourne, million dollars, object, opening, Professional Beer, right, Sep, smell, strawberry, Strawberry Wine, Swallow, throat, Tim Williams, Warnervale, wine, Wine Beer, Women

Women have sex to ‘relieve boredom, pity and to cure a migraine’

September 7, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Sep 7 (ANI): Women indulge in sex not for love and passion, but for various other “unromantic” reasons- including relieving themselves of boredom, out of pity for a man and even to cure a migraine headache-says a new book.

‘Why Women Have Sex’ by Cindy Meston and David Buss has highlighted 200 reasons as to why women have sexual intercourse.

While attraction ranks way down in the list, it seems that women go to bed with their partners as a way of relieving boredom, keeping the peace, curing a headache and even as a thank you for a nice dinner.

“Research has shown that most men find most women at least somewhat sexually attractive, whereas most women do not find most men sexually attractive at all,” the Telegraph quoted the authors, who are both psychology professors at the University of Texas, as saying.

The researchers interviewed 1,006 women as research for the book, and found some very surprising answers.

One revealed that she did it for a spiritual experience, as she thought it to be “the closest thing to God”.

Others listed “cure for stress headache”, “to make my sexual skills better” and “for a clearer complexion”.

However, the majority (84 per cent), admitted that they had sex to ensure a quiet life or to bargain for their partners to carry out household chores.

“I have sex to relieve the boredom.Because it’s easier than fighting. Plus it gives me something to do,” said one of the interviewee.

While another admitted: “I had sex with a couple of guys because I felt sorry for them.”

One of the surveys carried out by the authors revealed that one in ten women admitted having sexual intercourse in return for presents, or lavish meals.

Responses included “he bought me a nice dinner” or “he spent a lot of money on me early on”, “he gave me gifts early on” and “he showed me he had an extravagant lifestyle”. (ANI)

Filed Under: Entertainment News Tagged With: ANI, attraction, bed, book, boredom, cent, Cindy Meston, Closest Thing, complexion, couple, David Buss, dinner, experience, Extravagant Lifestyle, god, having sexual intercourse, headache, household, household chores, intercourse, interviewee, Keeping The Peace, Lavish Meals, life, Lifestyle, list, London, lot, love, majority, man, migraine, Migraine Headache, MONEY, Nice Dinner, passion, peace, pity, plus, psychology, Psychology Professors, quiet life, reasons, Research, return, Sep, Sex, Sexual Skills, something, spiritual, Spiritual Experience, stress, Stress Headache, Telegraph, Texas, thing, University, university of texas, way, Women

UN silent on Sir Creek issue after expiry of deadline

September 7, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Karachi, Sep 7 (ANI): The United Nations (UN) is keeping mum on the protracted dispute between Pakistan and India over the ownership of Sir Creek even after the expiry of the deadline May 2009 deadline set by the world body to resolve this issue.

The UN had set the deadline for both the archrival countries to resolve this dispute amicably with a warning that after the expiry of the deadline the disputed area of sea would convert into the international waters.

The UN fixed this deadline in 1982, but after a lapse of 26 years, Pakistan and India have failed to settle this issue as a result of which the fishermen of both the countries are in serious trouble as they are being detained frequently and put into jails in violation of the UN laws while their boats and catch are being impounded.

Chairman Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum Muhammad Ali Shah said that at present about 800 fishermen belonging to Pakistan and India are languishing in jails of the two countries. A majority of them were nabbed from the disputed sea waters of Sir Creek, he added.

The United Nations law does not allow the arrest of fishermen and seizing of their boats, Shah said, adding that both the countries are violating the UN laws and adding insult to the fishermen miseries, who belong to the most poor segment of the society.

Why Maritime Securities of Pakistan and India were capturing fishermen from Sir Creek now when the disputed part of the sea has now become the part of International Waters from May 2009, after the expiry of the deadline given by the UN, Shah argued.

He pointed out that some of the Pakistani fishermen were languishing in the Indian jails for many months although they have completed their tenure, The Nation reported.

Both Pakistan and India share the water and the resources of the Arabian Sea. Pakistan has its coastline of 1050 km while the India has a longer coastline of 7417 km. Due to dispute over the ownership of Sir Creek, no permanent and visible demarcation of sea has been made by the two countries, Shah said.

Since its inception in 1998, the PFF is struggling against such arrests of the fishermen of both countries. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Ali Shah, ANI, Arabian sea, area, arrest, boats, body, chairman, coastline, deadline, demarcation, dispute, expiry, fisherfolk, fishermen, forum, inception, India, india share, insult, international, international waters, issue, jails, karachi, lapse, law, majority, maritime, May, Miseries, Muhammad Ali, Muhammad Ali Shah, nation, ownership, Pakistan, Pakistan and India, pakistan india, part, PFF, result, sea, Sea Waters, segment, Sep, serious trouble, shah, share, Sir Creek, society, tenure, trouble, united, United Nations, violation, warning, water, waters, world

Further unrest in west China’s Urumqi region following syringe attacks

September 3, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Urumqi (China), Sep 3(ANI): Following a spate of ethnically motivated syringe attacks in China’s Xinjiang province, renewed mass demonstrations and violence was reported in the region on Thursday.

Thousands of people gathered at the residential quarter of Xiaoximen, at Renmin Cinema and Beiyuanchun farmers’ produce wholesale market and demanded security assurance from authorities, Xinhua reports.

Local Police had detained 15 people and arrested four in connection with the attacks, but it did not say what ethnic group they belonged to.

In recent weeks, ethnic-fueled violence has plagued the city, following the riots that occurred between Uyghurs, who are predominantly Muslim, and ethnic Han Chinese, the majority group in China.

Unconfirmed reports of deaths in those riots range from 200 to many more. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: ANI, assurance, authorities, Beiyuanchun, China, Chinese, cinema, city, connection, deaths, ethnic group, farmers, group, Han, local, majority, majority group, market, mass, Mass Demonstrations, Muslim, police, produce, province, quarter, region, Renmin, Residential Quarter, riots, security, Security Assurance, Sep, spate, syringe, Thursday, unconfirmed, unrest, Urumqi, Uyghurs, Violence, west China, wholesale, wholesale market, Xiaoximen, xinhua, xinjiang, Xinjiang Province

Musharraf tries to woo embattled nazims

September 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Lahore, Sep. 2 (ANI): Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf has invited ‘Nazims’ (elected officials of local governments) to meet him in Abu Dhabi in order to gain his support against government’s move to scrap the existing local government system.

Nazims already have support of the PML-Q and the MQM.

“Former president after concluding his visit to Saudi Arabia would stay for some days in the UAE where he would have consultations with nazims as well as PML-Q leaders from both Chaudhrys and Chattha camps,” The Nation quoted sources, as saying.

Musharraf’s aides say that in the meeting with the representatives of district governments, former president would assure them his full support inside the country and at the international fora.

“The other factor behind this meeting is to win the support of nazims for Musharraf’s future intentions to enter into national politics,” said the sources.

“The invitations have not only been extended to nazims, but also to many PML-Q leaders both from Chaudhrys and Chattha camps,” they added.

PML-Q leader Chaudhary Pervaiz Elahi, , who has the support of the majority of district nazims in Punjab, has asked his men to stay away from Musharraf and his invitation.

“PML-Q is already pleading local governments case wholeheartedly at all the fora, therefore, district nazims having affiliation with PML-Q need not Musharraf’s support in their cause,” said a PML-Q leader.

The paper quoted Bahawalpur district nazim Tariq Basheer Cheema as saying that he would not attend any such meeting.

“I have good relations with Chaudhry brothers and need not support of the former president to carry on struggle for the existing local government system,” he added. (ANI)

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ''cause, Abu Dhabi, affiliation, aides, ANI, bahawalpur, case, Chattha, chaudhary, Chaudhry, Chaudhrys, cheema, consultations, country, district, district governments, elahi, factor, fora, former, former president, Government, government system, international fora, invitation, invitations, Lahore, leader, Local Government, local governments, majority, meeting, move, mqm, Musharraf, nation, national politics, nazim, Nazims, order, Pakistan, pakistan president pervez musharraf, paper, pervaiz, pervez, Pervez Musharraf, pml-q, president, president pervez musharraf, Punjab, Saudi Arabia, Sep, struggle, support, system, Tariq Basheer, UAE, visit

Now, preferential voting for best film Oscar

September 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Sept 2 (ANI): The voting pattern for deciding the best movie at the Oscars is all set to change.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences which presents the Oscars said preferential voting will now decide the best film.
Under the system, voters will rank nominees in their order of preference from 1 to 10.

The nominee who bags the most votes will be declared the winner.

The same preferential voting is used by the Academy in its nominating process.

However, it is being introduced to judge films for the first time since 1945.

The new voting procedure has been brought in to bring in more movies to compete for the award. Now 10 films can be accommodated in the category, which allowed only 5 previously.

The BBC quoted Academy president Tom Sherak as saying: “Instead of just marking an X to indicate which one picture they believe to be the best, members will indicate their second, third and further preferences as well,”

He said this would “establish the best picture recipient with the strongest support of a majority of our electorate”.

The 82nd Academy Awards nominations will be declared on February 2, at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. (ANI)

Filed Under: Entertainment News Tagged With: academy, academy awards, Academy Awards Nominations, academy of motion picture, academy of motion picture arts and sciences, Academy President, ANI, arts, award, awards, bbc, best film, best picture, category, electorate, February, february 2, film, Film Oscar, London, majority, motion, motion picture arts, movie, Nominating Process, nominee, order, oscar, Oscar London, Oscars, pattern, picture, preference, Preferential Voting, president, President Tom, procedure, process, Samuel Goldwyn, Samuel Goldwyn Theater, Sept, support, system, theater, time, Tom Sherak, voting, winner

Muhammad Ali given huge Irish hero’s welcome

September 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Belfast (Ireland), Sep.2 (ANI): Former World Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali was given an Irish hero’s welcome on Tuesday at Turnpike Road from where his great-grandfather Abe Grady set out for the New World almost 150 years ago.

The former three times world heavyweight boxing champion was welcomed like a returning prodigal son when he arrived in Ennis, Co Clare, and was made its first Freeman.

Clearly moved by the fervour of the welcome, he refused to be ushered into a waiting vehicle by his security guards as the crowds chanted: “Ali! Ali! Ali!”

After unveiling a monument near the spot where his ancestral home – a two-room thatched cottage – once stood, he walked with his wife, Yolanda, to meet his fans, the majority of whom were not even born when his brilliant career was dimmed by the onset of Parkinson’s disease, reports The Times.

Today Turnpike Road is lined with primly neat council houses, none prouder than the home of the late Eileen O’Grady, whose daughter, Mary, kissed and hugged her famous distant cousin.

Eileen died nine months ago, preferring to keep her association with one of the greatest sportsmen of all time a secret.

Genealogists traced the roots of Ali, formerly Cassius Clay Jr, to Abe Grady through land registry documents, which record that Grady left Ireland in the 1860s from Cappa Harbour in Kilruch, Co Clare. He settled in Kentucky, where he married a freed African-American slave.

Their son also married an African-American and one of the daughters of that union was Odessa Lee Grady, who married Cassius Clay Sr. (ANI)

Filed Under: Sports News Tagged With: Abe Grady, african, ali, Ali Ali, American, American Slave, ANI, association, belfast, belfast ireland, Brilliant Career, Cappa, career, Cassius, Cassius Clay, Cassius Clay Jr, champion, clare, Clay Jr, Clay Sr, Co Clare, cottage, Council, Council Houses, cousin, daughter, disease, Distant Cousin, Eileen, Eileen O'Grady, Ennis, fervour, former, Former World Heavyweight Champion, Freeman, Genealogists, Grady, great grandfather, harbour, heavyweight, heavyweight boxing champion, hero, home, Ireland, Irish Hero, Kentucky., Kilruch, land, Lee Grady, majority, mary, monument, Muhammad Ali, New, none, Odessa Lee Grady, onset, parkinson, prouder, record, registry, Registry Documents, secret, security, Sep, slave, son, spot, Thatched Cottage, time, times, today, Tuesday, Turnpike Road, union, vehicle, welcome, wife, world, world heavyweight boxing, world heavyweight boxing champion, world heavyweight champion, Yolanda

Hospital food in UK found to be worse than prison meals

September 1, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Sep 1 (ANI): A new study has shown that food provided at hospitals in the UK is worse than that served to prison inmates, despite huge amounts of money spent by the patients.

According to the Bournemouth University study, jail diets were far “better than most civilians have”, and researchers found people on NHS wards do not get the same standard and staff do not check if the food is eaten.

Around 40 percent of patients are malnourished when they arrive at a hospital, but the situation does not tend to improve while they are there.

“Hospital patients don’t consume enough. If you are using food as a means of treatment then it’s not working,” Sky News quoted Professor John Edwards as saying.

“And from the work we’ve done we know that people who sit round a table eat a lot more, but this doesn’t happen in hospitals,” he said.

The study found that trays are removed by cleaning staff so that doctors do not know how much was eaten.

In addition, set mealtimes mean patients undergoing tests may miss food altogether, and the researchers said that there was a lack of enough support for those who needed help eating and drinking.

In contrast, prison food was found to be cheaper and healthier.

“If you are in prison then the diet you get is extremely good in terms of nutritional content,” Edwards explained.

“The food that is provided is actually better than most civilians have. There’s a focus on carbohydrates, then there’s the way they prepare the food, it’s very healthy.

“They don’t add salt and there’s relatively little frying of food – if you have a burger then it goes in the oven,” he added.

A spokesman for the Department of Health said that good food was important for a patient’s treatment and experience of NHS services.

“The majority of patients are satisfied with the food they receive in hospitals, and we are working to improve services further,” he stated. (ANI)

Filed Under: Health News Tagged With: addition, ANI, Bournemouth, Bournemouth University, burger, carbohydrates, civilians, content, contrast, department, department of health, diet, diets, doctors, experience, focus, food, Good Food, Health, hospital, Hospital Food, hospital patients, Hospitals In The Uk, Hospitals Uk, jail, john edwards, lack, London, lot, majority, means, MONEY, NEWS, NHS, Nhs Services, nutritional content, oven, patient, percent, prison, Prison Inmates, Professor John Edwards, round, salt, Sep, situation, sky, sky news, spokesman, staff, standard, study, support, table, treatment, U.K, University, wards, way, work

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)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: achievement, activation, ANI, approach, are, area, arlier, ashok, Aug, Barmer, bill, bit, block, bpd, Cairn, cairns, capacity, cent, centre, ceo, Chairman R.S. Sharma, Chief, Chief Minister, company, country, Crude Oil Production, day, demand, deora, dependence, desert, desert area, dhir, discovery, doing their bit, Dr Singh, Dr. Manmohan, Dr. Manmohan Singh, Dutch firm, energy, entrepreneural, extraction, field, firm, Gas, gehlot, Goal, Government, Government Of Rajasthan, government representatives, growth, import, Inaugural Visit, inaugurating, India, Indian, Indian Government, indication, investment, issue, job, labour, life, Lion, majority, mangala, manmohan, Manmohan Singh, maximum, minister, MPT, murli, murli deora, nation, natural, need, number, oil, oil reserves, ongc, ONGCjoint, Pankaj Chaudhary, percent, petroleum, point, prime, processing, production, profit, project, Rahul Dhir, Rajasthan, revenue, Saturday, search, share, sharing, she''ll, Singh, site, Social Projects, state, step, stone, supply, target, tax, Technical Personnel, terminal, value, vat, venture, visit, way

71 percent Pakistanis want to punish Musharraf for imposing emergency

August 29, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Islamabad, Aug.29 (ANI): A majority of Pakistanis believe that former President General Pervez Musharraf should be punished for his ‘unconstitutional’ and ‘extra-judicial’ actions taken on November 3, 2007, an opinion poll has revealed.

According to a survey conducted by the Gilani Research Foundation, 52 percent of people favour harsh punishment for Musharraf while 19 percent are of the view that the former Army Chief should receive only ‘mild’ punishment.

Fifteen per cent of the respondents did not support punishing Musharraf for enforcing emergency on November 3, 2007 while 14 per cent did not give any response, The News reports.

The survey also revealed that while there were no significant difference in views on punishing Musharraf across gender and age, there were notable differences across political affiliations.

People supporting parties like Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, the MMA, the JUI and the ANP were more in favour of punishing Musharraf, while people supporting the MQM (19 percent) were not in favour of punishing Musharraf. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: age, ANI, ANP, army, army chief, Aug, cent, Chief, difference, emergency, favour, former president, Foundation, gender, general, general pervez musharraf, gilani, harsh punishment, Islamabad, Judicial Actions, JUI, league, majority, mma, mqm, Musharraf, Muslim, nawaz, NEWS, November, opinion, opinion poll, Pakistan, Pakistan Muslim League, Pakistanis, people, percent, pervez, Pervez Musharraf, Political Affiliations, poll, president, president general pervez musharraf, punishment, Research, Research Foundation, respondents, response, survey, view

Survey says Chinese, Japanese viewing each other more positively than last year

August 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Beijing/Tokyo, Aug 26 (ANI): A new survey has revealed that the Chinese and the Japanese are seeing each other a bit more positively than last year.

The survey, jointly sponsored by the China Daily and Genron NPO, a Japanese think tank, found that a majority of people in both countries believe Sino-Japanese relations are important.

The survey is a part of the Beijing-Tokyo Forum, a yearly gathering of Chinese and Japanese senior government officials and NGO members, who believe in building up better communication and understanding between the two countries.

The survey, now in its fifth year, divided people into two groups – ordinary citizens, and intellectuals – in both the countries.

The Chinese intellectuals mainly comprised university students from famous well-known institutions like the Peking University. Previous members of Genron NPO formed the Japanese “intellectuals”.

Nearly thirty-six percent ordinary Chinese said they have a “very good” or “relatively good” impression of Japan, which is a 5.5-percentage-point increase over last year.

About 45.2 percent of Chinese students saw Japan in a positive light, a two percentage points increase on the previous year’s figures, whereas, only 26.6 percent of Japanese think positively about China.

However an overwhelming majority of Chinese and Japanese said Sino-Japanese relations were “important” and also wanted the leadership of the two nations to increase talks and enhance mutual cooperation.

Nearly 60 percent of ordinary people and 42.4 percent of Chinese students saw no progress in Sino-Japan relationship over the last year

In Japan, 64.8 percent ordinary people and 53.4 percent intellectuals saw no improvement in bilateral ties this year.

The surveys found historical issues and territorial disputes still remain points of tension between the two nations.

The Chinese are often unhappy over official Japanese visits to Yasukuni Shrine, and the Nanjing Massacre still remains a historical problem.

About 47 percent of ordinary Japanese appreciated Chinese help in fighting the global economic crisis, compared to just 30 percent last year. Japanese intellectuals believing Chinese economic growth to be better for the Japanese leaped from 65.8 percent to 81.4 percent this year.

Cooperation in East Asian issues, economic affairs, energy, environment and climate change should be the top priorities of the talks between the two countries according to the people.

Almost 91 percent of the students and 85.7 percent ordinary people in China and 95.8% intellectuals and 74.8% ordinary people in Japan saw civil exchanges as “important” or “relatively important”.

The survey also found that the people of the two countries found out about each other’s countries mostly through TV news and newspapers. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: ANI, Aug, BEIJING, bilateral ties, bit, change, China, china daily, Chinese, chinese intellectuals, Chinese Students, climate, communication, cooperation, crisis, daily, east Asian, energy, environment, forum, gathering, Genron, Government, growth, help, impression, improvement, increase, Japan, Japan Relationship, Japanese, Japanese Relations, leadership, light, majority, massacre, mutual cooperation, Nanjing, Nanjing Massacre, new survey, NEWS, NGO, Ngo Members, npo, official, ordinary citizens, ordinary people, overwhelming majority, part, Peking, peking university, percent, percentage, percentage point increase, percentage points, problem, progress, relationship, shrine, Sino, survey, tank, tension, territorial, Territorial Disputes, think, Tokyo, Tokyo Forum, understanding, University, viewing, Yasukuni, year

Sujata Koirala says she skipped India trip due to illness

August 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Kathmandu, Aug 26 (ANI): Nepal Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala has said that she failed to accompany Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal in his maiden visit to India purely due to health reasons.

At the Nepali Congress Parliamentary Party office where she was summoned to furnish clarification as to why she dropped out of Prime Minister’s visit to India, Koirala, said that there were no other intentions behind it other than the sudden illness she developed on the eve of departure.

Earlier, Koirala had turned down the parliamentary party’s call to be present at the party headquarters on this case, instead sending a written statement where she said she was compelled to cancel her India trip because she was ill.

However, there were rumors that she pulled out of the scheduled India visit due to her dissatisfaction over Madhav Kumar not promoting her to the post of the Deputy Prime Minister.

At the previous parliamentary party meeting majority of the Nepali Congress lawmakers had said that Koirala’s decision to skip the visit to India not only damaged the party’s and country’s credibility and demanded that Koirala be recalled from the cabinet, Nepalnews reported. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: ANI, Aug, cabinet, call, cancel, case, clarification, Congress, country, credibility, decision, departure, Deputy Prime, deputy prime minister, dissatisfaction, eve, foreign, Foreign Minister, headquarters, Health, health reasons, illness, India, india trip, Kathmandu, kumar, Kumar Nepal, lawmakers, Madhav, maiden visit, majority, meeting, Minister Sujata Koirala, Nepal., nepali, nepali congress, nepalnews, office, parliamentary, parliamentary party, party, party headquarters, post, Prime Minister Madhav, statement, Sudden Illness, sujata koirala, trip, visit

Sri Lanka Parliamentary elections to be held on April 8

Veraval riots: Nanavati Commission not to issue notice against Modi

Govt. to help grant 150,000 illegal Indian citizens Italian citizenship: Krishna

Oz gays want marriage as personal choice

Delhi CM says preparations for Commonwealth Games on schedule

Mobiles, computers making UK teens ‘dumb’

US in delicate spot over Afghan vote fraud claims: NYT

Women better beer tasters than men

Musharraf tries to woo embattled nazims

Now, preferential voting for best film Oscar

Muhammad Ali given huge Irish hero’s welcome

Hospital food in UK found to be worse than prison meals

71 percent Pakistanis want to punish Musharraf for imposing emergency

Survey says Chinese, Japanese viewing each other more positively than last year

Sujata Koirala says she skipped India trip due to illness

Search More News

Technology News

Ads