Slot | SilverScorpio.Com

Meet Ashton Kutcher, the graffiti artist

August 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Aug 20 (ANI): Actor Ashton Kutcher showed off his artistic skills when he spray painted the roof of a Sin City hotel in Las Vegas.

Kutcher was in Vegas with his wife, Demi Moore, to celebrate his stepdaughter, Rumer Willis’ 21st birthday over the weekend.

After taking permission from the hotel officials, the ‘My Boss’s Daughter’ star teamed up with German artist Nomad to “tag” the roof of the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino.

The pair painted a large white outline of a slot machine with the words “Lucky Me”, reports the Daily Star.

Kutcher boasted of his achievement in a post on his Twitter.com, telling fans, “Just tagged the roof of Planet Hollywood.” (ANI)

Filed Under: Entertainment News Tagged With: achievement, Actor, ANI, artist, Artistic Skills, ashton kutcher, Aug, birthday, boss, casino, city hotel, com, daily, Daily Star, daughter, Demi Moore, fans, German Artist, graffiti, Graffiti Artist, Hollywood, hotel, hotel in las vegas, Hotel Officials, las vegas, London, lucky, Lucky Star, machine, meet, nomad, outline, pair, permission, planet, Planet Hollywood Resort And Casino, post, resort, roof, Rumer, sin city, slot, Slot Machine, spray, star, stepdaughter, tag, the, twitter, vegas, weekend, wife, willis

Congress-DMK talks fail

May 21, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, May 21 (ANI): The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) today announced that it would now give outside support to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government after talks failed on the issue of ministerial berths in the Cabinet.

“Congress’ proposal is not acceptable to us. There was no formula on establishment of government in 2004. The DMK has decided to offer support to the Congress from outside,” senior DMK leader T. R. Balu told reporters here.

According to sources, Congress’ refusal to hand over the crucial Telecom and infrastructure related portfolios to the DMK was the stumbling block.

Earlier, stuck by ‘berth’ pangs, the Congress was grappling with other allies like the Trinamool Congress (TC) who were doing hard negotiations to get plum portfolios as Manmohan Singh gets ready to be sworn in on Friday for a second consecutive term as Prime Minister.

On a day of conflicting reports, the DMK with 18 MPs, the third largest constituent in the UPA coalition, was said to be demanding three Cabinet portfolios, two Ministers of State with independent charge and two at the Ministers of State level.

DMK chief Karunanidhi’s son M K Azhagiri, his grand nephew Dayanidhi Maran and T R Baalu are among the Cabinet probables from the party while his daughter Kanimozhi is among the likely candidates for the MOS slot.

Reports said the Congress was keen to give two Cabinet berths, four MOS slots including two with independent charge. Mediators were trying to work out the final modalities of an agreement. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: agreement, alliance, ANI, Balu, berth, block, cabinet, Cabinet Portfolios, charge, coalition, Conflicting Reports, Congress, Consecutive Term, constituent, daughter, day, Dayanidhi, Dayanidhi Maran, dmk, Dmk Leader, dravida, establishment, formula, Friday, Government, Grand Nephew, Infrastructure, issue, kanimozhi, karunanidhi, Kazhagam, leader, level, M. K. Azhagiri, manmohan, Manmohan Singh, Maran, May, mediators, minister, ministerial berths, ministers, ministers of state, MOS, mps, Munnetra, nephew, New Delhi, Pangs, party, plum, prime, probables, Progressive, progressive alliance, proposal, refusal, Singh, slot, son, state, stumbling block, support, T R Baalu, T. R. Balu, telecom, term, today, today announced that, trinamool, trinamool congress, united, upa

Cancer-stricken Fawcett’s documentary attracts 8.9M viewers

May 18, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, May 18 (ANI): A documentary showing veteran actress Farah Fawcett’s struggle against cancer has attracted nearly 8.9 million viewers on U.S. television.

The former Charlie’s Angels star was diagnosed with anal cancer three years ago, and her friend Alana Stewart had since been capturing her visits to specialists in Germany and her battle against her illness.

The documentary, Farrah’s Story, was aired on U.S. station NBC last week .

The channel claims that preliminary figures showed it was the station’s most-watched programme in its Friday night slot in more than a year, reports the Daily Star.

Meanwhile, Fawcett’s partner and actor Ryan O’Neal has revealed that he sometimes wishes that she would not wake up from her sleep.

Fawcett, 62, shows a strong face despite the pain she has been going through, but for her 68-year-old O’Neal the suffering his long-time lover has to go through is just too much to take. (ANI)

Filed Under: Entertainment News Tagged With: Actor, Actress, Alana Stewart, anal, Anal Cancer, ANI, battle, cancer, cancer-stricken, channel, charlie, Charlie Angels, charlie s angels, daily, Daily Star, documentary, face, farah, Farrah, fawcett, Friday, friday night, friend, Germany, illness, London, long-time, lover, May, million viewers, nbc, Neal, night, Night Slot, pain, partner, programme, ryan o neal, Ryan O'Neal, sleep, slot, star, station, story, struggle, suffering, television, Time Lover, US, Veteran, veteran actress, wake, week, year

Astronauts fix Hubble gyroscopes, despite technical glitch

May 16, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 16 (ANI): Astronauts have managed to repair gyroscopes in the Hubble, the most critical repair to the giant space telescope, despite facing significant glitches in the process.

According to a report by BBC News, in a second spacewalk, mission specialists Mike Good and Mike Massimino put a refurbished pair of gyroscopes into the telescope after a new set refused to go in.

Besides the gyroscopes, which would enable the Hubble to orient precisely, the giant telescope also got fresh batteries to ensure five more years of life.

Despite the setbacks, scientists said that Hubble would function well, pointing to ever-distant objects in the cosmos.

The troubled spacewalk on May 15 was the longest yet, lasting eight hours.

“At times, I felt like I was wrestling a bear,” Mike Massimino was quoted as saying by AFP news agency, as he and Mike Good struggled to install the gyroscopes, or “rate sensing units” (RSUs).

Previously, only three of the six gyroscopes worked.

But, after the marathon spacewalk, Hubble has four brand new sets and two refurbished ones. Only two are needed to orient the telescope properly.

Of the six gyroscopes replaced, three had failed, two were acting up and one was working properly.

Gyroscopes keep the 19-year-old Hubble telescope pointed where it should be, and hence the replacement operation was the most important part of this mission’s five scheduled spacewalks.

The first part of the spacewalk was to replace the three RSUs, each of which contains two gyroscopes.

While the first RSU went in as planned, the second one did not seat properly on its plate. The crew opted to place the third RSU in the slot of the second.

The same problem occurred when the RSU meant for the second slot was placed into the third, so the crew opted to install a refurbished unit instead.

But, Hubble’s deputy senior project scientist, Mal Niedner, said he was not concerned that the astronauts had to resort to refurbished gyroscopes, which lack the latest anticorrosive wiring.

“It’s the difference between an A and an A-plus,” he was quoted as saying by AP news agency.

The three batteries that were replaced were the original equipment installed on Hubble 19 years ago, intended to have just a five-year lifespan. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: AFP, agency, ANI, Astronauts, bbc, bear, brand, crew, deputy, difference, Distant Objects, eight hours, equipment, Fresh Batteries, Giant Space, giant telescope, glitch, Glitches, Gyroscopes, hubble, hubble telescope, life, lifespan, Mal Niedner, marathon, Massimino, May, Mike Good, Mike Massimino, mission, Mission Specialists, NEWS, news agency, Niedner, operation, orient, pair, part, plate, problem, process, project, project scientist, rate, repair, replacement, report, RSU, RSUs, scientist, seat, Second, setbacks, slot, space, space telescope, spacewalk, Technical Glitch, Telescope, unit, Washington, wiring

Uproar after Radio Televisyen Malaysia’s retiming of Mandarin, Tamil news

April 21, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Kuala Lumpur, Apr 21 (ANI): Radio Televisyen Malaysia’s (RTM) Chinese and Indian viewers of Tamil origin are all riled up over the retiming of the Mandarin and Tamil news slots.

The MCA claimed the change of the Mandarin news time slot from 8 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. on TV2 would not benefit Chinese viewers, while a PPP leader Senator T. Murugiah also cited the same over the rescheduling of Tamil @ 2 news from its original 7.30 p.m. to 6 p.m. beginning on Monday.

MCA spokesman Lee Wei Keat yesterday questioned the Information, Communications, Arts and Culture Ministry’s motive in changing the time.

He said the revised time slot would inconvenience viewers and eventually affect the ratings and image of the RTM, The Star reported.

“The ministry should revert the Mandarin news time slot to its previous prime time of 8 p.m.,” he said.

Starting yesterday, the 30-minute Mandarin news is aired at 6.30 p.m. and noon daily on TV2, as opposed to the previous time slot of 8 p.m. on TV1.

“Many viewers will not be able to catch the news from 6.30pm to 7pm as they would either be travelling home from work or busy preparing dinner for families,” said Lee who is also MCA Information and Communications Bureau chairman.

In Ipoh, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Senator T. Murugiah said many Indian workers complained that they could not catch the programme, called Tamil @ 2, because it was being aired too early.

“Those working in Kuala Lumpur, especially, would be caught in traffic jams. They could not make it back in time for the news,” he said after opening a motivational seminar for Indian students at SMK Sungai Pari here yesterday. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: ANI, Apr, arts, Arts And Culture, bureau, chairman, change, chinese viewers, communications, Communications Arts, Communications Bureau, culture, Culture Ministry, department, deputy minister, dinner, home, image, inconvenience, indian students, Indian Viewers, information, Information Communications, ipoh, Keat, Kuala Lumpur, leader, lee, Lee Wei, Malaysia, mandarin, Mandarin News, MCA, ministry, minute, Monday, motivational, Motivational Seminar, motive, NEWS, noon, origin, Pari, ppp, prime, programme, radio, Radio Televisyen Malaysia, Rescheduling, Retiming, revert, RTM, seminar, Senator T. Murugiah, slot, SMK, spokesman, star, Sungai, tamil, Tamil News, Televisyen, time, Time Slot, traffic, traffic jams, Travelling Home, uproar, work, yesterday

Exxon bumps Wal-Mart to claim top of Fortune 500 list

April 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Energy giant Exxon Mobil Corp beat discount retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc to regain the top of Fortune magazine’s list of the 500 biggest publicly traded companies, based on revenue.

The widely watched Fortune 500 list, released Sunday, showed that the world’s largest listed oil company regained the top spot, raking in $442.9 billion of revenue in 2008, despite the decline of energy prices late last year.

Exxon also was the most profitable, earning $45.2 billion last year.

That performance displaced Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart, which fell to runner-up after topping the list six of the past seven years. The retailer’s revenue climbed 7 percent to $405.6 billion as recession-weary consumers tried to stretch their dollar.

In what was one of the worst years ever for stock markets, most companies saw revenue and earnings tumble. Overall, earnings of the Fortune 500 fell 85 percent to $99 billion last year. That, the magazine said, was the biggest one-year drop since it began compiling its list 55 years ago.

Energy companies, buoyed by soaring prices earlier in 2008, dominated the top ranks. Chevron Corp again came in third at $263.2 billion in revenue, up 25 percent, while ConocoPhillips climbed one notch to fourth with $230.8 billion of revenue.

General Electric Co, the industrial conglomerate weighed down by its financial arm’s woes, still managed to rise one slot to fifth place.

As expected, money-losing financial services companies were the hardest hit last year. Citigroup Inc and Bank of America Corp fell out of the top 10, while Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual and Wachovia Corp were among 38 companies dropping off the list completely.

(Reporting by Joseph A. Giannone; Editing by Jan Paschal)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: america, arm, bank, Bank Of America, Bank Of America Corp, Bentonville, Chevron, Chevron Corp, Citigroup, citigroup inc, company, conglomerate, ConocoPhillips, corp, decline, discount, Discount Retailer, dollar, drop, Editing, electric, energy, Energy Giant, Exxon, Exxon Mobil, exxon mobil corp, Financial Arm, fortune, Fortune 500 List, Fortune Magazine, general, General Electric Co, giant, inc, Industrial Conglomerate, Jan Paschal, Joseph A. Giannone, lehman, Lehman Brothers, list, magazine, Mart, Mobil, mutual, New York, notch, oil, percent, performance, place, reporting, retailer, reuters, reuters energy, revenue, slot, spot, stock, sunday, top, tumble, Wachovia, Wachovia Corp, Wal, Wal Mart Stores, Wal Mart Stores Inc, Wal-Mart, Washington, Washington Mutual, world, year

LG launches two new music phones – GM200 and KM335 – in India

April 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

LG has expanded its range of music-centric phones in India by launching its two new music phone models – LG GM200 and LG KM335 which appear to be a pretty alluring amalgamation of music with design, style, and exclusive features. Both the new models are already available at all the retail outlets in the country.

Both the new phones bring along for the users inimitable ways of enjoying their choicest tunes. On one hand, the Rs 9250-priced GM200 is LGs first phone featuring Dolby Mobile and offers an outstanding music experience via its 2.1 Channel woofer stereo sound; the LG KM335, costing Rs 8250, is equipped with the AM/FM radio feature which allows users to tune into their preferred radio station and update themselves with the most recent music tracks!

Other specs of the GM200 include 2MP camera; Bluetooth 2.0, improved GPRS, MP3 Hot key, 3.5mm jack, and Micro SD Card Slot with 1 GB in-box. Its battery back-up is up to 600 hours standby time with long music play hour, and up to 10-hours talk time.

Among the specs of the KM335 are 3MP flash camera; playback at 30 fps; video recording at 15 fps; and 90MB storage expandable up to 8GB. Fitted with 1100Mah battery, the phone has a standby time of 600 hours, and talk time up to 9.5 hours.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: amalgamation, back-up, battery, Bluetooth, camera, card, channel, choicest, country, design, Design Style, Dolby, experience, feature, fitted, Flash Camera, fm radio, GPRS, hand, Hot, Hot Key, hour, India, jack, key, Mah, Micro, Micro Sd Card, Mobile, music, music experience, Music Phone, Music Play, Outstanding Music, Phone, Phone Models, play, playback, Preferred Radio, radio, Radio Feature, range, Recent Music, recording, Sd Card Slot, slot, sound, Standby Time, station, stereo, Stereo Sound, storage, style, talk, talk-time, time, video, video recording, Which Allows Users, woofer

IPL II set to impose astronomic fines for slow play

April 17, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Cape Town (South Africa), Apr.17 (ANI): Astronomic fines lie in wait for captains and teams that play their cricket at a snail’s pace in the second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in South Africa.

The organisers of the Twenty20 series have warned that they will dish out severe punishments to teams that don’t bowl their 20 overs inside the allotted time slot.

IPL chairperson Lalit Modi told a press conference on Thursday that teams may be fined in excess of R3.2-m if they go over the allotted time. He claimed that teams last year at times took up to 45 minutes longer than the allotted 80 minutes.

One of the big attractions of Twenty20 cricket is that matches finish inside three hours. Each team usually gets 80 minutes to bowl its 20 overs, with a break of 20 minutes between innings. This year, there will be a break of seven-and-a-half minutes after 10 overs for teams to discuss their strategies.

Modi believes that will put an end to any excuse that teams may have for not going through their overs quickly enough.

Matches will now last for three hours and 15 minutes.

According to Sports24, fines for teams that go over their allotted time are as follows:

20 000 dollars fine for the captain that transgresses first;

220 000 dollars fine for the entire team when a second transgression takes place; and

360 000 dollars fine for a third offence. The captain will then also be suspended for one game. (ANI)

Filed Under: Sports News Tagged With: ''wait, 15 minutes, ANI, Apr, Astronomic, bowl, break, Cape Town, Cape Town South Africa, captain, chairperson, conference, Cricket, edition, end, entire team, excess, excuse, fine, game, Indian, innings, ipl, Lalit, matches, Modi, offence, organisers, pace, place, play, Premier league, press, punishments, series, slot, snail, South Africa, team, Thursday, time, Time Slot, Transgression, year

Two Players Hit It Big Playing New Bad Beat Blackjack Progressive Jackpot at Barona Resort and Casino

April 16, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

SAN DIEGO, CA, Apr 14 (MARKET WIRE) —
The holiday weekend proved lucky at Barona Resort and Casino as two big
winners hit the right beat playing one of Barona’s most popular games
featuring an exciting new way to win even bigger jackpots — Blackjack
Bad Beat Progressive Jackpot. Barona is the only casino in the country to
offer a progressive Bad Beat jackpot on high-end blackjack games.

On Saturday, April 11, Lisa L. of Ramona was playing Blackjack Bad Beat
Jackpot, when it hit at $33,058. Eight other lucky players who were in
Barona’s Parlor 32 high-limit area when the progressive hit each won $500
for a total of $37,058. Lisa was the first player to win a major jackpot
so far on the new progressive jackpot which debuted only two weeks ago at
Barona. Then, less than 24 hours later, on Sunday, April 12, Henry T. of
San Diego was playing the same game when the progressive jackpot hit
$25,157 and 10 other players in the high-limit area also won $500 each for
a total of $30,157.

“We’re excited to add Lisa and Henry to our list of jackpot winners at
Barona,” said Rick Salinas, general manager of Barona Resort and Casino. “We
are always looking for new and exciting ways to provide more opportunities
for our players to win at Barona and that is how we created the Bad Beat
progressive jackpot. While we just barely introduced this new progressive
jackpot on our casino floor we already have two big winners! It is great
to see that a new twist on an old favorite can create even more winning
moments for our guests.”

Barona’s Blackjack Bad Beat Progressive Jackpot debuted earlier this month
in addition to several other exciting games including Rapid Baccarat,
Video Craps, and Perfect Pairs Blackjack.

While playing Blackjack Bad Beat Jackpot, guests have a chance to win even
if the dealer gets 21. Adapted from the concept of Bad Beat Jackpot in
poker, Blackjack Bad Beat Jackpot is available in Barona’s Parlor 32
high-limit area with the one-of-a-kind progressive bonus that does not
even require an additional side wager. The Blackjack Bad Beat Jackpot
starts at $25,000 and grows about $275 a day until it is hit.

Ranked “Highest in Satisfaction in the Southern California Indian Gaming
Experience” in the J.D. Power and Associates’ 2008 Southern California
Indian Gaming Casino Satisfaction Study, Barona Resort and Casino blends the
best of San Diego’s most elegant resorts with the gaming excitement of Las
Vegas. Barona is San Diego’s leading destination resort featuring 400
luxury guest rooms and suites, nine award-winning dining options, the
AmBience Day Spa, a full-service events center, and the 18-hole
championship Barona Creek Golf Club, rated the 3rd best resort course in
California by Golfweek magazine. For current progressive amounts and
Barona Resort and Casino reservations and information, visit
www.barona.com, or call toll free 888-7-BARONA (722-7662).

Barona Resort and Casino received the highest numerical score among casinos
with a minimum of 2,000 slot machines in the proprietary J.D. Power and
Associates 2008 Southern California Indian Gaming Casino Satisfaction
Study(SM). Study based on 1,766 responses from gaming players who visited
an Indian casino in Southern California between December 2007 and June
2008. Proprietary study results are based on experiences and perceptions
of consumers surveyed in May-June 2008. Your experiences may vary. Visit
www.jdpower.com.

CONTACT:
Audrey Doherty/Jordan Cole
(619) 236-8397

Kelly Jacobs Speer
(619) 933-5013

-0-

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: addition, ambience, Apr, April, area, associates, Audrey Doherty, Baccarat, BARONA, beat, Big, blackjack, Blackjack Games, bonus, California, call, casino, Casino Floor, center, Championship, chance, club, cole, com, concept, contact, copyright, country, course, Craps, creek, day, dealer, December, destination, dining, excitement, Exciting Games, experience, favorite, floor, game, gaming, golf, Golfweek, guest, henry, High Limit, hit, hole, holiday, holiday weekend, information, J.D. Power, jackpot, Jackpot Poker, Jackpot Winners, jacobs, jdpower, Jordan, June, kelly, Las Vegas, lisa, list, Lucky Players, luxury, magazine, manager, market, May, minimum, month, New, new twist, pairs, Parlor, perfect, Perfect Pairs, player, Playing Blackjack, Poker, Poker Blackjack, Popular Games, Progressive, Progressive Jackpot, proprietary, Ramona, ranked, rapid, resort, Rick Salinas, right, Salinas, Same Game, San Diego, San Diego Ca, satisfaction, Saturday, score, side, slot, Southern California, spa, Speer, study, sunday, toll, total, twist, video, Video Blackjack, Video Craps, visit, wager, way, weekend, wire, www

Nokia announces new services and new investment plans

April 9, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Its tough to get to the number one slot, but its even tougher to retain the number one position; well thats what the Vice-President and Managing Director of Nokia India, Mr D. Shivakumar feels. According to Mr. Shivakumar, when you are at number one slot in business, it becomes your responsibility to keep striving to hold your position; not only to hold, but to hold it for longer.

Mr. Shivakumar feels that it becomes your responsibility to expand your market; it becomes very important for you to discover new markets. Whey you are looking to expand your market, you need to exhibit powerful innovations and initiatives; and thats why Nokia is always striving to roll out new services, new technologies, new mobile phones, etc., and in order discover new markets, Nokia India is looking to enter into the rural markets of India.

Getting ready for the next generation 3G mobile services, Nokia India yesterday announced a number of new services, such as music online and location based services that will be available on the new Nokia phones in the near future.

Mr. Shivakumar said, “We are moving away from just devices to devices plus services plus solutions. With the 3G mobile services set to make advent by the middle of next year, we feel that revenue from non-voice services is bound to increase significantly.

Answering to the question, if Nokia is looking to acquire some of the content providers to enhance services, Mr. Shivakumar said, “There is no plan for any acquisition but it will be done through a collaboration with the innovators.” He disclosed that Nokia is asking several Indian mobile and web application developers to develop innovative consumer applications exclusively for its upcoming handset N97.

Nokia India also announced its investment plans in India. Mr. Shivakumar stated that Nokia has already invested USD 210 million in its Chennai manufacturing facility, but it is still planning to inject USD 75 million more to boost the production of its mobile phones. The company is planning to invest in all parts of the value chain, planning to inject more money in the Indian Premier League and in the retail segments. Mr. Shivakumar said, “We also plan to spend more on IPL.”

In order to hold number one position, Mr. Shivakumar says, it is important to take strong initiatives and make strong investments. Its not about defending your position in the market, because when you go to defend something, you always loses it; instead it is about attacking the market, you always win when you attack the market, says Mr. Shivakumar.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: acquisition, advent, answering, application, business, chain, Chennai, collaboration, company, Consumer, Consumer Applications, content, content providers, director, facility, future, generation, handset, India, Indian, initiatives, innovations, innovators, investment, ipl, location, Location Based Services, managing, Managing Director Of Nokia, manufacturing, market, middle, Mobile Nokia, Mobile Phones, mobile services, MONEY, Mr D. Shivakumar, Mr. Shivakumar, music, New Nokia phones, next generation, Nokia, number, Online, order, plan, planning, position, Premier league, president, production, question, responsibility, revenue, shivakumar, slot, something, USD, value, vice, Voice Services, web, Web Application Developers, Web Developers, whey, year, yesterday

Moldovans protesting Communist vote win break into parliament

April 7, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Chisinau – Hundreds of Moldovan students irate at a recent Communist win in national elections broke into the parliament building on Tuesday, breaking windows and setting furniture on fire.

Police initially used water cannon in an attempt to control the crowd in the central districts of the Moldovan capital. More than than 10,000 protestors had gathered in the centre by mid-afternoon with more arriving.

Police by mid-afternoon had apparently abandoned their defence of government buildings in the centre of the city. At least 10 policemen were injured in fights with the crowd.

One group of students tore the front door of the residence of the Moldovan President, and set it on fire, according to eyewitnesses.

Some youth during the chaos chanted “Moldova has awoken,” “We want to join Europe!” and “We want to join Romania!”

European Union and Romanian flags were visible hanging from windows of both the parliament building, and the Presidential residence.

Paper and debris littered courtyards in front of both buildings, as students hurled contents of government offices out onto the footpath.

One group of protestors threw rocks at Yury Roscu, leader of Communist-supporting Christian Democrat party, as they looked out the crowd from the seventh floor of the parliament building. The rocks failed to reach him.

Julian Fruntasu, a spokesman for the opposition Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova (LDPM), told the Infotag news agency the protests were justified “because the Communists lost the elections.”

But other opposition leaders said the students were “acting on their own”, without political party involvement.

Moldova’s Communist Party headed by President Vladimir Voronin captured some 55 per cent of popular support in Sunday voting for a new parliament.

Three opposition parties also were on track to place deputies in the legislature, but eight other parties failed to attract enough support to gain an MP slot.

International monitoring groups including the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said the vote was generally democratic, with few violations of election law.

But opposition parties in the wake of the election claimed the vote was inherently unfair, as the election campaign was conducted with strong Communist party control of major media and regional governments. (dpa)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: agency, attempt, awoken, building, campaign, cannon, capital, cent, centre, chaos, Chisinau, Christian Democrat, city, communist, Communist-supporting, control, cooperation, courtyards, crowd, debris, defence, democrat party, Democratic, door, DPA, Election, Europe, European, eyewitnesses, fire, Fire Police, floor, footpath, front, furniture, Government, government buildings, government offices, group, hanging, Infotag, international, involvement, irate, Julian Fruntasu, law, LDPM, leader, Legislature, liberal, Liberal Democratic Party, Mid Afternoon, Moldova, Moldovan, Moldovan President, Moldovans, national elections, NEWS, opposition, opposition leaders, opposition parties, organization, osce, paper, parliament, parliament building, party, Party Involvement, police, policemen, President Vladimir Voronin, presidential, protestors, residence, Romania, Romanian, security, slot, spokesman, sunday, support, track, Tuesday, union, Vladimir Voronin, vote, voting, wake, water, water cannon, win, youth, Yury Roscu

Late night calls from US, UK made Zardari a peacemaker

March 29, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Islamabad, Mar 29 (ANI): Late night calls from the United States and UK helped President Asif Ali Zardari to bring sanity to the troubled political proceedings in Pakistan during his address to the joint sitting of Parliament.

Zardari portrayed himself as a hawk-turned-peacemaker on Saturday but the script is understood to have been handed over to him by the Americans and the British.

Even in the heat of the emotions at the end of his speech to parliament, a politically smart Zardari did not forget to keep certain useful cards in his own hands to deal with the Sharif brothers once the dust settles down, The News reported.

The president was clearly advised by his party elders last week at the Presidency to do away with the disqualification of the Sharif brothers through an act of parliament, instead of allowing the courts to decide political issues.

These elders genuinely believed that the PPP should take the credit of giving a new political life to the Sharif brothers not the courts.

Zardari did not buy this advice and successfully managed to keep Shahbaz Sharif away from the slot of Chief Minister of Punjab, who would now be required to sit at home and wait for the decision of the Supreme Court, which may go either way.

Other than the US and UK, Saudi Arabian leaders will be relaxed after Zardari agreed to revive the old arrangement of power-sharing at the Centre and the Punjab.

A genuinely worried Saudi King had even sent his intelligence chief, Sheikh Mukrin, asking the president not to disturb the existing political power-sharing system at least for one and a half years as the friends of Pakistan were seriously concerned about the deepening instability in the country.

But Zardari did not give any importance to the secret letter of the Saudi King, as he was said to be angry with the Kingdom for not giving financial help or come up with an economic bailout package despite visits by both Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and President Zardari himself, the paper said.

One insider claimed that unlike his past track record of backing out of his commitments, Zardari would definitely execute his fresh promises in letter and spirit as guarantees of this new deal between warring him and Sharif were given by these foreign powers who believe in a no nonsense diplomacy. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: act, Act Of Parliament, address, advice, ali, ANI, arabian, arrangement, asif, asif ali, bailout, bailout package, centre, Chief, Chief Minister, chief minister of punjab, country, Court, credit, deal, decision, diplomacy, disqualification, dust, Economic Bailout, elders, end, financial help, gilani, half, half years, hawk, heat, help, home, importance, insider, instability, intelligence, Islamabad, king, kingdom, late-night, letter, life, mar, Mukrin, NEWS, night, nonsense, package, Pakistan, paper, parliament, party, peacemaker, Political Proceedings, ppp, presidency, president, President Zardari, prime, Punjab, raza, record, sanity, Saturday, saudi, saudi arabian, Saudi King, script, Shahbaz, sharif, sheikh, slot, speech, spirit, supreme, system, track, U.K, United States, US, way, week, yousuf

Hussey hopes selectors remember him when choosing Ashes squad

March 25, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Cape Town (South Africa), Mar.25 (ANI): Australian middle order batsman Michael Hussey is hoping that the selectors will not cast him aside for the upcoming Ashes series because of his current poor form.

Hussey’s disappointing performances across the entire summer, at home and in South Africa, have left room for questions about whether he remains an automatic choice.

Hussey has averaged a tick under 20 in the six matches against South Africa (23 if you include the two against New Zealand at the start of the summer) and hasn’t made a century for 22 innings, but he has a couple of things in his favour.

He showed signs of coming good on the last day, fighting hard for 39.

The competition for his spot is not overwhelming.

And history tells you selectors are loath to sack good players – his average is still 55.29. just a tick under Ponting’s 56.20 – too hastily.

Greg Chappell and Mark Taylor are two who survived horror stretches as bad as Hussey’s.

But there will need to be a contingency plan, which suggests the selectors might want to take the current top six and two reserves.

Prolific Victoria opener Chris Rogers should be one, with South Australia’s Callum Ferguson and Michael Klinger, Hussey’s brother David, and the luckless Shane Watson probably the contenders.

Johnson’s explosive but classy maiden century has done himself and everyone else, including the captain and the selectors, a favour.

It has confirmed that he is a genuine all-rounder and can slot in comfortably below keeper Brad Haddin.

More importantly, perhaps, it allows for an extra strike bowler to play – Lee perhaps – and to lessen Johnson’s workload.

Johnson was looking tired in Cape Town and no wonder – he has bowled 300 overs in six matches against South Africa, or 50 apiece.

That’s a significant jump from the 39 he was averaging over his first 15 matches.

Ponting possibly aside, Johnson is now the most important, influential – and talented – figure in the team, and its only truly intimidating bowler. (ANI)

Filed Under: Sports News Tagged With: ANI, ashes, automatic choice, batsman, bowler, Brad Haddin, brother, brother david, callum, Callum Ferguson, Cape Town, Cape Town South Africa, captain, century, choice, Chris Rogers, competition, contenders, contingency, Contingency Plan, couple, david, day, everyone, favour, ferguson, figure, form, Greg Chappell, history, home, horror, innings, johnson, jump, Keeper, klinger, lee, mar, Mark Taylor, michael hussey, Michael Klinger, New Zealand, opener, order, plan, ponting, Prolific, room, rounder, sack, selectors, series, Shane Watson, slot, South Africa, South Australia, spot, squad, start, strike, summer, team, tick, Victoria, workload

Zardari starts reconciliation with estranged PPP leaders

March 18, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Islamabad, Mar. 18 (ANI): In a bid to bring estranged party leaders back into the PPP mainstream and bridge the cracks within his party, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has started reconciliation efforts by inviting estranged leaders for talks.

On Wednesday, Zardari has invited leader of the house in Senate Raza Rabbani and former PPP Sindh secretary-general Nafees Siddiqui for a meeting in the Presidency as a reconciliatory measure.

“During the meeting, the president is likely to take Rabbani into confidence over his decision of nominating Naik for the top slot of the Senate.

He is also likely to persuade him to take back his previous ministry or the Law Ministry, whichever he likes,” the Daily Times quoted sources, as saying.

Sources also claimed that Zardari had also asked Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali – Rabbani’s close friend – to persuade him.

“As for Nafees Siddiqui, he will be persuaded to continue in his previous capacity of the party’s provincial secretary-general,” the sources said.

Another senior party Aitzaz Ahsan apart from others, who supported the restoration the sacked judges, is also likely to be brought back into the party’s mainstream.

“The president is likely to call Aitzaz for a meeting soon,” a presidency source claimed.

As far as former information minister Sherry Rehman is concerned, some PPP leaders are believed to have launched a campaign to isolate her for supporting independence of media.

Sources quoted PPP leaders, who said Rehman had put the party in an embarrassing situation at a crucial time.

Similarly, the sources said Senator Safdar Abbasi and his wife Naheed Khan are also out of favors in the party for defying the leadership. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Abbasi, ahsan, Aitzaz, ANI, Asfandyar, Asif Ali Zardari, awami, bid, campaign, capacity, confidence, daily, decision, friend, house, independence, information, information minister, Islamabad, khan, law, law ministry, leader, leadership, mainstream, mar, measure, Media Sources, meeting, Meeting The President, minister, ministry, nafees, Naheed, naik, national, Pakistan, party, party chief, party leaders, ppp, presidency, president, Provincial Secretary, rabbani, raza, reconciliation, Reconciliation Efforts, reconciliatory, restoration, safdar, secretary-general, senate, senator, sherry rehman, Siddiqui, sindh, situation, slot, source, time, times, top slot, Wali, Wednesday, wife

New organic material may give Internet ‘superfast’ speeds

March 16, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, March 16 (ANI): An International team of scientists have developed an organic material that may one day enable the Internet to work at “superfast” speeds.

Ivan Biaggio, an associate professor of physics at Lehigh University and member of the research team, says that the novel material has been developed with an unprecedented combination of high optical quality and strong ability to mediate light-light interaction.

He says that the integration of the novel material has been engineered with silicon technology so that it can be used in optical telecommunication devices.

He has revealed that the material is composed of small organic molecules with high non-linear optical susceptibilities.

It can cover the gap that separate silicon waveguides, which control the propagation of light beams on an integrated optical circuit.

“We have been able to make thin films by combining the molecules into a material that is perfectly transparent, flat, and free of any irregularities that would affect optical properties,” Nature magazine quoted Biaggio as saying.

The slot between the waveguides is the region where most of the light guided by the silicon propagates.

Biaggio and his colleagues say that by filling the slot, the molecules add an ultra-fast all-optical switching capability to silicon circuitry, creating a new ability to perform the light-to-light interactions necessary for data processing in all-optical networks.

A research article describing the material has been published in the journal Nature Photonics. (ANI)

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ability, ANI, Article, capability, circuit, circuitry, combination, day, gap, integration, interaction, international, internet, Ivan Biaggio, journal, Lehigh, Lehigh University, Light Beams, Light Interaction, Light Interactions, London, london march, magazine, March, material, member, Nature, nature magazine, Nature Photonics, New, novel, Novel Material, Optical Circuit, Optical Quality, Optical Switching, Optical Telecommunication, organic material, Organic Molecules, Photonics, physics, professor, propagation, quality, region, Research, research article, silicon, Silicon Technology, slot, superfast, switching, team, Technology, telecommunication, Telecommunication Devices, Thin Films, University, Unprecedented Combination, Waveguides

Mayawati invites third front leaders for further discussions

March 13, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Lucknow, Mar 13, (ANI): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati today invited the third front leaders for further discussions on the issues related to the front in New Delhi on Sunday.

In a bid to revive the united front at the centre, leaders of several non-BJP, non-Congress parties launched a Third front with the aim of usurping power in Delhi.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) General Secretary Satish Chandra Mishra has said that party is keen to project Mayawati as the newly formed Third Front’s Prime Ministerial candidate.

Sources claimed that Mayawati wants the Third Front to finalize the PM candidate by March 15, which also marks BSP founder Kanshi Ram’s birth anniversary.

She revealed her ambition soon after Third Front’s was launched.

It is believed that Mayawati, who was in two minds about joining the coalition, sent her second-in-command Mishra, to the launch a rally only after being assured of the top slot.

The new Front comprises the Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM), Forward Bloc, Republican Party of India (RPI), Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Janata Dal Secular (JDS).

Leaders of the new alliance said both the Congress-led UPA and the BJP-led NDA have failed to address people’s grievances and discounted suggestions that some regional parties are coming together on an opportunistic platform.

Meanwhile, talks are going on for seat sharing arrangement between Congress and NCP and BJP and Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. The Janata Dal (U) and BJP are still to finalise the seat sharing arrangement in Bihar. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: aim, alliance, ambition, ANI, Anna Dravida, anniversary, arrangement, Bahujan, bahujan samaj party, bahujan samaj party bsp, bid, Bihar, birth, birth anniversary, bjp, BJP-led, bloc, BSP, candidate, centre, Chief Minister, Chief Minister Mayawati, coalition, communist, communist party of india, communist party of india marxist, Congress, congress-led, cpi, CPM, Dal, Dal-Secular, Delhi, desam, dravida munnetra kazhagam, finalise, finalize, forward, forward bloc, founder, front, general, India, Janata, JDS, Kanshi, Kazhagam, launch, leaders, Lucknow, Maharashtra, mar, March, ministerial, mishra, Munnetra, NCP, nda, new alliance, New Delhi, non, party, platform, power, pradesh, prime, prime ministerial candidate, rally, ram, Rashtra, regional parties, republican, Republican Party, RPI, Samaj, Samithi, Satish Chandra, seat, second-in-command, secretary, Sena, shiv, shiv sena, slot, sunday, tdp, Telangana, telugu, telugu desam party, third, today, top slot, trs, upa, uttar

Bruce Springsteen to headline 2009′s Glastonbury

February 24, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Feb 24 (ANI): Legendary rocker Bruce Springsteen is set to headline this year’s Glastonbury Festival.

The 59-year-old singer will make his debut in the main Saturday night slot, taken by rapper Jay-Z last year.

“I’m confident this will be one of our best shows ever,” the Sun quoted organiser Michael Eavis as saying.

The American singer has also been chosen as the one to headline the Hard Rock Calling event in Hyde Park this summer.

The Dave Matthews Band and The Gaslight Anthem will support Springsteen at the gig on June 28th, and the Hard Rock Calling event will make up part of Springsteen’s latest world tour due to begin in April.

The tour is set to start in America and will conclude in Europe towards the end of May. (ANI)

Filed Under: Entertainment News Tagged With: america, ANI, anthem, April, band, Bruce Springsteen, Dave Matthews, debut, end, Europe, event, Feb, festival, Gaslight, gig, glastonbury, hard, headline, hyde park, jay, June, legendary, London, May, Michael Eavis, night, organiser, part, rapper, Rock Calling, rocker, Saturday, singer, slot, summer, Sun, tour, world, year

Will Smith tops Hollywood Forbes Star Currency list

February 11, 2009 By admin 1 Comment

London, Feb 11 (ANI): Will Smith has been named the most valuable actor in Hollywood in a new survey by Forbes magazine.

The Men In Black star has topped the Forbes Star Currency list, which measures actors’ financial clout.

The 40-year-old actor’s films have raked in 5,239,409,825 dollars worldwide, while eight of his claimed the top slot at the US box office.

“Will Smith stands alone as the only actor to score a perfect 10 among industry voters in the Star Currency survey,” the Telegraph quoted the magazine as saying.

“He has shown, time and again, that, in today’s world, regardless of the material, people want to watch Will Smith,” said Ashok Amritraj, chairman and CEO of Hyde Park Entertainment.

“He is cross-genre and proved it multiple times,” Amritraj added.

The second position went to Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp, while Leonardo DiCaprio came third.

Angelina Jolie came fourth ahead of partner Brad Pitt.

“She’s got the acting credibility and exposure – key ingredients. Some of her peers on the upper reaches of the list have more box office to their names, but right now, the industry clearly recognises what she can mean to a project,” the magazine said.

Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Denzel Washington, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson wrapped up the top 10.

The top 10 actors are:

1 Will Smith

2 Johnny Depp

3 Leonardo DiCaprio

4 Angelina Jolie

5 Brad Pitt

6 Tom Hanks

7 George Clooney

8 Denzel Washington

9 Matt Damon

10 Jack Nicholson (ANI)

Filed Under: Entertainment News Tagged With: Actor, Amritraj, Angelina Jolie, ANI, ashok, black, box, Brad Pitt, caribbean, ceo, chairman, clout, credibility, currency, Denzel Washington, entertainment, exposure, Feb, forbes, george clooney, Hollywood, hyde park, industry, jack nicholson, Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, list, London, magazine, material, Matt Damon, Men, office, partner, pirates, position, project, score, slot, smith, star, survey, Telegraph, time, today, Tom Hanks, US, Will, world, worldwide

‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ named UK’s Most Borrowed Book

February 7, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Feb 6 (ANI): Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the latest instalment in JK Rowling’s wizard series, has become the most popular book borrowed from British libraries, according to a study.

The new research found that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was taken out 109,000 times last year.

Kate Morton’s The House at Riverton was in second place, while third most popular book was The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, by Kim Edwards, reports the Telegraph.

The Government-funded Public Lending Right – which pays authors for books taken out in public libraries – said that the choices have largely been had been influenced by Richard and Judy, the husband and wife TV presenters.

Five of the books named in the top 10 had been featured in their Book Club slot as part of their chat show.

The figures are contrary to the fears of declining popularity of libraries among children fuelled by the rise of the Internet. (ANI)

Filed Under: Entertainment News Tagged With: ANI, book, club, daughter, Deathly, Feb, Government-funded, Hallows, Harry Potter, house, husband, instalment, internet, judy, Kate Morton, Keeper, Kim Edwards, lending, London, memory, part, place, popularity, Public, Research, richard, rise, Riverton, rowling, series, show, slot, study, Telegraph, U.K, wife, wizard, year

Biden was offered Secretary Of State Job, says his wife

January 20, 2009 By Rajesh Leave a Comment

Washington, Jan.20 (ANI): Jill Biden, the wife of Vice President-elect Joe Biden, has suggested that her husband Joe was offered his choice of either the V.P. slot or the job of Secretary of State in the Obama administration.

The soon-to-be-veep shushed his wife immediately after she made the statement on the Oprah Winfrey show, prompting laughter from the audience.

Obama’s one time rival Hillary Clinton was eventually offered the job.

Jill Biden said during the couple’s surprise appearance on Oprah that she preferred that her husband be vice president rather than secretary of state, since it would mean less travel, CBS reports.

“If you’re secretary of state, you’ll be away, we’ll never see you, you know,” she said, characterizing her conversation with her husband. “I’ll see you at a state dinner once and awhile. But I said, if you are vice president, the entire family, because they worked so hard for the election, they can be involved. They can come to our home. They can go to events, they can be with us all the time. And that’s what’s important to us.”

Biden didn’t address his wife’s comments, but did say he agreed to be Obama’s running mate after being assured that the president-elect was not looking for a “yes man.”

Later Biden spokesperson Elizabeth Alexander sent reporters a statement insisting that “President-elect Obama offered Vice President-elect Biden one job only — to be his running mate.” (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: administration., ANI, appearance, audience, CBS, choice, conversation, couple, dinner, Election, Elizabeth Alexander, family, Hillary Clinton, home, husband, jan, Jill Biden, job, joe, laughter, man, mate, oprah, Oprah Winfrey, president, president-elect, President-elect Obama, running, secretary, show, slot, spokesperson, state, statement, surprise, time, travel, V.P, vice, Vice President-elect Biden, Vice President-elect Joe Biden, Washington, wife