Baba Ramdev: 'No question of calling off fast'

New Delhi:  Yoga guru Baba Ramdev has said he will go ahead with his hunger strike against corruption from June 4 despite the government's appeal asking him to reconsider his plan.

"My hunger strike will go ahead. There is no question of calling off the protest plan till my demands are met and till talks reach a satisfactory conclusion," Baba Ramdev told NDTV speaking from Madhya Pradesh, where he is conducting a yoga camp.


Baba Ramdev had earlier said he will start a 'satyagraha' against corruption and black money and go on an indefinite fast from June 4, demanding that the government bring back black money stashed in tax havens abroad.

Over 32 lakh netizens are believed to have registered online for Baba Ramdev's anti-corruption campaign.
With civil society activists building pressure on the government over the corruption issue, the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) met in New Delhi yesterday to discuss the matter.

Sources say the government, after facing a difficult situation created by Anna Hazare's fast-unto-death last month, is keen to avoid recurrence of such a situation.

The two-hour meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is believed to have deliberated on ways that could be adopted to deal with the matter.

The Cabinet has also decided to set up a fresh panel to draw an estimate of the black money parked in foreign shores.

The CCPA meeting, among other things, is understood to have also discussed the possibility of deputing some minister to talk to Ramdev and persuade him not to go ahead with his hunger strike.

Earlier, the government had deputed Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath and Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman Sudhir Chandra to persuade him but the effort failed. (With PTI Inputs)
 

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Telangana stir revival nears, more forces sought

HYDERABAD:� With Telangana parties and organisations planning to revive the statehood agitation next month, the state police have requisitioned additional Central Paramilitary Forces (CPMF) as a precautionary measure. Already 17 companies of CPMF have been deployed in the state since the regional agitation began in 2009.

Though police termed the request for CPMF as a precautionary measure, sources said the deployment would be necessitated in view of the possibility of the situation turning volatile after June 10, the deadline set by Telanagna protogonists for the Centre to make an announcement on Telangana. Congress MPs from the region have been stating that they will join the movement directly if the Centre does not announce its decision by� then.

Director-general of police K Aravinda Rao told Express that a request for 20 more companies of CPMF was made to the Centre. “The request for more forces, however, is just a precautionary measure,'' he said. The additional forces from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) are likely to reach the city at the earliest.� Aravinda Rao said the bulk of the forces would be deployed in the Telangana region. This time, however, the Border Security Force (BSF) will not be deployed. �

Sources said the forces would be deployed across the 10 districts of Telangana and particularly where large-scale violence and arson were witnessed in the past two years. Apart from the Osmania University in the city, incidents of violence rocked Warangal, Medak and Karimnagar districts. Police sources said Kakatiya University is another hot- bed of separatist movement and they apprehend trouble in Warangal district.

Apart from these districts in Telangana region, the police are anticipating trouble in the Seemandhra districts of Anantapur and Visakhapatnam where the student JACs are strong and spearheading the Samaikyandhra movement.

The incidents of violence in Karimnagar and Warangal during the TDP's Ranabheri are also giving the police a hint of the possible deterioration of law and order in the coming days. Intelligence agencies have warned the police of possible attacks on people's representatives from the region by Telangana protagonists demanding their resignations.

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Hussey stars as Chennai wins IPL

The clinical Chennai Super Kings clinched their second Indian Premier League title in a row with a 58-run thrashing of Royal Challengers Bangalore in a lop-sided final.

Opener Murali Vijay cracked 95 runs off just 52 balls to help the defending champions pile up 5 for 205 before Ravichandran Ashwin removed Bangalore's openers early, ensuring a fine win for the hosts at a packed Chidambaram Stadium.
League-topper Bangalore, which was seeking its maiden IPL title, folded up at 8 for 147 off 20 overs.
It was Chennai's eighth win on the trot at home this season, underlining its dominance in home conditions.
The home team owed its win to Vijay whose record 159-run stand for the first wicket with Australian Michael Hussey (63) set the platform for a winning total after captain MS Dhoni elected to bat first.
Their stand surpassed the 155-run partnership between Adam Gilchrist and Venkatsai Laxman against Mumbai in the inaugural edition of the IPL in 2008.
"I was concentrating on just converting my start today, as it hasn't always happened this season," said Vijay, named man of the match.
"This (Chennai) is a special unit to be part of and to retain the title feels really great."
Bangalore's chase was derailed early with off-spinner Ashwin (3 for 16) getting rid of the dangerous Chris Gayle for a duck in the very first over.
Gayle, who still finished as the highest run-getter with 608 runs from 12 innings, offered an outside edge which was snapped up by Dhoni behind the wickets.
Gayle's dismissal triggered a collapse with Bangalore losing their next six wickets inside 11 overs to be reduced to 6 for 70, a situation from which they could never really recover.
Saurabh Tiwary offered some resistance with an unbeaten 42 but the other Bangalore batsmen simply caved in under pressure.
"It would have been a much better game if we could have put up a bowling performance like on Friday (against Mumbai) but it was not to be," Bangalore captain Daniel Vettori said.
"I think 160-170 would have been chaseable but their openers took the game away from us."
Vijay, pointed out as the weak link in the Chennai line-up after an indifferent run with the bat in the tournament, decided to make amends at the big stage, unleashing six sixes and four fours in his blazing knock.
Hussey also impressed, hitting three sixes and as many boundaries in his 45-ball innings before holing out to Abhimanyu Mithun near the boundary ropes off left-arm spinner Syed Mohammad.
Vijay, who seemed to struggle in hot and humid conditions during the later part of his innings, missed out on a well-deserved century when he offered a simple catch to Vettori off paceman Sreenath Aravind.
Aravind struck again off the very next ball to remove Dhoni, caught off a full toss by Virat Kohli after making 22 which included two sixes in one over by Gayle.
Gayle also picked up two wickets in two balls, sending back Albie Morkel and Suresh Raina in the 20th over with his wily off-breaks.

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Andhra Pradesh SSC Results 10th Examination 2010

10 th class RESULTS

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I still cry and get stressed: SRK

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who has transcended geographical boundaries and won hearts of millions with his charismatic screen presence, says he doesn't consider himself a star.
"The reason I say I am not a star is because I am completely human. I still cry, I still laugh, I crack jokes, I get stressed, I feel disturbed but I think you people love me so much because I could be human," he told reporters on Wednesday at the music launch of his latest production ‘Always Kabhi Kabhi’, releasing on June 17.
"Even though I have this pedestal where I stand which says I am a big star but actually I am nobody till I work hard to make you smile," added the 45-year-old.
To give a Midas touch to the film, Shah Rukh has appeared in a promotional song of the film ‘Always Kabhi Kabhi’.
"It's not an item number. It's the beginning of the film. The music and the lyrics of course make it a peppy number," he clarified.
This directorial debut of Roshan Abbas is also launching two new faces - Zoa Morani and Satyajeet Dubey. Actor Giselle Montario of ‘Love Aaj Kal’ fame and Ali Fazal who did a small role in Aamir Khan-starrer ‘3 Idiots’ play lead roles in the film.
Set in a school, ‘Always Kabhi Kabhi’ is about four unique youngsters trying to compete with pressure of growing up and many firsts that everyone experiences in high school.
As today's school life has changed a lot, King Khan could hardly identify with any except the determination of the youths to accomplish their goal.
"The youth part of the film is the same as it was in my time, but the way they deal with their life has changed. There are many things in the film that I have not done in my school life. So there are many things I couldn't identify with," said Shah Rukh.
"Life has changed so much. But the thing that the film says, follow your dream, I could easily identify with. I never thought that I would come to Mumbai and do so much of work but yes I always aspired to be an actor or a sportsman. The film also shows that we should do something that I am willing to do instead of choosing the way where I can lead an easy life," he added.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger Postpones Hollywood Comeback to Focus on Personal

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10 best apps for Galaxy Tab 10.1, Xoom, and Android Honeycomb in general

You'd hope an app with a hefty $16.99 pricetag would have a lot of features. Fortunately, Quickoffice Pro HD has the guns to back up the expense. Essentially a cloud-based Office suite, you hook up your Google Docs, Dropbox, Box, or MobileMe accounts to QuickOffice, and then you can create, access and share Word, Excel, and Powerpoint documents. One of my favorite features in QuickOffice is its speech recognition, so if you aren't comfortable with typing on a tablet yet, and you don't have a bluetooth keyboard, you can dictate blocks of text.

Spectral Souls Another expensive app at $14.76, Spectral Souls is a full-scale tactical role playing game that shines especially brightly because it's exclusive to Android. Android doesn't yet have anything quite as graphically mind-blowing as Infinity Blade on iOS, but Spectral Souls is no less impressive thanks to its sheer size. Hyperdevbox Studio says it has "hundreds of hours" of gameplay, 82 characters, and 52 different soundtracks.
Dolphin Browser HD The first third-party Android exclusive browser has gained lots of traction since debuting on Android 1.6 late last year, garnering more than a million downloads since that time. This tablet-centric version has a big, clean UI, and supports the use of plug-ins such as Adobe Flash. It is a solid alternative browser, and we're quite big fans of those.
Opera Mobile 11 Speaking of alternative browsers, Opera users have a full Honeycomb-compatible version of Opera Mobile 11 that delivers the familiar Opera experience with general reliability, although like other Android versions of Opera, it is comparatively a very large application download.
Electrum This lightweight and affordable drum machine application has been around for more than two years and has gotten a UI overhaul for Honeycomb tablets. It's a good app for what I like to call "junk musicians," or people who don't need a full production suite with oodles of plug-ins, and who are quite satisfied with the ability to build their own sample set and then sequence it.
Newsr Chris Stewart, the maker of Tweetcomb, made Google Reader app Newsr in an admirably clean and simple fashion. First, there's no linking out; all content, including flash video, is kept inside the text window on the right side of the interface, and articles can be shared via bluetooth, email, Facebook or Twitter all from within the app. Google Reader is a good way to centrally store RSS feeds, but has never had the best interface. This is definitely an improvement.
Drawing Pad There are a couple of drawing applications for Android tablets, but none has the beautiful interface of Drawing Pad. Tools show up exactly as they could in real life, so if you want to paint with brushes, a drawer full of color-daubed brushes opens; if you want colored pencils, a drawer full of them opens up. It's very appealing, and makes the app a lot more fun to use than others on the platform.
Google Body It's hard to believe this is a free app. You're presented with a zoomable, scalable 3D rendering of a human body which can be viewed as different layers (bones, muscle, circulatory, etc) or can be searched like a map of named body parts. On the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, this app is as smooth and fast as can be.
Android Movie Studio Unveiled just four months ago, the first video editing package for Android is extremely exciting. It's got fewer features than Windows Live Movie Maker and iMovie, but the fact that you can capture a video right on your Android device, then apply filters, titles and music to it, and directly upload it to YouTube really brings new meaning to "in-camera edit."
Angry Rirds Rio Let's face it, any mobile application top ten is going to find a way to include Angry Birds if it wants to be genuine. It's the Citizen Kane of mobile gaming. But sequel Angry Birds Rio is worthy of being included as well because it's essentially the same game with other animals as targets instead of pigs, and it looks and handles beautifully on Honeycomb tablets like the Galaxy Tab 10.1.Big Disappointments
Bank of America Mobile Banking This application has been downloaded five million times, yet it only supports the old Android screen size profiles, so what you see in the image above is what you'll see on your Honeycomb tablet. Furthermore, with the most recent update, Motorola Atrix users began complaining that the app didn't work for them, and it has not been fixed or addressed yet. It's odd that one of the United States' biggest consumer financial institutions should have such a poorly supported mobile banking application.
Chuzzle This PopCap title is noteworthy because it's an exclusive to Amazon's Appstore for Android. Unfortunately it lacks support for ANY Android Tablets. That isn't to say it doesn't work, it just is not formatted to fit the screen, so you will be able to play the game, but all the effects and layers are in all the wrong places. The main reason it is so disappointing is that it's a featured download on the front page of the Amazon Appstore, and it was the free download of the day while Google I/O was going on, meaning a big chunk of new Android tablet owners tried to get it, only to be disappointed by the lack of support.

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Indian communication satellite GSAT-8 successfully launched

India’s latest communication satellite GSAT-8 was on Saturday successfully launched by Arianespace from Kourou in French Guiana to give a boost to direct-to-home services in the country.

GSAT-8 was injected into space by European launcher Arianespace’s Ariane 5 rocket which lifted-off at 02.08 am (IST), with Japan’s ST-2 spacecraft as co-passenger.

French Guiana is a region of France on the North-East coast of South America.

Weighing 3,100 kg at lift-off, GSAT-8 is one of the heaviest and high-powered satellites built by the Bangalore-headquartered Indian Space Research Organisation.

An ISRO team, which witnessed the launch, expressed delight over the successful mission.

“I am extremely happy to announce that ISRO’s Master Control Facility at Hassan near Bangalore has confirmed the reception of signals from GSAT-8 and taken charge of the command and control of GSAT-8 immediately after its injection into the geo-stationary transfer orbit,” ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan said.

“...This (the launch) is another great moment for us...,” he said.

Radhakrishnan said the user community in India was looking forward for the operationalisation of the 24 high-power Ku band transponders into the Indian National Satellite system.

ISRO officials said the launch was doubly gratifying as the space agency had lost two satellites last year in two unsuccessful GSLV missions launched from the home soil. ISRO was desperately looking to augment transponder capacity, which is in great demand.

Built by Japan’s Mitsubishi Electric Company, ST-2 would be operated by the ST-2 Satellite Ventures joint company of Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (SingTel) and Taiwan’s Chunghwa Telecom Company Ltd.

GSAT-8 carried 24 transponders to augment India’s Ku-band relay capabilities -- primarily for direct-to-home TV broadcast services -- with a coverage zone including the entire Indian subcontinent.

Additionally, GSAT-8 carried the two-channel GAGAN system for aircraft navigation assistance over Indian airspace and adjoining areas.

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Rajinikanth put on dialysis, doing well

The Sri Ramachandra Medical Centre in the city, where actor Rajinikanth has been admitted, on Thursday confirmed that the actor's condition necessitated advanced treatment, including haemodialysis.

Latha Rajinikanth, the actor's wife, accompanied by her son-in-law actor Dhanush, and S.Thanikachalam, Director, Cardiac Care Centre, SRMC, under whose care the actor has been admitted, met journalists at the hospital and gave details for the first time about the treatment protocol being followed to nurse the actor back to health.

This came on the heels of an announcement from the hospital on Wednesday night that Mr. Rajnikanth was shifted to the intensive care unit. Mrs. Rajinikanth said, “He is doing well now. It was an infection that created an imbalance, starting with the stomach. There is also a respiratory infection.”

The decision to move him to the ICU was prompted by the need to give him appropriate treatment in a completely sterile zone. Responding to a question if a trip abroad was being contemplated for medical treatment, she said it was “not necessary.”

Dr. Thanikachalam said the actor had a gastro-intestinal problem that led to the respiratory distress and the cause was identified. While initially it was thought that Mr. Rajinikanth would be fine with drugs and injections, on noticing the fluid accumulation in his body, the treatment was changed.

“Because of various consequences, there was fluid overload which necessitated advanced treatment, ultra filtration and haemodialysis,” the hospital release said.

Symptomatic relief

Apparently, these interventions have led to symptom relief, which doctors claimed was the first sign of recovery.

Haemodialysis is a procedure performed to assist the kidney carry out its tasks of filtering the blood and removing fluids from the body.

The blood will be passed through a dialysis machine which will clean it up and then, the pure blood is sent back to the patient.

Such a procedure may be necessary briefly when the kidney is acutely disturbed because of an injury or infection in the short run, more likely in this case. It would also be the pre-organ transplant option when kidney function persistently deteriorates over a long period of time and leads to shutdown of the organ.

On Thursday, Mr. Rajinikanth is said to have taken food — two idlis, a vada and plaintain stem rasam that his wife made. He also appeared cheerful, and even cracked jokes, Dr. Thanikachalam said. The laboratory parameters are also improving, and the hospital is hoping the superstar will be able to return to his private room in a couple of days.

Actor Dhanush thanked Mr. Rajinikanth's fans for their prayers and wishes, and urged them not to panic in response to a number of rumours being floated about the star's health.

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Even as Rajinikanth fans all over the State continued to hold special prayers and homams, doctors treating the Superstar said on Friday that he is on the path of recovery and will be shifted to an ordinary ward in a day or two.

"He was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit only to be in a safe and sterile environment in order to avoid any infection. Rajini is much better now. And there is nothing to worry about his health," sources in the Sri Ramachandra Medical Centre (SRMC) said.

On Friday, South Indian Film Artistes Association president and All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi supremo R Sarath Kumar called on Rajini at the hospital and wished speedy recovery. DMDK chief Vijayakanth called on the Superstar on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Dhanush has decided to throw a party for his winning a National Award for 'Aadukalam', only after the Superstar, who is his father-in-law, returns home from hospital. "That will happen soon," the actor has tweeted on his microblogging page.

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Day in pics: May 16

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi presents a bouquet to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa after the swearing-in ceremony at Madras University Centenary Auditorium in Chennai on Monday. Photo: PTI
 West Indies' captain Darren Sammy, right, successfully appeals for the LBW of Pakistan's Umar Akmal, rear, to dismiss him for 47 runs, during the second innings on the fourth day of their first cricket Test match in Georgetown, Guyana, Sunday May 15, 2011. Photo: AP
 Russia's Maria Sharapova shows children the trophy at the end of the women's final match against Australia's Samantha Stosur, at the Italian Open tennis tournament, in Rome, Sunday, May 15, 2011. Maria Sharapova stormed to a 6-2, 6-4 win over Sam Stosur in the Italian Open final Sunday for the biggest clay-court title of her career. Photo: AP
 Morelia's Adrian Garcia, left, fights for the ball with Cruz Azul's Isaac Romo, center, during a Mexican soccer league semifinal match in Morelia, Mexico, Sunday, May 15, 2011. Photo: AP

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Bowled over! Famous cricketer-actress link-ups

Madhur Bhandarkar's latest offering 'Heroine', which was unveiled with Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan in the lead, at the 64th Cannes Film Festival, has a rather interesting film poster. On the bottom-right corner of the poster that's designed like a film magazine cover, it reads 'Scoop! Caught in the act with cricketer 'friend'' leading us to speculate that Bhandarkar must have taken inspiration from the numerous link-ups between actresses and cricketers! in.com takes a look at the stories, some that remained just rumours and others that went public...

MS Dhoni & Lakshmi Rai

Before Captain Cool decided to settle down with his Sakshi, reports constantly suggested a blooming romance between Dhoni and Kannada actress Lakshmi Rai. Though the actress denied rumours of a relationship several times, she once admitted that if Dhoni asked her to marry him, she wouldn't mind. Guess this one's gotten away, Lakshmi!

 

Sourav Ganguly & Nagma

Tongues were set wagging when a married Sourav Ganguly was linked to actress Nagma. Ganguly at the time was the skipper of the Indian team and reports said that his wife Dona was on the verge of seeking a divorce. Eventually however the reports died down with Nagma indirectly hinting in an interview with a magazine in 2003 that the two parted as Ganguly's career was at stake.

 

Yuvraj Singh & Kim Sharma

The Bollywood actress and Prince of Punjab dated for four long years before splitting. Rumours of them getting back together frequently made for the gossip pages in tabloids but Kim finally moved on and got married to Kenyan businessman Ali Punjani last year.

 

Yuvraj Singh & Kim Sharma

The Bollywood actress and Prince of Punjab dated for four long years before splitting. Rumours of them getting back together frequently made for the gossip pages in tabloids but Kim finally moved on and got married to Kenyan businessman Ali Punjani last year.

Mohammed Azharuddin & Sangeeta Bijlani

Kicking up a huge controversy at the time, former Indian skipper Mohammed Azharuddin divorced his first wife Naureen and married Bollywood actress Sangeeta Bijlani in 1996. Bijlani herself at the time was linked to Salman Khan and the two men have shared cool vibes ever since. However their 14-year-long marriage went kaput last year when the couple filed for divorce after rumours of an affair between Azharuddin and badminton player Jwala Gutta surfaced.

 

Zaheer Khan & Isha Sharvani

It wasn't love at first sight when Bollywood actress Sharvani first bumped into Zak at a party in 2005. However as they continued to meet each other at events, love grew though the couple called it quits in 2007. Their bond was however too strong to break and they came together again in 2010 and recent reports following the World Cup victory also suggest that the two might soon even tie the knot.

 

Sreesanth & Riya Sen

While filming together for a jewellry ad, reports began to suggest that the Kochi Tuskers bowler may be dating Riya Sen. However, Riya herself put the rumours to rest when she tweeted that she was not dating Sreesanth and had simply attended the Kochi matches for promotions.

 

Irfan Pathan & Anusha Dandekar

Recent reports suggested that just more than a casual friendship may be brewing between MTV VJ Anusha Dandekar and Delhi Daredevils all-rounder Irfan Pathan. Reports suggest that the VJ even went to meet him at his hometown, Vadodara.

 

Virat Kohli & Sarah-Jane Dias

Another girl who seems to have got a cricketer smitten is former Miss India Sarah-Jane Dias. According to reports, Dias and Royal Challengers Bangalore player Virat Kohli met at a popular club in Bangalore and have hit it off since.

 

Harbhajan Singh & Geeta Basra

Bhajji found love in Punjabi kudi and actress Geeta Basra who famously has been spotted at parties and at matches when the spinner plays. Rumours have it that Singh even introduced Basra to his mother thought the actress claims that the two are only good 'friends' and she is presently focussing on her career.

 

Sreesanth & Shriya Saran

Another Southern hottie who was linked to Sreesanth was Shriya Saran, after the two were spotted at a fashion party. However Saran quickly refuted all reports saying that she hardly knew the cricketer.

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‘One crore girls vanish every year'

About one crore girls vanish every year through foeticide or other forms of killing, Governor of Uttarakhand Margaret Alva said here on Wednesday. She was addressing a seminar on women's rights here organised by Congress leader Janet D Souza's non-governemental organisation ‘Parivartan.' “We call it the disappearing sex. One crore girls die every year or are not allowed [to be born],” Ms. Alva said.

On the issue of ‘honour killings,' she said: “What is happening in Haryana, Punjab, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh? Khap panchayats tell married couples to live like siblings. Couples are killed. We call it dishonour killings,” Ms. Alva said. While there were many laws protecting the rights and entitlements of women, 80 per cent of the women were not aware of them, and mostly, women were told to put up with domestic violence.

She stressed on the need to sensitise the implementation machinery to make legislation more effective. “Till today, there are thousands of dowry-related deaths. There are many complaints of the police not registering cases. No one comes to help the women. If a woman is suffering domestic violence, others prefer not to meddle with the family's affairs. If laws have to be implemented effectively, we have to think about how to go about it. Jail officers, bureaucrats, court, lawyers and NGOs need to be sensitised about legislation on women. Crores of rupees are being spent on this,” she said.

‘Appoint women judges'

Pointing to the large number of male judges at family courts, Ms. Alva called for the appointment of women judges. Most of the health programmes for women focussed on issues related to child-bearing, while other health issues were neglected. “Health initiatives only look at pre-natal, post-natal problems. Don't women's bodies suffer from other ailments? Is there a post-menopause programme? Since a woman is done having children, she can be left to die,” Ms. Alva said.

Criticises idolisation

She also came down heavily against the traditional idolisation of women. “Men ask ‘What do women want?' Are they not worshipped as Lakshmi and Saraswathi? Isn't the President a woman? Isn't the person heading the United Progressive Alliance a woman? But, this is not victory. Don't turn us into idols; treat us like human beings. Give us the right to life, to live and to die peacefully,” Ms. Alva said.

Speakers called for 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabha. Advocate Mrunalini Deshmukh said women were becoming aware of their rights as a growing number were filing for divorce. “In a year, there are at least 10,000 cases not just of divorce, but of child custody and maintenance,” she said.

Veteran journalist Pratima Joshi said that the Mahila Ayog in Maharashtra had almost become defunct. She also said that along with the grant of 33 per cent quota, there must be an assurance that the seats would go to women party workers and not to the kith and kin of leaders in power.

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Governor's report jolts BJP

The special report of Karnataka Governor H.R. Bhardwaj to the Union government has come as a rude shock to the BJP and, in particular, the legislators who only a few days ago regained their membership of the Assembly and affirmed their support to the leadership of Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa early on Sunday.

Although the contents of the Governor's report have been kept confidential, sources in the State government told The Hindu that it was evident that the report contained a recommendation for severe action (possibly President's rule and dissolution of the Assembly) in the light of the orders of the Supreme Court in the case relating to disqualification of legislators.

The Chief Minister and top leaders of the State unit of the BJP, including president K.S. Eshwarappa, expressed their shock over the developments.

The BJP has decided to take the Governor head on as it made all efforts during the day to convince him that the ruling party enjoys a comfortable majority and that there is no necessity even for a trial of strength on the floor of the House.

Incidentally, the Governor refrained from even meeting the 10 legislators who wanted to individually submit their letters of support to the government. He told the Ministers who called on him that with Sunday being an office holiday he was not in a position to meet them.

All eyes are now on the action that the Centre will take over the Governor's report.

Ten of the 11 BJP legislators who were camping along with the five Independent legislators in New Delhi over the past two days had, prior to their return to Bangalore, submitted a letter to the Governor about their support to the Chief Minister and this put to rest all speculation relating to the survival of the government.

The legislators concerned said: “We wish to put to rest all such speculation and we hereby confirm that we continue to be MLAs of the BJP and that we extend unqualified support to the government led by B.S. Yeddyurappa.”

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NDA to meet Manmohan over Karnataka crisis

Taking on Karnataka Governor H.R. Bhardwaj for recommending President’s Rule in the State, the National Democratic Alliance on Monday decided to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to demand his dismissal and asked Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa to parade all MLAs supporting him in front of the President.

“The NDA strongly condemns the action of Governor of Karnataka in sending a report to the Central government. The Governor’s conduct is partisan. It defies all Constitutional norms and principles. There is absolutely no doubt that the Yeddyurappa government enjoys an overwhelming majority in the Assembly,” senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley told reporters.

He maintained that as a result of the Supreme Court judgement, the 11 suspended MLAs have been held to be members of the BJP and were bound by its whip.

The NDA decided to meet the Prime Minister to raise this issue and demand recall of Mr. Bhardwaj.

“We intend to raise two specific issues with the Prime Minister. Firstly, this report is unconstitutional and obviously must be rejected by the Central government. And secondly, the governor of Karnataka repeatedly is indulging in unconstitutionality. And so, for defying the Constitution he should be recalled as Governor,” Mr. Jaitley said.

The NDA leadership has also asked Mr. Yeddyurappa to bring MLAs backing him to the capital and parade them in front of President Pratibha Patil to prove that he has the numbers.

“We shall take all the MLAs supporting the government to the President and demonstrate our strength in front of Rashtrapati Bhavan since a floor test is no longer required,” Mr. Jaitley said.

The “urgent meeting” of the NDA leaders was held at the residence of their working president L.K. Advani to discuss the issue arising out of Mr. Bhardwaj’s report which is said to have recommended President’s Rule in Karnataka.

Mr. Jaitley maintained that these 11 suspended MLAs have taken back the letter they wrote on October 6, 2010 withdrawing support to the Yeddyurappa government.

“The MLAs have themselves said they support the government,” he added.

The NDA maintained that 121 MLAs support Yeddyurappa-led BJP government in Karnataka while the opposition has only 97 in the 225-member Assembly.

The BJP is also miffed at Mr. Bhardwaj for not heeding to the Chief Minister’s advice to call a special session of the Assembly on Monday.

“The logical course would have been to have a floor test. As long as a government is in majority the Governor is bound by the Constitution to act as per its advice. Bhardawj has acted unconstitutionally in not going by the advice of the council of ministers,” Mr. Jaitley said.

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Badrinath Audio Launch / Badrinath Audio Songs Release

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Nagachaitanya in Tv9 studio PART- II

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Nagachaitanya in Tv9 studio PART- I

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Indian Businessman owns the 'First Flying Car'

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'Blaster' Sehwag out of IPL

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tv 9 special

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News X - UK bookie calls Indian model to fix up meeting with Bhajji

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Banks wait to react to Sony fraud

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Banks are seeking to reassure their customers after it emerged this week that 3m Sony customers in the UK may have fallen victim to a huge data breach.
Hackers are believed to have stolen personal information from customers of Sony’s PlayStation Network, Sony Online Entertainment and Qriocity film, which are used by customers to purchase films and play online games. More than 100m people worldwide could be affected.
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Credit card details, along with names, addresses, e-mails, dates of birth and phone numbers may have been exposed.
Sony, which revealed the full extent of the attack this week, said there was no evidence so far that the information had been used illegally.
However, there has been confusion over what action customers should take, with one customer claiming his bank had told him to cancel his credit card. Lloyds, the bank in question, said this was not the advice it should have given and it did not plan to cancel cards until it had been provided with more information from Sony.
Sandra Quinn at the UK Payments Administration said that UK bank customers who have an account with Sony did not need to do anything at present.
“Once Sony has worked out what is lost, it will advise us and we will advise the banks. The banks can then decide whether to reissue cards or flag accounts in potential danger,” she said.
Banks said they were waiting for more information from Sony before deciding how to react.
Barclays said it was not proactively replacing customers’ cards nor advising customers to cancel their cards. If customers were concerned, it said it would check their accounts for unusual activity and flag accounts at risk.
The cost of fraud to the UK is more than £38bn each year. Customers who spot unusual activity on their credit or debit card should contact their providers immediately. But banks say that the strength of their fraud detection software means they often spot irregularities before the customer does.
HSBC said customers should be reassured that unless they were contacted regarding suspicious transactions, there was no need to worry.
Victims of fraud should take immediate action by changing online passwords, particularly if they use a simple password or the same one for different accounts. Consecutive numbers, and the word “password” are among the most commonly used security codes and are easily guessed by hackers.
All UK banking customers are protected by the Payments Services Regulations and there is no cap on the compensation that can be paid out in the case of fraud.
The National Fraud Authority says that a leading potential source of fraud is identity theft, whereby thieves use personal information to set up lines of credit in a victim’s name. This can ruin the victim’s credit score and prevent them from taking out mortgages or credit cards in the future.
The National Fraud Authority recommends that all consumers carry out a credit check each year with one of the three UK agencies: Experian, Equifax and Call Credit. There are also subscription services that monitor accounts and alert the holder of any suspicious activities.
It you are a victim of fraud you can also report the details to Action Fraud, which will add the incident to its crime database, which is used to track activity.
Sony has apologised to its customers and has offered to pay for identity theft protection.

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Japan's innovative kissing machine

It's sort of gross, but hey. Whatever makes you happy.
Tokyo's Kajimoto Laboratory is working on a "kiss transmission device" that, when you hook it up to the internet, facilitates a lip-locking experience with someone remotely.
How?
 
Well. It involves a device that looks a bit like a breathalyzer — a plastic box with a movable straw attached.
By twirling the plastic straw around with your tongue, you move another plastic straw, which is connected to another little plastic box with a straw that is ideally in someone else's mouth. Hopefully someone you like.
The device is still under development, but ideally the computer would be able to read and store your "kissing information," then play it back on any given long and lonely night.
It's being billed as a device to lessen the "love miles" between long distance lovers, but Nobuhiro Takahashi, a graduate student and researcher at the University of Electro-Communications, dangles another titillating possibility.
"If you have a popular entertainer use this device and record it, that could be hugely popular if you offer it to fans," Takahashi says.
In this video, Takahashi gives the device a trial run.

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Obama pushes Pakistan on bin Laden

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Antibiotics May Help in Controlling Spread of HIV

Researchers from the University of Melbourne have come up with the notion that HIV virus can be weakened by the use of antibiotics like ADCC. Study co-author, Stephen Kent said that the use of good quality of ADCC at an early stage can help in stopping the virus from taking hold on one's body.
For the research, a team of researchers led by Ivan Stratov and Professor Kent employed a brilliant technology in their lab to find out how ADCC attacks the virus and stops it from spreading. Doctor Stratov has told that after finding subsequent evidence of ADCC potential of hampering the HIV virus, his team will now work on designing HIV vaccines which will provoke ADCC and will make it impossible for the virus to escape from its grips.
Australian suffering from HIV is treated with drugs that restore the immunity system. This method of treatment doesn't help patients to survive longer. It is believed that the successful invention of HIV antibiotic will help patients to survive.
Kent and his team have been working on the experiment for more than 10 years. Their 10 years of effort has finally begun to show results. It has been told that the researchers were themselves aghast when they witnessed the control of antibiotic over the virus. And now they are hoping that HIV virus through the use of antibiotics could be eliminated at a tender stage.

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Syrian authorities detain hundreds in fresh raids

BEIRUT: A rights activist says Syrian security forces are conducting house-to-house raids across the country, detaining hundreds of people as part of a widening crackdown on anti-government protests.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, says the arrests are zeroing in on the demonstrations’ organizers and participants.

Abdul-Rahman says Monday’s raids are focused in the central city of Homs, the coastal city of Banias, some suburbs of the capital Damascus and villages around the southern flashpoint city of Daraa.

The continued crackdown suggests that Assad’s regime is determined to crush the uprising by force and intimidation, despite rapidly escalating international outrage and a death toll that has topped 630 civilians since the unrest began in mid-March, according to rights groups.

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Mallika Advices Kangana On How To Enter Hollywood

Mallika Sherawat has been offering Kangana Ranaut advice on how to enter Hollywood. The sex siren treats Kangana like a younger sister.

A source close to Mallika said, "Kangana is curious about Hollywood and keeps asking Mallika about her experiences. She has even promised to help Kangana with her Hollywood contacts. Mallika feels Kangana can try her luck, too, and is giving her advice." .

Both the actresses feature together in Double Dhamaal. As reported in September last year Mallika had avoided co-star Kangana's overtures during the first schedule of Double Dhamaal making their co-stars Sanjay Dutt, Ritiesh Deshmukh and Arshad Warsi uncomfortable. But this catfight ended soon. .

The source added, "Initially, Kangana thought Mallika behaved like a diva, while Mallika couldn't understand why Kangana was so friendly with the guys. But Kangana has always been friendly with all her co-stars from Emraan Hashmi to Hrithik Roshan, Arshad, Ritiesh and Sanju whereas Mallika prefers to keep to herself while shooting." .

"It was during the second schedule that the two became good friends with Mallika even posting pictures of Kangana and her to disprove the theory that she and Kangana didn't get along. One of Kangana's first invites for her birthday party went to Mallika," added the source.

Read more at: http://movies.ndtv.com/movie_story.aspx?section=Movies&Id=ENTEN20110175200&keyword=bollywood&subcatg=MOVIESINDIA&nid=104417&cp

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India's Supreme Court court suspends Ayodhya ruling

India's Supreme Court has suspended a ruling over the fate of the Ayodhya holy site, where Hindu zealots destroyed a mosque in 1992.

Last December the Allahabad High Court said the land should be divided and that the razed 16th Century Babri Masjid should not be rebuilt.
Hindu and Muslim groups appealed against that verdict, which the court on Monday described as "strange".
This case was launched well before 1992 and centres around who owns the land.
But the destruction of the mosque sparked off some of the worst communal violence in recent Indian history - nearly 2,000 people died in subsequent religious riots across the country.
In December's ruling the Allahabad court said that the site should be split, with the Muslim community getting control of a third, Hindus gaining control of another third and the remainder going to a minority Hindu sect, Nirmohi Akhara, which was one of the early groups to pursue a share of the land in the case.
On Monday, the Supreme Court put the judgement on hold, saying it was "strange". It also said that the division of the disputed land has "opened a litany of litigation".
Hindus claim the site of the Babri Masjid is the birthplace of their deity, Ram, and want to build a temple there.
Muslim groups have argued that the Allahabad court's ruling appeared to be based not on evidence but on the professed beliefs of Hindus.

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Osama bin Laden dead: protests in Pakistan

Pre-dominantly Muslim Pakistan has yet to see any major backlash after US special forces killed bin Laden early on Monday, not far from the capital Islamabad.But his death has angered Islamists, with one major hardline political party calling on Pakistan's government to end its support for the US war on militancy.

"Jihad (holy war) against America will not stop with the death of Osama," said Fazal Mohammad Baraich, a cleric.

Protesters shouted "Down with America" at a demonstration near the city of Quetta, capital of Baluchistan province in the southwest.

"Osama bin Laden is a shaheed (martyr). The blood of Osama will give birth to thousands of other Osamas."

Others burned American flags.

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