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PCB finalises venues for India, Pak matches Islamabad, Nov 3: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has finalized a list of venues where One-Day Internationals and Test matches with India will be played next year. Quetta, Karachi, Peshawar, Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi and Multan have been chosen as venues for the seven One-dayers in the revised itinerary being sent this week. (Contd) Court finds Sharma guilty in 'Tandoor' murder case New Delhi, Nov 3: A Delhi court on Monday held former Youth Congress leader Sushil Sharma guilty in the tandoor murder case. The sentence will be pronounced on Wednesday. Sharma was accused of killing his wife Naina and burning her body in the tandoor (oven) of the Baghiya eestaurant in Delhi on July 2, 1995. The court also held Baghiya restaurant manager Keshav Kumar guilty of conspiring with Sharma in his attempts to dispose of the body. However, the court acquitted the other three accused - Jai Prakash Pehlwaan, Rishi Raj Rathi and Ram Prakash Sachdeva - of the charge of harbouring Sharma for want of evidence. Uma to contest from Bada Malara New Delhi, Nov 3: BJP's chief ministerial candidate in Madhya Pradesh Uma Bharati will contest from Bada Malara constituency while the state unit general secretary Shivraj Singh Chauhan is being pitted against Chief Minister Digvijay Singh from Raghoghar after the party released the first list of 137 candidates for the polls to the 230-member assembly. The list was finalised at a meeting of the party's Central Election Committee chaired by party President M Venkaiah Naidu at the residence of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh and state leaders Kailash Joshi and Babulal Gaur. Mizoram CEO's
office ransacked (Go
To Top) Silchar, Nov 3: Pre-poll activity in Mizoram received a jolt over the weekend when activists of the Save Mizoram Committee (TSMC) ransacked the office of the Chief Electoral Officer of Mizoram, Lalmalsawma. Delayed reports reaching here said that the attack took place after angry TSMC members failed to get a satisfactory answer from Lalmalsawma over the inclusion of some 3,700 BRU voters in the polling list for the coming state polls. Telephones, fax machines, xerox printers and computers were destroyed in the ensuing melee, though there were no reports of human casualties. One of the activists later told ANI that the CEO's office was ransacked because Lalmalsawma refused to show the Election Commission's notification that had insisted on the names and signatures of BRU applicants. TSMC is an apex forum that represents most political parties and NGOs in the state who are strongly opposed to the inclusion of BRU voters for next month's elections. They see the BRU as outsiders who do not have the right to exercise their franchise in the state. Bleach taken to hospital for check-up (Go To Top) Kolkata, Nov 3: Peter Bleach, a British citizen convicted in the Purulia arms drop case, was examined for suspected tuberculosis at a local hospital on Monday. Deepak Prahaladkar, a human rights activist, said that Bleach was taken to a hospital on the recommendations of the doctors at the Alipore central jail. "On the recommendation of the jail doctors Peter Bleach was sent to SSKM (Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial) hosptial for medical examination and two doctors examined him to find out whether he has TB", Prahaladkar said. Bleach was taken back to jail after the medical examination. The report is expected by Wednesday. Bleach, along with five airmen from Russia and Latvia, was convicted in February 2000 of airdropping arms including AK-47s and ammunition in West Bengal in 1995. Police said they were smuggling the arms to a militant group. The Russian and Latvian aircrew were released in July 2000 after appeals for clemency by Moscow. But India has ignored repeated requests by Britain to free Bleach. British government has been in regular touch with Indian authoritites to seek safe release of Bleach. Bleach has filed an appeal saying his rights under the Indian Constitution were violated when his Russian and Latvian co- accused were released, an allegation denied by India. TADA court exempts Sanjay Dutt, 85 others till November 30 (Go To Top) Mumbai, Nov 3: Film actor Sanjay Dutt and 85 other accused of being involved in the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai were on Monday exempted from making a personal appearance before a special court till November 30. The accused are charged with carrying out the serial blasts of March 12, 1993 that killed 257 people and injured 713, besides damaging property worth Rs 27 crore. Passing the order, the special court's Designated Judge, PD Kode, however, directed defence counsel Farhana Shah to ensure that the accused appeared before the court without fail on December 1. In a separate development, the court allowed accused Ejaz Pathan to undergo treatment for a neurological problem at the government-run J.J. Hospital. Pathan was also permitted to visit his ailing brother who has been admitted to the intensive care unit of the same hospital. Dutt is facing the charge of possessing an AK-56 rifle and destroying the weapon, which the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) claims was provided to him by absconding gangster Abu Salem. Salem is presently residing in Lisbon, Portugal and the CBI is awaiting government-to-government agreements to get him extradited. So far, the CBI has examined 686 witnesses and its evidence has crossed 13,000 pages. TADA court exempts Sanjay Dutt, 85 others till November 30 (Go To Top) Jammu, Nov 3: Security forces on Monday killed two suspected Pakistani militants belonging to Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT) in a fierce gun battle in Rajouri district's Manjakote forest area. Official sources here said the militants had abducted and later killed a civilian, Mir Hussain. Hussain was kidnapped from his house in Surankote in Poonch district. He was reported to be an informer. They said that army troops launched a cordon and search operation and tracked down the LeT militants before engaging them in an overnight encounter. The two militants were later identified as Abu Rakha and Hamza Afghani. The sources also said that two AK assault rifles, five magazines, 130 rounds of ammunition, four IEDs, seven grenades, two UBGL grenades, one rocket and one radio set were recovered after the encounter. Pak to move Kashmir self-determination resolution next week (Go To Top) United Nations, Nov 3: Pakistan is expected to move a resolution on providing Kashmiris with the right to self- determination in the UN General Assembly next week, as part of its reaffirmation that "all people, including those under colonial, foreign and alien domination," must have this universal right. Declaring Islamabad's intention in this regard, the Dawn newspaper quoted Pakistan's Permanent Representative at the U.N., Munir Akram, as saying that introducing this resolution was vital to remove the misnomer projected by "India and other countries" that freedom struggles were "terrorist" movements. US seeking Nepal military bases to target China: Maoists (Go To Top) Kathmandu, Nov 3: The United States is planning to set up military bases in Nepal to target China and India, claimed Maoist rebels. According to the News, the rebels were quoted as saying that Washington was taking this step after declaring the guerrillas a national security threat and freezing their foreign assets. In a statement issued here, the Maoists, who are fighting to overthrow Nepal's monarchy, said: "Despite our declared policy not to cause any harm to any foreigners or foreign power including America, the Americans have taken this action so they can set up military bases with an aim of encircling China and India." "It is absurd to think Americans who live across the seven seas face a threat from us. The US wanted an excuse to interfere in Nepal's internal affairs," they further stressed. Describing the latest move by the U.S. as "a conspiracy against calls by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, the European Union and other Western powers for the Nepalese government and the Maoists to resume a peace dialogue," the statement further went on to say that there were no immediate plans on resuming peace talks. Late last month, Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal said the time was not right for negotiations because of the Nepalese government's growing "militarisation". The State Department had announced last Friday that it had designated the Maoists a threat to national security, a move, which freezes any assets the rebels, may have in the United States or under U.S. jurisdiction. Immediately after the announcement, the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu advised American citizens to exercise special caution because of "the possibility of an increased threat to Americans and American-affiliated organizations from Maoist insurgents in the coming days." RBI revises GDP, leaves interest rates untouched (Go To Top) Mumbai, Nov 3: The Reserve Bank of India on Monday did an about-turn, deciding not to touch key interest rates, including the bank rate, even as it revised upwards the GDP growth rate to 6.5-7 per cent for 2003-04 against six per cent projected in April. The bank rate at six per cent, repo rate and cash reserve ratio at 4.5 per cent remains unaltered. Releasing his maiden mid-term monetary and credit policy, RBI Governor YV Reddy said the monetary policy stance would continue to make provisions of adequate liquidity to meet the credit growth and would support investment demand. He, however, said that the bank would maintain a vigil on the price level with preference for soft and flexible interest rate environment. Projecting an inflation rate of 4-4.5 per cent with a possible downward bias as compared to earlier projection of 5-5.5 per cent, Reddy said the outlook remains benign. The RBI would, however, continue to closely monitor the price behaviour leaving no room for complacency on the inflation front, he added. Nail-biting finish at Pune (Go To Top) Pune, Nov 3: Australia pulled off a two-wicket victory over New Zealand in probably the match of the tri-series here on Monday. Australia were set a total of 259 to win by New Zealand and at one stage, the World Champions looked like they were headed for defeat. But a brilliant 108 run partnership between Michael Bevan and Michael Clarke set Australia on their way. Clarke scored a fine 70 before he was bowled by Tuffy, who had impressive figures of 4/21 and Bevan made 50. A quickfire 35 from Andrew Symonds in the end made sure that the Aussies would book their place in the final in Kolkata on November 18. Australia, who won the toss and elected to field, went on to demolish the initial New Zealand lineup. At the end of 50 overs, the Kiwis managed to post 258. The wrecker-in-chief for Australia was Brad Williams who took five wickets giving away just 40 runs. A win for Australia will almost certainly put the world champions into the final. The Kiwis, however, are still looking for their first win of the series. PCB finalises venues for India, Pak matches (Go To Top) (Contd) One Test each is to be played at Karachi and Lahore while the third will either be in Rawalpindi or Peshawar. "We have not decided the sequence of matches as yet," a PCB spokesman told Dawn on Sunday. The PCB had first dispatched an itinerary to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on August 15. However, after the Indian government announced last month full resumption of sporting ties with Pakistan, BCCI asked for the itinerary to be revised. "They wanted that there should be sufficient gap after completing their tour Down Under," the spokesman said. According to the new itinerary, the Indian team is likely to arrive in Pakistan around February 24 for what will be their first Test tour of this country in 14 years. India last toured Pakistan in 1989 for a Test series while Pakistan crossed over in 1999 for three Tests despite security concerns. The Tests in Chennai and New Delhi went incident-free but crowd trouble marred the third at Eden Gardens forcing the police to evacuate the stands.
London/Washington, Nov 3: Blonde beauty Elizabeth Hurley has dismisssed reports that her impending marriage to lover Arun Nayar has been called off. The star claims that marriage was never on the cards, and termed the entire exercise as a figment of the media's imagination. According to a report in website ratethemusic, India-born businessman Nayar had cancelled his nuptials with the "Bedazzled" star as he felt "smothered" by her wealth. However, Liz's spokesperson jumping to the defence of the model- actress, has outrightly rejected the claims. "It was an invention of the press that Liz and Arun were getting married and they are highly amused to be told the wedding is now off. They are eagerly awaiting the next fictionalised installment of their riveting matrimonial plans," he was quoted as saying. Liz's sister Kate has also confirmed that the wedding was never on. "They were never getting married anyway. It's the world making it up, as usual," Kate said. Meanwhile, a report in British tabloid 'Sun' said that Hurley had shelved her February wedding to Nayar until 2006, waiting for the businessman's divorce to come through. Thirty-seven-year old Arun married a former model Valentina in Italy in 1996, where the minimum period of separation before divorce is three years. Couples can end marriages after a year in India, where they also had a ceremony, but wrangles can drag on a lifetime. "She only found out from the newspapers in January that Arun was seeing Liz. She even hoped to patch things up, so had no reason to file for separation straight away. I don't know if she has consented to divorce in India. But I doubt she would contest it - she is not vindictive. At least that would save Arun dragged-out proceedings," a friend of Valentina said. Home at last, for the Beckhams! (Go To Top) London, Nov 3: After living in the Santa Mauro hotel for 11 weeks, the Beckhams have finally moved to their new abode in Madrid, sending out vibes to the world at large that the celebrity marriage is not under any strain. Drawing the blinds on rumours of an imminent split, the high- profile couple spent the first night cozying up in the rented house along with their sons Brooklyn and Romeo. According to the Sun, the sprawling 4.5 million pound red-brick ranch-style property is located in Las Encinas, an exclusive walled estate located 12 miles north of Madrid's city centre. According to a friend of Victoria's, the Beckhams were elated to have finally found a Spanish home and vehemently dismissed rumours that Victoria had not wanted to move to Madrid. Recently, the former Spice girl drew a lot of flak for only spending five days out of the last three weeks in Santa Mauro Hotel with Becks. "They are so happy. Staying in a hotel has upset their routine as a family. It is such a relief for them to have a proper home in Spain. They have been very upset by rumours about their relationship and Victoria has assured me there are no problems whatsoever," the pal said. The new house has an outdoor heated pool and state-of-the-art security, including motion sensors in the grounds, and is also in a no-fly zone being near one of the homes of the King of Spain, Juan Carlos. Best haircut award goes to Jennifer Aniston! (Go To Top) New York, Nov 3: British women have voted "Friends" star Jennifer Aniston as having the best celebrity haircut. According to ratethemusic.com, Aniston won an online poll to find the most lusted-after locks. Almost half of the 5,000 women polled by the women's lifestyle website Handbag.com decided that Aniston's hair was their favourite. "Her appeal lies in her ability to transform her hair from surfer chic by day to sleek and sexy by night. She has replaced the Rachel cut and still seized the haircut crown," a spokesperson said. "Sex and the City" star Sarah Jessica Parker's curly locks earned her a third place in the poll and Sadie Frost's brunette crop came a poor fifth. Former All Saints star Nicole Appleton's much-maligned mullet style won the worst haircut award. Madonna bans daughter from aping Aguilera! (Go To Top) Washington, Nov 3: Pop diva Madonna has banned her seven- year-old daughter Lourdes, a huge fan of Christina Aguilera, from copying the 'Dirrty' singer. Despite mum Madge kissing Christina on-stage at the MTV VMA along with Britney Spears, Lourdes isn't allowed to emulate her sexy dance routines at home. In an interview with Access Hollywood, Madonna says, "Lourdes absolutely loves Christina and Missy Elliott. She tries to sing like Christina - it's very funny. But she's not into the moves, just the voice, which is a good thing. The moves are far too sexy for my daughter." Madonna, who has constantly courted controversy throughout her career, most notoriously with her 1992 SEX book, insists that her children will not be exposed to racy performances, reports TeenHollywood. "For all Madonna's outrageousness, she's quite a sensible mum. She won't let her kids do or see anything she thinks will be a bad influence," added a source. Oprah Winfrey is bad for your health: Research (Go To Top) Washington, Nov 3: Researchers in the United States have discovered a surprising link between anxiety levels and feasting on TV queen Oprah Winfrey, a report in New York Post said. "Either watching Oprah leads to anxiety, or severely stressed Americans are drawn to Oprah," Hale Dwoskin said. The behaviorist commissioned a study that found that five percent of the nation's adults or nine million people, believe that they are so stressed out, they can't cope. And almost half of them belong to the Oprah fan club. The research also concluded that 76 percent of Oprah fans say they wish their lives were calmer, a figure that's 20 percent higher than non-fans. Kidman, Kravitz to tie the knot with Cruise's blessings (Go To Top) Sydney, Nov 3: The buzz doing the rounds is that Nicole Kidman is all set to walk down the aisle with rock star Lenny Kravitz with the blessing of ex-husband Tom Cruise. According to the Australian, a report in London's "Evening Standard" said that the 36-year old Oscar winner and the 39-year old rocker, who have been dating each other since July, plan to tie the knot with a "real splash". Kidman was recently spotted wearing a large diamond ring and has apparently now moved it to her engagement finger. However, the actress' publicist, Wendy Day, has denied rumours about the couple getting engaged. The Evening Standard also quoted a friend as saying that Kravitz was acting "like a big kid planning a birthday party", while Kidman preferred "a smaller affair" with a select group of guests. Earlier this year, Kidman set tongues wagging when she moved into Kravitz's Soho apartment while her pad was being renovated. Another friend said that the "big surprise" revolved around the fact that Kidman was all set for a second marriage, two-and-a- half years after she divorced Cruise, her husband of 10 years. "It shocked a lot of people, who just thought she was having fun with Lenny. But he swept Nicole off her feet," the friend was quoted as saying. "Quite clearly, they are good friends and they are enjoying some dates out on the town in New York but, beyond that, anything else is speculation and rubbish," Day said defensively. Biel's sexy photoshoot returns to haunt her (Go To Top) Washington, Nov 3: Actress Jessica Biel has vowed never to strip again after a sexy photograph of hers was published in the American men's magazine, Gear. The blonde beauty, 21, was shocked to see the results of a shoot after the magazine had previously approved of a more tame set of pictures for publication, says TeenHollywood. Jessica, who starred in the American family TV program "7TH Heaven", was so upset that she has pledged to keep her clothes on from now on. "I thought the pictures were going to be more subdued. I'm talking about how much was shown of my chest. My family was heartbroken, but they understood that I had got myself involved with people who weren't thinking about me and were instead thinking about a story they could get out of it", says the actress. -ANI |