Archive for: July 21, 2010

World’s number one ranked Test batsman Virender Sehwag smashed 85 from 98 balls with 14 fours and a six in his typical imperious fashion as India  posted 140 for three in 29.4 overs of batting on the third day of the first cricket test against Sri Lanka  at Galle.

VVS Laxman was unbeaten on 18 from 31 balls at stumps.

Lasith Malinga \ provided Sri Lanka with the early breakthrough when he claimed the wicket of India opener Gautam Gambhir, who was trapped leg before wicket for two. Rahul Dravid was run out for 18 as he …

She is about 30 films old down South, but actress Trisha Krishnan had to make a new beginning in Bollywood for her debut Hindi film Khatta Meetha. She was a little reserved on the sets, which made co-star Akshay Kumar do all to make her feel comfortable.

“I wasn’t interacting much with people during my early days in Khatta Meetha. Also, I was a little tense about the dialogues because this is my first Hindi film.

“Akshay came and told me girls in Mumbai talk so much while I was the opposite as I was so …

The Colombo Fort Magistrate today ordered the prisons commissioner to ensure General Sarath Fonseka’s right to his parliamentary privileges including attending parliament and advisory meetings. The judge sent a written order to this effect to the prisons commissioner.

General Sarath Fonseka yesterday requested Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa to summon the Army Commander before the privileges committee of the House soon.

Raising a question of privilege in parliament Gen. Fonseka held the Army Commander responsible for the breach of his parliamentary privileges by not allowing him to attend a Parliamentary Consultative Committee meeting on July 16.

He …

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has announced that a framework for infrastructure financing was being worked out by the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) and the Planning Commission.

Inaugurating IRDA’s Grievance Call Centre and Insurance Information Bureau (IIB) website here on Tuesday, Mr. Mukherjee noted that the insurance sector contributed immensely to the infrastructure development in the country. Stating that the government had embarked on a huge expansion of infrastructure at this critical juncture, he wanted insurance companies to take the lead in creating national assets. Urging the insurance companies to come …

With the Reserve Bank of India expressing its reservations recently, it is not the last word yet on the recent turf war over ULIPs (unit-linked insurance products), despite the ordinance. The Finance Ministry on Tuesday said a Bill to replace the ordinance would be placed before Parliament in its forthcoming session beginning July 26.

“Regulators have raised their points of view. The Finance Minister has taken note of those issues. The ordinance, in whatever form, has to be placed before Parliament. It is matter of a few days when this [Bill] will be tabled …

Six youths attacked an Indian student in a suburb here on Monday night, causing him serious facial injuries, after he got involved in a brawl to save a compatriot from being roughed up.

Bharat Thapar, 24, of Panipat in Haryana, saw another Indian, Ratan, being bashed up near Carnish Road in Oakleigh South, said Sumeet, a friend of the victim. “He stopped his car and got out to stop the fight. But the youths took on him.” “Bharat has received some serious injuries on the face, and he is now waiting for a surgery, as …

The party’s revival in Uttar Pradesh has always been on the BJP’s agenda but not much effort had been made in this direction in the past. Now the party has begun a serious bid to re-energise its rank and file and sources said it was seriously thinking about dropping the Ayodhya issue from its core agenda.

On Tuesday, around 150 senior functionaries from Uttar Pradesh held a brainstorming session here with party chief Nitin Gadkari, his predecessor Ranjnath Singh, Murli Manohar Joshi …

Mamata Banerjee is hardly known for her ground-breaking work in the railway ministry. She doesn’t attend Parliament, is absent from her office on most days and the country has seen some of the worst train accidents in her tenure.

Why then is she so assiduously clinging on to a chair in which she clearly has no interest? The answer, perhaps, lies in the bottomless depths of the railways’ coffers and the ample publicity opportunities the ministry offers.

It seems Mamata has managed to turn the ministry into a personal publicity tool to help boost her …