Rio de Janeiro, Feb 25 (IANS/EFE) Cuban President Raul Castro has confirmed that his government is ready to talk with the US about any subject, but under conditions of equality, Brazil’s official Estado news agency reported. ‘We want to discuss with the government of the United States all the problems that they want to...
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Quito, Feb 25 (IANS/EFE) Private oil companies operating in Ecuador plan to invest more than $417 million in 2010, nearly double of last year’s outlay, the non-renewable natural resources ministry said. Reports from the National Hydrocarbons Directorate, which oversees oil and gas operations in Ecuador, say that figure corresponds to the 2010 exploration and...
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Toledo (Spain), Feb 25 (IANS/EFE) The Spanish government has said that it ‘deeply deplores’ the death of Cuban dissident Orlando Zapata Tamayo and regrets that the human rights situation on the communist-ruled island has led to ‘this very terrible outcome’. Zapata, 42, died Tuesday at a Havana hospital after an 85-day hunger strike. This...
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Veracruz (Mexico), Feb 25 (IANS/EFE) Mel Gibson visited a prison in the Mexican Gulf state of Veracruz where shooting for one of his upcoming films will take place. The actor, filmmaker and producer, accompanied by several members of the film crew, Tuesday meticulously toured the grounds of the Ignacio Allende prison in Veracruz, a...
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New Delhi, Feb 25 – India’s eminent artist M.F. Husain, who has been under attack from Hindu fundamentalists for his paintings of Hindu goddesses and has been living in Dubai and London, has been given Qatar nationality, it was reported here Thursday. ‘I, The Indian origin painter M.F. Husain at 95 have been honoured...
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Chandigarh, Feb 25 – A Panjab University student arrested on rape charges while on an educational trip to Boston was not a member of the official delegation but that of a ‘bogus’ team which got affidavits and varsity documents to support its participation at a conference in the US. Nitin Jindal, 22, a student...
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Washington, Feb 25 – An India-born rocket scientist has lifted the veil off Bloom Box fuel-cell, a revolutionary new technology that holds the promise to supply the world with abundant clean, cheap energy. ‘The core of our technology is simply sand,’ said K.R. Sridhar, 49, founder of the Silicon Valley clean tech start-up Bloom...
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Toronto, Feb 25 – With its huge population of Sri Lankan Tamils, Canada fears that resentment over the defeat of the Tamil Tigers last year may lead to violent response by sections of the 300,00-strong community here, says a report. Canadian security agencies are worried that the Tamil anger could lead to backlash like...
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Washington, Feb 25 (DPA) A group of senators has called for a clear vision for the future of the US space programme, characterising President Barack Obama’s plans for space agency NASA as ‘without a mission’. Earlier this month, Obama’s 2011 budget proposal included the scrapping of existing plans for next-generation spacecraft to return to...
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Los Angeles, Feb 25 (DPA) Freida Pinto, the Indian actress who made a splash in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, will play the female lead in the new movie ‘War of Gods’, Variety magazine reported Wednesday. Pinto will portray the oracle priestess Phaedra in the film about Theseus, a warrior from Greek mythology who takes on the...
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Singapore, Feb 25 (DPA) Singapore’s charity watchdog launched a probe into a popular Hindu temple’s governance and administration, the Straits Times reported Thursday. Investigations into the affairs of the Sri Siva Krishna temple were initiated in July following a complaint by the Hindu Endowments Board to the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports....
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Washington, Feb 25 – Calling India a ‘rising global power’, Washington has asked New Delhi to undertake new reforms and raise the cap on foreign equity in Indian defence firms to give more opportunities to US companies interested in defence sales in India. ‘India is a rising global power, soon to be the world’s...
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Toronto, Feb 25 (ANS) Wearing red at top international sporting events like the Olympics benefits an athlete, says a new study. In fast-paced sports such as races and skating a referee’s perceptions of motion are subconsciously affected by the colour the athlete is wearing, says the study at York University here. ‘All things being...
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Washington, Feb 25 – As the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan prepared to meet in New Delhi, the US said it had encouraged the two countries to resume direct talks at the highest political level. ‘With respect to India and Pakistan, we’ve encouraged the resumption of the direct talks which were suspended when...
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New Delhi, Feb 25 – The national capital saw a relatively warm and bright Thursday morning with the temperature hovering above the average mark. Delhi recorded a minimum of 14.6 degrees Celsius, three notches above the average, but lower than 16.5 degrees Celsius Wednesday. ‘Skies will mainly remain clear during the day with maximum...
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Ranchi, Feb 25 – Maoist rebels shot and set ablaze a truck driver’s assistant and set afire three trucks laden with bauxite in Gumla district of Jharkhand Thursday morning, police said. ‘The truck driver’s assistant was first shot and later burnt by the Maoists. The rebels also set on fire three trucks,’ said Superintendent...
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Bhubaneswar, Feb 25 – Three suspected Maoists were arrested from Rasol village in Keonjhar district of Orissa, police said Thursday. The arrested people have been identified as Rengal Munda, Daitari Munda and Jhula Munda. ‘We have arrested three Maoists. They were involved in several Maoist incidents,’ said Superintendent of Police Ashish Kumar Singh.
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New Delhi, Feb 25 – Lt. Gen. (retd) Avdhesh Prakash, the former military secretary at army headquarters who has won a temporary reprieve against a court martial ordered against him, alleges that the Indian Army chief violated a long-standing military practice in recommending the action. The army chief, Gen. Deepak Kapoor, had violated a...
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Bhubaneswar, Feb 25 – Dozens of farmers have committed suicide in Orissa in the past one year as the Hirakud dam is no longer serving its purpose, says a new study that warns of a grimmer situation in the coming days if urgent steps are not taken. The dam, built across the Mahanadi river,...
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Chandigarh, Feb 25 – Decades after master architect Le Corbusier designed Chandigarh, the only planned city in independent India, its administration is fighting to retrieve his artefacts which have been auctioned in France. After failing to stall the Feb 16 auction of Corbusier’s works in Paris, the administration is now looking for a glitch...
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New Delhi, Feb 25 – ‘Holi ke rang mein’, ‘Rang barse bheege chunar wali’ and ‘Holi khele Raghuveera’ are some popular Hindi movie songs that captured the spirit of the festival of colours on the big screen. But recent years have witnessed a dearth of songs revolving round the festival, leaving audiences with no...
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Oslo, Feb 25 (DPA) Israeli nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu has again asked to be removed from a list of Nobel Peace Prize nominees, the head of the Oslo-based Norwegian Nobel Institute said Wednesday. ‘He has written letters to us this year and last year also, where he stated explicitly that he did not want...
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New York, Feb 25 (DPA) UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Wednesday raised his concern over developments in East Jerusalem, Israel’s heritage sites and the ongoing problems in Gaza Strip in a meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Ban met with Barak at UN headquarters in New York and urged Israel to take steps...
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Washington, Feb 25 (DPA) US carmaker General Motors Corp announced Wednesday that it would start winding down its loss-making Hummer brand of sports-utility vehicles after the collapse of a deal to sell the subsidiary to a Chinese company. GM did not say why the sale to China’s Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Machines Co Ltd, which...
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