News

Cameron in India Expecting big Hawk Aircraft deal
As British Prime Minister David Cameron reaches Bangalore on Tuesday night on a two day visit to India, in the air is a lot of expectation in Britain for a giant push to the bilateral relations, trade and industry in particular. On Friday, Cameron is expected to sign an MOU with Karnataka government. Later, when he meets his Indian counterpart, Dr. Manmohan Singh, UK expects to finally clinch a huge, £700 million deal for 57 BAE Hawk Jets. more...

English test must for non-EU migrants who settle in the UK
The English language test announced by the British government for all non-European migrants applying to come to Britain to join or marry their settled partner will become compulsory from November 29 this year. The UK Border Agency (UKBA) Monday announced that from this date, any migrant who wants to enter or remain in the country as the partner of a British citizen or a person settled here will need to show that they can speak and understand English, by taking an English language test with one of the test providers approved by the agency. more...

£17,500 fine over 'spiritual healer' advert
The TV watchdog imposed a £17,500 fine for "spiritual healer" advertising which was found to be capable of exploiting vulnerable people as per the British newspaper Independent.
Ofcom disciplined licensee DM Digital Television Ltd in respect of its DM Digital service. more...

Teenage 'happy slappers' jailed, but could walk free in months
Two teenage members of a 'happy slapping' gang who attacked and killed a 67-year-old man as he stood with his his young granddaughter were locked up on last Monday.
But Leon Elcock, 16, and 15-year-old Hamza Lyzai could walk free within months after they were sentenced to four-and-a-half years and three-and-a-half years respectively over the death of retired careworker, Ekram Haque. more...

Michael Lyons may have raped dozens more women
Police fear dozens more women around the world have been raped by cult leader Michael Lyons.
Officers said many victims were too scared to come forward after falling into the clutches of his intimidating group.
They said Lyons, known in spiritualist circles as Mohan Singh, was a calculating criminal masquerading as a healer. more...

Former Gujarat junior Home Minister Amit Shah arrested in Sohrabuddin fake encounter case
After days of hide and seek, former Gujarat junior Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday surrendered before the CBI in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case. On Monday, India’s one of most prominent criminal lawyer and BJP MP Ram Jethmalani appeared for Amit Shah in a local court.
Waving to the mediapersons after getting out from his car at the CBI office, he found that officers of the probe agency were waiting for him. more...

Indo-UK joint naval exercise on in Mumbai
British Royal Navy and the Indian Navy will begin a joint submarine exercises from Wednesday on the West Coast of India from Wednesday, 28th July, Commander PVS Satish of the Indian Navy has said.
HMS Talent, a Trafalgar class hunter killer submarine, of the Royal Navy will take part in the three-day exercise with a Shishumar class submarine of the Indian Navy. Meanwhile, the naval table-top exercise continued for the second day at the Mumbai port. more...

ISI paid Taliban to hit Indian missions, workers in Afghanistan
Kabul: Backing New Delhi's finding that the ISI was actively involved in attacks on Indians working in Afghanistan, intelligence documents leaked on Sunday reveal that the Pakistani spy agency paid the Taliban and the Haqqani terror network to target Indian missions, road workers, doctors and engineers working in the country. more...

Air hostess steals money from sleeping passengers
London: An Air France air hostess is facing 10 years in prison in France after admitting stealing money, credit cards and jewellery from business class passengers as they slept on long-haul flights.
The 47-year-old airline employee dubbed the "Mile High Pickpocket" was caught following complaints about missing money, credit cards and designer jewellery. more...

For a first, black man elected to office in Russia
Novozavidovo (Russia): For the first time in the history of Russia, a black man was elected to office. In a country where racism is entrenched and often violent, Jean Gregoire Sagbo’s election as one of Novozavidovo's 10 municipal councilors is a milestone. But among the town's 10,000 people, the 48-year-old from the West African country of Benin is viewed simply a Russian who cares about his hometown. more...

India considering purchase of BAE Systems M777 howitzer
Even as India is considering purchase of BAE Systems M777 howitzer guns for the Army, the company has received orders for 93 guns from the USA. The total order book has gone up to 955 guns and the value of the entire book is over £1 bn. more...

Mittal looking for selling stake in Kazakh oil firm
Steel tycoon Lakshmi Nivas Mittal is looking for buyers to acquire the entire stake that one of his companies, Mittal Investments Sarl is holding in a Kazakhstan oil company. Mittal had proposed that OMEL (ONGC-Mittal Energy Ltd.), a joint venture with the ONGC Videsh Ltd. (OVL) would buy stake in the Kazakh company – Caspian Investment Resources (CIR), but later went ahead alone and bought 25% stake from LUKoil of Russia. MIS paid US$ 980 mn for the stake. more...

Mukesh Ambani appointed MDG member
Mukesh Ambani has earned the distinguished honour of being appointed a member of MDG – a key advocacy group on Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations. Head of the Reliance Industries Limited, Mukesh Ambani will be contributing to finding ways to fight socio-economic evils such as poverty. more...

India mauled at Galle
Even as Muttiah Muralitharan ended his test carrier in a fairy tale style, capturing the record 800th scalp with the last wicket in the match, India were mauled by the spin wizard and pacer Lasith Mallinga in both the innings. Sri Lanka finally registered a comprehensive 10 wicket victory on the last day, Thursday last week. more...

Pakistan finally beat Australia
After losing at the Lords, Pakistan came out as surprise winners against Australia in the second test match against Australia at Headingley on Saturday, the fourth day of the match. more...

TfL and Barclays Cycle Hire get enthusiastic response
Membership applications for the Mayor’s flagship Barclays Cycle Hire scheme opened Friday last week and within hours, more than 1,700 people signed up as members for using London’s newest public transport system.
People have the options to sign up for daily, weekly or annual memberships for the Mayor and Transport for London’s cycle hire scheme, at www.tfl.gov.uk/ barclayscyclehire. more...

Bollywood

Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor top Filmfare Power List
Bollywood actor Aamir Khan has made it to the top in the Filmfare Power List for the third time in a row. Beating his close competitor superstar Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir has retained his top position of last year.
The last three films of Aamir, which includes 2007 hit “Taare Zameen Par,” “Ghajini” and 2009 super-hit “3 Idiots,” garnered about Rs 8,250 million. Aamir has managed to be on top with this huge success. His film “3 Idiots” earned more than Rs 3,750 million, which is the biggest hit in the history of Bollywood so far. more...

Shah Rukh, Gauri to act together
Now that Shah Rukh is taking time off from shooting for his various endorsements to concentrate on “RA.One,” wife Gauri Khan is exploring unchartered territory.
She has bagged her first brand endorsement with her husband. Very soon, the couple will be seen in a television commercial. The buzz in the industry is that they will endorse a very popular furnishing house. The shoot for the commercial is likely to take place in Mumbai. more...

Priyanka to do daredevil stunts in ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi’
Priyanka Chopra will thrown herself in a vigorous workout schedule to build stamina for the third season of reality show “Khatron Ke Khiladi.”
PC will perform some daredevil stunts and challenge the 12 male contestants competing for the title. The team leaves for Brazil on August 15 to shoot for the action-adventure reality show. more...