AK Srivastava (SriAKS)

***************************************************************************** As many as 85 Islamic Sharia courts are operating in the UK, 17 times higher than previously accepted, a study indicated on Monday, with a recommendation that the Islamic courts should no longer be recognized under British law. The tribunals, working mainly from mosques, settle financial and family disputes according to religious principles. They lay down judgments which can be given full legal status if approved in national law courts. However, the Sharia courts operate behind doors that are closed to independent observers and their decisions are likely to be unfair to women and backed by intimidation, a report by independent think-tank Civitas said. It said decisions from Sharia tribunals can be presented to a family court judge for approval with no more detail than is necessary to complete a two page form. The Sharia courts in the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal are recognised as courts under the Arbitration A...

___________ 28 June 1953 Workers assemble first Corvette in Flint, Michigan On this day in 1953, workers at a Chevrolet plant in Flint, Michigan, assemble the first Corvette, a two-seater sports car that would become an American icon. The first completed production car rolled off the assembly line two days later, one of just 300 Corvettes made that year. The idea for the Corvette originated with General Motors' pioneering designer Harley J. Earl, who in 1951 began developing plans for a low-cost American sports car that could compete with Europe’s MGs, Jaguars [Now INDIAN Brand] and Ferraris. The project was eventually code-named "Opel." In January 1953, GM debuted the Corvette concept car at its Motorama auto show at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. It featured a fiberglass body and a six-cylinder engine and according to GM, was named for the "trim, fleet naval vessel that performed heroic escort and patrol duties during World War II On June 30, 1953, th...

______________________________________ Q.How can you drop a raw egg onto a concrete floor without cracking it? A. Concrete floors are very hard to crack Q.If it took eight men ten hours to build a wall, how long would it take four men to build the same wall? A. No time at all it is already built Q. How can you lift an elephant with one hand? A. It is not a problem, since you will never find an elephant with one hand. Q. How can a man go eight days without sleep? A. No Probs , He sleeps at night. Q. What looks like half apple? A : The other half. Q. What can you never eat for breakfast? A : Dinner. Q. What happened when wheel was invented? A : It caused a revolution. Q. Bay of Bengal is in which state? A : Liquid Finally Interviewer said ..... I shall either ask you 10 easy questions or 1 really difficult one ? Think well before you make up your mind! " The boy thought for a while and said, "my choice is one really difficult question." Well, good luck to you, you have mad...

. A Swiss adventurer is all set to unveil a prototype of a solar-powered plane he hopes eventually to fly around the world. According to a news report, the initial version of the solar plane, spanning 61m but weighing just 1,500kg, will undergo trials to prove it can fly at night. Picard , who made history by circling the globe non-stop in a balloon in 1999, said he wants to demonstrate the potential of renewable energies. ______________________________ MORE .....

. Right Criteria to Buy or Rent a House Buying a house, an accepted practice by many Indian families who wish to settle down in life, may not always turn out to be a beneficial proposition. Tax sops and capital appreciation that come with the purchase of a house notwithstanding, there are situations where renting a house is advisable as against an outright purchase. Depending on the location of the house, the prevailing rent in that location, the home loan rate, and the possible appreciation in rent and value of the house, ET Intelligence Group arrives at the conclusion that it is advisable to buy a house in upcoming locality as against established and well-developed locations in the heart of the city. Staying on rent would be a better option in city centers if one were to consider financial planning. This is because capital appreciation in the form of rise in value of the property would be higher in suburbs as against the city centres. In fact, savings (the difference between EMI save...

. MUMBAI: Every year, Lakhs of Students burn the midnight oil for months to get into the hallowed Indian Institutes of Technology. But as admissions closed on Wednesday, one startling fact emerged — there weren't enough qualified candidates to fill up the reserved seats on offer for the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, or the physically challenged. IIT heads told TOI that over 1,100 seats will now be transferred to the preparatory course. This course, which is like a feeder class, trains quota students for a year to equip them to qualify for the IITs. Students for the preparatory course are selected by reducing cut-offs even further. On the OBC (other backward classes) reservation front too, 53 seats were transferred to general category candidates, though the IITs are still only in the second year of the quotas (they are implementing 18% quota before moving to the total 27% reservation). The IITs, in fact, had made various concessions to ensure they could fill the ...

. Sibal plans to scrap 'traumatic' Class 10 Board exams In a pathbreaking step towards reforming India’s school education system, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal is considering doing away with the Class 10Board examination, and setting up an alternative evaluation system based on percentiles, not percentages. Sibal told The Indian Express: “The Indian education system which is marks-centered and examination-based is a source of trauma for both parents and children... knowledge, like everything else, should be user-friendly, and the acquisition of knowledge should not be a stressful exercise.” Children, Sibal said, should not be judged by percentages with an emphasis on learning by rote, and the whole system of examinations should be looked at afresh. “I am thinking of relooking at the necessity of having a Board examination for Class 10,” he said. “A child moves up from Class 9 to Class 10 in the same school and there is no reason for either the student or the p...

________ Usually, marzipan sweets are in the shapes of fruits and vegetables. BUT some marzipans are in the shape of flowers and leaves too. But marzipan in the shape of babies...? It is disgusting and revolting even to imagine. Yes, looking at the almost realistic babies exhibit a great culinary art but why in the shape of babies at all? Here is the suspense! Those babies are not edible and they are not made of marzipan.

. 1. You can’t kill yourself by holding your breath, if you so you go unconscious, and will begin to breath normally. 2. Right handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people 3. If you rub an onion under your foot/feet, within 30 – 60 minutes you will feel it's taste on your tongue 4. Oysters can change between being MALE or FEMALE 5. On one square inch of human skin there are 20 million microscopic creatures 6. Armadillos are the only creatures apart from men that can catch leprosy 7. A snail can sleep for 3 – 4 years during which it does not require food 8. Giraffes can live longer without water than camels 9. The whale in an oceanwide population always sings the same song as the others. 10. The forces required to remove a foot from quicksand at a speed of one centimeter per second would require the same amount of force as “that needed to lift a medium-sized car.” 11. To test if a pearl is real, you can rub vinegar on it 12. Goldfish kept in a dark room ...

. Microsoft's Free AV Protection Looks Great, But Has Been Pulled From Download Users will have to wait a bit longer to practice safe computing Codenamed "Morro", Microsoft's free antivirus software offering has been one of the most anticipated software releases of the year, perhaps only playing second fiddle to Microsoft's own Windows 7. The release is expected to shake up the security market, which is split currently between pricey offerings, and a handful of free competitors like AVG which assail the user with ads encouraging them to purchase "premium" versions. Microsoft's new software, named Microsoft Security Essentials, comes without the sticker-shock or ad burden. It was available yesterday for free download in beta form (read on -- it's no longer available, though). For its part, Microsoft insists that the software isn't designed to make the antimalware paid software market obsolete. It insists that its software is primarily for user...

. First ever woman to be elected as speaker of Pakistan’s National Assembly Dr. Fehmida Mirza today created history when she became the first ever woman to be elected as speaker of Pakistan’s National Assembly. If I am not wrong, she is also the first every woman to achieve this position in entire Muslim world. She was the candidate of PPP, PML(N), ANP and JUI(F) and secured more than 2/3 of the total votes. She got 249 out of 324 votes casted while her opponent Sardar Mohammad Israr Tareen of PML(Q) could only secure 70 votes. It was interesting to see JUI(F) chief Moulana Fazal Ur Rehman voting for a woman candidate when first he showed some reservations. I guess ministries and urge to join government makes one do anything and everything :). Faisal Kundi has been elected deputy speaker defeating Khush Bakht Shujat. MORE...... ____________________________________________________________

. Statue Bonanza for UP ..... Maya set to unveil 40 Statues on July 3 Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati is likely to unveil 40 statues, including six of her own , in Lucknow on July 3. In addition, she is likely to inaugurate Kanshiram Memorial and Gautam Buddha Sthal, both being developed on VIP Road in Alambagh. The chief minister may also inaugurate the two stupas that are being built at a cost of Rs 500 crore inside the Ambedkar Memorial complex in Gomtinagar. MORE ..................

. INDIA has most number of domestic terror groups The CPI (Maoist) swells the list of indigenous terror groups operating on our soil to 27, making India home to the largest number of domestic terror. organisations in the world. On Monday, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) named the CPI (Maoist) as 34th terrorist organisation under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act; seven of these are transnational terror groups. CPI (Maoist) joined ranks with Ulfa and SIMI and lesser known entities such as Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council of Meghalaya, Kanglei Yaol Kanba Lup of Manipur and Akhil Bharat Nepali Ekta Samaj, which though virtually unheard of are considered deadly enough by the government to be designated as terrorist organisations. Of the seven transnational terror groups, only two —al-Qaida and LTTE — are truly global names. The other five are Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Harkatul Mujahideen, Al Badr, Jamat-ul-Mujahid and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) which are all Pakistan based terror...

. Most people famously proclaim that love is their religion, but there are some who use religion for love. Perhaps one such is Haryana's Former Deputy Chief Minister Chander Mohan , who became Chand Mohammed to marry his new love Anuradha Bali . Mohan was with Seema Bishnoi , his wife of 13 years, when he met and fell in love with Bali. The Hindu Marriage Act 1955 does not allow a man to take a second wife so Mohan converted to Islam. So did Bali. Both dropped their Hindu names and assumed Muslim ones. It is not the first time a high-profile Hindu couple has converted to Islam to 'marry' even though the first wife [Prakash Kaur] is alive. Almost three decades ago, film stars Dharmendra [ Dilawar Khan ] and Hema Malini [ Aisha Bi R. Chakravarty ] married secretly on 21 Aug 1979 . Women activists protested against the "illegal" marriage. Dharmendra, they pointed out, was already married and had teenaged children. But in order to give legitimacy to his union with He...

. Saina Nehwal WINS Indonesian Open NEW DELHI: Ace woman shuttler Saina Nehwal on Sunday scripted history by becoming the first Indian to win a Super Series tournament after she clinched the Indonesian Open title with a stunning victory over higher ranked Chinese Lin Wang in Jakarta. Saina clinched her maiden Super Series title beating Wang 12-21, 21-18, 21-9 in an edge-of-the-seat thriller that lasted 49 minutes. Her triumph is the best ever performance by any Indian woman and at par with All England Championship titles won by Prakash Padukone and her current coach Pullela Gopichand. In the thrilling final, world number eight Saina came from behind to outsmart world number three Wang and avenge her last week's Singapore Open Super Series loss to the same rival. .

. INSURANCE COMPANIES IN INDIA ‘ Save a little money each month and at the end of the year, you will be surprised at how little you have ’ – Confused??? Aren’t you..... Time and again, financial advisors have propagated the rewards one can reap by saving little by little. And here, we are contemplating otherwise!!! Well, you need not be Ernest Haskins to believe the truth behind this aphorism. Simply analyse the returns likely to accrue from the money back (insurance) policy you have invested in, and the above adage would flash like a golden truth, literally. Money back policies are one of the most traditional insurance cum investment policies and have been widely promoted and distributed by the INSURANCE COMPANIES. Unlike a regular endowment plan, where the policy amount (sum assured) is receivable either on death or at the end of the policy term, money back policies ensure that the survivor receives a certain percentage of sum assured regularly during the term of the policy. This en...

. On this day, 20June1975, Jaws, a film directed by Steven Spielberg that made countless viewers afraid to go into the water, opens in theaters. The story of a great white shark that terrorizes a New England resort town became an instant blockbuster and the highest-grossing film in movie history until it was bested by 1977's Star Wars. Jaws was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Picture category and took home three Oscars, for Best Film Editing, Best Original Score and Best Sound. The film, a breakthrough for director Spielberg, then 27 years old, spawned three sequels. The film starred Roy Scheider as principled police chief Martin Brody, Richard Dreyfuss as a marine biologist named Matt Hooper and Robert Shaw as a grizzled fisherman called Quint. It was set in the fictional beach town of Amity , and based on a best-selling novel, released in 1973, by Peter Benchley. Subsequent water-themed Benchley bestsellers also made it to the big screen, including The Deep (1977). ...

. Seven sports presented their vision for inclusion in the Olympic Games programme today in a series of briefings for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board . The seven sports — baseball, golf, karate, roller sports, rugby, softball and squash — are vying for two programme slots at the 2016 Games. After reviewing the merits of all seven, the Executive Board should recommend two for inclusion at its next meeting in August. The IOC Session will make the final decision at its meeting in October, scheduled in conjunction with the Olympic Congress . “All seven sports made interesting and informative presentations. All have something to offer. In the end, the decision will come down to which are the best fit for the Olympic Programme,” said IOC President Jacques Rogge . Reforms strengthen the Olympic programme The presentations to the Executive Board are part of a broader effort by the IOC to strengthen the Olympic programme and improve the evaluation process. The reforms...

. AIR INDIA ASKS SENIOR STAFF TO FORGO JULY PAY ……… TO CUT COSTS NEW DELHI: Air India has asked its senior management to voluntarily forgo salaries and productivity linked incentives in July due to an ongoing liquidity crunch, the state-run airline said in a statement on Friday. The firm's chairman and managing director, Arvind Jadhav, has requested executives in the level of general manager and above to forego salaries in July, the airline said. The firm had earlier this month decided to defer the salary and incentives of all employees for June, by 15 days. PTI: The airline is facing a possible industrial unrest with employees threatening agitation in case their June salary is not given by this month-end. Arvind Jadhav's request is applicable to all senior employees of Air India, its subsidiaries and those on deputation and on contract. Jadhav in a communique addressed to corporate directors, heads of strategic business units, executive directors and general manages today voic...

. India Inc has contributed $105 Billion to US Economy: Anand Sharma   Indian firms have contributed $105 billion (Rs 5.25 lakh crore) to the US economy between 2004 and 2007 apart from creating 300,000 jobs, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said in Washington late on Wednesday. In his address at the US-India Business Council (USIBC) summit, Sharma cited the findings of a study on India Inc's role in the US and said: "During the period 2004-07, the Indian industry had contributed $105 billion to the US economy and created 300,000 jobs." He also released the study, "Contribution of the Indian industry to the US economy", which has been prepared for the India Brand Equity Foundation, an organisation set up by the commerce ministry and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to build positive economic perceptions of India globally. According to a commerce ministry statement on Thursday, Sharma said India and the US were "part...

. Private Professional Colleges Harming Education System: SC In what can further crank up the pressure for cleansing the education system, the Supreme Court on Wednesday criticized education regulators for the casual manner of giving recognition to private professional colleges, calling them "masked phantoms". The court charged the regulators with disregarding the criteria laid down for the recognition, saying that it was hurting the higher education system while asking the policy makers to take note of the runaway commercialisation of education. It said: ``The protagonists of privatisation of education should realise what is happening in the country.'' The stinging observation coincided with the outrage triggered by the TOI-Times Now expose of the capitation fee scam in private medical colleges, as well as the HRD ministry's decision to check the rampant irregularities in accrediting private institutions. The regulators - the University Grants Commission, Medical...

. British Airways Asks Employees To Work Without Pay Thursday, 18 Jun, 2009 06:37 AM PST LONDON , June 17: British Airways has urged its staff to work for nothing in an effort to save the company money. British Airways PLC is struggling to come up with ways to save cash after reporting its biggest full-year loss since the former national airline was privatised in 1987. BA chief Willie Walsh has said he would not draw a salary for the month of July, and urged other employees to work for blocks of time without being paid. “I am looking for every single part of the company to take part in some way in this cash-effective way of helping the company’s survival plan. It really counts,” Mr Walsh said in a company publication. BA said the option meant employees would effectively volunteer to take a cut in base pay. The company had said last month it would ask employees to consider working without pay. The UNITE union, which represents thousands of BA ground and cabin crew, gave the proposal ...

. Small investors now don’t need PAN to invest in MUTUAL FUNDs After much pleading and cajoling, the government has finally agreed in-principle to let small investors park their savings in mutual funds without the mandatory requirement of quoting one’s permanent account number (PAN). However, investors will have to invest the money through systematic investment plans (SIP) of mutual fund houses, the limit for which has been fixed at Rs 50,000 per year. “It is a good thing, it will let the industry grow. There is a strong need to harmonise statutory and regulatory norms for the mutual fund industry,” said Association of Mutual Funds of India (AMFI) chairman A P Kurian. The industry had for long been persuading the government to relax know-your-customer (KYC) norms to elevate its reach. Though it comes as a welcome step for the industry, market regulator Sebi is not too keen on relaxing KYC guidelines any further. “I am a bit perplexed," said Sebi chairman C B Bhave on Wednesday, re...

. The diamond-studded crown gifted to Lord Venkateswara may be the latest, most publicised gift, but it is by no means the only valuable offering made to the deity at Tirumala ..... The Rs 42 crore diamond-studded 2.5 feet tall crown gifted by Karnataka tourism minister Gali Janardhan Reddy on Thursday could be the most significant contribution to Lord Venkateswara's ever growing wealth of gifts but the Lord of the Seven Hills has by now become so familiar with these riches that few are surprised by this latest offering. His riches are such that they are guarded by armed security personnel in a treasury, the location of which remains a closely guarded secret by top of the temple . With the total worth of the offerings made to the Lord estimated to be somewhere between Rs 30,000 crore to Rs 50,000 Crore , the deity's title of the 'Richest Lord of Kaliyuga' is not without reason. Devotees enrich Tirumala treasury While Gali's gift was the seventh crown offered to ...