Weekly Buggles

he National Organization for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE), has protested against filmstar Shah Rukh Khan who was shown on the TV screen smoking during an IPL match on April 21 in South Africa.

NOTE has asked the South African National Council Against Smoking (NCAS) to consider the issue seriously and stop smoking in the stadium during Indian Premier League matches.

“I chatted with them and sent details and motivation to the supersport. They are the broadcasters. I am soliciting an agreement that they will not show anyone smoking,” Peter Ucko from NCAS has informed NOTE.

NOTE general secretary Shekhar Salkar said that they had contacted NCAS to explore possible advocacy that can be coordinated in South Africa after King Khan was shown puffing on a television screen.

No evidence to suggest India backing Pak rebels: Holbrooke Pakistan should focus on militancy within its borders instead of worrying about India’s presence in Afghanistan as there is no evidence to suggest that New Delhi is backing the extremists, US special envoy Richard Holbrooke has said.

“Pakistan does not have to worry about India in Afghanistan. They need to worry about the miscreants in western Pakistan,” Holbrooke said in an interview with Geo News channel at the US state department in Washington. Read the rest of this entry »

Expelled RJD MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav has been arrested allegedly for violating model code of conduct during a roadshow in favour of his mother in Bihar’s Purnia district.

Yadav, sitting MP from Madhepura, was arrested while leading a procession of over a hundred vehicles at Kasba bazaar, about 15 km from here, without obtaining permission from the Purnia district authorities, superintendent of police N H Khan said.

Yadav’s mother Shanti Priya is contesting the Purnia seat as a Congress-backed independent.

Khan said it was for the seventh time that an FIR was registered against Yadav for the model code violation during the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.

He said the FIR was registered against the controversial MP on the basis of report of an election commission observer for the seat.

Tamil Tigers supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran and his top aides were recently missed by a whisker by the security forces, a top Sri Lankan commander said, claiming that the rebel leader had limited options either to give up or commit suicide.

“We got to know that Prabhakaran had moved through the Pudukudiryirippu-Iranmalai road on a day between March 29-31, just about two days before the army fully laid seige to that area,” GoC 58 Division Brig Shavendra Silva said.

“Yes I regret we missed him by a whisker or else things could have been over faster,” he said, adding Prabhakaran cannot escape through the road. Read the rest of this entry »

Sensex on a roll, hits six-month high of 11,329

The market sustained its weekly gaining streak for the seventh straight week as the benchmark Sensex settled at a six-month high of 11,329.05 at the weekend on several positive developments amid on-going Parliamentary elections in the country.

Passing through a bearish mode in the initial three days, the signs of improvement in economy and a fresh rate cut by Reserve Bank on April 21 with inflation ruling virtually at zero level boosted the market sentiment after midweek.

In the week to April 25, the Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share barometer bounced from its weekly low of 10,715.66 and ended with a net gain of 305.96 points, or 2.78 per cent, over its last weekend’s close.

Similarly, the National Stock Exchange 50-share Nifty also jumped by 96.35 points, or 2.85 per cent, to end the week at 3,480.75 from its last close.

Brokers said Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) remained the net buyers in the week and are expected to step up their activity in the coming days as the April series of derivatives expires on Thursday.

They said bull operators are likely to cover their shorts or rollover nifty positions in the next series in the light of possibility of further reduction in interest rates as the inflation remained at 0.26 per cent for the week ended April 11, 2009.