Saudi Arabia confirms sighting of Zihaj moon, Hajj on 15th Nov

Saudi Arabia’s high court has declared 15th November 2010 the start of hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Islam’s holy sites.

The kingdom’s official news agency says the court confirmed the sighting of the new moon Saturday. According to the lunar calendar, hajj begins nine days into the 12th month of the year, making the start 15th November this year in the Gregorian calendar. The annual Islamic pilgrimage draws millions of worshippers, making it the largest yearly gathering of people in the world. The event focuses on Mecca, Islam’s holiest site and the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad.

The Central Ruat-e-Hilal Committee of Pakistan Presided by Mufti Munib ur Rehman will have a meeting today. The weather department has predicted that moon will be sighted today.

Yash Chopra honoured with prestigious National Kishore Kumar Award

The prestigious ‘National Kishore Kumar Award’ for the year 2009-10, given by the Madhya Pradesh Government, was conferred on Yash Chopra, at an investiture ceremony held yesterday (October 14th, 2010). This ceremony took place at Khandwa, MP, which also happens to be the birthplace of the late Kishore Kumar, on the eve of his birth anniversary, October 13.

It’s totally needless to say that Yash Chopra, a contemporary legend in Hindi cinema, has played a seminal role in the Indian film industry. With this award, he has added yet another prestigious accolade to his long list of achievements. Laxmikant Sharma, the State Cultural Minister presented him with the award, a traditional shawl and also a cash prize.

Archana Tipnis, the State Education Minister and Vijay Shah, State Tribal Welfare Minister, were present at the occasion. “By agreeing to accept this award, Mr. Yash Chopra has added to the reputation of MP as a state. He is one such great director whose films have been socially relevant since more than 50 years”, said Laxmikant Sharma.

Yash Chopra was overwhelmed at receiving this award and thanked the Madhya Pradesh government for the same. He fondly recalled his association with the late Kishore Kumar, while appreciating the great work done by the Madhya Pradesh government in Kishore Kumar’s honour.

The National Kishore Kumar award, instituted by the Madhya Pradesh government in 1997, is given away for direction, acting, script writing and lyrics every year. Past recipients of the prestigious award have been the late Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Gulzar, Shyam Benegal and also Amitabh Bachchan.

Indian troops martyr 72 innocent Kashmiris in Aug

SRINAGAR: In occupied Kashmir, Indian troops, in their continued acts of state terrorism, martyred 72 innocent Kashmiris including 31 teenagers and four women during the last month of August.

According to the data compiled by the Research Section of Kashmir Media Service, of those martyred three were killed in custody.

These killings rendered three women widowed and nine children orphaned.

The troops disgraced 20 women and tortured 1,505 persons, injuring most of them critically, by using teargas shelling and bullets on peaceful demonstrators during the period. Indian police arrested 236 people including Hurriyet leaders and activists.

The troops also damaged a residential house during the month.

Poland fetes Solidarity 30th anniversary with stars

GDANSK: US singer Macy Gray, British songstress Marianne Faithfull and US stage director Robert Wilson on Tuesday lent their talents to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Poland”s freedom fighting Solidarity trade union.

A big open-air show took place on an immense stage at the birthplace of the movement that was instrumental in bringing down communism in Europe.

After an unprecedented two-week-long strike at the Lenin Shipyard in the Baltic Sea port of Gdansk, Poland”s communist regime signed an agreement on August 31, 1980 with strikers led by shipyard electrician Lech Walesa that paved the way for the creation of Solidarnosc (Solidarity), the first and only independent trade union in the entire Soviet bloc.

Solidarity went on to negotiate in 1989 a peaceful end to communism in Poland, making the country the first to escape Moscow”s grip.

Walesa, Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski and Senate speaker Bogdan Borusewicz kicked off the show that was attended by thousands of spectators and broadcast live on television.

American avant garde stage director Robert Wilson created the show, “Your Angel is Called Freedom,” at the Gdansk Shipyard, including music, drama and poetry.

The highlight was fireworks by France”s Groupe F, creators of Paris”s millennium display and the display at the 2004 Athens Olympic games.

Police, allies kill 18 insurgents in S Afghanistan

KABUL: The Afghan government said 18 insurgent fighters have been killed in a joint operation between Afghan and international forces in southern Helmand region.

The Interior Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that six militants were also arrested during the operation a day earlier led by Afghan police, soldiers and intelligence agents backed by NATO forces in Helmand”s Sangin district.

Separately, deputy provincial police chief Fazel Ahmad Sherzad said an Afghan man was killed and a woman was wounded after insurgents attacked a house Monday in the Shah Wali Kot district of neighboring Kandahar province.

Thousands of U.S., NATO and Afghan forces are ramping up pressure on Kandahar, the birthplace of the former Taliban regime.

US investigators believe gunman acted alone in rampage

US investigators believe the army doctor accused of killing 13 people in a shooting rampage at a Texas military base acted alone, but his motive for the massacre was unclear.

President Barack Obama will Tuesday attend a memorial service to honor victims of the rampage at Fort Hood attributed to Muslim US army doctor Major Nidal Malik Hasan, who is also suspected of wounding 30 people. “All evidence at this point indicates the suspect allegedly acted alone,” Chris Grey, spokesman for the US Army criminal investigation division (CID), told reporters, adding that no motive had yet been established.

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US investigators believe gunman acted alone in rampage was first posted on November 8, 2009 at 8:53 pm.

Dalai Lama visit to disputed Indian state

Dalai Lama visit to disputed Indian state,The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled leader, began on Sunday a week-long visit to a remote Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh also claimed by China in a trip that has renewed tensions between the Asian giants struggling to settle an old border dispute.
Beijing sees the visit as encouraging the Tibetan struggle by undermining Chinese territorial integrity and has slammed it as the Dalai Lama’s “scheme to wreck China’s relations” with India. But the Tibetan leader says it is merely a spiritual lecture tour.
The Dalai Lama arrived by helicopter in the remote Buddhist enclave nestled in the icy folds of the eastern Himalayas which he had passed through to flee Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against the Chinese rule.
Beijing calls the Dalai Lama a dangerous “splittist” plotting Tibetan independence, a charge he denies. He says he is merely seeking autonomy for Tibet.
Tawang, in Arunachal Pradesh state, the birthplace of the sixth Dalai Lama and part of territory Beijing considers as “southern” Tibet, is at the heart of the border row. But for the moment the people of Tawang want to forget the politics in the presence of their spiritual master.
China lays claim to 90,000 sq km (35,000 sq miles) of land on the eastern sector of the border. India says China occupies 38,000 sq km (15,000 sq miles) of territory in Aksai Chin plateau.

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Dalai Lama visit to disputed Indian state was first posted on November 8, 2009 at 8:59 pm.

World Series Game 6 Time

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World Series Game 6 Time was first posted on November 5, 2009 at 7:34 am.