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Govt crackdown on onion hoarders

Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab

166 people died by the gunman. Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, 22, was jointly responsible for the assault on the railway station where 52 people were gunned down.

 

 He was convicted on 86 charges of waging war against India, possessing explosives and aiding and abetting the murders of all 166 victims.

India blames a Pakistan-based militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, for masterminding the attack. In his verdict, the judge said Kasab was a member of the group.

The evidence against Kasab included footage from closed circuit cameras in and around the train station and the testimony of more than 600 witnesses.

Two men, Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed, charged alongside Kasab with carrying out reconnaissance missions for the attacks were acquitted because of insufficient evidence.

Manmohan Singh

NEW DELHI — Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left for the United States on Saturday to attend a two-day security summit, saying he hoped the event would focus on issues such as “nuclear terrorism.”

Singh, who is also expected to meet US President Barack Obama on Sunday, also insisted India had an “impeccable record” in non-proliferation.

The 47-nation summit on improving nuclear security begins on Monday.

Singh said development would only be possible if governments ensured “the highest standards of security” for the civilian use of nuclear energy.

“I expect the summit to focus on nuclear terrorism and proliferation of sensitive nuclear materials and technologies,” Singh said in a statement before leaving for Washington.

“These are legitimate concerns which require firm responses.”

Obama invited Singh in November for the first state dinner of his presidency, an honour meant to push forward a decade-old drive to transform the world’s two largest democracies into partners.

During his four-day stay in Washington, Singh will also meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and others, the statement said.

56th National Film Awards.

Bollywood stole the show yet again at the 56th National Film Awards for 2008 at Vigyan Bhawan on Friday as three of the top categories were bagged by its celebrities.

 

Actress Priyanka Chopra looked teary eyed as she accepted the award for Best Actress from President Pratibha Devisingh Patil for her role of an aspiring model in the Madhur Bhandarkar film, Fashion.

 When questioned how she would celebrate, she was speechless for a moment. “It has still not sunk in!”.

 The award for the Best Actor went to Upendra Limaye for Jogva while Bala bagged the award for Best Direction for film Naan Kadavul.

 Bengali movie Antaheen was declared the Best Feature Film and Rock On the award for Best Hindi Film. Winning the Best Supporting Actor for his role in Rock On, Arjun Rampal looked suave in a black bandhgala as he went on stage to receive the award. In attendance were director and producers of the film — Farhan Akhtar, Abhishek Kapoor and Ritesh Sidhwani. 

Karan Johar.

Filmmaker Karan Johar, otherwise known for his jovial and friendly nature, has hit back at people making comments on his personal life on microblogging site Twitter.

 

“While most tweets are objective, frank and warm… the ones that are constantly making tactless statements about my personal life are upsetting,” Karan wrote.

“Critical appraisal and analysis is more than welcome…but insinuations and comments about my life, choices and orientation are NOT…,” he added.

Actress Sonam Kapoor tweeted in favour of Karan, suggesting he should block such people.

“Block them on your twitter account, they are haters who are just jealous,” she wrote.

Dharmendra In Hospital

Dharmendra was yesterday (March 17) admitted to the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education (PGIMER) in Chandigarh following chest pain. A PGIMER spokesperson said that the actor was examined by doctors at the institute and later discharged.

He had complained of fatigue and chest pain Tuesday night. Dharmendra has been in various places in Punjab to shoot his new Hindi film ‘Yamla Pagla Deewana’. Both his sons, Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol, are also acting in this movie. Dharmendra, who hails from Sahnewal town near the industrial city of Ludhiana, 110 km from here, was a popular Bollywood hero in the 1960s and 1970s. He was the main lead in the Bollywood blockbuster ‘Sholay’.

Tahir Hussain.

 Mr Tahir hussain the very well known Bollywood film maker died today in Mumbai at the age of 79. It has been reported that Mr Hussain died from a massive cardiac arrest.

 

He had acted in films such as ‘Dil deke dekho’ and ‘Pyar ka mausam’ he also produced movies such as ‘Anamika’, ‘Caravan’ and ‘Hum hain rahe pyar ke’. He was very famous for blockbusters he produced over the years later directing his son Amir khan  in ‘Tum mere ho’.

 Amir was in LA (USA) at the time of his fathers sudden death and has made arrangements to fly back to be with his family and carry out the funeral service which is said to be  held tomorrow.

It saddens us at DESIMAG.CO.UK dearly to hear of Amir Khan’s father’s sudden death. our sincere sympathy and condolence go out to Amir and his entire family, may both him and his family have the blessing of their dear ones by their side and may god give them all strength to carry on.  

Haiti’s devastating earthquake has risen above 150,000 in the Port-au-Prince area alone, a government minister has said.

Many more remain uncounted under rubble in the capital and elsewhere, including the towns of Jacmel and Leogane.

The search for survivors has officially ended and the focus has shifted to aid.

An estimated 1.5 million people have been left homeless.