Hello Darling Review.

Now, what to say of a film that aims to grab eyeballs through the popping cleavages of its leading ladies and the silly antics of their lustful boss with the name Hardik, very similar to Harddick. Hello Darling, a rehash of the 1980s Hollywood movie Nine To Five, is a sex comedy about the exploitation of women at work places and gender equality.

Mansi (Gul Panag), Candy (Celina Jaitley) and Satvati (Eesha Koppikar) work in an office under a boss (Javed Jaffery) whose life and every action is driven by libido. Ignoring his dowdy wife (Divya Dutta), the incorrigible lecher doesn’t miss half a chance of hitting upon women with the hope of having some ‘good time’ with them.

When things come to a head, the three women decide to teach the horny Hardik a lesson. On the other hand, the boss’s wife (Divya) takes the help of a hubby reforming NGO, Pati Sudharak Samiti, with its hardliner head (Seema Biswas) who adopts shock methods like a volley of slaps to bring the stray husbands back on fidelity track.

There’s confusion galore after a case of mistaken identity. There’s a dead body, eunuchs, thieves, dumb docs and many more as the plot goes haywire and cooks up a hodgepodge in the name of comedy. Sadly, none of it works.

Director Manoj Tiwari hardly gets anything right in Hello Darling. The comedy is not just slapstick and inane, it borders on daftness. The double meaning dialogues don’t add to laughs either. Many situations seem deliberately stitched in the plot to make the proceedings funny. The sequence when the three actresses pose as nurses and kidnap the dead body from the hospital may draw some chuckles.

The film’s three leading ladies seem to be in competition to see who hams the most, a contest which Celina wins hands down. Javed Jaffery as the lusty lech is over the top, while Divya Dutta comes up with the only credible performance.

All in all, Hello Darling is rife with silliness. But if you happen to be a titillation seeker like the testosterone driven boss Hardik, you might find a silver lining in the cleavages of the hot babes.

Thousands flee volcanic eruption in Indonesia.

Jakarta, Aug 29 (DPA) A volcano on the Indonesian island of Sumatra erupted Sunday for the first time in 400 years, shooting black smoke and ash up to 1,500 metres into the air and prompting the evacuation of thousands of residents.

Mount Sinabung in the Karo district of North Sumatra province thundered to life shortly after midnight, shooting lava and other volcanic materials from its crater.

Indonesia's state-run Directorate of Vulcanology upgraded the volcano's danger status to the highest level minutes before the eruption of the 2,451-metre peak, located about 1,300 km northwest of Jakarta.

Using trucks, ambulances and buses, local authorities evacuated thousands of residents living in nearby hamlets immediately after the eruption, the state-run Antara news agency reported.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Local media quoted residents as saying lava was visible from several kilometres away, including in Berastagi, a tourist area in North Sumatra.

The Directorate of Vulcanology said Sinabung's eruption was the first recorded since 1600.

'Previously, there was no significant activity at the Mount Sinabung volcano, so the monitoring did not take priority since the 1600s,' Surono, the head of the directorate, was quoted as saying by Antara.

Surono, who like many Indonesians goes by only one name, said a team of experts were deployed to keep a close eye on Sinabung's activity.

Besides ordering the evacuations, experts also warned residents to wear face masks to avoid health problems from the volcano's ash and told people living along rivers to be alert to the possibility of lava-induced floods.

Indonesia has the highest density of volcanoes in the world with about 500 in the 'Belt of Fire' in the 5,000-km-long archipelago nation. Nearly 130 are active and 65 are listed as dangerous.

US launches women's rights programme in Pakistan.

Islamabad, Aug 31 (IANS/AKI) The US is launching a new $40 million programme to stress on women's human rights in Pakistan and support existing government policies to combat gender inequality.

'The US and Pakistan are focused on empowering women and advancing women's rights - an issue of great importance to both our countries,' US ambassador to Pakistan Anne W. Patterson said in a statement.

'Women and girls need access to education, full participation in political, economic and civic life, and access to the justice system to ensure the future stability and prosperity of Pakistan,' she said.

The Gender Equity Grants Programme will be allocated grants ranging from $25,000 to $100,000.

The US will work with non-governmental organisations to provide grants to local associations working for women's empowerment. Grants will also go to think tanks, academic research and training institutions, professional and business associations, government and other bodies and media organisations concerned with women's equality.

The grants will be used to expand women's access to justice and human rights and to support organisations in Pakistan that advocate gender equality.

Obama must walk fine line in Iraq speech.

President Barack Obama must walk a fine line in a speech on Tuesday night as he highlights progress toward winding down the war in Iraq while trying to avoid any perception of a "Mission Accomplished" moment.

The White House says the removal of all but 50,000 U.S. troops and the declaration of the end to the combat phase shows Obama is fulfilling a campaign promise he made in 2008 to pull out of Iraq.

Obama hopes that message will resonate with Americans ahead of the Nov. 2 elections, where his Democrats are struggling to keep their dominance in the U.S. Congress.

The address, scheduled for 8 p.m. EDT/midnight GMT, will be only his second from the Oval Office. Obama also used the high-profile venue in June to discuss his administration's response to the Gulf Coast oil spill.

As Obama prepared to deliver his speech, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden flew into Iraq on Monday to assure Iraqis the United States is not abandoning them.

Biden was to hold talks with Iraqi leaders amid a political deadlock almost six months after an inconclusive election in March over forming the next government.

Obama told NBC News in an interview on Sunday that Iraqis are "going through a political process that is natural in a fledgling democracy" but he added, "we're confident that that will get done."

Obama plans to visit troops at Fort Bliss, Texas, prior to the speech.

In the address, Obama must avoid coming across as too triumphant. To do so could evoke comparisons to President George W. Bush's May 2003 speech aboard an aircraft carrier. In front of a "Mission Accomplished" banner, Bush announced that major combat operations were over, a move that was seen as a huge misstep after violence later exploded.

"You won't hear those words coming from us," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said of the Mission Accomplished slogan. "Obviously tomorrow marks a change in our mission. It marks a milestone that we have achieved in removing our combat troops."

"That is not to say that violence is going to end tomorrow," Gibbs added.

More than 4,400 U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 to topple Saddam Hussein.

Obama, who opposed the Iraq war, rode a wave antiwar sentiment that boosted his support within his Democratic Party during the 2008 campaign.

When he took office in January 2009, the U.S. troop presence in Iraq was 140,000 troops and it reached a high of 176,000 under the surge ordered by Bush.

The roughly 50,000 U.S. soldiers still in Iraq are moving into an advisory role in which they will train and support Iraq's army and police.

The effective change on the ground will not be huge because the U.S. military has already been switching the focus toward training and support over the past year. Obama has promised to pull all U.S. troops out of Iraq by the end of 2011.

Ahead of the speech, Republicans criticized Obama for what they say is a failure to acknowledge the success of Bush's troop surge in bringing down violence in Iraq. Obama had opposed the 2007 troop increase.

Gibbs said additional troops contributed to the reduction in violence but there were a "host of factors" that also played a role, such as the "Sunni awakening" movement in which Sunni tribesmen and former insurgents decided to fight al Qaeda.

Obama plans to call Bush before the speech, Gibbs said.

One of Obama's aims is to ease growing anxiety among liberals in his party about the war in Afghanistan, where he has increased U.S. troop levels.

He has set July 2011 as the date for a beginning of a drawdown of U.S. forces in Afghanistan and he hopes the example of Iraq will reassure his Democratic supporters that he can keep his word.

Also looming in the background of Obama's speech are growing worries about the U.S. economy.

The Iraq speech and a Middle East peace summit he is hosting on Wednesday and Thursday mark a heavy emphasis on foreign policy this week. But a raft of gloomy economic data has dominated Americans' attention, which could potentially steal some of the thunder from the Iraq speech.

Obama, who visited wounded troops on Monday at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, will use the Fort Bliss trip to pay tribute to the troops who have served in Iraq.

More than 7,000 troops from Iraq have returned to Fort Bliss over the last six months, including members of the 1st Brigade Combat Team who came back in August and were among the most recent wave of troops to leave, according to the White House.

Successful, attractive and single women 'prefer careers to relationships'.

Melbourne, Aug 29 (ANI): More often than ever, women in there 30s and 40s are putting off relationships to focus on their careers and personal successes, says an Oz expert.

Social trend analyst David Chalke has predicted that by 2020 people living alone will make up the biggest percentage of households in Australia and there will be more women than men.

Gorgeous co-host of Channel Ten's 'The Circle' Yumi Stynes is happy with the label.

"It's not that I set out to meet the SAS criteria, it just kind of happened. I am the mother of two beautiful girls who keep me very busy and my television career is full-on," the Courier Mail quoted her as saying.

"These days living alone is not pathetic, it is empowering for women. I think you will find that a lot of successful women are successful because they set a certain standard for themselves. We all meet our own expectations," she added.

Jodie Macaulay who would turn 40 soon and has never been married said: "I always thought I would have children by now but, you know, it is circumstance that puts you where you are in life.

"I live in hope that I have not left it too late but I am not sitting around moaning about what life has dealt me. I wouldn't swap my life for anyone else's," she said.

"I have my own business and am independent both socially and financially. You might say I'm lucky and spoilt I can make my own decisions in life and have the money to back them up," she added. (ANI)

Indonesia jails businessman over bid to bribe agency.

An Indonesian businessman who played a leading role in a plot to undermine the graft eradication agency in one of Asia's most corrupt countries was sentenced on Tuesday to four years in prison.

Indonesia is attracting growing interest from foreign investors, but bribery is seen as a top political risk and a factor hampering growth in Southeast Asia's largest economy.

Anggodo Widjojo, the brother of a fugitive graft suspect, was caught on tape last year conspiring with senior law enforcement officials to frame two officials at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to weaken the powerful agency.

The plot followed his failed attempt to bribe the two officials to drop a graft case against his brother, Anggoro Widjojo.

The attempt to frame the two KPK officials prompted outrage among ordinary Indonesians. It illustrated the extent to which corruption pervades the legal system and the lengths to which powerful vested interests will go to avoid being held to account.

It was also seen as a test of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's commitment to reform in the face of enormous resistance from powerful figures who had prospered under the old way of doing business.

"The defendant's acts by giving money to take care of the case against his brother have hampered corruption eradication efforts," said one of the judges at the corruption court.

State prosecutors had sought a six-year jail term.

The Widjojo wiretaps, played in court and televised last year, sparked nationwide calls for legal reform. Two days after they were aired, Yudhoyono announced he was making judicial reform a policy priority in his second term.

The KPK is seen as one of the most effective tools in tackling graft and analysts say efforts to undermine it should be taken very seriously. Some critics are concerned that those convicted of corruption are being treated too leniently.

Kevin O'Rourke, a Jakarta-based political risk analyst, said the sentence was standard for a corruption case.

"However, the framing scandal revealed deep deficiencies in the legal system, and key personnel, that still remain unaddressed," he told Reuters.

Supporting Constitution, not mosque at Ground Zero: Obama.

US President Barack Obama says he has only endorsed the core value enshrined in the American Constitution on religious freedom and not the proposed mosque at Ground Zero, clearing the air over his stand on the approval of the Islamic centre near 9/11 site.

"What I said was I was not endorsing any particular project. I was endorsing our Constitution. And what is right," Obama told the NBC news in an interview when asked about his recent statements about the Ground Zero mosque in New York City.

"Well, look, I think my statement at the Iftar dinner in the White House was very clear. And that is that if you can build a church on that site, if you can build a synagogue on that site or a Hindu Temple on that site, then we can't treat people of the Islamic faith differently, who are Americans, who are American citizens," he said, adding: "That is central to who we are. That is a core value of our Constitution."

Obama said as President, his job was to uphold the US Constitution.

The President said he the media seemed to think there was inconsistency in his stand when there wasn't.

"I was very specific to my team and will be very specific to you now -- the core value and principle is every American is treated the same. That doesn't change," he asserted.

"At this Iftar dinner, I had Muslim Americans who had been in uniform fighting in Iraq. Some of whom have served over 20 years. How can you say to them that somehow their religious faith is less worthy of respect under our Constitution and our system of government?

"You know, that's something that I feel very strongly about. I respect the feelings on the other side. I would defend their right to express them just as fiercely," Obama said.

NY Muslim cabby's attacker indicted on hate crime charge..

New York, Aug 31 (ANI): New York film student, Michael Enright, who was accused of stabbing a Muslim cabby in Manhattan last week, has been indicted on charges of second-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault under the category of hate crimes.

Enright is being held without bail in a psychiatric ward, and would reportedly face up to 25 years in prison if convicted of the attempted murder charge.

The 21-year-old man was not in Manhattan Criminal Court during the brief hearing and the indictment is expected to be unsealed on September 22, The New York Times reports.

Enright allegedly slashed cab driver, Sharif Ahmed, in his throat, face and arm last Tuesday after learning that he is a Muslim. But, Ahmed survived the attack.

The student, who spent time in Afghanistan working on a documentary, allegedly yelled, "This is a checkpoint," before stabbing Ahmed.

"This is the checkpoint, and I have to bring you down," Ahmed claimed.

Ahmed related this incident to the anger aroused by the controversy surrounding the proposed Muslim community center and mosque coming up near Ground Zero. (ANI)

Sania crosses first hurdle, Somdev crashes out.

New York, Aug 31 (PTI) Sania Mirza won her fourth match on the trot to cruise to the second round of US Open but it was an early exit for Somdev Devvarman, who lost his opening round in the men''s singles event. Sania, who entered the women''s singles as a qualifier, scored an easy 6-3, 6-2 win over fellow qualifier Michelle Larcher de Brito of Portugal in the first-round match.

Somdev, who earned a direct entry into a Grand Slam for the first time, went down fighting against the South Africa''s Kevin Anderson 3-6 4-6 3-6 in his first round in the men''s singles event. The defeat means that Somdev has not gone beyond the first round in Grand Slams this season.

He had failed to qualify for the Australian Open and the Wimbledon and lost in the first round of the French Open. A second round appearance at the US Open last year remains his best performance in the Slams.

It took Sania one hour and 17 minutes to dispatch her rival and set up a second round clash with Russian 20th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. "For me, the fact that I am still capable of going on court and winning four matches in a row gives me a lot of confidence that I still have the ability," the number one female Indian player said after her win.

"I am just going to enjoy it. I was happy when I won the first round of the qualifiers and I am happy again today.

I love playing here on the hardcourts in New York and always seem to do well here," she added. Sania was forced to go through the qualifers of Grand Slam for the first time since 2005 due to low ranking.

Poor form and wrist injury dented her ranking heavily as she is languishing at 159 in world.

Hariri probe gets Hezbollah 'data' .

Rafiq al-Hariri, a former Lebanese prime minister, was killed in a bomb blast in February 2005.
Hezbollah says it handed over evidence to Lebanon's government that would implicate Israel in the murder of Rafiq al-Hariri, the former Prime Minister.

A judicial source told the AFP news agency on Tuesday, that the data was handed over to a UN court probing the
February 2005 killing.

"Following a meeting Sunday night between Prime Minister Saad Hariri and [Hezbollah official] Hajj Hussein Khalil, and based on a request by the prime minister... Hezbollah official Wafiq Safa today gave Lebanese Prosecutor General Said Mirza the material unveiled by Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Israel's role in the murder at a news conference earlier this month", Hezbollah said in a statement.

According to AFP, the data was transferred to the Beirut office of Daniel Bellemare, the prosecutor of the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon .

Bellemare had called on Lebanese authorities last Wednesday to submit all material related to the murder in the possession of Hezbollah.

The request came after the Hezbollah released several undated clips of aerial views of various areas in Lebanon which he alleged were intercepted from unmanned Israeli surveillance drones.

The clips included footage of the site of the Hariri assassination in west Beirut, canned several years before the murder.

Increasing pressure

Hezbollah is facing increasing pressure amid speculation that several of its members are set to be implicated by the UN tribunal in the killing of Hariri.

But Nasrallah has warned against implicating his Shiite movement in the Hariri assassination, slamming the UN-backed tribunal as an "Israeli project."

The murder triggered an international outcry and led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon in April 2005 after a deployment of almost three decades.

The killing has been widely blamed on Syria, but Damascus has repeatedly denied any involvement.

The Hague-based tribunal was set up by a UN Security Council resolution in 2007 to find and try suspects in the assassination of Hariri. There are currently no suspects in custody.

What a waste?

As you approach Gaza's main dump by road you see a massive wall of trash looming over the plain.

It's crawling with around one hundred scavenger dogs and dozens of poor children, combing through the trash for anything they can sell.

In this cesspit of disease is 20 percent of all the donated medicine Gaza has received since the end of the January 2009 war with Israel.

The Health Ministry in the deposed government of Hamas and the World Health Organisation say this aid had already expired or was close to expiring, before it arrived in Gaza.

So now officials are left with the job of disposing of it. But how? Gaza doesn't have the proper facilities to do it, so it's dumped in a landfill and bulldozed along with the rest of the garbage.

Millions of dollars of aid – going to waste.

Men use their bare hands to push boxes of medicine off the back of a truck, into the dump. The stench is disgusting and flies are everywhere.

Not only are donors sending expired medicine, the Health Ministry says most of the aid they receive is unsuitable, poor quality, and the wrong types of drugs.

As for medical equipment, doctors say it's often outdated, up to 10 years old, broken, and incompatible with the local electricity supply.

In total, the Ministry claims they have to dispose of 70 percent of all the medical aid they've received in the last 18 months.

A dumping ground for aid?

One doctor told us he believes Gaza has become a dumping ground for aid. But Gaza isn't alone. He says sometimes medicine is sent to El Arish in Egypt, before going overland to Gaza. When Gaza’s officials are told it's expired, they reject it, and it's then sent to Darfur in Sudan!

The Health Ministry says two months ago it received $2 million worth of Tamiflu drugs for the H1N1 virus, enough for a third of Gaza's population. The ministry didn't want these drugs, saying the H1N1 threat had passed. So the Tamiflu is also in the rubbish dump now.

They also say sometimes donors send huge supplies of drugs, more than Gaza could use in five years. Unable to get through it all, it expires and has to be dumped.

Co-ordination with Hamas

Dr Ehab Hjazi, the Head of the Donations Committee in the Health Ministry for the deposed government of Hamas, says if countries and organisations co-ordinated with the ministry directly, they would find out exactly what Gaza needs. And the list is long. Hospitals are critically short of 115 drugs, including antibiotics and cancer drugs.

But while Hamas is listed in many countries as a 'terrorist' group, donors' hands are tied. If they deal with Hamas, they risk being banned and losing their funding.

However, donors can find out what Gaza needs from the World Health Organisation.

So it''s time for the international community to get it right.

Sending millions of dollars worth of aid may give a country or Non Government Organisation (NGO) some positive short-term publicity. But if it's ending up in landfill where children and dogs sift through it, then it's more than a problem for the people of Gaza, it's an insult.

Life as an abandoned worker in the UAE.

I've read a lot about the labour camps where the construction workers building Dubai’s dazzling skyline call home but until now, I'd never visited one.

It's virtually impossible to get permission to film inside these camps as they provide images you'll never see on any Dubai tourism brochure.

The only reason we could film the Jose Camp is because the company owner has fled the country leaving 38 workers in a hopeless situation.

You can see their story here:

Still no news as to when they might be given permission to leave or their 10 months of unpaid wages.

The defacto spokesperson for the group is 28-year-old Mohammed Ahktar, a quietly spoken labourer from the Punjab region of Pakistan.

He showed me around the camp which has had no electricity for two months meaning no air conditioning during a brutal desert summer where temperatures can hit 50 degrees Celsius.

When he told me they sleep "upstairs", I thought there was another level to the camp that I hadn't noticed at first.

But as we climbed a rickety ladder (made from 2 sections of a shipping crate nailed together) and stepped up onto the roof, it became clear what the "upstairs room" entailed.

More than a dozen mattresses were laid out on the corrugated iron roof competing for a spot of fresh air with satellite dishes that don't work anymore due to the power being cut off.

They say it's cool enough at night to at least get some sleep, I can only imagine how they survive the days bunkered down in their 3mx3m rooms housing seven people each.

It's a tough way to earn a $220 per month but there were few complaints while they were actually getting paid!

The UAE labour ministry says camps like this are exceptions NOT the norm and they've assisted more than 1,000 other abandoned workers to get some of their unpaid wages and a ticket home.

But the wheels of justice turn slowly - the guys from Jose camp registered their status in a UAE court in March and are yet to hear a thing.

In the meantime they survive on charity provided by a few caring individuals.

One of them is Saher Shaikh, a wealthy British-Pakistani mother of two, who somehow juggles raising children with caring for hundreds of workers.

Nowhere to run in Pakistan.

For the past several days, the people of Pakistan have been told to evacuate town after town, village after village. But as the flood-triggered humanitarian disaster continues to unfold and cast its dark shadow, the economic cost is now increasingly evident. It could have serious ramifications for the relief effort that is yet to get into full gear.

We witnessed hundreds of thousands of people on the move in Punjab province, stopping just briefly to regain strength, before continuing on along a straight road, followed by encroaching waters. It was like a flock of sheep without a Sheppard. There was no one at hand to guide these people to safer places.
Punjab's Muzzafargarh district is home to at least three thermal power units that produce much needed electricity in a country already suffering its worst energy crisis. At least one such power unit at Lal Pir has been shut down and it said to be under several feet of water. The unit in Kot Addu is surrounded by water, while the town itself is inundated.

But that’s not all - Pakistan’s largest oil refinery, which Pak Arab Refinery Company (PARCO) built with help from the United Arab Emirates, is now under threat. The refinery has been shut down to prevent any damage in case of flooding and many dykes have been breached to help divert the water from entering this vital facility.

The shutdown has led to hundreds of trucks being stranded on the main road from Muzafargarh to Multan. That city saw long queues as people rushed to buy dwindling supplies of fuel - a scene Pakistan’s prime minister must have witnessed as he visited Multan, his hometown.

Back in Muzafargarh, the breaching of riverbanks has caused the evacuation of the district's main city. Many people who have been on the move had stopped briefly, hoping they were safe, but were also told to leave this city. Just before the waters entered the city, Banks and the National Registration Authority moved both documents and valuables to the city of Multan.

After covering Muzaffargarh, we drove to the adjoining district of Layyah, where the waters had wrought havoc. Despite the fact that the water was now receding, large swathes of territory were still submerged. In some cases, entire villages had vanished without out a trace.

Some of the residents who opted to stay back to protect their homes and belongings endured an ordeal, the likes of which they had never seen. Nazar Hussain said at first, things seemed normal. He said when he and his family slept, everything was as expected, but when they woke up, they were surrounded by water.

"I called a boat owner and begged him to save my family; I could hear the cries of people [calling] for help and saw dead bodies and animals being carried by raging waters."

When help arrived, he sent his children and wife to safety. "I told them I will see you if I am still alive,” he said, wiping his tears.
We rented a local boat to travel into the flood waters. It was eerily quite and the heat and humidity were unbearable. Everything was surreal about this place.
Ducking and bending to avoid the branches of trees, we traveled through what were once populated villages. Now it was all gone.

Iran's 'ambassador of death' bomber ready.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday inaugurated the country's first domestically built unmanned bomber aircraft, calling it an "ambassador of death" to Iran's enemies. The 4-metre (13 foot) long drone aircraft can carry up to four cruise missiles and will have a range of 620 miles (1,000 kilometres), according to a state TV report - not far enough to reach archenemy Israel. At the inauguration ceremony on Sunday, the country's national day for Iran's defence industry, Ahmadinejad said the aircraft, named Karrar or striker, was "an ambassador of death for the enemies of humanity," but added that it also "has a main message of peace and friendship." The president championed the country's military self-sufficiency programme, and said it will continue "until the enemies of humanity lose hope of ever attacking the Iranian nation." Iran launched an arms development programme during its 1980-88 war with Iraq to compensate for a US weapons embargo and now produces its own tanks, armoured personnel carriers, missiles and even a fighter plane. Iran frequently makes announcements about new advances in military technology that cannot be independently verified.

Uttarakhand:Tiger drowns as rivers swell.

It's been raining heavily in most parts of Uttarakhand for the last one week. At least 70 people have already died in the state.But humans apart, even the big cat has been unable to beat the flood fury. A tiger's body was found floating in the Kotabagh river near Nainital on Sunday. The state has received more than 1200 mm of rainfall in just a week. As a result of this, the 14 rivers flowing through Uttarakhand are well above the danger mark.

Imran backs flood relief efforts by 'terror outfits' in garb of Pak Islamic charities.

New York, Aug 23(ANI): Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan has downplayed the alarm being raised in the West about the flood relief efforts being carried out by terror outfits, including Jamaat-ud-Daawa (JuD), in the garb of Islamic charities.
"At this stage, any help that the flood-hit people could get was welcome. It is a matter of their survival," The Nation quoted Imran, as saying.
"The Islamic organisations have been in existence for a long time, but their humanitarian services, have never translated into votes at the elections. The people of Pakistan were not so naive as to adopt their ideologies in return for their relief effort," he added.
Imran further criticised the Pakistan government saying that the mood in the country was "depressing" as it had failed to provide humanitarian aid for the affected people.
"There is no food even in the relief camps run by the government. Pakistan is in dire straits," he said.
The United Nations had earlier warned that militants could take advantage of the country's worst humanitarian disaster by operating among its displaced victims.
"The people's misery can always be exploited by those who have political or militant aims," said Jean-Maurice Ripert, UN Special Envoy for Assistance to Pakistan.
According to reports, the Jamaat-ud-Daawa (JuD), the charity wing of the dreaded terror group-Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), is running relief camps in the flood-hit north western part of the country and providing the victims food, medicines and money.
The JuD, under its latest humanitarian face Falah-e-Insaniat, has established numerous relief camps in Khyber Pakhtunkwa province in its bid to push through its anti-west ideology amidst the survivors of the devastating deluge.
While the Pakistan government has been struggling to collect funds for the flood-victims, the JuD, which masterminded the November 2008 Mumbai carnage, claimed that it raises 120 million rupees daily, which is equal to the total amount the Prime Minister relief fund has with it.
Over 1,600 people have been killed and 20 million affected as raging floodwaters continue to wreak havoc in the country.
In addition to causing major human loses, it has destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes, washed away crops and livestock.
The United Nations says that Pakistan will need billions of dollars to recover from the deluge, which is being described as the worst in the last 80 years.

Delhi:Flood fear, Yamuna continues to rise.

Could more low lying areas of the Capital be submerged? The shadow of floods looms large over Delhi as the Yamuna continues to flow well above the danger mark of 204.88 metres. Rain is still coming down heavily in most parts of the city. The rainfall for the month of August has already broken a 10-year record. There has been more than 413 mm of rainfall in the city till now this month, the highest in a decade. The other big concern is water released from a barrage in Haryana will reach Delhi later today, adding further to the woes. "How will the poor manage? Where will we go? There is no food. We have made our houses here. Where else will we go," says Neeraj, a worried rickshaw puller. At present the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) team and the Delhi government team are patrolling the river with 60 boats. "People living in huts have been evacuated. But those living in houses on the river bank are still there. The water has reached their doors. If the water level rises it will be dangerous for them," says Sahabjeet Yadav, an NDRF Sub-Inspector. The Chief Minister's office has said that at least 10 camps have been set up with temporary shelters in low lying areas close to the river.

Why was a shoe thrown at Omar Abdullah?

After a shoe was thrown at Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, the police claimed yesterday that the attacker had said he was asked to do so by a politician. But now, sources tell NDTV that the attacker, a suspended policeman, did not mention a politician in his interrogation.Sunday, Independence Day, was meant to be an occasion for Omar Abdullah to reach out to the people. Instead, the focus of Independence Day celebrations in Srinagar turned out to be a major security breach. The suspended head constable, Abdulla Ahad Jaan, hurled the shoe at the chief minister from the third row of the VIP enclosure soon after Omar unfurled the national flag. Security for the function was so high that no civilians - not even schoolchildren - were allowed at the venue, leave alone the VIP enclosure. An embarrassed security apparatus is unable to explain how a suspended cop managed to get into the high-security zone. Or if there were others involved?

No concern about delays: GoM on CWG.

The Group of Ministers (GoM) on Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2010 held their first meeting in New Delhi on Sunday to consider various aspects of the opening ceremony of the mega sporting event.This came a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh convened an emergency meeting to review the preparations for the Games.The GoM voiced satisfaction over the pace of progress in preparations and also approved the theme song for the event composed by Oscar winner A R Rahman.Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy, who heads the GoM, said there is no change in schedule and there should not be any concern over some delays in meeting deadlines.The three-hour long meeting discussed the organisational details for the 11-day event starting in New Delhi on October 4 and discussed the broad contours ofthe opening ceremony.When asked whether delays in meeting deadlines were a matter of concern, Reddy said, "There is no concern. Absolutely confident on state of preparedness (of Games)."Asked whether significance should be attached to the meeting since it came a day after Singh had met him for the first time as GoM chief, Reddy said "We did take stock of various matters and are satisfied on pace of progress."

AR Rahman launches CWG theme song.

Oscar winner A R Rahman on Monday launched the theme song for Common wealth Games 2010. The Group of Minister (GoM) on the Games had approved the song at a meeting on Sunday after it heard the rendition of the song. "We discussed the theme song among ourselves and A R Rahman, (Film Director) Shyam Benegal and (Producer) Bharat Bala. The GoM has approved the theme song in principle." Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy, who heads the GoM, had said after the meeting.

Ramzan.

Ramadan, the greatest religious observance in Islam, is an annual month of fasting. It is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Muslims consider this whole month as a blessed month. They fast during the days of this month and make special prayers at night. People also give more charity and do extra righteous deeds. Also, in this Holy Month, The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) received the first revelation of Al-Qur’an (in one of the last ten odd nights of Ramzan). Ramazan/Ramadhan is the month of celebration as well as the month of discipline and self-control.

"Islam is one of those great brotherhoods, which has been given to mankind by prophet Muhammad of hallowed memory."

Fasting is means of purification and developing the consciousness of our relationship with Allah. This Taqwa, is a protection against the schemes of Shaitan, and this world. Allah (SWT) has informed us that, "Whoever keeps his duty to Allah (has taqwa), He ordains a way out for him and gives him sustenance from where he imagines not. And whoever trusts in Allah, He is sufficient for him. Surely Allah attains His purpose. Allah has appointed a measure for everything." (65:2) Ramadhan should be a time of increased activity wherein the believer, now lightened of the burdens of constant eating and drinking, should be more willing to strive and struggle for Allah (SWT).
Such was the month of Ramadhan in the time of the Prophet (pbuh). It was a time of purification, enjoining the good, forbidding evil, and striving hard with one’s life and wealth to make the word of Allah the highest and Islam the dominant Deen.
Significance of Ramzan fasting
1)The most important consideration in undertaking a fast, as in any act of devotion, is to seek nearness to God, and seek His pleasure and Forgiveness. This itself generates a spirit of piety in man.
2)Creating the conditions of hunger and thirst for oneself, simply in obedience to the Divine order, measures the faith of man in God and helps strengthen it by putting it to a severe test.
3)Fasting enhances through creation of artificial non-availability, the value of the bounties of God which man often takes for granted. This inculcates in man a spirit of gratitude and consequent devotion to God. Nothing else can bring home to a man the worth of God's bounties than a glass of water and a square meal after a day long fast. This also reminds man that the real joy in enjoying God's bounties lies in moderation and restraint and not in over indulging.
4)Fasting makes us deeply conscious of the pangs of hunger and discomfort suffered by the less fortunate among our brethren. They have to put up with difficult conditions all through their lives. It thus kindles in man a spirit of sacrifice leading to change towards his suffering brethren.
5)Fasting gives man an unfailing training in endurance, a spirit of acceptance. This could well prepare him to put up with the unchangeable situations in life in the same spirit of resignation as cultivated during the fasts.
6)Fasting develops courage, fortitude, and a fighting spirit in man to surmount the heavy odds in life with a cool and tranquil mind. It sharpens his power of concentration to overcome obstacles through a vigorous exercise all throughout the month, leading to a steeling of his will power and resolve, that could help him in challenging situations in life. It is seen than many an undesirable habit which is difficult to give up, is more easily given up during the days of fasting.
7) Fasting teaches man reliance on God, and confidence in Him. Just as the vigorous state of fasting for a whole month is undertaken with His assistance, bitter situations in life could also be surmounted with His help.
8) Fasting develops a spirit of patience in man, with the realization that the days of fasting, though seemingly unending, do have a successful and happy end. Thus is life. All bitter situations pass, and come to an end.
9) Fasting is meant to conquer anger and develop self-control in man. The vigorous effort required to put up with hunger and thirst can well be extended to conquer other infirmities of human character that lead man into error and sin.
10) Fasting inculcates a spirit of tolerance in man to face unpleasant conditions and situations without making his fellow beings the victim of his wrath. Many people, when facing discomfort and deprivation, become irritable and annoyed. This anger is then vented on those around them. Fasting helps a man become more tolerant despite his own discomfort.
11)Fasting mellows a man and enhances his character, giving a jolt to the human instincts of pride, haughtiness, jealousy and ambition. Fasting softens his character, and clears his heart and mind of many negative emotions.
12) Fasting exposes the weakness of man in the event of his being deprived of two basic bounties of God; food and drink. It infuses into him a spirit of weakness and submission, generating humility and prayer in an otherwise arrogant being.
13)Fasting breathes the spirit of forgiveness in man towards others, as he seeks God's forgiveness through fasts and prayers.
14) Fasting gives lessons in punctuality. Man has to adhere to a strict schedule of time in the observance of the fast.
15)Ramadan dates – Peace And Happiness On Ramadan!
Peace And Happiness On Ramadan!
Fasting could affect the economy of the individual as he is less wasteful on food and meals.
16)Fasting demands a rigid sense of discipline, mental, spiritual and physical. This forms characteristics which are an essential ingredient to success in life.
17) Fasting creates spiritual reformation in man, infusing him with a spirit of enthusiasm and zest to change and become a better human being in the eyes of God. This is an excellent opportunity, given to believers each year, to change themselves and consequently their destinies.
Ramadan dates – Shine In His Divine Blessings!
Shine In His Divine Blessings
On the physical side, fasting cleanses the human system of the accumulated impurities of uninterrupted eating throughout the year. It prepares the body to face diseases or conditions of scarcity. The rigid abstinence of a fast regulates man's health, sharpens his intellect and enhances the qualities of his heart.


SHARIQ HAIDER NAQVI.
Producer DD Kashir.

Team Kalmadi defends consultants it hired.

Suresh Kalmadi has challenged new allegations of corruption outlined in an interim report by the CAG or Comptroller and Auditor General of India. The document indicts the finian rung of the Commonwealth Games: Kalmadi, who is Chairman of the commonwealth Games' Organizing Committee; Mike Fennel, President of the Commonwealth Games' Federation; and Chief Executive Officer Mike Hooper. The interim report suggests gigantic lapses in the way companies were chosen to handle broadcast rights and sponsorship rights. By selecting Fast Track Sales of London to handle the broadcast rights, the report suggests that Rs 24 crore was lost in revenue. The other bidders were not studied before Fast Track was awarded the contract. For SMAM, the Australian company hired to bring in international advertisers and sponsors, the CAG interim report states that while four companies wanted to apply for the contract, only one bid - from SMAM - was considered. After SMAM shot into the headlines last week,Team Kalmadi said its contract has been cancelled for "non-performance." The sponsorship managed so far for the Games is less than half of the target. For the Queen's Baton Relay in October last year, the interim report says that the consultants chosen for the ceremony were, bizarrely, the highest bidder. By using Maxxam International, the interim report states, Rs 6.16 crore was wasted.