Gold down on weak buying support; silver also slips

Silver also retreated below the Rs 55,000 per kg level on heavy speculative unwinding coupled with sluggish industrial demand.

MUMBAI: Gold prices moved down on the domestic bullion market today due to reduced buying from stockists and retailers at the existing levels amid bearish overseas sentiment.

Silver also retreated below the Rs 55,000 per kg level on heavy speculative unwinding coupled with sluggish industrial demand.

Standard gold of 99.5 per cent purity fell by Rs 45 to conclude at Rs 29,690 per 10 gm from overnight closing level of Rs 29,735.

Pure gold of 99.9 per cent purity slipped by Rs 50 to end at Rs 29,825 per 10 gm from Rs 29,875.

Silver ready (.999 fineness) slumped by Rs 475 to finish at Rs 54,710 per kg from Friday's closing level of Rs 55,185.

Globally, the yellow metal pulled back from its one- month high on easing fears of an imminent financial turmoil in Cyprus and expectations of an early breakthrough in the island nation's bid to secure a bailout deal from the European Union.

In New York, gold for April delivery declined USD 7.70 to settle at USD 1,606.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the NYMEX late yesterday.

Silver for May contract shed 51 cents to settle at USD 28.70 an ounce.

Xolo B700 featuring whopping 3,450mAh battery unveiled

Not officially, but a price of the Xolo B700 has indeed popped up and the Android smartphone has been made available at Rs. 8,999, through Flipkart. As far as affordable smartphones go, India is not new to this concept, but this device could stand as a tough contender to the likes of the Micromax A110 from the Canvas series, as it offers a 1GHz dual core processor at the said retail value.
Apart from the CPU, 512MB of RAM and a whopping 3,450mAh battery power up the operations of the device. The smartphone allots space on its front surface to an IPS touch display stretching as much as 4.3 inches and possessing a resolution of 540 x 960 pixels. It swells up to a height of 130.5mm, width of 66.5mm and depth of 12.1mm.

A 5MP camera mounted onto the flip side undertakes various activities ranging from capturing pictures to recording videos at 720p. Placed next to an LED flash, it moreover features auto focus and touch focus. A VGA webcam grabs a seat slightly above the display and facilitates live face-to-face conversations.
Internal memory amounts to 4GB, whereas the total expandable storage sums up to 32GB. The device may not flaunt top-notch connectivity features such as NFC, mobile hotspot or DLNA, but users can keep an eye out for Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1. On account of the aforementioned battery, 2G owners should be able to benefit from up to 23 hours of talk time or 380 hours of standby, while the gadget proffers around 20 hours of talk time or 363 hours of standby when employed on 3G.

Flipkart is offering the Xolo B700 with a one-year warranty as well as cash on delivery and EMI payment facilities. Aside from the said online shopping outlet, the handset has struck eBay. Interested folks will however have to buck up, seeing as limited units have been stocked with a retail tag of Rs. 8,990.

Let’s take note of the device’s important specifications:
- 4.3-inch IPS display
- 540 x 960 pixel resolution
- 1GHz dual core processor
- PowerVR SGX 531 GPU
- 512MB of RAM
- Android 4.0 OS
- 5MP main camera with LED flash
- VGA auxiliary webcam
- 4GB inbuilt memory, expandable up to 32GB
- 3,450mAh battery
- 66.5 x 130.5 x 12.1 in millimeters
- 160g weight

Collector wakes up to swine flu emergency

INDORE: After the death toll due to swine flu reached 12, the district collector on Friday took note of the gravity of the situation in the city and called an emergency meeting with health department officials to chalk out a plan to curb the virus spread. The collector directed the health department officials to propagate the message and put up hoardings in city and its periphery.
He directed all the government hospitals to set up screening centres and took stock of medicines and mask availability with the department.

Honey Singh sings Brown rang for desi girl Priyanka

Rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh, who feels that Priyanka Chopra looks "hot" with her dusky skin, sang his popular number Brown rang for the National Award-winning actress.

On the red carpet of MTV Video Music Awards India 2013, Honey Singh sang his hit song Brown rang for Priyanka, and said: "This goes for Priyanka Chopra, she is brown, she is hot."

Priyanka, who is popular as Bollywood's 'desi girl', has also charted her own singing career with her international single In My City, which released last year.

She also performed at the MTV Video Music Awards India night and grooved to four different genres of dance - classical, jazz, disco and contemporary - on her own songs. She even gyrated to her latest item number Babli badmaash.

Birthday Special: Emraan Hashmi and his hot lip-locks

Emraan Hashmi turns 34 today. And as usual, he is planning to have a low key celebration. Born on 24^th March 1979 to Anwar Hashmi and Maherrah Hashmi, he made his Bollywood debut with ‘Footpath’ in the year 2003. Most of his hits have been from Vishesh Productions, which belongs to his uncle, Mahesh Bhatt. Emraan Hashmi rose to fame because of his serial kisser image. Given his recent spate of hit films, he is in no mood to let go of his serial kisser tag. He has appeared in several commercial films which have been very successful. During the launch of one of his music albums, he was quoted as saying, “I am still kissing in my films and will keep doing that. But I am lucky to have earned the 'hit' tag as I have always opted to work on unique films.”
With Mallika Sherawat
He starred opposite her in ‘Murder’, which was a box office hit. It was their first successful film. He had around 17 kisses with her in the movie and they shared a sizzling chemistry on screen. The two rose to fame after this movie, and Emraan Hashmi earned the tag of serial kisser.
With Dia Mirza
They starred together in ‘Tumsa Nahi Dekha’, and his performance in the film was very well received by the audience. Dia Mirza and Emraan Hashmi rocked the screen with their kiss.
With Jacqueline Fernandez
In their latest film, ‘Murder 2’, the two sizzled. It was such crackling chemistry between the two, that it looked extremely real.
With Udita Goswami
The movie, ‘Zeher’, did not perform so well at the box office, but the two surely made some heads turn with their passionate kissing on the screen.
With Tanushree Dutta
They were together in ‘Aashiq Banaya Aapne’. Their kiss was more talked about than the movie itself.
With Soha Ali Khan
In the movie ‘Tum Mile’, they both received positive response for their performance in the film.
With Vidya Balan
In the award winning film, ‘The Dirty Picture’, the two set the screen on fire. Emraan Hashmi went on to receive critical acclaim for his performance.
At the same time, the actor has proved his acting talent as well. He has earned critical acclaim for his movies, and the music of his films, have always caught up with the youth. He is another actor who is absolutely for the masses, and his films have proven that he is a commercially hit star. He is currently looking forward to the release of ‘Ek Thi Daayan’.
With Esha Gupta
Emraan Hashmi kissed Esha Gupta for 20 minutes in 'Raaz 3'. This is said to be Emraan's first longest kiss.

They asked me to leave, and I did: Saif Ali Khan

Saif Ali Khan is irritated with media reports about his alleged altercation with Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel at Lucknow’s Chowdhary Charan Singh airport.
The reports suggested that the actor-producer was involved in a fight with security personnel at the airport when he was asked to vacate the VIP lounge. Saif is currently shooting in Lucknow for Bullet Raja and was enrouteDelhi on Friday morning. According to the rumours, he was sitting at the VIP lounge when a CISF personnel approached him and asked him to leave as only dignitaries and those authorised by the government occupy that lounge. It is alleged that the actor refused to leave and a verbal pow wow broke out between the two. The situation was brought into control when some senior officials intervened.
Saif is aghast at the rumours. He fumes, “All these rumours are fabricated! I came to the airport and checked in Jet Airways. The airlines staff directed me to a lounge which was completely empty. I was sitting in the lounge, reading a book, when two guys from the airline came and told me I should sit somewhere else as the lounge was only for VIP’s authorised by the government. I smiled and left immediately. I went and sat in one of the public areas outside and I think the airport authorities got worried on seeing me seated there. Maybe they thought I was offended. Soon after the airport manager Vivek Anand came rushing to meet me and asked me to join him for a cup of tea. He said there had been a misunderstanding and he wanted to make good. I told him I was fine where I was and if he wanted to have a cup of tea with me my boy Abdul would get it. We sat down and enjoyed a cup of tea together. I even invited him to my Delhi home. People who are saying I got into a fight should be sued for defamation of character. I am suing the news agency which carried such a false story! Lucknow is such a wonderful city, very beautiful and I am having such a great time shooting there. At the airport I was joking with people and everyone was so friendly. It’s unfortunate that such reports are being carried”

Staff at guest house say a tall, wheatish man hired room, brought in two bags

Delhi Police Special Cell raided a guest house in old Delhi's Jama Masjid area on Thursday night after an alleged Hizbul terrorist, arrested from Gorakhpur in UP, disclosed that he was to collect arms and ammunition from his aides in Delhi.
Police are now trying to identify his "contacts" with help of the CCTV footage from the guest house.
More than 20 policemen in civilian clothes raided the guest house, Hazi Arafat, located in a narrow bylane opposite Jama Masjid in Central Delhi at 10.45 pm on Thursday. The operation lasted for four hours.
According to police, an operative of Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) — Sayyed Liyaqat Shah — who belongs to Kupwara district in North Kashmir, was arrested on March 20 and he had told them that his aides were to meet him in the guest house, provide arms and give instructions on the terror strike.
"From the hotel room, an AK-56, some hand grenades, a memory card, two magazines, a map, and dry fruits were recovered," Special Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) S N Srivastava said.
The raiding party reportedly waited for Shah's aide till late Thursday, but when he did not turn up, the police got his room keys from the reception and searched it in the presence of the hotel manager, Srivastava said.
The aide reportedly checked into the guest house on Wednesday (March 20). He was staying in room number 304 on the third floor.
Speaking to Delhi Newsline, a hotel staff said the man came there around 4 pm on March 20 and chose a non-A/C room. He was tall, wheatish in complexion, clean-shaven and wore a cap and spectacles, he said.
"He submitted his Voter's ID and his contact number and paid one day's rent — Rs 500 — as advance. We had checked his bag with a hand metal-detector and found nothing suspicious. He told me he was a tourist," the staff member said.
Around 5.30 pm, the man went out of the hotel "to have tea" and returned sometime later with another bag, the staff member said.
"It looked like a blanket carry bag, so we did not check it. At 8 pm, he went out and did not return. It is our policy to wait for 48 hours before informing police about a visitor who leaves the room unattended. But before we could alert police, the Special Cell team approached us at 10.45 pm on Thursday," he said.
"CCTV footage from the guest house reveals a man had visited Shah's aide on Wednesday and is suspected to be involved in the planned attack. We are analysing the footage and have sent six teams to Kashmir to trace Shah's associates," a police officer said.

Australians rediscover sledging expertise

Australian captain Shane Watson has a word with Indian captain MS Dhoni on Day 2 of the fourth Test in New Delhi. 

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• Scorecard, 4th Test: India vs Australia
• Aussies find spunk as Kotla plays tricks
• Aussies have been aggressive, says Vijay
• Watson and Lyon rise to the occasion
• When Kohli's dismissal got the biggest cheer

NEW DELHI: On Saturday, the Australians rediscovered the will to fight and also their expertise in sledging, sparking life into a series devoid of incident.
 

 

                                                                      Giving Rahane a tough time

Clearly nervous on debut, Ajinkya Rahane got a mouthful after Siddle rapped him on the pads off the first ball he faced. The decibel levels increased as the chatty Aussies hovered around the debutant during his short but uncomfortable stay.

Jadeja's obscene gesture

Then Jadeja and Warner got into a spat. Pattinson, wary of the fact that the pitch would deteriorate in the second innings, objected to Dhoni running on the centre of the pitch.

As Dhoni got busy sorting out the issue with Watson and the umpire, Jadeja asked for drinks. Warner intervened and that didn't go down well with the Indian all-rounder. Jadeja made an obscene gesture.

Jadeja vs the Aussies

After that, the Aussies literally hounded Jadeja with comments. Jadeja did give it back to Ed Cowan, standing at short-leg, after a caught behind appeal was turned down.

Even 100 runs would be difficult to chase on Kotla track: Nathan Lyon

As batting is becoming extremely difficult on a fast-wearing pitch, Australia spinner Nathan Lyon believes they stand a good chance to sign off the tour with a win since it will be difficult for India to chase even a small target of 100 runs.
Lyon got a lot of purchase from the Feroz Shah Kotla track, offering vicious turn and uneven bounce, and scalped five Indian batsmen to bring Australia back in the match.
"We need to bat well tomorrow. Even a 100-run target would be difficult to chase on this track. The wicket is going up and down. We need to bat well and hopefully get a lead of 150-200 runs. It will help us to put the Indians under some pressure," Lyon told reporters after second day's play.
The Australian bowlers, led by Lyon (5/94), troubled the Indian batsmen as the hosts finished the day two at 266 for eight in the fourth and final cricket Test.
Such was the changing nature of the pitch that despite a century-plus opening stand between Cheteshwar Pujara (52) and Murali Vijay (57), India lost six wickets in a heap in the post-tea session.
Lyon extracted sharp turn and bounce to get rid of India's top and middle order players -- Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar debutant Ajinkya Rahane.
Asked about his prized scalp, Lyon said each and every wicket was special to him.
"All five wickets were special to me. Every wicket was special to me. Playing against the likes of Tendulkar and Kohli, you always strive to get their wickets. I am quite happy with each one of them. I really enjoyed myself out there. I felt confident and put my team in the contest. We will try to turn things around here in Delhi," he said.
Lyon did not read too much in the on-field spat between Ravindra Jadeja and David Warner.
"What happens on the field, stays on the field. Australia play hard cricket and we play very hard today. The conditions are tough out there and we did pretty well today. We pushed ourselves to the limits and that¿s why we played our best cricket. It was missing in the last three Tests," he said.
Talking about his own bowling, Lyon said stand-in captain Shane Watson marshalled his men smartly.
"I love bowling in long spells which I did today. As far as my performance is concerned, Shane told us to get in to the contest, that's one thing which worked for all of us. His advice helped me in getting five wickets. Also, we were bowling in partnerships, building pressure on the opposition, that's one thing which we failed to do in the last three Tests," he said.
"Shane is a great player and a great leader. Everyone has got so much respect for him. I thought he did pretty well today as a captain, motivating all of us," he added.

Nitish Kumar grants Bihar women 35% quota in police jobs

In yet another attempt to consolidate his "caste-neutral" base among women, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has announced 35 per cent reservation for them in police jobs.
Bihar Police is estimated to have 43,000 job vacancies, including of 25,000 constables, over the next five years.
"Reserving 35 per cent seats for women will be another step towards women empowerment that started with the government giving 50 per cent reservation to women to panchayats in 2006," the chief minister said in his address at a function to mark the 101st foundation day of the state, Bihar Diwas, Friday.
The announcement came weeks after Bihar Military Police got its first all-woman battalion in Bihar Military Police. The battalion is ready to be deployed against Maoists.
The chief minister also said his government would bring amendments to relevant laws during the ongoing Assembly session to give 50 per cent reservation to women in co-operative societies, including the Primary Agriculture Credit and Cooperative Society.
He said his government has started training schoolgirls in judo and karate. "By the next Bihar Diwas function, we will see over 40,000 trained girls," he added.
Nitish's announcements are seen as another bid by his government to consolidate its women vote bank. The last Assembly election had seen over 10 per cent increase in turnout of voters, largely women and youth. Now stories are being told of women challenging family diktats to vote for Nitish because he has launched a host of women-centric schemes.
Such schemes include Akshar Aanchal Yojana, a literacy programme for married women; Auzar and Humar, vocational programmes for girls, Mukhyamantri Balika Cycle Scheme; Mukhyamantri Poshaka yojana; Mukhyamantri Balika Protsahan Yojana. The state spends over Rs 2,800 for cycle, uniform and scholarship schemes for students.

Arvind Kejriwal's fast against inflated power, water bills enters day 2

New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal continued his indefinite hunger strike against ‘inflated’ power and water bills in Delhi for the second day on Sunday.

"In order to take the fear out of the minds and hearts of the people and to unite them, I'm sitting on an indefinite fast. This time, we are not demanding anything from the government. My appeal is directly to the people of Delhi," Kejriwal said in a statement yesterday.

He said he would stop paying his electricity and water bills and asked others to also do the same.

Kejriwal began his fast in the morning at a house in Sunder Nagri in east Delhi. He said the house owner had to borrow money to pay his water and electric bills.

He said if most of the people stopped paying the bills, no government would have the courage to disconnect anyone's power supply.

AAP members will also protest in 264 wards across te city and launch door-to-door campaign, asking people not to pay bills according to the increased tariff.

Kejriwal alleged that Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had colluded with power and water companies and illegally increased the tariff.

Hit-and-Run case: Salman Khan to appear in court on Monday

Bollywood actor Salman Khan

will appear in the Session Court in Mumbai 2002 hit and run case on Monday. Salman who was out of the country for treatment returned to India on Saturday. This would be Salman Khan’s first appearance in court in these long years. For the first time the hearing of the case will take place in the Session court after the actor was charged with 'culpable homicide not amounting to murder'.

Ten years ago, Salman Khan committed this mistake. He run his Land Cruiser over people sleeping at the pavement outside a bakery in suburban Bandra in the wee hours of 28 March, September 2002. In this incident, one person was killed and four injured. Sessions Judge UB Hejib has scheduled the hearing of the case on March 25, and the 47-year-old was asked to be present on that day.
Salman was asked to appear before the Sessions court on March 11, but he did turn up that day as the case was yet to be assigned to any judge.

There would be a fresh trail; evidence will be produced before the Magistrate’s court.
If Salman Khan is found guilty then under section 304 A of Indian Penal Code, he would have to serve jail for two years.
After investigating 17 witnesses, the Magistrate concluded that the charge of 'culpable homicide not amounting to murder' was prima facie made out against the actor.
This is not the only case registered in his name. Salman was charged with a serious offence of killing blackbuck in 1993 in Jodhpur during the shooting with ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’ with Saif Ali Khan and three others.
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Ojha reaches 100-wicket milestone in Tests

Pragyan Ojha being greeted by Ravindra Jadeja after getting James Pattinson out on Day 2 of the 4th Test between India and Australia at Ferozshah Kotla Ground in New Delhi on 23, March, 2013. 

 

Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha on Saturday completed his 100 wickets in Test cricket on the second day of the fourth and final match of the series against Australia here, becoming the third fastest Indian to reach the milestone.

Ojha dismissed James Pattinson as his 100th victim in the morning session to bring an end to Australia’s first innings at 262 all out at the Feroze Shah Kotla ground.

Ojha achieved the feat in his 22nd Test and, in the process, becomes the third fastest Indian to get 100 wickets behind legendary spinners Erapalli Prasanna (20 Tests) and Anil Kumble (21).

The 26-year-old from Orissa dismissed Pattinson on the first ball of his 27th over when the Australian pacer got the leading edge while playing for the turn and Virat Kohli completing a sharp catch at slips. Ojha finished with innings figures of 26.1-6-75-1 at an economy rate of 2.86.

Ojha, who made his Test debut against Sri Lanka in Kanpur in 2009, has not played a single match in the longer format overseas. His best bowling figure (6/47) came against the West Indies in Mumbai in 2011.

Today’s milestone has made Ojha the 18th Indian overall and world’s 163rd bowler to get to the 100-wicket figure.

Ojha also becomes the fifth left-arm spinner from India to get to the milestone, the others being Bishan Singh Bedi, Vinoo Mankad, Ravi Shastri and Dilip Doshi.

Meanwhile, R.Ashwin on Saturday equalled Anil Kumble’s record of a 27-wicket haul in a four-Test series when he dismissed Australia’s Peter Siddle this morning to finish with figures of 34-18-57-5.

Ashwin can surpass Kumble’s record if he gets a wicket in Australia’s second innings in the ongoing Test. This was the ninth time Ashwin has got five wickets or more in 16 Tests he has played so far. In this series, this was his fourth five-wicket haul.

Kumble’s achievement had come in 2004-05 series against Australia which India lost 1-2 with a match in Chennai being washed away.

Leg-spinner B.S.Chandrasekhar holds the Indian record of most Test wickets in a series. He had 35 wickets in the five-Test home series against England in 1972-73.

Keywords: Pragyan Ojha, 100 wickets, Australia's tour of India