London: One of Britain's prominent Sikh politicians, Parmjit Dhanda, has told a probe panel inquiring into racism during elections that a pig's severed head was left outside his home. The former Labour MP made the revelation to an all-party inquiry into electoral conduct in the UK, which is recording racist abuse suffered during election campaigns in the country.
Dhanda's children found the pig's head on the front drive while they were playing outside, shortly after the 2010 general election in which the 41-year-old lost his Gloucester seat. MPs have been giving evidence about receiving abusive phone calls, death threats and dozens of letters and internet posts containing racist insults in the course of campaigning.
The inquiry is also taking anonymous evidence from gay and lesbian MPs who were the subject of homophobic abuse, and ethnic minority women candidates who were targeted by Muslim fundamentalists. The parliamentary inquiry chairperson, Natascha Engel, Labour MP of North East Derbyshire, said she was shocked by the amount of abuse politicians had suffered during elections.
"We set up this inquiry to see whether prejudice and discrimination during elections was a problem and I have been shocked to discover the extent of it and how extreme some of it is," she told The Sunday Times. Lee Scott, Conservative MP for Ilford North, who is Jewish, had a panic button installed at his home by police after he was confronted while he was out campaigning by young men who threatened to kill him....
06:42 PM, May 19, 2013
New Delhi: Investigation into whether US giant Walmart may have bribed Indian officials to gain wider access to the country's vast market has been closed due to lack of evidence, sources said on Sunday. Corporate Affairs Ministry has confirmed and said no evidence of lobbying was found. The one-man committee of Former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court Mukul Mudgal probing the matter had submitted a report to...
05:59 PM, May 19, 2013
Mumbai: Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone, who topped the list of Times 50 Most Desirable Women of 2012, says she is not good at fielding compliments and adds that beauty and physical attributes are 'artificial'. "It is a bit embarrassing. I mean, I don't know how to take compliments! I don't know how to react! It must be a good thing only," said the 27-year-old in an interview. Part of hit...
05:54 PM, May 19, 2013
Mumbai: Producer Ratan Jain currently has no plans for 'Baazigar' sequel, but says he may do it after couple of years, but not without Shah Rukh Khan. "Yes, I am contemplating with the idea of the sequel to 'Baazigar', but not right now. I am busy with my other projects. May be three to four years down the line, I will make a sequel to 'Baazigar'," Jain, whose brother Ganesh...
05:45 PM, May 19, 2013
Mumbai: He vouches for friendly competition with his contemporaries, but Ranbir Kapoor confesses his 'Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani' co-star Deepika Padukone is the only one in the industry who intimidates him. Ayan Mukerji-directed 'Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani' has brought the real life ex-couple together on the screen after five years - their first and the last film together was 2008 movie 'Bachna Ae Haseeno'. "I always expected from Deepika to...
03:57 PM, May 19, 2013
Chennai: The trailer of Superstar Rajinikanth-starrer Tamil period-drama 'Kochadaiyaan', which was supposed to be unveiled at the ongoing Cannes film festival, was called off at the last minute because the team is still working on the final output of the trailer. "(The) trailer (is) shaping out well. (I'm) working on more surprises. All efforts are going in to release it as soon as possible," posted the film's director Soundarya Ashwin...
02:57 PM, May 19, 2013
New Delhi: The CRPF, which recently took over the duties of guarding RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani, has raised concerns in ensuring a 'fool proof' Z category security to the business tycoon in the absence of local logistical support to its squad. The para-military force has written to the Union Home ministry alerting it about possible limitations its personnel may face in the event of an attack on Ambani who has...
02:02 PM, May 19, 2013
Music Director: Ram Sampath Singers: Amjad Bagadwa, Ram Sampath, Yash Divecha, Vrashal Chavan, Mika Singh, Tarannum Malik Rating: 3 out of 5 The music album of director Mrighdeep Singh Lamba's 'Fukrey' has six tracks. Simple and sweet, the tracks are high on fun and entertainment quotient. Ithas its setbacks, but does not disappoint. In the film's title track, 'Fuk fuk fukrey', debutant singer Amjad Bagadwa's voice sounds a little offbeat...
01:56 PM, May 19, 2013
Mumbai: Model-actress Puja Gupta says she knows the importance of education in life and wants to be a graduate. The former Miss India Universe was a bright student during her school days. But after her father's death, she somehow managed to take her board examinations and then decided to enter the glamour world. While her film career has started with successful films like 'Faltu' and the recent zombie comedy 'Go...
12:20 PM, May 19, 2013
Mumbai: Actress Deepika Padukone, who will be seen romancing her ex-boyfriend Ranbir Kapoor in 'Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani', says, they look good on-screen as they are compatible with each other. The 27-year-old actress has previously worked with Ranbir in 2008 film 'Bachna Ae Haseeno'. "The fact that we are comfortable with each other is why we chose to do a film together whether there is an intimate or romantic or...
10:09 AM, May 19, 2013
New Delhi: Arjun Kapoor-starrer 'Aurangzeb' has drawn a decent response at the box office with an opening day collection of Rs.3.75 crore. The film, made on a budget of Rs.25 crore has managed good business in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and East Punjab territory, said a statement. 'Aurangzeb', a film from Yash Raj Film's stable, tells the story about the land mafia. Directed by Atul Sabharwal, it also features Jackie Shroff,...
10:04 AM, May 19, 2013
Moscow: Part of an airliner carrying more than 130 people caught fire as it was landing in Moscow, and passengers evacuated the plane by jumping off one of its wings and shooting down an evacuation slide. The Emergencies Ministry says none of the passengers and crew members were injured by the fire on the landing gear of the Boeing 737 at Vnukovo Airport on Saturday. A ministry statement said the...
06:32 AM, May 19, 2013
Kolkata: The West Bengal State Election Commission on Saturday wrote to the state government seeking a change in the schedule for the panchayat polls and the bunching of districts in each phase. The state government had issued a notification on Friday proposing three-phase polls. Nine districts are to go to the hustings July 2, and four each July 6 and July 10. The SEC's latter has sought a regrouping of...
04:15 AM, May 19, 2013
Amritsar: A ship, which had got struck along with its 39 crew members, for the last several months off the shores of Mumbai port, has not been provided with fuel, provisions or any means of safe exit by the owning company, a human rights organisation alleged on Saturday. "The ship, Kamal XXXVI, owned by Jaisu Shipping Co Pvt Ltd, with the 31 Indian crew members and eight from Ukraine on...
02:32 AM, May 19, 2013
Mohali: Girls outshone boys in the class XII examinations conducted by the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB), the results of which were declared on Saturday. "More than three lakh students took the examinations in March and the total pass percentage was 78.97 per cent. The last year's percentage was 72.31 per cent," state Education minister Sikander Singh Maluka, who was along with PSEB Chairperson, Tejinder Kaur Dhaliwal, told reporters in...
12:37 AM, May 19, 2013
Some more shocking details emerged on the third day of the recently surfaced spot-fixing scandal that has tarnished the credibility of the cash-rich Indian Premier League. Here's a breakdown of Saturday's major developments. BCCI chief N Srinivasan says IPL not fixed BCCI President N Srinivasan came down hard on the players arrested in the spot-fixing case, telling CNN-IBN's Karan Thapar that those found guilty should be sent to jail, while...
09:09 PM, May 18, 2013
Mumbai: Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor admits people find it weird that he feels comfortable to work on screen with his former girlfriend Deepika Padukone. But he says it comes naturally to him, and it is absolutely normal. Having worked together in the forthcoming 'Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani', Ranbir says it wasn't a new beginning for them, but a continuation of their friendship. "I think our friendship began long back. So...
03:57 PM, May 18, 2013
Chennai: Jolted by the sensational IPL spot-fixing scandal, the BCCI's all-powerful working committee will hold an emergency meeting here on Sunday to discuss the fallout of the controversy and decide the future course of action against the three arrested cricketers. The BCCI is under intense pressure to take a tough stand as it is a second case of spot-fixing in the cash-rich IPL and indications are that they could even...
02:41 PM, May 18, 2013
New Delhi: Breaking his silence on the IPL spot-fixing scandal that has maligned Indian cricket, IPL chief Rajiv Shukla has said that he "was not hiding" and the BCCI will do everything it takes "to weed out" corruption. Here are the excerpts: CNN-IBN: Your first reaction, four cricketers in police custody, answering questions from police interrogators. There's s much alleged stories about them having nexus with the under-world, what is...
01:43 PM, May 18, 2013
