An Indian television channel is looking out for good singers in the one place that has escaped the prying eyes of reality TV — the bathroom. Bathroom Singer, a new singing contest on the Filmy entertainment channel, will zero in on an untrained performer who’s good at singing in the shower.
Twenty-four Indian police officers who had gone missing after a fierce gun battle with Maoist insurgents in the jungles of central India were found dead on Tuesday, a top officer said. The missing men were part of a group of 90 troopers who engaged the rebels for two hours in a hilly forest on Monday in the Dantewada district in the state of Chhattisgarh.
Former Indian prime minister Chandra Shekhar, who was suffering from cancer, passed away in New Delhi on July 8. He was 80. Shekhar breathed his last at 8.45am local time at the Apollo Hospital in the Indian capital where he was being treated for bone cancer for the past three months, doctors said.
The death toll from this year’s monsoon climbed to 474 on Wednesday as blinding rains lashed eastern India, according to officials and media reports. Two more deaths in the past 24 hours pushed the death toll to 13 in drenched West Bengal, officials said in the state capital, Kolkata, where knee-deep flood waters invaded homes and offices.
Hundreds of angry Kashmiri villagers paraded two Indian soldiers naked through the streets after they were ”caught trying to rape” a 17-year-old girl, witnesses and newspaper reports said on Wednesday. Police said they were investigating the incident, which took place late on Tuesday in Kunan, a village north of Srinagar.
Indian scientists have patented two new tea-based products — a pill and a fizzy drink they hope will give consumers the same pleasure as drinking a freshly brewed cuppa. A four-member team based in the north-eastern state of Assam said their chewable pill and a health drink are now ready to cause a buzz on the world market.
Police in India have charged a three-year-old boy for allegedly leading a group of rioters and firing at security personnel, the toddler’s uncle said on Thursday. The incident dates back to a clash in the eastern state of Bihar between villagers and police in January, when officers were pelted with stones and shot at, Dhruv Kumar Jha said.
A prisoner who went missing from a jail in eastern India for almost 24 hours was found by prison guards snoring on the roof of the jail, officials said on Friday. Raju Gaji (19), arrested for banditry and theft and sent to a jail in Kolkata earlier this month, told police he was bored with the prison routine and wanted to catch up on some sleep.
India has been made a conditional offer to stage a Formula One grand prix in 2009, Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Suresh Kalmadi said on Thursday. ”We have received a letter in this regard from Bernie Ecclestone, CEO of Formula One. The IOA will be the promoter and the first event will be held in 2009,” he told a news conference.
Red-faced Indian cricket officials resumed a desperate hunt for a national coach on Tuesday after first-choice South African Graham Ford turned down the high-profile job. With Rahul Dravid’s men due to embark on a four-month foreign tour next week, time is running out to find a successor to Greg Chappell.
Claims by terrified villagers that "Bigfoot"-type hairy giants are roaming the jungles of India’s remote north-east have prompted authorities to order an investigation, a local official said. The bizarre sightings have been made in the Garo hills area of Meghalaya state, close to the borders with Bangladesh and Bhutan.
The first sight for anyone flying into India’s richest city is a sea of corrugated and tarpaulin-covered roofs beside a narrow, filth-choked river. It is an aerial view of Dharavi, considered Asia’s biggest shantytown, two square kilometres of open sewers, muddy lanes and ramshackle tenements that is home to almost a million people.
India’s newly-appointed cricket coach Graham Ford flew back to England on Sunday facing delicate negotiations with his current employers over switching jobs. South African Ford (46) who is contracted with English county Kent as director of cricket, was on Saturday selected as coach of the Indian national team
Fast bowler Dilhara Fernando grabbed four wickets as Asia clinched the Afro-Asia cricket series with a 31-run win over Africa in the second one-day international in Chennai on Saturday. Asia restricted their rivals to 306 under lights after posting a challenging 337-7 to gain an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Shaun Pollock struck his maiden one-day international century on Wednesday but failed to prevent Asia XI from scoring a 34-run win over Africa XI in the first of three matches. Pollock (33) one-day cricket’s top-ranked all-rounder, lashed 130 to lift the innings from 87 for seven in reply to Asia XI’s 317 for nine,
Sri Lankan Tillakaratne Dilshan hit an unbeaten 47 to guide Asia XI to a six-wicket victory over Africa XI in the one-off Twenty20 cricket match in Bangalore on Tuesday. The Asian team were struggling at 34-3 before surpassing their opponents’ modest total of 109-8 with more than four overs to spare in the day-night game on a seamer-friendly pitch.
The Indian cricket board short-listed South Africa’s Graham Ford on Monday for the job of national coach and eliminated Australian Dav Whatmore from contention. A board official said the former South Africa coach and another unidentified candidate would be called to meet its coaching committee on Saturday.
The Afro-Asia series in India will go ahead as scheduled next week after the ESPN-Star network stepped in to save the beleaguered event, the Asian Cricket Council said on Thursday. The series, featuring three one-dayers and a Twenty20 match between Asia and Africa from June 5 to 10, was in jeopardy after the original rights holder pulled out.
India’s one-day series with South Africa in Ireland next month is in doubt following the cancellation of a deal between the Indian cricket board and the broadcast rights holder, a report said on Wednesday. Private broadcaster Zee Television pulled out of the five-year deal they signed with the Board of Control for Cricket in India, the Press Trust of India news agency said.
A network of HIV-positive people in India has launched a campaign against illegal clinics and quacks who cheat patients with the promise of curing Aids. Patients often end up going to quacks who use fake herbal treatments because the health system is widely seen as offering poor treatment while private care is costly.
A wild elephant in India’s eastern state of Orissa has been waylaying motorists who complain that the animal refuses to let their vehicles pass unless they give it food, a media report said on Monday. Witnesses told the Hindustan Times daily that the elephant has been scouting for food on a highway in the northern Keonjhar district.
As ski resorts go, Kashmir’s Gulmarg must rank as the most militarised on earth. The mountain road is peppered with security checkpoints and a High Altitude Warfare School lies nearby. Troops squeeze into a cable car with rifles between their legs. On the slopes, some tourists openly worry if mines are buried under the snow.
Former Indian cricketer Maninder Singh has been arrested for possessing 1,5g of cocaine, a police spokesperson said on Wednesday. Singh (41) was arrested at his New Delhi residence after a police raid on Tuesday and would be produced in a city court on Wednesday, the spokesperson said.
Indian police defused four home-made bombs found on a train in the eastern city of Kolkata on Monday, police said, three days after a blast at a mosque killed 11 people in the south of the country. The train was headed for Tarakeshwar, a Hindu holy town, about two hours west of Kolkata.
An uneasy calm prevailed in India’s southern city of Hyderabad on Saturday as thousands of police patrolled the streets a day after a bomb blast in a mosque and subsequent clashes killed at least 14. Ten people died in the explosion that took place during Friday prayers at the sprawling 17th century Mecca Masjid.
There were no positive dope tests at the recent Cricket World Cup in the West Indies, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Thursday. A total of 68 players were tested during the 47-day event, which ended on April 28 with Australia clinching an unprecedented third successive title.
Indian MPs demanded protection on Wednesday from hordes of monkeys that have invaded the Parliament building, ministries and departments in the national capital. The debate coincided with court orders on Wednesday to transport captured monkeys from New Delhi to a nearby wildlife sanctuary.
India paid homage with full pomp and honour on Friday to the ”martyrs” who battled British rule 150 years ago in the country’s ”first war of independence”. Thousands of flag-waving marchers shouting ”Jai Hind”, or ”Long live India”, converged on the Mughal-built Red Fort in Old Delhi after retracing the route of rebellious soldiers.
India began celebrations on Monday to mark the 150th anniversary of an armed revolt against British colonialists, a mutiny that sparked the first Indian war of independence before being crushed. Singing patriotic songs, thousands of Indians took part in a colourful procession, retracing a march 150 years ago by dozens of mutinous Indian soldiers.
A discotheque with a condom theme is scheduled to open in the northern Indian town of Chandigarh as part of an effort to make young people aware of Aids and the need for safe sex, news reports said on Tuesday. The bar’s interior is decorated with real condoms, and it serves beer in mugs the shape of the prophylactic
India has urged Iran to honour a -billion natural-gas sales deal concluded two years ago, warning Tehran it could lose credibility if it went back on the agreement, a report said on Friday. The message was conveyed to Iran’s leadership during an unscheduled visit to Tehran on Thursday by Indian Oil Minister Murli Deora, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
An Indian judge ordered the arrest of Hollywood star Richard Gere and Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty on Thursday over a hug and kiss at an Aids-awareness event. The arrest warrants were issued in the Rajasthan state capital of Jaipur following a public-interest plea filed last week by a resident accusing the pair of obscenity, court officials said.