Effect Life West Bengal

Bengal bandh affects life, many trains cancelled

Life was thrown out of gear in West Bengal and movement of trains hit during the 12-hour bandh called by Left parties on Thursday to protest against the hike in fuel prices.
Long distance and EMU trains services were affected due to blockades at different stations in Howrah, Sealdah, Asansol and Malda divisions since early morning, Eastern Railway sources here said.
As many as 16 trains including Howrah-New Delhi Poorva Express, Howrah-Ranchi Shatabdi Express, Udyan Abha Toofan Express, Howrah-Dehradoon Express, Kanchunjungha Express and Ananya Express were cancelled, a E R release said.
City streets wore a deserted look as all vehicles were off the roads.

Fuelprices Increased

Petrol price hiked by Rs 5, diesel by Rs 3; LPG to cost Rs 50 more

New Delhi, June 04: The Central government on Wednesday announced a steep hike in domestic fuel prices, effective midnight tonight. The price of petrol has been hiked by Rs 5 per litre, while the price of diesel has gone up by Rs 3. The domestic LPG will now cost Rs 50 more per cylinder. The price of kerosene oil, meanwhile, has been left untouched. The announcement with regard to the revision of fuel prices was made by Petroleum Minister Murli Deora at a press conference.

Earlier in the day, the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs met to discuss the surging global oil prices and approved the hike in domestic fuel prices. The government said the hike will push inflation up by 0.5%.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will address the nation at 8:30 pm tonight to explain why his government has raised the fuel prices. The Left parties, meanwhile, have announced week-long nationwide protest against the hike beginning tomorrow.

City

Hey, I am a CBSE topper too

Usually when the school principal is away, it is good news for students but not in the case of Powai resident Srishti Kar, who lost her share of limelight amongst the city toppers at CBSE, despite having scored as much, because her principal was away and could not share her scores with the media.

“Yes, I was so sad when I learnt that there were two toppers with 98 per cent from the city featured by all newspapers in the city. It was a little disappointing to not be one of them despite having gotten equal marks,” said Srishti.

Srishti learnt of her scores from her father who is currently in Dubai. “We were having problems accessing the internet here so Dad saw my marks and read it out to me. All of us including my grandparents and my mom jumped with joy. I can never forget this. I am elated at the thought of having scored this much. This was certainly not expected,” said Srishti.

Osama in northern Pak: Afghan official

Osama in northern Pak: Afghan official

A top Afghan intelligence official said on Wednesday that his agency received information several months ago that Al-Qaida figurehead Osama bin Laden is hiding in northern Pakistan bordering Afghanistan.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that bin Laden was said to be in a mountainous region in Chitral, a Pakistani region facing Afghanistan's eastern province of Kunar.

Pakistani officials have in the past said that the world's most wanted man was hiding in Kunar, a claim strongly rejected by Kabul.

''We've received new information that he is hiding in Chitral. We got the information about his presence in that area about four, five months ago,'' the Afghan intelligence official said.

US authorities have also said previously that the fugitive Al-Qaida chief had taken refuge in Chitral and Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar is also in Pakistan's tribal areas.

Thousands of US and NATO soldiers are based in Afghanistan hunting for the pair and fighting back an Al-Qaida-backed insurgency the Taliban launched after they were ousted from government in 2001.

( Blackberry Pearl Diamond)

Here's another designer phone from Alexander Amosu. Amosu has given a gold and diamond look to Blackberry Pearl. The limited edition Blackberry Pearl comes in three variants. Pearl Gold Edition offers choice of solid white gold, yellow gold or platinum. Pearlific comes in solid gold with intricate diamond pattern designs. The Pearl Diamond is modeled in solid gold and hand cut diamonds. Also, diamonds of Pearl Diamond are recyclable and reusable. So, whenever the user wants to discard their cell phone, he will just have to transfer the glittery rocks on to a something newer. The phone is priced at approx $90,000.

Most expensive cell phones

Goldvish Le million made it to the Guinness Book of World Records for being the most expensive phone. The hand-crafted cell phone made of 18-carat white gold, mounted with 120-carat VVS-1 graded diamonds. The phone comes in platinum or white and yellow solid gold studded with diamonds. The phone has a TFT display and supports 176x220 pixels. The phone has Bluetooth, Java, EDGE, WAP and USB port. The phone was first introduced in September 2006 in Europe at the Millionaire Fair. There are only 100 of these phones made and it is only available on special request. GoldVish also make the ‘Illusion’, which comes in 15 different incarnations, encrusted with diamonds. The phone is priced at $1,000,000.

Apple's top-selling gadget iPhone too has a diamond Avtaar, courtesy London-based designer Alexander Amosu. Amosu created gave iphone its diamond look. The phone has 420 cut diamonds with a total of 5.65 carats. The ornate iPhone comes in steel, 18 carat white or yellow gold, with options of white, black or pink sapphire diamonds. The diamond-encrusted Apple iPhone by Amosu comes with one-year free international concierge service. The phone is available at $41,000 approximately. Amosu is also the man behind Nokia's limited edition N95 (8GB).

Cell phone maker Nokia last year launched two third-generation (3G) 8800 series mobile phones, 8800 Arte and 8800 Sapphire Arte. The phone brings 3G capabilities to the Nokia 8800 series. Priced at $1,350, Nokia 8800 Arte comes with a 3.2 megapixel auto focus camera and 8x digital zoom. For data sync, the phone offers a microUSB connector. Other features include 2.0" QVGA 240x320 pixels, OLED display with up to 16 million colours, anti-fingerprint coating on metal and glass and 1 GB built-in memory space. Tapping the phone twice reveals an analogue clock. The Tri-band phone is made of exclusive metal including glass and metal. The phone has exclusive ringtones composed by internationally-renowned DJ duo Kruder & Dorfmeister.

Cricket

Rahul Dravid denies reports of quitting
NEW DELHI: Bangalore Royal Challengers skipper Rahul Dravid has denied reports of qutting the team and parting ways with Vijay Mallya-owned team after there were rumours of him being unhappy with the team and management.

Dravid said to a news channel: "Reports of quitting Bangalore Royal Challengers not true. I have enjoyed the experience of playing in the IPL T-2O matches. I have a 3-year contract and hope to fulfill it."

Earlier, there were rumours that the Vijay Mallya-owned IPL franchise - Royal Challengers - is likely to receive a jolt as its 'icon' player and skipper Rahul Dravid was believed to have expressed interest in parting ways with Mr Mallya for the league's second season.

Dravid, according to insiders in the franchise as well as BCCI, was unhappy with the way the team management has dealt with the players.

"I have had no discussion with Rahul Dravid, but he is performing well personally which I am pleased about. The other players also need to play to their abilities," Mr Mallya told Economic Times. When contacted, Dravid told ET: "I have nothing to say at this stage."

A senior BCCI official said that Dravid has had an informal discussion with board officials on his exit from Royal Challengers. "There is an issue with Dravid, as he is unhappy with his team, and post the first IPL season, we will have to look into the matter."