Thaindian News

(Second lead) DPA London, Feb 29 (DPA) Britain's Prince Harry was Friday recalled with immediate effect from frontline service in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province following a "regrettable" leak of news about his presence there in the foreign media, the defence ministry said. "Security considerations come first," Prime Minister Gordon Brown said, adding ... Read more...

London, Feb 29 (IANS) Lord Swraj Paul, founder chairman of the Caparo Group of Industries, praised Friday's budget as "very good" but said the need to deliver to the farmer was even more important than the promised loan waiver. "P. Chidambaram is a very experienced finance minister and he has ... Read more...

By Dipankar De Sarkar London, Feb 29 (IANS) Britain Friday firmly shut its doors on low-skilled workers from outside the European Union region under a Points Based System that it said heralds the "biggest shake-up of the immigration system in 45 years". The new system, known by its acronym PBS, ... Read more...

By Dipankar De Sarkar London, Feb 29 (IANS) Much of the Rs.600 billion set aside to waive the public sector loans of small and marginal farmers will end up lining the coffers of political parties unless immediate steps are taken to address corruption at the state level, distinguished economist Lord Meghnad ... Read more...

London, Feb 29 (IANS) A young British businessman who set out on a much-publicised money-less mission to walk from Bristol to India is back in Britain, having given up even before leaving the shores of Europe. Mark Boyle, 28, left Bristol in Southeast England Jan 30 on a 9,000-mile trek ... Read more...

By Dipankar De Sarkar London, Feb 29 (IANS) A guidance issued by the British health ministry is illegal because it contravenes previous rights guaranteed under the Highly Skilled Migrants Programme (HSMP) visa, Britain's apex law court was told. Ranbir Singh, counsel for the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO), ... Read more...

(Lead) DPA London, Feb 29 (DPA) Prince Harry is to be withdrawn from military service in Afghanistan with immediate effect, the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Friday. A statement said it was "regrettable" that the decision had to be taken after "foreign media" leaked the news of the prince's 10-week combat ... Read more...

DPA London, Feb 29 (DPA) The top brass of the British Army is expected to decide shortly whether Prince Harry should remain on active service in Afghanistan after his deployment there was leaked to the press, reports said Friday. The 23-year-old prince was sent to Afghanistan's volatile Helmand province just before ... Read more...

London, Feb 29 (IANS) The Indian Premier League (IPL) is ready to bring English players on board in their future schedule after many expressed their willingness to take part in the multi-million dollar Twenty20 competition. England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has kept their players out of the IPL citing ... Read more...

London, Feb 29 (ANI): The magic spell cast by Harry Potter on its young as well as old fans is similar to the addiction that drugs or cigarettes inflict on people, according to a leading psychologist. Jeffrey Rudski has claimed that many of the boy wizard's readers are suffering from withdrawal ... Read more...

London, Feb 29 (ANI): Robotics experts at the University of Plymouth are planning to work with a 1m-high (3ft) humanoid baby robot called iCub, in order to find out if it could be taught to talk. In the coming 4 years, work will be done in collaboration with language development specialists ... Read more...

London, Feb 29 (ANI): A chef incredibly popular for his curries has had his ultra-sensitive tastebuds insured for a whopping 1 million pounds. Sanjay Sigat utilizes his ultra-sensitive palate to provide flavour to his dishes, consumed by millions of pub-goers every year. The 39-year-old has worked for some of Londons ... Read more...

London, Feb 29 (ANI): Those women who are planning to propose to their man today should drop the plan, and rather wait for him to pop the question, a leading expert on marriage has warned. February 29 is the day when women traditionally propose to men. But in spite of ... Read more...

London , Feb 29 (ANI): Supermodel Helena Christensen will be doing her bit for charity by auctioning a special set of Mothers Day stamps made up of photographs took of her son. Five pictures of Mingus, 8, clicked by the Danish beauty will be made into Royal Mail stamps and sold ... Read more...

London, Feb 29 (ANI): British rockers the Arctic Monkeys emerged as the big winners at the 2008 NME Awards, scooping a total of three prizes. The group was awarded gongs for British Band and for Best Track, 'Fluorescent Adolescent' and Best Video 'Teddy Picker', both of which are singles from their ... Read more...

London, Feb 29 (ANI): More and more Brit women aged 40 and above are following the footsteps of Hollywood stars like Nicole Kidman and entering motherhood in later life. According to the official figures, 25,400 mothers conceived in a year, which was an increase of six per cent. There were ... Read more...

London, Feb 29 (ANI): The cases of oral cancer caused by a virus transmitted during oral sex appear to have increased drastically over the last 30 years, according to a study by US researchers. The team led by Maura Gillison at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, US, studied trends in ... Read more...

London , Feb 29 (ANI): A top fashion house paid troubled singer Amy Winehouse raked a whopping 500,000 pounds for a single appearance. The 24-year-old singer, who recently bagged the Worst Dressed gong at the NME Awards, has become a favourite of a number of trendy designers owing to her bizarre ... Read more...

London, Feb 29 (IANS) Steel tycoon Lakshmi N. Mittal is selling his sprawling 40-million-pound (nearly $61-million) house in London in protest against plans to build an apartment block next door, British newspapers reported Friday. Mittal, among the world's richest men, led the opposition of his neighbours at The Bishops Avenue ... Read more...

London, Feb 29 (ANI): Prince Harry is hoping that he made his mother, Princess Diana, proud by serving in the war-torn region of Afghanistan. The 23-year-old royal said that he believed the Princess of Wales, who died in a car accident in Paris in August 1997, was looking down on him, ... Read more...

London, Feb 29 (ANI): Prince Harry killed up to 30 of the enemy on his frontline Afghanistan tour by directing no less than three air strikes, thus inviting Taliban fanatics to track him down. The prince also traded fire with insurgents who attacked his outpost base, manning a heavy machine gun. ... Read more...

London , Feb 29 (ANI): Pop Wreck Britney Spears has slammed rumours that she is expecting a child with snapper beau Adnan Ghalib. The 26-year-old stars British lover has been bragging to pals that the singer is expecting his baby, but Britney begs to differ. A source close to the Toxic star ... Read more...

London, Feb 29 (IANS) The mystery surrounding the formation of the Antarctic ice sheet - particularly its effect on ocean temperature - has been solved. Or so contends a new study. Cardiff University researchers say they solved the mystery by travelling to Tanzania and studying the temperature records of microfossils ... Read more...

London, Feb 29 (IANS) Acclaimed Hollywood director Steven Spielberg lost out on a romance with TV star Valerie Bertinelli because of his dislike for garlic. Contactmusic.com reports that the couple dated when she auditioned for "Raiders of the Lost Ark", which Spielberg directed. But when he did not respond positively ... Read more...

London, Feb.29 (ANI): England defender Rio Ferdinand has begun talks on a new Manchester United contract. According to The Sun, Rio has 16 months left on his current agreement and is working on a fresh four-year deal. Ferdinand, 29, said: We are on the cusp of something very good. Ive ... Read more...

London, Feb.29 (ANI): Indian-born steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal will sell his 40 million pound house in London's "Billionaires' Row" after Barratt Homes was granted permission to build flats next door. Lakshmi Mittal led the opposition of his well-heeled neighbours when the house builder applied for permission to put up an apartment ... Read more...

London, Feb 29 (IANS) Hayden Panettiere, the star of the hit TV show "Heroes", has spoken out about her split from her ex-boyfriend Stephen Coletti saying she just wanted to be alone for some time. Contactmusic.com quoted her as saying: "I just knew I wanted to breathe. I wanted to ... Read more...

London, Feb 29 (IANS) Actress Lindsay Lohan cited "work stress" and "separation from her father" as the cause of her substance abuse problems that made her enter a rehabilitation centre last year. Lohan, who spent last year in a rehab centre in Utah, said she resorted to drinking and drugs ... Read more...

London, Feb 29 (IANS) Britney Spears' family will now have to face even more controversy as her uncle William reveals that the pop star's younger sister Jamie Lynn was unplanned. Spears' father James Parnell reportedly demanded a paternity test to ensure that he was Jamie's father, contactmusic.com reports. William believes ... Read more...

London, Feb 29 (IANS) Pop star Nick Lachey will have to propose to his girlfriend Vanessa Minnillo because she is too old fashioned to ask the question herself. Contactmusic.com reports that Minnillo is a TV presenter-turned-actress and she is too traditional to ask the question herself. Sources say she is ... Read more...

London, Feb 29(IANS) Huge boulders could enable scientists to predict the contribution of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) to sea level rise, according to the latest issue of Geology. These boulders - deposited by three glaciers in the Amundsen Sea region - are currently being studied by scientists from ... Read more...

By Dipankar De Sarkar London, Feb 28 (IANS) Thousands of Indian doctors stuck in the no man's land between full work status in Britain and having to make way for Europeans are to get the full hearing of Britain's highest law court Thursday. Five senior judges who are also members of ... Read more...

London, Feb 28 (IANS) A poor "working memory", rather than low intelligence, is the reason for under-performance in school, say researchers who claim to have developed a tool to assess memory capacity. Durham University researchers, who surveyed over 3,000 school children in Britain, found that a tenth of them across ... Read more...

London, Feb 28 (IANS) A gene involved in regulating carbon dioxide for photosynthesis and water evaporation could help grow drought-resistant crops, a new study has found. The discovery will enable understanding of mechanisms that regulate the stomata, central to the development of hardier crops that will thrive in arid zones. Stomata ... Read more...

DPA London, Feb 28 (DPA) Middlesbrough squeezed into the quarterfinals of the FA Cup after they edged out Sheffield United 1-0 at the Riverside here after extra time. Their winning goal, which came six minutes from the end of additional time Wednesday, was the result of a massive slice of fortune ... Read more...

London, Feb 28 (IANS) Rocker Tommy Lee has agreed to join his former band mates on a world tour later this year. Lee, who had quit the group last year, has announced that the group would tour together starting July 4, contactmusic.com reports. He said: "I never quit! Silly rumours! We're ... Read more...

London, Feb 28 (IANS) Actress Gwyneth Paltrow has done the narration for a short Unicef film to save newborn babies from AIDS. Paltrow was asked to take part in the project by Jemima, former wife of Pakistani cricketer Imran Khan, contactmusic.com reports. Paltrow said: "According to Unicef, a baby is ... Read more...

London, Feb 28 (IANS) Actor Ashton Kutcher is teaming up with former model and now talk show host Tyra Banks for a new reality show about beautiful people living together. Kutcher and Banks have worked for TV before with Kutcher featuring in "Punkk'd" and Banks taking part in "America's Next ... Read more...

London, Feb 28 (IANS) Nicole Kidman's representative Catherine Olim has slammed reports that the four-month pregnant actress was drinking alcohol backstage at the Oscars, saying she would never be so careless with her health. Cindy Adams from New York Post claimed that Kidman was having wine at the awards ceremony ... Read more...

London, Feb 28 (IANS) Reese Witherspoon's son has nicknamed her 'The Mommy Trash Compacter' because she is obsessed with garbage. Contactmusic.com reports that Witherspoon confesses she is a clean freak and even her garbage has to look good. Speaking on a talk show she said she makes sure her garbage ... Read more...

London, Feb 28 (IANS) A new study reveals that male wild birds exposed to pollution develop more complex songs, preferred by the females, though they show reduced immunity. Katherine Buchanan and her colleagues at Cardiff University came to this conclusion after studying male European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) foraging at a ... Read more...

(Lead) DPA London, Feb 27 (DPA) British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has discussed with his Iraqi counterpar, Nouri al-Maliki the airing of a video apparently showing a British hostage held in Iraq, a British government spokesman said here Wednesday. The spokesman said Brown spoke to al-Maliki over phone Wednesday and both "deplored ... Read more...