NEW DELHI: Bollywood’s legendary actor Pran, who played both heroes and villains in several Hindi film classics over six decades, died of pneumonia at Mumbai’s Lilavati Hospital on Friday, his doctor said. He was 93. Pran acted in more than 350 Hindi movies in a long, prolific career dating back to the 1940s. He played a vast range of roles, a hero, villain and character actor, but was best known for his villains. Sanjeev Mehta, his doctor, said Pran Krishan Sikand, popularly known as Pran, was hospitalised more than two weeks ago in the Mumbai hospital and died on Friday.
Shah Rukh Khan denies gender test rumours
MUMBAI: Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has announced the arrival of his new baby boy born to a surrogate mother, and denied rumours of an illegal pre-natal gender test. In a statement released late Tuesday, Khan said he and his wife Gauri had kept quiet on the matter owing to their “emotional strife” after the child, named AbRam, was born several months premature. “Just to put the record straight there was no sex determination for our child,” said Khan, 47, adding that the baby was born before such suspicions arose in the media.
Hepatitis emerges as major public health problem in Pakistan
KARACHI: Hepatitis has emerged as a major public health problem in the country with an estimated number of six million suffering from Hepatitis B and another seven million suffering from Hepatitis C. Dr Syed Hussain Askary, Head of Public and Dental Health Department, Fatima Jinnah Dental College (FJDC) addressing a seminar on Wednesday said Pakistan is currently facing an epidemic of viral hepatitis.
SC seeks report on cost of bringing back ex-Ogra chief
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought a report on the details of expenditure incurred to bring back former oil and gas chief Tauqir Sadiq. The apex court also ordered the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to clarify who will be charged for these expenses. UAE authorities had handed over Sadiq to a team of officials of the NAB on Monday night. The former Ogra chairman, who is accused of being involved in a multi-billion rupee scam, had fled abroad soon after the Supreme Court declared his appointment illegal on Nov 25, 2012.
Pakistan’s stock market closes at all-time high
KARACHI: Pakistani stocks continued their upward trend, breaking through their all time high record on Wednesday. The market gained 263.72 points on the back of heavy trading witnessed in the banking and oil and gas sectors. The benchmark 100 index of the Karachi Stock Exchange gained 1.16 per cent, closing at a record 22984.94 points. Record activity was witnessed on the local bourse as volumes reached close to a four-year high of Rs18 billion. Large cap stocks supported overall activity as foreign inflows increased, evident from the fact that top three stocks made 35 percent of the volume.
President Zardari’s security officer, two others killed in Karachi bombing
KARACHI: A loud explosion rocked Karachi’s congested New Town neighbourhood on Wednesday, killing three people including the chief security guard of President Asif Ali Zardari, police said. Eleven others were injured in the explosion which took place in the heart of the city, located less than a kilometre from the Qauid’s mausoleum. “Three people, including the president’s chief security officer Bilal Sheikh, were killed in the bombing,” said Superintendent Police Usman Bajwa. Bilal Sheikh was the chief security officer of the president and well as an active worker of the Pakistan People’s Party, the ruling party in Sindh province.
Osama raid a wake-up call: report
ISLAMABAD: The Abbottabad Commission has called for strengthening democratic control of state institutions and civilian oversight over so far unaccountable security and intelligence agencies if a national embarrassment like the one caused by the US raid of May 2, 2011, is to be avoided. The commission, in the penultimate chapter of the 336-page report, made 32 wide ranging recommendations to address the issues identified during the course of its investigations and testimonies by key civilian and military functionaries. But strikingly, its suggestions repeatedly bemoaned “military hegemony” and emphasised on strengthening democracy.
No quick call on Afghanistan troops: White House
WASHINGTON: The White House says the decision on how many US troops to leave in Afghanistan will not be imminent. But it is leaving open the possibility the US will not leave forces there after combat troops depart in 2014.White House press secretary Jay Carney says the so-called zero option is still on the table. He says the US will have clear objectives for its mission in Afghanistan after the long-planned drawdown. He says those objectives could be met with a residual force or through other means.
Oil prices edge higher in Asia
SINGAPORE: Oil prices edged higher in Asian trade Wednesday buoyed by solid gains in US stocks and stronger demand in the world’s biggest economy, analysts said.
Concerns about a disruption in Middle East supply caused by the turmoil in Egypt have eased after a timetable for fresh polls was announced Tuesday following last week’s military coup. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in August, gained 99 cents to $104.52 a barrel in morning trade and Brent North Sea crude for August delivery added two cents to $107.83.
