News

Petrol prices surge in Iran after subsidy cut

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Iran has cut state subsidies on petrol in a move which caused price rise at midnight by up to 75 percent, making people rush to petrol pumps and fill up their cars before the deadline, BBC reported Friday citing media reports.

The President Hassan Rouhani-led Iranian government hopes the move will strengthen the country’s economy, battered by western sanctions.

Though petrol in Iran is still among the cheapest in the world, analysts say the latest price rise will be unwelcome in a country where a quarter of adults are jobless or under-employed.

Rossi to drive Caterham in Canada, US practice

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Formula 1 team Caterham confirmed Friday that reserve driver Alexander Rossi will drive in the first two practice sessions this season at the Canadian and United States Grands Prix.

The American has been Caterham’s reserve driver since 2012 in addition to his role as the team’s primary simulator driver. The 22-year-old has completed multiple practice sessions and test days for the team since 2011 and Montreal and Austin will mark his first taste of 2014 machinery.

‘Why BJP leaders are silent over execution of Rajiv’s killers’

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Congress today questioned why Narendra Modi and BJP were silent on the issue of execution of Rajiv Gandhi’s killers when they had been vocal in demanding Afzal Guru’s hanging and claimed that their aim was to garner votes and not fight terrorism.

“We are concerned. We have not heard about any leader of the BJP talking about the assassins of Rajiv Gandhi to be executed. They were talking about execution of Parliament attack accused Afzal Guru day in and day out in Parliament and outside,” senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal said.

Rahul attacks TDP, TRS

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Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi Friday accused the TRS for not being serious about the formation of Telangana, while also wooing the farmers by citing UPA’s farmer-friendly initiatives.

“When we drafted the Telangana bill for parliament, TRS (Telangana Rashtra Samithi) never helped in it, it was not a part of it,” he said in an election rally in this Andhra Pradesh town.

Gandhi also alleged that when Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu was the chief minister of the state, the condition of farmers was pitiable.

Ukraine PM accuses Russia of wanting to start third world war

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Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk today accused Russia of wanting to start “a third world war” over his country and called for international help against “Russian aggression”.

“The aggressive efforts of the Russian military on Ukraine’s soil will lead to a conflict on European soil,” he said in a televised cabinet meeting.

“The world hasn’t forgotten the Second World War and Russia wants to start a third world war,” he said.

Sunrisers post 184/1 against Daredevils

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The Sunrisers Hyderabad put up a total of 184/1 after electing to bat against the Delhi Daredevils in an Indian Premier League (IPL) clash at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium here Friday.

After skipper and opener Shikhar Dhawan (33) got out with the score at 56, Australian batsmen Aaron Finch (88 not out) and David Warner (58 not out) put together an unbeaten second wicket partnership of 128 in only 13.4 overs with a run rate of 9.36 to take the side to a challenging total.

Only spinner Shahbaz Nadeem among the Daredevils bowlers managed to take a wicket.

–IANS

Bengal, Modi do not go hand in hand: Buddhadeb

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Claiming that the “wave” surrounding BJP’s prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi was a creation of corporate houses, CPI-M politburo member Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Friday said the people of West Bengal would never support a man who is charging with a “sword in his hand”.

“There is no Modi wave, rather it is a creation by the corporate houses who are using the media for their ends. Modi is only about the corporate houses and the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) which does not believe in the constitution.

Modi warns against narco-terrorism route to destroy India

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In the backdrop of inflow of drugs from Pakistan into Punjab, Narendra Modi today warned India’s enemies, who failed to break up the country, have resorted to narco-terrorism as part of their nefarious designs to destroy the youth.

“The people who cannot defeat us in wars, those who cannot destroy us by the bombs and bullets of terrorists, those who fail to break our country internally, such inimical forces have now taken to new route, which is very dangerous and that is narco-terrorism,” Modi told an election rally here for BJP candidate from Gurdaspur constituency Vinod Khanna.

SP leader Azmi defends controversial remarks on women

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Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi today defended his remarks that a woman and a man entering into sexual relations outside marriage should be punished, drawing sharp criticism from activists.

“Our religion does not allow women to have sexual relations with anyone, except her husband. If a man and a woman decide to have sexual relations with consent, then both of them should be punished,” he told PTI.

ED chargesheets Raja, Kanimozhi, 17 others

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A chargesheet was filed in a court here Friday against 19 accused, including former telecom minister A. Raja and DMK MP Kanimozhi over money laundering in the 2G spectrum allocation case.

The Enforcement Directorate filed the chargesheet before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge O.P. Saini, who fixed April 30 as the next date of hearing.

Capitalists, Communist leader slug out in high-stakes Khammam

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In Khammam Lok Sabha seat in Telangana, it is a clash of high contrast between capitalists and a communist leader, and this is a constituency where settlers in significant numbers from different regions could tilt the scales in no small measure.

This is also a segment where Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) is not counted among strong contenders for the April 30 elections to the Lok Sabha and Assembly in Telangana.

MH370: Malaysia to release probe report, kin unimpressed

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A preliminary report on the mysterious disappearance of Flight MH370 will be released next week, even as angry kin of Chinese passengers onboard the crashed plane protested today outside the Malaysian embassy in Beijing demanding transparency from authorities.

Faced with anger and frustration from distraught families of 227 passengers on the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines flight, Prime Minister Najib Razak promised the report – already submitted to the UN’s aviation body International Civil Aviation Organisation – will be released to the public soon.

Record number of boxers compete in Youth Worlds

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A record 606 athletes from 105 countries and regions competed on the first day of the Youth World Boxing Championships here with the Americans emerging as the big winners.

Eight teams won gold medals Thursday while Shakur Stevenson, Daramni Rock and Jajaira Gonzales pocketed three of them for the United States in the men’s 52 kg, +91 kg and women’s 60 kg categories, respectively.

Shalkar Aikhynbay and Ablaikhan Zhussupov brought two gold medals to Kazakhstan in men’s 49 kg and 60 kg.

This lift to zip you to 95th floor in 43 seconds!

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Forget the world’s tallest skyscraper Burj Khalifa in Dubai. This elevator in China will take you to the 95th floor in flat 43 seconds!

Japanese multinational Hitachi is building two elevators in a 111-floor new skyscraper in Guangzhou, southern China that can zip from the first floor to the 95th in 43 seconds.

“This speed – essentially 72 km per hour – would make them the fastest elevators in the world,” according to a BBC report.

Huge potential for animation in India: Experts

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The animation industry has become a sought after profession with talented animators taking it to the next level. The market is enormous, said industry experts, who gathered here Friday to share their experiences and to prepare a future roadmap for the sector.

A dozen of the country’s top animators are in the capital city for the next two days to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Toonz Animation, which operates from the Technopark Campus here, and will be interacting with the students of animation.

Former Barcelona coach Vilanova undergoes operation

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Former FC Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova underwent an emergency operation as he continues his struggle against cancer.

Vilanova is now suffering from gastric problems and had an operation late Thursday night at the Quiron clinic here, where his condition has been described as “stable but serious”, reports Xinhua.

The 45-year-old was diagnosed with cancer of the parotid gland in 2011 when he was the assistant to Pep Guardiola but recovered after treatment and was named first team coach in 2012 when Guardiola announced he was leaving.

Russia’s anti terror plan threatens to ban Facebook, Gmail, Skype

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Russia’s parliament has reportedly passed legislation that will ban Western technology firms from operating on failure to store data within Russia.

According to CNET, the “Information, Information Technologies and Protection of Information” amendment, part of the country’s anti-terrorism laws, would require Russian data handled by tech giants such as Facebook, Google’s Gmail, and Microsoft’s Skype to be stored within the country in order for it to be accessed by state security and intelligence services for legal inspection.

Threat to school teachers: Mulayam let off by EC with warning

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The Election Commission today let off Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav with a ‘warning’ for threatening school teachers appointed on contract by Uttar Pradesh government to either vote for his party in Lok Sabha polls or risk losing permanent status.

The EC’s decision came after Yadav assured it that he will not make any reference to shiksha mitras (contractual government primary school teachers) in his election campaign.

The Commission said it is convinced that Yadav made the remarks and violated provisions of the Model Code of Conduct.

OVER 500 pakistanis childrens gets new liver & life in India

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FOR Pakistani toddler Nalain Aziz, who underwent a successful liver transplant at a private hospital in the Capital, the new lease of life was the best birthday gift.

He will return to Lahore to celebrate his second birthday on April 26.

Aziz, incidentally, is also the 500th Pakistani citizen to have undergone a liver transplant in Delhi’s Indraprastha Apollo hospital.

Don’s Nephew in BJP fold

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A day after Narendra Modi announced that he would clean Parliament of criminals, the BJP inducted Sushil Singh, mafia- turned Independent MLA, from Sakaldiha in Chandauli district on Wednesday.

He is the nephew of jailed dreaded don of eastern UP, Brajesh Singh. Sushil was given the membership of the party in Chandauli in presence of BJP general secretary in- charge of UP Amit Shah. The don is considered very close to BJP president Rajnath Singh.

Three Narendras in fray against Modi in Varanasi

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BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, who is fighting from this historic city, is up against 77 candidates including three other Narendras.

Besides Modi, Tulsi Shubramaniam Joshi has also filed nomination papers as a BJP nominee covering for the Gujarat Chief Minister which makes total number of candidates 79 in the Varanasi seat.

It is a common practice among political parties to make two individuals submit papers to ensure that there is a covering candidate in case one of the nominations is rejected.

RJD leader shot dead in Bihar’s Supaul District

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Rashtriya Janata Dal ( RJD) leader Ravinder Yadav was killed by unidentified assailants on Friday, a day after he was reported to have a heated exchange of words with some of his political rivals.

Media reports quoted family members, as saying that Yadav was shot dead outside his home in Bihar’s Supaul District.

The incident resulted in a violent protest by his supporters, some of whom blocked roads and burnt tyres, police said.

Additional security forces have been deployed in the area to prevent further untoward incidents. (ANI)

Taiwan pilots hurt as Apache chopper crash-lands on building

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Two Taiwanese pilots were injured today when their Apache attack helicopter crash-landed on a building in northern Taiwan during a routine training mission, the military said.

The pilots suffered slight facial and leg injuries after crashing on top of the three-storey building in Taoyuan county and were taken to hospital. No civilians were hurt.

Television footage showed uniformed men inspecting the wreckage of the AH-64E808 on top of the building, which was partly damaged by the impact along with two adjoining houses.

Muzaffarnagar riots: Two murder accused arrested

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Muzaffarnagar Police have confirmed the arrest of two more persons for their role in a riot-related incident in the area.

Police said Friday that Arvind and Mohit were arrested for allegedly killing a person identified as Nazim in Jauli village of the district at the height of the communal violence last year.

According to a Special Investigation Team (SIT), cases have been filed against eleven persons involved in the case, and so far, four of the accused have been arrested.