Asian News International

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Amit Shah calls Azamgarh ‘base of terrorists’, parties demands action

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Congress on Monday hit out at Narendra Modi and his close aide Amit Shah for carrying out a “communal campaign” and demanded action by the Election Commission against Shah for his controversial remark that Azamgarh in UP was a “base of terrorists”.

“Modi/Amit Shah have come back to communal campaign from development. They have forgotten involvement of Sanghi activists in Modasa bomb blast,” Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said on Twitter.

Kangra: Three-way fight raises political tension

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The picturesque and tranquil backdrop of the Dhauladhar ranges belies the underlying political tension as three heavyweights from Congress, BJP and AAP slug it out for this Lok Sabha seat that goes to polls on May 7.

In a contest where 12 candidates are in the fray, two- time Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Shanta Kumar of BJP, Congress’ Chander Kumar, winner here in 2004, and Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Rajan Sushant, who won in 2009 on a BJP ticket but resigned from the seat this January, are the three leading contenders.

On Amethi’s whilwind tour, Rahul Gandhi attacks BJP, Narendra Modi

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Amethi: With electioneering in Amethi in its last lap, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday launched a frontal attack on the BJP saying its intentions on development issue are not clean and if voted to power, the party intends to abolish welfare schemes introduced by the UPA government.

“I have got information that intentions of the BJP and (Narendra) Modi are not clean. They intend to abolish legislations like food security and employment guarantee,” he told an election rally at Tekarmafi here.

Businessman shot dead in Jajpur

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A businessman was shot dead by unidentified miscreants at Upper Baruan village under Sadar police station of Odisha’s Jajpur district, police said here on Monday.

Two unknown miscreants came on a motor cycle and opened fire at Shaik Sajan from close range in front of his house yesterday and fled away, superintendent of police, Jajpur, Deepak Kumar said.

Sajan, who sustained bullet injuries on his chest, was rushed to the district headquarters hospital here and the doctor declared him brought dead, he said.

NATO containers attacked in Pakistan

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At least two people were killed Monday when unidentified militants attacked NATO containers in Pakistan’s Khyber tribal region.

The gunmen opened fire at three NATO containers in the Wazir Dhand area of Jamrud tehsil, the Dawn online reported.

The containers were set ablaze.

Khyber is one of the country’s seven semi-autonomous tribal districts near the Afghan border, rife with homegrown insurgents and home to a number of militant organisations.

EC can inquire into paid news allegations, says SC

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The Supreme Court Monday said that the Election Commission was empowered to inquire into the allegation of paid news if the expenses for the same are not being reflected in the election return filed by the candidate.

The apex court bench of Justice Surinder Singh Nijjar and Justice Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla said this while dismissing a plea by former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan.

Kate Hudson wants to tie the knot ‘sooner rather than later’

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Kate Hudson has recently admitted her desire of walking down the aisle ” sooner rather than later”.

The 35-year-old actress, who has been engaged to Matthew Bellamy for three years, told Extra TV that both she and her beau are too busy to plan a wedding at the moment and hence don’t have plans to get married yet, but eventually will, the Mirror reported.

The ‘Bride Wars’ star has a two-year-old son Bingham with her 35-year-old fiance, and is also mother to Ryder, her 10-year-old son from her marriage to singer Chris Robinson. (ANI)

Campaigning for 64 LS seats spread over seven states to end today

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Campaigning will end this evening for 64 parliamentary constituencies, spread across seven states, which will go to polls on Wednesday in the eighth phase of Lok Sabha elections.

The constituencies going to polls are, remaining 25 in Andhra Pradesh, seven in Bihar, all four in Himachal Pradesh, remaining two in Jammu and Kashmir, 15 in Uttar Pradesh, all five in Uttarakhand and six in West Bengal.

175 Assembly constituencies located in the Seemandhra region of Andhra Pradesh will also go to polls on Wednesday.

Son has more ‘venom’ than father: Mayawati on Akhilesh

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Attacking SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, BSP supremo Mayawati on Sunday said that “the son has more venom in him than his father”.

“The son has more venom than his father. If Dr Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar and the Constitution had not been there, he (Akhilesh) would have never become the CM, instead, he would have been grazing cattle of some landlord in Saifai,” Mayawati told an election meeting.

Narendra Modi’s rally in Amethi will have no impact: Salman Khurshid

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Claiming that Narendra Modi’s campaign in Amethi would not pose any challenge to Rahul Gandhi, Union Minister Salman Khurshid on Sunday said the BJP prime ministerial nominee will have no impact in the constituency of the Congress Vice President.

“Modi’s campaign in Amethi would have absolutely no impact,” the Union External Affairs Minister said at a press conference here.

“Modi is not a challenge for Rahul Gandhi rather BJP and Modi feel that Rahul is a challenge for them,” the senior Congress leader said.

Audi launches new upgraded version of ‘A8L’

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German luxury carmaker Audi today rolled out the upgraded version of its flagship model A8L, priced at Rs 1.12 crore (ex-showroom Delhi) and Rs 1.14 crore (ex-showroom Maharashtra).

“The new Audi A8L offers luxury connoisseurs in India excellent comfort, superb craftsmanship, strict lightweight construction and a broad portfolio of high-end technologies,” Audi India head Joe King said in a statement.

The new offering is available at all Audi dealerships across India.

Now, ‘cheaper, greener’ solar cells that use tin instead of lead

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Researchers have developed a new solar cell with good efficiency that uses tin instead of lead perovskite as the harvester of light.

The low-cost, environmentally friendly solar cell can be made easily using “bench” chemistry-no fancy equipment or hazardous materials.

Mercouri G. Kanatzidis, an inorganic chemist with expertise in dealing with tin, said this is a breakthrough in taking the lead out of a very promising type of solar cell, called a perovskite.

Kanatzidis said tin is a very viable material, and we have shown the material does work as an efficient solar cell.

Stressful situations make gay, lesbian teens binge drink

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A new study has revealed that chronic stress caused by difficult social situations may be the reason behind higher rates of binge drinking by lesbian and gay adolescents compared to their heterosexual peers.

According to the study, lesbian and gay people experience higher rates of physical and mental health problems and chronic stress due to discrimination, rejection, harassment, concealment of sexual orientation, internalized homophobia (negative attitudes toward homosexuality) and other negative experiences leads to poor health.

Environmental factors as important as genes in understanding autism

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Researchers have said that environmental factors are more important than previously believed in understanding the causes of autism, and equally as important as genes.

The study also shows that children with a brother or sister with autism are 10 times more likely to develop autism; 3 times if they have a half-brother or sister; and 2 if they have a cousin with autism, providing much needed information for parents and clinicians for assessing individual risk.

De Villiers brutally takes Steyn apart in RCB win over Sunrisers Hyderabad

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South Africa’s A B De Villiers on Sunday brutally took apart the bowling of Proteas teammate Dale Steyn to help Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by four wickets in an exciting Indian Premier League clash.

De Villiers was at his absolute best. With RCB needing 28 runs off just 12 balls and Dale Steyn steaming in, all looked lost. But De Villiers turned the game on its head with some unbelievable hitting, taking 24 off the penultimate over, including three sixes. Such was his dominance that Steyn even gave him a round of applause at the end of the over

Modi to campaign in Rahul Gandhi’s bastion Amethi today

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BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is set to address a rally in Amethi, the bastion of the Gandhis, on Monday.

The Gujarat Chief Minister will address a rally in Gauriganj in favour of BJP candidate Smriti Irani.

Amethi is among the 64 constituencies that will go to polls on May 7 in the eight phase of Lok Sabha polls 2014. Today is the last day of campaigning for the phase.

Congress Vice President Rahul is seeking re-election for the third time from Amethi, where the party has won 10 out of 12 elections. He is campaigning hard across the constituency since May 3.

Iran may seal border with Pakistan to ensure security

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Iran is planning to seal its border with Pakistan any time.

Iran’s police chief said it is very important to ensure security on the eastern border.

Brigadier General Ahmadi Moqaddam said sealing the eastern borders would soon result in major changes in Sistan-Baluchestan province.

He added some major changes and developments would be witnessed in this region by sealing the borders.

According to the Express Tribune, Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province borders Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province.

Obama mocks Putin’s bare chest in charity dinner speech

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Barack Obama joked about his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin’s bare chest during his White House Correspondents’ Dinner speech.

In the face of a continuing Cold-War-style standoff with Moscow over the crisis in Ukraine, the 44th President of the United States of America poked fun at Putin’s bare chest and mentioned that its much talked about by Mike Huckabee and Sean Hannity, Sky News reported.

Kuwaiti lawmaker calls for blanket ban on women wearing swimsuits

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A Kuwaiti lawmaker has called for imposing a blanket ban on swimsuits.

MP Hamdan Al Azmi is seeking a ban on women wearing indecent costumes in swimming pools and hotels in an aim to prevent nudity.

Al Azmi said that he wants the country to protect the community from such negative phenomena.

According to Gulf News, Al Azmi added that wanted to have strict rules and regulations that prevent mixing between sexes in swimming pools and to avoid acts contrary to public morals.

Hugh Jackman was scared of darkness

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Actor Hugh Jackman says he was a “fearful” child and was particularly scared of the dark.

“The Wolverine” star has admitted that when he first became a parent to his adopted children, 14-year-old Oscar and 8-year-old Ava, with his wife Deborra-Lee Furness, he didn’t have any idea how to be a father and thinks it’s because he was an anxious child who had various fears, reports contactmusic.com.

Weight-loss surgery can decrease liver damage

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Researchers have said that bariatric surgery, which is best known for its ability to help patients lose substantial weight, can also result in significant improvement in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Researchers at the University of South Florida-Tampa found that bariatric surgery resolved liver inflammation and reversed early-stage liver fibrosis, the thickening and scarring of liver tissue, by reducing fat deposits in the liver.

Tonic tainted with cocaine kills four in Guyana

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Investigators in Guyana’s capital say two children are among four people who have died after drinking liquid cocaine by mistake.

Georgetown Police Commander Clifton Hicken says the two children, a woman and a man apparently died yesterday shortly after sharing a bottle containing what was supposed to be a vitamin tonic.

The children were aged 9 and 6. Their relationship to the two adults is not immediately clear.

Hicken says detectives are searching for a person who dropped the bottle of the supposed tonic at the house.

Trilateral talks in Australia on search for MH370

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Australia, China and Malaysia were to hold trilateral talks today on the future course of action in the search for MH370, as weeks of extensive scouring has failed to find the final resting place of the plane.

The meeting in Canberra follows a decision this week to scale back the costly search operation, including ending the aerial search for the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200, in the southern Indian Ocean that has so far turned up no wreckage.