Asian News International

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Air Costa to operate pan-India flights from next year

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The city-based regional carrier Air Costa on Wednesday said it plans to go national from the first quarter of the next fiscal with focus on small towns.

The company, which has completed one year of operations, plans to induct four aircraft each year till it starts getting the deliveries of its own planes, Air Costa Chairman Ramesh Lingamaneni told reporters here.

“We are looking at operating pan-India flights from the first quarter of the next fiscal (April-June 2015). We already have initiated necessary process in this regard,” Lingamaneni said.

DNA test of child allowed to prove infidelity of spouse: SC

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DNA test of a child can be allowed to prove infidelity of a spouse despite opposition from his or her partner, the Supreme Court today held, saying that if such test is resisted then adverse inference can be drawn against the person opposing it.

A bench headed by Justice J S Khehar upheld a Calcutta High Court order directing DNA test of child on a plea of a man making allegations of infidelity on his wife, saying that child was born out of relationship of his wife with other person.

Must-haves for a good night’s sleep

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Take a quick bath or use ear plugs to get sound sleep at night.

Here are a few things you can do to have a comfortable time sleeping, reports huffingtonpost.com.

* A bath: Body temperature naturally dips about two hours before bedtime. A soak in the tub temporarily lifts your temperature resulting in a quick cooldown after you hop out of it – can be relaxing.

* Ear plugs: These are a simple and inexpensive way to make your sleep even more quiet. They can help block out not only those traffic noises but a snoring bed partner or even the hum of electronics.

‘Westernised education concept dealt a blow to Indian culture’

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Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh Wednesday held westernised education concept brought by Britishers responsible for dealing a severe blow to the values and culture of the country and said present system was not fulfilling the main objective of education.

Singh, while addressing a gathering at the Chopsani Schools centenary celebrations here said the main objective of the education is “comprehensive development of the personality” and lamented that the present education system was not fulfilling this objective.

RBI to issue guidelines for small finance banks soon

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The Reserve Bank will soon invite applications for small finance banks that would provide basic products like credit but in a limited area.

“In the next few weeks, we will put out guidelines inviting applications for what we call small finance banks. These are banks that will cater to smaller customers across the country. The detailed guidelines will also be put out,” RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said Wednesday.

He was speaking at the 10th IDRBT Banking Technology Excellence Awards here.

Ex-Shiv Sena minister Sabir Shaikh passes away

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Veteran Shiv Sena leader Sabir Shaikh who had served as a labour minister in the erstwhile NDA government in Maharashtra in 1995 died at a private hospital in Bhiwandi today following a prolonged illness, his family members said.

He was 71.

Shaikh, who remained a bachelor throughhout his life and had been touted as the biggest Muslim face of the saffron party founded by Bal Thackeray, was responsible for strengthening the party.

Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir integral parts of India: Sushma Swaraj

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Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir are “integral and inalienable” parts of India and this has been clearly conveyed to China, including at the highest level, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has said.

Swaraj, in a letter to Congress MP Mullappally Ramachandran, appreciated his concern over distribution of controversial maps by China to its military.

Marital status: AAP member moves HC seeking notice to Modi

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Challenging the order of the sessions court, a local worker of Aam Aadmi Party today approached the Gujarat High Court seeking issuance of a notice to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in connection with his election affidavit in 2012.

Nishant Verma has also demanded notice to the then Returning Officer P K Jadeja of Maninagar assembly constituency here.

Verma alleges Modi did not reveal his marital status in his affidavits accompanying the nomination when he had contested the assembly elections between 2002 and 2012.

UP CM trying to deceive people: BJP leader

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Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is trying to deceive people by making tall claims about development in the state, a BJP leader said Thursday.

The Samajwadi Party government is only making tall claims and laying foundation stones without financial back-up and proper budgeting, said Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state spokesperson Vijay Bahadur Pathak.

More than Rs.100 crore meant to be given for the metro project in Lucknow had not been released so far, he said here, adding this would slow down the pace of the project.

Government mulls 33 per cent reservation for women in Delhi Police

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In its effort to deploy more women in law-and-order duties, the government is planning to reserve 33 per cent jobs in Delhi Police and police forces of all Union Territories.

A note in this effect is being prepared by the Home Ministry and is expected to be presented before the Union Cabinet for its approval soon, highly-placed sources said.

This is seen as the first step of the NDA government to give more representation to women in police forces across the country, particularly in duties to check crime against women.

Vijay Kumar Konda hopes ‘Oka Laila Kosam’ will beat ‘Manam’

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Director Vijay Kumar Konda, who is currently awaiting the release of Telugu romantic-comedy “Oka Laila Kosam”, hopes that his film will surpass the success of the recent blockbuster “Manam”.

Actor Akkineni Naga Chaitanya has played the lead in both the films.

“When I started working on my first film ‘Gunde Jaari Gallanthayyinde’, Nithiin’s ‘Ishq’ was running in theatres, and it turned out to be a blockbuster. I wanted to beat ‘Ishq’ with my film and I succeeded at it. Now, as I await the release of my film, I’ve set ‘Manam’ as my target,” Konda told IANS.

Full mobile number portability by March 31

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Mobile phone users will soon be able to change their telecom operators and retain their numbers even if they are relocating to areas outside the service providers’ operations.

At present, mobile subscribers have restricted facility of changing their telcos while retaining their number within same service area using mobile number portability (MNP). For example, a subscriber in Delhi NCR can switch operator within Delhi NCR only.

The Department of Telecom has set a target date of March 31, 2015 to implement the full mobile number portability (MNP), an official source said.

UPSC advises candidates not to file RTI for results

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The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has advised candidates not to file RTI applications to know results of civil services preliminary examination.

“The Commission puts up the mark sheets of all candidates who takes the civil services examination. Despite this, candidates file RTI applications to know their results. We have been informing them that mark sheets will be uploaded on our website once the entire selection procedure of this year’s exam gets over,” a senior official of the UPSC said.

Prolonged use of touch-screens keyboards leads to chronic shoulder problems

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A new study has revealed that using touch-screen keyboards on tablet computers for long periods of time could lead to chronic shoulder problems.

The study found that touch screen, or virtual, keyboards, which lack a feedback mechanism indicating a key has been pressed, require less typing force and finger-muscle activity than conventional keyboards, but tablet users must keep their fingers hovering above the keyboard to avoid accidentally activating the keys, Fox News reported.

Gay partner throws man from 3rd floor in Hyderabad

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A retired deputy director of the industries department aged 60-year-old allegedly killed his 20-year-old male sexual partner by pushing him from the third floor of a building in Bagh Lingampally near Narayanguda early on Tuesday morning.

The accused, V. Narsingh Rao, 60, had brought the victim, from a place near Tajmahal Hotel in Abids area, at the night of the incident and brought to his place.

Mr Rao has been arrested and is being interrogated.

Slight intensity quake hits Nicobar Islands

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A slight intensity earthquake measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale jolted the Nicobar Islands area.

According to Indian Meteorological Department, the quake hit around 00.06 hours on the intervening night of October 14 and 15, at the focal depth of 10 km.

No report of loss of life or damage to property has been received so far.

–PTI

Austrian Anti-terror Chief Warns of Islamic State Threat

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Austria is under “a certain kind” of threat of terrorist attacks from the extremist group of Islamic State (IS), a senior security official said.

“About 150 people, most of whom have Russian citizenship and are believed to be Chechens, have travelled from Austria to take part in conflicts in Syria and Iraq,” Peter Gridling, director of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counter Terrorism, said in an interview to the Kleine Zeitung newspaper, reported Xinhua.

India prepares to launch its third navigation satellite

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Chennai: The 67-hour countdown for the Thursday launch of India’s third navigation satellite is progressing smoothly though a thunder storm Wednesday delayed some operations, a senior space agency official said.

“Today (Wednesday) morning we moved the mobile service tower (MST) backwards. The operation was delayed by around two hours owing to thunderstorm in the morning. There is sufficient time cushion built in for such unforeseen delays in the countdown period,” M.Y.S. Prasad, director, Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota said.

Indian sentenced to death for killing baby, grandmother in US

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A 28-year-old Indian has been sentenced to death in the US for killing an Indian baby and her grandmother in a 2012 kidnapping plot that went horribly wrong after a trial during which the accused said he would rather accept the death penalty than sit through arguments.

Raghunandan Yandamuri was convicted by a Montgomery County Court jury of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Satyavathi Venna, 61, and the suffocation death of her 10-month-old granddaughter, Saanvi Venna, in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

Malala Yousafzai calls on Nigeria to ‘redouble’ efforts to free abducted schoolgirls

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Malala Yousafzai, who at 17 became the youngest-ever Nobel peace laureate, has urged Nigeria to increase efforts to bring back the Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram .

The Pakistani activist for girls’ education said that campaigners needed to raise their voices “louder than ever” to demand the freedom of the girls.

Malala called on the Nigerian government and the international community to redouble their efforts to bring a quick and peaceful conclusion to the crisis, the BBC reports.

Big blow to prosecution as Cape Town court says evidence related to Shrien Dewani’s sexuality ‘irrelevant’

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The State has received a major setback in Anni Dewani’s murder trial case in Cape Town with the High Court terming the evidence related to Shrien Dewani’s sexuality “irrelevant.”

Dewani’s sexuality has been brought up time and again in the five-days of the trial and is an important component of the State’s case against him, reported News 24.

The British millionaire has been accused of orchestrating the murder of his bride, Anni, during an apparently botched hijacking during their honeymoon in Cape Town in 2010.

He has pleaded not guilty to all five charges against him. (ANI)

BJP confident of majority win in Haryana

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday was confident of winning with a clear majority in Haryana, even as the state voted for its legislative assembly.

BJP Haryana in-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya, said that he is certain that his party will win a minimum of 60 seats, out of the 90 constituencies in the state.

“The way people are voting in Haryana, the BJP will surely win 60 or more seats,” he said.

Polling in Haryana began at 7.00 am and will conclude at 6.00 pm, with 1,351 candidates battling it out in a high-stakes, multi-cornered contest. (ANI)

Pep up your winter wardrobe with leather skirts

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Leather can be counted as one of the best investments in your winter wardrobe, and a skirt in the material would be just right for the ‘oomph’ factor.

Leather is ‘in’ this season and a leather skirt, as shown by singer-actress Hilary Duff at one of the red carpet events recently, is a chic way of wearing it.

Choose a simple black, that you know will go with everything, or try mixing it with an autumn shade like berry or chocolate, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Kate Beckinsale to star in new ‘Underworld’ film

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Actress Kate Beckinsale is reportedly set to reprise her role as Death Dealer Selene in an upcoming instalment of the “Underworld”.

Although the last film in the franchise, “Underworld: Awakening”, appeared to be preparing to move away from her character’s story, Beckinsale’s husband and director Len Wiseman has confirmed he is working on more “Underworld” projects, including a new movie with his wife, reports contactmusic.com.