Asian News International Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray unveiled the party’s ‘blueprint’ for the development of the state as part of its campaign for the October 15 Assembly polls.
The ‘MNS blueprint for Maharashtra’ came on a day of unprecedented political developments in the state including the crumbling of 25-year-old Shiv Sena-BJP alliance and the 15-year-old Congress-NCP alliance, due to intense pressure over seat allocation in assembly poll.
Launching a scathing attack on its former ally, Shiv Sena on Friday dubbed those who broke the 25-year-old alliance as ‘enemies of Maharashtra’.
“Our other (Mahayuti) alliance parties wanted the Sena-BJP combine to continue. More than that, it was what the 11 crore people of Maharashtra wanted. Those who trampled these sentiments are enemies of Maharashtra,” Sena said.
“This (breaking of alliance) is an insult to the 105 Marathi martyrs of the Samyukta Maharashtra movement,” an editorial in Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ said here.
UB Group Chairman Vijay Mallya is no longer a member of India’s 100 Richest club, even as fortunes of the country’s uber-rich have seen a significant growth since last year.
Mallya, who has been declared as ‘wilful defaulter’ by lenders following huge debts on his Kingfisher Airlines, is missing from the Forbes latest list of 100 richest released today. He was ranked at 84th position in 2013, with a net worth of USD 800 million.
With a record USD 1 billion as the minimum net worth this year, as many as 11 persons dropped out of this year’s list including Mallya.
Revising India’s GDP upwards by 0.3 percent to 6.3 percent in 2015, Asian Development Bank (ADB) has said the economy shows a new promise of turnaround after the election brought a stable government in May.
“India shows new promise of a turnaround. After winning a decisive parliamentary election victory, the new (Modi-led) government is better positioned than the old to pursue the reform necessary to unlock the economy’s growth potential.
It was a sunny Friday morning here, and the Met Office has forecast the sky will be clear in the day.
“The sky will be mainly clear today (Friday) and the maximum temperature would be around 36 degrees Celsius,” said an official of the India Meteorological Department.
The day’s minimum temperature settled at 24 degrees Celsius, average for this time of the season.
Humidity at 8.30 a.m. was 63 percent.
Thursday’s maximum temperature was 35.8 degrees Celsius, a notch above the season’s average, while the minimum was 24.2 degrees Celsius, average for the season.
–IANS
India’s Yuki Bhambri and Sanam Singh reached the men’s singles quarterfinals while compatriot Ankita Raina was ousted in the pre-quarterfinals of the women’s singles tennis competition at the 17th Asian Games here Friday.
Bhambri, the highest seeded Indian in Incheon, eased to a 6-3, 6-3 straight-set win over 13th seed, Christopher Benjamin Rungkat of Indonesia in an hour and 30 minutes in the third round match at the Yeorumul Tennis Courts.
The fourth seeded Indian took the first set in 40 minutes and registered a similar scoreline win in the second, taking eight minutes more.
An Indian origin girl is among three children who have been nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize 2014.
The International Children’s Peace Prize is an initiative of the Amsterdam-based children’s rights organisation ‘KidsRights’, Xinhua reported.
The children who have been nominated are Neha from the US, along with Alexey from Russia and Andrew from Ghana.
The prize is awarded annually to a child whose actions have made a difference in improving children’s rights.
Neha, 18, helps children in need through her own foundation.
A benchmark index of Indian equities markets Friday was trading 77.78 points or 0.29 percent down as metal stocks plunged.
Good buying was observed in the IT sector, while huge selling pressure was seen in metal, auto and banking.
The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 26,429.30 points, was trading at 26,390.58 points (at 09.18 a.m.) in the early session, down 77.78 points or 0.29 percent from the previous day’s close at 26,468.36 points.
Lorde has been named as the world’s hottest star under 21-years-old by Billboard magazine ‘s annual ranking of ‘music’s most powerful minors’.
The 17-year-old singer was followed by Australian pop band 5 Seconds of Summer whereas Justin Bieber grabbed the third spot, the Mirror reported.
The fourth spot was reserved by Dutch DJ Martin Garrix and American girl group Fifth Harmony secured the fifth spot in the list.
British boy band The Vamps also made it to the prestigious list, coming in at number 20. (ANI)
Tony Blair has been named as the top gay icon in the last 30 years alongside Boy George and Sir Ian McKellen by the Gay Times magazine.
The former British Prime Minister also features on the cover of an electronic version of the magazine, the Independent reported.
The 61-year-old politician had prohibited authorities in England and Wales from “promoting” homosexuality and labeled gay family relationships “pretend”.
Speaking about his work, Blair asserted that it was something he was very proud of and he considered it a significant part of his legacy. (ANI)
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday said Pakistan “spoiled the talks” by talking to Hurriyat leaders just ahead of Foreign Secretaries of the two nations were scheduled to meet in Islamabad last month.
“New (Narendra Modi) government has given a new signal. So they (Pakistan) spoiled the talks, they spoiled the game,” Swaraj told Indian reporters here after her meeting with the IBSA Foreign Ministers on the sidelines of the ongoing UN General Assembly session.
Pakistan on Thursday said there was “no planned meeting” between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the UNGA in New York, while asserting that the onus for resumption of dialogue process was on India which suspended the talks.
“We have not sought a meeting and we have not received any request,” Foreign Office spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said at the weekly briefing here.
Over 68 percent of women above the age of 35 years in Delhi are at the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), revealed a survey report Thursday.
The three-year-long survey named Saffola Life, which is India’s largest study on risk factors causing heart diseases, said that Indian women are more at risk of heart diseases today than three years ago.
According to the report, obesity, a factor closely associated with heart diseases, is highest among women above 35 years of age in Delhi.
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi will start its overseas campus in Mauritius from November.
IIT-Delhi is setting-up an International Institute of Technology Research Academy (IITRA) in the island nation. The new institute is being established in collaboration with Mauritius Research Council.
“IITRA will start operation from November this year. It will provide full-time and part-time PhD degrees in disciplines like electrical, electronics and computer science,” IIT-D Professor S M Ishtiaque told PTI.
Texting while driving with Google Glass is a clear distraction on the road, says a study.
“Texting with either a smartphone or Google Glass will cause distraction and should be avoided while driving,” said lead researcher Ben Sawyer from the University of Central Florida.
“Google Glass did help drivers in our study recover more quickly than those texting on a smartphone. We hope that Glass points the way to technology that can help deliver information with minimal risk,” he added.
The study is the first scientific look at using Google Glass to text while driving.
India and China have resolved the standoff at the Ladakh border, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Thursday.
The withdrawal of troops will begin on Friday and be completed by September 30, Swaraj said, describing the resolution of the issue as a “big accomplishment”.
“I am happy to tell you that both nations have sat down and resolved the (border standoff) issue. Timelines have been decided,” Swaraj told Indian reporters in New York after her meeting with the IBSA Foreign Ministers on the sidelines of the ongoing UN General Assembly session.
Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor’s daughter Rhea Kapoor, who had made her debut as a producer in 2010 with “Aisha”, says she would definitely want to venture into the small screen.
“We are expanding as a company. We are looking into venturing into television, but a lot of time and energy is needed for that,” Rhea, whose father had produced and acted in “24” – the Indian remake of the popular US thriller TV series of the same name, told IANS.
Actor Meka Srikanth, who will next be seen in Telugu family drama “Govindudu Andarivadele”, says he doesn’t mind taking up anti-hero roles as it gives him an opportunity to “experiment” with his career.
“I have played characters with negative shades in the past and I don’t mind playing again. I feel anti-hero roles will give me the opportunity to experiment. I’m hearing a script and in all probability it might happen soon,” Srikanth told IANS.
Srikanth has essayed a character with negative shade in Telugu actioner “Operation Duryodhana”.
An Ebola vaccine may be available by the end of the current year to help prevent further outbreak of the disease in West Africa, said the World Health Organization.
Scientists are testing two vaccines as there is no treatment or vaccine available currently, reported News24.
Number of Ebola cases has reached more than 5,800 in West African countries.
The virus is difficult to control through traditional method of secluding the affected people and keeping them under observation.
A new research has revealed that people who work for more than 55 hours per week are likelier to develop type-2 diabetes than their counterparts working for 35 to 40 hours a week.
Researchers at University College London conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies and unpublished individual-level data examining the effects of long working hours on type 2 diabetes up to 30 April 2014.
The Indian shooting team comprising Shagun Chowdhary, Shreyasi Singh and Varsha Varman bagged a bronze in women’s double trap event but Gurpreet Singh narrowly missed out on a medal in his event at the 17th Asian Games here today.
The Indian women’s team aggregated 279 to finish on the podium behind China and hosts South Korea at the Gyeonggido Shooting Range.
Chowdhary shot 96 after rounds of 24 25 24 23, Shreyasi had a total of 94 after rounds of 24 22 22 26 while Varsha managed 89 with rounds of 23 21 24 21.
A new study has indicated that Indian scientists are significantly more religious than UK scientists .
The first cross-national study of religion and spirituality among scientists showed that while 65 percent of U.K. scientists identify as nonreligious, only 6 percent of Indian scientists identify as nonreligious.
Disappointed by the cancellation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Islamabad, a senior editor of the Jang newspaper, Saleh Zafar, and a journalist of Aaj TV, Mushtaq Minhas, said here on Thursday that it is not a good omen.
George Clooney’s porn star ex-lover has revealed that she would gatecrash his Italian wedding to Amal Alamuddin.
Ginger Lynn Allen, who has boasted about the wild nights she says she spent with the ‘Up In The Air’ star after his marriage to actress Talia Balsam hit the rocks, plans to fly out to Venice to remind Alamuddin that she’ll always be there in the background, the Daily Star reported.
Clooney is expected to tie the knot with his lawyer fiancee at the Aman Canal Grande Venice hotel on Saturday morning. (ANI)
A new survey has revealed that 64 percent of Briton cheats “sext” their other lovers in the presence of their spouses in the same room.
The research also found that almost 90 percent of Brits use smartphones and tablets to send raunchy messages and arrange their secret meetings and among them 75 percent said they were somewhat afraid of being caught, while 13 percent said they were not at all afraid, the Daily Star reported.