A S Kashyap

Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Monday said that the Janata Parivar is a ‘laughable’ alliance, adding that the merger portrayed Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s ‘desperation’.

“It is a laughable alliance, not a merger. People of Bihar know that

Nitish Kumar has opposed Lalu Prasad Yadav for 17 years and the moment he left BJP, he started suffering the consequences. It is the desperation of two defeated leaders,” Prasad told ANI here.

Indian Administrative Service officer Vijai Sharma was appointed as the Chief Information Commissioner in the Central Information Commission (CIC) on Monday.

The 1974-batch officer was earlier an Information Commissioner in the CIC.

Meanwhile, IAS officer Sudhir Bhargava (1979 batch) has been appointed as the Information Commissioner in the commission.

A release by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions informed that the appointments have been made for five years or till they attain the age of 65, whichever is earlier. (ANI)

Markets regulator Sebi has in the past one week approved Initial Public Offerings of three companies that have plan to raise at least Rs 1,000 crore for business expansion and meeting working capital requirements.

With this, the number of firms receiving Sebi’s green signal since the beginning of the year has reached 17.

The three companies are Amar Ujala Publications, which publishes Hindi daily Amar Ujala; Infrastructure firm Dilip Buildcon and Kalpataru Power Transmission’s subsidiary Shree Shubham Logistics.

Attacking the previous governments over the alleged destruction of records of encroached forest land, a Jammu and Kashmir Minister on Monday said there was a “big nexus” among senior politicians, some police and revenue officials.

“There is a big nexus between land grabbers, some police officers, revenue officials and senior politicians of the state who have encroached upon a large part of forest land,” the State Minister for Forests and Environment Bali Bhagat said, adding that records of such land have been destroyed.

Domestic rating agency Icra on Monday said gross NPAs in the system may jump up to 5.9% this fiscal from 4.4% despite economic growth because of lagged recognition of bad assets which is resulting in slippage of more restructured accounts into dud loans.

“Reported gross NPAs will increase in FY16 with withdrawal of regulatory forbearance for restructured advances from FY16 to 5.3-5.9% by March 2016 as against 4.4% as in March 2015,” the agency said in a note.

A packet of the energy drink ‘Glucon-D’ was allegedly found with insects, following which it was sent for examination.

According to one Bablu, he bought a packet of Glucon-D from a general store here two days ago. He along with his family started vomiting after consuming the product. On later examination, insects were found in the packet.

The victim had filed a complaint regarding the incident with the Drug Safety officer of the area.

An appeal by South African prosecutors to try to increase the severity of Oscar Pistorius’s conviction and sentence for killing his model girlfriend will be heard in November, the Supreme Court said today.

The 28-year-old double amputee sprinter was found guilty last year of culpable homicide — a charge akin to manslaughter — and sentenced to five years in prison for shooting model and TV presenter Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013.

Sustaining 4% growth in the farm sector is a challenging task though it remains one of the top priorities of the government, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said on Monday.

Singh said India has the about 17% of the world’s population and to feed the country it has just 2.4% of the total geographical area.

“We are conscious of our need for sustainable agricultural development keeping the interest of future generations in mind,” Singh said while speaking at the UN body Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) here.

The rupee tumbled by 33 paise on Monday to end at a four-week low of 64.08 against the American currency on fresh dollar demand from banks and importers on the back of firm greenback in the overseas market.

Sharp fall in equity market amid foreign fund outflows also affected rupee value against the dollar, a forex dealer said.

In the overseas market, dollar soared against most of its rivals on last Friday, hitting a 13-year high against the Japanese yen, after a strong jobs report indicated the US economy bounced back strongly in May, sparking a surge in treasury yields.

Heropanti actor Tiger Shroff has credited Bollywood superstar Hrithik Roshan for “inspiring” him to take up dancing.

Tiger, 25, who proved his mettle as a dancing star with his debut film, matched steps with Hrithik while accepting the best debut actor gong from him at the IIFA 2015 awards here.

The duo shook a leg on the song Mere Naal Tu Whistle Baja from Heropanti.

“It’s a great honour to receive the award from Hrithik. He is my inspiration behind taking up dance,” said Tiger, who was accompanied by his father Jackie and mother Ayesha.

As part of the “In residence” programme for Inspired teachers announced by the President of India in the beginning of the year, 16 teachers from Central Universities across the country visited Amity University.

Maj. Gen. K.J. Singh-Group Vice Chancellor, Amity Universities welcomed the teachers.

Prof. (Dr.) Gurinder Singh- Group Additional Vice Chancellor and Director General, Amity International Business School briefed the teachers about the International linkages of Amity University.

Australia coach Darren Lehmann has predicted a ‘great battle’ with his English counterpart Trevor Bayliss in the upcoming Ashes.

Expressing his delight after Australia’s nine-wicket win over West Indies in the first test of the Worrell Trophy, Lehmann said that it would be great challenge to come up against Bayliss, the Independent reported.

Lehmann further said that the ECB’s decision to appoint Bayliss was good for the English team. (ANI)

Scientists were recently able to grow a fully functional forelimb in a laboratory for the first time ever.

While it was only a rat’s forearm that scientists managed to grow, the breakthrough from Massachusetts General Hospital could lead to human limbs being developed in the future.

The researchers describe using an experimental approach previously used to build bioartificial organs to engineer rat forelimbs with functioning vascular and muscle tissue. They also provided evidence that the same approach could be applied to the limbs of primates.

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has launched a weekend Mussoorie Rail Tour Package that includes confirmed rail reservations, meals, sightseeing and stay in a reputed hotel.

The recently launched package includes AC Chair Car travel in New Delhi-Dehradun Shatabdi train on every Friday and Saturday, travel from Dehradun to Mussoorie, stay at hotels and much more. The stay at Country Inn and Suites by Carlson in Mussoorie includes buffet breakfast and lunch or dinner.

A new study has revealed that non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) for women with Down’s syndrome is safe and effective.

The results of a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) study carried out by the first NHS laboratory suggested that it could be introduced into the National Health Service (NHS), as it has been accepted by many parents.

Professor Lyn Chitty, from the UCL Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, said that NIPT performed well in identifying problems, and women were very positive about it, which lead to sharp fall of invasive test.

Kim Kardashian and her rapper husband Kanye West are reportedly planning to make a movie based on their lives.

Sources revealed that the senior executive from Universal believes that the American reality star and her ‘Gold Digger’ rapper husband’s picture might not be a Oscar-worthy production, but will surely be successful at the box office, as the couple has a worldwide fan base, the Mirror has reported.

President Pranab Mukherjee will inaugurate the first ever Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) in President’s Estate at 6.00 pm today.

This Sewage Treatment Plant, whose foundation stone was laid by the President on February 17 earlier this year, has been built in a record time of approximately one year and three months. The STP is in fulfillment of the recommendations of the Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan prepared by INTACH.

The President’s Estate has over 190.5 acres of greenery, including the famous Mughal Gardens.

Turkey’s governing AK party has lost parliamentary majority for the first time in 13 years while the pro-Kurdish HDP crossed the 10 percent threshold, securing seats, exceptional near-complete election results show.

According to BBC, the AKP has 41 percent of the vote in the 99 percent of the vote counted.

The result came as a blow to Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s plans to boost his office’s powers.

President Erdogan, who first came to power as prime minister in 2003, had been seeking a two-thirds majority to turn Turkey into a presidential republic. (ANI)

A deep depression over the east-central region of the Arabian Sea has moved in a north-north-west direction and has intensified into a cyclonic storm, which has been named ‘Ashobaa’.

A release by the Ministry of Earth Science informed that Ashobaa is currently 590 kilometres west-south-west of Mumbai and is expected to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm during next 36 hours.

Further details are awaited. (ANI)

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday said that the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Janata Dal (United) are practicing ‘politics of distrust’, adding that the sole aim of the Janata Parivar is to stop Prime Minister Narendra Modi from taking Bihar forward on the development path.

The Union Home Ministry on Monday denied sanction to prosecute Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials involved in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case.

The CBI had earlier sought sanction to prosecute four IB officials: Rajinder Kumar, P Mittal, M K Sinha and Rajiv Wankhede in connection with the killing of Ishrat.

Meanwhile, Ishrat Jahan’s sister reiterated that the family wants justice and punishment for the person who killed her.

United States President Barack Obama and French President Francois Hollande have reportedly agreed on some of the world’s most pressing issues, including the imposition of sanctions on Russia in the light of its actions in Ukraine and the need to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the White House said.

The two leaders agreed that the economic sanctions against Russia should stay in place until the country fully abides by the terms of the peace accord that was struck with Ukraine last year, reported The New York Times.

Rumer Willis, the winner of ‘Dancing with the stars’ season 20, said that the show gave a direction to her life.

The 26-year-old reflected on the lessons she’s learned and even got new ink, a silhouette of herself on the dance floor in order to celebrate her new outlook, the Fox News has reported.

The ‘Pretty Little Liars’ actress said that she has learned not to base the values on external things, whether that’s who you’re dating or how much money you make and the only way to find true happiness is to find self-confidence and value from within.

Chris Evans has recently announced that he is making a secret ‘Top Gear film’ with an independent production company.

The 49-years-old English presenter, who has been among the favourites to take over from Jeremy Clarkson on the BBC show, said that he is doing a top gear sequence with an independent production company, reported the Guardian.

‘The Big Breakfast’ star added that he cannot wait to see how his film goes. (ANI)

2015 French Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka believes that beaten finalist Novak Djokovic will secure the elusive clay-court title at Paris one day.

Eighth seed Wawrinka magnificently recovered from a set down to beat Djokovic 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in an enthralling contest that lasted three hours and 12 minutes.

Wawrinka produced a perfect blend of precision and power to bring an end to Djokovic’s 28-match winning streak and also dash Serbian’s hopes of securing a career Grand Slam.