Nikita Venkatesh

PM’s ‘Make in India’ finds followers in Airbus, Sony and HTC

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious ‘Make in India’ plan has finally found several followers. From HTC to Sony to Airbus, the project which is aimed at promoting India, has been encashed by several companies.

European major Airbus today expressed its keen interest in participating in ‘Make in India’ programme in the area of defence and space.

The interest was expressed by Bernhard Gerwert, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space, when he called on Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi here today.

India aims 8-10 per growth, current rate not satisfactory: Arun Jaitley

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Pitching for a higher growth of 8 to 10 per cent to eradicate poverty, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said the country is no more satisfied with the current rate.

“India is no longer satisfied being in the 6 to 8 per cent growth. It wants to transcend to another level and aim for 8 to 10 per cent growth…We wish to grow faster because we have a huge challenge of eradicating poverty ahead of us,” Jaitley said at the launch of ‘Digital India Week’ here.

Citing the example of financial inclusion programme, he said the ‘Digital India’ initiative has a huge potential.

Delhi govt takes steps to curb mosquito-borne diseases

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With monsoons here, Delhi government has started taking steps to prevent outbreak of dengue in the national capital. Now, the government has asked all the central government-run hospitals in Delhi including AIIMS to “buckle up” to tackle an outbreak of dengue during the monsoon season and prepare an action plan within a week to combat the vector-borne disease.

MHA asks DG Tihar to probe jail break, fix responsibility

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The Home Ministry today directed Director General of Tihar Prison Alok Verma to conduct an inquiry into the recent jail break incident in the high-security prison from where two undertrials managed to escape.

Verma has been asked to carry out a detailed inquiry into the jail break incident and fix responsibility, a Home Ministry official said.

Two undertrials scaled the wall of the ward they were lodged in and then dug a tunnel through the boundary wall to escape from the jail which is considered to be the most high-security prison compound in the country.

Visionary technocrat KPP Nambiar dies at 86 in Bangalore

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K P P Nambiar, founding Chairman of Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation Limited (Keltron), a public sector electronics company in Kerala, died here tonight due to age-related illnesses, family sources said.

Nambiar (86) is survived by wife Umadevi Nambiar and a son and a daughter.

“My father, Shri KPP Nambiar passed away in his residence at 7.50 pm due to age-related illnesses,” Kiran Nambiar, son of K P P Nambiar, told PTI here.

Nambiar was honoured with Padma Bhushan in 2006. He was also was the president of the World Malayalee Council.

SwiftKey adds adaptive layouts for nine more Indian languages on Android

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SwiftKey now has new adaptive layouts for nine Indian languages to its predictive keyboard app for Android.

SwiftKey is an input method for Android and iOS devices such as smartphones and tablets. SwiftKey uses a combination of artificial intelligence technologies that enable it to predict the next word the user intends to type.

SwiftKey learns from previous SMS messages and output predictions based on currently input text and what it has learned.

hap panchayat strikes again: Mobile phones use banned for girls in Barmer

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A khap panchayat in the Barmer district of Rajasthan has allegedly issued a diktat, banning girls of the village from using mobile phones and social media.

The disputed decision taken by Kanana village’s Samdari panchayat also warns girls not to wear jeans and bridegrooms to wear dhoti when getting married.

However, the same panchayat had earlier received praise for taking passing some welcoming rulings including bans on child marriages and liquor, as well as directing the people of the village to send all children to school. (ANI)

PIL to replace ‘archaic’ Urdu words from police proceedings

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Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought responses of the Centre and city police on a plea seeking directions to replace “archaic and difficult words and phrases of Persian and Urdu language” with simple Hindi or English words for day-to-day work at police stations.

A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath issued notice to Ministry of Home Affairs and Commissioner of Delhi police on a PIL opposing “use of Urdu and Persian words in proceedings at police stations, recording of statements, submitting of challan in courts, etc”.

HRD Ministry begins process to appoint IIT Delhi director

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HRD Ministry has initiated the process for appointment of a new IIT Delhi director, weeks after it relieved R Shevgaonkar of his duties.

The Ministry has invited applications for the post after Shevgaonkar was relieved on June 11.

“The search-cum-selection Committee will consider applications received as well as nominations received from eminent persons.

“The appointment will be on contractual basis for a period of five years or till the attainment of 70 years, whichever is earlier,” the advertisement stated.

Non-CBSE board students protest against DU admission guideline

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Students from non-CBSE boards on Wednesday staged protest against Delhi University’s admission guideline to deduct 10 per cent marks from the best of four subjects of candidates from boards with different marking pattern.

Alleging a bias towards candidates from state boards, the students staged a protest at varsity’s North campus and demanded the penalty clause be withdrawn.

According to the university guidelines, all the discipline subjects must have at least 70 per cent component of theory in the qualifying exam for the purpose of being treated as academic/elective subject.

Karnataka HC stays Lokayukta probe into bribe charge

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The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday stayed an inquiry being conducted by the state Lokayukta’s police into the bribe charge against some of its unidentified officials.

Passing an interim order against the internal probe, a division bench of the high court comprising Justice N. Kumar and Justice B. Sreenivase Gowda said the anti-graft body should wait for the report of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up on Tuesday by the state government to probe the charge.

BJP, Congress two sides of the same coin in corruption: Naresh Agarwal

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Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal on Wednesday claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress are two sides of the same coin as far as corruption is concerned.

“Congress and BJP are two sides of a coin. The BJP is facing so many allegations of corruption and the Congress was equally corrupt during their regime,” said Agarwal. (ANI)

Pinaverium drug offers quick relief from irritable bowel syndrome

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A new study has suggested that pinaverium shows promising results for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

Pinaverium bromide (pinaverium), an antispasmodic, is used widely in many countries around the world, including European countries, Canada and Mexico.

However, original clinical studies on pinaverium are scarce and there has been no convincing evidence for its effectiveness and safety. As such, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved this treatment for use in the U.S.

USA reach Women’s World Cup final after 2-0 win over Germany

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The United States women’s football team reached their fourth World Cup final after defeating two-time champions Germany 2-0 in Montreal.

Following a goalless first half, captain Carli Lloyd broke German’s resistance by scoring in the 68th minute from the spot, the BBC reported.

Substitute Kelley O’Hara added a second goal six minutes before the final whistle to seal the USA’s berth in the final.

The USA will now square off either against England or Japan in the final in Vancouver on Monday. (ANI)

Cuba becomes first nation to eliminate mother-to-child HIV transmissions

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Cuba has become the first country in the world to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis, the World Health Organisation has said.

“Eliminating transmission of a virus is one of the greatest public health achievements possible,” WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said on Tuesday.

“This is a major victory in our long fight against HIV and sexually transmitted infections, and an important step towards having an AIDS-free generation.”

AIIMS coordination committee threatens BJP of dire consequence

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The AIIMS coordination committee (ACC) an amalgam of various social, political, religious and business organisations spearheading the campaign for the establishment of the premier medical institute in Jammu has today warned the ruling alliance partner BJP of dire consequences if it fails to fulfill its commitment.

“We urge the BJP to fulfill its written commitment on AIIMS within the stipulated period” said Mohinder Singh Katoch, working president Jammu Province Peoples Front (JPPF) and member ACC.

Time of the ‘mute Prime Minister’ has gone, says BJP

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Taking a jibe at former prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday said that the Congress has forgotten the time of the ‘mute Prime Minister’ adding that the incumbent Narendra Modi communicates with people on a regular basis.

“Prime Minister Modi communicates with people through social media and ‘Mann Ki Baat’. Time of the mute Prime Minister has long gone. It seems that the Congress has forgotten that,” said BJP general secretary Ram Madhav.

Hit-and run case: Bombay HC adjourns hearing on Salman’s appeal against conviction to July 13

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The Bombay High Court has adjourned the hearing on actor Salman Khan’s appeal against conviction in the 2002 hit-and-run case to July 13.

Khan, who got a respite in the hit-and- run case after the Bombay High Court stayed his five-year conviction, was earlier directed to submit Rs. two lakh as cash security before leaving the country for a show.

A criminal court had earlier convicted Salman of culpable homicide on charges that he lost control of his car when driving under the influence of alcohol in 2002 and rammed into a group of people sleeping on a pavement.

Congress accuses Kejriwal of misleading public

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Congress leader Ajay Kumar on Wednesday accused Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of misleading the public by portraying AAP to be pro-common man.

“Right after Arvind Kejriwal took charge; he had said that he wouldn’t even use an air conditioner. He also directed the CPWD to remove air containers from his house. So, it is very evident that he says something and does something else, and that the AAP is trying to put out a message that they lead their lives in a very simple manner, which is not true,” said Kumar.

How exercise can keep your brain `young` while you age

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In a new study, researchers have shown that endurance exercise may help prevent cognitive decline, keeping your brain working fully as you age.

University of Texas researchers attempted to determine the correlation between a person’s cardio fitness and cognitive function in middle-aged adults, and tested the participants by engaging them in moderate or strenuous aerobic exercise for at least four days or seven hours a week, while the sedentary subjects exercised less than one hour a week.

SRK posts video to thank fans who marked his 23 yrs in Bollywood

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Fulfilling his promise, Shah Rukh Khan recently uploaded a video to show his gratitude towards his fans, who celebrated the actor’s 23 years of stardom by trending hashtag #23GoldenYearsOfSRK on Twitter.

With a one minute and 46-seconds video, the 49-year-old actor gave 23 reasons why he feels grateful about his fans’ support, and thanked for all the good and bad things people did for him.

The ‘Happy New Year’ star also expressed his heartfelt appreciation for all the 23 things his fans did for him in his 23 year career.

In Nepal, China and India seen as reliable tourism partners

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Nepal continues to look to both India and China to give its key revenue-earning tourism sector a much needed boost.

An interactive session with Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) representatives here revealed that notwithstanding the devastating impact of the April 25 earthquake in the Kathmandu Valley and in some outlying areas, the three months of June, July and August have been declared as “Readiness Months Period” to give a proactive boost to the tourism season that normally gets underway from September and lasts up to March.