Nikita Venkatesh

Ousted Lt Governor of Puducherry Virendra Kataria Thursday left here for Chennai en route to Delhi.

81-year-old Kataria, who was the 21st Lt Governor of the Union Territory, was sacked by the Central Government on July 11.

Lt Gen (retired) Ajay Kumar Singh, Lt Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, who has been assigned the additional charge of Puducherry, will be sworn at Rajnivas in the evening today.

Kataria had yesterday said that he planned to file a petition under the Right to Information Act with the Central authorities to get reasons for his removal.

Indian workers trapped in fighting in war-torn Iraq have arrived home on Thursday, but many others are still being held captive by the suspected fighters of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

About 10,000 Indians work in Iraq, mostly in areas unaffected by the fighting, but scores of them have returned to India since ISIL began its offensive.

Recalling his ordeal, a worker Hind Nath Sharma said with the efforts of Indian government they were been able to come back to their homes safely.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Ashutosh has posed three major questions to the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) with regard to their attempt to form a government in Delhi as also on the status of Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA).

The irrigation department has warned that CBI’s plan to conduct fresh autopsy on the bodies of two teenage girls raped and murdered in Budaun is going to be dead in the water if the agency failed to exhume the bodies within the next two days.

“Due to heavy rains in Uttrakhand, water level in the Ganga is rising and in next two days the graves could be submerged…,” executive engineer of Uttar Pradesh irrigation department’s Flood Division DK Jain said here.

England Captain Alastair Cook has rubbished India’s claim that James Anderson had pushed and abused Ravindra Jadeja and called it a tactic to disconcert Anderson.

Anderson was accused of misbehavior after the incident during the drawn first Test.

Cook also remarked that they could not let India’s tactic be any distraction for their team.

Jadeja was also charged under the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) code of conduct.

The England and Wales Cricket Board had sent a level two counter-accusation against Jadeja to the ICC.

The first English book ‘The Recuyell of the Histories of Troye’ that was ever printed has been sold for more than one million dollars.

The 540-year-old book is a translation of a French book written around 1463 by Raoul Lefevre, the Daily Express reported.

William Caxton, a British merchant and writer who brought the first printing press to Britain, began translating the BOOK IN Bruges in 1468 and completed it three years later in Cologne.

The book, an epic romance, was auctioned off by Sotheby’s at its English Literature, History, Children’s Books and Illustrations sale.

A study has revealed the concept of development of the world’s first T-cell peptide-based vaccine for heart disease the number one killer in the nation.

The goal of the vaccine was to reduce immune-based inflammation in the arteries, leading to decreased plaque buildup and it could target strokes, which are also a product of plaque buildup in arteries.

Goa’s PWD minister, who recently demanded a ban on mini-skirts and bikinis, now says his “thoughts and sanskars” will take both Goa and India to glory.

Sudin Dhavalikar, the public works department minister, was speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a public event here, once again implored Goans “to steer clear of Western culture”.

“Even if my effigy is burnt, no one can burn my sanskars and thoughts. I will continue to take them (sanskars and thoughts) to the people until I can. These alone will bring glory to Goa and India over time,” Dhavalikar said.

Golf legend Gary Player, who scored one of his most memorable victories at the British Open forty years ago, has said that golf needs ‘icons’ like Tiger Woods.

Player is willing Woods to win the 2014 British Open at Hoylake.

South Africa’s Player, who was the last golfer to lead outright for all four rounds of the oldest major when he won at Royal Lytham and St Anne’s in 1974, said that Woods is definitely the most talented man who ever held a golf club in his hand.

A man almost burned down his house in order to kill a spider with the lighter and spray paint.

According to Kiro7, Seattle fire fighters managed to control the blazes at a house in the west of the city but not before it caused 60,000 dollars worth of damage, the Mirror reported.

Fire officials said the man’s unusual method caused a wall to catch fire, which quickly spread through the house.

Neighbors were warned to return to their houses as fire crews investigated reports of ammunition in the house, but this was later ruled out.

A study has revealed a minimally invasive gene transplant procedure that changes unspecialized heart cells into “biological pacemaker” cells that keep the heart steadily beating.

Eduardo Marban, the lead researcher, Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, said that they have been able, for the first time, to create a biological pacemaker using minimally invasive methods and to show that the biological pacemaker supports the demands of daily life and that, they are also are the first to reprogram a heart cell in a living animal in order to effectively cure a disease.

Shops and business houses downed shutters in Aizawl on Thursday due to a 12-hour protest called by Mizoram Merchant Association opposing Licensing Regulations, 2012 of Aizawl Municpal Corporation.

Even street hawkers including meat and vegetable sellers were nowhere to be seen in the town.

The traders are opposing the Licensing Regulations apprehending it would allow non-tribals to engage in business resulting in economic assimilation of the Mizos.

The association has the support of the influential social organisation Coordination Committee.

England golf ace Justin Rose is all prepared to compete in the 143rd Open Championship at 2014 third major at Royal Liverpool golfclub on Thursday.

Rose who is one of the golf’s most fit players, having claimed victory in his past two tournaments, is set to become the first Englishmen since Nick Faldo in 1992 to lift the Claret Jug.

World number one Adam Scott and Northern Ireland’s Rory Mcllroy are also likely to be a part of the first Open title at the Wirral this week.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met leaders of South America in Brasilia, and said that India and South America share a deep bond.

“I thank Brazil, for providing this opportunity to interact with leaders from South American countries. I am grateful to your Excellencies for sparing your valuable time, to meet us today (Wednesday). South America has tremendous potential. It is blessed, with vast resources and talent,” the Prime Minister told leaders from South America.

Indonesia has double the deforestation rate in Brazil and has become the largest destroyer of forests housing some of the world’s most endangered species.

A report, recently published in the Nature Climate Change magazine, revealed that the Indonesian archipelago lost almost twice the forest area (840,000 hectares) than Brazil (460,000 hectares) by 2012.

The International Monetary Fund has welcomed the move to set up a new BRICS development bank stating that it is ready to work with the Bank’s leadership.

“I would like to congratulate you on hosting a successful meeting of the BRICS leaders in Fortaleza, Brazil, and especially on establishing the Contingent Reserve Arrangement,” IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in a message conveyed to the Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.

A puzzling giant crater has been recently discovered in the remote area of North Siberia.

According to the Siberian Times, the hole is about 80m wide at the edges, but continues down into an underground chamber of unknown depth and the sides of the crater were said to be fresh earth, which experts revealed indicated that it was created in the last few years, Sky News reported.

It was found by engineers on the Russia’s Yamal peninsula who were flying past in a helicopter and posted the footage on YouTube. Yamal means “end of the world” in the local language.

Separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has ordered to observe a complete shutdown on Thursday in protest of the road mishap that took place yesterday and also against the Israeli aggression in Gaza.

Local resident of Kashmir, Irfan Khan said, “Army force hit our car yesterday. There were six guys in a car who were attacked, stones were thrown at them and afterwards they were beaten by the officials as well. In protest of the same, whole Kashmir will remain closed and ceased today.”

Lok Sabha Wednesday witnessed bonhomie and camaraderie among women Parliamentarians when two Congress members strongly came out in support of HRD Minister Smriti Irani after certain remarks from a Trinamool Congress member about her past acting career.

The government on Wednesday said it has formed a three-member committee to look into the UPSC controversy that saw aspirants protesting the changes made in the examination pattern.

“We don’t want that language should be an impediment. A committee has been constituted to study this matter and submit a report. We have asked the committee to submit the report at the earliest so that further decision can be taken,” Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh informed the Lok Sabha.

“I request the aspirants not to put themselves under any unnecessary mental pressure,” he said.

China today was moving a massive oil rig away from waters claimed by Vietnam after announcing the end of operations, a development that should end a tense standoff between the nations in the South China Sea.

But in withdrawing the rig on its own terms, Beijing has demonstrated it will not be stopped from carrying out exploration activities in waters it considers its own regardless of the regional or international criticism such actions provoke.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the Muzaffarnagar riots, has moved a local court seeking issuance of an arrest warrant against a Delhi Police constable, accused in an arson and loot case here.

During investigation, Delhi Police constable Anuj Kumar was allegedly found involved in the riots case at Bahawdi village under Phugana police station in the district, SIT officials said.

SIT inspector Ramraten Singh moved an application before Chief Judicial Magistrate Narender Kumar yesterday, seeking issuance of an arrest warrant against the absconding accused.

A drive-by shooting at the international airport on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao has killed two people and wounded others , a radio station reported. Authorities could not be reached for comment.

Dolfijn FM said the shooting occurred late yesterday just outside the arrivals area at Curacao International Airport.

It said one of the dead was a young man from the Buena Vista neighbourhood of Curacao. It didn’t give any information on the other death and had no precise information on the number of wounded.

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has ruled out reinvestigation into the death of two women in Shopian district of the state in 2009, holding that the report of one-man judicial commission alone cannot form the basis for ordering a fresh probe into the case.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice M M Kumar and Justice D S Thakur, while pronouncing the judgement yesterday, said the report of the Jan Commission — which was not binding on an investigating agency — was based on evidence which did not stand the investigation conducted by CBI.

Tech titan Google on Wednesday unveiled ‘Project Zero’ – a team of elite hackers designated for checking internet security holes and defending people from cyber-attacks.

The team of hackers will look for threats, mainly on ‘zero-day vulnerabilities’ such as the recent ‘heartbleed’ bug, in the most popular software such as Google Chrome and Internet Explorer.

Google security researcher, Chris Evans said that they are hiring the best practically-minded security researchers and contributing 100 percent of their time toward improving security across the internet.