Press Trust of India

Press Trust of India (PTI) is India’s premier news agency, having a reach as vast as the Indian Railways. It employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.

Indian-origin man jailed for sexually assaulting women

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An Indian-origin man in Australia, who sexually assaulted women on trains, was Monday sentenced to 21 months in jail, media reported.

County Court judge Gerard Mullaly, while sentencing Ajay Chopra, said stern punishment awaited the men who put their own “perverse sexual pleasure” above the rights of women, The Age reported.

“The sexual assault of fellow female passengers on public transport is shameful and dishonourable. Decent men do not do this,” Mullaly said.

Argentina’s di Maria denies Juventus link

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Argentina’s Angel di Maria has denied rumours linking him to a transfer to Serie A champions Juventus.

“I know nothing. When I came here, all I wanted was to think about the selection, so I told my agent,” the Real Madrid player said, adding that after not playing a “good” World Cup in 2010, he came to Brazil for revenge, reports EFE.

Central team visits malaria-hit areas of Tripura

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A three-member central experts team Monday visited malaria affected areas of Tripura where at least 45 people have died due to the disease and thousands have fallen ill, officials said here.

“A team of malaria experts from the NVBDCP led by its special director Awadesh Kumar Monday visited malaria affected northern Tripura and gave necessary advice to the local doctors and officials on how to deal with the outbreak,” a spokesman of the Tripura health department told IANS.

Goyal for review of anti-dumping levy on solar power equipment

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The power ministry has asked the commerce and finance ministries to have a fresh look at the proposed anti-dumping duty on imports of solar power equipment because India still lacks sufficient capacity in the sector.

“We have asked the commerce and finance ministries to re-look into the recommendations. India does not have adequate manufacturing capacity to support the kind of thrust we want to give to solar power. Therefore, we have appealed to them to take a fresh view,” Power Minister Piyush Goyal told media persons here Monday.

India to host World Junior Chess Championship

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Giving a further fillip to the game of Kings and Queens among the country’s youth, India will be hosting the World Junior Chess Championship and the Asian Youth Chess Championship this year.

The world event (boys and girls) will be held at Pune Oct 5-20 while the Asian meet for Under-14, 16 and 18 will be held in New Delhi Nov 6-14. The decision to host these two major tournaments was taken at the Annual General Body meeting of the All India Chess Federation (AICF) here Sunday.

Woman injured in bank guard’s celebratory fire in Delhi

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A 45-year-old woman was injured Monday when a bank security guard opened fire into air to express his happiness on the occasion of the branch manager’s birthday, police said. The guard has been arrested.

The incident happened Monday morning during the birthday party of the manager of Oriental Bank of Commerce’s branch at Minto Road in central Delhi.

Security guard Ramkumar opened fire with his double-barrel gun in the air but the pellets hit Zareen, standing on the balcony of her seventh floor house of the building, leaving her with injuries on her face and hands, police said.

Cameroon’s Song banned for three games

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The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has announced that they were suspending Cameroon midfielder Alex Song for three games after his violent behaviour against Croatian striker Mario Mandzukic during the World Cup Group A game June 18.

Song had received a red card in the first half after elbowing Mandzukic in the back and was sent off by Portuguese referee Pedro Proenca, reports EFE.

Croatia had already scored one goal in the first half before scoring three more in the second half to end the game 4-0 and finish off Cameroon’s World Cup campaign.

Indians in Iraq safe, trying to evacuate them: Government

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The flow of information from Iraq has improved and Indians in the conflict zone there were safe, the external affairs ministry said Monday.

Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said efforts were being made to evacuate those stranded in Iraq.

“Safety and security of Indian nationals in Iraq remain to be a concern for the government of India… information flow has improved,” he said.

“We have received 120 requests in Baghdad and 300 at our control room in New Delhi for assistance of various types,” he said.

Some of the request may, however, be duplication, he said.

Himachal park gets Unesco’s heritage tag

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After Gujarat’s Rani ki Vav (queen’s stepwell), the Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area (GHNPCA) in Himachal Pradesh, India’s richest biodiversity spot in the western Himalayas, Monday got the coveted Unesco tag of a World Heritage site.

The World Heritage Committee, which met in Doha, Qatar, included GHNPCA in the World Heritage Natural Site List. It was India’s lone entry.

Earlier, the Unesco added Rani ki Vav in Gujarat’s Patan town to the list of World Heritage sites.

71 prisoners killed in attack in Iraq

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At least 71 prisoners were killed Monday when militants attacked a bus convoy transferring them to another jail in Iraq’s Babil province, a police source said.

The gunmen attacked a convoy of buses carrying dozens of inmates from a prison which were escorted by the army unit of al-Aqrab Brigade in the provincial capital of Hilla, some 100 km south of Baghdad, to the one in the town of al-Qasim, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Five gunmen were also killed in the gun battle and five guards wounded.

Entire team can undergo drug tests: Costa Rica coach

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Costa Rica coach Jorge Luis Pinto said all his players and himself can undergo drug tests referring to the seven who were ordered by FIFA to take tests following their 1-0 win over Italy in the World Cup.

FIFA tweeted that the tests were just a “routine procedure”, reports EFE.

“Clarification on drug test to Costa Rica: Two players tested as part of the normal procedure after game. Five other players from Costa Rica conducted routine monitoring of pre-competition doping,” FIFA said.

Youth killed in Kashmir clash

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A youth was killed while two others were injured Monday when a stone-pelting mob clashed with security forces in Sopore town of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

Witnesses said security forces fired at the mob, killing Arshad Ahmad, a resident of Naseem Bagh area in the town in Baramulla district.

Police, however, said they were still confirming about the firing incident.

The two injured people were taken to Srinagar for specialised treatment.

Swara Bhaskar draws crowds in Agra

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Actress Swara Bhaskar, who is busy shooting for “Nil Battey Sannaata” here, drew a crowd that recognised her as Bindiya of “Raanjhanaa”.

Talking about the experience, Swara said in a statement: “Indeed, we have been repeatedly mobbed while shooting outdoors for the past few days. Agra crowds seem to be genuine cinema lovers as they are bearing the heat and police and the yelling of the crew to watch the shoot and take pictures.”

Saradha scam: CBI custody of Sen, Kunal Ghosh extended

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A court Monday extended the CBI custody of three Saradha chit fund scam accused, including kingpin Sudipta Sen and suspended Trinamool Congress MP Kunal Ghosh, to June 26, while three others were remanded in 14 days’ judicial custody, a counsel said.

Saradha promoter Sen, and Ghosh, who headed the group’s media arm, and company employees Debjani Mukherjee, Manoj Nagel, Somnath Dutta and Arvind Singh Chauhan were presented before the court on the expiry of the seven days’ CBI custody granted by the court June 16.

How brain maintains activity balance

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Ever wondered how we constantly adjust and adapt our social behaviour in response to external stimuli? A mechanism in the brain automatically does that for us.

Maladjustment of this mechanism, called the E/I ratio, may result in inappropriate behaviour, finds the study.

“If this E/I balance is broken, it completely alters your perception of the world,” said study co-author Massimo Scanziani, a professor of neurosciences at Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Hinduism is not just a faith, says Pranab

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Hinduism is not just a faith, President Pranab Mukherjee said Monday, as he received a copy of the “Encyclopaedia of Hinduism” at an inter-religious gathering.

Speaking on the occasion, Mukherjee complimented Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji of the Parmarth Niketan for undertaking the “massive effort” of bringing out the encyclopaedia.

Swami Saraswatiji is the founder chairman of India Heritage Research Foundation,

Costa Rica looking to surprise England

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Costa Rica will look to resume writing history and surprising theoretically bigger teams when they meet England at the Estadio Minerao in the FIFA World Cup here Tuesday.

‘Ticos’, who defeated former champions Uruguay 3-1 and Italy 1-0, have guaranteed qualification to the Round of 16 for the second time in history, after Italy 1990. They only need a draw in order to top Group B regardless of the result in the other match between Italy and Uruguay, reports EFE.

New insights in cellular pump dynamics

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Scientists have discovered how a family of proteins regulates an important cellular cycle where a cell’s generated energy is converted to necessary functions, a finding with potential to lead to significant breakthroughs in treatment of Parkinson’s, chronic liver and heart diseases.

The proteins called cation diffusion facilitators (CDFs) are a major protein family type found in all living beings.

Colombia’s Falcao waiting for Real Madrid offer

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Colombian striker Radamel Falcao has turned down a host of offers from the English Premier League as he is waiting for an offer to realise his dream of playing for Spanish club Real Madrid.

Falcao wants to play for Real Madrid, a club that is in search of a young striker to replace Alvaro Morata, according to AS newspaper, reports EFE.

The 28-year-old, who is under contract with AS Monaco until 2018, told his agent that playing for ‘Los Merengues’ is his dream and knows that Real Madrid want a striker besides Karim Benzema.

Five Indians held in Bangladesh for gold smuggling

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Five Indians were detained for smuggling 36 gold bars weighing around 4.4 kg in a bus in Bangladesh, media reported Monday.

Bijoy Chandra, Ruhith Ashok, Komal Otharar, Raj Kumar of Nagpur, and Rakesh of Ahmedabad were arrested by the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) during a search in Bangladesh’s state-run bus in Jessore district in south-western Bangladesh bordering India Sunday. They were found to have hidden 36 gold bars inside their rectum, The Daily Star reported.

Advanced CT scanners to reduce radiation exposure

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The growing use of CT scans could be placing patients at a higher lifetime risk of cancer from radiation exposure, but advanced CT scanning equipment has reduced the danger significantly, says a new study.

Computed tomography (CT) scans are an accepted standard of care for diagnosing heart and lung conditions.

Sensex in red for fourth straight session

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A benchmark index of the Indian stock markets closed Monday’s trade 74 points or 0.30 percent down on selling pressure in fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and information technology (IT) scrips.

This is the fourth straight session of fall for the markets which closed 96.29 points or 0.38 percent down at 25,105.51 points Friday.

The 30-scrip S&P Sensex (sensitive index) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 25,108.09 points, closed the trade at 25,031.32 points, down 74.19 points or 0.30 percent from its previous day’s close at 25,105.51 points.

Gogoi clarifies stand on visa-free entry for Bangladeshis

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Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi Monday said he has not compromised with ‘national security’ by divulging the BJP-led union government’s proposal to grant visa-free entry to Bangladeshi nationals under the age of 18 and over 65 years.

Gogoi said the Assam government strongly opposed the proposal on the ground that illegal migration from Bangladesh was a very sensitive issue for Assam and the other northeastern states.

He said the visa-free entry would have repercussions in terms of negative public reaction.

Higgs boson may decay directly into fermions

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For the first time, scientists from the CMS experiment on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN have succeeded in finding evidence for the direct decay of the Higgs boson elementary particle into fermions.

Previously, the Higgs particle could only be detected through its decay into bosons.

“This is a major step forward,” said professor Vincenzo Chiochia from University of Zurich whose group was involved in analysing the data.

Iniesta hours away from 100th cap

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Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta is hours away from entering his nation’s Club of 100 if coach Vicente del Bosque decides to field him against Australia at the Arena da Baixada here Monday.

Despite del Bosque’s decision to field players who have not played in Brazil, Iniesta’s can earn his 100th cap even if he plays for a few minutes in their final Group B clash, reports Xinhua.

The match is inconsequential as both teams cannot qualify for the Round of 16.