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.

Telangana to follow Tamil Nadu model for reservations

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Telangana will follow the Tamil Nadu model to provide reservations to weaker sections of the society, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhara Rao said Friday.

Speaking in the state assembly, he tried to allay apprehensions of the opposition parties over the implementation of Telangana Rashtra Samithi’s election promises to provide 12 percent reservations each to Muslims and scheduled tribes.

He said: “Since the weaker sections constitute 85 percent of Telangana’s population, there was a need to make a provision for adequate reservations to them”.

Phillipp Lahm, a good reader of the game

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Philipp Lahm might not be the tallest man; he looks like the well-educated boy next door you would trust to water your plants while you are on vacation.

It is seldom said he has an overflowing charisma, but on the pitch the 30-year-old from Bayern Munich is a threat. For the Brazil World Cup he is Germany’s most dangerous weapon and coach Joachim Loew’s key player.
The man can read the game like no other and stands for Germany’s hopes in their opening game Monday against their strongest group opponents, Portugal.

Chile eager to achieve something: Sampaoli

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Chile’s boss Jorge Sampaoli said that his team cannot wait to face Australia in their 2014 FIFA World Cup opener here Friday evening.

The Argentine coach said that his team is yearning to begin their campaign in Brazil and he is proud of his committed players, reports EFE.

Sampaoli added that Chile will not change their philosophy and playing style which depends on the acquisition of the ball.

Shakira to celebrate fourth anniversary with Pique

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Colombian pop star Shakira and Spanish football player Pique will be celebrating the fourth anniversary of their relationship in Brazil during the 2014 World Cup.

Shakira, who is 10 years older than Pique, still cannot believe that four years have passed by since filming the ‘Waka Waka’, the official theme song of the 2010 World Cup, reports EFE.

Pique proposed Shakira during the shooting of the ‘Waka Waka’ and the pair had a son Milan born last year.

Chhattisgarh gets NHRC notice on Bhilai gas leak

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The NHRC Friday issued notice to the Chhattisgarh government seeking a report within two weeks on the Bhilai Steel Plant gas leak which killed six people.

Taking suo motu cognizance of media reports, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued the notice to the chief secretary of Chhattisgarh government.

“The commission has observed that the contents of the press report, if true, raises a serious issue of violation of right to life and health of the victims. We have called for a report within two weeks,” a statement by the NHRC said.

Roll out new national health policy, FICCI asks government

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Industry body FICCI Friday asked the government to roll out a new national health policy for ensuring universal health coverage.

A high-level Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) delegation, led by its president Sidharth Birla, met Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and recommended a blended approach towards universal health coverage (UHC).

Shiite cleric urges Iraqis to take up arms

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An influential Shiite cleric Friday called on Iraqis to take up arms against insurgent groups that have taken control of large parts of the country, his representative said.

“The situation in Iraq is very serious and entails those who are able to volunteer to take up arms to defense their homeland,” Sheikh Abdul Mehdi al-Karbalai read from a fatwa issued by the Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

Thapar leaves field cold in Maharashtra rally

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Veteran Samir Thapar (co-driver Gurinder Mann) put in a splendid performance in his Mitsubishi Evo X to top the time charts in the Overall and IRC class as the Mahindra Adventure Rally of Maharashtra, the first round of the FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship commenced here Friday.

Thapar of Team JCT Rallying, clocked one minute, 36 seconds in winning the Spectator Special Stage that was run over a course of 2.03 Kms at the Dadasaheb Phalke Smarak.

Over 2 lakh apply for 54,000 DU seats

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Delhi University has received 226,483 applications for its 54,000 undergraduate seats up till Friday, the 11th day of admissions.

With online applications preferred over offline, 123,806 aspirants have purchased and made payments on the DU portal while the university has received 102,677 offline application forms from 18 centres across Delhi.

The admission process began June 2 and will end June 16.

The first cut-off list will be released June 24.

For bachelor in management studies (BMS), 16,084 online payments have already been paid for 840 seats.

Crash ruins Chandhok’s qualifying session at Le Mans

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Karun Chandhok, driving the Oreca 03R Nissan of Team Murphy Prototypes, walked unscathed from a high-speed crash during the qualifying session of the Le Mans 24 Hours race, here Friday.

At the time of the crash that occurred at the Indianapolis corner, Chandhok looked certain to put his team third on the grid for the race that will commence Saturday, but will now start sixth. The Chennai-based driver will be joined by Rodolfo Gonzalez and Nathanel Berthon to share the V8-powered Nissan.

Seven feared drowned in UP boat capsize

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Seven people are feared to have drowned in the Ganga in Ghazipur Friday as the boat they were travelling in capsized, police said.

While some people were rescued, seven did not make it and attempts are being made by divers to search for them.

People from Taranpur village were going for a ritual related to a marriage. The newly weds were also in the boat when the incident took place.

Bride Chandni and the groom Deepak have also drowned in the incident, police said. Divers from the provincial armed constabulary (PAC) have been pressed into service.
(IANS)

Heat wave intensifies in Odisha

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The heat wave across Odisha intensified Friday, with two towns recording maximum temperature of 45 degrees Celsius, an official said.

The two towns were Sonepur and Titilagarh in Bolangir district, an official of the Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre told IANS.

Other places, which recorded high temperatures were Hirakud and Sambalpur towns (44.4 degrees Celsius each) the industrial town of Talcher (44), Gopalpur (43.3), Jharsuguda (43.1) and Bolangir (43), the official said.

State capital Bhubaneswar recorded 42.6 degrees Celsius, he added.

Ukraine offers compromise in gas price with Russia

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Ukraine is ready to compromise to resolve its natural gas supply dispute with Russia, Naftogaz Andrey Kobolev, head of the state-run energy company, said here Friday.

“The Ukrainian side is ready to continue talks between Naftogaz and (Russian gas supplier) Gazprom in a constructive way,” Kobolev told a press conference.

In a bid to resolve the dispute, Ukraine was willing to pay a “compromise temporary price” of $326 per 1,000 cubic meters for Russian gas deliveries for the next 18 months, Kobolev said, Xinhua reported.

Indian challenge ends in Korea Open

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The India challenge at the $300,000 ITTF World Tour Korea Open Super Series Table Tennis Championships came to and end after Anthony Amalraj went down to Tristan Flore of France to make a first round exit in Incheon, South Korea, Friday.

Make power restoration plan public: AAP

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The Aam Aadmi Party Friday demanded that the Delhi government’s electricity restoration plan be made public.

“The union power ministry and the Delhi administration should immediately make public their emergency electricity restoration plan to ensure there would be no long power cuts in the national capital,” a statement said here.

Badal meets Modi, demands probe into 1984 riot

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Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal Friday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi here and demanded early resolution of a variety of issues, including terrorism, and a probe into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Badal submitted a detailed resolution for containing terrorism, said an official statement issued by Punjab Bhavan here.

He demanded a special enquiry commission under a Supreme Court judge to probe official and political patronage behind the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the statement said.

Thailand lifts nationwide night curfew

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Thailand’s military junta Friday lifted a nationwide night curfew.

Since there were no signs of violence in areas where the midnight to 4 a.m. curfew was imposed, the National Council for Peace and Order(NCPO) decided to lift this to ease the daily life of the people and tourism, Xinhua reported citing the NCPO announcement.

The announcement was issued following NCPO chief Prayuth Chan-ocha’s weekly televised address.

The military decided to lift the curfew following complaints from entrepreneurs about the harm the curfew was causing the tourism industry.

LTC scam: CBI books six incumbent, former MPs

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The CBI Friday registered six cases against three current and three former Rajya Sabha members in what has come to be termed as the leave travel concession (LTC) scam, an official said.

“The three sitting MPs are Lalhming Liana of Mizo National Front (MNF), D. Bandyopadhyay of Trinamool Congress, and Brajesh Pathak of Bahujan Samaj Party,” the CBI official said.

“The former MPs named in the case are Bharatiya Janata Party’s J.P.N. Singh, Rashtriya Lok Dal’s Mahmood A. Madani, and Biju Janata Dal’s Renubala Pradhan,” the official added.

Schemes soon to revive Benarasi sari, carpet industries

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The NDA government is preparing a roadmap to restart many small and cottage industries in Varanasi and its neighbourhood that are shut, union MSME Minister Kalraj Mishra said Friday.

Addressing a press conference in Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency, the micro, small and medium entreprises minister said a meeting for this has been called June 26.

Punjab parliamentarian robbed in Delhi

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A member of parliament from Punjab was robbed Friday in a train when he was about to reach Delhi, police said, adding the accused has been arrested.

The incident happened on the Ajmer-Haridwar Express when Vijay Sampla, the MP from Hoshiarpur was coming to Delhi.

As the train slowed down at the New Delhi railway station’s platform, a man later identified as Ranbeer snatched Sampla’s bag carrying documents, including I-card, jumped off the train and ran away.

Police said Ranbeer was arrested soon after the MP informed them. All the documents were recovered.
(IANS)

Four killed, 10 hurt in Kolkata LPG explosion

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Four people were killed and at least 10 others injured Friday after an LPG cylinder exploded at a house in the city’s Park Circus area, police said.

“Four people have been killed while 10 others sustained severe burn injuries in the incident,” a police officer said.

Eight fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames which erupted after the explosion.
(IANS)

Civil society urges government to streamline child labour laws

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Child rights advocacy group CRY Friday urged the government to streamline laws related to child labour and lay down a standard age limit for being classified as a child.

“While the social legislations define a child to be 18 years, most labour legislations define it as 14. There is a clear contradiction in the way we see our children, ready to compromise when they can be a source of cheap labour,” a statement from CRY (Child Rights and You) said.

Goa sports minister cancels Brazil junket

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Goa Sports Minister Ramesh Tawadkar Friday snubbed Arjuna award winner and former Indian football captain Bruno Coutinho, even as an “embarrassed” Goa government formally cancelled the much-criticised Rs.89 lakh Brazil World Cup junket for six ruling party legislators.

In a press conference at the state secretariat, Tawadkar slighted Coutinho claiming he was only an “employee” of the sports mininstry and his word did not carry much weight.

Delhi’s civic bodies review monsoon preparedness

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With the monsoon expected to arrive here by the end of this month, mayors of three municipal corporations in Delhi Friday reviwed the city’s preparedness for the rains.

“North Delhi has constituted six teams of officials comprising from north corporation, public works department, delhi jal board and irrigation and flood control department so that citizens do not face any inconvenience during the upcoming monsoon season,” said Yogendra Chandolia, mayor of North Delhi Municipal Corporation.

With new government, hiring is stabilising: Report

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E-recruitment firm Naukri.com Thursday said it expects the hiring sentiment to grow in the coming months due to confidence returning in the economy as a new and stable government has taken charge at the centre.

“Hiring activity is seeing a period of stability. Since the elections are now over and we have a stable government at the centre, we expect companies to start recruiting in the coming months,” said Hitesh Oberoi, managing director and chief executive, Info Edge, the company which owns Naukri brand.