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.

Police save robber from hanging self in custody

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A man who was arrested in a robbery case, tried to hang himself in police custody but was saved by policemen, police said Saturday.

Salmaan, in his 30s, tried to hang himself from the iron grill of the police lockup at Hazrat Nizamuddin police station in south Delhi Friday morning.

“He was taken to a nearby hospital from where he was discharged after being given first aid. A case of attempt to commit suicide has been registered against him,” said a police officer.
(IANS)

Nurse says police asked her to settle issue with molestation accused

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A nurse who filed a molestation complaint against four senior officials of the Jammu and Kashmir health department Saturday alleged that police asked her to enter into a compromise with the accused.

The nurse had filed a police complaint in Shaheedgunj police station here Friday alleging that four health department officials – director of health services (Kashmir), chief medical officer (Anantnag), block medical officer (Anantnag) and medical superintendent (Saleer-Anantnag) molested her after calling her to their offices in connection with some official work.

Kejriwal for AAP restructuring, rejects Yadav’s resignation

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A day after a deep divide between AAP’s top leaders came to the fore, its chief Arvind Kejriwal Saturday admitted it needed “restructuring” and said the “differences” had been resolved.

The party, on the second day of its national executive meet here, rejected the resignation of Naveen Jaihind and Yogendra Yadav who written a letter saying it has “fallen prey to the personality cult”.

The resignation of Shazia Ilmi, who quit the party last month over it being run by a “crony clique”, was also not accepted.

PM to visit INS Vikramaditya

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit the newly-acquired INS Vikramaditya aircraft carrier next week, sources said Saturday.

They said the prime minister expressed a desire to visit the ship and the Indian Navy is making arrangements for this.

Modi is expected to be on the carrier off the western coast for a few hours, though the details are yet to be worked out, the sources said.

The INS Vikramaditya is the most powerful symbol of India’s military reach and has the capability to undertake strike missions in any part of the world.
(IANS)

11 killed as train hits car in Bihar

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At least eight people were killed and four seriously injured Saturday night when a goods train hit their car in Bihar’s West Champaran district, police said.

The accident took place at the Rajghat railway crossing near Bettiah, about 200 km from Patna, when the car carrying people from a wedding including the groom, was hit by the goods train.

“Four people were killed on the spot and four succumbed to their injuries at a hospital,” a district police official said.

The four injured, including the groom, are battling for their lives.

Charges framed against Jundal in arms factory case

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A court here Saturday framed charges against top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Abu Jundal, one of the masterminds of the Mumbai terror attack, and others for allegedly setting up an illegal arms factory.

According to sources, during the in-camera hearing, Additional Sessions Judge Daya Prakash framed charges against the accused under various provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Indian Penal Code.

The accused pleaded not guilty. The witnesses will be examined from Aug 4.

Police earlier filed a chargesheet against 16 accused.

Discuss Tibet with Chinese minister: Tibetan group to Modi

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A Tibetan organisation has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to discuss the Tibet issue during his meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

The Tibetan Women’s Association (TWA) said it would like to contest a recent statement made by Chinese foreign ministry Spokesman Hong Lei that “The door for contact is open but I want to stress that we only talk with the personal envoy of the Dalai (Lama) and we will only talk about the future of the Dalai not anything about Tibet”.

Syria slams EU over presidential elections’ remarks

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Syria’s foreign ministry Saturday slammed as “flagrant violation of the international law” the European Union’s statement terming its presidential elections “illegitimate”.

“The Syrian government is astonished by the EU’s statement on the Syrian presidential elections, considering it a flagrant violation to the international law,” Xinhua cited the ministry as saying in a statement.

66 IAS officers transferred in UP

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Sixty-six Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers were transferred late Saturday in Uttar Pradesh, in a major shake up of the state bureaucracy, a state government spokesman said.

The rejig included the transfer of five principal secretaries and several district magistrates. Secretary (Home) Amrit Abhijat was moved out and given the charge of tourism as its director general.

Sanjiv Saran was divested of his charge as Lucknow commissioner and director general tourism but retains the charge of principal secretary infrastructure and industrial development commissioner.

Iraqi forces retake control of Anbar varsity, 9 militants killed

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Iraqi security forces Saturday recaptured the Anbar University campus in Iraq’s western province of Anbar in a fierce clash that killed at least nine militants, a provincial police source said.

Earlier in the day, dozens of gunmen stormed campus of Anbar University, located in the western edge of the provincial capital city of Ramadi with hundreds of students and teachers left trapped in the school buildings, Xinhua quoted the source as saying.

Man held for posting lover’s video online

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A man has been arrested in West Bengal’s Darjeeling town for having sex with a girl on the false promise of marriage, shooting a video during the act and posting it on the internet when she refused to succumb to his blackmail, police said Saturday.

Nikhil Zimba, a resident of Bhutiabasti area, befriended a woman student of North Bengal University on Facebook and the two became close with time.

Zimba took her to a park in Darjeeling in December and the two had sex after he promised to marry her.

Trials of ‘Yudh’ to be watched by Big B

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Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who is set to debut on a fiction TV show with “Yudh”, seemed excited yet nervous about watching a “trial” of the show here Saturday.

“The hour arriveth…the labor and effort, of days to be seen today. The episodes of ‘YUDH’! Scream your exuberance!!! No the ‘YUDH’ serial is not starting today, we the team are seeing the trial for the first time today. It shall air in July,” he posted on his Twitter page.

Xavi to decide future after World Cup

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Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez will wait until after 2014 World Cup to decide whether to move to Qatar, where he received an attractive offer, or stay at the Catalan club.

The 34-year-old’s future is depending on a meeting with the new appointed coach Luis Enrique, according to Radio Catalunya, reports EFE.

Enrique, who replaced Gerardo Martino, said in May that he knows Xavi quite well as a friend and a teammate and they will talk to settle things up. The meeting never happened as the player went on vacation followed by preparing for the World Cup.

‘No substance in Aam Aadmi Party contention on gas prices’

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As the stage appeared set for a review of natural gas prices, Reliance Industries has denied receipt of any letter from the Narendra Modi government assuring a hike in prices of this hydrocarbon as charged by the Aam Admi Party (AAP).

Even oil ministry officials also said no letter of assurance was issued by it since the new government took charge last month, reacting to the AAP’s letter demanding that the new government makes public “its letter to the Reliance Industries” on gas prices.

Singer, actors play friendly cricket match

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A string of actors and singers congregated on a common pitch here to play a friendly T20 cricket match as a pre-release buzz for forthcoming film “Desi Kattey”.

The match was played Friday night.

In the actors’ team, led by “Desi Kattey” director Anand Kumar, were names like Suniel Shetty, Jay Bhanushali and Akhil Kapur, while in the singers’ team, led by Kailash Kher, were Shaan, Meiyang Chang, Papon, Paresh and Naresh Kamath and Ravi Tripathi.

The cheering squad of guests included Sasha Agha, Sachin Gupta, Atul Pandey and Akriti Kakkar.

Cannes Lions Festival 2014: Indian brand Sarita Handa to showcase

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Indian luxury lifestyle brand Sarita Handa has been invited to be part of Cannes Lions Festival 2014, starting June 15 in France.

The 61st edition of the fest, which is a global event for those working in the creative communications, advertising and related fields, will be held till June 21. This year, the event has introduced a category of Product Design into its awards programme with an attempt to highlight how important the design of products themselves is to building a brand and promoting it.

Make Father’s Day special with personalised gifts

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Be it a pen, laptop skin, pen drive or wallet – stamp a gift with a personal message or photograph on the occasion of Father’s Day which falls June 15 this year.

Printvenue.com, an online printing portal, is offering a range of products and gifting options that you can customise with a heartfelt message or your favourite photograph of the wonderful times he and you have had together.

Unbecoming of Sumariwala to run down Indian coaches

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Adille Sumariwalla has the gift of the gab and the knack of manipulating the media. The Athletic Federation of India’s president ran faster than he did his 100m dash in his heyday by running down Indian coaches, saying they are just not good enough to produce international athletes.

During the ongoing inter-state athletic meet in Lucknow, he inexplicably chose to berate the coaches, adding that they are capable of training only school and college-level athletes. While delivering his sermon he made sure the handful of media persons got him right, saying that he would give it in writing!

I’m going further back in time with each film: Ashutosh Gowariker

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After bringing films like “Lagaan” and “Jodhaa Akbar”, with a touch of history, to Indian screens, filmmaker Ashutosh Gowariker is ready to roll the cameras for “Mohenjo Daro”, set in the Indus Valley civilisation. He says he’s loving the challenge of going “further back in time” with each project.

In an interview, he speaks about the film, his research for it and about working with its lead actor Hrithik Roshan.

Excerpts:

Q. Why did you decide to make a film on the Mohenjo Daro era?

Two Yemeni soldiers killed in militant attack

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At least two soldiers were killed Saturday when unidentified gunmen attacked a security checkpoint in Yemen, an official said.

Suspected Al Qaeda militants shot at troops manning the checkpoint near an armoured army brigade in Hadramout province,the official told Xinhua.

Meanwhile, authorities managed to defuse an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted near the main gate of the Special Security Forces headquarters in Hadramout’s town of Seiyun.
(IANS)

Will India have its own world media on Modi’s watch?

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Outside SAARC, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang was the first world leader to call Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This was followed up by Beijing sending Foreign Minister Wang Yi to New Delhi on Sunday.

South Block grasped the signals. But when I opened the newspapers, I could have sworn that a chill was about to descend between the two countries.

Three policemen injured in two guerrilla attacks in Kashmir

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At least four people, including three policemen, were injured in two guerrilla attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, police said Saturday.

Two policemen and a civilian were injured when militants attacked a passing police vehicle in Bongam locality of Shopian town Saturday afternoon, a senior police officer told IANS here.

The injured were taken to a hospital, while the area was surrounded and a search is on to nab the militants, the officer said.

Defamation notices against Goa NCP vice president

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NCP’s Goa vice president Trajano D’Mello has been slapped with two defamation notices by law firms representing event promotion companies which organised electronic dance music (EDM) festivals in the state last year.

D’Mello has now claimed the notices were a ploy by tourism minister Dilip Parulekar to silence criticism about his ministry.

“The defamation suits will not silence me, if these are a ploy to stop me from speaking about the goings on in the tourism ministry and against the BJP-led Goa government,” D’Mello said.

Amaan, Ayaan collaborate with San Francisco-based vocalist

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Sarod maestros Amaan Ali Khan and Ayaan Ali Khan have collaborated with a San Francisco-based vocalist Devika Chawla to create a new-age single titled “Holle Holle”.

“Holle Holle” brings together Devika’s voice and Amaan and Ayaan’s sarod performance.

The track started taking shape when the duo met Devika in San Francisco. Inspired by the surroundings and the vibrant city with its beautiful beaches and sights, the trio created an interplay of vocals and sarod, culminating in the final recording in San Francisco, said a statement.

JKP Education Trust president conferred doctorate

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Vishakha Tripathi, president of Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat, has been conferred an honorary D.Litt by The Open International University for Complementary Medicines of Colombo at its 52nd International Congress here Saturday.

The university, in association with the Medicina Alternativa, was formed in 1962 by the late Sir Anton Jayasuriya, hailed as the guru of alternative medicine the world over.