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.

Five killed in blast in rebel-held Ukraine building

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At least five people were killed in a blast Monday in the rebel-held local administration building in Ukraine’s eastern city of Lugansk, officials said.

“Five people were killed. Many people among civilians were wounded,” Xinhua cited Konstantin Knyrin, head of the information centre, as telling Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

A fighter jet attack was possibly behind the explosion, sources said.

The sources claimed Ukrainian fighter jets were seen flying over the building prior to the blast.

Akhilesh orders women’s helpline to be set up in all districts

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Rattled by the national outcry after the rape and killing of two minors in Uttar Pradesh’s Budaun, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav Monday ordered the setting up of women helplines in all 75 districts of the state.

A statement issued by the chief minister’s office said senior superintendents of police/superintendents of police will be monitoring the helpline.

Women facing harassment or any other form of violence can use the helpline and a probe would be conducted by the women’s cell of police, it said. All such probes will also be monitored by district police chiefs, an official said.

Dilip Kumar’s biography launch: Lata to sing, KJo to host

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It will be one momentous night. Nightingale of India Lata Mangeshkar will sing, filmmaker Karan Johar will host and stars like Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan will launch Bollywood thespian Dilip Kumar’s long-awaited biography here June 9.

The biography, “Substance And The Shadow”, will be launched at a hotel here, with the who’s who of the film industry coming together and being actively involved in the event.

Reality is we have no points: Walsh

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India’s chief hockey coach Terry Walsh was left dejected after the team again conceded a late goal to go down 1-2 to England for their second consecutive defeat in the FIH Hockey World Cup here Monday.

Though India were the better of the two teams, he said the reality was they are yet to open the account.

“I thought both sets of guys played well. The reality is we have no points from two matches despite playing some really good hockey,” said Walsh.

India had also lost their opening encounter to Belgium 2-3 in the last minute.

Russia to submit draft resolution to UN on Ukraine

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Russia said Monday it will submit a draft resolution on Ukraine to the UN Security Council (UNSC) proposing talks to end the violence and create humanitarian corridors in the country.

“The draft resolution will demand violence be stopped immediately and talks started to cease fire,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters.

It will also propose the creation of humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to leave conflict-ridden areas if they want to, Xinhua cited Lavrov as saying.

Severe weather kills 14 in Sri Lanka

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Heavy rains followed by floods and landslides claimed 14 lives in Sri Lanka Monday, the country’s disaster management centre said.

Most of those who were killed were from the southern township of Kalutara where heavy flooding was reported after overnight rain, Xinhua reported.

The Sri Lankan Navy said it has deployed boats to assist the people affected by floods in Kalutara and the surrounding areas.

A navy official said that naval personnel were engaged in evacuation of people from trapped homes and buildings, ferrying people to safe places.

Eat balanced diet to prevent hearing loss

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Every time you hit the dance floor to the sound of loud music, you may risk losing your capacity to hear. But those with a substandard diet could be more vulnerable.

“People with healthy diets who eat adequate fruit and vegetables, have better hearing thresholds than people with a poor diet, according to large population databases,” Colleen Le Prell, professor at Florida University, was quoted as saying.

Believe it! Men may lactate too

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Men may not be naturally wired to breast feed their babies but in certain circumstances, they may secrete milk too.

Although male lactation seems to be common only in dayak fruit bats, it is observed in a few domesticated animals, including cats, goats and guinea pigs, on rare occasions and in some cases even in humans.

Special centres for rape victims, says Maneka

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The government would set up special centres for rape victims in each district of the country to give them protection, medical treatment and legal help, Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi announced Monday.

The project which will approximately cost Rs.500 crore would be set up by the end of this year, Gandhi said during a media briefing here.

The centres will provide medical and legal help to rape victims as well as police and ambulance services, she said.

Sajid Khan to host on TV again

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Anchor, actor and director Sajid Khan, who has hosted a string of shows and events throughout his career, is set to return to TV as a host on the small screen.

The director, who is ready with his next film “Humshakals”, will be doing a special show “Humshakal Hasee Housefull”, to be aired on STAR Plus, said a source.

The show will have the stars of his movie – Saif Ali Khan, Riteish Deshmukh, Ram Kapoor, Esha Gupta and Tamannaah.

Pan-Am discrimination: Court asks centre to look into case

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The Punjab and Haryana High Court Monday asked the central government to take up the issue of discrimination by the US government against Indian victims of 1986 Pan-Am flight 73 hijack case.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, while disposing of a public interest litigation petition filed by the brother of bravery award winner flight purser Neerja Bhanot, said that it was “for the government of India to take up the issue keeping in mind the representation made by the petitioner dated Jan 6, 2014, and the material placed on record before us”.

Car bomb explosion in Syria, casualties feared

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A booby-trapped car blew up in Syria’s central province of Homs Monday, leaving an indeterminate number of victims, media reported.

The car exploded in the town of Haraqi in eastern Homs, Xinhua reported citing the official SANA news agency and activists, adding that many people were killed and wounded.

The explosion has also left huge property losses, according to SANA.

Meanwhile, activists of local coordination committees said rebel fighters downed a Syrian war jet near the military base of Shuairat in the countryside of Homs, capturing the pilot alive.

Favreau wrote ‘Chef’ roles with Vergara, Johansson in mind

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Getting an ideal cast is every director’s wish and Jon Favreau fulfilled his by roping in Sofia Vergara and Scarlett Johansson for “Chef”.

He says he wrote the respective parts for Vergara and Johansson, respectively.

The filmmaker, who himself stars as chef Carl Casper in “Chef”, believes the actresses’ presence make him look like a good chef, who not just makes great food, but attracts gorgeous women too.

Jordana Spiro expecting first child?

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Actress Jordana Spiro is reportedly pregnant with her first child.

According to a source, the 37-year-old, who plays Detective Jenna Villette in US TV show “The Good Wife” aired on channel CBS, is expecting her first baby with husband Matthew Spitzer, reports contactmusic.com.

No other details about the pregnancy have been released.

The actress will spend summer in Utah shooting and directing her new movie “Night Comes On”, which is also written by her.
(IANS)

Four killed in Iraq car bomb explosions

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At least four people were killed and 41 injured Monday in three separate incidents of car bombings in Iraq, police said.

A car bomb detonated at a popular market in the city of Najaf, some 160 km south of Baghdad, left at least two people dead and 20 injured, a local police source told Xinhua.

In another incident, two people were killed and nine injured when a booby-trapped car went off at a marketplace in the town of Iskandriyah, some 50 km south of Baghdad, a police official said.

UP police chief issued notice over another rape

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The National Commission for Women (NCW) Monday took suo moto cognizance of the rape and killing of a 22-year-old woman in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly district and served a notice to Director General of Police A.L. Banerjee.

The woman’s body was recovered from a field in Aenthapur village Saturday. Her face was burnt with acid and she was found naked in the field.

No personal belongings, other than a half-burnt hair clip, a handkerchief, a pair of scissors and a small piece of her kurta was recovered from the crime scene. The woman had a plastic rope tied around her neck.

May automobile sales a mixed bag

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Dented by high fuel and interest costs in a slower economy, automobile manufacturers reported mixed sales for last month.

Sales of India’s largest passenger car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki reported an increase of 19.2 percent in its total sales, including exports, for May at 100,925 units.

The company sold 84,677 units in the corresponding month of 2013.

The company’s domestic sales surged by 16.4 percent to 90,560 units during the month under review as compared to 77,821 units sold in the corresponding month of last year.

Why has Akhilesh not visited rape victims’ families, asks Paswan

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Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan Monday met the families of the two girls who were gang-raped and killed in a village here, and lashed out at the Akhilesh Yadav government for not doing enough in the aftermath of the crime.

Accompanied by his son and Lok Sabha member Chirag Paswan, the Lok Janshakti Party chief said the families in Katra Sadatganj village were living in constant fear and accused the Samajwadi Party government of conniving with criminals.

Kerala issues handbook on migrating to free software platforms

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The Kerala government Monday released a handbook to help its various departments and institutions migrate to free and open source software (FOSS) based operating systems.

Last month, the state government had issued an order stipulating that computers in all government and quasi-government institutions migrate their desktop PCs to FOSS-based platforms, unless there were unavoidable reasons to defer the migration. The decision has been taken in view of the withdrawal of support to Windows XP by Microsoft.

Google offers to 3D map Goa

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Goa may soon be one of the first states in India to have a 3D digitized mapped presence online if the state government accepts Google’s proposal, the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry said Monday.

R.S. Kamat, director general of the state’s top trade body, said in a statement that at a meeting with Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar Monday, Google India’s managing director Rajan Anandan also proposed to sponsor 1,000 start-up business in the state.

Iran providing greater transparency over n-programme: IAEA

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Iran is cooperating with the UN nuclear watchdog “substantively” in clarifying its disputed nuclear programme, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) told its board members here Monday.

A report presented by IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano to the board of governors’ meeting said Iran was providing greater transparency to the agency, including clarification of elements related to the so-called possible military dimensions (PMDs) in Iran’s nuclear plan, Xinhua reported.

Family comes first for Nicole Kidman

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Actress Nicole Kidman says that her family comes first and that she “wouldn’t even bat an eyelid,” to give up her career for them.

Kidman, who played Princess Grace Kelly in “Grace Of Monaco”, said this when she was asked if she would give up her career for her family, similar to what her character did in the film.

“If it were the choice between my family and Keith, and my career, I wouldn’t even bat an eyelid. The most important things to me are the love of our relationship and my children,” contactmusic.com quoted Kidman as saying.

A play that delves into relationship of minority groups

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A gay couple discovers the life of an old Anglo-Indian couple through their left over belongings, and develops their own love story during this intimate journey. A play in the capital raises questions about love and its limitations for these couples who form a small part of India’s population.

In this 90-minute play, “The Pad”, Pulkit, a banker uses a house for his random hook-ups, and it is where he meets Sahil, a researcher in history of interior design, who is intrigued by the belongings left behind by its previous occupants — an Anglo-Indian couple — Jennifer and Fabian.

Jiah Khan’s death: Memorial service in London

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A year after Bollywood actress Jiah Khan was found dead and hanging at her Mumbai residence, a memorial service will be held here Tuesday, with her mother, family and friends in attendance.

“A memorial service will be held in Jiah’s memory at the Chelsea Town Hall attended by Jiah’s friends and family, including her mother Rabiyya Amin, who has campaigned tirelessly over the past 12 months to unearth the truth behind Jiah’s death,” read a mailer.

The service for the actress, who grew up in Chelsea, will be held Tuesday evening.

Dubai to host Miss India Worldwide 2014

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Miss India Worldwide 2014, which will see over 40 winning contestants of Indian origin from 40 countries across the globe, will be held June 20 in Dubai.

“More than 40 contestants of Indian origin settled in various countries across the globe between the age of 17 years and 27 years, unmarried and citizens, residents, or born in the country they represent, will participate in the Miss India Worldwide pageant,” Anuj Saxena, national director, Miss India Worldwide and CEO of Maverick Productions, said in a statement.