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.

Nagaland orders judicial probe into Dimapur lynching

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The Nagaland government Friday ordered a judicial probe into Thursday’s incident where a mob broke into the high-security central jail here and lynched a rape accused.

The government also suspended the deputy commissioner and superintendent of police of Dimapur district for their failure to tackle the situation.

Nagaland Chief Minister T.R. Zeliang, who chaired a cabinet meeting Friday, said: “It is highly condemnable incident. The cabinet decided to suspend the deputy commissioner and superintendent of police of Dimapur district immediately for their failure to tackle the situation.”

Man City captain Kompany will return to form, says Hart

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Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart believes captain Vincent Kompany will benefit from being axed by manager Manuel Pellegrini.

Kompany was dropped to the bench for Wednesday’s home win over Leicester City after some below-par performances, reports dailymail.co.uk.

Hart knows how the Belgium defender is feeling after he was left out for seven league games last season following a loss of form. But the England keeper is confident Kompany will come back stronger for the experience.

Grandmother gives birth to her own granddaughter!

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It may sound strange but it’s true that a 61-year-old woman, late last year, gave birth to her own granddaughter whose biological mother and father are her daughter and son-in-law, doctors here said.

“A young lady and her mother came to our hospital enquiring about the possibility of having a surrogate mother,” said doctors at the city based Akash Fertility Centre and Hospital here.

Surreal to be called a Galactico: Gareth Bale

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Winger Gareth Bale is approaching the end of his second season at Real Madrid, but the world’s most expensive footballer admits he still finds it surreal to be called a ‘Galactico’.

The Wales international left Tottenham Hotspurs FC for the Spanish capital in September 2013, and has already won a Champions League, Copa del Rey, UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup in the white of Los Blancos.

It’s Holi Hai with coloured gulal, gujiya and thandai

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With splashes of yellow, red, pink and green gulal and sweets and revelry, Delhiites celebrated Holi with enthusiasm Friday, even as the slight chill in the weather saw people preferring to play a dry holi rather than douse coloured water on each other.

Revellers started coming out in groups to play Holi around after 11 a.m., with a slight nip in the air keeping people indoors in the morning.

Devotees also thronged Krishna temples across the city to mark the festival.

Spectrum auction sees bids of Rs.77,000 crore at end of day three

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Day three of the e-auction of radio frequency spectrum, or airwaves, with the eight companies in the fray made an offer for Rs.77,000 crore at the end of the 17th round, the government said on Friday.

“Seventeenth round was completed with Rs.77,000 crore commitment today (Friday),” the government said.

It was learnt that on Friday there were six fresh rounds of bidding.

On March 5, at the end of 11th rounds of bidding a total offer of Rs.65,000 crore was made by the telcos.

We lost the momentum early, did not apply ourselves: Holder

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Stumbling to their third loss in five World Cup games, West Indies skipper Jason Holder on Friday said his team lost the momentum early in their innings with batsmen failing to apply themselves well enough against the Indians in the Pool B outing at the WACA.

Electing to bat first, the Caribbean essay never quite got going as they threw away wickets at regular intervals to be skittled out for 182.

Indian pacers Mohammad Sami (3-35) and Umesh Yadav (2-42) walloped the top order , before spinners Ravichandran Ashwin (1-38) and Ravindra Jadeja (2-27) choked the runs.

My visit part of high-level engagement with Colombo: Sushma Swaraj

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Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday said her visit to Sri Lanka is part of the high-level engagement with the new government of Sri Lanka and “an opportunity to close the gaps” ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit next week.

In her remarks at a dinner hosted by her Sri Lankan counterpart Mangala Samaraweera, she said President Maithripala Sirisena’s visit to India in February “was a successful visit” during which both sides inked four agreements.

Indian American surgeon among first to help injured Harrison Ford

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Indian-American spine surgeon Sanjay Khurana was playing golf Thursday when a single-engine plane crashed on the course. The pilot was none other than famous Hollywood actor Harrison Ford.

Khurana was among the first to pull out the injured star from the wreckage.

When Khurana saw the plane crash on the course, next to Santa Monica Airport, he followed his first instinct to rush to the plane to ensure the pilot was safe.

Like to be India’s transport minister: Jeffrey Archer

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Celebrated British author Jeffrey Archer said on Friday the “toughest” job on earth now is being the transport minister of India and he would want to be in-charge of that ministry if given a life again.

“I think the toughest job on earth today would be the minister of transport for India and if I had a life again that is the job I would want, that or captaining the England cricket team,” Archer told the audience here on his 11th visit to India.

Calcutta High Court lawyers skip work, chief justice displeased

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Majority of lawyers stayed away from proceedings of the Calcutta High Court Friday following a holiday declared by the West Bengal government, provoking a strong reaction from a division bench that included Chief Justice Manjula Chelur.

The lawyers have skipped court proceedings after the state government declared a two-day holiday on account of Holi. While the Bengali speaking population celebrated the festival of colours as Dol on Thursday, the non-Bengali community played Holi Friday.

OPEC daily basket price closes lower

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The basket of 12 crude oils of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) closed at $55.77 a barrel on Thursday, compared to $55.81 on Wednesday, the OPEC secretariat said.

The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes is made up of the following: Murban (UAE), Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), Iran Heavy (Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Qatar Marine (Qatar), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia) and Merey (Venezuela).

(IANS/WAM)

Naturopathy treatment for Kerjiwal’s cough begins

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Naturopathy treatment for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s chronic cough began here Friday, a day after he got admitted into a private hospital on the city’s outskirts.

As Kejriwal is diabetic, he was also served bitter gourd juice and sprouted fenugreek seeds juice during daytime.

“We have begun treating Kejriwal after conducting the required tests for his chronic cough and high blood sugar level as he is diabetic,” a doctor at the Jindal Naturcure Institute told IANS.

Union minister Danve resigns

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Union minister Raosaheb Dadarao Danve on Thursday resigned from the council of ministers, Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a statement.

President Pranab Mukherjee, as advised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has accepted the resignation of Danve with immediate effect, the statement said.

Danve was the minister of state for consumer affairs, food and public distribution.

(IANS)

‘In-Residence’ programme for writers, artists begins on March 7

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The “In-Residence” programme for 2015 for writers and artists will be held at Rashtrapati Bhavan from March 7 to 21, an official statement said on Thursday.

The writers selected for the programme are Vikram Sampath and Gayatribala Panda and the artists are Rajesh P. Kargutkar, a painter from Mumbai, and Haobam Sanaton Singh, a painter from Manipur.

Delhi mortuary abandons unclaimed bodies after police inaction

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Officials of Delhi’s Subji Mandi mortuary abandoned over 25 unclaimed bodies and kept them outside its premises as police were not taking the bodies back for the last rites for over a month.

According to an official, the bodies were brought to the Subji Mandi mortuary, under the Delhi government’s Aruna Asaf Ali hospital, for post-mortem examination but were not taken back even after the formalities were completed.

The incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon.

UN calls for gender equality ahead of International Women’s Day

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UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein on Thursday appealed to women worldwide “to participate in all discussions of strategic responses to violence, discrimination, and deprivation of all kinds”.

“This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Programme of Action. States can seize this opportunity to go beyond lip-service and towards gender equality, genuinely challenging and dismantling the power structures and dynamics which perpetuate discrimination against women,” Xinhua quoted Hussein as saying.

British teacher jailed for IS link

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A British high school teacher has been sentenced to six years in prison for his plans to fight alongside the Islamic State (IS) in Syria, Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday.

Jamshed Javeed, 30, a former chemistry teacher at Sharples High School in Bolton, quit his job to take part in jihad despite opposition from his family, according to a local court.

Ukraine expands army over security threats

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Ukraine’s parliament on Thursday approved a bill to expand the country’s army to 250,000, the parliamentary press service said.

A 2012 law had allowed to keep a maximum of 184,000 troops in the armed forces.

The bill, submitted by President Petro Poroshenko and requiring at least 226 votes to get approved, was supported by 270 lawmakers, Xinhua news agency reported.

The bill said the increase in the size of the country’s armed forces was due to “threats to the national security of Ukraine in the military sphere”.

New round of Iran n-talks begins in Switzerland

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Diplomats from Iran and the P5+1 countries – the US, China, Russia, France and Britain, plus Germany – on Thursday gathered around the negotiation table in the Swiss town of Montreux for another round of talks to find a final and comprehensive deal on Iran’s nuclear programme.

A source close to the negotiators said there is hope that a deal will be made, though US Secretary of State John Kerry said earlier that “significant gaps” remained barriers to an agreement, Xinhua news agency reported.

Pakistani lawmaker celebrates Holi amid Senate polls

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Ramesh Kumar, a minority member of Pakistan’s National Assembly, celebrated Holi on Thursday while casting his vote for the Senate elections, media reported.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) minority member of the National Assembly from Tharparker in Sindh province arrived at the National Assembly with sweetmeats and Holi colours, ARY news reported.

Outside the Parliament House, Kumar surprised everyone by playing Holi instead of delivering his speech.

Government serves legal notice to BBC over documentary

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The government on Thursday served legal notice to BBC for the controversial documentary on the December 16, 2012 gang rape, saying the broadcaster “violated the contract on various fronts”.

“A legal notice has been served to the BBC. The notice says that they (BBC) had violated the contract on various fronts,” a home ministry official told IANS.

Trinamool MP Tapas Paul assures cooperation with CBI

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A day after his house was raided by the CBI in connection with a chit fund case, Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member Tapas Paul on Thursday assured of cooperating with the agency if he was summoned.

“I was in Delhi when they raided. But they (CBI) are doing their investigation in a very courteous manner. If they call me, I will definitely go. They are honourable people and I will surely talk to them,” said Paul.

Paul’s South Kolkata residence was one of the 43 locations of the Rose valley Group where the CBI had conducted raids Wednesday.

Saina enters All England quarters

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Ace Indian Saina Nehwal entered the women’s singles quarter-finals of the $500,000 All England Open Badminton Championships by virtue of a straight games win at the Barclaycard Arena here on Thursday.

The third seed needed only 46 minutes to ease past South Korean Kim Hyo Min 21-15, 21-15 in their first career meeting and in the Super Series Premier event of the year.

However, in the next match, the Olympic bronze medallist will take on former World Champion Yihan Wang against whom the Hyderabadi has a dismal 1-8 record.

Odisha to convert all thatched houses to concrete by 2019

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Odisha was working on a mission to implement the Biju Pucca Ghar Yojona and all thatched houses will be converted to concrete ones by the end of 2019, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said on Thursday.

At an event held on Thursday, Patnaik urged the elected members of the three-tier panchayati raj institutions and officials to work for the development of villages.

He said the representatives should look forward to implement various rural development programmes in an effective manner and work unitedly to achieve rural prosperity.