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.

Former Haryana CM Hukum Singh dead

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Former Haryana chief minister Master Hukum Singh died in a private hospital here Thursday after a short illness, said an official spokesman. He was 89.

According to a Haryana government spokesman, Singh passed around 6 p.m. at the Medicity Medanta hospital here.

Earlier, in the day, state minister O.P. Dhankhar visited the hospital to enquire about the health of the former chief minister, and was told he was fine and had been shifted from the ICU to a general ward.

AAP protests land grab in Ghaziabad

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The AAP Thursday threatened to launch public protests if no action was taken by March 2 against people it accused of grabbing public land.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has asked authorities to free a water body on government land from the clutches of a land grabber at Biharipur near the National Highway 24.

An AAP delegation submitted a memorandum to this effect to the municipal commissioner. It said the land grabber was carving out plots of land in the area and selling them to people illegally.

(IANS)

Liquor shops closed in Barsana ahead of Lathmar Holi

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Ahead of the famous Lathmar Holi Friday, when Barsana’s lathi-wielding women – “Huriyarins” – will burst into a riot of colours, raining their well-oiled batons on men, the battle against liquor shops has been won.

Threatening to boycott the Lathmar Holi, the Barsana women managed to force Mathura district administration to bow down before their demand to close liquor outlets in the holy town.

Christian of Dalit origin will be Dalit if he embraces Hinduism

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The Supreme Court Thursday said that a Dalit whose parents or grandparents embraced Christianity will get the benefits of reservation meant for Scheduled Caste if he converts to Hinduism.

“… we are inclined to hold that the appellant (K.P. Manu) after reconversion had come within the fold of the community and thereby became a member of the Scheduled Caste,” a bench of Justice Dipak Mishra and Justice V. Gopala Gowda said.

“Had the community expelled him, the matter would have been different. The acceptance is in continuum,” the bench said.

BJP hails rail budget, Congress and Sena flay it

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The BJP Thursday hailed Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu’s budget for 2015-16 calling it “reformist” and “revolutionary” while the Congress termed it “disappointing” and asked how the resources for the promised reforms will be raised. The Shiv Sena too was critical.

Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari told reporters: “This is the first time a reformist budget has been brought for railways.

“Latest technology will be used in railways to upgrade it and make it safe. The reforms in railways will also generate more employment and boost the Make in India programme,” he said.

Mumbaikar Suresh Prabhu’s gifts to city, Maharashtra

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A dream will finally come true for the Mumbai commuters with air-conditioned local trains being introduced, according to a railway budget 2015-16 announcement by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, a Mumbaikar.

Comprehensive trials of the proposed air-conditioned coaches for Mumbai’s crowded suburban sections are underway since the past couple of years, and the announcement was welcomed by most commuters.

Andhra Pradesh disappointed over railway budget

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Andhra Pradesh Thursday expressed its disappointment over the railway budget, saying no new project was sanctioned for the state.

Deputy Chief Minister K. E. Krishna Murthy said injustice had been done to the state as neither it was neither sanctioned any new project nor was allocated funds to complete the pending projects.

He said the new state expected a better deal in the light of commitments made to the state in Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act but was not receiving funds from the central government to the expected level.

35 killed in airstrikes, violence in Iraq

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At least 35 people were killed and 44 others wounded in airstrikes against positions of the Islamic State (IS) militants and violent attacks across Iraq Thursday, security sources said.

The deadliest casualties occurred in Iraq’s western province of Anbar, when warplanes of the US-led anti-IS coalition struck their positions in and near the town of al-Qaim, some 330 km northwest of the capital Baghdad. At least 15 militants and seven civilians were killed, a provincial security source told Xinhua news agency on condition of anonymity.

Implement Minsk accords on Ukraine: Normandy format leaders

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The ‘Normandy format’ foreign ministers of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine Tuesday renewed calls to implement the Minsk accords and reinforce the Organisation for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) monitoring mission in Ukraine, to solve the Ukrainian crisis, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said.

“We, the four ministers, call for the strict implementation of all provisions of the Minsk agreements, starting from a comprehensive ceasefire and withdrawal of heavy weapons,” Fabius said, according to a Xinhua report.

No lethal weapons to Ukraine at this stage: Britain

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Britain is not supplying lethal weapons to Ukraine “at this stage”, but will send its service personnel to advise the Ukrainians, British Prime Minister David Cameron told parliament Tuesday.

“We are not at the stage of supplying lethal equipment. We have announced our series of non-lethal equipment (supply)… which we have already said we will give to Ukraine,” Cameron said, according to a Xinhua report.

Convert Jinnah House into Maulana Azad memorial: Congress

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The Mumbai unit of the Congress Tuesday demanded setting up of a research centre and library dedicated to freedom fighter Maulana Abul Kalam Azad at the historic Jinnah House, the residence of Pakistan founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah before he left India after partition.

Nizamuddin Rayeen, chief of the Mumbai Congress minority cell, said the Jinnah House would be a befitting memorial to the memory and ideals of independent India’s first education minister Maulana Azad, and everybody should come forward to support it.

Yemen’s Houthi-led panel says president lost legitimacy

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Yemen’s supreme revolutionary committee led by the Shia Houthi rebels said Tuesday that President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi has lost legitimacy, Xinhua reported.

“The supreme revolutionary committee is monitoring the suspicious movements of Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who has lost legitimacy as the president of the Republic of Yemen,” the committee said in a statement carried by Yemen’s official Saba news agency that is controlled by the Houthi group.

Ukraine rebels claim heavy weapons pullout begun

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The pro-independence insurgents in eastern Ukraine Tuesday said they have begun a “full-scale” pullout of heavy weapons from the front line of their fight with government troops, Xinhua news agency reported.

They said the move was in accordance with a ceasefire deal signed Feb 12.

“As of 9 a.m., our units continued withdrawal of heavy weapons from the line of contact,” Eduard Basurin, a senior insurgent commander, was quoted by the rebel-run Novorossia news agency as saying.

Extradited gangster Abu Salem to be sentenced Wednesday

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Ten years after gangster Abu Salem was extradited by Portugal, a Mumbai court is likely to pronounce its sentence Wednesday after he was found guilty in the murder of Mumbai realtor Pradeep Jain.

A former associate of wanted terrorist and mafia don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, the 47-year-old Salem is currently lodged in Taloja Central Jail in adjoining Raigad district.

In the Jain murder trial, special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam had initially demanded the death penalty, which he later converted to a life sentence owing to conditions of the extradition treaty between India and Portugal.

British legislators mull creating new Sikh regiment

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British legislators are examining proposals to create a new British Sikh regiment like those which fought for the country in the two World Wars, according to media reports Tuesday.

Former defence minister Nicholas Soames said in parliament Monday that the government should “do away with political correctness”, and praised “the extraordinary gallant and distinguished service by (the) Sikhs, to this country down the generations”, according to a Daily Mail report.

EC deems Greece’s reform proposals ‘sufficiently comprehensive’

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The European Commission (EC) said Tuesday that the list of reforms the leftist Greek government of Alexis Tsipras has agreed to undertake in return for more financial assistance for Greece appears to be “sufficiently comprehensive”.

“In the view of the Commission, this list is sufficiently comprehensive as to be a valid starting point for a successful conclusion of the review as called for by the Eurogroup at its last meeting,” EC sources told Spanish news agency Efe.

The EC said it was “encouraged by the commitment to combat tax evasion and corruption”, according to the same sources.

Ghaziabad students call strike over swine flu mismanagement

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Students of three engineering colleges here went on a strike and forced their respective managements to shut the institutions till precautionary measures against swine flu are in place.

The students of Ideal Institute of Engineering Technology, Krishna Institute of Engineering and Technology and Raj Kumar Goel Institute of Engineering and Technology (RKGIT) boycotted classes and accused the management of not taking steps to check the epidemic.

Realtor unveils virtual platform to assess properties

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Online real estate company CommonFloor Tuesday unveiled a virtual platform to allow consumers view and assess multiple properties from anywhere, anytime.

“Our product Retina enables consumers have a virtual tour of properties they would like to view, review and assess for taking an informed decision to buy or not,” CommonFloor.com co-founder and chief executive Sumit Jain told reporters at the product launch here.

As a new-age online realty player, the company adapts technology to the advantage of property consumers.

No need to vaccinate people against swine flu: Nadda

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The government Tuesday told parliament that there was no need as of now to vaccinate the general public from swine flu.

“The morbidity and mortality associated with the influenza are matters of great concern for all of us,” union Health Minister J.P. Nadda said in a statement made in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

He informed parliament that while declaring the pandemic to be over in 2010, the WHO had declared that the swine flu virus would circulate as a seasonal virus for some years now.

Effective scouting system important for Indian football: Coach Constantine

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Newly-appointed Indian football team chief coach Stephen Constantine Tuesday stressed the importance of a strong talent scouting system.

In his first official media interaction since taking over the job of the Indian team, ranked 171st by FIFA, Constantine said that he will give equal opportunities to all players to stake their place to represent the country.

“I am very excited to be here in India. There is a lot of work left but I promise that I am up for it. I will do everything I can to improve.”

Football: Blues edge past Maziya with late goal

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A stoppage time goal by Shankar Sampangiraj saw Bengaluru FC snatching a 2-1 win over Maziya of Maldives in a Group E league match of the AFC Cup tournament here Tuesday.

After skipper Sunil Chhetri put the Blues ahead with a 68th minute strike, the visitors equalized through Mohamed Umair in the 89th minute before Sampangiraj sealed the game for the hosts in the stoppage time with a header off a Sean Rooney free-kick.

26 killed in two attacks in Nigeria

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At least 26 people were killed in two bomb attacks at bus stations in Nigeria Tuesday, according to media reports.

At least 14 people were killed in the first attack at a crowded bus station in the northeastern town of Potiskum, while 12 people died in an attack in Kano in northwestern Nigeria, barely five hours after the first attack, Xinhua reported.

Many people were reported to be injured in both the attacks.

Expert urges India to sequence swine flu virus

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With swine flu (H1N1) claiming over 800 lives in India this year, a world-renowned scientist in viral pathogenesis has called for the need to sequencing the circulating strains in the country to find out if the virus is mutated.

Voicing concern over high mortality rate, Rafi Ahmed, director, Emory Vaccine Center in US’ Atlanta, has also called for screening the samples for H3N2 and influenza type B besides H1N1 virus.

30 injured as train hits tractor in US

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At least 30 people were injured Tuesday when a train collided with a tractor-trailer and derailed northwest of Los Angeles city in US’ California.

The Metrolink train, en route from Ventura County to Los Angeles, hit the tractor-trailer around 5.55 a.m, Xinhua reported.

No fatalaties were, however, reported in the accident.

Metrolink spokesman Scott Johnson said that the collision derailed three of the passenger train’s cars.

Firefighters rushed to the scene of the accident, and the injured passengers were under treatment.