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.

Swine flu toll in Telangana mounts to 51

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The toll due to swine flu in Telangana rose to 51 with the death of two more people, officials said Saturday.

Health authorities had sent 128 samples for screening Friday and 47 of them were found positive for H1N1 virus. This is the highest number of positive cases during last six days.

According to a bulletin by the health department, 3,777 samples were tested since Jan 1 and out of them 1,233 were found positive.

The health department continues to maintain that the number of swine flu cases is on decline.

Ex-Somali lawmaker says he knew hotel suicide bomber

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Former Somali member of parliament Salat Ali Jelle said Saturday he personally knew the woman suicide bomber who attacked Central Hotel in Mogadishu Friday.

Jelle said Somali-Dutch Lul Ahmed blew herself up, killing more than 25 people including two lawmakers, and wounding over 45 others.

Ahmed was his favourite receptionist at the hotel, Jelle said, adding that it did not occur to him that she would carry out such a deadly attack.

Man held for selling fake swine flu medicine

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A man was Saturday arrested here for selling fake medicines for prevention and cure of swine flu, police said.

Charan Singh, who hails from Lucknow, was living in Bijwasan area of Delhi.

Police said he was arrested from R.K. Hospital in Rajendra Park area in Gurgaon, while he was supplying fake swine flu medicines.

Police raided the spot after receiving information that a few people were being cheated in the name of swine flu medicines.

Charan Singh employed nearly half a dozen women to give the medicines to people. They were charging Rs.40 for children and Rs.60 for an adult.

Eight killed as train hits car in Bihar

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At least eight people were killed and 12 severely injured Saturday when a train hit a car in Bihar’s Nalanda district, police said.

The accident took place at an unmanned level crossing near Tungi village, about 100 km from Patna.

The victims were returning to their village after attending a wedding. The car was hit by the local passenger train, police said.

“Eight people were killed on the spot and 12 seriously injured. The injured were admitted to a government hospital,” a police official said.

There were 20 people in the car and all of them were from one extended family.

Venezuelan mayor charged with plotting against government

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Venezuela’s attorney general’s office said Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma, a prominent opposition leader, has been formally charged with conspiracy in connection with an alleged plot against President Nicolas Maduro’s leftist government.

In the arraignment, prosecutors accused the mayor of the crimes of conspiracy and criminal association, the AG’s office said Friday in a statement.

The Caracas-based court ordered the mayor jailed at the Ramo Verde military prison, where another high profile opposition leader, Leopoldo Lopez, has been held since Feb 18, 2014.

Mamata invites Hasina to visit Bengal

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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Saturday invited Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to visit the eastern Indian state.

Banerjee, who had a 30-minute luncheon meeting with Hasina here on the concluding day of her three-day trip to Bangladesh, later called the prime minister “my favourite didi”.

“Today I had the privilege to call upon, the Honourable Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina ji who is my favourite didi,” she tweeted.

Banerjee said Hasina’s “warmth and grace” made her emotional.

Russia slams EU suggestion on India intervening on Ukraine

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Russia Friday slammed a reported call of the European Union’s envoy to India to “persuade” Russia over the turmoil in eastern Ukraine as “a case of sheer duplicity and sly distortion of the core reasons which led to the intra-Ukrainian conflict”.

The Russian embassy in a statement said: “The European Union should retrospect on its own policy of appeasement instead of trying to seek India’s services in persuading Russia to do something.

Woman with 90 percent bone deformity cured in Gurgaon

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In a rare surgery, a 60-year-old woman having developed complete bone deformity successfully underwent a complex surgery making her capable to walk again, hospital authorities said here Friday.

The deformity of Rajesh Devi, a resident of Jhajjar in Haryana, had kept her bed-ridden for over a year.

She suffered from advanced osteoarthritis and severe osteoporosis because of which the bones of her knee permanently deformed and bent over 90 degrees.

Manmohan Singh recalls contributions of former diplomat

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Former prime minister Manmohan Singh Friday recalled the wide ranging contributions that former diplomat G. Parthasarathi made in various spheres.

He made the comments while dedicating the RIS Conference Hall as the G. Parthasarathi Conference Hall at the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) here.

Government notifies rules hiking foreign equity cap in insurance

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The government Friday notified new rules for FDI in the insurance sector, that permit up to 49 percent FDI in the sector, up from 26 percent allowed earlier, subject to approval by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board(FIPB).

“FDI proposals up to 26 percent of the total paid-up equity of the Indian insurance company allowed on the automatic route, and FDI proposals which take the total foreign investment above 26 percent and up to the cap of 49 percent shall require FIPB approval,” a finance ministry release said.

Vaccine important in fight against AIDS: Experts

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Despite the progress in anti-retroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS, it was important to have a safe vaccine which can prevent the disease, health experts said here Friday.

“There has been incredible progress towards a safe vaccine in the last eight months,” Wayne Koff, vice president of International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), said at a conference here.

Benny Kottiri, Health Science Administrator and senior researcher at the US Agency for International Development (USAID), said the development of a vaccine was very important for containing the disease.

Guerrilla hideout busted in Kashmir

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Security forces Friday busted a guerrilla hideout in the hilly Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir and recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition, officials said.

Acting on specific information, the Delta Force of the army launched a search operation in Amrai Nala near Chilli and busted the hideout at a natural cave there, a defence spokesman told IANS.

The seized arms included one AK-47 rifle, four 12 bore rifles, one pistol, four AK-47 magazines, two SLR magazines, 150 rounds of AK-47, 100 rounds of assorted ammunition, one Chinese hand grenade.

Chandrababu Naidu to lead Indian delegation to China

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Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu will lead an Indian delegation to China.

The delegation will visit China April 1-6 as part of efforts to improve bilateral relations.

China had proposed to India to send a delegation. The foreign ministry had written to Naidu to lead the delegation and he has agreed to do so, said a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office.

The delegation will hold talks with Chinese leaders.

(IANS)

Coast Guard releases video of Pakistani boat in flames

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The Coast Guard Friday released a video of the intruding Pakistani boat that was intercepted off the Gujarat coast Dec 31 last year to set at rest any speculation on its assertion that the vessel was blown up by its occupants.

The video was released on the day the Coast Guard ordered a board of inquiry (BoI) into DIG B.K. Loshali’s purported remarks, which he denied later, that he ordered the Pakistani boat that was allegedly trying to sneak into Indian waters be blown up.

Kenyan woman gang-raped in Delhi, four held

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A 35-year-old Kenyan woman was gang-raped in a moving car here, the police said Friday, adding that four people have been arrested.

The woman was found in an unconscious state near the toll plaza of DND flyway (Delhi-Noida-Direct flyway) in Mayur Vihar area of east Delhi around 2.43 a.m. Friday.

“Some passersby near the toll plaza informed police as the Kenyan woman was lying on the road and continuously crying ‘my purse, my mobile’,” said a police official.

Police said the victim was under the influence of alcohol.

Four more die of swine flu in Rajasthan, toll now 206

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The toll due to swine flu in Rajasthan Friday reached 206, as four more deaths due to the disease were reported in the desert state, officials said.

“Four deaths and 288 positive cases were reported today (Friday),” B.R. Meena, director for public health, told IANS.

Meena said that with the increase in temperature, the swine flu cases are expected to come down.

The total positive cases since Jan 1 touched 4,185 Friday.

The highest number of deaths at 34 was reported from Jaipur, followed by Ajmer at 27.

Three more swine flu deaths in Delhi, toll rises to nine

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Three more deaths due to swine flu were Friday reported in the national capital taking the toll to nine, officials said.

According to the Directorate of Health Services (DHS), two patients aged 69 and 51 years succumbed to the viral disease Thursday in central Delhi’s B.L. Kapoor hospital and west Delhi’s Sri Balaji Action Medical Institute, respectively.

Sri Lanka to brief UNHRC on war probe

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Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera will leave for Geneva next month to attend a high-level meeting of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) during which he will also have talks with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the foreign ministry said in a statement Friday.

Over 65 foreign ministers from around the world will participate in the “High-Level Segment” which is expected to be held March 2, Xinhua news agency reported citign the statement.

Finnish president approves same-sex marriage law

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Finnish President Sauli Niinisto Friday signed and confirmed a law that makes same-sex marriages legal in Finland, media reported.

The law will go into effect March 1, 2017.

Now that the law has been confirmed by the president, the Finnish ministry of justice would start amending other national legislations, Xinhua news agency reported citing Finnish national broadcaster Yle.

The broadcaster also said that a variety of social and health entitlements needed to be re-examined, as the law would endow legal status to same-sex couples.

SC issues notice to Centre over Mullaperiyar dam’s security

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The Supreme Court Friday issued notice to the Centre seeking its response on Tamil Nadu government’s plea demanding CISF protection for the Mullaperiyar dam, which is being guarded at present by the Kerala Police.

The apex court bench of Chief Justice H.L. Dattu and Justice A.K. Sikri sought the Centre’s response on Tamil Nadu’s pleas, expressing apprehensions about the security of the dam — a bone of contention between the neighbouring states.

Mullaperiyar dam is maintained by the Tamil Nadu government but its security is with the Kerala Police and Tamil Nadu pays for it.

Kashmiri PhD scholar commits suicide in Hyderabad

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A PhD scholar from Jammu and Kashmir Friday committed suicide in Hyderabad, police said here.

Tariq-ul-Islam, the son of Ghulam Mohammad Dhobi and a resident of Dhobipora in Ganderbal district, ended his life by hanging himself in a hostel room in Hyderabad, a police officer said.

He was a PhD scholar in economics at IIT Hyderabad.

According to Hyderabad police, Tariq Thursday night went to meet two friends — Tauseef Ahmad of Barsoo Awantipora (Anantnag) and Sajad Ahmad Bhat of Yaripora, Kulgam — both students of Central University Hyderabad at their hostel.

BSF recovers five kg heroin in Punjab

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Border Security Force (BSF) troopers have recovered five kg of heroin along the India-Pakistan border in Ferozepur sector of Punjab, a BSF spokesman said Friday.

The heroin, in five packets, was found near the Mohamdiwala border out post in Ferozepur sector, 280 km from here.

The heroin is valued at Rs.25 crore in the international market.

The packets were recovered following a tip-off about the narcotics being smuggled into India from Pakistan.

Student debt should not follow farmer debt path: RBI governor

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Student debt should not go the way of the farmer debt crisis in India and the student loan facility needs holistic changes, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan said Friday.

Speaking during an ongoing lecture series here, Rajan also said that the NPA (non-performing assets) vis-a-vis student loans was on the higher side and added that the Aadhar card could be used to track down loanee students.

DHCBA to take complaints about judicial system

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The executive committee of the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) has formed a grievance committee to deal with complaints relating to corruption and misconduct in the judicial system.

For this, a box has been kept at the DHCBA office to enable lawyers to drop their complaints.

DHCBA president Rajiv Khosla said lawyers can approach the grievance committee against any order reflecting any undue favour given to any advocate or kith and kin of any judge in the court proceedings, including the orders relating to assigning of local commissioners.

Pakistan president rejects mercy pleas of six prisoners

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Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain Friday rejected appeals for clemency of six death row prisoners from the Sindh provice, media reported.

Following the rejection of the mercy pleas, the Home Department of Sindh ordered the inspector general prisons to take measures to execute the convicts, Geo News reported.

The prisoners whose pleas have been rejected are Achar alias Bhai Khan, Abdul Aziz, Bashir Ahmed, Muhammad Faisal, Muhammad Afzal and Munwar Ali.