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.

Coal India’s 10 percent megasale earns government Rs.22,745 crore

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The 10 percent stake sale in state-owned coal behemoth Coal India Ltd (CIL) fetched the government Rs.22,745 crore as a total issue of 63.16 crore shares went for the auction Friday.

Featuring as the biggest disinvestment exercise as well as the biggest sale ever from any private or public holding, the average bid price was higher by Rs.2.11 at Rs. 360.11 against the floor price of Rs. 358 declared Thursday by the government.

The government had expected to get at least Rs.22,600 crore at the floor price of Rs.358 per share declared Thursday.

Scientists identify biological clock to predict longivity

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A group of scientists has identified a biological clock that could help predict how long we live, according to a study.

Researchers from the University of Edinburgh in collaboration with researchers in Australia and the US studied chemical changes to DNA to establish an individual’s biological age which they compared with their actual age, the Mirror reported Friday.

The results showed that people with biological age greater than their true age were more likely to die sooner than those whose biological and actual ages were the same.

Next inter-Syrian consultations in Moscow in a month

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The next meeting between the Syrian opposition and government representatives may take place in Moscow in late February, leader of the Syrian opposition Popular Front for Change and Liberation, Qadri Jamil, said in a news conference on Friday.

“The agreement has been reached to entrust the Russian side, in particular, the Institute of Oriental Studies, with the preparation of a second meeting that is to be held roughly in a month and with developing its agenda,” Jamil said.

According to him, “all the sides should make efforts to hold the meeting within the specified time”.

15 civilians killed in eastern Ukraine shelling

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At least 15 civilians were killed in the city of Donetsk by Ukrainian artillery bombardments, five of them killed in a new attack on a trolleybus, pro-Russian separatists charged Friday.

“Five people died in the trolleybus,” said the ministry of defence of the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk, adding that the vehicle was servicing public transport line 14 but was not in motion at the time it was shelled.

Obama’s religious freedom message came under Attack

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US President Barack Obama’s stress during his speech in India on the right of freedom of individuals to profess, practice and propagate religion was a message for Americans too, US Ambassador Richard Verma said Friday.

“You should look into the speech carefully…this is consistent with what he said at the UN General Assembly, that we have to stand up for all people… He talked as much about the US and our challenges, as he talked about India,” Verma told Karan Thapar in an interview on Headlines Today channel.

CBSE pre-exam counselling to begin Feb 2

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The Central Board of Secondary Education(CBSE) Friday said it will provide pre-examination psychological counselling to students and parents from Feb 2.

In its 18th year, annual counselling is an outreach programme which is carefully designed keeping in mind the heterogeneity of students’ population and geographical spread, a CBSE statement said.

“Multiple modes of communication such as telephonic counselling, question answer columns in newspapers and online counselling through CBSE website are used to reach out to more and more examines during this phase,” it said.

Prabhu flags off 4 trains remotely using RailTel service

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Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had remotely flagged off four express trains from here Thursday, using the telepresence service of the state-run RailTel, the ICT arm of Indian Railways, a statement said.

“The minister flagged off remotely all the four weekly trains starting from Kamakya in Assam, Patna, Tatanagar in Jharkhand and Bengaluru to Katra in Jammu and Kashmir using our Telepresence service,” RailTel said in a statement Friday.

Diego gets three-match suspension

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Chelsea striker Diego Costa was Friday suspended for three matches for stamping on Liverpool’s Emre Can Tuesday in the second leg of Capital One semi-final at Stamford Bridge, which the Blues clinched 2-1 on aggregate.

The Football Association (FA) has pressed the charges against the Spaniard related to an incident that happened 12 minutes into the game, reports bbc.com.

“Diego Costa will serve a three-match suspension with immediate effect after a charge of violent conduct against him was found proven by an independent regulatory commission Jan 30,” FA said in a statement.

Delhi village without hospital, school to boycott polls

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A village with a population of over 10,000 has decided to boycott the Feb 7 assembly election in Delhi. The residents cited lack of basic amenities in their area as the reason behind the move.

“Leaders have been coming to us but we decided not to vote for any of them this time. It is high time now not to vote. They only give fake promises,” said Panja Singh, 62, a resident of Jhangola village that falls under Narela assembly constituency in northwest Delhi.

Bharatiya Janata Party’s Neeldaman Khatri won the 2013 assembly polls from the constituency.

Tech Mahindra’s net up by 11.9 percent

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Tech Mahindra, a leading software services firm, has registered a growth of 11.9 percent in its net profit during the quarter ended Dec 31, 2014.

The profit after tax stood at Rs.805.3 crore, a quarter-on-quarter growth of 11.9 percent. It includes special adjustment of Rs.28.5 crore of profits of Mahindra Engineering Services Ltd (MESL) in the first half of the current fiscal.

The consolidated revenue stood at Rs.5,752 crore, a year-on-year growth of 17.4 percent and QoQ jump of 4.8 percent.

11 Christians convert to Hinduism in Tamil Nadu: Hindu outfit

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Eleven Christians – five men and six women – converted to Hinduism during a programme organised by the Hindu Makkal Katchi (HMK) here Friday, said its leader.

“Despite the attempts by the city police to thwart the voluntary conversion to Hinduism, 11 Christians came back to their mother religion,” HMK president Arjun Sampath told IANS.

He claimed as many as 162 people had come here to participate in the conversion programme though they had announced conversion of 108 people.

UP announces special economic package for Bundelkhand

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The Uttar Pradesh government has sanctioned a special economic package of Rs.691.50 crore for Bundelkhand, an official said Friday.

District officials in seven districts – Banda, Chitrakoot, Lalitpur, Banda, Chitrakoot, Hamirpur, Jalaun and Jhansi – of the region have been asked to use this fund for special warehouses and rural infrastructure centres, the official told IANS.

Court martial for Sindhuratna’s commanding officer

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A court martial has been ordered for the commanding officer found culapble in the accident onboard Kilo-class submarine INS Sindhuratna, which killed two sailors, navy sources said Friday.

Six other officers, found culpable in the accident by a board of inquiry, were meanwhile awarded letter of severe displeasure (LOSD) by the navy chief, the sources said.

Stolen car linked to Indian’s disappearance in Australia

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A stolen car may have been involved in an Indian delivery van driver’s mysterious disappearance in Australia, a police officer said Friday.

Shiva Chauhan, 27, went missing after carrying out his regular deliveries May 1 last year with his locked van found next day in Keysborough, a suburb of Melbourne.

“Our investigations suggest a stolen Toyota Camry may have been involved in Shiva’s disappearance. That vehicle is still outstanding and we’d like to locate it as it may afford evidence in relation to his disappearance,” Herald Sun quoted detective inspector Jill Dyson as saying.

Obama to raise spending on defence, education, health

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US President Barack Obama will present his annual budget proposals for the 2016 fiscal year next week, with proposed boosts in expenditure on defence, health and education programmes.

In an article published in “The Huffington Post” Thursday, Obama said his budget would “fully reverse” the spending cuts known as sequestration that took effect in 2013 to reduce the deficit.

Those cuts, valued at $1.2 trillion until 2023, impacted several social welfare programmes of the government and the Pentagon’s budget, in particular.

35 killed in Pakistan Shia mosque blast

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At least 35 people were killed and over 50 injured as a blast hit a Shia mosque in Pakistan’s southern province of Sindh Friday afternoon, officials said.

Deputy Commissioner of the province’s Shikarpur district, Hadi Bakhsh, said that 35 bodies and over 50 wounded people were at hospitals of three cities in the region, Xinhua news agency reported.

Bakhsh said that the toll might rise further as some of the injured were in a critical condition and were being treated in the intensive care units of the hospitals.

CISF keeps safe forgetful Metro commuter’s jewellery

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A forgetful Metro commuter had good reason to be thankful to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) Friday: The force kept safe and later returned a bag containing jewellery worth Rs.2.50 lakh he left at the baggage checking system in the morning.

The bag was found at the roller of the X-ray baggage inspection system of west Delhi’s Pratap Nagar Metro station Friday around 7.30 a.m. by CISF constable Mahbub, an official said.

HC slams Delhi Police on women’s safety

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The Delhi High Court Friday slammed Delhi Police, asking why they can’t hire CCTV cameras for the safety of women in the national capital, and sought a comprehensive report on the issue.

A division bench of Justice B.D. Ahmed and Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva said if the government can install cameras for a visiting head of another country, why this cannot be done for the security of women.

Fun, grilling session planned for ‘Bigg Boss…’ finale

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The stage of “Bigg Boss Halla Bol” will turn into a dance set, courtroom and a salon for the final episode of the reality TV show.

As the show inches closer to its finale with the top five contestants — Karishma Tanna, Gautam Gulati, Pritam Singh, Dimpy and Ali Quli Mirza – a lot of special treats and grilling sessions are planned for the contestants.

First, the “Bigg Boss” house will turn into a salon to style the finalists. Actress-producer Malaika Arora Khan has also been roped in to increase the temperature with her sizzling performance. The finalists will also join her.

‘Khatron Ke Khiladi’ sequel is better: Rohit Shetty

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Having hosted the fifth season of reality TV show “Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi”, filmmaker Rohit Shetty is convinced that its “sequel” – the sixth season – is packed with more action and that it’s “better”.

Shetty is also hosting the sixth season, shot with 14 celebrity contestants in the beautiful environs of Cape Town.

At the launch of the new edition here, the “Chennai Express” and “Golmaal” director cited an example, saying how in the film world, people say they that if one’s doing a sequel to an action or comedy film, then it should be bigger than the previous movie.

Sarah Jane happy to have friends in debut video

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Actress Sarah Jane Dias is foraying into indie music and she is delighted that her star friends Arunoday Singh, Sapna Bhavnani and VJ Bani agreed to feature in the music video of her song “Forgot to be me”.

“I have been wanting to make my own music all my life, but I was being patient with the creative process because I think, my personal expression deserved it. ‘Forgot to be me’ would not have been possible without the support of my friends and family.

Youth Congress, BJYM clash: Himachal governor summons DGP

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Himachal Pradesh Governor Kalyan Singh Friday summoned Director General of Police Sanjay Kumar and sought a report on the clash Thursday between activists of the Youth Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha here.

At least 12 activists of both the groups were injured during the Youth Congress’ protest here Thursday against the central government’s land acquisition ordinance.

Official sources told IANS that besides the DGP, the governor summoned Additional Director General S.R. Mardi and Superintendent of Police D.W. Negi, seeking the report on the incident.

Doing show at National Games for free: Mohanlal

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Superstar Mohanlal, who has been condemned for charging a hefty fee for his new musical band at the opening ceremony of the 35th National Games of India, Friday said that he is doing it for free.

“The report that I’ve charged a Rs.2 crore fee for the show is baseless. I have not taken anything as my fees. Instead I have taken only the cost of bringing in numerous singers for the event and if calculated, it’s much less than what is being said,” Mohanlal told reporters here.