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.

Tennis star Bouchard happy with performance

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World No.7 Eugenie Bouchard expressed satisfaction at the way she controlled the game and demolished her opponent, the Netherlands’ Kiki Bertens, 6-0 6-3 at the Australian Open here Wednesday.

The Canadian tennis star advanced to the third round of the women’s singles with the win.

“I was happy with the way I was able to step in and control the points, whether I did the winner or she did the error,” Bouchard was quoted as saying by news.com.au Wednesday.

“In the end I think that’s how I want to play.”

Palestinian stabs nine people on bus in Israel

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At least nine people were injured Wednesday when a Palestinian man stabbed bus passengers in Tel Aviv, Israel police said.

The incident took place when a 23-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank, who has not been identified, attacked the passengers on a bus running in the southern area of the city, said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.

Police shot the attacker in the leg and arrested him.

“Police officers are patrolling in Tel Aviv to prevent any further attacks,” Rosenfeld said on Twitter.

I dwelt too much on my mistakes: Sharapova

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Russian tennis ace Maria Sharapova Wednesday said she was dwelling too much on her mistakes instead of playing positively which led to her being stretched against Russian Alexandra Panova in the second round of the Australian Open.

World No.2 Sharapova survived the scare to clinch the encounter 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 at the Melbourne Park here.

“I think I was dwelling too much on my mistakes, what I was doing wrong, not really being in the present, something that I’m really usually good at,” Sharapova was quoted as saying by news.com.au.

‘Dirty Politics’ will set new trend: Director

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Filmmaker K.C. Bokadia believes that his upcoming film “Dirty Politics” will bring a new trend in Hindi cinema.

“We all tried hard to make this a good film and I’m very confident that ‘Dirty Politics’ will create the same sensation as my first film ‘Pyaar Jhukta Nahin’ did in 1985,” Bokadia said during the music launch of his new film here Tuesday.

“I’m also very confident that after this film there will be a trend change in Hindi cinema. People will become more serious about making films,” he added.

Bihar CM meets communal clash victims

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Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi Wednesday visited Muzaffarpur district’s Azizpur village, where three days ago a mob killed five people triggering a communal clash.

“All possible help would be provided to the affected people. Now peace has returned to the village and there is no fear or tension,” Manjhi said while interacting with the victims. He was accompanied by state police chief P.K. Thakur.

Manjhi also announced that a police station will be set up in the village.

Tisca Chopra to co-write two films

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Actress Tisca Chopra, who has proved her versatility as an actress and whose debut book “Acting Smart” is much talked about, says she is co-writing two films of different genres.

After being a success as an author of a book for Bollywood aspirants, one wondered if the “Taare Zameen Par” and “Qissa” actress is contemplating using her writing skills for movies.

When asked about it, she told IANS: “Yes. There are talks going on a few things…it takes time. Along with my acting, I am also working on that (writing). Hopefully, soon things will fall into place.”

‘Deewaar’ most perfect script: Big B on film’s 40 years

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Amitabh Bachchan-starrer “Deewaar” hit the screens 40 years back and the megastar has thanked its scriptwriters Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar for the “perfect script”.

The movie, which revolves around two brothers — a policeman and a criminal — also stars Shashi Kapoor in the lead.

“40 years! 40 years ago, this day, DEEWAR was released!! 21st Jan 1975. Thank you Salim-Javed Saheb for the most perfect script,” Big B tweeted Wednesday.

The film, directed by Yash Chopra, is considered to be one of the most iconic movies in Hindi filmdom.

But throwing costs Singapore man $14,776

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He routinely threw his cigarette buts out his Singapore apartment window, and caught in the act 34 times has now got it back in the butt – figuratively.

The Singapore man has been fined a hefty 19,800 Singapore dollars ($14,776) and sentenced to five hours of corrective work for high-rise littering, Xinhua reported.

It is believed to be the highest fine till date for the high-rise littering in Singapore, the National Environment Agency said Wednesday.

Mallika Sherawat confident of image change with ‘Dirty Politics’

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Actress Mallika Sherawat believes that after watching her work in upcoming film “Dirty Politics”, filmmakers will start offering her performance-oriented roles.

“This happens only few times in a career of an actor…when they are offered roles which are glamorous as well as performance-oriented. ‘Dirty Politics’ is a mixture of both,” Mallika said at the film’s music launch here Tuesday.

She has high hopes from the movie, which is directed by K.C. Bokadia.

Messi motivates me to scale greater heights: Ronaldo

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Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo Wednesday said his fiercest rival FC Barcelona forward Lionel Messi motivates him to reach greater heights.

Messi and Ronaldo are widely considered to be the two best footballers of contemporary times.

They have, together, won the prestigious FIFA Ballon D’ Or annual award, given to the best footballer of the planet, for the last seven years with Messi claiming it a record four times. Ronaldo is the current holder of the trophy.

43 civilians killed in Syria airstrike

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At least 43 people were killed in an airstrike by the Syrian army on the outskirts of the northeastern town of Tel Hamis, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said Wednesday.

SOHR director Rami Abdel Rahman said he expected the toll in the strike carried out late Tuesday to increase as there were several people with serious injuries.

According to the observatory, over the past three months the Syrian authorities loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have launched 5,012 attacks on civilian targets and at least 1,057 people, including 239 children, have died in the airstrikes.

‘Facebook friend’ accused of raping Gurgaon woman

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A 19-year-old woman here has accused a 22-year-old man of raping her after befriending her on social network Facebook, police said Wednesday.

The woman filed a police complaint against Rajan Malhotra of Delhi’s Nangloi area. Malhotra is yet to be arrested.

“We became friends through Facebook and decided to marry. Malhotra came to Gurgaon and raped me in a hotel on several occasions,” the woman said in her police complaint.

She filed the complaint after the man allegedly deleted his Facebook account and his mobile phone number was also not traceable, police said.

Nepal to miss constitution deadline amid continuing confusion

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Nepali lawmakers were Wednesday set to miss a self-imposed deadline for promulgation of the country’s new constitution after the various political parties failed to reach a consensus on key issues eluding a resolution.

Jan 22 was the deadline the lawmakers imposed upon themselves last year in the wake of the election to the second Constituent Assembly (CA) after the first CA — elected for a two-year term — failed in the Himalayan task from May 28, 2008 to May 28, 2012.

UN worker kidnapped in CAR by militants

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A United Nations staffer in the Central African Republic (CAR) was kidnapped near Bangui airport Tuesday by the Anti-Balaka Christian militant group, Xinhua reported citing sources.

On Monday, the militants also took two charity workers in the capital Bangui – a 67 year-old French woman and a local. A source said negotiations are on between the government and the anti-Balaka but there has been no headaway so far.

Another source said the kidnapping was meant to force the release of an anti-Balaka leader whom UN peacekeepers recently arrested.

Obama may finally see Taj Mahal this time

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US President Barack Obama, who could not visit the Taj Mahal during his 2010 India visit due to paucity of time, may not like to miss the 17th century monument of love at least this time when he arrives in the country for the 66th Republic Day.

Sources indicated Tuesday that a Plan B is being drawn up should the sky not be clear and the inclement weather makes a flight to Agra difficult. “In that case the US president may come via the Yamuna Expressway to Agra.”

ICC aims to tone down disrespectful behaviour, sledging

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The International Cricket Council (ICC) is aiming to tone down on-field disrespectful behaviour and sledging during the World Cup which commences in Australia and New Zealand Feb 14.

“Over the last six months, or even going back further to the last Ashes series, there have been too many examples of player behaviour going too far and overstepping the boundaries of acceptabilities. The amount of sledging and disrespect shown by players to each other was bad,” ICC chief executive David Richardson said in a statement Tuesday.

BJP will blame Bedi for defeat in Delhi polls: Kejriwal

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AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal Tuesday said the BJP has already conceded defeat in the Delhi assembly polls, and would blame its chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi for its loss.

Addressing a public rally in Krishna Nagar constituency, where the BJP has fielded Bedi, the former chief minister said: “When they will lose in the polls, they will say that it was because of Kiran Bedi.”

The Aam Aadmi Party chief said Bedi, who joined the BJP last week and has been declared its chief ministerial candidate for Delhi, has joined the party to be “trapped”.

Lawrence, Martin enjoy ‘friendly’ candlelit dinner

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Actress Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Martin were spotted looking “very friendly” during a candlelit dinner date at an Italian restaurant here.

“The Hunger Games” actress and Coldplay frontman, who first started dating last summer, are said to have ordered a number of dishes and shared a dessert while sitting at a candlelit table for almost two hours after entering the eatery through the back door last week.

“They looked happy and just focused on each other. They were smiling, talking and very friendly,” a source told People magazine.

Kiran Bedi’s hoarding vandalised outside BJP office

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Hours after former IPS officer Kiran Bedi was declared BJP’s chief ministerial candidate for the Feb 7 Delhi assembly polls, a hoarding of her along with party president Satish Upadhyay was vandalised outside the Delhi BJP headquarters Monday night.

Some vandals had cut out the faces of Bedi and Upadhyay from the hoarding that was put up outside the office of Bharatiya Janata Party’s state unit at 14, Pandit Pant Marg. Bedi joined the party Jan 15.

Sharon Osbourne terrified of Alzheimer’s disease

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Singer Ozzy Osbourne’s wife Sharon says that she is ‘terrified’ that she will die from Alzheimer’s disease like her father.

The former “X Factor” judge’s music mogul father Don Arden passed away in 2007 at an age of 81 after battling with the disease.

“I was terrified because my dad died from Alzheimer’s. It is the most soul-destroying disease. To see someone you love come down with it… it’s wicked, it really is.

Bangladesh blocks more online apps for security

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A day after Bangladesh blocked internet calling and messaging services Viber and Tango for “security reasons”, the authorities Monday blocked WhatsApp, mypeople and Line on the same grounds.

A Bangladesh Telecommunication and Regulatory Commission (BTRC) official, who preferred not to be named, confirmed the government’s decision to Xinhua.

The authorities said subversive activities, including bomb and arson attacks, were carried out by miscreants using such services during the opposition alliance’s countrywide non-stop blockade since Jan 6.

BJP fields Nupur Sharma against Kejriwal

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The BJP Monday fielded a young party member, Nupur Sharma, to take on Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi seat and declared former Congress leader Krishna Tirath as its nominee from Patel Nagar in its first list of 62 candidates for the Delhi assembly polls.

The list was declared after a meeting of party’s central election committee and parliamentary board.

(IANS)

Focus on climate change must shift to ‘green credit’: Modi

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday called for greater emphasis on generating and conserving clean energy as opposed to staying focused on cutting down carbon emissions alone.

Chairing the first meeting of a reconstituted high-level climate panel, attended by union ministers Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu, Uma Bharti and Prakash Javadekar among others, Modi asked for “a paradigm shift in global attitudes towards climate change, from ‘carbon credit’, towards ‘green credit'”.

Greece to deport terror suspect to Belgium

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Police in Greece announced Monday that an Algerian who was arrested here Sunday on charges of planning terrorist activities in Belgium, will be deported to Brussels.

The 33-year-old Algerian was arrested under a European Arrest Warrant issued by the Belgian authorities, Xinhua reported.

The suspect “was spotted Jan 17 after request for assistance from the Belgian authorities to the Greek police”, a press release issued by the Greek Public Order Ministry said.

Greek officials did not elaborate on the charges against him.

Navy chief in Mauritius on four-day visit

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Indian Navy chief Admiral R.K. Dhowan Monday reached Mauritius to explore new avenues of defence cooperation and strengthen military ties.

During his four-day visit, Admiral Dhowan will meet senior government and defence officials.

A defence ministry release said that Dhowan and his Mauritius counterpart will inaugurate “data flow of the information exchange” concerning merchant marine.

The release said India and Mauritius share centuries old religious and linguistic bonds.