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.

Morgan proud of England’s positives despite loss

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England captain Eoin Morgan is confident his side can take the positives from opening match defeat to Australia into the rest of the tri-Series.

Morgan was happy to see his bowlers put on a good show in defence of England’s 234 runs even though Australia won the first One-Day International (ODI) by three wickets Friday, reports ecb.co.uk.

“We have a lot of positives to take from our bowlers because defending 234 is not easy, particularly with Australia’s batting line-up,” Morgan said.

Chris Woakes (four for 40) received special praise.

Akshay launches campaign to end poverty, inequality

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Actor Akshay Kumar, who is leading Indian celebrity online support for global Action/2015, says the campaign is all about taking action to end poverty and inequality, and providing equal opportunities for all.

India’s leading global ambassadors comprising A-list actors, actresses, directors, award-winning authors, dignitaries and public figures came together in a show of unity Jan 15 to show their support via Twitter and Facebook for the launch of the action/2015 campaign.

Fast track minority schemes: Centre to Maharashtra

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The central government Saturday asked Maharashtra to speed up implementation of minority-related development schemes and utilise central funds allocated for them.

Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said education and skill development schemes must be prioritised for empowering the minorities.

He said the progress card of Maharashtra under various schemes ranged from 30-45 percent – nowhere crossing the halfway mark.

Iran, US resume nuclear negotiations

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Iranian and US negotiators resumed their nuclear talks here Saturday morning, media reported.

The Iranian delegation led by foreign ministry deputy Abbas Araqchi met the American team of negotiators led by Wendy Sherman, IRNA reported.

The two teams held compact and broad discussions Thursday as well.

They will continue the talks Sunday and then foreign ministry deputies of the P5+1 member states would join them for the final meeting.

On Wednesday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met his American counterpart John Kerry in Geneva.

NIA gets four-day custody of Bodo militants

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Three top Bodo militants, who were arrested from Nagaland capital Kohima, were Saturday produced in a court which sent them to four-day custody of the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

The NIA is probing the Dec 23 massacre in three districts of Assam — Kokrajhar, Chirang and Sonitpur — that left over 75 people dead and displaced over two lakh people.

Kallis says Sandhu ready for international cricket

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South African cricket great Jacques Kallis said his Sydney Thunder teammate Gurinder Sandhu, who was drafted into Australia’s One-Day International (ODI) squad for the tri-series against England and India, had proven he possessed the skills required to perform at the international level.

When rain reduced last Monday’s Thunder-Strikers match to 10 overs the Thunder’s attack wasn’t spared punishment. The 30,000-strong crowd was bombarded by 10 towering sixes, many of which went high into the stands, and left scorers struggling to keep up with the action, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.

India, US to collaborate on ‘Digital India’ initiative

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India and the US have agreed to strengthen collaboration between the two governments and the private sector in the field of information and communications technology (ICT) that would help in implementation of the ‘Digital India’ programme.

The meeting of the US-India ICT Working Group, which promotes development in the ICT sector for mutual benefit, was held in Washington Jan 14-15.

Air Kerala services to be launched soon in state: Chandy

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The Kerala government will soon launch domestic services of its proposed airline “Air Kerala” for fulfilling the mandatory requirement of the country’s civil aviation norm stipulating five year domestic operations before international flight services, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said Friday.

Chhattisgarh cabinet approves new industrial policy

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The Chhattisgarh cabinet Friday endorsed new industrial policy for 2014-19 at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Raman Singh.

Briefing media persons about the cabinet decisions, Singh said that the policy includes the provision of subsidy worth Rs.5 crore for establishing an industrial park in the private sector. Provision of establishing ‘Land Bank’ of over 10,000 hectares for various industries has also been included in the policy, he added.

AIIMS, JNU to jointly launch journal on cardiovascular sciences

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In a bid to bridge the gap between practical and theoretical aspects of cardiovascular sciences, AIIMS in collaboration with Jawaharlal Nehru University here will launch a lab journal, it was announced Friday.

The journal named ‘Practice of Cardiovascular Sciences’ will also focus on improving the teaching methods and clinical implementation of the subject in every medical colleges in India.

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) will collaborate with JNU’s School of Life Sciences.

Woman terror suspect arrested at Britain airport

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An 18-year-old woman was arrested Friday at Britain’s Stansted Airport on suspicion of terrorism offences, London’s Metropolitan Police said Friday.

The woman was arrested at the airport by Britain’s Counter Terrorism Command, also known as SO15, at 4 p.m. Friday,
Xinhua reported citing the statement.

The suspect was then put in custody and taken to a local police station for further investigation.

The airport is an international airport about 48 km northeast of central London.

(IANS)

Centre in Jaipur to promote financial literacy

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A training centre to promote financial literacy, banking, insurance skills and entrepreneurship would soon be set up in Rajasthan, an official statement said Friday.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) for this purpose was signed Friday between the state government and BSE Institute Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of BSE Ltd.

Rajasthan Skill and Livelihoods Development Corporation (RSLDC) managing director Gaurav Goyal and BSE Institute CEO Ambarish Datta signed the MoU in the presence of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.

RSLDC is a government of Rajasthan enterprise.

Plunging crude pulls RIL Q3 net down over 7 percent

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The Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL) Friday reported a 7.7 percent fall in net profit at Rs.5,085 crore ($822 million) for the third quarter ended December as compared to Rs.5,511 crore in same quarter of 2013-14, caused by a steep fall in global oil prices.

Crude has touched a five-and-a half-year low from levels of over $100 a barrel in June to below $45 earlier this week, leading to inventory losses and lukewarm buyer interest, that affected the company’s refining operations, the company said in a statement here.

Japanese foreign minister meets PM

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Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida Friday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi who reiterated that India-Japan relationship is close to his heart and he attaches the highest importance to it.

Modi also referred to his close personal friendship with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Rae Morris keen to collaborate with Chris Martin

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English singer-songwriter Rae Morris hopes to collaborate with Coldplay frontman Chris Martin in future.

Morris expressed her wish to work with Martin, during an interview with The Sun newspaper, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

“I was over the moon to hear he likes my music as I am a massive Coldplay fan. I’d never turn down that opportunity (to collaborate with him) — he is one of the most amazing songwriters there is,” she said.

Though she’s yet to work with Martin, Morris is gearing up for the release of her debut album “Unguarded” later this month.

Suspected bomber abandons bomb-laden van in Nigeria

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A suspected bomber Friday abandoned a explosive-laden pick-up van at a police check point in northeast Nigeria.

The suspect fled to an unknown destination after a failed attempt to detonate the improvised explosive devices at the check point, Xinhua reported.

An eyewitness said Friday that the suspected bomber had concealed the devices with bags of maize, house utensils, bedding and other items.

He was said to be driving from Gombe, a city in the northeastern state of Gombe, to Dadin Kowa-Biu in Borno state.

Oldest Briton dies aged 114

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The last Briton born during the reign of Queen Victoria died at the age of 114, media reported Friday.

A spokesperson of the Water Royd House, a nursing home where Ethel Lang lived in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, confirmed that she passed away Thursday morning.

Reports said Ethel Lang, born in Barnsley May 27, 1900, had lived through six monarchs, 22 prime ministers and two world wars. She also witnessed the invention of the radio, television, computer and the internet.

Government has to monitor shelter home scheme, SC

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The Supreme Court Friday told the government that it could not take the position that after allocating funds to states for setting up shelter homes, it was not its burden to see if the funds were actually spent for welfare of homeless people.

“It is a scheme by you. You can’t say it is on paper and you don’t care how it is implemented,” said the social justice bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit.

US, British leaders oppose extra sanctions on Iran

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US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron warned Friday that extra sanctions on Iran would derail the ongoing efforts to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons.

“We agree that the international community needs to remain united as we seek a comprehensive, diplomatic solution to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons,” Xinhua quoted Obama as saying at a joint press conference in White House with Cameron.

“Additional sanctions on Iran at this time would undermine that international unity and set back our chances for a diplomatic solution.”

President assigns additional charge to governors

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President Pranab Mukherjee Friday allotted Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki additional charge of Punjab and of Chandigarh administrator and Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh additional charge of Himachal Pradesh, a Rashtrapati Bhavan statement said.

Solanki gets the additional responsibility as incumbent Shivraj V. Patil completes his tenure Jan 21.

In Himachal, Urmila Singh’s gubernatorial tenure ends Jan 24.

(IANS)

Security upped for Obama visit, Delhi Police warns of aerial threats

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Delhi Police Friday asked their counterparts in northern states to keep a watch on open areas for flying of para gliders and micro-light aircraft and share any terror-related information as security arrangements for US President Barack Obama’s forthcoming visit are being put in top gear.

While Delhi police held a meeting with officials from northern states, 1informed sources said that a team of US Secret Service held meeting with Indian security agencies at the ministry of external affairs here to discuss the security arrangements.

‘Ek Soch’ programme for young business aspirants launched in Varanasi

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A platform of resources and mentorship to skill local young business aspirants and scale up their potential to promote self-sustaining entrepreneurship with a social impact was launched here Friday.

A collaborative venture of the Deshpande Foundation with Ek Soch Foundation, a social initiative of the Delhi-based Spice Mobility Ltd, “Ek Soch Sandbox” is a platform for the youth to develop a business model that funds itself while seeking to serve a social cause.

Modi pitches for making India a $20 trillion economy

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday called for making India a $20 trillion economy, while stressing laws must evolve with time and his government had taken several initiatives towards “transforming India”.

Addressing the Economic Times Global Business Summit here, Modi said that small acts can drive reforms and there was no contradiction between doing big-ticket items and small things.

He laid emphasis on cohesiveness of society and said there was need to cut leakage of subsidies and not the subsidies themselves.

Two held in Gurgaon for demanding extortion money

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Two people were arrested here Friday for demanding Rs.20 lakh as extortion money, police said.

Nitin Panwar, 26, and Dhananjay, 30, demanded the extortion money from the owner of a software development agency.

Dhananjay, who hails from Baghpat area in Uttar Pradesh, has worked as a driver at the agency owner’s house for the last three years, a police officer said.

Panwar hails from Prahladpur area in Delhi.

“Panwar and Dhananjay threatened to kill the daughter of the agency owner if their demanded was not met,” the officer said.

(IANS)

Hyderabadi Youth arrested at Shamshabad Airpot

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Cyberabad Police have arrested Salman Mohiuddin 32 years Son of Ahmed Mohiuddin resident of Bazarghat,an Engineering Graduate and US returnee when he was on his way to Dubai and then from there to Syria via Turkey to join Islamic State (ISIS). During his stay in US, he came in touch with one lady by name Nicky Joseph @ Nicky @ Nicole @ Ayesha, a British national and a neo Muslim based in Dubai who had a fundamentalist leaning towards Islam.