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.

Syrian troops recapture key town

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Syrian troops have fully recaptured a key town in the country’s central province of Homs, the Syrian army said Saturday.

The army wrested back control over the town of Zara at the western edge of Homs, Xinhua reported.

The town is strategically important for its location near the borders with Lebanon, making it one of the main smuggling routes for the rebels.

The Syrian army’s victory is the latest in a series of other successful operations, mainly in the northern countryside of the capital Damascus.

Former Andhra minister joins TDP

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Congress leader and former minister Galla Aruna Kumari and her industrialist son Galla Jayadev Saturday joined Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

Aruna Kumari along with her supporters formally joined TDP in the presence of party chief and former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu at the party office here.

The minister for mines in Kiran Kumar Reddy’s cabinet, she said she was hurt by the manner in which the Congress divided Andhra Pradesh and hence decided to quit the party and join the TDP.

Sonia, Rahul in Congress’ first list

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Congress president Sonia Gandhi (Rae Bareli) and vice president Rahul Gandhi (Amethi) figure in the first list of party candidates for the Lok Sabha elections released Saturday.

Apart from the two Gandhis, the list has 192 more names including union ministers Mallikarjun Kharge and Girija Vyas.

Sonia, Rahul in Congress’ first list of 194 candidates (Lead)
(21:18)
New Delhi, March 8 (IANS) Congress president Sonia Gandhi (Rae Bareli) and vice president Rahul Gandhi (Amethi) figure in the first list of party candidates for the Lok Sabha elections released here Saturday.

Illiterate grandmothers now solar power technicians

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They are illiterate and come from non-electrified villages in remote parts of the world. But, besides being all grandmothers, the one thing they all have in common is they are trained solar power technicians now.

At the Barefoot College in Tilonia, Rajasthan, a grandmother from inaccessible areas of the world that lack electricity can enrol for the international solar training course that helps light up their lives and those of others.

Woman must be free to choose career, marriage: Modi

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BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi Saturday said discrimination was a big problem faced by women and called for them to have freedom to make choices about their career and marriage.

Interacting with women from different parts of the country through video conferencing at “Chai pe Charcha (discussion on tea)” at the Bharatiya Janata Party office here, Modi said that there should be more women in legal profession as well as in police.

Italian did not board missing Malaysian airliner

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Italian passenger Luigi Maraldi, who was thought to be on the missing Malaysian Airlines aircraft, is not in the aircraft as his passport was stolen in Thailand last August, local investigators announced Saturday.

The 37-year-old Italian man’s name was on the boarding list furnished by Malaysia Airlines which reported that its flight MH 370 carrying 239 people to Beijing had lost contact with air traffic control about two hours after leaving Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur early Saturday.

Russia ready to continue dialogue with Ukraine

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Saturday his country is willing to continue a dialogue with the Ukrainian authorities on resolving the crisis in the region.

“We are ready to continue the dialogue on the understanding that the dialogue must be honest, partnership-like, without attempts to show us almost as a party to the conflict,” Xinhua quoted Lavrov as saying after talks with his Tajik counterpart, Sirojidin Aslov.

AAP’s Gujarat tour sponsored by Congress: Swamy

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BJP leader Subramanian Swamy Saturday described AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal’s tour of Gujarat as a “sponsored drama” of the Congress.

Swamy, who merged his Janata Party with the BJP some seven months ago, was the chief guest at a meeting here of traders organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

“AAP failed to provide details of their foreign funding to the home ministry. Kejriwal and his team have been busy in Gujarat to escape action by the central government,” he said.

Now Buddhadeb calls for ‘Parivartan’

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Taking a leaf out of his bitter rival Mamata Banerjee’s book, former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Saturday called for “parivartan” or change in West Bengal as he launched a scathing attack on the Trinamool Congress regime over a host of issues.

Addressing a rally in Nadia district’s Ranaghat, Bhattacharjee, a member of the Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo, rubbished Banerjee’s repeated claims of rapid all-round development in the state and accused it of bringing anarchy.

Ted Turner hospitalised

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Media Mogul Ted Turner was hospitalised in Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires Saturday for an appendicitis operation.

Turner was on a visit to his holiday ranch in the Patagonia region when he was admitted to a local clinic Saturday, CNN reported.

The 75-year-old was diagnosed with appendicitis and doctors recommended that he undergo surgery.

Turner was later flown to Buenos Aires for the operation.

Child dies in open manhole: Delhi corporation gets notice

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The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognizance of media reports that a four-year-old boy died after he slipped into an open manhole in Jaitpur in southeast Delhi on Wednesday evening.

The body, however, could be fished out only Thursday morning after rescue work by the Delhi Police and the Delhi Fire Service.

The NHRC observed that the media report, if true, seriously violated the human rights of the child and issued a notice to the Commissioner, South Delhi Municipal Corporation, calling for a report within two weeks.

Lajpat Nagar heist: All 13 accused arrested

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With the arrest of three more people, Delhi Police have solved the more than Rs.7 crore heist that occurred in south Delhi in January, it was said Saturday.

The incident happened Jan 28, in which robbers looted over Rs.7 crore at gun point near the Moolchand flyover.

With the arrest of the three identified as Praveen, Gulzar and Tilak from Mohali (Punjab) following a tip-off, the police have arrested all the 13 involved in the crime.

Serious concerns about terrorism in Pakistan: Foreign secretary

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India has serious concerns about terrorism in Pakistan and there were “harsh realities” in that country which need to be recognized, Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh said Saturday.

“We have to deal with Pakistan in the best manner possible given the fact that we cannot respond to terrorism with terrorism. We are seen as a force for moderation, reason, stability and good sense and that is a huge asset that we should never let go,” Sujatha Singh said at an interaction with women journalists here on the occasion of International Women’s Day.

Special camps for voters Sunday

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The Election Commission will hold special camps across the country Sunday to help voters check if their names are included in the electoral rolls.

The commission’s move comes in wake of the complaints that some people with EPIC (Elector Photo Identity Card) in the past have been denied the right to vote because their names were not found in the electoral rolls.

The camps will be organised in all polling stations, where booth officers will have the electoral rolls displayed.

Delhi law student beaten, dies

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A law student died here Saturday after being beaten up by two other students over a row over parking outside their college, police said. The assailants were arrested.

Ayush, 22, a first year student of a private college in east Delhi, was attacked up by Amit Nagar and Tanuj Tiwari outside the college gate Friday afternoon, police said.

He was taken to a government hospital from where he was referred to another hospital where he died Saturday morning.
(IANS)

Pakistan military says Afghan forces fired 25 mortar rounds

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Pakistan’s military says that Afghan security forces fired over two dozen mortars into its territory Saturday but no one was hurt.

The incident occurred at a time when the execution of 23 Pakistani security personnel by the Pakistani Taliban and the killing of 21 Afghan soldiers in Kunar province increased diplomatic tensions between the neighbors.

Pakistan says that the Pakistani Taliban had executed the security men on the Afghan side of the border last month.

Egypt unveils long-waited presidential election law

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Egypt’s interim President Adli Mansour has approved and issued a long-waited new law regulating the country’s upcoming presidential election, officials said Saturday.

The law, consisting of 60 articles in seven chapters, requires that presidential candidates must be Egyptian and born to Egyptian parents. Neither the candidate nor any of his or her parents or spouse must have nationalities of any other state.

“This step paves the way for the second phase of the future roadmap,” Xinhua quoted Ali Awad, Mansour’s legal and constitutional adviser, as saying.

Mohammedan Sporting hold Mohun Bagan to goal-less draw

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Mohammedan Sporting and Mohun Bagan played out a goalless draw in a round 20 encounter of the Airtel I-League at the Salt Lake Stadium here Saturday.

It was 0-0 back in November as well while two other clashes in other competitions this season also ended all square. The result takes Mohun Bagan’s points tally to 21 points from 19 outings while Mohammedan Sporting are on 17 with two games in hand.

BJP rebels in Himachal to support AAP

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An outfit comprising Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rebels Saturday announced it would support the AAP (Aam Aadmi Party) in all four Lok Sabha seats in Himachal Pradesh for the May 7 polls.

“Our fight is basically against corruption and since AAP is also fighting on the same front, we have decided to extend support to it,” Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP) president Maheshwar Singh told IANS here.

He said his party would neither go back to the BJP nor would support the Congress.

Make poor aware of legal services: Sathasivam

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Chief Justice of India P. Sathasivam Saturday urged the legal fraternity to make the poor aware of the legal services they could avail for a better life.

Speaking at the 12th all-India meet of State Legal Services Authorities here, he observed that the legal officials were duty-bound to ensure the poorest of poor got free legal aid.

Expressing happiness at the initiatives being taken up by different authorities in fulfilling the objective of the provisions, he said prompt delivery of justice had an important role to play in fulfilment of the vision of our constitution.

Rajasthan register first win in national hockey

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Rajasthan beat Gujarat 3-2 in a Group A clash to record their first win in the fourth Hockey India Senior Men National Championship 2014 being played at the Major Dhyan Chand Hockey Stadium here Saturday.

Both teams gave a tough fight to each other in the first half and it was Gujarat who opened the scoring.

Vijay Thapa converted a good pass in the 14th minute of the match to give his team the lead.

Khobragade incident led to misunderstanding with US’

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The Devyani Khobragade incident caused a certain “misunderstanding” in relations but India has “insulated” that issue from the rest of its relationship with America, India’s Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh said here Saturday.

“You are right that the incident relating to Indian diplomat in New York caused certain degree of misunderstanding for a certain period of time and we are discussing the issue of privileges and immunity quite separately,” Sujatha Singh told women journalists at a special event here to mark the International Women’s Day.

Big B credits writers for building his onscreen image

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Film writers often decry absence of due credit, but here was megastar Amitabh Bachchan at a conclave here Friday, glorifying their talent for moulding his profound image as an actor with movies like “Zanjeer” and “Kaala Patthar”.

The 71-year-old thespian was in the capital for a talk on “Cinema as the mirror of society” at the India Today Conclave 2014, and was asked how he managed to bring the society’s pains and pressures so effectively on the screen with his movies.

Two Dec 16 convicts claim innocence in robbery case

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Two men convicted in the Dec 16, 2012 gang rape case and facing trial for allegedly robbing a carpenter on the same day Friday claimed before a court they had not beaten up or robbed the victim in the bus as they were not in the vehicle.

Accused Vinay Sharma, recording his statement before Additional Sessions Judge Daya Prakash, said he had gone to a music event organised by a church in the DDA district park in Hauz Khas of south Delhi.

Akshay Thakur said he was not in the bus since he had left for his village in Bihar, a day prior to the incident.

Mamata forced to nominate cine stars as losing control: Adhir

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Claiming Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee was forced to nominate films stars, singers and footballers as Lok Sabha election candidates as she was losing control of her party, West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Chowdhury Friday said the leaders who fought for years against the Left’s rule have been ignored.

In an apparent reference to Trinamool national general secretary Mukul Roy, Chowdhury said “the political control of Trinamool was now getting concentrated in the hands of a general secretary. Banerjee is losing her grip.