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.

‘Good business driving force behind Indo-US relations’

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Former Indian and US diplomats Friday held business as a force to drive the two economies, a signal US President Barack Obama must send out in his bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi later this month.

While a rising China, terrorism and cyber warfare were the issues that dotted their bilateral concerns, there was a strong consensus among American panelists that the rise of India as a global power is in the interest of their country, and Obama must extend partnership in order to make India self-reliant in trade and business.

All decks cleared for Vikram-starrer ‘I’

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Picturehouse Media Ltd announced Friday that all issues between them and the makers of forthcoming Tamil Vikram-starrer “I” have been amicably settled and they wholeheartedly support the release of the film Jan 14.

“Issues whatsoever were only business oriented and it was mutually discussed and we arrived on a compromise on the best interest of the film industry. We wish the film, the artistes, the technicians, the producers and the exhibitors best of success,” said a statement from Picturehouse Media.

A president, politicians, businesspersons among 15 diaspora members honoured

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The list of 15 diaspora members honoured with the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman here Friday includes a president, politicians, prominent businesspersons and scientists who have all worked for the Indian diaspora community in their respective countries.

Vice President Hamid Ansari gave away the Samman, the highest honour conferred on overseas Indians,Aduring the valedictory function of the 13th PravasiBharatiya Divas Friday evening at the Mahatma Mandir convention centre.

Bengal minister urges Jadavpur students to end fast, one hospitalised

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Even as West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee appealed to a section of Jadavpur University students to end their indefinite hunger strike, a fasting agitator was rushed to the hospital late Friday after his health deteriorated.

Shibam Ghosh, a third year engineering science student, is one of the 12 students who began a hunger strike Monday pressing for the removal of Vice Chancellor Abhijit Chakrabarti.

Gautam Khaitan gets bail in chopper deal case

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A court here Friday granted bail to businessman Gautam Khaitan accused in a money laundering case related to the AgustaWestland VIP chopper deal.

Granting bail to Khaitan, the Central Bureau of Investigation Special Judge V.K. Gupta directed him to furnish a personal bond of Rs.10 lakh and two sureties of the like amount.

The judge ordered Khaitan to surrender his passport, not to leave the country without prior permission of the court and not to tamper with the evidence in the case.

AirAsia crash: Search personnel fail to lift plane’s tail

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A senior official at Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) Friday said the operation to lift the tail of the crashed AirAsia plane was hindered by heavy weather.

“The efforts are yet to succeed due to strong undersea stream and low visibility suffered by the divers as weather has changed fiercely at the location,” Director of Operation and Training of Basarna, S.B. Supriyadi told Xinhua news agency over phone.

Bullet train in France evacuated over terror threat

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French bullet train operator TGV had to evacuate all the passengers from a Paris-Lyon train Friday after a customer, a Syrian immigrant, said that he was a terrorist.

The incident occurred when the train was passing Saone-et-Loire. The man spoke in English to a British couple sitting next to him and told them he was a refugee from Syria and his country was going to attack Britain soon.

The couple reported his words to the train attendants

Melbourne airport terminal closed due to security threat

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A domestic terminal of the Melbourne Airport was closed Friday due to a security alert.

According to the spokeswoman for the airport, Terminal 4, which is specifically for Tigerair, was closed and evacuated at 9 p.m. after the alert was received, leaving several flights of the company disrupted.

“We are responding to a security alert that’s directed specifically at Tiger Airways at Melbourne Airport,” Xinhua news agency quoted the spokeswoman as saying.

Except the flights of Tigerair, all other flights were operating normally, the airport said.

Six killed in eastern Ukraine fighting

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At least six people were killed and 15 others wounded over the past one day when fierce fighting erupted between government troops and independence-seeking insurgents in eastern Ukraine, authorities said Friday.

Among the victims, two were civilians killed in the crossfire in Donetsk, an industrial city on the Kalmius river. Seven other residents were wounded in artillery shelling in four districts of the city, Xinhua news agency reported citing a city council statement.

Sunanda’s friend questioned, Tharoor, 11 others to be quizzed: Police

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A friend of Sunanda Pushkar, who had dropped her to a south Delhi hotel from the airport, has been questioned in connection with her murder, Delhi Police said Friday , adding 12 more people including her husband Shashi Tharoor will soon be questioned.

Sunil Trakru, a businessman and a close friend of Pushkar, has been questioned twice, a few days before the registration of FIR (first information report) Jan 4, a police officer told IANS.

Ozbey brace helps Dempo enter Fed Cup final

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Dempo SC rode on Australian striker Tolgay Ozbey’s brace to march into the finals of the Federation Cup football tournament after beating local rivals Salgaocar FC 2-0 in the first semi-final here Friday.

Ozbey scored in both halves, with his first coming from a deflection and the second of a spot-kick. Salgaocar got their best chance in the second half through Ivory Coast striker Douhou Pierre but the former Pune FC man failed to score.

Salgaocar missed their injured Scottish striker Darryl Duffy. His replacement Brian Mascarenhas found the shoe too big to fill.

Fog spikes Akhilesh Yadav’s date with NRIs in Gujarat

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Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav Friday missed his date with non-resident Indians (NRIs) at the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas Sammelan 2015 underway in Gujarat, due to dense fog and poor visibility at Saifai airport.

Yadav was to chair the UP session at the convention and the UP government had made elaborate arrangements for the event.

Many officials were camping in Gujarat for the past many days coordinating meeting of NRI businessmen with Akhilesh Yadav.

Iran ready to ease visa requirements

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A senior Iranian official Friday said Iran is ready to revoke visa requirements for visitors from other countries if the latter do the same, media reported.

“The Islamic republic of Iran is prepared to waive visa (requirements) or facilitate the process of issuing visas for all countries, especially our neighbours, if they take similar action,” Hassan Qashqavi, Iranian deputy foreign minister for consular, parliamentary and Iranian expatriates affairs, said.

Will give full statehood to Delhi: BJP

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Delhi will get full statehood if the BJP comes to power, a party leader said Friday.

Speaking to reporters at the Ramlila Maidan here ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Saturday rally, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Prabhat Jha said: “We had promised in our manifesto that we will give full statehood to Delhi but for that we have to come to power.”

In the run up to the Lok Sabha elections last year, Modi had promised to grant full statehood to Delhi after coming to power. The promise was also a part of manifesto of the Delhi BJP in the 2013 assembly polls.

Tech Mahindra to acquire Swiss firm

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Tech Mahindra, one of India’s leading software service companies, Friday announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Swiss firm SOFGEN Holdings Limited, which specializes in private, wealth, commercial and retail banking solutions.

The transaction is expected to close by March 2015, subject to regulatory approvals, the two companies said in a joint statement. They, however, have not revealed the size of the transaction.

Dutt at home with family, awaits furlough decision

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Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, who went to Yerawada jail in Pune on the end of his 14-day furlough but did not surrender and returned home Thursday, is at home here with his family, awaiting a decision on his request for its extension, his lawyer said.

“The authorities have yet to inform us on his application seeking extension of furlough leave. Till then, he is at home in Mumbai,” lawyer Hitesh Jain told IANS.

Sirisena takes oath as president, Ranil is PM

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Maithripala Sirisena was sworn in as Sri Lanka’s new president Friday evening, hours after defeating Mahinda Rajapaksa in the presidential election.

Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe took oath as the prime minister, reports Xinhua.

“I extend special thanks to President Rajapaksa who allowed me to be appointed the next president and assured a peaceful transition of power,” Sirisena said.

“To all those who did or did not support me, I hereby request them not to instigate any violence. The honour of this victory is in maintaining peace,” he said.

(IANS)

Governor’s rule imposed in Jammu and Kashmir

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Governor’s rule was imposed in Jammu and Kashmir Friday after polls left a hung assembly and political parties failed to cobble together a coalition government.

Governor N.N. Vohra imposed the six-month’s of governor’s rule under section 92 of the Jammu and Kashmir constitution, officials said.

“After receiving concurrence from the president, under section 92 (5) of the Jammu and Kashmir constitution, Vohra issued a proclamation under section 92 (1) of the constitution to impose governor’s rule in the state,” a Raj Bhavan release here said Friday.

Australia hopeful of FTA with India in 2015

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Australian Trade Minister Andrew Robb said Friday “despite India’s infamous bureaucracy and protectionism”, he is hopeful of securing a high quality free trade agreement (FTA) with India by the end of this year.

Robb, ahead of his visit to India Jan 9-16, said Australia’s trade relationship with India is a fraction of what it could be, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported.

He will be joined by 450 government and business representatives.

Industry debt levels to go up after telecom airwaves auction: ICRA

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The upcoming spectrum auction in February will set the course for the future of the industry but the sizeable expected spectrum payouts would elevate the debt levels for the industry, rating agency ICRA said here Friday.

“Total spectrum payout is expected to be Rs.90,000 crore-Rs.96,000 crore and the upfront cash inflow for government of India this fiscal is expected to be at Rs.24,000 crore to Rs.26,000 crore,” said Sabyasachi Majumdar, senior vice-president, ICRA Limited.

Burdwan blast: NIA custody of three accused extended

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A city court Friday extended, by five days, the NIA custody of three accused in the sensational Burdwan blast case.

Sahanur Alam, Rafiqul Islam and Safiqul Islam, who were earlier nabbed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from Assam, were presented before the chief judge of Bankshall court, Mohammad Mumtaz Khan who remanded them to NIA custody till Jan 13.

The accidental blast took place inside a house in Khagragarh in Burdwan Oct 2 killing two Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, Bangladesh (JMB) militants and injuring another.

Chinese president congratulates Sri Lanka’s Sirisena

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Chinese President Xi Jinping Friday sent a congratulatory message to Maithripala Sirisena on his election as Sri Lanka’s new head of state, pledging to promote the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries.

In the message, Xi said China and Sri Lanka were traditional friendly neighbours, and relations between the two countries have withstood the test of time since the establishment of diplomatic ties, becoming a paradigm of friendly coexistence and mutually beneficial cooperation between neighboring countries, Xinhua newes agency reported.

Five hostages taken in Paris supermarket

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The perpetrator of Thursday’s Montrouge shooting is suspected of having taken five hostages at Porte de Vincennes in southern Paris, after firing gunshots around 3 p.m. Friday, media reported.

According to the report, the hostages were taken in a kosher supermarket at Porte de Vincennes, 20th Arrondissement, south Paris. At least one person is injured, Xinhua news agency reported citing BFMTV.