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.

BSF trooper killed by Bangladeshi smugglers

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A BSF trooper was Thursday killed by Bangladeshi cattle smugglers near the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district, an official said.

The incident took place in the early hours of Thursday when a Border Security Force party was attacked by the gang of about 150 Bangladeshi cattle smugglers who had forcefully entered Indian territory near the Khalsi border outpost.

“Constable Rashikul Mondal sustained injuries in his right eye when the smugglers fired at the BSF party. They also fired at a BSF vehicle which was carrying reinforcements,” a BSF official said.

Swine flu claims fourth life in Delhi

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A 30-year-old man became the fourth victim of swine flu Thursday while eight fresh cases of the disease were reported in the national capital, a health official said.

The patient died of swine flu at a private hospital in east Delhi.

“The youth’s condition was extremely serious and he also was constantly on ventilation. He died Thursday morning,” an senior official from the health department told IANS.

Sanjay Dutt to return to jail

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Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt will return to Yerawada Central Jail in Pune Thursday evening after authorities rejected his application to extend his furlough.

Dutt left his Mumbai home to report back to the jail at the end of his 14-day-long furlough Thursday.

The 55-year-old, who is currently serving a five-year jail term since nearly 18 months, had applied for the furlough in November.

During his leave of absence from the jail, Dutt spent time with his family — wife Maanyata, son Shahraan and daughter Iqra — as well as his string of friends from the Hindi film fraternity.

Paris killers located in northern France

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The two gunmen who massacred 12 people at the office of French satirical magazine “Charlie Hebdo” have been located in northern France and they are heavily armed, the media reported.

They were seen in a grey Clio car in Aisne, a department in the Picardy region, Xinhua reported. The manager of a gas station near Villers-Cotteret was quoted as saying that he “surely recognised the two men”.

No celebrations on North Korean leader’s birthday

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North Korea was quiet Thursday despite it being the birthday of supreme leader Kim Jong-un, an event that was not covered by the state media in contrast to those of his predecessors.

According to experts cited by the South Korean news agency Yonhap, Thursday has not been declared a holiday — as it was on the birthdays of Kim Jong-un’s father and grandfather — and no celebratory mood was apparent in the nation.

Akali Dal urges Rajnath to release Sikh prisoners; BJP differs

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Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal Thursday urged union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to get released 13 Sikh prisoners, mostly Khalistani terrorists and supporters, who were “languishing” in prisons despite completing their sentences.

But the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which runs the central government, differed on this issue with the Akali Dal, its alliance partner in Punjab.

SpiceJet denies receiving credit from OMCs

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Budget passenger carrier SpiceJet has denied receiving any credit from oil marketing companies (OMCs) and said it is working on a funding plan.

SpiceJet’s Chief Operating Officer Sanjiv Kapoor said late Wednesday night that the company had not received any credit from OMCs.

“No credit was received from oil cos (OMCs). All funding is from own sources,” Kapoor said.

“We certainly have a revival plan. We have been executing on it. The funding plan is what is being worked on.”

On Dec 26, the airline had submitted a revival plan to the civil aviation ministry.

Bangladesh judge’s ancestral home burnt hours after judgment

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Within hours of his ordering a ban on reporting Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Tarique Rahman’s speeches and statements in the media, Justice Qazi Rezaul Haque’s ancestral house was set on fire by miscreants.

Haque’s nephew Rommel said unidentified persons set fire to the kitchen in his uncle’s ancestral house at Feni district, in the country’s southeast, early Thursday, bdnews24.com reported.

No one was injured in the fire, Rommel said.

Dia on first visit to Hyderabad post-wedding

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Actress-producer Dia Mirza is currently in her childhood home in Hyderabad with her husband Sahil Sangha. This is her first visit to the city since her wedding.

The actress tied the knot with Sangha in October last year.

“I am in Hyderabad for a few days visiting family and friends. It’s always lovely to come back here and what better time than the beginning of the year,” she said in a statement.

“Incidentally, I started the beginning of the year in Hyderabad last year as well shooting for ‘Bobby Jasoos’, which brings back some great memories,” she added.

(IANS)

Two militants killed in Assam

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Two militants belonging to the Karbi People’s Liberation Tigers (KPLT) were Thursday killed during an operation by army and police in Assam, the defence ministry said.

The gun battle took place in Karbi Anglong district, it said in a statement.

“Based on specific information regarding presence of some KPLT terrorists, the army and police team laid multiple ambushes in the thickly forested and extremely difficult terrain in the district today (Thursday),” it said.

The statement also said two pistols and one revolver were recovered from their possession.

Aishwarya Rai happy at dropping the bikini at Miss World

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Indian actress and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai has lauded the organisers of the international beauty pageant for removing the swimsuit round from their competition. She says when she won the crown in 1994, she herself didn’t have the “fittest beach body”.

In December 2014, Julia Morley, chairwoman of the Miss World contest, announced their decision about the exclusion of the bikini round, saying that “it doesn’t do anything for the woman. And it doesn’t do anything for any of us”.

Aishwarya has said she was “very happy” to know of the development.

Pervez Musharraf’s treason case adjourned to Feb 18

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A Pakistan court Thursday adjourned the hearing of a treason case against former president Pervez Musharraf to Feb 18.

A three-member court, headed by Justice Faisal Arab of the Sindh High Court (SHC), resumed the hearing during which Musharraf’s lawyer presented his arguments, Dawn online reported.

The prosecuting lawyer pleaded to the bench that while the decision of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against Musharraf might stand, the special court be allowed to function.

Seven killed in Iraq suicide attacks

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At least seven people were killed and 30 others wounded in two suicide bomb attacks in and near Iraq’s capital Baghdad Thursday, a police source said.

In one of the attacks, a suicide bomber drove his explosives-laden car into a police checkpoint in the town of Yousifiyah, some 25 km south of the capital, leaving five people dead and some 20 others wounded, the source told Xinhua news agency on condition of anonymity.

Several policemen were among the casualties of the blast which destroyed several nearby civilian cars, the source said.

Ishpreet wins National Sub-Junior Snooker title

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Maharastra’s Ishpreet Chadha clinched the Sub-Junior Snooker title beating Shobhit Sethi of Punjab at the National Billiards and Snooker Championship here Tuesday.

Chadha defeated Sethi in straight frames 46-42, 71-31, 67-04.

Groomed by former world number seven Arun Agarwal, the Mumbai boy set the final ablaze with his stick play and seemed to sight the balls immaculately from the start.

Delhi has 8 lakh fake voters, BJP may be behind it: AAP

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There are around eight lakh fake voters in poll-bound Delhi which endangers free and fair elections in the capital, the AAP said Tuesday and accused the BJP of being behind the “scam”.

Addressing a press conference here, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal said his party conducted an independent verification exercise of Delhi’s voters list and found 3,96,914 voters had 11,50,509 voter identity cards.

“This is a humongous figure. It means that each of these voters have three to four voter identity cards. Something needs to be done,” the former Delhi chief minister said.

Flight diversions at IGI Airport gets reduced

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The government Tuesday said flight diversions at the national capital’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) have been reduced by nearly 36 percent despite longer duration of low visibility period this winter season.

According to data furnished by the Civil Aviation Ministry, flight diversions from Dec 1 2014 to Jan 5 2015 has been reduced from 71 to 45 operations.

Indian Museum staffer held for Japanese woman’s rape

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A staffer of the Indian Museum here has been arrested in connection with the alleged rape of a 22-year-old Japanese woman tourist in November last year, police said Tuesday.

Kolkata police arrested five people and busted an inter-state racket operating in the city and in Bihar, who members had allegedly duped and raped the Japanese woman.

“Md. Wasim, exhibit cleaner of the Indian Museum, was arrested last midnight in connection with the Japanese woman’s rape,” a police official said Tuesday.

Three people from Kolkata and two from Gaya in Bihar were arrested earlier.

Haryana to celebrate ‘Beti ki Lohri’ for girl child

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To celebrate the birth of daughters, the Haryana government has decided to celebrate ‘Beti ki Lohri’ on Jan 14, a state government spokesman said here Tuesday.

“‘Beti Ki Lohri’ would be celebrated on Jan 14 at Dronacharya stadium in Kurukshetra as the district administration has decided to celebrate the birth of daughters with about 50 such families who are blessed with a second girl child. These families would be invited to participate in the Lohri celebrations,” the spokesman said.

AirAsia crash: Two more bodies recovered, metal objects located

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Recovery teams Tuesday found two more bodies and located two large metal objects on the sea bed as they expanded the search area for the ill-fated AirAsia flight QZ8501 that crashed into the Java Sea Dec 28 carrying 162 people on board.

So far, 39 bodies of the total 162 people on board have been recovered since the plane crashed into the Java Sea Dec 28 as the operation got hindered by unfriendly sea conditions.

Militant killed, seven arrested in Assam

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A joint team of the army and Assam Police Tuesday killed a Karbi militant and arrested seven others from different rebel outfits, officials said.

Defence spokesperson Lt. Col. Suneet Newton said the Karbi Peoples’ Liberation Tigers (KPLT) militant was killed by the army near Hemron village in Karbi Anglong district.

An M16 rifle and ammunition were recovered from the militant.

The army and police carried out an operation in Rongsoi along Meghalaya-Assam inter-state border and arrested five militants of the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA).

Two police officers arrested in disappearance of Mexican scribe

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Two municipal police officers have been arrested in the Mexican Gulf state of Veracruz in connection with the disappearance of community activist and reporter Moises Sanchez Cerezo, state prosecutors said.

The officers are members of the police department in Medellin de Bravo, where the activist was kidnapped by gunmen last Friday, the Veracruz attorney general’s office said in a statement.

A judge issued 48-hour arrest warrants for the two officers as part of the investigation of Sanchez Cerezo’s disappearance, the AG’s office said.

New Ebola vaccine trial begins in Britain

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Oxford University doctors and scientists are starting the first safety trial of an experimental preventative Ebola vaccine, aiming to have vaccinated all 72 healthy adult volunteers by the end of January.

Volunteers for the trial, aged from 18 to 50, will be the first humans to receive the vaccine, which is developed by Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson and Johnson, Xinhua reported citing a press release from the university issued Tuesday.

2G: Court allows ED plea to drop Selvi as witness

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A special court here Tuesday allowed Enforcement Directorate (ED) plea seeking to drop DMK chief M. Karunanidhi’s daughter S. Selvi as a witness in the 2G money laundering case.

Special judge O.P. Saini allowed ED plea that it does not want to examine Selvi and T. Siva Subramanian as witnesses in this case.

“It is further submitted by N. K. Matta, special public prosecutor that the prosecution does not wish to examine S. Selvi and T. Siva Subramanian as witnesses in this case. Prayer allowed. Both of them are dropped from list of witnesses to be examined,” the judge said.

Delhi mall gets ‘bomb threat’ call

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A bomb threat created panic at a shopping mall here Tuesday, but it later turned out to be hoax, police said.

A phone call from an unidentified person was received at the reception of Ambience mall in Vasant Kunj area of south Delhi around 3 p.m.

“It was a male voice that said ‘a bomb will explode in the mall’,” police said.

Police personnel immediately rushed to the spot and evacuated people from the mall.

After a thorough search, the bomb threat turned out to be a hoax.

Police said there was no caller ID service on the landline phone.

(IANS)

Big B unveils trailer of ‘Shamitabh’, says new look in film

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Megastar Amitabh Bachchan Tuesday unveiled the trailer of R. Balki’s “Shamitabh” in the presence of the entire star cast of the film.

Big B, who will be seen in a different look in this film, said: “For this film we have tried different looks and some international makeup artistes have worked together for this look. We have worked really hard for this film. My makeup artist Deepak Sawant has also worked on my look.”

The 71-year-old actor will be seen in a rugged look with grey unkempt moustaches and beard in “Shamitabh”.