Qayam Ali

Pakistan on Thursday said the BBC report that alleged the MQM received funds and training from India confirmed its “suspicions” about an Indian hand in creating instability in the country.

This was stated by Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan while talking to the media after meeting with British High Commissioner Philip Barton here after a scathing BBC report alleging that India provided funds and training to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has asked central banks from across the world to define “new rules of the game” as he warned that the global economy may be slipping into problems similar to the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Rajan, who has been warning against competitive monetary policy easing by central banks, however, said the situation is different in India where RBI still needs to bring down lending rates to spur investments.

Maharashtra government plans to upgrade airports in Solapur, the religious town of Shirdi and Amravati as part of its efforts to encourage air connectivity.

“A new airport will come up in 550 hectare area in Solapur. Maharashtra Airport Development Corporation (MADC) will sign a MoU with Airport Authority of India (AAI) soon,” an official in General Administration Department (GAD) said.

Similarly, the existing air strips at Shirdi and Amravati will be expanded. MADC plans to have a Special Purpose Vehicle to execute the project, he said.

The benchmark BSE Sensex fell almost 172 points to 27,724.12 in early trade on fresh selling by participants as July series in the derivatives segment began on a subdued note amid weak Asian cues.

The 30-share index, which had gained 166.30 points in the previous session, fell by 171.85 points or 0.61% to 27,724.12.

Selling in realty, banking, power, capital goods, metal, PSU, oil&gas and auto stocks weighed on the performance. On similar lines, the NSE Nifty was trading lower by 45.50 points, or 0.54 per cent, at 8,352.50.

Heavy rains washed away a vital bridge over Mandakini river between Sonprayag and Gaurikund on way to Kedarnath in Himachal Pradesh this evening, official said.

Heavy rains have sent the Mandakini river into spate as a result of which the motor bridge between Sonprayag and Gaurikund on way to the Himalayan shrine was washed away, Rudraprayag District Magistrate Raghav Langer said.

However, there was no casualty. The bridge was very important as it was used for vehicular traffic on way to Kedarnath, the DM said.

The Uttar Pradesh government has chalked out a first-of-its-kind plan to take a group of Hindus and Muslims on a joint pilgrimage.

The ‘dharmarth karya’ department has issued a government order (GO) in which 10 Muslim and Hindu devouts from each district will be taken on a pilgrimage in a single trip, including a visit to Pushkar and Ajmer Sharif in Rajasthan.

Pushkar is holy for Hindus while Ajmer Sharif is venerated by Muslims as well as people of other faiths.

The Andhra Pradesh government on Thursday changed the name of multi-purpose Polavaram project by dropping the word “Indira” from its title, a move criticised by Opposition Congress, which termed it as a sign of “political bankruptcy” of the TDP-led ruling combine.

“Indira Sagar Polavaram Project” shall be renamed and notified as “Polavaram irrigation project”, said an Government Order (GO) issued here.

The multi-purpose irrigation project, being built on Godavari river, had been accorded national status during bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh last year.

Hyderabad police on Thursday booked Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and his five cabinet colleagues for making threatening and provocative statements against Telangana government.

On a direction by Ranga Reddy district court, a case was filed against Naidu and others at L.B. Nagar police station under the limits of Cyberabad police commissionerate, a police officer said late on Thursday night.

M. Phanindra Bhargav, a lawyer, had approached the court seeking direction to police to book a case against the Andhra chief minister and others.

An online poll conducted by Cricket Australia has led to former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar being pronounced as the best test player of the 21st century.

The ‘Master Blaster’ received an impressive 23 percent of the votes, in a poll in which more than 16,000 fans participated.

Veteran Sri Lankan batsman Kumar Sangakkara bagged the second spot, while Australian duo Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting came third and fourth. Former South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis claimed the fifth spot.

Recalling the days of the Emergency, senior journalist Kuldip Nayar on Thursday said former prime minister Indira Gandhi had become the holder of ‘one person rule’ and added that something similar is happening with incumbent Narendra Modi now.

“First we didn’t understand what Emergency was, when we did, we realized that power shifted. Democracy suffered. Mrs. Gandhi became holder of ” one person rule”. Now something similar is happening with PM Modi,” Nayar told ANI.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has suggested setting up eco-tourism parks in each district, a government release said on Wednesday. Naidu, who attended a review meeting with tourism sector officials, said that forest lands in urban areas can be transformed to biodiversity conservation zones by establishing eco-tourism parks. He also directed officials to develop a reservoir at Gandikota in Kadapa district as a tourist destination, which would also increase Kadapa airport’s air traffic, the release said.

A gurudwara in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) held an Iftar party for Muslims fasting in the holy month of Ramadan, a media report said on Wednesday.

The gurudwara in Jebel Ali organised the iftar for the second consecutive year. The guests of honour were people from Al Manar – a Quran study Centre, the Khaleej Times said.

Last year, the Al Manar Centre started inviting guests from different religions for Iftar and the gurudwara reciprocated.

Children whose parents smoked when they were toddlers are likely to have a wider waist and a higher body mass index (BMI) by the time they reach 10 years of age, a research says. The results suggest that smoking around your toddler could be just as bad as smoking while pregnant.

“By the age of 10, the children who had been intermittently or continuously exposed to smoke were likely to have waists that were up to three-fifth of an inch wider than their peers,” said lead researcher Linda Pagani, professor at University of Montreal in Canada.

The Students of Telangana State who are waiting for the Eamcet Medical counseling has to wait till the 3rd week of July as the State govt decided to issue the notification for medical counseling after July 20. Telangana state health minister said EAMCET 2015 Medical counseling will be conduct after July 20.

According to sources, this time EAMCET medical counseling will be conducted by NTR Health University only with the technical support of Telangana Higher Education Council.

British Prime Minister David Cameron is set to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss EU reform in Berlin ahead of a summit in Brussels.

According to the BBC, the duo will discuss EU reform with the UK’s target to be considered by European leaders at the meeting on Thursday.

The British PM said that he wants to develop the UK’s membership of the EU prior to holding an in/out referendum in 2017.

Cameron will also attend a state banquet for the Queen during his stay in Germany.

ANI

Nazar Singh, Europe’s oldest man, died in India, barely a fortnight after celebrating his 111th birthday, a media report said.

Nazar Singh, who had nine children, 34 grandchildren and 63 great-grandchildren, died in the early hours of Saturday in India, Daily Mail reported on Tuesday.

He was born in Punjab in 1904 and was a resident in England for 50 years, moving in 1989 to the North East to live with one of his nine children.

Believe it or not, Facebook is now worth more than the world’s largest retailer, Walmart. In just three years as a public company, Facebook has pipped Walmart in terms of net worth.

Over the last year, Facebook’s stock has jumped roughly 30 percent and the climb has added more than $65 billion to its market value, bringing it to more than $236 billion, just above Walmart’s $235 billion, reported Quartz.

The world’s largest aerospace company Boeing Corp. has elected Dennis A. Muilenburg as its new chief executive officer (CEO), the company said here.

Muilenburg, 51, will succeed W.James McNerney as the new CEO as from July 1. McNerney continues as the chairman of the board, Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday.

Muilenburg has served as Boeing president and chief operating officer since 2013, and is a 30-year Boeing veteran.

Boeing is a leading manufacturer of commercial jetliners and defence, space systems.

IANS

In an incident of insolence an assistant professor was beaten up by a student at the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) on the campus here on Tuesday.

According the KPHB Police, the incident took place at 6 p.m., after the student had an argument with the professor and university’s security staff.

The victim, M Rajashekar who reportedly hails from Andhra Pradesh works as an assistant professor at National Academy of Construction (NAC), Hyderabad and a regular visitor to the university campus for his research.

After James Horner’s death in a plane crash was confirmed, celebrities, friends and fans paid their condolences to the ‘Titanic’ composer.

Sylvia Patrycja, his personal assistant, had confirmed Horner’s death on Facebook, saying that they lost and amazing person with a huge heart, and unbelievable talent, but he died doing what he loved. She also expressed her gratitude for all the support.

Special prayers were offered to appease the rain gods in Kanpur, as people eagerly await the arrival of the monsoon.

Women recited traditional songs to herald the rains and prayed to nature by singing songs.

The southwest monsoon has been lashing West Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, East Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.

Poverty Can’t be a barrier to success, they proved it once again! Twelve students, including a girl, Deepa Kumari, also made it to the list of successful candidates.

These students of Patwas caste (weavers, an extremely backward caste in Bihar) from Patwatoli village in Gaya district have cracked the Joint Engineering Exam (JEE) of Indian Institute of Technology this year.

But this is quite common for the Patwas, as the students from this village have been cracking IIT since 1992 and it has now more or less become a practice for them.

The Income Tax department has notified the new set of ITR forms, including a three-page simplified one, for taxpayers to file their returns for assessment year 2015-16.

With the Finance Ministry publishing the gazette order, taxpayers and other entities can now file their Income Tax Returns (ITR) till August 31, the new deadline set in this regard by the government after it dropped the earlier forms which had attracted criticism for seeking numerous additional details like that of filers’ foreign travel and about dormant bank accounts.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken up with Chinese leadership India’s concerns over China blocking its move in the UN for action against Pakistan over release of 26/11 mastermind and LeT commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi in violation of a resolution of the world body.

As per a new study, “high-normal” blood pressure in young adults spells risk of heart failure in later life.

The Johns Hopkins study found that mild elevations in blood pressure, considered to be in the upper range of normal during young adulthood, can lead to subclinical heart damage by middle age, a condition that sets the stage for full-blown heart failure.

The study suggests that high normal pressure begins to fuel heart damage in people, as young as 20, and can lead to changes in heart muscle function in as little as 25 years.