Qayam Ali

A Malaysia Airlines plane carrying more than 300 passengers made an emergency landing at Melbourne airport on Friday after a reported engine fire.

Flight MH148 departed Melbourne Airport at 2:16 pm (0416 GMT) to head towards the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur but had to perform an emergency landing. All passengers were safe.

“After departing from Melbourne, the aircraft’s systems indicated there was an engine fire, so it returned and landed,” a spokesman for the Australian Transport Safety Bureau was quoted as saying by the ABC news.

On a day Rahul Gandhi mounted attack on the Centre and Delhi government over non-payment of salaries to municipal sanitation workers, Lt Governor Najeeb Jung announced that Rs 493 crore would be released to the civic bodies today itself to cover the dues.

Amid worsening garbage crisis in East Delhi due to agitation by sanitation workers since June 2, mayors of three BJP-ruled municipal bodies called on Jung and requested his intervention after which he said Delhi government has already decided to release the funds.

The Congress Party on Friday criticised the NDA Government for Delhi’s worsening sanitation crisis, and suggested it was a ‘selfie government’ in power that was failing to deliver on its promises.

Congress leader Tom Vadakkan asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take a ‘selfie’ with piled up garbage in the background.

“How about PM take a selfie with garbage in the background? This is a selfie government. They have only made fake promises,” he said.

Pakistan Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry did not submit any dossier on the alleged Indian activities inside his country during his meetings with top US officials here this month, a top American official has said.

The US government has opened an investigation against two of the biggest Indian outsourcing companies for possible violations of H1-B visa rules, according to a media report.

The Department of Labour has opened the investigation against Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys for “possible violations of rules for visas for foreign technology workers under contracts they held with an electric utility Southern California Edison,” the New York Times said.

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi will take his “battle” for the cause of farmers to tribal- dominated Chhattisgarh next week where he is likely to corner ruling BJP over several issues including displacement due to coal mining and compensation against land acquisition. Congress has planned an extensive tour of Amethi MP in Chhattisgarh’s Korba and Janjgir-Champa districts on June 15 and 16 for which senior party leaders have started making arrangements. “Earlier Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the state was proposed on June 14-15, but now it has been finalised for June 15-16.

Nek Chand, creator of the iconic Rock Garden who has amazed people for decades with his unique sculptures made from waste, died today at a hospital here following cardiac arrest.

The 90-year-old architectural autodidact had been ailing and was admitted to a private hospital here for the past few days. He was shifted to PGIMER last evening where he died shortly past midnight after suffering cardiac arrest, officials said.

The Chandigarh Union Territory administration has declared a holiday in its offices today.

The SP leader was referring to the firebrand leader’s comments that those opposing ‘Surya namaskar’ should “drown in the sea”.

Realty firm Unitech plans to raise about Rs 200 crore from private equity players to part finance its ongoing housing projects as real estate market continues to remain sluggish.

Unitech has increased the pace of construction works significantly during last two months to complete ongoing housing projects and improve cash flow, its Mananging Director Sanjay Chandra told.

The company has no plans to launch new housing projects this year and would focus on delivery of existing projects.

Snapping its three-day rising streak, gold prices fell by Rs 40 to Rs 27,110 per ten grams at the bullion market today owing to slackened demand from jewellers and retailers at prevailing levels.

Silver also plunged by Rs 800 to Rs 37,000 per kg on poor offtake by industrial units and coin-makers.

Traders said fall in demand at existing levels and a weak trend in global market mainly kept pressure on precious metal prices.

Globally, gold fell by 0.24% to US $1,182.80 an ounce and silver shed 0.72% to US $15.89 an ounce in London.

Renewable energy targets are now a “defining feature” of the global energy landscape with developing economies leading its adoption, the International Renewable Energy Agency has said.

A total of 164 countries have adopted at least one type of renewable energy target, up from just 43 countries in 2005, according to the Renewable Energy Target Setting which was launched on the sidelines of IRENA’s ninth Council meeting.

Reserve Bank has made a case for developing better strategies to deal with the problem of bad loans as hiding them would aggravate the situation for the banks as well as borrowers.

“An account becoming NPA is not a sin. The time has come that it would be a better strategy that if there is a weakness in the account…rather than postponing, hiding the problem either on the part of banks or borrowers, it is important that the bank recognises NPA then extend a helping hand (to borrowers),” RBI Deputy Governor S S Mundra told reporters here.

India’s GDP growth is likely to revive to 7.9% in the current financial year and then further up to 8.1% in 2016-17, driven by structural reforms and cyclical easing of the monetary policy, says a Citigroup report.

According to the global financial services major, investment and consumption uptick is likely to result in a growth pick-up from 7.3% in 2014-15.

Diversified conglomerate Tata Group has shown interest in investing in Electrosteel Steels Ltd, Kolkata-based firm said.

Besides a Singapore-based financial investor has also evinced interest in the firm, Electrosteel Steels said in a BSE filing.

The firm has been under corporate debt restructuring scheme since 2013 with a debt of more than Rs 6,000 crore.

In a fresh crackdown, City police arrested nearly 150 youngsters from the city areas for allegedly creating nuisance by gathering around street corners and organizing bike stunts on city roads on Tuesday night.

The youths were picked up from Etebar Chowk, Mir Alam Mandi, Rein Bazaar and Moghalpura among other areas. All those detained were let off after counseling by the police officials and religious leaders on Wednesday morning.

A US appeals court will hear oral arguments in August in a lawsuit against Congress President Sonia Gandhi in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

The lawsuit brought by Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) alleges that Gandhi shielded and protected the perpetrators of the anti-Sikh riots that followed the assassination of former Prime Indian Minister Indira Gandhi.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals will hear the oral arguments on August 18 on several issues including whether the rights group has associational standing to file the lawsuit.

Accusing National Democratic Alliance (NDA) of “undermining” Parliamentary democracy and concentrating all powers in the prime minister’s hands, the Communist Party of India on Wednesday said Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) must be defeated in Bihar assembly polls. “Ever since BJP-led NDA came to power, Parliamentary democracy has been considerably undermined while all powers are concentrated with prime minister, this is dangerous,” CPI National Secretary D. Raja said.

Egyptian police today foiled an attempted suicide bomb attack outside one of the country’s most popular tourist sites at the Temple of Karnak in Luxor, killing two militants.

Police said that three men approached a security barrier at the entrance to the temple complex. When confronted by police, one of the attackers blew himself up. A second was shot dead and a third severely wounded.

“Security forces in Luxor foiled a terrorist operation. Two terrorists were killed and a third was wounded,” the police said in a statement.

A brave guide dog in New York jumped in front of a fast moving school bus to save its visually impaired woman owner from being hit, fracturing its leg in the process. Figo, a golden retriever, is being praised by the people for its heroic act, underwent a surgery following the incident and is recovering in New York’s Putnam County.

Unlike many of the common entrance test (CETs), boys in Polycet too secured seven of the top ten ranks including the first and second ranks in TS Polycet. The overall pass percentage in TS is 72.88pc. This year, T govt made the minimum qualifying marks to 30 percent of the total marks, which were 36 marks out of 120.

G Tarun Srinivas from Hyderabad bagged the State first rank with 114 marks, followed by E Dheeraj Kumar Reddy of Ranga Reddy district got second with the same score. However, girls have again outperformed the boys in overall pass percentage in the Polycet.

The Indian army’s aggressive attack on militant camps in Myanmarese territory is not the first such anywhere but is unmatched in its scale, experts said Wednesday.

“This is not the first time India launched such attack, but it has never been on this scale,” strategic expert Brigadier. S.K. Chatterji (retd) told IANS.

“There have been operations in Bhutan, and even along the LoC,” he said.

Having strongly raised their voices for amending the Hindu Marriage Act to ban marriages within the same gotra and same village, Haryana’s khap panchayats have now decided to launch a campaign to get liquor vends shut in religious towns across the state.

The khaps – who constitute a socio-political grouping in Haryana – say that liquor shops located in religious towns not only hurt the sentiments of local residents but also of devotees who come from far-flung places toffer prayers.

Dhoni has been ranked 23rd on the Forbes list of The World’s Highest-Paid Athletes 2015, dropping a notch from his ranking of 22 last year. Dhoni’s total earnings stood at USD 31 million, including amount from salary/winnings at USD 4 million and endorsements worth USD 27 million.

At the time when the deal was being finalised, Jet officials merely spoke about making Abu Dhabi its gateway to fly Indians to places in Europe and North America, among others.

Etihad Airways invested nearly Rs 2,000 crores in Jet Airways aimed at cornering a large share of the 40 million Indians travelling abroad every year, the Gulf carrier’s CEO James Hogan has said.

A six-year-old girl raped by two boys who lives in her neighborhood at Saroornagar, is battling for life at a government hospital near Charminar.

Police took the alleged rapists, 15-year-old and 13-year-old boys into custody, who lured the girl offering chocolates and sexually assaulted her

Saroornagar police inspector S. Krishna Prasad give details of the case, though the incident occurred on Friday evening, the incident came to light after cops booked the case on Wednesday.