Qayam Ali

British Prime Minister David Cameron has called on the BBC and other media outlets to avoid using the term Islamic State in reference to the terror outfit, saying it gives undue credibility to the “poisonous death cult”.

“I wish the BBC would stop calling it ‘Islamic State’ because it is not an Islamic state,” he told the BBC’s ‘Today’?programme.

Cameron believes it gives undue credibility to the “poisonous death cult” that is “seducing” young Britons to go and fight for the terrorist organisation in Syria and Iraq.

In a ‘credit negative’ for its sovereign and bank ratings, India’s rural economy will remain subdued through this fiscal, while “some disappointment” has emerged about pace of reforms under the Modi government, global giant Moody’s said.

In its latest ‘Inside India’ report, Moody’s Investors Service said the consensus view on India’s economic growth prospects is relatively optimistic — in line with Moody’s baseline scenario of economic expansion of 7.5% in the current fiscal.

A new study has revealed that humans across the world dance to the same beat, suggesting taal sey taal reverberates around the world.

The University of Exeter and Tokyo University of the Arts’ study has found that songs from around the world tend to share features, including a strong rhythm that enable coordination in social situations and encourage group bonding.

An earthquake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale jolted parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan on Tuesday, media reported.

The epicentre of the quake was recorded at the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border region, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department.

The tremors were felt across Punjab province, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the capital city of Islamabad, Geo News reported. Tremors were also felt in the border areas of Afghanistan.

No casualty or damage to property has been reported so far.

IANS

Telugu Desam Party MLA Revanth Reddy was granted bail by the Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday, in connection with the cash-for-vote scam.

“The bail has been granted on some conditions. He will not leave the constituency of Kodangal and he should deposit his passport along with Rs. five lakh. And also he has to cooperate with the investigation,” said the lawyer.

Reddy was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on May 31.

ANI

Republican presidential aspirant Bobby Jindal has asked his fellow Republican leadership in the Congress to reject a nuclear deal with Iran, saying any such deal could start arms race in the Middle East.

“One, they should absolutely reject it (nuclear deal). Congress made a huge mistake in the bill they passed giving away some of their oversight authority,” Jindal told Fox News.

Ending the brief controversy over three players allegedly to have benefited from a Mumbai builder’s largesse as revealed in yet another “expose” by Lalit Modi, the cricket control board on Monday said it had no grounds to take action against them.

Said BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur here on the day, “there is nothing in it” when he was asked about the International Cricket Council agreeing that Modi had indeed informed it in June 2013 that two Indians and a West Indian had received “gifts” worth Rs 20 crore each.

If you love gorging on fast food, chances are that you might end up being depressed, claims a new study.

San Diego State University researchers analysed almost 5000 individuals’ trans fats intake, where 1699 were men and 3293 women, and then examined their emotion responses.

It was observed that individuals with higher intakes of trans fats experienced “difficulties with emotional awareness,” as well as a lower level of emotional “clarity”.

Apple has announced that it will launch its new music service, iOS 8.4 and the Beats 1 radio station on June 30. According to the CNET, Ian Rogers, the former CEO for Beats and a current senior director for Apple Music, in a blog post revealed the timing of the launch.

Apple Music will be competing in the growing music-streaming business with Spotify, Rdio and Rhapsody in offering tens of millions of songs played on demand as well as song collections tailored to listeners’ personal tastes. Apple Music’s subscription service will sell at USD 10-a-month.

An Australian engineer has developed a robot that lays 1,000 bricks an hour – fast enough to construct a house in about two days, or nearly 150 houses a year.

The robot works by creating a 3D computer-aided design (CAD) laying programme of a house or structure, then calculates the location of every brick and creates a programme that is used to cut and lay the bricks in sequence from a single, fixed location.

The robot uses its 28-foot-long arm to put bricks in place and secures them with mortar, ‘Popular Science’ reported.

Louisiana’s Indian-American Governor Bobby Jindal is still not reconciled with the US Supreme Court’s ruling to recognize same-sex marriage, but for now his state agencies will comply with its decree.

Even though the apex court ruled Friday in a 5-4 decision in support of same-sex marriage, the Republican presidential candidate said on Fox News Monday, he will “continue fighting” over his belief that marriage is between a man and a woman.

Low-cost IT workers in India are populating what have been described as “click farms” in fake internet traffic to help British companies boost their online presence, according to a media report.

An investigation by ‘The Times’ newspaper found that western companies are being offered packages costing as little as $1 per 1,000 clicks to increase internet traffic or purchase 1,000 to 10,000 Facebook “likes” or Twitter followers.

As e-commerce players battle it out for buyers’ attention, Amazon India has caught up with Flipkart and overtaken Snapdeal in terms of monthly unique visitors in May.

According to data from Internet analytics firm comScoreData, Amazon India had 23.6 million unique visitors in May, edging past Flipkart narrowly. While Flipkart saw 23.5 million unique visitors, Snapdeal had 17.9 million in May this year.

Expressing support for “pro-business reforms” undertaken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his commitment to fighting corruption, the US has said it encouraged all governments, including India, to address the issue of corruption.

“Speaking generally, we’re supportive,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters Monday when asked if Washington thought if US investments will be safe in India in view of recent action taken against NGOs in India.

A few months ago, a cheque of Rs. 75,000 issued to a Mumbai businessman was repeatedly being returned and he instructed his lawyers to file a case under the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1882.

But the businessman, J.P. Vaghani, a partner of J.P. Electronics, a giant consumer electronics distributor in north Mumbai, was aghast at the lawyer’s response.

“You can no more file the cheque bouncing case in Borivali (suburb) under Section 138 of the Act. It must be filed and fought in Kurla, the location of the bank from where it was dishonoured,” advocate Mehul S. Shah advised.

Australia’s Shane Watson shrugged off bouncer taunts from England fast bowler Mark Wood and retaliated by issuing his own Ashes warning to the Durham quick.

With just over a week until the first Test starts in Cardiff, Wood, in a BBC radio interview broadcast Sunday, recalled how he was instructed to bowl bouncers at Watson by the all-rounder’s then Australia team-mate Michael Hussey during a net session on the 2009 tour of England.

The Defence Ministry has raised a bill of Rs. 500 crore for its assistance to Jammu and Kashmir government for carrying out relief and rescue operations during the floods that battered the valley last year.

The Defence Ministry was paid Rs. 500 crore by the Union government as the amount was adjusted from the Rs. 1602.56 crore assistance given to the state government from its share in the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) for dealing with the floods last September.

Xolo has uploaded a new video on YouTube, which shows its new device ‘Xolo Black’. Xolo Black is shown as a smudge and stain free device. According to the in.techradar.com, the new video gives a glance of the dual rear cameras as well as the SIM card tray placed on the left hand side of the handset.

It also shows that the device will be launched on Flipkart. Xolo, which drew flak from the social media users for intentionally leaking out some hardware details of its phone, will want to put all that behind and unveil the phone as early as possible.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will arrive here on Wednesday on a two-day visit to review the security arrangements for Amarnath Yatra and offer prayers at the Himalayan cave shrine on July 2.

The home minister will review the security arrangements for this year’s Amarnath Yatra along with Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed and senior officials of state and central security forces on Wednesday, official sources here told IANS.

“He will also be part of the first batch of devotees to visit the Holy Amarnath Shrine on July 2,” a senior state government official said.

Cats are increasingly earning themselves a reputation as wildlife killers with estimates of animals killed every year by domestic cats numbering into millions, a new UK study has found. According to researchers at the University of Exeter and Queen Mary University of London, cat owners fail to realise the impact of their pets on wildlife.

Delhi High Court on Monday asked Lt Governor-appointee Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) chief M K Meena to act in accordance with the law, while refusing to issue directions to restrain him from entering office as sought by the Delhi government.

Justice V P Vaish also declined Delhi government’s pleas to stop Meena from removing the FIR book from ACB headquarter, recording new FIRs and seeking immediate removal of paramilitary personnel posted there.

Over 1.5 lakh students taking coaching classes at various centres in the city, known for its numerous engineering and medical entrance exam coaching institutes, are served non-nutritious food cooked in unhygienic conditions in the canteens.

According to Food and Safety Cell of the district, the food served in the 228 registered messes and food centres here, was found to be of poor quality, low in quantity and cooked in unhygienic condition.

In 2006-07, India approved the construction of 73 strategic roads along the Sino-Indian border, but 82 per cent of these – scheduled to be ready by 2012 – are unfinished. The new deadline: 2018.

Himself son of an immigrant parents from India, two-term Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal believes that immigrants in the US should learn English and adopt American values.

In a video advertisement, launched by his super PAC, 44-year-old Jindal is first shown stating he is tired of hyphenated Americans, as he referred to labels such as Indian-Americans, African-Americans and Asian-Americans. “I think our immigration system is broken.

Aleast 3,500 pilgrims stranded at Gobind Dham in Uttarakhand have been safely evacuated and brought back either at Gobind Ghat or Joshi Math in a joint operation District Administration of Math, ITBP and state team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).

A S Miglani, head of the special team deputed by the Punjab government for the evacuation of pilgrims from Gobind Ghat and Gobind Dham enroute Sri Hemkunt Sahib, said that all the pilgrims struck up at Gobind Dham have been rescued and moved safely to Gobind Ghat and Joshi Math.