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Cleared by India, but US military plane may leave only Monday

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Mumbai, October 18:The chartered US military aircraft which was detained for over six hours Sunday and finally cleared to leave around 3 p.m., may only leave Monday owing to certain procedural issues, airport sources revealed.

The aircraft, which was ordered to land by the Indian Air Force (IAF) after a discrepancy in its call sign (identification), was cleared by all the relevant Indian departments and security agencies Sunday afternoon.

Chandigarh man shot dead in Punjab town

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Mohali, October 18:A 42-year-old resident of Chandigarh was shot dead Sunday allegedly by his cousins in Kurali town of Punjab over a property dispute, police said.

“Raj Kumar is a resident of Maloya village in Chandigarh. He had some old dispute over a piece of land with his cousins. His cousins shot him dead after a brief altercation,” Manjit Singh, a police official told IANS.

Raj Kumar had gone to Kurali to visit a gurdwara. The attackers were identified as Gurpreet Singh and Makhan Singh.

Kandhamal youths to get vocational training, courtesy IGNOU

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New Delhi, October 18:After making headlines for communal disharmony for years, Orissa’s Kandhamal district is set to smile – Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) will provide vocational education and placement to youths from poor families of this tribal district, beginning January.

PMK fires salvo against Bt Brinjal

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Chennai, October 18:Founder of Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) S. Ramadoss has fired the first salvo against farming Bt Brinjal, for which the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) gave its nod for commercial cultivation last week.

“Only three months ago, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh had said that there is no need for GM vegetables. But now an organisation under his ministry has accorded sanction for commercial cultivation of Bt Brinjal in a hurry,” Ramadoss said here in a statement.

Three years on – Borat still censored in Kazakhstan

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Moscow, October 18: More than three years after its first release, “Borat” – the fictional film about a Kazakh TV journalist created by British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen – is still being censored in the central Asian republic, it was reported Sunday.

The movie, which depicted Kazakhstan as backward, inbred and anti-semitic, caused huge controversy on its original release, in 2006.

It even led to Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev officially complaining to then British prime minister Tony Blair.

267 fires erupted in Delhi during Diwali

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New Delhi, October 18:At least 267 incidents of fire were reported in the national capital during Diwali, but there were no major cases among them, a fire service official said Sunday.

“We received 207 fire calls till Saturday midnight. We received 60 calls till 6 a.m. (Sunday). They were mainly Diwali-related. The number is more than double the number we receive on a normal day,” a fire service official told IANS.

He said on an average the fire service department gets 90 cases.

West Bengal to give Rs.2,000 to unemployed auto workers

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Kolkata, October 18:The West Bengal government will give a one-time grant of Rs.2000 each to bus, minibus, taxi and auto-rickshaw workers who have been rendered unemployed following the ban on commercial vehicles over 15 years old in Kolkata.

Making the announcement at a programme organised by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) here, Labour Minister Anadi Sahu said 25,000-30,000 workers have been affected due to the court-imposed ban.

Taliban takeover of Pakistan would be catastrophe for US, India: Washington

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Washington, October 14:A resurgent Taliban is aiming to gain control over a nuclear-armed Pakistan, a development that would be a “catastrophe for the interests of the US and major allies such as India”, an influential US daily has warned.

“During the past 10 days, Pakistan’s conflict with the Taliban movement has escalated toward full-scale war-and the extreme Islamist movement has mostly held the initiative,” the Washington Post said in an editorial Wednesday.

Adequate import of commodities to bring down prices: Pranab

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Kolkata, October 14:The government is importing commodities that are in short supply to bring down prices, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said here Wednesday.

“We are trying to import adequately commodities with short supply to bridge the gap between demand and supply,” Mukherjee told reporters here when asked about the spiralling prices of essential items.

Mukherjee said the government has instructed the state governments to provide commodities like rice, wheat, edible oil, sugar, kerosene to the people below poverty line at subsidized rates.

Two more Delhi private hospitals can treat swine flu

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New Delhi, October 14:The Delhi government Wednesday authorised two more private hospitals to treat swine flu patients even as 48 new cases of the disease were reported in the capital.

“The government has authorised two private hospitals – Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and Action Balaji Hospital – to treat H1N1 patients in Delhi after thoroughly examining their capabilities,” Delhi Health Minister Kiran Walia said Wednesday.

The minister informed that these hospitals would each establish a 20-bed isolation ward for those with the H1N1 virus.

India, Argentina sign n-deal, will triple trade by 2012

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New Delhi, Ocober 14:India and Argentina Tuesday signed 10 agreements, including one for civil nuclear energy cooperation, and pledged to triple their bilateral trade to $3 billion by 2012.

Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner arrived here Tuesday and held extensive discussions with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday. A joint statement released after the meeting.

This was the first visit to India by a head of state from the South American nation in 15 years,

Iraq rights ministry says 85,000 killed in 2004-08

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Baghdad,October 14:Iraq’s human rights ministry said on Tuesday that at least 85,000 people had been killed by bombs, murders and fighting in 2004-08, in a rare death toll release by an Iraqi government agency.

Mayhem and bitter clashes erupted after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, followed by years of sectarian carnage that has only recently begun to abate. The number of people killed by U.S. and Iraqi forces or insurgents remains highly contentious.

Cost-cutting measures to continue at Air India: Patel

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Mumbai, October 14: Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel Wednesday said it would be difficult for Air India, the national carrier which incurred losses of Rs.7,200 crore last fiscal, to survive without reduction in costs and exploring new avenues to generate resources.

Talking tough to the staff unions and the Air India management, Patel also warned that the ongoing austerity and cost-cutting measures would continue, but did not indicate till when.

Patil to replace Whatmore as NCA director

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New Delhi, October 14: Former India batsman Sandeep Patil has been appointed as the director of cricket operations of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) following Australian Dave Whatmore’s resignation.

Whatmore, who is likely to take over as the Kolkata Knight Riders coach, resigned from the post and Patil will take over from Nov 1.

Whatmore, who coached the 1996 World Cup winning Sri Lankan team, will replace his compatriot John Buchanan, who was sacked after Knight Riders’ disastrous show in both the editions of the IPL.

————–IANS

Al Qaeda calls for holy war against China

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Cairo, October 07:A senior Al Qaeda leader in a video distributed Wednesday urged Muslims to launch a holy war against Chinese “invaders” in response to the “massacre” of Uighurs in western China.

“The atheist criminals have long used the most despicable, cruel and brutal means against Muslims in Turkistan,” said Abu Yayha al-Libi, who is sometimes identified as the commander in Afghanistan of the international terrorist network Al Qaeda.

“Thousands of Muslims were killed, and no one knows about them,” he said in the 20-minute video, referring to Uighurs living in China.

Climate change affecting ayurveda, livelihood of 600,000 doctors

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New Delhi, October 07:Climate change poses a huge challenge for ayurveda and it is the reason behind many medicinal plants vanishing from India, President Pratibha Patil said here Wednesday. The All India Ayurveda Congress also agreed with her concern, saying it is gradually affecting the livelihood of 600,000 ayurveda practitioners.

“Due to climate change, natural habitat is moving towards an imbalance. Because of it a lot of medicinal plants are vanishing. This is a huge challenge for us,” Patil told a gathering of ayurveda practitioners here.

Apollo Group to open medical college, expand facilities

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New Delhi, October 07:Hospital chain Apollo Group will soon open a medical college for undergraduation, chairman Prathap C. Reddy said Wednesday.

“We are likely to start an undergraduate college. It is amply clear that just making hospital buildings is not enough. The skill is lacking and that is what is required,” Reddy told reporters on the sidelines of a medical summit here.

Reddy said Apollo was in talks with three reputed international universities for a tie-up. However, he refused to name the three varsities.

Governments seeks return of cheetah to India

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New Delhi, October 07:The Ministry of Environment and Forests has asked the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) to prepare a roadmap for re-introduction of the cheetah in India, the NGO said in a statement Wednesday.

Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh conveyed the decision to the WTI chairman M.K. Ranjitsinh Tuesday.

In a consultative meeting Sep 9-10 in Gajner in Rajasthan, experts identified Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh to study the potential sites for cheetah re-introduction.

Indian-born scientist, two others win Nobel Prize for Chemistry

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London, October 07:Indian-born scientist Venkatraman Ramakrishnan shares the Nobel Prize in Chemistry this year with Thomas A. Steitz and Ada E. Yonath, it was announced in Stockholm Wednesday.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2009 awards studies of one of life’s core processes: the ribosome’s translation of DNA information into life.

Ribosomes produce proteins, which in turn control the chemistry in all living organisms. As ribosomes are crucial to life, they are also a major target for new antibiotics, it said in a statement.

Ahmadinejad confirms Iran’s willingness to exchange uranium

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Tehran, October 07:Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Wednesday confirmed Iran’s willingness to exchange low-enriched uranium with other countries for high-enriched fissile material.

Speaking after a cabinet session on state television, Ahmadinejad said several countries had expressed interest to cooperate with Iran on the exchange.

The president added that Iran would be prepared to hold talks with any country and would soon send experts for technical discussions.

Vast Majority of Americans Doubt Afghan War Will Ever End

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Washington, October 07: Showing an increasing resignation to America’s state of perpetual war, a poll conducted by Clarus Research Group shows that a vast majority of Americans, 68 percent, say the US will never win or lose the Afghan War, but it will merely continue unresolved.

Indian brides slim it out for big fat wedding

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New Delhi, October 07:Nalini Sharma, 24, is getting married in November and is hard at work – at a slimming clinic! She has already lost five kilograms but that, she says, is not enough.

As the Indian wedding season dawns, the trend of going to a slimming clinic or availing of a beauty package to have that perfect glow on the wedding day is peaking. Many are also opting to go under the knife.

Brides-to-be like Nalini are leaving no stone unturned to steal the show on their wedding night.

US may know about Osama’s whereabouts: Qureshi

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Islamabad, October 07:US may know the whereabouts of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Wednesday.

Talking to newspersons in Washington, Qureshi said US troops equipped with state of the art technology and weapons were present in the region.

“US may be aware of the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden,” The News International quoted Qureshi as saying.

He asserted that Pakistan-Afghanistan relations will further improve.

—–IANS

Tunisia first country to prohibit Haj because of swine flu

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Tunis/Cairo, Oct 6 (DPA) Tunisians will not be allowed to travel to Saudi Arabia for the Muslim pilgrimage or Haj because of fears of the H1N1 virus, known also as swine flu, the government announced Tuesday.

No other country has yet said it would prevent its citizens from making the pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in late November for fear they might contract the virus.

Announcing the decision at a brief press conference, Tunisian Minister of Religious Affairs Abu-Bakr al-Akhzouri said the rapid spread of the virus was behind the government’s decision.

Government cautions taxpayers against fake refund email

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New Delhi, October 06:Five days after a fake email notice that purports to come from the Income Tax Department started making the rounds among taxpayers, the government Tuesday cautioned them, saying it had not sent any such emails.

Millions of net users received the fake email in the last six days that asked the taxpayers to submit refund form along with their credit card details.