Lucknow, September 25:After becoming the first Indian teenager to address the United Nations General Assembly on global climate change, Lucknow girl Yugratna Srivastava aims to notch another first – plant one million trees in the country.
“It would be history in the true sense if I manage to accomplish my big plan of planting one million trees in my country,” Yugratna, who arrived here Friday from the US, told reporters.
Pittsburgh, September 25:US President Barack Obama said Friday the size of a second Iranian nuclear plant revealed this week is “inconsistent” with claims that it is being used to produce civilian nuclear power.
Speaking at the G20 summit and standing alongside British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Obama said the “disturbing” news of the second facility demonstrates Tehran’s willingness to deceive the world and violate international norms.
New Delhi, September 25: Indian Oil Corp, the nation’s largest oil firm, has asked the government for freedom to fix retail fuel prices and more autonomy in carrying out day to day affairs of the company.
IOC, in the annual performance memorandum it signs with the Petroleum Ministry, stated that the Navratna oil companies should be granted freedom to fix retail selling price of petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene.
Centurion, September 25:India should be inspired by the fact that they have never lost to Pakistan in an International Cricket Council (ICC) event when the two clash in the Champions Trophy here Saturday, never mind the state of the team’s physical health with a fair share of injuries.
To be precise, the two sub-continental cricket giants are facing off in the country they last met two years and two days ago when India beat Pakistan to win the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship in a breathtaking finish.
New Delhi, September 25: Just days after Jet Airways pilots resumed work after going on a strike, about 300 pilots of Air India have decided to strike work from midnight tonight in protest against the decision of airlines to slash incentives by 50%.
Yesterday, Air India Board had approved up to 50 percent cut in the Productivity-Linked Incentives (PLIs) for the airline’s officers and executives.
Washington, September 25: According to the Shared National Credit Program (SNC) 2009 Review, an annual inter-agency report released on Thursday, credit quality deteriorated to record levels with respect to large loans and loan commitments.
The Shared National Credit Program which was set up in 1977 to review large syndicated loans now reviews and classifies all institutional loans of at least $20 million that are shared by three or more supervised institutions.
New Delhi, September 25: Gold is likely to continue its bull run as monetary and fiscal stimulus programmes have failed to rejuvenate the world economy, waning the dollar’s value as a safe haven against the yellow metal, a report says.
The GFMS report noted that the bull run in gold is possible as the various monetary and fiscal stimulus programmes have failed to boost the world economy, feeding through to a dis-inflationary conditions.
Earlier, it was expected that the stimulus packages would have encouraged investors
New Delhi, September 25: In a clear sign of the strength of the industrial comeback, excise duty collection for August registered a 22.7 per cent increase over last month, raising the government’s hope of meeting the indirect tax mop-up target for the year.
“The industry is clearly showing signs of revival. Excise collection in August is up 22.7 per cent compared to last month… We are hopeful of meeting the target,” Chairman of Central Board of Excise and Customs V Sridhar told reporters here.
New Delhi, September 25: The government is considering levying up to 10 per cent cess on royalty charged on minerals like iron ore, copper and lead that would be used to promote scientific mining practices — an idea opposed by the mining industry.
The proposal for the levy is part of a draft bill being formulated to replace the Mines and Minerals Development Regulation Act (1957), a senior ministry official told.
Tokyo, September 25: Japanese government plans to launch a task force of corporate turnaround experts to help revive struggling Japan Airlines Corp, government sources said today.
The task force is likely to consist of some key members of the now-defunct Industrial Revitalization Corp of Japan, which assisted heavily indebted but otherwise viable firms from 2003 to 2007, they said.
Pittsburgh, September 25: Reflecting the growing economic clout of India, China, Brazil, and other fast-growing developing countries, the G20 will permanently replace G8, the once elite club of rich industrial nations, as a global forum for economic policy.
The Group of 20 – leaders of 20 countries representing 90 percent of the world’s economic output – meeting here for a two-day summit will make the announcement later Friday as they wind down their deliberations focusing on the financial crisis and how to avoid one in future, the CNN reported.
Paris, September 25: France emerged from recession in the second quarter of 2009 as its GDP rose by 0.3 percent, the government’s statistics office INSEE announced Friday.
The economic expansion followed four consecutive quarters of contraction for the French economy, caught up in the global economic crisis.
France is the second-largest economy in the eurozone.
INSEE said the improvement was largely due to a significant turnaround in the country’s balance of trade, as exports grew by 0.7 percent in the second quarter, following a drop of 7.4 percent in the first quarter of the year.
Pittsburgh, September 25: Apparently worried that its aid to Pakistan routed through official channels may not end up benefiting people of that country, the Obama administration is currently exploring various other options to make an effective and judicious use of the tax payers’ money.
Meanwhile, India has warned US that such funds have been diverted to support hostile operations against states and needs to be monitored.
Taipei, September 25: Taiwan has decided not to allow Rebiya Kadeer to visit, an official said today, two days after the exiled Uighur leader, branded a “separatist” by Beijing, expressed a wish to travel to the island.
“We have decided not to allow Kadeer entry considering that her visit could affect national interest and social order,” Interior Minister Jiang Yi-huah said, according to an official with the Government Information Office.
“We don’t wish to see the shadow of terrorism fall on Taiwan,” he said in response to a lawmaker’s question. He did not elaborate.
Tokyo, September 25: The number of medical accidents in Japan hit a record high 1,440 last year mainly due to misjudgment and neglect of confirmation, according to a survey results released Friday.
The survey results were released by a medical foundation showing 2008 figure as the highest since the Japan Council for Quality Health Care began compiling data in 2005, was up 174 from the previous year.
But the ratio of serious accidents fell, the body said.
Pittsburgh, September 25: President Barack Obama and the leaders of France and Britain will accuse Iran at the opening of the G-20 economic summit Friday of building a secret facility to produce nuclear fuel, a senior White House official said.
The official said the three leaders, Obama, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, will demand Tehran open the covert facility up to inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Jerusalem, September 25: Most Palestinians who want a state of their own would like to achieve it through a peace deal with Israel but there is still substantial support for the Islamist Hamas group which favors resistance, according to a new opinion poll.
The survey by New York pollsters Charney research for the New York-based International Peace Institute (IPI) was carried out over the summer in Gaza, where Hamas rules, and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, under the authority of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah movement.
Cairo, September 25: The Egyptian candidate who lost a bid to head the U.N. culture and education body after a row over remarks last year that he was ready to burn Israeli books has blamed the United States and Jewish lobby for his defeat.
Egyptian Culture Minister Farouk Hosni lost to Irina Gueorguieva Bokova, a former Bulgaria foreign minister, in this week’s final round of voting to lead the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
Johannesburg, September 25: The United States reopened its embassy and consulates in South Africa on Friday three days after closing them due to a security threat, a US embassy spokeswoman said.
“We are all open for regular business,” spokeswoman Sharon Hudson-Dean told agency.
The embassy in Pretoria, consulates in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, as well as aid and development offices, closed on Tuesday after the US State Department said a “credible” threat had been received.
Pittsburgh, September 25: US President Barack Obama and the leaders of Britain and France on Friday publicly demanded that Iran open up a secret nuclear fuel facility to international inspectors.
Led by Obama at the site of the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown joined the United States Friday in chastising Tehran for operating the facility covertly.
Baghdad, September 25: A controlled explosion of weapons confiscated by the Iraqi military went awry on Friday, killing 11 Iraqi soldiers, military officials said.
The blast took place in an area where American and Iraqi forces routinely carry out explosions to destroy weapons seized during raids in and around the northern city of Mosul, which the US military has called the last stronghold of al-Qaeda in Iraq.
New Delhi, September 25: For the first time, the Indian Air Force (IAF) will put its newly inducted Israeli-made Phalcon Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AWACS) on display during the Air Force Day parade on October 8.
IAF officials at the Western Air Command (WAC) said in New Delhi on Friday that the AWACS, which were inducted in May this year, would be on flying display during the 77th Air Force Day parade.
Patna, September 25: Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on Friday said she would go only by rules and regulations on BJP’s demand for removal of expelled party MP Jaswant Singh from the chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament.
“I will do what rules and regulations permit. We can’t force him out. There is something called law, we will have to follow it,” Kumar said of Singh who has been expelled from the Saffron party for his controversial book ‘Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence’.
“It is up to Jaswant Singh to take a decision,” she said in reply to a question.
Somnath, September 25: Despite the temple issue failing to cut much ice with the voters of late, senior BJP leader LK Advani on Friday reaffirmed his commitment to building Ram temple at Ayodhya.
“Today, I have come to Somnath to offer my prayers on the 20th anniversary of my Rathyatra. Ram temple should be and will be built at Ayodhya,” Advani said after offering prayers at the Somnath temple.
It was here on September 25, 1990, that he had launched his Ram Rathyatra, which, though ending abruptly with his arrest in Bihar, had put the BJP firmly on the road to power.
Mumbai, September 25: Indeed a record has been created where a female actor has got an opportunity to enact 12 different characters in a film, as Priyanka Chopra has been provided the opportunity through WHATS YOUR RAASHEE. Nowhere in the world so far has any female actor been given a chance to enact 12 different roles in a film, as it has been provided to Priyanka Chopra through WHATS YOUR RAASHEE?