Month: August 2012

SR Patil says BJP might not complete full term

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Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Legislative Council S R Patil today indicated that the ruling BJP may not complete its full term with the internal bickering in the party ‘alive and active’. Talking to newsmen during his visit here, he said the differences in BJP have been evident from the very behavior of former Chief Minister B S Yedyurappa inside Assembly and outside it. He denied the claim of other political parties that Congress has also been under the pressure of internal differences and said this claim has been on flimsy ground.

ATS officials visit K’taka village over Pune blast probe

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Taking up further probe into serial blasts in Pune on Wednesday last, a team of ATS and Maharashtra Police today visited Kohinoor village of Basavakalyan taluk in the district to collect more details from one of the victims identified as Dayanand Bhavrao Patil who was injured in the blasts. Sources said Patil, who hails from the district, works as tailor in Pune and does his business where one of the four crude bombs exploded.

Israeli diplomat attack case: Kazmi’s JC extended

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The judicial custody of journalist Syed Mohammad Ahmed Kazmi, charge-sheeted in the Israeli diplomat attack case, was extended on Friday till August 9, the day slated by the court to consider taking cognisance of the charge sheet.

Kazmi’s custody was extended by Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vidya Prakash. The charge sheet, which names Kazmi as accused in the case was to come up for the court’s consideration today but it was deferred after the prosecution sought more time.

India re-evaluating Vietnam oil block in South China Sea

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Unfazed by China’s objections, India is re-evaluating a Vietnamese offer for oil exploration in the South China Sea and will go ahead if ONGC Videsh Limted, the overseas arm of the Indian oil major, finds a viable partner.

In June, OVL conveyed to Vietnam that it can’t meet the June 15 deadline for exploring in oil Block 128 offered by Hanoi as it could not find a suitable partner which had made the project unviable. At that time, OVL had cited techno-commercial reasons for pulling out of Block 128, saying it unwilling to participate in the block which was not economically viable.

20 Palestinians killed in Syria attack

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At least 20 Palestinians died near Damascus Friday when government forces fired mortar rounds into a refugee camp near the capital, al-Arabiya news channel reported.

Overnight fighting between government and rebel forces intensified Friday in Tadamun neighbourhood in the capital, the news channel said.

Around 20,000 people have died since anti-government protests sparked off 17 months ago.

Thief’s diary writing habit costs him jail

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A Chinese thief’s habit of writing a diary cost him badly when police seized his notebook in which he had recorded details of all 88 motorbikes that he stole in the last five months, China Daily reported.

The thief, surnamed Zhang, was caught while scooping the 89th motorbike in Sichuan province, after he boldly offered a tricycle driver five yuan to help him carry away a locked motorbike. This act drew a policeman’s suspicion who was standing nearby.

Russia to give $2 mn for Palestinian refugees

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Russia will allocate $2 million to the UN agency in charge of providing aid to the Palestinian refugees in 2013, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Friday.

Moscow has recognised an independent Palestinian state since 1988.

“This decision derives from Russia’s understanding of the importance of the activities of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) which are aimed at lightening the burden of Palestinian refugees,” the ministry said in a statement.

Russia to give $2 mn for Palestinian refugees

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Russia will allocate $2 million to the UN agency in charge of providing aid to the Palestinian refugees in 2013, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Friday.

Moscow has recognised an independent Palestinian state since 1988.

“This decision derives from Russia’s understanding of the importance of the activities of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) which are aimed at lightening the burden of Palestinian refugees,” the ministry said in a statement.

Olympics: Pistol shooter Vijay Kumar wins India a silver

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Army marksman Vijay Kumar won a silver medal for India in the men’s 25 metre rapid fire event at the 2012 London Olympics here Friday. The gold went to Cuban Leuris Pupo while Chinese Feng Ding got the bronze.

Placed fourth in the list, Kumar, who had scored 293 in stage 1 of the qualification yesterday, shot a series of 98 97 97 in the second stage to take his total score to 585.

He shot a sequence of 99 96 98 at the Royal Artillery Barracks.

The Army man will be competing with five shooters for a medal.

Shinde is new Leader of House in Lok Sabha

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Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde will be the new leader of the house in the Lok Sabha, replacing Pranab Mukherjee, who is now the country’s president.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister P.K. Bansal said here Friday that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had nominated Shinde to the post.

Shinde, 70, is a Congress MP from Solapur in Maharashtra and is a former chief minister of the state.

Shinde was Monday shifted from power ministry and appointed home minister in place of P. Chidambaram, who became the finance minister.

Team Anna ends fast, spells out political alternative

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Anna Hazare and his three team members Friday ended their fast and spelled out a political alternative to provide a “clean and corruption-free” government.

Hazare, who ended his fast by sipping coconut water offered by former army chief Gen. V.K. Singh, however, made it clear that he will not be contesting elections, but will support his team members.

“I will keep going on tours, go to people for an alternative. If people are awakened, we will think of an (political) alternative,” Hazare said.

Shinde to be new Leader of House in Lok Sabha

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Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde will be the new Leader of the House in Lok Sabha taking the place of Pranab Mukherjee who has now become President.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has nominated Shinde to the post, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal told reporters here.

71-year-old Shinde is a senior Congress leader from Maharashtra who represents Solapur Lok Sabha constituency in the state. A dalit leader, he had served as Chief Minister of Maharashtra and was member of the state assembly for seven terms.

Team Anna cannot be alternative to BJP: Gadkari

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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Nitin Gadkari on Friday welcomed Anna Hazare and his team’s announcement to enter the political arena but stressed that it could not become an alternative to his party.

In an interview to a news channel, Gadkari said the BJP supports “anyone who’s against corruption, be it Anna Hazare or Baba Ramdev. If Anna seeks our support, we will help”.

He said Team Anna could not become an alternative to the BJP but the Congress could.

He also said his party did not face any threat from this new group.

2011 British riots could be repeated: Survey

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Many young people in Britain believe there could be a repeat this year of the riots of 2011 as the worsening employment conditions that contributed to the disorder remain unchanged, a survey has found.

The killing of drug dealer and gangster Mark Duggan by police officers triggered the riots in London and other major cities – Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Salford, Nottingham, Bristol, Leeds – and continued for five days and nights.

Pakistan a country in slow meltdown: US expert

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Pakistan is a country which is in a slow meltdown, an eminent American expert has told lawmakers, a development which she argued would be extraordinarily bad for the region and for the United States.

“It’s a country in a meltdown, or a slow meltdown, if you would, like crumbling. And of course the consequences of a more fundamental crumbling in Pakistan beyond FATA but in Punjab would be extraordinarily bad for the region and for the United States,” said Vanda Felbab-Brown, a fellow in Foreign Policy Studies at the prestigious Brookings Institute yesterday.

India’s blackout is a wakeup call in US too

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India’s historic blackout has not only prompted inevitable calls from the United States for much needed reforms in India’s energy sector, but also a great deal of introspection about America’s own ageing infrastructure.

Persis Khambatta, an expert at the Centre For Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), a Washington think tank, considers the failure of supply and distribution of power to keep up with India’s rapid economic growth as perhaps the most important reason for the power failure.

India’s services growth index falls slightly in July: HSBC

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India’s services sector growth rate saw a slight fall in July but remained in the positive terrain for the ninth month in a row, amid rise in new orders and employment levels holding up, an HSBC survey says.

The HSBC’s services purchasing managers index (PMI) for July stood at 54.2, tad lower from 54.3 in June.

Despite a 10 basis points dip, the index has kept above the 50 mark, indicating growth, since November 2011.

London Olympics Tennis: Paes/Sania advance to the quarter-finals

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Leander Paes and Sania Mirza defeated Serbian pair of Nenad Zimonjic and Ana Ivanovic in staright sets to enter the mixed doubles quarter-final of the Olympic Games, here on Thursday.

SET 2: PAES/SANIA 6 : 4 ZIMONIC/IVANOVIC

SET 1: PAES/SANIA 6 : 2 ZIMONIC/IVANOVIC

Paes-Sania beat the Serbian pair 6-2 6-4 in only 64 minutes to set up a last eight clash with top seeds Max Mirnyi and Victoria Azarenka from Belarus.

Indian project declared winner of Environment Day Challenge

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A Chennai-based development organisation is among the five winners of this year’s World Environment Day Challenge organised by the UN for inspiring environmental action.

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) had challenged people across the world to pledge an environmental activity in connection with this year’s World Environment Day, which was observed on June 5.

“Today we celebrate five inspiring projects, submitted for the World Environment Day 2012 challenge, that illuminate the pathway to a transition to a green economy,” UNEP?s Executive Director Achim Steiner said.

Sunny did justice to her character in `Jism 2`: Mahesh Bhatt

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Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt is all praise for Indo-Canadian adult movie star Sunny Leone, who will be seem making her debut in Bollywood with erotic thriller ‘Jism 2’.

The 63-year-old director said that Leone did justice to her character of a porn star in the film and audience would be able to better relate to the character.

Infrared light heals vision damaged by Parkisnon`s

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A non-invasive treatment with a soft infra-red light can protect and heal the damage to the human retina in Parkinson`s disease, says a study.

“Near infra-red light (NIR) treatment has long been known to promote the healing of wounds in soft tissues such as skin. Our recent studies are showing that it can also protect the retina of the eye from toxins which attack its nerve cells,” said Jonathan Stone, professor at the Vision Centre and the University of Sydney, who led the study.

Cow`s milk unsuitable for babies: Study

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Cow`s milk is unsuitable for babies as it is nutritionally inadequate, a study has claimed.

“Cow`s milk deprives babies of proper nutrition as it contains high levels of protein unsuitable for immature kidneys of infants,” Head of Biochemistry and Nutrition, All-India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Debnath Chaudhuri, said.

Why women live longer than men?

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Scientists have cracked the mystery of why women outlive men, its all in the genes!

Researchers from Monash University found that mutations to the DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid of the mitochondria can account for differences in the life expectancy of males and females.

Mitochondria, which exist in almost all animal cells, are vital for life because they convert our food into the energy that powers the body.

The research uncovered differences in longevity and biological ageing across male and female fruit flies that carried mitochondria of different origins.

‘Government must use designers to create cultural identity’

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New Delhi, August 03: The Indian fashion design fraternity needs “complete support” from the government so that they can help in creating more employment opportunities as well as in building a cultural identity for the nation, says capital-based designer Anupama Dayal.

“It’s not been easy to get the complete support from government or from the Ministry (of Textiles),” Dayal told IANS on the sidelines of the opening of her first store here.

Former Sangh chief Sudarshan traced after missing for five hours

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Mysore: Former sangh chief Sudarshan on Friday gave some anxious moments to his family and police when he went “missing” during his morning walk here before he was traced.

81-year-old Sudarshan, who is believed to be suffering from dementia, had lost his way and was later found taking rest under a tree after being exhausted on the road leading to Lalith Mahal helipad, RSS and police sources said.

Earlier, the complaint by his brother Ramesh, with whom he was staying for the past three days, created a scare, with police and RSS volunteers launching a vigorous search for him.