Month: March 2013

Kalam to teach students of IIM-Shillong

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Former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam will teach students of the Indian Institute of Management-Shillong a course titled “Societal transformation bio-technology and its application”.

“I am a teacher. As a professor, wherever knowledge takes me, I go. I like meeting young people and I would like to contribute to their knowledge,” Kalam told IANS here.

The “Missile Man”, as Kalam is called for his background in aerospace engineering, was in Shillong, the state capital of Meghalaya, and inaugurated the third international conference “SUSCON” organised by IIM-Shillong Wednesday.

Priyanka Gandhi discharged after surgery

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UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was discharged from a hospital Wednesday here after she successfully underwent surgery to remove gall stones.

“Priyanka Gandhi was discharged from the hospital today (Wednesday),” said sources at the Sir Ganga Ram hospital, where she underwent surgery Monday.

Priyanka, 41, was found to have stones in her gall bladder during a routine check-up.

She was admitted to the hospital Sunday.

The surgery was conducted by a team of doctors from the hospital’s institute of minimal access surgery department, led by Praveen Bhatia.

Indian, Saudi firms seek to cooperate in infrastructure development

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Industrialists and businesspersons from India and Saudi Arabia Wednesday stressed the need for greater cooperation in infrastructure development, as both the countries offer huge investment opportunities.

Saudi Arabia offers $624 billion investment opportunities, while India plans to invest nearly $1 trillion in infrastructure development over the next five years.

Addressing the 5th India-Saudi Arabia Joint Business Council meeting, chairman of Saudi-India Joint Business Council Abdulrahman al Rabiah urged both the countries to cooperate in infrastructure development.

Anushka, Salman most wanted celebs online

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Bollywood stars Salman Khan and Anushka Sharma have emerged as the most wanted celebrities online in India, according to a recent study.

The vivacious Anushka was the most liked and wanted female celebrity online in the months of December 2012 and January 2013, while Salman topped the survey in the male category in a study, conducted by Kwaab.com, an online social cataloguing portal.

The study, based on half a million catalogued images among 50,000-plus users, observed the aspirations of Indians’ favourite idols, gadgets, food and luxury items, said a statement.

Aircel extends contract with Chennai Open

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The ATP Chennai Open Wednesday received a fresh lease of life when mobile service provider Aircel extended its association with the tournament as its title sponsor until 2016.

Anupam Vasudev, Chief Marketing Officer, Aircel, said: “Our four-year association with the tournament has been very rewarding and has allowed us to engage directly with our key target segment.

Court acquits man of rape charges.

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A man has been acquitted of the charges of raping a girl by a Delhi court, which said either no such incident took place or it was “consensual”.

Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau acquited Sultanpuri resident Desh Raj of the charges of kidnapping, raping and hurting the 17-year-old girl by giving her poison, saying it does not appear plausible that the accused established physical relations with her at a public place without anybody noticing them.

PTi

Need to teach our sons to respect women: Minister

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Taking note of the large number of crimes against women in recent days, Minister of State for Home Affairs R.P.N. Singh Wednesday said there was need to educate children to respect women.

“Humans have become beastly. There are rapes in schools, families. According to reports, 90 percent rapes are done by people who are known to the victim,” R.P.N. Singh said, while replying to supplementaries during question hour in the Rajya Sabha.

“We need to teach our children, our sons to respect women,” the minister said.

BJP ridicules Rahul Gandhi over comment on marriage and children

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday poked fun at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi over his comment on marriage and children, saying does that mean those married are not capable of serving the nation.

“As far as he has said that marriage will disrupt the work. We are married and are still serving the nation. So, I don”t think it appropriate to point fingers on all the married people,” said BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain.

The Congress vice-president, who interacted with his party MPs yesterday, said he was not interested in marriage.

Infant charred to death in fire

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A four-month-old baby boy was charred to death when a fire broke out in his house in the outskirts of Jammu, police said today.

Plastic scrap which was scattered near the hutments caught fire last evening. The blaze soon engulfed the nearby hutments at Indira Nagar area.

Four-month-old baby boy Razaullah was charred to death and nine jhuggis were completely gutted in the blaze, they said.

On receiving information, police rushed to the spot and fire tenders were pressed in to the service to douse the flames, they said, adding after half-an-hour the fire was brought under control.

Man beheaded, killer walks with severed head to surrender

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A man was beheaded by another person, who walked with the severed head for a kilometre before surrendering to the police in Assam’s Lakhimpur district on Wednesday, police said.

Nikodin Tiru of Dolohat tea estate killed Salu, who was a traditional medicine practitioner and beheaded him with an axe at Phulbari No:1 Sarang village. Tiru then took the severed head and walked with it to Dolohat police outpost where he surrendered.

Priyanka excited about her first item song

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Priyanka Chopra is excited about her first item song Babli Badmash Hai in Ekta Kapoor’s Shootout at Wadala.

“I did want (to) work with Ekta, and she was very persistent about the song. It was a conscious decision for me not to do an item song after all these years in Bollywood,” said Priyanka.

“But it was great opportunity as both of us had really wanted to work with each other. So I just decided to go out of my comfort zone,” Priyanka told reporters in Kolkata, who is shooting for Gunday.

Google updates Maps app for iPhone

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Google has announced its Maps app update for Apple iPhone, making it easier to find places and look up saved friends’ addresses.

Google Maps app, which will now include new search icons, can now be downloaded from the Apple App Store.

Now, users will be presented with icons for restaurants, coffee shops, bars and gas stations, which they can tap to search quickly for nearby locations.

In total, there are 13 different types of places users can search by, including hotels, hospitals and ATMs, ABC News reports.

Drone strikes to kill US citizens on American soil ”hypothetically” legal: Attorney Gen.

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U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has said in a letter that the Obama administration believes it could technically use military force to kill an American on U.S. soil in an “extraordinary circumstance” but has “no intention of doing so”. Holder”s letter dated March 4 was disclosed by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who had asked whether the Justice Department believed President Barack Obama had the legal authority to order a targeted strike against an American citizen located within the US, reports the Huffington Post.

”Anti-Obama govt.” groups reached all-time high in 2012: Report

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The number of anti-US government “patriot” groups, including paramilitary hate organizations, had reached an all-time high in 2012, a new report has revealed. The report issued by the Southern Poverty Law Center stated that the upsurge of the groups was fanned by President Barack Obama”s reelection and talk of gun control following the elementary school massacre in Connecticut, reports the Huffington Post.

Army denies NYT story of Pak conducting drone strikes

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In response to a news report published in the New York Times on Tuesday, claiming that the US had not conducted two drone strikes in early February, rather it may have been Pakistan, an Inter-services Public Relations (ISPR) spokesperson has termed the accusation a “distortion of facts”. According to The Express Tribune, the spokesperson denied any operation conducted by Pakistan”s security forces, including air strikes in the tribal belt in early February, as mentioned in the NYT report.

Sachin opens cancer hospital in Hyderabad

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Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar opened a Cancer Treatment and Research Centre at Hyderabad on Tuesday.

Doctor Nageswar Reddy, Pratik Sarma and a group of doctors set up the Gastro Intestinal and Liver Foundation for Research and Treatment center for Cancer (GIST) here. Speaking after inaugurating it, Sachin said if there was anything that should be cherished most, it was the life given by a doctor.

Former cricketer VVS Lakshman who also took part in the programme, released a book on Gastro Intestinal Cancer.

Pak PM Ashraf wants term ”minorities” to be replaced by ”non-Muslim citizens”

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Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has claimed that the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is striving hard to eliminate the word “minority” from the narrative and instead addresses the communities as “non-Muslim Pakistanis”. Ashraf said this while addressing a group of students, including non-Muslims, who were awarded scholarships under a special scheme to encourage non-Muslim citizens in the country, reports the Daily Times. The premier said that the constitution of Pakistan states that all the citizens of the country are ”Pakistanis”, irrespective of cast, colour and creed.

Russian military cuts female staff

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Russia’s armed forces have cut around two-thirds of their women in uniform over the past five years, a military official said.

“Compared to 2007, the number of servicewomen (officers and warrant officers) has shrunk from over 30,000 to a little over 11,000 today, including about 4,300 officers – both junior and senior ones,” said Yelena Stepanova, a lieutenant-colonel and department chief with an armed forces sociological research centre.

The move is part of a broader process of personnel cuts across the armed forces in the past few years, and is not a selective policy, she said.

Girls in Bihar village: We are no less important than men

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Here a little story of women’s defiance of tradition and “changing the mindset of men” from a Bihar village ahead of International Women’s Day.

Mania, about 150 km from here in Buxar district, has been following a novel tradition for the last three decades – of Hindu girls wearing the ‘janeu’ or sacred thread, which is otherwise the preserve of Brahmin men, to overcome gender and religious bias. Not only that, the ‘janeu sanskar’ ceremony at which the sacred thread is worn is being regularly held for these girls.

Curfew imposed in tense parts of Valley

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In the wake of a youth’s death Tuesday in the north Kashmir town of Baramulla after security forces opened fire, authorities imposed curfew in many areas across the Valley Wednesday.

“Curfew has been imposed in Rainawari, Nowhatta, S.R. Gunj, Safa Kadal, Maisuma, Kralkhud and Zadibal police stations areas of Srinagar city today. Curfew has also been imposed in Baramulla, Sopore, Pulwama and Kulgam towns”, a senior police officer said here.

Electronic bangles to keep Kerala women safe?

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On the eve of International Women’s Day, Kerala is mulling over the use of electronic gadgets for the protection of women, a state minister revealed Wednesday.

“We have received proposals of an electronic bangle and varieties of SIM cards, which when activated by the women, can send an SOS to the nearest police station or to the Women Jagretha Samithis,” Panchayat and Social Justice Minister M.K. Muneer told IANS, on the sidelines of a meeting called to announce the various programmes that the state government is organising as part of Women’s Day celebrations.

Several Delhi markets to remain closed Thursday

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Most markets in the national capital will be closed Thursday till 2 p.m. as traders down shutters to protest the government’s decision to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail, protesters said Wednesday.

A rally will be held at Ramlila Ground by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) Thursday.

“We are expecting a large number of traders to participate in the ‘Save Retail Democracy’ tomorrow (Thursday) at Ramlila Ground to withdraw the government decision to allow FDI in retail,” Narender Madan, Delhi unit president, CAIT told IANS Wednesday.

PM condoles death of Hugo Chavez

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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday condoled the death of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, saying the country has lost a charismatic leader who left a legacy of striving for social justice.

“The people of India join me in conveying our heartfelt condolence to his family and to stand with Venezuela in its hour of grief,” Singh said in his message.

“Venezuela has lost a charismatic and immensely popular leader in President Chavez who leaves a legacy of striving for social justice,” he added.

Hugo Chavez, 58, died of cancer in a military hospital in Caracas Tuesday.

—IANS

Stringent action, in case of irregularities: PM

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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday said stringent action would be taken, if any irregularities are found in the Rs.52,000-crore farm loan waiver scheme of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

“If irregularities are found, we will take stringent action,” Manmohan Singh told the Rajya Sabha.

There was uproar in both houses of parliament as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other parties raised the issue Wednesday.