Month: April 2013

Chandababu Naidu wraps up his 208-day foot march

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As TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday wrapped up his 208-day walkathon that was seen as an attempt to reclaim his lost political ground, the party leaders believed that it will help them to counter two main challenges of Jagan and Telangana in the state.

The 63-year-old former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh undertook ‘Vastunna Meekosam’ (I am coming for you) padayatra to reinvent himself as the leader as well as the party that has been out of power for nine years now.

Men’s mentality in India a problem: Ekta Kapoor

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Producer Ekta Kapoor, who has been behind controversial films like ‘Love Sex Aur Dhoka’, ‘Kya Super Cool Hai Hum’ and ‘Ragini MMS’, believes Indian men need to change their mentality towards women.

“Mentality of men in India is becoming a problem. Men do not feel any social responsibility. Our culture is stopping women everytime. The main idea behind making ‘The Dirty Picture’ was to make people aware of women’s sexuality.

Candle light march for Sarbjit’s recovery

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Joined by the daughter and wife of Sarbjit Singh, Indian death row prisoner in Pakistan who is battling for life after being assaulted by jail inmates, a human rights body today took out a candle light march here praying for his recovery.

The activists of Akhil Bharatiya Human Rights Organisation (ABHRO) and the kin of Sarbjit prayed for his early recovery besides demanding safety for him.

—PTI

Man arrested for raping and murdering minor

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A 32-year-old man was today arrested in connection with the rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl, whose body was found at the house of a CRPF sub-inspector in Kachaura area here, police said.

Shailendra alias Chintu, who was arrested from Achhnera Road near the village where the incident took place, would be prosecuted under National Security Act along with murder and rape charges, SSP Agra Subhash Chandra Dubey said.

–PTI

Day of women leaders in Karnataka poll campaign

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Bangalore, April 27 (IANS) It was a day of four women leaders including Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, BJP’s Sushma Swaraj and BSP supremo Mayawati in Karnataka Saturday as they sought votes for their party candidates in the May 5 assembly poll.

Gandhi addressed meetings in Chikmagalur and Mangalore and lashed out the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state for “betraying” the people’s interests and bringing bad name for Karnataka on many fronts.

India’s forex reserves down $485 mn

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Mumbai, April 27 (IANS) India’s foreign exchange (forex) reserves decreased by $485.9 million to $294.76 billion for the week ended April 19, according to data released by the central bank.

The reserves had risen by $1.40 billion to $295.24 billion for the week ended April 12.

The foreign currency assets (FCA) – the biggest component of the forex reserves – fell by $489.2 million at $262.41 billion, according to the weekly statistical supplement released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The FCA had risen by $1.38 billion at $262.90 billion in the previous week.

Israel for 4-way summit on talks with Palestinians: Official

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A senior Palestinian official said Saturday that Israel has proposed holding a four-way summit to sponsor the resumption of the stalled Mideast peace talks with the Palestinians.

US Secretary of State John Kerry had briefed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during their meeting in Turkey last week on details of the proposal, in which US President Barack Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Jordanian King Abdullah II along with Abbas will participate, the official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Indian scholar meets Saudi officials over new labour policy

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Jeddah, April 27 (IANS) Sheikh Abu Baker Ahmed, general secretary of the All India Sunni Jamiathul Ulama, has met top Saudi officials to highlight concerns over the fate of Indian workers because of that country’s new labour policy.

The Nitaqat law that is being implemented makes it mandatory for all Saudi companies to reserve at least 10 percent of jobs for Saudi nationals.

KCR urges people to give TRS 100 assembly, 16 LS seats

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Hyderabad, April 27 (IANS) Elected unopposed for the seventh consecutive term as president of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), K. Chandrasekhara Rao Saturday urged people of Telangana to give 100 assembly seats and 15 to 16 Lok Sabha seats to his party to achieve separate statehood to the region.

Predicting polls in October-November this year, he asked the party cadre to be prepared and appealed to people to “wipe out pro-Andhra parties” from Telangana.

Intermittent fasting can help keep diabetes and heart disease at bay

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London, Apr 26 (ANI): Fasting twice a week could be the key to a longer life by slashing the risk of a host of killer diseases, a new study has revealed.

Research shows dramatically cutting the amount of calories you eat for two days can keep obesity, heart disease and diabetes at bay, the Daily Express reported.

The revolutionary weight-loss plan restricts calorie intake for 48 hours, like the 48 Hour Diet by top nutritionist Amanda Hamilton, published last week.

2-3 pupils in every classroom affected by learning disabilities

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Washington, Apr. 27 (ANI): About 10 percent of population is affected by specific learning disabilities (SLDs), like dyslexia, dyscalculia and autism, a new study has found.

The findings roughly translate to two or three pupils suffering from these disabilities in every classroom.

Fertility yoga may help women conceive

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Washington, Apr. 27 (ANI): A yoga instructor has claimed that the popular practice, which has long been praised for helping people improve their flexibility and core strength, can also be used to help women conceive.

Sherry Longbottom, a registered nurse and yoga instructor, has developed fertility yoga, which avoids poses that could strain the body instead, she favours simple gentle poses that help lessen anxiety, ABC News reported.

Longbottom said that the goal of their yoga is to get blood flow in the pelvic area.

How cancer spreads in body

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Washington, Apr. 27 (ANI): Cancer cells, which can break out of a tumour and invade other organs, are much more aggressive and nimble than nonmalignant cells, a new study has found.

According to the study, these cells exert greater force on their environment and can more easily manoeuvre small spaces.

The study said that a systematic comparison of metastatic breast-cancer cells to healthy breast cells revealed dramatic differences between two cell lines in their mechanics, migration, oxygen response, protein production and their ability to stick to surfaces.

Practicing yoga produces internal changes on genetic level

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Washington, Apr. 27 (ANI): Yoga may be better than traditional exercise for strengthening the immune system and may also help change gene expression, a study has claimed.

The researchers have written that the data suggests that previously reported effects of yoga practices have an integral physiological component at the molecular level, which is initiated immediately during practice, and may form the basis for the long-term stable effects, Discovery News reported.

Indonesian Muslim teens accused of blasphemy for mixing Islamic prayers with dance

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Jakarta, Apr. 27 (ANI): Five female students have been expelled from a high school in an Indonesian town and will face juvenile detention for ‘tainting religion’ in a video.

The video that lasted for five-and-a-half minutes showed the girls from Tolitoli town mixing Islamic prayer movements with dance from the Maroon 5 band.

They committed their act due to the popularity of the Harlem Shake flash mobs, reports The Jakarta Post.

The school authorities immediately expelled them and have barred them from taking the examinations.

Indian Embassy takes up Azam Khan ”questioning” issue with U.S

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Washington April 27 (ANI): The Indian Embassy has raised the issue with the State Department in Washington the questioning of Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan at the Logan International Airport in Boston on Wednesday. This was disclosed by the spokesman of the Indian Embassy,M. Sridharan, in response to a question. Khan, a senior leader of the ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and also the Urban Development minister of the state, was detained for about 10 minutes at the Boston airport for “further questioning” after he landed in a scheduled British Airways flight from India.

Microsoft wins Google’s Xbox $4bn patent claim

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London, Apr. 27 (ANI): A US judge has rebuffed Google’s claim that Microsoft owes it billions in patent payments.

In 2012, Google subsidiary Motorola had sued Microsoft, claiming it was owed royalties for technologies used in the Xbox console.

It sought damages of about four billion dollars a year, but Microsoft said it would pay about one million dollars.

James Robart has ruled that Microsoft should pay about 1.8 million dollars every year, The BBC reports.

Winston Churchill replaces Elizabeth Fry in new £5 note

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London, April 27 (ANI): Former British prime minister Winston Churchill is to appear on the next banknotes, when it is issued in 2016, it has been announced on Friday.

Bank of England Governor, Sir Mervyn King, revealed the image at Chartwell, Churchill’s former home, Sky News reported.

King said that their banknotes acknowledge the life and work of great Britons and Churchill was a truly great British leader, orator and writer.

He said that Churchill remains a hero of the entire free world.

Boeing 787s get green signal for takeoff

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Tokyo, Apr. 27 (ANI): Japan’s transport ministry has cleared Boeing’s 787 Dreamliners to resume flight.

Ethiopian Airlines may resume 787 operations Saturday, while United Airlines, the only U.S. airline with 787s in its fleet, is looking to resume flights in late May.

According to Japan Times, the move comes after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration decided to allow 787s to fly again.

The battery glitch caused the 787 fleet to be grounded worldwide for more than three months.

Six-year-old girl raped in New Delhi

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New Delhi, April 27 (ANI): A 6-year-old girl has been sexually assaulted in a public toilet in Badarpur in Delhi on Saturday. Doctors confirmed that the victim had suffered injuries in her private parts, which appear to have been inflicted with a sharp object. “When the girl was brought to the hospital we noticed that there were marks on her neck. It appears that someone tried to slash her throat with a blade. There were injuries on her private parts too,” Dr Viplav said.

My ex-girlfriend cooked and ate my pet pigeon, says Mike Tyson

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New York, April 27 (ANI): Mike Tyson has revealed that one of his former girlfriends cooked and ate one of his beloved racing pigeons.

Appearing on the Boomer and Carlton radio show in America on Thursday the 46-year-old athlete, who’s now vegan, brought up a painful incident from his past relationship, the New York Daily News reported.

When the hosts asked Tyson, if he had ever eaten one of his birds, he replied that he tried but just couldn’t do it.

“I was dating this young lady and she said, ”I don”t know why you”re flying those damn birds, you should be eating them””

I turned down A-lister who offered me £10k for sex, says Jodie Marsh

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London, April 27 (ANI): Jodie Marsh has recalled the moment she shouted expletives to a “very famous” customer who offered her 10,000 pounds for sex when she used to work as a lapdancer.

Speaking about her experiences as a lapdancer for her TLC documentary, Jodie Marsh On The Game, the glamour model turned body builder said she was offered money for sex on a regular basis when she worked at Stringfellows, the Sun reported.

She revealed she was offered 10,000 pounds one night to go home and sleep with a very famous customer.

PCB considering including Younis Khan among Champions Trophy probables

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Lahore, Apr 27 (ANI): The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has reportedly been considering a proposal to include veteran middle-order batsman Younis Khan in the list of 30 probables for the ICC Champions Trophy, from which a 15-member Pakistan squad will be announced by the end of this month. According to sources, Khan, who has a considerable experience of 253 ODIs in which he has scored 7,014 runs at 31.88 average, may be considered in place of injured paceman Umar Gul, for the eight-nation tournament to be held in England from June 6, The Dawn reports.

Boston Marathon bombing suspects’ mom ‘person of interest’ in radicalizing sons

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Washington, Apr. 27 (ANI): The mother of Boston Marathon bombing suspects is a ‘person of interest’ to federal authorities who are investigating if she had radicalized one or both of her sons, US lawmakers have said.

At the same time a separate report said she was on a federal terrorism database some 18 months before the attack.

Zubeidat Tsarnaeva was added to the classified intelligence database known by the acronym TIDE at the CIA’s request, Fox news reports.