Month: April 2013

Beginning for a change can be small, but not dubious

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Mid-term polls seem inevitable in India. Most provincial leaders are losing their influence. They want to cash in on their depleting assets before too long and may want to extract the maximum before they lose the advantage they enjoy at present. Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh is rapidly losing ground. So is Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal. Much will depend on how the leaders can hold on to their own before the polls take place.

Coal plant emissions killed up to 1,15,000 people

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New Delhi, April 29 (IANS) Emissions from coal plants resulted in 80,000 to 1,15,000 premature deaths and more than 20 million asthma cases in 2011-12 in the country, the Lok Sabha was informed Monday.

According to a report titled ‘Coal Kills – An assessment of death and disease caused by India’s dirtiest energy source’, the coal-based plants quantified additional health impacts, such as hundreds of thousands of heart attacks.

The estimated monetary cost associated with these health impacts exceeded Rs.16,000 to Rs.23,000 crore per year, the report said.

Pakistani minister says Taliban sabotaging elections

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Islamabad, April 29 (IANS) Pakistan Information Minister Arif Nizami Monday accused the Taliban and other armed groups of sabotaging the upcoming parliamentary elections under a ” very organised campaign”.

“This is an existential threat and it’s not new. There is a very organised campaign to sabotage the election,” Nizami told the Islamabad-based foreign media.

Elections will be held May 11, and the Taliban have publicly announced to target three major liberal parties, reports Xinhua.

Two Bangladeshi women in Gurgaon police net

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Gurgaon, April 29 (IANS) Two Bangladeshi women were arrested and two children taken into custody for not having valid documents, police said Monday.

Sixty years old Robian and 18-year-old Jasmine, both illegal immigrants, were arrested with two minors.

According to police, they were arrested near sector 32. A case was registered at sadar police station.

No compromise with basic principles for power: Nitish

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Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Monday asserted that he will not compromise with his basic principles, such as secularism, to stay in power and will instead prefer to quit.

“I have never compromised with basic principles, whether I stay in power or not,” he said, while addressing a meeting of minority cell workers of his Janata Dal-United (JD-U) in Rajgir in Nalanda district.

Nitish Kumar said that the day it becomes clear that he will have to compromise with basic principles, he will not rethink over them and not hesitate to quit.

Budget allocation of Indian Navy for 2013-14 is Rs. 34,212.33 crores: Antony

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New Delhi, Apr. 29 (ANI): Defence Minister A.K. Antony on Monday said the budget allocation of Indian Navy for 2013-14 is Rs. 34,212.33 crores out of which Rs. 22738.70 crores is earmarked for modernization.

Antony said modernisation of the Indian Navy is an ongoing process keeping in view the prevailing security environment, threat perceptions, emerging technologies and capabilities to be achieved.

Court exempts Salman Khan from appearance in hit-and-run case

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A Mumbai court Monday exempted Bollywood actor Salman Khan from a personal appearance in the 2002 hit-and-run case.

The ruling was given by the sessions court, which is hearing Khan’s petition challenging an order of the Bandra Metropolitan Magistrate Court, which had found him guilty on the ground that he was fully aware of the consequences of rash driving.

The sessions court posted the matter for the next hearing May 8.

Telangana protesters stage demonstrations in Delhi

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New Delhi, April 29 (ANI): Telangana protesters staged protests on Monday against government”s apathy towards their demand for a separate state Telangana. Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Prakash Javadekar said the Congress party for betraying the people of Telangana. “The fight for Telangana will continue because Congress the has betrayed the Telangana people. This demonstration is being held in Delhi and I think, this is the last warning for the Congress,”claimed Javadekar.

Rediff.com launches new redesigned website

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New Delhi Apr. 29 (ANI): Rediff.com India Limited (Nasdaq: REDF), India”s leading online provider of news, information, communication, entertainment and shopping services has released the latest version of its Rediff.com website, featuring a new and enhanced homepage sporting a tiled interface.

The Rediff homepage in its new avatar brings alive an assortment of content and services using the contemporary grid layout that is visually rich.

Each unit of the grid features the latest information photographs and videos, giving it a more interactive and image-friendly appearance.

Docs less likely to bond with overweight patients

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Washington, April 29 (ANI): Physicians build much less of an emotional rapport with their overweight and obese patients than with their patients of normal BMI, according to a new study.

Bonding and empathy are essential to the patient-physician relationship. When physicians express more empathy, studies have shown that patients are more likely to adhere to medical recommendations and respond to behavior-change counseling — all vital elements in helping overweight and obese patients lose weight and improve health.

Boston bomber `tried to brainwash girlfriend into becoming Muslim fanatic`

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London, Apr. 29 (ANI): An ex-girlfriend of deceased Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev has told how he tried to brainwash her into becoming a Muslim fanatic who hated America.

Nadine Ascencao, 24, said Tamerlan made her wear an Islamic hijab and pray to Allah and slapped her when she wore Western clothes.

According to the Sun, but she was so blindly in love with him, who had taken her virginity, she did her utmost to make him happy.

Tamerlan, 26, who with his 19-year-old brother Dzhokhar killed three people and injured 260 after they planted two bombs at the Boston marathon.

Iraq suspends licenses of Al-Jazeera, nine TV channels for promoting sectarian agenda

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Washington, Apr. 29 (ANI): Iraq has suspended the operating licenses of pan-Arab broadcaster Al-Jazeera along with nine Iraqi TV channels.

The move comes after the authorities accused the channels of promoting a sectarian agenda.

The Communications and Media Commission said the other channels whose licenses have been revoked are al-Sharqiya and al-Sharqiya News, Salahuddin, Fallujah, Taghyeer, Baghdad, Babiliya, Anwar 2 and al-Gharbiya.

Syrian PM survives blast targeting his convoy

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Beijing, Apr. 29 (Xinhua-ANI): Syrian Prime Minister Wael al- Halqi has escaped unharmed from a blast that targeted his convoy in Damascus earlier on Monday and killed at least eight people, pro-government al-Ekhbaria TV reported.

The explosion has targeted al-Halqi”s convoy in Damascus” western neighborhood of al-Mazzeh near the Electricity Directorate and close to a park and a school, local media said, adding that many others were wounded.

MJ downed `six bottles of wine` a day

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London, April 29 (ANI): Michael Jackson drank up to six bottles of wine a day and was “paralytic” at the press conference, which announced his comeback tour.

Mark Lester, godfather to Jacko’s three kids, has revealed that the late pop legend would make him smuggle bottles of plonk into hotels past his strict Muslim security team, the Sun reported.

The former actor said that Jackson would down them in order to beat his insomnia and easily quaffed a case over two days.

Morsi hints at compromise to end judiciary crisis

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London, Apr. 29 (ANI): The office of Egypt”s President Mohammed Morsi has suggested a compromise may have been reached to end a crisis over the judiciary. The presidency said a conference would be called this week to air the issues and Morsi would accept its rulings, reports the BBC. A plan to lower the retirement age for judges had threatened thousands of posts, angering the judiciary. According to opponents, Morsi, who has been in conflict with the judiciary since taking power last June, is trying to fill posts with his own supporters.

Eight men convicted by Saudi court on terrorism charges

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Washington, Apr. 29 (ANI): A Saudi court has convicted eight men on terrorism-related charges, including plotting attacks on an oil refinery, according to Saudi Press Agency. The defendants, seven Saudis and one Yemeni, were given prison sentences ranging from four months to eight years. The agency reported that all eight were banned from traveling abroad for at least one year after their release, reports Fox News. Saudi Arabia runs a rehabilitation program that aims to dissuade militants from fighting alongside al-Qaeda.

Pak court dismisses petition challenging Musharraf”s farmhouse as sub-jail

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Islamabad, Apr. 29 (ANI): The Islamabad High Court has dismissed a petition challenging the notification declaring former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf”s farmhouse as a sub-jail issued by the chief commissioner. A single member bench of the IHC comprising Justice Riaz Ahmed Khan conducted the hearing of the plea filed by Advocate Aslam Ghumman through his counsel Ashraf Gujjar. During the hearing, the prosecutor argued that there is no law that allows to keep the accused of terrorism at his residence by declaring it as sub-jail.

Parents of murdered Indian daughter anguished over ”sweet little fairy”s” death in Oz

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Sydney, Apr. 29 (ANI): The parents of a murdered 24-year-old Indian girl have said their daughter was their ”sweet little fairy”, and a happy ”blessing” who was flourishing in Australia despite being separated from them in India. Tosha Thakkar was living in Sydney and studying accounting when she was killed by her roommate, Daniel Stani-Reginald, an Australian of Sri Lankan heritage, in their Croydon flat in March 2011, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

Libya facing growing Islamist threat, warn diplomats

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London, Apr. 29 (ANI): Diplomats have warned of growing Islamist violence against western targets in Libya as blowback from the war in Mali, following last week”s attack on the French embassy in Tripoli. The bomb blast that wrecked much of the embassy is seen as a reprisal by Libyan militants for the decision by Paris the day before to extend its military mission against fellow jihadists in Mali, reports the Guardian. Jihadist groups ejected from their Timbuktu stronghold have moved north, crossing the Sahara through Algeria and Niger to Libya, fuelling a growing Islamist insurgency.

Black voters surpassed whites during 2012 US presidential polls

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New York, Apr. 29 (ANI): For the first time in U.S history, blacks voted at a higher rate than other minority groups during the presidential polls in 2012.

The blacks supported Democratic candidate, Barack Obama while the whites stayed home.

According to the analysis conducted for an international news agency, Republican candidate Mitt Romney could have won the presidential polls if the voter’s turnout was at the same rates as in 2004.

Moreover, the black turnout was below its current historic levels that year.

8 health benefits of tea

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Washington, April 29 (ANI): Studies continue to unlock the medicinal benefits of tea, which has been touted to help with everything from headaches to depression since Ancient times.

Nutritionist Patricia Bannan has provided eight reasons to why we should drink tea.

Tea contains a small amount of natural fluoride, a chemical that can help prevent tooth decay, she said.

When fluoride mixes with saliva, bacteria can’t produce the acid by-products that promote cavities. Additionally, fluoride works to repair teeth in the early stages of tooth decay, she explained.

Indian origin cop in South Africa wins racism case

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A South African court has ordered that an Indian origin policeman, who was overlooked for a promotion because of his race, be paid 333,000 rands (approx.$37,000) in back pay, reports said Monday.

Captain M. Munsamy had applied for three posts of superintendent in 2000, but he was denied all three on one ground or the other, The Mercury newspaper reported.

Fall of Dravid’s wicket made me more determined: Samson

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After his eye-catching performance in the IPL here today, 18-year-old Sanju Samson said the fall of Rahul Dravid’s wicket did not affect his batting, but made him “more determined” to play a part in helping Rajasthan Royals get over the line against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

“I was not nervous when Dravid fell but was more determined to carry on with my plans. We had a strong batting line-up for this match so the confidence was there,” Samson said.

Rajasthan Royals beat RCB by 4 wickets

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Rajasthan Royals beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by four wickets in the Indian Premier League (IPL) here today.

Invited to bat, Bangalore scored 171 for six against Rajasthan Royals, but Rajasthan chased down the target with a ball to spare.
Brief Scores:

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 171 for six in 20 overs (Chris Gayle 34, Virat Kohli 32, Vinay Kumar 22 not out; Shane Watson 3/22).

Rajasthan Royals: 173 for six in 19.5 overs (Sanju Samson 63, Shane Watson 41, Brad Hodge 32; Ravi Rampaul 2/28).
Vinay Kumar’s final-over assault takes RCB to 171/6