Month: May 2013

F-35 stealth fighter set to replace frontline aircrafts with ‘high invisibility rates’

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Washington, May 3 (ANI): The U.S. Marine Corps have designed the future jet named F-35 Lighting II that will enable to attack a target in the enemy space with precision weapons at long ranges while in the air, not being detected in the process.

F-35 Lighting II is a fifth generation stealth fighter that will safely penetrate areas without being spotted by the enemy radar due to its enhanced ‘invisibility’ rate which the fourt generation jets failed to achieve, the Fox News reports.

Musharraf”s counsel asks Pak SC to form larger bench in treason case

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Islamabad, May 3 (ANI): The counsel of Pervez Musharraf has requested the Supreme Court to form a larger bench in the hearing of petitions seeking high treason proceedings against the former military chief and president. A three-member bench of the apex court led by Justice Jawad S Khwaja heard the petitions seeking to initiate treason trial against Musharraf, reports The News. Counsel Malik Qamar Afzal, in his argument said that it is an important historical case of the country and thus all the legal demands should be fulfilled impartially in it.

Amnesty International calls on Pakistan to protect Indian prisoners in country”s jails

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Islamabad, May 3 (ANI): Rights group Amnesty International has called on Pakistani authorities to ensure the safety of Indian prisoners in the country”s jails, following the death of Indian convict Sarabjit Singh in Lahore. Deputy Asia Pacific Director Polly Truscott said in a statement that Pakistani prison authorities have seemingly failed in their duty to protect Sarabjit Singh, despite him apparently receiving death threats, reports The Express Tribune.

Taliban told to distance itself from al-Qaeda before opening Qatar office

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London, May 3 (ANI): The Taliban has been asked to issue a declaration distancing itself from al-Qaeda and committing itself to peace talks before it can open a political office in Qatar, diplomatic sources have said. The conditions have been laid down by the Qatari government with the backing of Kabul and the US, reports the Guardian.

Inflation in Pakistan drops to 9-yr low despite govt. borrowing

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Islamabad, May 3 (ANI): Inflation in Pakistan had slipped to a nine-year low in April despite an expansionary fiscal policy pursued by the finance ministry. It has underlined the need for a review of the calculation methodology that is showing a rapid slowdown in the pace of increase in prices of essential commodities, reports The Express Tribune. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index clocked in at 5.8 percent in April over a year ago. This is the lowest level since April 2004 when CPI inflation stood at 5.99 percent.

Pak-Afghan border to be sealed for three days ahead of May 11 polls

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Peshawar, May 3 (ANI): The border crossing with Afghanistan in Khyber tribal region will stay closed for three days before the May 11 general elections, an official communiqué has said. The Home and Tribal Affairs Department said in the communiqué that the Torkham border crossing would be kept closed to avoid any terrorist crossing across the border to disrupt elections in Pakistan, reports the Daily Times. The communiqué addressed to FATA Secretariat additional chief secretary said all Afghan refugees would be restricted to their camps on May 9, 10 and 11.

Indian envoy creates furore after landing chartered jet at Waterkloof SA for niece”s wedding

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Johannesburg, May 3 (ANI): Indian High Commissioner in South Africa Virendra Gupta has created a furore after landing a chartered jet at Waterkloof Air Force Base to carry guests for his niece”s wedding. Gupta, however, said that special permission to land a chartered jet at Waterkloof – a national key point – was obtained for security reasons. The Gupta family, which owns The New Age newspaper and Sahara Computers, is celebrating the wedding of Vega Gupta, 23, to Indian-born Aaskash Jahajgarhia at Sun City in North West, reports News24.

Cloud over Khurshid’s visit to China

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The planned visit by External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid to Beijing next week is under a cloud as he said today that the progress in dialogue to end stand-off in Ladakh is not satisfactory and India would have liked “much better response” from China.

Khurshid, who is slated to travel to Beijing on May 9, said the review of his visit has not been done “as of now” but “what will happen tomorrow, one can’t predict today”.
He emphasised that India wanted reversal of “adverse incident” in Ladakh and return to the status quo in Depsang Valley where the Chinese troops intruded.

Man claims he visited heaven and spoke to God while unconscious in hospital

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ondon, May 3 (ANI): A man, whose heart stopped beating for hours, has claimed that he saw angels and spoke to God before unbelievably waking up in hospital and making a full recovery.

Just days before Christmas, Don Houston suffered a heart attack as he slept alongside his wife Rita, who awoke to find her 62-year-old husband with his tongue hanging and not breathing.

Frantically, she called 911 who gave her lifesaving CPR instructions over the phone but her efforts were in vain.

BBC reports reveal sexual harassment cases: Review

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London, May 3 (ANI): BBC has laid down a report on its fear-filled environment that puts forth alleged sexual harassment cases over the past six years, where senior managers and on-screen stars are known to verbally abuse or pass on sexist comments to the junior female workers, following the Jimmy Savile scandal in the corporation.

The report has criticised the ‘bullies’ who have created an environment of fear and anxiety in the workplace and are even prompted to do so by the employees as they are thought to be ‘untouchables’, who can never be harmed.

Depression linked to unsupportive spouses

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New York, May 3 (ANI): People, who have unsupportive or critical spouses, are more likely to be in depression compared to others, who are not in a “steady, marriage-like relationship,” a study has claimed.

Psychiatrist Dr. Alan Teo from the University of Michigan, who led the study, told NPR that the quality of people’s relationships matters more than quantity when it comes to depression, the Huffington Post reported.

For the study, researchers surveyed 4,642 American adults in 25-75 age group in the 1990s and then again 10 years later.

Instagram launches Facebook-style photo tagging feature

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New York, May 3 (ANI): Instagram has launched a new feature that allows users to add names to their photographs, just like Facebook.

Instagram announced the change on its blog on Thursday, writing, “photos are memories of the people, places and moments that mean the most to us.”

The company posted that they have always sought to give users simple and expressive ways to bring their stories behind their images to life.

Indian-origin Brit actress Preeya Kalidas to star in Bollywood opera `Carmen`

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London, May 03 (ANI): Actress Preeya Kalidas, who played Amira Masood in the TV drama ‘EastEnders’, is all set to star in a Bollywood style production of the opera Carmen.

Georges Bizet’s work is being adapted for BBC3 and will be televised live from Bradford’s City Park on 9 June, BBC reported.

Kalidas, who also played the lead in Andrew Lloyd Webber”s West End hit Bombay Dreams, will be leading the cast as Karmen and will be accompanied by Indian film actor Abhay Deol.

Fig `more than just a fruit to humans`

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Washington, May 3 (ANI): Not only as a common food, but figs are familiar to a wide cross-section of human society for their spiritual importance.

David Wilson of Ecology and Heritage Partners and Anna Wilson from the University of Melbourne in Australia has explored the global nature of this association between figs and humans, which is maintained across species, continents and societies.

Using examples from around the world, they showed that figs are a vital resource for humans, no matter which species are present in a region.

How grapes help reduce heart failure associated with hypertension

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Washington, May 3 (ANI): In a new study, researchers have demonstrated that grapes are able to reduce heart failure associated with chronic high blood pressure (hypertension) by increasing the activity of several genes responsible for antioxidant defense in the heart tissue.

Grapes are a known natural source of antioxidants and other polyphenols, which researchers believe to be responsible for the beneficial effects observed with grape consumption.

Running at night latest fitness craze

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Sydney, May 3 (ANI): Based on a new fitness trend sweeping the UK, the latest running craze is all about one thing – darkness.

And you don’t even have to get up at the crack of dawn for it. In fact, they’re at night and take place in pitch black with only a dimly lit head-torch to guide the way, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

The names of these new events, dubbed “dark races”, range from cute (the “Moonlight Flit”), to cheeky (“Wild Night Run”) to frankly, a little scary (“Night Terror”).

7 simple lifestyle steps may decrease risk of blood clots

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Washington, May 3 (ANI): Adopting seven simple lifestyle steps could help reduce your risk of these potentially deadly blood clots, according to a new study.

Every five minutes, someone in the United States dies of a blood clot in the legs (deep vein thrombosis) or lungs (pulmonary embolism), according to the American Heart Association.

In a large, long-term study, researchers followed 30,239 adults who were 45 years or older for 4.6 years. Researchers rated participants’ heart health using the seven health indicators from the American Heart Association Life’s Simple 7.

Microsoft app ‘Switch to Windows Phone’ available to Android users on Google Play Store

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Washington, May 3 (ANI): Microsoft has created an application named ‘Switch to Windows Phone’ on the Google Play Store available on all Android phones.

While the application is a convenient way for Android phone users to know about what the Windows operating system has to provide, Microsoft Windows phone does not provide for some of the Android and iPhone apps such as Instagram and Google Maps, the ABC News reports.

Sharad Pawar not to contest in 2014 polls: NCP

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Mumbai, May 3 (ANI): Union Agriculture Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar will not contest the 2014 general elections.

Pawar’s party also said here that he had no prime ministerial ambitions.

NCP spokesman Nawab Malik said that despite NCP workers” demand that Pawar should contest the general elections, he had firmly refused to go back on his decision made earlier

Warren Buffet acquires 10000 twitter followers in 10 minutes on joining

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Sydney, May 3 (ANI): Mega billionaire Berkshire Hathaway chief executive Warren Buffet has joined Twitter and gathered more than 1000 followers a minute.

Buffett, popularly known as ‘the Oracle of Omaha’ sent his first tweet saying ‘Warren is in the house’, which enabled him to get 10000 followers within 10 minutes, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Being the world’s fourth richest person with total wealth of 53.5 billion dollars, Buffet has to his credit 200,000 followers in the social media.

Hike in tablet sales following Blackberry prediction of dead market

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London, May 3 (ANI): Tablet computer sales have risen since the first quarter of 2013 and witnessed a growth of 142.4 percent in sales as compared to the same time last year, according to an analysis by the International Data Corporation (IDC).

With Apple sharing the phone market at 39.6 percent, it remains the biggest brand selling tablets, the BBC reports.

Benazir murder case prosecutor shot dead in Islamabad

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Islamabad, May 3 (ANI): Unidentified gunmen riding on motorcycles in Pakistan capital Islamabad killed a special prosecutor of the Federal Investigating Agency (FIA) who was probing the December 2007 assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on Friday.

Chaudhary Zulfiqar Ali was shot dead near his home and was critically injured. He was rushed to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

Ali was investigating the 2007 killing of Bhutto, a case in which former president-general Pervez Musharraf is under house arrest.

Somalia famine kills nearly 2, 60,000 people including young children

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London, May 3 (ANI): Over a quarter of a million people, including young children died in a famine in Somalia between October 2010 and April 2012 because the international community did not act quick enough, according to a report commissioned by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network.

The study estimates that 4.6 percent of the total population and 10 percent of children younger than five (about half of 258,000 Somalis) died in southern and central Somalia, the CNN reports.

Pakistani prisoner attacked by other inmates inside Jammu jail

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Jammu, May 3 (ANI): Inmates have reportedly attacked a Pakistani prisoner lodged in Jammu”s Kot Bhalwal Jail.

According to television reports, the injured prisoner, identified as Sanaullah, has been shifted to Jammu”s GMC Hospital.

The alleged attack reportedly took place a day after Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh was declared dead in Pakistan almost a week after being brutally attacked by six Pakistani prisoners inside Lahore”s Kot Lakhpat Jail.

Cabinet clears IKEA”s Rs 10500 crore investment proposal

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New Delhi, May 3 (ANI): The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has given its approval to the Swedish retailer IKEA for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in single-brand retail.

The approval will result in FDI inflows amounting to around 10,500 crore rupees in the country. A decision to this effect was taken at the meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh here last evening.