Microsoft co-founder and chairman Bill Gates visited Biological E. Ltd, a leading vaccine manufacturer, and the International Crops Research Institute for Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) near here Thursday on a private trip kept completely under wraps.
Bill Gates, who is also co-chairperson of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, visited Biological E. Ltd. late Thursday evening, the company said in a statement Friday.
CBI has recorded the statement of Chairman Railway Board Vinay Mittal in connection with the alleged bribery scandal involving former Railway Minister Pawan Bansal’s nephew Vijay Singla and the then Board Member Mahesh Kumar.
CBI sources said Mittal was examined for nearly three hours yesterday evening where he was asked about promotion of Mahesh Kumar from General Manager (West) to the Board and also about allowing him to retain additional charge of Western Railway even after his elevation.
The Lahore High Court has deferred the hearing of a petition against alleged harassment of former president Gen (retired) Pervez Musharraf till June 10.
The court has given him a chance of fair trial as required by the law.
According to the Daily Times, the court asked petitioner, Barrister Javed Iqbal Jaffrey, to defend himself against the allegations.
Jaffrey alleged that Musharraf was being subjected to harassment by the state and was treated like a convict even though he was just an under trial prisoner.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan has demanded incoming Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that after assuming office his first decision should be to either stop or shoot down drone strikes in the country.
According to the Daily Times, he said drone attacks will not be tolerated inside Pakistan.
He added that the people had voted those parties to power which promoted anti-drone policies.
Khan said people had rejected the policies adopted and pursued by former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf.
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Highlighting the ill-effects of smoking on children and pregnant women, experts Friday said that counselling about the risks of smoking in pregnancy would help limit the use of tobacco among women.
“Smoking has a negative impact on maternal health,” Health Secretary Keshav Desaraju said.
To counsel pregnant women on smoking during pregnancy and its impact on the unborn’s health, the government has a national consultation session to limit the use of tobacco use among women and children, he said.
One of the two suspected terrorists, who hacked a British soldier to death on a busy London street, is believed to have had contact with a ‘terrorist instructor’.
The instructor is now in prison for running military-style training camps which were used by Islamist extremists including the 21/7 London bombers.
According to the Independent, Michael Adebolajo is understood to have attended talks given by preacher Mohammed Hamid, who called himself Osama bin London.
Hamid, a 55-year-old former crack addict, was convicted of “grooming” young Muslim men for jihad.
YSR Congress leader and former minister Boda Janardan is likely to join the Congress. He has been holding talks with the Congress leaders. Reports suggest that he might meet the Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy in a couple of days and take a decision then.
The induction of the latest war aircraft of Switzerland “Pilatus PC 7 MK II” has fulfilled the long-cherished dream of Indian Air Force, Minister of State for Defence Jithendra Singh has said, adding it has now become possible to train the pilots in the Air Froce Academy on international standards.
In the wake of IPL spot-fixing controversy, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Friday said politicians should stay away from sports.
Commenting on spot-fixing allegations in IPL, he termed it as “unfortunate” and said it has given bad name to sportspersons.
“Politicians should do politics and sportspersons should concentrate on their game,” he told reporters.
Yadav targeted cricket saying local sports should not be ignored because of this “foreign game”.
A three-member team of the Pakistan Indus Water Commission concluded a two-day visit to the Kashmir Valley Friday.
Sources in the state government said the three-member team of the Pakistan Indus Water Commission, headed by Indus Water Commissioner Shiraz Jameel Memon, visited the Dal Lake and the Jhelum river in Srinagar Friday.
The Pakistan team Thursday visited the Baramulla district in north Kashmir.
Official sources say the visit was part of the Indus Water Treaty signed between India and Pakistan in 1960.
Although procedures like angioplasty, stenting and bypass surgery may save lives, they also cause excessive inflammation and scarring that ultimately can lead to permanent disability and even death.
Now, a new research has found that naturally derived compounds from polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega-3s) may reduce the inflammation associated with these procedures to help arteries more fully and completely heal.
Scientists have shown that healthy lifestyle choices like not smoking, exercising and healthy eating could lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, says a study.
To examine the impact of these lifestyle choices on memory throughout adult life, University of California – Los Angeles (UCLA) researchers and the Gallup organisation collaborated on a nationwide poll of more than 18,500 individuals between the ages of 18 and 99.
A study shows that the majority of prisoners are Muslims in Indian jails. Since time immemorial, they have been sent behind bars for minor offences like theft, loot, drug dealing, etc. The more serious crimes are comparatively very low in number.
Campaigning for the crucial Lok Sabha by-poll from Howrah, the Left Front and Congress Friday accused the Trinamool Congress of having a tacit understanding with the BJP with an eye to the next general elections.
“It has become clear that the Trinamool is going to ally with the BJP,” Left Front chairman Biman Bose said on the last day of campaigning for the June 2 bypoll.
Gold prices may fall by Rs 2,000 from the present levels in the near to medium term as the precious metal is losing appeal as an asset, a report by industry body Assocham has said.
The report, however, said that gold is unlikely to fall below Rs 25,000 per 10 grams due to a strong buying support at that level and a weak rupee against the US dollar.
Gold prices have come down to Rs 27,790 per 10 grams in the national capital this month from the high of Rs 32,990 per 10 grams in April.
-PTi
Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Friday visited the family of slain Chhattisgarh Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel at his native Nadeli village in Raigarh district and assured them of justice and his full support.
Shinde, accompanied by senior officials, landed at Jindal airport in Raigarh around 11am from Delhi and directly went to the village by helicopter.
Director general of police Ramniwas was at the airport along with senior officials to receive him.
(IANS) There was no decision on a visit to neighbouring Pakistan despite an invitation from the Pakistan government, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here Friday.
“There is an invitation from government of Pakistan for me to visit Pakistan. There is no firm decision…,” he told reporters on his way back from a five-day official visit to Japan and Thailand.
Producer Ekta Kapoor had planned only 200 episodes of “Bade Acche Lagte Hain”, which has completed two years and crossed the 400-episode-mark, says its lead actress Sakshi Tanwar.
The show turned two Thursday and completed 421 episodes.
“When I had signed for the show, Ekta had told me that the story is of 150 episodes, might go on till 200, but it’s a limited story. But now we have already crossed the 400-episode-mark and we are completing two years,” said the actress on the sets of the show.
“It’s a sense of fulfilment, achievement and it’s a wonderful feeling,” she added.
(IANS) Corruption is a major hindrance for starting businesses in India, Minister of State for Human Resource Development (HRD) Shashi Tharoor said here Friday.
“Corruption has become a factor, a consideration for starting businesses,” Tharoor said, adding that he had been hearing horrific stories about how corruption was discouraging business people from investing.
“It has become a disincentive for investors,” Tharoor said, adding that businesses were held up for “months if not years” if bribes were not paid to politicians or bureaucrats.
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who worked with late filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh in “The Last Lear”, says he always gave “immense liberty” to his actors, and that he was “never rigid in his directions to the artists”.
“Challenging, gently pushing for a correction, giving immense liberty to the actor on set without any interference, and readily accommodating any peculiar demands that most actors often tend to make when they are facing the camera,” Amitabh wrote in his lengthy blog post about “Ritu da” after the filmmaker’s sudden death Thursday.
Bharatiya Janata Party national president Rajnath Singh will address a massive public meeting at Nizam College Grounds on June 3 at Nizam College Grounds.
Christened as “Telangana Atma Gaurav (self-respect) Sabha”, the public meeting will witness the formal entry of Nagarkurnool MLA Nagam Janardhan Reddy into the BJP. Nagam will also merge his outfit Telangana Nagara Samithi into the BJP on the same day.
The BJP has intensified the campaign in the GHMC limits, universities and localities to mobilise huge crowd for the public meeting. (INN)
The new ODI rules and the conditions in England will force India to go in with five specialist bowlers in the upcoming Champions Trophy, according to captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni who reckons all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja will play a key role.
“Conditions are very different compared to sub-continent. We have to look at the composition of the side and see what kind of bowlers we use but the conditions and the new rule forces us to play with five bowlers”, Dhoni said at the pre-tournament press conference here on Wednesday.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi MLA K Tarakarama Rao on Friday accused Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy of trying to hurt the self-respect of people of Telangana.
Talking to reporters at Telangana Bhavan here, KTR said that the Chief Minister replied arrogantly when he was asked by the media about the deadline set by Telangana Congress MPs. The Chief Minister stated that the Congress High Command would not yield to deadlines and the reply was aimed at directly hurting the Telangana sentiments.
Rajasthan Royals cricketer Siddharth Trivedi was being questioned by Delhi Police in connection with spot fixing in the Indian Premier League (IPL), a senior police official said Friday.
He said Trivedi, whose IPL teammates colleagues S. Sreesant, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila have been arrested, was offered a bribe for spot fixing.
Trivedi was contacted by a bookie during the IPL but declined to accept the bribe for spot fixing in the matches, the official said.
Trivedi might be presented before court as a witness in the IPL spot fixing case, the source added.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday said his great regret as prime minister was that many bills had not been passed due to the “obstructionist” and “impatient” attitude of the opposition.
“The obstructionist role of the opposition increased in recent years. My great regret is that many important bills have not been passed (due to the opposition’s attitude),” Manmohan Singh told journalists on board his special aircraft while returning from a five-day official visit to Japan and Thailand.