Month: June 2013

Italy may ban smoking e-cigarettes in public places

by

The Italian health ministry’s top advisory body has recommended a ban on the smoking of electronic cigarettes in public places and their sale to pregnant women and minors.

The recommendation by the ministry’s Superior Health Council came after France’s Health Minister Marisol Touraine said she was planning simiar restrictions.

“Smoking an e-cigarette is smoking,” she stated.

E-cigarettes contain an electronic inhaler that vaporises a liquid solution into an aerosol mist, simulating the act of tobacco smoking, and are marketed as a tool to help smokers quit tobacco.

Kolkata Metro uses kids’ art to put malnutrition into sharp relief

by

Commuters get a chance to view art, children enjoy showcasing their drawings, and the issue of malnutrition is thrown into sharp relief as the “Art for Nutrition” exhibition gets underway in Kolkata’s metro stations.

Four metro stations double up as art galleries, exhibiting over 5,000 pictures painted by school students of West Bengal. The Mahanayak Uttam Kumar, Park Street, Esplanade, and Shyambazar stations are being used as exhibition spaces, with a total area of 2,500 square feet, spread across the station walls.

Vajpayee in good health: BJP

by

Amid reports that the health of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had deteriorated, BJP on Wednesday issued a statement saying he was fine and such reports are “misleading”.

“Some speculations are being made about the health of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in some newspapers. He is in good health. Everybody wishes and prays for his good health and long life,” BJP said in a statement.

India warns citizens against travelling to 3 Nigerian states

by

India has issued a travel warning to its nationals in Nigeria urging them to be cautious while visiting the oil-rich nation’s troubled northeastern region, where a state of emergency had been declared last month.

The High Commission of India in Nigeria, on its website, urged its nationals living in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states “to weigh their options and consider relocation until the security situation settles down.”

Chalo Assembly program – TDP in confusion

by

TDP is in confusion either to support Chalo Assembly program announced by Telangana Joint Action Committee or maintain silence on 14th June. TDP actively considering to extend its support to this agitation program. Telangana Political Joint Action Committee has already got support from TRS and BJP. In the last meeting convened by Central Home Ministry, TDP has classified its status to support Telangana. This protest program which is scheduled to be held on 14th June is the test for TDP. The supporters of separate Telangana are tying their level best to make this program a success.

Botsa invites Sonia and Rahul to A.P.

by

APCC President, Mr. Botsa Satyanarana met Ms. Sonia Gandhi Congress President and Mr. Rahul Gandhi Congress Vice President and invited them to visit A.P. He has been campaign in New Delhi for past 3 days. Addressing the Press Conference in New Delhi yesterday Mr. Satyanarana told that Congress is strong in A.P. but the lates incidents are painful. He presented the report about the latest political situation in A.P. to Ms. Sonai Gnadhi and Rahul Gandhi. He also invited them to visit all the three regions next month. Both of them have agreed for this. Mr.

C.M. meets Azad

by

C.M. of A.P. Mr. N.Kiran Kumar Reddy and Panchayath Raj Minister, Mr. K.Jana Reddy reach Delhi. In the evening Governor of A.P. Mr. E.S.L. Narsimhan and Deputy C.M. Mr. Damoodar Raja Narsimha also reach Delhi. Political activities of A.P. have increased in New Delhi since last week. Mr. Kiran Kumar Reddy met Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad at lunch and had a detailed discussion on the political situation of A.P. continuously for two hours. He mentioned the situation of A.P. after the dismissal of Dr. D.L.Ravindra Reddy from cabinet. He requested Mr.

Calligraphy and Handicraft exhibition by Siasat in collaboration with Iranian Consulate

by

Consulate of Iran at Hyderabad will organize an exhibition Calligraphy and Handicrafts in collaboration with Siasat Urdu Daily. This was expressed by H.E. Aga Hasan Noriyan, Consul General of Iran at Hyderabad during a meeting with Mr. Zahid Ali Khan Editor of Siasat Urdu Daily applauding the social service activities of Siasat Urdu Daily, he said that these activities are praiseworthy. Expressing his interest in organizing Calligraphy and Handicrafts exhibition, Mr. Noriyan said that the beauty of Calligraphy script can promote Parsian and Arabic languages besides Urdu.

BIE revises inter first year second language syllabus

by

The Board of Intermediate Education on Wednesday informed all the Principals, Lecturers and Students of Intermediate Education that there has been a revision of syllabi and textbooks of second languages in Telugu, Hindi, Urdu, Sanskrit, Arabic and French under Part-II for first year Intermediate course from the academic year 2013-14.

No alliance with anti-Telangana parties: BJP

by

Senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday announced that his party would not have electoral alliance with any party which is opposed to the formation of separate Telangana.

Talking to reporters here, Venkaiah Naidu reiterated that the BJP would grant statehood for Telangana region if it gets majority in next elections. However, it would influence all NDA partners to support the Telangana after it returns to power in 2014 elections.

Venkaiah Naidu appealed to the people to reject the parties who were opposed to Telangana in next elections.

Kejriwal refuses to seek bail in defamation case

by

Aam Admi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal Wednesday refused to seek bail in a defamation case filed against him by the political secretary of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit for his alleged “derogatory remarks” against power tariff hike protests.

Standing firm in the court on not seeking bail, Kejriwal also refused to furnish a personal or surety bond, saying he had been following the same principle in other cases lodged against him.

Man murdered in Delhi

by

A 30-year-old man was stabbed to death here and two of his friends injured in an attack by six men of a rival group, police said Wednesday.

Laltu Chaudhary, Vinod and Praveen were present at one of their common friend, Chetan’s house at Govindpuri area in south Delhi Tuesday when a group of six men carrying knives and sticks came and attacked them. Chaudhary died in the incident.

Police said both the groups had an altercation earlier on some issue.

–IANS

Bengal raises issue of ISI-backed groups

by

Bringing the issue of Pakistan’s ISI-backed fundamentalist organisations to the fore, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee Wednesday said militant groups operating in northeastern states were helping insurgents in her state.

“I would like to state that some ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence)-backed fundamentalist organisations operating in Bangladesh and Nepal pose threat to the security of the state,” Banerjee said in her speech, which was read out by state Finance Minister Amit Mitra at the chief ministers’ conference on internal security here.

Convicted murderer beheaded in Saudi Arabia

by

A Saudi man was beheaded with a ceremonial sword after being found guilty of murder, the interior ministry said.

Shuwail al-Amri was convicted of deliberately running over and killing Mohammed al-Amri after an argument, the ministry said.

Al-Amri’s beheading brought to 48 the number of people executed in the country this year. There has been an increase in executions over the past six months, according to Amnesty International.

In 2012, a total of 69 people were beheaded in Saudi Arabia, according to rights groups.

Woman kills two kids, hangs herself

by

A woman allegedly drowned both her children and then hung herself at her home here, police said Wednesday. No suicide note was found.

Sarita, 30, first drowned her six-year-old daughter Parihar in a washing machine tub and then drowned herr 11-month-old son Rudrakhsa in a water bucket, before hanging herself from the ceiling fan on the first floor of their two-storey house in east Delhi’s Mandawali area, said a police officer.

Her elderly mother-in-law was on the ground floor at that time, police said.

We want to do something different on TV: Big B

by

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who will soon be seen acting in a television show that he is co-producing, says his creative team wants to make something different but refuses to divulge anything about the storyline.

“There are many shows running on TV at the moment but we want to give a different kind of story to this one. We want to put it out there and see the reaction. It is premature to talk about the story right now,” he said while announcing the show at a press conference here Wednesday.

Dhoni continues to keep mum on recent controversies

by

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni continued to maintain a stoic silence on the IPL spot-fixing scandal and also showed no willingness to give his version in the ‘conflict of interest’ controversy over him having stakes in a sports management company which handles him.

Asked if there are any distraction going into the Champions Trophy in the wake of recent controversies surrounding Indian cricket and the captain himself, Dhoni smartly dodged the query.

90pc of nurses use cellphones while assisting surgeries: Study

by

Around 90 per cent of nurses and 50 per cent of operation theatre technicians employed in various Delhi hospitals use their mobile phones while assisting surgeries, apart from 10 per cent of doctors who check SMSes during the procedure, a study claimed today.

The three-month survey by the Heart Care Foundation of India (HCFI) was conducted on 87 family physicians from across Delhi, besides 25 nurses and operation theatre personnel were also part of the exercise. It was conducted from February to April this year.

No sufficient evidence against Vindoo, Gurunath: Court

by

While granting bail to actor Vindoo Dara Singh, Chennai Super Kings Team Principal Gurunath Meiyappan, and six others in the IPL betting case, a local court here tore apart the Mumbai crime branch case, saying police have no evidence of forgery and cheating.

Among the charges invoked by the police in the case, only forgery and cheating are non-bailable.

Modi, Nitish avoid looking at each other

by

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi refused to oblige lensmen to shake hands with his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar at the Internal Security Conference here today.

As Modi walked into the plenary hall of Vigyan Bhavan, the venue of the conference, photographers started positioning themselves hoping to click the Gujarat and Bihar Chief Ministers who have been at loggerheads for quite sometime.

The photographers were attempting to re-create last year’s picture when the two leaders had shaken hands despite continued strained ties between them.

Pak-born Ahmed a step closer to playing Ashes following changes in Oz Citizenship Act

by

Sydney, June 5 (ANI): Pakistan-born leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed may get his Australian passport in time to play in the Ashes, after changes in citizenship law were passed in the lower house. The draft laws that will fast track citizenship in special circumstances were cleared in the House of Representatives on Wednesday. According to the Age, the move will give the Immigration Minister power to apply shorter residential requirements on some citizenship applicants. This will cover exceptional circumstances such as elite athletes with the potential to represent Australia, as in Ahmed”s case.

Breast-milk-flavored lollypops make debut

by

New York, June 5 (ANI): An Austin, Texas-based candy company has released a lollipop that supposedly tastes like breast milk.

The treat, which was introduced by the Lollyphile Company, was released on Monday and while kids may like them, they’re actually aimed at an adult market, the New York Daily News reported.

The founder of Lollyphile, Jason Darling, stated in a press release that he noticed that breast milk turns a screaming, furious child into a docile, contented one.

Darling asserted that he felt like he had to capture that delicious flavor.

US teen turned away from prom over cleavage

by

Washington, June 5 (ANI): A US teen was turned away from her high school prom as her dress apparently revealed excess cleavage.

Brittney Minder, a senior at Central Kitsap High School in Silverdale in Washington, wore a stunning purple, strapless dress that she got all the way from Canada especially for the event, ABC news reported.

Upon arriving at her senior prom this past Saturday, however, she was turned away at the door and told to put on a shawl.

Minder complied with the order, but only stayed for an hour, saying she felt humiliated.

Jiah Khan”s last rites performed in Mumbai

by

Mumbai, June 5 (ANI): Actress Jiah Khan”s last rites were completed on Wednesday afternoon.

The body of the 25-year-old, who committed suicide on Monday night at her Juhu residence, was buried in the Juhu cemetery in Mumbai.

With moist eyes, family members and close friends buried Jiah at around 2 p.m.

Aamir Khan”s wife Kiran Rao, actor Riteish Deshmukh, Aditya Pancholi with his son Sooraj, actor Raza Murad, TV actress Urvashi Dhokalia and others were present.

Jiah made her cinematic debut opposite Amitabh Bachchan in Ram Gopal Verma”s film Nishabd in 2007.