Month: June 2013

Uttarakhand floods: Rescue operations on, 200 evacuated from Badrinath

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After an initial delay due to unfavourable weather conditions, rescue work in Badrinath area of flood-hit Uttarakhand resumed on Saturday, and nearly 200 pilgrims have so far been evacuated from the shrine, officials said.

The operation, which is in its last leg and focuses largely on Badrinath, where nearly 1,400 people were reported to be stuck, is likely to be completed by this evening if the weather permits, officials said.

Rahul Gandhi vows to ensure 50% representation to women in Congress

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Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday vowed to ensure 50% representation to women in All India Congress Committee (AICC) and other party wings as he held his first formal interaction with newly-appointed party office bearers, the team set up by him for the 2014 Lok Sabha poll.

“Gandhi talked about how to ensure 50% representation to women in AICC…It’s not about reservation. It’s about their representation.

Pak tour schedule to West Indies announced by WICB

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The schedule of Pakistan”s tour to West Indies has reportedly been announced by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), in which the tourists will be playing five one-day Internationals (ODI) and two Twenty20s starting next month. Pakistan will be looking to redeem themselves during the tour of the West Indies after the flop show at the recently concluded ICC Champions Trophy, the Express Tribune reports.

BJP leader Munde may face EC’s ire over Rs 8 crore remarks

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Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Gopinath Munde is in trouble over his remarks on the spending in election campaigns. According to reports, the Election Commission is expected to issue a notice to Munde over spending Rs 8 crore during his election campaign in 2009.

Advocating state funding of elections, Munde had pointed, “I spent Rs 29,000 when I contested my first Assembly poll in 1980. But had to spend Rs 8 crore for my last election.”

`Drug cheat` Armstrong says `impossible` to win Tour de France without doping Home

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Disgraced cycling star Lance Armstrong has claimed that it is ”impossible” to win the Tour de France without using any drugs. According to the Mirror, the comments of Armstrong, who had been stripped of all seven Tour de France titles after his doping confession, have outraged cycling officials of the sport he fleeced as a serial drugs cheat. Speaking on the eve of the landmark 100th Tour, Armstrong said that it is not possible to win the Tour without doping, and added that he did not invent doping.

Watson says Mohali suspension set `dangerous precedent` for dealing with discipline breaches

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Former Australian vice-captain Shane Watson has said that he believed that his suspension from the Mohali Test in March, along with three other players, has created a ”dangerous precedent” for dealing with discipline breaches. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Watson”s lingering resentment about his treatment in India, where he was stood down for a Test along with Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Johnson and James Pattinson for failing to complete an assignment, had destablilised the team.

Bone marrow stem cell transplant reduces insulin usage in type 2 diabetes patients

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A new study has found that patients with type 2 diabetes transplanted with own bone marrow stem cells required less insulin post surgery.

The study carried out in India examining the safety and efficacy of self-donated (autologous), transplanted bone marrow stem cells in patients with type 2 diabetes (TD2M), has found that patients receiving the transplants, when compared to a control group of TD2M patients who did not receive transplantation, required less insulin post-transplantation.

What causes cancer revealed

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Researchers from the Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research in Tokyo have discovered that forced elongation of telomeres (extensions on the end of chromosomes) promotes the differentiation of cancer cells, probably reducing malignancy, which is strongly associated with a loss of cell differentiation.

“Cancer cells may maintain short telomeres to maintain their undifferentiated state,” Hiroyuki Seimiya, a researcher on the study, said.

Telomeres are protective extensions on the ends of chromosomes, which shorten as cells age, like an hourglass running down.

Liz Hurley flaunts impressive body in figure-hugging purple gown Home

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Elizabeth Hurley showed off her impeccable body in a skin-fit purple dress as she made her way to Elton John’s White Tie and Tiara Ball in Windsor on Friday.

The model and actress also flashed her toned pins with a thigh-high slit up the side of the dress, the Sun reported.

The floor-length design, which featured a gold clasp at the side and an asymmetrical neckline, made the mum-of-one look gorgeous at the star-studded bash.

Medical marijuana is kosher, says Israeli orthodox rabbi Efraim Zalmanovich

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An orthodox rabbi of the Israeli town of Mazkeret Batia has claimed that distributing and smoking marijuana is kosher as long as it’s for medical purposes.

According to an article on NRG, the website of the Maariv newspaper, Efraim Zalmanovich said that taking drugs to escape this world in any excessive way is certainly forbidden, the Huffington Post reported.

Marijuana is currently illegal under Israeli law, but the nation’s ministry of health has issued medical pot permits for some patients. (ANI)

‘Is UPA trying to trap Modi before the 2014 LS polls?’

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Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Naresh Aggarwal on Saturday questioned the government over its delay in probing Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s alleged role in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case.

Aggarwal said that it was beyond logic to understand why the government and the investigating agencies reporting to it, have taken four years to probe the matter.

Home Ministry asked not to interfere in CBI probe into Ishrat case

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With the Union Home Ministry expressing doubts over CBI’s proof against senior Intelligence Bureau (IB) official in the Ishrat Jahan case, Supreme Court lawyer Vrinda Grover on Saturday said the former should not put any hurdles in the way of an investigation regardless of who the person under arrest is.

Grover, who represents Ishrat Jahan’s mother Shamima in the court, said ‘if evidence is taking the CBI investigation to the doorstep of a senior IB officer, we should hope that the investigation will be allowed to reach its logical conclusion’.

Mandela and his comrades of Indian origin

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Nelson Mandela striding out of the Victor Vorester prison, outside Cape Town, on a sultry Feb 11, 1990 will remain etched on my mind as the everlasting image of “Freedom” in the 20th century. “Your piece to camera; your piece to camera,” screamed Akhtar Ali Khan, my cameraman. I came back with a start, so absorbed was I in the moment of history I was witnessing.

Later, it took me years of travel as a journalist to fix that historic moment in a broader perspective, both South African as well as global.

Upbeat India take on West Indies in tri-series opener

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On a roll after their Champions Trophy triumph, the Indian cricket team would aim to continue the unbeaten run when they take on the West Indies, who would be eyeing revenge, in their opening clash of the tri-nation ODI series, here tomorrow.

The Indians got barely a few days to rejoice after their Champions Trophy win before boarding the flight to the Caribbeans and fatigue could be the only worry for a side which looks in unbeatable form.

The West Indians, on the other hand, would be eager to extract revenge for the loss to India in a Champions Trophy group match.

India-Israeli chef expands business in Singapore, Macau

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An Indian-Israeli chef plans to open two new outlets in Singapore and Macau next month, aimed at popularising halal vegetarian Middle Eastern dishes with a twist of Mediterranean touch.

“We will be opening one outlet each in Singapore and Macau in the second week of July to serve our range of halal vegetarian Middle Eastern dishes with a twist of Mediterranean touch,” chef and restaurateur Reena Pushkarna told PTI.

Jaya slams Centre on Rupee depreciation issue

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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today slammed the Centre on the issue of rupee depreciation and said the latest petrol price hike spurred by the weak currency showed Congress-led UPA’s “administrative incompetence and incapability.”

“Instead of taking steps to control the falling value of the Indian Rupee, the reason for the fuel price hike, central government is just revising the rate of petrol as per its whims and fancies and this is the best example of its administrative incompetence and incapability,” she said.

Support relief and reconstruction in Ukhand: Niranjan to CM

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Senior Congress leader Niranjan Patnaik has asked Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to send an all-party delegation to Uttarakhand and draw a plan for contributing to the reconstruction effort in the flood-ravaged state.

In a letter to the Chief Minister, the former Odisha Minister said Naveen should contribute and share the anguish of the people of this beleaguered state.

The former OPCC President requested the Chief Minister to stand by the people and the government of Uttarakhand, which has gone through the major loss of life and states’ heritage.

Unable to trace parents in Kedarnath, woman ends life

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After failing to trace her parents, who had gone to Kedarnath pilgrimage, a 35-year-old woman allegedly committed suicide in Gwalior, police said on Saturday.

The dejected woman, Mamta Tripathi hung herself yesterday when her family could not find the whereabouts of father Nathuram Parashar (60), mother Kamla Devi (50), uncle Satish Parashar and aunt Vimla Devi, who had left for the pilgrim town on June 5, they said.

Mexican ex-governor sentenced in NY to 11 years

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A former governor of a Mexican state who admitted to conspiring to launder money in a New York drug case has been sentenced to just under 11 years in prison, but may face as little as three more years behind bars in the United States.

Mario Ernesto Villanueva Madrid, 64, was sentenced in US District Court in Manhattan to 10 years and 11 months in prison after he pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to commit money laundering. He was originally accused of conspiring to import hundreds of tons of cocaine.

Girl’s hand chopped off

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In a dastardly act, some men allegedly chopped off a hand of a minor girl, who was a witness in kidnapping case of her younger sister by them, in the capital city here.

An FIR has been registered with Kadamkuan police station in the case on the basis of statement of girl’s father, city police said today.

As per the complaint, the incident happened late Thursday night in a bylane near Rajendranagar Railway terminal.

Unable to trace parents at Kedarnath, MP woman ends life

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After failing to trace her parents, who had gone to Kedarnath pilgrimage, a 35-year-old woman allegedly committed suicide here, police said today.

The dejected woman, Mamta Tripathi hung herself yesterday when her family could not find the whereabouts of father Nathuram Parashar (60), mother Kamla Devi (50), uncle Satish Parashar and aunt Vimla Devi, who had left for the pilgrim town on June 5, they said.

‘Issaq’ is a masala entertainer: Manish Tiwary

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After making ‘Dil, Dosti etc’, director Manish Tiwary is adapting William Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ but the director says his Banaras-based love story has all the elements of a typical Bollywood masala entertainer.

Manish, 40, said his adaptation will see the classic love story in a new avatar.