Month: July 2013

Pak-based militants increase infiltration bids into J&K: MHA

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Pakistan-based militant groups have intensified their infiltration attempts along the border in Jammu and Kashmir where around 300 terrorists continue to be active, according to the Home Ministry.

In a presentation at the meeting of the Consultative Committee for Home Ministry today, it said efforts from Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir based elements to spawn enhanced level of violence in the state by scaling up infiltration and smuggling of arms and ammunition from across the LoC continue.

Good progress made in latest border talks with China: Khurshid

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External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Tuesday met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Brunei’s capital to discuss issues of mutual concerns, including contentious border dispute, and asserted that the recent round of talks between their special representatives has made “good progress”.

Terming their discussions “very cordial”, Wang said, the two countries were “natural strategic partners” and “we should engage in all round cooperation in a wide range of areas.

Aishwarya in ‘Kajra re’ inspires Jacqueline

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Sri Lankan beauty Jacqueline Fernandez took inspiration from Aishwarya Rai’s work in “Kajra re” song for her item number “Jadu ki jhappi” in “Ramaiya Vastavaiya”.

Jacqueline dons desi avatar for the song choreographed by Prabhudheva, who is also the director of the movie.

Talking about “Kajra re”, she said: “I think it was choreographed beautifully, Aishwarya was looking stunning…I love that song and I remember hearing it when I came to India, so it kind of remained and I think it was amazing. It is my favourite,” said the actress here at the unveiling of the item number Monday.

BJP planning communal riots for 2014 poll gain: Digvijaya

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Congress leader Digvijaya Singh Tuesday claimed that the BJP might organise communal riots in Congress-ruled states in the hope of winning Lok Sabha elections due next year.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) feels it cannot win the election without “communalising” the situation, he said addressing the general body meeting of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee here.

Singh, recently appointed in-charge of Congress affairs in Karnataka, urged the party government in the state to be on vigil to put down attempts to create communal disturbance.

Cong, JMM hold talks on govt formation in Jharkhand

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With President’s Rule scheduled to end in Jharkhand on July 18, JMM and Congress leaders on Tuesday held talks on the possibility of formation of a government in the state.

AICC general secretary Shakeel Ahmed, Congress in-charge of the state BK Hariprasad, JPCC president Sukhdeo Bhagat and CLP leader R P Singh called on JMM supremo Shibu Soren and his son, Hemant.

“They called on Guruji (Shibu Soren) and Hemant Soren to discuss government formation,” JMM general secretary Suprio Bhattacharya said here.

Indian physicians want say in US healthcare

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An influential group of over 100,000 physicians of Indian origin in the US is seeking a place on the policy table as President Barack Obama’s landmark healthcare reforms are rolled out in autumn.

Members of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) “should be at the table during implementation stage of the health care reform,” said the association’s new president Jayesh Shah.

German court convicts couple of spying for Russia

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A German court has convicted a married couple of spying for Russia and sentenced them to several years in prison.

News agency DPA reported that a state court in Stuttgart on Monday sentenced Andreas and Heidrun Anschlag, they are known only by the fake names on the Austrian passports they used to enter Germany to 6 years and 5 years in prison respectively.

The pair, thought to be in their 40s or 50s, were charged with spying over 20 years until their arrest in October 2011.

Ranveer’s ‘Lootera’ look inspired by Dev Anand, James Dean

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Ranveer Singh reveals his look in “Lootera” has been inspired by late Hollywood actor James Dean and Bollywood legend Dev Anand.

“Vikram (director Vikramaditya Motwane) was very clear it had to be an amalgamation of James Dean and Dev Anand. So those were the references that he used to send me,” the 28-year-old said here Monday at a Cafe Coffee Day outlet while promoting “Lootera”.

“I did not do anything, he (the director) knew the kind of look he wanted, the kind of hair he wanted. Every detail he looked into, so I really didn’t give any input this time, it was all Vikram’s,” he said.

Sex tape destroyed my faith in men: Paris Hilton

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Socialite Paris Hilton admits she lost her faith in men after her then-boyfriend leaked a graphic sex tape to the world.

The 32-year-old hotel heiress, whose sex tape released shortly before the premiere of her hit reality series ‘The Simple Life’, said she has rebuilt her life and changed her image post the fiasco, reported Daily Mirror.

“It was the most painful thing I ever went through in my life. This was not just some random person, it was my boyfriend who I was with for a few years and who I really loved and trusted. It was such a violation of everything.

Vietnam’s weapons-grade uranium removed: US

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The United States says experts have removed the last batch of uranium from Vietnam that terrorists could have used in efforts to make a nuclear bomb.

US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz says the highly enriched uranium, from the Dalat Nuclear Research Institute, has gone to Russia where it will be turned into low-enriched reactor fuel.

Moniz did not say when the removal occurred. He also did not specify amounts on Monday.

Part of mom’s lung transplanted to 3-yr-old son in Japan

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Doctors have successfully transplanted a part of a mother’s lung into her 3-year-old son in Japan, making it the world’s first such transfer from a living donor.

According to the Okayama University Hospital, the operation made the troubled boy, who had experienced a decline in lung function, the youngest lung recipient in Japan.

London Mayor wants amnesty for illegal immigrants

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London Mayor Boris Johnson today called for an amnesty for illegal immigrants who had stayed here for 10 to 12 years so that they can pay taxes.

Prime Minister David Cameron had rejected the idea last week, warning that it would send out a ‘terrible signal of Britain as a soft touch’.

Johnson defied warnings from Cameron to back the idea of allowing illegal immigrants to stay in the UK.

The ruling coalition has sought to take a tougher line on immigration, unveiling a raft of measures to curb benefit tourism and deport people in the UK illegally.

55 bus passengers found unconscious in UP

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Fifty-five people travelling in a chartered bus, including the driver and conductor, were found unconscious in a Uttar Pradesh town early Tuesday, police said.

A passerby raised an alarm after spotting the bus with unconscious passengers near a check post in Saharanpur, some 575 km from here. The bus was coming from Bijnor and headed to Gangoh, a police official said.

The passengers were rushed to a nearby medical facility. The condition of 35 people is stated to be serious.

Jordan publishes treaty on cleric Qatada’s deportation

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The treaty between Britain and Jordan which will eventually pave the way for radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada to be deported from the UK has been officially published in Jordan.

The publishing in Jordanian government’s ‘Official Gazette is a necessary step before the treaty can be fully ratified and enforced.

“Whilst further steps remain, our focus is on seeing Abu Qatada on a plane to Jordan at the earliest opportunity,” UK security minister James Brokenshire said.

An exchange of diplomatic letters is also necessary between the two countries.

Govt releases National Cyber Security Policy 2013

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With an aim to protect information and build capabilities to prevent cyber attacks, the government today released the National Cyber Security Policy 2013 to safeguard both physical and business assets of the country.

“…policy is a framework document and it gives you a broad outline of what our vision is…the real task or the challenge is the operationalisation of this policy,” Minister of Communications and IT Kapil Sibal said while releasing the policy here.

Manmohan Singh-Nawaz Sharif to meet in September?

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Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are likely to have their first meeting in September in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, a Pakistani media report said. However, Indian officials said they had no information about such a meeting.

The influential Dawn newspaper quoted Sharif’s Special Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz as saying that Prime Minister Sharif and Prime Minister Singh were likely to meet in September in New York.

SP, five cops killed in Jharkhand Maoist attack

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Six policemen, including a superintendent of police, were killed Tuesday in a Maoist ambush in Jharkhand’s Dumka district, police said.

“Six policemen including Pakur Superintendent of Police Amarjit Balihar were killed in a Maoist ambush,” state Director General of Police Rajiv Kumar told IANS.

Taliban attack NATO supply base in Kabul, 11 killed

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At least 11 people were killed Tuesday morning when the Taliban launched an attack on a NATO supply base in the eastern part of the Afghan capital, the seventh massive attack in Kabul within two months, police said.

Two civilian drivers, four Nepalese guards, one Afghan guard and four militants were killed, reported Xinhua.

Sensex dips 114 points on profit booking

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After touching nearly a month’s high a day ago, a benchmark index of Indian equities market closed Tuesday’s trade 0.58 percent or 114 points down on profit booking and weak European cues.

Almost all the sectors were in red, except consumer durables and healthcare. Selling pressure was seen in banking, oil and gas, auto, public sector undertakings (PSU) and capital goods scrips.

After 17 days, Rescue work in U’khand over, 1.1 lakh evacuated

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Seventeen days after the Uttarakhand disaster, the mammoth multi-agency rescue operations to evacuate all stranded pilgrims and tourists concluded today with a group of 150 people being taken to safety from Badrinath.

In all, around 1.1 lakh people stranded by flash floods and landslides after monsoon rains pounded the hill state on June 15 were evacuated by thousands of personnel of the Army, IAF, Indo-Tibetan Border Police(ITBP) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), who braved all odds.

Brazil’s trade deficit highest in 18 years

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Brazil registered a trade deficit of USD 3 billion in the first six months of 2013, the highest in the past 18 years, the government said.

Ministry of Development, Industry and Trade said Monday that the first half of this year has seen the worst economic figures recorded in any initial six-month period since 1995, when Brazil registered a trade deficit of USD 4.22 billion, reported Xinhua.

Exports amounted to USD 114.5 billion, down 4.8 percent from the same period last year, while imports reached USD 117.5 billion, a record-high level.

2G case: Raja opposes CBI’s plea on Radia’s conversations

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Former Telecom Minister A Raja on Monday opposed in a Delhi court CBI’s plea for placing on record a CD containing recorded conversations and transcripts of calls of former corporate lobbyist Niira Radia pertaining to 2G spectrum allocation.

In a two-page reply before Special CBI Judge O P Saini, Raja said the agency’s plea did not mention the reason for not submitting these documents at the time of filing of charge sheet.

The judge deferred the hearing on the plea for July 9.

India turns down Snowden’s asylum request

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India Tuesday said it had declined the asylum request of fugitive former CIA agent Edward Snowden who blew the whistle on US data mining.

“I can confirm that earlier today our embassy in Moscow did receive a communication dated June 30 from Mr Edward Snowden. That communication did contain a request for asylum,” said India’s external affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin.

“We have carefully examined the request. Following that examination, we have concluded that we see no reason to accede to the request,” he said.

RBI must understand its mandate in a broader sense: FM

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In a veiled message to the Reserve Bank, Finance Minister P Chidambaram has hinted that it should not focus solely on containing inflation but also look at the larger mandate of growth and creation of jobs.

Ahead of his meeting with PSU bank chiefs on Wednesday, he also said banks would have to be heard before advising them on taking a balanced view about passing on the benefit of rate cuts to consumers.

Instagram hit with ‘miracle fruit diet’ spam

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Photo sharing app Instagram was reportedly hit with ‘miracle fruit diet’ spam when users’ accounts were hacked and photos of fruits were posted.

According to the Fox News, the spam hit the service in the weekend and along with the food photos a link to a fake BBC page was also posted promoting ‘ miracle fruit diet’.

One of the photo descriptions read, ‘I saw it on Dr Oz’s show! Link is in my bio #lovemyfollowers #health’, which was clicked on more than 35,000 times.