A prominent Beijing scholar who recently fled to the United States has warned that China was sending “spies” to US universities and urged caution on academic cooperation.
Xia Yeliang is one of the original signatories of Charter 08, a bold petition for reform whose Nobel Prize-winning lead author Liu Xiaobo is in prison. Xia, an economist, was fired in October from Peking University, often considered China’s most prestigious university.
Chinese police have busted four major online baby-trafficking groups and saved 382 babies this month, said the ministry of public security.
A total of 1,094 suspects were arrested across the country in a joint operation Feb 19, Xinhua reported citing the ministry Friday.
These groups are accused of trading babies by establishing illegal online platforms and shops under the name of adoption or re-homing centres.
Criminals have turned to the internet for human trafficking in recent years, which brings difficulties during investigation, police said.
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Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh on Thursday said the revenues from Hyderabad would go to Telangana state after bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh formally takes effect.
He told reporters here that while Hyderabad would serve as common capital of Telangana and Seemandhra for 10 years, the revenues from the city would go to Telangana.
The BJP is all set to stage a ‘rail roko’ stir to demand special status for Bihar.
Regretting that the agitation may cause inconvenience to the public, party leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi urged the people of state against travelling by trains during the stir.
Modi also asked the railway authorities to stop all trains entering Bihar to the border areas as a precautionary measure.
Defender Felipe Santana will be out of action several weeks owing to a torn muscle fibre, the club has said.
After Schalke’s humiliating 6-1 loss to Real Madrid, the Royal Blues received another bad news after it was revealed that defender Felipe Santana suffered a torn muscle fibre in his right thigh, reported Xinhua.
“Felipe will be sidelined for a few weeks. That is very bitter for us,” coach Jens Keller said.
Thus Santana will join Marco Hoeger, Dennis Aogo, Jan Kirchhoff, Atsuto Uchida and Christian Clemens on the long injury list.
Gautam Gambhir led Delhi to a 38-run win over Jammu and Kashmir at the Ferozeshah Kotla here Thursday.
Skipper Gambhir (58) and his opening partner Unmukt Chand (42) shared a 99-run stand to set the platform for 256 for eight. Virender Sehwag (15) failed batting at number three.
In reply, Jammu and Kashmir ended with 218 all out with contributions of Adil Reshi (36), Shubham Khajuria (46) and Hardeep Singh (45) going in vain.
Brief scores of North Zone matches in Delhi:
Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said Thursday that work on health research can only be done by scientists and not bureaucrats.
Inaugurating the office building of the Department of Health Research here, Azad congratulated scientists, led by director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) V.M. Katoch for the success they have achieved in developing many affordable technologies for health care in the country.
He said he was proud that the targets given to the ICMR for development of various technologies were achieved in time and some even before time.
A virtual computer-based world can be an effective learning environment.
Researchers have demonstrated the potential of using a virtual computer environment for distance healthcare education for an international audience that often has limited access to conventional teaching.
In this project, a virtual world was created in which participants engaged in a learning activity by creating virtual avatars of themselves to navigate through a three-dimensional computer environment and engage in educational activities.
The winter session of parliament was Thursday prorogued by President Pranab Mukherjee.
The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA) at its meeting Wednesday recommended proroguing the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
This has paved the way for the government to issue ordinances on certain bills which could not be passed in the recently concluded session.
The winter session, the second phase of which began Feb 5, was adjourned sine die Feb 21.
This was the last session of the 15th Lok Sabha as India goes to polls shortly.
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Sahara Group chief Subrata Roy Thursday tendered an “unconditional apology” to the Supreme Court for not appearing before it Wednesday and urged the court to recall its order issuing a non-bailable arrest warrant against him.
Roy said in his application that his non-appearance before the court was neither intentional nor deliberate, and urged the court to recall the non-bailable arrest warrant.
He said the non-recall of the non-bailable arrest warrant shall cause grave prejudice as well as cause irreparable loss and injury to him.
Umar Akmal’s unbeaten century and a dramatic batting collapse of Afghanistan helped defending champions Pakistan register a 72-run win in the third ODI of the Asia Cup cricket tournament at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium here Thursday.
Chasing a target of 249, Asia Cup debutants Afghanistan were well placed at 139 for two but they lost the last eight wickets for a mere 37 runs and were bowled out for 176 runs in 47.2 overs.
At the end, it turned out to be an easy win with some much needed bonus points for Pakistan, who lost their opening encounter to Sri Lanka.
Visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif Thursday said the time of “zero sum game” played by the West was over and India and Iran should work together to usher in a new perspective of cooperation between all the countries.
Delivering the fifth R.K. Mishra Memorial Lecture, organised by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), Zarif said the context of international relations and the players have changed now and called for a “new paradigm” to usher in an inclusive world where each state played a role.
At least 47 people were killed and over 70 wounded Thursday in separate attacks witnessed in different parts of Iraq, including three deadly bombings in capital city of Baghdad, police said.
In the worst incident in Baghdad’s Sadr City, a booby-trapped motorcycle exploded at a popular market, leaving at least 32 people dead and 56 injured. In another incident, an improvised explosive device struck a minibus, killing five civilians and wounding two, Xinhua reported.
The United States continues to express concern about communal violence in India, the Obama Administration has said, strongly refuting reports that it has gone soft on the Gujarat communal riots in 2002 and the alleged role of its Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
“I wouldn’t characterise our assessment that way. I think you’ll find if you review the text that we’re very clear about our concerns about several episodes of communal violence across India,” US State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters on Thursday.
Pop star Rihanna and her former beau Chris Brown haven’t stopped texting since her birthday last week.
The 26-year-old’s friends are concerned that she is planning to reconcile with the “Yeah 3x” hitmaker, even though she initially snubbed his messages.
“Chris started texting Rihanna on her birthday Feb 20, and the two have been sending each other a flurry of texts ever since,” a source told the New York Post newspaper.
NATO Thursday urged Russia not to take any action which could escalate tension or create misunderstanding in Ukraine.
“NATO has a long-standing partnership with Ukraine. Today we made clear that NATO stands ready to support democratic development, defence reforms, military cooperation and democratic control over the security sector,” Xinhua quoted NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen as saying.
The European Union has informed Sierra Leonean parliamentarians that its has earmarked 376 million euros (over $ 516 million) for development projects in the West African country between 2014 and 2020.
Tom Ashwaden, the EU representative in Sierra Leone, made the disclosure in an interactive session with the parliamentarians Wednesday, when he said the EU will invest massively in Sierra Leone’s educational sector and would encourage transparency and accountability in the implementing process, Xinhua reported.
Actress Jessica Lange, 64, has fronted a new ad campaign for fashion designer Marc Jacobs’s latest beauty line.
The actress has also provided a vocal soundtrack for his autumn/winter 2014 runway show in his upcoming campaign, reports contactmusic.com.
Jacobs posted a snapshot of the “American Horror Story: Coven” actress on Instagram along with the caption: “Announcing the new face of @MarcBeauty, Jessica Lange! Campaign shot by David Sims. Shop at marcjacobs.com/beauty.”
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BJP leader Arun Jaitley on Thursday accused the government of “cutting short procedures” in its “terrible hurry” to appoint members of Lokpal ahead of general elections and packing the committee with its “supporters”.
In a write-up titled ‘Not the way to appoint a Lokpal’, Jaitley said government had tried to “pack” the search committee with its “supporters”.
Jaitley also said the manner in which government has invited applications is “inappropriate” and many senior judges had refused to apply as they felt it “compromised their dignity and self-respect”.
In a memorandum to BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on Thursday demanded that the party’s manifesto include how issues related to fishermen would be addressed.
The memorandum demanded that the BJP should include in its manifesto a policy of not arresting Pakistani fishermen, which would in turn lead to no arrest of Indian fishermen by that country.
Hitting back at Finance Minister P Chidambaram for his postage stamp barb, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said he can enlist knowledgeable people to help him govern based on the principle of being a “trustee.”
“My knowledge about finance and economy will not occupy even a postage stamp. My whole knowledge can be confined to one word, that is trustee.
“…Muhje koi bahut granthon ki zaroorat nahi hai. Granth walo ko mein rakh lunga apne paas (I don’t need a lot of bookish knowledge. I can enlist people with knowledge),” he said.
At least five people were killed and 35 injured when a fire broke out in a bus with about 50 people on board Thursday in China’s Guizhou province, authorities said.
The incident occurred around 12.30 p.m. when the bus was passing by a primary school in the northern part of Guiyang, Xinhua quoted the city’s publicity department as saying. The injured were rushed to four hospitals.
According to Yang Li, a passenger, the fire spread so quickly that many people failed to notice hammers in the bus for smashing windows in emergencies.
Singer Robin Thicke’s marriage with actress Paula Patton fell apart because of his raunchy performance with pop star Miley Cyrus on stage.
Sources connected to the couple told tmz.com that Patton felt “utterly disrespected” when Thicke virtually simulated sex with Cyrus at the MTV Video Music Awards.
It is said that after the performance, Patton got into an argument with Thicke, telling him that he insulted her before a huge national TV audience.
A US Congress-mandated report today said that abuses by police and security forces are the most significant human rights problems in India, but that the government had made some “progress” in cases seeking to punish officials for killings during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
India and Saudi Arabia Thursday sought to further deepen strategic diplomatic and business relations as the oil-rich Gulf kingdom’s Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud met India’s top leadership, including President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
During the meeting with the prime minister, the two leaders “discussed trade, investment, terrorism and security situation in West Asia and Afghanistan”.
“India has a special and warm relationship with Saudi Arabia which we accord high importance,” Manmohan Singh told the visiting leader.