Month: February 2014

India, Saudi Arabia cooperating in fight against terror: President

by

India and Saudi Arabia share many security concerns and have been cooperating in the fight against terrorism, President Pranab Mukherjee said Thursday.

Welcoming the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who called on him at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here, the president said: “Relations between India and Saudi Arabia will be greatly strengthened by this visit.

“India cherishes its cordial and friendly relations with Saudi Arabia, which are deep-rooted in history and based on the foundation of close people-to-people contacts,” he added.

Madrasa teacher held for molesting two minor girl students

by

A madrasa teacher was arrested for allegedly molesting two minor girls, police said today.

The accused Samiulla Karudddin Shah (25) had offered to teach the girls Arabic at the seminary which falls under Rabodi police station limits, they said.

He allegedly molested them at the madrasa, police said quoting the complaint filed by the father of one of the girls yesterday.

AAP releases second list of 30 candidates for Lok Sabha polls

by

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today released a second of list of 30 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha election with prominent names being Rajmohan Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and former BJP MP Rajan Sushant.

The list has one candidate each from Delhi, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarkhand and Jammu and Kashmir, three from Rajasthan, five from Haryana, ten from Maharashtra and six from Madhya Pradesh.

Nine killed in Qatar blast

by

Nine people were killed and 32 others injured in a blast Thursday at a restaurant adjacent to a petrol station in Qatar’s capital Doha.

According to a source at the Ambulance Service Department, a burst gas cylinder was to blame for the blast, which happened shortly after 10 a.m., the Qatar News Agency reported.

The condition of three of the injured was reported to be critical.

More details were awaited with the Gulf nation’s interior ministry expected to address the press.

Qatar is home to around 600,000 expatriate Indians, many of them blue collar workers.

–IANS

Cesarean babies at increased risk of obesity: study

by

Babies delivered by cesarean section may be at 26 per cent increased risk of becoming overweight or obese as adults than those born by normal delivery, scientists including one of Indian-origin have warned.

The finding is based on combined data from 15 studies with over 38,000 participants.

The researchers, from Imperial College London, said there are good reasons why many women should have a C-section, but mothers should be aware that there might be long-term consequences for their children.

Nitaqat law to punish illegal expatriates: Saudi

by

Amid concerns in India over enforcement of Nitaqat law following which 1.41 lakh Indians left Saudi Arabia, the Gulf nation today said the legislation was aimed at punishing illegal expatriates and no legal employee will face any hardship.

Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Information, Abdulaziz Binsalamah said Nitaqat has been implemented to ensure that millions of foreign workers, including Indians who have valid documents can enjoy their entitlements.

Former Mumbai top cop: BJP removing fallacies about Modi

by

In the continuing bid to woo the Muslim community in the run up to Lok Sabha election, former Mumbai top cop and recently turned-politician with BJP said that the party was “reaching out to the minorities”, especially Muslims who are “brothers”.

Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh who recently joined the party said that the BJP is reaching out to Muslims in the hope of convincing them to accept Narendra Modi as the country’s next prime minister.

I was firm on taking responsibility: says outgoing Navy chief

by

A day after resigning as Navy Chief, Admiral D K Joshi today wrote to his colleagues, saying he was “firm” on taking responsibility for the mishaps that have taken place.

“I consulted only myself and my wife before taking the decision to resign. After the submarine mishap, I was firm that I should take the responsibility for it,” he said in his internal message to senior officers of the Navy.

3 dead, 2 injured in Hawaii plane crash

by

Authorities say three people are dead and three are injured following a plane crash on Hawaii’s Lanai Island.

Maui County spokesman Rod Antone says the crash occurred around 9:30 pm yesterday near the island’s airport.

He says details are still sketchy but the plane was taking off or had just taken off when it went down. Antone says three are dead and two are critically injured. Fire Services Chief Lee Mainaga says a third occupant was hospitalised with serious injuries.

Mainaga says crews located the aircraft about 1 mile southwest of the airport.

In BJP ruled states like Guj, businessmen as seen as thieves: Sisodia

by

Slamming the “Gujarat model” of development, Senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia today hit out BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, saying he should ensure that businessmen and common people are not seen as “thieves” in BJP ruled states.

“Narendra Modi should ensure that businessmen and common people are not seen as thieves in the BJP ruled states. He should also ensure that the BJP governments and officers change the way they function.

‘Despite Telangana issue, HSI for Hyderabad up 22% in Dec qtr’

by

Despite Telangana issue, the Housing Sentiment Index (HSI) for Hyderabad increased by 22 per cent to 101 points during the October-December quarter, breaking a largely negative streak to end close to neutral, according to an assessment by IIM Bangalore and Magicbricks.

The IIMB MB HSI is a sentiment index of the Indian real estate market that aims to capture buyer ‘mood’ and indicates residential real estate market performance.

India, Canada ink Letter of Intent to collaborate on research exchanges

by

India and Canada have inked a Letter of Intent (LOI) to collaborate on research exchanges to increase student mobility between the two countries.

The agreement was formalised by Mitacs CEO Arvind Gupta and Additional Secretary Amita Sharma, representing the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

“This LOI represents the start of a long and fruitful collaboration which will see exceptional students travelling between our two countries to promote research, share perspectives and build joint R and D capacity,” said Dr. Gupta.

Extreme hot temperatures increasing despite global warming hiatus claims

by

Extremely hot temperatures over land have dramatically and unequivocally increased in number and area despite claims that the rise in global average temperatures has slowed over the past 10 to 20 years, according to scientists.

Scientists from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science and international colleagues made the finding when they focused their research on the rise of temperatures at the extreme end of the spectrum where impacts are felt the most.

‘Climate-influencing’ pine forest particles appear out of thin air

by

A new study has found that coniferous trees emit pine-scented vapors that form particles, apparently out of nowhere, and reflect sunlight or promote cloud formation.

Joel Thornton , a University of Washington associate professor of atmospheric sciences and second author on the paper, said that in many forested regions, particles apparently form from thin air.

The study shows the chemistry behind these particles’ formation, and estimates they may be the dominant source of aerosols over boreal forests.

TRS politburo meeting on Mar 1

by

Amidst talk of a possible merger or tie-up with Congress, TRS would hold a meeting of its politburo and office bearers on March one.

A joint meeting of TRS politburo, parliamentary party, legislature party and state executive would take place at 2 PM on March one, TRS said in a release today.

The meeting is expected to discuss the future course of action of TRS in the wake of the passage of Telangana Bill in Parliament and the possible merger or alliance with Congress.

Beyonce spends 700 pounds at McDonald’s after gig

by

Beyonce recently splashed out on a 700 pounds meal at McDonald’s for herself and her tour crew following her concert at Manchester’s Phones 4 U Arena.

According to a source, the ‘Drunk in Love’ singer ordered so much that other customers were left hungry, Contactmusic reported.

The source said that the 32-year-old star ordered ’50 portions of large fries and 22 boxes of Chicken McNuggets. 22! And 26 Big Macs! And a lot of salads as there were lot of dancers on her tour.’ (ANI)

IM plotted to kidnap Jews to bargain for Al-Qaeda woman: NIA

by

Indian Mujahideen was planning to kidnap “Jews” and “white persons” to bargain for release of Pakistani scholar Aafia Siddique, an alleged Al-Qaeda operative jailed for 86 years in the US, the NIA has said.

In a supplementary charge sheet filed before a Delhi court against IM co-founder Yasin Bhatkal and his three aides, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said that during his stay in Nepal, Yasin had discussed with top IM member Riyaz Bhatkal about the plan to get Siddique released from jail.

Payal Rohatgi engaged to partner Sangram Singh

by

Actress Payal Rohatgi today got engaged to her longtime partner Sangram Singh.

The 29-year-old model-actress took to Twitter to announce her engagement to her wrestler boyfriend, whom she met on the sets of a reality show ‘Survivor India’.

“Today on this auspicious day of Mahashivratri I am engaged to my jaan Sangram Singh. Thank you Lord Shiva for your blessings always,” Payal tweeted.

The couple started dating in 2012 and also did a romantic film ‘Valentine’s Night’ together just after announcing their relationship on the national TV.

Appointment of new AP CS in limbo as govt remains ‘on paper’

by

Uncertainty looms over appointment of new chief secretary of Andhra Pradesh as the state remains virtually “non-existent” for all practical purposes.

Incumbent Chief Secretary Prasanna Kumar Mohanty, an IAS officer of 1979 batch, is due to retire tomorrow on attaining the age of superannuation.

Though it is widely being expected that Mohanty may get a three-month extension since the state bifurcation process is on, he is said to be reluctant to continue.

“I don’t want to continue even for a minute (after 28th),” Mohanty has been reportedly telling his junior bureaucrats.

Nitish refuses to take support of BJP for March 2 bandh

by

CPI, CPI(M) and Samajwadi Party have pledged support to the ‘Bihar bandh’ on March 2, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said today, but refused to enter into any “give and take” with BJP.

“I do not believe in any ‘give and take’ with BJP or any other party on protest programmes against denial of special category status to Bihar as given to Seemandhra,” Kumar told reporters here.

He held that the February 28 bandh was a political programme of BJP, and claimed that the shutdown called by him was a non-political one.

Smart phone sales to fall sharply by 2018′

by

Growth in global smartphone shipments would fall sharply this year and keep slowing through 2018, warns research.

“Growth in worldwide smartphone shipments could drop from 39.2 percent last year to 19.3 percent this year, 8.3 percent in 2017, and 6.2 percent in 2018,” said global market firm International Data Corporation (IDC) in its latest ‘Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker’ report.

Average prices would drop significantly as demand shifts to China and other developing countries, IDC added.

Hockey India League to have eight teams by 2016

by

The first two editions of the Hockey India League (HIL) generated a decent response and its chairman Narinder Batra sees the competition expanding from six to eight teams by 2016, a development which will be welcomed by domestic and foreign players alike.

Odisha’s Kalinga Lancers were the sixth team introduced in HIL-2 which ended in Ranchi Sunday.

“The plan is to have eight teams by 2016 and 10 by 2018. One of the teams joining the tournament will most likely be from south India as the region doesn’t have a representation yet,” Batra told IANS here Thursday.

Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson to fight against Sandeep Dikshit

by

The Aam Aadmi Party Thursday announced its second list of candidates for Lok Sabha elections, deciding to pit Raj Mohan Gandhi, the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, against sitting Congress parliamentarian Sandeep Dikshit.

In the list of 30 candidates, former Bharatiya Janata Party leader Rajan Sushant will contest from Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district.

Sushant, a parliamentarian from Himachal Pradesh, who was suspended from the BJP for anti-party activities, joined the Aam Aadmi Party last week.

ONGC nitpick to oil ministry about Reliance’s delaying tactics

by

ONGC has complained to the government that Reliance Industries is not cooperating with the state firm in its efforts to prevent RIL from drawing natural gas from the public sector unit’s undeveloped fields that seem to extend into the controversial KG-D6 block.

As per the Company, RIL is asking for supplementary data and clarification, which ONGC suspects is a delaying tactic. As two-sided negotiations with RIL were going nowhere, ONGC has asked the government to assign an independent expert to mediate.

India to develop Waqf properties for Muslim welfare

by

The Indian government is moving ahead to develop the country’s 490,000 Waqf (Islamic endowment) properties and use the revenue generated to facilitate the socio-economic uplift of the Muslim community.

It has sought the Kuala Lumpur-based World Islamic Economic Forum Foundation’s assistance in this regard. Earlier this month, Minority Affairs Minister K. Rahman Khan, leading a five-member delegation, met foundation chairman Tun Musa Hitam to initiate talks on organising a roundtable on the subject in the Indian capital later this year.