Month: February 2014

Jackson County Spelling Bee ends in tie after running out of words

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The Jackson County Spelling Bee has two finalists as they ran out of words.

The two participants, Sophia Hoffman and Kush Sharma, for the Scripps National Spelling Bee selection dueled for over 60 rounds until the judges ran out of words, the Kansas City Star reported.

Mary Olive Thompson, a library outreach manager and co-coordinator of the spelling bee, admitted that they ran out of the national bee words and about 20 extra words out of their Merriam-Webster’s 11th Edition, but were unable to determine a winner.

Last year’s bee had ended after 21 rounds. (ANI)

Posh loses Becks’ Miami team’s kit design deal to Adidas

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Victoria Beckham won’t design the kit for her husband David Beckham as she lost the design battle to Adidas.

Victoria was tipped for designing the kit for David’s Miami team, however she lost the battle to sports giants Adidas, Daily Star reported.

A friend of Beckham’s said that the news has surprised many in Miami that David would not ask his wife to design the kit.

The friend further added that not only would it be the most stylish kit ever, but it would help to elevate the sales as well.

Mourinho embarrassed after ‘no striker in club’ comment caught on camera

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Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was left embarrassed after he was caught on camera dismissing the quality of his strikers and saying that winning the Premiere League was not possible for them.

Mourinho’s remarks about Chelsea’s forward trio Samuel Eto’o, Fernando Torres and Demba Ba were reportedly captured on camera while he believed that he was chatting privately with senior representatives of watch manufacturers Hublot during a sponsership launch last week.

Hennessey Performance Venom GT becomes world’s fastest car after touching 435.5km/h

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The Hennessey Performance Venom GT has set a new world record after reaching 435.5km/h during a test run at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, breaking the 431km/h record set by the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport.

Bugatti’s Veyron is the jewel in the Volkswagen Group’s crown, and the result of an immense research and development program, while Hennessey’s car is a stretched Lotus Exige with a 7.0-litre, 927kW twin-turbo V8 wedged between its axles.

Neanderthals from Western Europe almost became extinct before modern humans set in

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A new study of mitochondrial DNA sequences suggests that Western Europe may have undergone a population crisis during a cold stretch of the Neanderthal era.

Study co-author Love Dalen, associate professor at the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm, told Phys.org that the fact that Neanderthals in Western Europe were nearly extinct, but then recovered long before they came into contact with modern humans came as a complete surprise.

Target launches first Accelerator Program for Indian startups

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Target has finally launched its Accelerator Program for Indian startups to help it build technology solutions across 3D imaging, mobility, personalized search and social media conversations with customers.

The launch of its accelerator had been delayed by a month after Target suffered a mega security breach, in which card and personal data of over 40 million customers was compromised.

11,000-year-old Stone-Age settlement discovered under Baltic Sea

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Researchers have found evidence of a Stone-Age settlement that may have been swallowed whole by the Baltic Sea near Sweden.

The site reveals a collection of well preserved artifacts left by nomads some 11,000 years ago, Discovery News reported.

Dubbed by the local press “Sweden’s Atlantis” after the fabled island which according to Greek philosopher Plato sank around 9600 BC in the Atlantic Ocean, the newly discovered site was in fact some sort of a dump in which nomadic Swedes discarded objects, according to the Swedish daily The Local.

Shinde’s remark on media, result of depression due to defeat of Congress

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Reacting to Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde’s comment about ‘crushing’ the media, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Tuesday said Shinde’s comment was an outcome of the depression prevailing within the Congress due to their defeat.

“They are basically depressed about their defeat, and therefore they are saying such things. It is an outcome of their frustration and depression,” said Naqvi.

“They think that corruption and bad governance is their constitutional right, and when someone tries to speak up against it they say such things,” he said.

PM dedicates “Indira Paryavaran Bhawan” to nation

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Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Tuesday dedicated the “Indira Paryavaran Bhawan” to the nation.

The centrally air conditioned office building, which has a provision to accommodate about 600 officials of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, is located on Jorbagh Road and in proximity to other central government ministries and departments.

Indira Paryavaran Bhawan is India’s first on site Net Zero Building built by adoption of solar passive design and energy efficient building material.

Teacher molested student

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A 45-year-old school teacher was arrested for sexually abusing one of his girl students in Kannur.

Police received a complaint from the parents of the victim and after investigation, the accused was arrested.

The authorities of Perinthatta North ALP School in the district had earlier suspended the teacher P E Govindan.

Partner’s death increases stroke risk in first 30 days: Study

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Bereavement is recognised as a risk factor for death and is associated with cardiovascular events.

Now, new research indicates that the risk of heart attack or stroke is increased in 30 days after a partner’s death.

“We have described a marked increase in cardiovascular risk in the month after spousal bereavement, which seems likely to be the result of adverse physiological responses associated with acute grief,” said researchers.

Crime In Hyderabad (25.2.2014)

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Techie ends life
(Siasat News): A software engineer, who was very upset over his financial crisis and unemployment, took the extreme step of ending his life.

This incident occurred in Balanagar police limits where Manoj Kumar, 28, took the extreme step. Police sources said that that the deceased was the son of one Venugopal and was a software engineer. He hailed from Kadappa.

Telangana Elders’ Forum pays homage to T martyrs

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Leaders of Telangana Elders Forum, Ramulu former DGP, Prof. Rama Malkote, Vishveshwar Reddy, Prof. Ramesh Reddy, Dr. Murlidhar Rao, Mr. Zaheeruddin Ali Khan, managing editor Siasat daily, K M Arifuddin, Dr. Chiranjeevi, DP Reddy, Bhaskar Bini, Anwar Ali, Jyothi Kiran, Major Syed Ghouse Quadri, Prof. A Vimla, Aliuddin Quadri in a joint statement paid homage to the Telangana martyrs and said that going through the various phases Telangana movement finally succeeded. Persons belonging to various communities irrespective of religion participated in the movement.

Jindal slams Obama for raising ‘white flag of surrender’

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Louisiana’s Indian-American governor, a potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate, has accused President Barack Obama of “waving the white flag of surrender” on the economy by focusing on a limited set of executive actions.

“I think there are things we can do instead of waving the white flag of surrender, instead of declaring this economy to be a minimum wage economy,” he said emerging with a group of governors from a meeting Monday with Obama that stressed bipartisan cooperation.

Randeep waiting for Naseeruddin to watch ‘Highway’

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Actor Randeep Hooda, a huge fan of Naseeruddin Shah, says his latest film “Highway” will remain incomplete until the veteran actor watches it.

“For me, ‘Highway’ is incomplete till Naseeruddin sir watches it. I am eagerly waiting for his review. I want him to see the film and sit down with me and discuss about it,” Randeep told IANS.

“He has been receiving a lot of calls from the many people praising my work. So he is very happy about it,” added the actor, who has worked with Naseeruddin on the theatre platform too.

Hyderabad state was the model of communal harmony

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Asif Jah VII was one among the great rulers of Hyderabad. His period is unforgettable for the people of Telangana. Addressing the seminar organised on the occasion of 47th death anniversary of Asij Jah VII, Dr. K Chiranjeevi Convenor Telangana Moment Founders Forum told this. Before its merger in Indian Union, Hyderabad was the model of communal harmony. Andhra leaders in a planned manner distorted the history of Hyderabad and conspired to defame the rule of Asif Jah VII by their false propaganda.

Pakistani fighter jets kill 30 militants

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Pakistani fighter jets and helicopter gunships Tuesday bombarded hideouts of the Taliban militants in the Waziristan region, killing at least 30 militants.

The attacks on the hideouts in Waziristan tribal regions were the fourth in a series of air strikes by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) since Feb 20.

At least 30 militants were killed in the air strikes in the region stretched between south and north Waziristan, Geo News reported citing a security official.

Lahaul in Himachal attracts more tourists in October

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The arrival of tourists in Himachal Pradesh’s remote Lahaul and Spiti district during the winter peaks in October, says Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.

The arrival of tourists, both domestic and international, in Lahaul-Spiti, dominated mainly by the tribals, was almost nil in January and February in the past three years.

This fact came to light in a written reply given to legislator Ravi Thakur in the recently concluded assembly session.

TRS chief meets prime minister

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TRS chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao Tuesday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, seeking an early creation of Telangana state.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi leader thanked the prime minister for his support in passing Telangana bill in parliament and urged him to ensure that appointed day or formation day of the new state is fixed at the earliest.

The MP, who was accompanied by other TRS leader, also submitted a memorandum, demanding some sops for the accelerated development of the new state.

Osman Nagar Pond turns into death trap

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In a heartrending incident occurred on February 22, two own brothers and their classmate lost their lives. The incident fluttered the entire Shaheen Nagar area. The two brothers were the only hope for their parents as the later have no other child except the two. 12-year-old Sheezan Ahmed Siddiqui and Rehan Ahmed Siddiqui were the student of 8th class in VIP school.

India, Britain to cooperate on health

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India and Britain Monday decided to strengthen cooperation in the health sector with special focus on public health infrastructure.

The decision was taken at a bilateral meeting held between Health Secretary Lov Verma and Una O’Brien, permanent secretary in Britain’s department of health, an official release said.

Copies of an agreement regarding cooperation in the health sector between India and Britain, which was signed in 2013, were also exchanged at the meeting.

Cyrus locks lips with Perry

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Miley Cyrus, who has been in news for twerking multiple times on stage, has now gone ahead and kissed singer Katy Perry on a public platform.

While singing “Adore you” during her Bangerz Tour concert here last week, Cyrus, who was dressed in a sparkling black cat suit and platform heels, came down from the stage and locked lips with Perry, who was sitting in the front row, reports people.com.

They kissed for a second, but Perry seemed to have been caught by surprise.

She backed away quickly.

Perry later tweeted a photograph of the aftermath, telling Cyrus: “I adore you.”

Pentagon chief plans to reduce US army size

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US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel Monday outlined his priorities for 2015 defence budget cut, including plans to reduce the size of the US army to its pre-World War II levels.

The Pentagon chief unveiled his budget-cut proposals as the Obama administration is preparing to pull out most US troops from Afghanistan following an almost 13-year war, Xinhua reported.

39 dead after bloody weekend in Honduras

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A weekend of violence across Honduras left at least 39 people dead, the head of operations and strategy for the national police said Monday.

Twenty-nine people were slain Sunday alone, Julio Benitez told Canal 5 television in Tegucigalpa.

The northern cities of San Pedro Sula and Yoro each accounted for eight homicides, he said.

Last weekend saw the first implementation of a new regulation banning the sale of alcohol from midday Sunday until 6:00 a.m. Monday.

Authorities adopted the measure in hopes of reducing drunk driving and alcohol-fuelled violence.

Lalu accuses Nitish Kumar of scripting conspiracy to break RJD

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Reacting to reports of thirteen MLA’s of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) breaking away from the party, RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Tuesday said that Bihar Chief Minster Nitish Kumar had conspired to break his party.

“Nitish Kumar has gone mad after divorcing with Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP). He has conspired along with speaker to break the party. In fact, this conspiracy could be compared with America’s Watergates scandal,” said Yadav.