Month: April 2014

‘Osama’s death didn’t quench Americans desire for revenge’

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The killing of Al Qaeda terrorist Osama bin Laden did not fully quench Americans’ desire for revenge. Instead, according to research, US citizens have a stronger desire to take further revenge against those who were responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

As the third anniversary of bin Laden’s death falls May 2, a team of social psychology researchers has questioned whether this instance of vicarious revenge led to feelings of satisfaction and re-established justice within the American public – including whether bin Laden’s assassination ignited craving for more revenge.

In Varanasi, AAP works door-to-door

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Dusk has begun to fall and a group of little urchins sporting saffron caps and wearing Narendra Modi masks play outside AAP’s central office here and hail BJP’s prime ministerial nominee with slogans they have picked up over the past few weeks.

Low cholesterol in immune cells slows HIV progression: Study

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Why some HIV-infected people experience much slower disease progression, even without medication? It has to do with cholesterol levels in specific immune cells, scientists have found.

“A fascinating aspect of the AIDS epidemic is that a small percentage of HIV-1-infected persons maintain a relatively normal number of CD4 T cells (Th cells) and low viral load for many years without receiving antiviral therapy,” said Giovanna Rappocciolo from University of Pittsburgh.

TVS Motor posts higher turnover and profit for 2013-14

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Two- and three-wheeler manufacturer TVS Motor Company closed the last fiscal with an 11 percent growth in turnover and 126 percent rise in profit after tax, the company said Tuesday.

In a statement, the company said it closed last fiscal with a turnover of Rs.7,962 crore and a net profit of Rs.262 crore, up from Rs.7,169 crore turnover and Rs.116 crore net profit registered during 2012-13.

It sold 19.93 lakh two-wheelers, down from 19.95 lakh units sold in fiscal 2012-13.

North Korea halts live-fire drill near border

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North Korea halted its live-fire drill just 10 minutes after starting it Tuesday.

A South Korea’s defence ministry official earlier told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that the North Korea set off its live-fire drill at 2 p.m. local time (0500 GMT) near the disputed inter-Korean border islands.

The Southwestern Command of the Korean People’s Army sent a fax to the South Korean Navy’s Second Fleet early Tuesday, which notified the live-fire drill near the Northern Limit Line (NLL).

London commuters face severe disruption due to Tube strike

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Commuters in London faced severe disruption as workers operating the city’s Tube network began their 48-hour strike today to protest the government’s plan to close all ticket offices, costing nearly 1,000 jobs.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) Union walked out for 48 hours at 8:00 pm last night over plans to close all ticket offices.

Transport for London said it hoped to run between 40-50 per cent of services.

There were almost 8,000 buses on the roads – the most ever operated in London – after an extra 266 were put into service.

Ahmed Patel confident Congress will do well

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Congress leader Ahmed Patel is unfazed by predictions of opinions polls and widespread perception that UPA III is not possible and dismisses as “hypothetical” questions whether the party will back any combination to stop Narendra Modi from coming to power.

Refusing to go into details of what will be the party’s strategy in case it is not able to come back to power, he says that in such a situation the Congress President will take a decision in consultation with the Working Committee.

Roland Garros to stage Davis Cup semi-final

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France is set to host September’s Davis Cup semi-final against the Czech Republic on the clay courts of Roland Garros, the French Tennis Federation announced on Monday.

It will be the first time since the 2002 semi-final that Roland Garros will host a Davis Cup. In 2002, France defeated the United States before they lost 3-2 to Russia in the final, also held in Paris, but in the indoors Bercy Stadium.

Alves gets support of Brazilian president

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Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff has lent her support to Dani Alves, saying the Barcelona defender was “brave and strong” for eating a banana thrown at him by a fan.

Rousseff said Sunday’s incident reinforced the need to “champion the fight against racism in sport” during the World Cup, to be played in Brazil from June 12 to July 13, reports Xinhua.

“We are going to show that our strength in football, and in life, comes from our ethnic diversity and that we are proud of it,” Rousseff wrote on her official Twitter account Monday.

Modi, Naidu, Pavan to address poll campaign meetings in AP

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BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and Telugu actor-turned-politician Pavan Kalyan would address public meetings in Tirupati and five other towns of Seemandhra over the next two days.

Modi would address the first meeting in the temple town of Tirupati tomorrow, followed by election meetings at Madanapalle in Chittoor district, Nellore, Guntur, Bhimavaram and Visakhapatnam on May 1, BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar told reporters here.

Facebook can help students learn better: study

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Facebook may help students learn better by transforming them from anonymous spectators into a community of active learners, a new study claims.

University students who used a Facebook group as part of a large sociology class did better on course assignments and felt a stronger sense of belonging, researchers found.

The study by Baylor University has implications for the challenge of teaching large classes, a matter of growing concern for higher education, researchers said.

Amway’s own manufacturing unit coming up in Tamil Nadu

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Consumer and home products direct marketing company Amway India, which expects to do business worth Rs.50 billion in the country by 2020, is setting up its own manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu, a company official said here Tuesday.

“The Amway greenfield manufacturing facility is being set up at Nilakottai (Dindigul district) near Madurai in Tamil Nadu at a cost of Rs.5 billion and it would start production by this year-end or early next year,” company vice-president (East) Diptarag Bhattacharjee told reporters.

Only two spots open in World Cup squad: Scolari

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Brazil’s chief coach Luiz Felipe Scolari revealed that just two spots remain undecided in his World Cup squad.

The 65-year-old will name his 23-man squad May 7 and he reiterated a pledge to keep faith in the players that helped Brazil win last year’s Confederations Cup, reports Xinhua.

“Today there are 21 players confirmed and two that remain undecided,” Scolari said. “We are still looking at our options.”

Scolari also spoke about a possible repeat of the protests that swept the country’s major cities during the Confederations Cup.

Juventus move to within touching distance of Serie A title

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Juventus came back from behind to beat Sassuolo 3-1 and moved to within one win of their straight third Italian Serie A football title.

With three games to go this season, Antonio Conte’s side extended their lead over Roma to eight points thanks to goals from Carlos Tevez, Claudio Marchisio and Fernando Llorente Monday, reports Xinhua.

The Turin giants could win their third Scudetto in a row if they beat Atalanta at home in seven days’ time, or if Roma fail to win at Catania 24 hours earlier.

Gaga introduces new pet to fans

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Singer Lady Gaga has introduced her French bulldog named Asia to fans.

The “Applause” hitmaker posted an image of the new addition to her family on Twitter Sunday, which shows the adorable black pooch sitting on her lap in a car.

Gaga wrote: “Me and my BATPIG #partBAT #partPIG” (sic).

Following this, she also posted a video on Instagram where she disclosed her pet’s name.

“Her name is Asia. She is a BATPIG. I love her I’m her mum,” she said.

Gaga lost her childhood dog named Alice, who was battling cancer, in October last year.

–IANS

Can Spain once again reign in Brazil?

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The Spanish national team that flies to the World Cup finals in Brazil this June will do so as the reigning world champions and as one of the tournament favourites. But perhaps the 2014 World Cup will be a tournament too far for Spain.

The Spanish national side has enjoyed an incredible six years since finally casting off its habitual inferiority complex by winning the 2008 European Championship, reports Xinhua.

EU imposes sanctions on 15 Russian officials

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The European Union (EU) said Tuesday it has imposed travel bans and assets freeze on 15 Russian officials.

The new list includes Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Nikolayevich Kozak, Minister for Crimean Affairs Oleg Genrikhovich Savelyev and Deputy Chairman of State Duma Ludmila Ivanovna Shvetsova, Xinhua reported.

The new list has brought the total number of Russian officials under the EU sanctions to 48.

The White House announced fresh sanctions Monday against Russia, targeting seven government officials and 17 companies.

Mamata made Sudipta Sen deny painting purchase: CPI-M

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The CPI-M Tuesday alleged that Saradha scam kingpin Sudipta Sen was made to deny that he purchased any artwork of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and demanded to know how she was funding her party.

Addressing a rally at Moyna in East Midnapore district, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo member Surjya Kanta Mishra accused the state government of hindering the investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into the scam.

Woman raped by youth near temple

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A 30-year-old woman was allegedly raped by her 25-year-old neighbour in Loni area of the district here last evening.

Police said today that the incident took place when woman along with her two children had gone to a nearby temple. The accused had been identified as Amit.

“As the victim reached the temple, Amit came there and gagged her. Thereafter, he took her to an isolated area at knife point, leaving behind her two children and allegedly raped her,” said a police official.

When the temple priest went to attend the nature’s call, he found Amit raping the woman.

Israeli PM associates Holocaust to Iran’s ambitious nuclear deals

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Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has linked the Holocaust to suspected ambitious nuclear deals of Iran. The comments from Netanyahu came as he inaugurated the country’s annual Memorial Day for the 6 million Jews killed in Holocaust and has issued warning to the world to prevent another Holocaust. In his speech, Netanyahu linked the Nazi genocide to Iran’s suspected nuclear deals attempts and its repeated attempts to disregard the Holocaust.

Sonia, Rajnath to battle it out Wednesday

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The next round of the Lok Sabha battle in Uttar Pradesh April 30 will involve 14 constituencies including those of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her BJP counterpart Rajnath Singh.

The political future of three union ministers – Sriprakash Jaiswal, Pradip Jain Aditya and Jitin Prasad – will also be decided by the voters that day.

Also in contention is veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader Murli Manohar Joshi, who, having been eased out of Varanasi by prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, will face the electorate in Kanpur.

Rahul shares our father’s development vision: Priyanka

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The Congress party’s star campaigner Priyanka Gandhi Tuesday said her brother Rahul, seeking re-election to the Lok Sabha from here, has the same vision of development as their father Rajiv Gandhi had.

“My father used to be the MP from here. He developed Amethi and always thought about long-term, holistic growth. Rahul, who is now your MP and my brother, also has the same vision and thinks of long-term development,” Priyanka said at an election meeting here.

Farooq Abdullah faces tough challenge in Srinagar

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Retaining Srinagar is a tough call for the 78-year old National Conference patron and thrice Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah. He has never lost an election so far, but winning the elections this time is not a foregone conclusion for him.

Abdullah is seeking re-election from this Lok Sabha seat that is spread over three districts of Srinagar, Ganderbal and Badgam with 1.23 million voters. The Abdullahs, who belong to Srinagar district, have held sway over the people in Kashmir for over 50 years. Srinagar has been a strong bastion of the NC and the Abdullahs.

Arvind Kejriwal slams both Congress and BJP

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Raking up the snoopgate scandal and Robert Vadra controversy, Arvind Kejriwal today accused both the Congress and BJP of having a tacit pre-poll understanding and not taking any action against each other on the two issues.

He also asked why Congress President Sonia Gandhi and BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi had not campaigned in each other’s constituencies.

Targeting the Gujarat Chief Minister, Kejriwal said, “Narendra Modi should clarify his stand on Vadra issue. If BJP is really serious on this issue, why BJP-led Rajasthan government doesn’t register an FIR against him.

Russia assures US it won’t invade Ukraine: Pentagon

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Russia has assured America that it will not invade Ukraine, with the US warning that continued aggression would isolate the country further and result in more “diplomatic and economic pressure”.

US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, who made a call to his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoygu yesterday, also “emphasised that any diplomatic engagement must include the government of Ukraine”.