Month: April 2014

Lodeweges to succeed Van Basten at sc Heerenveen

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Dwight Lodeweges will succeed Marco van Basten as coach of sc Heerenveen at the end of the season, local media reported Tuesday.

The 56-year-old Lodeweges is currently in his first season as coach of SC Cambuur Leeuwarden, the other professional club from the northern province of Friesland, reports Xinhua.

Heerenveen are in the sixth position in the Eredivisie and Cambuur, who were promoted last year, are in the 11th spot.

Lodeweges had a clause in his contract which made it possible for him to leave.

Saudis engage in online debate over marriage sans parental consent

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The legal case of a Saudi father, who was deported from Canada after he reacted violently to his daughter’s decision of marrying a Canadian man, has reportedly triggered a heated online debate among the people of Saudi Arabia.

The debate highlights a divide over marriages without parental consent.

According to Gulf News, the Saudi father, 56, was sentenced in St. John’s last week to six days’ time served and a year’s probation after he had pleaded guilty to assaulting his 30-year-old daughter and threatening to kill her.

Mukherjee to meet directors of IISc and IISERs on April 3

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President Pranab Mukherjee will meet the Directors of Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore and Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) at Rashtrapati Bhavan on April 3, 2014.

The agenda items for discussion include status of IISc and IISERs and issues that require Government support and preparation of a road map for making IISc and IISERs world-class institutes.

Union Human Resource Development Minister M.M. Pallam Raju, and Dr. C.N.R. Rao, National Research Professor will attend the meeting apart from Directors of IISc and five IISERs. (ANI)

New image-processing technology determines pedestrian behavior

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An auto supplier company has developed image-processing technology that detects pedestrian behavior .

Automotive equipment supplier Denso’s technology can determine what type of pedestrians are in front of a car and a computer can easily distinguish and predict pedestrians, Cnet reported.

Denso engineers Ikuro Sato and Hidek Nihara have outlined how their image-processing software could examine the frames of a camera feed and extrapolate.

BJP’s Gujarat model will explode like ‘India Shining’: Rahul

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Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi Tuesday said the Gujarat model of development would burst after the Lok Sabha election – just as the BJP’s “India Shining” burst after the 2004 polls.

He was addressing rallies in Aurangabad of Bihar and earlier in Jharkhand’s Godda district. He formally started the party’s election drive in Bihar Tuesday.

Sarah Palin voter’s second choice to Hillary Clinton, says poll

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Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin is reportedly the second choice of Americans after Hillary Clinton when it comes to seeing their favorite female candidate running for the high office, a new poll has found.

The poll, conducted by the Economist/YouGov, asked participants as to which female candidate, other than Hillary Clinton, would they like to see run for the high office.

While Palin won 9 percent of the vote, she was followed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice, at 8 percent each, the Washington Times reported.

2G scam: Charge sheet against Raja, Kanimozhi soon

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A charge sheet against former Telecom Minister A Raja and DMK leader Kanimozhi is expected to be filed soon in the 2G spectrum money laundering case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The ED, according to sources, had asked for a legal vetting of the charge sheet by the Law Ministry and all procedures in this regard have been done. The money laundering case pertains to the alleged illegal routing of Rs 200 crore to DMK family-run Kalaignar TV.

Kejriwal questions Modi wave, attacks Sonia

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AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal Tuesday hit back at BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, saying if there was indeed a ‘Modi wave’ in India, then why was the Gujarat chief minister fighting the Lok Sabha polls from two places.

The former Delhi chief minister was equally harsh on Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Accompanied by hundreds of Aam Aadmi Party workers, Kejriwal elicited enthusiastic response from Delhi residents as his campaign entourage wound through the crowded areas of Chandni Chowk and North West Delhi constituencies.

Automobile sales down in March (Roundup)

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Automobile manufacturers Tuesday reported a decline in March sales due to prevailing economic slowdown coupled with high fuel and interest costs.

Passenger car major Maruti Suzuki’s total sales declined by 5.5 percent during last month at 113,350 units from 119,937 units.

Domestic sales in March fell by 5.2 percent at 102,269 units from an off-take of 107,890 units reported in March 2013.

For year ended March 31, 2014, the company reported a 1.4 percent fall in its total sales at 1,155,041 units from 1,171,434 units sold in the previous fiscal.

NATO: No Russian troop withdrawal seen at Ukraine border

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NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen Tuesday said there was no sign of Russia pulling its forces back from the border with Ukraine, CNN reported.

“Unfortunately I cannot confirm that Russia is withdrawing its troops,” Rasmussen was quoted as saying at the opening of a two-day meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, Belgium.

“This is not what we’re seeing. And this massive military buildup can in no way contribute to a de-escalation of the situation.”

Shuttler Sridhar qualifies for India Open main draw

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Former national champion Anup Sridhar beat Chetan Anand to move into the men’s singles main draw of the $250,000 India Open Super Series at the Siri Fort Sports Complex here Tuesday.

Sridhar delivered a dominant performance and did not allow Anand any space to win 21-14, 21-16 in the second round of qualifiers.

Earlier in the opener, Sridhar got a walkover after Indonesian Wisnu Yuli Prasetyo failed to turn up.

Meanwhile, K. Ajay Kumar caused an upset by beating recently crowned German Open Grand Prix Gold champion Arvind Bhat in a tough two-game battle which lasted 38 minutes.

131 more nominations for Lok Sabha poll in Tamil Nadu

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A total of 131 people Tuesday filed their nominations for April 24 general election in Tamil Nadu, said the Election Commission.

In a statement issued here by the state chief electoral officer, the 131 nominations take the total number of nominations received for the Lok Sabha elections to 198.

Three people have filed nominations for the bye-elections for the Alandur assembly constituency.
(IANS)

Jindal defamation suit: HC directs Zee to follow guidelines

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The Delhi High Court Tuesday directed the Zee group to follow the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) guidelines while telecasting programmes. It was hearing a defamation suit filed by lawmaker Naveen Jindal contending that the group aired “highly defamatory and malicious” programmes against him.

Lok Sabha member Jindal moved the high court seeking a restraining order for Zee News channel from telecasting programmes based on him on the basis of “false, fabricated, manipulated and misleading documents and information”.

Rahul’s election rally in Jharkhand cancelled

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Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi’s election rally in Jharkhand’s Gumla district was cancelled Tuesday following a technical snag in his helicopter here.

“After addressing a rally in Godda district, Gandhi reached Ranchi by a helicopter. The engine of the helicopter developed a technical snag in Ranchi which could not be rectified for an hour. Rahul was scheduled to address two rallies in Jharkhand, one in Godda and the other in Gumla district,” a Congress leader told IANS.

Martins key as Rangdajied take on Sporting

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Ranti Martins has scored in each of his five appearances for Rangdajied United FC and the ‘Blues’ will want to see him continue that run when they meet Sporting Clube de Goa in the 24th round of the Airtel I-League at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here Wednesday.

While the visitors have come straight from Kolkata, where they lost 1-2 to East Bengal, Rangdajied are flying high after beating Salgaocar FC 2-1 in Goa.

BJP plans to field Candidates in Old City

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Bouyed with the encouraging support from the public and increasing popularity of party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, the BJP is considering to field candidates in some of the Assembly constituencies in the Old city here.

According to sources, in how many seats the BJP will be fielding its candidates in the Old City depends on a tie-up with the TDP. However, this time the BJP wants to prove its existence in some pockets in the walled city, the sources added..

Ukraine ties depend on Kiev’s geoploitical affiliation: Russia

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Cooperation between Russia and Ukraine will be largely dependent on Kiev’s geopolitical choice, Moscow said Tuesday.

The Russian foreign ministry said in a statement that Ukraine enacted a law in 2010, which guarantees the country’s non-alignment with any military-political blocks, Xinhua reported.

Moscow and Kiev also signed a declaration on strategic partnership which mentioned Ukraine’s non-alignment status as well, the ministry noted.

Syrian troops kill 22 rebels

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A total of 22 armed rebels were killed Tuesday in a Syrian military offensive against rebel positions in the country’s northwestern province of Aleppo, media reported.

“The armed forces have targeted gatherings of terrorist groups in Dar Ezzah area in Aleppo, killing 22 and injuring 10 others,” Xinhua reported citing the official SANA news agency, adding that all of the targeted “terrorists” were not Syrians.

Earlier Tuesday, SANA reported that at least five people were killed and 26 injured Tuesday when mortar shells struck the Syrian city of Aleppo.

World T20: Australia beat Bangladesh by 7 wickets

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Australia defeated Bangladesh by seven wickets in their last match of the World Twenty20 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium here Tuesday.

Chasing 154 runs for victory, openers Aaron Finch (71) and David Warner (48) put together a 98-run opening stand to take the game away from Bangladesh, reports bdnews24.com.

The Aussie openers were aggressive from the very outset scoring 52 runs in the first six overs.

Warm Tuesday in Delhi, Wednesday to be cloudy

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The national capital experienced a warm Tuesday with the maximum temperature recorded at 33.2 degrees Celsius. The Met Office has forecast a partly cloudy sky Wednesday.

“The sky will be partly cloudy, and mist will be recorded in the morning. There is also a possibility of thundery developments in some areas,” said an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to hover around 33 degrees and 18 degrees Celsius respectively.

Tuesday’s minimum temperature was 16.8 degrees Celsius, two notches below the season’s average.

APCC prepares draft manifesto for Seemandhra

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APCC Manifesto Committee chairman Anam Ramnarayana Reddy on Tuesday informed that the Congress party’s manifesto for Seemandhra region for the ensuing general elections would be finalised soon.

Speaking to media persons after chairing a meeting of Manifesto Committee at Indira Bhavan here, Anam said that the basic draft of manifesto was ready. However, it would be given a proper shape in the next two sittings. The draft manifesto would then be sent to the Congress High Command for final approval.

Over 1100 apply for Congress tickets in Seemandhra

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Rubbing the claims of opposition parties that there were no takers for Congress ticket in Seemandhra region, Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president Dr N Raghuveera Reddy on Tuesday claimed that the party received over a thousand applications from the aspirants.

Tamil industrialists not to invest in Karnataka: Jayalalithaa

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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa Tuesday said industrialists from Coimbatore in the state have decided not to invest in Karnataka despite an invitation from her Karnataka counterpart.

Addressing an election rally here, around 510 km from Chennai, the AIADMK general secretary said: “Karnataka chief minister (Siddaramaiah) invited industrialists to start their units in Chamarajanagar. Industrialists in Coimbatore attended that meeting.”

She said nothing was decided as to who would set up a factory and the extent of land to be allotted.