Month: May 2014

Yuvraj interacts with child cancer patients

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Flamboyant Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh, who himself recovered from a rare germ cell cancer, today interacted with child cancer patients, set to take part in an international sports event in Moscow.

“It felt nice to meet with the kids. When I started playing again after my struggle, the kids got inspiration from that and they have also fought and gone back to the sport they like. It feels good that you are contributing to the society,” he told reporters here.

Shatrughan disagrees with 75-yr cut off age to become minister

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Actor-turned-politician and former Union minister Shatrughan Sinha today disagreed with the cut off age of 75 years for selection of ministers in Narendra Modi cabinet.

“I do not agree with this 75-year age bar for appointment of a person as minister,” Sinha, second term BJP Lok Sabha MP from Patna Sahib, told PTI.

67-year-old Sinha, who served as Union minister in the NDA government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, disputed fixing such an age bar.

“Instead of age, the criteria shall be mental alertness and health,” he said.

Waiter jailed for molesting Indian girl in UAE

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An Afghan waiter has been sentenced to five years in jail for molesting an Indian girl in a lift in the UAE.

The Dubai Court of First Instance jailed the Afghan waiter, A.D., 22, for five months after he was convicted of walking behind a 16-year-old Indian girl into a lift and molesting her Jan 24, Gulf News reported Thursday.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty and denied the accusations in court.

Presiding judge Ezzat Abdul Lat said the defendant will be deported after serving his jail term.

The ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.
(IANS)

Centre says UP can procure power to meet shortfall

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Rebutting UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s charge blaming the central government for the massive power outages in the state, the union power ministry Friday said the state was not drawing its allocated power and suggested that it purchase from power exchanges to meet any shortfall.

“The state is not taking power equivalent to its allocation from gas based stations of Anta, Aurayia and Dadri, and in case requisition is made by the state distribution utilities, about 300 MW can be made available immediately,” a power ministry release here said.

EIH’s full year net profit up 86 percent

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East India Hotels (EIH), which runs hotel brands such as the Oberoi and Trident, reported an 86.49 percent rise in profit after tax at Rs.95.04 crore for the financial year ended March 31, 2014.

The company had reported a profit after tax of about Rs.50.96 crore for the previous financial year.

According to the company, its total revenue, including other income, during the financial year under review grew by 8.7 percent at Rs.1,278.94 crore from Rs.1,177.01 crore during the previous financial year.

SP will rejuvenate itself in next six months: Akhilesh

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Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today admitted that Samajwadi Party could not fare well in the Lok Sabha polls even after disbursing unemployment allowances and laptops, and said that the party will rejuvenate itself in the next six months.

“We could not do well even after distributing laptops to students, funds under Kanya Vidya Dhan and allowances to jobless people,” the chief minister said, adding that the party was still figuring out what led to its drubbing in the recently-concluded parliamentary elections.

Vishwa Bharati VC not given Padma award: Home ministry

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Visva Bharati University Vice-chancellor Sushanta Datta Gupta, who is accused of “sexual harassment”, has not been awarded Padma Shri, the central Ministry of Home Affairs said in an RTI reply.

“Prof Sushanta Datta Gupta has not been awarded with Padma Shri. No communication was sent to Prof Datta Gupta to receive the Padma award by any official of the Ministry of Home Affairs,” reads the reply signed by Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) Shyamala Mohan.

The Right to Information query was made by poet Nilanjan Banerjee.

India economy grew at 4.7 percent in 2013-14

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The Indian economy grew at 4.7 percent in the entire 2013-14 financial year, marking a second straight year of below 5 percent growth, official data released Friday showed.

The expansion was slower than an official estimate of 4.9 percent and higher than 4.5 percent growth a year earlier.

According statistics released by the Central Statistics Office, the gross domestic product grew at 4.6 percent in the fourth quarter (January-March) of the last fiscal.

Growth was affected by poor performance in mining and manufacturing during the January to March period.

Radwanska crashes out of French Open

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Third seed Agnieszka Radwanska was knocked out of the French Open by unseeded Croat Ajla Tomljanovic 6-4, 6-4 in the third round Friday.

The 25-year-old Pole is the latest casualty following the exit of top seeds Serena Williams and Li Na this week, reports Xinhua.

Fourth seed Simona Halep of Romania is now the highest-ranked player left in the women’s draw.

Sam Stosur beat Australian Open finalist and ninth seed Dominika Cibulkova 6-4, 6-4 to show that she is also a serious candidate for the title.

DU extends open days till Saturday

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Delhi University will hold one more “open day” to assist students with the admission procedure, officials said Friday.

Open days are sessions held by the varsity to provide admission guidance to students and parents.

“Even on the last day there were about 5,000 students so we have decided to extend one more day of open days,” Malay Neerav, DU joint dean students welfare and media co-ordinator told IANS.

One more day has also been increased due to the delay in CBSE Class 12 result declaration.

The open days in DU started May 21 and were held in both north and south campus.

Thank God it was a hoax, but what next?

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Restlessness, curiosity sparked among the people of Hyderabad when the fake news of Ex-Constable Abdul Qadeer’s death spread like a wildfire. He is serving life sentence for killing his superior, Assistant Commissioner of Police of Chatrinaka Sattaiah for his alleged bias against Muslims during communal riots in early 90s.

Errant Maharashtra ticket examiner freed on bail

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A Bhusawal railway court freed on bail a TTE who was accused of allegedly pushing a woman passenger out of a running train and causing her death, officials said here Friday.

CCTV footage of the incident showed the travelling ticket examiner (TTE) Sampat Salunkhe was Thursday actually attempting to grab the woman’s arm and help her onto the train speeding out of the Jalgaon railway station in north Maharashtra.

Manish Tiwari says 100 percent FDI in defense possible in defense after proper filteration

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Congress leader and former information and broadcasting minister Manish Tiwari on Friday said hundred percent FDI in defense is possible conceptually after proper filteration. “May I respectfully point out that as things stand today, conceptually it is possible to have 100 percent FDI in defense after appropriately filtering it, because of the national security imperative involved. 26 percent is on the automatic route. 49 percent is with the approval with the Foreign Investment Promotion Board. And after that it is with CCS (Cabinet Committee on Security) approval.

Will complain to Lt. Governor about Delhi’s power woes: Congress

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Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely Friday said a party delegation will meet Delhi’s Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung to complain about the inadequate power supply in the city.

“People of Delhi are suffering, as in many areas the power cut ranges between five to six hours. We will soon meet the lt. governor to lodge a complaint,” Lovely said here.

Lovely blamed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which governed the city for 49 days, as well as the BJP, which is in power at the Centre.

Cairns calls Vincent’s allegations ‘despicable lies’

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Former New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns Friday blasted his former teammate Lou Vincent and called the allegations that he’s a ring leader in cricket match fixing as “despicable lies”.

Cairns returned home after being grilled by Met Police, the ICC anti-corruption unit and the England and Wales Cricket board in London.

Cairns said Vincent had been caught cheating and was trying to shift the blame on others.

“The truth is he has been caught cheating and seeks to mitigate his sins by blaming others,” Cairns was quoted as saying by Radio Sport.

Singapore Airlines’ A380 to start operations in India

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Singapore Airlines’ first commercial flight on its Airbus A380 aircraft in India will begin late Friday evening with operations starting to Mumbai and New Delhi.

The airline will become the first to operate the world’s largest passenger carrier aircraft to India.

The aircraft is expected to land at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) here at around 8.00 p.m. local time and at Mumbai at around 11.00 p.m. Friday night.

The first flight comes after the government in January 2014 allowed Airbus A380 to fly into the country.

Kapil Sharma lands on ‘Entertainment Ke Liye..’ set

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Comedian Kapil Sharma paid a surprise visit to the sets of talent reality show “Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega”, and met his friend and comedian Krushna Abhishek, who hosts the show.

The duo exhibited their craziness and entertained the audience as well as the show’s judges – singer Anu Malik and filmmaker Farah Khan, said a statement.

According to a source, Kapil was shooting at Yash Raj Films studio when his crew member informed him that the shoot of “Entertainment Ke Liye…” was taking place next door.

It was then that Kapil paid a quick visit to his friend Krushna.

‘Naya Pata’ to hit screens June 27

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“Naya Pata”, a crowdfunded project revolving around the acute loneliness and identity crisis felt by migrants, will hit the screens June 27 .

PVR Director’s Rare will release the movie, directed by debutant Pawan K. Shrivastava, in select cities, said a statement Friday.

The independent film comes from Bihar and is set in the late 1980s. It follows Ram Swarath Dubey, the protagonist, who has been rendered jobless by the shutting down of the sugar industry in Bihar. Having no other option, Ram migrates to New Delhi in search of livelihood, leaving behind his family and young wife.

Malaga confirm Javi Gracia as first team coach

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Spanish Primera Liga outfit Malaga Friday confirmed former Osasuna coach Javi Gracia as the successor to Bernd Schuster as first team coach.

Gracia has agreed a two-season contract with the club, which ended this season in mid-table after flirting with the bottom three for much of the campaign, reports Xinhua.

Gracia, who was at the helm of Osasuna for much of this season but was unable to save the Pamplona based outfit from relegation.

First graduating class of Aga Khan Academy

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Upon graduation on 24thMay 2014, students from Aga Khan Academy (AKA) Hyderabad will continue their educational journeys at some of the world’s most reputed post-secondary institutions. Members of this year’s graduating class have received offers from top-ranked universities in Canada, India, the United Kingdom and the United States.

‘Modi scored a sixer in SAARC invite, but this is not IPL’

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with his invite to the SAARC leaders, has shown that he is capable of “thinking out of the box” with regard to foreign policy and his manner and style of foreign policy will be different from the earlier regime, said former diplomats here Friday.

According to Chinmay R. Gharekhan, who was at one time India’s Permanent Representative at the UN and then served as a special enovy to West Asia, the BJP government will conduct its foreign policy with “more self respect, taking into account national interest”.

Handbook for OU-NGO’S staff released

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Osmania University Vice–Chancellor Prof. S. Satyanarayana on Friday released the OU NGO’s Staff Association Hand Book-2014 at a function held in the Committee Room, Administrative Building, OU.

Congratulating the Associations, the Vice-Chancellor said that the information provided in the Hand Book is very useful for the employees as it empowers them with all necessary information related to service matters, rules and regulations, important telephone numbers and websites. He urged the employees to work with greater dedication for strengthening the State of Telangana.