Month: May 2014

BSP will not contest by-polls on 12 seats in UP: Mayawati

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BSP will not contest by-elections on 12 seats in Uttar Pradesh, which would fall vacant due to the legislators being elected as MPs, party supremo Mayawati said today.

“Generally, in by-elections, central Election Commission is not involved directly. Due to this, the ruling SP had misused official machinery in these elections. That is why we will not spend our energy in by-elections,” Mayawati told reporters here.

“We will do preparations for Assembly polls. There is a possibility that this (SP) government may fall within a year and mid-term polls will be held,” she said.

US deploys first advanced drones to Japan

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The US Air Force has deployed two of its most advanced long-distance surveillance drones to a base in northern Japan over the past week, enhancing its ability to monitor nuclear activities in North Korea and Chinese naval operations.

The deployment of the two unarmed Global Hawk drones to Japan, a key US ally, is intended to demonstrate Washington’s commitment to security in Asia as part of its rebalancing of forces to the Pacific. But it will likely rankle with China and North Korea, which have been working to improve their own unmanned aircraft fleets.

No witch-hunt against opponents, Naidu

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NDA government would not launch witch-hunt against its political opponents including Robert Vadra, but the law would take its own course, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu said today.

“I don’t want to make any political comment. We don’t want to launch witch-hunt but at the same time the law would take its own course,” Naidu told reporters when asked whether government would take any action against Vadra, who is allegedly involved in controversial land deals.

Indian man found dead in Sharjah police station

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A 20-year-old Indian man being held at a Sharjah police station for alleged involvement in theft was found hanging in his cell in an apparent suicide, police said.

The victim reportedly committed suicide by hanging himself at the Al Gharb Police station in Sharjah on Thursday, a police official said.

“The man is believed to have hanged himself to death. It appears the man used his wizar – a single piece of cloth wrapped around the waist that is worn as an undergarment,” the official was quoted as saying by the Gulf News.

CCI closes case against Hyundai Company, three dealers

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The Competition Commission has closed a case against auto maker Hyundai Motor Company and three dealers as it did not find sufficient evidence to prove cartelisation.

It was alleged that car maker Hyundai Company and its authorised dealers –Nimbus Motors, Himgiri Car Pvt Ltd and Pawan Auto Wheels Pvt Ltd– have contravened the provisions of the Competition Act in respect to provision of car maintenance and repairing services.

Ford recalls almost 1.4 million cars in North America

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US automaker Ford Motor issued safety recalls Thursday for nearly 1.4 million cars in North America, mostly in the US, to fix potential steering and other problems.

Ford said it was recalling about 915,200 Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner vehicles because a torque sensor within the steering column may malfunction, resulting in the loss of electric power steering assistance.

In that case, the steering system defaults to the manual steering mode, making the vehicle more difficult to steer, especially at lower speeds, which could increase the risk of a crash, Ford said.

Rupee up 8 paise at 58.95 against dollar

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The rupee recovered by eight paise to 58.95 against the US currency in early trade on Friday on the Interbank Foreign Exchange market on dollar selling by exporters.

Forex dealers said gains in other Asian currencies against the US dollar in the overseas market and a higher opening in the domestic equity market also supported the rupee.

The domestic currency had lost 10 paise to close at 59.03 against the dollar in yesterday’s trade amid capital outflows linked to fall in equities.

Wheat procurement in Haryana reaches targeted level of 65 LT

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Wheat procurement in Haryana has reached almost the targeted level of 65 lakh tonnes (LT) in the ongoing rabi marketing season.

The crop purchase was up by 11 percent at 64.98 LT as against 58.68 LT procured in corresponding period of last season.

The government agencies have procured 64.95 LT of wheat whereas 2,813 tonnes of wheat have been purchased by traders, a Food and Supplies Department spokesman said here Friday.

He said that HAFED has purchased highest 25.17 LT of wheat followed by over 18 LT purchased by the Food and Supplies Department.

New method to extract drinkable water from clouds and fog discovered

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A Princeton University grad student has discovered a way to extract drinkable water from clouds and fog.

Michael Thomas said that it’s an ancient Incan technique that they’ve implemented and used new resources.

The Incan method of water collection used cotton material to soak up moisture on top of some of Mexico’s highest mountains.

Thomas uses an intricate system of polyurethane mesh nets to capture moisture from the air in New Jersey, Fox News reported.

He and two of his fellow Princeton students started a company called “Phogwater.”

Sensex closes in red; bank stocks fall

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Sensex closes in red; bank stocks fall (Lead)
(15:52)
Mumbai, May 30 (IANS) A benchmark index of Indian equities markets Thursday closed 36.17 points or 0.15 percent lower as bank and consumer durables stocks came under heavy selling pressure.

Healthy buying was observed in healthcare, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), information technology (IT), realty and metal sectors.

However, buying pressure was seen in bank, consumer durables and oil and gas scrips.

Selena Gomez visits impoverished kids in Nepal

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Selena Gomez has just returned from a trip to Nepal, where she visited impoverished children on behalf of the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef).

Gomez, who is an ambassador for the charity organisation, jetted to the South Asian nation to bring attention to kids in need within the country, and the 21-year-old was incredibly moved by the visit, Contactmusic reported.

She said that the visit to Nepal was extraordinarily powerful – at times, devastating and heartbreaking, but also incredibly inspiring.

Delhi to get respite from heat for next few days

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The Met department has said that there may be a bit of decline in temperatures from tomorrow until June 3.

M Duraisamy, Director, Met department told ANI that there is also a possibility of mild rains in the next two-three days.

The director attributed the current heat wave gripping the city to hot winds blowing from Rajasthan . The heat could later increase from July 4, he added.

M J Akbar says Modi’s decision not to feature in school curriculum good

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Noted journalist and BJP member M J Akbar has praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his decision not to be a part of the school curriculum.

Akbar said: “It is a good thing that the Prime Minister has refused to include his life struggle as part of the school curriculum. He has made the decision from his heart and mind.”

“Modi has been subjected to a lot of criticism by the opposition. His only aim is to help the country progress and work for the upliftment of the deprived,” Akbar told ANI.

Now, underwater hotel that provides wi-fi even below 21ft

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An underwater hotel has been created 21ft below the water surface, requiring people to dive deep down to reach their room.

As guests descend to Jules’ Undersea Lodge in Key Largo, Florida, they can see a whole host of marine life as well as the untouched tropical mangrove of the Emerald Lagoon, the Daily Star reported.

The cottage-sized building can sleep just four people but has hot showers, a well-stocked kitchen with fridge and microwave, as well as a range of movies and music for people to relax with the fishes. It even has wi-fi.

Being jobless makes it difficult to find a date

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A new survey has revealed that when it comes to finding a date the worst situation that can happen is being jobless.

According to a new poll from WE tv, more than half of respondents said that they would be uncomfortable with dating someone who is unemployed, making it the worst out of the eight financial-situation questions posed, CBS News reported.

Having significant student loan debt, with 42 percent of respondents saying this would be a turn-off for them.

Sleeping with lights on increases obesity risk in women

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A new study has revealed that sleeping with too much light in the room increases the risk of obesity in women.

Greater exposure to light at night raised both Body Mass Index (BMI) and waist size in more than 113,000 women taking part in the British study, scientists found.

The Breakthrough Generations Study followed the women for 40 years in an attempt to identify root causes of breast cancer. Obesity is a known risk factor for the disease, News.com.au reported.

US school doling out condoms to sixth graders

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A school in Oregon has allowed some of their teachers to distribute condoms to students in the sixth grade .

Superintendent Rick Hensel has said that he and the school board are concerned about teen pregnancy rates after nine students, including one in middle school, became pregnant in the Oregon County town of Gervais, the Washington Times reported.

No one has courage to stand up to Srini, FICA boss tells Verma

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The COO of Federation of International Cricketers Associations (FICA) Ian Smith reckons that no one in the ICC has the “courage to stand upto” BCCI president N Srinivasan and ECB chairman Giles Clarke as they cast a “very large shadow” in world cricket.

In a very significant letter written to unrecognised Cricket Association of Bihar secretary Aditya Verma, Smith has informed him that FICA is “working behind the scenes to influence ICC officers to do the right thing” in regards to preventing Srinivasan to become the chairman of the ICC Executive Board.

Poisonous snakes used for murder plot

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In a bizarre incident occurred at Narayanguda the attackers used poisonous snakes in an attempt to kill a person. It is said that two people reached Amarjeet Reddy’s house and threw bags having poisonous snakes inside his house. According to reliable sources this was not the first time that such attempt was made, but the same thing was done 3 to 4 times before. However Amarjeet remained unharmed during each attempt.

Meera urges Nawaz Sharif to ‘protect’ her post ‘armed attack’

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Pakistani actress Meera has urged Nawaz Sharif to protect her, as she won’t return to the country until foolproof security is provided to her.

The actress, who faced an armed attack on her house in Lahore, said that her life is in danger and she requests the prime minister to be kind enough to order security for her, The Nation reported.

Unidentified gunmen had recently opened fire outside Meera’s residence in Lahore and fled from the scene.

Reservations only solution for Muslim backwardness: Mahmood Ali

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Senior TRS leader and MLC Mohammed Mahmood Ali came heavily upon Union Minority Affairs minister Najma Heptulla for her controversial remark in which she opposed Muslim reservations. Mahmood Ali in his statement claimed that soon after coming to power BJP has begun implementing its secret agenda. Minority affairs minister is fielded to oppose Muslim reservations so as to give an idea that Minority affair minister herself is against reservations.

‘Indian employers face 3rd highest talent shortage globally’

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Employers in India report the third highest talent shortage globally, with as many as 64 per cent of employers facing difficulty finding candidates with the right skills to fill open positions, a ManpowerGroup survey said.

According to ManpowerGroup’s survey of more than 37,000 employers in 42 countries and territories, employers in Japan report the greatest talent shortages globally (81 per cent), followed by Peru (67 per cent) and India (64 per cent).

Dalit sisters’ rape: One more accused arrested

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One more accused was today arrested in the shocking gangrape case of two Dalit sisters, whose bodies were found hanging from a tree here, taking the total number of arrests in the case to three.

“One more accused Awadhesh Yadav has been arrested by the police,” Superintendent of Police Atul Kumar Saxena told PTI.

Of the seven accused, three (policeman Sarvesh Yadav and brothers Pappu and Awadhesh Yadav) have been arrested so far in the matter, he said.

Sarvesh and Pappu were arrested yesterday.

Woman mountaineer from Arunachal scripts history

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A woman mountaineer from Arunachal, Anshu Jamsenpa has scripted history once again by scaling three Himalayan peaks successively in six days after setting world records during her earlier Everest expeditions.

During the expedition, Anshu 28 and a mother of two, scaled three Himalayan peaks – Lobuche (6119 meters), Pokhalde (5896m) and Island Peak (6189m)- successively in six days from May 13 to May 18.

For her excellent performance, she was felicitated by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism & Civil Aviation, Nepal at Singha Durbar, Kathmandu, on May 27.

Rajan faces pro-growth boss in Modi

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Hailed as a troubleshooting “James Bond” of central bankers amid India’s currency crisis last year, Raghuram Rajan was given a licence to kill inflation with higher interest rates and drive a programme of monetary policy reforms.

Now, the governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may need all the suave charm of the fictional British spy to sell that same hard-nosed agenda to a powerful new prime minister who is determined to revive economic growth and create jobs.