Month: May 2014

Passenger train derails in Raigad district, many hurt

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A passenger train derailed between Nagothane and Roha railway stations in Raigad district today, leaving several people injured.

Police said the incident occurred in a tunnel near Nidi village, when the engine of Diwa-Sawantwadi passenger train and four bogies derailed at around 10 AM.

Many passengers were injured in the mishap but their exact number is not yet known. The injured passengers are being rushed to Roha for medical treatment, police said.

–PTI

Three feared dead in train derailment in Maharashtra

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The engine and four coaches of a passenger train derailed here in Maharashtra on Sunday, officials said, with unconfirmed reports saying three people may have been killed.

Several injuries are also feared in the accident which took place near Nagothane when the crowded coaches of the Diva-Sawantwadi train jumped the tracks along with the engine around 9.40 am.

Local police officials fear three passengers may have died. Railway officials said relief and rescue trains were sent to the accident site from Thane and Mumbai.

Prince Harry `loved meeting` actress Katie Cassidy at Miami bash

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Prince Harry, who recently split from his girlfriend of two years Cressida Bonas, reportedly had a great time with Hollywood actress Katie Cassidy at a party held in a Soho Beach house in Miami. The 29-year-old royal, who is the US to attend a close friend’s wedding, spent his day by the pool and hung out with his pals, including the ‘Arrow’ star, Us Magazine reported. A source told the publication that the duo also had lunch together and before Harry left, he went up to Cassidy and told her “Just wanted to say nice to meet you.” (ANI)

Egypt court sentences 102 Morsi supporters to 10 years in jail

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A court in Egypt has reportedly sentenced 102 supporters of deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi to 10 years in prison for inciting violence and possession of weapons.

Two other defendants have been sentenced to seven years in jail.

According to News 24, the army-installed government has rounded up thousands of Morsi supporters and put them on mass trials since overthrowing him in July.

Earlier, 683 people, including the leader of Morsi”s Muslim Brotherhood were sentenced to death in an initial ruling by a court in the southern city of Minya last week. (ANI)

Bollywood actress molested, robbed in Delhi

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A Bollywood actress was thrashed, molested and robbed by two people while she was heading home in Delhi, police said Saturday.

The victim was looking for an auto-rickshaw in the Vishwas Nagar area of east Delhi on Friday night to reach her home in Anand Vihar.

She told police two people, in their early 20s, overpowered, thrashed and molested her. When she resisted, they pushed her and snatched her iPhone and purse that had at least Rs.5,000 in cash.

Police said the victim appeared in two Bollywood films and also co-produced some other movies.

Entire populations now living under constant surveillance: Edward Snowden

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NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has warned that ‘entire populations, rather than just individuals, are under constant surveillance’.

Snowden made his comments in a short video that was played before a debate on the proposition that surveillance today is a euphemism for mass surveillance, in Toronto, Canada.

According to the Guardian, Snowden said that the mass surveillance covers phone calls, emails, texts, search history, what you buy, who your friends are, where you go, who you love.”

Nigerian military to begin major offensive on Boko Haram militants holding 276 kidnapped girls

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The Nigerian military is set to begin a major operation against terrorists who are reportedly holding some 276 young girls.

The major military operation is expected to begin near the Sambisa Forest in Nigeria, where the Nigerian government believes terrorists are holding the girls.

According to Fox News, the girls were abducted from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, in northeast Nigeria, as Borno State Police said that the girls have been held for 17 days.

Ukrainian official vows ‘not to stop’ amid continued offensive against pro-Russian insurgents

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Ukraine”s interior minister has said military operations in the east would continue, ‘vowing to not stop’.

Arsen Avakov added that the ‘active phase’ of an operation involving ‘special units … instructed to stop the provocation’ was in its second day Saturday and centered in Kramatorsk.

Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said this development ‘should signal to everyone that we need peace and reconciliation,’ CNN reports.

He added that this is the only way to save Ukraine and make it a flourishing European state.

MS student gets 1st rank in state in inter II yr

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MS College was established in the year 2002. Since the year 2005 inter II year students of MS College are getting more than 780 marks in inter II year. This year MS Junior College students fared well in the exams. Ummatur Raheem Asma (BiPC) got 1st place in the state in inter II year. She got 989 marks. She is the only student of Hyderabad who had an outstanding performance. Mr. Mohammed Lateef Khan chairman MS Junior College told that 11 students scored more than 90 percent.

Siasat news

Christians urged to defeat “Communal parties and vote secular : Andhra Pradesh church body

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Bishops and church heads in Andhra Pradesh have asked all Christians to vote for secular leaders in the upcoming May 7 elections in Seemandhra.

The Andhra Pradesh Federation of Churches has issued a ‘Pastoral Letter’ urging voters to elect leaders who are secular, sincere and free from crime and corruption and communalism.

The letter would be read on Sunday, in all the churches in Seemandhra. The religious body, however, has not named any politicians.

Christians, though in minority, form an important part of voters in Andhra Pradesh.

American sprinter Tyson Gay gets banned for one-year for failing drugs test

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American track and field sprinter Tyson Gay has got banned for a year after failing drugs test. The former 100-metre and 200-metre world champion got suspended after he tested positive for a banned anabolic steroid.

According to the BBC, Gay has also returned the silver medal he won in the 4×100-metre relay at the London Olympics two years ago as his results since 15 July 2012, the day he first used a product containing a banned substance, have been declared invalid.

PCB offers Waqar Younis two-year contract for Pak”s head coach post

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Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi has revealed that the managing committee has offered former Pakistan captain Waqar Younis a two-year contract for the position of head coach of the national team. Sethi said that he put the matter before PCB”s managing committee and they chose the option led by Moin Khan, which former Pakistani captain Wasim Akram had listed at number one.

Local British cricket team banned from hitting sixes after neighbour”s outrage

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A local British cricket team has reportedly been banned from hitting sixes because the ball keeps ending up in a neighbour”s garden. The Britwell Salome Cricket Club in Oxfordshire has become subject to a ”local rule” after a neighbour objected and threatened the team to take them to court as their ball kept landing in his garden.

New app to teach kids about how much `screen time` is too much

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A new app aims to teach kids about how much “screen time” is just too much.

The two-part app is an interactive e-book and game offering parents an educational tool and a game to teach their children about learning to step back from the screen, the Washington times reported.

The app tells the story of two young brothers – Ash and Ollie – who talk about their experiences balancing digital and real-world play, as well as frustrations with their parents over their screen limits. (The app advises half-hour stints, at max.)

Just walking around house could help cut arthritis disability risk by third

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Researchers have said that all one needs is an hour’s gentle exercise to help cut your risk of becoming disabled by osteoarthritis by nearly a third.

Professor Dorothy Dunlop, of Northwestern University, Chicago, who studied nearly 2,000 patients with arthritis in their knees, said: “It is known that the more time people spend in moderate or vigorous activities, the less likely they are to develop disability, Daily Express reported.

Now, app that extracts best photos from your iPhone videos

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A new app has been developed that selects your videos for the best frames, then gives you Instagram-style filtering, editing, and sharing.

Vhoto is a free app that extracts still frames from iPhone video after the fact. And not thousands of individual frames you have to sift through yourself, but a culled assortment of the “best” pictures, as determined by Vhoto’s proprietary tech, CNet reported.

Ready to serve life term if ill-gotten money is proved: A Raja

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Former Telecom Minister A Raja, accused in the 2G spectrum case, has said he is ready to live his entire life in jail if any ill-gotten money is found with him.

Raja, who is contesting the Lok Sabha Elections from The Niligiris in Tamil Nadu, cited a report published an English daily in 2011 quoting CBI sources that he had kept Rs 3,000 crore abroad.

Stress may affect pregnancy in women, study shows

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The secret why pregnancy is eluding you may be out – stop taking that unnecessary stress now!

According to a new study, psychological stress may indeed make it more difficult to get pregnant.

To understand the link, researchers studied 501 couples for up to 12 months as they tried to conceive, as well as through pregnancy, if it occurred.

The female partners collected their saliva twice to be measured for cortisol and alpha-amylase – two biomarkers that indicate stress levels.

Mystery deepens over contents of missing MH370 plane”s cargo

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The Malaysia Airlines plane was reportedly loaded with items which have not been made clear on the publicly-released manifest.

There is mystery over the cargo of flight MH370 as it emerged some items in it were not listed on the official manifest before the plane took off.

Fresh theories have surfaced after a company who admitted to shipping 200kg of highly dangerous batteries on the flight refused to reveal the contents of the rest of their cargo, the Daily Star reports.

Cong won’t support any front: Rahul

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Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday ruled out the possibility of offering support to “any front” after the Lok Sabha elections, with the conviction that the party would win enough seats to form the government.

Speaking to reporters in his Lok Sabha constituency of Amethi, the Congress vice-president said his party would not resort to “jod-tod” (mustering support in an unethical manner).

Amartya Sen not ‘Indian in proper sense”, says Subramanian Swamy

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Annoyed by the statement of the economist Amartya Sen that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will not be the best prime minister for the country, party leader Subramanian Swamy on Saturday said that Sen is not an Indian in the proper sense and that he functions as a foot soldier of the Indian culture.