Month: June 2014

Brussels Jewish museum shooter held in France

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French President Francois Hollande Sunday confirmed the arrest of a presumed perpetrator of Brussels Jewish museum attack.

“All government is mobilised to monitor the jihadis and preventing them from causing harm, especially when they return to France or Europe. It is a fight at all times,” Xinhua quoted Hollande as saying.

Three people were killed last week when a gunman opened fire at the museum in the busy Sablon area in Brussels. The victims were an Israeli couple, and a French woman.

A Belgian employee of the museum, was critically injured.

Krushna Abhishek determined to follow in Kapil’s footsteps

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Comedian Krushna Abhishek, who has dominated the small screen with his comic timing in “Comedy Circus”, says he will certainly come up with a show a la Kapil Sharma’s “Comedy Nights With Kapil”.

“I will definitely do a show like Kapil. Actually ‘Mad In India’ was first offered to me before Manish, but the thing is if I start taking interviews then it’s over. I want that lively energy on the sets.

India look for World Cup hockey win against England

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After losing 2-3 to fifth ranked Belgium in their World Cup opener Saturday, the Indian hockey team are ready to battle it out against England at the Kyocera Stadium here Monday.

Going by past records, India and England clashed twice in 2012. At the first meeting in the Champions Trophy in Melbourne, India registered a 3-1 victory but the second time they lost 1-2 at the International Super Series in Perth. Since then, they only met once at the World League Finals in January, where India lost 0-2.

Over 625,000 students in Himachal get mid day meal

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Over 625,000 students are benefiting from the central government-funded Mid Day Meal Scheme in 15,197 schools of Himachal Pradesh, an official said here Sunday.

A sum of Rs.100 crore has been earmarked for the nutrition scheme during this fiscal, state elementary education department director Ashok Sharma said in a statement.

He said, “About 80 percent of the funds for the scheme would be provided by the government of India.”

Artificial sunlight to test solar cell efficiency

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To help test solar cell properties and find ways to boost their efficiency, researchers have developed a laser-based instrument that generates artificial sunlight.

The device simulates sunlight well across a broad spectrum of visible to infrared light.

More flexible than conventional solar simulators such as xenon arc-lamps or light-emitting diodes (LEDs), the laser instrument can be focused down to a small beam spot.

Indian conman faces trial in Britain for fraud, blackmailing

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An Indian man, posing as a spiritual healer in Britain, is facing trial for blackmail and high-value fraud in the country, a media report said.

Mohammed Ashrafi, 49, who called himself Kamal-Ji, went missing from Leicester in England’s East Midlands, earlier this year and has been accused of defrauding a woman of 10,000 pounds ($16,764) through a healing and astrology service advertised in the city and to have obtained 50,000 pounds ($83,820) through blackmail, Leicester Mercury reported Saturday.

FICCI team meets Jaitley, makes pre-budget suggestions

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The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has stressed on the new Finance Minister Arun Jaitley the need for a conducive tax regulatory environment, the industry chamber said Sunday.

“To support the forward looking development and delivery oriented agenda of the new government, a non-adversarial, conducive and fair tax regulatory environment is the need of the hour,” a statement here said after a FICCI delegation called on Jaitley with a pre-budget wish-list.

Iran announce final World Cup squad

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Iran’s football coach Carlos Queiroz here Sunday announced the final squad for the World Cup 2014 in Brazil.

The Portuguese coach selected 23 players, comprising three goalkeepers, eight defenders, six midfielders and six strikers.

Iran have been drawn in Group F along with Nigeria, Argentina and Bosnia and Herzegovina and will play Nigeria in Curitiba in their opening match June 16.

Iran will face Argentina and Bosnia and Herzegovina June 21 and June 25, respectively.

The final squad:

Goalkeepers: Daniel Davari, Alireza Haghighi, Rahman Ahmadi

Expert panel with Sreedharan to advise railways

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Railway Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda Sunday said an expert committee will soon be set up with former Delhi Metro chief E. Sreedharan on it to advise the Indian Railways on rapid expansion and modernisation.

“The committee will be constituted with experts like Sreedharan after consulting the prime minister, who has a great vision for the railways that daily carries 1.3 million people,” Gowda told reporters here.

American Embassy School reeling under crisis – Hopes pinned on Modi

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The American Embassy School (AES) in New Delhi’s plush diplomatic enclave is deep in crisis after nearly 40 teachers quit as a fallout of last year’s India-US diplomatic row.

The staff is hoping that with a new Indian government in place, matters would mend soon.

The school, one of the most elitist and expensive in the capital, is in the throes of a crisis after 40 teachers quit since March this year and more than a dozen were forced to return to the US to renew their visas, knowledgeable sources said.

When a nobody slapped somebody like Akshay Kumar

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If watching actor-producer Akshay Kumar getting slapped by a monkey in a sequence in “Housefull” was hilarious, the action star’s fans will now see a backup dancer leaving her hand’s print on his cheek in “Holiday”.

The actor, who has mostly beaten the bad guys black in blue on the big screen, gets slapped by a woman in his forthcoming film “Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty”, which also features Sonakshi Sinha. But he says it wasn’t anything serious.

Talking about the particular scene, Akshay said: “It was just a funny thing.”

Democracy allows Raj Thackeray to contest elections: Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vice-president, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Sunday said that MNS chief Raj Thackeray was free to contest in elections as enshrined in a democracy. In a democracy everyone is free and can form a party and run for elections. We cannot say anything about another party’s decision. As far as Maharashtra is concerned we are going to fight along with our ally Shiv Sena,” Naqvi said.

Modi wants to act like a one man show, claims Meem Afzal

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Congress leader Meem Afzal described prime minister Narendra Modi doing away with Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoMs) and Groups of Ministers (GoMs) as a move to centralise power in his hands. “The way Narendra Modi sidelined BJP during elections, the same is being done now in respect to abolishing EGoM, GoM. He wants to keep all the power in his hands. He wants to become a one man army. The Gom and EGoM used to be given the authority to take important decisions,” Afzal said.

LeT commander killed in Kashmir gunfight

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A commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) outfit was Sunday killed in a gun battle with security forces in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

Acting on specific information about militants, police from Handwara and army personnel from the 47, 21, and 9 Rashtriya Rifles launched a search operation in Sudal (Magam) village in Handwara Sunday morning, a police officer told IANS here.

The militants in hiding opened fire at the joint operation team.

Diesel price hike disappoints people: Jayalalithaa

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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa Sunday said people who expected progress with the change of government at the Centre are disappointed after the 50 paise hike in diesel prices.

In a statement here, Jayalalithaa urged the central government to withdraw the diesel price raise, saying it will have an inflationary effect.

She also urged the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government to not follow the wrong economic policies of the erstwhile Congress-led government.

Telangana all set to take birth as 29th state

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Telangana is all set to be born as the 29th state of India at the stroke of Sunday midnight. Telangana supporters have planned gala celebrations.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which spearheaded the movement for separate state and will form the first government in Telangana Monday, has painted Hyderabad pink – the colour of its flag.

The Telangana party will kick off as the clock strikes 12. The special firecrackers ordered from Mumbai will go off at 120 main junctions and roads across Hyderabad, TRS leaders said.

Muslims suffered due to absence of Uniform Civil Code: M Katju

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As the debate over Article 370 in Kashmir is growing louder, Press Council of India Chairman Markandey Katju has come out in support of Uniform Civil Code in the state.

Katju, who was formerly a judge of Supreme Court of India, said that Kashmir can’t be separated from India whether or not Article 370 remains in the state.

“Kashmir can’t be separated from India, whether Article 370 is there or not. India is union of states not a confederation. However, due to vote bank politics Uniform Civil Code has not been made a law,” said Katju.

Medical officer shot dead in Muzaffarnagar

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Four assailants on Sunday shot dead Suresh Johri (59), Deputy Chief Medical officer of District Hospital Bijnore at Jansath bus stand here.

Police has registered a case against four unidentified persons in this connection and are looking for them, SP City Shravan Kumar said.

Money dispute was the stated reason behind the murder, he said. The incident took place while he was on his way to Bijnore from Muzaffarnagar.

—PTI

Badaun case: Accused confess gang-raping, murdering Dalit sisters

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Three accused have confessed to the shocking gang-rape and murder of the two Dalit sisters in Badaun whose bodies were found hanging from a tree in the village, reports stated on Sunday.

The incident created nationwide furore after two cousins, aged 14 and 15 years old, went missing from home on May 27 and their bodies were later found hanging from a mango tree.

It was confirmed that they were gang-raped before being strangulated.

The family of the victims had alleged that the police failed to act after they went to report that their daughters were missing.

Top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Abu Ukasha killed in encounter in Kashmir

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A Lashkar-e-Taiba militant was killed in an encounter with security forces at Handwara in North Kashmir on Sunday.

Handwara is about 75 km from Srinagar.

The slain militant has been identified as Abu Ukasha, a top LeT divisional commander and an Afghan national. He was involved in carrying out many terrorist attacks in the past.

An AK-47 has been recovered from Ukasha.

New hope for treating osteoporosis

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Researchers have discovered a new target that may be critical for the treatment of osteoporosis.

The group of researchers in The Netherlands and in Germany have found in their studies in zebrafish and mice that injection of human plastin 3 (PLS3) or related proteins in zebrafish where PLS3 action has been suppressed can replace its loss and repair the bone development anomalies associated with this deficiency.

According to the study, over-expression of human (PLS3) in normal mice had a significant impact on bone development and maintenance, making them more resistant to fractures.

Narcissists can be empathic towards sufferers

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People with narcissistic tendencies can be empathic towards a person who’s suffering given they have the right focus, says research by the University of Surrey.

The study examined participants in three different situations. The first study analysed how sympathetic they were to someone of their own gender suffering from a relationship break-up, where the results showed that those with high narcissism lacked empathy for the distressed person.

‘Too much light in bedroom bad for your waistline’

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Are you gaining weight for no apparent reason? Check if you are exposing yourself to too much light while sleeping.

Sleeping with too much light in the room increases the risk of obesity in women, a new study says.

“The associations we saw in our study between light exposure at night and obesity are very intriguing,” said professor Anthony Swerdlow from the Institute of Cancer Research, London.

The study involved more than 113,000 women who were followed for 40 years.

Surgery on weekends, afternoons ups death risk: Study

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In a first that shows cyclic influences on hospital mortality in patients after surgery, a new research says that the risk of death is the highest following surgery conducted on weekends, in the afternoon or in February.

During the analysis of the data from 218,758 patients, researchers found that surgery conducted in the afternoon was associated with 21 percent increased risk of death compared with surgery conducted at other times of the day.

Surgery at the weekend was associated with a 22 percent increased risk of death compared to surgery on weekdays.