Month: June 2014

The petroleum ministry foresees very little possibility of a disruption in India’s oil imports due to the on-going violence in Iraq.

“There is no situation as yet for panic, and everything is under control,” an official here told IANS Monday.

“Crude oil supplies to India come from Iraq’s Basra oilfields which are far from the conflict zone in the northeast of the country. Loading of tankers from the Basra oil terminal is continuing normally,” the official added.

In a fresh spate of violence, the terror group Boko Haram reportedly targeted four villages and a church near Chibok in north-eastern Nigeria.

Reports say at least 40 civilians and 6 insurgents were killed in a clash between the militants and vigilantes.

An eyewitness said Kautikari village, near Chibok, was almost deserted, with bodies of civilians and Boko Haram fighters on the streets, the BBC reports.

The attack went on for nearly four hours as Islamist rebels set homes on fire, going on a shooting rampage.

At least four rockets landed inside Peshawar Cantonment in Pakistan, wounding two soldiers.

According to The Express Tribune, the Pakistan police said that while the actual target was the Bacha Khan International Airport, all four rockets hit adjacent areas with one rocket landing inside a brigade office, leaving two soldiers injured early Sunday.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Monday greeted people at the start of Ramadan, hoping their fasting would “be accepted with the wishes for which it is kept”.

“Today is the beginning of auspicious Ramadan month. I pray that all your ‘Roja’ be accepted with the wishes for which it is kept. Allah aapke ‘Roja’ qabool karen.

“May the Almighty give you the strength to observe your ‘Roza’ with piety and peace. Holy Ramazan Mubarak,” she said on her official Facebook page.

–IANS

At least seven people were killed and 30 others wounded in a fresh mortar attack in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, media reported.

The activists’ Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based watchdog group, said the mortars were launched by a jihadi group called Jund al-Aqsa, which has recently pledged to target areas under the Syrian government’s control in Idlib in return for what they called the government troops’ targeting of rebel-held areas in Idlib.

In the absence of any clarity about their future, students already admitted to the bachelor of honours in management studies (BMS) course at Delhi University staged a protest here Monday.

The BMS was introduced as a part of the four-year undergraduate programme which was scrapped June 20 after a week long tussle between DU and the University Grants Commission (UGC) over its continuation.

American comedian-actress Chelsea Handler says she likes to “abuse men” and make them cry with her insults.

Handler described herself as a “big insulter” and insisted she finds it “funny” to “abuse men” only to watch them come back anyway, reports contactmusic.com.

She told the Sunday Times newspaper’s Culture magazine: “OK, yeah, I’m a big insulter. The more you abuse men, the more they come back. It’s funny to watch.”

The southwest monsoon may hit Himachal Pradesh in a day or two but rainfall remained 45 percent deficient in the state in this month, the weather bureau said here Monday.

“The monsoon will hit the state with chances of moderate to heavy rainfall from July 1-3,” the meteorological office said in a statement.

It said Shimla, Solan, Sirmaur, Kangra, Una, Kullu and Mandi districts might experience heavy rain at some places during this period.

The monsoon normally hits the state by June 27.

Visiting French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius Monday said he was “very confident” of the outcome of his talks with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj here on the $20 billion deal for the Rafale combat aircraft.

Fabius, the first European minister to touch base with the new Indian government, will be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley later Monday.

Addressing a press conference after talks with Sushma Swaraj, Fabius said both sides discussed the situation in violence-hit Iraq.

India today sought Japanese investment to develop 100 smart cities and high-speed bullet trains to improve infrastructure and create jobs.

“Japan is a natural partner of India. Japan is best in developing smart cities, development of high-speed trains…In the next five years, we need 10,000 Japanese companies. We will hand-hold them,” Amitabh Kant, Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, said at a Ficci function.

The external affairs ministry has advised Indian citizens that travel to Iraq should not be undertaken in the present circumstances, Kerala’s diaspora agency chief said Monday.

Speaking to IANS, Roots-Norka CEO P.Sudip said the letter from the joint secretary, middle east and Haj, that came Monday clearly says that travel to Iraq should not be undertaken in the present circumstances until further notice.

“I have been receiving calls from people in our state who work in Iraq and now are on leave asking if they could travel to Iraq once their leave gets over,” he said.

National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), which represents the $118-billion Indian IT industry, Monday launched a registry to build a repository of technology start-ups in the web, mobile, e-commerce and marketplace and make it a virtual platform for investors, enterprises, media and government.

“India is emerging as the hotbed for technology start-ups and our ‘10,000 start-up progarmme’ will partner with all stakeholders to help the country emerge as an innovation hub,” Nasscom president R. Chandrashekhar told reporters here on the occasion.

Islamist militant group ISIS has declared that it is establishing a new caliphate, or an Islamic state, on the territories it controls in Iraq and Syria.

The group also announced that the ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, will be the caliph and leader for Muslims everywhere and would be known as Caliph Ibrahim, the BBC reports.

The announcement was made through an audio recording posted on the Internet.

The ISIS rebels demanded that all Muslims “pledge allegiance” to the new ruler and “reject democracy and other garbage from the West,” the report said.

President Pranab Mukherjee congratulated the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on Monday for the successful launch of PSLV-C23. In a message to Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, Chairman of ISRO, the President said, “I congratulate you and your team at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for the successful launch of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C23, carrying five satellites from four countries. The nation is proud of this important achievement which is a significant milestone in the progress of our space capabilities.

Delhi University will come out with its first cut-off list today for admissions to the courses under the three-year programme. The Delhi University has rolled back the Four Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) after the University Grants Commission (UGC) asked it to begin admissions under the three year format. The UGC has asked the varsity to begin admissions immediately and also demanded a complete rollback of the controversial FYUP. The decision has come after days of standoff between DU and the UGC over the Four Year Programme which had put a halt to admissions. (ANI)

A major difference between wholesale and retail prices of onions is adding to the woes of commoners across India. After rail fare hike, the hike in onion prices has once again put the NDA Government in the dock on the issue of inflation. This is the second time within a month that the price of onions has increased. An angry Siliguri resident P. Das said, “The price of onion has increased once again. It is becoming very difficult for the common man to survive. Modi is not doing anything for the welfare of citizens.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated all scientists on Monday for the successful launch of the PSLV C-23 from the Sriharikota spaceport this morning. “I want to congratulate all the scientists of the nation for this launch. Science in our country is progressing day by day and I have full confidence that our scientists will take India to a higher level in the sectors of science and technology,” said Singh. The Indian Space Research Organisation”s (ISRO”s) PSLV C23 lifted off from Sriharikota earlier this morning in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Gujarat government today granted yet another extension to the Justice Nanavati commission which is probing the 2002 post-Godhra riots.

“Today, the state government granted a two-month extension to the commission, valid up to August 31,” said secretary to the panel C G Patel.

This is the 22nd extension granted to the commission. In December 2013 it had got a six-month extension, which was to expire today.

The commission comprises Justices G T Nanavati and Akshay Mehta (both retired).

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) here today congratulated the scientists of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for the launch of satellite PSLV C23 from Sriharikota on Monday morning. BJP spokesperson M.J. Akbar said, “Being an Indian it’s a very proud achievement in the field of Science. We dream for India to sit on the Economic high table and we might reach there under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but the scientists have already made India sit on the high table of the world.

Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Atul Anjan said here on Monday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi must appeal to the United Nations Security Council to meet to discuss the current situation in Iraq. Criticising the Indian Government for its failure to bring back stranded Indians from Iraq, Anjan said, “The current situation in Iraq is worsening day-by-day, but the government of India is not doing anything to rescue the stranded Indians. This government has proved to be a failure on many issues, and here also, it has failed.

Congress leader Manish Tewari said here today that the successful launch of satellite PSLV C23 this morning must be creditted to the policies followed by the previous UPA Government. “It’s a result of the old policies of the UPA Government that the technical and scientific sector of India has strengthened,” said Tewari. “I hope that BJP has a heart big enough to congratulate the UPA for India’s successful attempt in increasing the world’s space power,” he added.

National Human Rights Commission today issued a notice to Telengana government seeking a report from it over alleged neglect of a Primary Health Centre in Hyderabad where there has been no electricity for the last four months due to non-payment of bill.

According to an NHRC statement, it has issued a notice to the Chief Secretary, Government of Telengana calling for the report within four weeks into the allegations that the operation theatre of a six-bedded Primary Health Centre for pregnant women and new mothers in Hyderabad remained non-functional and was covered in dust.

In a boost to optogenetics, a technology allowing scientists to control brain activity by shining light on neurons, the first light-sensitive molecule that enables neurons to be silenced non-invasively using a light source outside the skull has been developed.

Optogenetics relies on light-sensitive proteins that can suppress or stimulate electrical signals within cells and require a light source to be implanted in the brain.

A blast at a government office in the northern district of Karan in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu Monday left at least two people dead and and five others injured, police and witnesses said.

The explosion hit a municipal office of the local Mogadishu administration as workers gathered for the day’s work, police officer Mohamoud Baar said, according to Xinhua.

“We believe that the bomb was somehow hidden inside the office and was remotely detonated. One soldier and a civilian died in the explosion. Five others were also injured in the blast,” Baar said.

Amitabh Bachchan is poised to start a new innings on the small screen with his upcoming fictional series “Yudh” and to give the show a realistic feel, the megastar has planned to go for a no-make up look.

Anurag Kashyap, the creative director of the show, decided that the artists would go for the no make-up look.

Big B, who plays real estate baron Yudhisthir Sikarwar on the show, said: “Keeping in mind that it was a directorial decision to make visuals look as real-life as possible, it was essential that the actors looked natural.”