Month: June 2014

The death toll in the building collapse at suburban Porur rose to 18 today as Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu urged the Centre for more support to expedite the rescue efforts at the building collapse site here.

While 18 are dead, 23 are undergoing treatment for injuries at several hospitals and 33 are still feared trapped under the debris, a senior Tamil Nadu government official said.

“I request the Central government to provide more personnel with technical expertise to expedite the rescue process,” Naidu told reporters after visiting the building collapse site.

India’s e-commerce industry has become the object of large-scale Internet attacks, which are continuously trying to bring down these websites.

e-commerce industry in India has become the second-largest target for distributed denial of service attacks by hackers after enterprises, according to a recent report by Akamai.

As per the Akamai State of the Internet report India, saw a 2.6% increase in attack traffic in the first quarter, placing it at the seventh position among countries with attack traffic.

Public servant scrambling to follow the Narendra Modi-led government’s diktat for all ministries to open official Facebook ,Twitter and YouTube accounts are sarcastically turning to a set of guidelines issued by the previous government to brush up their social networking skills.

The new government at the Centre has asked officials to use the guidelines for social media drawn up in 2012 by the department of electronics and information technology as the ministries rush to meet the deadline of August to embrace social media.

Very soon India will be left with only three national parties with Nationalist Congress Party led by Sharad Pawar, Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party and Communist Party of India set to be stripped of their national status.

A show-cause notice to the three parties was served by the Election Commission of India (ECI) about two weeks ago, seeking explanation on why their national party status should not be withdrawn after their rout in the Lok Sabha elections.

The government in newborn state in Telangana is making it loud and clear that it’s willing to play hardball and pull out all the stops to transform India’s youngest state as the preferred destination for investors.

It is of the view that its capital Hyderabad will be the engine that powers the state’s economic growth, luring investments with its well-heeled infrastructure and multi-ethnic character and, in turn, taking the battle straight to Chennai and Bangalore -the current investor favorites in the south.

Investigators probing the disappearance of Flight MH370 have discovered possible new evidence of tampering with the plane’s cockpit equipment which experts believe could be part of an attempt to avoid radar detection, according to a media report.

A report released by Australian air crash investigators shows that the missing Boeing 777 suffered a mysterious power outage during the early stages of its flight, The Telegraph reported.

Actress-producer Dia Mirza says her upcoming production venture ‘Bobby Jasoos’ will celebrate womanhood.

The Vidya Balan starrer film talks about the aspiration of titular character Bobby, who wants to become the number one detective in the city of Hyderabad.

“I hope that every girl/woman in India feels emancipated when she watches #BobbyJasoos It’s great to be a girl,” Dia posted on Twitter.

In the past, the ‘Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein’ star had also lent her support to educate the underprivileged girl child.

A K Antony’s remarks on minorities continued to create ripples with a senior party leader rejecting contentions that the party was appeasing minority communities.

“In 2009, 12 out of 28 Muslims got elected from Congress but only one found place in UPA II Ministry & that too as MOS. Is this appeasement ?,” Anil Shastri wondered.

In another tweet he said, “All 4 Muslim CMs i.E. Antulay, Barkatullah, Gaffoor & Taimur (Assam) were appointed by Indiraji. After that it’s been a full stop for 30 yrs.”

He maintained there has been no appeasement of Muslims by the Congress.

There is enough space in the world for the rise of India and China, Vice President Hamid Ansari said today while asserting that the two neighbours have transcended bilateral scope in ties as they view each other as partners for mutual benefit and not as rivals.

On the global stage, the two countries, that account for about 37 per cent of the world’s population, are at the forefront of the emergence of a “more democratic global order” to resolve global issues in an equitable manner, he said while delivering a speech at the prestigious Chinese Academy of Social Sciences here.

Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao on Monday appealed to the employees to play an active role in the development of Telangana State.

Addressing the State-level review meeting at Jal Soudha at Erramanzil here, Harish Rao said that farmers have lot of expectations and hopes on the TRS Government. He said that the government could not achieve anything without the active support and involvement of employees. Therefore, he said that the employees should play their role in the development of new State.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu has congratulated the scientists of ISRO for the yet another successful launch of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C-23 today at the SHAR space station, Sriharikota in Nellore district.

Describing the 25th successful launch of the PSLV rocket by the ISRO scientists with indigenously developed technology, as a major milestone in the space program of India, Naidu said the country was proud of their stellar achievement and putting India in the global space club.

TDP floor leader Errabelli Dayakar Rao on Monday accused Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao of lacking clarity on his plans to develop Telangana State.

Speaking to media persons at NTR Trust Bhavan here, Errabelli said that KCR was criticising Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu only to hide his failures. He said that KCR did not come out with a single policy aimed at development of Telangana. He said that the TDP was ready to cooperate with the government, but the latter is not having any plans which could be supported.

The Telangana Congress on Monday strongly opposed the elections for the post of Chairman of Telangana State Legislative Council.

Gunmen opened fire at a mosque in insurgency-hit southern Thailand today, killing one man and injuring another a day after Muslims began observing the holy month of Ramadan, police said.

The pre-dawn attack by suspected militants in Pattani province appeared to target a Muslim deputy village chief but instead fatally wounded a 66-year-old man after morning prayers, said Police Lieutenant Colonel Somchai Janyoung.

In the wake of six alleged starvation deaths in a closed tea estate in West Bengal, the opposition Left Front Monday said it would seek the central government’s intervention in reopening several such gardens.

Blaming government apathy for the plight of workers of the closed tea gardens in north Bengal, Left Front chairman Biman Bose said a delegation of Left affiliated trade unions would be deputed on a fact-finding mission.

A Marine who was declared a deserter nearly 10 years ago after disappearing in Iraq and then returning to the US claiming he had been kidnapped, only to disappear again, is back in US custody, officials said.

Cpl Wassef Ali Hassoun, 34, turned himself in and was being flown yesterday from an undisclosed location in the Middle East to Norfolk, Virginia.

He is to be moved today to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, according to a spokesman, Capt Eric Flanagan.

Barring some minor incidents of violence, normal life came to a standstill in Dimapur, the commercial hub of Nagaland, following a 12-hour bandh called by the Nagaland Foothill Road Coordination Committee (NFHRCC) on Monday.

Some minor scuffle and stone pelting between volunteers of NFHRCC and some anti-bandh groups occurred at Chumukedima and 5th Mile and some other areas in the town during the initial hour of the bandh which began at 6 AM, Dimapur Additional Superintendent of Police, Wati Ao said.

The top manager in Iraq of the notorious private security firm Blackwater threatened to kill a US State Department investigator for probing the company’s performance, the New York Times reported today.

The Times, citing an internal State Department memorandum, said the threat came just weeks before Blackwater guards shot and killed 17 civilians on September 16, 2007 in Baghdad’s Nisour Square.

However US embassy officials in Baghdad sided with Blackwater and the State Department investigators were ordered to leave, The Times said.

An imam in Mumbai has said that the Muslim fasting month of Ramazan is a time for penitence and to seek forgiveness for sins committed in the past from Almighty Allah. Other devotes said that it should be seen as celebratory event for both Muslims and Hindus.

Imam Sunni Raza Masjid told ANI here, “It (Ramazan) is a holy month for us. We pray to Allah. All our sins are forgiven.”

Aashiq Sheikh, a devote, said, “We (Hindu’s and Muslims) celebrate Ramazan together. We give good wishes to each other.”

Prime Minster Narendra Modi on Monday said that India has the potential to become launch service provider of the world, over the successful launch of PSLV C23.

“India has a potential to become launch service provider of the world. We must work towards this. May all of your endeavors meet with the success,” said Modi.

“Today, I ask our space community to take up the challenge of developing a SAARC satellite,” he added.

Earlier, the Prime Minister congratulated space scientists and department of space for a successful launch of PSLV C23.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Monday said the Centre is seriously working towards rescuing Indians stranded in Iraq.

“Our government is very serious about our nationals, those who are stranded in Iraq, and it is working sensitively and seriously,” Naqvi said.

Yesterday, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj assured those families whose members have been abducted in Iraq that all efforts are being done to rescue them during her meeting with them today.

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. It’s a very happy occasion as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also present there.”

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu today visited the site of the collapsed building near Chennai to assess the ongoing rescue operation.

On June 28 at around 6 p.m. an under construction building had collapsed at Moulivakkam, nearly 20 kilometers from Chennai. It was raining heavily at the time.

The rescue team has recovered 38 people so far out of which 21 are alive and 17 are dead.

The police had detained two directors of the construction company.

Bollywood celebrities greeted fans on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan, describing it as the time to forgive others.

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, ‘Ek Villain’ star Riteish Deshmukh among others took to Twitter to wish their followers.

“Ramadan Mubarak… !!! Forgiveness sought from all those that I may have wronged or been wrong to..,” tweeted Bachchan.

Oscar-winning sound designer Resul Pookutty posted, “As we enter the holy month of Ramadan, wish you and your loved ones a month filled with blessings, forgiveness and joy. May prayers be answered.”

A former student of Jamia Milia Islamia, who was facing trial for over a decade for allegedly beating a college mate in the university campus, has been acquitted by a Delhi court which held that the statements of the complainant were “unreliable”.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Pritam Singh, acquitted Shadab Ahmad of the charge of voluntarily causing hurt and wrongfully restraining another student Giri Raj Singh in 2001 after which he was rusticated from the university.