Month: July 2014

The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) for Punjab, announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the annual budget, would be set up in Amritsar, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said here Friday.

Interacting with the media after offering prayers at the Golden Temple here with his wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal who is also the union minister for food processing, he said that the setting up of the IIM in Amritsar will give an impetus to development of the holy city and its adjoining areas.

India’s dairy major Amul will be sponsoring the Indian contingent for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow starting July 23 and the Asian Games in Incheon Sep 19-Oct 4.

Amul and Indian Olympic Association (IOA) Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the sponsorship deal.

IOA treasurer Anil Khanna said the deal is worth around Rs.1 crore and would be distributed among the athletes. Talks are also going on with Amul for cash awards for medal winners.

Using a new type of telescope made by stitching together telephoto lenses, astronomers have discovered seven dwarf galaxies while probing a nearby spiral galaxy.

They were previously overlooked because of their diffused nature: The ghostly galaxies emerged from the night sky as the team obtained the first observation from the telescope.

The discovery came quickly in a relatively small section of sky.

The previously unseen galaxies may yield important insights into the dark matter and galaxy evolution, while possibly signalling the discovery of a new class of objects in the space.

Is Arjun Kapoor giving the nod to a movie adaptation of Chetan Bhagat’s “Revolution 2020”? The young actor prefers to stay mum as long as the makers make an official announcement.

There’s buzz that after delivering a hit with “2 States”, an adaptation of Bhagat’s bestseller “2 States: The Story Of My Marriage”, Arjun has been approached for the onscreen version of “Revolution 2020”, to be helmed by Rajkumar Gupta.

The 2014-15 budget is both positive and promising that focuses on reviving the sentiment of property buyers and investors and promoting investment with a view to give fillip to construction and housing sector, a significant contributor to GDP.

For the real estate sector, this progressive budget is very much on the expected lines and its foundation was laid few months before the Lok Sabha polls during the annual meet of CREDAI in New Delhi where captains of

Germany coach Joachim Löw said that he is looking forward to the World Cup final which will see a galaxy of the football stars.

Low’s team will meet Argentina in the final at the Maracana Stadium here Sunday, reports Efe.

“It’s Latin America versus Europe and great galaxy of stars,” said Low, who added that Argentina will not be an easy team, referring to their strong defence line and clever strikers Lionel Messi and Gonzalo Higuain.

However, the tactician insisted that the ‘Mannschaft’ are ready for the Latinos.
(IANS/EFE)

Argentina defender Ezequiel Garay said that the performance of their defence against the Netherlands in the World Cup semi-final has “silenced” all those who were skeptical about them.

“There was a lot of criticism of the defence. The team silenced all critics and played an impeccable match,” Garay said, following his side’s 4-2 win in a penalty shootout, reports Efe.

“We knew we had a very difficult time. The Netherlands is a difficult choice but the team did everything to neutralise it,” said the defender, who has just left Benfica to sign for Russia’s Zenit.

A northeastern man was fired at and injured by two motorbike-riding masked assailants here Friday morning, police said.

The attack took place around 7 a.m. near Sarai Kale Khan area in south Delhi when Ricky, 21, was heading towards Select Citywalk, a shopping mall in south Delhi, on his motorbike.

“Two bullets were fired at Ricky. The first one did not hit him but the second one pierced his right thigh,” said a police official.

He was rushed to the Max Hospital in the Saket area of south Delhi where doctors described his condition to be stable.

Singer Nichole Scherzinger says Sam Smith’s hit album “In the Lonely Hour” inspired her to get emotionally raw in her new album.

Titled “Your Love”, the singer’s latest offering will feature plenty of songs about love and heartbreak, which she thinks her female fans will find relatable, reports contactmusic.com.

“He did a spectacular job of cutting straight to the heartstrings. I had many dates with the album on and a glass of wine. There’s this unbelievable cry, but strength at the same time. That’s what I’m aiming for,” she said.

Angry youth torched an Israeli flag to protest bombings in Gaza and shouted slogans in favour of the Palestinian people in the old city areas of Srinagar Friday.

Immediately after the congregational Friday prayers ended in the Jamia mosque in the Nowhatta area in the old city, dozens of youth gathered in the market square to protest the bombings that have killed 65 people, including children and women.

Cases of various types of cancer and related deaths are on the rise in the country, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said Friday.

“As per data provided by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the cases of various types of cancer, including prostate cancer, and related deaths are on the rise in the country,” said Harsh Vardhan, replying to a question in the Lok Sabha.

The minister said the increase in the number of cases may be attributed to ageing population, unhealthy life styles, use of tobacco and tobacco products, unhealthy diet and better diagnostic facilities.

A bill to amend the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Act was introduced in the Lok Sabha Friday amid ruckus.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority Amendment Bill will pave way for the appointment of former TRAI chairman Nripendra Misra as principal secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The bill replaces an ordinance brought by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, to amend the act which prohibited its chairman and members from taking up any other job in the central or state governments after demitting office.

In a discovery that offers new ways to protect crops from insects, researchers have found that insecticides can be designed to target specific pests without harming beneficial species like bees.

And the answer lies in a potent spider toxin.

“Most insecticides used today take a carpet-bombing approach, killing indiscriminately and sometimes even hurting humans and other animals. The more specific a toxin’s target, the less dangerous it is for everything else,” explained Frank Bosmans, an assistant professor of physiology at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Medicine.

Argentina football legend Diego Maradona has said Germany will enter the final Sunday with big egos after handing hosts Brazil their worst World Cup defeat ever in the semis.

Maradona said Germany’s enlarged ego will benefit the Argentina team and hoped that Messi’s side will be able to surprise the ‘Mannschaft’, reports Efe.

(By Dipayan Mazumdar) I fondly remember Zohra Sehgal since I first met her during 2003 at her residence. The climb to the third floor of Mandakini Apartments in Alaknanda, south Delhi, was tough even for me. I could only imagine how it was for the frail lady who was almost trapped on the top floor. It did not stop her and, even at 91, in spite of all odds, Zohra Sehgal had not lost any of her zest for life. And offers for roles were still pouring in.

Over 1000 teachers used fake degrees in Bihar to get jobs in the government schools, Education Minister Brishen Patel Friday said.

“During our ongoing investigation to check authenticity of their degrees, we have found that more than 1000 teachers used fake degrees to get jobs,” Patel told reporters in the Bihar assembly complex here.

Patel said the state government will not only sack them but they will be sent to jail for faking their education qualifications to get jobs.

Dispelling the common misconception that street food available in India is ‘unhealthy and unhygienic’, a well known Australian culinary historian has said that she found street foods safer than restaurants catering to tourists.

Charmaine O’Brien, the author of the recently released ‘The Penguin Food Guide to India’, was talking during a discussion on ‘Its not Curry – Eating India’ at the University of Melbourne based Australia India Institute (AII) here yesterday.

NASA has revealed that the gullies on Mars’ surface are primarily formed by the seasonal freezing of carbon dioxide, not liquid water.

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera was used to examine gullies at 356 sites on Mars, beginning in 2006.

Thirty-eight of the sites showed active gully formation, such as new channel segments and increased deposits at the downhill end of some gullies.

Just days after his organisation was declared a terror outfit by the US, Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed, who orchestrated the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, addressed a seminar at the Lahore High Court spewing venom on India and America.

This is the second time that Saeed, who is the founder of banned terror organisation Laskar-e-Taiba, has addressed lawyers and others within the court premises this year.

The Supreme court Friday granted one-month bail on health grounds to 2008 Bangalore serial bomb blast prime accused Abdul Nazir Madani.

An apex court bench headed by Justice J. Chelameswar said that during his one-month bail, Maudany will not leave the city of Bangalore and the Karnataka government is at liberty to take all steps ensure that he does not get in touch with witnesses in the case, including putting him under surveillance.

Actress Kareena Kapoor, who will be next seen opposite Ajay Devgn in ‘Singham Returns’ feels her actor-husband Saif Ali Khan will be a better cop on screen.

“I think Saif will be the best cop (on screen). I think he will be better than Ajay,” Kareena told reporters here at the trailer launch of ‘Singham Returns’.

Kareena said she hates doing action stuff on screen but in director Rohit Shetty’s films she enjoys doing it.

Shraddha Kapoor was spotted offering prayers and seeking blessings at Siddhivinayak temple in Mumbai recently.

Kapoor, who has been riding high on the success of her latest release ‘Ek Villain’, was seen wearing traditional clothes when she visited the famous temple.

The ‘Aashiqui 2’ star will be next seen in ‘Haider’, opposite Shahid Kapoor. (ANI)

Congress leader V. Hanumantha Rao on Friday soughtr a design change in the Polavaram multi-purpose irrigation project, and also warned the centre of the consequences it could face if it undermines the plight of tribals who could be displaced in the process.

In an attempt to tackle the increasing incidents of eve-teasing, East Singhbhum district police has decided to launch an exclusive women force next week to rein in the eve-teasers.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Amol V Homkar today said the ‘Shakti Mobile’ police force would be launched to check eve-teasing in and around the city.

Personnel of the force would be deployed in and around women’s colleges, schools and bus-stands to keep vigil on mischief-mongers from next week, said Homkar.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday sought for a report on the recent Pune blast case and added that the matter is being probed by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).

“I have asked for the report on the Pune blast. The ATS (Anti-Terrorism Squad) is investigating the whole case,” Singh said.

A low-intensity blast triggered by an IED planted in a bike parked in front of a police station in the heart of the city on Thursday reportedly left four persons injured, one of them a Constable. The authorities did not rule out the possibility of involvement of a terror group in the incident.