Month: July 2014

Visiting US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns Thursday met India’s Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh to chalk out the path to the forthcoming Strategic Dialogue as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s summit meeting with US President Barack Obama.

Official sources said the discussions centred on all aspects of bilateral relations, particularly economic engagement between India and the US.

The two senior diplomats also exchanged views on a variety of regional and international issues, including the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan.
(IANS)

The family of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was present on the spot to give him moral support Thursday as he read out his maiden budget speech in the Lok Sabha.

Jaitley’s wife Sangeeta and daughter Sonali were sitting in the front row of the visitors’ gallery and listening intently to his speech.

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Jairam Ramesh also in visitors’ gallery

A host of Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress leaders, including former ministers like Jairam Ramesh and Ashwini Kumar, were present in the visitors’ gallery in the Lok Sabha to listen to the budget.

India were batting on 433/9 at tea on Day 2 of the first Test against England at Trent Bridge here Thursday.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami were batting on 46 and 39, respectively, when tea was called. Earlier in the session, India lost four wickets.
(IANS)

As many as 98 men from Haryana who were stuck in conflict-affected Iraq have returned home, a state government spokesman said here Thursday.

The latest batch of people from Haryana landed in New Delhi Tuesday morning on a special flight of Iraqi Airways.

Haryana’s Resident Commissioner in New Delhi P.K Mahapatra received them at the airport.

On their arrival, 86 of them were sent to their homes through the buses of Haryana Roadways whereas 12 others went on their own, the spokesman said.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Shariz today expressed dissatisfaction over the worsening law and order situation here even as the city’s influential business community demanded that the army take over the security of the country’s financial capital.

Sharif, who was on a day-long visit to Karachi, said the army has been told to provide all technical support to the police and paramilitary rangers to improve the deteriorating situation in Karachi, sources said.

Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Eknath Khadse today condemned the blast in Pune and said it reflected the state government’s “utter failure on the law and order front”.

He demanded that the culprits be nabbed at the earliest.

The BJP leader also took potshots at Home Minister R R Patil, saying he had no control over the police machinery.

A low-intensity blast of an IED planted on a motorcycle parked in front of a police station in downtown Pune today left three people injured, including a police constable.

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has termed the union budget disappointing but his Andhra Pradesh counterpart N. Chandrababu Naidu welcomed it, terming it “development-oriented”.

Naidu told reporters here Thursday evening that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has made a good attempt to put the Indian economy back on rails.

Naidu, whose Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is a partner in the coalition government at the centre, said the budget presented by union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely focussed on industrial development, infrastructure and employment generation.

A minor Dalit girl, who was allegedly raped by a youth while his two aides made a video clip of the act earlier this year, committed suicide here after the main accused demanded Rs 50,000 from her father threatening to make the footage public.

Police said two youths – Ritesh Agrawal (22) and Suraj Balai (20) – who made the video have been arrested, while main accused Dipesh (22) is still absconding, SC/ST Welfare Police Station’s Deputy Superintendent Ashutosh Mishra told PTI.

An alert has been sounded here after a low-intensity blast in Pune, the police said today.

An alert has been sounded and security tightened at railway stations, bus terminuses, entry points, vital installations, religious places and communally-sensitive areas of Mumbai after the explosion in Pune this afternoon, Deputy Police Commissioner Mahesh Patil said.

“I appeal to the people to inform the police if they spot any suspicious object and not believe in rumours,” the DCP said.

Vehicles are being randomly checked by the police across the city, the police said.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said here on Thursday that the government cannot reverse poverty and unemployment figures in one night, it will take time.

In an exclusive interview to ANI’s editor (News) Smita Prakash, Jaitley said, “It will take time in reversing unemployment and poverty figures as it cannot happen overnight and that is why if the growth rate increases so definitely we will achieve success in this direction.”

“It’s an ongoing process to reduce the poverty from this country. And it will happen only if it reduces by one or two percent every year,” he added.

Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh ( RSS) leader Ram Madhav joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) here on Thursday.

“I will certainly do what is expected of me by the party’s leadership,” said Madhav.

Talking about the upcoming by-elections, he said that they will surely turn out to be positive for the BJP. (ANI)

Shares of VST Industries tumbled over 18 per cent after the government today increased excise duties on cigarettes and other tobacco products.

The tobacco company’s stock tanked 18.13 per cent to settle at Rs 1,453.25 on the BSE. During the day, it plunged 19.16 per cent to Rs 1,435.

At the NSE, the scrip settled at Rs 1,488, down 15.88 per cent.

The company has a manufacturing facility at Hyderabad and its principal activities are manufacture, sale of cigarettes and unmanufactured tobacco.

However, shares of ITC ended the day in green, up 0.32 per cent.

The Industry and trade in this region welcomed the union budget presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Parliament and termed it as “generally well thought and balanced one” taking into consideration the overall needs of the country and the sectors.

The budget focused on how the growth of the country will be, by covering needs of all the sectors, R R Balasundaram, President, Local Chapter of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told reporters here.

The Andhra Pradesh government today constituted seven missions covering various sectors, to ensure effective governance and fulfil the objective of making the state “poverty-free” by 2029.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the Andhra Pradesh Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu here today.

The proposed missions would cover key sectors like social welfare, infrastructure, industries, skill development, urban development, primary and services, Minister for Information and Public Relations Palle Raghunatha Reddy said.

Delhi BJP today termed as holistic the general budget presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitely and said it was a foundation of good days ahead.

“This Budget has taken care of the needs of both the urban and the rural areas. The middle class and the poor will also feel happy with it. Efforts have been made to give due respect to the young entrepreneurs, defence forces and the women in this Budget,” the newly-appointed Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay said.

The city police today nabbed a stone-cutter and a contractor and seized a huge quantity of explosive material.

The officers of Commissioner’s Task Force arrested V Yadaiah and P Jangaiah from I S Sadan area here and seized 530 gelatin sticks and 350 electric detonators, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police B Limba Reddy said.

During the interrogation Yadaiah confessed that he sold material to compressor holders and stone-cutting contractors, police claimed.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu today termed the Union Budget as “growth and development oriented” and hailed the priority accorded to infrastructure building.

“The Union Budget, presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, denotes a positive trend. It is growth and development oriented. Top priority has been accorded to infrastructure building with a foresight,” Naidu said here.

The Union Finance Minister had an onerous task of setting right a bad economy that was “inherited” from the previous Congress-led UPA government, he said.

If on this Eid Salman Khan will woo his fans with “Kick”, next year on the festive occasion the superstar will treat his fans to “Bajrangi Bhaijaan”.

The Kabir Khan-directed “Bajrangi Bhaijaan” also stars Kareena Kapoor.

Salman took to his Facebook page to inform about this and wrote: “Bajrangi Bhaijaan co-starring Kareena Kapoor and directed by Kabir Khan. Releases Eid 2015.”

Salman’s last film with Kabir Khan was “Ek Tha Tiger” in 2012, while he did “Bodyguard” with Kareena in 2011.
(IANS)

The aviation regulator Thursday dismissed demands not to grant a licence to the Tata-Singapore Airlines joint venture.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) chief Prabhat Kumar dismissed the demand raised against granting of schedule operators’ licence to the proposed JV company.

The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) had written to DGCA when it issued a public notice inviting objections or suggestions regarding grant of permit to TATA-SIA Airlines.

Clashes between government troops and pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine have claimed the lives of 478 civilians in the past three months, the Ukrainian health ministry reported Thursday.

“Four-hundred-seventy-eight civilians have died, including 30 women and seven children,” Deputy Health Minister Vasily Lazorishinets said in a press conference.

The figure is more than double the number of Ukrainian military casualties on the battlefield since fighting broke out in April with the separatist rebels in the east, which Lazorishinets put at 173.

The central government Thursday allocated Rs.4,653.19 crore to Delhi Police for improving their training facilities and installation of traffic signals in Delhi for the current fiscal.

For the year 2013-2014, Delhi Police got Rs.4,259.20 crore, of which Rs.28 crore was spent as planned expenditure while Rs.4,230.71 crore was spent as the non-planned expenditure.

The government has allocated Rs.11.50 crore for the installation of traffic signals in the city and Rs.51 lakh for enhancing their training facilities for 2014-15.

A train accident was averted Thursday in Gurgaon following quick thinking by the train’s driver after a car came on the tracks at a crossing due to the negligence of the gateman, railway police said.

Gateman Vijay Kumar, deputed at the Sarai Alawardi railway level crossing near Gurgaon, was suspended and booked on charges of endangering the safety of people. The gateman fled after the incident.

The Shatabdi Express was on its way from Delhi to Ajmer Thursday morning, and was about to stop at the Gurgaon railway station.

Nominations for the 66th Emmy awards were announced Thursday and HBO leads the pack with 99 nominations, including 19 for “Game of Thrones”.

Netflix closely follows with 31 nods, of which 13 are for the political drama “House of Cards” and 12 for the prison comedy “Orange Is The New Black”, reports variety.com.

Among mini series, there are six nominations – “American Horror Story: Coven”, “Bonnie and Clyde”, “Fargo”, “Luther”, “Treme” and “The White Queen”.

The winners will be announced at the award ceremony scheduled to take place Aug 25.

Germany’s efficient performance against Brazil led them to their 7-1 win over hosts Brazil in the World Cup semifinal but statistics show that the Selecao had more of the ball possession and more shots on goal.

Brazil had 52 percent of ball possession to 48 percent of Germany in Tuesday’s match played at the Estádio Mineirão in Belo Horizonte. The hosts also had 17 shots on goal in comparison to 14 of Germany. However, Germany had 10 shots on target while Brazil only had eight.

Germany excelled in interceptions, amassing 39 compared to 16 Brazilian interceptions.
(IANS/EFE)

A special commission set up to investigate thousands of missing people during Sri Lanka’s three-decade civil war has received nearly 400 new complaints during hearings in the former war-torn areas, an official said here Thursday.

In February, Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa extended the mandate issued to the special commission tasked with investigating thousands of people who disappeared during the country’s brutal three decade war that ended in 2009.