Month: July 2014

Self-styled godman Asaram Bapu’s bail plea has been rejected by the Supreme Court in connection with a rape case filed against him in Gujarat.

Asaram Bapu’s lawyer Saurabh Ajay Gupta today said, “Today Asaram’s case was presented before the SC. The court has adjourned the matter for August 19. A notice has been issued by the SC to the state government as well as to the counsel for the complainant today. Now, we will see what happens on 19 August. It’s a great success for us that the matter is under the SC’s consideration.”

In order to control food inflation, the Centre has called a meeting of state food ministers on Friday to discuss other possible ways to rein in prices effectively in the backdrop of poor monsoon this year.

The day-long conference will be chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitely and presided over by both Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan and Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh.

Despite government measures, prices of some food items especially onion and potato have been rising even as their production is sufficient on likely below normal monsoon.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a hydelpower project in Uri near the River Jhelum in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla District.

Ahead of Modi’s visit security has been tightened and put on a maximum alert in the state’

Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel have erected checking points at every entry and exit point in the city.

Police and paramilitary personnel have also started patrolling and conducting spot checks of incoming and outgoing vehicles and other transport in north Kashmir’s Baramulla District.

Embarking on its first sortie in virtual world, the Indian Air Force today launched nation’s first 3D mobile game in a bid to attract generation-next youth to pursue a career in the air force.

Launching the 3D mobile game ‘Guardians of the Skies’ (GOTS), Air Marshal S Sukumar hailed the event as a significant milestone in encouraging youth to join IAF and also expressed concerns over tapping the best of the human resources from the upcoming generations.

Comedian Kapil Sharma, who was slated to make his Bollywood debut with Yash Raj Films’ “Bank Chor”, is now out of the project, the production house revealed via an official statement Thursday. It is a mutual decision.

The film will now go on floor without Kapil, whose popularity soared high following the success of his stand-up comedy show “Comedy Nights With Kapil”.

“We will look forward to working together in future when the time is right,” Ashish Patil, business and creative head, Youth Films, Talent Management and Brand Partnerships at YRF, said in the statement.

Panaji: The new entrant in the budget airline club, Air Asia India, Thursday said it would take about a year to break even.

“We need to put more planes. We are rushing to have six planes operational, after that we are confident that within 12 months we will attain the break-even. Right now the pressure is only to deliver,” Tony Fernandes, Group Chief Executive Officer, Air Asia, said at Dabolim airport Thursday.

“Since Tapas Pal has apologised and his party forgave him. The matter should end there”

Amidst the row over Tapas Pal’s controversial remarks on women, Congress MP Abhijit Mukherjee has said that since the actor and Trinamool Congress MP has apologised the matter should end.

“Since Tapas Pal has apologised and his party forgave him. The matter should end there,” Abhijit, the son of President Pranab Mukherjee, told reporters here yesterday when asked about Pal’s remarks.

Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg met Communications and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad here on Thursday.

“There is an enormous scope for expansion of Facebook in India. We wish to work together to bring benefits of connectivity to everyone. The Prime Minister himself implicated that we can use this platform to meet with people. I really welcome her (Sandberg) here,” said Prasad.

Earlier today, Sandberg had also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) met President Pranab Mukherjee here today to discuss possibilities of forming a government in Delhi.

AAP leader Arwind Kejriwal said they had requested the president for elections in Delhi and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of trying to stall it.

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in a joint operation with Gaya District police have confirmed the recovery of a huge cache of explosives from a Maoist hideout.

The explosives were recovered from a cave in the outskirts of the district.

“The joint team of CRPF and police recovered land mines explosives, which includes 18 pressure cookers, 18 pipes, one detonator, 100 bombs and one bundle wire,” said Station House Officer Rajeev Ranjan.

A new animal study has revealed the process behind how females make the decision to choose their mating partners.

Researchers have identified that two small groups of neurons in the female brain that function to modulate whether she will mate or not with a male based on his distinct pheromones and courtship song.

A new study has revealed that insulin pumps are significantly more effective at controlling blood glucose (sugar) in people with type 2 diabetes .

According to the study, this treatment is affective for people who have failed to respond to the usual standard of care, multiple daily insulin injections.

The researchers found that people who used the pumps achieved a significantly greater reduction in average blood sugar levels than those who used multiple daily injections at 6 months.

A new study has found that testosterone therapy does not increase men’s risk for heart attack.

Jacques Baillargeon, lead author of the study said that their investigation was motivated by a growing concern, in the U.S. and internationally, that testosterone therapy increases men’s risk for cardiovascular disease, specifically heart attack and stroke and added that there is a large body of evidence that is consistent with the findings of no increased risk of heart attack associated with testosterone use.

A new study has found that when a novel intravaginal ring is implanted with anti-retroviral drug tablets or pods, it demonstrates sustained and controlled drug release and safety over 28 days from HIV.

Marc Baum, corresponding author said that the ring, designed to prevent transmission of HIV, was tested in pig-tailed macaque monkeys, and is engineered to be inexpensive, which makes it useable in developing countries.

Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic entered the semifinals in men’s doubles while another Indian Sania Mirza and her Romanian partner Horia Tecau sailed into the pre-quarterfinals of mixed doubles in the Wimbledon Championships here today.

Fifth seeded Paes and Stepanek recorded an upset win over third seeds Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia in a quarterfinal match. The Indo-Czech pair won 3-6 7-6 6-3 6-4 in the 152-minute contest.

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy today said the 46 Indian nurses, a majority of them are from his state, who have been moved out of their hospital in ISIS-controlled Tikrit town of war-torn Iraq, are “safe” and there was no need for “anxiety”.

Chandy, who is getting regular updates from Indian diplomats in Iraq to ensure safe evacuation of stranded Indians, said the External Affairs Ministry and Indian Embassy officials are making “sincere efforts” to achieve the goal.

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said Thursday they are focusing American military efforts in Iraq on securing the American embassy and personnel in Baghdad, while advising Iraqi security forces based on assessing the situation in the Middle East country.

Hagel made the remarks while addressing a Pentagon press conference here. He also stressed importance of supporting Iraqi forces and helping Iraq’s leaders resolve the political crisis to the US mission in Iraq, Xinhua reported.

Over 400 members of a Muslim sect tonight attempted to take out a candlelight march in Jorbagh area to protest against the massacre in Iraq but were prevented by the police.

The protesters gathered at a disputed land near the Jor Bagh metro station in south Delhi around 8.30 pm and wanted to march toward the Prime Minister’s official residence at 7 Race Course Road. However, the police did not allow them.

–PTI

Kerala Chief Minister Oomen Chandy said here on Thursday that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Indian Embassy in Iraq are trying their best to secure the release of stranded Indians at the earliest. “The Kerala nurses spoke to me as soon as they boarded bus. I have no idea where they are right now exactly, but according to our information they came out of their hostel and left the place,” said Chandy. Talking about his meeting with the External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj he said she is taking a keen interest in the security of all stranded Indians.

Finance ministers of states met Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday to seek clarifications on some issues and to discuss various confidence building measures that may be considered for inclusion in the proposed fiscal 2014-15 budget to be presented on July 10. Among those present in the meeting were West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra, Jammu and Kashmir Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather and Punjab Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa. “There was no consensus on many issues. Many issues were unclear. All the members raised their opinions.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued a notice to the Government of Haryana today, citing two deaths of persons named Rajinder and Gobind while cleaning a septic tank in a Leprosy centre in its Dabwali town. The NHRC is taking suo motu cognizance of a media report which says that two inmates of Dabwali Kushth Ashram in District Sirsa, Haryana died after inhaling poisonous gas while cleaning a septic tank in the premises on the June 25, 2014. It has issued a notice to the Chief Secretary, Government of Haryana, calling for a report within four weeks.

Chief Ministers of Goa and Rajasthan — Manohar Parrikar and Vasundhara Raje — called on Union Minister of Steel, Mines and Labour and Employment Narendra Singh Tomar in New Delhi today. Chief Minister Parrikar in his meeting with Tomar at Shastri Bhawan held discussions pertaining to mining in the state. In place of the existing uniform export duty regime, Parrikar proposed differential export duties for iron ore, that is, higher rates for higher grades of ore and lower rates for corresponding grades, considering that the latter was not of significant use to domestic industry.

Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D. Raja today urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take help from friendly countries to rescue the stranded nurses from Iraq. “Government should take the help of the friendly Arab world, I urge Modi to take help from other friendly nations,” said Raja Security expert Qamar Agha, however, expressed his doubt over the kidnapping of the stranded nurses. “I don’t know if the nurses in Iraq are being kidnapped or not, it’s hard to say anything. It’s like a civil war situation,” said Agha.

“Strategic Himalayas” a book written by Nihar. H. Nayak, tries to explore the nature of Nepal’s engagement by discussing its strategic significance in regional power politics. This book reflects the inner polity of Nepal, the transition period from constitutional monarchy to republic system since 2006. The book covers six major chapters that explain Nepal’s relationship with Major Powers like U.S, India and China. Nepal”s foreign policy was amalgamated since 2006, following an equidistant policy.

Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju will visit Arunachal Pradesh from July 4 to 7 to review the border area development programme, police modernization and law and order situation in the north east. An official statement said that Rijiju will meet Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Nabam Tukiand senior officials of the Arunachal Pradesh Government, besides officials of the Border Roads Organization (BRO), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited and Ministry of Home Affairs.