Month: August 2014

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu has proposed to set up a permanent price monitoring mechanism to look into spiralling prices of vegetables and essential commodities.

The Chief Minister said that vegetables with lowest prices in certain markets should be procured and be sold at public distribution system (PDS) centres and Rythu Bazaars. Currently, Andhra Pradesh has 80 Rythu Bazaars. He has also instructed officials to modernize Rythu Bazaars and maintain cleanliness.

Former Lok Sabha member from Haryana Avtar Singh Bhadana today resigned from Congress, expressing “unhappiness” over the way the party is functioning in the state.

Bhadana, who lost the last Lok Sabha elections from his traditional Faridabad seat to BJP’s Krishan Pal Gujjar, sent his resignation to Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

“I have resigned from the Congress as I was unhappy the way things are going on in the party,” he told PTI over phone.

SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav today said that stern action would be taken against those responsible for the alleged gangrape and forcible conversion of a woman in Meerut.

In reply to a question regarding the incident, Mulayam, after inauguration of Janeshwar Mishra park in Gomti Nagar, said stern action would be taken against those responsible.

A 20-year-old woman was allegedly abducted, gang-raped and forcibly converted in Kharkhauda area of Meerut district leading to communal tension there.

Three persons have been arrested by police in this connection.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today accused the Narendra Modi government of being “insensitive to the poor” and being discriminatory with regard to the 100-days work guarantee scheme.

In a post on her official facebook page, Banerjee said, “Now there is a hearsay that 100-days work will be run in some select blocks of the country on intensified mode. What would happen to the poor people in other blocks? Would they be deprived of work”?

Expatriates in Saudi Arabia can now renew visit visas for their relatives online under a new service to be launched on August 11 in the Gulf nation, home to over 2.5 million Indians.

Saudi Arabia Passport Department will launch its Abshir system that would enable expatriates to renew the visit visas online while another Abshir programme would also be launched to help Saudis renew their passports using the electronic system, said Col Mohammed Al-Saad, director of public relations.

“We have readied the two services after testing the systems,” he was quoted as saying by Arab News.

Expressing strong displeasure over bureaucratic delays, the Bombay High Court today imposed a cost of Rs 75,000 on Maharashtra government for failure to allot a plot of land to a war widow.

The amount should be recovered from the concerned officials, said the division bench of Justices Abhay Oka and A S Chandurkar, hearing the petition of 72-year-old Indira Jadhav whose husband became martyr in the 1965 Indo-Pak war.

The court said it was shocking that the officials had noted in documents that Jadhav was not traceable though her address was mentioned her application.

Protests over the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) continued to rage in parliament as well as on the streets Tuesday, a day after the government assurance that the marks for English language comprehension skills will not be included in preparing the merit list.

While the protesting aspirants said they will settle for nothing less than the scrapping of the “discriminatory” CSAT and will continue their agitation, the issue once again rocked both houses of parliament, leading to disruptions and several adjournments.

Having quietly cemented his place as India’s middle-order mainstay, Ajinkya Rahane today said he has gained a lot from borrowing a trick or two from stylish Hyderabad batsman VVS Laxman. Coming in at No.5, Rahane has showed the same bit of maturity that Laxman once displayed during the latter part of his 16-year-long international career.

A month of fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip will cost the Palestinian territory at least USD 4-6 billion in damages, deputy economy minister Taysir Amro said today. Amro said the figure included only “direct damages” to the Gaza economy and warned it could climb further once additional impacts on the 1.8 million population are taken into account.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said he would take up the issue of ceasefire violations from across the Line of Control (LoC) with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the latter’s visit to the state later this month.

“We have taken up the matter (ceasefire violations) with the Centre. Prime Minister is paying a visit to Kargil and Leh this month and if I get a chance, I will discuss the issue with him,” Omar told reporters here.

So far 22 people have been rescued and 18 are still missing in Varanasi’s Betawar district, where earlier today a boat carrying 40 passengers had capsized in the River Ganga.

Varanasi district magistrate Pranjal Yadav confirmed the report saying, “There were 40 people on the boat, 22 people have been rescued and 18 are still missing. Many of belong to Mirzapur, we are releasing the alert to avert such incidents in the future.”

Rescue operations are underway. (ANI)

Former India Test cricketer Arvind Apte today passed away here after fighting a long battle with prostrate cancer.

Arvind was 79 and is survived by a daughter.

Arvind, born in Mumbai in 1934 and younger brother of another former India cricketer Madhav Apte, was a reserve opener during India’s tour of England in 1959.

An attacking opening batsman with a wide range of strokes, he played only one Test match for India when he was selected for the third Test against England at Leeds following an injury to Nari Contractor.

A British military jet was scrambled today to escort a Qatar Airways plane to Manchester Airport after reports of a possible device on board.

The plane was escorted in to land by the Royal Air Force (RAF) following information received by the pilot.

Greater Manchester Police said officers were treating it as a “full emergency” as they did not know “how genuine this threat is”.

Chief Superintendent John O’Hare said the safety of those on board was “paramount”.

The Indian cricket board has sent a mail to the International Cricket Council (ICC) to go in appeal against the verdict that pronounced England pacer James Anderson “not guilty” in the altercation with Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja during the Trent Bridge Test.

Studies since 2012 have estimated that over 74 per cent of urban Indians are overweight (i.e. BMI over 23 kg/m2).

A recent survey conducted by Fitho, a leading wellness services organization that works with partners like Lal Pathlabs, showed that along with increasing weight, there is also increasing awareness and 5 out of 10 urban Indians are trying to lose weight.

While 40 percent of the overweight people have intent to lose weight but are not taking action to control their weight, the remaining 60 per cent are making an effort to lose weight.

National Commission for Women ( NCW) member Shamina Shafiq has called the sexual harassment incident involving a Gwalior additional judge as horrifying.

Shafiq said, “It’s actually horrifying that a woman, sitting in a high position, who herself has headed a sexual harassment committee, is subjected to such kind of dishonour.”

She added, “This is something very serious, and it again shows us the real picture of the mentality of men in the country, I wouldn’t say all, but some of them who try to take undue advantage of the position they hold.”

An auto driver was arrested today for allegedly molesting a woman passenger at Thakurpukur on the southern fringes of the city, the police said.

Samar Manna allgedly molested the passenger inside his auto, after which the woman raised an alarm drawing attention of local people who rushed to her help, police officials said.

Manna was caught and handed over to the police.

Four primary school boys have unearthed a 4,300-year-old golden object in an archaeological dig in Britain, a media report said Tuesday.

The pupils of a Cumbria-based primary school took part in a dig in Northumberland in northern England and found the ancient golden hair ornament from the Copper Age, The Independent reported.

The “intricate hair tress” dates back to around 2300 B.C. and originally came in a matching pair whose other part was found in Kirkaugh village in the region during an excavation in 1935.

Saudi Arabia’s health ministry announced Tuesday it is testing blood samples of a man who is suspected of being infected with the Ebola virus after a recent trip to Sierra Leone.

The 40-year-old Saudi man showed symptoms of viral haemorrhagic fever Monday night at a hospital in Jeddah. He is in critical condition and has been moved to a care centre with advanced isolation and infection-control capabilities, Xinhua reported citing the ministry.

Two Pakistani airhostesses have filed sexual harassment complaints against a senior Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) male staff member.

According to the Dawn, responding to the allegations, PIA spokesperson Mashood Tajwar said that the air hostesses alleging harassment were “venting grievances” after having been declared “unfit” by a suitability committee.

A survey has found that Pakistanis spent almost 50 percent of their household budget on food in 2012.

According to The Express Tribune, a report by the US Department of Agriculture”s Economic Research Service revealed that out of the 84 countries surveyed, Pakistanis spend more of their income on food than any other country.

The report says that an average Pakistani spends 47.7 per cent of their house hold budget on food consumed at home.

The statistics reportedly account for the highest in the world.

The owner of the Volvo truck that transported a BUK missile into Ukraine before it was used for downing Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, has finally been located and is now reportedly scared for his life.

According to News.com.au, new evidence suggests pro-Russian rebels are responsible for the attack after the man, known only as Vasilijus, told Lithuanian website alfa that the vehicle was stolen by them on July 8.

The footage filmed by Ukrainian police on the day the attack took place shows the missile being smuggled out of eastern Ukraine in a white Volvo truck.

Congress leader Rajeev Shukla on Wednesday stated that the house needs to hold a proper discussion on the CSAT issue. No students should be at a loss. Shukla said, “We people want that a complete discussion should take place in the parliament, everybody’s views come in, so that all the students of North and South India are satisfied. The students have a lot of wrath in them against the government because students belonging to every region have to face problems because of this.

Despite continuous struggles to make an impact this year, world number one Serena Williams has said that she is on the right track after she claimed victory at Stanford on Sunday. The American tennis ace won the Bank of the West Classic tournament for the third time, fighting back from a horror start to defeat German world number seven Angelique Kerber 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 in the final in California. The victory not only gave Williams a WTA Tour-leading fourth title this season, but also helped her become just the fifth player to be ranked No.

Depressed at not being able to land his desired job at the campus placement, a final year IT student of Jadavpur University here Tuesday hanged himself, an official said.

Manish Tandon, after appearing for the campus selections during the day, was found hanging from the ceiling in his hostel room.

“It is unfortunate. He was a very good student and was confident of landing a job either with Amazon or Microsoft. But unfortunately, he could not find placement with either of them. It seems he could not bear the disappointment,” the university’s IT head Samiran Chatterjee told IANS.