Month: August 2014

Young and talented actor Rajkummar Rao, who teamed up with his real life lady love Patralekha onscreen in “Citylights”, is happy to be with her, but the idea of marriage doesn’t excite him as of now.

Asked when he’s marrying Patralekha, Rajkummar said: “No marriage for a long time. She has just started her career. And I am not ready for the institution of marriage. I respect the institution. But it’s not for me. We are happy to be together. I consult her on all my roles.”

He says it was a “delight” to work with her in a film.

China has started a bus service from its border city of Yanji in northeastern Jilin Province to neighbouring North Korea, Chinese tourism authorities said Monday.

A total of 48 Chinese tourists and two Chinese guides ended their two-day tour to the North Korean city of Rason Sunday, Xinhua quoted Wang Yanbo, deputy chief of Yanji tourism bureau, as saying.

The journey to North Korea takes around four hours and will operate from Tuesday to Saturday.

Travel figures show that about 10,000 Chinese tourists visit North Korea annually.
(IANS)

Nepalese Prime Minister Sushil Koirala is set to pay an official visit to India, it was announced here Monday.

This follows an invitation extended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit India “at an early mutually convenient date”.

A joint statement issued at the end of Modi’s two-day Nepal trip said Koirala accepted the invitation. The dates will be finalized soon.
(IANS)

India will provide assistance to set up a dharamshala for pilgrims at the famed Pashupatinath temple here and also help preserve old monuments in the temple complex.

This was stated Monday in a joint statement issued at the end of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to Nepal.

Modi prayed at the temple and gifted 2,500 kg of sandalwood to the shrine earlier in the day.

The statement said India will soon start constructing the dharamshala or rest house through government assistance.

What do you expect when Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan and superstar comedian Kapil Sharma join forces on the stage? Entertainment, entertainment and entertainment!

Their chemistry was crackling! Their barbs were hilarious! And their oneliners literally bowled over the audience assembled here for the mega launch of the eighth season of “Kaun Banega Crorepati”, to go on air Aug 17.

India and Nepal Monday pledged not to let “unscrupulous elements” to misuse the two countries’ open border to pose security threats to one another.

The decision was taken at a meeting of Prime Ministers Narendra Modi of India and Sushil Koirala of Nepal, said a joint statement released at the end of Modi’s two-day visit to Kathmandu.

“It was assured that Nepal and India will not allow their territory to be used against each other,” said the agreement.

Both prime ministers noted with satisfaction “the excellent cooperation on security related matters”.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj Monday said nearly 5,000 Indians have been brought back from Iraq since it was embroiled in conflict, and urged parliamentarians not to believe rumours floating about those trapped in the West Asian nation.

Giving clarifications after a calling attention motion in Rajya Sabha, Sushma Swaraj also urged the members to convince everyone they know in Iraq or Libya to return to India.

Giving the details of Indians trapped in the conflict torn regions of Iraq, she said 15,000 of 22,000 Indians in Iraq are in safe zones.

Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Jay Panda today described the reported news of Congress mulling over bringing Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra into the party fold as an internal matter. “This is an internal matter of the Congress Party, I don’t want to comment on details, but in general, I would like to say that every party should put forward their best talent, best candidiates, her name has been discussed for many many years, so I wish her luck,” Panda told ANI. A media report indicate that Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra will be formally inducted into the party after the upcoming round of assembly elections.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Nepal President Ram Baran Yadav at his official residence Sheetal Niwas here on Monday. He will also attend a lunch hosted by the President after the meeting. Earlier, in the morning Modi performed a special puja at the Pashupatinath Temple. There he offered a special puja for an hour at the temple. Prime Minister Modi was welcomed by the Chairman of Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) and Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Bhim Prasad Acharya and PADT Member Secretary Govinda Tandon, reported Himalayan Times.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led government’s policy on spectrum sharing, trading and allocation is transparent, Telecommunications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said here Monday.

“Our policy on spectrum sharing, trading and allocation is transparent,” he informed the Lok Sabha.

The government plans to conduct the next round of spectrum auction in February 2015 in order to meet revenue target of this fiscal. Spectrum in 800 MHz, 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands will be put up for sale starting Feb 3.

The Delhi High Court Monday granted anticipatory bail to Parth Wadia, grandson of liquor baron Kishanlal Wadia, in connection with a pub brawl case.

Justice S.K. Misra granted the anticipatory bail to Parth Wadia telling him to join the investigation. He ordered him to furnish a personal bond of Rs.1 lakh and surety bond of the same amount.

Justice Misra told Parth Wadia not to leave India without the court’s permission.

“Keeping in mind the fact that the matter has been settled by the parties, the petitioner is entitled to the anticipatory bail,” the court said.

The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Centre on a petition for making the appointment of Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) and Vigilance Commissioners (VCs) more transparent by seeking applications through public advertisement on the lines of Lokpal.

A bench headed by Chief Justice R M Lodha sought response from the government on the plea for fixing minimum knowledge and experience in vigilance matters as essential criteria for appointment of CVC and VCs.

An inquiry against a police sub-inspector, who refused to register a case of rape of a 10-year-old girl by her father last week saying it was a “family matter”, is nearing completion, a senior officer said Monday.

“The inquiry is in the final stages. We will be acting on the report by the end of this week,” the police official said.

A 32-year-old man has been arrested Saturday for raping his 10-year-old daughter and filming it on his mobile phone at Bicholim, a mining town located 20 km from Panaji.

Union minister Maneka Gandhi batted for her son Varun Gandhi as the Uttar Pradesh chief minister, but the top BJP leadership Monday remained tightlipped on the question of the party’s face in the state.

At a public meeting in Pilibhit Sunday, the union minister for women and child development said her son and BJP MP from Sultanpur would be a good chief minister for the state.

She accused the ruling Samajwadi Party leadership in Uttar Pradesh of “wilfully neglecting” development work, and maintained if Varun Gandhi were to be the chief minister, things would be much better.

Superstar Salman Khan had a unique experience while he launched the trailer of “Roar: Tigers Of The Sundarbans”. He got to pet a tiger – thanks to augmented reality technology!

Salman unveiled the trailer here recently, and he stood face to face with a tiger visible on a large screen through augmented reality, a concept wherein real video is combined with a computer generated image to give a real feel.

Israel has suffered “a psychological defeat” in Gaza and has failed to destroy the military infrastructure of the Islamic Palestinian movement Hamas, the group’s deputy leader, Moussa Abu Marzuq, said in an interview with EFE in Cairo.

In a meeting at his residence on the outskirts of Cairo, Abu Marzuq explained that Hamas has remained in a state of “self-defence” during these weeks of conflict, and accused Israel of launching its aggression on Gaza “without a cause”.

“The Israeli army has suffered a psychological defeat in the conflict in Gaza,” Abu Marzuq said.

India’s quest for a maiden Commonwealth Games title remained unfulfilled after losing to Australia in the final but goalkeeper P R Sreejesh feels they have become mentally more stronger now and have shown great improvement in the just-concluded quadrennial event.

India lost 0-4 to world champions Australia in the final of the Glasgow Games yesterday and squandered yet another chance to avenge upon their 0-8 thrashing at the hands of the same opponents in the 2010 Delhi edition of the Games.

At least 10 people were killed and two others injured in South Korea when typhoon Nakri battered the country’s southern region during the weekend, the central disaster management agency in Seoul reported Monday.

Seven people, including a family with two children, died after their car was swept away by floodwaters at a bridge in North Gyeongsang province, in the southeast of the country.

In the same province, another person died and two were injured when a tree fell over them while camping, the agency said.

About 60 per cent of people in the world practicing open defecation live in India, a joint report published by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has estimated, the Rajya Sabha was told today.

In a reply, Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation Upendra Kushwaha said a Joint Monitoring Programme Report published by WHO and UNICEF has estimated that 60 per cent of people in the world who practice open defecation live in India.

Actor Ajay Devgn’s equation with superstar Shah Rukh Khan has been widely talked about, but the former believes the media made a hullabaloo over a nothing. He even says that while they’re not enemies, there’s no friendship between them either.

The duo had reportedly clashed over the allotting of screens during the release of Shah Rukh’s “Jab Tak Hai Jaan” and Ajay’s “Son Of Sardaar”.

France’s foreign minister is calling on the international community to impose a solution on Israel and Hamas, saying the warring sides have shown themselves unable to negotiate.

In an unusually strong statement today, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Israel’s right to security “does not justify the killing of children and the massacre of civilians.”

France is closely allied with Israel, and Fabius’ statement was a rare direct criticism.

The Gaza war, in its fourth week, has killed more than 1,800 Palestinians and more than 60 Israelis.

At least three people were killed in a fresh landslide early Monday in eastern Nepal’s Sankhuwasabha district, a local official said.

The landslide occurred around 1 a.m., trapping 10 people from three families, Xinhua reported.

“The tragic incident claimed three lives while seven others were still missing,” Nanda Kishor Tripathi, chief district officer of Sankhuwasabha district told Xinhua by phone.

Over 65,000 people have been evacuated in Bihar Monday amid a flood alert, following a rise in the water level of Kosi river, an official said.

A day after the Bihar government invoked the provisions under the Disaster Management Act to start forcible evacuation of people living near the embankments of the Kosi river, thousands of people have been shifted to safer places.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has deputed his Additional Secretary Smita Sabarwal to go to Karimnagar District a day in advance to personally monitor the preparations of his visit.

The Chief Minister is visiting the Karimnagar District on Sunday and will participate in developmental programmes including that of Public Health, Municipal Administration and Roads and buildings departments.

Government today assured Rajya Sabha that it will “leave no stone unturned” for the safe return of Indian nationals in captivity in Iraq who are “alive and well”, and said its focus is now on bringing back Indians from strife-torn Libya which it said is no longer safe.

Replying to a Calling Attention motion in Rajya Sabha on the plight of stranded workers from India in Iraq, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said the government proposed to bring a comprehensive Immigration Bill in Parliament.