Month: August 2014

At least 44 people were killed in and near the Syrian capital on Sunday in regime air strikes and rebel mortar fire, reports from a monitoring group and state media said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 32 people were killed in air raids on two rebel-held towns near Damascus.

Seventeen were killed in Douma, northeast of the capital, and 15 in Kfar Batna, to the east, said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman. A woman and child were killed in each of the towns.

Union Minister for Minority Affairs Najma Heptulla on Sunday called for setting up dedicated centres all over the country to address the needs of differently-abled children.

She was speaking after inaugurating the New Horizon Child Development Centre and Hearing Aid Centre here.

The facility at suburban Goregaon provides services for differently-abled kids. It has branches like developmental pediatrics, clinical psychology and counselling, occupational and speech therapy, remedial education and nutrition.

Israel will hold its fire in most of the Gaza Strip for a seven-hour ‘humanitarian window’ on Monday, the military said, four weeks into its bloody conflict with Hamas.

According to an army statement, the ceasefire will take place between 0700 GMT (1230 IST) and 1400 GMT (1930 IST) in all of the Palestinian enclave besides the area east of southern city Rafah, ‘where clashes were still ongoing and there was Israeli military presence’.

A glittering closing ceremony brought the curtains down on the 20th Commonwealth Games here last night with singer Kylie Minogue being one of styar performers during the gala event.

In presence of British Prime Minister David Cameron, Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex and vice patron of Commonwealth Games Federation, declared the Glasgow 2014 closed as a representative of the head of the Commonwealth to mark the end of the biggest sporting extravaganza Scotland has ever hosted.

Union Sports Minister, Sarbananda Sonowal today indicated that his ministry will take appropriate action against the two

Indian officials detained in Glasgow during Commonwealth Games 2014, if the charges against them for committing alleged offences were found to be true.

Indicating his resolve to improve road transport infrastructure in the country, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said here today that he would act against malpractices in the regional transport office (RTO).

“You are aware of ‘Laxmi darshan’ (slang for bribe) that goes on in RTOs. I have decided to ‘close the shop’ of RTOs,” Gadkari said, after releasing a book of speeches in the legislature by BJP MLC and Mumbai party president Ashish Shelar, in suburban Bandra.

The Indian Air Force has grounded its fleet of around 40 indigenously-developed ALH Dhruv helicopters in view of the recent crash in which seven of its personnel were killed.

The ALH Dhruv choppers in IAF fleet will not fly till thorough checks are carried out on them, IAF sources said today.

The Army, which uses the Advanced Light Helicopters for its high altitude operations is also learnt to have taken similar precautions before allowing its pilots to fly them.

More than 10 children fell sick in Thane district of Maharashtra in a hospital after being injected a dose during early hours of Sunday morning.

The children admitted for treatment of Pneumonia and other infections started vomiting and complained of cold and suffered difficulties in breathing as soon as they were injected with an evening dose.

Chief Medical Officer of Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital, Nitin Mokashi, said all children were stable now.

An Indo-French proposed joint venture expected to be worth around Rs. 30,000 crore to develop short range air defence missiles seems to have run into rough weather as the Indian Air Force feels that its requirements could be met by indigenous Akash surface-to-air missile weapon system.

The proposed joint venture is planned between DRDO and the French missile manufacturer MBDA under which they were planning to produce short-range surface-to-air missile (SR-SAM) systems for the Indian Air Force for the Maitri programme.

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Venkaiah Naidu, on Sunday, said that insurance was one sector which required maximum investment as the insurance bill is likely to be tabled in Parliament tomorrow.

The union government is proposing to raise the foreign direct investment cap in the insurance sector to 49 percent from existing 26 percent. This bill is touted as a potential lifeline for a sector starved of capital and squeezed by regulations.

The Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, the NDA government’s first major economic reforms legislation, will not be taken up for discussion in the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

The government had to defer its plan on Sunday night with Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu saying he and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will on Monday talk to leaders of Congress and opposition parties on various aspects of the bill that seeks to raise the FDI cap in the insurance sector from 26 percent to 49 percent.

Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, today had a meeting with the Prime Minister of Nepal, Sushil Koirala. Delegation-level

talks were also held between the two sides.

Modi highlighted that the biggest focus of the two nations should be development. “Sabka saath, sabka vikaas” is relevant for India’s neighbours too, he asserted.

Stressing the need for prioritizing infrastructure in the pace of development, Narendra Modi said that the bridge of trust between the two nations

should be strengthened.

India bagged a gold medal in Badminton on the last day of Commonwealth Games as India’s Parupalli Kashyap registered win over Singapore’s Derrik Wong in finals of Men’s Singles event, bringing cheers to the Indian fans .

He won the three setter game 21-14, 11-21, 21-19. India’s highest ranked men’s badminton player Parupalli Kashyap produced his best game to clinch the coveted yellow metal.

In the Women’s Doubles section, dynamic duo of Ashwini Ponapaa and Jawala Gutta lost to Malaysian team of Khe Woon and Vivian Hoo .

Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, in a historic address to the Constituent Assembly of Nepal, today said that Nepal’s

Constitution would set an example for the whole world, especially to strife-torn regions, as a model for leaving the path of violence, and how a

peaceful and democratic process can help achieve goals.

Modi said he was deeply touched to be the first foreign leader invited to address this Constituent Assembly. He said this was a gesture of respect from the Nepali people, not only to him, but to 125 crore Indians.

A new study has demonstrated that writing about emotionally difficult events such as fears, emotions and the benefits of a cancer diagnosis might improve health outcomes for Asian-American breast cancer survivors.

The research conducted by a researcher at the University of Houston (UH) showed writing such difficult events for just 20 to 30 minutes at a time over three or four days increased the immune function.

The Indian contingent at the Commonwealth Games was left embarrassed after Indian Olympic Association (IOA) Secretary-General Rajeev Mehta and an unattached wrestling referee, Virender Malik, were held on different charges on Sunday.

While Mehta was arrested for drunken driving, Malik, who is not a part of the official contingent, is reportedly facing the more serious charge of sexual assault.

Over 367 people were killed and about 2,000 others injured today after a powerful 6.5-magnitude earthquake jolted southwest China’s Yunnan province, leaving a trail of destruction and devastation.

The strong quake hit at 4:30 pm Beijing time (0830 GMT) at a depth of 12 kms with the epicentre in Longtoushan township, 23 kms southwest of the county seat of Ludian, Zhaotong City.

“At least 367 people have been killed and 1,881 people were injured,” the official news agency Xinhua reported late night.

Assuring Nepal that India did not want to interfere in its internal affairs, Narendra Modi, the first Indian Premier to visit the Himalayan nation in 17 years, on Sunday stressed that their border should be a “bridge” and not a barrier, as he announced a $1 billion Line Of Credit to the country.

As India makes efforts to deepen its diplomatic and economic engagement with its neighbours, Modi said it would like to see the rise of Nepal as a developed nation and proposed a “HIT” formula—Highways, I-Ways and Transways—for its development.

Parupalli Kashyap etched his name in the history books by becoming the first Indian male shuttler in 32 years to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, but the women’s pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa had to settle for a silver, here on Sunday.

A bronze-medallist at the Delhi Games, Kashyap rose to the occasion to eke out a thrilling 21-14, 11-21, 21-19 triumph over Derek Wong of Singapore in the final showdown, which lasted over an hour.

Researchers have found that “normal” bacteria plays vital for keeping intestinal lining intact and eating probiotics, which contains the good kind of bacteria, helps in avoiding inflammatory disorders that occur when the intestinal lining has been compromised.

Sridhar Mani, M.D., said that by adding probiotics in the form of IPA-producing bacteria to the intestine or by administering IPA directly, might be able to prevent or treat IBD and other inflammatory disorders that occur when the intestinal epithelium has been compromised.

A new study has revealed that artesunate, a commonly used herbal anti-malarial drug may also help in controlling asthma.

Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) found that asthmatic patients might soon have a more effective way to control the condition.

The team revealed for the first time that artesunate would be able to suppress airway inflammation and produce an array of anti-inflammatory effects similar to those by dexamethasone, the most potent steroid currently available, and with less side effects.

The Israeli military announced that it will hold fire for seven hours Monday in parts of the Gaza Strip to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid and for displaced Palestinians to return to their homes.

The humanitarian truce, beginning at 10 a.m., however, would not apply in areas of the southern Gaza town of Rafah, Xinhua quoted a defence ministry official as saying in a statement.

It also said that Israeli military would respond to any attacks during that time.

The Oxford Graduate Scholarships have been established through a groundbreaking new matched funding initiative to enable the creation of fully-funded scholarships for graduate students of the highest calibre from across the world. 2013-14 will see the very first Oxford Graduate Scholars begin their studies.

Vice Chancellor of Satavahana University, Prof. K. Veera Reddy told that there should be a change in the educational system in view of the modern competitive world of emerging technology. He was addressing a seminar on “The role of standardization in Education” at SRR Govt. College, Kareem Nagar. He advised the Govt. to take necessary steps to raise the standard of education in Universities. He further told that the students of today should be trained in such a way that he should prove to be an asset to the nation. Aacharya Ch.

The only objective of bringing shame to humanity by Israel is to vanish the existence of Palestine but the forces supporting Israel should know that the Palestinian Muslims are not the people to be afraid of any superpower. Their resistance is going to end. These thoughts were expressed by H.E. Adli Shaban Hasan Sadiq, Ambassador of Palestine in New Delhi while addressing a protest meeting organized by Indo-Arab League at Mahmood Nagar on Saturday. Mr. Syed Vicaruddin, Chairman of Indo Arab League presided over the meeting. Mr.