Against the backdrop of the US blaming India for the failure of WTO talks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that developed countries should “understand” the challenges of poverty in developing nations and their governments’ responsibilities to address them.
Mr Modi conveyed the message to US Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker when they called on him.
The Delhi High Court on Friday pulled up Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and National Institutes of Technology (NITs) across the country for not being able to address the issue of vacant seats each academic year, saying they “cannot afford any red-tapism in this regard.”
“It is rather intriguing to know that the IITs and the NITs, which are providing consultancy to others on technical matters, are unable to themselves find a solution for synchronising the admissions to eliminate or at least minimize the issue of vacant seats,” a bench headed by Chief Justice G Rohini said.
The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to Maharashtra government on a plea of Karnataka seeking to restrain its neighbouring state from setting up Marathi-speaking school in the disputed border area.
A bench headed by Chief Justice R M Lodha also expressed concern over the Karnataka police allegedly beating Marathi- speaking population after some snaps of the incidents were placed before it.
“If the state act in such a manner then nothing can be more serious,” the bench said.
The Maharashtra governemnt was granted six weeks time to respond to the notice.
In an audacious act caught on CCTV, a woman has stolen a new born baby after entering the labour room at a well known hospital here.
The CCTV visuals showed the unidentified woman walking away nonchalantly with the infant tucked in her clothes, police said today.
The woman took away the infant from its grandmother at KLE Hospital here on Wednesday, saying it had to be administered vaccine.
Belgaum District Superintendent of Police Chandragupta said police had obtained clues and were confident of nabbing the accused.
PTI
About 100 Congress workers Friday ransacked their party office here after their local leaders were denied ticket to contest in a by-election in the state.
The by-poll in question is to be held August 21 in the Bellary Rural assembly segment, 310 km from Bangalore.
State-run BSNL suffered a loss of Rs 14,979 crore in landline services during 2013-14 whereas its net loss for the period stood at Rs 7,085 crore.
In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of Communications and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad said loss for landline business of BSNL for 2013-14 stood at Rs 14,979 crore and net loss at Rs 7085 crore. The figures for the period are provisional and unaudited.
Realty giant DLF’s net debt has increased by Rs 538 crore during the quarter ended June to Rs 19,064 crore due to capital expenditure and operational cost.
Net debt of the country’s largest real estate firm rose to Rs 19,064 crore as on June 30 from Rs 18,526 crore as on March 31 this year, according to an analysts presentation.
DLF, which yesterday reported 29 percent fall in net profit at Rs 127.77 crore for the April-June quarter of this fiscal, said that of the total, Rs 240 crore of rise in net debt is attributable to capex, land and government charges and the rest to operations.
Weakness in global stock markets and a strong US currency pulled down the rupee by a whopping 63 paise to end at over four-month low of 61.18, logging its worst weekly loss since January 24.
Importers and some banks bought dollars and short-sellers covered their positions on hopes of further hike in the dollar value after US Fed recently trimmed its monthly economic stimulus by USD 10 billion. The dollar too gained against most peers as the American economy grows stronger.
A group of scientists Friday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi protesting the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee’s decision to carry on experiments on GM crops as these adversely impact the environment.
“It is shocking that GEAC took this decision in its first meeting after your government took charge. It is unfortunate the committee continues to follow the unscientific approach towards environmental release of GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) when there is growing scientific evidence on the adverse impact of GMOs on human health and environment,” said the letter.
American actresses Kaley Cuoco Sweeting, Scarlett Johansson and Edie Sedgwick have one thing in common – their crop hairstyle. The trend is making a huge comeback this season. But the point lies in styling it up properly.
Going for the crop can offer a host of simple style tricks and time-saving solutions, perfect for an expectant mother like Johansson, or those who don’t like to fuss around with their locks on a day-to-day basis, reports femalefisrt.co.uk.
There is nothing like sinking your teeth in a crisp cob of sweet corn. But few myths keep people away from the vegetable and it is time to know the truth.
Here are some of the biggest misconceptions surrounding sweet corn (only in the form of a vegetable), as reported by huffingtonpost.com:
* Corn is unhealthy – No! Corn is a vegetable that contains a lot of nutrients. The idea that corn is unhealthy likely came about because corn is high in starch.
Actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt kept their romance alive while shooting films in two different continents by sending each other handwritten love letters.
“He was supportive from a distance, and it was quite romantic in a way,” Jolie said.
The “Salt” star was directing “Unbroken” in Australia, while her fiance Pitt was in London, shooting his own Nazi war film, “Fury”.
The actors decided to embrace the time period their onscreen dramas were set in and shunned modern technology in favour hand written notes, reports femalefirst.co.uk.
A teenage boy from Kentucky, US set himself ablaze after he poured alcohol, while taking up online social media ‘Fire Challege’ stunt.
The 15-year-old teen said that he just poured alcohol and lit it, which automatically went and burst, after which he was seen desperately running to try and put out the fire, in the video shot by his friend, News.com.au reported.
Lexington Fire Department Captain Chris Harrod said that incidence of getting second and third degree burnsl ike this happens when they don’t show at the end of the video.
Selena Gomez has reportedly denied the rumours about her growing closer to Orlando Bloom and that being the reason behind Bieber-Bloom’s recent fight.
After the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ star tried to land a punch on the ‘Baby’ hitmaker, it was claimed that Bloom’s former wife Miranda Kerr and Bieber’s former girlfriend Selena Gomez were the reason behind it, the Mirror reported.
However, sources revealed that the ‘Come and Get It’ singer had nothing to do with the fight and added that there was nothing romantic between her and Bloom when they were snapped together recently. (ANI)
Ford India today reported an increase of 23.86 per cent in total sales at 15,282 units in July 2014.
It had sold 12,338 units in the same month last year, Ford India said in a statement.
However, domestic sales declined 3.49 per cent to 7,592 units in July as against 7,867 units a year ago, it added.
Ford’s exports during the month increased 71.99 per cent to 7,690 units last month as against 4,471 units in the year-ago period.
Two-wheeler manufacturer Hero MotoCorp Friday reported a nine percent growth in sales last month at 529,862 units from 487,545 units from the like period last year.
According to the company, it notched up a sales growth of 10 percent, its highest-ever quarterly sales figure of 1,715,129 units from 1,559,282 units sold in the corresponding quarter of last year.
The company added that it has extended the tenure of its chief financial officer (CFO) Ravi Sud by another two years, till July 31, 2016.
IANS
There is good news for patients suffering from type-one diabetes as they may soon be able to do away with their daily insulin dose to manage their blood-sugar levels.
Researchers have found that a peptide called caerulein can convert existing cells in the pancreas into those cells destroyed in type-one diabetes-insulin-producing beta cells.
“We have found a promising technique for type-one diabetics to restore the body’s ability to produce insulin,” said Fred Levine, a professor at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute in the US.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Friday occupied the second row of Lok Sabha for quite some time as RJD member Pappu Yadav and Jyotiraditya Scindia of Congress were occupying the front bench when she entered the House.
Though Scindia and Yadav left for their seats after seeing her, Gandhi preferred the second row.
When Yadav tried to show a newspaper like a placard to her, she chose to ignore it.
Later, for some time she was seen talking with Saugata Roy of TMC.
—PTI
Two Indian women were killed when their car overturned on a Saudi Arabian highway, media reported Friday.
Riyadh-based Riyaz and Rashid, both hailing from the south Indian state of Kerala, had taken their families to Dammam and Alkhobar in the country’s Eastern Province to celebrate Eid ul-Fitr, the Arab News reported.
While returning from Dammam Thursday morning, their friend, Vipin, who was driving the car, lost control and the vehicle overturned.
Rashid’s wife Sherly, 30, and Riyaz’s wife Najma, 31, died on the spot after being thrown from the car.
Telecom service providers have failed to achieve 100 percent subscriber verification due to ineffective monitoring and weak control by the Department of Telecom (DoT) headquarters and the Telecom Enforcement, Resource and Monitoring Cells, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has said in a report.
The verification process was initiated seven years ago.
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Kathmandu from Sunday and added that the visit indicates the high priority that India places on relations with its neighborhood.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be traveling to Kathmandu on the 3rd and 4th August. This visit indicates the high priority that India places on its neighborhood,” said Akbaruddin.
At least 1,737 Iraqis were killed, and 1,978 others injured in terrorist attacks and violence in July, according to a statement issued Friday by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).
The statement said that 1,186 civilians, including 106 civilian policemen, and 551 Iraqi security forces personnel were killed, while 1,511 civilians, including 177 civilian policemen, were wounded.
An additional 467 security members were wounded in terrorist and violent acts in July, Xinhua reported citing the UN data.
Haribhau Rathod, a member of Maharashtra Legislative Council, today said the Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre alone could provide reservations to the Dhangar and Banjara communities and pressurising the Maharashtra government was futile. “There is no point in trying to pressurise the state government. The reservation bill is pending at the level of the Central government,” Rathod said, speaking to reporters.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’swife Jashodaben visited a temple in Vadgam taluka of Banaskantha district today and said that she had prayed for her husband’s long life as well as success.
The temple of Virbhadra Maharaj is located in Magarwada village, atleast 15 km away from here. In the month of Shravan, thousands of visitors from all over Gujarat visit this temple to get their wishes fulfilled.
Jashodaben said that she had a very old bond with this temple.
A 16-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped by four persons, including the son of a former MP in Sadashiv Patti village in the district, police said on Friday.
The victim, a student of class XI in her complaint said, she had gone out to relieve herself on the night of July 25, when two youths took her away to a school, where two others joined them later, Superintendent of Police, Subhash Chand Pandey said.