Month: August 2014

Turkey’s outgoing premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan was today sworn in as president as opponents who accuse him of authoritarianism after more than a decade in power walked out of the ceremony.

Erdogan, 60, took the oath in Ankara to begin a five-year mandate in which he has vowed to build a “new Turkey” by pushing through a new constitution and driving on with an ambitious development programme.

Deputies of the opposition Republican People’s Party, who accuse Erdogan of violating the constitution, noisily walked out of parliament just before he was sworn in.

A local court has awarded ten years’ rigorous imprisonment to a man for raping a minor in her house last year.

Additional District and Sessions judge Madhu Khanna Lali convicted Ashish (22), a resident of Sham Nagar in Hisar, of rape yesterday and sentenced him to ten years’ imprisonment.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on him, and in case of default of payment of the fine the convict would further undergo imprisonment for six months.

Union Minister for Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu launched the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) here on Thursday.

Speaking on the occasion, Venkaiah Naidu said that according to World Bank Findex Survey (2012), only 35% of Indian adults had access to a formal bank account and 8% borrowed from a formal financial institution in last 12 months. The miniscule number suggests an urgent need to further push the financial inclusion agenda to ensure that people at the bottom of the pyramid join the mainstream of the formal financial system, he said.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary IYR Krishna Rao said that priority should be given to cleanliness, hygiene in and around the 80 Rythu Bazars that have been set up across the thirteen districts of Andhra Pradesh.

NASA’s most powerful deep-space rocket to date – the USD 7 billion Space Launch System (SLS) – designed to ferry humans to Mars, is scheduled to be launched in 2018.

NASA officials said they have completed a rigorous review of SLS – the heavy-lift, exploration class rocket under development to take humans beyond Earth orbit and to Mars – and approved the programme’s progression from formulation to development, something no other exploration class vehicle has achieved since the agency built the space shuttle.

Kapil Sharma gets Bollywood celebrities as his guests often, but this time, he had two members of Hollywood film “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” visit him on the set of his show “Comedy Nights With Kapil”.

Kapil was seen having fun with them as he is a huge fan of the “Ninja Turtles” series, said a source from the show’s set.

In fact, when the figures appeared on the stage, the audience cheered for them.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are a fictional team of four teenage anthropomorphic turtles, which first found popularity via comic books.

Actress Rani Mukherji says she is open to work in television and would like to do a show like The Oprah Winfrey Show.

“I am open for anything (on TV). I would like to do a show like Oprah Winfrey who tackles everything… Meets people from different fields, talks on various things. I think it will be a good show,” Rani said in an interview here.

The show is highly influential, especially among women, and many of its topics penetrate into American pop-cultural consciousness.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has adopted a new technology which can fill all the pot holes on the roads in its limits within 90 days.

Two people, who looted a car here Thursday, were arrested from Faridabad and the vehicle was recovered with the help of GPS navigation system, police said.

Pawan Kumar and Naveen Kumar, in their mid 20s, were arrested with the looted car, a police officer said.

“The duo managed to stop the car near a traffic signal in DLF Phase 5 and fled with the vehicle after hitting the driver on his head with a beer bottle.

“They were arrested and the vehicle was recovered with the help of GPS navigation system, which was fitted in the car,” the officer said.

Pakistan’s PML-N-led government today braced for a possible showdown with the anti-government protesters after failure of the fifth round of talks, with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif rejecting their demands to quit.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Tahirul Qadri have snapped communications with the official negotiators after the fifth round of talks failed to produce any result last night.

“I convey my warm and cordial greetings to the people of the both the States on the occasion of Vinayaka Chathurthi,” Governor of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh ESL Narasimhan said here on Thursday.

In a special message, the Governor said that the devotees offer prayers to Lord Sri Ganesha to remove hurdles for the success of their every endeavour. “Initial prayers on commencement of any auspicious work are offered to Lord Vigneswara. Let Lord Vigneswara shower his choicest blessings on all of us to lead a hurdle free life this year,” he said. (INN)

An Indian-American woman, who has been accused of neglect in the death of her newborn baby a year ago, has been additionally charged with foeticide, a media report said.

While allowing the foeticide charge against Purvi Patel Tuesday, the St. Joseph Superior Court rescheduled the Sep 29 jury trial to give the defence attorney more time to prepare for the new charge, South Bend Tribune reported Wednesday.

Ranjeet Singh Kohli and his mother, arrested on charges of deceit and torture of Kohli’s newly married wife, were today produced before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate in Ranchi.

CJM Niraj Kumar sent them to 14 days’ judicial remand.

Kohli alias Rakilbul Hussain, facing charges of deceit, exploitation and torture lodged by his wife Tara Shahdeo, and his mother were arrested in Delhi on August 26 and brought by the police here yesterday.

Pakistan was on edge today with protesters headed by Imran Khan and cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri insisting they will not accept anything short of Premier Nawaz Sharif’s resignation, even as the government agreed to register a murder case against the embattled Prime Minister.

US President Barack Obama has been briefed by his top cabinet ministers who recently met Prime Minister Narendra Modi during their visits to India and discussed the broad relationship between the two strategic partners.

Obama received the briefing on his Cabinet ministers recent trip to India when Secretary of State John Kerry and Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel met him at the White House on Tuesday and Monday respectively.

Neither of these were India specific meetings, but a routine meeting that Obama has with his key Cabinet ministers on a regular basis.

Heavy rain lashed the national capital and its adjoining areas Thursday, bringing an end to the long spell of sultry and hot weather. However, traffic jams spoilt the fun for many.

The day began on a sunny note but by the afternoon, the sky became cloudy and there was heavy rain and strong winds in the capital and its suburbs, including Noida in Uttar Pradesh.

The city received 6.4 mm of rain till 5.30 p.m., the India Meteorological Department said.

Malaysia has signed a deal with Australia to strengthen their collaboration for searching the ill-fated Malaysian flight MH370, which disappeared midair over five months ago with 237 people aboard.

Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai, who is leading the Malaysian delegation to Canberra, signed the Memorandum of Understanding with Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss.

“The signing is to further solidify our collaboration and commitment to find the aircraft,” Liow said.

He stressed that MH370 remained a top priority for the Malaysia.

“Seinfeld” actor Stephen Lee has died, his friend and actress Lisa Pescia has confirmed. He was 58.

Lee passed away after suffering a heart attack in his apartment here Aug 14, but the news of his death was confirmed only Wednesday, reports people.com.

He began his acting career in the early 1980s with dramas like “Hart to Hart”, “Hill Street Blues”, “Remington Steele” and “Scarecrow and Mrs.King”.

He had a recurring role as Tony B on “Nash Bridges” and also appeared on shows including “Dark Angel”, “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Bones”.

Karnataka government today said law would take its own course on the complaint of rape and cheating lodged by an actress against the son of Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda, who maintained he had been falsely implicated.

As the issue snowballed, the woman, a small-time model-turned actress, appeared on TV channels, insisting she was married to the minister’s son’ Karthik Gowda and their family should accept her as the daughter-in-law.

Luxury automobile manufacturer BMW Thursday launched a new variant of its sports utility vehicle (SUV) X3 priced between Rs.44.90 lakh and Rs.49.90 lakh.

According to the company, the new model features latest-generation diesel engine with which provides low fuel consumption. The all-aluminium 2.0 litre diesel engine can accelerate the vehicle from 0 to 100 km per hour in just 8.1 seconds.

The engine comes with an eight-speed automatic transmission with cruise control which provides higher shifting and driving comfort.

The BJP’s reverses in assembly by-elections marks the waning of the Narendra Modi “euphoria” and shows voters are getting disenchanted with the new regime, the CPI-M said Thursday.

CPI-M mouthpiece “People’s Democracy” said in an editorial that the Modi government and the BJP “suffered a major setback in the recently held by-elections in Bihar, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab.

Ukraine Thursday started a two-month campaign for an early parliamentary elections in October, the country’s electoral authority said.

The political parties have the rights to register their candidates before Sep 16, while self-nominated candidates may submit application to contest for the race until Sep 26, Xinhua reported citing the Central Election Commission (CEC) website.

The eighth Ukrainian parliamentary elections, scheduled for Oct 26, will be conducted under a mixed system.

In what has come as an embarrassment for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Deepak Haldar has stirred a controversy with his unwarranted comments on rape incidents. “There was rape earlier, there is rape today. As long as the earth exists, there will be rape,” he said on Wednesday. The Diamond Harbaour MLA was quick to spell out his stand against rape and asked the media not to distort what he meant to say.

After dragging its feet for days, Pakistan government today accepted a key demand of Tahir-ul- Qadri by agreeing to register a murder case against 21 people, including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, for their alleged role in the clashes that killed 14 supporters of the cleric.

The Lahore Sessions Court hearing the case related to the clashes in Lahore’s Model Town area on June 17 had ordered police to register a murder case earlier this month against 21 persons named by the Qadri-led Pakistan Awami Tahreek (PAT) in its complaint.

President Pranab Mukherjee will present the National Sports Awards at a function at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here on Friday. The National Sports Awards are given every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports. The awards that will be presented by the President to the winners are: Dhyanchand Award, Dronacharya Award, Arjuna Award, Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awards, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy and Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar. (ANI)