Month: August 2014

In order to stay afloat from a business point of view, a struggling Malaysian Airlines has opted to cut-price flights and giveaways in order to win back the trust of its customers and crew who have deserted the airline. Aiming for passengers from Australia and New Zealand, the airline has launched a USD 495 dollar economy class return airfare ticket to Kuala Lumpur. This comes days after its rival Air Asia launched its own sale, including flights from Australia to the Malaysian capital from USD 159 dollars and onward flights starting from USD 13 dollars.

In the manner the scheme was launched, records have been broken for the banking and insurance sectors, the prime minister said in his inaugural address.

“One-and-a-half crore (15 million) insurance policies on a single day, and 1.5 crore bank accounts opened in a day would never have happened before. This is a big record in banking and insurance history,” Modi said. The figure is close to the population of the Netherlands.

Over 77,000 camps were set up for simulateneously opening accounts, the prime minister said.

“Bandhan…Saari Umar Humein Sang Rehna Hai”, a new primetime offering by Zee TV, will depict a unique bond between a little girl and an elephant calf whom she accepts as her younger brother.

Produced by Swastik Productions, the show is described as “a heartwarming story of a very tender relationship between two innocent souls – one based on the most basic emotion of love and affection for one’s sibling, standing by each other through thick and thin and completing each other”, said a statement.

US President Barack Obama will visit China, Myanmar and Australia in November as part of his administration’s Asia Pacific re-balance strategy and attend key regional summits and meet G-20 leaders, a senior US official said.

In Beijing Obama will attend the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) Summit on November 10 and 11, for which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also been invited by the Chinese President.

Obama would extend his stay in Beijing for a day on November 12 before travelling to Myanmar to attend the East Asia Summit.

The black-and-yellow taxis plying on Delhi’s streets have been exempted from paying toll tax while travelling in the national capital region, municipal authorities said Thursday.

A resolution passed by the standing committee of the East Delhi Municipal Corporation said these taxis were owned by people from the economically weaker section and hence would be exempted from paying toll tax.

A court Thursday fixed the next date of hearing in a case against Congress president Sonia Gandhi over acquisition of the National Herald newspaper to Dec 9, her 68th birthday.

Metropolitan Magistrate Gomati Manocha deferred the hearing after it was apprised that the Delhi High Court had put on hold a trial court’s summons issued against Sonia Gandhi, her son and party vice president Rahul Gandhi and others till Sep 3.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court Thursday granted bail to Hindu leader Swami Aseemanand in the Samjhauta train blast case.

Aseemanand and three others were facing trial in a special National Investigating Agency (NIA) court in Haryana’s Panchkula town near here.

Aseemanand was charged for his role in the Samjhauta Express link train blast Feb 18, 2007 at Diwana village near the industrial town of Panipat, 160 km from here, in Haryana.

The suitcase bombing took place in two bogies of the train. Sixty eight people, majority of them Pakistani nationals, died in the blast.

Young girls who join gangs to find their lost freedom are at a greater risk of unprotected sex with multiple partners and substance abuse, says a new study.

Adolescents who have strained relationships with family and community members and have displaced housing may find a sense of belonging with gangs.

“Girls with low self-esteem, emotional problems, trauma history, low parental monitoring, friends who engage in risky behaviours and poor neighbourhood are likely to be involved in a gang,” said study author Dexter Voisin, a professor at the University of Chicago.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan was sworn in as president of Turkey at the Parliamentary General Assembly here Thursday.

Representatives of some 90 countries from Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe, including the emir of Qatar and Iran’s foreign minister, attended the swearing-in ceremony, Xinhua reported citing Erdogan’s office.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tweets in Japanese is a first innovative measure ever made by the head of the government in New Delhi in reaching out to the people in Japan, and added that this will set a new trend in inter-state relations.

MEA official spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said Prime Minister Modi is known for his innovative communication skills.

Responding to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tweet on Thursday, his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe said he was eagerly awaiting the former’s arrival in Kyoto.

“India has a special place in my heart, eagerly waiting for your arrival in Kyoto,” tweeted Shinzo Abe

“Your first visit to Japan as Indian PM will add new chapter to our strategic partnership,” Abe said, adding, “Together we can do a lot for peace and prosperity in the world.”

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)

The Indian team will soon have a new chief coach as the All India Football Federation (AIFF) Thursday decided to not renew incumbent Wim Koevarmans’ contract but retain him as the technical director.

The AIFF executive committee that met here Thursday decided not to renew Koevarmans’ contract after October and also appoint a new coach for the Under-17 side which will participate in the 2017 U-17 World Cup at home.

Dutchman Koevarmans, under whom the team didn’t perform well, will replace compatriot Rob Bann.

A 19-year-old man was arrested Thursday for stabbing to death a teenager after the assailant’s motorcycle grazed the victim triggering an argument, police said.

Raju Pandey, 18, bled to death in a hospital Tuesday evening, police said, adding that the attack in south Delhi’s Ambedkar Nagar area was due to road rage.

Ashu Mulla, 19, was arrested from the area Wednesday night.

Police said Mulla was on his motorbike when his vehicle grazed Pandey and lead to an argument. “Mulla took out a knife and stabbed him (Pandey) several times and fled from the spot,” a police officer said.

The conditions for the One-Day Internationals (ODI) were as they prevailed for most of the five-Test cricket series against India — typically English. Both sides retained the core of their teams and beefed up by bringing in limited-overs specialists Suresh Raina and Eoin Morgan, respectively.

Actress Anita Hassanandani is working closely with the stylist to design her look as a supreme with in MTV’s supernatural show “Fanaah – An Impossible Love Story”.

Anita is personally involving herself in the styling of her character’s look in the show to make sure the get-up is different and exciting. Her character has shades of grey and hence requires to look wicked and dangerous.

The actress loves to contribute to the look herself by getting clothes and accessories from her personal wardrobe too.

A social media aficionado, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took his Twitter posts to another level Wednesday, reaching out directly to the 127 million people of Japan, a country he is set to visit Aug 30 to Sep 3, in their own language.

“Friends from Japan asked me to talk to the people of Japan directly in Japanese. I also thank them for helping with the translation,” the prime minister said in the post, after a set of eight tweets in Nihongo, as the language is called.

Pakistani police Thursday afternoon registered a murder case against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and 20 others for their alleged involvement in the police shootout June 17 that killed 14 civilian protestors in Lahore, a media report said.

According to the report, police registered the case against the accused persons on the orders of the country’s Lahore High Court that Aug 26 upheld a decision of a lower court that had given a verdict against the 21 persons in the murder case, including Sharif.

Welcoming the Supreme Court’s opinion that lawmakers facing criminal charges should not be made ministers, Trinamool Congress MP Dinesh Trivedi Thursday called for weeding out criminals from politics.

“I think there has to be some kind of channelisation, where forget about being a minister, a criminal will not be able to contest elections. However, the charges levelled should be heinous and not politically motivated,” Trivedi told media persons on the sidelines of a programme here.

Union Law and Justice Miniser Ravi Shankar Prasad Thursday called on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa here Thursday.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, he said he called on Jayalalithaa as he holds her in high respect and the discussions were fruitful.

“I explained to her the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana. It is a great exercise of financial inclusion,” said Prasad, who also holds the communications and information technology portfolio.

Prasad is here to launch the scheme while Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched it in New Delhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will fly to Kyoto Saturday at the start of his Aug 30-Sep 3 Japan visit, it was announced Thursday.

This will be Modi’s first visit outside South Asia since he took office in May.

Modi will be received in Kyoto by his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, who will host him at dinner, external affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin told the media.

He said Kyoto had been added to the schedule as it “represents confluence of the civilizational heritage of India and Japan through Buddhism”.

Modi is likely to meet the Japanese emperor, Akbaruddin said.

A key meeting of the Indian diaspora in Bahrain next week will set the stage for partnership agreements and investment announcements initiated during and after King Hamad’s visit to India in February this year, a Bahrain daily reported Thursday.

“The Overseas Diaspora Engagement Meet will specifically focus on sectors like agriculture, infrastructure, health care, medical tourism, real estate and pharmaceuticals,” Gulf Daily News quoted Ambassador Mohan Kumar as saying.

President Pranab Mukherjee Thursday greeted the nation on the eve of the 10-day Ganesh Chaturthi festival that starts Friday, a Rashtrapati Bhavan statement said.

“On the auspicious occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi, I convey greetings and good wishes to all my fellow citizens in India and abroad,” said the president in his message.

“May Lord Ganesha, the symbol of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune shower his blessings on this day and remove all obstacles in the path of our development so that we can move ahead as a strong and vibrant nation,” he added.
(IANS)

Bipasha Basu’s career wasn’t going great guns when Vikram Bhatt cast her for his new movie “Creature 3D”. But the director, who has earlier worked with her on “Raaz”, says it’s all a matter of trust.

Both celebrities are currently busy promoting “Creature 3D”.

Asked if he was sceptical about casting Bipasha due to her box office debacles, Bhatt said: “I don’t think that way. Even after the debacle of (my directorial) ‘Dangerous Ishhq’, Bipasha agreed to work with me. So, it’s all about trust. She had faith in the story.”

Mobile phone manufacturer Micromax Informatics Ltd. Thursday bagged the title sponsorship rights for all of BCCI’s international and domestic tournaments to be played in India for the 2014-15 season for a fee of Rs.18.01 crore.

Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) Marketing Committee met here to decide the winning bid, which Micromax clinched for a fee of Rs.18,01,80,000.