Month: October 2014

Higher tax refunds putting pressure on fiscal deficit: Jaitley

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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said increased tax refunds in the current financial year is leading to higher fiscal deficit, which neared 83 per cent of full year target in the April-September period.

“Higher tax refunds are getting reflected in fiscal deficit number. This year there were pending tax refunds estimated around Rs 1.20 lakh crore,” he told reporters here.

As per the official data, fiscal deficit has touched 82.6 per cent of budget estimates for 2014-15 to cross Rs 4.38 lakh crore at the end of September.

‘The Shaukeens’ not a ‘sleazy comedy’

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Veteran actors Anupam Kher, Annu Kapoor and Piyush Mishra are seen chasing young girls in their forthcoming offering ‘The Shaukeens’, but they refuse to tag it as a cheap comedy.

“It is not a sleazy comedy. There are no double meaning dialogues of the film and you can watch the film with family. The treatment is simply comedy. In the end of the film, there is a message also that men shouldn’t be like this,” Piyush told reporters here Friday.

Helmed by ‘Tere Bin Laden’ director Abhishek Sharma, ‘The Shaukeens’ also stars Lisa Haydon and Akshay Kumar.

Its official: Scratching does increase itchiness

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A new research has cracked the answers to as why scratching makes one itch more and has observed that scratching causes the brain to release serotonin, which intensifies the itch sensation.

The study conducted at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, showed that findings in mice are same vicious cycle of itching and scratching is thought to occur in humans.

Centre sanctions scheme for strengthening power transmission in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim

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In tune with its commitment for development of north eastern States, the Centre has sanctioned a comprehensive scheme of Rs 4,754.20 crore for strengthening of transmission and distribution system in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim.

The scheme has been prepared by Central Electricity Authority (CEA) in consultation with Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. for laying EHT transmission capacity, addition of high tension transmission capacity and augmentation of existing capacity, an official press note said here today.

Ryder picked for New Zealand A tour

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New Zealand selectors Friday threw a lifeline to talented batsman Jesse Ryder by including him in the 13-member A squad for four one-dayers in Dubai next month.

Ryder returns to a New Zealand combination for the first time since last summer’s series against India and can stay in fray for a chance to make it to the World Cup squad.

New Zealand A will play four 50 over matches at the Global Cricket Academy in Dubai against UAE (Nov 23), Afghanistan (Nov 26) and Ireland (Nov 29 and Dec 1).

Wiki Tweaks for Chrome restyles Wikipedia to focus on content, avoid distraction

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Wiki Tweaks for Chrome has restyled Wikipedia to help users to avoid distractions from the links within the text body and stay focused on the main content.

The restyling adjusts the formatting of each entry on Wikipedia and adds pop-up summaries of those tempting links, keeping you on the right page, CNet reported.

The simple install of the copy of Wiki Tweaks for the Google Chrome browser would be sufficient to format the entire Wikipedia page.

Playing alcoholic was a bit different: Akshay Kumar

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Superstar Akshay Kumar, who is doing a cameo in his upcoming production venture ‘The Shaukeens’, says he found it very different to play an alcoholic in the comedy drama.

The 47-year-old actor said he is a teetotaller in real life. “I am playing an alcoholic in the film. It was a very different shade to pull off. In the film, I am playing an angry man too. So, these are various shades which have been put in my character and I am not really of that kind in real life,” Akshay said during the promotion of the film here.

Galaxies probably settled 2b yrs earlier than previously believed

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Scientists have dug deeper and discovered that galaxies actually settled in to their current forms some 2 billion years earlier than previously thought.

A group of researchers used the collective efforts of the hundreds of thousands of people that volunteered for the galaxy Zoo project to shed some light on the way that galaxies form and develop.

Uddhav may now attend Fadnavis’ swearing-in ceremony

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Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray may today attend the swearing-in ceremony of Devendra Fadnavis as Maharashtra Chief Minister.

BJP chief Amit Shah and Chief Minister designate Devendra Fadnavis had a telephonic conversation with the Shiv Sena chief and invited him for the event to be held at Mumbai’s iconic Wankhede Stadium.

“Amit Shah ji has invited him over the phone. They had been our friends for the last 25 years. So, he ( Uddhav Thackeray) is coming,” said BJP leader Atul Shah.

When Modi strode down Rajpath

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday flagged off an enthusiasm-filled Run for Unity and himself briskly walked down Rajpath after paying rich tributes to free India’s first home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

Modi led the nation in paying tributes to Sardar Patel on his 139th birth anniversary, being commemorated as Rashtriya Ekta Diwas or National Unity Day, and recalled his key role in unifying a newly independent India.

The prime minister first paid floral tributes at the statue of Sardar Patel at Patel Chowk in the heart of New Delhi at 7.30 a.m.

Madras High Court passes order of compromise between teacher, mother of pupil

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Madras High Court today directed a teacher of a city based school to pay a compensation of Rs 50,000 to the mother of student for beating her son on the cheek, in full and final settlement following a compromise reached between the two parties.

The first Bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M Sathyanarayanan passed the order on the petitions filed by Meharunnisa, mother of the student A Aris Iqubal and the teacher T Ramagowri.

Coal blocks allocation scam: Former secretary HC Gupta, two government officials get bail

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Former coal secretary and four others, including two serving government officials, were on Friday granted bail by a Special Court in connection with a coal blocks allocation scam case.

The five accused including H C Gupta and two senior serving government servants K S Kropha and K C Samaria appeared before the court in pursuance to the summons issued against them and sought bail in the case.

After hearing the arguments, Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar granted bail to all the accused.

Bangalore: Teacher arrested for sexual assault of 6-year-old girl

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A teacher was today arrested for the alleged sexual assault of a six-year-old girl at a school here, as protests erupted with parents demanding answers from the institution which was found to have flouted safety norms.

The teacher, detained for questioning after the complaint was lodged yesterday by the victim’s mother, was arrested after he admitted to his guilt during “thorough” questioning, police officials said. “He has been arrested,” Joint Commissioner of Police Hemant Nimbalkar told PTI.

Super cyclone survivor pursuing masters in social works

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For 22-year-old Utkal Maity orphaned by the super cyclone that hit coastal Odisha on October 29-30, 1999, life had turned topsy-turvy.

The lone survivor of the cyclone-hit family from Jhatipari village in Erasama block of Jagatsinghpur district has successfully overcome the harrowing ordeal. Utkal is doing masters in social works and hopes to get a decent job.

The super cyclone then had accounted for 9,885 human toll of which Jagatsinghpur district alone registered 8,119 human lives’ loss. In the worst-hit Erasama block, over 6500 had perished, according to data.

Sena shields BJP, says ceremony will wash off sins of NCP-Cong

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Notwithstanding its decision to boycott the swearing-in of Devendra Fadnavis as Maharashtra Chief Minister, the Shiv Sena today provided covering fire to BJP from criticism for organising a lavish event, saying the ceremony will wash off sins of the previous government. File photo PTI
Notwithstanding its decision to boycott the swearing-in of Devendra Fadnavis as Maharashtra Chief Minister, the Shiv Sena today provided covering fire to BJP from criticism for organising a lavish event, saying the ceremony will “wash off sins” of the previous government.

Here’s how heart’s own immune cells can help it heal

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A new research has revealed that the heart’s own pool of immune cells is capable of helping it heal after injury.

The research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that most of the time when the heart is injured, these beneficial immune cells are supplanted by immune cells from the bone marrow, which are spurred to converge in the heart and cause inflammation that leads to further damage.

I almost gave up football for cricket, says Sir Geoff Hurst

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Sir Geoff Hurst has revealed that he was on the verge of giving up his football career to become a cricketer.

The soccer legend said that four years before the 1966 World Cup he had been playing more cricket than football, the Mirror reported.

The legend had been missing his soccer practice for cricket and said that he enjoyed playing football and cricket but in his late teens and early 20s he realized he was ‘messing about’ with both sports.

Ex-coal secretary HC Gupta, two govt officials get bail

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Former coal secretary and four others, including two serving government officials, were today granted bail by a Special Court in connection with a coal blocks allocation scam case PTI photo
Former coal secretary and four others, including two serving government officials, were today granted bail by a Special Court in connection with a coal blocks allocation scam case.

The five accused including H C Gupta and two senior serving government servants K S Kropha and K C Samaria appeared before the court in pursuance to the summons issued against them and sought bail in the case.

Samsung to reform smartphone product line post dire profit report

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Samsung has reported that its operating profit has come down 60 percent, and income from sales is down by 20 percent, leading the company to fundamentally reforming its smartphones.

This has all been down to Samsung’s most lucrative and important mobile devices business, which has been struggling to adapt to a new competitive environment.

Senior VP Kim Hyun-joon expressed his intentions to fundamentally reform the product portfolio. Seeking greater cost efficiency, Samsung will look to standardize components used across devices and will continue to compete for each price tier.

LinkedIn’s Q3 sales beat estimates with 568M dollar sales

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LinkedIn reported its results for the third quarter of the year, beating the estimates on sales 568 million dollars, up 45 percent compared to a year ago and sales of 393 million dollars and non-GAAP earnings per share of 0.52 dollar.

The business-oriented social networking service also reported a wider net loss of 4.3 million dollars, against the net loss of 3.4 million dollars in Q3.

However, non-GAAP net income was 66 million dollars, versus 47 million dollars last year.

Smartphones still only account for 70 percent of total mobile shipments

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Smartphone share of the overall mobile phone shipments remains flat at 70 percent from past two quarters, though it has increased year over year.

Executive director at Strategy Analytics, Neil Mawston said that for the smartphone share to increase, prices have to come down so more users in parts of the world such as Africa and India can afford them.

Today the cheapest smartphones cost about 35 dollars at wholesale, but prices under 20 dollars are needed. Getting there will take a couple of years, at least.

Android co-founder Andy Rubin leaves Google to lead ‘Incubator’

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Google’s Andy Rubin, the founder of the most widely used operating software Android, is leaving the search engine giant to lead a startup named Incubator.

Google CEO Larry Page thanked Rubin for his contributions saying that he wishes him all the best with what’s next, with Android he created something truly remarkable-with a billion plus happy users.

The departure is potentially a blow to the company’s ambitions in robotics, where Google has made large investments, including acquiring more than eight companies, including Boston Dynamics and Atlas, CNET reported.

HC refuses to interfere with Kochi Kiss fest

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Kerala High Court today refused to interfere with the proposed ‘Kiss of Love’ programme here on Nov 2, being organised to protest moral policing, after the state government assured action will be taken in the event of any illegal activities. PTI file photo
Kerala High Court today refused to interfere with the proposed ‘Kiss of Love’ programme here on Nov 2, being organised to protest moral policing, after the state government assured action will be taken in the event of any illegal activities.

Prez congratulates Pankaj Advani on achieving 12th world title in Leeds

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President Pranab Mukherjee has congratulated Pankaj Advani on achieving his 12th world title in World Billiards Championship in Leeds.

“I am extremely delighted to know that you have achieved your 12th World Title in Leeds, and become the first player to win the grand double thrice,” said President Mukherjee in his message.

“Please accept my hearty congratulations and best wishes. India is proud of your achievement, which has ensured that our flag flies high in the international arena. I wish you continued success in all your future endeavours,” he added.