Month: January 2015

‘Achhe din’ for capitalists, foreign companies: CPI-M

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‘Achhe din’ (good days) under the BJP government have come only for the capitalists and foreign companies, CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat said here Saturday.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to bring ‘achhe din’ for the people of the country. But, the ‘achhe din’ have come only for the capitalists and multinational companies,” Karat said at a public meeting of the party.

“The central government is only bringing anti-people laws favouring capitalists,” he said.

Amal Clooney threatened with arrest over criticism of Egyptian legal system

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Amal Clooney was recently threatened with arrest by Egyptians officials after giving a report which points out flaws in the country’s judicial system and ultimately led to conviction of al-Jazeera journalists now jailed in Cairo.

Human rights barrister recommended that that Egypt end the practice that allows officials to handpick judges for certain politicized cases, the Guardian reported.

Clooney, a lawyer for one of the trio, said they were victims of the same flaws that she earmarked in a February 2014 report about Egyptian courts.

Excessive allegations weaken democracy: PM

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Excessive allegations by the media can weaken democracy, particularly when allegations replace proper criticism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here Saturday.

“Criticism can help prevent mistakes and enable reveal the truth. Every decision, every thought must be criticised. If there is no criticism in a democracy, then there is a problem. However, in recent times, there hasn’t been proper criticism, as allegations have replaced criticism,” Modi said during the platinum jubilee celebrations of Marathi newspaper Pudhari here.

Jaitley calls for reforms in banking sector

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Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday called for reforms in the banking sector while pitching for greater autonomy in government-controlled banks.

“Public sector banks and financial institutions have performed very important role. There is a need to get the best talent into the system. There is a need for far greater autonomy to them. And, we also need to understand the problems that these banks themselves are confronting,” Jaitley told reporters on the sidelines of a meet with officials of public sector banks.

Arijit Singh bags 2014’s Most Popular Male Singer award

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Bollywood playback singer Arijit Singh has been named as 2014’s Most Popular Male Singer of the Year whereas Shreya Ghoshal bagged the Most Popular Female Singer for the year in a recent online poll.

According to a poll conducted by music streaming website Hungama.com, Shahrukh Khan starrer ‘Happy New Year’ bagged Most Popular Bollywood Album title while ‘Desi Kalakaar’ was awarded with the Most Popular Independent Album title.

Exercise for 3 mins, burn fat

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Those who feel lazy to go to gym or do not have time to exercise may be literally jumping once they read this news.

Scientists say we don’t need to work for hours at the gym to cut flab, as just three minutes of exercise a week could be enough to help you lose weight.

The secret is short bursts of intense exercise – known as high-intensity interval training.

According Scientists at Birmingham and Nottingham universities, such a session once a week is far more effective at -burning fat than daily workouts, the Daily Express reported.

Parental suicide attempt ups suicide risk in kids

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A child is five times more likely to attempt suicide if he/she has a parent who has attempted suicide in the past, research has found.

The researchers found a direct effect of a parent’s suicide attempt on a child, even after they took into account a history of previous suicide attempt by the offspring and a familial transmission of mood disorder.

The study not only confirmed that suicidal behavior can run in families but also identified the pathways by which suicidal behavior is transmitted in families.

Congress wants Govt. to dig deep into terror attack case

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The Congress on Saturday urged the government to go deeper into the possible terror attack case which was averted by the Coast Guard and bring out the truth so that Pakistan could be embarrassed internationally.

“I think the government should go deeply into this in particular; it must literally get into the bottom of this by going down to the sea level and tracing the remnants of this boat to find out what was the origin, who sent it, why it was sent, what was the purpose,” Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi told ANI here.

Saina Nehwal upset at not getting Padma Bhushan

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Badminton ace Saina Nehwal on Saturday expressed her disappointment after her name did not feature in the list for the prestigious Padma Bhushan Award for this year.

“I am just hurt by the news that my name was not sent to the panel who decides the awards but ofcourse I will be respecting whatever they decide, its finally upto them to choose just that I felt a little bad about this,” Saina told mediapersons here.

Pak warns India of retaliation over cross-border firing

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Pakistan today appeared to threaten India with retaliation over the killing of its soldiers in cross-border firing, saying it will now “communicate in the language they understand”.

“In the past six-seven months, we have tried to better our ties with India so that peace can prevail. But it seems that they do not understand this language,” Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told reporters outside the Parliament.

“I believe, we will now communicate with India in the language they understand,” he said.

Pak govt challenges Lakhvi’s bail in Islamabad High Court

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The Pakistan government today challenged LeT operations commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi’s bail in the Islamabad High Court, saying an anti-terrorism court ignored testimony in the 26/11 case while granting bail to the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind.

“We have challenged the Anti-Terrorism Court Islamabad’s decision to grant bail to Lakhvi in the Islamabad High Court,” Prosecution chief Chaudhry Azhar told PTI.

I will use the ban period to rectify my technique: Sarita Devi

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Banned from competition fora year, Asian Games bronze medallist L Sarita Devi today said she would utilise the period by taking corrective measures in her technique so that she can be ready for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

“I will positively use the year by practising and working on my problem areas to correct them. I have faith in myself. I will take the year as a challenge to hone my skills and techniques to be ready for the next Olympics in 2016. My focus is now on earning an Olympic medal for my country,” Sarita told PTI on the sidelines of an event.

Tendulkar made adjustments across all formats easily: Richards

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Legendary West Indies batsman Sir Vivian Richards is of the opinion that Sachin Tendulkar is probably one of the two batsmen in modern era who had seamless adjusted their game according to their needs across all three formats.

For Richards, the other batsman apart from Tendulkar, who can be lauded for his flexibility is Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara.

India needs reforms in banking sector: Jaitley

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India needs to conceive several reforms in the banking sector, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said here Saturday.

“There is a need to get the best talent into the system. There is a need for far greater autonomy being given to them (public sector banks),” Jaitley told reporters on the sidelines of the two-day banking retreat.

Top bankers of India have gathered here to discuss long-pending reforms in the banking sector, which will help improve the health of public sector banks.

We want good ties with Pakistan: Rajnath

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India wanted good relations with Pakistan, which should not resort to ceasefire violations, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said Saturday.

“Pakistan is our neighbour and we want good relations with all our neighbours,” Rajnath Singh said, responding to a media query on the repeated ceasefire violations by Pakistan.

“But the Pakistan government should also take initiative so that ceasefire violations do not take place,” he added.

UN claims 2014 deadliest year for Iraqi civilians with 12,282 deaths

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The United Nations has said that the civilian death toll in Iraq was at least 12,282 in 2014 making it the deadliest year since the sectarian bloodshed of 2006-07.

The majority of the death occurred in the second half of 2014 as the militant group Islamic State (IS) expanded out of Anbar province leading to widespread clashes with security forces, reported News24.

The head of the UN political mission in Iraq Nickolay Mladenov said that Iraqi citizens continue to suffer from violence and terrorism.

Governor did not endorse TS stand on EAMCET: Raj Bhavan

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The Raj Bhavan on Saturday denied media reports that Governor ESL Narasimhan had endorsed the stand of Telangana government on holding of common EAMCET exams. “This is factually incorrect,” said a communiqué from Raj Bhavan.

“In this regard it is to clarify that, all along the Governor’s sole intention was to bring about an acceptable solution between both the States keeping in view the best interests of student community. It is for both the State Governments to sit together and find a solution,” the communiqué added. (INN)

High level meeting on Jan 12 to discuss AOC roads closure

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Malkajgiri MP Ch Malla Reddy and MLA C Kanaka Reddy on Saturday met Maj. Gen. Cyrus Addie Pithawalla, General Officer Commanding, at his office along with Resident Welfare Association’s representatives BT Srinivasan, K Nagaraj , G N V Satish Kumar, M Hanumantha Rao and requested GOC to process the proposal received from GHMC and State Government with the Ministry of Defence for the alternative road plans to solve the issue of army closing roads for civilian vehicles in AOC Secunderabad cantonment area.

Israel nowhere on map of Harper Collins’ Middle East Atlas

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Publishing giant Harper Collins, a subsidiary of NewsCorp, has been selling an atlas in Middle Eastern schools claiming to give an “in-depth coverage of the region and its issues” wherein the name Israel does not appear at all.

The atlas included Syria, Jordan and even Gaza but the word Israel was not mentioned even once, reported Fox News.

Haper Collins’ Facebook page said on Wednesday that it regretted the omission of the name Israel from its Middle East atlas.

The company also apologized on its page for any offense it caused to anyone.

Our forces will give fitting reply: Amit Shah on Pak firing

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BJP President Amit Shah today said that under the NDA regime Indian security forces have been retaliating strongly whenever Pakistan resorts to ceasefire violations along the Indo-Pak border and will continue to take similar action in future.

“After BJP formed the government, Indian forces have been giving fitting reply whenever there have been ceasefire violations and will continue to do so in future,” he told reporters here.

Haryana Govt. to include Bhagwad Gita in school curriculum

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The Haryana Government has decided to include ‘Bhagwad Gita’ in the school curriculum from the next academic session for students from class five to 12th.

“We have decided to include Bhagwad Gita in the school curriculum. Gita is knowledge, Gita is our way of life Gita is science and Gita is solution,” Haryana’s Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma told ANI.

Earlier in December last year, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had called for declaring Bhagwad Gita as ‘National Scripture’.

‘Ghar wapsi’ is natural process, says RSS leader Vaidya

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Defending the controversial ghar wapsi program, senior RSS leader Manmohan Vaidya today said ‘conversion’ is a wrong term to be used for’home coming’.

“Conversion is not an appropriate word for ghar-wapsi. This is not conversion. This is a home coming for those who have natural urge to reconnect with their roots,” said Vaidya, Akhil Bhartiya Rashtriya Prachar Pramukh of RSS.

BJP MP Demands Sacking of Azam Khan for ‘Hurting Hindu Sentiments’

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A BJP MP today demanded the sacking of senior cabinet minister Mohd Azam Khan, saying he was a “threat to the unity of the country”.

BJP MP from Ballia Bharat Singh accused Azam of “promoting those hurting Hindu sentiments and making statements causing threat to the unity of the country”.

Speaking to reporters here, Singh demanded Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to immediately sack Azam from the ministry alleging that his acts amounted to “sedition”.

Organic waste plants should be mandatory in eateries: Naidu

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Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu today pitched for making it mandatory for eateries and hotels to have organic waste plant and said he will write to Tourism ministry in this regard.

“I will write to Ministry of Tourism to make it mandatory in all five and four star hotels and eatery establishments to have organic waste plant,” Naidu said while inaugurating a plant in Malcha Marg market here.

The plant, which can process one tonne waste in 24 hours, will convert the organic waste of hotels and eateries in this area into compost for horticulture and agriculture use.