Month: January 2015

Basic excise duty of petrol, diesel increased by Rs two

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The Centre on Thursday increased the basic excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs two per litre in order to fund the infrastructure development programme of the government, particularly the particularly the building of 15,000 kilometres of roads.

The increased rates of basic excise duty will be effective from January 1 midnight. However, the retail price of both petrol and diesel will remain unchanged.

Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan took to twitter to share the news.

Meeting of two CMs soon, says Guv

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Governor ESL Narasimhan today greeted people of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on the occasion of New Year 2015.
According to a press release from Raj Bhavan, the Governor would first attend Republic Day program at Vijayawada and later at Hyderabad. He said he would frequently hold a meeting with Chief Ministers of the two States and a meeting will soon be called to sort out the related issues.

People throng temples, churches on New Year eve

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Thousands of people thronged temples and churches in the twin cities today on the occasion of New Year Day. The New Year ushered in amidst colorful celebrations and exchange of greetings since Wednesday night.

Special prayers were held in the churches at midnight last night to welcome the New Year. Special programs were held this morning and the people wished each other with ‘Happy New Year’.

Telugu actor Pawan Kalyan joins Twitter

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Telugu actor-politician Pawan Kalyan joined social networking site Twitter Thursday on the occasion of New Year.A

“Wishing you all a very Happy New Year! Peace and Good Health,” he tweeted.

Brother of actor Chiranjeevi, and one of the stars of Telugu cinema, Pawan Kalyan founded the Jana Sena party last year.

He is currently awaiting the release of his Telugu film “Gopala Gopala”, a remake of Hindi hit “OMG: Oh My God”.

(IANS)

Focus blood donation camps on Jan. 4

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Forum for Cultural Up-gradation & Social Services (Focuss) and Tanzeem Irshadul Muslimeen (TIM) are jointly conducting a blood donation camp in the twin cities on January 4 from 8 am in different parts of the city on the occasion of Milad-un-Nabi.

Addressing mediapersons here on Thursday, Ahsan Bin Mohammed Alhamoomi, general secretary, Mohammed Mustafa Ali Sarwari, joint secretary said Deputy Chief MinisterMahmood Ali, A.K. Khan, IPS, Syed Omer Jaleel, IAS, will be the chief guests on the occasion.

KCR calls on Guv, discusses on Eamcet, AIS, RTC

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Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao today called on Governor ESL Narasimhan on the occasion of New Year 2015 at Raj Bhavan here. He greeted the Governor along with Deputy Chief Ministers Mahamood Ali and Dr T Rajaiah.

Suicide bomber killed in Nigeria church explosion

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A suicide bomber who targeted a church in the northeastern Nigerian state of Gombe during a New Year mass was killed by his own bomb, police said.

The suicide bomber rode on a motorcycle and tried to enter a branch of the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA) in Tudun Wada area Wednesday but was denied entry by a heavy security presence, Gombe state police chief Fawaje Atajiri said while confirming the attack to Xinhua in the state capital.

Syria war deadliest in 2014 with 76,000 killed: monitor

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More than 76,000 people were killed in Syria’s conflict in 2014, including thousands of children, making it the deadliest year in the nearly four-year war, a monitoring group said today.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had documented the deaths of 76,021 people.

Of the total, 17,790 were civilians, including 3,501 children.

Additionally, more than 15,000 rebel fighters were killed, as were nearly 17,000 militants from jihadist groups, including the Islamic State and Al-Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate.

Civil, military leadership united against terrorism: Sharif

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Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today said the country’s civil and military leadership is on the same page against terrorism and expressed confidence that a national action plan mooted after the Peshawar school massacre would destroy militancy.

Chairing a high-level meeting to review legal aspects of the anti-terrorism national action plan, Sharif emphasised that no one could remain neutral in the war against terrorism.

“The country’s civil and military leadership is united against terrorism and militancy,” he said.

AP Govt issues rules for land pooling for new capital

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The Andhra Pradesh Government on Thursday issued the rules for voluntary land pooling for establishment of the new capital.

Municipal Administration Principal Secretary Giridhar Aramane issued the orders pertaining to the Andhra Pradesh Capital City Land Pooling Scheme (Formulation and Implementation) Rules 2015. It its orders, the State Government said that one of the most critical priorities for the state of Andhra Pradesh is the formation of the new capital city, which is very important from the perspective of economic development, cultural integrity and administrative functioning.

AP Express, Sachkhand Express rescheduled on Friday

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The South Central Railway on Thursday informed that the Train No.12723 Hyderabad-New Delhi AP Express, scheduled to depart Hyderabad Station at 06:25 hrs on Friday (2nd January) has been re-scheduled to depart at 10:25 am on the same day.

The train has been re-scheduled due to late running of its pairing train.

Similarly, the Train No. 12715 Huzur Sahib Nanded-Amritsar Sachkhand Express scheduled to depart H S Nanded at 09:30 am on Friday is re-scheduled to depart at 04:30 pm on the same day due to late running of its pairing train. (INN)

Iraq violence killed 15,000 in 2014, worst in 7 years: govt

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Violence in Iraq killed more than 15,000 civilians and security personnel in 2014, government figures showed today, making it the deadliest year since sectarian bloodshed in 2007.

Figures compiled by the health, interior and defence ministries put the death toll at 15,538, compared with 17,956 killed in 2007, during the height of Sunni-Shiite sectarian killings.

The toll was also more than double the 6,522 people killed in 2013.

AP cabinet meeting on friday

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The next meeting of Andhra Pradesh Council of Ministers will be held on Friday.

The AP’s cabinet meeting, to be chaired by Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu, will be held in the L-Block of the State Secretariat. Besides taking important decisions, the cabinet is likely to discuss the progress of land pooling for the new capital. (INN)

UoH fraternity participate in Campus Walk on New Year

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The Campus community including students, research scholars, faculty and officials ushered in the New Year with a campus walk in the company of Pro Vice-Chancellor Prof. E Haribabu on Thursday.

The walk which commenced around 2:30 pm started from the Peacock Lake through the vast open spaces and rocks reaching the South Campus before culminating at the Lake view Guest House. Many of the participants were enamoured by the beauty of the natural heritage and breath-taking view all around in the campus.

KCR unveils mega plans for Hyderabad at Numaish

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Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has promised to promote Numaish, the All India Industrial Exhibition at Nampally, at the global level.

Speaking after inaugurating the Numaish at Exhibition Grounds here on Thursday, the Chief Minister promised that the State Government would allot patta of 23 acres of land to the Exhibition Society within a week. He directed Finance Minister Etala Rajender, who is also the Honorary President of Exhibition Society, to ensure that the patta gets issued within the promised period.

Nizam was great, secular ruler: Telangana CM

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Showering praise on the Nizam, the ruler of erstwhile Hyderabad State, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao described him as great and secular.

“He was glorious king. Some small mistakes may have happened but they happen in any kingdom,” KCR, as the chief minister is popularly known, said while lauding him for development and welfare projects.

Inaugurating 75th All India Industrial Exhibition here Thursday evening, he recalled the role played by Nizam in promoting the annual exhibition popularly known as ‘numaish’.

Huge responsibility to fill Mahela’s void: Thirimanne

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Sri Lankan left-hander Lahiru Thirimanne says he has big boots to fill as he is slowly getting into the groove to bat at the crucial number four position vacated by former captain Mahela Jayawardene, who retired from Tests in August 2014.

“Batting at No.4 is a big challenge for me, because that was Mahela Jayawardene’s spot. I need to work very hard to live up to that. It’s a position that’s very valuable for the team and we’re used to some top performances from our No.4 batsman,” Thirimanne was quoted as saying by espncricinfo.com.

Swine flu case reported on first day of the year

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The year’s first case of swine flu was reported today, taking the figure to 39 since last year.

According to the health department of Delhi government, 40-year-old woman from Bawana in northwest Delhi has tested positive of H1N1 (swine flu) virus and has been admitted to Maharishi Valmiki Government Hospital.

“Her samples were sent to the National Center for Disease Control and it was confirmed that she has been affected by the swine flu virus,” said Charan Singh, Additional Director (Public Health) at Health Department.

Pak doesn’t learn lesson, Defence Minister

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As the ceasefire violations by Pakistan continued unabated, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today said Islamabad does not seem to learn any lesson, and India’s response had been “more than double the capacity.”

“Pakistan does not like to stay quiet even on New Year day. They started (cross-border) firing at 12.30 in the night and don’t seem to learn (any) lesson,” Parrikar said at an event here.

Actor Siddharth Shukla fined for drunk driving

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Television actor Siddharth Shukla of “Balika Vadhu” fame was fined Rs.2,000 by traffic police for driving under the influence of alcohol on New Year’s Eve. His license was also confiscated.

A police official said he paid the fine and was asked to be present in court Thursday morning.

“Last night, Siddharth Shukla was found driving his car under the influence of alcohol. His license was immediately confiscated and he paid a fine of Rs.2,000,” an official from Juhu police station told IANS.

The actor was reportedly partying with his friends in Juhu on New Year’s Eve.

(IANS)

13 killed in Syria mortar attack

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Several mortar shells slammed into a government-controlled district in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo Thursday, killing 13 civilians and injuring 18 others, media reported.

Women and children were among those wounded by four mortar rounds which exploded at the al-Shuhada lane and the surroundings of a local marketplace in the New Aleppo district in northwestern Aleppo, Xinhua reported citing state news agency SANA.

Tax-free ‘PK’ invites ire of Hindutva groups

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Hindutva groups in Agra continued their protest against the Aamir Khan starrer movie “PK”.

Activists of the Bajrang Dal, Hindu Jagran Manch and Vishwa Hindu Parishad held demonstrations at several places, burnt posters of the film and shouted slogans.

Dharmendra Gola, Madan Sharma, Avinash Rana and other activists questioned the logic behind giving the film tax exemption in Uttar Pradesh.

They criticized Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav for insulting the sentiments of the Hindus by making the film tax free in the state.