The year of 2015 had brought new hopes for all, but for the residents of border villages in the northernmost state of Jammu and Kashmir, the New Year ushered in cross-border firing and shelling, forcing over 10,000 villagers in Samba and Kathua districts to move into makeshift accommodations at safer places far from their homes.
Two loose llamas in Arizona recently became a trending topic on Twitter worldwide.
The chase began after a 911 call came in to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office just before noon, reporting that a black llama and a white llama had escaped from an assisted living facility, the CNN reported.
The llama drama spawned an immediate Internet sensation and even a Tumblr page which included highlights like; “Alpacaclypse,” “llow speed chase,” and “Dali Llama.”
Video of their breakout became a social media sensation and quickly inspired a Twitter account and several hashtags.
Apple enjoyed 89 percent of all smartphone profits in Q4 last year.
According to Tech Crunch, Strategy Analytics said that Apple in Q4 last year accounted for 89 percent of all smartphone profits, equating to 18.8 billion dollars, with Android taking only 11 percent, or 2.4 billion dollars.
It is reported that other platform players like Microsoft, Blackberry and Firefox did not make profit at all.
Neil Mawson, research director for Strategy Analytics, named Samsung, Huawei and Xiaomi as “three big profit drivers” for Android.
India-based food ordering service TinyOwl reportedly landed 16 million dollars in a Series B funding round to expand its services across 50 cities in the South Asian country.
According to Tech Crunch, TinyOwl co-founder and CEO Harshvardhan Mandad disclosed details in an email to staff earlier this month.
The company had earlier denied the news, but later confirmed that it had received the funding.
The young startup had managed to raise 1 million dollars in August 2014.
It added a 3 million dollars Series A round in December, the report said. (ANI)
Facebook has reportedly added new tools to provide help to users who may be feeling suicidal.
According to the Verge, in a blog post, Facebook announced it has worked with mental health organizations including the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and Now Matters Now to find the proper way to offer assistance through the social network.
According to a new research, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) sea-level rise scenarios may not provide complete information for high-risk coastal decision-making and management.
A new study has recently revealed that odds of having back pain are 1.6 higher for people with symptoms of depression.
The results showed a significant association between symptoms of depression and low back pain. On initial analysis considering the participants as individuals, rather than twins and therefore not accounting for genetic and familial factors, the odds of having back pain were about 1.6 higher for those with symptoms of depression and anxiety.
South Korea’s top court has reportedly decriminalized adultery after revoking a 1953 law under which cheating spouses could be sentenced to two years in prison.
At least 5,500 people have been convicted under the law since 2008. South Korea was one of only three Asian countries to criminalise adultery, reported the BBC.
One of the judges on the nine-judge panel said that the law was “unconstitutional.”
Authorities in Pakistan have reportedly issued an ultimatum to all cell phone users in the country, asking them to either verify their identity by submitting their fingerprints to the government or lose their mobile phone services.
According to Mashable, mobile use in Pakistan has skyrocketed over the past decade, and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority estimates that more than 100 million citizens use cell phones.
The move comes in the aftermath of the Peshawar school massacre in December, where the Taliban killed 132 school children and nine staff members.
14640 applications have been received for Hajj 2015 so far, while the last date for submitting applications is March 2. It is expected that this time record number of applications will be received from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Out of the 14640 applications from Telangana, 1338 applications were under reserved categories while 509 applications are of septuagenarians and 829 are those who have applied consecutively for the 4th time. They will be selected directly without qurra.
The PDP and BJP have “sorted out all the hitches” in the Agenda and finally join hands in Jammu and Kashmir for Alliance.
PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on Friday met PM Narendra Modi in New Delhi and will be sworn in as the Chief Minister of the state on 1 March 2015.
Mufti invited PM Modi to attend his swearing-in ceremony.
“I have invited PM for swearing-in ceremony on 1st of March, he said he will be attending the ceremony,” said Mufti.
Government has released ₹ 42 lakh for salaries of staff of Makkah Masjid and Shahi Masjid Public Garden and home guards deployed for the security of Makkah Masjid. A G.O.Ms.No. 24 was issued in this connection late night on Thursday.
Chronic insomnia increases mortality risk primarily due to heart-related problems and not cancer, says a study led by an Indian-origin researcher.
People who suffer from persistent insomnia are also at greater risk of increased inflammation than those who experience intermittent insomnia, the findings showed.
The clue to why Anopheles mosquitoes are unique in their ability to transmit malaria to humans could be found in their evolution of sexual biology.
Through analysis of 16 Anopheles genomes, the researchers found that these mosquitoes’ reproductive traits evolved along with their capacity to transmit the Plasmodium parasite that causes malaria.
Extended financial aid were approved Friday for residents, businesses and farmers affected by Cyclone Marcia which hit Australia’s second largest state of Queensland last week.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced the extended payments while visiting the disaster zone clean-up sites in Rockhampton, the largest city hit by Marcia, Xinhua reported.
“Today I can announce that the Australian disaster recovery payments will be extended,” he said.
“These will go to people who have suffered significant damage to property.”
The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) has called for a 12-hour shutdown in Odisha’s Kandhamal district Saturday to protest the ban on the entry of its top leader Pravin Togadia into the region, a leader said Friday.
“We have called for a total shutdown in the district. However, the emergency services will continue as usual,” VHP leader Bhagaban Mohanty told IANS.
“The administration is maintaining a double standard. While it had allowed Christian missionaries to hold meetings in the region, it is restricting a Hindu leader which is most unfortunate,” he said.
In-laws harassment led to suicide
(Siasat News): In a bizarre case, a 58-year-old woman at Lalaguda in Secunderabad committed suicide as she was constantly harassed by her husband and in-laws.
Police sources said that Gayathri consumed pesticide last night and succumbed this morning during the treatment. It is alleged that she was the subject of torture and harassment by her husband and in-laws which had become unbearable for her.
Lalaguda police has registered a case and further investigations are on.
Just a day ahead of the union budget, a benchmark index of Indian equities markets, the 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) surged 145 points or 0.50 percent in the pre-afternoon trade session Friday.
Bullish sentiments prevailed just before the day’s biggest trigger – the economic survey was to be tabled in the Lok Sabha.
The markets had plunged by 261 points or 0.90 percent down in Thursday’s trade, as future and options (F&O) expiry and railway budget subdued investor sentiments.
All the talk of Kamal Haasan doing the Tamil version of Rajkumar Hirani’s directorial “PK”, is just talk, no more, says the actor.
“The producers have only initiated talks. I am in Mauritus on recce for my next film for my own production company. Someone has jumped the gun and has leaked a yet undecided deal,” said the versatile star, who did the Tamil remake of Hirani’s “Lage Raho Munna Bhai”.
The actor admits he has reservations about doing the PK remake.
A prisoner was killed and another injured when four inmates of the district jail in Pakistan’s Gilgit city attempted to escape Friday. Two prisoners managed to flee.
Police said security forces have launched an operation to nab the two inmates who managed to escape, Geo News reported.
Police said the two escaped inmates were involved in the deadly Nanga Parbat attack.
The US has offered rewards of up to $5 million for information on two associates of Afghan extremist group Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin (HIG).
According to a US State Department statement Thursday, Secretary of State John Kerry has authorised a reward of up to $3 million for the arrest or conviction of Abdul Saboor and up to $2 million for Abdullah Nowbahar, Xinhua reported.
Saboor is an explosives expert associated with HIG who is responsible for an attack in Kabul May 16, 2013.
Justice Amitava Roy was Friday sworn in as a judge of the Supreme Court.
He was the Chief Justice of Orissa High Court. With his elevation, the strength of the apex court judges has gone up to 29. The apex court has a sectioned strength of 31 judges.
Justice Roy will have a tenure of three years.
–PTI
News editor Siasat Mr. Amer Ali Khan said that Chiropractic treatment is prevalent not only in Hyderabad but is also common in various countries of the world. People across the world are benefiting from the treatment. Mr. Amer Ali Khan was addressing as chief guest on the occasion of inauguration of free Chiropractic Medical Camp being held at Abid Ali Khan Eye Hospital, Darushifa, from February 26 to 28 in collaboration with Siasat Daily and Palmer University.
The number of Assyrian Christians kidnapped by the Islamic State (IS) Sunni radical group in northern Syria has risen to 220 over the past three days, a monitoring group reported Thursday.
The IS kidnapped the Assyrians from 11 villages in the town of Tal Tamr, which is considered the capital of the Syrian Assyrians in the northern province of al-Hasakah, Xinhua news agency reported citing the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). The IS recently unleashed an offensive against Assyrian towns and villages.
To drive Indian Railways out of its “troubles”, Union Minister Suresh Prabhu today prescribed market borrowings, public-private partnerships and monetising assets to garner Rs 8.5 lakh crore worth resources over the next five years, even as he ruled out “privatisation”.
Prabhu asserted he did not go for hike in passenger fares or using taxpayers’ money for development of projects. He also dismissed apprehensions that freight rate increase would have any major impact on prices of essential items.