Month: February 2015

Swine flu claims 11 more lives in Rajasthan, death toll 245

by

Eleven more people have died due to swine flu in Rajasthan, taking the total death toll in the state due to the disease to 245.

As per reports, Jaipur has reported the bulk of almost 50 deaths, followed by Ajmer, Jodhpur, Nagaur, Barmer and Kota.

Union Health Minister JP Nadda had earlier stated that to combat the outbreak of Influenza A H1N1, the states have been provided guidelines on screening, risk categorization of patients, clinical case management and ventilator management.

Parliament panel rejects govt proposal to try juveniles as adults

by

A parliamentary committee has rejected the government’s proposal to try juveniles aged between 16 to 18 years as adults for heinous crimes like rape and murder.

The committee took the decision citing the fact that 16-18 years is an extremely sensitive and critical age requiring greater protection.

The Cabinet had earlier proposed drastic changes in the Act, in view of rising juvenile crimes. (ANI)

Assam police arrest two Maoists, recover arms

by

Assam Police have arrested two suspected Maoists and recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunitions from Jorabat area of Guwahati last evening.

According to reports, the police had launched an operation in the area based on intelligence inputs.

The arrested, meanwhile, have been identified as Biswajit Sangma and Runa Sangma who were allegedly involved in an illegal arms consignment.

“The nabbed duo had carried the arms-ammunition from Dimapur in Nagaland to Meghalaya and they were suspected to be involved with terrorist group in Meghalaya,” a top police official said.

Telecom operators aren’t profit mongers: Reliance Group

by

Reliance Telecom Wednesday told the Supreme Court that the private telecom service providers (TSP) were an integral part of the telecom system and need not be looked upon as some kind of profit mongers.

“To call us profit mongers is unfair. We are a part of service provider utility (as per the National Telecom Policy-2012)”, senior counsel P. Chidambaram told the apex court bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel.

Singapore- Rajasthan sign joint water management agreements

by

Singapore Minister for Foreign Affairs Kasiviswanathan Shanmugam and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje have signed joint water management agreements here.

The Ministers were present during the signing between the Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE) set up by the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore, and the Public Health Engineering Department of the Government of Rajasthan yesterday.

European SIM maker confirms cyber attacks

by

After an internal investigation, digital security company Gemalto has concluded that it had “reasonable grounds to believe” that it was hacked by US National Security Agency (NSA) and Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the Amsterdam-based company stated Wednesday.

Mind-controlled bionic limbs replace limp hands

by

In another ground-breaking development in medical science, people with limp hands will now be able to have artificial replacements, which they can control with their brain, media reported Wednesday.

According to a report in The Independent, Austrian doctors have performed the world’s first “bionic hand reconstructions”, replacing a hand disabled by injury with a prosthetic that the patient can control with their mind.

Labour Bill passed in Gujarat Assembly as Congress walks out

by

A bill aimed at reforming labour laws, was passed in the Gujarat Assembly today after Congress MLAs walked out protesting against the bill, claiming it to be “pro-industry” and “anti-labour”.

The BJP-led state government tabled the ‘The Labour Laws (Gujarat Amendment) Bill, 2015′ in the House for its approval.

The Bill aims to amend certain provisions in labour laws applicable in Gujarat, including the Industrial Disputes Act 1947, Minimum Wages Act 1948, Factories Act, Contract Labour Act and Employees’ Compensation Act, among others.

Uber provides full details for license to operate in Delhi

by

Uber, the US-based online taxi-hailing company, today provided “full” details to Delhi Government which it had asked for its application to resume services in the city.

Authorities had set a February 25 deadline to provide supporting details for the firm’s application to operate in the national capital.

State Transport Department officials said the details submitted by Uber will be examined and thereafter, a final decision on granting it a license will be taken.

Stories of freedom struggle to reach every block of Haryana:CM

by

Stories of freedom struggle which originated from Haryana will be taken to every block of Haryana in a bid to inspire youths of the state, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said today.

“We are in the process of bringing the stories of freedom struggle which originated from the soil of Haryana to be showcased in every block of the state,” he said while inaugurating a play “1857 Ki Kahani Harayana Ki Zubani” here.

The cultural affairs department of Haryana is working on bringing together theatre groups to showcase plays on freedom struggle, he said.

Some UK Muslims support Paris attack motives: poll

by

A poll of British Muslims published today found that 27 per cent had some sympathy for the motives behind last month’s Islamist attack in Paris against the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

Sixty-two per cent said they had no sympathy.

The survey also found that 11 per cent agreed that those who publish blasphemous images deserve to be attacked, while 85 per cent did not and four per cent refused to answer or did not know.

In Japan, robot dogs are for life — and death

by

Incense smoke wafts through the cold air of the centuries-old Buddhist temple as a priest chants a sutra, praying for the peaceful transition of the souls of the departed.

It is a funeral like any other in Japan. Except that those being honoured are robot dogs, lined up on the altar, each wearing a tag to show where they came from and which family they belonged to.

The devices are “AIBOs”, the world’s first home-use entertainment robot equipped with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and capable of developing its own personality.

Dubai firm unveils electric car charging stations

by

Dubai public utility firm Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) Wednesday unveiled public charging stations for electric vehicles in Dubai.

The solar-powered charging stations were officially inaugurated at DEWA’s headquarters in the emirate, Khaleej Times reported Wednesday.

DEWA MD and CEO Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer said that 16 stations have been opened in the first phase of the project, which is one of the three “Smart Dubai” initiatives announced by the firm last year.

GOC Dakshin Bharat Area visits MRC

by

Lieutenant General Jagbir Singh, General Officer Commanding Dakshin Bharat Area, visited Madras Regimental Centre (MRC), Wellington near here.

He was briefed by Brigadier S Suresh Kumar, Commandant, MRC and Station commander Wellington Military Station about the Centre.

During his two-day stay, Singh visited various training and administrative facilities, witnessed training of recruits and was briefed on training modalities adopted at the Centre, an official statement said today.

Govt mulling setting up university dedicated to arts, crafts

by

The possibility of an university dedicated to arts and crafts is being actively considered by the Government.

The HRD Ministry has set up a committee to explore the possibility of having such a university and submit its report in three months.

“Arts and crafts being the vehicle of creative expression, the promotion of studies in these discipline is essential for human resource development and capacity building in higher forms of expression and creative thoughts,” a Ministry note said.

Arvind Bhat, Jwala-Ashwini in German Open pre-quarters

by

Indian shuttler Arvind Bhat and the doubles duo of Ashwini Ponnapppa and Jwala Gutta entered the pre-quarterfinals of the USD120,000 German Open Grand Prix Gold at the RWE-Sporthalle here today.

Defending champion Bhat defeated local qualifier Patrick Kaemnitz 21-10, 24-22 in 36 minutes. In the next match, the 35-year-old Indian will meet the winner between Korean Wan Ho Son and Finland’s Eetu Heino.

In the doubles match, Jwala-Ashwini beat the Indonesian pair of Suci Rizky Andini and Maretha Dea Giovani 21-17, 21-16 in 30 minutes.

Siddharth Shukla enjoys work-cum-play in Mathura

by

Work took Siddharth Shukla to Mathura, but the solace that came his way in the holy city has left an ever-lasting impression on the actor’s mind. He says it turned out to be a pleasant break from the chaos of metropolitan city.

“Mathura truly exhibits a peaceful feeling and that is what I need at the moment, time away from all the chaos in Mumbai,” Siddharth said in a statement.

The shooting of a Holi special episode of “Savdhaan UP- Fight Back Now”, which will be aired on Holi weekend on Life OK channel, took Siddharth to Mathura.

Suspended sentence for 81-year-old Chinese dissident writer

by

A famed 81-year-old Chinese dissident writer was given a suspended two and a half year prison sentence today on charges of running an illegal business, apparently because he published articles critical of the country’s propaganda chief.

A lawyer for Huang Zerong, who uses the pen name Tie Liu, said his client was also fined USD 5,000. The lawyer, Liu Xiaoyuan, said Huang denied running an illegal business, a charge that was related to a self-published magazine Huang distributed for free.

UK becomes first country to legalise ‘three-parent’ babies

by

Britain has become the first country in the world to legalise the creation of human embryos from the DNA of three people, a controversial technique aimed at preventing the passing on of deadly genetic diseases from mothers to children.

The House of Lords- the upper house of the British Parliament- voted 280 votes to 48 yesterday to approve changes to the invitro-fertilisation (IVF) law allowing fertility clinics to carry out mitochondrial DNA (mDNA) donation.

Swift named Woman of the Year

by

Singer Taylor Swift was crowned Woman of the Year at the Elle Style Awards held here.

The “Blank space” hitmaker was presented with the accolade by fellow singer Sam Smith during Tuesday night’s ceremony, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Also honoured at the 18th annual awards ceremony was Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, who picked up Model of the Year, while fellow beauty Cara Delevingne took home the Breakthrough Actress award after swapping the catwalk for the silver screen and starring in “Tulip Fever” and “Pan”, which are due out this year.

Apple ordered to pay nearly USD 533 mn for patent infringement

by

Tech giant Apple has been ordered to pay USD 532.9 million in damages after a federal jury found it guilty of wilful patent infringement.

The jury, sitting in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, took eight hours to decide that Apple’s iTunes software infringed three patents belonging to licensing firm Smartflash.

Sri Lankan win toss, elect to bat vs Bangladesh

by

Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat against Bangladesh in their pool A match of the cricket World Cup, here today.

Teams:

Sri Lanka: Lahiru Thirimanne, Tilakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Dimuth Karunaratne, Mahela Jayawardene, Angelo Mathews (capt), Dinesh Chandimal, Thisara Perera, Rangana Herath, Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal

Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque, Soumya Sarkar, Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mominul Haque, Sabbir Rahman, Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed.

Stricken Crowe promises to cheer on Black Caps

by

New Zealand great Martin Crowe has vowed not even life-threatening cancer will stop him from being among an expected capacity crowd at Auckland’s Eden Park on Saturday to watch the Black Caps face Australia in an eagerly-anticipated World Cup clash.

The 52-year-old master batsman, terminally ill with a rare blood disease called double-hit lymphoma, said he wouldn’t want to miss the Pool A clash between the two tournament co-hosts and title contenders, for anything.

Arsenal stunned as Monaco seize initiative

by

Arsenal are in danger of an embarrassing exit from the Champions League after Monaco romped to a stunning 3-1 win in the last 16 first leg at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.

Arsene Wenger’s team were left shell-shocked as Geoffrey Kondogbia put the French club ahead with a deflected first half strike before former Tottenham forward Dimitar Berbatov marked his return to north London with the second goal after the interval.

Berbatov’s cool finish was a hammer blow to the Arsenal fans who had jeered him for his past allegiance to their bitter rivals and there was worse to come.