Month: March 2015

Kohli the leader must play more responsibly: Prasanna

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Virat Kohli is expected to captain India in all formats at some point but before that happens the star batsmen must start taking more responsibility towards his team, says spin great Erapalli Prasanna.

“In all probability, Kohli will captain the Indian team in the next World Cup. For that, he needs to start taking more responsibility towards his team and ensure he holds the unit together,” Prasanna told PTI today.

Prasanna’s comments come in the wake of Kohli’s performance in a big-ticket tournament like the World Cup.

Hung parliament predicted as Britain gears up for polls

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As the campaign to elect the next British Parliament begun on Monday, surveys have predicted a hung House of Commons with minor parties like Scottish National Party (SNP) and UK Independent Party (UKIP) calling the shots.

British Prime Minister David Cameron met Queen Elizabeth II at the Buckingham Palace on Monday and requested her to dissolve the parliament. The election for all 650 seats of the house will take place on May 7. The last day to file the nominations is April 9.

Newly-crowned India Open champions now eye Malaysia crown

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Newly-crowned India Open champions, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth will look to continue their fairytale run as they eye another podium finish at the USD 500,000 Malaysia Open Super Series Premier which gets underway with the qualifiers here tomorrow.

Left with hardly any time to celebrate their maiden title wins at the India Super Series, Saina and Srikanth had to rush for Malaysia last night itself and the duo will look to recover quickly before starting their campaign on Wednesday in the main draw.

Bharat Ratna, Padma awards conferred on prominent people

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India’s high civilian honours – the Bharat Ratna and Padma awards – were on Monday conferred by President Pranab Mukherjee on a galaxy of prominent people who have done the country proud.

Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award, was bestowed posthumously on freedom fighter and eminent educationist Madan Mohan Malaviya at an investiture ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday evening.

Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who too was honoured with the Bharat Ratna, was presented the medallion and the scroll of the award last week at his residence because of his ill health.

Irresponsibility of Govt left 177 Model schools in lurch

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The 177 Model Schools, constituting of around 90,000 students in rural areas of the state, are fighting a battle for the survival.

After the Centre had made it clear that it would not extend any helping hand, and decided to cut off its financial support to the model schools, has suggested to the state governments to fend for themselves.

Shockingly, the state govt had allocated a scanty Rs 75 lakh for the schools for the financial year 2015-16. The state government’s reluctance to shoulder the responsibility has left over 3,000 staffs,and future of 90,000 students in lurch.

Rahul Gandhi undertakes to appear before Bhiwandi court

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A court at Bhiwandi in the district on Sunday asked the Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi to appear before it latest by May 8 in a defamation case filed against him by an RSS functionary for allegedly saying that Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin was an RSS member.

Magistrate D P Kale had sought Rahul’s presence before the court on or before May 8, the next date of hearing.

Rahul’s lawyers gave an undertaking that he would be present on or before May 8.

The Congress leader is currently on a sabbatical and his whereabouts have become a subject of speculation and commentary in the media.

76 swine flu deaths in Telangana since January

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As many as seventy-six people have lost their lives to the swine flu and related health complications since January this year in Telangana.

A bulletin issued by the state government here today said 2,243 cases of swine flu infection were reported in the new year.

“From January 1 till March 29, 7,240 samples were tested, of which 2,243 were found to be positive. The number of deaths because of swine flu and other complications stood at 76,” it said.

Eight samples out of the 84 which were sent for analysis yesterday had tested positive for the H1N1 virus.

Manohar Parrikar calls on Japanese PM

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Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who is on a bilateral visit to Japan, called on Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe today.

The Defence Minister said that Japan is the first country he is visiting after assumption of office, which clearly conveys the importance India attaches to strengthening bilateral defence and security cooperation with the country.

Parrikar said that he would like to see a strong partnership with Japan in defence equipment and technology.

10 killed as bus overturns in Jharkhand

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At least ten people lost their lives as a bus overturned after it lost control and fell into a gorge in Jharkhand’s Garhwa district on Monday.

Eight people died on the spot while two others breathed their last in Garhwa’s Sadar Hospital.

The bus was on its way to Bihar’s Sasaram town from Raigarh city in Chhattisgarh when the accident took place.

Neelam, an official at the Sadar Hospital, said most of the injured have been admitted to the hospital for treatment.

Naqvi visits flood-affected areas in J-K, says report will be sent to PM Modi

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Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who today took stock of the flood-like situation in Jammu and Kashmir, said that an assessment report would be sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by tonight.

“The situation is serious, but there is no need to panic. Everything is in control now,” he said.

“We will conduct a review meeting and send the report to the Prime Minister by tonight,” he added.

Mamata Banerjee’s meeting with PM Narendra Modi is TMC’s ‘ghar wapsi’: Left Front

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The Left Front on Monday dismissed the suggestion that BJP would end the “misrule” of the Trinamool Congress, saying that the “saffron party-led Hindutva forces” were only complimenting TMC’s “radical fundamentalism”.

The Left Front manifesto for the upcoming Kolkata Municipal Corporation polls, which was released on Monday, described Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s recent meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “ghar wapsi” of the TMC.

Frame policy to ban use, sale of plastic flags, Bombay HC tells government

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The Bombay High Court on Monday asked Maharashtra government to come up with a comprehensive policy to ensure a ban on use, sale and purchase of national flags made of plastic.

A division bench of Justices NH Patil and VL Achliya was hearing a PIL filed by Hindu Janjagriti Samiti, seeking implementation of a August 2007 circular banning the use, sale and purchase of such flags.

Hindu children issue gets a rebirth: Sadhus bloody letters reached RSS

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Hindutva groups from Uttar Pradesh have urged the NDA government to formulate a common birth control law.

Earlier BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj stirred up a storm by asking Hindu women to produce four kids each to protect Hinduism.

On Sunday at the Dasna Devi temple in Ghaziabad, a panchayat was held were a section of sadhus, and leaders of 36 Hindu castes of western UP declared to pressurize the NDA government to pass a law restraining both Muslims and Hindus to a common maximum limit.

ICC Chairman N Srinivasan ‘delighted’ with success of mega event; lauds ‘good health’ of ODI cricket

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Hailing the just-concluded World cup as the ‘most popular’ in cricket’s history, ICC Chairman N Srinivasan on Monday said the event’s success has proved that the ODI format is in ‘good health’.

Australia beat New Zealand by seven wickets in the summit clash on Sunday in front of over 93,000 spectators at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground. Mr Srinivasan said the ICC was ‘delighted’ with the manner in which the game’s pinnacle 50-over event was hosted and delivered.

Younger motorists, females likelier to use phones while driving

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A new research has revealed that younger motorists and females were more likely to use their cell phones while driving than the older motorists and males.

The research conducted by The University of Texas Health Science Center suggested that people under the age of 25 were 4.12 times more likely to use cell phones while compared to older drivers and females were 1.63 times more likely to use cell phone while driving than male motorists.

100-carat diamond may fetch USD 25 million at auction

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A rare emerald-cut 100-caratdiamond is expected to fetch up to a whopping USD 25 million at an auction in New York.Sotheby’s New York will place the internally flawless diamond up for auction at its Magnificent Jewels sale on April 21.

“In terms of size and general shape, we have compared the diamond to a 9-volt battery,” said Gary Schuler, head of Sotheby’s jewelry department here.

The diamond has no measurable nitrogen impurities; it is one of the largest and rarest such stones in existence, according to Robb Report.

Bus owners in Jharkhand suspend operations to protest extortion by Maoists

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The bus owners in Jharkhand have suspended their operations in the wake of assaults and extortions by the Maoists.

The Maoists have been regularly extorting money from the bus drivers in several districts of the state and allege that the authorities have failed to take any action. The bus drivers, who refused to pay extortion money, are beaten up badly and their vehicles torched.

The bus owners have refused to ply the buses till the government assures police protection to them. As a result, the services in major routes of Ranchi, Panki and Lesliganj have been badly affected.

Rats’ ability to link cause and effect helps understand human reasoning

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A new study has indicated that even rats can imagine and they have the ability to link cause and effect such that they can expect, or imagine, something happening even if it isn’t.

The study conducted by Cognitive Neuroscience Society is important to understanding human reasoning, especially in older adults, as aging degrades the ability to maintain information about unobserved events.

Student ragged in Meerut college; six booked

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A student of a dental college here was allegedly ragged by six senior students, following which a case has been registered against them, police said today.

In his complaint, the victim, a second year student of Kalka dental college, said that on March 27 he was brutally beaten up by six senior students for nearly three hours, after which they left him in an unconscious state and fled away, Circle Officer Bramhapuri area Vijay Pratap Yadav said.

The victim hails from Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan.

Mufti sanctions Rs. 225 crores to meet flood-situation in J-K

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Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on Monday announced the release of Rs. 225 crores to meet the flood-situation created by incessant rains in the state.

“I authorise the release of an amount of Rs. 225 crores in favour of Divisional Commissioner of Kashmir and Rs. 10 crores in favour of Divisional Commissioner, Jammu and SDRF (State Disaster Relief Fund) for rescue and relief,” Mufti said while making a statement on the flood situation in the state assembly.

Prez confers Bharat Ratna on Madan Mohan Malviya

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Freedom fighter and the founder of Banaras Hindu University, Madan Mohan Malviya, was today posthumously conferred with the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award, by President Pranab Mukherjee in a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan here.