Month: March 2015

Andhra seeks help to trace mountaineer missing in South America

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The Andhra Pradesh government has sought help from Indian embassies in Argentina and Chile to trace ace mountaineer Malli Mastan Babu missing for last one week.

The chief secretary, in a message to the Indian embassies and also ministry of overseas Indian affairs on Tuesday, informed that Malli is missing since March 24 while climbing a mountain in Chile.

He requested them to take necessary steps to trace the whereabouts of Malli, who hails from Nellore district.

Tummala to meet Gadkari on roads development

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Roads and buildings Minister T Nageswar Rao today directed the officials to expeditiously complete the works related to expansion of state roads to national level. It was decided to urge Union Minister Nithin Gadkari to give permission on priority basis to develop six state level roads of 1018 stretch as national roads.

Anand opens five-day training for Speedy Passport Verification

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Cyberabad Police Commissionar C.V. Anand inaugurated a five-day Training Program on “Expeditious Passport Verification” at Cyberabad Commissionerate for S.B staff of Telangana State as per the directions of Anurag Sharma, DGP, Telangana State.

The Cyberabad Police Commissioner already launched the program on February 2 last month and reduced Passport verification time from 13 days to just three to four days which was appreciated by Mukthesh Paradeshi, Secretary, MHA, . Ashwini Sattaru, RPO, Hyderabad, TCS officials and the Delhi Police.

Jagan visited Delhi to seek favours: Yanamala

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AP Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu today suspected that YSRCP chief Jaganmohan Reddy visited Delhi with vested interests, including securing his attached assets by the Enforcement Directorate on corruption allegations.
Yanamala stated in a pressnote on Tuesday that there were five hidden reasons behind the Leader of the Opposition meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as other Union Ministers.

No spl powers on Hyd: Guv

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Governor ESL Narasimhan who is on a national capital trip for three days today ruled out special powers offered to him on Hyderabad which is joint capital for 10 years for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana state post bifurcation. Interacting with media persons at Delhi after calling on a couple of union ministers, the governor said that denied media reports that powers related to law and order in Hyderabad were given to him. It is the media reporting such stories and no such information has been received from the Centre, he stated.

TRS flays Bhatti for CM jibe

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TRS MLC Karne Prabhakar today lambasted Congress leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka for his alleged remarks against Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.
Addressing the media at the TRS Bhavan here, Prabhakar asked the Congress leader to control his tongue or else face the music. “We will not keep quiet if the Congress leaders or others indulge in mudslinging activity on the government or the Chief Minister”, he warned. “Vikramarka should keep mum instead of making derogatory remarks against the Chief Minister, who has been trying to develop the State, he said.

Rajasthan to set up panel to search for missing tigers

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Rajasthan will set up a monitoring committee to search for missing tigers in the Ranthambore tiger reserve, a minister said on Tuesday.

Replying to an issue raised by Kirori Lal Meena of the National Peoples Party during Zero Hour in the assembly, Minister of State for Mines and Wildlife Rajkumar Rinwa said the state government would also set up a cell to monitor tigers.

Meena alleged that five tigers have gone missing in the last six months in the tiger reserve in Sawai Madhopur district, and raised doubts over the tiger tracking system being undertaken by the government.

Smriti stresses need for women’s empowerment

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Union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani on Tuesday stressed the need for women’s empowerment, and said girls can continue their education even after marriage.

At a function organised at the CISF Reserve Battalion Campus in Ghaziabad, the minister recollected her visit to Punjab where she presented degrees to girls.

She said she asked a student what she wanted to become after getting the gold medal in her degree course.

In her reply, the girl said she had become what a woman wants to become — the mother of two children.

Harika exits World Women’s Chess Championship

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Indian chess Grandmaster Harika Dronavalli exited the World Women’s Chess Championship on Tuesday, losing the crucial semi-final tie-breaker to Ukraine Woman GM (WGM) Mariya Muzychuk.

The tie-breaker scores stood at 3.5-2.5 in favour of Muzychuk.

In the final, Muzychuk would face Russian WGM Natalija Pogonina who defeated Swedish GM Pia Cramling in another tie-breaker.

The day saw fortunes swinging between Muzychuk and Dronavalli. But in the end, some simple errors and a blunder cost the Indian the final berth.

Cabinet nod for quality education in homeopathy

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The union cabinet on Tuesday approved a new provision to ensure that homeopathy education is made available only by colleges equipped to guarantee quality.

The decision was taken by the union cabinet at a meeting here under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Goa CM allegedly makes comment on women’s complexion

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In a remark that could land him in trouble, Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar today allegedly advised the agitating nurses that they should not stage hunger strike in the sun because it will make them ‘dark’ and ‘ruin their marital prospects’.

“When we met the Chief Minister over our demands at Ponda today, he said the girls should not sit on hunger strike in hot sun as their complexion will become dark and they will not find a good bridegroom,” said Anusha Sawant, one of the nurses.

Cabinet nod for pooling imported, domestic gas prices for urea

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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Tuesday approved the supply of gas at uniform delivered price through a pooling mechanism for 30 urea manufacturing units in the country.

Calling it “a historic moment for farmers”, Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad announced the decision which would allow sale of gas at a composite price arrived at by pooling gas from cheaper domestic and more expensive imported sources.

Delhi to regularize unauthorized colonies

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The Delhi government on Tuesday said it will start regularizing unauthorized colonies in the city by fixing their boundary and asking the civic agencies to prepare their layout plans.

Addressing the media, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said: “We are dedicated towards regularizing the irregular colonies by fixing their boundaries.”

He said the municipal corporations of Delhi had been told to prepare a layout plan for all such colonies, which are home tens of thousands of the poorest of the poor.

India’s foreign debt at December-end rose to $461.9 bn

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India’s external debt at the end of December 2014 stood at $461.9 billion — a 3.5 percent or $15.5 billion rise from what it was in end of March 2014, government data showed on Tuesday.

The country’s external debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio stood at 23.2 percent as of December-end, compared with 23.7 percent as of March 2014-end.

The rise in external debt during the period was owing to an increase in long-term debts like commercial borrowings and NRI deposits.

SC pulls up Assam for laxity over illegal Bangladeshi migrants

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The Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up the Assam government for filing a vague and unsatisfactory affidavit and questioned its seriousness in dealing with illegal Bangladeshi nationals entering the state exploiting the porous India-Bangladesh border.

Chiding the Assam government over the steps taken by it to contain the influx of illegal migrants in pursuance to its December 17, 2014 direction, the bench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman described the government’s affidavit as “vague” and “highly unsatisfactory”.

18-hour-old undergoes open heart surgery

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An 18-hour-old infant underwent an open heart surgery at a hospital here, and doctors said on Tuesday that the boy was now in a stable condition.

The boy, whose name has not been revealed, is believed to be the youngest reported patient to undergo such a major surgery.

The infant was born in Mathura in Uttar Pradesh in December last year, with a complication called obstructed critical total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC).

Petition in High Court seeking prosecution of Obama ?

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A local lawyer whose petition seeking prosecution of US President Barack Obama for his remarks on “religious intolerance” in India was struck down by a local court last month, today moved Allahabad High Court challenging the lower court order.

Sushil Kumar Mishra, whose petition dated February 9 was dismissed by Judicial Magistrate Neelima Singh on February 10, filed a criminal revision petition at the High Court’s registry contending that the lower court had erred in rejecting his complaint against Obama on the ground of diplomatic immunity.

Nigerian opposition party declares victory in presidential poll

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With the final result yet to be announced, the Nigerian opposition party on Tuesday declared victory in the recent presidential poll.

Shehu Garba, spokesperson of the opposition party’s campaign organisation, said the political group has already declared a victory party in Abuja, with the party’s presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, in attendance.

“We have already won the election. The figures have shown we won and the ruling party cannot meet up with the figures. It is not possible,” Xinhua quoted Garba as saying.

Iraqi forces free Tikrit from IS militants

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Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Tuesday announced that security forces have freed Salahudin’s provincial capital city of Tikrit from Islamic State (IS) after days of heavy clashes with the radical group.

“The Iraqi forces have entered downtown Tikrit before a short time and have raised the Iraqi flag on its provincial government building,” Abadi said in a press conference in Baghdad.

Under-23 AFC Championship: India, Bangladesh in goalless draw

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India and Bangladesh finished with a goalless draw in a power blackout-marred Group E exchange of the under-23 AFC Championship at the Bangabandhu National Stadium here on Tuesday.

India threatened the Bangladesh citadel time and again in the first session, but the script was reversed after the lemon break as Bangladesh boys dominated.

Bangabandhu National Stadium was enveloped in total darkness as the lights went off. The players went back to the dressing room, got cooled down in the process and waited. The wait lasted another 40 minutes in total leading to an interval of 55 minutes.

Delhi Metro helpline upgraded to interactive voice system

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Delhi Metro on Tuesday took a step closer to offer better services to commuters by enhancing its existing helpline service into an interactive voice response system (IVRS).

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) managing director Mangu Singh inaugurated the system at Metro Bhavan here and made the first call on the new 24×7 IVR System available at phone number 155370.

He demonstrated the system by asking about the fare between Noida City Centre and Barakhamba stations. The IVRS works in English and Hindi languages.

Truck helper jailed for life for murdering driver

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A court here on Tuesday sentenced a truck helper to life in prison for stabbing to death the driver after an altercation over having designs on the driver’s wife.

Additional Sessions Judge Manoj Jain awarded life imprisonment to 38-year-old Vishal Kumar, after holding him guilty of murder.

According to the prosecution, Kumar – a drug addict – attacked truck driver Madan Lal Soni on March 26, 2013 with a knife after a altercation took place between them over Kumar having designs on Soni’s wife.

Soni was rushed to a hospital where he succumbed to severe injuries in his abdomen area.