Month: March 2015

Guinea declares Ebola emergency in five regions

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Guinean President Alpha Conde on Sunday declared a 45-day “health emergency” in five regions in the west and south-west of the country over Ebola.

Conde declared “a reinforced health emergency for a period of 45 days in the prefectures of Forecariah, Coyah, Dubreka, Boffa and Kindia” in a statement published in state media, BBC reported.

The focus of the virus “has shifted to our country’s coastal areas”, he said.

The restrictions include the quarantining of hospitals and clinics where new cases are detected, new rules on burials and possible lockdowns.

Medicine for psychological illness found at co-pilot’s home: report

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German police have found medical treatments for psychological illness at the home of the co-pilot suspected of deliberately crashing a jet into the French Alps, killing 149 people and himself, a German newspaper said today.

Investigators made the discovery in a search of the home of Andreas Lubitz in the western city of Duesseldorf and seized a number “of medicines for the treatment of psychological illness”, Welt am Sonntag weekly said.

Moin Khan axed from Pak chief selector’s post

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Pakistan under-fire chief selector Moin Khan has reportedly been axed from his position after a meeting of top officials of the cricket board on Saturday.

Moin, whose contract is yet to expire, was severely censured for visiting a casino in New Zealand during the World Cup, and has been offered another position in the PCB, the Dawn reported.

Additionally, the meeting discussed possible candidates for the role of ODI captain after Misbah-ul-Haq decided to retire from the limited over game at the end of Pakistan’s World Cup campaign.

Ali Anwar condemns IS threat to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

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Janata Dal (United) leader Ali Anwar on Sunday condemned the Islamic State (IS) for allegedly sending death threats to Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

“This is wrong, but what can we expect from ISIS? Such people or organizations should be condemned,” Anwar told ANI here.

“These kinds of people try to subjugate voices,” he added.

The spiritual guru, who is presently in Malaysia, has reportedly received a threatening letter through a courier.

436 mosques destroyed in Central African Republic: US ambassador to UN

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Almost all of the 436 mosques in the Central African Republic (CAR) have been reduced to rubble, said Samantha Power, the US ambassador to the United Nations.

She called the destruction “kind of crazy, chilling,” after a Security Council visit last week to the country.

Samantha expressed concern about possible security vacuum in the near future as French forces and European Union (EU) pull out and a UN peacekeeping force is still not at full strength.

As a minimum, 5000 people have been killed since CAR exploded into unprecedented sectarian violence in December 2013.

Germanwings crash: British victim’s father appeals to airlines

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The father of a British man who was aboard the ill-fated Germanwings flight that crashed on Tuesday en route from Barcelona to Dusseldorf, has urged the airlines to look after their pilots “properly”.

Philip Bramley, whose son Paul, 28, was among 150 people killed when the Germanwings Airbus A320 crashed in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in the French Alps, said the victims should “not be forgotten”, BBC reported on Sunday.

Bramley, whose son was studying hotel management in Lucerne, Switzerland, called for airlines to be more transparent, saying pilots should be “looked after properly”.

Sushma Swaraj assures all possible measures to evacuate stranded Indians in Yemen

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As the crisis in Yemen deepens, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday assured the nation that her ministry is following all routes to evacuate Indians stranded there.

Swaraj, who took to Twitter early today, wrote: We are doing everything to evacuate our people from Yemen at the earliest by all routes – land, sea and air.”

Swaraj had yesterday informed that two ships have been sent to Yemen to rescue the Indians, including Malayalees, who have been stranded in that country.

Rajnath moves to new bungalow; neighbours include LS Speaker

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Home Minister Rajnath Singh has moved to a sprawling bungalow in the capital’s Akbar Road with his next door neighbour being Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.

Ten months after assuming the charge of the sensitive Home Ministry, Singh moved to 17, Akbar Road, a Type VIII bungalow, in Delhi’s high-profile Lutyens zone on Friday, an auspicious day in Hindu calendar on account of ‘Ashtami’.

DTC takes steps to have more women drivers

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Keen on roping in women drivers for its fleet, Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has decided to provide training and help them in getting heavy motor vehicle licence.
DTC has also decided to give some relaxation to women applicants in hiring procedure, including in terms of experience.

V Saritha, who is the first women driver to join DTC and is currently undergoing training, will soon be ferrying passengers in the city.

Siasat EAMCET (Engineering/medicine) coaching & model test

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Engineering and Medical Common Entrance Test (EAMCET) 2015 is scheduled on May 14 in Telangana and on May 8 in AP. Siasat EAMCET coaching and model test series is being conducted for students appearing in EAMCET at Sri Chandra Junior College, Moti Gali, Khilwat, Charminar and Royal Regency Garden, Asif Nagar, Mehdipatnam. A lecture will be held on Sunday, March 29, from 9 to 11 am. EAMCET expert Akberuddin Siddiqui will deliver lecture on EAMCET preparation during the introductory session. Students are advised to avail the opportunity by arriving on time.

Siasat news

Jamiat-ul-Ulema demands ban on RSS

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Jamiat Ulama-Hind demanded ban on Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), calling it a “fascist” group and for creating havoc among minorities.

A resolution passed at the Ijlas-e-aam (general body meeting) of the Jamiat, accused the RSS of involvement in the demolition of Babri Masjid, ghar wapsi and campaign for a Hindu Rashtra.

“India is a democratic country where every citizen has the right to practice the religion of his/her choice, but there is an effort to take the country away from the path of law and justice to the one of anarchy and fascism.

Dalit girl raped by servant boy in Muzaffarnagar

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A youth has been arrested for allegedly raping a seven-year-old Dalit girl at Nawla village here, police said on Sunday.

22-year-old Amit Kumar, working as a servant with a farmer, was arrested yesterday for raping a minor at Nawla village under Mansoorpur police station area here, Circle officer D K Mittal said.

According to the complaint filed by the victim’s father, his daughter was abducted by the accused from her house and raped in the nearby forest, he said.

The girl who was seriously injured after the assault has been admitted to a hospital, police added.

—PTI

Postmen recruitments: model test at Siasat today

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Written test for recruitment on posts of postmen/mail guards in postal department is scheduled on April 12. Hall tickets of the candidates who have submitted the forms have been sent to them via post. The exam comprises of 100 objective type questions including 25 questions of General Knowledge, English, Maths and Telugu each.

FIR against college authorities for abetting suicide of student

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An FIR has been lodged against the Chairman and three lecturers of an Engineering college here for allegedly abetting suicide of a third year BTech student.

“Pradeep Agrawal, the chairman of the college, Madam Durga Puja, Meerendra and Sanjai Chauhan the three lecturers of Computer science department of the college did not allow my son Utpal Yadav to appear in the sessional examination being held recently.

It adversely affected him and it incited my son to commit suicide,” according to the FIR filed by the deceased student’s father.

Construction of 39 BOPs along Indo-Pak border delayed

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Construction of 39 Border Out Posts (BOPs) along the Indo-Pak border to check attempts of infiltration have got delayed by a year due to problems like land acquisition and public protests.

According to Home Ministry data, there are 609 BOPs along the 3,323-km-long border which runs through Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir.

India condemns violence, persecution in name of religion

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India has strongly condemned the violence perpetrated by extremist groups in the name of religion and ethnicity, emphasising that the need for world community to collectively demonstrate zero-tolerance towards the “strikes at our common humanity” has never been greater.

“Religious, cultural, ethnic and linguistic diversity is an essential and indispensable component of the social fabric of human civilisation. Persecution on the basis of this diversity strikes at our common humanity,” Deputy Permanent Representative to UN Ambassador Bhagwant Bishnoi said.

Two Pakistan intruders shot dead by BSF; 12-kg heroin, rifle seized

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Two suspected Pakistani intruders were shot dead here by security personnel in the early hours on Sunday as they were trying to smuggle in heroin worth Rs 60 crore into India, a day after 24-kg of the contraband was seized following a similar operation near the border.

Confirming the killing of two intruders at border outpost Rattan Khurd, Border Security Force (BSF) DIG RPS Jaswal said that an AK-47 assault rifle, too, was recovered from the intruders along with 12-kg of heroin.

Jurists must ensure justice to all in terror cases: President

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Jurists must play an important role to ensure justice to the victims of terror and to the persons implicated in such crimes, President Pranab Mukherjee has said.

“Jurists must play an important role in ensuring that the wheels of justice move faster — both to give justice to the victims of terrorism and to persons wrongly accused of crimes they may not have committed,” the President said.

In his message, Mukherjee greeted the organisers and the participants at the ‘International Conference of Jurists and Writers on International Terrorism’ which is to be held tomorrow in Mumbai.

Make in India, job creation high on PM Modi’s agenda

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his tour to France, Germany and Canada from April 10-16 would be focused on supporting India’s national economic agenda through programmes like Make in India in order to create jobs for the youth.

In a series of tweets, linked to his Facebook post, Modi spoke about his upcoming three-nation tour – his second overseas visit this year after to the Indian Ocean countries of Seychelles, Mauritius and Sri Lanka earlier in March.

Delhi Police plans to launch web app for its beat constables

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In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘SMART policing’, Delhi Police is working on a web-based app for its beat constables to reduce paperwork and make them more efficient.

With this ‘Beatbook app’, police wants to replace the beat register where a constable has to make entries about his day-to-day activities with an electronic log book.

In police terminology, a beat is the territory that a police officer patrols.

AAI union seeks Hazare support on airport privatisation issue

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Having failed in its efforts to stop the government from going ahead with privatistion of four more national airports, the AAI employees union has now turned to anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare for help.

AAEU (Airports Authority of India Employees Union) leaders met the septuagenarian activist at Ralegan Siddhi (in Maharashtra) last week to solicit his support in its “fight” against government’s attempt to hand over four more state- owned airports to the private corporates.

PB working on tie-ups with IMD, NCDEX for DD Kisan channel

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Aiming to provide content that is of practical use to farmers across the country on its soon-to- be-launched ‘DD Kisan’ channel, public broadcaster Prasar Bharati is working out strategic partnerships with elite scientific and other institutions.

Preparations for the launch of this “niche edu-tainment” channel, which could go on air in April, are on full-swing and tie-ups with several experts’ bodies are being explored and finalised, officials said.

Ludhiana: AAP holds cycle rally to protest VIP culture

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The Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday organised a cycle rally from Ludhiana to Chandigarh to lodge a protest against the money being spent on VIPs.

“We are going to take this rally till Chandigarh. A lot of government’s money is being wasted on VIP,” said senior lawyer and AAP member H. S. Phoolka.

“On the other hand they don’t have money to pay their staff, teachers and college professors have not been paid since the past one year,” he added.

Phoolka asserted that the money being spent on VIPs should be reduced to one fourth and the lowest employee should get paid first. (ANI)

Argentina manage without Messi in win over El Salvador

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Argentina rested superstar Lionel Messi but were still too powerful for El Salvador in a 2-0 friendly win over the Central American minnows at Fedex Field here.

A deflected Ever Banega strike on 54 minutes and a curling free-kick from debutant Federico Mancuello three minutes from time secured a straightforward win for the World Cup finalists yesterday as they build towards June’s Copa America in Chile.

Railways aims to eliminate direct discharge toilets by 2020-21

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Aiming to eliminate direct discharge toilets from its entire fleet of passenger coaches by 2020-21, Railways has drawn up an action plan to replace them with environment-friendly bio-toilets.

“While 17,338 existing toilets in trains have been replaced with bio-toilets till date, our aim is to equip the entire coaching fleet with bio-toilets,” said a senior Railway Ministry official involved with the project.

According to the action plan, all new coaches would be fitted with bio-toilets by 2016-17, while the retrofitting of existing coaches with bio-toilets will continue.