Month: April 2015

Arms Act case: Salman Khan arrives at Jodhpur Court

by

Bollywood actor Salman Khan, who had sought exemption from appearing in the Jodhpur court last week citing health reasons, will appear in the court today to record his statement in connection with the Arms Act case.

Salman had earlier last Thursday failed to appear before a local court in Rajasthan for the hearing of the case. His lawyer had cited health reasons for his absence from the court hearing.

The Bollywood actor was summoned by the court to record his statement in the case.

His sister Alvira was present in the court for the hearing.

Indian born-woman becomes first criminal court judge in New York

by

Raja Rajeswari has been sworn-in as a criminal court judge here by Mayor Bill de Blasio, becoming the first India-born woman to be appointed a judge in the New York City.

Rajeswari, 43, who had immigrated to the US from India as a teenager, previously worked with the Richmond County District Attorney’s Office for her entire career in several bureaus including Criminal Court, Narcotics, Supreme Court, and the Sex Crimes Special Victims Bureau, where she last served as Deputy Chief.

‘I’m going to be buried alive…’ journalist on Mount Everest recount horrific moments

by

“We heard this most horrifying sound, it was like a train but came from so deep… and then finally there was this stillness, this complete stillness, and I knew I was alive,” says photographer Roberto Schmidt of the moment he survived an avalanche on Everest.

Schmidt, AFP’s South Asia photo chief, and Kathmandu bureau chief Ammu Kannampilly had just reached Everest base camp on assignment Saturday when an avalanche – triggered by the 7.8-magnitude quake that has killed more than 4,310 in Nepal – thundered down the mountain.

Around 50,000 pregnant women affected from quake in Nepal: UN

by

Around 50,000 pregnant women and girls could be affected by the devastating earthquake in Nepal which has killed over 4,350 people and impacted the life of some eight million people, the UN said today.

United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA)’s initial estimates indicate some 50,000 pregnant women and girls could be among the survivors.

Pregnant women affected by the disaster require maternal health services, including antenatal care, safe delivery services, post-partum care, and, for those who experience complications, emergency obstetric services, it said.

60 pc of Indians face network problems while using internet on mobile: Study

by

Over 60 per cent mobile users in India are facing network problems while accessing internet across locations, says a study.

“We have found people are facing differing mobile data issues depending upon location. About 63 per cent people are facing quality and reliability issues (like voice drops, connection breaks, inconsistent speed, no availability of 3G) inside their house,” says the study across 33 major cities telecom gear maker Ericsson.

Facebook introduces video calling on Messenger

by

Facebook has introduced video calling on its messaging platform, allowing users to chat face-to-face with their friends by tapping a single button inside Messenger app.

The new feature pits Messenger against similar products from other companies like, Microsoft’s Skype, Google Hangouts, and Apple’s FaceTime , reported The Verge.

Stan Chudnovsky, Messenger’s head of product, said that the focus of Facebook’s developers was on making video work well on relatively low-bandwidth cell networks and therefore, the feature works over both LTE and Wi-Fi.

Facebook collecting Nepal quake aid donations

by

Facebook was rolling out a donation button today for contributions to victims of the massive earthquake in Nepal, and offered to match up to $2 million.

“People are coming together to support those affected by the earthquake that struck Nepal and impacted the populations of Nepal, India and Bangladesh,” Facebook said in a blog post.

Facebook said that as of Monday, users will see a message at the top of their News Feed with an option to donate to International Medical Corps, which has been operating relief units in the region.

Startup Rubix unveils wireless charging battery

by

Tech startup Rubix has developed a slap a magnetized Qi wireless charging case called On Case on your phone and then let it snap onto a magnetized wireless charging battery called On Charger.

According to the engadget.com, On Charger is 13.9mm-thick and consists of a 5,000 mAh battery with two output options, a fast 2A current over a USB cable or a standard 1A over close-proximity wireless transmission.

Mahindra slashes price of electric small car e2o by Rs 92,000

by

Homegrown auto major Mahindra & Mahindra has slashed the price of its electric small car ‘e2o’ by Rs 92,000 following the launch of a central government scheme offering incentives on electric and hybrid vehicles.

The e2o, manufactured by the company’s arm, Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles will see a reduction in price by 16 per cent from its earlier price of Rs 5.71 lakh (on road Delhi) along with a fixed energy fee of Rs 2,999 per month for five years or 50,000 km.

The car will now be available at Rs 4.79 lakh (on road Delhi), while the fixed energy fee remains the same.

Sensex rebounds 219 points on late buying

by

The benchmark BSE Sensex rebounded from its over three-and-a-half months low today by rising 219 points to settle at 27,396.38 on late buying in blue-chips ICICI and Maruti Suzuki whose earning numbers beat estimates.

However, taxation concerns and corporate earning worries limited the gains in choppy session, brokers said.

“MAT issue and poor Q4 FY15 leading to earnings downgrade is concerning the market,” said Vinod Nair, Head-Fundamental Research at Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.

Sensex rises 70 points in early trade on value-based buying

by

The benchmark BSE Sensex rose over 70 points in early trade today as value-based buying in stocks of banking, auto, metal, PSUs, oil & gas and power sectors led the recovery amid a mixed trend at other Asian markets.

The 30-share index, which had lost 713.14 points in the previous three sessions, recovered by 70.92 points, or 0.26 per cent, at 27,247.91.

On similar lines, the National Stock Exchange index Nifty edged up by 16.45 points, or 0.20 per cent, at 8,230.25 in early trade.

World Bank pats India, pegs GDP growth at 7.5 pc in FY16

by

Projecting a growth rate of 7.5 per cent for 2015-16, the World Bank today suggested that India should step up economic reforms and encourage domestic companies to become “globally competitive”.

“GDP growth (at market prices) is expected to accelerate to 7.5 per cent in 2015-16 reaching 8 per cent in 2017-18. Acceleration in growth is conditional on the rate of investment picking up to 11 per cent during FY16 to FY18…

Govt vows to cut down fiscal deficit to 3.5 pc by March 2017

by

Reiterating commitment to stick to the fiscal consolidation road map, the government today said it will continue with subsidy reforms and bring down the fiscal deficit to 3.5 per cent of the GDP by March 2017.

“Government is committed to progressively pursuing subsidy reforms,” Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

As per the fiscal consolidation road map of the government, fiscal deficit is to be brought down to 3.9 per cent of GDP in 2015-16 and further to 3.5 per cent in 2016-17. The deficit was 4.1 per cent in previous fiscal.

Around 70 banks have not reduce rates despite two cuts

by

As many as 70 banks, including 23 public sector lenders, have not passed on the benefits to their consumers from RBI’s two rate cuts so far in 2015.

Reserve Bank of India cut the repo rate by 0.25 per cent on January 15 and further by 0.25 per cent on March 4.

Out of 91 scheduled commercial banks in the country, a total of 21 banks have lowered their base rates after RBI’s rate cut decisions, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said today. These include four public sector banks, six from the private sector and 11 foreign banks.

AAP govt gives nod to farmer scheme named after Gajendra

by

The Delhi government today gave approval for the setting up of a farmer compensation scheme to be named after Gajender Singh, who allegedly committed suicide during an AAP rally on April 22.

The government has also decided to give job to a member of Gajendra’s family and martyr status for him, as demanded by the farmer’s kin.

The decisions were taken during a Cabinet meeting today, chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Singh, a 41-year-old farmer from Rajasthan, allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree during an AAP rally against the land ordinance.

Delhi Law Minister Jitender Singh Tomar’s degree ‘fake’?

by

In another trouble for Aam Aadmi Party, Delhi Law Minister Jitender Singh Tomar on Tuesday landed in another controversy over ‘fake degree’ issue.

According to reports, Bihar-based University has now claimed that the provisional certificate of his “LL.B studies” is “fabricated and does not exist in the institution’s record”.

“The serial number of the provisional certificate in the university records show the name of some other person in a different stream of study and not that of Tomar.”

Four held in fake OBC certificate racket in Delhi

by

Three persons have been arrested, and an advocate has been taken into custody, for allegedly using fake stamps and signatures to fraudulently obtain OBC certificates, police said on Tuesday.

Rajkumar Sharma, an advocate practising at Karkardooma Court, was detained while his brother Mukesh Kumar, Dharam Pal and Bhopal were arrested based on a tip off from Sharma’s shop in Sunder Nagri in the national capital, police said.

“They were found using fake stamps and signatures on the application forms for obtaining OBC certificates on April 22,” DCP (northeast) Veenu Bansal said.

WB civic polls ‘most undemocratic’, says BJP after drubbing

by

After crushing defeat at the hands of ruling TMC in West Bengal civil polls, BJP on Tuesday accused the Mamata Banerjee government of resorting to violence and voter intimidation to win the polls in what it described as “the most undemocratic” election.

“West Bengal civic polls have created a history of being the most undemocratic elections conducted by the State Election Commission.

“The ruling party that had claimed of winning these polls adopted all undemocratic means to secure the win,” BJP national secretary Siddharth Nath Singh said.

Nepali woman raped in Delhi, two held

by

A 22-year-old woman from Nepal was allegedly gang raped by two people here, police said on Tuesday, adding the accused have been arrested.

The incident was reported by the victim at Delhi’s Dwarka North police station on Tuesday morning.

“We have arrested two people,” Deputy Commissioner of Police R.A. Sanjeev told IANS.

Sanjeev said the woman resided in Delhi’s Karawal Nagar area with her live-in partner Devender.

She told police that Devender on Monday night took her to a flat in Dwarka Sector-19 to meet a couple of his acquaintances.

Civic body bill: Setback for Cong govt in Council

by

In a setback to Congress government in Karnataka, the Opposition-dominated Legislative Council today referred to the Select Committee a bill for trifurcating Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, the city civic body.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah described the referral as a “not only a new but a bad precedent”, a move that would delay passage of the bill further.

Illegal assets worth Rs 14 cr unearthed during Lokayukta raids

by

Illegal assets worth Rs 14 crore were unearthed by Lokayukta Police on Tuesday during simultaneous raids in 36 premises belonging to government servants in different parts of the state.

Based on the credible information collected by Lokayukta Police officers, source reports were generated against 10 government servants for alleged possession of assets disproportionate to their known source of income, Karnataka Lokayukta said.

It said criminal cases under Prevention of Corruption Act had been registered against the government servants.

Nepal quake: Death toll rises to over 5,000

by

Over 5,000 people have so far lost their lives in earthquake-hit Nepal where the rescue operations are on in full swing with many Indian agencies, including the army, working hand-in-hand with the Nepali authorities to bring relief to the affected people.

Scores of people are still trapped under tonnes of rubble in Kathmandu and some of the worst-affected remote mountainous areas.

Several people have been reported to be missing.

Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala had earlier on Tuesday declared three days of national mourning for the earthquake victims.

Child rapist, murderer executed in Pakistan

by

A prisoner convicted of raping and killing an eight-year-old girl in Pakistan was hanged to death on Wednesday morning, media reported.

Abdul Ghafoor was executed after President Mamnoon Hussain rejected his clemency plea, ARY news reported.

Ghafoor perpetrated the crime in 1991 and he was executed in Vehari District Jail of Punjab province.

Pakistan lifted the moratorium on death penalty on December 17, a day after Pakistani Taliban gunmen attacked Army Public School in Peshawar, killing over 140 people, most of them were student.

–IANS

Viqar encounter investigation delayed – Mr. Sandeep Shandaliya proceeds on leave

by

Two separate incidents of encounters occurred on 7th April in A.P. and Telangana States. In the Alair encounter, five Muslim under-trial prisoners were shot dead by the police in a fake encounter while transporting them from Warangal to Hyderabad. On Chittor incident, English and Telugu Dailies, political and voluntary organizations made a strong protest. Hyderabad High Court also expressed its unpleasantness on the slow progress of Chittor encounter case but nothing of this sort happened in respect of Alair encounter.