Month: April 2015

Sania, Hingis reach final of Miami Open

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Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis are in line to win their second title in a row as they breezed into the final of the Miami Open with a straight sets win over Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic.

The top seeded Indo-Swiss pair got the better of seventh seeds 6-2 6-4 in the semifinals of the USD 5,381,235, WTA Premier tournament.

In the summit clash, they will take on Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina, whom they had defeated in the final of the BNP Paribas Open two weeks ago.

The No.2-seeded Makarova and Vesnina beat No.9 seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka 6-4 6-2.

5 suspects nabbed in connection to Kenya’s Garissa University gun attack

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Five people have been nabbed in connection to the gun attack in Kenya’s Garissa University, which killed 148 people, sources said.

The arrests came after authorities announced a reward of 148,370 pounds for the capture of alleged mastermind, former teacher Mohammed Mohamud, reported Sky News.

About 79 people were injured during the attack, in which Somalia’s Al Shabaab militants targeted Christians.

Reports claimed that the masked gunmen were wearing suicide vests and were armed with AK-47s.

Biosensing platform can help detect HIV, Ebola

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Researchers have developed a new biosensing platform that could be used to remotely detect and determine treatment options for HIV, E-coli, Staphylococcus aureas and other bacteria.

Using a drop of blood from a fingerprick, the biosensing platform provides clinically relevant specificity, sensitivity and detection of pathogens from whole blood and plasma.

Depression and insomnia strongest risk factors for nightmares

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Symptoms of depression and insomnia are the strongest predictors of having frequent nightmares, a new study has found.

Researchers from the University of Turku in Finland and the Finnish National Institute of Health and Welfare analysed data from two independent cross-sectional surveys of the Finnish general adult population conducted in 2007 and 2012.

Participants were 13,922 adults between 25 and 74 years of age.

J&K highway closed for 4th day; over 600 passengers stranded

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The 300-km long Jammu-Srinagar National Highway remained closed for traffic for the fourth consecutive day Saturday due to landslides triggered by heavy rains, leaving over 600 Kashmir-bound passengers stranded.

Authorities have not allowed any fresh movement of traffic from Jammu to Srinagar or from the other side, SSP Traffic, National Highway, Sanjay Kotwal said.

As a result of closure of the highway, over 600 Kashmir-bound passengers are stranded at the Jammu bus stand for the past three days and are demanding that they be airlifted to Kashmir.

Element of surprise helps babies learn best: study

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Infants have innate knowledge about the world, and when their expectations are defied, they learn best, a new study has found.

Researchers demonstrate for the first time that babies learn new things by leveraging the core information with which they are born.

When something surprises a baby, like an object not behaving the way she expects it to, she not only focuses on that object but ultimately learns more about it than from a similar yet predictable object.

RR Martin releases excerpt from new ‘Game of Thrones’ book

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George RR Martin has released on his website a chapter from the upcoming sixth “Game of Thrones” book, titled “The Winds of Winter” told from the perspective of the character Sansa Stark.

The excerpt, which contains spoilers for “Game of Thrones” fans focuses on Alayne, the alias of Sansa while she is living with Lord Baelish aka Littlefinger in the Vale, reported Aceshowbiz.

The last time Martin wrote a chapter from Sansa’s point of view was in the fourth novel, “A Feast for Crows”.

Pope presides over Good Friday procession at Colosseum

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Pope Francis, presiding at the traditional Good Friday Colosseum procession, decried what he called the “complicit silence” about the killing of Christians.

The evening, torch-lit ceremony at the ancient arena recalls the suffering and death of Jesus by crucifixion.

After listening silently, often with head bowed and eyes tightly shut, to reflections read aloud about Jesus’ suffering, Francis pressed what lately has been an urgent concern of his papacy — the present-day martyrdom of Christians in parts of the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere.

All India Fiqahi Conference inaugurated

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Addressing the inaugural session of 3-day All India Fiqahi Conference Mufti Mohammed Nizamuddin Rizvi (president Mufti Jamia Ashrafia, Mubarakpur, UP), Maulana Mufti Mohammed Ayyub Khan (president Mufti Jamia Nayeemia, Moradabad), Dr. Siraj ur Rahman Naqshbandi, Mufti Mohammed Hasanuddin Ameer-e-Shariah Jamiat-ul-Mominat, Noor ul Haq Quadri, Dr. Muftia Rizwana Zareen Principal and Shaikh ul Hadeeth Jamiat ul Mominat, Dr. Muftia Nazema Aziz Mominati, Maulana Rauf Ali, Dr. Baderunnisa, Dr. Muftia Nikhat, Dr. Muftia Atiya Sultana addressed on the occasion.

Ace mountaineer Malli Mastan Babu found dead in Andes Mountains

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Ace mountaineer Malli Mastan Babu, who went missing since March 24 from Andes Mountains in South America, has been found dead.

Babu is a top Indian mountaineer, having achieved the feat of becoming the “fastest seven summiteer” in the world (172 days in 2006, during which he climbed seven summits on seven days of the week in each calendar month). He is also the first Indian to summit Mt Vinson Massif, the tallest peak in Antarctica and the first person from Andhra Pradesh to scale the Everest.

Woman impersonating as IAS officer held ?

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Ruby Chaudhry, the woman who stayed at the prestigious IAS training academy in Mussoorie for over six months masquerading as a probationer and accused a senior officer of taking bribe to facilitate her stay, has been arrested.

“She was arrested from a city hotel late last night by the SIT probing the case. She has been arrested under sections 420 (cheating, dishonesty), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) of the IPC,” SP (City) Ajay Singh told PTI.

Saina loses in Malaysia Open semis

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World No.1 shuttler Saina Nehwal lost her women’s singles semi-final to reigning Olympic champion Li Xuerui at the $500,000 Malaysia Open Superseries Premier here on Saturday.

The Chinese beat the third seeded Saina in a marathon match that lasted an hour and eight minutes. The top seed eventually won 13-21, 21-17, 22-20 at the Putra Stadium.

The Indian challenge in the tournament ended with Saina’a loss.

–IANS

History won’t forgive you Kejriwal: Prashant Bhushan open letter

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Days after he and Yogendra Yadav were expelled from the party’s top decision-making fora, rebel AAP leader Prashant Bhushan fired a fresh salvo at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal accusing him of turning AAP a “high command-oriented” party and betraying trust of lakhs of supporters.

US woman accused of trying to join, martyr self for IS group

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A woman has been arrested on charges she tried to join and martyr herself for the Islamic State group, a day after two women in New York were charged with plotting to wage jihad by building a bomb and using it for a Boston Marathon-type attack.

Keonna Thomas, 30, was preparing to fly to Spain with hopes of reaching Syria to fight with the terror group, authorities said.

Instead, she was arrested yesterday at her family’s town house in a public housing development, which has three small US flags adorning the porch.

Appeals court: Yoga doesn’t bend rules on religious freedom

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A California appeals court says yoga taught in San Diego County schools doesn’t violate religious freedom.

The 4th District Court of Appeal yesterday upheld a trial court ruling that rejected a lawsuit by parents who tried to block Encinitas schools from teaching yoga.

The court says that while yoga may be religious in some contexts, there’s no evidence the programme at Encinitas Union School District has religious, mystical or spiritual trappings.

The lawsuit was brought by parents of two students who claimed the practice promoted Hinduism and inhibited Christianity.

Romanian court bans 6 foreigners due to al-Qaeda links

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Romania’s intelligence agency says a Bucharest court has ruled that six foreigners have been banned from the country due to their links with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

The Romanian Intelligence Service said late yesterday that a court has declared the six “undesirable” and banned them from Romania for three to six years. It said the six were working for companies with foreign capital and had been under surveillance since 2013.

Chicago-area cousins indicted in alleged terrorist plot

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Two suburban Chicago men have been indicted on charges accusing them of plotting a terrorist attack on an Illinois military facility.

Hasan Edmonds is a 22-year-old member of the Illinois Army National Guard. He and his 29-year-old cousin, Jonas Edmonds, were arrested last month for allegedly conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq.

The indictment was filed Thursday in US District Court and announced yesterday. Prosecutors say the two men will be arraigned April 8. The men are US citizens and residents of Aurora.

Hindu devotee from Pak drowns to death in Haridwar

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A Hindu devotee from Pakistan today drowned in the Ganga while having a bath here.

The deceased, identified as Ramchandra (29), a resident of Sindh, Pakistan, was having a bath when his foot slipped accidentally and he fell in the river, police said.

He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared brought dead, they added.

He had come last Wednesday with 93 other devotees to visit Haridwar.

JCB driver arrested for killing owner

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A JCB driver, who had allegedly killed his owner and thrown his body into Hindan Canal here, was today arrested, police said.

Indirapuram police today arrested JCB driver Lala for allegedly killing his owner Shamsuddin (28), SHO Gorakh Nath Yadav said.

A body was recovered from Hindan Canal on March 29 which was later identified as Shamsuddin, a native of Bulandshahr, he said, adding that his JCB machine was engaged in earth digging work near the Canal.

In Iraq, a historic Christian library saved from militants

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As Islamic State group militants advanced toward this monastery perched on a mountain in northern Iraq, the monks rushed to protect a cherished piece of their heritage: Their library of centuries-old Christian manuscripts.

Dozens of the handwritten tomes were spirited to safety in nearby Kurdish-ruled areas.

There they remain, hidden in a non-descript apartment in the Kurdish city of Dohuk where Christians who have fled the extremists’ onslaught are living and watching over them.

2 more Saudi soldiers killed on Yemen border: ministry

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Two more Saudi soldiers have been killed on the border with Yemen, the interior ministry said today.

“Two soldiers from the border guards were martyred during an exchange of fire at a border point in Asir region” in Saudi Arabia’s southwest, said the ministry’s spokesman cited by the official Saudi Press Agency.

The deaths come a day after the ministry announced the first casualty — a soldier shot from across the border in the same area — since the kingdom launched a coalition against Shiite Huthi rebels in Yemen on March 26.

Sena banks on MIM, splitting 80,000 Muslim votes

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With the Shiv Sena and the Congress pulling out all the stops for the April 11 Bandra East constituency by-polls, the MIM has emerged as a deciding factor.

Insiders from both parties said they keep a close watch on MIM, which is hitting the ground hard and wooing Muslim votes.

The by-polls is being held following the death of Sena’s MLA Prakash, alias Bala Sawant and the party has given the ticket to Trupti Sawant, widow of Bala Sawant.

The MIM’s Rahbar Khan is pitted against the Congress’s Narayan Rane and the Sena’s Trupti Sawant.

HP CM for job-oriented education in HP

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Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today stressed the need for the value-based and job-oriented education in the state, saying his government was committed to provide quality education to all at their doorsteps.

Addressing a public meeting at remote Balsar area of Sirmaur district, the chief minister said an Indian Institute of Management was coming up at Dhaulakuan in Sirmaur district while an Indian Institute of Information Technology had been sanctioned for the state which would be opened in Una.

Smriti Irani filming episode: Was the act intentional?

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Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar on Saturday said the administration will find out if the camera spotted by Union Minister Smriti Irani in the “Fabindia” trail room, was an intentional act or not.

“It’s a very unfortunate incident. We have to find out if the act that happened is intentional, purposeful or unknowingly because such cameras are often displayed in shops,” said Parsekar.

He had earlier assured stringent action over the incident, saying a thorough investigation would be done and the culprit will be taken to task.