Month: April 2015

Coal India misses production target for FY’15 by 3%

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Coal India missed the production target for the financial year 2014-15 by 3% recording an output of 494.23 million tonnes.

The company’s output target was 507 million tonnes for the fiscal, Coal India said in a filing to the BSE.

In the financial year 2013-2014, the company had clocked production of 462.53 million tonnes of coal.

Last month, the company produced 57.27 million tonnes of coal as against its target of 56.87 million tonnes.

While, off-take or actual lifting of coal by consumers for 2014-15 stood at 489.34 million tonnes, short by six per cent of the set target.

Beyonce teases song in video with daughter

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R&B star Beyonce has previewed a new song reportedly called “Bounce” in a short video, showing her and daughter Blue Ivy Carter flossing their teeth.

The song was previously previewed during Robinson Cano’s birthday party in 2013.

It features contributions from husband Jay-Z and Timbaland, reported Aceshowbiz.

Beyonce, 33, and Ivy, three, both sport matching round sunglasses with green floss picks in their mouths. As Beyonce shows Ivy the proper way to floss, a new song is played in the background.

Julie Delpy, Linda Cardellini in ‘Avengers 2’?

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Actresses Julie Delpy and Linda Cardellini are listed along with the main cast members of “Avengers: Age of Ultron”, sparking rumour that one of them would play Carol Danvers aka. Captain Marvel.

Their characters are still kept under wraps.

Delpy’s and Cardellini’s castings were revealed in the cast listing for the world premiere event of the “Age of Ultron” to take place Monday, April 13, Aceshowbiz.

A representative for Disney confirmed their placement is not a mistake, but no further information is given.

Tom Cruise didn’t take me seriously for Scientology: Brand

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Comedian Russell Brand once tried to impress Tom Cruise to get into Scientology.

Brand, 39, admits that “Rock of Ages” co-star did not take him seriously.

“What I done was, I would just mooch around and look a bit down in the dumps, by Tom Cruise’s trailer and sometimes when we were doing a scene, I’d go, ‘Oh Tom, (if only there was a system) for all these feelings and thoughts I have and sometimes I wonder what’s the point Tom, is there a God? Isn’t there? Is there some way of analysing this data?’

Actor Patton Oswalt shows support for Trevor Noah on Twitter

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“Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD” Patton Oswalt has shown supported for Patton Oswalt has shown his support for the newly appointed “Daily Show” host Trevor Noah amid backlash over the correspondent’s past jokes.

Noah, who has been chosen to replace Jon Stewart as “The Daily Show” host, landed in hot water as people took issue with his offensive jokes that he made before he joined the Comedy Central series as a correspondent in late 2014.

Oswalt posted 53 tweets to explain how comedians could come under fire for jokes that were considered offensive.

Netanyahu tells Obama Iran deal ‘threat to Israel’s survival’

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The framework nuclear deal agreed with Iran would jeopardise Israel’s existence if implemented, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesman quoted him as saying to US President Barack Obama today.

“PM Netanyahu to Pres Obama: A deal based on this framework would threaten the survival of Israel,” Mark Regev wrote on his official Twitter account.

Regev quoted the Israeli premier as saying in the telephone conversation that the deal as it appears to be emerging “would not block Iran’s path to the bomb. It would pave it.

Now, another BJP MP says no link between smoking and cancer

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Amidst a raging controversy over remarks on smoking by a BJP MP who is a ‘beedi’ baron, another BJP MP Ram Prasad Sarmah on Friday waded into the row, claiming there is no clear proof yet linking cigarette smoking and cancer while wondering whether tobacco contains “herbal medicine”.

“Whether cigarette smoking causes cancer or not, there is no full proof till now,” Ram Prasad Sarmah, BJP MP from Tezpur, Assam said in Biswanath Chariali, about 75 km from Tezpur town.

US to hold Iraqi forces to account in Tikrit: official

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The United States is closely monitoring Iraqi forces in Tikrit amid allegations of human rights abuses committed by Baghdad’s troops and allied fighters in an assault to retake the city, a US military official has said.

It was “unclear” if executions and other alleged atrocities had taken place, the senior military official told reporters, but “that’s exactly what we’re going to be watching” for as Iraqi forces move to secure Tikrit.

Iraqi troops backed by paramilitary groups and US-led air strikes took back Tikrit from the IS group last week.

Pharrell Williams waxwork unveiled at Madame Tussauds

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Grammy-winning singer Pharrell Williams is the latest celebrity added to the wax figure gallery at Madame Tussauds here.

The singer, who turns 42 on April 5, showed up for the unveiling at Madame Tussauds in New York’s Times Square earlier this week, reported the New York Post.

“I’m excited and scared at the same time, if that makes sense,” he said before the curtain dropped and he met his wax look-a-like.

Amy Winehouse ponders fame in trailer for documentary

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The first trailer for a documentary on the life and music of late British singer Amy Winehouse has been released.

The teaser for “Amy: The Girl Behind the Name”, set for release on July 3, features early footage of Winehouse talking about how her music career was born and where she believed she was headed, reported CNN online.

“Singing has always been important to me, but I never thought, ‘I’ll end up singing’ or ‘I’ll be a singer’,” Winehouse said.

Foreign Trade Policy: ‘Services’ share in total exports to rise significantly’

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The government expects significant increase in share of services in India’s total goods and services exports in the next five years, the target for which has been set at $900 billion in the recently announced Foreign Trade Policy.

“We are hoping that (with) changes in the services architecture of incentives in the new policy, services should do better. We hope that their share will increase significantly,” a top Commerce Ministry official said.
In 2013-14, India’s services exports stood at $151.5 billion in 2013-14, while outbound shipments of goods aggregated at $314 billion.

Former Chinese security czar Zhou Yongkang charged with corruption, abuse of power, leaking state secrets

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Zhou Yongkang, China’s former security czar, has become the highest-ranking Chinese Communist Party official ever to face corruption charges after he was reportedly charged for accepting bribes by state prosecutors.

Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the highest prosecution authority in China, said that the 72-year-old was also charged with abuse of power and leaking state secrets, reported the CNN.

BJP will be in power for next 20 years, says Javadekar

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Minister of State for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar on Friday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would be in power at the Centre for next 20 years.

“The Modi government has arrived and will be in power for the next 10- 20 years. We are not going anywhere. The party felicitated party president Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking the party to a new height because today the BJP has become the biggest party in the world with 9.25 crore members,” Javadekar said.

Convicted Goa Minister Mickky Pacheco resigns from state cabinet

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Goa Rural Development Minister Francisco alias Mickky Pacheco, who is facing a six month jail term, resigned from the state cabinet on Friday.

Pacheco submitted his resignation to Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar, who accepted it and sent to the governor.

Pacheco submitted his resignation after the Supreme Court had dismissed his special leave petition against the verdict of Goa Bench of Bombay High Court, in a case of assaulting a government servant in 2006.

BJP doing everything for mandate-giving farmers: Javadekar

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Fighting off criticism against the Land Acquisition Bill, Minister of State for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar on Friday said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is doing everything for farmers and everywhere farmers were the ones giving it the mandate.

“Everywhere you will find it is the farmers, who have given us the mandate. We have been doing everything for the farmers,” claimed Javadekar during an interaction with media about ongoing discussions in the meeting of the BJP’s national executive here.

Jammu-Srinagar National Highway shut, passengers stranded

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The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway remained closed for traffic for the third day today due to fresh landslides triggered by heavy rains, leaving over 500 Kashmir-bound passengers stranded.

Authorities have not allowed any fresh movement of traffic from Jammu to Srinagar or from the other side as a precautionary measure in view of the bad weather conditions. Fresh landslides have occurred at three to four places on the highway, police said.

Arvind Kejriwal to address rally against land bill

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Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will address an AAP rally against the land Bill at Jantar Mantar and might also lead a march to Parliament on April 22.

“It has been decided that he will address the rally and might also lead a march to Parliament with other senior party leaders. The finer details are still being worked out,” a party spokesman said on Friday.

In a resolution passed by the party’s National Council on March 28, the party had decided to hold a march against the Bill and had formed a committee in this regard.

Chief Justice’s conference begins amid controversy over timing

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A Supreme Court judge has clashed with the Chief Justice of India over holding of a three-day long judges conference during the holy period for Christians as the meet began on Friday to deliberate on problems facing judiciary.

Apex court judge Justice Kurian Joseph has written a letter objecting to the holding of the conference of 24 high court chief justices from Good Friday to Eastern Sunday.

4 arrested in Ludhiana had links with gang involved nun rape

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The four Bangladeshi nationals arrested from Ludhiana had links with those involved in the gangrape of an elderly nun at a convent in Ranaghat, CID sources here said. “The four were arrested in Ludhiana on April 1 on the basis of inputs by CID. They are Bangladeshis and have no passport or visa. They had links with the gang involved in the gangrape of the nun, but whether they were present there on that day is being investigated,” CID sources told PTI here.

The sources said that a CID team had gone to Ludhiana.

Meghalaya government orders inquiry to verify citizenship claims

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Meghalaya government has ordered a magisterial inquiry to verify the genuineness of citizenship claims made by a group of families living along the Indo-Bangladesh border in East Khasi Hills district.

The inquiry was ordered after attempts to conduct a hearing in Shillong on Thursday had to be called off after several students’ bodies and pressure groups objected to the district administration summoning the families for the hearing alleging these are doubtful citizens.

BJP to rule India 10-20 years: Shah

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The BJP will rule India for the next 10-20 years, party president Amit Shah announced on Friday.

“This government has arrived… The BJP will be in power for the next 10-20 years,” party leader Prakash Javadekar quoted Shah as saying at the start of the two-day national executive meeting here.

Shah listed out the achievements of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government over the past 10 months on various fronts, including economy and foreign policy.

‘No link between tobacco and cancer,’ says BJP MP & beedi baron Shyam Charan Gupta

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A controversy broke out on Thursday over remarks by ‘beedi’ baron and a parliamentary committee member from BJP Shyam Charan Gupta suggesting “nil” effect of smoking, evoking sharp reaction from Opposition parties which sought his removal from the panel.

“I can produce a lot of people in front of you who are chain smokers of beedi and till date they have had no disease, no cancer… You get diabetes due to eating sugar, rice, potatoes. Why don’t you write warnings for all these things as well,” said Gupta, a Lok Sabha MP from Allahabad.

Pakistan PM leaves for Turkey over Yemen crisis

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Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday left for a one-day official visit to Turkey to hold talks over the ongoing conflict in Yemen.

He is scheduled to hold talks with with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Dawn online reported.

In a pre-departure statement, Sharif said Pakistan believed in a peaceful resolution of the crisis and wished to promote unity among Muslim countries.

Sartaj Aziz, advisor to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs, was among those who accompanied Sharif.