Month: May 2015

With the results season for 2014-15 drawing to a close, oil refining-to-retail major Reliance Industries has emerged as the top Indian corporate to earn the highest net profit, followed by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and the state-owned Oil and Gas Corporation (ONGC).

The Mukesh Ambani led-conglomerate reported a consolidated net profit of Rs.23,566 crore for 2014-15.

The consolidated net profit for the full financial year was up 4.8 percent from Rs.22,493 crore in 2013-14.

The Indo-Japanese joint venture Toyota Kirloskar Motor on Sunday reported a decline of 1.98 percent in its monthly sales for May.

The sales for May stood at 12,965 units from 13,228 units sold in the corresponding month of 2014.

“We sold 11,511 units in the domestic market this month. We deeply regret the inconvenience caused to our customers due to limited production on account of the planned shutdown,” N. Raja, director and senior vice president for sales and marketing with the company, was quoted in a statement.

Rallying dollar, crude and commodity prices coupled with a sharp decline in Euro led to a drastic fall in India’s foreign exchange reserves after four successive weeks of gains.

According to data furnished by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its weekly statistical supplement, India’s total foreign exchange reserves fell by $2.31 billion to $351.55 billion for the week ended May 22, 2015.

The country’s total foreign exchange reserves had touched a new record high of $353.87 billion for the week ended May 15 having increased by $1.74 billion over the figure for the previous week.

With this new app, you can take a selfie by screaming at your phone.

The new iOS camera app called Triggertrap Selfie, launched by camera triggering company Triggertrap, activates the phone camera through sound inputs.

The method is simple: Just point your phone and scream at your camera, and the app will take care of snapping a shot for you, reported petapixel.com.

The app’s live view will initially show your face as a jumble of pixel blocks.

To clear up the screen and snap a photo, just make some noise.

If we believe a latest Harvard University survey, 26 percent of students have had 10 or more sexual partners but 21 percent of senior students rate themselves still virgin.

Surprisingly, nearly a quarter of students (one in four) said they did not have sex while attending the college, according to the annual survey published by the college newspaper titled “Harvard Crimson”.

While 60 percent of students said they drank at least once a week, 40 percent reported that they had tried smoking marijuana at least once.

Smoking is bad not only for the smokers’ health, it annually pushes thousands of children into poverty in England, a study has revealed.

Smoking places a financial burden on low-income families, suggesting that parents are likely to forgo basic household and food necessities in order to fund their addiction.

“Smoking reduces the income available for families to feed, clothe and otherwise care for their children living in low-income households,” said lead author Tessa Langley from the University of Nottingham.

Now is the time to finally listen to your wife as women are better than men at remembering things to do, a new study finds.

The study involved putting 100 men and women through a battery of memory tests. These judged prospective memory; that is remembering to carry out plans.

The volunteers, who were aged between 15 and 40, found it harder to remember to do things the further they were into the future, Daily Mail reported.

The females also excelled at remembering plans that involved doing, rather than saying, something.

An Indian-origin businessman has been honoured for his commendable public service in Singapore, a media report said on Sunday.

Gautam Banerjee, senior managing director at Blackstone and co-chairman of its Asia operating committee, as well as chairman of Blackstone Singapore, was awarded the prestigious Public Service Medal by President Tony Tan Keng Yam on Saturday, AsiaOne online reported.

Five people were killed on the spot and 15 others suffered serious head injuries when an express passenger bus crashed into a circular platform and overturned early on Sunday on a highway.

With 35 passengers on board, the Elite express bus crashed in Thada Oo on the Yangon-Pyin Oo Lwin highway at 3.15 a.m., Xinhua reported citing local media reports.

According to preliminary investigation by the police, the accident was probably caused by a sleepy driver at the wheel.

Sri Lanka’s anti-graft commission is set to issue fresh summons against former president Mahinda Rajapakse to question him over bribery allegations, media reported on Sunday.

The bribery Commission had earlier issued a notice to Rajapakse in April which, however, led to protests by the opposition in and outside parliament, Xinhua reported.

Five people, including three Vietnamese Americans in a family, were killed early on Sunday when their car was hit by a container truck in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City, media reported.

According to preliminary investigation, the seven-seater car and a 45-seat coach were running on the National Highway 1 to head for a pagoda in Dong Nai Province, which borders Ho Chi Minh City.

A man, unhappy with his wife for not giving him a son, burnt her and three daughters, including an infant, alive on Sunday in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district, police said.

The horrific incident happened in Kandi in the district, about 200 km from here. The attacker has been arrested, police said.

“We have arrested Ustak Ali (30) for allegedly burning his wife and three daughters alive. The charred bodies of his wife Najifa and three daughters aged 5, 3 and 1 year, were recovered from the house,” Superintendent of Police C. Sudhakar said.

There cannot be any talks with Pakistan against the backdrop of violence, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Sunday.

“There is no flip-flop on Pakistan policy… is very clear… no talks with violence as backdrop,” Sushma Swaraj said at a press conference to mark one year of Narendra Modi-led NDA government.

“All three – home ministry, defence ministry and external affairs ministry work together,” she said.

In response to a question on resuming cricket ties with Pakistan, the minister said: “No decision has been taken.”

The Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday again took strong exception to the AAP government’s alleged plans to buy high-end snooping equipment.

“Snooping is bad. Snooping on private individuals is bad. Be it AAP or BJP, we are against any such snooping. Private lives of individuals should be respected and not be allowed to be encroached on by any person or any authority,” Congress spokesman Ajay Maken told Times Now.

At least 27 people were killed and 30 others wounded on Sunday when a fuel tank atop a clinic rooftop in northern Syria exploded, the official Syrian TV said.

The Maysaloun clinic in the city of Hasaka was set on fire after the fuel tank exploded, the report said, adding that most of the victims were children who were taking vaccines at the clinic when the blast occurred.

Meanwhile, the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the fire at the clinic broke out after a gas cylinder exploded, causing other oxygen cylinders to explode as well.

Air Pegasus will fly daily to Kadapa in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh from Bengaluru from June 7, the new low-cost private carrier said on Sunday.

“We are providing air connectivity to Kadapa, one of the fast-growing tier-two cities in view of its strategic location and for being a major trading centre in the Rayalaseema region,” Air Pegasus managing director Shyson Thomas said in a statement here.

The city-based airline, which operates the 66-seater twin-engine turboprop aircraft ATR-72 on its feeder service, is pricing the fare at Rs.1,234 initially.

Telangana is all set to celebrate its formation day on June 2 with week-long festivities highlighting the rich culture of the state and its struggle for separate statehood.

Hyderabad and the state’s other nine districts are geared up to celebrate the formation day amid fanfare.

Telangana had come into existence as India’s 29th state on June 2 last year after it was carved out of Andhra Pradesh.

Singer Taylor Swift reportedly wants to buy a nine million pounds home in Berkshire, south-east England.

The 25-year-old is said to be keen to snap up a property in the rural area and has her eye on one “stunning” property featuring a gym, spa, music room and cinema, 35 miles west of London, reports mirror.co.uk.

“Taylor is huge all over the world but spends a lot of time in Europe, so it’s probably time she had a base here,” said a source.

The official website of North Bengal Agriculture University in Cooch Behar of West Bengal was hacked on Sunday by a group calling itself the United Islamic Cyber Force, a varsity official said.

“Upon accessing the university website, the words ‘United Islamic Cyber Force’ appeared. Only the home page was hacked and our experts have now restored the site,” said university registrar Dipankar Pal.

The university officials have also lodged a police complaint.

Earlier, the Jadavpur University website was also hacked and porn content posted thereon.

There was no respite from intense heat wave in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana on Sunday as 45 more deaths were reported from the two Telugu states, taking the toll to over 2,200.

While 25 people died in Andhra Pradesh, 20 succumbed to sunstroke in Telangana.

The officials till Saturday night had confirmed 2,177 deaths in the two states. While Andhra Pradesh accounted for 1,636 deaths, 541 died in Telangana during last two weeks.

Hyderabad Meteorological Centre has warned that the heat may continue for two to three days in both the states.

A conspiracy was being hatched to weaken Odisha’s state-run Paradip Port and promote a private one in neighbouring Bhadrak district, the state’s Excise Minister Damodar Rout alleged on Sunday.

Addressing the media, the minister said “a group of influential people sponsored by the central government” has hatched a conspiracy to ruin the Paradip Port.

Rout, the legislator from Paradip, said the port, which had received the Golden Peacock National Quality Award for 2014 and was the second among the major ports in India, was going through a bad period.

Threatened and harassed for testifying against her rapist, a 22-year-old woman in West Bengal’s North Dinajpur district hanged herself to death, police said on Sunday.

The incident happened on Saturday in Kaliaganj area, some 460 km from Kolkata.

According to the police, the girl was allegedly raped in December 2013 and filed a police complaint against the accused Dhiman Sarkar.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi -led government’s foreign policy could be best judged by three factors – visits, dialogues and outcomes, adding that contacts have been made with 101 countries in the past one year.

“I believe that the success of foreign policy is best judged by three factors: visit, dialogue and outcome. We calculated the figures and we realised that India has made contact with 101 countries in the past one year, just via the efforts of the Prime Minister, External Affairs

Defending champions Bengaluru FC will face their biggest challenge on Sunday when they take on a determined Mohun Bagan in the title decider of the Hero I-league at the Sri Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru.

Only a win will help Bengaluru retain the title, while Mohun Bagan just need a draw to clinch the title.

Bengaluru do not have happy memories of Mohun Bagan, after they were whipped 1-4 in Kolkata.

Apparently a lot of complaints are being filed against the popular dating app Tinder, accusing it of ripping people off.

Attorney Abbas Kazerounian claimed that the company is violating California law by forcing its upgraded version Tinder Plus on users, making them pay for an entire trial period even if they cancel halfway through, reported AOL.com.

Kazerounian said that the company did not get the disclosure in the contractual provisions about the trial period that they should have.