The Indonesian military plane that crashed into a residential neighbourhood and killed 142 people likely suffered an engine failure, the air force said today, but denied the aircraft was overloaded after claims civilians had paid to get on board.
The Hercules C-130 transporter went down Tuesday in the city of Medan shortly after taking off from a nearby airbase, exploding in a fireball and causing widespread destruction.
Customs officials have seized three kilograms of gold from a passenger at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad.
According to reports, the passenger, who was travelling from Dubai, had hidden the gold in a table fan.
Further details are awaited.
Shiv Sena has expressed reservations over the outcome of the proposed cloud-seeding project by the BJP-ruled Maharashtra government, which is aimed at generating artificial rains, and asked it to explore other alternatives as well to make water available for scarcity-hit regions.
Bharti Airtel said it’s ready to launch full mobile number portability (MNP) from tomorrow, which will allow customers to retain their numbers across the country.
The government has fixed July 3 as the deadline for a national rollout of MNP.
The company said with national MNP, mobile customers across the country can now easily shift between states without having to change their mobile number.
China said it is making “every effort” to address India’s concerns on USD 47 billion trade deficit as it called for combining Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative with its ‘Made in China’ to step up investments.
“We are making every effort to fundamentally solve the issue. We need to find a new channel, new methodology to break the bottle neck,” said Huang Xilian, Deputy Director General of the Asian Affairs department of the Foreign Ministry.
West Bengal’s Darjeeling hills, where rain-triggered massive landslides claimed at least 30 lives, will continue to witness “widespread and heavy” downpour in the next 48 hours, the Met Office said on Thursday.
“Widespread rain is likely in almost all places in Darjeeling in the next 48 hours (till Saturday morning). Heavy rain is expected in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar districts and the adjoining state of Sikkim,” an official at the regional Met Office in Alipore said.
The toll is likely to go up as many people are trapped beneath the debris.
About 200-250 live and used cartridges were found from a drain near Milana road here, police said today.
The cartridges, stuffed in a bag, were recovered from a drain yesterday, Circle Officer Sanjiv Bachaye said.
It is being suspected that some miscreants had dumped the cartridges in the drain a few years ago, he said.
The cartridges have been seized, the CO said, adding, the matter is being investigated.
Scientists have discovered a way to block replication of the most common form of HIV at a key moment when the infection is just starting to develop.
Transmitted through bodily fluids, the HIV-1 virus infects and destroys key immune cells, known as CD4 T cells, that would ordinarily mount a defense against the virus and initiate the antiviral activity of other immune cells.
A robot has killed a contractor at one of Volkswagen’s production plants in Germany, the automaker has said. The man died on Monday at the plant in Baunatal, about 100 kilometers north of Frankfurt, VW spokesman Heiko Hillwig said on Wednesday.
The 22-year-old was part of a team that was setting up the stationary robot when it grabbed and crushed him against a metal plate, Hillwig said.
He said initial conclusions indicate that human error was to blame, rather than a problem with the robot, which can be programmed to perform various tasks in the assembly process.
On the request of residents of Banjara Hills, First Lancer, Ahmed Nagar Zahra Nagar and surrounding areas, Siasat and Minorities Development Forum (MDF) are organising the 43rd Du Ba Du programme on Sunday, July 5, at Khaja Mansion Function Hall, Mansaheb Tank, Banjara Hills Road.
Mr. Abid Siddiqui president MDF told that in view of the month of Holy Ramadan the programme is being organised as several Muslim youth visit their hometown from gulf countries, America and Australia and London.
Jalsa Yaumul Quran by Majlis Bachao Tahreek will be held at Makkah Masjid on July 3 after Friday prayers. Dr. Qayam Khan president Tahreek will supervise. Programme will begin with the Quranic recitation of Hafez and Qari Syed Abdul Qader Faisal. Meraj Ahmed, Mohammed Naseeruddin, Hafez Nawal ur Rahman, Syed Ali Adil will present Naat-e-Shareef. Senior leaders of the Tahreek Maulana Syed Taher, Syed Mustafa Mahmood and other leaders will address. Mohammed Majeedullah Khan Farhat will deliver special address. Qari Sikander Mirza will organise the programme.
Siasat news
The Ambani brothers, who were the first to see Narendra Modi’s role at the Centre, today showered lavish praises on the Prime Minister saying India has now got a decisive and visionary leader.
Speaking at the launch of Digital India Week here, Anil Ambani said the Indian story, which had been driven by 3-Ds – democracy, demographics and demand, added a fourth ‘D’ – Decisiveness.
Monsoon comes as a welcome break from the excruciating summer heat but the accompanying humidity is known to play havoc with skin. From applying a moisturising lotion immediately after bath to taking a shower in lukewarm water are some of the tips that can help in achieving flawless skin during monsoon.
Usually it gets difficult to predict how the skin will behave in monsoon, therefore making it difficult to follow a set skin care routine. Aparna Santhanam, skincare expert of Unilever, shares some tips to help your skin enjoy the rain without harming it.
Former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has announced that he would contest next month’s parliamentary elections.
According to BBC, Rajapaksa lost presidential elections to party rival Maithripala Sirisena in January.
Rajapaksa told a large crowd of supporters in his home district that he could not reject their clamour for him to stand.
However, it is still unclear which party the former president will represent.
ANI
The number of people killed by the Ebola virus in West Africa has reached 11,220, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said in a report.
A total of 27,514 cases of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) have been reported since the start of the disease outbreak, a statement issued on Wednesday said.
According to the figures, the maximum number of Ebola-related deaths has been registered in Liberia. There have been a total of 4,806 deaths and 10,666 cases in the country, TASS news agency reported.
Former IPL chief Lalit Modi has said he will reveal BJP leader Sudhanshu Mittal’s “rags to riches story” in the coming days.
“Wait 4 details on #racketeer #Tentwala @SudhanshuBJP Rags to #riches story coming live via #LALITGATE in next week,” Modi tweeted.
Modi, who is facing a number of investigations related to alleged financial irregularities in India, also questioned Mittal’s relationship with alleged hawala operator Vivek Nagpal.
R. Paul Singh, a distinguished professor emeritus at the University of California, Davis, has been named as the 2015 Global Confederation for Higher Education Associations for Agriculture and Life Sciences World Agriculture Prize laureate.
Singh, an agricultural engineering graduate from India’s Punjab Agricultural University, has been recognized for a body of research in areas such as energy conservation, freezing preservation, postharvest technology and mass transfer in food processing.
The annual Amarnath Yatra started on Thursday as over 8,000 pilgrims left from two base camps in Kashmir for the Himalayan cave shrine.
As many as 6,065 pilgrims left the Baltal base camp in Ganderbal district on Thursday morning, while another 2,330 left from the Nunwan base camp near Pahalgam to begin their trek towards the holy cave, a senior police officer told IANS here.
The two-month long Amarnath Yatra will conclude on August 29 coinciding with Shravan Purnima and Raksha Bandhan festivals.
Inspired by the Gates Foundation, set up by Bill and Melinda Gates in 1997, Saudi Arabia’s billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal will donate his entire USD 32 billion fortune to charity.
The 60-year-old prince, who is one of the world’s richest persons, said that the money would be used to foster ‘cultural understanding’ and ‘provide vital disaster relief,’ among other things, reported the BBC.
Gates reacted to the statement, saying it was an inspiration to philanthropists around the globe.
Forbes has placed Prince Alwaleed on the 34th spot on the list of the world’s richest people.
Twenty five people were killed and nine injured after the bus they were travelling in collided with a truck coming from opposite direction in Madhya Pradesh’s Khandwa district, police said on Thursday.
Fifteen people died on the spot, while the others succumbed to their injuries in hospitals. The accident occurred on Wednesday.
Expressing grief over the accident, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced compensation of Rs.1.5 lakh each for the families of deceased and Rs.50,000 each for the injured.
Chairman of US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey has released the country’s National Military Strategy which provides the blueprint for how the military will use its forces to protect and advance US national and security interests.
“This strategy addresses these dynamics and our strategy to ensure that our force remains the best-led, trained and equipped military on the planet,” Gen. Dempsey in a statement issued by the US Defense Department on Wednesday.
Iran and six world powers are making progress in the latest round of talks over Iran’s long-disputed nuclear programme, said top diplomats of the US and Iran here.
“We have some very difficult issues, but we believe we are making progress and we are going to continue to work because of that,” said US Secretary of State John Kerry after a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Vienna here on Wednesday, one day after the self-imposed June 30 deadline.