SHC appeals selected pilgrims to pay first installment

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The Andhra Pradesh State Haj Committee has requested all the selected Haj pilgrims to pay the first installment of Rs. 78,000 per pilgrim towards Advance Haj Amount and miscellaneous dues along with the original Passport stapled with one colour photograph of size 3.5X3.5 cm having white background and copy of Pay-in-slip to the State Haj Committee on or before 20-05-2013. The initial payment HAS to be paid in the Current Account of Haj Committee of India No. ‘FEE TYPE-25’ maintained with SBI through core banking system.

Virat Kohli reminds me of myself: Viv Richards

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Virat Kohli today received the biggest compliment of his cricket career with West Indies batting legend Sir Vivian Richards saying the talented Indian batsman reminds him of his own batting.

“I love watching Virat Kohli bat. He looks to me like an individual of my own heart. I love his aggression and serious passion that I used to have. He reminds me of myself,” Richards said.

UAE students shine in Kerala board exam

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Dubai, April 25 (IANS) Students of schools in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who appeared this year for the class 10 examinations conducted by the Kerala State Education Board, have come out with flying colours, posting a 98.8 percent pass rate.

The results were announced Wednesday.

In all, 424 students appeared for the examinations, of whom 419 passed out, seven of them scoring A+ in all subjects, the Gulf News reported.

Russia, US should cooperate closely on terror: Putin

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Moscow, April 25 (IANS/RIA Novosti) President Vladimir Putin Thursday said the Boston Marathon tragedy should prompt Russia and the US to cooperate more closely in dealing with such threats.

“I just call for this tragedy to be an incentive for us to become closer in tackling common threats, with terrorism being one of the most important and dangerous of them,” The Russian president said during his televised question-and-answer session.

“If indeed we combine our efforts, we won’t take such hits and sustain such losses,” Putin said.

Indian origin man in Fiji held guilty of triple murder

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Sydney, April 25 (IANS) An Indian origin man in Fiji was Thursday found guilty of killing his wife and two daughters.

A court in Suva, Fiji’s capital, found Bimlesh Dayal, 43, guilty of the murder of his wife Ranjini Rekha Singh and their two minor daughters, Amisha and Anisha, on the intervening night between Oct 28-29, 2011, media reported.

Dayal had claimed that his wife had an affair with their landlord’s son.

He also claimed that he had seen his wife standing by the bed with a chopper in hand with blood dripping all over.

Infotech’s Q4 net down 12 percent

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Hyderabad, April 25 (IANS) Global engineering solutions company Infotech Enterprises has reported Rs.54 crore net profit during the fourth quarter ended March 31, down by 12.3 percent over the previous quarter.

The revenues during the quarter were Rs.464 crore, down 2.2 percent QoQ but an increase of 11.3 percent compared to the same quarter previous year.

In dollar terms, the revenues were $86 million, up 3.6 percent YoY but down 1.9 percent QoQ.

Mohammedan Sporting qualify for I-League 2013-14

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Bangalore, April 25 (IANS) Kolkata’s Mohammedan Sporting qualified for the next edition of the I-League (2013-14) after a goalless draw Thursday against Bhawanipore FC in their penultimate league match of the final phase of the 2nd Division League being held here.

After playing nine matches and bagging 18 points, Mohammedan Sporting, who sit pretty at the top of the table, are back in the top tier after a gap of four years. The centenary club last played in India’s premier club competition in the 2008/09 season.

Sunrisers Hyderabad elect to bat

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Chennai, April 25 (IANS) Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Cameron White won the toss and elected to bat against Chennai Super Kings in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here Thursday.

Teams:

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Shikhar Dhawan, Qunton de Kock, Hanuma Vihari, Cameron White (captain), Darren Sammy, Thalaivan Sargunam, Karan Sharma, Ashish Reddy, Amit Mishra, Dale Steyn, Ishant Sharma.

Dhaka building collapse toll soars to 191

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Dhaka, April 25 (IANS) The toll in the building collapse on the outskirts of this Bangladesh capital went up to 191 Thursday as rescuers pulled out more bodies from under the rubble while feverishly responding to pitiful cries for help from those still trapped.

The building, “Rana Plaza”, collapsed around 8:45 a.m. Wednesday and since then rescuers have been desperately trying to reach those still buried under the debris.

Fire Services director Mahbubur Rahman said 1,600 people have so far been rescued. Most of the rescued people were injured and were rushed to the hospitals, he said.

Saina shocked at India Open

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Yui Hashimoto of Japan stunned top seed Saina Nehwal 13-21, 21-12, 22-20 in the Indian Open Super Series badminton event here Thursday.

The second round match lasted one hour and two minutes.

Indian man drowns in New Zealand waterfall

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Wellington, April 25 (IANS) A 20-year-old Indian fell and drowned in a waterfall in New Zealand Thursday afternoon.

The 20-year-old man, whom local media reports referred to as an Indian national, was crossing the front of the 30-metre high waterfall in the Hunua Ranges near Auckland, when he slipped and fell into deep water.

He was with two children at the time.

“He was unable to be retrieved for a short time and was unconscious when pulled from the water,” local police was quoted as saying in a statement.

Two minor sisters raped; court says ‘something somewhere is wrong’

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New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) In yet another shocking incident, two minor sisters were allegedly raped by their mother’s 35-year-old paramour who was living in their house in north Delhi, police said Thursday. The accused was arrested when the elder sister confided in her neighbour about the continous assault on them.

The sexual attack on the two girls aged 13 and 11 years old came on a day when both the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court expressed concern over the spate of rapes, especially of minor girls, in Delhi and in other parts of the country.

World-heritage listed 12th century Syrian mosque tower destroyed

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Washington, Apr.25 (ANI): The 12th century Great Umayyad Mosque in Syria that is categorized under United Nations World Heritage list has been recently obliterated, though it is vague as to who has destroyed it. Syria”s government and the opposition parties have been in a rare agreement over the issue of the destruction of the tower at the mosque, even after the UN officials had expressed their concerns about the mosque being damaged by the two-year war, the CNN reports.

Amity Varsity confers honorary degrees on legal luminaries

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Noida (Uttar Pradesh), April 25 (ANI): Amity University on Thursday held a special convocation during which, they honored two legal luminaries – S.P. Gupta, Advocate General, Uttar Pradesh and Rajiv Nayar, Senior Advocate at the Delhi High Court with Doctorate Degrees in Law (Honoris Causa) here.

Atul Chauhan, Chancellor, Amity University, Uttar Pradesh, declared the convocation open and Dr. B Shukla- Acting Vice Chancellor, Amity University, presented the honorary degrees to the recipients.

Rahul Gandhi urges party workers to fight unitedly in poll-bound MP

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Bhopal, Apr. 25 (ANI): Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday urged the party workers to fight unitedly to unseat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Government in Madhya Pradesh.

“We will not be able to form the government, if we don”t fight unitedly. All the leaders and workers will have to fight together to defeat the BJP,” he told a gathering here.

Gandhi said that the Congress arty would not field candidates, who had lost elections three to four times, and were not local.

US woman carjacked on first date

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New York, April 25 (ANI): A woman from Florida was left shocked when her romantic evening ended with her suitor pulling out a gun and jacking her car.

Nimeha Milien told WPBF.com that she feared for her life as her evening with Donald McGee, 19, quickly took a dramatic turn for the worst after he pulled out a 0.380-caliber Kel Tec handgun, the New York Daily News reported.

The 21-year-old told the website that she was glad to be alive because she wants to be able to make a difference in the world.

Sharing `household chores` key to happy marriage

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London, April 25 (ANI): Marriages last longer and couples are happier when husbands help with housework and childcare, a new research has revealed.

A survey of 160 heterosexual couples aged 25-30, with at least one child under five, revealed that the more men were involved, the better the relationship was for both partners, the Daily Express reported.

It was found that about 40 per cent of the women also had full or part-time jobs.

Prince Harry `to join Oz army`

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Melbourne, April 25 (ANI): Prince Harry will reportedly join the Australian army for a six-month stint.

According to the Australian, negotiations are under way between British and Australian officials regarding the security and location of a possible deployment for the prince with Australian soldiers, News.co.au reported.

However, it is not clear whether the bachelor prince would be embedded with an Australian army unit or make an extended visit as an observer.

It is also unknown if the 28-year-old would be stationed Down Under or overseas.

Saradha Chit Fund scam: 14 day police custody for Sudipto Sen, co-accused

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Kolkata, April 25 (ANI): A Kolkata sub-divisional magistrate”s court on Thursday placed Ponzi king Sudipto Sen and two other accused in 14 days police custody for their role in the perpetrating the Saradha Chit Fund scam.

Media reports said the bail pleas of the three swindlers had been rejected and that they were charged for fraud and criminal breach of trust under Sections 406 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

It was also revealed that SEBI had warned West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of a chit fund crisis taking place in her state in advance.

Britain economy escapes triple-dip recession

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Beijing, Apr. 25 (Xinhua-ANI): Britain economy has escaped the threat of triple-dip recession as its economy increased 0.3 percent between January and March of this year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said Thursday.

Britain”s gross domestic product (GDP) went up 0.3 percent year on year for the first quarter of this year.

The figure indicates Britain has not fallen into a triple-dip recession, which has not happened in Britain since records began in the 1950s, experts said.

Two Tibetan monks die after self-immolations in China

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London, Apr. 25 (ANI): Two Tibetan monks have died after setting themselves on fire in southern China”s Sichuan province.

The monks, aged 20 and 23, set themselves on fire at the Kirti monastery in Aba county, Radio Free Asia and Free Tibet said.

According to the BBC, more than 100 Tibetans, mostly young monks, have set themselves on fire since 2011 in apparent protest against Chinese rule.

The monks, identified as Lobsang Dawa, 20, and Konchog Woeser, 23, set themselves on fire on Wednesday, US-based Radio Free Asia and London-based Free Tibet said. (ANI)

Blackberry’s new inbuilt feature tells pals when owner watches porn

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London, April 25 (ANI): Blackberry users, who secretly watch porn on their new smartphone, could be in for a nasty shock as a new built-in feature tells all their friends about the naughty habit.

The `Show what I’m listening to` feature has been designed for users, who are fond of sharing music videos or funny YouTube clips, the Sun reported.

But contacts of some people were alerted while they were secretly viewing porn on their Z10 smart phone.

A user, named Sosof, posted a screenshot of his pal viewing an adult site, on the Crackberry web forum.

Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev vowed to die for Islam

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Washington, Apr. 25 (ANI): Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev sent text messages to his mother in 2011 suggesting he was willing to die for Islam.

The revelation was made by the FBI who told lawmakers, according to two officials with knowledge of the Capitol Hill briefing.

According to Fox News, Tsarnaev, who was killed days after the April 15 bombing in a shootout with police, is said to have embraced radical Islam in recent years.

Samsung to launch Galaxy S4 in Seoul this week

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Beijing, Apr. 25 (Xinhua-ANI): Samsung Electronics said Thursday that it will roll out its new flagship smartphone model Galaxy S4 in Seoul this Friday for the first time across the globe.

The latest version of Samsung”s Galaxy series will be available for sale to South Korean customers from Friday through three local mobile operators, including SK Telecom, KT Corp. and LG Uplus, according to an e-mailed statement.

The smartphone giant planned to launch the Galaxy smartphone via 327 wireless carriers, including AT&T, Vodafone and Telefonica, in 155 countries during the second quarter.