Mayawati meets UP governor, seeks President’s rule

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Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati Friday took her battle of words with arch rival Samajwadi Party (SP) to Raj Bhavan, meeting Uttar Pradesh Governor B.L. Joshi to demand imposition of President’s rule in the state.

Accompanied by confidante and party general secretary S.C. Mishra, the former chief minister told the governor that the law and order machinery in the state has crumbled under the Samajwadi Party (SP) government, making it a fit case for invoking Article 356 of the Constitution.

Iran president to attend Maduro”s inauguration as Venezuela president

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Iran”s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has left Tehran for Caracas to attend the inauguration ceremony of Venezuela”s new President Nicolas Maduro, the official IRNA news agency reported Friday.

Ahmadinejad is accompanied by a number of Iranian officials including Foreign Minister Ali Akbar-Salehi.

Venezuela held presidential elections Sunday after former President Hugo Chavez died of cancer in March. Maduro was declared Monday to be president-elect for the 2013-2019 term, after a narrow win over opposition candidate Henrique Capriles.

Romney lauds Obama for `superb` Boston Marathon bombings speech

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Failed presidential candidate Mitt Romney has said President Barack Obama gave a ‘superb’ speech at a memorial service honoring the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings.

Speaking on CNN’s ‘The Situation Room’ hours after the interfaith memorial service at which the leaders spoke, Romney said that he was very impressed with the words of Mayor Menino, Governor Deval Patrick and with Obama.

Deputy CM gets Delhi call

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After Chief Minister and PCC Chief, it is now the turn of Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarsimha to visit Delhi.

Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and PCC President Botsa Satyanarayana held meetings with various leaders and also AICC Vice President Rahul Gandhi. The developments in the state in wake of the ministers being named in the charge sheet and the growing dissent in the party besides the strategy to strengthen the party and give publicity to the welfare schemes are some of the issues discussed during the meeting.

Solar energy illuminates Raj Bahavan

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Leading by example, the first citizen of Andhra Pradesh Sri ESL Narasimhan has adopted the best practices in utilizing solar energy and water conservation in Raj Bhavan.

It is one year since Raj Bhavan is being lit up with solar energy and the water pits dug up have increased the water table besides helping in the growth of vegetation.

Sri Lankan police arrest 44 people heading to Australia

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Sri Lankan police on Friday arrested 44 people who were preparing to leave for Australia by boat.

A police officer said that three vans transporting them to a location were checked on suspicion in the southern town of Aluthgama.

Among those found in the van were 5 women and 4 children, the police official said adding that they are residents of the war- affected north.

On Thursday the Sri Lankan navy said it had also intercepted a boat with 61 people illegally bound for Australia.

Solar power at Secretariat

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After Raj Bhavan, now it is the turn of the Secretariat to take up solar energy.

The government has begun the process of setting up solar packs to cover the energy needs of the Secretariat. Chief Secretary Minnie Mathew on Thursday held a high level meeting with officials and reviewed the solar energy mechanism. The meeting decided to use solar power in D and H blocks initially on experiment basis.

The solar plant will be expanded to the entire Secretariat in a phased manner, the meeting has decided. (INN)

DRMO Guntakal gets 5S Quality certification

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The Divisional Railway Manager’s (DRM) Office, Guntakal Division of South Central Railway has become the first DRM office on Indian Railways to get the prestigious 5S certification awarded by the “Quality Circle Forum of India”.

Germany offers troops for Afghan training mission

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Germany on Thursday offered to provide up to 800 soldiers for a NATO training mission in Afghanistan after US and other foreign combat troops leave the country by the end of next year.

Defence Minister Thomas de Maiziere said Berlin is offering to station between 600 and 800 soldiers in Kabul and the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif for a two-year period starting 2015. They would provide training, advice and support to local forces but will not engage in combat missions.

Pakistan’s Malala Yousafzai in Time’s ‘most influential’ list

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Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani school girl and advocate for girls’ education who survived a would-be assassin’s bullet, is among the 100 most influential people in the world, Time magazine said on Thursday.

Yousafzai, who was shot by the Taliban for campaigning for girls’ education, is one of seven honourees to also appear on one of the various covers that the magazine has devoted to the list.

‘Musharraf must face music for subverting Constitution’

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Pakistan’s former premier Nawaz Sharif has described the action taken by the judiciary against Pervez Musharraf as a “reversal of fortunes”, saying the former military ruler must be taken to task for subverting the country’s Constitution.

“Musharraf is reaping what he had sown,” Sharif said.

“I have no personal enmity with Musharraf but he must be taken to task for violating the Constitution of Pakistan,” the PML-N chief said.

SL police arrest 44 people heading to Australia

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Sri Lankan police on Friday arrested 44 people who were preparing to leave for Australia by boat.

A police officer said that three vans transporting them to a location were checked on suspicion in the southern town of Aluthgama.

Among those found in the van were 5 women and 4 children, the police official said adding that they are residents of the war- affected north.

On Thursday the Sri Lankan navy said it had also intercepted a boat with 61 people illegally bound for Australia.

Pakistani Senate demands Musharraf”s portraits removal from public buildings

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Pakistani Senate on Friday unanimously passed a resolution, demanding the government to remove portraits of former president Pervez Musharraf from all public buildings.

The resolution was put forward by senator Ishaq Dar of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

The resolution was adopted by the upper house of parliament hours after Musharraf surrendered to police and was produced in the court of a judicial magistrate.

North Korea rejects South’s new bid to visit joint zone

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North Korea today rejected a new request by businessmen from the South to deliver food and supplies to their staff inside a closed joint-industrial zone, officials said.

North Korea has blocked access to the zone in Kaesong — which lies 10 kilometres inside its border — since April 3 amid soaring military tensions on the Korean peninsula.

South Koreans in the industrial zone were told they could leave when they wanted, but as of Friday there were still about 190 remaining.

Police question Musharraf, his farmhouse declared ‘sub-jail’

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A police team today visited former President Pervez Musharraf’s farmhouse, declared a “sub-jail” by authorities, and questioned him about the detention of more than 60 judges during the emergency of 2007.

The five-member police team led by SP Sardar Sadaqat Ali Khan visited Musharraf’s farmhouse at Chak Shahzad on the outskirts of Islamabad at 11 am.

The team recorded Musharraf’s statement and his response to charges levelled against him in the case that led to his arrest this morning.

Cricket fraternity shocked at exclusion of Sachin in Bird’s XI

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The cricket fraternity in India today expressed shock at the omission of legends like Sachin Tendulkar and Don Bradman in the all-time Test eleven named by former English umpire Dickie Bird with some former cricketers calling his composition as “biased” and “ill-balanced”.

Former captain Sunil Gavaskar was the only Indian included in the controversial team which has Pakistani all-rounder Imran Khan as the captain.

Bad depiction of Kathakali in soft drink ad resented

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Kerala’s leading art and cultural institute Kalamandalam Deemed University has strongly objected to a soft drink major depicting the state’s classical theatre Kathakali in poor taste in a recent advertisement to promote one of its popular brands.

Kalamandalam has written to the company asking it to withdraw the commercial and apologise for showing the art in poor taste and if they are unrelenting, legal notice would be sent, its vice-chancellor P N Suresh said.

Microsoft most attractive employer in India: Survey

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IT and software major Microsoft has emerged as India’s most attractive employer for the third straight year in 2013, according to a survey by HR service firm Randstad.

The company was followed by Hewlett Packard and Google India in the second and third positions, respectively.

Others in the top 10 most attractive employer list included — IBM (4th), ONGC (5th), Sony (6th), Larsen & Toubro
(7th), Steel Authority of India (8th), SBI (9th) and Tata Consultancy Services (10th).

Caffeine as cancer-cell killer generates buzz among researchers

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University of Alberta researchers are abuzz after using fruit flies to find new ways of taking advantage of caffeine’s lethal effects on cancer cells—results that could one day be used to advance cancer therapies for people.

Previous research has established that caffeine interferes with processes in cancer cells that control DNA repair, a finding that has generated interest in using the stimulant as a chemotherapy treatment.

BALANCING BETWEEN ‘TAWAKKUL’ IN ALLAH AND HUMAN EFFORTS

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As Muslims, we are to completely trust Allah (have “Tawakkul”) for all our affairs. We also believe that Allah’s will can supersede our plans. However, this does not mean that we should not plan and work based on what Allah has blessed us in knowledge, intelligence, and free will. Common sense, as well as Islamic teachings, tells us that we are to fully employ those God-granted faculties thanking Allah of what he has provided us, without feeling proud and arrogant about those abilities.

Dhoni’s presence makes it easier for other batsmen: Hussey

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Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s presence in the middle order makes it easier for him to nudge around singles and play his natural game, feels Aussie veteran Michael Hussey.

“Obviously, when you have someone like MS (Dhoni), you tend to bat more freely. You can just take your singles and rotate the strike. It’s really an enjoyable experience batting with guys like MS and Suresh (Raina) who are boundary hitters,” Hussey, who anchored the innings with an unbeaten 65, told reporters at the post-match press conference.

Two Earth-like planets that could host life discovered

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NASA scientists have discovered two new Earth-like planets in the habitable orbit of a Sun-like star, 1,200 light-years away, which could potentially host life.

Using observations gathered by NASAs Kepler Mission, the team, led by William Borucki of the agency’s Ames Research Center, found five planets orbiting a Sun-like star called Kepler-62.

Four of these planets are so-called super-Earths, larger than our own planet, but smaller than even the smallest ice giant planet in our Solar System.

‘Aashiqui 2’ jackets coming soon

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With movie merchandising on a new high, now jackets of forthcoming film “Aashiqui 2” will be rolled out in the markets soon.

“‘Aashiqui2’ jackets coming soon… Disclaimer: Vishesh Films is not responsible for what you do hiding beneath them,” tweeted Vishesh Bhatt.

Co-produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar and Mukesh Bhatt under the banner of Super Cassettes Industries Ltd. and Vishesh Films, the film is scheduled to release April 26.

Directed by Mohit Suri, the film stars Aditya Roy Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor in the lead roles.

Urdu in miserable condition in legislative assembly and council

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On one hand state government is taking measures to include Urdu along with Telugu on sign boards of government and private institutions in 15 districts where Urdu has been given the status of 2nd official language. But the problem of Urdu will not be solved only by including it on the sign boards.

In the districts where Urdu has been given the status of 2nd official language, there is no arrangement of accepting Urdu applications in the government offices, nor is Urdu officer appointed in any office not even at collectorate.