Keep ego in check to make Lok Adalat successful: Justice Dave

The Lok Adalat, being organised by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), is aimed at disposing of lakhs of cases. Last year, around 71 lakh cases were settled in the first National Lok Adalat held on November 23.

Inaugurating the Lok Adalat, which will also take place in apex court, Justice Dave said it is the best way to resolve disputes as both the fighting parties come to a mutually acceptable solution and they do not have to wait for years to get their cases decided in court.
  
"This method is the best way to resolve the dispute. It is fast and less expensive. Relation between the litigants does not get strained and they remain cordial as they mutually agree to dissolve the dispute," he said, adding, "People need to have a big heart and keep their ego under control to get the dispute resolved in Lok Adalat".
  
He said this form of dispute resolution has been very successful even since it came into existence since March 14, 1982 when the first Lok Adalat was set up at Una in Junagadh district of Gujarat.
  
In the Supreme Court, three Lok Adalat benches will sit and 53 cases, including matrimonial disputes and motor accident compensation claims, will be taken up for disposal.
  
The programme will be viewed all over the country through video conferencing and web casting. A large number of criminal compoundable cases, cheque bounce and bank recovery cases, civil suits motor accident claims and family matters will be taken up during the National Lok Adalat.
  
Apart from these, in many states, revenue matters, land acquisition references, consumer matters, service and labour matters will also be taken up for the amicable settlements.
  
Besides the Lok Adalat, a large number of petty criminal cases will also be taken up on Saturday by special sittings of magistrates and judges.

Source: News and  India News

Sadhvi remark: P J Kurien asks Opposition parties, government to end logjam

Kurien adjourned the House for the day at about 3.15 PM after it failed to transact any business for the fourth consecutive day today with an agitated opposition insisting on the sacking of the Minister.

"Leaders of the opposition parties and government should sit together and work out a solution by Monday. The Chair cannot take a decision," Kurien, who was in the Chair, observed.

His observations came after the House witnessed four adjournments before the Chair called it a day as opposition uproar continued over the demand and members insisted on a resolution to condemn the Sadhvi's remarks.

"There is an impasse between the government and the opposition and as long as this issue is not resolved we will not allow the House to run," said Deputy Leader of Opposition Anand Sharma when Kurien pleaded that private members' bill be taken up.

Source: Latest News and Lifestyle News

Form judicial commission to avert shutdown: Imran Khan to Sharif government

Delivering a speech in Islamabad on Friday, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief said he would shutdown Faisalabad on December 8 unless a judicial commission is formed to look into the elections, Dawn online reported Saturday.

"If the government wants to avert the shutting down of the major cities as well as the country, it must form a judicial commission to probe rigging in the May 2013 elections," he said"Unless the terms of references for the judicial commission are not finalised, Plan C (to shutdown Faisalabad) will remain intact," he added.

"If the judicial commission clears the government, I will accept it," he said. "But if rigging is proved, the government will have to go," the report quoted Khan as saying.

Source:Latest News and World News

Over 500,000 evacuated in Philippines as typhoon approaches

The department of the interior and local government conducted the forced evacuation in the face of approaching Hagupit, according to Corazon Soliman, secretary of the department of social welfare and development.

According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), the typhoon is expected to make landfall on Saturday evening over the Eastern or Northern Samar provinces in central Philippines, Chinese media reported.

National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council executive director Alexander Pama said authorities will keep alerting though Hagupit has slightly weakened.

Hagupit's maximum sustained winds dropped to 195 km per hour from the previous 215 km per hour, according to the data released by PAGASA on Friday.

Source:Latest News and  World News

India's forex reserves up USD 1.43 billion

The reserves had fallen by USD 672.4 million to USD 314.87 billion in the week ended November 21. According to the RBI's weekly statistical supplement, foreign currency assets, the biggest component of the forex reserves, rose USD 1.42 billion at USD 290.82 billion in the week under review.

The foreign currency assets had declined USD 664.3 million at USD 289.39 billion in the previous week (November 21).

The RBI said the foreign currency assets, expressed in US dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies such as the pound sterling, euro and yen held in reserve.

India's reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was up USD 2.5 million to USD 1.52 billion. The value of special drawing rights (SDRs) was higher by USD 6.4 million at USD 4.22 billion.

The value of gold reserves which was static since October 3 at USD 20.01 billion and had declined by 275 million at USD 19.73 billion for the week ended October 31, stayed the same in the week ended November 21.

Source:Latest News and Business News

Assocham seeks PM's intervention on gas supply cut for Gujarat units

"Several of them are involved in exports of glass and ceramic products to western markets. They were set up here at the invitation of the government to utilize low pressure gas from isolated fields," said a letter sent by Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat, seeking Prime Minister's intervention.
  
It claimed that the action by Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) to cut supply of APM gas by 58 percent to 33 units has put 30,000 direct and 1.2 lakh indirect jobs at stake, since non-availability of gas is forcing these units to shut shop.
  
A 58 percent reduction in gas supply has been in effect since September this year, affecting these 33 manufacturing units in the region.
  
Based on Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) guidelines, GAIL took the decision to curtail APM gas supplies to these units to meet demands of CNG consumers.
  
In its letter, Assocham also stated that the decision to cut the supply of cheap APM gas by 58 percent to these units, is contrary to the spirit of the PM's 'Make In India' programme.
  
"While on one hand the government is committed to increase jobs and get foreign investment, on the other hand, the decision to cut gas supply impacts the viability of units contributing to the nation," the letter said.
  
The South Gujarat Small Gas Consumers' Association (SGSGCA) has been raising this issue at different fora ever since GAIL imposed the cut.
  
Assocham claimed that the 33 units consume only 1 percent of the total APM gas allocation of 60 million metric standard cubic meters per day (MMSCMD). Thus, if there is a shortage of gas and a cut in supply is inevitable, Assocham suggested "a uniform cut of 0.5 percent across the board" on the total domestic gas supply of 60 MMSCMD.
  
"Alternatively, the cut should be implemented first in the non-priority sector represented by steel, petrochemicals, and refineries," Assocham's letter said.

Source:Latest News and Business News

Nanowires may combat cell damage, ageing in humans

This breakthrough can help develop drugs that prevent ageing, cardiac disorders, and several neurological problems like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. Vanadium oxide or vanadia is a form of vanadium, an element found close to titanium on the periodic table.
  
Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) are produced during normal cellular metabolism. When the level of ROS is elevated, normal redox state of cells is disturbed, leading to damage of cellular components, including proteins, lipids, and DNA.
  
Oxidative stress caused by ROS is responsible for various conditions ranging from a simple premature greying of hair to serious diseases like cancer, diabetes, arthritis, ageing and kidney disorders.
  
"Many of the antioxidant-based drugs used to control ROS, also produce ROS, though at small proportions. So we wanted to concentrate on a mechanism that mimics the natural detoxification pathways," say Prof G Mugesh and Patrick D'Silva, who led the research team.
  
In a paper published in Nature Communications, they have shown that vanadia nanowires actually mimic a natural antioxidant enzyme, according to a Gubbi Labs release.
  
ROS are helpful when their concentrations are optimal. They help in numerous biochemical reactions and act as critical secondary messengers in signalling pathways. They are also essential for the normal metabolism of the human body.
  
"The human body has numerous mechanisms to scavenge ROS, and specifically hydrogen peroxide. However, when people are suffering from a disease, the production of ROS shoots up, and the natural scavenging mechanisms are not able to cope with. In such cases, we may have to control ROS levels artificially," says D'Silva.

Source: Latest News and Lifestyle News

High-sugar diet in fathers can lead to obese offspring

Research has shown that various factors that are passed on by parents or are present in the uterine environment can affect offspring's metabolism and body type.

Investigators led by Dr J Andrew Pospisilik, of the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Germany, and team member Dr Anita Ost, now at Linkoping University in Sweden, sought to understand whether normal fluctuations in a parent's diet might have such an impact on the next generation.

Through mating experiments in Drosophila melanogaster, or fruit flies, the scientists found that dietary interventions in males could change the body composition of offspring, with increased sugar leading to obesity in the next generation.   

High dietary sugar increased gene expression through epigenetic changes, which affect gene activity without changing the DNA's underlying sequence.

"To use computer terms, if our genes are the hardware, our epigenetics is the software that decides how the hardware is used," said Ost.

"It turns out that the father's diet reprogrammes the epigenetic 'software' so that genes needed for fat production are turned on in their sons," said Ost.

Because epigenetic programmes are somewhat plastic, the investigators suspect that it might be possible to reprogramme obese epigenetic programmes to lean epigenetic programmes.

"At the moment, we and other researchers are manipulating the epigenetics in early life, but we don't know if it is possible to rewrite an adult programme," said Ost.

The research was published in the Cell Press journal Cell.

Source:Latest News and Lifestyle News

How our grip strength changes as we age

A new study has now shed new light on how grip strength changes across the lifespan. The latest research combined data from 12 British studies and included grip strength readings from 49,964 participants, aged four to 90 years and above, and combined them to produce reference charts.

"We found that men were typically stronger than women from adolescence onwards but both men and women reached a peak level of strength during their 30s before becoming weaker with age," said Richard Dodds from University of Southampton.

Earlier studies showed that people with weaker grip strength in midlife are more likely to develop problems like loss of independence and to have shorter life expectancy. But very little was known on what might be considered a normal grip strength at different ages.

"We are now clear about the range of normal strength in young adults and have used this information to propose levels below which an older person would be considered to have weak grip strength," Dodds pointed out.

Hospital doctors could use the information to help interpret measurements of grip strength."Grip strength has been recommended for the assessment of muscle strength in the clinical setting and this study will aid the recognition of important conditions such as sarcopenia and frailty," noted Avan Aihie Sayer, professor of geriatric medicine at University of Southampton.

The study appeared in the journal PLOS ONE.

Source: Latest News and Lifestyle News

Ali Fazal gears up for his last act on stage

Ali started his career as a theater artist with a play titled 'A Guy Thing', written and directed by American writer Michael Puzzo.

The play will celebrate its silver jubilee here on Thursday, and Ali will reprise the role of Lino for the last time. Ali debuted on the big screen with a small role in Rajkumar Hirani's '3 Idiots', and went on to do 'Fukrey' and 'Bobby Jasoos', in which he played actress Vidya Balan's love interest.

The actor will also be seen in the action packed 'Furious 7'.

"I started my career as a theater artist and this play is very special to me as Raju Hirani spotted me while performing this play,”  the actor said in a statement.

"In short, 'A Guy Thing' got me my first film. I am glad the play is ending on such a happy note and I am here to witness it and be a part of it," the actor said in a statement.

The play also features actor Neil Bhoopalam. A string of Bollywood celebrities are expected to come for Ali's last stage performance including Vidya, Dia Mirza, Mahesh Bhatt, Pooja Bhatt and Richa Chadha.

Source: News and Bollywood News

First look: Akshay Kumar unveils poster of 'Baby'

Akshay took to Twitter to unveil the first look poster. "Only for you! Check out the new #Baby look before the world sees it tmw. 24 hrs to go for the #BabyTrailer," he tweeted along with the poster.

The thing to look out is Akshay's new and dapper look with a moustache.

'Baby' will see Akshay Kumar reunite with 'Special 26' fame director Neeraj Pandey.

Akshay had ealier posted the trailer of his flick on Twitter. "Here's the #BabySizzle a sneak peak for what awaits! First look launches on #3December," the actor had tweeted.

The 47-year-old, who is known for his daredevil stunts will be seen doing the usual with ease in the film.

"I loved working with Neeraj on #BabyTheFilm and want you to see all the action up close #BabySizzle at 12 pm," he wrote further.

The film also features Rana Daggubati, Anupam Kher and Danny Denzongpa and is scheduled to release on January 23, 2015.

Source:News and Entertainment News

Bollywood actor Deven Varma passes away in Pune

Varma started his acting career as a stage artist and eventually made his Bollywood debut with a supporting role in Yash Chopra's 'Dharmputra' in 1961, which did not do well.

He shot to fame with his performance in 1975 film 'Chori Mera Kaam', which bagged him his first Filmfare Award for Best Comedian.

Varma went on to star in memorable films like 'Chor Ke Ghar Chor', Sanjeev Kapoor-starrer 'Angoor', 'Gol Maal', 'Khatta Meetha', 'Naastik', 'Rang Birangi', 'Dil', 'Judaai', 'Andaz Apna Apna' and 'Dil Toh Pagal Hai'.   

His dual role of Bahadur in Gulzar's 1982 film 'Angoor', is considered as one of the most loved comic roles in Hindi cinema.

Varma, who was married to Ashok Kumar's daughter Rupa Ganguly, turned producer with 'Yakeen' in 1969 and also took to direction two years later with 'Nadaan'. He produced and directed Amitabh Bachchan-starrer 'Besharam' in 1978.

He also acted in Marathi and Bhojpuri films.
  
Known as a man of principles, he had consistently refused to act in roles that demanded poking fun on handicapped and physically compromised people, earning respect in the film industry.

He retired from films after working in 'Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai' and 'Calcutta Mail'.

Source: News and Bollywood News 

'I wanted to teach a lesson to Gauhar'

"If actresses stop wearing short clothes, crime will decrease." For all those hoping that awareness of women's rights would have increased after the incessant media coverage and commentary following repeated incidents of rapes and violence against women, this one statement by the man who slapped Gauahar Khan would probably send them into the depths of despair.

Malik's seeming disregard for the feelings of others, and so smug is he about his notions of morality, that he told the police after his arrest that he had slapped Gauahar to teach her a lesson so that she would never wear short skirts in her life.

Malik said that he had slapped Gauahar to help other youths like him. He claimed that since he was sexually attracted to girls who wear short skirts, other youths could too. He told the police that girls wearing short clothes "damage the brains" of youngsters and instigate them to commit crimes.

Malik, a junior artist, had been attending the shooting for the reality show 'India's Raw Star', which was anchored by Gauahar, for three days before slapping her during the shooting for the finale in Film City on Sunday.

Malik claimed he had tried to control himself for three days despite seeing Gauahar wear short clothes but couldn't take it anymore and slapped her in front of 2,500 audience members and 250 bouncers.

He said he had tried to make Gauahar "understand" that wearing short clothes was against their religion but had slapped her when the argument began to get heated. "He had been attending the shooting for a few days and said he didn't like the clothes Gauahar was wearing.

He said short skirts got him attracted to girls and damaged other youngsters' minds as well," said a police officer from Aarey police station. In his statement to the police, Malik said, "Actresses are the face of society and they should not wear skirts and short clothes as they make youngsters get attracted to them sexually.

These days, boys who are minors are also committing crimes such as rape and molestation and many of them keep obscene photographs of actresses in their pockets. If actresses stop wearing short clothes, crime will decrease and lead to a better society."

"Malik came to Mumbai in August from Abu Dhabi, where he was working as a waiter. He was working as a driver in Mumbai and also took up work as a junior artiste on a part-time basis. He dreamt of becoming an actor," said a police official.

Senior Inspector Vilas Chavan of Aarey police station said, "The accused, Malik, didn't like seeing girls in skirts and said that they attracted him and other youth to them sexually. He claimed he slapped the actress because she was wearing skirts in shootings for the last few days. We produced him in Borivli court and he was remanded in police custody till Thursday."

Source:News and Entertainment News

NASA launching new Orion spacecraft on test flight

The new Orion spacecraft is not going to Mars just yet; Thursday's debut will be unmanned and last just 4½ hours. But it will be the farthest a built-for-humans capsule has flown since the Apollo moon missions, shooting 3,600 miles out into space in order to gain enough momentum to re-enter the atmosphere at a scorching 20,000 mph (32,000 kph).

The dry run, if all goes well, will end with a Pacific splashdown off Mexico's Baja coast. Navy ships will recover the capsule, a la Apollo, for future use.

This initial Orion is rigged with 1,200 sensors to gauge its durability for the day when astronauts do climb aboard during the decade ahead. Advertised destinations include an asteroid to be corralled in lunar orbit for human exploration in the 2020s, followed by Mars in the 2030s.

Lockheed Martin Corp. built the capsule and is staging the USD 370 million test flight for NASA.

Orion is NASA's first new spacecraft for humans in more than a generation, succeeding the now-retired space shuttles. Unlike the capsules under development by two US Companies for space station crew transport, Orion is meant for the long haul, both in time and space; it would be supplemented with habitats for potential Mars trips.

"We need a spacecraft that's going to be sturdy enough and robust enough" to carry astronauts well beyond low-Earth orbit for weeks and months at a time, said Lockheed Martin's Bryan Austin, a former NASA shuttle flight director who will oversee Orion's maiden voyage.

For this orbital tryout, a Delta IV rocket will hoist Orion from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Liftoff is scheduled for 7:05 am (1205 GMT), just after sunrise. The rocket, with Orion and its launch escape tower at the tiptop, stretches 242 feet (73 meters) high.

Future Orion launches will use the mega rocket still under development by NASA, known as SLS or Space Launch System. The first Orion-SLS launch is targeted for 2018, unmanned, followed by the first piloted mission in 2021.

No one at NASA is pleased with such a poky pace. At best, it will be seven years before astronauts fly Orion anywhere.

By comparison, it took eight years from the time President John Kennedy announced his intentions of landing a man on the moon before John Glenn had even rocketed into orbit to Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin's lunar boot prints in 1969.

Given the present budget situation, "it is what it is," said Kennedy Space Center's director Robert Cabana, a former astronaut. And the presidential election ahead could bring further delays and uncertainties.

Source: Latest News and Lifestyle News 

Vegetable oil component helps combat gastric ulcers

The findings could lead to new treatment for gastric diseases."Current Helicobacter pylori bacterium treatments are facing a major challenge - antibiotic resistance," said Liangfang Zhang, professor at the University of California' San Diego School of Medicine.

"Our goal was to develop a nanotherapeutic that can tolerate the harsh gastric environment, kill H pylori and avoid resistance," Zhang added.

To combat the infection caused by Helicobacter pylori the researchers developed LipoLLA, a therapeutic nanoparticle that contains the vegetable oil component linolenic acid.

In mice, LipoLLA was safe and more effective against the infection than standard antibiotic treatments.

What is more, LipoLLA was not toxic to the mice and the bacteria did not develop resistance to the therapy.

"This is the first step to verify that we can make this therapeutic nanoparticle and demonstrate that it works to reduce H pylori colonisation.

We are now working to further enhance the particle, making it more stable and more effective," Zhang said. The findings appeared in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Source: Latest News and Lifestyle News

I wish to work with Big B: Prabhudheva

"I want to work with Amitabh sir. I don't know when that is going to happen. I didn't tell sir about this though I have met him before. It's my dream to work with him. I've loved all his films and I'm a huge fan of Amitabh and Rajinikanth sir," Prabhudheva said.

Busy promoting his forthcoming film "Action Jackson", starring Sonakshi Sinha, Yami Gautam and Manasvi Mamgai, Prabhudheva says each of the actresses have important roles in the film.

"In this film, I've roped in three actresses and it was kind of them to accept this offer. When I narrated the story, I made it very clear that there are going to be three actresses and nobody questioned me and just said 'yes'. It's very sweet of them and all three of them have important roles in the film," he said. The film is slated for release December 5.

Source: News from Entertainment News

Fault In Our Stars' Hindi remake delayed

The film is ought to have Deepika Padukone and Varun Dhawan playing as the leading actors.

Where Deepika is presently busy with 'Piku' and later with 'Bajirao Mastani', Varun Dhawan has 'Badlapur' in his list for now. He is scheduled to follow it up with brother Rohit Dhawan's next.

So, when the two stars will find time for the Hindi remake of 'The Fault In Our Stars' remains a mystery. The movie, however, was slated to roll by March 2015.

After the tight schedule of the actors, it is heard that the makers have pushed the date a tad further.

The Fault In Our Stars showcased story of a young girl suffering from cancer who decides to attend
a Cancer Support Group. Destiny takes a turn after she meets a young boy who too has suffered from cancer and the duo fall in love.

Its Hindi remake is said to have a twist as the serious drama will be blended with humour.

Source:News and Entertainment News

Moody's projects July-September quarter GDP growth at 5.3 percent

It said the general elections in May helped lift investor sentiment and business confidence, though it will take a while before this translates into better performance in the real economy.

"Our estimate that GDP grew 5.3 percent in the September quarter is in line with the steady cyclical upswing of recent quarters," Moody's Analytics said in a report.

The official GDP data for the September quarter will be released on Friday. Indian economy grew by 4.8 per cent in the second quarter of the last fiscal, while the growth rate was 4.7 percent for the entire 2013-14 fiscal. In the April-June quarter of this year, GDP growth stood at 5.7 percent.

The growth rate touched sub-5 per cent in 2012-13 and 2013-14.

"The economy's growth reached a recent nadir around the middle 2013 but has been steadily improving since then," it said, adding that downside risks to growth diminished as the government shored up its fiscal position and external account.

Moody's Analytics further said the services sector would continue to expand strongly and drive GDP growth on the production side.

Investment will be key to second quarter performance as corporate spending appears to have expanded further and industrial production of capital goods was slower but still positive.

Source: Latest News and Business News

Commodity exchanges' turnover declines 50 percent so far this fiscal

The business fell in bullion, metals, energy and agricultural commodities during the April-November period of 2014-15 fiscal.

The turnover from bullion declined by 60 percent to Rs 13.14 lakh crore till November 15 of this financial year from Rs 33.15 lakh crore in the year-ago period.   

Similarly, the turnover from energy items like crude oil fell by 51 percent to Rs 8.90 lakh crore from Rs 18.05 lakh crore, while the business from metals like copper dropped by 41 percent to Rs 7.94 lakh crore from Rs 13.51 lakh crore in the review period.

The turnover from agricultural commodities also declined over 25 percent to Rs 7.05 lakh crore in April-November of this year, against Rs 9.43 lakh crore in the year-ago period.

Experts attributed the fall in trade volumes to poor participation in view of higher transaction cost, especially after the imposition of Commodity Transaction Tax (CTT) from July 1, 2013.

That part, investor sentiments took a beating after Rs 5,600 crore scam surfaced at spot exchange NSEL, they added.   

There are four national and six regional-level commodity exchanges operating in the country.

Source :News and Business News 

NASA mission to study magnetic fields in universe

NASA has released a demo video of the launch where a single rocket will carry all four MMS spacecraft, stacked on top of each other, to their destination from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

According to NASA, fresh insights offered by the MMS mission could aid in the creation of clean energy solutions such as fusion energy reactors.

The spacecraft are designed to break free from the stack once the rocket reaches orbit, NASA said in a statement.

Each of the four spacecraft has a compliment of 25 sensors comprising 11 instruments.

These spacecraft will cross through two known magnetic reconnection regions and gather data via super-fast scientific instruments.

Magnetic reconnection is a process that converts magnetic energy to kinetic or thermal energy.

It happens all over the universe and occurs during solar flares, coronal mass ejections and when solar winds interact with the Earth's magnetic field, causing aurorae.

Source:Latest News from Lifestyle News

Gene that reduces risk of stroke identified

Researchers from Royal Holloway, University of London, together with an international team of researchers found that people with a specific variant of a gene, known as PHACTR1, are at reduced risk of suffering cervical artery dissection, which is caused by a tear in an artery that leads to the brain.
  
The discovery could lead to new treatments and prevention strategies for the disease, which is a major cause of stroke in young adults.
  
The same gene variant has also been identified as a protector against migraines and affects the risk of heart attack.
  
"This is an important breakthrough. Our findings provide us with a greater understanding of how this region of the genome appears to influence key vascular functions, which could have major implications for the treatment of these severe and disabling conditions," said Professor Pankaj Sharma, from the School of Biological Sciences at Royal Holloway.
  
For the study, researchers from around the world screened the entire genome of 1,400 patients with cervical artery dissection, along with 14,400 people without the disease.
  
Cervical artery dissection can lead to compression of adjacent nerves and to blood clotting, potentially causing blockage of vessels and brain damage.
  
The study is published in the journal Nature Genetics.

Source:Latest News from Lifestyle News

Mercedes launches new C-Class at Rs 40.9 lakh

"The new C-Class joins the latest generations of the E and S-Class to create the youngest and most wide ranging saloon line up of any automaker globally," Mercedes-Benz Managing Director & CEO Eberhard Kern told reporters here.

Terming the model as an "important product" for the company, Kern said the company's strategy for India is on the right track and paying results.

The new C-Class comes with various features including higher ground clearance, long wheel base, cruise control and drive mode selector.

It also comes with seven airbags, tyre pressure monitoring system and infotainment system. With this launch the company has achieved its target of launching ten cars in the Indian market in 2014.

Earlier this year Mercedes Benz had said it planned to launch about 10 new products in India in 2014 as part of plans to continue with the double digit growth that it witnessed last year.

So far the company has launched the new versions of its top-end luxury sedan S Class -- the S500 and S350CDI, armoured vehicle MGuard, SUVs GL63AMG and ML63AMG, along with Edition 1 of A and B Class, sedan CLA 45 AMG, CLS 350, E350 CDI.

It has also launched GLA Class and a petrol variant of GLA 45 AMG, to tap the fast growing SUV segment in the country.

So far in the first nine months of 2014, Mercedes Benz India has sold 7,529 units, up 16 per cent from the same period last year.

The company had sold a total of 9,003 cars last year in India and is looking at double digit growth this year. It has expanded production at its Chakan plant to 20,000 units annually to meet growing demand in the country.

The luxury car maker is also looking to locally assemble the CLA sedan that would be launched next year.

Source: News and Auto News

Indian Consulate in New York hailed as model of 'Swachh Consulate'

The clean-up exercise was conducted under the aegis of Consul General Dnyaneshwar Mulay with the aim of serving the community better and keeping visa and passport records in a proper and easy to access manner.

The cleanliness drive is about "overall and holistic cleansing," Mulay said.

"I think we should be clean in every respect," he said, adding that a clean environment has a psychological impact on the morale of the staff. "Only when you keep the premises clean can one serve the people better."

The initiative has garnered appreciation from External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj who said in a communication to the Consul General that the extensive cleanliness drive "has come in for much praise as a stellar example."

Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh also applauded the efforts in view of the Swachh Bharat mission and said the Consulate's initiative will be shared with other Indian missions "in order to inspire them to similar efforts."

The cleaning drive, which the Consulate began a year and half ago when Mulay took charge, was undertaken in the basement and staff offices at the Consulate premises which were cluttered with visa documents, files and other Consular paperwork accumulated over a period of many years.

Mulay said since the Consulate handles innumerable visa applications, passports, OCI and PIO cards, a lot of documents had accumulated that needed to be kept properly.

However, the basement, sub-basement and passageways in the Consulate had become stacked with tonnes of documents, artifacts and files that posed a safety and fire hazard in the 111-year old historic building in the heart of Manhattan.

Mulay inspired his staff and personnel to whole-heartedly undertake the cleanliness drive, the end result of which is improved storage, creation of more space, better preservation of records and proper disposal of unwanted documents.

In the second phase of the cleanliness drive, the Consulate would undertake renovation, modernisation and conservation and is consulting experts from the renowned Metropolitan Museum of New York.

During the exercise, several valuable artifacts, musical instruments and portraits of Indian leaders were also unearthed that are now being displayed at the Consulate.

The Consulate is in talks to hand over a collection of informative videos and documentaries to the New York University where they can be archived.

Mulay emphasised that the Swachh Bharat campaign of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi can be taken to a global platform so that a deserving image of India is sent across the world.

Source:News and India News

Bangladesh SC clears way for Zia's trial on graft charges

"The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court rejected her leave to appeal petitions...now there is no legal barrier in trying her on corruption charges," Deputy Attorney General Ekramul Haque Tutul told reporters.

A five-member bench headed by Chief Justice M Muzammel Hossain delivered the order upholding a previous identical decision by the High Court, saying she must face trial in the lower court on the graft charges over the orphanage, which was named after her slain husband ex-president Ziaur Rahman.

Tutul said the court also resumed hearing another appeal filed by Zia against a High Court ruling that validated her indictment by the lower court in a separate corruption case involving Zia Charitable Trust, a philanthropic organisation.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), which brought the charges against the 69-year-old two-time premier, however, said both the charities existed only in papers.

The ACC in 2009 filed the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case against her on charge of embezzling a huge amount of money by forming a "fake" trust and filed the other case in 2011 on charge of abusing power during setting up the trust.

Her elder son and BNP's senior vice president Tarique Rahman and seven others were also accused in the two cases.

Zia and three of her aides are accused of syphoning off about USD 400,000 from the Zia Charitable Trust.

She is also accused of leading a group of five people, including her eldest son, in embezzling USD 277,000 which were meant to go to an orphanage set up in memory of her husband, a military ruler turned politician who was assassinated in 1981.

Lawyers said Zia and other accused could be jailed for life if found guilty.

The ex-premier, whose party boycotted the 2014 general elections, termed the charges "politically motivated" and alleged those were aimed at destroying the BNP.

Zia has vowed to topple the government of her arch-rival Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League through protests.

With pending appeals before the apex court, she went on trial in the two cases two months ago after the High Court rejected her pleas seeking suspension of the cases.

Zia was indicted on March 19 by a Dhaka court on the two graft charges, dating back to her tenure from 2001 to 2006.

Source:News and World News

Gold gains Rs 130 on wedding season demand

Silver also advanced by Rs 100 to 36,650 per kg on increased offtake by industrial units and coin makers.

Traders said increased buying by jewellers and retailers, driven by ongoing wedding season demand, mainly kept gold and silver prices higher but a weak trend overseas, limited the gains.

In overseas markets, gold slipped from three-week high and fell 0.20 per cent to USD 1,198.60 an ounce and silver shed 0.20 per cent to USD 16.41 an ounce in Singapore.

In Delhi, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 percent purity advanced by Rs 130 each to Rs 26,930 and Rs 26,730 per 10 grams, respectively.

Sovereign, however, held steady at Rs 23,700 per piece of eight grams.

In line with general firm trend, silver ready traded higher by Rs 100 to Rs 36,650 per kg and weekly-based delivery by Rs 80 to Rs 36,160 per kg.

Silver coins also spurted by Rs 1,000 to Rs 61,000 for buying and Rs 62,000 for selling of 100 pieces on upsurge in wedding season demand.

Source: News and Business News

Sensex off record highs; shares of oil firms plunge

The 30-share Sensex commenced on a strong note and soared to the day's high of 28,098.74 on positive inflation and factory output data announced on Wednesday.

However, it succumbed to profit-booking and dipped below the 28,000-mark to hit the day's low of 27,822.70 before recovering partially to settle at 27,940.64, down by 68.26 points or 0.24 percent.

The benchmark index had ended at an all-time closing high of 28,008.90 and also hit intra-day high of
28,126.48 on sustained foreign funds inflows driven by economic reforms undertaken by the government recently.

The 50-scrip NSE Nifty ended 25.45 points, or 0.30 percent, down at 8,357.85 after shuttling between 8,408.00 and 8,320.35.

The gauge yesterday concluded at record 8,383.30 after scaling a lifetime (intra-day) high of 8,415.05.

Meanwhile, country's industrial production grew at 2.5 percent in September and retail inflation eased to 5.52 percent in October from 6.46 percent in September, according to data released after market hours yesterday.

Besides profit-booking in blue-chip stocks, sentiments also dampened after the government hiked excise duty on petrol and diesel prices by Rs 1.50 a litre each to mop up an additional Rs 13,000 crore in revenue.

Stocks of state-run companies such as BPCL, HPCL and Indian Oil Corp came under selling pressure and ended up to 6.11 percent lower.

ONGC was among the biggest Sensex losers, plunging by 2.03 per cent, while RIL fell by 0.53 percent.

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 459.47 crore yesterday, according to provisional data from the stock exchanges.

Brokers said the market was in an over-bought position and participants adopted a cautious stance and preferred to lighten some positions by booking profits at record levels.

Selling was more pronounced in realty, PSU, metal, infrastructure, banking, power and auto stocks, which dragged down the key indices - Sensex and Nifty - from record highs.

Sesa Sterlite down by 2.50 percent, Tata Power shed 2.47 percent, GAIL fell 1.58 percent, Axis Bank down 1.49 percent, Hero MotoCorp by 1.38 per cent and HDFC by 1.14 percent.

Bucking the trend, Infosys surged 1.77 per cent, Dr Reddy by 1.01 percent, Cipla 0.91 percent, Wipro 0.69 percent, Bharti airtel 0.68 and Bajaj Auto 0.54 per cent and averted any major fall in the Sensex.

Among Sensex components, 16 stocks ended in negative territory, while 14 closed higher.

Sectorwise, BSE Oil & Gas index suffered the most by falling 1.63 percent, followed by Realty index (1.44 pc), PSU index (1.32 pc), Infrastructure index (0.78 pc) Metal index (0.76 pc), Banking index (0.71 per cent), Power index (0.44 pc) and Auto index (0.39 pc).

Towards the global markets, trend on the other Asian markets remained firm and European markets opened higher, rebounding from yesterday's biggest drop in four weeks. 

Source: Business News  and News

Doing commercial cinema to help small budget films: Nawazuddin Siddiqui

However, he says the transition is a conscious decision to support his small films."The decision to do commercial cinema this year was a deliberate one to help my small budget films - the movies which have not yet released," said the actor who was in the capital for an event.

Nawazuddin will be seen in a string of commercial movies like "Bajrangi Bhaijaan", "Farzi" and "Badlapur". "There are about three or four movies which are still awaiting release like 'Dekh Indian Circus', 'Anwar Ka Ajab Kissa' and 'Haramkhor'," said the 40-year-old.

The actor may have come to commercial cinema, but script and role still plays an important role for him before opting for a film."I pick my next film on the basis of script and director. A good script with a bad director can destroy the film while, on the other hand, a good director with an average script can do wonders to the film. I also focus on my character as I strive to do a role that challenges me," he said.

Source: Entertainment News and News

New materials boost performance of solar cells

Professor Federico Rosei and his team at Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) in Quebec demonstrated that applying a thin film of metallic oxide significantly boosts the performance of solar panel cells.
  
The researchers led by Riad Nechache have developed a new class of materials comprising elements such as bismuth, iron, chromium, and oxygen.
  
These 'multiferroic' materials absorb solar radiation and possess unique electrical and magnetic properties.
  
This makes them highly promising for solar technology, and also potentially useful in devices like electronic sensors and flash memory drives, researchers said.
  
The team discovered that by changing the conditions under which a thin film of these materials is applied, the wavelengths of light that are absorbed can be controlled.
  
A triple-layer coating of these materials barely 200 nanometres thick captures different wavelengths of light.   

This coating converts much more light into electricity than previous trials conducted with a single layer of the same material.
  
"With a conversion efficiency of 8.1 percent reported by Nechache and his coauthors, this is a major breakthrough in the field," researchers said.

Source: Current Business News and News

Indian Mujahideen, Al Qaeda join hands to launch deadly terror attacks across India

Reports in this regard came to the fore after intelligence agencies in the country have decrypted communications between IM and Al Qaeda. Testimony from other suspects have also triggered alarm among intelligence officials in India

According to intelligence agencies officials, plots they had uncovered included the kidnapping of foreigners and turning India into a "Syria and Iraq where violence is continuously happening."

Indian security agencies said evidence they had gathered pointed to growing ties between Al Qaeda and IM, a home-grown movement hitherto known for low-level attacks on local targets using relatively crude weapons like pressure cooker bombs.

Weeks after al Qaeda announced the formation of a South Asia wing to strike across the subcontinent, agencies said they had discovered IM members were training with al Qaeda and other groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan for major attacks.

Security officials cite last Sunday's deadly suicide bombing on the Pakistani side of a border crossing with India, and a terror alert on Tuesday at two eastern ports that forced the Indian navy to withdraw two ships, as evidence that militant coordination and activity are on the rise.

"The thing we are looking for is how al Qaeda/ISIS tie up with local groups, especially as the drawdown takes place in Afghanistan," said Sharad Kumar, head of the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

The Internet chats, which the United States helped Indian investigators to decipher, reveal tensions between IM and Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency, which India says has nurtured the group with finance and equipment.

In one conversation, Riaz Bhatkal, one of the founders of IM now based in the Pakistani city of Karachi, tells his men that it was important to build direct ties with Al Qaeda, cutting out Pakistan agents whom he described as "dogs".

Source: Latest News and  State News

View more: India News, Business News, Entertainment News, Sports News, Technology News,   

Aim is to integrate Ayurveda with modern medicine: Harsh Vardhan

"Under the newly created AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) Mission, centre would provide funding support to states wanting to set up manufacturing facilities and create manpower for the traditional medicine industry," said Vardhan at the inauguration of the Arogya Expo organised alongside the 6th World Ayurveda Congress here.

"The chief objective of the mission is to encourage integration of Ayush with modern medicine and create a holistic healthcare system that can be emulated globally and which will achieve the universal goal of health for all, he said.

"Ayurveda is not just a matter of sentiment for us. We work with scientific minds and this government is aggressively focused on research," he added.

The Arogya Expo, which will continue till November 9, features 400 stalls set up by leading traditional medicine manufacturers from around the country.

It also has 20 speciality clinics offering free consultation and medicines to visitors.

The sixth edition of the World Ayurveda Congress, which will be inaugurated on Friday by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, has 'Ayurveda and Health Challenges' as its focal theme.

It is being organised by the Department of AYUSH, in collaboration with the World Ayurveda Foundation and the Delhi Government.

Source: Latest News and  State News

View more: India News, Business News, Entertainment News, Sports News, Technology News,   

Govt ropes in civil pensioners for social welfare projects

"Considering the fact that the average life expectancy today is 76 years, it is felt that government servants when they superannuate at 60 have a number of years of active life left which can be devoted towards contribution to society.

"There are close to 50,000 fresh retirees from the Central Civil category every year. A large number of these pensioners feel the loss of a daily routine as well as a feeling of not being wanted.

Keeping these factors in mind, the Sankalp initiative was started," a senior DPPW official said.
  
The initiative, started on pilot basis for channelising the experience and skill of civil pensioners into meaningful social activities, also helps organisations working for welfare of society select appropriate skill and expertise from the available pool of volunteers, the DPPW said.
  
There are about 53,79,121 central government pensioners including those from defence. Of these, 11,80,554 are civil pensioners, according to data updated till March 2013 by the Centre.

Source: Latest News and State News

View more: India News, Business News, Entertainment News, Sports News, Technology News,   

Looking forward to meeting leaders during Three-country visit: PM Modi

Terming his visit to Australia as "special and historic" that was taking place after 28 years by any Indian Prime Minister, Modi tweeted, "In Australia I will meet the country's top leadership and am honoured to have been given an opportunity to address the Australian Parliament."

He said, "Starting 11th November I would be travelling to Myanmar, Australia and Fiji to participate in various summits & bilateral meetings. In Myanmar I will attend 2 key multilateral summits -ASEAN & East Asia Summits. Looking forward to meeting leaders attending these Summits."

The Prime Minister said, "Our ties with South East Asia are deep rooted. Strengthening relations with ASEAN nations is an important part of our 'Act East' policy. ASEAN is central to our dream of an Asian century, where India will play a crucial role. I am sure the meetings there would be fruitful."

Describing Myanmar as a "valued friend", Modi said he will have bilateral meetings with leaders of Myanmar and emphasised that having stronger relations with Myanmar was a priority area for India.

On G-20 Summit, the Prime Minister said it was a great platform to showcase opportunities India has to offer to the world. "I look forward to working with G-20 leaders on important issues concerning the world, particularly those relating to the global economy," he tweeted.

On Australia leg, Modi said that he was eagerly looking forward to interacting with the Indian community in Australia.

Source: Latest News and  Cricket News

View more: India News, Business News, Entertainment News, Sports News, Technology News,   State News

No complaint against judicial officer without verifiable material: SC

Expressing concern over the large number of complaints being filed against subordinate judiciary by people having vested interest and personal agenda, the apex court has written letters to the courts below, saying that authenticity of the complaint must be ascertained before any action is taken on it.

"The complaint making allegations against members of subordinate judiciary in the States should not be entertained and no action should be taken on it, unless it is accompanied by the duly sworn affidavit and verifiable material to substantiate the allegation made therein," the circular, issued by the Delhi High Court to trial courts on the direction of the apex court, said.

"If an action on such complaint meeting the above requirement is deemed necessary, authenticity of the complaint should be duly ascertained and further steps thereon should be taken only after satisfaction of the competent authority designated by the Chief Justice of the High Court," it said.

Source: Latest News and  State News

View more: India News, Business News, Entertainment News, Sports News, Technology News,   

Cartoonist R K Laxman felicitated

The birthday of Laxman which falls on October 24 could not be celebrated on that day as he was indisposed and the deferred function was organised on Thursday by Kailash Bhingare of Saraswati library in the city.
  
"We also displayed Laxman's selected cartoons at his residence on the occasion," he said.

Laxman's wife Kamala welcomed the guests who included Vishwanath Karad of Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT), noted social worker Krishnakant Kudale, Vijay Kuwalekar, editor, Daily Lokmat and popular Marathi compere Suhir Gadgil among others.

Source: Latest News and  Cricket News

View more: India News, Business News, Entertainment News, Sports News, Technology News,   State News

Government sees USD 250 billion investment in energy sector: Piyush Goyal

Efforts are also being made to increase coal production, strengthen electricity transmission network and get back gas- based power plants on stream, said Goyal, who also holds portfolios of Coal and New and Renewable Energy Ministries.
  
The investments, totalling USD 250 billion for power generation, coal mining as well as electricity distribution and transmission sectors, would help the government increase power generation and ensure electricity supplies to all households in the country by 2019, Goyal said.
  
Speaking at the India Economic Summit, organised here by Geneva-based World Economic Forum and Indian industry chamber CII, Goyal said that India's total power consumption would double to 2 trillion units by 2019 and the majority of investments would come from the private sector although the government would also invest more.
  
The government is also pushing ahead with ambitious plans for the renewable sector, especially solar energy, where the generation capacity is to be increased to 1,00,000 MW by 2022, he added.
  
"We are expecting around USD 250 billion investments in the next four to five years... About USD 100 billion will be in the renewable energy," Goyal said.
  
The country's electricity transmission segment is anticipated to see an investment of around USD 50 billion during this period, he added.
  
The government is sincere in its efforts and "will protect investments", the Minister said.
  
To meet the increasing electricity generation requirements, Goyal said, Coal India is expected to double its production to around one billion tonnes by 2019.
  
The private sector is also expected to play an increasing role in the coal sector and an ordinance issued recently by the government addresses many of the issues, he said.

Source: Latest News and Cricket News

 

View more: India News, Business News, Entertainment News, Sports News, Technology News,   State News

UN asks India, Pakistan to resolve their issues through dialogue

"The Secretary-General would call on both countries to resolve their issues diplomatically and through discussions," Ban's spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Tuesday in response to a question on whether UN chief can play a role in bringing about peace between the two countries.

In escalating ceasefire violations that continued last night, Pakistani troops targeted over 40 Border Out Posts and 25 border hamlets with heavy mortar shells in Jammu sector and LoC areas in Poonch district, leaving 12 people injured.
  
It came a day after five villagers were killed and 34 injured in one of the worst ceasefire violations by Pakistan.
  
Meanwhile, Pakistan has also lodged a protest with India on the alleged ceasefire violations and has even approached UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) office over the situation.
  
India has however always maintained that UNMOGIP has 'outlived its relevance' and has 'no role to play whatsoever'.

Source:Latest News from World News

UN committee approves USD 49.9 million funding for Ebola response

At the committee's meeting, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Chef de Cabinet, Susana Malcorra, presented his preliminary funding proposal requesting USD 49.9 million for the rest of the year.
  
The Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) endorsed the amount and recommended that the General Assembly approve it.
  
UNMEER teams have already deployed to the Mission headquarters in Accra, Ghana, and to offices in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
  
"The establishment of UNMEER is the first step in the global efforts to contain the outbreak, which must be further strengthened by a wide range of actions and measures at all levels," President of the General Assembly Sam Kutesa said, highlighting efforts to mobilize required financial, medical and humanitarian assistance.
  
More than 6,500 people have been believed to be infected, and more than 3,300 have died since the latest outbreak of the disease was confirmed in March.
  
Aside from the UNMEER funding, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has said that it needs USD 988 million to respond to the outbreak. So far, USD 257 million – or 26 percent – has been raised.
  
Meanwhile, UN Development Program (UNDP) is warning that the Ebola health crisis must not be allowed to become a crippling socio-economic crisis as well, as two of its officials began a visit to Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
  
"This devastating health crisis is destroying lives and communities. It is also impairing national economies, wiping out livelihoods and basic services, and could undo years of efforts to stabilize West Africa," Director of UNDP’s Bureau for Policy and Program Support Magdy Martínez-Solimán said.
  
"As we work together to end the outbreak, now is the time to ensure these countries can also continue to function and swiftly get back on their feet," he added.

Source:Latest News from World News

Nobel Prize for physics goes to inventors of low-energy LED light

Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano of Japan and Japanese-born U.S. citizen Shuji Nakamura won the prize for developing the blue light-emitting diode (LED) -- the missing piece that now allows manufacturers to produce white-light lamps.
             
The arrival of such lamps is changing the way homes and workplaces are lit, offering a longer-lasting and more efficient alternative to the incandescent bulbs pioneered by Joseph Swan and Thomas Edison at the end of the 19th century.
             
"Red and green LEDs have been around for a long time but blue was really missing. Thanks to the blue LED we now can get white light sources which have very high energy efficiency and very long lifetime," Per Delsing, a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, told a news conference.
             
The award is a notable example of a practical discovery winning the prize -- in contrast to last year, when the physics prize went to scientists who predicted the existence of the Higgs boson particle that explains how elementary matter attained the mass to form stars and planets.
             
"Incandescent light bulbs lit the 20th century; the 21st century will be lit by LED lamps," the academy said in a statement.
             
Frances Saunders, president of Britain's Institute of Physics, said the shift offered the potential for huge energy savings.
             
"With 20 percent of the world's electricity used for lighting, it's been calculated that optimal use of LED lighting could reduce this to 4 percent. Akasaki, Amano and Nakamura's research has made this possible and this prize recognises this contribution," she said.
             
Akasaki is at the Meijo University in Japan and Amano is professor at the Nagoya University. Nakamura is at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
             
Contacted by telephone in the middle of the night, Nakamura said of the award: "It's unbelievable."
             
Nakamura invented the blue-light emitting diode while working at Nichia, an unlisted firm, but received next to nothing from them for the work until 2004, when the Tokyo District Court ordered Nichia to pay him a record 20 billion yen.
             
Colin Humphreys, an expert at the University of Cambridge who is working on next-generation LED lighting, said the ability of the three scientists to crack the problem of blue light when others had failed was a tremendous achievement.
             
"Their invention of efficient blue LEDs has paved the way for the development of bright, cost effective and, importantly, energy efficient white lighting," he said.
             
In addition to lighting buildings, LED bulbs are transforming lamps in cars and the technology is also used as a light source in smartphone and computer screens.
             
The LED boom upended the lighting market, creating both opportunities and challenges for major players like Dutch group Philips, which has been making light bulbs for 123 years but is now splitting off its lighting business.
             
As winners of the physics award, the laureates join some of the biggest names in science such as Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr and the husband and wife team of Pierre and Marie Curie.
             
The prize is also something of a boost to Japan’s scientific reputation after it was tarnished by a discredited high profile stem cell study that had seemed to offer hope for replacing damaged cells or even growing new human organs.
             
It came on the same day as the author of that study, Haruko Obokata, was told by Waseda University that it will strip her of her doctorate unless she corrects it within a year.
             
Obokata’s discovery was first trumpeted as a game-changer, but questions soon arose about the research and investigations found that Obokata had plagiarized and fabricated parts of the papers.
             
Physics was the second of this year's crop of Nobels. The prizes were first awarded in 1901 to honour achievements in science, literature and peace in accordance with the will of dynamite inventor and business tycoon Alfred Nobel.

Source:Latest News from World News

AAP sends 2,500 photos showing garbage to Delhi mayors

AAP has received around 2,500 photographs from citizens on its helpline which show garbage lying at different places in the national capital, the party said in a statement.

Accompanied by its Delhi state unit workers, AAP leaders Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and Ashutosh met the mayors of the North (Yogender Chandolia), East (Meenakshi) and South Delhi (Khushi Ram) together at the Civic Centre.

AAP said it has started posting the photographs on its website as it believes that "public participation in the cleanliness drive is important for encouragement and awareness".

However, the party said that the final responsibility of the day-to-day work for keeping Delhi clean belongs to the municipal corporations.

"AAP has told the three mayors that the party supports the Prime Minister's 'Clean India Campaign' and its volunteers and leaders actively took part in the 'Shram Dan'," the statement said.

The North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) and East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) have for the past seven years been led by BJP and the civic bodies have been participating in the Swachh Bharat campaign while also conducting their own parallel cleanliness drives.

Meanwhile, the three mayors held a joint press conference today where they said they will make all-out efforts to keep the areas under their jurisdiction, be it well-planned or unauthorised, as neat and clean as possible.

"The three (mayors) lauded AAP's efforts for the sanitation drive and assured them about taking the needful action," said a statement released by NDMC.

The mayors also appealed to the citizens and various groups to come forward and cooperate in any way possible in improving sanitation and cleanliness levels in the city.

AAP said it will continue to monitor the work of garbage cleaning across the city and will encourage more photographs from the people indicating areas which need attention.

"BJP has been ruling MCD since last seven years and the state of cleanliness is there for all to see, but AAP is of the view that let's not squabble over the past and in keeping with the Prime Minister's call, let there be a policy of zero-tolerance against unclean Delhi," the party said.

Source:Latest News from State News

Mulayam Singh Yadav re-elected as Samajwadi Party chief

Mulayam has been elected as the national president for ninth term unanimously, party's national general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav said.

Mulayam would remain the party president for the next three years, he said.

JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav also shared the dais with Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on the inaugural day of SP's national convention in Lucknow, fueling speculation about their joining hands.

Though Sharad Yadav refused to comment on a possible alliance with the SP, he had recently made it clear that he will make efforts to 'bring together all those who were part of old Janata Parivar to fight the new political challenge'.


JD(U) and its arch rival RJD, both offshoots of Janata Dal Parivar, have already joined hands to form an alliance in Bihar.

In Kerala, Socialist Janata (Democratic) Party headed former Union Minister M P Veerendra Kumar too decided to merge with Janata Dal (United) last month.

Also efforts are on to bring on board splinter groups which are politically significant in other states.

The unity drive in the erstwhile Janata Parivar has come after the Narendra Modi juggernaut crushed Janata Dal (United) in Lok Sabha elections in Bihar with BJP-led combine winning 31 of 40 seats in the state.

There are indications of the rise of BJP in Kerala, Assam and West Bengal, the states where the saffron party did not perform well in past.

Source:Latest News from Uttar Pradesh News