New Delhi, Feb 25 – The Jharkhand State Khadi and Village Industries Board – the smallest of 33 such boards across the country – has become a business and social development model for all the other khadi boards in India.
‘The khadi board, which was formed in 2004 — four years after Jharkhand was carved...
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Amritsar, Feb 25 – Nearly 15 kg of heroin was seized Thursday from close to the India-Pakistan border in Punjab’s Ajnala sector after suspected smugglers abandoned the consignment following an exchange of fire with forces on the Pakistani side.
The Border Security Force (BSF) officials said the exchange of fire between smugglers and security forces...
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London, Feb 25 – A goldfish bowl kept close to a window started a fire at a house in Britain as sun rays caused a ‘magnifying glass’ effect on the bowl, family members said.
Daily Express reported Thursday that sun rays caused the ‘magnifying glass’ effect on the bowl, setting the wooden table it was...
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Guwahati, Feb 25 – Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has asked ministers and legislators of the ruling Congress party to immediately furnish details of their property and other assets so the information could be uploaded on the state government website.
‘I have asked all my ministers and MLAs to provide details of their properties...
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Washington, Feb 25 – The Obama administration is sharply expanding American weapons sales to both India and Pakistan in a bid to forge ‘closer ties with each country while creating new opportunities for American defence firms’, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The US has made billions of dollars in weapons deals with India, which...
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Bhubaneswar, Feb 25 – Faced with an acute shortage of power, the Orissa government is planning to tell factory and office managements to take off for an extra day every week, an official said Thursday.
There is a severe drop in power production in Orissa mainly due to dip in water level in hydro-power units...
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Rio de Janeiro, Feb 25 (IANS/EFE) Cuban President Raul Castro has confirmed that his government is ready to talk with the US about any subject, but under conditions of equality, Brazil’s official Estado news agency reported.
‘We want to discuss with the government of the United States all the problems that they want to (talk...
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Quito, Feb 25 (IANS/EFE) Private oil companies operating in Ecuador plan to invest more than $417 million in 2010, nearly double of last year’s outlay, the non-renewable natural resources ministry said.
Reports from the National Hydrocarbons Directorate, which oversees oil and gas operations in Ecuador, say that figure corresponds to the 2010 exploration and production...
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Toledo (Spain), Feb 25 (IANS/EFE) The Spanish government has said that it ‘deeply deplores’ the death of Cuban dissident Orlando Zapata Tamayo and regrets that the human rights situation on the communist-ruled island has led to ‘this very terrible outcome’.
Zapata, 42, died Tuesday at a Havana hospital after an 85-day hunger strike.
This fact ‘truly...
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Veracruz (Mexico), Feb 25 (IANS/EFE) Mel Gibson visited a prison in the Mexican Gulf state of Veracruz where shooting for one of his upcoming films will take place.
The actor, filmmaker and producer, accompanied by several members of the film crew, Tuesday meticulously toured the grounds of the Ignacio Allende prison in Veracruz, a port...
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New Delhi, Feb 25 – India’s eminent artist M.F. Husain, who has been under attack from Hindu fundamentalists for his paintings of Hindu goddesses and has been living in Dubai and London, has been given Qatar nationality, it was reported here Thursday.
‘I, The Indian origin painter M.F. Husain at 95 have been honoured by...
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Chandigarh, Feb 25 – A Panjab University student arrested on rape charges while on an educational trip to Boston was not a member of the official delegation but that of a ‘bogus’ team which got affidavits and varsity documents to support its participation at a conference in the US.
Nitin Jindal, 22, a student of...
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Washington, Feb 25 – An India-born rocket scientist has lifted the veil off Bloom Box fuel-cell, a revolutionary new technology that holds the promise to supply the world with abundant clean, cheap energy.
‘The core of our technology is simply sand,’ said K.R. Sridhar, 49, founder of the Silicon Valley clean tech start-up Bloom Energy...
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Toronto, Feb 25 – With its huge population of Sri Lankan Tamils, Canada fears that resentment over the defeat of the Tamil Tigers last year may lead to violent response by sections of the 300,00-strong community here, says a report.
Canadian security agencies are worried that the Tamil anger could lead to backlash like the...
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Washington, Feb 25 (DPA) A group of senators has called for a clear vision for the future of the US space programme, characterising President Barack Obama’s plans for space agency NASA as ‘without a mission’.
Earlier this month, Obama’s 2011 budget proposal included the scrapping of existing plans for next-generation spacecraft to return to the...
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Los Angeles, Feb 25 (DPA) Freida Pinto, the Indian actress who made a splash in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, will play the female lead in the new movie ‘War of Gods’, Variety magazine reported Wednesday.
Pinto will portray the oracle priestess Phaedra in the film about Theseus, a warrior from Greek mythology who takes on the Greek...
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Singapore, Feb 25 (DPA) Singapore’s charity watchdog launched a probe into a popular Hindu temple’s governance and administration, the Straits Times reported Thursday.
Investigations into the affairs of the Sri Siva Krishna temple were initiated in July following a complaint by the Hindu Endowments Board to the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports.
‘Mid-last year,...
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Washington, Feb 25 – Calling India a ‘rising global power’, Washington has asked New Delhi to undertake new reforms and raise the cap on foreign equity in Indian defence firms to give more opportunities to US companies interested in defence sales in India.
‘India is a rising global power, soon to be the world’s most...
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Toronto, Feb 25 (ANS) Wearing red at top international sporting events like the Olympics benefits an athlete, says a new study.
In fast-paced sports such as races and skating a referee’s perceptions of motion are subconsciously affected by the colour the athlete is wearing, says the study at York University here.
‘All things being equal between...
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Washington, Feb 25 – As the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan prepared to meet in New Delhi, the US said it had encouraged the two countries to resume direct talks at the highest political level.
‘With respect to India and Pakistan, we’ve encouraged the resumption of the direct talks which were suspended when (Pakistan)...
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New Delhi, Feb 25 – The national capital saw a relatively warm and bright Thursday morning with the temperature hovering above the average mark.
Delhi recorded a minimum of 14.6 degrees Celsius, three notches above the average, but lower than 16.5 degrees Celsius Wednesday.
‘Skies will mainly remain clear during the day with maximum temperature hovering...
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Ranchi, Feb 25 – Maoist rebels shot and set ablaze a truck driver’s assistant and set afire three trucks laden with bauxite in Gumla district of Jharkhand Thursday morning, police said.
‘The truck driver’s assistant was first shot and later burnt by the Maoists. The rebels also set on fire three trucks,’ said Superintendent of...
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Bhubaneswar, Feb 25 – Three suspected Maoists were arrested from Rasol village in Keonjhar district of Orissa, police said Thursday.
The arrested people have been identified as Rengal Munda, Daitari Munda and Jhula Munda.
‘We have arrested three Maoists. They were involved in several Maoist incidents,’ said Superintendent of Police Ashish Kumar Singh.
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New Delhi, Feb 25 – Lt. Gen. (retd) Avdhesh Prakash, the former military secretary at army headquarters who has won a temporary reprieve against a court martial ordered against him, alleges that the Indian Army chief violated a long-standing military practice in recommending the action.
The army chief, Gen. Deepak Kapoor, had violated a rule...
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