Posts Tagged ‘Delhi’
Written by admin on 24 May 2012
New Delhi, May 24 (IANS) To curb thyroid-related disorders, the Indian Thyroid Society (ITS) has said a clinical manual would be launched on the World Thyroid Day Friday to raise awareness about the disease.
“Recent studies have shown an alarming increase in thyroid disorders across India. We want to ensure that doctors and people focus on early diagnosis and treatment of thyroid disorders,” ITS president R.V. Jayakumar said Thursday.
May 25 is observed as World Thyroid Day.
“The manual will give the medical fraternity comprehensive information about the disease, which often goes undetected and undiagnosed. Nearly 1,500 textbooks would be distributed to medical colleges across India,” he said.
“Obesity, depression, fatigue, high cholesterol, infertility and many other conditions are often the direct result of undiagnosed and untreated thyroid conditions,” he said.
Tags: Delhi, New Delhi
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Written by admin on 24 May 2012
New Delhi, May 24 (IANS) In a relief to the telecom service providers and mobile phone users, the Supreme Court Thursday ordered status quo thereby red-flagging the removal of 180 phone towers in residential areas of Chandigarh.
The apex court bench of Justice Deepak Verma and Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya directed the status quo on a petition by Vodafone South Ltd. challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court order directing the removal of all mobile phone towers in city homes.
Tags: Delhi, New Delhi
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Written by admin on 24 May 2012
New Delhi, May 24 (IANS) With its granaries overflowing and record food production for the third year in a row, the central government Thursday decided to allow states to lift and distribute six months’ quota of food grains under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) in one go.
Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution K.V. Thomas has written to the states, requesting them to make the most of the facility of advance lifting of food grains, according to an official statement.
“This will not only ease the problem of additional storage in view of increased procurement but also ensure uninterrupted supply of ration to the beneficiaries,” it said.
India’s food grain stocks are 71.21 million tonnes as of May 1 with 38.19 million tonnes of wheat and 33 million tonnes of rice, according to the Food Corporation of India.
Thomas has also requested states to ensure lifting of additional allocation of 60 lakh tonnes grains for above poverty line (APL) families and 15.40 lakh tonnes for the poorest districts in 12 states made during 2011-12.
He regretted that states had lifted only 27 percent of the additional grain allocation made during the current year. Further the ministry has asked the states not to force the beneficiaries to lift the additional quota in one go and let them take the grains as per convenience.
In order to ensure transparency, the states have been advised that the bulk distribution may be made as far as possible in the presence of state government officials, representatives of Panchayati Raj institutions, members of vigilance committees in Gram Sabhas and NGOs concerned.
Tags: Delhi, New Delhi
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Written by admin on 24 May 2012
New Delhi, May 24 (IANS) The second edition of JK Racing Asia Series beginning this weekend in Malaysia has added two European venues in its calendar.
The 16-race series (formerly known as Formula BMW Pacific) kicks-off at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia over the weekend and will culminate at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) in Greater Noida in December.
From Malaysia, the series will move to its new venues in Europe. The second round (June 29-July 1) will be staged alongside the Blancpain Endurance event at the Paul Ricard Circuit while in Belgium’s Spa Francorchamps (July 27-29), it will be a support event to the high-octane Spa 24 Hours.
The championship will then return to Asia and run as a support race to Formula One rounds in Singapore (Sep 21-23) and India (Oct 26-28) before culminating at the BIC where it will run alongside the World GT1 Championship (Nov 30-Dec 2).
Vishnu Prasad, Raj Bharath and Sandeep Kumar will be the Indians competing in the series opener.
“Putting Indian drivers on the international grid has always been part of our programme and this will test their mettle in the international arena against some of the best in the world in their age-group,” said Sanjay Sharma, JK Tyre’s head of motorsport.
The season is set to be a battle of reigning champions Eurointernational and Meritus GP.
Austria’s Lucas Auer, representing Eurointernational, won the inaugural edition in 2011.
Tags: Delhi, New Delhi
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Written by admin on 24 May 2012
New Delhi, May 24 (IANS) The Congress Thursday said the BJP had to “sacrifice” senior leader Sanjay Joshi to ensure Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi attended the party’s national executive meet in Mumbai.
“The BJP has set up a new standard of internal democracy by performing a ritual of sacrifice (asking Joshi to quit the national executive) so that Modi could attend the meet,” Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari told reporters.
He said the BJP, which called itself “a party with a difference” needed to introspect this during its meeting.
“It is an eye-opener for the people…They have to decide whether the BJP has internal democracy or is dictatorial,” he said.
Ending days of speculation, Modi is attending the party’s two-day national executive in Mumbai after his old foe Sanjay Joshi resigned from the executive Thursday.
Tags: Delhi, New Delhi
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Written by admin on 24 May 2012
New Delhi, May 24 (IANS) Facing flak both from allies like the Trinamool Congress and the DMK as well as the opposition for hiking petrol price, the Congress Thursday said the government should find a way to reduce the common man’s burden.
“The petrol price hike has burdened the common man… we hope the government will find a way to reduce this burden keeping in mind the volatile global financial situation,” Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari told reporters.
“It was not a political decision,” he stressed.
Indian oil marketing companies Wednesday announced the sharpest ever hike in petrol price by Rs 6.28 per litre plus state taxes, inviting strong reactions from the people and political parties.
Noting that some states have reduced local taxes to provide some relief to the petrol users, Tewari said a solution involving the central government, the states and the oil companies should be found.
He said after the National Democratic Alliance government dismantled the administered price mechanism, oil companies now decide on the petrol prices.
“The international price of crude oil is high and there is pressure on the rupee,” said Tewari.
Tags: Delhi, New Delhi
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Written by admin on 24 May 2012
New Delhi, May 24 (IANS) Size zero may be a fad, but actress Vidya Balan, who flaunted her curves unabashedly in “The Dirty Picture”, says she is all for the Indian woman’s curvaceous body.
“The only zero I am associated with is the zero cholesterol and zero trans-fat that are feature of Aliva snacks… and yes, the zeroes that come in my cheque,” Vidya quipped on being asked if she would ever endorse the size zero figure.
“I like the curvaceous Indian woman’s body. And if I may say so, I am well-endowed,” she added.
The 33-year-old was here Thursday for the official announcement of her appointment as brand ambassador of a new range of snacks brand Aliva, from the Pepsico stable.
Dressed in a shocking pink sari teamed with her trademark elbow-length sleeved blouse, Vidya looked elegant, and her vibrant, fun-loving mood justified her choice of colour.
Vidya says she likes to flaunt a mix of traditional and modern.
“A part of me is very traditional, which is why you see me wearing a lot of saris. But a part of me will always wear these low-back blouses,” she said, as she sat up to show her deep cut back of her blouse to the audience.
Tags: Delhi, New Delhi
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Written by admin on 24 May 2012
New Delhi, May 24 (IANS) A bespectacled studious girl to a glam diva — Bollywood actress Vidya Balan has essayed a range of characters in showbiz, but she says she always wanted to do a double role.
Her dream came true thanks to her endorsement deal with a new range of snacks brand Aliva.
“This snack is a perfect marriage between healthy and tasty, and then (in this ad) I was getting to play a double role. Only Sridevi and Hemaji (Hema Malini) have done it so far. I have always wanted to do a double role,” Vidya told reporters here.
“We don’t have double roles for some reason in films anymore… so this (offer) was too good to be true. Too many things fitted my bill,” she added.
The 30-second campaign for Aliva’s multi-grain waves will go on air early June.
In the television commercial, Vidya will be seen in two avatars — her traditional “Parineeta” look and her sexy siren look from “The Dirty Picture”.
Vidya, who won a National Award for “The Dirty Picture”, says the ad reflects her range of acting, and proves all those, who tried to typecast her, wrong.
“The ad took me back to ‘Parineeta’. For the longest time after ‘Parineeta’, people just wanted to see me as (in the look of) Parineeta. And they didn’t think I was capable of much else. They wanted to pigeonhole me into a stereotype of sorts.”
“But then slowly, one began to push the envelope and thankfully the audience has accepted me with open arms. I was getting to do all these things – Parineeta and Silk as diametrically different as possible in the ad film — and make a point, for the ad, and for myself,” said the 33-year-old.
Tags: Delhi, New Delhi
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Written by admin on 24 May 2012
New Delhi, May 24 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Thursday reserved its verdict on a plea by Indraprastha Gas Ltd. (IGL) to stay a regulator’s order to cut CNG price in the national capital and refund the excess amount charged from consumers since 2008.
The petitioner had moved court contending that the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) did not give it a hearing and calculated the tariff, announced April 9, on the basis of the 2008 price levels for various inputs and charges.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice R.S. Endlaw sought an assurance from Additional Solicitor General (ASG) A.S. Chandhiok, appearing for PNGRB, to refrain from taking any coercive steps against IGL till the court’s verdict.
Chandhiok gave his assurance to the court that no coercive action will be taken by the regulatory board with regard to its retrospective order directing IGL to pay the excess amount charged from customers from April 1, 2008 for compressed natural gas (CNG) and piped gas.
Senior counsel Parag P. Tripathy, appearing for IGL, contended that the board’s order will put an additional burden of Rs.1,500 crore on the company.
The board earlier said that it had sought clarifications over data on capital and operating expenditure submitted by IGL in May 2009.
The regulator told the company to reduce its network tariff by 63 percent to Rs.38.58 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) as against Rs.104.05 per mmBtu sought by the company.
It also cut compression charge for CNG by 59 percent to Rs.2.75 per kg from Rs.6.66 per kg proposed by the company.
IGL in March hiked the prices of CNG in Delhi by Rs.1.70 a kg and Rs.1.90 per kg in Noida, citing a rise in input cost as the factor.
The current price of CNG is Rs.35.45 a kg in Delhi and Rs.39.80 a kg in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad.
Tags: Delhi, New Delhi
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Written by admin on 24 May 2012
New Delhi, May 24 (IANS) The Indian Railways and the Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) joined hands Thursday to improve tourism services offered by the two entities, drawing maximum advantage from each other’s large customer base, expertise and network of facilities.
A memorandum of understanding (MOU) to this effect has been signed between the ITDC and the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a subsidiary of the Indian Railways, according to a statement.
Among the popular services offered by the IRCTC are the Bharat Darshan tourist trains, Mahaparinirvan Express (Buddhist circuit special train) and educational tours for school children.
The ITDC has carved a niche in the production of packaged drinking water (Rail Neer), e-tickets, cab rental services, online hotel booking services, budget hotels and online air ticketing. The company has been operating travel services under the Ashok Travels & Tours (ATT) brand.
–Ind-Asian News Service
aag/vr/vt
Tags: Delhi, New Delhi
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Written by admin on 24 May 2012
New Delhi, May 24 (IANS) The sports ministry Thursday cleared training of the three-member Indian swimming team at Germany’s Olympic Centre in Frankfurt to prepare for the 2012 London Games.
The three-member team, comprising Virdhawal Khade and Sandeep Sejwal along with their coach Nihar Ameen, will train from June 1 to July 24 before joining the Indian contingent in London for the Games that start July 27.
The government will bear their full training cost.
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Written by admin on 24 May 2012
New Delhi/Mumbai, May 24 (IANS) The pilot strike in Air India entered the 17th day Thursday with the national carrier’s losses mounting to Rs.270 crore.
‘Losses are around Rs.270 crore on account of ticket cancellations, unused labour and bulk of Boeing-777 fleet being grounded,’ a senior Air India official told IANS.
‘Losses per day are being contained to downwards of Rs.10 crore in the current contingency plan,’ he added.
Air India, however, says it has enough executive pilots who are not on strike to operate long-haul destinations in the US and Europe.
‘An interim schedule has been decided keeping into account the economics, load factor and importance of the destination,’ the official added.
Air India is now operating a bare minimum number of flights by clubbing flights to Europe and the US.
Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh has appealed to pilots to return to work unconditionally and assured them that no victimisation would follow. The Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) has refused to.
The beleaguered airline has come out with a truncated interim schedule for June.
It will effectively drop seven international destinations from its regular routine like Hong Kong, Osaka, Seoul and Toronto.
Accordingly, between June 2 and 30, only 38 services will operate instead of the regular 45.
‘We have deployed the Airbus family of aircraft including A320, A321 and A330 for nearby destinations,’ the official said.
On Wednesday, Ajit Singh said the 101 sacked pilots will be reinstated on a case-by-case basis.
‘We have taken back one sacked pilot. But taking back sacked pilots will be decided on a case-by-case. First they have to come back to work unconditionally,’ the minister told IANS.
The pilots have said they will end their strike if the sacked colleagues are taken back and the management starts negotiations on the issues raised by them.
‘This (strie) can be over in no time if our sacked pilots are taken back and talks start on issues we have raised,’ IPG’s Rohit Kapahi said.
‘We are ready for talks but without the condition of joining work without any discussions on our issues,’ he said.
Trouble started May 8 when pilot-members of IPG took mass sick leave, protesting the move to provide Boeing-787 Dreamliner training to pilots from the erstwhile Indian Airlines.
The pilots want exclusive flying rights on Boeing 787 aircraft, payment of arrears from 2007, travel on first class when not working, and the right to be promoted as commanders within six years.
Tags: Delhi, Mumbai, New Delhi
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