Asian Lite News Archive

Category: INDIAN NEWS

  • Modi leaves on Thursday on three-nation visit

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    Several agreements, including in the field of trade and tourism, are lined up for inking during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s six-day visit to China, Mongolia and South Korea beginning on May 14. The prime minister, who will be in China on May 14-16, will land in Xi’an, the capital of Shaanxi province and the hometown…

  • Andhra to House Mega Google Campus

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    Google to build largest campus outside US in Hyderabad….reports Asian Lite, UK’s No 1 newspaper fro British Asians  Global Internet services company Google will build its largest campus outside the US in Hyderabad with an investment of Rs.1,000 crore, announced Telanagana Information Technology Minister K. Tarakarama Rao on Tuesday. The minister, who is on a…

  • Modi Seeks ‘Cricket Diplomacy’

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    Prime Minister Narendra Modi is determined to break the ice with Pakistan through “cricket diplomacy” Despite apprehensions raised by some BJP MPs about a proposed India-Pakistan cricket series, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is determined to break the ice with the neighbouring country through “cricket diplomacy”, informed sources said. “We have taken the decision to start a…

  • NDA government kills land Act: Rahul

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      Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi  accused the NDA government of “killing” the land bill passed by the previous UPA government. He said that the government has removed the essential clauses on consent and social impact in its new bill. Speaking in the Lok Sabha on the land bill brought by the Narendra Modi government,…

  • K.V Kamath to head BRICS bank

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    Banker K.V. Kamath is appointed head of the BRICS New Development Bank being set up by the group of emerging economies formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Kamath, currently the non-executive chairman of ICICI bank, will have a five-year term at the BRICS bank, which is likely to be operationalised within one year,…

  • Govindacharya slams Modi policies

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    Former BJP ideologue K.N. Govindacharya described the Modi government’s land acquisition policy as worse than its predecessor United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s. “There is no doubt about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intention. However, his policies are questionable. There is a gap in the understanding about the implementation mechanism of projects,” Govindacharya said at a press…

  • Crime Branch probe recommended in IGP cheating case

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    Additional Director General of Police N. Shankar Reddy, who probed alleged cheating in in LL.M. exam by senior police officer T.J. Jose, has recommended a further probe by the Crime Branch wing of Kerala Police. The incident was reported at the St. Paul’s College Kalamassery near Kochi. Reddy said that there were a few loose ends…

  • India’s luxury goods market short of trained hands

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    By Biswajit Choudhury Take a stroll in an upmarket mall or fashion street in India and you’ll find swanky showrooms of a host of global luxury brands. Yet, just 30 percent of the top 500 names in the business have a presence in India. One reason: Lack of qualified staff, experts maintain. In the $14-billion…

  • INTERVIEW: Prakash Javadekar

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      Financial inclusion of the poor through bank accounts and pension for workers in the unorganized sector are among the biggest achievements of the Narendra Modi government in its first year in office, Environment and Forest Minister Prakash Javadekar has said. In an interview, Javadekar said the government has taken significant initiatives towards good governance,…

  • India show ‘concern’ in US’ rights record

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    As violence continues in Baltimore in the US following the custodial death of a black man, India has pointed out areas of “concern” regarding the US’ human rights record, including “deficiencies in law enforcement procedures and disproportionate use of force”. In a statement, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN at Geneva Ajit Kumar acknowledged the…

  • Modi should not visit disputed border region: China daily

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      Prime Minister Narendra Modi must not visit the disputed border region in pursuit of his own political interests, a leading English daily of China said . The daily’s advice comes only days ahead of Modi’s official visit to China this week. It describes the Indian leader as pragmatic rather than a visionary. “Due to…

  • Killer Stroke is Rising in the UK

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    There are around 152,000 strokes in the UK every year and it is the leading cause of severe adult disability. There are over 1.2 million people in the UK living with the effects of stroke…reports Stroke Association Today (May 12) is European Stroke Awareness Day. Stroke Association (SA) points out on this day that stroke…

  • Bombay Velvet to hit screens on May 15

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     Bombay Velvet, starring Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma and Karan Johar, is set in the 1960s and is a large screen adaptation of Gyan Prakash’s “Mumbai Fables” “Bombay Velvet,” the most anticipated film of 2015, will hit the screens May 15, 2015. Directed by Anurag Kashyap, the romantic thriller stars Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma and Karan Johar…

  • India shouldn’t give in to anti-GM dissent

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    By Vivian Fernandes  With the European Union expected to approve import of 17 more genetically-modified food products by the end of May, opponents in India like Greenpeace will have a weaker case to stall permission for commercial cultivation of GM crops. But they are unlikely to give up their resistance. Unless the courts come to…

  • Building the pillars of good governance

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    By Shrimoyee Bhattacharya and Sujaya Rathi  The second budget of the Narendra Modi government has been presented. The Smart Cities programme and 500 habitations under the National Urban Rejuvenation Mission (NURM) together have been allocated Rs. 6,000 crore (approximately $1 billion). This is more than one third of the total allocation under the Ministry of…

  • Quake jolts Nepal and Delhi

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    Hundreds of thousands of people across Nepal fled from their homes and offices after a strong earthquake shook buildings, reminding them of the horror of the April 25 temblor. The earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale on Tuesday caused panic among the residents of Kathmandu, according to eyewitnesses. Many thousand people had again assembled…

  • From boardroom to a farmland

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    Salim David hung up his corporate boots to be a farmer near Hyderabad in South India. He grows organic vegetables, roses, and livestock. He is sharing his experiments with Asian Lite readers Spending nights at a farm, one can hear the stillness, smell the freshness in the air and marvel at the clear skies. City…

  • What Ails Indian Healthcare?

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    Amit Kapoor exploring the strength and challenges of India’s healthcare system One of the biggest challenges India faces and will continue to face in the forthcoming decades is in the context of healthcare. It would include issues like health accessibility, infant mortality rates, the stunted growth of children because of ill health, maternal health, disease…

  • Manisha Koirala to support Nepali women

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       Bollywood star and social activist Manisha Koirala has announced her support for the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) as its Goodwill Ambassador for Nepal to work for pregnant women, new mothers and their infants, girls and young people displaced by the devastating earthquake of April 25. “I am truly happy to renew my partnership with…

  • Big B, Deepika rock in Piku

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    E-motion-al ‘Piku’ gets over Rs.25 crore opening weekend Director Shoojit Sircar’s slice-of-life family entertainer “Piku” has got a thumbs up not just from the film fraternity and critics, but also movie buffs. The medium budget film is steadily climbing the ladder of success at the box office and has collected over Rs.25 crore in its…

  • Black money bill moved in Lok Sabha

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      Finance Minister Arun Jaitley tabled the black money bill in the Lok Sabha, saying the government had decided to take harsh measures against unaccounted wealth stashed abroad. “The Bill [The Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition of Tax) Bill, 2015, introduced in March] has no connection with domestic black money,” Jaitley said. “For the…

  • Jaya juggernaut set to roll

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     With former Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa being acquitted in a disproportionate assets case , the AIADMK juggernaut is all set to roll in the 2016 assembly elections, said a political analyst. “With the court acquitting Jayalalithaa of all charges, there is nothing to stop the AIADMK juggernaut to roll down the opposition in…

  • Modi and Manmohan index

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      The economy rebounded; exports and imports declined, foreign-exchange reserves grew; coal production, electricity generation and petroleum consumption rose, non-performing assets (NPAs) in banking soared. There are great similarities between Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first year in office – which he completes on May 26 – and the corresponding first year of his predecessor, Manmohan…

  • Afghan gets a pair of hands from a Keralite

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    By Sanu George  Thirty-two-year-old Abdul Rahim, a former captain with the Afghan security Force has now got a fresh pair of hands, thanks to a brain-dead Keralite and to a team of doctors at a leading private hospital here who conducted the double transplant. The surgery was conducted on April 10 by a team of…

  • Priti: A real privilege to get the ministerial berth

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    Mrs Priti Patel, the first Conservative female MP, said it is a real privilege to get the post as Minister of State for Employment at the Department for Work and Pensions in the new cabinet Priti Patel MP, the newly appointed Minister of State for Employment at the Department for Work and Pensions, said it is a…

  • Gadkari denies wrongdoing

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    Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari denied any wrongdoings by the Purti Group or by him in financial dealings. The upper house saw repeated adjournments, as opposition members demanded that Gadkari should resign. “There is no scam or irregularity… Purti has repaid all loans. There are no allegations against me,” Gadkari said in the Rajya…

  • Class 2015 – The Most Diverse

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    The Class 2015 will be the most diverse ever  in the history of British Parliament…writes Sunder Katwala of British Future A record number of ethnic minority MPs have been elected to the House of Commons – 41 non-white MPs enter the new 2015 parliament compared to 27 at the last General Election, according to British Future’s…

  • India will bring Dawood back: Rajnath

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    Home Minister Rajnath Singh  said that “India would do everything possible” to bring back from Pakistan Dawood Ibrahim, the underworld don who is believed to be involved in various crimes, including terrorism. Speaking in the Lok Sabha, the home minister said Pakistan was under international obligation to find him out as Interpol has already issued…

  • Jaya acquitted in disproportionate assets case

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    In a relief to former Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa, a special bench of the Karnataka High Court  acquitted her in the Rs.66.65-crore disproportionate assets’ case. She was convicted and sentenced to four years’ imprisonment by a lower court earlier. Pronouncing the much-awaited verdict on the appeal by 67-year-old Jayalalithaa filed against the trial…

  • I bat for ‘Team India’: Modi

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    Pitching for a “Team India” of the centre and states for the country’s development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi credited his government’s economic policies for making India the world’s fastest growing nation. Concluding his two-day visit to West Bengal – the first after becoming prime minister – Modi assured his government’s support in ensuring economic progress…

  • NEWS N PICS: VE Day

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    Europe commemorates the 70th anniversary of the VE Day and other pics from the global events  

  • Recharged Rahul Fuels Hopes

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    Rahul’s resurgence signals willingness to take on mantle…writes  Trina Joshi for Asian lite, UK’s No 1 newspaper British Asians With a string of salvos fired at the Modi government since his return from a sabbatical, a combative Rahul Gandhi is being seen among his party leaders as a force behind “turning the tide” for a…

  • US Experts Restore Ray’s Apu Trilogy

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        Restoring Ray’s masterpiece that put Indian cinema on the world map “was challenging at every stage”, Peter Becker, president of the Criterion Collection and partner in Janus Films, a leading distributor of classic foreign films…told Arun Kumar Working frame by frame for over a thousand hours in a labour of love spread over…

  • Belgian varsity honours Tagore with his statue

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    Belgium’s most prestigious and largest university in the city of Leuven, 26 km from Brussels, has honoured India’s world renowned poet, artist and humanist Rabindranath Tagore by erecting his statue in the university premises. The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) presented a sculpture of Tagore to the City of Leuven and India House Leuven.…

  • Modi launches ambitious social security schemes

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    Prime Minister Narendra Modi on launched three ambitious social security schemes, relating to the insurance and pension sector and intended at widening the process of financial inclusion. On his first visit to West Bengal after taking over as prime minister, he kickstarted the “Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana” (accident insurance), “Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Yojana”…

  • RSS, Sage Narad & Positive journalism

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    India’s right-wing RSS is using the image of Sage Narad, India’s first journo, to promote ‘positive journalism’…writes  Mayabhushan Nagvenkar  Narad, an ancient Indian sage who appears prominently in the Ramayana and was known for disseminating relevant information, spreading gossip and carrying tales that often led to fights, has been projected wrongly and should be held…

  • Indian Envoy meets ELSA UK

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     Indian High Commissioner Mr. Ranjan Mathai met ELSA UK – an alumni group of the prestigious Lady Shri Ram College for Women in New Delhi. The topics of discussion ranged from bilateral relations between the UK and India to the role of Indians in British society and the contribution of Asian women to the country.…

  • Shiamak denies sexual abuse charges

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    Bollywood’s choreographer Shiamak Davar has denied the sexual allegation charges filed by two of his former students in Canada. Shiamak, who is running dance academies in London and Dubai, has trained many Bollywood stars including Shah Rukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit for hit movies. Shiamak issued a statement denying the charges. In the statement he he said…

  • I would like to be a child again: Modi

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    Prime Minister Narendra Modi handled with aplomb a series of questions put to him by children at an interactive session during his visit here, even saying he would like to be a child again and that “the more you work, the more joy you derive”. “If God asks me what do I want, I would…

  • NEWS N PICS – Cameron Returns to No 10

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  • India pays tributes to ‘Old Friend Russia’

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    Russia a pillar of strength for India at difficult moments says Indian President Pranab Mukherjee Russia has been a pillar of strength at difficult moments in India’s history and India-Russia ties “will not be affected by winds of transient global political trends”, President Pranab Mukherjee said. Delivering the keynote address at the Diplomatic Academy of…

  • India 10, Pakistan 10, Bangladesh 3, Lanka 1 at British Polls

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    Pakistani-origin British MPs now equal Indian counterparts – 10 With three gains as compared to their tally in the previous House of Commons, the number of Pakistani-origin MPs in the British parliament has drawn level with their Indian counterparts, whose strength remained static. Earlier, there were seven Pakistani-origin MPs in the Commons. Now the figure…

  • Kidney Priest Returns to London

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    Fr Davies Chiramel, chairman of Kidney Federation of India, popularly known as Kidney Priest of India,  will lead the Gift of Life campaign for Upahaar to promote organ, stem cell donation among South Asians….reports Asian Lite, UK’s No 1 newspaper for British Asians Upahaar, a national charity promoting organ, stem cell donation among South Asians, is…

  • Stolen George Cross returned to widow

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    “Now I will die in peace,” said octogenarian Brahmi Devi, widow of an Indian soldier, Naik Kirpa Ram, whose posthumously-awarded George Cross bravery medal was “stolen” 13-year-ago from Himachal Pradesh and has now been retrieved by the British authorities. The British High Commission in Delhi, which retrieved the medal from an auction house, will return…

  • London gears up for Jaipur Fest

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    The Jaipur Literature Festival travels to London for the second time with a creative caravan of writers and thinkers, poets and balladeers. Showcasing South Asia’s unique multilingual literary heritage, JLF at Southbank on May 16 & 17 is an intense two-day teaser of what has been declared the ‘greatest literary show on earth’. ‘JLF at Southbank’…

  • Who’s afraid of Rahul Gandhi?

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    By Amulya Ganguli Nothing shows the weakness of the Narendra Modi government more than the fact that it gives the impression of having been spooked by Rahul Gandhi to strive for a pro-poor image. Hence, the directive to ministers to go around the country after the budget session to counter the perception that the government…

  • US ready to discuss Greenpeace and Ford Foundation

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     US envoy Richard Verma  called for a dialogue with the Narendra Modi government to discuss the recent clampdown on Greenpeace India and the Ford Foundation. “I think we should (have a dialogue). It is for Indian officials to raise their concerns and I certainly am raising my concerns with them,” Verma told news channel CNN-IBN…

  • Don’t judge life by success or failure: Modi

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    Prime Minister Narendra Modi, interacting with students in Chhattisgarh’s Maoist-affected Dantewada district, said that life should not be judged through the prism of success or failure. On being asked about the secret of success, Modi, who was accompanied by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, said: “I don’t think life should be judged through the prism…

  • Ram’s birthplace Ayodhya in Pakistan?

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    By Mohammed Shafeeq  Ayodhya, the birthplace of Hindu warrior-god Ram, is in Pakistan, claims a book by a top Muslim leader. Ayodhya in Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh is not the original city by the same name as it was inhabited by human beings only in 7th century BC while Rama is believed to have…

  • Can Modi’s nuclear deals clean up India’s Air?

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    Amit Bhandari  India’s civil nuclear accords may be part of the solution to air pollution problems as it tries to move away from highly-polluting coal, which accounts for almost 80 percent of its electricity generation, towards a clearer and greener option. An agreement with the Canadian company Cameco, one of the world’s largest uranium producers,…