Asian Lite News Archive

Category: INDIAN NEWS

  • Home Office approve English test centres

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      Home Office approve  English Language Test centres As a result of last year’s visa controversy, only two organisations are now authorised by the Home Office to run SELT (Secure English Language Test) tests in the UK. A SELT certificate is necessary for many types of visa applications. These include GESE (Graded Examinations in Spoken…

  • Bolly star at London property show

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    Bollywood director, producer and actor Arbaaz Khan inaugurates the Indian Property Show at Olympia West Hall London. The Show showcased over 40 leading real estate developers and brokers allowing investors from the UK to meet and network with property developers and experts from India Over the years, the show has become a preferred property exhibition for NRI…

  • Cameron offers help to break barriers

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    Conservative 2020 Vision are realistic and will bring dramatic changes in the socio-political landscape for the BAME communities across the country….Cameron talks to Asian Lite’s Anasudhin Azeez  Prime Minister David Cameron said the next Conservative government will bring measures to help the BAME community to achieve more in their career and socio-political strata. In an…

  • Rahul begins his ‘padyatra’ in Vidarbha

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    Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi  began a 15-km ‘padyatra’ in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra where he will meet the families of farmers who committed suicide after their crops failed. Gandhi reached Nagpur and left early  morning for Gunj village, approximately 50 km from Amravati town, to begin the foot march. He was greeted by…

  • Transport strike hits millions across India

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    Millions of people across India faced a harrowing timeas buses and taxis did not ply to protest a bill that makes punishment for traffic violations much more stringent. Passengers were left stranded at railway stations in various cities as public transport went off the road. People were forced to trudge with heavy luggage and office-goers…

  • India lags in research and innovation

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    By Devanik Saha As it attempts to drive growth and innovation, India lags the developed and emerging world in a key area, research and development, as a recent imbroglio over stipends reveals­. An IndiaSpend analysis reveals that India has 366 research and development (R&D) personnel per million population, compared with 1,366 in Brazil, 2,358 in…

  • Tagore’s Gitanjali echoes in RCGP corridors

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    The headquarter of the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) in Euston Square, London, now has a room named ‘Gitanjali’ named after the famous work of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, writes Anjana Parikh   Sponsored by Manchester-based medic, Dr Vikram Tanna and his family, the room has an image of Tagore and an extract from ‘Gitanjali’…

  • Sharif lauds Indian rescue efforts

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    Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi to express condolence over the deaths in India due to the quake and appreciated India’s rescue operations in Nepal. “Got a call from PM Nawaz Sharif. He expressed condolences on the loss of lives in various parts of India due to the earthquake,” Modi…

  • Hillary dismisses Indian cash swayed her n-deal stance

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     Arun Kumar writes about the conspiracy theory claims against Hillary Clinton in the largest selling Asian newspaper in UK. Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign has dismissed as conspiracy theory claims made by a new book that cash donations from India swayed her stance as a senator on the landmark India-US nuclear deal. “Clinton Cash is attempting to…

  • Indian Army will continue operations in Nepal

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    The Indian Army said  that it will continue with its major relief and rescue operation in quake-hit Nepal till the situation becomes normal. Since an earthquake measuring 7.9 on Richter scale hit Nepal, the army has rushed medical and engineering teams along with equipment and even reached the epicenter. “We are committed to help Nepal……

  • Jaitley defends Modi’s ‘scam to skill India’ comment

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    Finance Minister Arun Jaitley  defended Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remark “scam to skill India”, saying there was nothing wrong in discussing corruption anywhere in the world. The Congress  raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha asking why Modi, while on his three-nation tour recently, made such comments which “defame the country”. In this age of…

  • Cricketer Rahul Ghosh discharged

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      Rahul Ghosh, the 20-year-old cricketer who was hospitalised last Tuesday after being hit on the head while fielding in a local league match, was discharged on Monday night after doctors declared him “stable”. “He will be resting for the next three weeks, but not bed rest. He can walk around the house if he…

  • NRI duo develop app to detect sleep apnoea

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    A team of Indian-American researchers from the University of Washington (UW) has developed an app that uses a smartphone to wirelessly test for obstructive sleep apnoea in a person’s bedroom. Unlike other home sleep aponea tests in use, “ApneaApp” uses inaudible sound waves emanating from the phone’s speakers to track breathing patterns without the need…

  • Ghani, Modi hold delegation level talks

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    Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani met here  for delegation level talks. The talks are being held at Hyderabad House. President Ghani earlier met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who called on him at the Dwarka Suite of Rashtrapati Bhavan. Earlier, Ghani was accorded a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Several union…

  • Oman offers amnesty

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    Around 60,000 Indians may benefit from an amnesty scheme announced in Oman, under which people without valid documents could either return to their country without being penalised or can rectify their papers, said a diaspora expert. The Oman government announced the schemeand said it will run from May 3 to July 30. S. Irudayarajan, who…

  • Modi third most followed world leader on Twitter

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      Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains the third most followed world leader on the micro-blogging site Twitter while External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is the most followed foreign minister, according to a latest study. Twiplomacy Study 2015, showed that Sushma Swaraj is the most followed foreign minister with 2,438,228 followers. She is far ahead…

  • Tenzing’s son leads 10 Indian women trekkers to safety

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    By Radhika Bhirani  A team, including 10 Indian women, led by late Nepalese mountaineer Tenzing Norgay’s son Jamling, halted their trek towards the Mount Everest Base Camp after the earthquake jolted Nepal. According to information reaching here, the group has cut short its 17-day trek and is now waiting to be evacuated by helicopter from…

  • Ashraf Ghani to visit India

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      Afghanistan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani will be in India for a three-day state visit and will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and attend delegation-level talks. Scheduled to arrive here at 8 p.m. on Monday, Ghani will receive a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan and hold talks with President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday. A communique…

  • Modi thanks doctors, military for helping Nepal

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    Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked Indian doctors, military personnel and rescue teams for going to the aid of earthquake-battered Nepal. In a series of tweets, Modi said that while he appreciated those saying “Thank You PM”, “real thanks should be to our great culture which teaches us ‘Seva Parmo Dharma’. “We must thank our armed…

  • K Babu denies graft charges

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    Kerala Excise Minister K. Babu on denied charges that he received Rs.10 crore in bribe for reducing the annual liquor fees of bars. Biju Ramesh, who owns a string of bars here, has testified before a magistrate that Rs.10 crore was given to Babu for reducing the annual liquor fees of bars. “I have all…

  • SC ruling in Jaya case a big victory: Karunanidhi

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    DMK president M. Karunanidhi  termed the Supreme Court ruling in corruption case against AIADMK leader J. Jayalalithaa as a very big victory and justice in full. PMK founder S. Ramadoss demanded the resignation of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam over the issue. Speaking to reporters here, Karunanidhi said: “This is not only the first…

  • 38 Indian cities in high risk earthquakes zones

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     At least 38 Indian cities lie in high-risk seismic zones and nearly 60 percent of the subcontinental landmass is vulnerable to earthquakes. Barring rare exceptions, such as the Delhi Metro, India’s hastily-built cities are open to great damage from earthquakes. The earthquake that devastated Nepal  and jolted northern India, damaging buildings as far apart as…

  • Goea goes sun, sand, surgery

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    By Mayabhushan Nagvenkar  If you thought Goa was only for tourists looking for fun, think again. If the medical fraternity and the state government here have their way, Goa, conventionally known for its beaches and music bashes, may well pip big cities like Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai as an attractive medical tourism destination as well.…

  • Sachin ‘annoyed’ by news on daughter joining films

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     Legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, who is making his film debut in a docu-feature on his life, is upset by speculation that his daughter Sara is joining showbiz. “My daughter Sara is enjoying her academic pursuits. Annoyed at all the baseless speculation about her joining films,” Tendulkar posted on Twitter on Monday. Rumours were rife that…

  • Why target only India for rapes:Danish designer-writer

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      By Ranjana Narayan   Why target only India for rapes, they happen all over the world, says Danish designer-turned writer Inger Solberg, who has come out with her first book “Pushpa”, a vibrant account of her life in India, which she has made her home for the past 15 years. Solberg, who loves India and…

  • India may be next after Nepal: Experts

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    By Trina Joshi    In the wake of the strong 7.9 magnitude earthquake that killed over a 1,500 people in Nepal and left a swathe of devastation in the northern Himalayas , experts said a temblor of equal intensity is “overdue” in northern India.” “An earthquake of the same magnitude is overdue. That may happen either…

  • IAF fetches nearly 2,000 Indians back

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      The Indian Air Force has fetched 1,935 Indian back from Kathmandu to New Delhi , even as its personnel continued with “Operation Maitri” in quake-hit Nepal overnight despite inclement weather, Sitanshu Kar, spokesperson for defence ministry, said. “As of now, the IAF has evacuated 1,935 passengers from Kathmandu utilising 12 aircraft sorties,” he said.…

  • ‘Gandhi’ joins Tory campaign in Manchester

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    This is the first time in the history of Greater Manchester, the Indian community launching a procession in support of a political party…writes Kaliph Anaz for Asian Lite, UK’s No 1 newspaper for British-Asians Finally the election fever gripped the immigrant Indian community at Trafford in Greater Manchester. As the general election just 11 days away, a…

  • US to speed up visa approvals for Indian doctors

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    By Arun Kumar   Citing a shortage of physicians in the US, two lawmakers have introduced a bipartisan legislation to speed-up visa approval for Indian and Pakistani doctors slated to work at US hospitals. Called the Grant Residency for Additional Doctors (GRAD) Act of 2015, the legislation introduced by Democrat Grace Meng and Republican Tom Emmer,…

  • Tories pledges more opportunities for BAMEs

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    Conservatives promise a 20 per cent increase in jobs, apprenticeships for the BAME communities. Mr Cameron announced a new set of ambitions for the next five years, aimed at delivering jobs, apprenticeships, homes and new opportunities for people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. As the campaign enters the crucial final phase, Conservatives unveiled new…

  • When the earth shook in Nepal

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    First Person report by Anil Giri  It was a morning like no other. Life in Kathmandu was proceeding slowly with people enjoying the weekend when it happened. The earth shook! People ran out from homes, shops screaming. With the quake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale, over 1,000 buildings, including historical structures, collapsed. There is no…

  • Disney targets mass Indian audience

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    Disney India is creating an experience with “ABCD- AnyBody Can Dance” for all Indian fans. With the “ABCD 2”, sequel to the first successful instalment “ABCD…”, the company is planning to extend the cinematic experience to a television show on bindass; a dance-inspired game and branded merchandise. “Globally, Disney has created some of the biggest…

  • ‘Cord blood banks fooling the public’

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    Experts says private cord blood banks in India are fooling the public…writes K.S. Jayaraman  Cord blood banking (CBB) with dubious benefits has become a money-making scam in India and needs tighter control to protect gullible parents from being exploited, top medical researchers say. Blood collected from umbilical chord after child birth is a rich source of…

  • The plight of leprosy patients in India

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    According to the 12th Five Year Plan, India aims to achieve complete elimination of leprosy by 2017. Leprosy is perhaps the only disease against which there is no vaccine. This is because the bacteria cannot be cultured outside the human body. Despite being easily treated now and discovered to be much less contagious than previously…

  • Jonty Rhodes names daughter ‘India’

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    It’s a baby girl for former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes whose wife Melanie Jeanee delivered at a Santa Cruz hospital. The couple have named their daughter, born in the midst of the IPL cricketing season, India Jeanne Jonty Rhodes reported TOI. ”The baby girl, born by natural water birth, at 3.29 pm weighs 3.71 kg.…

  • LONDONWALLAH DAILY BLOG – Modi Gaadi

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    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi  finally travelled in the Delhi metro! It was a big news in India but invoked cynical comments in other parts of the world. Most of the seats in his carriage and the nearby one was nearly empty. The pic clearly shows the presence of security guards all around the place!…

  • Hundreds bid tearful adieu to Mastan Babu

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    Hundreds bid tearful adieu to India’s ace mountaineer Malli Mastan Babu, who was buried in his native village in Andhra Pradesh. The last rites of the 40-year-old, who died while scaling a mountain between Argentina and Chile, were performed with state honours in a family field in Gandhijana Sangam in Nellore district. ‘Mastan Babu amar…

  • Is moving from farms to factories the answer?

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    By Amulya Ganguli  The stir against land acquisition took a tragic and macabre turn when a farmer hanged himself during an Aam Admi Party (AAP) rally in the heart of the national capital. The mortifying episode only showed how the political exploitation of a complex problem was diverting attention from what really needed to be…

  • US seeks ‘rebalance’ in Asia

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    By Arun Kumar  Citing President Barack Obama’s historic “good trip” to India in January, US officials have said that different partnerships it’s forging across Asia can contribute to the stability and prosperity of the broader region. In a conference call on Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s state visit next week, Deputy National Security Advisor Ben…

  • Quake rocks Nepal, North India

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    A strong earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale rocked Nepal at 11.41 a.m. India time, with tremors felt from Delhi to Guwahati and Srinagar to Jaipur. Even half an hour later, the aftershocks continued. According to the India Meteorological Department, the depth of earthquake was 10 km and measured 6 on the Richter scale…

  • Ficci to boost C’Wealth Biz forum

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    The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the largest and oldest apex business organisation in India, has become a Founding Strategic Partner of the CWEIC, the apex organisation representing private sector businesses within the Commonwealth and is the only institution with a remit to promote intra-Commonwealth trade and investment.   The agreement…

  • Sunita Williams visits Taj Mahal

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    Renowned astronaut Sunita Williams, who spent a record 195 days in space, has visited the Taj Mahal with her sister. Dressed in blue top and white capri, WIlliams visited the historical monument. She got photographed at the central tank on the very seat where Princess Diana sat. Admiring the beauty of Taj Mahal she asked…

  • Teens and Net Threat

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    Boosting teenagers’ ability to cope with online risks, rather than trying to stop them from using the internet, is a more effective strategy for keeping them safe, says a new study. More resilient teens were less likely to suffer negative effects even if they were frequently online, said the study. Haiyan Jia, post-doctoral scholar in information…

  • REVIEW: ‘Jai Ho! Democracy’

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    ‘Jai Ho! Democracy’ – pale, frail and stale tale…writes Subhash K. Jha  Film: “Jai Ho! Democracy”; Cast: Om Puri, Seema Biswas, Annu Kapoor, Aamir Bashir, Satish Kaushik, Adil Hussain; Director: Ranjit Kapoor; Rating: ** A farmer hangs himself from a tree at a political rally. And you wonder how much lower the below-the-belt politics of this…

  • REVIEW: Avengers: Age of Ultron

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    The latest edition of Avengers’ secret mission gone awry….writes Troy Ribeiro for Asian Lite  Film: “Avengers: Age of Ultron”; Cast: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Don Cheadle, Samuel L Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Paul Bettany, Anthony Mackie, Thomas Kretschmann, Andy Serkis, Hayley Atwell, Idris Elba, Linda Cardellini,…

  • Warnings over bringing back 66A

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    By Aparna Kalra  Jadavpur University professor Ambikesh Mahapatra is still anxious a month after the Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional a controversial law that led to his arrest for e-mailing a cartoon mocking West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. On April 27, his lawyer will rise in a court in Kolkata and ask that…

  • Kiran shines with hybrid music

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    Born in India, raised in Canada and currently living in New York City, Kiran Ahluwalia is a modern exponent of the great vocal traditions of India and Pakistan. Interestingly, her original compositions embody the essence of Indian music while embracing influences from both the West and Africa especially the Sahara, writes Anjana Parikh AL: Why…

  • Farmland declines in India

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    By Saumya Tewari  The land available for farming in India, already under decline, is feared to drop further with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government trying to push through a controversial bill that is being criticised in the present format by a host of opposition parties, led by the Congress. The most controversial change proposed…

  • Tory campaign gets Hindi dose

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    Conservative Friends of India launch campaign song in Hindi for British Indians…reports Asian Lite, UK’s No 1 newspaper for British-Asians Conservative Friends of India launches a Hindi song especially composed for General Election 2015 – a first for any British General Election. It encourages 1.6 million British Indians to support David Cameron and let him…

  • Greater appetite for Security Council reform

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    By Arul Louis  UN General Assembly President Sam Kahamba Kutesa says there is “greater appetite” among member nations for reforming the Security Council, a process in which India is heavily invested, and he expects a breakthrough in the decade-long stalemate by the end of the Assembly’s current session. Speaking to reporters, he said the Intergovernmental…