Asian Lite News Archive

Category: INDIAN NEWS

  • Air India’s turnaround alliance

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    By Rohit Vaid   Air India stands to gain upto $100 million (over Rs.600 crore) in the first year of its membership of Star Alliance, the the world’s largest airline accord that brings together 27 carriers for increasing passenger share and earnings, the top official of the grouping has said. It’s an infusion that would greatly…

  • More power for NRI’s in US

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    By Arun Kumar   Notching successes in fields as diverse as poetry and politics, some three million- strong Indian American community packed more power and influence far beyond their numbers in the year gone by. A record 30 Indian Americans jumped into November’s electoral battle with Republican Nikki Haley and Democrat Kamala Harris handily winning back…

  • Can Modi really take on the Hindu hawks?

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    By Amulya Ganguli  The sudden cancellation by the saffron hotheads of the religious reconversion programmes to welcome the minorities into the Hindu fold suggests that Narendra Modi has finally decided that enough is enough. However, he may have left it a little too late to ask the Hindutva Gestapo to pipe down. Perhaps he was…

  • Voting ends in Kashmir

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    The fifth and final phase of assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir ended peacefully Saturday, with over 65 percent of the voters casting their ballot in 20 constituencies, officials said. “Polling ended peacefully in all the 20 constituencies of Jammu, Rajouri and Kathua districts at 4 p.m. today (Saturday),” an Election Commission official said. Initial…

  • Lakhvi still in jail: Pakistan

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    Pakistani Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah may have been killed as Pakistan stepped up its war against terror, ordering the execution of 10 more terrorists and assuring that Mumbai terror attack mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi has not been released. A dozen terrorists were killed in separate operations across the country, including in Peshawar where 132 school…

  • India opens Green corridor for transplants

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     The heart of a brain dead one year and 10-month-old infant was harvested here and flown to Chennai  by a special aircraft to be transplanted in a two year and eight-months-old child, in record time, thanks to the ‘green corridor’ the city traffic police opened up for the emergency operation. “We got a call from…

  • Modi greets Jews on Hanukkah

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      Prime Minister Narendra Modi  wished the Jewish community on the occasion of Hanukkah. “Wishing my Jewish friends a Happy Hanukkah! May this Festival of Lights and the festive season ring in peace, hope and well-being for all,” Modi said in a tweet. The prime minister also tweeted the wishes in Hebrew in another tweet.…

  • Madan Mitra denied bail

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    West Bengal Transport and Sports Minister Madan Mitra – arrested in the multi-crore rupee Saradha scam – was Friday yet again denied bail and sent to judicial custody till Jan 2 by a court here. Arrested Dec 12 by the CBI for criminal conspiracy, cheating and deriving undue financial benefits, Mitra’s bail plea was rejected…

  • RSS chief goes mute

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      RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat avoided questions on the controversy over religious conversion, saying it was not his job to comment on such issues. Asked to respond on an issue that has stalled the Rajya Sabha for days, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader said: “There others who are authorised to speak. It is not my…

  • ? Indian aviation in turbulence

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      By Rohit Vaid   India’s civil aviation industry faced turbulent weather in 2014 even as two new airlines with foreign collaborators joined the five scheduled operators to trigger a price war that squeezed margins further, with falling fuel costs giving some respite in later months. The Tatas-promoted AirAsia, in collaboration with the Malaysian budget carrier…

  • Sonia Gandhi stable: Doctor

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    Congress president Sonia Gandhi was “stable and recovering well”, a hospital statement said . The Congress president was admitted to the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital here Thursday for an infection in the lower respiratory tract. “Sonia Gandhi was admitted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital yesterday (Thursday) evening with lower respiratory tract infection and some breathing…

  • Test evenly poised after Smith’s heroics

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      Steven Smith and Mitchell Johnson’s whirlwind partnership propelled Australia to a first innings score 505 runs, a lead of 97, but India made a solid start to their second innings, reaching 71 for one to trail by only 26 at stumps on day three of the second Test at the Gabba here. At stumps,…

  • Indian pressure gets Lakhvi back in detention

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    Mumbai attack mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, who was granted bail, has now been detained under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail, a media report said . A government source told Dawn that the government has also decided to appeal in superior courts against Lakhvi’s bail. An anti-terrorism court in Islamabad granted…

  • India closer to manned space missions

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    By Venkatachari Jagannathan  India moved a step closer to sending its own manned mission to space as well as heavy satellites when it successfully tested a next generation rocket and crew module. The country took forward its rocket technology with the successful flight testing of its heaviest next-generation rocket — the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark…

  • 26/11 key accused Lakhvi gets bail in Pakistan

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      Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and one of the main accused in the 26/11 Mumbai attack, was granted bail Thursday by Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC). The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) prosecutor disagreed with the bail request. However advocate Rizwan Abbasi, representing Lakhvi, appeared before the court as the bail pleas was…

  • India successfully test fires GSLV-Mark II

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    By Venkatachari Jagannathan India  moved forward in rocket technology with the successful flight testing of its heaviest next generation rocket and the crew module. Precisely at 9.30 a.m., the 630 tonne Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV-Mark III) standing 43.43 metre tall freed itself from the second launch pad and with a reverberating deep throated…

  • Jaya gets bail extension

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      The Supreme Court  extended the bail of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa by another four months as it asked the Karnataka high court to decide on her appeal challenging her conviction in disproportionate assets case within three months. Noting that Jayalalithaa had complied with its Oct 17 order of filing her appeal…

  • India to beef up security at schools

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    The central government has asked states to beef up security, especially at educational institutions, following the terror attack at an army-run school in Pakistan, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said . “I just want to say that all state governments have been issued an advisory by the home ministry,” he told reporters outside parliament on being…

  • ‘Modification’ in India-US ties

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    By Arun Kumar    India-US relations are poised for a takeoff after an eventful year and a historic election that transformed India’s new leader Narendra Modi from a US pariah to a partner ready to “chalein saath saath”. Modi hobnobbing with Russian President Vladimir Putin and doing “business as usual” with Moscow, signing deals including one…

  • Vijay gives India a bright start

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    Murali Vijay’s stylish 144 helped India amass 311 for four by stumps on day one of the second Test against Australia at the Gabba here . India became the second visiting team to score more than 300 runs on the first day of a Test match at the Gabba, buoyed by Vijay’s fifth hundred in…

  • 1971 surrender ceremony at Dhaka re-enacted

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    By Subir Bhaumik   The singers had just finished their patriotic numbers when a shrill whistle rent the air. A surge of men piled on to the stage where the Sectors Commanders Forum, an organisation of those who fought the 1971 liberation war against Pakistan, were celebrating the Victory Day that ended in the birth of…

  • Modi leads the nation in two minutes silence

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    Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other MPs on  observed two-minute silence in memory of Pakistan school terror victims. The Lok Sabha observed a brief silence in memory of those who lost their lives in a Taliban attack on a school in Pakistan’s Peshawar city Tuesday. As soon as the house assembled for the day, Speaker…

  • India criticises UN Security Council

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    By Arul Louis India has criticised the decision-making process of the Security Council, saying it disregards the voices of non-members while acting on matters important to them. Speaking at the Council Tuesday on UN-African Union (AU) partnership in peacekeeping operations, India’s Acting Permanent Representative Bhagwant S. Bishnoi regretted that “it may be infructuous for us…

  • Satyarthi and Malala condemns Peshawar attacks

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    Education campaigner and Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai  condemned the attack on school children in Pakistan as a “senseless and cold-blooded act of terror”. “I am heartbroken by this senseless and cold-blooded act of terror in Peshawar. I condemn these atrocious and cowardly acts, and stand united with the government and armed forces of Pakistan,” Malala…

  • N- submarine Arihant begins sea trials

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    By Gulshan Luthra   India’s first nuclear attack submarine Arihant began sea trials on Dec 15 with naval personnel and defence scientists onboard showing both caution and confidence. The 6,000-tonne boat, equipped with an 80MW Indian-designed and built pressurised water reactor, sailed out of the Shipbuilding Centre (SBC) at the Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam in Monday…

  • India condemn Peshawar school attack

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    President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi  “strongly condemned” the terror attack on a school in Pakistan’s Peshawar city in which at least 126 school children were killed. Mukherjee expressed “deep anguish” and “strongly condemned” the incident in which heavily armed terrorists launched a brazen attack on the army-run school. In a message, the…

  • SC declines Italian marines’ pleas

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    The Supreme Court Tuesday declined applications by two Italian marines – accused of killing two Indian fishermen off Kerala coast – one seeking to extent his stay in Italy and the other seeking to go to Italy to celebrate Christmas. An apex court bench headed by Chief Justice H.L. Dattu declined the application by marine…

  • Modi remembers armed forces on Vijay Diwas

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      Remembering the sacrifices and valour of the Indian armed forces on the occasion of 43rd Vijay Diwas, Prime Minister Narendra Modi  said the nation was “extremely proud” of them. “On Vijay Diwas, we remember sacrifices and valour of our armed forces who fought courageously in 1971. We are extremely proud of them,” he said.…

  • Conversion rocks Rajya Sabha

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    The Rajya Sabha witnessed heated protests over the conversion issue once again, stalling the proceedings in the pre-lunch sitting. As soon as the house met for the day, opposition members were on their feet, protesting over the issue that stalled the upper house Monday too. Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechury informed Deputy…

  • Vivek Murthy makes American history

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    By Arun Kumar Vivek Hallegere Murthy has made history as the youngest US Surgeon General and the first of Indian descent with his Senate confirmation in the teeth of strong opposition of powerful gun lobby. The Democratic controlled Senate voted Monday 51-43 to confirm Murthy, 37 as ‘America’s doctor’ more than a year after his…

  • Bengaluru on high alert over terror tweets

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    Bengaluru has been put of high alert  following tweets on Twitter threatening a repeat of the hostage drama at a cafe in Australia’s Sydney, Karnataka Home Minister K.J. George said. “A high alert has been sounded in Bengaluru after police received tweets on its Twitter account threatening to re-enact a Sydney-like hostage drama in the…

  • Delhi Police to distribute pepper spray to women

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    Delhi Police is going to distribute pepper spray to female journalists and city girls who had been given self-defence training, on the second anniversary Tuesday of the brutal gang-rape and murder of trainee physiotherapist, a police official said. The pepper spray will be distributed  by Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi at the police headquarters in central…

  • VHP to convert minorities in Rae Bareli

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      The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Monday announced plans to convert 60 Muslim and Christian families to Hinduism in Rae Bareli, Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s constituency. The ‘ghar wapsi’ or homecoming, as the VHP and allied groups call such programmes, did not amount to communalism, VHP’s Rae Bareli district unit chief Harish Chandra Sharma said.…

  • Indian among hostages at Sydney cafe

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    An Indian employee of Infosys Technologies was among over 30 people held hostage  by an armed man who stormed a cafe in Sydney’s bustling business district, not far from the landmark Opera House. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first world leaders to condemn the attack. His Australian counterpart Tony Abbott appealed for…

  • Foreign varsities lures Indian students

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    By Shweta Sharma  Unable to find a course of his choice at Delhi University, Ankit Khullar, 27, decided to pursue his graduation from the US. Armed with a degree in finance, he returned to India for his masters. But after “two wasteful years”, he returned to the US for further studies. “The primary reason (to…

  • INTERVIEW: Ritu Beri

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    By Prantick Majumder  Ritu Beri, often called India’s ‘Fashion Queen’, has completed 25 years in the fashion industry. The designer says her life has been a “fairytale” and beyond her dreams and now she is keen to write “inspirational books”. The designer, who was among the first Indians to storm the catwalks of Paris more…

  • Conversion issue rock Rajya Sabha

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      The Rajya Sabha was disrupted as the opposition refused to allow any business in the house without taking up a discussion on the conversion issue. The house saw the zero hour and the question hour being disrupted before being adjourned till 2 p.m. Raising the issue in the upper house, Congress leader Anand Sharma…

  • Telhara University older than Nalanda, Vikramshila

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    The remains of Telhara University, discovered in Bihar, are older than Nalanda and Vikramshila universities, officials said here. Bihar’s Arts, Culture and Youth Affairs Secretary Anand Kishor said that based on key findings from the excavation, it can be confirmed that Telhara University was older than Nalanda and Vikramshila. “A team of archaeologists has found…

  • Modi links drug money to terror

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     Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke against drug abuse and said the money used to buy drugs could be funding terrorist activities. “Sometimes I want to ask the youth who indulge in drugs that maybe you experience a different world when you take drugs. But have you ever asked where the money you buy your drugs…

  • President undergoes angioplasty

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      President Pranab Mukherjee underwent an angioplasty, a non-surgical procedure to open blocked arteries, at a hospital here. Mukherjee, 79, was admitted to the Army Hospital (Research and Referral) here around 2.30 p.m after he complained of stomach pain. President’s Press Secretary Venu Rajamony said Mukherjee is doing fine and will soon be discharged from…

  • Pakistan edge past India 4-3

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    India ended their campaign in the Champions Trophy after being defeated by Pakistan 4-3 in a thrilling hockey semi-final match at the Kalinga Stadium here . Muhammad Arslan Qadir scored the winning goal two minutes from time to secure victory for Pakistan who will go on to face Germany in the title round. Germany beat…

  • Fourth phase will decide Kashmir

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    By Sheikh Qayoom  The fourth phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections Sunday may well decide who will be the dominant player in the Kashmir Valley — the ruling National Conference or the PDP. Some 14.73 lakh voters in 18 constituencies will be eligible to decide the fate of political heavyweights like Chief Minister…

  • Indian executive held for links with ISIS

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      A Indian business executive, named as a supporter and publicist of the Islamic State (IS) terror group by a British news channel, was arrested from his rented house here early , a top police official said. “Terror suspect Mehdi Masroor Biswas, 24, was picked from his one-room rented house in the northeast suburbs and…

  • Shriti Vadera to chair Santander UK

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    Shriti Vadera, an Indian-origin minister in former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s government, has been named by the Spanish banking group Santander to chair its British business. Vadera was a minister in the British government during the days of the global financial crisis. She will replace Terence Burns in March, who had announced his plan…

  • Putin visit upsets US, Obama visit still on

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    By Arun Kumar  The US is unhappy over India doing “business as usual” with Russia, but it will have no effect on President Barack Obama’s upcoming visit to India which remains an “important partner.” “No. India remains an important partner,” State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters Friday when asked whether deals reached during Russian…

  • World is watching Kashmir polls: Modi

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    Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir were being closely watched by the entire world following the massive turnout by the people. Addressing a large Bharatiya Janata Party election rally in this border district town in the Jammu region, Modi said the people of the state have proved that the…

  • Putin reassured after talks

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    By Saeed Naqvi  Who knows, Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have added non-alignment to his bow in the conduct of foreign affairs. He stood firm by the side of President Vladimir Putin at a time when Washington has all but given notice that it seeks regime change in Moscow. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov tweeted as…

  • Manmohan Singh predicts 8% growth

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      Former prime minister Manmohan Singh said India can achieve a growth rate of 8-9 percent given a ‘national consensus’ on methods to take advantage of a globalised world. “I think that even though many other emerging economies are not doing too well, India has an opportunity to move towards a growth rate of 6-7…

  • Parrikar talks tough on Pakistan

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      Even as India will try to use diplomatic steps to avoid a confrontation with Pakistan, one needs to teach lessons to “those who are rogue”, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said. Asked at the Aaj Tak-2014 conclave about the disturbances created by Pakistan along the border, he said India was not closing any options for…

  • Mughali cuisine comes alive in Old Delhi

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    By Somrita Ghosh From eateries in the bylanes of the Walled City that evoke nostalgia to fancy restaurants that serve Japanese Sushi to Mexican salads, Delhi is a foodie’s paradise. But when it comes to savouring authentic Mughlai food, nothing can compete with Old Delhi and its charm. A paradise for lovers of non-vegetarian food,…