Asian Lite News Archive

Category: INDIAN NEWS

  • FINDING NAMO – An Open Letter to Modi

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    Daily Dose by Bikram Vohra I remember the good old days in Ahmedabad when I was editor of Indian Express and Narendra Modi was a fledgling politician and we were old buddies and we would meet and chew the fat and eat dhoklas and bhajiyas and go to the club to play tennis and all…

  • Modi calls for reform of UN & IMF

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    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday called for “urgent reform” of institutions such as the UN Security Council and International Monetary Fund while stressing the international community should have zero tolerance towards terrorism. In his statement in the BRICS summit on the agenda “Political Coordination: International Governance and Regional Crises”, he noted it was taking…

  • Agreement on BRICS bank

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    Terming the agreement towards setting up BRICS New Development Bank a significant step, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday said an open international trading regime is critical for global economic growth. In his statement on the agenda “Sustainable Development and Inclusive Growth” at the sixth BRICS summit, he said the global economic environment remains uncertain…

  • Priti joins Cameron Cabinet

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    Indian-origin MP Priti Patel  becomes British Treasury Minister The Witham MP Priti Patel has been appointed as Treasury Minister  in the Prime Minister’s reshuffle. Priti is Prime Minister’s India Diaspora Champion and accompanied him in his India trips. She met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the high level delegation led by William Hague and Chancellor…

  • London to host Girl Summit

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    Unicef is orgnaising a major summit in London on July 22 to discuss a new strategy to protect girls from abuse. The organisation in a statement said: Child, early and forced marriage affects millions of girls every year. One in three girls in developing countries is married by the age of 18. Some are as…

  • Mumbai Imagica is a magical world

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    The Haunted Castle of Salimgarh, Wrath of the Gods, Wild West, Deep Space, Prince of the Dark Waters, Alibaba Aur Chalis Chor, Scream Machine, Gold Rush Express, Mr. India-The Ride and D2-Dare Drop – there are all these and more at Adlabs Imagica – arguably India’s first and only world-class theme park some 90 km…

  • INTERVIEW: Mehbooba Mufti

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    The PDP will contest the forthcoming Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections on its own, says party chief Mehbooba Mufti, while stressing the need of an improved “ground situation”, implementing suggestions for “self-rule” and understanding between the central and state governments for a political solution to the Kashmir issue. Mufti said the Narendra Modi government could…

  • Delhi distances itself from Vaidik

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    Amid a raging row, the government said Tuesday that it had nothing to do with yoga guru Ramdev’s aide Ved Pratap Vaidik’s meeting with Pakistani terrorist Hafiz Saeed in Lahore. Both in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, senior cabinet ministers distanced the government from Vaidik even as the latter claimed that he met Saeed…

  • IAF plans early induction of Rafale jets

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    India’s negotiations with French aviation major Dassault for 126 Rafale Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) for $20 billion “are progressing well” and the contract is likely “sooner than later in the current financial year (2014-15)” a top military commander has said. The Indian Air Force (IAF) chief, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, in an…

  • Modi seeks Chinese investment

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    Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday called for amicably resolving the boundary row with China and sought enhanced investment in India’s infrastructure sector during his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Brazil. China invited Modi to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in November. An official statement said that both India and China “emphasized on…

  • India honours Chipko chief

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    President Pranab Mukherjee said Chipko movement taught world ahimsa’s power    Indian President Pranab Mukherjee conferred Chandi Prasad Bhatt, pioneer of the Chipko movement, with the 2013 Gandhi Peace Prize and said the noted environmentalist has taught the world power of ahimsa, non-violence. “Ahimsa is not just a method or an instrument. It requires recognition of…

  • India’s inflation eases

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     India’s wholesale price-based inflation fell to a four-month low of 5.43 percent in June, while retail inflation declined to the lowest level since January 2012 on the back of moderation in food prices, providing much needed relief to the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The country’s key inflation based on the Wholesale Price Index…

  • Madani released from jail

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    Kerala People Democratic Party Chairman Abdul Nasser Madani  was released from Parappana Agrahara Central Jail near Bangalore on health grounds. He was arrested in connection with 2008 Bangalore Serial blasts.   Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy welcomed the Supreme Court’s order to grant one month’s bail to Madani.“I welcome the verdict of the Supreme Court… I…

  • MIDDLE AGED SWINGER 

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    DAILY DOSE By Bikram Vohra Have you noticed how when wives say I don’t want to upset you to their husbands that is precisely what they intend to do. I don’t want to upset you, says my wife, but I have something to say. Go ahead, I say, I won’t be upset. You have become…

  • Bill Clinton arrives in Jaipur

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    Former US president Bill Clinton arrived here late Monday night to take a look at a lunch programme that feeds over a million school children everyday across the country, an official said. “Clinton arrived here at around 12.30 in the night by a chartered flight. He was taken to Oberoi Rajvilas hotel,” a police official…

  • Modi meets Chinese leader

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    Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Brazil to attend the BRICS  summit. He held its first meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The meting was lasted more than an hour The Indian prime minister conveyed India’s desire to maintain peace at the border. The Chinese President invited PM Modi to Beijing for a summit of Asia and Pacific (APEC) leaders in November.…

  • India Budget 2014 – A review

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    Amit Kapoor  analysing the 2014 India Budget and India’s Future  The past few days have been particularly historic when talking about the impact they can have on India’s trajectory of growth and economic development. It is because the maiden budget from India’s new finance minister was announced on the July 10. It was a test of…

  • Global Jihad reaches Indian shores

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    Hundreds of Indian Muslim youth, mostly from poor and vulnerable backgrounds, are lining up for visas at the embassies of some of the Gulf and Middle East nations with the aim of joining the ‘jihad’ in Iraq, according to diplomatic sources. Iraq alone has had to deal with nearly 2,000 applications from highly charged Muslim…

  • External factors & Equity market

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    Vatsal Srivastava in his weekly column Currency Corner analysing the Indian equity market. Global cues to guide Indian equities over the next week  Prior to the finance minister’s budget speech, Currency Corner had argued that Indian equities are all set for a short-term correction irrespective of what Arun Jaitley delivers on the reform front. Markets…

  • Lok Sabha passes TRAI amendment bill

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    The Lok Sabha Monday passed a bill to amend the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Act, paving the way for appointment of former panel chairman Nripendra Misra as principal secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, amid a walkout by the Congress, CPI-M, RJD and AAP members. However, the Trinamool Congress, which had earlier opposed…

  • Hafiz Saeed issue rocks Rajya Sabha

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    There was uproar in the Rajya Sabha Monday over the meeting of an aide of yoga guru Ramdev with the 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed, disrupting the question hour. A picture of the yoga guru’s close aide Ved Pratap Vaidik with Hafiz Saeed was circulated on social media, stirring a raging controversy. As soon as the…

  • PICS – Guru Purnima

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    Indian classical flautist Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia with Indian classical vocalist Prabhakar Karekar during a programme organised on Guru Purnima at Veer Savarkar Rashtriya Auditorium in Mumbai

  • GALLERY – INDIA NEWS N PICS

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  • We should remember Homi Bhabha

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    K.S. Parthasarathy says this is payback time for India to the father of its nuclear power. The government must save Homi Bhabha’s home for posterity Homi Bhabha, the architect of nuclear India, lived the most productive part of his life in Mehrangir, the house his father bought in 1937. Scientists regret the disinformation campaign on…

  • Modi leaves for Brazil summit

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     In his first multilateral summit meeting since taking office May 26, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday left to attend the five-nation BRICS summit in Brazil, where he will have his first interaction with leaders of China and Russia among others. The Sixth BRICS Summit, being held in Fortaleza and capital Brasilia July 15-16, is expected…

  • India working on cheaper visas & air fares

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    Efforts are being made to control escalating air fares during the holiday season and to slash visa rates in order to compete with cheaper tourism destinations, Tourism Minister Shripad Naik said Saturday. The union minister of state for tourism (independent charge) was referring to cheaper destinations in South East Asia, Maldives and Sri Lanka. He…

  • GALLERY: Pics from the ramp

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    India, a vast country with a over a billion people, is a home of varrious cultures. Fashion varies from regions to regions and cities. But there is a common thread weaves everything together- the Indianness

  • Air India joins Star Alliance

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    India’s flag carrier Air India becomes 27th member of Star Alliance State-run Air India became 27th member of Star Alliance. The move will provide customers access to lounges of member airlines the world over and single-ticket travel across airlines and other such facilities. “From today, we open up a completely different world for our passengers,…

  • Five Taj hotels in global list

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    Five Taj hotels have featured in a list of world’s most luxurious hotels known for exceptional standards and impeccable hospitality, a statement said. The ‘Travel + Leisure USA World’s Best Awards List 2014’ included the Taj Lake Palace in Udaipur and the Rambagh Palace in Jaipur – both in Rajasthan, a statement issued by the…

  • Delhi to top populous city list

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    Delhi to be second most populous city till 2030 Delhi, currently the world’s second most populous city after Tokyo, is expected to retain the spot till at least 2030, according to a UN report. According to the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Delhi’s population — presently pegged at 25…

  • Lanka urged to free fishermen

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    India, Sri Lanka discuss fishermen’s issue, trade Repatriation of Indian fishermen arrested by Sri Lanka and ways to speed up trade dominated discussions between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris who called on her. External affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin told reporters here that Sushma Swaraj thanked Peiris for Sri…

  • Saeed Naqvi on Shia-Sunni schism

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    Saeed Naqvi says the new Caliphate opposed to Shia apostasy and, eventually to Sunni monarchies  The expanding Shia-Sunni conflict in the Muslim world is exposing vast gaps in popular understanding of the schism. For example when Zine El Abedine Ben Ali, the Tunisian strongman was ousted, people thought a Shia dictator had fallen. From this they extrapolated…

  • Modi leaving for BRICS summit on Sunday

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    Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make his first foray into international diplomacy when he leaves Sunday for the sixth summit of BRICS countries July 15-16, with the meeting expected to discuss creation of development bank and reforms of the UN Security Council. It will also provide the first occasion for Modi, who took office May…

  • Obama for stronger ties with india

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    US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, who called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday, conveyed to him US President Barack Obama’s desire to strengthen economic relations with India, and handed him Obama’s letter inviting him to visit Washington in September. The Prime Minister’s Office said Obama reiterated his invitation to Modi to visit Washington…

  • Foreigners converge to listen to Dalai Lama

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    Over 5,000 followers of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama from aborad, including China, reached this mountainous town in Jammu and Kashmir to participate in the highly venerated two-day Kalachakra (Wheel of Time) ceremony beginning Friday. Event organisers said that around 140,000 people attended the preliminary empowerment ceremony Thursday. “We are gathered for Buddhist teachings in…

  • Indian mathematician wins Polya Prize

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    A young Indian mathematician, Nikhil Srivastava, has been named a joint winner of the prestigious George Polya Prize for finding proof of a riddle that had eluded mathematicians for more than half a century. Srivastava of Microsoft Research India and Adam W. Marcus and Daniel A. Spielman from Yale University will be presented the 2014…

  • Zohra Sehgal 1912- 2014

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    Ageless and timeless in her over seven-decade-long theatre and film career, Zohra Sehgal’s zest for life, wit and charm will continued to inspire generations to come. If Zohra, who died Thursday at the age of 102, was named the “Laadli of the Century” by the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF)-Laadli Media Awards, she was also…

  • Modinomics is here, promise growth

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    Tax payers could save on their salaries and consumer goods like TVs, soap, footwear, processed food and computers will cost less as the Rs.18-lakh crore ($300-billion) maiden budget of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government promised to arrest price rise, boost investor mood, cut expenditure and restore India’s growth to 7-8 percent in three years. During…

  • Haryana move rocks SGPC

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     Jaideep Sarin  says Haryana’s move to create a Sikh body will undermine SGPC’s credibility. After Mahabharat and Panipat, it’s now the SGPC, a body which has an annual budget of Rs 950 crore  The land that is now called Haryana has been famous for epic battles like the Mahabharat and the three historic battles of Panipat.…

  • Modi sidestepping RSS?

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    Amulya Ganguli  says the elevation of Amit Shah as BJP chief indicates that Modi is sidestepping RSS When L.K. Advani was dragged kicking and screaming from the post of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president in 2005 under orders from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a diplomatic cable from the US embassy in Delhi to Washington stated that the…

  • BIG INTERVIEW: Samina Peerzada

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    Samina Peerzada told Radhika Bhirani that Pakistan-India content exchange will push connect She grew up watching the films of Bollywood’s late ethereal beauty Madhubala, has enjoyed new wave Indian gems like “Parineeta” and “Barfi!”, and loves to catch up on “Comedy Nights With Kapil”. But Samina Peerzada, a veteran actor-filmmaker from Pakistan, says exchange of content from…

  • THE BIG SLEEP OH DON’T BE FATUOUS 

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    DAILY DOSE BY Bikram Vohra You’d think it was the betrayal of the state, that India had been sabotaged because Rahul Gandhi closed his eyes for 22 seconds during the price line debate in parliament. The way the TV channels have blasted into him you’d think he’d led an attack on the house. Arnab Goswami,…

  • Facelift for a British-era townhall in Shimla

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    Thanks to a major leg-up from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), a blast from the colonial past will soon greet visitors to Shimla, India’s summer capital during the British Raj,with the government set to restore the iconic Town Hall located on The Mall, a favourite haunt of those out for a stroll. “The building will…

  • E-visas facility at nine airports soon

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    E-visa facilities will be introduced at nine airports in the next six months to attract more tourists. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced this while presenting the first national budget of the Narendra Modi government. He said tourism helped in job creation and e-visas would encourage more tourists to visit India, During the past year, India…

  • India targets 7-8% growth

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    Finance Minister Arun Jaitley began presenting the first national budget for self and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government Thursday expressing concerns over economic slowdown while promising steps to ensure a course correction with bold measures. “People of India have voted decisively for change,” Jaitley said. “Steps I will unveil in the budget will aim at…

  • Over 1.5 lakh pilgrims make Amarnath Yatra

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    More than 1.5 lakh pilgrims have finished the Amarnath Yatra that started here June 28. An official statement here Wednesday said: “As many as 12,345 devotees paid their obeisance before the ice lingam today (Wednesday) amid chanting of prayers. With this, a total of 155,855 pilgrims have paid obeisance at the holy cave since the…

  • Foreign satellite launches earn India 40 mn euros

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    India has earned around 40 million euros launching 15 foreign satellites from 2011 till date, Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh said Wednesday. In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Jitendra Singh – who is also minister for Earth sciences, department of atomic energy and department of space, said the Indian…

  • Amit Shah is BJP president

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    After weeks of speculation, Amit Shah, a Narendra Modi loyalist who scripted the BJP’s spectacular electoral win in Uttar Pradesh, was Wednesday named its new president, with party leaders voicing confidence that he will take the ruling party to greater success. Prime Minister Modi, who counts the 49-year-old Shah amongst his closest confidants, said Shah’s…

  • Ravi Shankar’s Sukanya in London

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    The Ravi Shankar Foundation in association with the Royal Opera House, Indian High Commission, Arts Council England and Curve Theatre presents the maestro’s opera Sukanya on Monday 14th July 2014 (6.30 to 9.15pm). Ravi Shankar, known as the “Godfather of World Music” was one of the most influential musicians of all time. As music guru to the Beatles,…

  • THE GREAT INDIAN PROBLEM IS US 

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    DAILY DOSE By Bikram Vohra Everyone in India is either a philosopher, a mentor, a critic, a cynic or an opinionated twit. The last come on TV in panels where they are royally screwed over by the anchor or so called mediator and yet they keep on coming and making fools of themselves and being…