Asian Lite News Archive

Category: INDIAN NEWS

  • Amnesty welcomes move to resettle Pandits

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    Amnesty International Tuesday welcomed the NDA government’s resolve to bring back the Kashmiri Pandits to the Kashmir Valley, but urged it to consult all communities before resettling about 150,000-200,000 displaced Pandits. “Amnesty International-India welcomes the recent overtures made to rehabilitate families of an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 Kashmiri Pandits… urges the new government to take…

  • Modi & Aamir discuss social issues

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    Actor-producer Aamir Khan Monday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed social issues raised by the former’s TV show “Satyamev Jayate”. Aamir tweeted: “Just came out of my meeting with Honorable Prime Minister of India Shree Narendra Modiji. Was very kind of him to spare his valuable time. “Shared with him the overwhelming support that…

  • US asked to explain immunity to Singh

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    A US court has asked the US government to respond by July 10 to a Sikh group’s challenge to “suggestion of immunity” to former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh in a human rights violation case. “The United States may have until July 10, 2014, to respond to Plaintiffs’ Response to its suggestion of immunity,” a…

  • Curfew in Sopore

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    An indefinite curfew was imposed in Sopore town in Kashmir Tuesday following the death of a youth in security force firing Monday. Heavy deployments of police and paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) blocked road crossings, using coils of concertina wires, in the town to enforce the curfew. Shops, public transport, businesses and educational institutions…

  • Indians in captivity in Iraq safe

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    Indians held captive by suspected Sunni militants in Mosul town of Iraq were unharmed, the government said Monday even as efforts continued to secure their release from their abductors in the violence-hit Gulf country. External affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin told reporters here that efforts were being made to move out Indians from conflict zones…

  • Air India to join Star Alliance

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    National carrier Air India is likely to be inducted into one of the largest interline networks of the world by Tuesday, a senior airline official said. “A meeting of the board of the Star Alliance in London is going to take a call on a vote whether to induct Air India or not. We are…

  • Biokon’s Kiran bags Top Prize

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    India’s biotechnology queen and Biocon chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has been awarded the coveted Global Economy Prize for business by the Kiel Institute in Germany during its centenary celebrations. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is the first Indian woman and fourth Indian to be conferred this prize,” the Bangalore-based biotech company said in a statement. The German institute is…

  • New start for Indo-Japan ties

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    Bilateral strategic and economic relations between India and Japan are at their best and the governments of both countries are keen to further strengthen them, an advisor to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said. Addressing an event here through a video call from Tokyo, Tomohiko Taniguchi, special advisor to the cabinet of the Japanese prime…

  • Yasin Malik arrested

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    Police Monday intercepted a pro-independence march by the JKLF here and arrested its chairman Yasin Malik and around a dozen supporters. Malik appeared in Maisuma locality of Srinagar city to march to the city centre Lal Chowk where he was to announce his party’s “Quit Kashmir” agitation. Police arrested Malik and around a dozen of…

  • Efforts on for release of abducted Indians

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    The Indian government is in touch with agencies and countries that can be of help in securing the release of Indians who were rounded up by suspected Sunni militants in Mosul town of violence-hit Iraq, official sources here said Sunday. They said that all efforts were being made to secure release of the 39 Indian…

  • Preity Zinta returns to India

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    Actress-producer Preity Zinta, who returned to India from the US Sunday, declined to speak to the media and appealed to them to not seek any comment from her or her staff and friends on the case she has filed against her ex-boyfriend Ness Wadia. “Exhausted but happy to finally be back home in Mumbai. I’d…

  • UK team to join Ganga cleaning

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    Experts who cleaned up the Thames in London will help India’s new government to clean the river Ganges of decades of accumulated toxic pollution and waste, The Sunday Times reported.. Restoring the river to its former beauty was one of the first public pledges made by the newly elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It emerged last…

  • Generation Citizen tops the list

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    The values of today’s teenagers were being shaped by tough economic times in the aftermath of the financial crash, just as they were in the 1930s New research on seven generations of Britons, including those who are now centenarians, reveals that today’s 13 to 19-year-olds, known as “generation citizen”, say that excelling in their career…

  • INDIA – News N Pics – Rail Roko!

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  • PICS: Yoga at Times Square

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         Enthusiasts practice yoga during the “Solstice in Times Square” event at Times Square in New York, the United States, June 21, 2014. Hundreds of New Yorkers marked the Summer solstice day by practicing yoga in Times Square Saturday. The 12th annual Solstice in Times Square was sponsored by the Times Square Alliance  

  • BIG INTERVIEW: Armaan Jain

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    I believe in healthy competition, says the new star from the Kapoor Clan Armaan Jain will soon make his acting debut with newcomer Deeksha Seth with first-time director Arif Ali’s “Lekar Hum Deewana Dil”. As the number of fresh faces in Bollywood continue to rise, he wishes them all luck. “There are a lot of youngsters……

  • Indian Army’s Mission Smile

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     Sujit Chakraborty writes Indian Army’s  Border Security Force (BSF) brings smiles to children with cleft lips  Tasked with “Duty unto death”, the paramilitary Border Security Force (BSF), which guards the frontiers in rain and shine, day and night, is now bringing smiles to the faces of children with cleft lips and palates by organising free surgeries…

  • Robin Hood county woos India

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    Ranjana Narayan says Nottingham, the bastion of Robin Hood, seeks to leverage on Indian diaspora for India tie-ups It has an Indian diaspora numbering 30,000 and houses 300 Indian business enterprises. And now Nottingham city in England is wooing Indian business, especially from northern India, in an effort to build on its India links, says…

  • Ratan Tata gets honorary doctorate

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    Canada’s world-famous York University has conferred an honorary doctor of laws degree on former Tata group chairman Ratan Tata for his quest for innovation and role in promoting corporate social responsibility. Tata flew into Toronto to receive the honour bestowed on him at the 2014 spring convocation of York University’s Schulich School of Business at…

  • PICS: Jewellery Show

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    Bulbeer Gandhi with Karisma Kapoor inaugrating Glamour during the inauguration of Glamour Jewellery Exhibition 2014 at Palladium Hotel in Mumbai 

  • THE BITTER FRUIT OF TOTAL NONSENSE

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    So much for the arrogance of power. This government promised Indians a service for the people. Less government, more governance. Reflect that sentiment in a nine strong police force that has gathered in the home of Janata Dal (United) MP Mahendra Prasad in upscale New Delhi. When he went to sleep the night before there…

  • World Bank pins hope on India

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     World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects 2014 says Indian economy to grow at 5.5 percent this fiscal The Indian economy is expected to grow at 5.5 percent in the current financial year and 6.3 percent in 2015-16, the World Bank said. According to the “Global Economic Prospects 2014” report released by the World Bank here, India’s economic growth…

  • Modi to address US Congress

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    Long denied a US visa, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi may well get the rare honour of addressing a joint session of US Congress when he visits US in September. A suggestion to invite Modi to address a joint session of the House and Senate during his trip has gone to House Speaker John Boehner…

  • Modi Faces Socialist Roadblock

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    Amulya Ganguli in his column Political Circus says Modinomics will face ‘socialist’ roadblock As Narendra Modi resumes the task of continuing the economic reforms even if it means administering “bitter medicine”, the first dose of which was given recently, one might have expected the Congress to offer him wholehearted support. Such a gesture would have been normal…

  • Foreign tourists flock to India

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    Indian tourism industry boosts with foreign tourists The foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) in India registered a growth of 9.7 percent in an year, and the Visa on Arrival (VoA) grew by 19.1 percent compared to last year, a statement from the tourism ministry said. “FTAs during May 2014 were 4.21 lakh as compared to FTAs…

  • Monica crowned in Dubai

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    Monica Gill from US is Miss India Worldwide 2014   Miss India US Monica Gill was crowned Miss India Worldwide 2014 here Friday night. The second place went to Miss India Switzerland and third to Miss India Bahrain. More than 40 contestants of Indian origin settled in various countries across the globe between the age…

  • Language war brewing in the South

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    Tamil Nadu parties, including BJP allies, oppose Hindi  All major political parities in Tamil Nadu, including two BJP allies, Friday came out strongly against the government order to use Hindi in social media, branding it “Hindi imposition”. A day after the DMK cried foul, Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the…

  • GALLERY – Assam Festival

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    People participate in a cultural procession taken out to mark Bishnu Rabha Divas in Guwahati 

  • PICS: Lanka violence

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    The attacks on Muslims in Lanka came after the Bodu Bala Sena were allowed to hold a rally in the town despite warnings by one of the government’s own ministers that it would likely turn violent. Even after the disturbances erupted and authorities imposed a curfew on the affected areas the police did little to…

  • ‘India can stabilise West Asia’

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    Eminent journalist Saeed Naqvi says  Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi must place West Asia on his radar because this vital part of our near abroad is in rapid change. A new West Asia is emerging. We must engage at the highest level and help shape this change, taking heart from Raees Amrohvi’s optimism many moons ago.  “Jup raha hai…

  • PM urged to expel Tory MP

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    Michael Fabricant MP:  “I could never appear on a discussion prog with @y_alibhai I would either end up with a brain haemorrhage or by punching her in the throat.” Brtish-Asian columnist and writer Yasmin Alibhai-Brown urges the Tory leadership to take action against Tory MP Michael Fabricant for making violent tweets against her for her…

  • Campa Cola Society hold ground

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     A civic agency squad accompanied by Mumbai police that set out to demolish 140 illegal flats in the Campa Cola Housing Society here returned without taking any action as the beleaguered residents opposed their entry into the complex Friday. The dozen-strong civic demolition squad, in an attempt to force the residents to vacate the illegal…

  • Nation in prayers for hostages

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    Scores of families and relatives of men from Punjab who have been held hostage or are stuck in strife-torn Iraq are offering prayers and reaching out to officials and ministers to ensure the safe return of their loved ones. At least 40 Indian construction workers, mostly from Punjab, have been abducted by Sunni insurgents from…

  • GET ON YOUR BIKE, SIR

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    DAILY DOSE By Bikram Vohra So, what do you think? Should the woman who claims she was sexually assaulted by Union Minister of State Nihal Chand get to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She has asked for just such a meeting and wants to prove to him there are grounds for which to sack her…

  • PICS: Phenomenal Women

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    Indian film playback singer Kavita Krishnamurthy during “Phenomenal Women” – a Five-Day Long Art Show in Bangalore 

  • PICS – ‘No ambition to become CM’

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     Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray Thursday remained non-committal on his prospects of being projected as Maharashtra’s chief ministerial candidate in the coming state assembly elections. “I have not thought about it… whether or not I will become the chief minister. Our priority is to bring the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance to power in Maharashtra. The CM…

  • Abducted Indians in Iraq safe

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    India on Thursday said the 40 Indian workers abducted in strife-torn Iraq are safe and told their distraught families that the “very best” efforts are going on to have them freed. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told a delegation of families of seven of the abducted men that all 40 workers are safe but did…

  • Modi calls Russia ‘time tested friend’

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    Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday described Russia as a “time tested friend” and said Moscow stood by India in difficult times. At a meeting with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Rogozin who called on Modi here, the prime minister appreciated Russia’s support in building India’s military capabilities. Modi said he intended to take the relationship…

  • Pakistan violates ceasefire in Kashmir

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     In the second time in two days, Pakistani troopers resorted to unprovoked firing at the Indian positions on the international border in Jammu and Kashmir’s Samba Wednesday evening even after a flag meeting between the two sides during the day, an official said. A senior police officer said here that the Pakistan Rangers resorted to unprovoked…

  • Sanjaya Rajaram wins World Food Prize

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    Eminent Indian plant scientist, Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram, has been named winner of the 2014 World Food Prize in recognition of his outstanding work in the improvement of wheat crop. Rajaram, who is now settled in Mexico, is credited with increasing world wheat production by more than 200 million tons in the years following the Green…

  • FEATURE – SOS Children’s Village

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    Shilpa Raina looks into the life of selfless mothers who are the backbone of SOS Children’s Villages  Every time eight-year-old Rishab (name changed) asks his “mother” how he came into this world, she replies that a fairy gifted him to her. But Sonia Yadav is actually waiting for him to grow up to reveal how…

  • 40 Indian workers kidnapped in Iraq

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    India said Wednesday that 40 Indians working for a Turkish construction company have been abducted from violence-hit Iraq. The external affairs ministry did not say who had seized the workers although earlier media reports blamed it on the Sunni insurgents who have seized key cities in Iraq. A ministry spokesman said the workers mostly belonged…

  • Maoist leader Sushil Roy dies

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    Sushil Roy, a politburo member of the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist, died here Wednesday following prolonged illness, a party front said. Roy, 78, breathed his last at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, the Revolutionary Democratic Front (RDF) said in a statement. In line with his final wish, his body was donated to…

  • Indian workers in Iraq uncontactable

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    The 40 Indian workers who have reportedly been kidnapped by militants in Iraq’s Mosul city remain “uncontactable”, the external affairs ministry said Wednesday, though it refused to confirm the report. “There are reports that there are 40 Indian nationals in Mosul. Despite our best efforts, at this stage we haven’t been able to contact them.…

  • Yashwant Sinha gets bail

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    Senior BJP leader and former union minister Yashwant Sinha was granted bail by a Hazaribagh court in Jharkhand, an official said Wednesday. Sinha moved the bail petition Tuesday, but arguments in the case were deferred till Wednesday as top party leader L.K. Advani was scheduled to meet him Tuesday. After meeting Sinha in jail Tuesday,…

  • THE GREAT INDIAN HANG UP WITH FOOD

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    DAILY DOES by Bikram Vohra Our fascination with food reaches unchallenged heights when it comes to ‘enjoying’ other people’s hospitality. They call you for dinner, you scarf down a solid meal then you spend the ride back home breaking apart each dish and the knocking the caterer or the home-cooked meal or the dessert and…

  • India leads ahead in combating climate change: Time

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    India is leading the way in efforts to combat the challenges of global warming while sceptical Americans still question climate change, according to a new global survey by Time magazine. Of the six countries polled, Indians were the likeliest to express deep concerns about energy and consumption and were the most committed to conservation and…

  • COLUMN – Taming Inflation

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     Vatsal Srivastava in his column Currency Corner for Asian Lite, the newspaper for International Indians, says a long run of history reveals that the majority of recessions and financial setbacks have had nothing to do with high inflation In 2003, economist Robert Lucas, in his presidential address to the American Economic Association, declared that the “central problem…

  • Bird flu is staging a comeback

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    The ‘danger zones’ in Asia which are vulnerable to a deadly bird flu have been mapped by scientists. The region includes  Bangladesh, north India and Vietnam. The virus, called H7N9, has infected 433 people mostly in China and has killed 62. The study, published in Nature Communications, showed parts of Bangladesh, India and Vietnam could easily sustain…

  • India planning evacuations from Iraq

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    India Tuesday said it views the situation in Iraq as “high priority” and is coordinating with Iraq’s ambassador on the possibility of evacuating Indians from cities seized by Sunni insurgents.   “The situation in Iraq is high priority for the Indian government. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is herself monitoring and reviewing the situation,” ministry…