Category: -Top News
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The man who taught yoga to the world
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World renowned Yoga guru B.K.S. Iyengar, who founded the ‘Iyengar Yoga’ died at a private hospital here early Wednesday, an aide said. He was 96. A widower, he was suffering from age-related ailments and breathed his last around 3.15 am. The funeral will be held in Pune later Wednesday. Author of several books on Yoga, its…
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Army to monitor Imran’s march
As Imran marches on, Islamabad security given to army As a protest march continued in Pakistan, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan Tuesday announced that the army has been entrusted with the responsibility of securing Islamabad’s sensitive Red Zone area. The move came as protestors from Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Awami…
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Court rescues India’s ‘Iron Lady’
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Manipur court orders release of Irom Sharmila A Manipur court asked the state government to release activist Irom Sharmila Chanu, popularly known as Iron lady, on indefinite fast for over 13 years, in an order which was cheered by Amnesty International and other rights groups in India’s northeast. The court order came following a…
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Teaching Ghalib to Americans
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Arun Kumar says India-born author Gopi Chand Narang gives a taste of Ghalib to Americans An India-born former World Bank staff member turned poet and novelist has penned a new English translation of famous Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib’s works to meaningfully engage American readers. Gopi Chand Narang, leading literary critic and former President of Sahitya Akademi,…
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Poor Taj!
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Brij Khandelwal says growing human load seen as threat to the Taj More than 200,000 people visited the Taj Mahal in two days over the weekend, causing alarm among conservationists who feel the ever-increasing human load on the fragile white marble wonder on the banks of the Yamuna could prove detrimental to the health of…
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SPECIAL REPORT: I-Day in New York
The Indian-American community, wearing bright and colourful clothes, celebrated India’s 68th Independence Day with a parade dancing down Manhattan’s Madison Avenue. One of the main fashionable avcnues of New York was a sea of Indian colours, complete with floats, drums and, of course, a lot of saris. “It’s a way of saluting those who lost…
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INTERVIEW: Om Puri
Om Puri says older couples too can have a love story The star of parallel cinema, Om Puri, romanced Oscar-winning British actress Helen Mirren in the gastronomic love story “The Hundred Foot Journey”. The movie has evoked good response and the actor says romantic films with older couples can be a good watch too. “I…
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Nazi Noir and more
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Vikas Datta in his column Bookends focus on Philip Kerr’s Bernie Gunther series Is it a feasible idea to set a series of noirish detective novels in a totalitarian state like Nazi Germany which itself practised violence intensively against its own citizens, or even in the midst of the viciously bloody conflict that was World…
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UK unveils organ donor scheme
NEW UK STRATEGY TO MATCH WORLD CLASS PERFORMANCE IN LIVING DONOR KIDNEY TRANSPLANTATION A new strategy to achieve world class performance in living kidney donation – Living Donor Kidney Transplantation 2020 – a UK Strategy – is launched. It sets the agenda for increasing living donor transplants, from 18 transplants per million population to 26 transplants per million population.. The…
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Indian states to overhaul tax rates
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Biswajit Choudhury says Indian states drop compensation hurdle for proposed Goods and Services Tax With state finance ministers having dropped the issue of compensation in lieu of a cut in the central sales tax from the agenda of their upcoming meeting on implementing the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the major hurdle appears to have…
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Can you ignore Rajan’s call?
Vatsal Srivastava looks into Indian Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan’s call for coordinated global monetary policy a distant dream . Rajan earlier predicted the meltdown in the US banking sector which triggered the global recession RBI governor Raghuram Rajan has been constantly urging major central banks, particularly the US Federal Reserve, to keep in mind…
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Cyber bullying annoy parents
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Aparajita Gupta says online bullying a growing worry for parents across the world Exposure to the cyber world may have helped children expand their mental horizons but it has many downsides, the latest being cyber bullying. A concerned government and industry stakeholders are now taking steps to spread awareness and educate people to stop this…
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PROFILE: Sushma Swara
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Ranjana Narayan profiles India’s new Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Sushma Swaraj -Making a quiet statement, but no interviews please! She has already paid a visit to five key neighbours in the nearly three months she has been in the ministry, has interacted personally or on phone with dozens of counterparts worldwide, keeps on top of…
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In a first, India to hang women
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Two Indian women on death row for murdering five children have lodged a last-ditch appeal after the president rejected their mercy plea, clearing the way for them to become the first women executed in post-independence India. Renuka Shinde and her step-sister Seema Gavit were convicted in 2001 of kidnapping 13 children, forcing them to join…
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BCCI acts tough
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) finally acted tough Tuesday by clipping the wings of chief coach Duncan Fletcher following the team’s humiliating 1-3 Test series loss in England. Fielding coach Trevor Penney and bowling coach Joe Dawes, who were hand-picked by Fletcher, were dropped and former India captain Ravi Shastri was…
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Don’t import violence: Jewish groups
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Protest groups targeting supermarkets over the sale of Israeli products risk importing Middle Eastern violence to British high streets, Jewish have leaders insisted. In a joint statement the leaders of Britain’s main Jewish community organisations condemned a series of incidents at shops selling Israeli goods and kosher food accusing the organisers of intimidation and stirring…
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Is Modi diplomatically juvenile?
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Noted journalist and strategic expert Sidharth Varadarajan, in his column in the NDTV, has wondered whether the recent stand off with Pakistan is exposing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s inexperience in foreign policy front. “Barely three months after Narendra Modi won praise in India and abroad for reaching out to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of…
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Indo-Pak stand off Unfortunate: US
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As India called off foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistan over its envoy’s meeting with Kashmiri separatists, the US termed the cancellation “unfortunate” and said it continued to support their efforts to improve bilateral relations. “It is unfortunate that planned talks between India and Pakistan have fallen through,” State Department spokesperson Marie Harf told reporters in…
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He tried to wake up his dead dad
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Police said they believed the man found at Tilbury docks was Meet Singh Kapoor, from Afghanistan, who was 40. Thirteen children aged as young as one were among the Afghan Sikhs rescued from the container on Saturday, a Guardian report said. Members of the 35-strong group found screaming and banging after arriving at the Essex…
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KCR to attend Singapore meet
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Telangana CM going to Singapore for IIM alumni meet Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will leave for Singapore Tuesday to attend the conference of Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Alumni Association. He will be accompanied by Finance Minister Etela Rajender and senior officials. The delegation will return to Hyderabad on Aug 24, officials said.…
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PICS: Floods hit Bihar villages
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Several Bihar villages are under water as the flood situation gets grim
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GALLERY: Human pyramids of Mumbai
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People participate in a `dahi-handi` competition organised on Janmashtami in Mumbai
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PICS: Indonesia Independence Day
Indonesia celebrates independence day. Several cultural events mark the day in the capital Jakarta
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Modi flexes muscle to tame Pakistan
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India calls off talks over Pakistan envoy’s invite to separatists In a tough move, India Monday called off the Aug 25 foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistan after the latter’s envoy held a meeting with a separatist Kashmiri leader. Pakistan described the decision as a “setback” to its efforts to promote good neighbourly relations. External Affairs…
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Smart Cities – Engines of growth
Amit Kapoor & Sankalp Sharma say Competitive cities as fundamental drivers of prosperity Cities have been the engines of growth and prosperity since time immemorial. In fact, it may be surprising to note that the rise of Europe before the industrial revolution was, in part, driven by port cities like Genoa and Venice which competed against other…
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India need 20-20 vision to win Test
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Veturi Srivatsa says Indian players should have 20-20 vision of Test cricket Ask any player anywhere in the world and he will say Test cricket is the ultimate. But today – though he may not openly admit it – he knows in his heart that his Twenty20 performance is far more important. It may sound…
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BSkyB sprouts ethnic wings
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BSkyB has pledged that by the end of next year at least 20% of the stars and writers of its UK-originated TV shows will come from a black, Asian or other minority ethnic background. The broadcaster spends £600m a year on original UK commissions such as Stella, Moone Boy and Trollied, and said that the…
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More jobs in Gulf
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As more and more women in Middle East countries step outside their homes for work, the opportunities for Asians to work as cooks, nannies and drivers in the region are likely to go up, said a migration expert. S. Irudayarajan, who heads the migration unit attached to the ministry of overseas Indian affairs at the Centre…
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Modi panel to replace Plan Panel
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Signalling death of famed Planning Commission, a small, handpicked, five-member thinktank, which will draw its power and prestige from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s clear backing, is likely to replace it, accoring to Times of India. The new panel will most likely be led in an executive capacity by former union minister Suresh Prabhu, with free…
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Saudi Prince robbed in Paris
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in -Top NewsHeavily armed gunmen stole thousands of pounds in an attack on a convoy of diplomatic vehicles belonging to a Saudi prince in the north ofParis on Sunday evening, French police have reported. The motorcade was heading through the French capital on its way to Le Bourget airport on Boulevard Périphérique, the city’s ring road, according to…
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Assange “to leave” embassy
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Wikileaks founder and whistleblower Julan Assange has sais that he will be leaving Ecuadorean embassy after tow years of stay there, the BBC reported. He gave no more details but said he understood Wikileaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson had “said that he can confirm I am leaving the embassy soon”. Mr Hrafnsson later said Mr Assange…
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‘Happy New Year’ – talk of B-Town
Actors Abhishek Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Jackie Shroff, filmmaker Farah Khan, actors Boman Irani, Sonu Sood, Vivaan Shah, Shahrukh Khan, singers Shekhar Ravjiani and Vishal Dadlani during the trailer launch of film Happy New Year in Mumbai. “Stupendous”, “whopper blockbuster” and “Full on dhamaka” are the terms used by celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan, Karan Johar and…
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Ganesh takes on Hitler
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A confrontational piece by the learning-disabled ensemble Back to Back Theatre recounted the Hindu deity’s visit to Hitler’s Germany to reclaim the swastika as a rightful symbol of piece in Edinburgh Festival. Ganesh Versus the Third Reich is poignant, heart-warming, beautiful, disarming, full of vulnerability and sly humour, questioning who has the right to tell…
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Policies to pass family test
All policies should pass “family test”, Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to say in a speech. He will argue that parents and children are too often overlooked and can be left worse off by reforms, according to a BBC report. From October, every new domestic policy “will be examined for its impact on the…
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India fined for slow over rate
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India were fined for maintaining a slow over rate during the fifth and final Test against England at The Oval here Sunday, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said Monday.Match referee Ranjan Madugalle imposed the fines after Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s side was ruled to be three overs short of its target at the end of the…
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WHY WE HATE TO CHEER?
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Bikram Vohra comments on the lack of “warmth” of Indian audience As a people we are lousy when it comes to applause. We hate giving it with generosity. I was watching the Modi speech and the thousands gathered could not muster enough enthusiasm for applause… just a smattering here and there, nothing wholehearted and collective.…
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13 children among Sikh stowaways
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The stowaway Afghan Sikhs include 13 children aged between one and 12. The group arrived on Saturday on a ship from Belgium and were said by police to be victims of “people trafficking”. Police said they are “being spoken to about their ordeal” before they are passed on to the UK Border Force. Essex Police…
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Kurdish forces retake Mosul Dam
Kurdish forces retake key towns in Iraq Kurdish security forces Sunday carried out an offensive to retake control of Christian towns and Iraq’s largest dam in the northern province of Nineveh, security and medical sources said. Peshmerga Kurdish forces carried out an offensive aimed at recapturing the Mosul Dam on the Tigris River, about 70…
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Med tech to clock $50 bn by 2025
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The $6.3 billion medical technology industry in India has the potential to expand to $50 billion by 2025 if it receives the appropriate policy support, the Confederation of Industry said. “The medical technology industry in India, which is just $6.3 billion in size at present, has the potential to expand to $50 billion by 2025…
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Deal on Andhra, Telangana row
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Andhra, Telangana CMs agree on talks to solve issues The chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana agreed to solve the contentious issues between the two Telugu-speaking states through talks and mutual understanding and cooperation. Putting behind the bitterness caused by bifurcation of the state, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and his Telangana counterpart…
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Dhoni blames the batsmen
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Our batsmen never really performed: Dhoni India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni blamed his batsmen for not living up to their potential which led to a humiliating 1-3 Test series defeat to England. “We’ve lost a lot of confidence over the five-Test series. It is disappointing. Right from the start, our batsmen never really performed, the lower…
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Cricket: Humiliating defeat – 1-3
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The Indian cricket team underwent a dramatic collapse to be bowled out for merely 94 runs in their second innings, suffering a humiliating consecutive innings defeat in only three days and lose the five-match Test series 1-3 to England at The Oval in London. The hosts put on 101 runs in the morning to take…
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Stowaways are Afghan Sikhs
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A group of 35 men, women and children found inside a shipping container at a UK port are understood to be Sikhs from Afghanistan who are victims of “people trafficking”, British police said. The police had described them as people believed to be from the Indian subcontinent and questioned some of them. “They were treated…
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Was Modi speaking to largest Shakha?
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What we saw at Red Fort was not Modi the politician or even Modi the PM. It was Modi the pracharak, holding forth on naitik shiksha, or moral education, at the largest shakha ever assembled, say columnist Mihir Sharma, raising an oblique voice through his column in Business Standard, contesting commentators who praised the maiden…
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Brits, Indians shops Dubai property
Indian, British and Pakistanis ranked top three foreign investors in Dubai’s real estate market with a combined share of Dh20.83 billion for 9,739 transactions in the first half of the year, according to the Dubai Land Department. The DLD’s list included the amount of real estate transactions conducted by foreign nationals, with investors from India,…