Asian Lite News Archive

Category: -Top News

  • Labour pledge of no ‘additional borrowing’

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    Labour says it will guarantee that each of its policies will be fully funded and require no additional borrowing, as it launches its manifesto. Leader Ed Miliband will rule out a “shopping list of spending policies” and promise a Labour government would cut the deficit every year reports BBC. The Conservatives would go on a…

  • Hillary announce White House bid

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    Hillary Clinton has formally entered the 2016 race for the White House in a bid to become the first woman US president. She launched her website, telling Americans she wanted to be their “champion”. Mrs Clinton ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008 but lost to Barack Obama reported BBC. The overwhelming Democratic favourite,…

  • Indian Americans among biggest givers

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    By Arun Kumar  Two Indian Americans have been listed among the 50 biggest philanthropists of 2015 by the Town and Country Magazine with the likes of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Apple CEO Tim Cook. “These are the men and women whose serious dollars, bold ideas, and old-fashioned hard work have made them the year’s…

  • Eating out linked to high BP

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     Love to eat out often — Take care because this may not go down well with your blood pressure, says a new study. Eating meals away from home has been shown to be associated with higher caloric intake, higher saturated fat intake and higher salt intake. These eating patterns are thought to cause high blood…

  • Congress accuse NDA of spreading hatred

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    The Congress slammed the ruling NDA government  for spreading hatred, after an article in Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece Saamna sought revoking voting rights of Muslims. “The Saamna thinks it lives in some Talibanised land and not in a democratic country like India. The Saamna has no place in culture like ours,” Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi…

  • Modi in Hannover

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      Prime Minister Narendra Modi got down to business, meeting top German CEOs, immediately after his arrival in Hannover  as part of his two-day visit to Germany. Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was also part of the round-table with the CEOs. “Movers & shakers of German economy/industry meet with PM @narendramodi,” tweeted the external…

  • Bibi fear that Iran will comply with n-deal

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    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has voiced fear that Iran will comply with a nuclear deal reached with six major world powers earlier this month until a final deal is sealed by the end of June, a media report revealed. This came about during a cabinet meeting held on April 3, a day after Iran…

  • Rahul’s absence puts question marks?

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    By Prashant Sood   Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s long “leave of absence” appears to have accentuated the debate in the Congress on his possible elevation with clear differences among party leaders on the issue. While a section wants him to assume the mantle at the earliest, there are leaders who want party president Sonia Gandhi to…

  • Sania a win away from becoming doubles World No.1

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     Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis survived a tough test to reach the final of the Family Circle Cup tennis tournament here . The No.1 seeded Sania and Martina beat 6-4, 1-6, 10-7 Alla Kudryavtseva and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in a rain-affected semi-final. If they win the title, Sania will be the new World No.1 tennis player…

  • Revoke Muslims’ voting right: Shiv Sena

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      Voting rights of Muslims should be revoked to stop vote-bank politics, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut has said in an article slamming AIMIM leaders Asaduddin and Akbaruddin Owaisi for polarising the community. In the article published in the lastest issue of the Shiv Sena’s mouthpeice Saamna, Raut, also a Rajya Sabha member, addressed All…

  • Obama talks of new approach with Cuba

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    US President Barack Obama told Cuban President Raul Castro, during their historic meeting at the 7th Summit of the Americas in Panama, that “it is time for us to try something new” with regard to Cuba because the previous US policy did not work. The long-awaited meeting, the first between the two countries’ presidents in…

  • Modi reaches Germany with economic agenda

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     After a successful trip to France, Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Hannover  on a two-day visit to Germany with economic and industrial cooperation high on his agenda. Modi, along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, will inaugurate the world’s biggest industrial fair, the Hannover Messe, on Saturday. India is the partner country of the fair…

  • Modi accorded ceremonial reception in Paris

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      Prime Minister Narendra Modi was accorded a ceremonial welcome  here as he began his two-day official visit to France. Received by French President Francois Hollande, Modi was accorded the reception by the Republican Guard of France, where the national anthems of India and France were played. Modi shook hands with Indian dignitaries, including Ajit…

  • US, Cuba hold highest-level meeting since 1959

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    US Secretary of State John Kerry and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez held a highest-level meeting in Panama City after a period of 56 years. The last high-level meeting took place in 1959, when Cuba’s former leader Fidel Castro met then US Vice President Richard Nixon, Xinhua news agency reported . Thursday’s meeting came ahead…

  • Labour promise to protect police numbers

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    Labour has pledged  neighbourhood policing in every area – and protect the number of officers on the beat – if elected in May. It says saving £800m over three years, such as by axing elected police and crime commissioners, would allow forces to maintain front-line staff. Officer numbers in England and Wales fell by more…

  • Cameron pledges paid volunteering leave

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    Up to 15 million workers will be offered three days’ paid leave a year for volunteering under a Conservative government, David Cameron has said. The move, which will affect the public sector and large firms, comes alongside a Tory pledge to extend the real-terms freeze of some rail fares until 2020 reported BBC. Labour said…

  • Lahore HC orders Lakhvi’s release

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    The Lahore High Court ordered the immediate release of Mumbai terror attack’s alleged mastermind Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, evoking strong reaction from the Indian government which said “terrorists not being effectively prosecuted” constitutes a real security threat to the country as well as the world. The court dismissed the detention orders of Lakhvi, one of the…

  • India rank below neighbours in social progress

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      India has a low rank of 101 among the 133 countries measured for their social progress, even below some immediate neighbours such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, indicating the level of meeting basic human needs and well-being, among other factors. Conducted by Social Progress Imperative, a US-based non-profit organisation set up in…

  • Richie Benaud 1930-2015

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    Richie Benaud, legendary Australian cricket captain who mesmerised generations of fans with his commentary on the game, died in Sydney on Thursday night, Cricket Australia said. Benaud, 84, was an outstanding leg-spinner and aggressive batsman in his playing days. He fought a long battle with skin cancer and had also suffered from the after-effects of…

  • India ends evacuation in Yemen

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    India has ended its massive evacuation efforts of its nationals in Yemen, pulling out 5,600 people, including 4,640 Indians and 960 nationals from 41 countries, the government said. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted: “The evacuation operation from Yemen is over. General V.K. Singh is returning tonight. We are closing our Embassy there.” Earlier the…

  • Jaitley happy with Moody report

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      Sixteen months after it warned of a downgrade, ratings agency Moody’s  raised its outlook on India to positive, hoping for further steps from the Narendra Modi government to push growth. The finance ministry said this was significant and promised more. “India has grown faster than similarly-rated peers over the last decade due to favourable…

  • Saudi invasion of Yemen a mistake: Iran

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     Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei  denounced the Saudi-led military operation against Yemen as a “mistake”, saying the invasion has “set a bad precedent in the region”. Khamenei, while comparing the Saudi-led aggression to Israeli atrocities against Palestinians in Gaza, slammed Riyadh’s attacks against the Yemeni people as a “crime and genocide” for which it…

  • Rise and fall of Ramalinga Raju

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    By Mohammed Shafeeq He was once considered the IT czar and the Bill Gates of Andhra Pradesh, who founded and built Satyam into one of the top IT companies in India. B. Ramalinga Raju even shared the dais with Bill Clinton when the then US president visited Hyderabad in 2000. A special CBI court on…

  • Modi leaves on three-nation tour

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    Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on a three-nation tour of France, Germany and Canada that will focus on boosting bilateral trade and economic ties, including in defense and railways. The prime minister, who will arrive late on Thursday in Paris, earlier said that his eight-day visit was focused on supporting India’s national economic agenda, especially…

  • Britain probes Syrian cleric’s murder

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    Counter-terrorism police have started a probe into the murder of a Syrian cleric who was found with bullet wounds in a car in London, a media report said. According to police reports, Abdul Hadi Arwani, 48, was found in a Volkswagen W Passat car on Tuesday with gunshot wounds to his chest. The car was…

  • Sena protests outside Shobhaa De home

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    The Shiv Sena staged a noisy protest  outside celebrity author Shobhaa De’s residence, after she attacked a move to force multiplexes to show Marathi movies in the prime time slot. Carrying banners as well as ‘vada-pav’ and ‘misal’, the Sainkis shouted slogans against De. The protesters condemned De’s comments opposing the Bharatiya Janata Party-Sena government’s…

  • Saina drops to World No.2

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     After reaching a career-high of World No.1 in women’s singles, Saina Nehwal dropped to No.2 in the revised Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings on Thursday as reigning Olympic champion Li Xuerui re-took the top spot. The Hyderabadi had become the first Indian woman to reach No.1 last Thursday after finishing runner-up to reigning World Champion…

  • Tulsi Gabbard to marry in Vedic ceremony

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      US Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu member of the US House of Representatives, is scheduled to marry cinematographer Abraham Williams in a Vedic ceremony. The wedding will take place in Hawaii, NRI Pulse daily reported. “Tomorrow is the big day! Tulsi will marry Abraham in a traditional Hindu Vedic ceremony,” a status update…

  • Police shooting video sparks outrage in US

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    By Arun Kumar   Angry protests swept the US as a horrifying video showing a white police officer shooting eight times a black person running away from him led to the officer being charged with murder and fired. Protests began within hours of the murder charge against white South Carolina police officer Michael Thomas Slager, who…

  • Millions registering online to vote

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    More than one million people have gone online to register to vote in the space of just over three weeks, the Electoral Commission has said. Most of the applications were from young people, with peaks coinciding with the start of the campaign period and the televised leaders’ debate reports BBC. A further 100,000 applications have…

  • SC rejects Memon’s plea

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    The Supreme Court dismissed the plea by 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blast mastermind Yaqub Abdul Razak Memon for a review of his death sentence. Memon had sought the recall of March 21, 2013, apex court order upholding his death sentence by the special court. The apex court bench of Justice Anil R. Dave, Justice J.…

  • No separate townships for migrant Pandits: Sayeed

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    Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed  denied that there was any proposal to set up separate clusters for migrant Pandits in the Kashmir Valley. Responding to the hue and cry raised in the state legislative assembly by opposition Congress and the regional National Conference (NC) legislators over the government’s proposal to set up…

  • Parties debate over Trident renewal

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    The Conservative manifesto gives  commitment to build four new nuclear missile-armed submarines, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has said. He accused Labour of using the nuclear deterrent as a “bargaining chip” with the SNP, which would vote to scrap it reports BBC. But Labour’s Douglas Alexander said the claims were “embarrassing”. He told Radio 4’s Today…

  • Modi thanks Sharif for helping evacuate Indians

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      Prime Minister Narendra Modi  thanked his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif for his country’s assistance in evacuating 11 Indians from strife-torn Yemen. “I welcome our 11 citizens who’ve returned from Yemen with assistance from Pakistan. Thank you PM Nawaz Sharif for your humanitarian gesture,” according to an official statement from the Prime Minister’s Office. “Service…

  • Iranian foreign minister in Pakistan

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    Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif arrived in Pakistan for talks over the Yemen crisis, according to media reports. Soon after his arrival, Zarif met Advisor to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, and shared details of the Iran-Turkey talks held in Tehran on Tuesday, Dawn online reported. Zarif’s two-day visit to Pakistan comes…

  • Salman drunk at the time of accident: Prosecution

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      Attempting to further nail Salman Khan in the 2002 hit-and-run case, the prosecution cited evidence to prove that the Bollywood star was indeed under the influence of alcohol and his Toyota Land Cruiser vehicle did not have any mechanical defects. Public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat had  forcefully argued that Salman and his friend Kamaal Khan…

  • Modi, Merkel to open Hanover 2015

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      The country will have a unique opportunity to present the ‘Make in India’ initiative and its technological prowess at the world’s largest industrial fair Hanover Messe, German Ambassador to India Michael Steiner said here. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will jointly inaugurate on Sunday this year’s Hanover fair where India…

  • Nicola ‘Offers’ To Make Ed Miliband PM

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    Nicola Sturgeon has made it clear that she does not want David Cameron to be re-elected as prime minister, following allegations that she would rather the Conservative leader remain in power reports Huffington Post. An inquiry has been ordered into how a internal British government memo, which reported claims Sturgeon had expressed to the French ambassador…

  • Saudi keen to Make in India

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    By Ranjana Narayan Saudi Arabia, the largest supplier of crude oil to India, is keen to participate in the Make in India initiative of the Narendra Modi government and has asked its business people to explore the opportunities in India under the scheme, the kingdom’s envoy has said. “I think it is a very good…

  • Blair slams Cameron’s EU referendum pledge

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    Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair slammed incumbent premier David Cameron’s policy on Europe, warning that a referendum on Britain’s European Union (EU) membership could lead to economic “chaos”. Cameron has pledged to hold an “in or out” referendum on whether Britain should withdraw from the EU by 2017 if his Conservative Party wins the…

  • NHS doctors turn heat on Tories

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    As medical and public health professionals our primary concern is for all patients. We invite voters to consider carefully how the NHS has fared over the last five years, and to use their vote to ensure that the NHS in England is reinstated’  Several prominent doctors in the NHS have accused the coalition government of a…

  • US approves $952 mn military hardware to Pakistan

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    By Arun Kumar    The Obama administration has notified the US Congress it’s selling Pakistan $952 million worth of attack helicopters, air-to-surface missiles and other military assistance saying it will not alter the basic military balance in the region. The State Department has approved the sale saying the “helicopters and weapon systems will provide Pakistan with…

  • Court defers hearing in coal case against Singh

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    A court here deferred hearing in the coal block allocation case in which former prime minister Manmohan Singh was summoned to July 15. Special Judge Bharat Parashar deferred the hearing after it was informed that the Supreme Court on April 1 put on hold the summons issued by a special court in connection with the…

  • Modi launches bank for small firms

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    Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a bank with a corpus of Rs.20,000 crore to extend credit of up to Rs.10 lakh to small businesses and regulate micro-finance institutions, to promote their growth, add to the country’s output and create jobs. The move is aimed at benefiting some 58 million small businesses in the country, who…

  • Bachchan conferred Padma Vibhushan

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    President Pranab Mukherjee  conferred Padma Vibhushan on Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan. Padma Vibushan was also conferred on Malur Ramaswamy Srinivasan for his work in science and engineering and jurist K.K. Venugopal for public affairs. The awards were conferred at a function at Rashtrapati Bhavan, and was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several union…

  • No ‘non-dom’ tax status if Labour comes to power

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    A Labour government would abolish the non-domicile rule that allows some wealthy UK residents to limit the tax paid on earnings outside the country. Ed Miliband will say non-dom status is a symbol of tax avoidance and “makes Britain an offshore tax haven” reoprts BBC. Labour says it is “uncertain” how much money the move…

  • Obama reiterates support for UNSC seat for India

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      BY ARUN KUMAR President Barack Obama has reiterated US support for India’s membership of a reformed UN Security Council as he considers it a foreign policy priority to continue to strengthen India-US relationship. “What the President said was that he said in the context of a reformed Security Council that the President would support…

  • Hrithik rocks Kolkata at IPL-8 opening

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    Performing in the city for the second time after 15 years, Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan  cast a spell on his fans and sealed his connect with West Bengal during his nostalgic performance at the Indian Premier League (IPL-8) opening at the Salt Lake stadium here. In the cool night air, Hrithik’s fiery act against the…

  • Iran and US differ on framework of n-deal

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    Iran has some different interpretations about the details of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) outlined by the US on Tehran’s nuclear programme, Xinhua reported citing Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency. Quoting a summary of the JCPOA released earlier by the Iranian foreign ministry, Iran media reported sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear programme “will…

  • Saudi prince at $22.6 billion is the richest Arab

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    Forbes Middle East has released the names of the 100 richest Arab personalities in the world, the first position going to Saudi Arabia’s Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud with an estimated fortune of $22.6 billion. While Joseph Safra occupies second spot with $17.3 billion, the top 10 this year include members of the United…