Asian Lite News Archive

Category: -Top News

  • Pakistan backing proxy war in Kashmir

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    Indian Army chief General Dalbir Singh said Pakistan was supporting a proxy war against India in Jammu and Kashmir and the security challenges were growing due to the “active border”. Addressing the annual press conference ahead of Army Day, Gen. Dalbir Singh said the border with China was peaceful and confidence-building measures have been effective.…

  • UK inflation rate falls to 0.5%

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    The UK inflation rate fell sharply to 0.5% in December, the joint lowest on record, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said. The consumer Prices Index measure is now at its lowest since May 2000, helped by cheaper petrol prices reports BBC. The fall below 1% will trigger a letter of explanation from Bank of…

  • CWC raps Modi government

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      The Congress Working Committee (CWC) strongly criticised the Narendra Modi government for taking the ordinance route and bypassing parliament on all crucial matters, said senior Congress leader Ambika Soni. Emerging from a four-hour-long CWC meeting, attended by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi as well as former prime minister Manmohan Singh among…

  • Al Qaeda warns France

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      The Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has issued a warning to France after the country’s spate of terror attacks over the past week. “France pays the cost of its violence on Muslim countries and the violation of their sanctity,” AQIM, the north African branch of the Al Qaeda, said in a statement…

  • A defiant Charlie Hebdo

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    This week’s edition of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo will show a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad holding a “Je suis Charlie” sign. Above the cartoon are the words “All is forgiven”. This comes after Islamist gunmen last week raided the magazine’s Paris office, killing 12 people reports BBC. Meanwhile, French MPs will gather for…

  • Obama, Netanyahu discuss Iran

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      US President Barack Obama has reassured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Washington’s commitment to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb, a White House statement said. Obama made the pledge  hours after US Secretary of State John Kerry, presently visiting Pakistan, expressed a wish to accelerate nuclear talks with Iran, Xinhua reported. In…

  • Sakshi Maharaj remains defiant

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      BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj, who stirred a controversy by asking Hindu women to produce at least four children, remained defiant Tuesday despite being issued a show-cause notice by his party. “I will talk to my party, not to you,” he told reporters here. The parliamentarian from Unnao in Uttar Pradesh, who was served the…

  • Pakistan hangs seven more convicts

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      Seven more convicts were hanged in Pakistan taking the total number of executions to 17 since December last year, a media report said. The hangings took place in Karachi, Sukkur, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi jails, Dawn online reported. The executed terrorists were Behram Khan, Shahid Haneef, Muhammad Talha, Khaleel Ahmed, Zulfikar Ali, Mushtaq Ahmed and…

  • Kerry skipped Paris march for India

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    By Arun Kumar   In damage control mode, US admitted that it should have sent a higher profile official to the Paris unity march, but said President Barack Obama could not go because of security considerations. Secretary of State John Kerry too could not make it to the anti-terrorism rally attended by over 40 world leaders…

  • India and Britain, making great things together

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    Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and David Cameron jointly welcome the launch of the GREAT Collaborations campaign between the UK & India. In response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to the world to Make in India, the UK is launching a campaign to celebrate and inspire GREAT Collaborations between the UK and India. The campaign…

  • Pope urges religious leaders to condemn violence

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     Pope Francis urged religious, political and intellectual leaders, especially Muslims, to condemn fundamentalist and extremist interpretations of religion that seek to justify violence. In an address to members of the Diplomatic Corps attached to the Holy See, the pontiff commented that “religious fundamentalism, even before it eliminates human beings by perpetrating horrendous killings, eliminates god…

  • US on alert after ISIS threat

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      The New York City Police Department (NYPD) and other law enforcement personnel responded to a threat from the Sunni militant group Islamic State (IS) after someone re-released an old message that tells followers to “rise up and kill law enforcement officers”. The threat specifically named the US, France, Australia and Canada as targets, CNN…

  • Delhi election battle Feb 7

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    A year after Arvind Kejriwal resigned as chief minister leading to President’s rule, Delhi will elect a new assembly Feb 7 and the results will be known Feb 10, it was announced . Election Commissioner V.S. Sampath said the last date for nomination of candidates will be Jan 21 and they could withdraw from the…

  • Women win the battle of the taxes

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      Women are more likely than men to send in their tax return on time, an HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) analysis has revealed. For every 10,000 tax returns received last year by HMRC from men, 394 were after the relevant deadline – 31 October for paper submissions and 31 January for online returns. This…

  • Tharoor may be questioned soon

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    Congress MP Shashi Tharoor may be questioned soon in connection with his wife Sunanda Pushkar’s murder, Delhi Police chief B.S. Bassi said . “I know Tharoor is in Delhi. Our SIT (Special Investigation Team) is working on the case, and if they require, they will call him (Tharoor) soon,” Bassi told the media. Tharoor reached…

  • Modi offers a Vibrant India

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    By Jaideep Sarin Sharing the stage with people who together control trillions of dollars and give direction to world economy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi scaled his idea of Vibrant Gujarat to that of ‘Vibrant India’. He called upon countries and corporates to invest in India’s growth story and sold his ‘Make in India’ campaign to…

  • London landmarks lit in French colours

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    Major landmarks in British capital London were illuminated in the colours of the French flag Sunday, in a show of solidarity with France, where terrorist attacks last week killed 17 people. Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery and Tower Bridge were all lit in blue, white and red to pay respect to the victims of the…

  • Lanka verdict a slap for Tamil extremists

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    By M.R. Narayan Swamy  It may sound bizarre but the defeat of Mahinda Rajapaksa in Sri Lanka’s presidential battle is a huge slap for LTTE supporters who had called for an election boycott by Tamils. Hardcore supporters of the militarily vanquished Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the West wanted Tamils living in the…

  • JLR to create 1,300 UK jobs

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    Jaguar Land Rover says it will create 1,300 new jobs to build Jaguar’s first sports utility vehicle (SUV) at its Solihull plant in the West Midlands. The firm has already invested £1.5bn in the Solihull plant to enable it to increase production, and it said its workforce there had almost doubled over the past three…

  • INTERVIEW: Sheila Dikshit

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    By Trina Joshi  BJP leaders admit the AAP is their main foe in Delhi, but three-time chief minister Sheila Dikshit doesn’t feel that the Arvind Kejriwal-led party is an alternative to the BJP or the Congress. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi goes all out campaigning for the Bharatiya Janata Party in Delhi, Congress leader Dikshit…

  • AirAsia plane voice recorder spotted

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    Indonesian searchers have spotted the cockpit voice recorder, the second part of the black box of the crashed AirAsia flight, a top official said  hours after the flight data recorder was retrieved from the Java Sea. Based on pings from its emergency transmitter, the cockpit voice recorder has also been spotted by the search teams…

  • Sartaj Aziz accuse India for attacks

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    Pakistan prime minister’s key advisor Sartaj Aziz has said India is using the Afghan soil to carry out attacks against Pakistan. However, Indian involvement had decreased since the adoption of a joint Pakistan-Afghanistan policy to not let their respective territories be used against each other, Dawn online cited the prime minister’s advisor on National Security…

  • Peshawar school resumes classes

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    The army-run Peshawar school which was ravaged by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan a few weeks ago resumed its classes, a media report here said. Students and teachers returned to the Army Public School Monday weeks after the mid-December terror attack claimed 148 lives, including 132 schoolchildren, Geo TV reported. Meanwhile, the structure of the school has been…

  • Swami Vivekananda is a personal inspiration: Modi

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    Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Swami Vivekananda on his birth anniversary, saying he was a “personal inspiration”. “On his birth anniversary, I bow to Swami Vivekananda. He is a personal inspiration. His thoughts and ideals have influenced me deeply,” the prime minister said in a statement. “Swami Vivekananda is revered as one of the…

  • ? Kerry to discuss India-Pak tensions with Sharif

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        US Secretary of State John Kerry, who will arrive here on a two-day official visit Monday evening, will raise with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif the issue of prevailing tense situation between India and Pakistan, Geo News reported. During his strategic talks with the Pakistani leadership, Kerry will raise the issue of tense situation…

  • Millions denounce terrorism at Paris rally

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      It was the first ever for France! An unprecedented flood of people, headed by leaders from Europe and other countries, streamed in Paris  to protest indignantly against terrorism and racism after 17 people were killed during three days of attacks in the French capital. “I’m Charlie”, “We are not afraid”, wrote protesters on banners,…

  • Kejriwal mocks Modi

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    AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal  hit out at the BJP for making false claims and mocked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for calling him an “anarchist”. “The mood in Delhi is different from what it was a year ago. Though the Congress is nowhere in the picture, we are more popular than the BJP and ahead of…

  • Federer completes 1000th career win

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    Tennis ace Roger Federer edged past Canadian Milos Raonic to win the Brisbane International title, thereby completing his 1,000th professional career win, here. The 33-year-old beat Raonic, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-4 on Patrick Rafter Arena to clinch his 83rd career title and 1000 wins, the third man to do so after American Jimmy Connors and…

  • Tharoor to be questioned

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      Congress MP Shashi Tharoor  reached the national capital and is likely to be questioned by Delhi Police in connection with his wife Sunanda Pushkar’s murder. Tharoor arrived at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport from Kerala around 2 p.m. and went to his house in central Delhi’s Lodhi Estate. Tharoor did not reply to…

  • Gujarat a cultural crossover: Ban Ki-moon

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      UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon  said Gujarat could also be a crossroad for a new era of sustainable development while it has long been a cultural crossover to the world. “This dynamic state has long been a cultural crossover to the world. Today, it can also be a crossroad for a new era of…

  • Cameron to visit US next week

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      British Prime Minister David Cameron will pay a two-day visit to the US next week to discuss a range of issues of common concern with President Barack Obama, the White House announced. “President Obama will host British Prime Minister David Cameron at the White House Jan 15-16,” Xinhua quoted a White House statement issued…

  • Muslim hailed for saving people in Paris

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      A Muslim man was hailed as a hero by the French media for saving hostages during a hostage crisis in a Paris supermarket. Lassana Bathily, an employee at Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket in Vincennes, helped to guide a group of hostages into a downstairs walk-in freezer while the gunman was preparing to kill them,…

  • Lanka to probe alleged coup attempt

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      The new Sri Lankan government will launch an investigation into an alleged coup attempt by the former administration during the presidential election, a spokesman said. United National Party (UNP) MP Mangala Samaraweera said pressure had been exerted on police and army to prevent Maithripala Sirisena from winning the presidential election, Xinhua reported. But Samaraweera…

  • Modi, Kerry pay tribute to Paris victims

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    With Parisians gearing up  to hold a massive solidarity rally in France against the terror attack on French magazine Charlie Hebdo, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US Secretary of State John Kerry paid tributes to the victims of the attack. Modi started his speech at the seventh Vibrant Gujarat global investment summit here by paying…

  • India is a land of opportunities:Modi

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    By Jaideep Sarin  Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that his government was trying to revive the economy, and told global investors that India today was a land of opportunities. “In a short span of seven months, we have been able to change the atmosphere of despair and uncertainty,” Modi told the seventh Vibrant Gujarat summit…

  • Cameron supports Gandhi statue in London

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      By Anasudhin Azeez  British Prime Minister David Cameron has offered support to the Gandhi Statue Memorial Trust’s initiative to install a statue of Mahatma Gandhi at London’s prestigious Parliament Square. The prime minister told Asian Lite newspaper that the decision to install a statue of India’s Father of the nation at Parliament Square along…

  • Hollande urges people to be united

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    French President Francois Hollande  urged the people of the country to be united in the face of a spate of terror attacks and also to stay vigilant. “I call upon all of you to be united. This is our best weapon,” Hollande said in an address to the nation following the conclusion of the double…

  • Sanjay Dutt’s plea rejected

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    The Maharashtra government rejected Sanjay Dutt’s application to extend his furlough by 14 days, an official said, adding that the Bollywood actor will return to Pune’s Yerawada Central Jail (YCJ) later in the day. “His application has been rejected. He will return to jail today itself,” his lawyer Hitesh Jain said. Dutt’s latest furlough of…

  • India secure a draw at SCG

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      India managed to cling on to a draw in the fourth and final Test courtesy some brave batting by Ajinkya Rahane and Bhuvneshwar Kumar as Australia won the series 2-0 at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) here. India looked well poised in their 349-run chase at tea and raised prospects of an improbable win,…

  • Kerry to focus on economic issues in India

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      As Secretary of State John Kerry headed to India ahead of President Barack Obama’s historic visit on India’s Republic Day, officials said economic relationship will be a big focus of his discussions. Kerry will travel to Ahmedabad after a stop in Munich Jan 10 to attend the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit inaugurated by…

  • Cameron visits Asian Lite

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    Prime Minister David Cameron launched new initiatives to garner more support from the ethnic-minority votes as the general election date nears…writes Anjana Parikh Photographs: Arun Jacob Thomas The prime minister told Asian Lite newspaper that the new government will boost the economy to new heights through a meticulous strategy. “We are creating the fastest growing…

  • Dutt at home with family

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      Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, who went to Yerawada jail in Pune on the end of his 14-day furlough but did not surrender and returned home Thursday, is at home here with his family, awaiting a decision on his request for its extension, his lawyer said. “The authorities have yet to inform us on his…

  • Tharoor seeks professional probe

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    Congress MP Shashi Tharoor  sought a “professional” investigation into his wife Sunanda Pushkar’s death without “political” pressure and a “pre-determined” mind. “I have lost my wife and have not been allowed to mourn in peace,” the former central minister told the media outside at a private ayurvedic centre where he has been undergoing a 14-day…

  • Five hostages taken in Paris supermarket

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    The perpetrator of Thursday’s Montrouge shooting is suspected of having taken five hostages at Porte de Vincennes in southern Paris, after firing gunshots around 3 p.m. Friday, media reported. According to the report, the hostages were taken in a kosher supermarket at Porte de Vincennes, 20th Arrondissement, south Paris. At least one person is injured,…

  • ‘The Lunchbox’ nominated for BAFTA

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     After having been snubbed as India’s official entry at the Oscars in 2013, Ritesh Batra’s directorial feature movie “The Lunchbox” has made it to the nomination list of the BAFTA Awards 2015 in the ‘Film Not in the English Language’ category. The team is ecstatic. The nominations for the awards, organised annually by British Academy…

  • Charlie Hebdo attack suspects hold hostage

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      The two suspects in the Charlie Hebdo massacre were holding a hostage  in a commercial building in Dammartin-en-Goele, northeast of Paris, according to the French media. A police operation is currently under way in the area, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said in a statement. An elite unit of the Gendarmerie is in place and…

  • Sirisena replace Rajapaksa in Sri Lanka

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    Joint opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena was elected Sri Lanka’s new president, decisively defeating Mahinda Rajapaksa in an election the incumbent scheduled two years ahead of time hoping an easy win. Nearly a decade after he took power and later crushed the Tamil Tigers, Rajapaksa went down to his former health minister, who earned more than…

  • Only men can be lethally stupid!

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    The Funny Side by Nury Vittachi  If you play the movie “A Hard Day’s Night” backwards, it’s about four boys who wander through London making unearthly noises that cause huge crowds of girls to back away, screaming. It’s actually quite good that way. And the truth is, women should back away screaming when approached by men,…

  • Lanka voters reject Rajapaksa

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    Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa congratulated opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena on his victory in the presidential election, an official said. Sirisena, a former government minister, deserted the president and changed sides to become the opposition’s candidate in November, Dailymirror.lk reported. He has vowed to root out corruption and bring constitutional reforms to weaken the president’s…

  • Pope #PrayersForParis on Twitter

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      Pope Francis  launched the Twitter hashtag #PrayersForParis, to honour the victims of Wednesday’s terror attack in Paris against the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, in which 12 people were killed. The message did not add any other text. The aim was merely to boost the hashtag, which had acquired more than 1,000 retweets a short…