Asian Lite News Archive

Category: -Top News

  • Child suicides on the rise in Britain

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    The number of children who have admitted to attempting suicide has soared by 43% in a year, ChildLine has revealed . The counselling service said it has received more than 34,000 consultations with children who talked about wanting to kill themselves in 2013/14 – an increase of 116% since 2010/2011 reported Huffington Post. Nearly 6,000…

  • A pity Anderson died unshackled

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    Rights activists  said it was a pity that then Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson died without facing trial for the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster that killed thousands. Activists who spoke  on telephone from Bhopal also denounced the Indian and US governments for not taking steps that would have led to his arrest and extradition to…

  • Modi visit gives US a reality check

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    Citing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s US visit, Secretary of State John Kerry says US diplomacy faces new challenges in a globalised world with countries “flexing their muscles and standing up for their own interests.” “A lot of countries have economic power today that they didn’t have in the last century… and they’re feeling their oats,”…

  • India deny visa for Australians looking for surrogate mothers

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    Childless Australian couples looking for surrogate mothers in India are being denied visas to enter the country, media reported . Surrogacy advocates said India had effectively frozen out Australians from the surrogacy industry following recent revelations that a child was abandoned in India by an Australian couple, ABC reported. “India has put a freeze on…

  • The day Modi strode down Rajpath

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    Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off an enthusiasm-filled Run for Unity and himself briskly walked down Rajpath after paying rich tributes to free India’s first home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Modi led the nation in paying tributes to Sardar Patel on his 139th birth anniversary, being commemorated as Rashtriya Ekta Diwas or National Unity Day,…

  • Raja, Kanimozhi formally charged

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    The special court hearing the 2G spectrum allocation case has framed charges of money laundering against former telecom minister A. Raja, his party colleague and DMK MP Kanimozhi and the other accused. Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge O.P. Saini framed the charges. The accused have been booked under various sections dealing with the…

  • Build on Patel’s legacy: Modi

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    Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel gave us one nation and it is now for us to turn it into a superior India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at an event to mark the birth anniversary of the country’s first home minister. Sardar Patel “gave us one India” and it is our responsibility to “turn into sreshta (superior)…

  • US urges restraint in Jerusalem

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    The US today voiced concern about escalating tensions across Jerusalem, urging all sides to refrain from “provocative actions”. “We condemn yesterday’s shooting of a US citizen in Jerusalem,” Xinhua quoted State Department spokesperson Jennifer Psaki as saying at a daily press briefing. “We’re extremely concerned by escalating tensions across Jerusalem and particularly surrounding the Haram…

  • S.Asian urged to check blood in urine

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    Be Clear on Cancer campaign highlights blood in urine is a key symptom of bladder and kidney cancers   Latest figures reveal that only 1 in 3 people survive bladder or kidney cancer beyond 12 months if diagnosed at a late stage, compared with more than 9 in 10 who survive at least a year…

  • Britain honours Indian WWI soldiers

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    Britain honoured the over a million Indian soldiers who fought in World War I, as British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon laid a wreath at the war memorial at India Gate and praised the “enormous contribution” of India. Fallon, who arrived here on a two-day visit, handed over a digitised version of the war diaries and…

  • Britain holds out hope for Indian deal

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      Britain  held out hope that the European consortium could bag the multibillion Indian deal for 126 fighter jets with its Eurofighter Typhoon in case the Narendra Modi government’s negotiations for the French Rafale jets falls through. British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon, in answer to a question, said the his country “respects the position the…

  • Indian sailors freed after four years in pirate captivity

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    Seven Indian sailors on vessel MV Asphalt Venture, kidnapped off east Africa by Somali pirates in September 2010, have been released, a functionary in Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy’s office said. “Of the seven, two are Keralites and one from Kanyakumari (Tamil Nadu). They have been released today and are now being moved to an…

  • India plans unmanned crew module space flight

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    India will launch an unmanned crew module in December onboard a heavy rocket to test its re-entry into the atmosphere for the country’s future maiden human space flight, the space agency chief said . “We will send an unmanned crew module on the experimental GSLV-Mark III rocket in December and test its re-entry into the…

  • CHINA FASHION WEEK- PICS

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    Models Wang Min (L), Chen Juanhong (R) and designer Qi Gang express gratitude to audience during China Fashion Week in Beijing, capital of China

  • Zambia has a white acting president

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      Appointed acting president of Zambia following Michael Sata’s death , Guy Scott made history by becoming the first white head of state in sub-Saharan Africa since aparatheid – though a debate rages on his eligibiliity. Frederik de Klerk of South Africa was the region’s last white president, until his party lost to Nelson Mandela’s…

  • Sweden to recognise Palestine

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     Sweden will officially recognise Palestine as an independent state, the first European Union (EU) member to do so, the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter reported, citing Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom. Prime Minister Stefan Lofven announced earlier this month that Sweden would recognise the state of Palestine. A decree will be issued later Thursday by the Swedish…

  • New India Assurance Bags Top IOD Award

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    New India Assurance bagged Institute of Director’s Golden Peacock Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance New India Assurance bagged this year’s Institute of Director’s Golden Peacock Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance. This is the second time in row NIA is winning the prestigious award. The event was held during  the  IOD India’s London Global…

  • Akki starrer The Shaukeens

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    They say that the best things come to those who wait, and in the new comedy film The Shaukeens, which releases on 7th November 2014, three men in the twlight of their lives embark on a roller-coaster adventure of fun and frivolity, ensuring that their lives will never be the same again. A remake of…

  • NRIs sue ICICI Venture

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    Dubai-based Indian businessman Gulab Patil among scores of investors sue ICIC Venture over alleged losses on their investments in a property fund run by the private equity firm. Gulab Patil, who has been authorised by around 500 investors with a power of attorney, told PTI that he has filed the complaint with Sebi on October…

  • Why Modi-bashers are so frightfully busy?

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    Daily Dose by Bikram Vohra After deep and introspective study, I have finally figured out why Modi-bashers are so frightfully busy. He is not playing the game according to the rules.  There you are, that is an incandescent distillation of my research. Who does he think he is, the BCCI? Not being a team player…

  • Gurudwara vandalised in Perth

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    In an incident of mistaken identity in Australia’s Perth city, a Gurdwara was spray-painted by vandals with anti-Muslim graffiti. Sikh Gurdawara Perth treasurer Amandeep Singh said CCTV captured two vandals spray-painting the underconstruction Bennett Springs gurdwara early Wednesday (about 1.30 a.m.), WA today.com.au reported. “I think they have confused us with Arabs or Muslims,” he…

  • Yasin Malik arrested in Srinagar

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    Separatist leader Muhammad Yasin Malik, who has called for a boycott of the coming Jammu and Kashmir elections, was Thursday taken into preventive custody here. This was done to maintain law and order in the city, a police officer said. Malik, chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), said that police reached his uptown…

  • World News In Pictures

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  • Affordable driverless cars in a decade: Study

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    Driverless cars could become affordable to most people within 10 years, Australian researchers said . Curtin University associate professor Ba Tuong Vo said his team has developed an “autonomous car” that can drive in a straight line and sense what is around it, Xinhua reported. “The next step is to give it a ‘brain’ or…

  • An assassination recalled

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    By Tarun Basu  Thirty years later, the 90-year-old doctor remembers the event as if it was just the other day. “I had left after chatting with her, like I used to do every morning after a routine check-up,” said Dr K.P. Mathur, of his patient of 18 years, prime minister Indira Gandhi. “But within 20…

  • Sachin’s memories of meeting Bradman

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    Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne were so daunted by the prospect of meeting Austalian cricketing legend Donald Bradman for his 90th birthday that they could not decide who should speak first, the Indian batting great said. “I remember Warnie was with me in the car and we were discussing who was going to ask the…

  • Kerala to host climate change meet

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    More than 450 scientists and policymakers from around the world will discuss ways and means to tackle climate change and disaster management at a conference to be held here from Feb 26-28, 2015, it was announced here Wednesday. The Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) will host the International Conference on Climate…

  • Modi to meet Merkel in Australia

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    By Ranjana Narayan  Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have his first meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Australia next month, a meeting that almost took place in July in Berlin but was put off following the German leader’s decision to go to Brazil to cheer her country at the World Cup football finals. A…

  • India and Britain to tackle security challenges

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      There was considerable scope for Britain and India to work together “to tackle many security challenges” globally, British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said  on meeting Defence Minister Arun Jaitley. A statement from the British High Commission said the meeting with Jaitley reaffirms Britain’s defence and security partnership with India. On a three-day visit to…

  • Sena welcomes Fadnavis as new CM

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      The Shiv Sena  said it “wholeheartedly welcomes” Devendra Fadnavis as the new chief minister-designate of Maharashtra, two days after the BJP anointed him. “We wholeheartedly welcome the new CM of Maharashtra… We are confident that with Narendra (Modi) in Delhi and Devendra (Fadnavis) in Maharashtra, nobody can prevent ‘achhe din’ (good days) from coming…

  • India readies to test indigenous ICBM

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    India is readying for the full-fledged test-firing from a canister of an indigenous long-range missile that carries a one-tonne nuclear warhead and can target cities as far as Beijing. The previous two launches of the 5,000 km Agni-5 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with dummy warheads have been from open mobile launchers. The canisterised version has…

  • India’s second Mars mission in 2018

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    Riding on the recent success of its Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), India plans to revisit the planet in 2018, possibly with a lander and rover to conduct more experiments, a space official said . “We plan to launch a second mission to Mars in 2018, probably with a lander and rover, to conduct more experiments…

  • Goa varsity seeks help of ex-students

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    Goa varsity launches mammoth survey, wants alumni to rate performance … Mayabhushan Nagvenkar  In a role reversal of sorts, Goa University wants its alumni to rate and evaluate its performance and the quality of education it has offered them. Founded in 1985, the university, in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), has launched an…

  • PRATHAM: Helping India’s Under-privileged

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    Pratham, an NGO organisation, is helping bridge India’s education gap…writes Arun Kumar  A staggering 100 million children making up about half of India’s school-going children cannot read a grade-appropriate text or solve a grade appropriate math question. Trying to bridge that gap through “low-cost, scalable methods” is Pratham, an NGO dedicated to educating underprivileged children and youth…

  • Life in Hong Kong’s protest Village

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    Isabel Fueyo spent a month at the epicentre of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement   A month after the pro-democracy movement of Hong Kong began with the peaceful occupation of city streets, the daily life of one of the areas has been enriched by the ingenuity of protesters who have converted the area into a self-sustaining settlement. This…

  • Asian Media Awards Announced

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    The 2014 Asian Media Awards took place at the Hilton Manchester Deansgate in front of journalists, actors, presenters and marketing professionals from across the world. As well as rewarding new and emerging talent, the awards recognised the achievements of the pioneers within the media industry. The much coveted Media Personality of the Year was presented…

  • How culture affects physiology?

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    People who are born in aggressive environments may pass on traits that make it more likely for future generations to react to certain situations in a violent manner, found a research, underscoring how culture could affect biology. Biology is affected by culture just as culture is changed by human biology, the researchers noted. “These changes,…

  • US urged to lift Cuba cargo

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    UN General Assembly again urges US to end Cuba embargo ….reports Arul Louis  The UN General Assembly (UNGA) asked the US to lift its Eisenhower-era embargo against Cuba in a near unanimous vote Tuesday that showed a stark isolation of Washington on the issue. Only Israel voted with the US against the resolution while closest allies like…

  • China to help Afghan projects

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    China is willing to participate in Afghanistan’s infrastructure construction, Premier Li Keqiang said . Li made the remarks while meeting visiting Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Xinhua reported. Any country that wanted to realise national prosperity and improve people’s livelihood needed a safe, stable and harmonious…

  • Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt  in Oxford

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    The Oxford India Society will play host to one of the finest musician in the world – Grammy Award winner, Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt on  Wednesday 5th November, 2014 The concert will be held at the Holywell music Room in Oxford – a purpose built concert hall in the heart of Oxford and among the oldest in Europe.…

  • Pak court approves 2013 polls

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    The Supreme Court of Pakistan dismissed all three petitions that challenged the 2013 general elections. A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk heard the peitions. The petitions sought the 2013 elections to be declared null and void, alleging rigging and claiming the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) used faulty magnetic ink. The petitions called…

  • Black money could be over $35 billion

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    The unearthing of untaxed income Indians have allegedly stashed away in foreign accounts could add up to $35 billion to the country’s foreign exchange reserves, a Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofA-ML) report said . The report came out the day the government submitted to the Supreme Court names of 627 people who are holding…

  • India seeks ban on e-cigarettes

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    Indian Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan calls for for complete ban on e-cigarettes Indian  Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has favoured a complete ban on e-cigarettes and all products described as “Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS)”. Harsh Vardhan ruled out their acceptability in the light of research findings by experts which have held that they are no…

  • Asylum backlog troubles Home Office

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    The Home Office has “failed to deal” with the UK’s backlog of asylum cases, with 29,000 applications dating back at least seven years still waiting to be resolved, MPs have warned reports BBC. The Public Accounts Committee said 11,000 of those applicants had not even received an initial decision on whether they could remain in…

  • COMENT: Israel-Hamas Talks

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    Dr. Alon Ben-Meir,  a professor of international relations at the Centre for Global Affairs at NYU, looks into the new development in the Middle East Although the expected resumption of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas in Cairo was postponed, it will likely take place in the next few weeks as the two sides appear to seek…

  • Indian oil sector looks for Saudi investment

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     India has invited Saudi Arabian oil companies, including Aramco, to invest in crude oil storage facilities and downstream industries in the country, the petroleum ministry said here . Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan invited Saudi investments in India’s hydrocarbons sector during his ongoing official visit to the kingdom. He held talks with Saudi minister of petroleum…

  • Telangana, Andhra bitter fight begins

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    The worst fears of united Andhra Pradesh’s last chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy appear to be coming true with Telangana and residuary state of Andhra Pradesh indulging in no-holds-barred war over sharing of electricity and river water. Ever since Telangana took birth as India’s 29th state in June, the two Telugu states have quarreled on…

  • Iraqi Kurds onward to Syria to fight ISIS

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    A group of Iraqi Kurdish fighters arrived in Turkey to fight the Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria, a media report said. A private plane carrying Peshmerga forces landed at an airport in Sanliurfa province from the Iraqi Kurdish capital of Erbil, Xinhua reported citing state-run Anatolia news agency. The forces, sent by the Kurdish…

  • Obama defends new Ebola directives

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    US President Barack Obama has defended the government’s new directives regarding monitoring of people who have been exposed to the Ebola virus, asking the public not to let themselves be influenced by “fear”, since progress is being made in halting the spread of the disease. If there was not a strong international respnse to the…

  • Bangladesh to hang Jamaat-e-Islami chief

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    A special tribunal in Bangladesh handed down the death penalty to Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami for wartime atrocities during the country’s 1971 Liberation War, media reports said. Nizami, who led the Pakistan Army’s vigilante militia outfit, Al-Badr, to abort Bangladesh’s birth, has also been awarded life sentence by the International Crimes Tribunal-1 that found…