Asian Lite News Archive

Category: -Top News

  • No exchange of sweets at Wagah & Attari on Eid

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    In an unprecedented move, border guards of India and Pakistan Monday did not exchange greetings and sweets at the Attari-Wagah joint check post (JCP) on the occasion of Eid. This is the first time that the goodwill gesture has been dumped by both sides in recent years. Border Security Force (BSF) sources said the Indian…

  • Not afraid of political conspiracies: Hasina

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    Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina  said her government has the capability to face any challenge and she is not afraid of any conspiracy against her. “I don’t see any reason to be afraid of. Had I been afraid of such conspiracies, I wouldn’t have come to politics,” the Daily Star quoted her as saying, as…

  • INTERVIEW: Boman Irani

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        At an age when most Bollywood actors end up with “itsy bitsy” roles, Boman Irani is getting to play strong and sensible characters and pitches for Indian cinema exploring such films where such actors get equal prominence – as in the recently-released “Finding Fanny”. “I think there are many situations where character actors…

  • UPSTAGED BY SONS IN LAWS

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    Daily Dose by Bikram Vohra My son in law has just bought an iPhone Plus, something that does everything his old phone used to do but only better. It is a sleek piece of silver steel or titanium, (not that I would know), and after I hide my 99 dirham Nokia so the difference is…

  • Khaitan in judicial custody in chopper deal

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    Businessman Gautam Khaitan, arrested for graft in the AgustaWestland chopper deal, was remanded in judicial custody till Tuesday, a lawyer said . Duty Metropolitan Magistrate Snigdha Sarvaria Sunday sent Khaitan to two days’ judicial custody after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) told her that he is not required for further police custody. He was presented in…

  • Border firing shows Pakistan’s frustration: Omar

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    Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said Pakistan’s indiscriminate cross-border firing, which left five people dead , only shows the neighbouring country’s frustration over its failure to rake up the Kashmir issue. The chief minister rushed here from Srinagar despite the Eid-ul-Adha festival to attend the cremation of five civilians killed in mortar shelling…

  • Nobel Prize in physiology announced

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    Three scientists – John O’Keefe, and May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser – have shared the 2014 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, the Nobel Committee announced . The Nobel assembly at the Karolinska Institute has decided to award one half of the physiology or medicine prize to John O’Keefe and the other half jointly to May-Britt…

  • India joins to build the world’s biggest telescope

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    India, along with four other countries, will Tuesday start work to build the world’s biggest telescope in Hawaii Island, the media here reported . The 30-metre telescope, also known as TMT, will be constructed near the summit of the Mauna Kea volcano on Hawaii Island. Construction is likely to be completed by 2022, Japan Times…

  • Gold prices will go southwards

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    International gold price should bottom around $,1050-$1,100/ounce writes Vatsal Srivastava in his weekly column Currency Corner Gold has lost its year to date gains post Friday’s blockbuster US jobs data. The headline US unemployment rate came in at 5.9 percent—the last time the unemployment rate was below 6 percent was in July 2008. The US economy added…

  • World News In Pictures

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  • Zareen & Aditi unveils Amy’s creations

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    Zarine Khan and Aditi Rao Hydari spell their classy touch walking as show stoppers at India Bullion And Jewelers Association Ltd. for designer Amy Billimoria complementing magnificent pieces of jewels by S.K Jewellers and Shubham Motiwalla. It rained fashion when Designer Amy Billimoria set the tone for the fashionable and glamorous evening at India Bullion…

  • Eid-ul-Azha at Gandhi Maidan

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  • Eid Mubarak, wish Bollywood stars

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    Delectable biryani and sevaiyan were on the minds of Bollywood celebrities like Shabana Azmi, Preity Zinta and Kunal Kohli, who have wished for peace and love on the festive occasion of Eid Monday. Here’s what they tweeted: Lata Mangeshkar: Namaskar. Aap sab ko Eid ki hardik Shubh kaamanaayein. Shabana Azmi: Sabko Eid mubarak. Missing family…

  • Air pollution leading to swelling rivers

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    Air pollutants, known as aerosols, can lead to an increase in the amount of water flowing through many rivers in the northern hemisphere, revealed a research. Aerosols reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth’s surface, an effect known as ‘solar dimming’. In the study, researchers found that solar dimming increased river flows as the…

  • Sena attacks PM over remarks

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     A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he won’t criticise the Shiv Sena out of respect for its founder Bal Thackeray, the Sena Monday hit back, saying the “real tribute” to the late Thackeray would have been to continue with the BJP-Sena alliance. “We are happy to learn that he (Modi) has respect for…

  • Search begins for Malaysian naval vessel

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    The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA)  assigned two vessels and a plane to assist in the search operation for the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) combat vessel CB204, which went missing Sunday. CB204 lost contact with its base at 11.15 a.m. while cruising to islands off Sabah waters, The Malaysian Star reported. The vessel’s last known…

  • Modi attacks dynastic politics

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    Prime Minister Narendra Modi  launched a scathing attack on dynastic politics, rampant nepotism and corruption in Haryana and urged people to vote for the BJP in the Oct 15 assembly polls. Addressing an election rally for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Hisar town, Modi said Haryana had not seen a government in which political…

  • Jindal Group eye London Mining

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    India’s Jindal Group is considering the purchase of debt-ridden British firm London Mining, which is faced with crashing iron-ore prices and the ebola outbreak in Africa where it operates a mine, the Sunday Times reported. London Mining shares closed last week at just four pence after it said it was in talks with a strategic…

  • South Korea calls for North

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    South Korean President Park Geun-hye  called for regular senior-level dialogues with North Korea. Park’s remarks came after North Korea’s second-in-command Hwang Pyong So made a surprise visit to South Korea for the closing ceremony of the Incheon Asian Games with Choe Ryong Hae and Kim Yang Gon, secretaries of the Central Committee of the Workers’…

  • Modi’s dress colour a hit in US

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      Narendra Modi was dressed for the occasion wherever he went, but the diverse colours that the Indian prime minister donned on his recent US visit had one unifying theme – to win America. And this is being talked about even a week after his visit. And win America he did even before he reached…

  • Madrid win in Ronaldo hat-trick

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    Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale were the stars as Real Madrid defeated Athletic Club Bilbao 5-0 in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Spanish Primera Liga football Bale, who had been out of form in recent matches, served three goals for Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, who scored five goals between them with Ronaldo scoring yet another…

  • Violence in Kashmir kills and maims many

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      At least five people were killed Monday and 29 injured in Pakistani firing in Jammu district, police said. “The number of civilians killed in Pakistani firing in Arnia has gone up to five as one more person has succumbed to his injuries while being shifted to a hospital,” a senior police officer said here. “So far,…

  • Gazans let to pray in Jerusalem

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      Some 500 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip travelled  to pray at a Jerusalem mosque, marking the first occasion since 2007 that Israel allowed such visits from the Hamas-controlled Palestinian enclave. The holiday permits were issued to about 1,500 Gazans, aged 60 and over, a spokesperson for the Israeli army said in a statement. They…

  • Telangana, Andhra CMs hug each other

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    Chief ministers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, who usually miss no opportunity to target each other, Sunday displayed bonhomie on coming face to face and hugged each other. Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart N. Chandrababu Naidu came face to face at “Allai Ballai” or a get-together organized by senior…

  • ‘India’s zoos need reforms’

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     The recent incident of a youth being killed by a white tiger at the Delhi zoo highlighted the need to restructure and revamp Indian zoological parks, while raising questions over the security of animals and visitors. While some experts say it’s time private organisations were given a role in their management, others question the very…

  • SPECIAL REPORT: Jodhpur Fest

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    Over the years, rustic folk music has often found space within Bollywood space, but the organisers of Jodhpur’s Rajasthan International Folk Festival(RIFF) aim to go a step beyond by nurturing a platform that creates a demand for bucolic music by retaining traditional ethos and flavours. “There is no demand for folk music in the cities…

  • Sense of humour changes with age

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    Things that you find funny today may not amuse you when you grow older, a study suggests, indicating that with age, our sense of humour also changes. While young and middle-aged adults considered aggressive humour to be funny, older adults did not, the findings showed. “Television sitcoms in which characters make jokes at someone else’s…

  • Jindal to buy London Mining

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     India’s Jindal Group is considering the purchase of debt-ridden British firm London Mining, which is faced with crashing iron-ore prices and the ebola outbreak in Africa where it operates a mine, the Sunday Times reported. London Mining shares closed last week at just four pence after it said it was in talks with a strategic…

  • SPECIAL REPORT: Maharashtra Elections

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    Amulya Ganguli says bitter battle on the cards in Maharashtra  This month’s assembly elections in Maharashtra may well prove to be one of the most acrimonious contests in recent memory.Since the parting of close associates invariably arouses considerable antagonism, there is nothing surprising about the present hostility between the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata…

  • INTERVIEW: Mahesh Bhatt

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    Mahesh Bhatt told Nivedita that his daughters are far more intelligent than him Mahesh Bhatt has been one of the best filmmakers of his time and inspired generations with his movie-making skills, but the director, who now produces films with new talent, says his three daughters – Pooja, Shaheen and Alia – are far more intelligent and…

  • Designer Masaba Gupta showcases at Myntra Fashion Week 2014

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    Model displays the creation of fashion designer Masaba Gupta during Myntra Fashion Weekend 2014 in Mumbai

  • Victoria to receive charity award

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    Singer-turned-fashion designer Victoria Beckham will receive an award for her charity work at Eva Longoria’s Global Gift Gala. The former Spice Girl will be handed the Global Gift Philanthropeneur Award in recognition of her work for charities such as Mothers2mothers, Save the Children and Born Free Africa, reports contactmusic.com. Recipients of the prize are said…

  • Astronauts may hibernate for Mars journey

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    With researchers maintaining that keeping astronauts in deep sleep is possible, the space explorers may very well be put in hibernation to significantly cut the cost of a manned expedition to Mars. The deep sleep – called torpor – would reduce the astronauts’ metabolic functions with existing medical procedures, Discovery News reported. “Therapeutic torpor has…

  • Big B sees cinema as an integrator

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      Megastar Amitabh Bachchan says he is “proud” to be part of the film fraternity, which acts as an integrator. “Cinema in today’s times is perhaps the only integrator left, in this fast disintegrating world … Proud to be in its fraternity,” the 71-year-old tweeted Sunday. A star, who rose on the film firmament during…

  • Will Modi’s broom sweep away legal cobwebs?

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    By Parmod Kumar   The Narendra Modi government is determined to clean up the country in more ways than one. In an ambitious move, the government intends to junk in one stroke at least 287 obsolete laws and thousands of old appropriation bills which are choking the statute book. Not only does India have one of…

  • Israel to summon Swedish envoy

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    Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Sunday it will summon the Swedish ambassador to protest new Prime Minister Stefan Lofven’s decision to recognize the Palestinian state. “I regret that the Swedish prime minister was in a hurry to make statements on Sweden’s position regarding recognition of a Palestinian state, apparently before he had time even…

  • Modi refuse to attack Sena in Mumbai

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      Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday attacked the Congress and NCP in Maharashtra but said he would not utter a word against estranged ally Shiv Sena. “Some newspapers have reported that the prime minister has criticized the Shiv Sena,” Modi told an election rally here. “This is the first election in the absence of Balasaheb…

  • Indian hockey team get heroes’ welcome

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    The Indian men’s hockey team returned home  from Incheon to a heroes’ welcome, with fans turning out in large numbers to receive the Asian Games champions. Teary-eyed and overjoyed fans hugged and cheered the players and support staff as they stepped out of the Indira Gandhi international airport. The team got for India its third…

  • Cameron vows to hunt down Alan Henning’s killers

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    British Prime Minister David Cameron  condemned the “barbaric” murder of British hostage Alan Henning by the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, and vowed to hunt down the killers. Footage released late Friday showed the murder of the 47-year-old aid convoy volunteer. Henning was a Manchester taxi driver who travelled to Syria to help distribute food…

  • US strikes kill 35 ISIS fighters

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    At least 35 fighters of the Islamic State (IS) Sunni radical group were killed  by the strikes of the US-led anti-terror coalition in northern Syria, media reports said. The strikes, carried out by US drones along with Jordanian war jets, targeted the IS positions in the countryside of the northern province of Hasaka and the…

  • Super Kings are CLT20 Champions

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      Suresh Raina (109 not out) played an innings of lifetime to help Chennai Super Kings to an eight-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders in the final of the Oppo Champions League T20 tournament at the packed Mangalam Chinnaswamy Stadium here Saturday. It was a knock to remember as Raina unleashed a flurry of shots,…

  • USAID, Gates Foundation to join clean up

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    Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s US visit that saw him take up the issue of hygiene and toilets for all Indians during his much-applauded talk at New York’s Central Park has also led to the US aid agency USAID and the Gates Foundation join in his mission of improving water, sanitation and sewage in municipalities across…

  • Zuckerberg follow Nadella to India

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      Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg will be visiting India next week to attend a summit. Zuckerberg will also meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to sources. His visit comes three months (July, 2014) after the visit of Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of the social networking giant, to the country, which is the second biggest…

  • Modi inspires investor confidence

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      Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “extremely successful” US visit, especially his meeting with top business leaders there, has seen a US-India business body committing to $42 billion investment in India with many lauding the “Gujarat model” of development. In a survey following Modi’s five-day visit, the US-India Business Council (USIBC), in a survey, found that…

  • Air India suspends staff over negligence

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    Cracking the whip against negligent Air India employees, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju Saturday suspended ground handling and security officers for lapses in detecting a stun grenade in one of the airline’s planes that was to operate from Jeddah to Mumbai. According to a civil aviation ministry spokesperson, staff that were involved in clearing…

  • Solar-powered phone boxes

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    The first London telephone box to be transformed into a free, solar-powered mobile phone charger has been unveiled  on Tottenham Court Road in London. The solar-panelled phone boxes provide a clean, carbon-neutral source of energy for phones, tablets, cameras and other devices. Costs are covered through in-booth advertising space enabling the public to power-up free…

  • Clean India: Mindsets need to change

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    Rupesh Dutta says mindsets need to change if India wants to clean the country from filth Mindsets need to change if Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan or Clean India Mission to make the country litter and squalor free in the next five years is to succeed, diplomats and foreign tourists say. “I believe…

  • SPECIAL: India’s richest woman on campaign trail

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    Savitri Jindal, India’s richest woman, campaigns like a commoner… reports Jaideep Sarin   She lords over a multi-billion rupee industrial empire. She is the mother of nine children, including a leading corporate tycoon-cum-politician son, Naveen Jindal. She has been tagged the country’s richest woman, yet she is no more than a commoner when she takes to the…

  • Saeed Naqvi on Modi’s dry Hindi

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    Saeed Naqvi is asking Indian Prime Minister to use more Hindustani than Sanskritized Hindi to wider audience  I did not understand a word of what our prime minister said at the United Nations General Assembly. Well, except for words like “taaqatwar”, “rozgar” and “zahir”, all other words were beyond my comprehension. I had to fall back on translation.…

  • Self-control to stay alive

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    Nury Vittachi advising you to practice self-control to stay alive  This writer saved at least five people from being physically attacked yesterday. How? By exercising self-control. “Idiots have a right to live,” is the wonderfully calming secret mantra recommended for anyone who feels stressed by life in the modern world. Your columnist first realized how difficult self-control…