Asian Lite News Archive

Category: -Top News

  • Hasina to meet Modi in New York

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    Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have his first bilateral interaction with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly later this month, even as both countries have agreed to majorly scale up connectivity with each other, a top official said here Saturday. External affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said at…

  • Karzai optimistic about Afghan poll result

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      Afghan President Hamid Karzai  expressed optimism over the progress in talks between the presidential runners and promised the country would soon hear “good news” about the election result. “With the announcement of the outcome of the mid-June presidential runoff election, people’s suffering, pain and uncertainty would come to an end,” Pajhwok Afghan News quoted Karzai…

  • Kangana walk the ramp for Karan Johar

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    Kangana Ranaut show-stopper showcases a creation by Vero Moda launch of the Marquee collection by Karan Johar, in Mumbai.

  • Sachin to felicitate Lata on 85th birthday

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    On legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar’s 85th birthday Sep 28, cricket maestro Sachin Tendulkar will felicitate her at a celebratory function here. Tendulkar has given his consent to be the chief guest at the event, to be organised by music events organistion Hridayesh Arts at the Shanmukhananda Auditorium, King’s Circle here, said a statement. Lata’s younger…

  • Vatican increase security over possible attack

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    Security around St Peter’s Square in Vatican City has been doubled due to concerns about possible terrorist attacks targeting Pope Francis or the Vatican. Additional Italian police personnel were deployed across the city, ANSA news agency reported. Last week, Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said Italy and Rome, as the cradle of Christianity, were not “non-secondary”…

  • Iran can help tackle IS: Kerry

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    US Secretary of State John Kerry has said Iran can play a role in confronting and destroying the Islamic State (IS) militants. Addressing the UN Security Council on Iraq Friday, Kerry said there was a role for every country in the world to defeat what he described as a “militant cult masquerading as a religious…

  • Aishwarya, Freida in L’Oréal celebrity ad

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    Indian beauties Aishwarya Rai and Freida Pinto feature alongside Hollywood celebrities like Zoe Saldana, Eva Longoria, Blake Lively, Jane Fonda and Julianne Moore in a star-studded ad campaign by beauty brand L’Oréal Paris. The actresses are L’Oréal Paris brand ambassadors, and the latest ad is for its latest lipstick collection. The collection is called Collection…

  • Monali Thakur ecstatic in Washington

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    She’s more known for her singing. But Monali Thakur of “Sawaar loon” fame, who has shown her acting talent with a hard-hitting performance as a child prostitute in Nagesh Kukunoor’s “Lakshmi”, is presently ecstatic about winning the best actress award at the recently concluded Washington DC South Asian Film Festival. The enthused Monali exclaimed: “What…

  • British clerics appeal to ISIS to free hostage

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    Two clerics from Britain have made a direct appeal to the Islamic State (IS) to free British hostage Alan Henning. In a YouTube video, Shakeel Begg, Imam at Lewisham Islamic Centre in south London and Haitham al-Haddad, Imam from the Islamic Sharia Council, said that there was no justification for holding the 47-year-old, who was…

  • No Rouhani-Obama meeting: Iran

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    Iranian Deputy Minister for Legal and International Affairs Abbas Araqchi said Saturday that there are no plans for a meeting between President Hassan Rouhani and his American counterpart Barack Obama during the ongoing 69th UN General Assembly session in New York. Araqchi said that nuclear enrichment is a key issue in the ongoing talks with…

  • Sachin Pilot silences detractors

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    By Anil Sharma   With the Congress winning three of the four assembly seats in the recently held byelections in Rajasthan, state party president Sachin Pilot has silenced his detractors and proven his political acumen – and is now eyeing the civic and panchayat polls later this year or early next year. “It is a big…

  • Saeed Naqvi on why BJP lost

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    By Saeed Naqvi Recent by-election reverses for the BJP are early intimations of mortality for the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duet. As a senior BJP leader whispered: “They must come down to earth.” In other words, a degree of realism may now be introduced into the proceedings. The May parliamentary elections were peculiar in some ways.…

  • Modi too shrewd to be derailed: Zakaria

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    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is “far too shrewd” to be distracted by nationalist symbolism which would derail his growth agenda and embroil him in unwanted controversies, well known Indian-American journalist Fareed Zakaria suggests. But Zakaria, who interviewed him for CNN last weekend, also wonders in an opinion piece in the Washington Post if the…

  • Egyptian pleads guilty in US embassy bombings

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    An Egyptian has pleaded guilty in a court here to charges of helping plan the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people, a media report said Saturday. Adel Abdul Bary, 54, Friday pleaded guilty to three counts, including threatening to kill, injure or destroy property by means of an…

  • REVIEW: A Walk Among The Tombstones

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    Troy Ribeiro says the movie is an over embellished detective thriller  Film: “A Walk Among The Tombstones”; Cast: Liam Neeson, Dan Stevens, Boyd Holbrook, David Harbour, Adam David Thompson, Brian “Astro” Bradley, Olafur Darri Olafsson, Sebastian Roche, Mark Consuelos, and Danielle Rose Russell; Director: Scott Frank; Rating: *** An adaptation of Lawrence Block’s novel, director…

  • REVIEW: Daawat-e-Ishq’

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     Subhash K. Jha says Habib Faisal misses the plot Film: “Daawat-e-Ishq”; Cast: Aditya Roy Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra and Anupam Kher; Director: Habib Faisal: Rating: ** 1/2 (two and a half stars) There are two different films tucked away into this one big under-cooked biryani of a film. “Daawat-e-Ishq” is not as inviting as the title or…

  • Alibaba debuts at NYSE

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    China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Friday morning rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), marking its initial public offering (IPO) on Wall Street. Alibaba set its IPO price at $68 per American Depositary Share Thursday evening, raising $21.8 billion, Xinhua reported. The IPO is believed to be the biggest in US…

  • FIBA headgear decision irks Sikhs

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    US lawmakers, Sikhs disappointed at basketball body’s headgear decision…reports Arun Kumar from Washington Two US lawmakers and Sikh community bodies have expressed disappointment over International Basketball Federation’s (FIBA) decision to allow athletes to wear religious headgear, such as patkas, only as part of a “trial period”. “We are deeply disappointed with FIBA. It shouldn’t take two years…

  • Stage set for the canonization of Fr. Joseph Vaz

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    Goa Archbishop lauds papacy’s first stage approval of sainthood for Indian priest The Roman Catholic Church in Goa Wednesday expressed “joy” at Pope Francis’s approval of the first step towards of India’s first Catholic saint Fr. Joseph Vaz, a priest of Goan origin. In a statement issued here Archbishop of Goa and Daman Fr. Filipe…

  • Afridi targets World Cup 2015

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    Afridi urges team-mates to rally for World Cup Veteran Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi urged his team-mates to back one another if they were to win the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and end the country’s 23-year long wait for the coveted trophy for the second time. Afridi, who has been re-appointed the…

  • SAARC unites against terrorism

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    SAARC agrees to combat terrorism of all means and kinds….reports  Anil Giri   SAARC member states agreed to fight terrorism jointly in the region in all its forms and manifestations. They also agreed to a collective response to fighting transnational organised crimes, drug abuse, cyber crimes, corruption, maritime security, piracy, trafficking in women and children, and operationalising the…

  • BJP leaders in Lanka call for peace

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    BJP leaders urge Sri Lanka to resume dialogue with Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Two leaders of India’s ruling BJP Friday met Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris and urged that political dialogue be resumed between the island nation’s government and Tamil National Alliance leaders on various issues confronting the Tamil diaspora there. Bharatiya Janata Party…

  • Queen appeals to respect verdict

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    Queen Elizabeth II said everyone in Britain will respect the result of the Scottish independence referendum, in which Scotland voted to stay part of the country. In a written statement from the Balmoral Castle in northern Scotland, the Queen said Scotland’s vote to stay part of Britain was “a result that all of us throughout…

  • Salmond quits after Scottish verdict

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    Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond Friday announced his resignation after his Yes campaign’s defeat in the independence referendum, Xinhua reported. Addressing a press conference broadcast live by SKY TV, Salmond said he will be stepping down as Scotland’s First Minister and leader of the ruling Scottish National Party (SNP). Salmond said his term ends after…

  • British Muslims hold prayers for David Haines

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    In a heartfelt response to the murder of humanitarian David Haines, British Muslims across the UK are being called upon to come together in a national day of prayer for all humanitarians on Friday 19 September – facilitated by Imamsonline The letter is expected to see a significant turn out of Muslims attending mosques across the…

  • Afzal Khan MEP Calls For An End To ISIS

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    North West MEP and Vice Chair of the European Parliament Security and Defence Committee, Afzal Khan MEP, called for an end to ISIS ‘barbarity’ yesterday in a Parliamentary Plenary Speech on Wednesday. He described the onslaught of ISIS against Christian and other minority sects in Iraq and Syria as ‘deeply disturbing’ and renounced them as…

  • Anil Kapoor @ grand finale of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 7

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    Choreographer Remo D`Souza, actors Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit and filmmaker Karan Johar during the grand finale of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa Season 7 in Mumbai.

  • Gandhi Statue Trust unveils website

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    The Gandhi Statue Memorial Trust launches the website it will use to gather donations for the proposed statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Westminster’s Parliament Square. The website will tell people about Gandhi’s life and teachings, and will also post updates on the progress of the statue. The idea of a statue of Gandhi opposite the…

  • Tamannaah Bhatia walk the ramp

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    Actress Tamannaah Bhatia and models during a fashion show in Bangalore.

  • My Wonderful World of Worry

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    Daily Dose by Bikram Vohra If I ever get a chance to take a walk with Bobby Mcferrin, the man who sang “Don’t worry, be happy’, I think the odds are we shall end up in a dark alley where I shall initiate a deep discussion on the merits of his lyrical advice. Of all…

  • Lord Paul to speak at IAB dinner

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    One of the speakers at this year’s Institute of Asian Businesses (IAB) annual dinner is the man whose company contributed to the construction of one of the world’s most expensive and complex experimental facilities to date, the Large Hadron Collider, which created Higgs bosons and other particles for observation and study. Lord Paul of Marylebone,…

  • CBI probing Chidambaram

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    The CBI is probing the role of then finance minister P. Chidambaram in allowing foreign investment by a Mauritius-based company, according to its charge sheet in the Aircel-Maxis deal. The Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) submission came in its recently-filed charge sheet against then communications minister Dayanidhi Maran, his brother Kalanithi Maran, and Malaysian business…

  • Sharif compares protests to mutiny

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    Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Friday accused two protesting parties of “inciting people to opt for mutiny” but made it clear that a few thousand people would never succeed in their “sinister designs” to derail the system. Several thousand supporters of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) and religious leader Tahirul Qadri’s Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PAT)…

  • France begins attacks on ISIS

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    France’s President Francois Hollande said Friday French jets have launched first airstrikes against the Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq where they seized major towns and threatened the region’s security. “This morning, at 9.40 a.m., our Rafale jets launched the first strike against a logistics depot of the terrorists,” Hollande said in a statement issued…

  • Afghan poll panel admits fraud

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    Afghanistan’s June 14 presidential runoff was marred by large-scale fraud, the Independent Electoral Commission has said, announcing that it was invalidating 16 percent of the ballots cast. “There was massive fraud perpetrated by the security forces, governors and members of the IEC. Undoubtedly, much of the fraud happened in coordination with IEC employees,” Commissioner Azizullah…

  • Cameron assures ‘more power’ to Scots

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      As Scotland Friday chose not to break away from the UK, with the Scots decisively rejecting a historic referendum on independence, the British prime minister said it is time for “our United Kingdom to come together, and to move forward”. David Cameron also assured delivering on his promise of “more powers” while having also…

  • Sharif: Imran, Qadri incite mutiny  

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    Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif accused two protesting parties of “inciting people to opt for mutiny” but made it clear that a few thousand people would never succeed in their “sinister designs” to derail the system. Several thousand supporters of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) and religious leader Tahirul Qadri’s Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PAT) have…

  • Google brings Pyramids home

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    If you are yet to experience the wonders of the ancient world still surviving in Egypt, you can now turn into a virtual visitor — thanks to Google Street View — and explore the pyramids from the comforts of your home. Google has unveiled navigable images of the ancient monument and other Egyptian attractions –…

  • Incheon Asian Games begin

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      The 2014 Asian Games officially opened at the western South Korean port city of Incheon Friday evening, attracting more than 14,000 athletes and officials from 45 countries and regions across the continent. South Korean President Park Geun-hye declared the Games open in front of International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief Thomas Bach at the Incheon…

  • INTERVIEW: Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

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    Waadi Animations pushes Pak films into animation space   After unearthing the horrors of acid attacks and recruitment of child terrorists, Pakistan’s Oscar and Emmy Award winning filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy has put her creative forces behind “3 Bahadur”, said to be the country’s first animated feature film in Urdu. She says her homeland has a pool…

  • Asian Lite Bookshelf

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    Much has been written about Delhi, yet there is much to be written about. A book explores birds, animals and plant species adding a fresh perspective to the Indian capital, whereas another book examines the changing trajectory of Indian policy towards Afghanistan. Take a look. 1. Book: India’s Afghan Muddle; Author: Harsh V. Pant; Publisher:…

  • World Heritage sites damaged in Syria

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      In war-torn Syria, five of six World Heritage sites now “exhibit significant damage” and some structures have been “reduced to rubble”, reveals new high-resolution satellite image analysis. The damaged Syria’s World Heritage sites are: the Ancient City of Bosra, the Ancient Site of Palmyra, the Ancient Villages of Northern Syria, and two castles –…

  • India, China favour early settlement of border

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    India and China have reiterated their commitment to an early settlement of the boundary question and to pursue this as a strategic objective, a joint statement by both sides on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit said here Friday. During Xi’s official, three-day visit, “the two sides exchanged views on the India-China boundary question and reiterated…

  • Modi stands by India’s Muslims

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      Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday said the Indian Muslims will live and die for India and the Al Qaeda is “delusional” if it thinks Indian Muslims will dance to its tunes. In an exclusive interview to CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, his first after becoming prime minister May 26, Modi said: “If anyone thinks Indian Muslims…

  • LETTER FROM GOA by M Nagvenkar

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    Goa politicians gripe over Rs.345-crore new airport terminal says Mayabhushan Nagvenkar  Once vaunted and an object for appropriation of cheap brownie points for Goa’s political parties while it was being constructed, Goa’s 10-month-young new airport terminal, built at a cost of Rs.345 crore ($56.5 million), is suddenly “nobody’s child”. The still shiny new airport building at…

  • 10 million Americans on $2 a day

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    Cristina Zabalaga says almost 10 mn people in the US live on less than $2 a day Almost ten million people in the US live on less than $2 a day and outside the money economy, surviving on food stamps, welfare and free meals provided by public schools and charities, Brookings Institution researcher Laurence Chandy…

  • Melinda lauds Indian health campaigns

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    Melinda Gates says new vaccines can change India’s health battles Introduction of four new vaccines in India’s national immunisation programme by the new government can bring immense change in the country’s major health battles and reduce the child mortality rate, Melinda Gates said. On a visit to the capital, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his…

  • Xi India visit in Pictures

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  • Pakistan court to try Sharif, Zardari & others

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    The Lahore High Court (LHC) Friday decided to start ex-parte proceedings against 61 politicians, including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and former president Asif Ali Zardari, in a case against alleged illegal transfer of assets to foreign countries. A petition filed said that prominent politicians, including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Pakistan…

  • INTERVIEW: Farah Khan

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    I don’t make tacky films By Radhika Bhirani   Her films have dances, songs, melodrama, romance, dollops of emotions, colour, star power and all of what make a typical Bollywood potboiler. If they manage to entertain the mass audiences in her homeland and the classy abroad, it gives the effervescent Farah Khan the joy of making…