Sabarimala, Jan 2 (IANS) The Sabarimala temple in Kerala was shut on Wednesday after two women from the hitherto banned age group prayed there and was reopened an hour later after the priests performed “purification rituals”. The dramatic pre-dawn entry by the two women, Bindu and Kanaka Durga, aided by[Read More…]
Author: IANS
Arsenal start 2019 with 4-1 victory over Fulham
London, Jan 2 (IANS) Arsenal has started the new year with a 4-1 win over Fulham to move within two points of Chelsea in the battle for fourth place in the Premier League. After a 1-1 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion and an embarrassing 5-1 defeat to league leader[Read More…]
Sevilla’s Muriel joins Fiorentina on loan until end of season
Seville (Spain), Jan 2 (IANS) Sevilla has announced that forward Luis Muriel will go to Serie A side Fiorentina on loan for the rest of the 2018-2019 season. For the Colombian international, who joined Sevilla in the 2017-2018 season and has 13 goals in 65 matches with the LaLiga side,[Read More…]
5 Afghan soldiers killed in Taliban attack
Kandahar, Jan 2 (IANS) At least five Afghan soldiers were killed and six others were wounded after Taliban militants attacked an Army camp in the country’s Kandahar province, officials said on Wednesday. Afghan Army personnel repelled Taliban militants armed with guns and rocket propelled grenades after they stormed the camp[Read More…]
Telangana Police sets new benchmarks in crime control
By Mohammed Shafeeq Hyderabad: If Telangana, with its welfare and development schemes, is emerging as a role model for other states in the country, the police force in India’s youngest state is seeking to compete with the best in the world. Already ahead of others in leveraging technology, the police[Read More…]
Death toll in Philippines storm reaches 85
Manila, Jan 2 (IANS) At least 85 people have died and 20 remain missing in floods and landslides triggered by storm Usman as it passed through the Philippines, officials said on Wednesday. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) estimated 191,597 people were displaced and 40 were injured.[Read More…]
Rajya Sabha sees repeated adjournments, to meet at 2 p.m.
New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday saw repeated adjournments amid sloganeering by AIADMK members and was adjourned to meet again at 2 p.m. The AIADMK members, who have been protesting against a proposed dam on the Cauvery river in Karnataka, trooped to the Chair’s podium as soon as the[Read More…]
Misalignment of planetary orbits linked to warped disk
Tokyo: The misalignment of planetary orbits in many planetary systems — including our own — may be caused by distortions in the planet-forming disk early in their existence, suggests new research. The planets in our solar system orbit the Sun in planes that are at most about seven degrees offset[Read More…]
Economic Growth: One good policy, and a few more to go
By Taponeel Mukherjee Access to credit, data, and transportation are among the most crucial drivers of economic well-being. To ensure better access to critical needs in India, Rod Tidwell’s famous line from Jerry Maguire, “Show me the money”, would hold in good stead. Access to the correct quality and quantity[Read More…]
Suicide attempt in Kolkata Metro
Kolkata: A young man attempted suicide by jumping in front of a Metro train here on Wednesday, causing brief disruption to Metro services, an official said. The youth was rushed to the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital for treatment. “There has been a suicide attempt in Dumdum station,” Kolkata[Read More…]
Supreme Court moved seeking recall of verdict giving clean chit on Rafale deal
New Delhi: The Supreme Court was moved on Wednesday seeking a review of its verdict giving a clean chit to the government’s acquisition of 36 Rafale fighter jets in a ready to fly condition. The review petition moved by former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, journalist-turned-politician Arun Shourie, and activist lawyer[Read More…]
Netflix drops Hasan Minhaj’s episode critiquing Saudi Arabia
New York, Jan 2 (IANS) Netflix dropped an episode of its show “Patriot Act With Hasan Minha” from streaming in Saudi Arabia after the Saudi government complained that the episode – which is critical of the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman – violated its cybercrime laws. In the episode, first[Read More…]
PM Narendra Modi to address rally in Punjab’s Gurdaspur
Chandigarh: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a public rally in Punjab’s Gurdaspur town on Thursday as part of the BJP’s campaign to hold 100 rallies ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Modi’s rally will kickstart the election campaign for the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance in[Read More…]
China ‘must be, will be’ reunified with Taiwan: Xi Jinping
Beijing, Jan 2 (IANS) President Xi Jinping on Wednesday said China must be and will be reunified with Taiwan, and called for the two rivals to work together to realise the “historic task” of complete reunification. “It is a historical conclusion drawn over 70 years of development of cross-strait relations,[Read More…]
Warrior queen, ace shuttler: Biopics to focus on women achievers in 2019
By Natalia NingthoujamNew Delhi, Jan 2 (IANS) In the recent past, inspirational stories of sport stars like Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Milkha Singh, and freedom fighters such as Subhas Chandra Bose and Bhagat Singh, have been told on the big screen. Soon, cinema halls will be taken over by biopics[Read More…]
India needs a competency-enhancing, job-creation master plan (Comment)
By Frank F. IslamWhen Narendra Modi was running for office, he promised to create 10 million jobs per year. The Modi administration has come nowhere near generating that number of jobs during his tenure in office, with the Indian economy expanding but the growth being essentially “jobless”. This shortfall was[Read More…]
Waymo driverless vehicles being vandalised in US: Report
San Francisco, Jan 2 (IANS) People wielding knives and rocks have vandalised self-driving vehicles operated by Waymo, which is the driverless car company owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet in the US state of Arizona. More than 20 incidents of vandalism on the self-driving cars have reportedly occurred since 2017,[Read More…]
Congress says Rafale files with Parrikar, wants them made public
New Delhi, Jan 2 (IANS) Releasing an audio file purportedly featuring Goa Minister Vishwajit Rane claiming that Goa Chief Minister and former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had all the files on the Rafale deal, the Congress on Wednesday demanded that these be made public. The Congress asked Prime Minister Narendra[Read More…]
I don’t believe in perfection: Actor Anand Tiwari
New Delhi, Jan 2 (IANS) Actor Anand Tiwari, who will be seen in a cameo in the finale of “Imperfect” — a series he has produced — says he does not believe in perfection. “I don’t really believe in perfection. Life is (about) continuous learning. Out of the many things[Read More…]
SC to hear plea on mine disaster in Meghalaya
New Delhi, Jan 2 (IANS) The Supreme Court will hear on Thursday a plea seeking the deployment of adequate manpower and equipment for the rescue of miners trapped in a flooded mine in Meghalaya. A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjay Krishan Kaul agreed to hear the[Read More…]
Sabarimala temple shuts after two women pray at shrine
Sabarimala,The Sabarimala temple in Kerala was shut on Wednesday “for purification” after two women from the hitherto banned age group said they had prayed there, and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan confirmed this was true. “Yes, it’s true. The women have had the temple darshan,” the Chief Minister said in Thiruvananthapuram.[Read More…]
As MPs wrangle, human-trafficking survivors wait for bill passage
By Nivedita SinghNew Delhi, Jan 2 (IANS) With over 1.15 lakh postcards addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several meetings with MPs, thousands of women and child survivors of human trafficking from across the country are running from pillar to post demanding that Rajya Sabha pass an anti-trafficking bill[Read More…]
Elections, earnings, energy to chart equities course in 2019
By Rohit VaidMumbai, Jan 2 (IANS) The coming general elections, along with the ongoing US-China trade war and crude oil prices will determine the trajectory of Indian equities in 2019. Additionally, the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) rate stance, direction of foreign fund flows, the rupee’s strength against the US[Read More…]
When Tamil personalities, past and present, come alive (Book Review)
By M.R. Narayan SwamyTitle: Tamil Characters: Personalities, Politics, Culture; Author: A.R. Venkatachalapathy; Publisher: Pan Macmillan; Pages: 321; Price: Rs 399 Tamil Nadu poses a challenge to common sense. This is the author’s assertion and he could not have been more right. The complexities of the state’s politics and even culture[Read More…]
AI offers $340bn opportunity to retail sector: Capgemini
Paris, The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers about $340 billion cost-saving opportunity for those retail companies that are able to scale and expand the scope of their existing deployments, according to a new global study from French technology services major Capgemini. However, just one per cent of retailers have[Read More…]