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Ghulam Nabi Azad denies comparing ISIS to RSS March 14, 2016 16:41

Ghulam Nabi Azad, the opposition leader in Upper House, has denied his comparision of ISIS to RSS, submitting a recording of his speech. As Arun Jaitley countered him in Rajya Sabha on his ISIS-RSS remark, the senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "Move privilege motion against me if I have said something wrong." "This is the CD of my speech. If anything wrong is found in it, you can move privilege motion," he said. Azad claimed that his speech was quoted out of context, and urged the BJP MPs to listen to original speech. Meanwhile, finance minister Arun Jaitley said that the remarks of the senior Congress leader were incorrect and asked Azad to introspect. On Azad's remark, Jaitley said ,"I think you gave respectability to ISIS in your speech, should have avoided that. Everyone knows ISIS is a terrorist organization." Linking RSS to global terror organisation Islamic State (IS), Azad said on Saturday that, "The fight is not about Hindu and Muslim. It is a fight of perspectives... We are against the narrow fundamentalist mindset, whether it is of a Hindu, Sikh or Muslim. We oppose and reject the forces that are destroying the Muslim nations. We protest against ISIS-type (ISIS is another acronym for IS) of forces in the same measure as we protest against oppose outfits like RSS." Slaming Azad's comment, RSS and BJP called it a reflection of Congress's "intellectual bankruptcy". Sumana

PM Modi promises to continue reforms tells in IMF conference on Advancing Asia Investing for the Future March 12, 2016 16:41

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said his government will continue its ‘reform-to-transform’. “We have never tried to gain in trade at the expense of our partners. We do not follow ‘beggar thy neighbour’ macroeconomic policies,” Modi told a conference organised by the International Monetary Fund on Saturday. Also Read : Full text of Modi’s speech “We have never undervalued our exchange rate. We add to world and Asian demand by running current account deficits. We are therefore good Asian and good global economic citizens, and a source of demand to our trading partners,” he said at the ‘Advancing Asia’ conference. By Premji

Emergency landing by Air India flight in Bhopal March 09, 2016 17:33

An Air India flight from Bhopal to Mumbai made an emergency landing at Bhopal’s Raja Bhoj Airport this morning within minutes of take-off after a bird was sucked into the engine during take off. Bird was sucked into the right side engine while the plane was departing Bhopal. “After 5-6 minutes of take off, we received information that the flight is returning,” Vishrut Acharya, an Air India official told ANI. “The engine is being serviced, we are making sure that all passengers will be flown to their respective destinations today,”he added. By Premji

21 insurgents killed by Pakistani army March 09, 2016 17:30

21 alleged insurgents were killed by the Pakistani army during an offensive underway in the tribal regions in northwestern Pakistan, a day after a Taliban suicide attack on a court left 16 dead, a military source said on Tuesday. "21 terrorists killed since last night. Ops continue. Imp heights & passes along Pak-Afgn Bdr secured," Asim Bajwal, Director General of the army's Inter-Services Public Relations, or ISPR, wrote on his Twitter account. He said ground troops "continue hunting" for the terrorists in Shawal Valley. The operation has weakened the country's main Taliban group, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and reduced the number of civilian deaths in insurgent attacks to 940 in 2015, the lowest in eight years, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal. By Premji

Ace defaulter Vijaya Mallya flown out of India March 09, 2016 17:26

The Supreme Court bench of Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman issued notice on today to the ace defaulter Vijaya Mallya, as Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the court that Mallya left the country soon after they moved applications on March 2 before Bengaluru based Debt Recovery Tribunal to restrain Diageo from paying him $75 million. The notice will be issued to him personally, through his company, through his lawyers who appeared for him in the Karnataka High Court and in DRT and through the Indian High Commission in London. The notice will also be served on him on his official Rajya Sabha email ID. Rohatgi said that the secured assets which Mallya has pledged are not even 1/15th of more than Rs.9,000 crore which he had taken for his now defunct Kingfisher Airlines. The court asked, how the banks could advance such a huge loan without matching securities. By Premji

Siachen braveheart Hanumanthappa passes away February 11, 2016 17:33

The Siachen braveheart, Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad passed away at 11.45 am on Thursday, according to the Army Research and Referral Hospital. Buried under snow, he defied death for six days. An expert team from AIIMS as well as military doctors tried their best to save the brave soldier’s life. He leaves his parents, wife and a daughter behind. The Siachen avalanche killed nine members, while Hanamanthappa was the lone survivor. He was rescued after six days from under 25 feet of ice in the Siachen glacier after which he was hospitalized for three days. In spite of aggressive medication he could not survive. He slipped into deeper coma on Thursday morning. Hanamanthappa was on maximal life support, while his kidneys were non-functional and was put on dialysis. Even his pneumonia worsened. According to a medical bulletin issued on Wednesday, he was in an extremely critical condition with evidence of oxygen deprivation to the brain on CT scan. ‘There was evidence of pneumonia in both lungs. His multi-organ dysfunction state continues unabated. His condition has deteriorated despite aggressive therapy and supportive care,” it added. Even as the soldier lay battling for his life, India prayed for his speedy recovery! -Sumana

Kanyakumari-Bangalore Express derails in Tamil Nadu February 05, 2016 10:27

Early on Friday morning, the Kanyakumari-Bangalore Express derailed between Somanayakanpatti and Patchur stations near Jolarpettai in Vellore district, Tamil Nadu. Although no casualties are reported in the incident till now, those injures in the accident are rushed to hospitals. At least 10 people were injured. Medical emergency services are arranged at the spot. According to officials, the incident occurred in Bengaluru division of South Western Railway. Traffic on Chennai – Bengaluru section is affected. Four trains are cancelled due to the accident. Southern Railway announced the cancellation of Double Decker, Lalbagh and Brindavan among other express trains between the two cities on Friday. The helpline contact number in Chennai Central station is 2533 0714. -Sumana

Smriti Irani to get ‘Z’ category security February 04, 2016 17:19

The Union Home Ministry is all set to provide ‘Z’ category security to Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani. The upgrade of the security to Smriti, comes as a result of student protests against her after the death of the Dalit student Rohith Vemula last month at the University of Hyderabad. Currently, Ms. Irani is entitled to Y-category security as she is a Cabinet Minister. Under the Z category, being planned by the Government, 20 security men would guard her at any given time. The Hindu quoted a top government official as saying that, “There have been reports that her security was found to be inadequate due to the sudden protests by students, and some miscreants may take advantage of these protests and try to harm her.” Presently, only few Cabinet Ministers and State Ministes enjoy either Z or Z-plus security. Few mmnisters who enjoy Z-plus security are Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Ministers of State Kiren Rijiju and Jitendra Singh. Even, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and BJP president Amit Shah enjoy Z-plus security. An official said, “VIP security is granted on the basis of threat perception. Amid reports that the HRD Minister’s cordon could be compromised, we are considering to extend Z-category security to her.” Two Committees review and decide on security level. First one is the Protection Review Group, while the other one is the Security Categorization Committee. The Home Secretary heads both the committees and others include officials of the Intelligence Bureau. -Sumana

NIA claims, prime accused in Church street blast case held January 29, 2016 18:23

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has claimed that Alam Jeb Afridi alias Javed Rafeeq (30) was the prime accused in the Church street blast case of 2014. NIA claimed to have cracked the case. Javed Rafeeq was recently held by Telangana ATS and NIA. He reportedly confessed to the crime. Afridi was the suspect who stabbed a Telangana ATS constable Srinivasa, while he was resisting arrest at Doddanagamangala, Parappana Agrahara. NIA sources claimed that the Telangana ATS and NIA arrested him in link with the Ahmedabad 2008 blasts, whereas the suspect has confessed to the Church Street blast in custody. It was claimed by the agency that the target was an Israeli delegation that was supposed to make a visit to Coconut Grove restaurant, on that day. NIA sleuths claimed that Afridi is a Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) cadre. He was said to be an accused in a case for organizing SIMI meetings in Waghamon, Kerala. The suspect was declared as an absconder with a Rs. 3 lakh bounty on his head since five years now. According to them he was close to top SIMI leaders. It was confirmed by N.S. Megharik, the City Police Commissioner, that NIA has sought logistic support for its probe in Afridi's case. -Sumana

Three Wipro employees held for hacking UK Telecom firm January 29, 2016 15:33

Three Wipro employees in Kolkata were arrested over security breach in the customer records of telecom client TalkTalk, based in the UK. The development is likely to impose a huge impact on the IT Company. The news was carried by British media on Wednesday. The major fixed line broadband and voice telephony services company, TalkTalk has revenue of 1.7 billion pounds. In October, the firm suffered a major cyber attack, compromising personal and financial details like bank account information of nearly 1,57,000 customers. TalkTalk carried out a forensic review of operations after the October cyberattack and then idenfied the criminal acts. Defence company, BAE Systems was hired to investigate the cyberattack. The forensic review was to make sure security aspects of TalkTalk including that of suppliers. The TalkTalk spokesperson said, "As part of the review, we have been working with Wipro and the local police in Kolkata. Acting on information supplied by TalkTalk, the local police have arrested three individuals who have breached our policies and the terms of our contract with Wipro." Sources told TOI that the size of deal could be 70 million pounds spread over six years. But this could not be confirmed. TalkTalk spokesperson Isobel Bradshaw said, "Sadly, we cannot comment on the details of our relationship or contract with Wipro, as it is commercially sensitive." -Sumana

SC issues notice to Centre for reply on Arunachal Pradesh President rule January 27, 2016 18:17

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court has issued notice to the Centre for the reply on the imposition of President's rule in Arunachal Pradesh. The next hearing will happen on Monday. Earlier in the day, SC agreed to hear the Congress's plea challenging the imposition of President's rule in Arunachal Pradesh. A bench consisting of justices J S Khehar and C Nagappan said that the five-judge Constitution bench will hear the fresh plea. The five-judge Constitution is alreading hearing a batch of petitions concerning the issue of crisis-hit Arunachal Pradesh. Senior advocates Fali S Nariman and Kapil Sibal have mentioned the fresh plea for urgent hearing. Congress as 47 MLAs seats in the assembly of 60 member. As 21 members rebelled, the party suffered a serious jolt. The rebels were backed by eleven BJP MLAs in a bid to bring the Nabam Tuki government on the stage. Later, 14 rebel Congress MLAs were disqualified. On December 16, an assembly session was then called by the governor. It was then, the deputy speaker revoked the disqualification of 14 rebel Congress MLAs, besides removing Rebia from the Speaker’s post. The sitting was held in Itanagar, in a community hall. Rebia challenged several decisions of the governor as well as the deputy speaker in Gauhati high court. The court passed an interim order keeping these decisions in abeyance till February one. Also read: President Rule in Arunachal Pradesh, SC to hear Congress' plea - Sumana

GVK EMRI threatens to fire 900 employees January 25, 2016 18:09

GVK Emergency Management and Research Institute (GVK EMRI) has reportedly threatened to fire 900 of its employees, in case they failed to sign a pact and follow the term and conditions levied by them. GVK EMRI runs the 108 ambulance service. Eventually, the employees began a protest on Monday. They are urging their authorities to increase their pay. GVK EMRI Senior Manager, Syed Suhale Parveez, said that the workers are supposed to sign a contract for their assurance of "disciplined and take calls on time, and ensure that they were well groomed." A non-profit organization based on Public Private Partnership model, GVK EMRI attends to every emergency situation in the country; be it a medical crisis, a law and order situation or a fire disaster. It is one of the most important social initiatives of GVK. -Sumana