Hamichal Naina Devi Temple Stampede: At least 80 Worshippers Confirmed Dead
At least 80 pilgrims were killed and over 30 others injured today in a stampede at the Naina Devi temple in Bilaspur district in Himachal Pradesh. "According to latest reports, the number of people dead is 80. At least 30 people have been injured," Himachal Pradesh Government's Principal Secretary P C Kapoor said. The temple is located about 160 kms from Shimla. A large number of p..
BJP: What Is The Total Power That Will Be Added After The Indo-U.S. Nuclear Agreement?
The passage of safeguard agreement at IAEA is not an occasion to celebrate but an occasion to introspect the consequences of the conditionality, which binds India in perpetuity. As was feared by BJP the agreement is not an India specific but is a modal agreement for non-nuclear-weapon states. The preamble pays lip service to India's concerns but it is not part of an operational agreement. The..
Novak Djokovic Crushes Rafael Nadal to Reach Cincinnati Final
Novak Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal 6-1 7-5 on Saturday to reach the final of the Cincinnati Masters and bring the Spaniard's 32-match unbeaten streak to a halt. Serb Djokovic will meet Andy Murray in the final after the 21-year-old Briton overcame giant Croatian Ivo Karlovic in the day's other semi-final. Nadal, who is set to replace Roger Federer as world number one, was a shadow of the p..
BAE Systems, HAL in Talks to Expand Presence in India
BAE Systems, Europe's largest defence company, is in “detailed discussions” with Hindustan Aerospace over expanding its presence in India. Mike Turner, the outgoing chief executive, said that BAE was hoping to create joint ventures with Indian companies as part of its plan to expand in the sub-continent. BAE and Hindustan Aerospace Limited (HAL) are already partners in a £1.5 billion pr..
UPA Government Approves 29 Special Economic Zones (SEZs)
The government today cleared 29 special economic zones proposals, including 17 tax free enclaves for IT and ITeS. The BoA, chaired by Commerce Secretary Gopal K Pillai, granted formal nod to 23 proposals, besides giving in-principle approval to six proposals. Of the 29 proposals approved, 17 were for IT and ITeS sector in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka. Four IT and ITeS tax ..
U.S.-India Business Council Welcomes IAEA Safeguards Approval
The United States-India Business Council (USIBC) today welcomed the IAEA board approval of India-specific safeguards agreement, saying that this is a big step forward for the country and the international community. "India needs nuclear power to meet its energy needs for the 21st century. This agreement is good for India, good for the environment, and good for advancing the shared global obje..
India Pressing for Modifications in NSG Draft Prepared by US
India is not satisfied with the draft prepared by the US for consideration of the NSG and is pressing for modifications in it, seeking "clean" and "unconditional" waiver from the 45-nation grouping. Suggesting that the draft prepared by the US contained some conditionalities, officials accompanying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here for the SAARC Summit said India could not acc..
BJP's Rajnath Singh Vows to Defend Ram Sethu and Indian Identity
From the time immemorial the geographical boundaries of this country has been defined in all ancient scriptures as "Aasethu Himachal” which means a country which extends from Sethu to Himalayas. In other words I have no hesitation in saying that Ram Sethu is synonymous with the eternal identity of India. The BJP would not allow any attempt to distort India’s eternal cultural and geographical ..
Somnath Chatterjee: CPI-M, Prakash Karat Subverting Indian Constitution by Directing Resignation
Breaking his silence, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Friday ruled out quitting and hit out at the Communist Party of India Marxist for demanding his resignation, saying it cannot give any direction to him in his Constitutional office. "I have consciously taken the principled decision to uphold the Constitution of India at the risk of being unjustifiably dubbed as anti-party," he..
Gautami Express catches fire in Andhra Pradesh
Some coaches of 2738 Dn Gautami Express running from Secunderabad to Kakinada caught fire at 01.10 hrs today while the train was on its run between Kesamudram and Tadalapusalapalli stations falling in the Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh under the Secunderabad Railway division of the South Central Railway. As per the information available at the headquarters thus far, 13 people have died in the..
NASA Confirms Liquid Lake On Saturn Moon
PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA scientists have concluded that at least one of the large lakes observed on Saturn’s moon Titan contains liquid hydrocarbons, and have positively identified the presence of ethane. This makes Titan the only body in our solar system beyond Earth known to have liquid on its surface. Scientists made the discovery using data from an instrument aboard the Cassini spacecraft. ..
NASA Spacecraft Confirms Martian Water, Mission Extended
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Laboratory tests aboard NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander have identified water in a soil sample. The lander's robotic arm delivered the sample Wednesday to an instrument that identifies vapors produced by the heating of samples. "We have water," said William Boynton of the University of Arizona, lead scientist for the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, or TEGA. &qu..
BJP To Boycott Pro-Congress Media Outlet CNN-IBN
The Bharatiya Janata Party is deeply dismayed by the decision of CNN-IBN not to telecast the "notes-for-votes" sting operation, which the channel conducted with the cooperation of three BJP MPs. The whole country watched with shock and disbelief when the three MPs produced wads of currency notes on the floor of the Lok Sabha on July 22 shortly before the Trust Vote was taken. The money w..
AppLabs participates in Hyderabad Traffic Regulations Program to promote road safety
AppLabs, the world’s largest independent testing, quality management and certification solutions company, today voluntarily participated in a Safety Regulations Program in collaboration with the Traffic Police Department of Hyderabad. Implementing the program at four major junctions in the city, AppLabs’ employees made special efforts in educating the passing commuters on key ro..
Diesel Watches Launched in India
Wherever you live, you are constantly running through life, competing against yourself and others. Running for success, for excess, for money – sometimes you don’t even know why everything is in such a hurry. Brace yourself for Diesel Spring Summer 2008 Timeframes collection, now launched in India which ensures you stay ahead of the game. Diesel, the globally acclaimed casual wear brand from It..
Zimbabwe: "big turnout" a slap in face for critics
Zimbabwe's state-run Herald newspaper said on Saturday the presidential election turnout could be a record and that this was a slap in the face to world leaders who had criticized President Robert Mugabe. A storm of condemnation from inside and outside Africa greeted Mugabe's decision to hold Friday's election, in which he was the sole candidate. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai ..
Obama and Clinton to make first joint appearance
Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton take the first step toward healing the wounds of their bruising presidential nominating fight with a joint appearance on Friday in the symbolically named New Hampshire town of Unity. The rally will be the first time the former rivals have shared a stage in public since Obama clinched the Democratic nomination earlier this month and began trying to mend th..
Congress Top Leaders Took Kickbacks from Russian Firm: Interpol
The disclosure of a Russian kickback confirmed by the Interpol to the Central Bureau of Investigation published in The Economic Times (June 18, 2008) is likely to become a huge embarrassment for the ruling Congress Party preparing for an early winter election. The Party has not so far reacted to the disclosure. The report however says that a Congress national general secretary was interrogated by ..
Senator: Obama's choice 'doesn't help' financing system
Democrat Barack Obama's decision to bypass taxpayer money for his presidential campaign endangers the public-financing system, Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden, a Democrat and Obama supporter, said Sunday. "In terms of undermining the public financing idea for everyone, it doesn't help," Biden said on NBC's Meet the Press. "It's going to be harder to make the case&q..
Leaked Israeli drill seen as U.S. pressure on Iran
A U.S. leak of an Israeli air exercise reported to be practice for possible bombing of Iran's nuclear sites was seen in Israel on Sunday as a deliberate move to increase pressure on Tehran to halt sensitive atomic work. "When the diplomacy of economic and political pressure fails to produce results, a shift is made to gunboat diplomacy," wrote Alex Fishman, military affairs correspo..
Mugabe's Rival Pulls Out of Election
Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of a run-off election against President Robert Mugabe on Sunday, saying his supporters would be risking their lives if they voted. Speaking only hours after his opposition Movement for Democratic Change reported its rally had been broken up by pro-Mugabe youth militia, Tsvangirai called on the United Nations and the African Union to interve..
Rise In Tiger Population Pushes Leopard to Fringes
Increase in the population of tiger in Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary and Dudhwa National Park in Uttar Pradesh has forced the 'low profile' leopard to move to the fringes of forest leading to frequent incidents of man-animal conflict. Divisional forest officer of the sanctuary, Ramesh Pandey told PTI that in order to avoid clash with the tigers in these forest areas, the leopards have ..
Philippine ferry sinks; 700 plus passengers missing
A Philippine ferry with more than 700 people on board capsized during a typhoon and all but a handful of those aboard have been accounted for, officials said on Sunday. Rescuers had not yet reached the scene where the MV Princess of Stars sank near Sibuyan island in the centre of the country as a Typhoon Fengshen pounded the area. "The ship is upside down. We are waiting for rescuers but ther..
House votes to provide protection to phone firms
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Friday that could shield phone companies from billions of dollars in lawsuits for their participation in the warrant less surveillance program begun by President George W. Bush after the September 11 attacks. The White House-backed, compromise measure -- which triggered a firestorm of opposition from civil liberties groups -- would also overhau..
Bush didn't know about CIA leak, McClellan says
U.S. President George W. Bush did not know about a White House effort to leak the identity of a CIA agent but tried to protect staffers who were involved in one of the biggest scandals of his administration, former Bush spokesman Scott McClellan told Congress on Friday. McClellan said he did not think Bush was involved in a 2003 effort to blow the cover of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson, whose..
On U.S. coasts, a rethink on oil drilling?
Oakland, Calif.; and orlando, fla. - When Sen. John McCain visits Santa Barbara, Calif., next week, Charles Eckberg will be there to protest the Republican presidential candidate's calls to lift the federal ban on US offshore drilling. Mr. Eckberg, a grass-roots activist, remembers the 1969 spill off the coast of Santa Barbara that galvanized the state and the nation to halt fresh drillin..
Floods engulf archaic levee system
Chicago - The floodwaters, in many cases, have simply been too high. The sprawling network of levees — built over many years to protect the Upper Mississippi basin from the sort of disastrous flooding that has claimed homes, lives, and millions of acres of farmland this past week — was never designed to withstand the magnitude of a 500-year flood. And so towns like Gulfport, Ill., and La Grange..
Hagel says he'd consider VP offer from Obama
OMAHA, Neb. - Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel said Friday he would consider serving as Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's running mate if asked, but he doesn't expect to be on any ticket. Hagel's vocal criticism of the Bush administration since the 2003 invasion of Iraq has touched off speculation that if Obama were to pick a Republican running mate, it might be Hagel...
McClellan: Bush must blame himself for mistrust
WASHINGTON - If the nation doesn't trust the Bush White House, it's the president's and Dick Cheney's own fault, Bush's former spokesman told Congress Friday. From life-and-death matters on down — the rationale for war, the leaking of classified information, Cheney's accidental shooting of a friend — the government's top two leaders undermined their credibili..
Pakistan Avoids Training of Anti Terror Force - Is Pakistan Siding With Al Qaeda?
Enraged by the recent US air strikes in the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, Pakistani military has threatened to postpone or cancel an American programme to train a paramilitary force for combating Islamic militants, a media report said today. Some Pakistani officials are convinced that the Americans deliberately fired on their military, killing 11 men from the very paramilitary force the Ameri..