Politics

BSE closes points 184.85 up on August 5

New Delhi, August 5 (ANI): Trading at the Bombay Stock Exchange today closed 184.85 points up to stand at 25,908.01. At the National Stock Exchange the Nifty closed 62.90 points up to stand at 7,746.55. HDIL and Cummins India were among the top gainers of Group A with an increase of 8.63% and 6.52% along with Unitech and Wockhardt with an increase of 6.36% and 6.03% respectively, while the top losers of Group A include Petronet LNG and Crompton Greaves Ltd. with a decrease of 4.25% and 4.23% along with Tata Communications Ltd. and Pipavav Defence with a decrease of 2.42% and 2.22% at the close of the markets. The Auto sector is up 328.61 points at 15,886.81 while the banking sector is up 48.52 points at 17,498.49 and the reality sector is up 50.15 points at 1,943.55. The Indian currency is down 0.17% at Rs 60.82 per dollar.

Aug 5, 2014

AAP's Yogendra Yadav joins UPSC student's protest at Jantar Mantar

New Delhi, Aug 05 (ANI): Aspiring civil services candidates on Tuesday staged a protest at Jantar Mantar over the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) row, where they were joined by AAP Leader Yogendra Yadav. Yadav said that his party was in total support of the students who were protesting against discrimination. Earlier, in a bid to resolve the CSAT row, the government took a decision that the marks of English section will not be included for merit. This decision did not appease the protesting students completely as they want the CSAT to be scrapped entirely.

Aug 5, 2014

IETE students protest outside Smriti Irani's residence over derecognition order

New Delhi, Aug 05 (ANI): Several engineering students from Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE) staged protest outside HRD Minister Smriti Irani's residence at Lodhi road area demanding revocation of derecognition order of their institute. The IETE students broke barricades outside Irani's residence where cops were caught unaware of such development. The students shouted slogans against the Ministry of HRD and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The students claimed that over two lakhs students will be affected if the government didn't revoke the derecognition orders. The agitating students claimed that most of the students belong to lower strata of the society - tribal and minority communities.

Aug 5, 2014

Ukraine closes in on rebel bastion, urges civilians to flee

Ukraine says its forces are closing in on the main rebel-held bastion of Donetsk as it tries to negotiate the return of some 300 troops from over the border in Russia.

Aug 5, 2014

RBI keeps repo, CRR unchanged; cuts SLR by 50 bps

Mumbai, Aug 05 (ANI): India_s central bank, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), keeps its key policy repo rate unchanged as widely expected, but lowers banks_ minimum bond holding requirements, known as the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) by half a percentage point. The RBI has lowered the SLR, by half a percentage point to 22 percent to free up more money for lending, effective from August 09. RBI governor Raghuram Rajan said the move was aimed at giving more funds to private sector and for the public sector firms. The repo rate has been unchanged since January, when the RBI increased it by a quarter percentage point.

Aug 5, 2014

Rani Mukerji promotes her movie 'Mardaani'

Mumbai, Aug 5 (ANI): Bollywood actress, Rani Mukerji, along with director Pradeep Sarkar and script writer Gopi Puthran promoted her upcoming drama film, 'Mardaani', in India's entertainment capital, Mumbai recently. 'Mardaani', which means manly, revolves around a senior police inspector, played by Rani, who unearths human trafficking racket. While promoting the movie, she said that the film was relevant in today's times and after watching it, every woman will feel empowered. Meanwhile, she also said that queen of Jhansi, who was one of the leading figures to drive out British East India Company, inspired her and was a symbol of women empowerment. The film is produced by Aditya Chopra and is slated for release on 22nd August 2014.

Aug 5, 2014

Iraqi Christians in France worry about persecution in Iraq

As France offers assistance to Christians in Iraq displaced by a jihadist onslaught, the Iraqi Christian community in France watches with anguish how their fellow Christians are threatened with expulsion or death.

Aug 5, 2014

Robert Pattinson feels his house is _psychotic_

New Delhi, Aug 5 (ANI): Robert Pattinson thinks that his house is a bit _psychotic_ and his home doesn_t represent his personality in any way. The _Twilight_ star revealed in a magazine that his house did not reflect his personality. There was no furniture and the house was weird and a bit cabin-fevery, a web portal reported. He is currently renting a property on Mulholland Drive in California.

Aug 5, 2014

China earthquake death toll passes 400

Two days after a magnitude 6.1 tremor destroyed 80,000 houses in south west China and seriously damaged 124,000 more, rescuers are still searching for survivors while others mourn their dead.

Aug 5, 2014

Free midday meal (representational picture)

AP to Start 'NTR Canteens' to Serve Subsidized Meals at ₹5

On the lines of "Amma Canteens" in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh government is also mulling to open "NTR Canteens" in the state, said the State Civil Supplies Minister Paritala Sunita on Tuesday, August 5.

Aug 5, 2014

Strict action will be taken: Mulayam Singh Yadav on Meerut incident

Lucknow, Aug 5 (ANI): Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Tuesday said that strict action would be taken against all those behind the Meerut incident. Three persons have been arrested in connection with the alleged abduction, gang-rape and forced religious conversion of a 20-year-old woman in the Kharkhauda area of Meerut district. Political leaders on Tuesday demanded action as tension gripped Meerut where the 20-year-old madrasa teacher was allegedly gang-raped and forced to convert into a community. The woman has alleged that she was forcibly converted to Islam in a madarsa in Hapur. In addition, she has said she was held captive in another madarsa in Muzaffarnagar for three days, where she was sexually assaulted. The woman managed to escape from captivity on August 2 and contacted her family who rescued her and later filed a complaint with the police.

Aug 5, 2014

In U-turn, NCP backs insurance bill as it was a 'UPA initiative', politicos react

New Delhi, Aug 5 (ANI): As the government tried to push forth with the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill - that provides for 49 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the sector - it received a boost from unexpected quarters when a key UPA ally came to its support. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) decided to back the bill, as it was "after all a UPA government initiative". At an all-party meeting held in the Parliament on Monday, senior NCP leader Praful Patel said his party had no problem in supporting the bill.

Aug 5, 2014

Welcome Janardan Dwivedi's suggestion that party must remain patient: Jagmeet Brar

Chandigarh, Aug 05 (ANI): Congress leader Jagmeet Singh Brar on Tuesday said that he welcome Janardan Dwivedi's suggestion that party workers should remain patient and that an organization should have the ability to listen to its workers and not just have one-way communication. Brar said that Dwivedi is a senior leader and anything he says is out of experience and for the good of the party.

Aug 5, 2014

Mulayam shares dais with Amar Singh in Lucknow

Lucknow, Aug 5 (ANI): Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and his one-time close confidant Amar Singh on Tuesday shared a dais after 4 years at a function in Lucknow. Mulayam and Amar Singh had parted ways in 2010 after a bitter political feud. After 4 years, Mulayam has now invited Singh to attend a mega event organized for the inauguration of a 367-acre park named in honour of former SP leader Janeshwar Mishra. With both of them sharing a dais, speculations have already sparked on whether the latter is set to return to the Samajwadi Party fold. However, Amar Singh said that there were no political implications of the meeting and he came on Mulayam's invitation.

Aug 5, 2014

Rescue operations on to save six-year old boy from borewell in Karnataka

Bagalkot, Aug 5 (ANI): Authorities intensified rescue operations on Tuesday (August 05) to save a six-year-old boy, who accidentally fell into a borewell in Karnataka. The boy, Thimanna, had fallen into an open borewell at a farm in Bagalkot district of the state on Sunday. He also said they have tied a rescue thread to the boy's wrist which would help to lift the child. Oxygen is being supplied through a pipe into the borewell to keep the boy alive.

Aug 5, 2014