Send your children to government schools, Allahabad HC tells officials
All government servants, elected representatives, members of judiciary and any other persons who get any benefit or salary from the state exchequer or public fund should send their children to primary schools run by the state education board, said the Allahabad High Court. The court has asked the Chief Secretary of the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government to "take steps within six months so as to make the aforesaid directions applicable from the next academic session," and file a compliance report thereafter. The court observed that government servants would ensure that state-run schools would function well if they send their children to such educational institutions.
Sheikh Hasina to have talks with Modi, attend Suvra Mukherjee funeral
Photo: Patrika
Bangladesh Premier Sheikh Hasina will arrive in New Delhi today on a day-long visit today to attend the funeral of Suvra Mukherjee, the wife of President Pranab Mukherjee, during which she will also hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Hasina will drive from the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi to the Rashtrapati Bhavan to convey her condolences to Pranab Mukherjee. The first lady died 18 August morning. She was 74.
Rs 1 lakh compensation announced for families of those killed in HP landslide
Photo: Patrika
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on 18 August announced an ex-gratia of Rs one lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 25,000 for the seriously wounded in the Manikaran landslide in Himachal Pradesh. According to Deputy Commissioner Kullu, seven persons have died and 11 were injured after a giant rock boulder hit Gurudwara complex at Manikaran Sahib in Kullu district. Badal also said that the entire expenditure for the treatment of injured would be borne by Punjab government.
NSA-level talks makes PDP hopeful about India-Pakistan situation
The Ruling Peoples Democratic Party in J&K on 18 August expressed hope that the upcoming dialogue between the National Security Advisors of India and Pakistan would open doors for a sustained and meaningful dialogue between the two nations. Senior PDP leader and Minister for Public Works, Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari said permanent solution to ensure a peaceful atmosphere on LoC has become imperative as the border residents are living under constant fear and uncertain future. He said that the meeting between NSAs of India and Pakistan is the right way towards improving relations between the two countries as it would hopefully lead to successful peace initiatives ahead.
Snapdeal valued at $5 billion after investments from Alibaba, Foxconn, SoftBank
China's Alibaba Group Holding, Japan's SoftBank Group Corp and Foxconn led an investment of $500 million in e-commerce player Snapdeal. Snapdeal is seeking to expand in the country's fast growing online marketplace sector. The company had recieved $627 million back in October from SoftBank. On the other hand, EBay, an early backer of the company, is selling a portion of its stake. This transaction values Snapdeal at more than $5 billion. This is still less than Flipkart, which is valued at $15 bilion.
Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar in war of words over Bihar
Photo: AP Dube/Hindustan Times/Getty Images
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar held a press conference right after Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrapped up his election rallies in the state and announced a massive financial package of Rs 1.25 lakh crore for the state. What Modi said: ""I am here today to honour my promise. I had said Rs 50,000 crore...how much do you want? Rs 60,000 crore, Rs 70,000 crore, or 80 or 90,0000 crore? I am announcing a package of Rs 1.25 lakh crore. The government in Delhi will spend Rs 1.25 lakh crore to change Bihar's destiny." What Nitish said: "Instead of patting on our back for the development in Bihar, the PM is making mockery of us."
No Indians allowed - A cafe in Kasol refuses to serve Indians
Kullu district authorities have ordered an inquiry into a cafe in Kasol for allegedly refusing to serve Indians. This comes after multiple posts on social media complained about the discriminatory practise by a popular cafe in Kasol. Stephan Kaye, a British musician residing in Delhi alleged that the cafe, Free Kasol, refused to serve an Indian friend of his, claiming it only served members. The cafe, however, was more than willing to serve Kaye. The cafe, allegedly run by Israelis, is now being investigated despite there being no formal or written complaint. Initial investigations have revealed that the cafe is run on land leased by the tourism department. However, the rules prohibit its use for commercial purposes by foreign nationals. The tourism department has been asked to ascertain if the lease of the cafe was legal and whether the land had been sublet to foreigners.
Make way for inflatable 20km-tall space elevators
A Canadian company just patented an inflatable "space elevator". The elevator, a massive 20 km tall structure is built to propel astronauts into the stratosphere, from where they will blast off into space. Christened the "ThothX Tower", its creators speculate that it could reduce the cost of space missions by 30 per cent in fuel costs alone, serve as a refuelling and launch station for space craft and possibly even replace certain kinds of satellites. Made of reinforced inflatable segments, the tower would be some 20 times taller than the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building. It would have a runway at the top from which spacecraft could take off. While all of this sounds awesome, the ThothX Tower's vast size and prohibitive cost means that it will remain a pipedream for the foreseeable future.
July was the hottest month in what's set to be the hottest year
This July will go down in history as the hottest month since we first started documenting temperatures in the early 1800s. Not just that, if you're someone who prefers the cold, there's more bad news. This year is set to be the hottest one ever as well. Data published by both NASA as well as the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) both showed that this July was the hottest on record. Seeing as July is generally the hottest month of the year, it doesn't take a stroke of genius to figure that July temperatures were probably at, or very close to, the hottest in the history of instrumental records. NASA data shows July 2015's average temperature beat July 2011 as the warmest on record by 0.02 degrees. This comes after an infernal June which was also the warmest June on record. According to NASA's data, every month this year has ranked among the four warmest months in NASA's records.
Bird Brain - Foul-mouthed parrot summoned to police station
Photo: Flickr/CreativeCommons
A parrot in Maharashtra was summoned to the local police station after an octogenarian complained that it constantly abused her. No, this isn't the set up to a terrible joke, this actually happened. The complainant, Janabhai Sakharkar, alleged that the parrot had been trained by its owner, her stepson Suresh, to hurl abuses at her. To determine the veracity of her complaint, the police summoned the parrot to the police station, where they put the parrot in front of the woman. Hilariously, the parrot stayed quiet. "We watched the parrot carefully but it did not utter a word at the police station after being confronted by the complainant," Police Inspector P S Dongre told reporters. Despite being outsmarted by a bird, the woman had the last laugh as police handed the bird over to forest department officials on account of the distressed mental condition of the woman.
Woman tortured by husband for refusing to be intimate with godman
A newly-married woman on 18 August alleged that she was being tortured by her husband as she refused to get 'close' with self-styled godman Sarathi Baba. The 'baba' is currently in jail in connection with his alleged sexual escapades. In her FIR at the Nikirai police station in Odisha's Kendrapara district, the woman stated that on the fourth day of their marriage in January this year, her husband took her to Barimula Ashram to get the blessings of Sarathi. She refused to go inside the chamber of the godman to get his blessings. "I felt a little awkward when the Baba's associates insisted that I must go inside his chamber to get his blessings," the woman told the media. The woman has also alleged that her in-laws were assisting her husband in the matter.
Two unidentified men throw acid on physically challenged man
Two unidentified people threw acid on a physically challenged man in northeast Delhi's New Usmanpur area, according to police. The victim, identified as Firoz Khan, suffered burn injuries. He is a resident of Seelampur area and had come to shop at the market. Immediately after the attack, he was rushed to GTB Hospital where he was admitted with 30 per cent burn injuries. Khan was sitting on his tricycle near a cobbler's shop when the two unidentified men, with their faces covered, came from behind and threw acid on him. A case under Section 326A (punishment for acid throwing) of IPC has been registered.
Deadly disease: Japanese Encephalitis claims four lives in Meghalaya
At least four people have died of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) in Meghalaya in the past one month. This has prompted the state government to monitor the situation closely. The dead includes one BSF jawan. "We are monitoring the spread of JE closely after deaths were reported in the state. The Chief Minister himself is reviewing and monitoring the situation," state health minister A L Hek said adding, test kits were made available to ensure fast treatment. Two people whose blood samples tested positive are under treatment. Since 7 July, at least 15 suspected cases were kept under observation but only four have tested positive. Six in total have tested positive for Japanese Encephalitis.
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