Mumbai/New Delhi, March 30 (IANS) India Tuesday banned the movement of its mechanised sailing vessels (MSVs or dhows) to the south and west of Salalah in Oman and Male with immediate effect in view of the reported hijacking of at least seven such vessels with 97 Indian sailors on board.
In a statement, the Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) said in Mumbai that seven Indian vessels -- MSV Al Kadri, MSV Al Ijaz, MSV Faize-e-Osman, MSV Sea Queen, MSV NarNarayan, MSV Vishwa Kalyan and MSV Krishna Jyot -- were reported missing and presumed to be hijacked off the Gulf of Aden and Somalia region that are infested by pirates. (Continue reading)
Geneva, Mar 30(ANI): Scientists at Geneva’s European Centre for Nuclear Research or CERN marked a breakthrough in their efforts to understand the origins of the universe on Tuesday, as they successfully conducted the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiment, which has been dubbed the ‘Big Bang Machine’. (Continue reading)
Karnal (Haryana), March 30 (IANS) Five people were awarded the death penalty by a court in this Haryana town Tuesday for the honour killings of a young couple who had married in 2007 against the wishes of their community. The judge said the unlawful decisions of the khap panchayats have to be stopped.
The couple, Manoj, 23, and Babli, 19, had eloped and married in 2007. Manoj ran an electronics repair shop at Kaithal, while Babli was a resident of Karoran village. They married in May 2007 and were murdered the following month. (Continue reading)
New Delhi, March 30 (IANS) Indian tennis star Sania Mirza and her family secured Pakistani visas Tuesday ahead of her April wedding with former Pakistan cricket captain Shoaib Malik.
Sania's mother Naseema said the family was set to travel to Lahore where the marriage is expected to take place early next month, with a reception planned in India's Hyderabad city April 15. (Continue reading)
New Delhi, March 30 (IANS) Dilip Chenoy, director general of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), has been appointed chief executive officer and managing director of the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC).
"The NSDC board unanimously selected Chenoy based on his track record of leading a very vibrant sectoral organisation, as well as his ability to understand industry and government alike," NSDC chairman M.V. Subbiah said Tuesday. (Continue reading)
Karachi, March 30 (IANS) Pakistan's sports fraternity Tuesday welcomed the news of former cricket captain Shoaib Malik tying the knot with Indian tennis star Sania Mirza next month, calling it great news.
"It's a welcome news, Sania is world famous and I am happy for Shoaib Malik," said Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq, Malik's teammate. (Continue reading)
New Delhi, March 30 (IANS) Ruling that all government employees, even those retired, are entitled for medical reimbursement, the Delhi High Court Tuesday asked the Delhi government to pay the medical bills of a man who retired from a government enterprise in 2002.
Justice Kailash Gambhir asked the government to pay the medical expenses of Suraj Bhan and said: "The state has a constitutional obligation to bear the medical expenses of government employees while in service and also after they are retired. Clearly in the present case by taking a very inhuman approach, these officials have denied the grant of medical reimbursement to the petitioner forcing him to approach this court." (Continue reading)
New Delhi, March 30 (IANS) Lieutenant General V.K. Singh, who assumes office Wednesday as the new Indian Army chief, has many strategic and operational challenges ahead, including the long-delayed artillery modernisation programme that has significantly handicapped the forces' firepower capabilities.
With the ghost of the Bofors payoff scandal of the 1980s still looming over weapon purchases, the army is now left with just about half of the 410 Bofors guns it had purchased in 1986, with normal wear and tear and cannibalisation accounting for the remaining howitzers. (Continue reading)
Bangalore, March 30 (IANS) Google launched a tool for the growing trend of online shopping in India and finding information about thousands of products and their prices through web pages, company officials said Tuesday.
"Google users can access information on product names, prices and images from about 30,000 Indian websites and portals with a new tool through its search engine," the Indian subsidiary of the global firm said in a statement here. (Continue reading)
Dhaka, March 30 (IANS) At least 15 foreign militant organisations were active or are still operating in Bangladesh since 1991 using the country as a safe haven or transit point to infiltrate India and other neighbouring countries, those nabbed have confessed.
The outfits who found access in Bangladesh are based in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Myanmar, using fake passports, engaging in militancy and funding their operations partly by printing fake Indian rupees and US dollars. (Continue reading)