12 September, 2013

Will decide on PM candidate after 'talking to everyone': Rajnath Singh

BJP's prime ministerial nominee for the 2014 general elections would be announced after "talking to everyone", party president Rajnath Singh said on Thursday.

"We will decide after talking to everyone," Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh told a news channel.

Party spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi added: "Discussions are going on and we will announce the nominee soon. There is no contradiction in the party on who will be the prime ministerial candidate. All is well."

Russia offers four-step plan for Syria's arms handover: Report

Russia has handed the United States a plan for the Syrian regime to hand over its chemical weapons in four stages, starting with Damascus becoming a member of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, a report said on Thursday.

The plan, first announced by Moscow this week, aims to avert threatened US military action in retribution for a chemical weapons attack outside Damascus that the West says was perpetrated by the Syrian regime.

Revealing the details of the plan for the first time, Russia's Kommersant daily said it had been given to the American side on Tuesday, although Russia only announced on Wednesday evening that the plan had been passed on.

Speaking in the Kazakh capital Astana, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov did not give details of the plan but said it would work "on the understanding that" it would allow force not to be used.

Muzaffarnagar calm, curfew relaxed for seven hours

With normalcy returning to riot-hit areas of the district, curfew was relaxed for seven hours on Thursday.

"The administration has decided to relax curfew in three police station areas between 10am to 5pm," district magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma said.

Though the shops opened, all schools and colleges would remained closed till September 15.

Strict vigil was being maintained during the relaxation period and police and paramilitary forces are on high alert.

The administration had imposed curfew in Kotwali, Civil Lines and Nai Mandi areas of the district on Saturday last following communal clashes.

Odisha top investment destination in India

Odisha emerged as the hottest investment destination for new projects as investor interest in "prosperous" states such as Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu declined during 2012-13, latest data released by the Reserve Bank of India showed.

Through a dozen projects funded by bank loans, Odisha managed to get investors to commit to around Rs 53,000 crore investment, a 27% share of all-India investments. In contrast, Maharashtra is expected to get investment of around Rs 21,400 crore in 70 projects, or 10.9% of the pie. Punjab was the other surprise, moving to the third spot with a dozen projects expected to generate investments of over Rs 20,600 crore.

The numbers aren't good news for the BJP and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, who are using high economic growth and investment in the western state as a key theme ahead of the 2014 general elections. Similarly, Karnataka, where the principal opposition was in power until recently, has lost sheen amid corruption-related charges. But Andhra Pradesh (Rs 11,000 crore) retained the fourth slot despite the state being hit by Telangana-related protests for the past several months, while Gujarat (Rs 10,600 crore) ranked fifth.

Indian techie sentenced to nine months in prison for sexual assault in US

An Indian techie has been sentenced to nine months of imprisonment on charges of sexually assaulting an American woman during a flight, and faces deportation to India after serving his sentence.

Srinivasa S Erramilli, 46, a software consultant, has also been fined $5,000 and placed on court supervision for a year after he is released from custody by US District Judge Joan H Lefkow.

The judge set a hearing for next Wednesday on the government's request to revoke Erramilli's bond.

He is prohibited from airline travel while he is on supervised release and he is subject to deportation to India after being released from custody, the department of justice said.

In a first, two civilian ships to support Mars orbiter launch

For the first time in the history of India's space flights, two civilian ships will play a supporting role in India's forthcoming flight to Mars designated as the Mars Orbiter Mission.

The launch is slated for lift-off between October 21 and November 19 from Sriharikota.

On Wednesday, the 1,350 kg Mars Orbiter spacecraft with the five payloads was unveiled to the media for the first time at Isro's Satellite Centre. It was in the process of being fine-tuned and the clean room was the scene of hectic activity with scientists clad in their white robes attending to the orbiter.

The orbiter is set to be moved to Sriharikota on September 27. Speaking to TOI on Wednesday, B S Chandrasekhar, director of Isro Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network ( Istrac), said that Shipping Corporation of India's 'Yamuna' and 'Nalanda' ships will be positioned in the South Pacific Ocean. "They are now fully equipped and will depart for the South Pacific Ocean from Visakhapatnam on September 15 and will support the mission during the launch phase,

ATMs, card terminals to scan UID biometrics

All new credit card swipe machines and automated teller machines (ATMs) will be required to have a mechanism for Aadhaar authentication using biometrics. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is understood to be preparing such a directive to improve security and promote financial inclusion.

The central bank had been debating between the international 'chip and PIN' and Aadhaar-based authentication to provide additional security for card transactions. Although RBI appears to have reconciled to a combination of 'chip and PIN' authentication for existing customers and biometric checks for hitherto unbanked cardholders, the challenge is in the acceptance devices.

There are 1.2 lakh ATMs and 10.30 lakh credit card swipe (Point of Sales, or PoS) machines. Banks are expected to add around two lakh PoS machines and around 20,000 ATMs next year. All these machines will need to have facilities to scan biometrics. This will significantly increase investment costs. The other implication is that traditional phone lines may not work to send scanned fingerprint images for verification. Banks say that new machines will require the equivalent of 3G data speeds to transmit biometric data.

Afghanistan stun defending champions India in SAFF Cup final

After missing the semifinal, Sunil Chhetri admitted, "It's tough to watch the match from the stands." Watching from the bench must have been even tougher.

The India captain watched helplessly from the technical bench after being left out of the starting XI and coach Wim Koevermans's decision to continue with a winning combination did not really work.

Afghanistan lived up to their top billing with a 2-0 victory over India in the final of the SAFF Championship, managed by World Sports Group, at the Dashrath Stadium in Kathmandu on Wednesday.

Rafael Nadal wins US Open

Rafael Nadal claimed his second US Open title and 13th Grand Slam crown when he defeated world number one Novak Djokovic 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 in a lung-busting, big-hitting final on Monday.

Nadal, 27, added the 2013 trophy to his 2010 triumph, when he completed a career Grand Slam, and gloriously capped a year that has now seen him capture 10 titles and stretch his season record to 60 wins and just three losses.

Pakistan hockey official resigns over World Cup failure

A top Pakistan hockey official resigned on Wednesday after the team's failure to qualify for the World Cup sparked protests from former players and fans angry over a spectacular decline in the national game.

Pakistan, a four-time world champion and three-time Olympic gold medallist, failed to win the Asia Cup earlier this month, a victory they needed in order to qualify for next year's World Cup in the Netherlands.

The failure came as Pakistan struggled to lift itself out of a deep slump, after they finished seventh at last year's London Olympics and eighth at Beijing four years earlier.