Yahoo! News India

Heavy rain and landslide stops life in Uttarakhand

Kedarnath shrine safe, everything else destroyed: official

Dehradun, June 20 (IANS) The ancient Kedarnath shrine has survived the devastating floods in Uttarakhand but virtually everyt…

  • Bangladesh sentences to death 10 Islamists for suicide bombing Reuters

    DHAKA (Reuters) - A Bangladeshi court handed down death sentences on Thursday to 10 militants of an Islamist group with ties to Al-Qaeda over a 2005 suicide bomb attack that killed eight people, court officials and lawyers said. Violent protests have gripped Bangladesh this year following the conviction of members of the overwhelmingly Muslim nation's most prominent Islamist group, the Jamaat-e-Islami. Thursday's case involved a less well-known group, and the decision is unlikely to spark public anger. The convicted men have 30 days to appeal to the high court against their sentence. ...

  • Monsoon rains could ease soon Reuters
    Monsoon rains could ease soon

    By Ratnajyoti Dutta NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The monsoon rains could ease soon after hitting 89 percent over averages in the week to June 19, according to weather office sources, in a third straight week of downpours that have caused major flooding in north India. (See pictures http://in.reuters.com/news/pictures/slideshow?articleId=INRTX10LXV#a) This year's monsoon has drenched the country in record time, almost a month ahead of schedule. ...

  • Indian bonds tumble as rupee hits record low; Fed decision hurts Reuters
    Indian bonds tumble as rupee hits record low; Fed decision hurts

    By Swati Bhat MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian government bonds slumped on Thursday as the rupee's steep fall to a record low raised concerns about continued foreign selling at a time when emerging markets are under pressure after the U.S. Federal Reserve signalled an end to its monetary stimulus. Data from China showing a further slowdown in the economy also roiled emerging markets. The rupee ended 1.4 percent lower on day after having touched a life low of 59.9850, prompting the Reserve Bank of India to rush in to sell dollars via state-run banks which helped it recover some ground by the close. ...

  • Rupee slumps to record low; closes in on 60/dollar Reuters
    Rupee slumps to record low; closes in on 60/dollar

    By Subhadip Sircar MUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee slumped to a record low of 59.9850 on Thursday as India's record high current account deficit is exacerbating its vulnerability in an emerging market rout, although interventions by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) prevented further falls. The RBI was seen buying rupees at around the 59.90 to a dollar mark on at least two occasions, but the currency tanked 1.4 percent, among Asia's worst performers on a day which saw currencies tumble from Mumbai to Manila. The U.S. ...

  • Security tight as Iraqis vote in Sunni-dominated provinces Reuters
    Security tight as Iraqis vote in Sunni-dominated provinces

    BAGHDAD (Reuters) - An Iraqi electoral official was killed in a roadside bombing on Thursday, police said, as two Sunni Muslim-dominated provinces went to the polls under tight security. Most Iraqis voted for provincial councils in April but the Shi'ite Muslim-led government postponed elections in Anbar and Nineveh, citing security concerns after months of protests by the country's Sunni minority. The decision to delay voting in those governorates was criticised by the United States, which said this would compound a sense of Sunni marginalisation that has fuelled a wave of violent unrest. ...

  • Smog in Singapore from Indonesia fires could last for weeks Reuters
    Smog in Singapore from Indonesia fires could last for weeks

    By Kevin Lim and John O'Callaghan SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Haze from fires in Indonesia blanketing Singapore could persist for weeks or longer, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Thursday, as the smoke drove air quality to "hazardous" levels and disrupted business and travel in the region. Illegal burning of forests and other land on Indonesia's Sumatra island to clear space for palm oil plantations is a chronic problem during the June to September dry season. ...

  • Palestinian children tortured, used as shields by Israel - UN Reuters
    Palestinian children tortured, used as shields by Israel - UN

    By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - A United Nations human rights body accused Israeli forces on Thursday of mistreating Palestinian children, including by torturing those in custody and using others as human shields. Palestinian children in the Gaza and the West Bank, captured by Israel in the 1967 war, are routinely denied registration of their birth and access to health care, decent schools and clean water, the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child said. ...

  • Mubarak PM Nazif to be freed Reuters
    Mubarak PM Nazif to be freed

    By Tom Perry CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian court ordered the release of former prime minister Ahmed Nazif on Thursday, because of a limit on pretrial detention in a corruption case for which he had been held since the revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak. The court accepted an appeal lodged by Nazif, who was prime minister from 2004 until Mubarak replaced him during the uprising in January 2011. He still faces retrial in the case. A lawyer for Nazif, Mohamed Salah al-Buheiri, said he expected his client to leave prison by Saturday at the latest after two years and two months in detention. ...

  • Rupee falls to record low of 59.98; cautious RBI steps in Reuters
    Rupee falls to record low of 59.98; cautious RBI steps in

    By Manoj Kumar and Rafael Nam NEW DELHI/MUMBAI (Reuters) - A cautious Reserve Bank of India (RBI) with limited foreign exchange reserves stands as India's main line of defence against a currency at record lows - and markets are fretting it can't stand strong enough unless the government moves firmly to boost foreign inflows. The RBI stepped in to sell dollars several times on Thursday, traders said, including after the rupee slumped to a record low of 59.9850. It was Asia's worst performing currency on a day that saw a global sell-off. ...

  • Murray out to crash Big Three's Wimbledon party Reuters
    Murray out to crash Big Three's Wimbledon party

    By Pritha Sarkar LONDON (Reuters) - There will be an unfamiliar whiff of British success in the air at Wimbledon this year when Andy Murray, and thousands of patriotic fans, will try to stop the party-pooping antics of champions Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal. Tennis's so called 'Big Three' have lorded over Wimbledon ever since Federer won the first of his record-equalling seven titles in 2003, slamming the door shut on any pretender who threatened to gatecrash their invitation-only, VIP party. ...

  • Williams has mental edge over rest at Wimbledon Reuters
    Williams has mental edge over rest at Wimbledon

    By Toby Davis LONDON (Reuters) - Serena Williams heads to Wimbledon to defend her title with seeds of doubt and defeatism already sown in the minds of her opponents. The psychological scars of playing the younger Williams sister run deep in the women's game and, now that the American has dusted off the red clay from her shoes, predictions of an upset on southwest London's luscious lawns are few and far between. ...

  • India may have to wait to join sensitive nuclear export body Reuters
    India may have to wait to join sensitive nuclear export body

    By Fredrik Dahl VIENNA (Reuters) - Some states still appear to be sceptical about letting nuclear-armed India into an influential body regulating sensitive atomic trade, diplomats said on Thursday, suggesting Indian membership may not be imminent. The United States, Britain, France are among countries pushing for allowing India - a growing market for such commerce - to join the 48-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), a move that would boost the Asian nation's status as an atomic power. ...

  • Pope blames speculation, corruption for "scandalous" food crisis Reuters
    Pope blames speculation, corruption for "scandalous" food crisis

    ROME (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Thursday that financial speculation and corruption were keeping millions of people in hunger and the financial crisis could not be used as an alibi for failing to help the poor. The speech was the latest in a series of criticisms by the Argentinian pontiff, the first Latin American pope, of what he has called "the dictatorship of the economy" and the spread of consumerist values. "It is a well-known fact that current levels of production are sufficient, yet millions of people are still suffering and dying of starvation. ...

  • BSE Sensex falls more than 500 points on Fed; flows key Reuters
    BSE Sensex falls more than 500 points on Fed; flows key

    By Abhishek Vishnoi MUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex fell more than 2 percent on Thursday, the most in a day in nearly 21 months as blue chips such as Reliance Industries slumped after the U.S. Federal Reserve signalled a tapering of its monetary stimulus, stoking fears of portfolio outflows. Emerging markets, many of which have been primed by easy Fed money, saw some of the biggest selling as investors rushed to the exits. MSCI's benchmark index for emerging equities slumped by more than 3 percent. The rupee hit an all-time low against the U.S. ...

  • INSIGHT - Pakistan influence on Taliban commanders helped Afghan breakthrough Reuters
    INSIGHT - Pakistan influence on Taliban commanders helped Afghan breakthrough

    By Frank Jack Daniel and Mehreen Zahra-Malik ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's powerful military has played a central role in convincing Afghanistan's Taliban rebels to hold talks with the United States, U.S. and Pakistani officials said, a shift from widely held views in Washington that it was obstructing peace in the region. U.S. and Taliban officials were due to meet in Doha, the capital of Qatar, in the next few days, raising hopes for negotiated peace after 12 years of war between American-led forces and the Islamist insurgents. ...

  • Idea Cellular slashes 2G data rates by 90 percent in 8 circles IANS

    New Delhi, June 20 (IANS) Idea Cellular slashed its data tariff by 90 percent across eight circles for the 2G data plan users and the new tariff will be applicable from July 1, the company said Thursday.

  • 'Shortcut Romeo' cooly crafted cat-and-mouse game (IANS Movie Review - Rating: * … IANS

    Film: "Shortcut Romeo"; Cast: Neil Nitin Mukesh, Ameesha Patel and Puja Gupta; Director: Susi Ganesh; Rating; ***

  • DTrinidad & Tobago doesn't want to figure in CPL name IANS

    Port of Spain, June 20 (IANS/CMC) Cricket officials in Trinidad and Tobago are raising objection to a decision by organisers of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) to name the Port-of-Spain based franchise after the twin island republic.

  • Nine of 51 Assam pilgrims in Uttarakhand found safe IANS

    Guwahati, June 20 (IANS) The Assam government has set up helplines to gather information about people from the state stranded in Uttarakhand. So far, 51 people were registered this way and nine of them were found safe, a senior official said Thursday.

  • Naveen Patnaik announces Rs.5 crore aid for Uttarakhand IANS

    Bhubaneswar, June 20 (IANS) Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Thursday announced assistance of Rs.5 crore for disaster-hit Uttarakhand, where floods and landslides have washed away thousands of homes and killed over 150 people.

  • Why Anand L. Rai prefers to work with southern actors? IANS

    Chennai, June 20 (IANS) Bollywood director Anand L. Rai prefers working with southern actors because his scripts demand simple characters and he finds these in them.

  • Sidhu in awe of Vidya Balan IANS

    Mumbai, June 20 (IANS) Cricketer-turned-politician-turned-commentator Navjot Singh Sidhu praises Vidya Balan's flexibility to get under the skin of any character.

  • Vidya regrets she missed working with Rituparno IANS

    Kolkata, June 20 (IANS) Regretting that she did not get a chance to work with late filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh, actress Vidya Balan Thursday said she would like to work in a Bengali movie.

  • 1,446 people rescued from flooded north India areas: NDRF IANS

    New Delhi, June 20 (IANS) A total of 1,446 people were rescued by the NDRF from areas affected by floods caused by torrential rains in various places of north India, including Uttarakhand, a disaster management official said Thursday.

  • Technopark IT firm inks deal with Etisalat, Afghanistan IANS

    Thiruvananthapuram, June 20 (IANS) Technopark-based Flytxt has signed up with Etisalat Afghanistan to deploy their platform NEON to drive segmented marketing campaigns and to deliver personalized offers to subscribers.

  • Sensex slides more than 500 points IANS

    Mumbai, June 20 (IANS) A benchmark index of Indian equities markets closed Thursday's trade more than 500 points down on capital outflows following a record depreciation of the rupee and negative global cues after the US Federal Reserve signalled an end to its bond-buying programme.

  • No Kedarnath-Badrinath pilgrimage for three years IANS

    Dehradun, June 20 (IANS) Pilgrimage to the shrines of Kedarnath and Badrinath in Uttarakhand cannot resume for three years due to extensive damage caused by heavy rains and floods, an official said Thursday.

  • Indian army officer meets Nepal army chief IANS

    Kathmandu, June 20 (IANS) Chief of India's Assam Rifles Lt General Ranbir Singh met Nepal army chief General Gaurav Shumsher Rana here.

  • Kim Collins to be honoured by a Texas university IANS

    Texas (United States), June 20 (IANS/CMC) Caribbean sprint legend Kim Collins is to be inducted into the Texas Christian University's (TCU) Hall of Fame during an official ceremony later this year.

  • Haryana to replace defective power meters by October IANS

    Gurgaon, June 20 (IANS) Haryana will soon launch a campaign to replace all defective electricity meters and computerise all electricity bill cash collection centres in the state, an official said here Thursday.