Tharoor gets police notice, asked to join Sunanda murder probe

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New Delhi: Delhi Police Monday issued notice to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor to join the investigation into his wife Sunanda Pushkar's murder, and he will be questioned within two days, police chief B.S Bassi said.

'We have issued notice to Tharoor. He will be questioned tomorrow (Tuesday) or day after (Wednesday),' Bassi told the media.

The police commissioner said the Special Investigation Team (SIT) has already questioned many people found to be connected with the case, and a few more remain.

'He (Tharoor) has not been questioned. I would like to tell you that everybody who has information in this case, we will talk to them and look at specifics which throw light,' Bassi said.

Tharoor, meanwhile, reached the national capital Monday from Bengaluru, where he had gone to attend a school function.

He reached the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport around 2 p.m. He directly went to his house in Lodhi Estate area in central Delhi without answering questions from the media standing outside the airport.

The SIT has questioned at least 12 people, including Tharoor's security staff members and domestic help, who were present in the hotel in south Delhi where Pushkar was found murdered Jan 17, 2014.

On reports about then information and broadcasting minister Manish Tewari being present in the flight from Kerala Jan 15 on which the couple had a fight, Bassi said 'the possibility cannot be ruled out'.

Bassi said the process of sending the viscera of Pushkar to the US for special investigation was on.

Pushkar was found dead in a hotel room Jan 17, 2014. Police registered a case of murder early this year soon after getting the final autopsy report from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

IANS

Kerala showcases mega projects to NRKs

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Kochi: In order to boost infrastructure development, the Kerala government Saturday threw open three of its major projects - Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL), Kannur International Airport and Startup Village - for non-resident Keralites (NRKs) for investments.

Kerala Governor P. Sathasivam called upon the NRKs to follow the rules and laws of the central and state governments while bringing in money to the state and wisely invest the money in infrastructure projects of the state.

'I request the NRKs to follow the rules of the government while sending money. Then only it will be possible to safeguard your money. The NRKs should also invest their money in various developmental projects of the state,' said Sathasivam while inaugurating the valedictory function of the two-day Global NRK Meet here.

KMRL managing director Elias George, Kannur International Airport Ltd chief G.Chandramouli and Startup Village chairman Sanjay Vijayakumar made detailed presentation on the respective projects before the NRKs in the session titled 'Setting the Stage-Investment, Opportunities and Infrastructure Development' at the meet, which ended Saturday.

'We are not just attempting to set up a metro system, but make Kochi a city with seamless transport system. We want the NRKs to make investment in two major township projects of KMRL at Muttom and Kakkanad. While we are looking at an investment of Rs.20 crore for the 18-acre Kakkanad project, the investment for the 215 acre Muttom project is pegged at Rs.230 crore. Both these projects will soon be opened up for investment from NRKs,' said George.

Chandramouli said that the nearly Rs.1,900 crore Kannur airport project was on the right track and they would be able conduct the trial run by December this year.

'We have been able to get considerable investment from Airport Authority of India. Of the 16 percent stake open to public, we have been able to get investment up to 14 percent and we want the NRKs to investment in the remaining two percent,' he said.

Vijayakumar, in his presentation, highlighted the different investment options available for the NRKs at the Startup Village which has created a revolutionary ecosystem for start-ups in the state.

'In the last three years of our operation, we have been able to support 900 start-ups and are targeting to support 10,000 start-ups by 2025. To fuel this growth, we are targeting a total investment of Rs.750 crore to set up a million square feet world class infrastructure incubation facility and an angel fund to finance the start-ups,' he added.

The event also witnessed Kerala State Health secretary K.S.Elangovan highlighting the achievement of the state's health sector and the various welfare programmes rolled out by it for the benefit of the people. He sought the support of the NRKs in 'Karunyam Kerala Project' which offers free cancer treatment to the patients in the state.

Alcohol not a good sleeping aid

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Melbourne: A study has found that drinking before sleep results in an increase in frontal alpha power in the brain, a development which is associated with disturbed sleep.

For individuals who drink before sleeping, alcohol initially acts as a sedative - marked by the delta frequency electroencephalogram (EEG) activity of Slow Wave Sleep (SWS) - but is later associated with sleep disruption.

'People likely tend to focus on the commonly reported sedative properties of alcohol, which is reflected in shorter times to fall asleep, particularly in adults, rather than the sleep disruption that occurs later in the night,' said Christian L. Nicholas from the University of Melbourne in Australia.

For the study, the team recruited 24 participants, healthy 18- to 21-year-old social drinkers who had consumed less than seven standard drinks per week during the previous 30 days.

Each participant underwent two conditions: pre-sleep alcohol as well as a placebo followed by standard polysomnography (a multi-parametric test used in the study of sleep) with comprehensive EEG recordings.

Alcohol significantly increased frontal alpha power, showed the results.

'The take-home message here is that alcohol is not actually a particularly good sleep aid even though it may seem like it helps you get to sleep quicker. In fact, the quality of the sleep you get is significantly altered and disrupted,' said Nicholas.

The study is forthcoming in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.IANS

Australia beat India by four wickets in ODI

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Melbourne: Australia registered their second victory in the One-Day International (ODI) tri-series, beating India by four wickets with an over to spare at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) Sunday.

India posted 267 for eight -- thanks to Rohit Sharma's 138 -- but Australia, buoyed by Aaron Finch (96), Steven Smith (47), and Shane Watson (41), scored 269 for six in 49 overs.

The match saw an intense finish as Mohammad Shami removed Smith in the 40th over and Finch edged an Umesh Yadav delivery to wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni as Australia struggled in the latter part of their innings.

Three overs later, skipper George Bailey (5) and Glenn Maxwell (20) lost their wickets to give away the advantage.

The 46th over produced no runs and helped India exert further pressure on the Australian lower-order.

But the calmness of experienced wicketkeeper-batsman Brad Haddin (not out 13) and young all-rounder James Faulkner (not out 9) saw the hosts record their successive win after beating England in the first ODI.

Indian bowlers looked rusty and toothless at the begining, giving away easy runs. Australian batsmen clearly dominated the game till the late drama.

Pacer Umesh Yadav picked up two wickets for 55 and Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar took a wicket each.

Earlier, opening batsman Rohit notched his sixth hundred to lift India to 267 for eight.

Rohit hit nine fours and four sixes and strung together a crucial 126-run partnership for the fourth wicket with left-hander Suresh Raina (51).

India got off to a poor start, losing opener Shikhar Dhawan (2) in the first over. The left-hander offered a catch to Aaron Finch off the bowling of pacer Mitchell Starc.

Right-hander Ajinkya Rahane (12) also lost his wicket cheaply, edging debutant Gurinder Sandhu's delivery to wicketkeeper Haddin.

Starc made further inroads into the Indian batting line-up as vice-captain Virat Kohli (9) offered a catch to host skipper George Bailey which left the visitors reeling at 59 for three in 12.5 overs.

Then, Raina joined Rohit at the crease to stabilise the innings. Both the batsmen took time to settle down before improving the run rate.

The 27-year-old Rohit started his calculated assault in the fourth over when he hit the ball over the head of pace bowler Pat Cummins and continued to collect boundaries regularly.

He later hit two more sixes off Starc and Faulkner and got good support from Raina at the other end. Raina relied on singles and twos but didn't hesitate to punish weak deliveries.

He scored his 33rd half century and their partnership flourished, providing a strong platform for the rest of the batsmen.

After the 28-year-old Raina perished trying to clear the mid-on off a Starc delivery, the lower-middle order batsmen failed to get it going.

Skipper Dhoni (19) lost his wicket after being bowled by Starc and later young all-rounder Patel (0) failed to impress.

However, Rohit continued his assault and ensured that the visitors put up a challenging total. He also registered his third century against Australia.

The 24-year-old Starc was the most successful bowler for Australia, taking six wickets for 43 in 10 overs while Sandhu and Faulkner picked up a wicket each.

India will take on England in their second match Tuesday.

IANS

Last date for dIstribution of ration card forms extended

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Thrissur: The last date for distribution of application forms for renewal of ration cards has been extended, according to State Civil Supplies minister Anoop Jacob. Earlier, the govt has said that application forms would be given only till January 17.

The list of ration shops where printed applications forms are found in shortage would be prepared and measures would be taken to address it. The minister said more details have been sought in the application forms inorder to make the cards a more valid identity. In case of any unknown errors in filling up of forms or wrong entries, no legal action would be taken, the minister clarified.

The govt is also taking measures to see that those with a decent means of income are not included in the BPL category, the minister said. 

Lenovo launches India's cheapest 4G smartphone for Rs 6,999

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NEW DELHI: Chinese tech giant Lenovo today unveiled the country's most affordable 4G LTE smartphone, priced at Rs 6,999 as it looks to cash in on the booming demand for high-speed data services.   Lenovo's A6000 was unveiled at the CES in Las Vegas last week. The device has been aggressively priced to compete with Xiaomi's Redmi Note 4G (Rs 9,999) and Yu's maiden device -- Yureka (Rs 8,999).   LTE, is a standard for wireless communication of high-speed data for mobile phones and data terminals.   "This is perhaps the most value for money LTE device in India, the A6000 promises the perfect balance of speed, performance and ergonomics. With 2015 expected to be the year of 4G LTE, we are committed to take on this new technology and give consumers the best performance,"    Lenovo India Director Smartphones Sudhin Mathur told reporters here.   Lenovo has partnered homegrown eCommerce major Flipkart to sell the device exclusively.   Following the flash sale model, consumers will have to pre-register to be eligible for the sale on January 28. The company, however, did not disclose the number of devices that will be put up for sale in the first round.   "According to reports, number of 3G and 4G users is estimated to be over 200 million by 2018 (in the country). That is a huge opportunity. The right picture can be provided by telecom operators, who are offering these services...we are in discussions with operators (for bundling offers)," he said.   Bharti Airtel and Aircel have launched 4G services in a few cities in the country. However, Reliance Jio Infocomm that is only company with a pan-India license, is yet to launch its services.   Lenovo's A6000 supports both LTE bands in India - FDD 1800MHz (Band 3) and TDD 2300MHz (Band 40).   Powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 1.2GHz quad-core processor, the handset has a five-inch display, Android KitKat KitKat operating system, 1GB RAM and 8GB internal memory (expandable upto 32GB).   It also features 8MP rear and 2MP front camera and 2,300 mAh battery. "The A6000 is designed for the youth/millennials who want a trendy phone loaded with future proof features and yet not being heavy on the pocket, he said.

Oil firms will decide on price revision: Pradhan

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EW DELHI: A day after oil companies skipped revising petrol and diesel prices despite steep fall in global rates, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan today said the state-owned firms will do what is "appropriate".   As per the practice of revising rates every fortnight, state fuel retailers were expected to announce a cut in petrol and diesel prices yesterday as global rates had fallen by about 4 per cent. However, they skipped the revision.   On the previous two occasions when they skipped revising rates, the government had raised excise duty to mop up additional revenue, thereby not passing on the benefit of fall in global oil rates to consumers.   "It (petrol and diesel price cut) is not in our hands," Pradhan said referring to the two fuels as being deregulated commodities whose pricing is decided by oil companies.   "What oil companies feel appropriate they will do," he said at 13th Petro India Conference, organised by India Energy Forum and ORF, here.   The fall in international oil prices should have warranted Rs 3-4 per litre reduction but some of the gains were taken away by depreciation in the rupee against the US dollar.   B Ashok, Chairman of Indian Oil Corp, the nation's largest fuel retailer, said, "We are always keeping track of these things (fall in crude oil prices). We will have to do it (price revision) at the appropriate time."   While the fall in global oil rates is a boon for consumers, for oil companies it has meant over Rs 12,000 crore of inventory losses.   The crude oil that is being processed currently in refineries is one that was bought about 6-8 weeks back when rates were higher than present prices. By the time it is processed and marketed its market value would have come down, resulting in inventory losses.   "There is huge drop in crude prices which is having a tremendous impact on our inventories, its a cash loss. We are paying much higher price for the crude and today we are processing the crude at a much lower price and passing it. We are taking our decision based on that and we think we have been doing the right thing," Ashok said.

Petrol price cut by Rs 2.42/l, diesel Rs 2.25/l; excise hiked

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NEW DELHI: Petrol price was Friday cut by Rs 2.42 per litre and diesel by Rs 2.25 a litre after an excise duty hike limited the benefit of global crude prices slumping to six-year low.   The reduction would have been almost double but for the government also raising excise duty by Rs 2 per litre on both petrol and diesel today.   This is the ninth straight reduction in petrol prices since August, and fifth in diesel since October.   New rates will be effective midnight tonight, Indian Oil Corp, the nation's largest fuel retailer, announced here.   In Delhi, petrol will cost Rs 58.91 a litre, the lowest in 44 months, as compared to Rs 61.33 a litre now. Similarly, diesel will cost Rs 48.26 a litre in Delhi, the lowest since April 2013, as against Rs 50.51 currently.   This is the fourth hike in excise duty since November and cumulatively customers have been denied the benefit of Rs 7.75 per litre reduction in petrol and Rs 6.50 a litre cut in diesel rates that was warranted due to the slump in oil price to USD 46 per barrel.   A Finance Ministry notification said the excise duty on unbranded petrol is being hiked to Rs 8.95 per litre and that on unbranded diesel to Rs 7.96 per litre.   The four excise duty hikes will result in about Rs 20,000 crore in additional revenue this fiscal and will help the government meet its fiscal deficit target of 4.1 per cent of the GDP.   Petrol and diesel prices were last cut on December 16 by Rs 2 per litre each.   Including today's reduction, petrol price have been cut by Rs 14.69 per litre on a cumulative basis since August, while diesel rates in five downward revisions have been slashed by a total of Rs 10.71 a litre.   Crude oil price in June was at USD 115 per barrel. The Finance Ministry notification said the excise duty hike will be effective from midnight tonight.   The government had last raised the excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 2 per litre each from January 2. Prior to that, the tax was hiked by Rs 1.50 a litre each from November 12 and Rs 2.25 per litre on petrol and Re 1 on diesel from December 2.   Global crude oil prices have fallen almost 50 per cent since June 2014, the most since the 2008 financial crisis, as supplies swelled.   Earlier in the day, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan responded to criticism of oil firms not cutting despite near 4 per cent fall in global rates since January 1 saying the pricing was "not in our hands" as the both petrol and diesel have been deregulated.   "What oil companies feel appropriate they will do," he said. Along side Pradhan, B Ashok, Chairman of Indian Oil Corp, the nation's largest fuel retailer, justified the decision not to revise rates saying oil firms were saddled with huge inventory which need to be compensated.   The crude oil that is being processed currently in refineries is one that was bought about 6-8 weeks back when rates were higher than present prices. By the time, it is processed and marketed its market value would have come down, resulting in inventory losses, totalling about Rs 12,000 crore.   "There is huge drop in crude prices which is having a tremendous impact on our inventories, its a cash loss. We are paying much higher price for the crude and today we are processing the crude at a much lower price and passing it. We are taking our decision based on that and we think we have been doing the right thing," Ashok said.

Delhi gas pipeline leak causes fire

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NEW DELHI: A minor fire broke out here Friday due to leakage in a gas pipeline, an official said. No casualty has been reported yet. Traffic was disrupted on the Ring Road for nearly two hours. The fire was reported from south Delhi's Satya Niketan area, near Sri Venkateswara College in southwest Delhi. "Around 10 fire tenders were rushed to the spot to douse the fire which was reported at 9.35 a.m.," a Delhi Fire Service official told IANS. Three private cars parked near the pipeline were gutted, but no casualty was reported. The fire was doused by 11.05 am.

Will fight against Kejriwal, if party wants: Kiran Bedi

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NEW DELHI: A day after joining BJP, Kiran Bedi on Friday said she was ready to contest against Arvind Kejriwal, AAP chief and her former Team Anna colleague, in the Delhi Assembly polls, if her party wants. She rebutted AAP's criticism over changing her stand on not joining politics, saying she was free to make her own choices and her "aversion" was gone due to Modi's leadership. "The constituency selection is always a decision of party. I will go by their decision. If they want me to fight against him, I will do so. Because they know better than I do. They haven't brought me to lose, they have brought me to win," the former IPS officer said when asked whether she is likely to be pitted against Kejriwal in the upcoming polls. The AAP had yesterday termed her joining BJP as "shocking". "It is sad and shocking that Bedi who had been maintaining that she will always remain apolitical and keep raising the issues of people has joined the BJP. Our best wishes are with her," party leader Sanjay Singh had said. AAP Chief Arvind Kejriwal had also taken a subtle dig at Bedi saying that he had also tried to convince her to take a plunge into politics. "I do not wish to go into the past. I am in present and looking towards future. I have a right to make my own choices and nobody can question that. I want to lead my life as per my own wish," Bedi today retorted. Kejriwal and Bedi were part of the the core team of activist Anna Hazare who had spearheaded a massive agitation to press for passage of Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament. The two had parted ways in 2012 after Kejriwal's decision to float a political party. "I am not here to win or loose. I am here to see that the party wins. If I win I am excellent, if I don't win I still win. I have so much to go back to," Bedi said today. Bedi, however, didn't respond to queries whether her entry in BJP is likely to play a gamechanger. "Time will tell. We need a stable government in Delhi. A year has passed and we have paid a huge price," she said. Bedi, who had been hailing Modi and supporting BJP through her Twitter posts since the start of campaign for Lok Sabha polls last year, said, "The change of leadership made me change my mind. The way Narendra Modi is changing the world around. The way NRIs are flocking into the country to invest now and the way the nation's hopes have been revived, the aversion has gone" 65-year-old Bedi was inducted into the BJP fold in the presence of party President Amit Shah and Union ministers Arun Jaitley and Harsh Vardhan at the party's headquarters yesterday.