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Pak offers aid to Kashmir; India says No

India has rejected the 'aid' that Pakistan has offered for Kashmir, which is slowly limping back to normalcy after an unrest in the state. The official spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Vikas Swarup, said that the Indian High Commission in Islamabad had received a note from the Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on August 12 regarding a proposal to send supplies to Kashmir. "I can only characterise its contents that propose sending supplies to Indian state of J&K as absurd." He said, "India has already received enough of Pak's trademark exports - international terrorism, cross border infiltrators, weapons and narcotics."  "We completely and categorically reject this purported communication from the Pak foreign Ministry," he added. This development comes after Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had earlier this month vowed to provide medical help to those injured in the Kashmir violence and called on the international community to ask India to provide access for treatment of victims. "Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has called upon the international community to immediately help arrange medical treatment for the victims" in Kashmir, especially for treatment of eye injuries resulting from use of pellet guns by the Indian forces. The Prime Minister conveyed Pakistan's unequivocal support in arranging best available medical facilities to these injured people, anywhere in the world," a Pakistan Foreign Office statement said.

Kohli backs the Olympians

There has been a huge hue and cry recently when Shobha De commented in the negative about the Indian contingent for Rio Olympics not managing to make any podium finishes till now. Sports stars like Sachin Tendulkar and ace rifle shooter Abhinav Bindra and also film celebrities came out in support of the Indian contingent and many ridiculed her thought process as well. The latest public figure to talk on this and back our olympic contenders is Indian Test Cricket captain Virat Kohli. "In an event like Olympics, firstly we need to look at how these athletes prepare. They give their heart and soul. And for some people to just ignore what they do, I think it is very hurtful. Even in cricket, you can't perform every game and you don't win every series," Kohli said. "These guys go and give 100 per cent effort in what they do. Some people don't even have 10 per cent of the facilities that sportsmen from other countries have. And then they sit and compare in our country," he added. After the backlash from the media and public in general, De said she did not mean to demean the continent's feelings. Speaking to the media after the 237-run win over West Indies in the third Test, Virat said, "They're giving their 120 per cent effort, and at the end of the day, that is what matters. Once someone wins a medal, that's a big deal because we understand that we don't have those kinds of facilities, but still these guys work as hard as anyone else in the world. They try and go and win a medal for us," he said. "I think we just need to stay positive with all the events that are left. We must give credit to the guys who have gone on and competed. Hats off to the guys who go there and compete and are there in the mix because it's so hard with no preparation and facility, it's so hard to be at that level. But still they go out there and give their heart and soul for the country and we should appreciate that," he added.

4 workers die after getting trapped in Hyd manhole

Tragedy struck at Ayyappa Society on Saturday when four people including three sanitary workers were found dead in a manhole. The incident took place at around 5.30 p.m when the labourers were working inside the manhole. Officials say the workers from Tarnaka in Secunderabad, Srinivas, Satyanarayana, Nagesh and one other died on Saturday evening after getting trapped in the manhole and inhaling poisonous gas in Hyderabad's upscale area. Three bodies have been retrieved and further operations are on. They have been identified as Nagesh, Srinivas and Satyanarayana, all residents of Vaddera basti, Manikeshawari Nagar near Osmania University campus. An employee of 108 Ambulance service, Chandu, who went inside the manhole using a rope also fell ill after inhaling poisonous gas. He was rushed to a hospital with breathing problems. The three had been hired by a sub-contractor. Main contractor Loka Reddy had been blacklisted after the June tragedy. It was on June 28 that a pedestrian Moti Yadav fell into the manhole in Madhapur and was washed away by floodwater. GHMC and water board Officials have launched a search operation for the bodies.A similar incident had happened in the Hitec city area a couple of weeks ago when two persons had died. The workers reportedly entered the 25 feet deep manhole without any safety gear. Compensation of Rs. 2.5 lakh was announced for the family of each victim. A case of causing deaths due to negligence has been filed against the sub-contractor. 

Indian flag to be hoisted in PoK

Union Minister in Modi's cabinet, Jitendra Singh on Saturday started the Tiranga Yatra with a message to launch a formal movement for liberating people from the areas of Kashmir illegally occupied by Pakistan. “One more battle for freedom is pending and it is that we have to get the people of PoK liberated from illegal occupation of Pakistan so that they are reunited with India,” he said, while beginning his yatra. “I feel that Tiranga yatra in the real sense will culminate only when tricolour gets unfurled at Muzaffrabad, Kotli and other areas of Pakistan occupied Kashmir”, he said, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message of taking out Tiranga yatras all over the country from August 13 to felicitate freedom fighters and rededicate themselves for nationalism and nation’s service. "Pakistan forgets killing its own people by fighter planes. Time has come for Pakistan to explain to the world community about excesses committed in PoK and Balochistan," Modi said at the meeting which had leaders from the entire political spectrum. Earlier, massive protests erupted in PoK's Gilgit area against Pakistan even as activists even as Baloch activists thanked Prime Minister Modi for raising the issue of PoK and Balochistan. Meanwhile the spokesperson for Baloch National Movement Hammal Haider said that PM Modi should take action like former PM Indira Gandhi's 1971 bid and termed Pakistan as a failed state.

Lalita, Sania-Bopanna India's medal hopes

Lalita Babar, yesterday, became the first Indian to qualify for the final of an athletics track event at the Olympics since PT Usha in 1984. In the women's 3000m steeplechase, Babar finished fourth in Heat 2 with a national record timing of 9:19.76, beating her previous best by 7 seconds, which made her the fastest loser from all three heats, thus earning her a spot in Monday's final at 19:75 Indian time. Though at one stage she gained a lead, she fell on a hurdle and could not recover that gap. Two more Indian runners Sudha Singh and Nirmala Sheoran along with the women's badminton doubles duo of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa and shooters Gurpreet Singh and Mairaj Ahmad Khan failed to add any medal hopes for India's stint at the 31st Olympic Games. Meanwhile the heart touching story of Dattu Baban Bhokanal shined at the games village. He impressed one and all by finishing on top of Final C in men's single sculls. He finished 13th overall. Already out of medal contention, Dattu topped the final ranking race in 6:54.96 minutes, which was best timing among the four races he participated in the Games. His ailing mother lies in a Pune hospital fighting for her life, brain-damaged after a recent accident. At the tennis courts, Sania and Bopanna imposed their domination in the early stages before Venus and Ram staged a superb comeback. Mirza and Bopanna, India's mixed doubles team, were beaten by the American pair of Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram 6-2, 2-6, 3-10 in the semi-finals and can now only hope for a bronze. In the men's skeet qualifying event, Mairaj Ahmad Khan finished ninth to miss out on medal contention. Needing to score at least 49 on Saturday to remain in medal contention.  

Congress leader shot at in Hyderabad

  In a shocking incident in Bowenpally area of Hyderabad, a  Congress leader was shot at on Saturday. Two unidentified miscreants came on a bike and fired two rounds on Congress leader Rachakonda Yadagiri Goud and fled. At least six shots of gunshots were fired at him in broad daylight in Hyderabad today. The leader is out of danger, but is being treated at a hospital in Hyderabad. According to sources the incident took place because of some personal rivalry over disputed property. The investigation is on in the case and the local police are probing the matter. It is being reported that a man in a black jacket had fired at the Congress leader. In another similar incident,  political leader Brijpal Teotia of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from Uttar Pradesh was shot at least 100 rounds near Delhi on Thursday night. He is in a critical state after attackers shot at his SUV with an AK-47 rifle and guns. In this case too the police had said that it could be because of personal enmity. More details on the health status of the congress leader is awaited.

Indian who became US tycoon is now in Jail

  Gurbaksh Chahal, the multimillionaire tech mogul, is no longer that. A San Francisco judge has sentenced former RadiumOne and Gravity4 CEO Gurbaksh Chahal to 12 months in county jail. Prosecutors said Chahal, 34, attacked a woman in his San Francisco penthouse in 2014, just a year after beating a different woman in the same apartment, and that his actions violated the probation he was placed under as a result of the first case. The Lamborghini-driving, Vegas-partying playboy who made a fortune in the ad tech business now faces time behind bars for smacking his then-girlfriend 117 times. The exact number is known because the entire beating was captured on a video camera he had set up in his bedroom, above his bed.    Superior Court Judge Tracie Brown agreed with the district attorney’s office last month, and ordered Chahal to surrender his passports. After she sentenced Chahal on Friday, he remained free on $250,000 bail, pending an appeal that his attorney has 30 days to file. “I don’t think it would be appropriate to keep Mr. Chahal on probation given the nature of the new incident,” Brown said in court. After discarding his turban against his parents’ wishes and hitting the gym to shed his teenage chubbiness, he emerged with male-model looks. He then started another company, Blue Lithium, taking advantage of nascent technology that enabled companies to track the behavior of online consumers. Four years later, Yahoo! paid $300 million to buy it from him. Chahal was 25 back then. He moved out of his house when he was merely 18 years old.

After Irom,another Manipuri woman on indefinite fast

  Just after the world's longest fast was ended by iconic rights activist Irom Sharmila, a 32-year-old woman from Manipur on Friday vowed to carry forward the protest against the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act with an indefinite fast. A mother of two girls, Arambam Robita Leima said she would launch her fast-unto-death at 10 am on Saturday at a community hall in Imphal West district. She said she was not only demanding repeal of the "draconian" Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), but also the implementation of Inner Line Permit (ILP) system in the state. Having deep regards for Irom Sharmila, Robita says she she wants to continue the fight which the rights activist has fought for over 16 years.   The world's longest hunger strike ended on Tuesday when an emotional Irom Chanu Sharmila broke her fast with honey. "I will never forget this moment," Sharmila told media reporters.  "If I become CM the first thing I will do is remove the draconian AFSPA," Irom said adding that she did not want to go with any of the established political parties. Manipur's 'Iron Lady' Irom Chanu Sharmila was on a hunger strike for 5757 days and was being force-fed through a nasal tube to keep her alive at a prison-turned-hospital in Imphal. Irom had also said that she wanted to get married and lead a normal life henceforth and that she does not want to join any political party but that she will fight the elections on her own.

6yrs old beats 13 day old sister to death

In a horrific incident in Florida, US, a 6 year old beat up his infant sister to death while their mother was out shopping. The mother has been charged with murder after her son allegedly beat his 13-day-old baby sister to death. Kathleen Marie Steele, 62, was arrested and charged with aggravated murder of a child. Kathleen took along her three young children in a minivan on Monday afternoon to a cellphone repair shop.   When she got there, she rolled up the windows, turned off the engine, locked the doors and left the children: a 6-year-old boy, his 3-year-old brother and their baby sister, born 13 days earlier. While the mother left them alone in the minivan for at least 38 minutes. While Kathleen was in a cell phone shop, the infant started crying. Steele's eldest son allegedly removed his newborn sister from her car seat and beat her to death. According to news reports, he slammed her head onto the ceiling, banged her head on the floor and dropped her numerous times, which ultimately led to the baby's death.   The infant allegedly had sustained severe head trauma that included extensive bruising and multiple skull fractures said a news release. The mother was arrested on a charge of aggravated manslaughter of a child. The mother allegedly did not notice that the baby was unresponsive until she got home and went to take the newborn out of the car. Due to his age, 6 yr old brother will not be criminally charged with his sister's death. The mother, however, is currently being held at the jail. 

Chinese's foreign minister meets Modi,Sushma

  Amid the strained ties between India and China, the Chinese foreign minister met the Prime Minister and also the external affairs minister. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is on a three-day visit to India, this morning met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and later the External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj to hold talks on a range of on key regional and bilateral issues. Wang Yi started his visit yesterday from Goa, where Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the 8th BRICS Summit in October that India is hosting. "A morning for neighbourly engagement. Besides visiting the BRICS venue, he met the local leadership, including Goa Governor Mridula Sinha and Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar.   Chinese FM Wang Yi calls on Prime Minister Narendra Modi," external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup posted on Twitter. Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj had told Parliament that the government plans to continue engaging with Beijing to win its support. "The shared interests far outweigh the differences. The visit shows the maturity of our relationship. It shows that there is a lot of scope to continue with discussions and dialogues," Chinese Consul-General in Kolkata Ma Zhanwu said. Mr Wang's visit also comes days after Chinese troops "transgressed" the border on land and by air in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand.

Boxing & Tennis shine on day 7 of Olympics

  Amidst all the gloom surrounding the Indian olympic dream, with most of the medal hopes bowing out of the competition, Boxing, Tennis and Hockey brought some joy to the Indian contingent. Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna managed to beat Britain's Andy Murray and Heather Watson with remarkable ease to storm into the mixed doubles semifinals with a 6-4 6-4 win in just 67 minutes. One more victory will ensure India a silver medal and a defeat in the semifinals would give Sania and Bopanna a chance to fight for the bronze. The men's hockey team played out a 2-2 draw against Canada while other individual participants exited the Games. The men's hockey team, already assured of a berth in the quarter finals, led twice against lowly Canada before allowing their rivals to bounce back and earn a 2-2 draw in their concluding pool game.   Boxer Vikas Krishan entered the quarter-finals in men's middleweight (75 kg) category. Vikas then stood a win away from an elusive Olympic medal as he outclassed Turkey's Sipal Onder 3-0 to make the quarterfinals of men's 75kg middleweight boxing. The day commenced with Atanu Das letting slip chances in his men's individual recurve pre-quarterfinal to bow out of contention and draw curtains on India's disappointing campaign in archery in the Olympics this time. Sprinter Dutee Chand and Muhammed Anas Yahiya, and long jumper Ankit Sharma failed to go past their heats/qualifying match. In the men's 50m rifle prone qualification at the Olympic Shooting Centre, Narang and Chain Singh were eliminated with final positions of 13th and 36th respectively.

92yrs of railway budget to end next year

  There will most likely be a complete makeover in the way the budget would be presented in the next financial year. There will be no separate railway budget from next financial year, putting an end to a practice that started in 1924, with the finance ministry agreeing to the proposal to merge the transporter's annual exercise with the general budget. The railway minister is also looking to boost the railways as well. Besides the acceleration in capital investments, which the presentation shows have grown from an average of Rs 45,979 crore during 2009-14 to Rs 58,718 crore in FY15 and Rs 93,795 crore in FY16, with the projected Rs 1,21,000 crore in FY17 the plan to push non-fare revenues in a big way seems to be getting a lot of attention and the results of which is expected to start accruing soon. To double the non-fare revenues from last year to Rs 9,600 crore estimated in the budget this year, there is an impressive line-up of the steps to do it.   The move to discard the British-era practice of a separate rail budget by the Modi government comes after a two-member committee comprising Niti Aayog member Bibek Debroy and Kishore Desai recommended the exercise be scrapped. Prabhu had told Rajya Sabha on Tuesday that he has asked finance minister Arun Jaitley to merge the railway budget with general budget in long-term interest of national transporter as well as the country's economy. The minister, however, was non-committal about the timeline for the merger. The social media, especially twitter based complaint redressal system is a hit with the public too. The average response time by the Rail officials is less than 30 minutes to the complaints.

Raghuram rajan about FCNR deposits.

  Mumbai: Raghuram Rajan, the Reserve Bank governor on Friday, stated that, the idea of raising diaspora deposits that changed the downward course of the rupee when he took over had come from the bankers and he was skeptical about it given the cost to the exchequer. After launching his predecessor D Subbarao’s memoir at RBI headquarters, Dr raghuram said that, he thought that was bankers coming in again to get one of the sweet deals which would help them, as the bankers would go out, raise the money, get fantastic bonuses and the RBI would end up paying for it. Dr. Rajan also conceded that, he thought that the idea of FCNR deposits to be completely idiotic, as it would result in giving 3.5% subsidy to the bankers and that was the worst of the ideas on the table.

MS Dhoni to lead US T20s.

  Mahender Singh Dhoni will be travelling for US T20s to lead team India. India retained most of the test squad currently in Caribbean, for two of the T20 matches against West Indies. Suresh Raina and Y uvraj Singh were a part of the Indian team in March-April world T20 which was conducted this year but they don’t find themselves in US T20. Most of the youngsters who are a part of the world cup squad were ignored. Raina and Yuvraj will be playing Duleep Trophy and they will lead India Green and India Red respectively. Apart from Dhoni , Jaspreet Bumrah will be travelling to Florida for a couple of matches on August 27th as well as on August 28th.

Seizure of 1000 kg drugs by the police in Europe.

  WARSAW:  On Friday Spain police said, that they seized over 1000kg drugs and targeting a gang of drug smuggling in a joint operation in France, Denmark, Poland and Spain, 23 were arrested. The head of the Polish police, Jaroslaw Szymczyk said that, at first they thought that the gang was operated only in Spain, but later it turned out that they were active all across the Europe and were delivering drugs to Britain and Scandinavia amongst others. The head of the operations for organized and serious crimes in Europol, Michael Rausenbach said that, that great success would not had been possible without the cooperation between Spanish, Europol and Polish police forces as well as other European countries.

Aircel provides unlimited data and calls on Independence Day.

NEW DELHI:  The telecom operator, Aircel announced on Friday that it would provide unlimited data and calls on the occasion of 70th Independence Day, to all the Aircel customers for Rs 123. Anupam Vasudev, Aircel chief marketing officer stated that, with ‘Azaadi Offer’ they would remove the cost barrier of their customers and replace it with unlimited benefits.To avail the offer, customers have to recharge with Rs.123, which is going to remain valid for one day.

Insurers have to deal with more taxes after the implementation of GST.

  MUMBAI:  A report said that, once the GST is implemented with the emergence of the central and states as dual stake holders, the insurance company potentially have to deal with more taxes when compared to dealing with the current taxes.It added that, the number of taxes would increase as the calculation of the input-output tax credits would be performed separately for each individual state in which they would earn. It also said that, the new rules would be expected to create greater focus on services by foreign insurers as they compete for the share of the market.

Union minister, Vijay Goel in the midst of a controversy: Rio Olympics

Vijay Goel, the union sports minister, was threatened by the Rio Olympic organizers, that his accreditation would be cancelled if unaccredited people, who are accompanying him, do not end their “rude and aggressive” behavior. The minister said, “I have not flouted any of the rules and the volunteers have taken me to the field”. Continental Manager of Rio 2016, Sarah Peterson told the Indian Chef-de-Mission, Rakesh Gupta in a letter that, they had had multiple reports of the Minister, trying to enter accredited areas at venues with unaccredited people and when the staff tried to explain that it was not allowed the people with the Minister became rude as well as aggressive with the staff.

Russian Antitrust Regulator fined Google with $6.8 Million.

Google was found guilty for abusing its dominant market position by forcing the smart phone manufacturers to install Google search engine on Android phones. After Google was found guilty, Russian anti-trust authority fined Google with $6.8 Million on Thursday. After an investigation followed by Yandex’s complaint, last year in the month of September Google was deemed in the breach of a law on “protecting competition” by The Federal Antimonopoly Service. Yandex, which is Russia’s largest search engine, asked the antitrust authorities to prevent Android phone from installing Google search engine forcibly.