Live: Republic Day celebrations begin, PM lays wreath at Amar Jawan Jyoti New Delhi: 9.40 am: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrives at India Gate and is received by the Defence Minister. He then proceeds to the Amar Jawan Jyoti, where he lays the wreath and observes a two minutes silence in honour of the fallen heroes. India celebrates its 64th Republic Day on Saturday. The King of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Wangchuk, will be the chief guest for the event. The Delhi Police and the paramilitary forces have left no stone unturned in ensuring that the event passes off peacefully. According to the Delhi Police, a tight security cover will be in place across the capital with around 25,000 security

Southern superstar Rajinikanth has appealed to Muslim groups in Tamil Nadu to help actor-director Kamal Haasan in releasing his film "Vishwaroopam."

The 95-crore thriller was to be released today and had been cleared by the Censor Board,  but two days ago, it was banned by the Tamil Nadu government to "protect communal harmony" after some groups objected to the portrayal of Muslims in the movie.

The Madras High Court has said it will decide on the film's future on Monday after a judge reviews it over the weekend. "I request Muslim brethren to give up their demand to ban Vishwaroopam," Rajinikanth said today in a hand-writ

NEW DELHI: In the first formal reaction to the American-Pakistani terrorist David Coleman Headley's sentencing, home secretary R K Singh on Friday said, "Our view is that all those involved in 26/11 case should receive death penalty. That has been our consistent stand".

Though Singh said India still wanted Headley to get death sentence, he did not explain how it was still possible since a US court had already awarded him jail term of 35 years -- wit the judge explaining that the death penalty was not possible under his plea bargaining clauses and the leniency shown by the American prosecutors.

On possibility of Headley's extradition, Singh said

WASHINGTON: Air India has been rated world's third least safe airline after China Airlines and TAM Airlines, according to a report from a website that monitors plane crashes around the world.

India's national carrier is ranked 58th among 60 listed airlines by Hamburg based Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Centre (JACDEC).

Finnair is now the world's safest airline, followed by Air New Zealand, Cathay Pacific and Emirates, according to JACDEC Safety Ranking 2012.

Mumbai: At least 6 people were killed and more than 7 injured as nearly 3,000 people dwelling in slums were rendered homeless when a major fire swept through Naya Nagar slum locality in Mahim area here today.   Eleven fire tenders reached the spot and tried to douse the flames.    The slum is a densely located area housing as many as several wood godowns. The fire was first noticed between 4am and 4:30am.    Eight water tankers were also pressed into service. The cause of the fire is still not known.

KOLKATA: Describing testing of cosmetics on animals as "barbaric and cruel", Trinamool Congress legislator and actress Debasree Roy Thursday urged the government to ban it in India.

"Animal testing bans in Europe prove that cosmetics animal suffering is completely unnecessary. India must embrace modern non-animal technologies available that are more reliable," Roy said here during an awareness campaign seeking a ban on the process.

"Why is the government of India still lagging in making a decision that is so simple," asked Roy at the programme organised by the Humane Society International (HSI) - an international animal protection o

China's anti-corruption campaign turned out to be an "embarrassing development" as about 95 per cent of officials being probed have mistresses, highlighting how a raft of bureaucrats traded power for sex and money, an official media report said today. A recent report by Renmin University of China said about 95 per cent of officials being investigated have mistresses, state-run Xinhua news agency commentary titled "China feels women's weight in fight against graft", said today. "As an ancient Chinese saying goes, few heroes can resist the lure of beauty. In this sense, Communist officials should demonstrate their strength as superheroes in their fight agai

Back at the helm by the sudden turn of events, new BJP President Rajnath Singh today steered clear of questions about the party's Prime Ministerial candidate or about Narendra Modi being one, saying there is no race in the party for the top post. He said a call on the issue will be taken at the right time and leaders will decide. "In our party, for the post Prime Minister or Chief Minister there is no race and nor does anyone stake their claim. Who will be the Prime Minister or Chief Minister, either our Parliamentary Board decides on this or the elected MLAs in the case of Chief Minister and MPs in the case of Prime Minister select their leader," Singh told reporters. He

Azamgarh/Lucknow: The debate on terrorism is once again making headlines after the controversial remark by Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, who had said that terror training were being given in RSS and BJP camps and that terrorism was flourishing under the leadership of Bharatiya Janata Party and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The BJP also made quick reactions over Shinde's remark by saying that it never criticised the Central Government when it banned SIMI. BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad had said, "We never said drew similarities between SIMI with Muslim-terror. All terrorists are terrorist only without any affiliation to any religion". The Student Islamic Movement of I

New Delhi: Hundreds of declassified documents related to the death of netaji Subhash Chandra Bose  are lying in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and various spy agencies in India, allegdes the family of Netaji and researchers. The family is demanding to make these documents- lying in the shelves of government offices- to be made available to public, so that everyone can come to know the real reason behind the death of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. Researcher and author, Anuj Dhar said that there could be over 100s of document lying with the government, which could shed some light on the reason behind the death of the revolutionary. He said that over 33 files are lying with t

New Delhi: Former BJP president Rajnath Singh is all set to return at the helm of party affairs after incumbent Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday evening announced that he will not seek an unprecedented successive second term as the party chief.

Rajnath Singh this morning met senior party leader LK Advani and Gadkari at their residences before heading to the BJP office here for the parliamentary board meet where he is expected to be nominated for the top party post.

Today is the last day of filing nominations for the BJP presidential polls.
    On a day of dramatic developments capped by Gadkari’s announcement, Rajnath Singh

Wonder, if you can change your desktop screen into a touch screen with minimal investment? Well, it is possible. Your desktop screen can now be turned into a fully touch screen, but that would not be a finger touch; it would be a pen touch. Recently, a new pen is introduced which can be used by you for moving your hands freely over your desktop. The pen is quite useful in the situations where you need to demonstrate something. The pen is named as Apen touch 8 and it’s been quite popular for teaching purposes in particular. As with you cannot only point things over the desktop but can carry other function too. The pen comes with a USB which is used for providing signals to the p

Maha Kumbh Mela 2013 - Day 8 Maha Kumbh Mela, held in Allahabad every 12 years and billed as the biggest religious gathering in the world, has seen a growing number of pilgrims and visitors for a holy bath at the confluence of the three holy rivers, Sangam, where water levels are at the lowest in many years. Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/in-pictures-the-gujarat-campaign/article4220615.ece?ref=slideshow

Geneva: Five years after the global financial crisis hit, unemployment numbers continue to soar, with a record 202 million people worldwide expected to be officially jobless this year, the International Labour Organisation said on Tuesday.

Last year saw a clear resurgence of the crisis, the UN's labour body said in its annual report on global employment trends, pointing out that jobless numbers rose by four million to 197 million in 2012.

"This figure means that today there are 28 million more unemployed people around the world than they were in 2007," before the crisis, ILO chief Guy Ryder told reporters in Geneva Monday.
  &nbs

Mumbai: The dream of a lifetime materialised for Prema Jayakumar yesterday, when the 24-year-old topped the nation-wide Chartered Accountancy exam in her first attempt. Prema, whose father drives an auto for a living, is now determined to use the milestone as a stepping-stone towards providing her parents with a life of comfort.

Prema's four-member family squeezes itself into a 300 sq ft room in S B Khan Chawl, Malad. Beaming over her success after the results were declared yesterday, she said, "The day I start working, I will ensure that my father can rest at home. He has always toiled for my welfare." Prema, who outshone her peers in academics since her sc

UIDAI expects to enroll 600 million by 2014, as of today there are 250 million registered people. The unique identity number will be pivotal for KYC and e-KYC with internet penetration on a steady rise

News | by Voice&Data

BANGALORE, INDIA: The ambitious project of India, UIDAI intends to give a boost to mobile commerce, it aims to connect over 60 crore mobile banking to Aadhaar.

"The potential of having 60 crore mobile banking linked to Aadhaar is what we are targeting in future. This will have ripple effect on e-commerce and various other mobile transactions," said Nandan Nilekani, Chairman - UIDAI at the 7th Indian

Washington: President Barack Obama and his ladylove, Michelle Obama left everyone spellbound with a remarkable show of chemistry and nice moves as both of them danced together in the inaugural Ball in Washington. Earlier, four years after scripting history by becoming America's first black President, Barack Obama today began his second innings at the White House after being ceremonially sworn in as the US President with budget troubles, gun control and immigration issues lurking ahead. Standing before a crowd of thousands braving the chill at the iconic white-domed Capitol building draped in stripes, Obama renewed his oath of office for the second day in a row at the 57th inauguratio

In a bid to check the increasing rate of crime against the feminine gender in the national capital, the Delhi Government will soon launch a round-the-clock helpline '181' for offering immediate help to women in distress.   The helpline, which will operate from the Chief Minister's office in Delhi Secretariat, will be connected with all the 185 police stations across the city. The number '181' can be dialled from landline and mobile phones. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had earlier last week announced the setting up of the helpline service amid nationwide uproar over brutal gang-rape of a 23-year-old girl in a moving bus. Dikshit, who has condemned all inc

William Henry 'Bill' Gates with an estimated wealth of $65 billion is as rich as two Kenyas, three Trinidads and a dozen Montenegros but is now engaged in the process of ridding himself of all the money in the hope of extending the lives of others less fortunate than himself.

Having already given away $28 billion, the 57-year-old Microsoft co-founder now intends to eradicate polio, the Telegraph reported.

"I'm certainly well taken care of in terms of food and clothes," Gates said.

"Money has no utility to me beyond a certain point. Its utility is entirely in building an organisation and getting the resources out to the p

Bokaro: At least 11 CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) jawans were injured in a series of blasts triggered by the Maoists in Bokaro district of Jharkahnd Sunday evening during a combing operation.

The personnel of the 26th CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) were injured in a landmine blast in Maoist-hit Jhumra hills.
    The Police said the incident took place at Mahua Tand police station area of Jhumra hills when security personnel were returning from patrolling.

Injured jawans have been admitted to Apollo Hospital in Ranchi. The condition of three jawans is stated to be critical.

In the last few years, t