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Greece launches probe over ferry tragedy off Corfu

 Wed, 31 December 2014
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23:20

Greece launches probe over ferry tragedy off Corfu

Greece has launched a judicial probe in addition to the investigation carried out by Italian authorities over the circumstances of the Italian ferry tragedy which started on early Sunday off the Greek island of Corfu, Greek Shipping Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said on Tuesday during a press...
22:56

Pakistan summons Indian Deputy High Commissioner

 Pakistan today summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner and lodged a protest over the ceasefire violations allegedly by India in which some Pakistan Rangers were killed. Deputy High Commissioner J P Singh was called to the Foreign Office here and given a note verbale by the Pakistani...
21:46

Cross-border firing: Pak summons Indian Deputy High Commissioner

Pakistan summons Indian Deputy High Commissioner over Indian retaliation to cross-border firing.
21:31

'10 terrorists suspected to be hiding in Ghaziabad'

At least ten terrorists, who have entered India with explosives via Nepal, are suspected to be hiding in Ghaziabad district of Uttar Pradesh, a senior police official today said. According to secret inputs from Intelligence Bureau, 10 terrorists who have entered India with explosives via...
21:20

Palestinians look to ICC after failed UN statehood bid

Palestinian leaders say they will look to join the International Criminal Court to pursue action against Israel, a day after their bid for statehood failed in the United Nations Security Council.Palestinian representative to the U.N., Riyad Mansour said the Palestinian people can no longer wait....
19:36

58 people killed during New Year celebrations in Thailand

At least 58 people have been killed and 517 injured in separate incidents since yesterday mostly due to drunk driving as people across Thailand began their New Year celebrations. Six fatalities reported from the country's northeastern Buriram Province while Chiang Mai city and Surat Thani...
19:21

Cong slams Surat mock drill

The Congress reacts to the Surat mock drill. Spokesperson Rashid Alvi says terror cannot be linked to any religion and calls for strict action against the police.
19:13

Surat: 'Terrorists' wearing skull cap in a mock drill creates controversy

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An anti-terror police mock drill sparked a controversy after one of the persons posing as a terrorist wore a skull cap suggesting that the terrorists belonged to a particular community. The drill meant to check the preparedness during a terror attack was organised by the Surat Rural Police....
19:00

Sydney Harbour, Australia, welcomes 2015

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Sydney Harbour, Australia, welcomes 2015.
18:52

Mars Orbiter: It was an honour to be a part of your team Dr Radhakrishnan

ISRO's Mars Orbiter @MarsOrbiter Bidding farewell to the one who led me up to this planet. It was an honour to be a part of your team Dr Radhakrishnan.
18:50

'How are we supposed to live like this?"

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A local resident in Samba, says firing was going on since morning. We were asked to stay inside, how are we supposed to live like this?
18:26

Tit for tat: BSF kills 4 Pakistani Rangers in retaliatory firing

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Four Pakistani Rangers were killed in the retailiatory firing by the BSF at the International Border. This comes after Home Minister Rajnath Singh's go-ahead to the BSF saying Indian should provide appropriate reply to any unprovoked firing by Pakistan.
18:19

Shailesh Nayak is new ISRO chairman

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Shailesh Nayak, secretary, ministry of earth sciences is new chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Nayak takes over from Dr K Radhakrishnan, under whose watch India launched the prestigious Mangalyaan mission. Radhakrishnan is one of 2014's top 10 scientists chosen by the...
18:00

Imran Khan: Reports of my marriage are greatly exaggerated!

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Imran Khan responds to rumours about his marriage to a BBC weather girl. @ImranKhan tweets:The reports of my marriage are greatly exaggerated!So, are the reports false, Mr Khan?The Daily Mail, UK, reported that Imran Khan remarried in secret to a former BBC weather girl. The 62-year-old is...
17:51

Pak Rangers show white flag, ask BSF to stop retaliatory fire

Just in: Pakistan Rangers show white flags along the International Border asking the BSF to cease firing. India has stopped retaliatory firing following the 'surrender'.  The BSF has destroyed six permanent bunkers belonging to the Rangers. In the second ceasefire violation in the past 24...
17:30

Bad weather hampers recovery of plane wreckage, bodies

Bad weather today hampered the recovery of scores of bodies and the wreckage of the AirAsia plane that drifted away from the crash site due to strong tides in the Java Sea off Indonesia after sonar images identified what appeared to be large parts of the jet. The massive hunt for the 162 people...
17:00

The 15 people who missed the doomed AirAsia flight

Some may call it serendipity, others divine intervention. Either way, circumstances prevented two families from boarding the doomed AirAsia Flight QZ8501.In one case, it was missed e-mails. In another, an illness in the family. As a result, 15 people -- seven of them children -- are alive and...
16:45
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New Year celebrations in Auckland, New Zealand. 
16:41

Sensex ends 2014 with a bang: Best annual gain in five years!

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The Sensex today rose by over 95 points to end at 27,499.42 on back of infrastructure, power and realty shares, helping the BSE benchmark end 2014 calendar year with the best annual gain in 5 years. BHEL, Tata Power and NTPC were among the gainers today with about 1-3 per cent rise. Other...
16:33
Also read: There's nothing selfish about suicide.
16:28

India and the right to suicide

My mother was a chronic suicide. We paid again and again. When one day she had a genuine accident while crossing the road, a police officer turned up again, convinced she had been at it once more. My father paid so much that time, in hospital bills and bribes, that we had to give up the dream of...
16:20

Build a Godse temple in every district in India, quips Azam Khan

Samajwadi party leader Azam Khan today took on outfits demanding the construction of a temple dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse, saying such temple should be constructed in every state. The temple of Nathura Godse should not come up at any one place but should come up at every...
16:09

Has Imran Khan married BBC weather girl?

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Has cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan remarried in secret to a former BBC weather girl? The 62-year-old is believed to have tied the knot at the weekend with Pakistani news anchor Reham Khan, 41, who is a divorced mother-of-three. She lived in Britain for part of her previous marriage, when...
15:59

President gives nod to Judicial Appointments Commission Bill

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The Constitutional amendment Bill that seeks to scrap the collegium system of appointing judges to higher judiciary has received Presidential nod. The National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) bill passed by Parliament in August this year has received President's assent, official sources...
15:54

20 crude bombs found in Birbhum district of Bengal

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Twenty crude bombs were recovered from the Parui area of the Birbhum district of West Bengal. It was defused by the local police.
15:04

BJP: Appreciate Mehbooba's remarks on Vajpayee

Nirmal Singh, BJP, says the party appreciates the statement given by PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti. She has appreciated Vajpayee-ji's approach for Jammu and Kashmir. We have always maintained that all options are open for us, discussions are going on at different levels. Our stand is clear, we want a...
14:51

I want everyone to watch PK, that's why I made it tax free: Akhilesh

How many of you have watched the film PK? If not, I would want you all to watch it. I watched this 'PK' film yesterday only and decided to make it tax free as I want more and more people to watch it, UP CM Akhilesh Yadav on his decision to make the Aamir Khan starrer film tax free in UP. Jo log...
14:12

Kahan gaye woh achche din?

The Modi government is just continuing old ideas with a new twist -- of interference in matters where the State should not venture, says Mango Indian. Read
14:05

1 BSF jawan dead in ceasefire violations by Pak in J-K

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No let up by Pakistan on the last day of 2014. Ceasefire violations by Pakistan in the Samba sector of Jammu and Kashmir. Early reports indicate 1 BSF jawan has been martyred and 1 has been injured.Over 550 incidents of ceasefireviolations by Pakistan occurred in 2014, the highest since the truce...
14:00

Missed e-mails, hepatitis keep 15 from boarding doomed AirAsia flight

 Some may call it serendipity, others divine intervention. Either way, circumstances prevented two families from boarding the doomed AirAsia Flight QZ8501.In one case, it was missed e-mails. In another, an illness in the family. As a result, 15 people -- seven of them children -- are alive...
13:53

Gharvapasi: Home is Where the Heart is!

'We must begin dialogue with openness and goodwill, but we will not proceed very far without trust and good faith. The alternative is the violence of 'might is right,' which settles very little and destroys so much of real value,' says Dr Rudolf C Heredia, author of Religious Disarmament --...
13:41

Bengal will burn if you touch Mamata: TMC MP on Saradha scam

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TMC MP Idris Ali from Basirhat has threatened to resort to violence in West Bengal if Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is framed in the Saradha scam. Touch Mamata Banerjee and West Bengal shall burn. A lot of people will die in the fire, the TMC MP was caught saying on Wednesday. Commenting on...
13:24

Exclusive! BJP adamant on Hindu CM for JK

A PDP-BJP alliance would have been formed on the evening of December 28 had the BJP agreed to let Mufti Mohammad Sayeed become chief minister for the first three years and allow the BJP to nominate its chief minister for the next three years. Read more
13:23

Have a problem with PK? Don't watch it, says SC

In August, the Supreme Court turned down a Public Interest Litigation asking for a ban on the film. The judges stated that anyone who is against the movie should not watch it. Censor Board chief Leela Samson said recently that there was no question of the movie being reviewed again to...
13:11

Maharashtra CM refuses to stop PK screening

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Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis says he has no intentions of stopping the screening of a movie which is running in accordance with the law.The uproar over Aamir Khan's PK escalated on Monday as Hindu radical groups vandalised theatres and multiplexes across several states, demanding a ban on...
12:58

Chinese man jailed for 13 years for eating tigers and making wine from their blood

A Chinese man has been jailed for 13 years for buying and eating endangered tigers and making wine made out of their blood. Read more
12:36

Mehbooba: All options open, mandate is big responsibility for Modi

J&K poll mandate is a big responsibility for PM Narendra Modi, says Mehbooba while invoking development agenda of Vajpayee.
12:32
Subramanian Swamy tweets: PC invited 40 journalist for lunch today at Taj Chennai. 25 came. After 5 star lunch he told them not to publicise his role in Aircel scam.
12:27

Mehbooba Mufti: Vajpayee's initiative, PDP agenda must work together

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PDP leader and the person likely to be the next CM of Jammu and Kashmir says she had an informal meeting with the governor after he invited her to meet him at the Raj Bhavan today.  She said the mandate in the state has been decisive, but divided. The PDP has the mandate for Kashmir, but the...
12:13
UP CM Akhilesh Yadav says the Aamir Khan film PK will be entertainment tax free in the state.
12:04

Delhi must counter the worsening image of India in the US

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With slightly more than three weeks to go before Barack Obama arrives in New Delhi, India's public diplomacy in the United States of America has been thrown at the deep end of the Potomac, the river that is a symbol of America's capital.  Instead of a celebration of the first ever visit...
11:36

Army faces Assam ethnic 'minefield'

The Indian Army has again waded into the minefield of ethnic rivalries in Assam, this time more practised but still wary of the political dirt its actions will throw up. Army chief General Dalbir Singh gave orders for an intensification of the drive against the NDFB (Songbijit) faction of...
11:23

Mehbooba Mufti meets J-K governor on govt formation

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PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti meets J&K governor NN Vohra over government formation. The PDP, the party which won the maximum seats in J&K 28/87) is now split wide open over whether to seek BJP support to form a government. 
11:02

'AirAsia flight may not have exploded mid-air'

It is unlikely that Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ8501 exploded in mid-air, air crash experts say, as the first pieces of debris were spotted and some bodies recovered.Chances are that the plane hit the Java Sea intact and broke up upon impact before plunging to the ocean floor.The wreckage of the...
10:53

Hospital ready to hold 150 bodies; families give DNA samples

Some 130 ambulances were on standby at an airbase in Surabaya close to Juanda International Airport on Wednesday morning, to transport the bodies of passengers on board the doomed Air Asia flight QZ8501. The bodies will be brought to a nearby hospital inside a police complex, where cold storage...
10:50

Anguish revisited for MH370 survivors

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Few people would consider those with loved ones on AirAsia Flight QZ8501 lucky, but Sarah Bajc has a particular perspective.I'm almost a little jealous in a way because, you know, at least they have this ability to put some closure to it, she told CNN after the wreckage of the AirAsia flight was...
10:43
@tonyfernandes I hope to fly to evacuation site to thank everyone for putting in so much effort in finding the site. And keep everyone informed.
10:35

Air Asia boss tweets condolences

My heart is filled with sadness for all the families involved in QZ 8501, Tony Fernandes, the head of AirAsia, wrote in a Twitter message soon after the debris was discovered. On behalf of AirAsia my condolences to all. Words cannot express how sorry I am.
10:30

Another tragedy in the skies

Two full days after an AirAsia aircraft on a flight from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore went missing, rescue teams have found pieces of debris and the bodies of at least 40 of the 162 passengers and crew who were on board. This brings to a fairly quick end the suspense and speculation over...
10:24
Relatives of the 162 people on board the ill-fated plane hugged each other and burst into tears yesterday as they watched television footage of bodies floating in the sea. The Airbus A320-200 was carrying 155 passengers -- one British, one Malaysian, one Singaporean, three South Koreans, 149...
10:22

Body of Air Asia stewardess found, black box still missing

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At least six bodies have been retrieved from the Java Sea off Indonesia where the ill-fated AirAsia plane carrying 162 people went down as rescuers were hampered by stormy weather today in their efforts to pull out the wreckage.One of the bodies pulled out today was dressed in air stewardess...
10:07

MS Dhoni inspired small town India to dream big

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In 2004, a player debuted for Team India, whose state team, Jharkhand, was not even represented regularly in Ranji Trophy. In-fact, he was a player who switched between tennis ball and synthetic ball cricket because not everywhere in Jharkhand (then undivided Bihar) was the game played with...
09:39

Crashed AirAsia plane found upside down on ocean floor

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JUST IN: Reports have just come in stating that the crashed AirAsia flight QZ8501 has been found. Indonesia's search and rescue officials have confirmed that they have found the location of the plane. Elaborating further, officials said that sonar imaging showed that the aircraft is upside...
09:19

Unmanned aerial vehicles to keep an eye on New Year revellers

This year, in an attempt to ensure that New Year celebrations go off without any incident and issues, police in various metros will be making use of unmanned aerial vehicles to keep an eye on revellers. Security has been beefed up in various parts of the country in wake of the recent...
09:14

Kejriwal likens his 49-day rule to Ram Rajya

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal has likened his 49-day rule in Delhi to 'Ram Rajya' even as he tried justify his decision to quit as chief minister, saying he had made a mistake but it was not a crime.Our government slashed electricity tariff and gave 20,000 litres of free water to every household....
09:08

Impropriety of ordinance

By promulgating ordinances within days of the winter session of Parliament coming to a close, the Narendra Modi government has shown that it is not averse to repeating what his party would have considered a constitutional impropriety, had it been done by a Congress government. Read...
09:00

AirAsia QZ8501: Bodies found holding hands

Lieutenant Airman Tri Wobowo who discovered the debris from the missing AirAsia Flight QZ8501 told a newspaper that three of the bodies recovered were holding hands. Tri Wobowo who also co-piloted the C130 Hercules aircraft that first saw the items of the aircraft off the coast of Borneo earlier,...
08:44
JUST IN: India's largest nuclear reactor Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu starts generating electricity commercially.
08:33

US woman shot by shot dead by 2-year-son in Walmart

A woman in the US state of Idaho has been killed after her two-year-old son accidentally shot her with a gun he found when reaching into her handbag. The woman, named by the local sheriff's office as Veronica J Rutledge, 29, was shot in a WalMart in Hayden, a town in Idaho's northern panhandle....
08:11

PM Modi, Rekha hottest vegetarians this year

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi and actress Rekha have been named the hottest vegetarian celebrities by People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals for the year 2014. PM Modi was voted as the hottest vegetarian for his strict vegetarian schedule and for practising Yoga on a regular basis.Also in the...
08:06

AirAsia flight: Another 6 bodies, including 1 crew member recovered

After search officials recovered three bodies from the Java Sea on Tuesday, officials today announced that they have recovered six more bodies, including that of a crew member of AirAsia flight QZ8501. On Tuesday, after resuming intense search efforts, debris of the missing AirAsia...
04:01

US strike in Somalia 'killed al-Shabab intelligence chief'

A leader of the al-Shabab Islamist group was killed by a US air strike on Monday, Somali officials say.The intelligence chief, named as Abdishakur, was part of a unit responsible for suicide attacks, security officials said.US defence chiefs did not confirm whether the al-Shabab leader had...
03:13

First Ebola victim may have been infected by bats

A team of researchers think they have pinpointed how the Ebola epidemic in West Africa started with a small boy playing in a hollowed-out tree where infected bats lived. The researchers explored an area in southeastern Guinea where 2-year-old Emile Ouamouno fell ill a year ago and died....
02:19

IS demands release of leader's ex-wife in Lebanon talks

Jihadists in Syria have threatened to execute Lebanese servicemen they hold captive unless Lebanon releases the ex-wife of the Islamic State group's leader and another militant-linked woman, a negotiator said today. Salafist Sheikh Wissam al-Masri is mediating the release of 25 police and...
02:18

Ebola cases in W Africa reach 20,000, death toll at 7,842

The World Health Organisation today said that the number of people infected by the Ebola outbreak in the three west African countries has passed 20,000, even as the death toll from the deadly-disease reached 7,842. Cumulative Ebola cases in the three west African countries - Sierra Leone,...
01:25

Somalia says US airstrike kills al-Shabab leader

A US airstrike killed the intelligence chief of Somali terror group al-Shabab, Somalia's intelligence service said today. Abdishakur is the name of the slain leader, who is also known as Tahlil, a statement from the spy agency said, adding that the operation also killed two other al-Shabab...
01:24

Mumbai 'Dabbawala' leader Gangaram Talekar dead

Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association general secretary Gangaram Talekar passed away at a private hospital here today. Gangaram had recently undergone a bypass surgery. He got a heart attack this morning and passed away suddenly, said Raghunath Medge, Head of the Mumbai Tiffin Box...
01:23

Spokesman: George H.W. Bush returns home

Former President George H.W. Bush has been released from a Houston hospital after a stay of about a week for treatment of shortness of breath. Family spokesman Jim McGrath said today the 90-year-old Bush had left Houston's Methodist Hospital, was resting at home and was grateful to the doctors...
00:26

Jordanian pilot shown in ISIS' propaganda magazine

Do you know what the Islamic State (ISIS) will do with you? members of the terrorist group's propaganda wing ask their captive, who appears to be wearing an orange jumpsuit. Yes. They will kill me, the hostage replies.The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has just published in its latest...
00:24

Protests continue in Gujarat against Aamir Khan's 'PK'

Demanding a ban on Aamir Khan- starrer movie 'PK' for allegedly painting Hindu Gods and godmen in a bad light, right-wing outfits held protests in different parts of the state for the second day today. Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists tore and burnt 'PK' posters at Inox multiplex in...
00:24

Ebola nurse may be offered recovered patients' plasma

Nurse Pauline Cafferkey, who is battling Ebola at a London hospital, could be offered plasma from patients who have survived the virus.The treatment contains antibodies that should help fight the infection.British nurse William Pooley has donated plasma, Chief Medical Officer Dame Sally Davies...
00:23

Russian police arrest Kremlin critic Navalny at protest

Top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was detained by police today after he violated his house arrest to join a protest in Moscow over a guilty verdict against him and his brother in a controversial fraud case. Dozens of other people were also detained as hundreds gathered in central Moscow...
00:22

AirAsia flight QZ8501: Who were the victims?

Indonesia has confirmed AirAsia flight QZ8501, which went missing 28 December en route from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore, crashed in to the Java Sea.The Airbus A320-200 was carrying seven crew and 155 passengers, including 17 children. Almost all of them were Indonesians, with the exception...
00:19

Top headlines in that last 24 hours

Noted journalist B G Verghese dead3 bodies not 40 recovered in AirAsia search, says Indonesia rescue chief1 jawan injured in firing by Pak troops along LoCNo solution yet, says PDP as deadline nears for govt formation in J&K Kidnapping case used to jail Lashkar terrorist LakhviCharges against...