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Sun, 01 March 2015
Live! 34 more fall prey to swine flu; toll climbs to 1,075

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21:20   34 more fall prey to swine flu; toll climbs to 1,075
Swine flu has claimed 34 more lives as the nationwide toll from the H1N1 virus touched 1,075 with the number of cases of the disease inching towards the 20,000 mark. 

Health Ministry figures said that 1,075 persons have perished from the disease while the number of those affected by swine flu stands at 19,972 till yesterday.
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20:15   Guwahati: 2 NDFB-S terrorists involved in Adivasi carnage held
K Anurag reports from Guwahati: 

In a joint operation conducted by Army and Kokrajhar police, two hardcore DFB(S)  terrorists suspected to be involved in December 23, 2014, massacre of Adivasi villagers, were apprehended in Kokrajhar district of western Assam today.  

A defence spokesman informed that both the terrorists were trained in Myanmar. The apprehended terrorists were identified as Sumkwr Mushahary @ Sugum and Swmkwr Basumatray. 
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19:18   Swine flu claims 10 more lives in Gujarat, toll reaches 275
Swine flu claimed 10 more lives in Gujarat today taking the toll to 275 since January this year. 

Beside the 10 deaths, 247 new cases were also recorded across the state today taking the total number of cases in Gujarat to 4,614 so far, an official statement said.
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19:16   Kejriwal assures traders against harassment
Amidst reports that the Delhi government has asked the VAT commissioner to take steps to boost revenue, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today sought to dispel the fears of traders in this regard and said that the stepping up of the target would not lead to their harassment by way of raids. 

He also said that his government was exploring the possibility of bringing down VAT rates in Delhi so that it was the lowest in the country.
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18:08   Avalanches: PM offers help to Afghan in rescue, relief efforts
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today wrote to Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani to condole the loss of lives in avalanches in different parts of that country and offered help in rescue and relief efforts.
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17:28   Thousands to join march over slain Russian opposition leader
Thousands of Russians prepared today to march through central Moscow in memory of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov who was gunned down near the Kremlin in the highest-profile assassination of Vladimir Putin's rule. 

Friday's murder of the 55-year-old former first deputy prime minister under Boris Yeltsin came ahead of a major opposition rally he had planned to lead. It plunged his shocked supporters into mourning, and prompted international condemnation led by US President Barack Obama.
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17:26   RSS reiterates demand to enact anti-conversion law
Amid the raging row over Mohan Bhagwat's remarks on Mother Teresa, RSS today reiterated its demand for an anti-conversion law to check the "rising incidents" of religious conversions in the country. 

Suhasrao Hiremath, the Akhil Bharatiya Saha Seva Pramukh of RSS made the remarks at a press conference called to announce an upcoming mega event, a congregation of around 800 social service organisations affiliated to the outfit, in the capital.
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17:06   Zimbabwean Prez Mugabe celebrates birthday with 'elephant' on menu
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has celebrated his 91st birthday with elephant on the menu for guests at the lavish one million pound bash.

According to the Mirror, two young elephants were shot and feasted on by the President's 20,000 guests while the country's poor struggle to scrape a living.
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16:26   Sonam Kapoor returns to Mumbai for Swine flu treatment
Haresh Pandya reports from Rajkot: 

Hindi film actress Sonam Kapoor, who was diagnosed with symptoms of swine flu on Saturday while shooting at Rajkot in Gujarat, flew back to Mumbai on Sunday morning for further treatment.   

She was flown to Mumbai by a special air ambulance along with her mother Sunita Kapoor, who had arrived in Rajkot on Saturday evening.

Sonam's mother was briefed by critical care expert, Dr. Chirag Matrawadiya, of the city's Sterling Hospital.

Photograph: Haresh Pandya
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15:00   Owaisi demands quota for backward Muslims in Maharashtra
All India Majlis Ittehad ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi today demanded reservation for backward Muslims in government jobs and educational institutes in Maharashtra. 

"Mr Prime Minister, in your speech in Parliament, you referred to your vision of 'Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas' (together with all, development for all). Therefore, you (PM) should pick up the phone and tell Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to extend the benefit of quota to backward Muslims so as to improve their living conditions," he said.
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13:55   First 'space selfie' sells for nearly 6,000 pounds at auction
The first 'selfie' taken in space by NASA astronaut Buzz Aldrin in 1966 has fetched almost 6,000 pounds - ten times its estimate - at an auction here. The space selfie was part of a collection of 700 vintage NASA photographs that sold for a total of 489,440 pounds at London's Bloomsbury Auction.
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13:44   'Jihadi John relatives under watch in Kuwait'
Kuwaiti authorities are closely monitoring several relatives of "Jihadi John" who live and work in the Gulf emirate where the Islamic State executioner was born, press reports said today. 

A number of relatives of Mohammed Emwazi, named as the militant who has beheaded at least five Western hostages, are working in Kuwait and like him hold British citizenship, Al-Qabas newspaper reported. 

"Security agencies have taken the necessary measures to monitor them round the clock," the paper said, citing an "informed source."
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13:33   Prince William gets close look at tsunami disaster in Japan
Britain's Prince William stood atop a hill today in northeastern Japan, stretched below him barren land known as the "Bay of Destruction," where a tsunami swept ashore four years ago. 

On the last leg of his four-day visit to Japan, William laid a bouquet near a shrine gate that overlooks the bay to commemorate the victims.
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13:01   Arun Singh to US after PM's visit to France
India has named Arun Singh, currently its Ambassador to France, as its next top envoy to the US and has send an agrment in this regard to the American government. 

A 1979-batch IFS officer, Singh will be replacing S Jaishankar, who was appointed as Foreign Secretary on January 28 this year. According to officials, government was looking at Mohan Kumar, Indian Ambassador to Bahrain as a possible replacement of Singh.
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12:38   Omar congratulates Mufti Mohammed Sayeed on becoming J-K CM
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today congratulated Mufti Mohammed Sayeed on succeeding him as the head of the state government. 

"Congratulations to Mufti Mohd Sayeed Sb (sic) on assuming the office of CM of J&K. I wish you all the very best for your term as CM," Omar wrote on micro-blogging site twitter.com.
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11:57   Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia to trial new jet tracking system
Australia today said it was trialling a "world first" system with Malaysia and Indonesia that increases the tracking of aircraft over remote oceans, allowing authorities to quickly react to abnormal situations such as the disappearance of MH370.

It raises the minimum tracking rate for planes flying over remote oceans to 15 minutes from current intervals of 30 to 40 minutes.

The technology "can increase realtime monitoring should an abnormal situation arise," Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said.
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11:41   Sajjad Lone takes oath as minister
Separatist-turned-politician and People's Conference leader Sajjad Lone has joined the J&K government.

Abdul Rehman Bhatt Veeri, Chander Prakash, Javed Mustafa Mir, Abdul Haq Khan and Bali Bhagat also take oath as Ministers in PDP-BJP govt of J&K. 

The PDP has dubbed the coalition -- which both sides had been arduously working towards for the last two months -- as a "bringing together of North Pole with South Pole".
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11:37   MP minister wants law allowing people to keep tigers as pets
In a bizarre suggestion, a senior Madhya Pradesh minister has sought a law that allows people to domesticate or keep as pets big cats like lions and tigers for their conservation. 

Animal Husbandry, Horticulture and Food Processing Minister Kusum Mehdele, in a proposal sent to the state's forest department, has cited legal provisions in some African and South-East Asian countries like Thailand which have helped bring about an increase in the population of the big cats.
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11:28  
Mufti Mohammad Sayeed swearing-in: 

PM Narendra Modi, BJP leaders L K Advani, M M Joshi, Amit Shah and PDP's Mehbooba Mufti present at swearing-in ceremony. BJP's Lal Singh takes oath in Dogri language as Ministerin J&K Govt.
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11:24   Mufti Mohammad Sayeed takes oath as J&K chief minister
People's Democratic Party Mufti Mohammad Sayeed took oath as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, bringing to an end the 49-day Governor's rule in the state. 

He is leading a historic alliance with the BJP, which will be part of a government in the state for the first time. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is attending the ceremony.

The prominent faces in the cabinet are likely to be PDP leaders Haseeb Drabu, Abdul Rehman Veeri and Naeem Akhtar and BJP's Kavinder Gupta and Bali Bhagat.
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00:39   Boris Nemtsov: Final interview given by Putin critic before his murder
Boris Nemtsov, who was murdered last night outside the Kremlin, had given an interview to radio station Ekho Moskvyat 8.07 pm on Friday less than four hours before he was killed.

Read complete interview HERE.
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00:08   ISIS 'barbarians' will not destroy our history: Iraq PM
During the reopening of the Baghdad Museum on Saturday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi made one thing clear: The artwork that epitomizes Iraq's culture and history will not be wiped away by anyone or anything, including ISIS.

"They are trying, with their barbarism and arrogance, to destroy the inheritance of humanity, the inheritance of Iraqi people and their civilization, [the] same way they destroyed humans," al-Abadi said. "I want to send clear message from here in Baghdad, that we will preserve this human civilization and its inheritance, and we will pursue those who are trying to destroy it."

Read full story HERE.

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