Live! Space travel dream just got a disastrous wake-up call

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Sun, 02 November 2014

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21:53 Space travel dream just got a disastrous wake-up call

Richard Branson has touted Virgin Galactics space flights as an adventure unlike any other.

"In the silent tranquility of space," he intones during a soaring promotional video, "you will experience weightlessness and views of our beautiful planet that will change your perception of life." While safety is mentioned, specific risks are not.

A fatal crash on Friday of Virgin Galactics SpaceShipTwo will move safety concerns into the discussion about space tourism.

The accident raises new questions about the oversight US regulators exert in the nascent field, in which at least three major companies hope to make space tourism commercially viable.

Elon Musks SpaceX seeks to make space travel routine -- and to become a key player in the colonization of Mars -- while Amazon founder Jeff Bezoss Blue Origin is researching technologies to make private space travel more affordable. Hotel titan Robert Bigelow is aiming to develop large living modules for space tourism and research.

Read more HERE

Slamming BJP on the black money issue, Aam Aadmi Party national spokesperson, Yogendra Yadav in Bhopal today alleged that the BJP government is following Congress on the issue.

"BJP is acting like Congress. It is working exactly the same way as the Congress and whatever it has done on the issue of black money is an example of it," Yadav told reporters.

"During Lok Sabha election campaigning, Modi said that it will bring back the black money and every person will get Rs 15 lakh if BJP comes to power. But BJP (after coming to power) is tackling the issue in the same manner as the previous UPA government," he said.

Yadav said that after becoming the Prime Minister, Modi has not yet informed how much black money was stashed in foreign countries, the names of black money holders and steps the government would take to bring it back.

He said that after the Lok Sabha elections and recently held Assembly polls in many states, a question arises whether

Congress would be able to survive as a national party.

"The way Congress is losing polls one after another in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Haryana, it remained an opposition party just for the namesake," he said.

Yadav said that the country needed a strong opposition party and therefore, people are looking at AAP as an alternative.

20:48 14 killed as bus falls into gorge in Chamba

At least 14 people were killed and 11 others got injured after a bus fell into a gorge in Himachal Pradesh's Chamba district.

The private bus carrying 25 people was on its way to Himri in Saluni region when the driver lost control over the wheel and it fell into 100 feet deep gorge.

While 12 people died on the spot, two others succumbed to their injuries at the hospital.

At least 37 people have been reported killed and 70 injured in a blast in a parking lot near the Wagah border post on the Pakistani side.

Pakistani media outlet Dawn News reported that the Rangers had cordoned off the for security reasons.

It also claimed that many shops and nearby buildings destroyed due to blast, which it suspected to be the handiwork of a suicide bomber.

Security and rescue personnel have rushed to the site of the blast. The injured have been rushed to hospital.

More details are awaited

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has proposed to do away with the need for sanction to probe the corruption cases where there is a prima facie evidence.

"Why should any sanction be necessary? We would make a framework...where preliminary inquiry is done and there is a prima facie evidence, no sanction should be taken. We would change the law," Fadnavis told a news channel today.

"There is no need for discretion (for initiating a probe) for corruption cases. When you find certain prima facie evidence, why should you stop?" Fadnavis said, when asked about whether he would allow the anti-corruption bureau to conduct inquiry against NCP leaders Ajit Pawar and Sunil Tatkare in connection with alleged scams in the irrigation sector.

It could also be noted that the then Maharashtra Governor had denied the CBI a sanction to prosecute former chief minister Ashok Chavan in the Adarsh Housing Society case.

When asked if he might become another Prithviraj Chavan who was accused of not acting against his corrupt colleagues, Fadnavis said, "I am not Prithviraj Chavan... I am Devendra Fadnavis. My actions would speak more than my words."

Bangladesh today launched a probe into the nationwide blackout, the worst since 2007, after a key transmission line supplying electricity from India broke down, plunging homes, businesses and even the Prime Minister's office into darkness.

"We have formed a technical committee to find out the specific reason for the power outage. We will comment after they report," state minister for power and energy Nasrul Hamid said.

There were loud cheers in the capital, Dhaka, as lights came back in phases.

The interconnection line used for transmission of 450 megawatts at Bheramara in Kushtia district, tripped yesterday, an official at Power Development Board (PDB) said.

The high-voltage transmission line runs from Baharampur in West Bengal, India, to Bheramara in south-west Bangladesh.

Bangladesh began importing electricity from India in October last year.

The outage was triggered by excessive electricity supply from India, Chief Engineer Power Grid Company of Bangladesh Aksad Ali was quoted as saying by the Dhaka Tribune.

"India normally supplies 250 MW to 350 MW to the High Voltage DC substation. But, the country supplied 444 MW power to the substation on yesterday that triggered the technical glitch," Ali was quoted as saying by the paper.

The sudden vacuum caused disruption of power generation at all plants across the country.

Terming the blackout as "blessing in disguise", Hamid said the government had decided to establish a backup of the entire system to avert any similar incident in the future.

On a day when media reported that Robert Vadra got a Rs 44-crore windfall gain in Haryana land deal, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today said law will take its own course in the matter.

"Law will take its own course," he said when asked by reporters here to comment on the land deals involving the company of Congress President Sonia Gandhi's businessman son-in-law.

Asked about other alleged land scams during the previous Congress government in the state, Khattar maintained that the law will take its own course.

A draft CAG report is believed to have found that Vadra had reaped nearly Rs 44 crore in windfall gains in land deals in Haryana during the Bhupinder Singh Hooda regime.

The report also said the Haryana government did not insist on recovering over Rs 40 crore of the profit he made by selling the land to DLF Universal.

Khattar was speaking to reporters after his Minister, Bikram Singh Yadav, assumed charge at the Haryana Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh.

Asked to comment on Vadra reportedly losing his cool and pushing the microphone of a reporter in Delhi when questioned about land deals involving his company, Haryana's Health Minister Anil Vij told reporters in Ambala that "one only reacts in such a manner and shows anger when one has something to hide".

Days after reports quoted her as having lavished praises on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former Delhi chief minister and Congress leader Sheila Dikshit has now said that she was not impressed by him.

In an interview to Karan Thapar for Headlines Today, Dikshit was asked whether Modi had impressed her and she replied saying that he was a confident man and one with a vision but he was yet to walk the talk.

"No, no... Its too early to say whether he impresses or not. I wouldn't say he impressed me, certainly not. My opinion of him was that he looked confident, and that was very natural for him to look confident... BJP has come on its own for the first time in the history of independent India," she said.

"Whether you agree with the vision... You will only agree with the vision, if the vision is put into practice... That hasn't happened as yet," she added.

Criticising the government's approach of announcing development programmes in quick succession, she said, "Every day or every second day, some programme comes out. We'll do this, make in India, acche din aayenge, this will happen, changes will be made, bureaucracy will move faster, no corruption, this and the other."

When asked is it too early to judge Modi's performance, she said, "Its not early for the simple reason that he looks like a man in a hurry. Otherwise normally what we have seen in this country a party has its manifesto, a Prime Minister is chosen. They take some time to do things... But there has to be an announcement every day."

The check-in system at terminal 1B of the domestic airport here collapsed today due to crashing of the server resulting in flight delays for some time causing inconvenience to passengers.

However, the system has now been restored and operations at the terminal are normal, a Mumbai International Airport Limited official said.

"The system remained down for 50 minutes due to which check-in could not take place through the computers and it was being done manually," he said.

The number of flights which got delayed due to the crashing of the system is yet to be ascertained, the official said.

Private carriers Jet Airways, SpiceJet and IndiGo operate flights from terminal 1B while national carrier Air India and budget carrier GoAir operate from terminal 1A of the city's domestic airport.

BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain was allegedly threatened over phone last night following which he has registered an FIR at the Parliament Street police station in New Delhi.

In his complaint, Hussain said he received two calls from a Dubai number when he was on his way to his residence in Delhi from the airport around 11:30 pm after he had returned from Patna.

The caller abused him for batting for the Narendra Modi government on television debates and asked him to leave the party or else face repercussions, and that even Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not be able to save him.

"We have registered a case under relevant sections and investigations have been taken up," said a senior police official.

16:33 Fadnavis to seek trust vote on Nov 12

A three-day session of the Maharashtra legislative assembly will be held from November 10 in which the Devendra Fadnavis-led government will seek a vote of confidence.

The trust vote will be sought on November 12 after all the newly elected MLAs take oath. The protem Speaker will be elected on November 10, according to sources in the Chief Minister's office.

Governor C Vidyasagar Rao has given Chief Minister Fadnavis 15 days from the day of swearing-in of his government to prove its majority in the 288-member House.

After the death of an MLA, BJP's strength in the assembly has come down to 121, but it has claimed support of all seven independents and six others from smaller parties.

The NCP with 41 MLAs has declared outside support to the BJP government and said it will abstain from voting on the trust motion if the 63-member Shiv Sena was to sit in the opposition, helping it sail through.

If Sena comes on board, the BJP government will have no problem proving its majority in the House.

An advertisement at the height of 452 metres at the world's tallest building Burj Khalifa in Dubai has broken the Guinness World Record, held in the US.

Sheikh Mansour bin Rashid Al Maktoum of Dubai World Hospitality Championship received the Guinness World Records certificate on the sidelines of the second edition of DWHC which concluded yesterday at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

The previous highest advertising was recorded in the US at the height of 310 metres.

Omar Amin, member of DWHC Organising Committee, said the unique advert was aimed to promote DWHC from the top of Burj Khalifa as the world's tallest tower attracts almost 150,000 visitors from across the world every month.

"Since Dubai attracts tourists from all over the world, DWHC is designed to offer an ideal platform to introduce the world Emirati cooking and hospitality with focus on the traditional popular dishes that the UAE has been long known for," Amin said, adding that the second edition of DWHC managed to attract over 25,000 visitors.

Amin said DWHC had received three Guinness World Records in its first edition last year for making the world's largest Aseeda - a dish made of a cooked wheat flour - at a weight of 2.8 tonnes, and largest pickled vegetables weighing 1.5 tonnes which took 19 men to make it in 166 hours using 1,520 litres of vinegar blended with herbs and 1579 kilos of vegetables.

The University Grants Commission has asked universities across the country to earmark funds to ensure a barrier-free environment for physically challenged students, seeking a status report within a fortnight.

The move comes against the backdrop of the Bombay High Court directing Chief Commissioners for Persons with Disabilities at the Centre to instruct educational institutions in the country to provide a barrier-free environment for disabled students by March 2015.

Barrier free education continues to remain a distant dream for thousands of physically challenged students despite communications, rules and guidelines framed from time to time.

As per statistics, 1.67 per cent of the 0-19 age population has a disability and less than one per cent of them have access to educational facilities.

'The (UGC) has decided that out of the General Development Assistance (GDA) grant provided to University/lnstitution/ College an amount of Rs one lakh would be spent for barrier-free education," said a UGC communication to all the vice chancellors, adding "the status report in this regard may be within 15 days".

Barrier-free environment for disabled students should include ramp, lift and washroom facilities to accommodate wheel chairs, the court specifically said.

The term "barrier-free" indicates an environment where all users irrespective of their physical disadvantages can enter, use or access the resources as and when they want.

In an unusual incident, a mouse in the cockpit of a Norwegian airline delayed a flight to New York by five hours.

The incident happened on Tuesday aboard a Norwegian Air Shuttle airplane when a mouse was spotted while the plane was preparing to take off.

Staff frantically began to search the cabin for the rodent, but the flight ended up being delayed by five hours until the mouse was finally captured, 'The Local' reported.

"A mouse was discovered aboard the plane, which delayed the departure," Norwegian Air Shuttle's spokesperson, Charlotte Holmberg Jacobsson, said.

According to Romerikes Blad, a local newspaper, Jacobsson said that mice are not often found aboard an aircraft.

"In such situations, a pest control company must board the plane. The mouse needs to be found and then removed. In addition we need to check the whole plane. There are cases of mice having chewed through cables or the like," Jacobsson said.

As probe into suspected black money stashed abroad by Indians gathers steam, banks in Switzerland are running from pillar to post to safeguard their interest while some are also considering financial provisions in their books for possible penal actions and legal costs.

At the same time, banks are also lobbying with the Swiss government to insist on putting in place necessary measures in their information-exchange and administrative assistance frameworks with India for safeguarding the interest of banking institutions during the subsequent prosecution and other legal or regulatory proceedings in the black money cases.

Sources, however, said that the role of some banks, as also that of certain bankers, has already come under scanner for acting in concert with the suspected black money hoarders and also for making 'safe haven' promises for their funds.

The suspected lapses on the part of at least three large European banks, including two from Switzerland itself and the third having a significant presence in the Alpine nation, are also being probed for allegedly facilitating re-routing funds of certain Indian corporate houses back into their listed companies as foreign investments.

Capital market watchdog Sebi is probing at least three large global banks and many Indian companies for alleged round tripping of funds by way of multi-layered transactions, while the regulatory noose has further tightened in these cases with involvement of other regulatory and enforcement agencies.

14:31 Bar bribe row: Vigilance to probe Kerala FM

Hit by the "bar bribe controversy", the Congress-led UDF Government in Kerala today announced a vigilance probe into the allegation by bar owners that state Finance Minister and Kerala Congress (M) supremo K M Mani had demanded a hefty sum for favourable decisions.

State Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said the Director of the Vigilance and Anti-corruption Bureau had been asked to conduct a 'preliminary inquiry" into the allegation.

Chennithala told reporters in Thrissur that the decision was taken on the basis of a letter from CPI(M) veteran V S Achuthanandan in his capacity as Opposition Leader in the state assembly.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, while sticking to his stand that no one would believe that Mani would ask for bribe, said the probe announced by Chennithala was a "legal procedure."

Dubbing the decision as ploy to deflect public attention, Achuthanandan demanded a CBI inquiry into the issue to ensure a free and independent inquiry into the allegation.

Biju Ramesh, working President of Kerala Bar Hotels Association, alleged that Mani had taken Rs one crore and demanded Rs five crore on the promise of reopening 418 closed bars.

14:18 Muharram: Curfew-like restrictions in Srinagar

Curfew-like restrictions were imposed in Srinagar city on Sunday to prevent people from taking out Muharram processions to mark the eighth day of the 10-day mourning period.

Strict prohibitory orders under section 144 were imposed in the areas falling under Shaheed Gunj, Batamaloo, Shergarhi, Karan Nagar, Maisuma, Ram Munshi Bagh, Kothi Bagh, Kralkhud and Parimpora police stations of the city, an official spokesperson said.

He said the restrictions in these areas were imposed to maintain law and order.

Police and CRPF personnel were deployed in large numbers in areas under prohibitory orders to prevent any unlawful activity.

Before the onset of militancy, the Shia community of the city used to take out processions from Abi Guzar in Kothibagh and Guru Bazaar in Kralkhud police station areas which culminated at Dalgate in Ram Munshi Bagh area to mark the eighth day of the 10-day Muharram mourning period.

However, these were banned in 1990 as authorities feared that militants can attack the processions.

13:07 Modi a 'great orator', says Kejriwal

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal says Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a "great orator" and has sent all the "right" messages but felt delivery of his promises were "very low".

Kejriwal also suggested that Modi as prime minister has brought some positivity in the country in the last five months, adding only time will tell whether the aspirations of the people will be fulfilled or not.

"He (Modi) is a great orator and he has spoken the right things. But delivery is very low. So let's see what happens," the former Delhi Chief Minister told PTI in an interview.

The leader of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), who had unsuccessfully challenged Modi in the Lok Sabha polls in Varanasi, criticised the NDA government for failing to keep its poll promises, saying people in the country were still yearning for change. However, he said the hopes of the people have not died down.

"They (NDA) have raised the hopes but they have been very poor on delivery so far. The hopes of the people have not died down. They still exist. People still feel things will change. But everybody says nothing has happened so far," said Kejriwal, who had led AAP to a stunning victory in assembly polls in December last year.

Launching a frontal attack on Congress President Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra for attacking a journalist, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy said on Sunday that Vadra should realize that his mother-in-law is no longer in power.

"He needs to realize that his mother-in-law is not in power any more. He is a thug, he doesn't need protection, and society needs to be protected from him. There is no law that says that the press will ask questions according to his liking. In fact, his SPG should also be withdrawn," said Swamy.

Yesterday, Vadra lost his temper and pushed an ANI reporter's mic away, when asked a question about the land deal scam. "Are you serious? Are you serious? Are you nuts? What is wrong with you," Vadra kept asking repeatedly.

Vadra and his security guards also threatened the reporter and asked him to turn off his camera at a private event held at the Ashoka Hotel.

In its efforts to make listed firms more responsible towards investors, Sebi may announce new insider trading norms as early as next week and also revamp the listing as well as delisting regulations.

The changes are being made after taking into account suggestions made by the industry and other stakeholders -- including market entities and investors -- and are aimed at protecting the interest of minority investors without making the regulatory compliance cumbersome for the companies.

These new norms -- to check insider trading menace, to enforce better compliance to continuous listing regulations and to revamp delisting norms for a faster and easier process for those desiring to delist from the stock market -- will be put up for approval of Sebi's board in its next meeting.

Sources said that the final sets of regulations in all these areas may be in place this month itself, beginning as early as next week.

The proposed tightening of norms assumes significance in the wake of Sebi coming across cases of insider trading at not just small companies, but at big corporates as well.

Besides, another set of new regulations would help Sebi take prompter and stricter action against the entities found to be violating listing norms.

Coal mining major Coal India today said the impact of the day-long strike call by four major trade unions on November 24 will not be "alarming".

"We will try that the strike does not takes place and will initiate a dialogue shortly. We think the impact will not be alarming. Mining through contractors will remain normal," Coal India director R Mohan Das told PTI.

The CIL management was banking on the possibility that Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh backed by the BJP would boycott the strike and its supporters might join work.

Coal India sources said BMS has influence in South Eastern Coalfields, Western Coalfields and partially in the Central Coalfields.

Four other trade unions affiliated to INTUC, HMS, CITU and AITUC had served a notice for one-day token strike on November 24, demanding scraping of the enabling clause from the Coal Mines Ordinance-2014, which allows commercial mining by private companies and divestment of at least 10 per cent stake in public sector miner among others.

Other trade unions, however, remained optimistic that despite BMS not being a signatory to the notice, they would support the strike call.

The government has notified a 33 per cent hike in natural gas prices, which have led to steep increase in CNG rates in states like Maharashtra and Gujarat.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on Friday issued a notification for implementation of a new pricing guidelines for all domestically produced natural gas effective from November 1.

"The gas price, determined, under these guidelines would be applicable to all gas produced from nomination fields given to ONGC and Oil India, New Exploration and Licensing Policy (NELP) blocks, such pre-NELP blocks where, the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) provides for government approval of gas prices and coal-bed methane (CBM) block," the notification said.

In a separate order, the ministry's pricing arm said: "The price of domestic natural gas for the period November 1, 2014 to March 31, 2015 is given hereunder: USD 5.05 per million British thermal unit on Gross Calorific Value (GCV) basis."

This price translates into a price of USD 5.61 per mmBtu on Net Calorific Value (NCV) basis, the same basis on which the previous rate of USD 4.2 per mmBtu was decided.

The heat generated by burning of fuel is measured in calorific value basis.

The price hike led to steep increase in compressed natural gas (CNG) rates in Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Mahanagar Gas Ltd, which retails CNG and piped cooking gas in Mumbai, hiked CNG prices by Rs 4.50 per kg to Rs 43.45.

Similarly, it also raised tariff for piped natural gas (PNG) supplied to households for cooking purposes by Rs 2.49 to Rs

26.58 per cubic meters.

11:44 Shah Rukh Khan turns 49, thanks fans

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan turned 49 today and thanked his admirers, who turned up in large numbers to celebrate his birthday outside his residence in Mumbai.

Shah Rukh, who is basking in the glory of his latest release Happy New Year, took to Twitter to express his gratitude.

"So many beautiful people outside Mannat. Thank you all for celebrating my birthday with such ownership and love. Very humbling...," Shah Rukh tweeted.

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who celebrated his actress daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai's birthday yesterday, also took to the micro-blogging site to wish the Chennai Express actor.

"A day of celebration... At home for the 'bahu' and out for the friend SRK.. Millions of wishes and people of merit around.!," Big B posted.

SRK's 'Happy New Year' co-star Boman Irani and Vivaan Shah also wished the actor on his birthday.

"It is a grace to be loved by millions that you have touched yet never met. I know I have surely 'met' you too. Happy birthday @iamsrk," Boman wrote.

The Department of Telecom has asked all mobile operators to collect 'Aadhaar' number along with customer application form for issuing new connections and store the unique identification number in their database.

The DoT has also asked the operators to amend their database in two months for adding the 'Aadhaar' number.

"It has been decided to collect Aadhaar number along with customer application form (CAF) of mobile telephone applications and store the same in the database along with other data," DoT sources said.

Sources added that the directive will be applicable in all cases irrespective of the fact that mobile connection is issued by taking 'Aadhaar' card or any other document as proof of identity and proof of address.

The government is also working with all stakeholders in resolving the issue regarding use of 'Aadhaar' card as a proof of address for procuring new SIM cards in its proposed online verification system.

"The issue regarding use of Aadhaar card as proof of address for procuring new SIM cards in its proposed online verification will be in place in next two months," Department of Electronics and IT (DeitY) Secretary R S Sharma said last week.

The Home Ministry had raised multiple concerns over using UIDAI number as an address proof in the DoT's proposed online verification system, citing possible issues in the supporting Aadhaar data.

Investigators looking into what caused the crash of a Virgin Galactic prototype spacecraft that killed one of two test pilots said a 5-mile path of debris across the California desert indicates the aircraft broke up in flight.

"When the wreckage is dispersed like that, it indicates the likelihood of inflight breakup," National Transportation Safety Board Acting Chairman Christopher A Hart said late last night.

Learning where aircraft parts fell will help investigators determine when and how the breakup occurred, he said.

The crash almost certainly dashed founder Richard Branson's goal of starting commercial suborbital flight next spring, but the mogul said that while he remained committed to civilian space travel "we are not going to push on blindly."

In grim remarks at the Mojave Air and Space Port, where the craft known as SpaceShipTwo was under development, Branson gave no details of Friday's accident and deferred to the NTSB, whose team began its first day of investigation yesterday.

11:39 FinMin to start budgetary exercise tomorrow

The Finance Ministry will start the budgetary exercise from Monday, with the Expenditure Secretary meeting various ministries starting with Law and Justice and Information & Broadcasting.

The ministry will finalise the revised estimates for 2014-15 and Budget estimates for 2015-16 for Plan and Non-Plan expenses.

The meetings with various ministries will go on till December 12, according to an office notice. They will delve on the performance of past programmes and schemes to check actual performance against the estimates or targets.

The departments would be required to give projected physical outcome during 2015-16 and 2016-17 and financial resources required for that.

The meetings will also discuss "any new expenditure commitments arising out of the policy change, and disbursal and availability of funds at various tiers of scheme implementation", the notice said.

As the BJP-led NDA came to power in May, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will present his first full Budget in February for the next financial year - April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016.

The Plan expenditure is the government spending on social sector schemes such as Bharat Nirman, rural employment guarantee scheme and National Rural Health Mission. Besides, it includes Centre's assistance to various states and Union Territories Plans.

11:38 DU students to be trained for Swachh campaign

Delhi University students will now be trained to work in the five villages adopted by the varsity as part of the Centre's Swacch Bharat campaign.

DU has adopted five villages -- Majra Dabas, Jatkhore, Sevapuri, Timarpur, Nandnagri -- on the outskirts of the northern part of the national capital to help fulfil cleanliness tasks there.

"We have tied up with Sulabh International (SI) to train 200 students in various aspects of cleanliness so that they can take forward the skills and practices to the adopted villages as peer educators," said Rajesh, HOD of DU's Adult Continuing Education and Extension (DACEE) wing.

The week-long training programme is being conducted by DACEE in coordination with the Swachh committee at DU and SI, an organisation which works in the area of sanitation and waste management.

"DU colleges have been asked to nominate five students each who will be trained under the programme to become 'certified trained volunteers'. They will further conduct cleanliness training programmes in the villages," he added.

Google is the world's most sought after employer in the world, followed by Apple and Unilever in the second and third places, respectively, according to a report by professional networking site LinkedIn.

The 'World's 100 Most InDemand Employers: 2014' was based on billions of interactions from LinkedIn's over 300 million members.

No Indian company made it to the coveted list, however, a significant number of them do have their presence in the country.

The list was dominated by American companies with as many as 63 'in-demand' companies were headquartered in the US.

Moreover, eight of the top 10 most sought after employers in the world are US based.

Besides Google, Apple and Unilever, other companies in the top 10 list include Microsoft (fourth), Facebook (fifth), Amazon (sixth), Procter & Gamble (seventh), GE (eighth), Nestle (ninth) and PepsiCo (10th).

A sector-wise analysis showed that the top three sectors that dominated the list include technology, telecom and media; followed by retail and consumer products and oil and energy.

As per the LinkedIn survey, around 15 per cent of in demand companies have fewer than 5,000 employees. The employee count for each company was based on the number of member profiles on LinkedIn associated with the company.

The CBI is likely to convert into FIRs the preliminary enquiries against Jindal Steel and Power Ltd and JSW Steel for alleged diversion of forest land for their plant in violation of norms and may also examine former environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan.

CBI sources said the agency may also include in the FIRs several senior environment ministry officials who were part of the clearance process.

They said the agency may also call Natarajan for questioning after registering the FIRs in these cases.

The sources said there were alleged irregularities in the allocation process as the environment ministry changed its position a number of times before the land was cleared in 2013.

The inquiry has been initiated against unknown officials of JSPL and environment ministry for alleged irregularities in the diversion of Saranda forest land in Jharkhand between 2007-13, they said.

Records with the state government and the Centre are being examined by CBI, the sources said.

They said that 512.43 hectares of ecologically-sensitive Saranda forest land in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand were diverted for the Ghatkuri Iron Ore mining lease project in favour of JSPL.

PM on Mann ki Baat: "Today I want to share something and I am sure the people trust me when I say this. It is about black money."

"Please trust this Pradhan Sevak. The issue is an article of faith for me."

"From what I am understanding & the information I have, I am telling you that we are in the right direction."

"I assure you that there will be no shortcomings in my effort. I want your blessings to remain. Will do everything."

Narendra Modi's second radio address on the state-owned All India Radio is underway.

Addressing countrymen during his Mann ki Baat programme, Modi says: "I am seeing that the young India is committed to do something and he or she is even doing something. I had shared some things with you in the last address. It is essential to change the mindset that everyone is bad."

"I urged people to purchase Khadi last time. I never said become Khadiwadi but I said buy some Khadi. There was increase in Khadi sale. I was told that Khadi sales increased by almost 125 per cent."

"Bharat from Satna, MP wrote on MyGov about his experience in the Railways on cleanliness. He said it was very gladdening. I am glad that people have decided that we will not let the nation become dirty."

"By cleaning the surroundings we are helping the poor the most. When the poor fall ill, it affects them a lot. We must serve the poor."

00:10 Boko Haram leader denies ceasefire deal

Boko Haram laughed off Nigeria's announcement of a ceasefire agreement, saying there is no such deal and the abducted schoolgirls have been converted to Islam and married off.

Nigerian officials announced two weeks ago that they had struck a deal with the Islamist terror group.The deal, the government said, included the release of more than 200 girls whose kidnapping in April at a boarding school in the nation's north stunned the world.

Syrian Kurds welcomed the arrival in Kobani of Iraqi Kurdish fighters with their heavy weapons, hoping they might tip the balance in the battle to defend the town against Islamic State, as U.S.-led air strikes continued to bomb the ultra-hardline group in Iraq and Syria.

Air strikes have helped to foil several attempts by the al Qaeda offshoot, notorious for its beheading of hostages, to take over Kobani. But they have done little to stop its advances, in particular in Sunni areas of western Iraq, where it has executed hundreds of tribesmen.

00:07 Iraqi officials: IS extremists execute 50

Islamic State group extremists lined up and shot dead at least 50 tribesmen and women in Iraq's Anbar province, officials said Saturday, the latest mass killing committed by the group.

The shooting happened late Friday in the village of Ras al-Maa, north of the provincial capital of Ramadi, Anbar councilman Faleh al-Issawi said.

Militants accused the men and women of the Al Bu Nimr tribe of retaliating against them after being displaced from their homes when the group seized the Anbar town of Hit last month, al-Issawi said.

Federal investigators are sifting through the wreckage of a private Virgin Galactic spaceship a day after the craft exploded and broke apart mid-flight, killing one pilot and seriously injuring the other.

The two pilots were the sole occupants of the SpaceShipTwo, which was in the testing phases to bring commercial spaceflight to tourists. The craft was carried aloft by an airplane on Friday and then dropped as part of a test flight.

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