Timeline Refresh
The wide body aircraft is powered by six turbofan engines and is the longest and heaviest airplane ever built, with a maximum takeoff weight of 640 tonnes, a statement said.
It also has the largest wingspan of any aircraft in operational service, the statement added.
Pic: The worlds largest cargo aircraft, Antonov AN -225 Mriya -- or the Dream, which made its first landing at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad. PTI.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu is personally monitoring the entire operation and has directed that the concerned officials to continue to run the trains till the time there is a need of water and the settlement of the operational expenses will never be a constraint in this regard, according to the statement by railways.
Till now more than 6 crore litres of water has been transported by the Railways from Miraj to Latur. Railway named these trains as Jaldoot to emphasize importance of this crucial endeavour.
According to railways, recently the Latur district administration requested Central Railway Administration to indicate the cost of water transportation by railways.
In response to this request, Central Railway shared the information on cost of operation in transporting the water. The settlement of expenditure is not relevant at this point of time as the most important matter is to continue uninterruptedly with the transportation of water to the people in their hour of need, the statement added.
Prabhu has further ordered that the estimate of expenditure which was sent to the Latur district administration, on their request, will be withdrawn immediately.
The issue of settlement of dues is being considered separately by the Railway Ministry," it said. Taking note of severe drought condition in Maharashtra, Prabhu took initiative and ordered the Railways to immediately make necessary arrangements for transportation of water in the drought affected areas of state.
Towards this end, Railway Board immediately arranged 100 tank wagons through its Kota Workshop and dispatched them to Maharashtra. Mumbai based Central Railway Zone geared up its machinery and directed its two Divisions namely Solapur and Pune to make arrangements for water transportation.
Women and Dalits often bear the brunt of such judgments, passed as punishment for perceived misdeeds such as marrying between castes or dressing immodestly.
The state last month passed the law against a decades-old practice of village panchayats, or councils, ordering social boycotts.
"The Act was required against the backdrop of atrocities inflicted on people in the name of tradition, caste and community," said Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis."It is necessary to prohibit social boycotts as a matter of social reform in the interest of public welfare," he said.Under village council orders, individuals and families have been banished from the community, and denied access to temples, wells, markets and celebrations.
In some cases, panchayats have even branded women as witches, and ordered gang rapes or killings as punishment.Maharashtra's new law declares social boycotts a crime punishable by up to seven years in prison, a fine of Rs 500,000 or both.Human rights campaigners called for other states to follow Maharashtra's example.
"The law will help check caste crimes to some extent. It empowers lower-caste people and it empowers human rights organisations, as it gives us a tool with which to fight against village panchayats," said Irfan Engineer, director of the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism in Mumbai."
Representational image.
Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank in October last year wrote a column predicting the demise of the 69-year-old billionaire's presidential ambitions. The headline of the column read, "Trump will lose, or I will eat this column."
"Literally: The day Trump clinches the nomination I will eat the page on which this column is printed in Sunday's Post," Milbank wrote last year. "I have this confidence for the same reason (Mitt) Romney does: Americans are better than Trump," he had said.
The Post writer, of course, was proven wrong earlier this month, when Trump became the Republican party's presumptive nominee after the Indiana primary. Milbank delivered on his headline's promise on Wednesday.
The Washington Post carefully curated a nine-course meal to document the occasion including newspaper chilaquiles, dumplings, falafel, steaks, the way Trump likes them, and even a Trump Tower-inspired taco bowl. The dishes, prepared by the head chef at Washington's Del Campo restaurant, Victor Albisu, creatively incorporated newspaper pages into the recipes -- with some of the ink "mercifully well-ground" into the steak's chimichurri sauce, or sprinkled into the guacamole topping the taco bowl, or mixed into the chickpeas of the falafel, CBS News reported.
To wash it all down, there were also some Trump wines. Milbank consumed it all on a live Facebook video stream. Later, Milbank said the experience "actually turned out not to be too bad at all."
"It was not all that painful. And certainly not anywhere near as painful as it's going to be over the next six months," he told Facebook viewers. "I didn't think Trump was a flash in the pan. It was a showman who would - should not be taken seriously. I thought he definitely should be taken seriously. I thought the Republican voters ultimately would say we don't want this kind of guy representing us," Milbank was quoted as saying by National Public Radio. "And in the end, only 38 per cent did vote for Trump, but there never really was a mainstream viable alternative. So they wound up with Trump," he said. Trump, a New York-based real estate tycoon, joined politics about 10 months ago with political pundits giving him not much of a chance to make it this far.
This comes after two JNU students challenged their rustication from the university. Following this, eight more, including JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar, approached the Delhi High Court challenging the varsity's disciplinary action against them.
Apart from Kanhaiya, the others who have challenged the order of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) against them are Ashwati A Nair, Aishwariya Adhikari, Komal Mohite, Chintu Kumari, Anwesha Chakraborty and two others.
Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya moved the court earlier this week against their rustication. Umar has also been slapped with a fine of Rs 20,000, while Anirban has been barred from JNU campus for five years from July 23.
Kanhaiya who, along with Anirban and Umar, was accused of sedition for the controversial event of February 9, was slapped with a fine of Rs 10,000 by the varsity. Varying actions, ranging from rustication, debarment from the varsity and fines, were taken against them and several other students based on a high-level enquiry committee's (HLEC) report regarding the controversial incident that had occurred on February 9 at JNU.
The aim is to create awareness about economic, social and cultural benefits of IPRs among all sections of society, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Friday while briefing reporters about Thursday's Cabinet decisions.
The Minister also let out that by 2017, the window for trademark registration will be brought down to one month.
"The policy aims to create and exploit synergies between all forms of intellectual property (IP), statutes concerned and agencies," he said.
According to Jaitley, there are seven objectives that guided the policy mechanism, which include IPR public awareness, stimulation of generation of IPRs, need for strong and effective laws and strengthening enforcement and adjudicatory mechanisms to combat infringements.
The policy also puts a premium on enhancing access to healthcare, food security and environmental protection.It is expected to lay the future road map for intellectual property in India, besides putting in place an institutional mechanism for implementation, monitoring and review.
The idea is to incorporate global best practices in the Indian context and adapt to the same.
Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said he will be part of the delegation, which includes Ahmed Patel, Motilal Vohra and possibly Digvijaya Singh. The delegation will go to the Election Commission with a written complaint against the Prime Minister.
The Election Commission is going to give us time shortly and we will go today with a written complaint against the completely false and misleading utterance of the Prime Minister contrary to the model code of conduct, misleading the people of Kerala during election, he said.
Asserting that the Prime Minister was not only insulting Kerala but deliberately the people of the state as well, Singhvi added Kerala is far superior than Gujarat as far as social indicators are concerned.
We dont say so, but in doing so he is demeaning all other states of India which have equal or better indicators, he said.
This development comes after Chief Minister Oommen Chandy yesterday hinted at legal action against the Prime Minister for his unwarranted remark.
"We condemn this. This is an insult to the people of Kerala. We were expecting a clarification, apology from the PM, but he didn't'. Comparison of Kerala with Somalia made by the PM is devoid of facts. The Kerala Government took a serious note of this and is considering taking a legal action the Prime Minister," Chandy said.
The Chief Minister had earlier written a hard-hitting letter to the Prime Minister and requested him to show some 'political decency' by withdrawing the statement as they are 'baseless and contrary to ground realities'.
"This is unbecoming of a prime minister and has created a great deal of agony and protest," he said while referring to the statement.
Addressing an election rally in the poll-bound state earlier, Prime Minister Modi had compared Kerala with Somalia.
"The situation with the child death ratio among Scheduled Tribes in Kerala is scarier than even Somalia. Recently, one came across a tragic picture in the media. In Peravoor, which is seen as a stronghold of the Communist party, where it has always won, there, Scheduled Tribe children were seen foraging for food in a garbage dump," he said.
Speculation is rife about the change in plan. Reasons being bandied around include: the upcoming Union cabinet reshuffle, the Uttarakahand ordinance, a decision on NEET... all erroneous. Here's what sources at the President's Secretariat told us.
President Mukherjee wanted an in-depth briefing on his proposed
visit to China, which is scheduled between May 24 and May 27. the visit will be at once, political, diplomatic and bilateral, and will take at least three to four days.
With just a few days left for the visit, the President decided to return to New Delhi from Varanasi late Thursday night.
Pic: A file photo of President Mukherjee during Durga puja celebrations at his ancestral home in West Bengal in 2011.
Congress senior leader Divijaya Singh said today, "Want to tell Centre that we know you want to save Malegaon accused and you have connections with them. But don't malign the name of Shaheed Hemant Karkare. Centre including PM wants to save the people involved in terror activities."
Today, Aditya's friends who were in the car with him when he was shot, recorded their statements. The friends said that Rocky Yadav was driving a silver Landrover SUV when he shot at them and killed Aditya.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had said on Monday that his government would not spare anyone found guilty and stern action would be taken as no one is above the rule of law.
Read the review on Rediff.com.
According to the NIA, the investigation has failed to find any substantial evidence that establishes the Sadhvi's involvement in the blast. The watering down of charges against her may set the stage for her early release from jail.
The NIA is also likely to tell the court that evidence against the key accused, Colonel Prasad Purohit, were fabricated and the investigation led by former Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare was flawed.
Brazil's unassailable standing as the world's biggest supplier of cows of Indian origin both for beef products and for the dairy industry was a critical factor which ruled out its now-suspended President Dilma Rousseff as chief guest at the Republic Day this year in favour of French President Francois Hollande. Read more
Azhar stars Emraan Hashmi in the titular role with Prachi Desai essaying the role Naureen. Watch this space for the film review.
The court added, "The government is obligated to implement MNREGA, and states have to comply. There is no denying foodgrain on PDS for lack of documentation. States have to follow RBI guidelines on restructuring crop loans."
On Wednesday, the court said that Bihar,Gujarat and Haryana were hesitant to even acknowledge, leave alone address, a drought or a drought-like situation.
In a scathing 53-page verdict on the lack of will shown by the Centre and States in combating drought and saving lives, SC pronounced the Centre guilty of washing its hands of a national disaster that consumed one-fourth of the country. It also pulled up Gujarat, Bihar and Haryana for adopting an ostrich-like attitude towards declaring drought and driving their own people to suicide, starvation and mass migration.
Nearly two weeks after some JNU students began an indefinite hunger strike demanding revocation of the punishments meted out to them by the university, JNU Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar Wednesday met them and urged them to end the strike as the matter was "subjudice'.
The V-C's move came after students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya moved the Delhi High Court, challenging the punishment given to them for their alleged involvement in the February 9 incident on campus.
The petitioners comprise prominent leaders cutting across party lines, such as BJP MP Subramanian Swamy, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal , among others.
They have contended that Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code, which prescribe a maximum sentence of two years' imprisonment for defamation, were outdated and inconsistent with the citizens' right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.
Many media organisations, including the Editors' Guild of India, have also demanded that defamation be decriminalised because it has a "chilling effect" on free speech.
The Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) criminalise defamation. Defamatory acts can include words either spoken or intended to be read, signs or visible representations, which are published/in the public domain. The offence can earn punishment of up to 2 years imprisonment, fine or both.
Twenty-four petitions were filed by various people alleging violation of the fundamental right to free speech guaranteed by the Constitution, as criminal sanction can cause a chilling effect.
Rajya Sabha, which was adjourned for the day on Thursday as a mark of respect towards sitting Congress member Praveen Rashtrapal who passed away, is sitting today to complete its original schedule. A decision was taken on Wednesday to curtail the session of Lok Sabha by two days and Rajya Sabha by one day. Accordingly, the session in Lok Sabha was on Wednesday brought to an end, two days before its scheduled culmination. According to the plan, the Rajya Sabha was also to be adjourned sine die on Thursday after the customary farewell speech as 53 Rajya Sabha MPs have retired from the House.
A number of those retired have been renominated. The Budget Session of Parliament had begun on February 23 and concluded on March 16. There was the scheduled recess between the first and second part. However, the session was prorogued to allow promulgation of an Ordinance to bring and pass a Vote on Account for Uttarakhand, which was under President's rule.
Earlier, the agency made it clear that key accused in the case Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur will not be named in the chargesheet as no proof of her involvement in the crime can be found.
The agency will also drop Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act charges against other accused and will charge them under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act instead.
Her plea will be heard on Monday.
The police today sent the seized alcohol from Devi's residence to Patna lab for investigation.
The Police also said that it will soon seize Devi's properties, if she does not surrender.
An arrest warrant was issued against Devi on Wednesday for violating prohibition laws and allegedly harbouring her fugitive son who has been held in the road rage murder case in Bihar.
The MLC, whose jailed husband Bindi Yadav is an alleged history-sheeter, is on the run after an arrest order was issued against her by a Gaya court after the police sought the warrant for seizure of liquor bottles and allegedly hiding from the police information about the whereabouts of her son till he was arrested in the wee hours on Tuesday.
Inspector Ram Gopal Meena, 45, from Rajasthan was shot allegedly by Umesh Prasad Singh using his service rifle, police said.
Meena was rushed to a hospital, but he succumbed to injuries on the way. The incident occurred around 11.30 PM. The BSF personnel, who had come to Kerala as part of central forces for deployment during election, were staying at the Islamic Academy, a higher secondary school at Kottakal near Vatakara in Kozhikode district.
The petitioners had argued that the criminal defamation under these sections of the IPC travelled beyond constitution's article 19(2) that imposes reasonable restriction on the freedom of speech and expression.
The verdict was reserved on August 13 last year after bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Prafulla C Pant heard the matter spread over a month.Swamy and Gandhi have been charged with criminal defamation under Sections 499 and 500 of the IPC for their political speeches made in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra respectively, while Kejriwal is facing cases under the same provisions lodged by BJP's Nitin Gadkari and others.
'He said a few months ago, 'I will not come back from Syria, unless a martyr or carrying the flag of victory'. He is the top commander Mustafa Badreddine. And he came back today as a martyr,' the Shiite movement said in a statement carried by the Al-Manar TV channel.
He was one of five figures from Hezbollah accused of the assassination of Rafic Hariri, the former prime minister of Lebanon.
The chargesheet is likely to mention that the investigation conducted by former Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad chief Hemant Karkare, later killed in the 26/11 terror attack, was flawed, that the evidence produced against Colonel Prasad Purohit, another key accused, had been fabricated, and statements of witnesses were taken under duress, reported the Indian Express.
In all likelihood, the chargesheet will state that the ATS planted explosives in Purohit's living quarters at the Deolali Army camp at the time of his arrest in 2008.
In his application, Bhujbal has cited health reasons for seeking bail, saying it is not possible to treat him at the Arthur Road jail in Mumbai.
Bhujbal, along with his nephew Sameer Bhujbal was arrested in March by the Enforcement Directorate, for alleged money laundering in connection with the Maharashtra Sadan scam.