Haryana govt renames Ballabhgarh-Sohna road as Sardar Ballabhbhai Patel Marg

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar (Photo:

The Haryana government has renamed the Ballabhgarh-Sohna road as Sardar Ballabhbhai Patel Marg.

While giving this information here on Wednesday, an official spokesman said that a proposal to this effect has been approved by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

He said that with this, the long standing demand of the people of the area has been fulfilled.

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Police hike reward for tracing JNU student to Rs.5 lakh

Representational Image (Photo: AFP)

The Delhi Police on Wednesday hiked the award money from Rs.2 lakh to Rs.5 lakh for information about Jawaharlal Nehru University student
Najeeb Ahmed, who went missing last month.

“This order will come into force with immediate effect and shall remain
good till the case is worked out or the missing person is traced,” a
police statement said.

“Allout efforts were made to trace the missing student but no clue has
surfaced yet,” the statement said.

The case was last week transferred from South District Police to the Crime
Branch for more intensive probe.

“Police Commissioner Alok Kumar Verma has enhanced the award money to Rs 5
lakh for information about Najeeb Ahmed,” Joint Commissioner of Police
(Crime Branch) Ravindra Yadav confirmed.

Najeeb, a first year M.Sc. Biotechonoloy student, went missing from the
Jawaharlal Nehru University campus on October 15 after a tiff allegedly with
members of the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad.

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We’ll be all right: Tom Hanks on post-election fears

Tom Hanks (PHOTO: Facebook)

Americans are going to be “alright”, actor Tom Hanks said, albeit without a mention of Donald Trump’s victory as the US President.

Hanks, at an event at the Museum of Modern Art’s film department on Tuesday night, spoke of the despair many in the entertainment industry feel about Trump’s election as president, reports variety.com.

While he never mentioned Trump by name, Hanks said: “We are going to be all right. America has been in worse places than we are at right now. In my own lifetime, our streets were in chaos, our generations were fighting each other tooth and nail and every dinner table ended up being as close to a fist fight as human families will allow.

“We have been in a place where we have looked at our leaders and wondered what the hell they were thinking of. We’ve had moments with the administrations and politicians and senators and governors in which we have asked ourselves ‘Are they lying to us or do they really believe in this?’ That’s all right.

“We have this magnificent thing that is in place. It’s a magnificent document and it starts off with these phrases that if you’re smart enough you’ve memorized in school or you just read enough to that you know it by heart, or you watched those little things on ABC where they taught you a little songs in order to sing. and the song goes (singing): ‘We the people/in order to form a more perfect union/established to ensure domestic tranquility/to provide for the common defense/promote the general welfare,’ and you go on and on. That document is going to protect us over and over again whether or not our neighbours preserve, protect and defend it themselves.

“We are going to be all right because we constantly get to tell the world who we are. We constantly get to define ourselves as Americans. We do have the greatest country in the world. We move at a slow pace. We have the greatest country in the world because we are always moving towards a more perfect union.

“That journey never ceases, it never stops. Sometimes, to quote a Bruce Springsteen song, it’s one step forward two steps back, but we still aggregately move forward. We who are a week into wondering what the hell just happened will continue to move forward. We have to choose to do so, but we will move forward because if we do not move forward. What is to be said of us?

‘We will take everything that has been handed to us as Americans and we will turn our nation and we will turn the future and we will turn all the work that we have in before us into some grand thing of beauty,” Hanks said in his monologue.

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Char Dham pilgrimage registers 70% growth in Uttarakhand

Badrinath shrine, Himalayas, Badrinath Temple

Badrinath Temple (Photo: Facebook)

The annual Char Dham pilgrimage season of Uttarakhand concluded on Wednesday with the portals of Badrinath temple closing for the winter break.

This year the religious tourism to Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri witnessed an impressive 70 per cent growth from last year.

The Char Dham Yatra to famous Hindu shrines- Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunatori- are considered the backbone of Uttarakhand economy.

This year over 13.59 Lakh devotees visited the four holy Hindu shrines in Uttarakhand Himalayas- compared to 7.96 Lakh visited last year.

This time 2.83 Lakh pilgrims visited Gangotri, 1.54 Lakh Yamunotri, Kedarnath 3.09 and Badrinath 6,12 Lakh. Last year Gangotri had attracted 1.60 Lakh, Yamunotri 1.22 Lakh, Badrinath 3.59 Lakh and Kedarnath 1.54 Lakh.

Uttarakashi Hotel Association’s president Ajay Puri says, “The seasons picked up the pace immediately after the portals of four Hindu shrines were thrown open for the pilgrims. After that it maintained the pace, so this year we have witnessed an impressive growth.”

Tourism in Kedarnath, which became the epi-centre of the 2013 disaster, is fast returning to normalcy.

The year the one dozen odd aviation companies played key role in making the tour of the visitors comfortable in Kedarnath.

Rather than undertaking the 22 km trek or opting for mule/palanquin, pilgrims opted for the air pilgrimage.

The growing popularity of choppers in Kedarnath has created panic among the locals. As Rakesh Goswami of Gaurikund says, “Now the tourist complete his/her pilgrimage in quick time due to the air service. They don’t stay in any halting place to Kedarnath, this tread has caused big loss to local hoteliers on Kedarnath route.”

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat attended the closing ceremony of the Badrinath shrine in district Chamoli on Wednesday.

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Trump tapped into a ‘troubling’ strain: Obama

President Barack Obama (Photo: AFP)

President Barack Obama has issued a warning against “crude nationalism” in the wake of Donald Trump’s victory, saying the New York billionaire had tapped into a “troubling” strain of rhetoric playing on Americans’ fears of globalisation to win the presidency.

Speaking in Athens, Obama on Tuesday said he recognised an “anger and fear in the American population” over threats of mechanisation and globalisation, but that Republican officials did not use facts when making their case about the US economy, CNN reported.

“You’ve seen some of the rhetoric among Republican elected officials and activists. Some of it is pretty troubling and not necessarily connected to facts, but being used effectively to mobilise people,” Obama said at a news conference alongside Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

“And obviously, Trump tapped into that particular strain within the Republican Party and then was able to broaden that enough and get enough votes to win the election.”

Obama said countries across Europe, as well as the US, were confronting populist movements based on a fear of intruding global forces, arguing people “are less certain of their national identities or their place in the world”.

He said leaders should heed lessons from results in the US and in Britain, which in June voted to exit the European Union.

“It starts looking different and disorienting. And there is no doubt that has produced populist movements, both from the left and the right,” Obama said.

“That sometimes gets wrapped up in issues of ethnic identity or religious identity or cultural identity. And that can be a volatile mix.”

The outgoing President said Americans must guard against those trends during Trump’s presidency, and insisted he, too, would speak out against divisive language even after he leaves office.

Obama is on a week-long, three-stop foreign swing that has taken new urgency following Trump’s election.

Obama is the first US president to visit Greece in 17 years, and he focused intently on the debt situation and the influx of refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war.

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Declined 80 scripts before ‘Jayammu Nischayammu Raa’: Srinivas Reddy

Srinivas Reddy (PHOTO: Facebook)

Comedian Srinivas Reddy proved himself in a leading role with 2014 Telugu horror hit Geethanjali. Two years later, as he gears up to play the protagonist in forthcoming release Jayammu Nischayammu Raa, he says had to turn down 80 scripts before signing on the dotted line for this project.

“Post ‘Geethanjali’, I was flooded with offers to play the hero. On an average, I was reading about two scripts a day and by the time I had given my nod to ‘Jayammu Nischayammu Raa’, I must have easily turned down about 80 scripts,” Srinivas said.

It was through a friend’s reference that he heard the script of Shiva Raj Kanumuri-directed Jayammu Nischayammu Raa.

“When I met Shiva for narration, he told me actor JD Chakravarthy suggested me for this film. I was shocked because I have never worked with him and don’t even know him personally. But I was curious to know why he thought this script would suit me,” he said.

Srinivas says he couldn’t agree more with Chakravarthy when he heard the story.

“We spent about half a day discussing the characters and I fell in love with the story. It didn’t take me much time to realize the potential of Shiva, and his passion to make the film with his life’s savings. He had a plush job in London, and he left that to make films,” he added.

Even the budget shot up by three times. But Srinivas didn’t let that pressure affect him nor the team.

“The confidence all of us had in the film didn’t worry us about anything else. It only made us even more passionate and it pushed us to work harder,” he said.

Does he want to continue playing lead roles?

“I want to be known as an actor. It’s more important than going after the hero image. Even my Twitter bio reads that I’m an actor,” he said.

“When director Koratala Siva recently saw the film, he told me that there are moments in the film that will elevate my image as a lead hero. I didn’t consciously try to behave like a hero in these scenes. I just acted like I usually do,” he explained.

The film also stars Poorna, Posani Krishna Murali and Krishna Bhagwan in important roles.

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Love and Love Only: Ilayaraja goes international

Music maestro Ilayaraja (PHOTO: Facebook)

Music maestro Ilayaraja, who has worked on over 1,000 Indian films in his illustrious career spanning over four decades, will be making his English debut with cross-cultural romantic drama Love and Love Only.

He has composed 21 tracks for the self-funded debut production of Indian-Australian filmmaker Julian Karikalan.

“Anyone who has grown up listening to Raja sir’s music, wouldn’t miss an opportunity to work with him,” Julian said.

When stumbled upon a video link where Ilayaraja expressed his interest to work with deserving newcomers, Julian decided to approach him.

Given the budget of the film, was he sure he could afford the legendary composer?

“The kind of budget on which I started my film, he was definitely not affordable. But I decided to increase my budget, if he would agree to come on board. Thankfully, it was needed as Raja sir was aware of the shoestring budget of the film and agreed to charge very less,” he said.

Asked what excited the maestro the most about his project, Julian said: “He told me there wasn’t any special reason, but he liked my filmmaking style and my distribution approach. I don’t plan to release the film in cinemas but instead plan to explore the VHX and Amazon’s video-on-demand platform.”

Ilayaraja was also charmed by the powerful, romantic drama about a working class Australian girl and an international student from India.

Talking about the experience of witnessing the legend at work, Julian said he was mesmerized.

“After he watched the film, he made me wait for a couple of hours. He didn’t say a word and that made me very nervous. I assumed he didn’t like the film. When he finally met me, he told me he needed time to think about the musical treatment,” he said.

“This being an English film, he told me he wants to think how differently he can contribute. I was blown away by his ability to compose tunes, especially the background score. Usually, he finishes composing in a few hours but it took him five days for my film,” he added.

Born in Madurai, Julian shifted to Australia in 2003. Since he was working during the week, he made “Love and Love Only” during the weekends over the course of three years.

The film has already received two awards (Best Musical Score and Best Direction) after its preview screening at the International Film and Entertainment Festival of Australia last December. It is set for online commercial release early next year.

It stars Indian-Australian actor Rohit Kalia and Sydney-based actress Georgia Nicholas in the lead roles. The supporting cast includes Ambika Asthana, Sashi Dandekar and Suparna Mallick among others.

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Jewellery shops remain shut for the 6th day

(Getty Images)

Gold and jewellery establishments in the national capital remained shut for the 6th day on Wednesday after the Income Tax Department carried out surveys following reports of alleged profiteering and efforts at tax evasion following the government’s demonetisation move.

The government last week demonetised high denomination Rs.500/1000 notes to flush out black money.

There were reports however of people rushing to buy gold in a big way, prompting the I-T Department to carry out surveys of some bullion deals.

Most of the jewellery houses have been closed since November 11 in the national capital.

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Prachanda meets China envoy, discusses Xi’s visit

Nepal Prime Minister Prachanda (Photo: Facebook)

Nepal Prime Minister Prachanda has reaffirmed his commitment to the “One-China” policy in a meeting with the new Chinese envoy here, during which the proposed visit of President Xi Jinping was also discussed.

Prachanda, who met ambassador Yu Hong at his official residence at Baluwatar, discussed matters relating to Xi’s proposed visit to Nepal, sources said.

However, the date of the visit has not yet been spell out. Xi was expected to visit Nepal in October but he cancelled the visit.

The cancellation was then attributed by local media reports to Nepal’s “pro-India” stance after Prachanda took over power from KP Sharma Oli, who was seen as pro-China.

Reports then said that Xi was unhappy with Nepal also due to its disinterest in fulfilling commitments made by Oli, among them transit agreements that would have ended Nepal’s decades-old dependency on India for daily supplies.

During the meeting with the new Chinese envoy on Tuesday, Prachanda expressed his gratitude for China’s support in the development endeavours and post-earthquake reconstruction.

During the courtesy call by the Chinese envoy, Prachanda also hoped that Yu’s tenure in Nepal would be successful.

Ambassador Yu said during her term in Nepal she would focus on further consolidating the China-Nepal ties.

Under the “One-China” policy, Beijing insists that countries recognise Tibet and Taiwan as part of the mainland.

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Priyanka Chopra calls Dwayne Johnson ‘sexy’

Priyanka Chopra and Dwayne Johnson (PHOTO: Faceboo

Indian actress Priyanka Chopra has called her Baywatch co-star Dwayne Johnson “sexy”.

Johnson was labelled as the “sexiest man alive” by People magazine and Priyanka on Tuesday took to Twitter to congratulate him.

“Congrats Dwayne Johnson. Sexy is as sexy does.One of the nicest people I know. Much love,” Priyanka wrote alongside the magazine cover featuring the Hollywood actor.

Apart from Priyanka and Dwayne, Baywatch also stars Zac Efron, Alexandra Daddario, Kelly Rohrbach, Jon Bass, Ilfenesh Hadera, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson.

The film is adapted from the popular TV series Baywatch featuring Anderson.

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Jewellery shops remain shut for the 6th day

(Photo: AFP)

Gold and jewellery establishments in the national capital
remained shut for the 6th day on Wednesday after the Income Tax
Department carried out surveys following reports of alleged profiteering and
efforts at tax evasion following the government’s demonetisation move.

The government last week demonetised high denomination Rs.500/1000 notes to flush out black money.

There were reports however of people rushing to buy gold in
a big way, prompting the I-T Department to carry out surveys of some bullion deals.

Most of the jewellery houses have been closed since November
11 in the national capital.

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‘Kavalai Vendam’ to release on November 24

A still from 'Kavali Vendam'

Jiiva and Kajal Aggarwal-starrer Tamil adult comedy Kavali Vendam will hit the screens worldwide on November 24, the makers announced on Wednesday.

After multiple delays, the film’s release date has been finally locked.

In an official statement, it was confirmed that the film will release on November 24.

Also starring RJ Balaji and Sunainaa, the film has been produced by Elred Kumar of RS Infotainment.

Leon James has composed the tunes.

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Mamata seeks President’s intervention against demonetisation

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee (PHOTO: Facebook)

Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and leaders of three other parties on Wednesday sought President Pranab Mukherjee’s intervention over the problems faced by people following the “financial calamity” unleashed by the demonetisation move.

She also said that at least “20 deaths” have taken place across the country due to the stress caused by the cash crunch.

“Since the (demonetisation) decision was announced, 20-30 people have died across the country due to stress,” said Banerjee who led a march of the Trinamool, National Conference, Shiv Sena and Aam Aadmi Party to Rashtrapati Bhavan demanding rollback of demonetisation of 500 and 1,000 rupee notes.

She said the move was implemented by the Narendra Modi government “without planning” and has led to “anarchy”.

“The move was implemented without any planning, this has created financial calamity and financial emergency in the country. The country has been pushed towards anarchy. The government should restore normalcy,” said Banerjee.

She said that Mukherjee gave them a patient hearing and they hoped that he will take “appropriate action”.

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah was among leaders who took part in the march that started from the Parliament House premises.

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Depressed man kills sons in Delhi

(Photo: AFP)

A depressed 43-year-old man strangled his two sons on
Wednesday over a domestic problem here in Mahendra Park, police said.

Police said the incident took place around 6 a.m. when Mukesh strangled both
Ayush, 15, and Aryan, 8, with a rope and confessed to the police.

The accused Mukesh was in depression since the death of his wife one and a half
years ago, police said.

“He was unemployed and was living with his two sons in a house located in
Sanjay Nagar of Mahendra Park,” Deputy Commissioner of Police, Vijay Singh
said.

Mukesh, who had done some construction in his house a month earlier, was also
worried that a team from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) would come to
demolish a portion of the house on Thursday after a complaint from his neighbours,
police said.

Police arrested him from his house, Singh said.

Ayush was a student of Class 10, while Aryan studied in Class 8 in the nearby
Little Angel Public School, he added.

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Jennifer Aniston to adopt from Mexican orphanage

Jennifer Aniston (PHOTO: Facebook)

Actress Jennifer Aniston is reportedly adopting children from two Mexican orphanages.

Aniston is now considering adopting orphans she’s been financially supporting, reports radaronline.com.

Aniston regularly visits Casa Hogar Sion and Casa Hogar de Los Ninos orphanages in Tijuana, Mexico.

She provided the two orphanages with school equipment, personal hygiene items as well as toys and clothes for babies and toddlers.

“This has brought some happiness into her life, and brought her close to her dream of having her own child. Finding the fulfilment she’s missing in her marriage to Justin Theroux as she spends time with the children from the facilities,” “a source close to Aniston said.

“She gets to be around kids, and she’s feeling appreciated for a change. She even wants to bring one or more kids home so she can feel like a mom all the time,” “he source added.

According to the website, Aniston’s former husband Brad Pitt was the one who came up with the idea to adopt kids in Mexico. The former couple had talked about adopting a child from the country before he left her to be with actress Angelina Jolie more than a decade ago.

“Brad really gave her the courage to move forward. He told her, ‘You’ll be an amazing mother. I’ve always believed that.’ Hearing Brad say those words was just what she needed,” “he source said.

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Software helps researchers discover new antibiotics

(Photo: Getty Images)

Researchers at The Rockefeller University in New York said they discovered two promising new antibiotics by sifting through the human microbiome with the help of a software.

By using computational methods to identify which genes in a microbe’s genome ought to produce antibiotic compounds and then synthesising those compounds themselves, they were able to discover the new antibiotics without having to culture a single bacterium, according to a study published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.

Most antibiotics in use today are based on natural molecules produced by bacteria – and given the rise of antibiotic resistance, there is an urgent need to find more of them.

Yet coaxing bacteria to produce new antibiotics is a tricky proposition. Most bacteria won’t grow in the lab. And even when they do, most of the genes that cause them to churn out molecules with antibiotic properties never get switched on.

The Rockefeller University team led by Sean Brady offers a new way to avoid these problems.

The team began by trawling publicly available databases for the genomes of bacteria that reside in the human body.

They then used specialised computer software to scan hundreds of those genomes for clusters of genes that were likely to produce molecules known as non-ribosomal peptides that form the basis of many antibiotics.

They also used the software to predict the chemical structures of the molecules that the gene clusters ought to produce.

The software initially identified 57 potentially useful gene clusters, which the researchers winnowed down to 30.

Brady and his colleagues then used a method called solid-phase peptide synthesis to manufacture 25 different chemical compounds.

By testing those compounds against human pathogens, the researchers successfully identified two closely related antibiotics, which they dubbed humimycin A and humimycin B.

Both are found in a family of bacteria called Rhodococcus — microbes that had never yielded anything resembling the humimycins when cultured using traditional laboratory techniques.

The humimycins proved especially effective against Staphylococcus and Streptococcus bacteria, which can cause dangerous infections in humans and tend to become resistant to various antibiotics, said the study.

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Blockade disrupts railway services in Northeast

Representational image (Photo: Facebook)

A rail blockade called by tribal students hit railway services in parts of northeast India for the second day on Wednesday, snapping the crucial rail link of Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur and southern Assam with the rest of the country.

The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) cancelled several important trains passing through the Lumding-Badarpur hill section due to the indefinite rail blockade agitation by the North Cachar Hill Indigenous Students Forum (NCHISF).

Hundreds of NCHISF members have blockaded rail tracks since Tuesday morning at Haflong, the district headquarters of Dima Hasao district, formerly known as North Cachar Hills District.

The NCHISF has been demanding compensation to the affected families, whose land and homes were taken away by the NFR during conversion of metre-gauge railway line to broad gauge in 2014 and 2015.

Acting Deputy Commissioner of Dima Hasao district Sonaram Khanikar held an inconclusive meeting on Tuesday with the agitating students body and the railway officials at the district headquarters at Haflong, 279 km from Guwahati.

“The NFR official failed to give a written promise to release compensation within 15 days as demanded by the Forum. The railway authorities sought four months’ time to sort out the matter,” Khanikar said.

NCHISF President David Kevom said a total 300 hectares of land belonging to 500 families was affected by the construction of the broad-gauge railway line in the hill district.

“The NFR authorities had promised compensation to the affected families, but nothing has been done yet,” Kevom told reporters.

NFR officials, however, said that the railway authorities had given compensation of around Rs.55 crore to the affected families, but they are demanding Rs.3-5 crore more.

The NCHISF President said that unless senior and responsible officials of the railways come to the spot, they would not withdraw the indefinite rail blockade agitation.

A railway official, on condition of anonymity, said Divisional Railway Manager A.K. Jain is expected to visit Halflong.

In a statement, NFR’s Chief Public Relations Officer Pranav Jyoti Sharma said four trains — Guwahati-Silchar, Silchar-Guwahati train services, Sealdah-Silchar Kanchenjunga Express and Agartala-Sealdah Kanchenjunga Express- have been either cancelled or short-terminated.

Around 1,200 passengers were stranded at Haflong station due to the rail blockade.

Some passengers were, however, trying to reach their destinations using other modes of transport.

The railway line from Guwahati passes through Lumding (in Nagaon district of central Assam) and Halflong, connecting Agartala and parts of Manipur and Mizoram, besides southern Assam, with the rest of India.

The Guwahati-Silchar railway route is the lifeline for southern Assam, comprising Cachar, Karimganj, Hailakandi and Dima Hasao districts, and the mountainous states of Tripura, Manipur and Mizoram.

The region is dependent on this railway route for supply of food grain, fertiliser, petroleum products, construction materials and other consumer goods.

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Haryana govt renames Ballabhgarh-Sohna road as Sardar Ballabhbhai Patel Marg

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