Veteran

At 71, musician Ravindra Jain passes away in Mumbai

Veteran music director-singer-lyricist Ravindra Jain passed away on october 9 at a city hospital due to multiple organ failure.

Veteran singer B.B. King in home care after being admitted to the hospital for dehydration

Blues legend B.B. King, who has been battling health problems, is in home hospice care.

Veteran Essebsi wins Tunisia's first free presidential vote

TUNIS (Reuters) - Veteran Tunisian politician Beji Caid Essebsi won the country's first free presidential election, in the final step of a transition to democracy after an uprising that ousted autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011. Essebsi beat rival and incumbent Moncef Marzouki with 55.68 percent of the vote against 44.32 percent in Sunday's run-off ballot between the two men, according the results released on Monday by the electoral authorities.

Hamas agrees on five-hour humanitarian ceasefire

Gaza, July 17 (IANS) The Islamic Hamas movement and Palestinian militant groups agreed late Wednesday to a UN appeal of a five-hour humanitarian ceasefire with Israel Thursday, a Hamas official said. Hamas and other Palestinian factions agreed to halt rocket firing into Israel for five hours Thursday in response to a proposal by the UN, Xinhua quoted the official as saying on condition of anonymity. He added that the movement "will respond to any Israeli attacks on Gaza during the pause"

World Bank aid for elementary education to be effective Aug 27

New Delhi, July 16 (IANS) A $1,006.2 million financial agreement between the World Bank's concessionary lending arm, the International Development Association (IDA), and the Indian government for the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) programme will be effective Aug 27, the parliament was told Wednesday. The IDA credit will be effective Aug 27, 2014 till Sep 30, 2017, Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. Under the agreement, which intends to improve India's elementary education outcomes, the credit will be available in two portions.

Muggy Wednesday, rain likely Thursday

New Delhi, July 16 (IANS) It was a muggy day in the capital Wednesday, with the temperature shooting up to 37.4 degrees Celsius -- three notches above the season's average. The Met department has forecast light rain Thursday

Anyone can access national e-library resources: Irani

New Delhi, July 16 (IANS) Every citizen of the country will have access to the contents of the National Electronic Library (NEL), HRD minister said Wednesday. "The government of India has taken a decision to provide access to NEL to its citizens including students and teachers in schools, colleges and universities.

Haryana minister excommunicated from Sikh community

Amritsar, July 16 (IANS) A Sikh minister in the Haryana government and two other senior Sikh leaders were Wednesday excommunicated from the community for anti-religious activities by the Akal Takht. The action follows the setting up of a separate committee by the Haryana government to run the affairs of gurdwaras (Sikh shrines) in the state. Those excommunicated include Finance Minister Harmohinder Singh Chatha, and senior Sikh leaders Jagdish Singh Jhinda and Didar Singh Nalwi.

Congress, BSP slam Akhilesh Yadav government

New Delhi, July 16 (IANS) The Congress and the BSP Wednesday slammed the Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh for downsizing the budget allocation for state women's commission when it has money for buying two seven-seater Mercedes cars and two Land Cruiser SUVs. "We condemn this move. When BSP was in power, it had started welfare scheme for the poor, Dalits and downtrodden," Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati said here

Clinton serves food to school children in Jaipur

Jaipur, July 16 (IANS) Former US president Bill Clinton Wednesday visited a kitchen here run by an NGO to oversee a lunch programme that feeds over one million school children daily across India under the mid-day meal scheme.