After end of AI strike, two unions de-recognised

Mumbai Hours after crushing the two-day old strike by Air India employees, the state-owned airline de-recognised two major trade unions and sealed their offices across the country. The airline gradually restored normalcy since morning though 25 flights were cancelled for the day. Erstwhile Indian Airlines' union Air Corporation Employees' Union (ACEU) and All India Aircraft Engineers' Association (AIAEA) have been de-recognised by the management of National Aviation Company of India Ltd (NACIL) and their offices have also been sealed, NACIL sources said today. NACIL is the holding company of Air India. Besides terminating the services of 17 office-bearers of the two Unions last night, the airline suspended 15 engineers....

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After end of AI strike, two unions de-recognised

Mumbai Hours after crushing the two-day old strike by Air India employees, the state-owned airline de-recognised two major trade unions and sealed their offices across the country. The airline gradually restored normalcy since morning though 25 flights were cancelled for the day. Erstwhile Indian Airlines' union Air Corporation Employees' Union (ACEU) and All India Aircraft Engineers' Association (AIAEA) have been de-recognised by the management of National Aviation Company of India Ltd (NACIL) and their offices have also been sealed, NACIL sources said today. NACIL is the holding company of Air India. Besides terminating the services of 17 office-bearers of the two Unions last night, the airline suspended 15 engineers....

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Six killed in Russia blast

At least six people were killed and more than 40 injured in a bomb blast that rattled Russia's southern city Starvropol, officials said. The toll in Wednesday's terrorist attack reached six when a ten-year-old girl died in a hospital, a local official told RIA Novosti. More than 40 people were injured in the blast, which took place outside the city's House of Culture and Sport ahead of a Chechen band's concert. Stavropol Territory Governor Valery Gayevsky said the terrorist attack was aimed at shattering national unity. A top regional investigator, Yekaterina Danilova, said the explosion was equivalent to 0.2 kg of TNT. Stavropol is the largest region in the North Caucasus Federal District and hosts its administration, but has remained largely free of the violence in the neighbouring...

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Six killed in Russia blast

At least six people were killed and more than 40 injured in a bomb blast that rattled Russia's southern city Starvropol, officials said. The toll in Wednesday's terrorist attack reached six when a ten-year-old girl died in a hospital, a local official told RIA Novosti. More than 40 people were injured in the blast, which took place outside the city's House of Culture and Sport ahead of a Chechen band's concert. Stavropol Territory Governor Valery Gayevsky said the terrorist attack was aimed at shattering national unity. A top regional investigator, Yekaterina Danilova, said the explosion was equivalent to 0.2 kg of TNT. Stavropol is the largest region in the North Caucasus Federal District and hosts its administration, but has remained largely free of the violence in the neighbouring...

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Day after strike, Air India seeks to restore normalcy

National carrier Air India was on Thursday struggling to restore normal operations after a two-day wildcat strike by 15,000 employees and said it would take another two days for flight schedules to get regular. An airline spokesperson said 78 schedules - domestic and international - have been slotted on Thursday and more will be pressed into service next day to clear the backlog caused by the strike that had stranded thousands of passengers in India and overseas. "There were a few cancellations from New Delhi and Kolkata this morning, but as far as Mumbai was concerned, we have been able to operate all our flights as usual," an Air India spokesperson said in Mumbai. "Two early morning flights to Ahmedabad could also not be operated. But they had minimal load, which was transferred...

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Day after strike, Air India seeks to restore normalcy

National carrier Air India was on Thursday struggling to restore normal operations after a two-day wildcat strike by 15,000 employees and said it would take another two days for flight schedules to get regular. An airline spokesperson said 78 schedules - domestic and international - have been slotted on Thursday and more will be pressed into service next day to clear the backlog caused by the strike that had stranded thousands of passengers in India and overseas. "There were a few cancellations from New Delhi and Kolkata this morning, but as far as Mumbai was concerned, we have been able to operate all our flights as usual," an Air India spokesperson said in Mumbai. "Two early morning flights to Ahmedabad could also not be operated. But they had minimal load, which was transferred...

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India angry over visa row, warns Canada of retaliation

In view of Canada denying visa to Indian army officers, the Home Ministry has written to the External Affairs Ministry, asking it to take up the issue strongly with the Canadian High Commission. The Home Ministry wants the Canadian High Commission to apologise, withdraw the comments and take action against the officers responsible for such behaviour. Canada denied visas to a member of the Armed Forces Tribunal, three serving Brigadiers, a retired Lt General and a former senior IB official on the grounds that their organisations have been engaging in violence. A serving Intelligence Bureau officer, assigned to travel to Toronto in connection with the Prime Minister’s trip there next month, was also denied visa recently but was later allowed to travel after protest from India. The...

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India angry over visa row, warns Canada of retaliation

In view of Canada denying visa to Indian army officers, the Home Ministry has written to the External Affairs Ministry, asking it to take up the issue strongly with the Canadian High Commission. The Home Ministry wants the Canadian High Commission to apologise, withdraw the comments and take action against the officers responsible for such behaviour. Canada denied visas to a member of the Armed Forces Tribunal, three serving Brigadiers, a retired Lt General and a former senior IB official on the grounds that their organisations have been engaging in violence. A serving Intelligence Bureau officer, assigned to travel to Toronto in connection with the Prime Minister’s trip there next month, was also denied visa recently but was later allowed to travel after protest from India. The...

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Driver lucky to pull up in time to avoid pram

The driver of a Melbourne train that hit a baby in a pram on the tracks yesterday says it was lucky the train pulled up as quickly as it did. The 15-month-old baby boy suffered cuts and bruising to his face after being dragged up to 10 metres face down in his double pram at the Taroonga train station. The boy is in a stable condition at the Royal Children's Hospital. The child was with his grandmother and three-year-old brother when the pram rolled off the platform and into the path of an oncoming train. Security cameras captured the incident as the pram rolled off the platform. Driver Steve Ryan says there was a lot of luck involved because on the X'Trapolis train, there is a lot of open space at the front. "The pram hit the iron...

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Driver lucky to pull up in time to avoid pram

The driver of a Melbourne train that hit a baby in a pram on the tracks yesterday says it was lucky the train pulled up as quickly as it did. The 15-month-old baby boy suffered cuts and bruising to his face after being dragged up to 10 metres face down in his double pram at the Taroonga train station. The boy is in a stable condition at the Royal Children's Hospital. The child was with his grandmother and three-year-old brother when the pram rolled off the platform and into the path of an oncoming train. Security cameras captured the incident as the pram rolled off the platform. Driver Steve Ryan says there was a lot of luck involved because on the X'Trapolis train, there is a lot of open space at the front. "The pram hit the iron...

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Meet the Brit woman who has sex for babies to boost her £20K benefits!

London, May 25 (ANI): A British woman has revealed that she is looking into having casual sex only so she can have babies and increase the 20,000 pounds benefits she is already getting. Natalie Taylor, 29, who is a single mom with four kids by three dads, claims she has never had a job as she cannot afford to work, and that she wants to bed more men so she can double her family. “I’d love to get a job, but I’d be 50p a week worse off if I worked,” the Daily Star quoted her as saying. “My dad works for the Post Office and my brother’s a mechanic, so the tax they pay covers my kids,” she said. She also claims that she sleeps around because she is “addicted” to being pregnant. “I’d be pregnant all the time if I could. I’d like to have four more kids,” she said. “Unless Mr Perfect comes...

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Posted in: International

Meet the Brit woman who has sex for babies to boost her £20K benefits!

London, May 25 (ANI): A British woman has revealed that she is looking into having casual sex only so she can have babies and increase the 20,000 pounds benefits she is already getting. Natalie Taylor, 29, who is a single mom with four kids by three dads, claims she has never had a job as she cannot afford to work, and that she wants to bed more men so she can double her family. “I’d love to get a job, but I’d be 50p a week worse off if I worked,” the Daily Star quoted her as saying. “My dad works for the Post Office and my brother’s a mechanic, so the tax they pay covers my kids,” she said. She also claims that she sleeps around because she is “addicted” to being pregnant. “I’d be pregnant all the time if I could. I’d like to have four more kids,” she said. “Unless Mr Perfect comes...

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Posted in: International

Air India crew, engineers on flash strike; 16 flights cancelled

NEW DELHI: Air India's operations were severely affected on Tuesday with at least 16 flights, including five international services, being cancelled as over 16,000 staffers went on a flash strike across the country to protest delay in payment of salaries. Several other flights were delayed, many of them by over an hour, as the strike from 1230 hours spread in major metro cities with employees walking out of their offices and organising demonstrations to press for their demands. Air India had last week decided to delay the May salaries by a week. The international flights cancelled were those from Delhi to Jeddah, Abu Dhabi and Dubai (two flights) and one from Amritsar to London, Air India officials said. Domestic services from Kolkata,...

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Air India crew, engineers on flash strike; 16 flights cancelled

NEW DELHI: Air India's operations were severely affected on Tuesday with at least 16 flights, including five international services, being cancelled as over 16,000 staffers went on a flash strike across the country to protest delay in payment of salaries. Several other flights were delayed, many of them by over an hour, as the strike from 1230 hours spread in major metro cities with employees walking out of their offices and organising demonstrations to press for their demands. Air India had last week decided to delay the May salaries by a week. The international flights cancelled were those from Delhi to Jeddah, Abu Dhabi and Dubai (two flights) and one from Amritsar to London, Air India officials said. Domestic services from Kolkata,...

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Jail for Rathore is common man's victory: Aradhana

Chandigarh: "It's a victory for the common man," said Aradhana Gupta, the only witness in Ruchika molestation case, after Tuesday’s court verdict enhancing the jail term of former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore. Speaking from Sydney, Ruchika's friend, Gupta said, it is all due to public support that Ruchika has got justice. google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad); "I am so happy about it. I really appreciate the judiciary for putting Rathore behind the bar. But certainly I am not very happy because we were expecting two years as the crime was committed by a police official and not by a commoner," Gupta said. "We should take it as a first step towards justice and certainly the case under Section 306 IPC (abetment to...

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Jail for Rathore is common man's victory: Aradhana

Chandigarh: "It's a victory for the common man," said Aradhana Gupta, the only witness in Ruchika molestation case, after Tuesday’s court verdict enhancing the jail term of former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore. Speaking from Sydney, Ruchika's friend, Gupta said, it is all due to public support that Ruchika has got justice. google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad); "I am so happy about it. I really appreciate the judiciary for putting Rathore behind the bar. But certainly I am not very happy because we were expecting two years as the crime was committed by a police official and not by a commoner," Gupta said. "We should take it as a first step towards justice and certainly the case under Section 306 IPC (abetment to...

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Kites opens in Top 10 at US Box Office

Bollywood heartthrob Hrithik Roshan and Mexican star Barbara Mori's action-romance Kites has become the first Bollywood film to debut in the North American top ten on opening weekend flying into the number ten spot. Released by Reliance Big Pictures, the Rakesh Roshan-produced film grossed an estimated USD 1 million for the period of May 21-23, ranking just behind the ninth-place film How to Train Your Dragon which has grossed over USD 210 million. Directed by Anurag Basu, Kites has been praised by US film critics and has generated the most number of mainstream reviews ever for a Bollywood film on opening day. It has earned an exceptionally high 85 percent score on RottenTomatoes.com, a popular film review aggregator website in US....

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Kites opens in Top 10 at US Box Office

Bollywood heartthrob Hrithik Roshan and Mexican star Barbara Mori's action-romance Kites has become the first Bollywood film to debut in the North American top ten on opening weekend flying into the number ten spot. Released by Reliance Big Pictures, the Rakesh Roshan-produced film grossed an estimated USD 1 million for the period of May 21-23, ranking just behind the ninth-place film How to Train Your Dragon which has grossed over USD 210 million. Directed by Anurag Basu, Kites has been praised by US film critics and has generated the most number of mainstream reviews ever for a Bollywood film on opening day. It has earned an exceptionally high 85 percent score on RottenTomatoes.com, a popular film review aggregator website in US....

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Sensex up 280 pts on Ambani brothers peace pact

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Monday surged by almost 280 points in opening trade on Ambani brothers dumping their differences to take a step towards reconciliation in their long-running feud. The 30-share index, which lost 74.07 points in the previous trading session, shot up by 279.30 points, or 1.69 per cent to 16,724.91 in the opening trade. The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty regained the 5,000-points level by rising 89.50 points, or 1.81 per cent, to 5,020.65 points. Brokers said trading sentiment turned better after the Ambani brothers agreed to cancel existing non-compete agreements, triggering widespread buying, led by Reliance Industries stocks. Besides, weekend rally on the US markets, which edged 1.35 per cent higher, also influenced the...

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Sensex up 280 pts on Ambani brothers peace pact

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Monday surged by almost 280 points in opening trade on Ambani brothers dumping their differences to take a step towards reconciliation in their long-running feud. The 30-share index, which lost 74.07 points in the previous trading session, shot up by 279.30 points, or 1.69 per cent to 16,724.91 in the opening trade. The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty regained the 5,000-points level by rising 89.50 points, or 1.81 per cent, to 5,020.65 points. Brokers said trading sentiment turned better after the Ambani brothers agreed to cancel existing non-compete agreements, triggering widespread buying, led by Reliance Industries stocks. Besides, weekend rally on the US markets, which edged 1.35 per cent higher, also influenced the...

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Naxalism remains the biggest internal security challenge: PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said Naxalism remains the biggest internal security challenge and it is imperative to control left-wing extremism for the country's growth. His government has not underestimated the problem of Naxalism, Singh said at a national press conference here to mark the completion of one year of UPA-II in office. "I have been saying for the last three years that Naxalism remains the biggest internal security challenge facing our country," he said. Asked if his government had underestimated the Naxals, he said, "We have not underestimated the problem of Naxalism." He said there was no difference of opinion between the Central and the state governments on the issue of left-wing extremism. "I have spoken to the Chief Ministers of the states many times on...

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Naxalism remains the biggest internal security challenge: PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said Naxalism remains the biggest internal security challenge and it is imperative to control left-wing extremism for the country's growth. His government has not underestimated the problem of Naxalism, Singh said at a national press conference here to mark the completion of one year of UPA-II in office. "I have been saying for the last three years that Naxalism remains the biggest internal security challenge facing our country," he said. Asked if his government had underestimated the Naxals, he said, "We have not underestimated the problem of Naxalism." He said there was no difference of opinion between the Central and the state governments on the issue of left-wing extremism. "I have spoken to the Chief Ministers of the states many times on...

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Ambanis end non-compete pact in reconciliation bid

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's billionaire Ambani brothers took a step towards reconciliation in their long-running feud on Sunday, ending non-compete agreements in a move they hoped would lead to cooperation between the two groups. Both groups said they aim to reach a conclusion soon for a gas supply agreement between Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries (RIL) and younger brother Anil's Reliance Natural Resources that had been at the heart of their dispute. The brothers will now be free to compete on each other's turf, with the exception of gas-fired power plants, removing a source of friction between the two conglomerates and potentially giving a lift to shares in both groups. "RIL and Reliance ADA...

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Ambanis end non-compete pact in reconciliation bid

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's billionaire Ambani brothers took a step towards reconciliation in their long-running feud on Sunday, ending non-compete agreements in a move they hoped would lead to cooperation between the two groups. Both groups said they aim to reach a conclusion soon for a gas supply agreement between Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries (RIL) and younger brother Anil's Reliance Natural Resources that had been at the heart of their dispute. The brothers will now be free to compete on each other's turf, with the exception of gas-fired power plants, removing a source of friction between the two conglomerates and potentially giving a lift to shares in both groups. "RIL and Reliance ADA...

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UK army's chief bomb officer resigns over Afghanistan

LONDON (Reuters) - The British Army's top bomb disposal officer has resigned, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a statement on Monday. The MoD said Colonel Bob Seddon, who held the post of Principal Ammunition Technical Officer (PATO), would step down in January. The Sun newspaper said Seddon was quitting over concerns that a shortage of trained bomb disposal experts was putting troops in Afghanistan under strain. "I am very concerned over the pressures they are facing in Afghanistan," the paper quoted Seddon as saying in a BBC documentary to be broadcast later on Monday. "We've broadened our training and selection but it will take time before these measures come into play. The existing cohort are going to be under pressure," Seddon...

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Posted in: International

UK army's chief bomb officer resigns over Afghanistan

LONDON (Reuters) - The British Army's top bomb disposal officer has resigned, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a statement on Monday. The MoD said Colonel Bob Seddon, who held the post of Principal Ammunition Technical Officer (PATO), would step down in January. The Sun newspaper said Seddon was quitting over concerns that a shortage of trained bomb disposal experts was putting troops in Afghanistan under strain. "I am very concerned over the pressures they are facing in Afghanistan," the paper quoted Seddon as saying in a BBC documentary to be broadcast later on Monday. "We've broadened our training and selection but it will take time before these measures come into play. The existing cohort are going to be under pressure," Seddon...

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Posted in: International

BJP to withdraw support from Soren government Monday

Ranchi, May 24 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will meet Jharkhand Governor M.O.H. Farook Monday to withdraw support from the Shibu Soren-led government. “We will meet the governor at 11.30 a.m. to withdraw support from Soren’s government. The JMM’s changing stand has pushed the state into political uncertainty and the party has decided to withdraw support,” Jharkhand BJP president and Deputy Chief Minister Raghubar Das told IANS. Jharkhand has been facing a political crisis since April 27 when Soren voted against the BJP’s cut motions in the Lok Sabha last month. This led the BJP, a junior partner in the Jharkhand coalition, to announce withdrawal of support from the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) on April 28. On April 30, BJP put its withdrawal decision on hold. On May...

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