ప్రపంచం తీరూ తెన్నూ

Amid trading of barbs between main opposition Congress and the government over the post of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Speaker Sumitra Mahahan today said a strong opposition was more important than LoP. On ruling through ordinances, she said it would be better if they were lesser in number. "What is the meaning of Leader of the Opposition. Instead of LoP, a strong opposition is more important. A strong opposition is one which raises its issues effectively. It is not necessary that a strong opposition has a leader," she said. Mahajan was addressing mediapersons at the end of the 77th Conference of Presiding Officers of Legislative Bodies here. The Speaker's comments came against the backdrop of Congress having only 44 members in the Lok Sabha. Though it is the second largest party after BJP (282 members), it still falls short of the 55 members — 10 per cent of the total strength of the Lok Sabha — needed for staking claim to the post. Mahaja...

The world's first solar-powered aircraft will fly day and night and make 12 stops, including two in India, during its round-the-world flight to demonstrate the promise of clean energy, pilots of the aircraft have said. Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, the Swiss co-founders and pilots of Solar Impulse 2 (Si2), along with their partners, disclosed the global flight route at a function here yesterday. "With our attempt to complete the first solar powered round-the-world flight, we want to demonstrate that clean technology and renewable energy can achieve the impossible," said Piccard, initiator and chairman of Solar Impulse. The first solar-powered plane able to fly day and night will land in 12 locations across the world and travel 35,000 kilometres in the first attempt to fly around the globe without using a drop of fuel, UAE's WAM news agency reported. The pilots will take off from Abu Dhabi in February-end or early March and return by late July or early Augu...

Out of three Chief Ministerial aspirants in Delhi, AAP's Arvind Kejriwal ranks lowest with assets worth Rs 2.09 crore while Congress leader Ajay Maken tops the chart with Rs 12.34 crore followed by Rs 11.65 crore of BJP's Kiran Bedi. As per the affidavit Kejriwal filed along with nomination papers for the New Delhi constituency, he and his wife-owned assets have gone down by Rs five lakh compared to the total assets of Rs 2.14 crore he declared during last year's Lok Sabha election. The former Chief Minister declared movable assets at Rs 2.26 lakh while his wife has a total of Rs 15.28 lakh including 300 gm of gold worth Rs 9 lakh and 24 gm silver worth Rs 24,000. Bedi declared movable and immovable assets worth over Rs 11.65 crore belonging to her and her husband. In her affidavit, Bedi, who is contesting from Krishna Nagar seat, mentioned that no case is pending against her in any court. Bedi also said in her affidavit that she has movable and immovable assets worth Rs...

Drinking half a pint of beer a day may lower your risk of developing heart failure, a new large-scale study has claimed. The study of nearly 15,000 men and women found that drinking up to seven drinks a week in early to middle age is associated with a 20 per cent lower risk of men developing heart failure in the future when compared to teetotallers. A more modest 16 per cent reduced risk for women was also observed, researchers said. Dr Scott Solomon, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Senior Physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Dr Alexandra Goncalves, a research fellow at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and colleagues analysed data from 14,629 people aged between 45-64 years. They had been recruited to the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study between 1987 and 1989 in four communities in the US. Researchers followed the participants to the end of 2011 and questioned them about their alcohol consumption at the start and at each of the three s...

Intense cold coupled with dense fog played havoc in north India today, claiming at least four lives, affecting road and rail traffic, and virtually paralysing flight operations in Delhi, where the mercury dipped to the season's lowest of 4.2 degrees Celsius. A thick blanket of fog disrupted normal life in vast swathes of north India including in Uttar Pradesh, where three persons were killed and several others injured in separate road accidents in Badaun and Barabanki district, caused due to low visibility. Flight operations at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi were virtually paralysed for six hours in the morning, delaying over 173 flights, as visibility dropped below 50 metres mark. Similar situations prevailed in many other airports in the north including in Jaipur, where ten flights including four international services were delayed. Train services were also affected largely across north India with more than 70 trains running behind schedule by several hours...

At least 14 oxygen parlours have been set up to help pilgrims suffering from respiratory problems during their arduous uphill trek to the famous shrine of Lord Ayyappa here. The oxygen parlours have been put up at vital points on the hill route like like Karimala and Neelimala where normally the pilgrims feel exhaustion and breathing problems. A temporary cardiology centre would be set up at Neelimala uphill and an intensive coronary unit at Pamba for the benefit of the pilgrims, who throng the temple in thousands during the two-month long ongoing festival season that will culminate with the sighting of Makara Villaku (celestial light) in mid January. Arrangements have also been made for medical stores to function round the clock. Sabarimala Hills will be cleaned every hour by 800 workers. Sabarimala Sanitation Society (SSS) chaired by Pathanamthitta District Collector has deployed 800 workers at Sabarimala as well as various base camps for pilgrims. As part of ensuring proper hygie...

The Supreme Court today dismissed the plea of S Nalini, undergoing life imprisonment in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, challenging the law mandating the Centre's approval for her release and that of six other convicts. "Sorry, we are not interested," a bench comprising Chief Justice H L Dattu and justices M B Lokur and A K Sikri said. Nalini had challenged Section 435(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code which mandates the state government to consult the Centre before premature release of a convict if the case was investigated by the CBI. She has been in jail for the last 23 years and undergoing life imprisonment after her death sentence was commuted. She was sentenced to death by the trial court in the case on January 28, 1998. Nalini's death sentence was commuted to life term by the Tamil Nadu Governor on April 24, 2000. "Though 2200 life convicts who had put in less than 10 years of imprisonment were prematurely released by the Tamil Nadu Government duri...