Naypyitaw (Myanmar), Jan 31 – Myanmar’s new parliament Monday elected two military men as speakers of the upper and lower chambers in its first session since the Nov 7 general election. Shwe Mann, the third most powerful general in the country’s junta, was voted speaker of the lower house while Khin Aung Myint, the current culture minister, was voted upper house speaker, sources said. The two houses are dominated by the military through the pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which won 77 percent of the contested seats, and 166 military-appointed legislators, who account for 25 percent of the votes.
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Sydney, Jan 31 – Injured Australian captain Rickey Ponting will start his recovery regime to get fit for the World Cup when he takes the nets at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) Wednesday at the same time when the team will play their sixth ODI against England. The Herald Sun reported that Ponting has been given a green signal by his doctor as he ramps up his race to be fit for the World Cup. Ponting played the fourth Ashes Test with a fractured finger and sat out of the fifth and the final Test in Sydney.
January 31, 2011 | Filed under Sports | Read More
Ranchi, Jan 31 – The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the Trinamool Congress workers clashed at Ranchi airport Monday as Rajya Sabha member K.D Singh, who switched his loyalties from the JMM to the Mamata Banerjee-led party, arrived in the city. Singh, a Chandigarh-based businessman, was elected to the upper house of parliament last year on the JMM ticket, but three months later he joined the Trinamool. He was scheduled to open a party office here.
January 31, 2011 | Filed under Politics | Read More
London, Jan 31 – A climber, who plunged 1,000 feet down a mountain summit, left the rescue team shell-shocked after he was found standing and reading a map at the site. The climber had only just reached the summit of Scottish peak Sgurr Choinnich Mor, around five miles east of Ben Nevis, when the accident happened. As he stood at 3,589 feet with three friends he lost his footing and plummeted down the steep and craggy eastern slope of the mountain around lunchtime Sunday, breaking his back at three places, The Sun reported Monday.
January 31, 2011 | Filed under Accident / Crime / Disaster | Read More
Mumbai, Jan 31 – With its free trade agreements and preferential market access to the US and European Union, the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean offers a duty-free gateway for Indian companies desiring for business ties with the US, Europe and Latin America, the country’s visiting president said here Monday. Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernandez said his country is one of only six countries in the world with FTA and PMA to the US and the EU with very flexible rules of origin. ‘We also have preferential access to over 878 million customers worldwide and are in a position to offer a tremendous advantage for companies doing business in our country,’ Fernandez said while addressing an interactive session by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here Monday afternoon.
January 31, 2011 | Filed under Business | Read More
New Delhi, Jan 31 – It took almost five years for the South Korean steel major Posco’s $12 billion project in Orissa to get an environment clearance. The environment ministry Monday accorded conditional clearance to the project. Here is the timeline: June 2005: The Orissa government and Posco sign an agreement for setting up a steel plant in the state.
January 31, 2011 | Filed under Business | Read More
Mumbai, Jan 31 – Nearly 24 hours after the Indian Navy’s warship INS Vindhyagiri collided with a cargo container ship MV Nordlake in Mumbai Harbour, it was listing and had run aground, an official said here Monday. The accident took place when the naval frigate was entering the Mumbai Harbour after ‘A Day at Sea’ for families of naval personnel and the loaded container-ship was navigating out of the harbour. The vessel was moved into the naval dockyard and all the personnel and civilians aboard were evacuated.
January 31, 2011 | Filed under Defence / Terrorism | Read More
Kolkata, Jan 31 – Kolkata-based Phillips Carbon Black (PCBL) wil launch work on its 55,000 metric tonnes plant in Vietnam in March this year, RPG Group chairman Sanjiv Goenka said Monday. RPG Group company PCBL, the largest producer of carbon black in India, is currently ranked eighth globally. ‘We got all clearances for setting up the plant in Ba Ria Vung Tau province in Vietnam.
January 31, 2011 | Filed under Business | Read More
New Delhi, Jan 31 – The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) will triple its fleet size from the existing 100 vessels to 300 ships by 2020, ICG Director General Vice Admiral Anil Chopra said here Monday. The maritime security force will also double its aviation wing’s strength from the present 50 to 100 aircraft, apart from raising its manpower to 20,000 personnel from the existing 12,000 in the next one decade. ‘We will be tripling our size from the 2008-end levels in this decade, apart from doubling the aircraft fleet and manpower in the period,’ Vice Admiral Chopra said at an annual press conference on the eve of Coast Guard Day Tuesday.
January 31, 2011 | Filed under Defence / Terrorism | Read More
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