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US, Japan, South Korea urge meaningful denuclearisation

Washington: The US, Japan and South Korea Wednesday called for “meaningful” steps on denuclearisation by Pyongyang in exchange for better ties with them, Xinhua reported. After their envoys concluded a trilateral meeting here on issues related to North Korea, the three countries said: “We agreed a path is open for the DPRK (North Korea) toward [...]

Nitish Kumar wins trust vote

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Wednesday won the trust vote in the assembly, proving his majority after dumping long-time ally the BJP. A total of 126 legislators voted for the motion moved by the chief minister while 24 voted against. The house has 243 members. Bharatiya Janata Party legislators walked out before the special session [...]

UN chief hails G8 leaders’ understanding on Syria

United Nations: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon Tuesday welcomed the understanding reached on Syria by leaders of the Group of Eight (G-8) industrial nations. Ban welcomed the commitment to bring the Syrian sides to the negotiating table, saying that he stands ready to convene the Geneva Conference on Syria as soon as possible to help [...]

Missing a few screws

Ajay Hotchandani As is the routine every morning, I wake up, toss and turn for about an hour trying to find the motivation to get out of bed. Somewhere between eating and showering, I check my email and have a glance at the news on Google. Later that day I had to go pick my [...]

Buildings on the brink

According to a survey of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation officials, there are about 620 buildings and another 100 on the outskirts that need immediate demolition in the twin cities. The GHMC engineers’ wing has certified that these 700 old buildings including 200 in Secunderabad could fall any time. Do we need to lose a [...]

An astrologers day out

The forest department has taken to task many of Hyderabad’s fortune-tellers for the alleged torture and cruel treatment of parakeets under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Raids were conducted by the State Forest Department officials and members of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau in Chirkur, Kukatpally and Ameerpet areas that led to the rescue of [...]

Geek Speak

l33t This term, pronounced ‘leet’ is derived from the word elite. It is generally used in reference to someone who is one of the best at what he does. It is also spelt at 1337 by a few gamers and hackers. The term started off in bulletin boards back in the 1980s where people with [...]

One step forward, two steps back

There are positive signals from the G8 summit regarding the plan of action that must be pursed in Syria. Russian leader Vladmir Putin, the man who is the main hurdle to the creation of some means formidable to bringing down Assad, has hinted that he may allow removing Assad provided there is a plan for [...]