RUM’s cast bonds in Maldives

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 [...]

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 [...]

Rowhani offers softer tone, same policies

Newly elected president Hassan Rowhani struck a diplomatic chord in his first news conference but offered little real change in key policy areas, especially on the long-running dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme. Concretely, he ruled out any halt to the nuclear activity that has drawn UN, EU and US sanctions, repeating a long-standing Iranian position [...]

Top revenge

Andhra Pradesh tops in revenge murders over illicit affairs according to the National Crime Records Bureau statistics. The motive for 445 murders, reported in the State last year, was revenge on cheating partners or their paramours. This amounts to 16 per cent of the murder cases registered here. While the motive for 317 murder cases [...]

Rain, rain, don’t go away

Don’t blame the weather for your gloominess. Good rainfall last week and the forecast of further rains due to an active South-West monsoon prompts farmers to sow crops in 50,000 hectares more than last year in Andhra Pradesh. The acreage is expected to increase 25-30 per cent over the normal area of 81.12 lakh hectares, [...]