Nirmal Om newsline

Philippine typhoon death toll surpasses 5,200 Updated on : 22-11-2013 08:22 PM The number of people confirmed killed when a super typhoon devastated the Philippines surpassed 5,200 on Friday, the government said, making it one of the country's deadliest natural disasters. The official death toll from the storm jumped by nearly 1,200 to 5,209, with another 1,611 people still missing, the spokesman for the government's disaster management council, Reynaldo Balido, said.  Super Typhoon Haiyan flattened dozens of towns across the central Philippines on November 8, bringing some of the strongest winds ever recorded and generating tsunami-like storm surges. Balido said the death toll rose sharply today, increasing from 4,015, after officials reported body counts from communities outside the worst-hit areas. "If you notice, there was not much movement in the death toll for the past few days. This was because the reporting rules required a casualty rep...

Pakistan protests over sectarian violence end peacefully Updated on : 22-11-2013 09:25 PM Amid tight security, protests were held across Pakistan on Friday over the killing of 11 people in sectarian clashes in the garrison city of Rawalpindi last week.  The Wafaqul Madaris al-Arabia, an umbrella body of madrassas, called the country-wide "protest day" over the killings and violence in Rawalpindi.  The violence erupted when a Muharram procession organised by Shias was passing by a Sunni seminary in the garrison city near Islamabad.  Both Shias and Sunnis were killed and over 50 were injured. Ahead of the protest, thousands of army, paramilitary and police personnel were mobilised across the country.  Schools were closed in most cities. Though the protests were largely peaceful except for some reports of tensions, they were marked by anti-Shia slogans and banners.  The minority Shias are often the target of religious extremists. T...

Lavrov and Kerry to join Iranian nuclear talks POSTED ON  NOVEMBER 23, 2013  Iran and six world powers to talk on Tehran’s nuclear program for one more day. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has arrived in Geneva. US State Department has announced that Secretary of State John Kerry will also be traveling to Geneva. British Foreign Secretary William Hague will also attend the talks. The negotiators are discussing an agreement on measures to be taken in the first stage of a nuclear deal. Moot issue is whether to recognize Iran’s right to enrich uranium and whether to ask Iran to halt the construction of a heavy-water reactor, which can easily extract weapons-grade plutonium. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohamad Javad Zarif told NHK there has been progress on 90 percent of the issues with just a couple of important issues still to be solved. This suggests that final efforts are underway.The nuclear talks are focused on whether foreign ministers can help ...

Campaigning for MP and Mizoram polls ends today Updated on : 23-11-2013 11:37 AM Campaigning for the Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram assembly polls is scheduled to end on Saturday evening.  The single phase elections for 230 assembly seats will be held on Monday. In Mizoram, campaigning for the single phase poll will also end on Saturday evening.  With over 10 lakh population, around 6.86 lakh enlisted voters will exercise their franchise for electing 40 members of the House from among 142 candidates. Meanwhile, Leaders from various political parties are criscrossing the poll bound states to woo the voters as elections are round the corner. Mizoram is set to go to polls in a single phase on Monday. But in a state where women outnumber men, ironically, the number of women candidates fielded by political parties is abysmally low. The Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh have a pronounced royal flavour to them, with as many as 12 candidates of royal l...

NOCERA LOOKING FOR REPEAT SUCCESS IN INDIA New Delhi 22 November, 2013:  Gwladys Nocera will be the player to watch when she tees up in the Hero Women’s Indian Open at Delhi Golf Club from November 28-30. The latest Ladies European Tour winner, who won her 12 th  title at the recent Suzhou Taihu Ladies Open in China, will be the top draw in what promises to be an exciting contest in the sun. Nocera won the EMAAR-MGF Ladies Masters at Eagleton Golf Resort in Bangalore in 2007 and has already collected two titles on the LET this season, with her first win in four years at the Slovak Open. She is now riding high at fourth on the ISPS HANDA Order of Merit and really taking pleasure from her golf. “I really enjoy India and they always make a really nice tournament. I won in 2007 and have good memories there so it’s always a good feeling and finishing the season with India and Dubai is really nice so I’m very much looking forward to it,” said Nocera, who is up for seei...

Friday, November 22, 2013   A step towards a working Washington On Tuesday  we told you  about a group of Senate Republicans who were holding up confirmations for important executive and judicial nominations. Since he took office, President Obama's executive nominees have faced more filibusters than in the previous 60 years combined -- an unacceptable standard of business. So yesterday, a majority of senators took a step to overcome this obstruction and made a key change to the way Washington does business: They changed the rules so that nominees (except those to the Supreme Court) can no longer be blocked by a minority of Senators from receiving a simple yes-or-no vote. As a result, it will be much harder for partisan gridlock to prevent qualified nominees from serving their country. As President Obama said in his statement: All too often, we've seen a single senator or a handful of senators choose to abuse arcane procedural tactics to unilaterally b...

CM Delhi interacts with media today 22 11 2013

‘Helen’ hits AP coast; no casualty so far 22 11 2013   Cyclone ‘Helen’ on Friday made a landfall on Andhra Pradesh coast with wind speed of around 100 kilometers per hour. The landfall occurred at around 12:30 pm in Machhalipatnam of Krishna district in the state. The cyclone continued to batter the area till 2 pm. No casualty has been reported however power has been disrupted due to damages to the transmission lines. The electric poles have been uprooted in many places.  The cyclone is now moving westward towards Kolluru and Tenali. The cyclone has brought heavy to very heavy rains in the Krishna district and its nearby districts.  Andhra Government has made arrangements of relief camps wherever required and to evacuate people to safety. Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy himself reviewed the situation in the morning.  He has directed Chief Secretary P K Mohanty to closely monitor the situation with Collectors as the severity of...