Italy Migrant 'Ghost Ship' Arrives in Corigliano Calabro Port

Corigliano:  A ship abandoned by its crew and left drifting with 450 migrants on board reached Italy's jagged southern coast on Friday, ending the second gruelling "ghost ship" rescue operation this week.

Women and children were among hundreds of migrants left stranded aboard the Ezadeen, which docked in the port of Corigliano Calabro around 11 pm local time after a delicate operation by the Italian navy to take control of the boat.

Six coastguard officers were earlier lowered from a helicopter onto the deck of the Sierra Leone-flagged vessel to set up a tow for the 40 kilometres to the Italian coast.

The rescue is the latest in a series of maritime operations Italy has mounted in recent days as it struggles with a record wave of migrants making the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean.

On Wednesday, the navy faced more drama after it stopped another crewless "ghost" ship left drifting in its waters with nearly 800 migrants on board.

Adding to the drama, on Friday another crew brought the burned-out ferry Norman Atlantic into the Italian port of Brindisi, six days after a fire killed 13 passengers and forced the rescue of 477.

The appearance of the two drifting boats full of migrants within a matter of days has raised concerns that smugglers have started abandoning large boats full of people off the coast of Europe as a new tactic to maximize profits from their ruthless trade.

Italian media reported that most of the 450 migrants found on board the 73-metre-long Ezadeen were from Syria, where millions of people have been displaced by nearly four years of civil war.

The livestock vessel had been en route from Famagusta in northern Turkish-controlled Cyprus to the southern French port of Sete, but had first stopped at the Syrian port of Tartus, according to a shipping website.

'We are alone'

Before it came to a halt, the nearly 50-year-old Ezadeen had been moving at seven knots, and was spotted by a coastguard plane 80 miles offshore shortly after nightfall.

A woman refugee on board was able to operate the ship's radio and told the coastguard that the crew had jumped ship, Italian navy spokesman Captain Filippo Marini said.

"We are alone, there is no one, help us!" the woman cried, he said.

The coastguard asked for assistance from Icelandic patrol boat Tyr, which was in the area on a mission with the European Union's border agency Frontex, but rough weather conditions made boarding impossible.

Once the Ezadeen had run out of fuel, five Tyr crew members were winched onto the merchant ship by helicopter to care for passengers until Italian coastguard officers arrived to take control.

"The migrants aboard were visibly distressed but overall in good medical condition. They have been provided with food, water and basic medical assistance," a Frontex statement said Friday.

The incident marked the third sea rescue operation Italy's navy has been forced to mount in a week.

The first came with the deadly fire that broke out on the Norman Atlantic ferry Sunday between Greece and Italy.

Italian prosecutors fear the ferry could contain the bodies of still undiscovered illegal immigrants and unregistered passengers.

Bari prosecutor Giuseppe Volpe said almost 500 people may have been aboard- far above the 474 officially on the manifest, and prompting fears the current death toll of 13 may rise once the ferry is fully searched in Brindisi.

Volpe said it had been "established" that illegal immigrants were aboard, something confirmed by several of the rescued passengers. The search is expected to concentrate on trucks parked in the car deck where the fire started.

New smuggling tactics

A few days earlier, a ship carrying nearly 770 migrants was found drifting towards the rocks off Italy's southeastern shore.

The Blue Sky M freighter was on autopilot, after having been abandoned by the people smugglers who had sailed in from Turkey via Greek waters.

The Moldovan-registered vessel got within five miles- or 45 minutes' sailing time- of running aground before six navy officers were lowered on to the ship by helicopter, and succeeded in bringing it under control.

The vessel's passengers included some 60 children and two pregnant women, one of whom gave birth on board, according to the Italian Red Cross.

Many of the migrants on the ship were treated for hypothermia or injuries including broken limbs.

More than 170,000 people have been rescued at sea by Italy in the last 14 months, and hundreds, possibly thousands, have perished trying to make the crossing.

The migrants are almost invariably under the control of ruthless traffickers who earn thousands of dollars for every person they put to sea from Libya and other departure points in North Africa.

Increasingly, the traffickers appear to be abandoning their human cargo at sea, with more now using bigger vessels than the converted fishing boats and other craft they previously favoured.

The International Organisation for Migration estimated Friday in Geneva that people smugglers grossed over $1 million on just one of the abandoned ships alone.

United States Imposes Sanctions on North Korea Over Sony Cyber Attack

Honolulu:  The United States, on Friday, imposed new sanctions on North Korean government officials and the country's defense industry for a cyber attack against Sony, insisting that Pyongyang was to blame despite lingering doubts by the cyber community.

The White House warned that this was just the opening move in the US response.

While the sanctions will have limited effect, as North Korea already is under tough US sanctions over its nuclear program, American officials portrayed them as a swift, decisive response to North Korean behavior they said had gone far over the line. Never before has the US imposed sanctions on another nation in direct retaliation for a cyber attack on an American company.

"The order is not targeted at the people of North Korea, but rather is aimed at the government of North Korea and its activities that threaten the United States and others," US President Barack Obama wrote in a letter to leaders in Congress.

The 10 North Koreans singled out for sanctions didn't necessarily have anything to do with the attack on Sony, senior US officials said. Anyone who works for or helps North Korea's government is now fair game, especially North Korea's defense sector and spying operations, the officials said.

The sanctions also apply to three organizations closely tied to North Korea's government: the country's primary intelligence agency, a state-owned arms dealer that exports missile and weapons technology, and the Korea Tangun Trading Corp., which supports defense research. All three entities were already subject to US sanctions.

Obama has also warned Pyongyang that the US is considering whether to put North Korea back on its list of state sponsors of terrorism, which could jeopardize aid to the country on a global scale. Beyond that, it's unclear what additional penalties the US has available.

North Korea has denied involvement in the cyber attack, which led to the disclosure of tens of thousands of confidential Sony emails and business files, then escalated to threats of terrorist attacks against movie theaters. Many cyber security experts have said it's possible that hackers or even Sony insiders could be the culprits, and questioned how the FBI can point the finger so conclusively.

Senior US officials, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, dismissed those arguments and said independent experts don't have access to the same classified information as the FBI.

"We stand firmly behind our call that the DPRK was behind the attacks on Sony," one official said, using an acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Those sanctioned include North Koreans representing the country's interests in Iran, Russia and Syria. Any assets they have in the US will be frozen, and they'll be barred from using the US financial system. Americans will be prohibited from doing business with them, the Treasury Department said.

At the United Nations, no one answered the phone at North Korea's UN Mission, and calls to a diplomat there were not answered. Sony, too, declined to comment.

While denying any role in the cyber attack, North Korea has expressed fury over the Sony comedy flick "The Interview," which depicts the fictional assassination of leader Kim Jong Un. Sony initially called off the film's release after movie theaters decided not to show the film. After Obama criticized that decision, Sony decided to release the film in limited theaters and online.

Questions remain about who was behind a nearly 10-hour shutdown of North Korean websites last week. The US never said whether it was responsible. North Korea's powerful National Defense Commission blamed the US and hurled racial slurs at Obama, calling him a reckless "monkey in a tropical forest."

Firefighters Find Black Box on Still-Burning Ferry

Brindisi:  Wearing gas masks against the smoke, Italian firefighters and investigators boarded the charred Norman Atlantic ferry on Friday and retrieved a data recorder they hope will help them discover what caused a deadly blaze.

But with some parts of the ferry still burning, they emerged hours later to admit they had to put off for at least a day the search for any more bodies in the maritime disaster that has already killed 11 people. The team will attempt to go back on board today.

Greece says 19 people are still unaccounted for after a fire broke out Sunday as the ferry traveled from Greece to Italy, and disputes Italian claims of a higher number of missing. Italy says 477 passengers and crew were rescued from the burning ferry, most by helicopters operating in gale-force winds.

Both nations fear the ferry car deck where the fire started could contain more bodies, possibly those of unregistered migrants trying to slip into Italy.

The badly damaged ferry was towed for 17 hours across the choppy Adriatic Sea before docking Friday at the southern Italian port of Brindisi. A second tug was tied in with the ship to stabilize the wreck. One side of the ferry was blackened by smoke and an acrid smell was noticeable dockside.

Investigators began work on Friday by taking photos and video of the ferry's smoky interior. After several hours, prosecutor Ettore Cardinali stepped back ashore, took off the dust-filtering mask covering his nose and mouth, and told reporters the team couldn't get into the crucial car deck.

"For the time being, it is unfortunately impossible to get inside ... for safety reasons, we cannot verity firsthand what's inside," he said.

But he did say investigators had retrieved the black box recorder and promised to extract data from it.

Firefighters say they will not start searching for bodies until the blaze is fully extinguished - and could not give an estimate of when that would be.

"There are cars and trucks and other things that are still slowly burning, which ... could still go ahead for a long time," Brindisi Fire Commander Michele Angiuli told reporters.

Four more people, meanwhile, were put under investigation Friday by the prosecutor's office in Bari. In addition to the ship's captain and the head of the company that built the ferry - both Italians - two other crew members and two representatives of the Greek ferry line Anek, which rented the Norman Atlantic, are under investigation, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.

Italian newspapers, reportedly quoting from transcripts of the captain's questioning on Wednesday, said Captain Argilio Giacomazzi told prosecutors that crews didn't properly follow his orders in lowering the lifeboats and that the car deck had too many vehicles.

Bari prosecutors have declined to say what the captain said, citing laws governing investigations.

Italian TV said passengers noted that five crewmen were in the only lifeboat launched, in apparent violation of rules that say only three crew members should go with the evacuated passengers.

Fears about migrants hidden on the huge ferry are based on reality. In 2014, Italy says it rescued or discovered some 170,000 migrants and asylum seekers at sea as they tried to slip into Europe.

Iran, 6 Powers Move Closer to Nuke Talks Deal

Vienna:  Iran and the United States have tentatively agreed on a formula that Washington hopes will reduce Tehran's ability to make nuclear arms by committing it to ship to Russia much of the material needed for such weapons, diplomats say.

In another sign of progress, the two diplomats told The Associated Press that negotiators at the December round of nuclear talks drew up for the first time a catalog outlining areas of potential accord and differing approaches to remaining disputes.

The diplomats said differences still dominate ahead of the next round of Iran-six power talks on January 15 in Geneva. But they suggested that even agreement to create a to-do list would have been difficult previously because of wide gaps between the sides.

Iran denies it wants nuclear arms, but it is negotiating with the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany on cuts to its atomic program in hope of ending crippling sanctions. The talks have been extended twice due to stubborn disagreements.

The main conflict is over uranium enrichment, which can create both reactor fuel and the fissile core of nuclear arms. In seeking to reduce Iran's bomb-making ability, the US has proposed that Tehran export much of its stockpile of enriched uranium - something the Islamic Republic has long said it would not do.

The diplomats said both sides in the talks are still arguing about how much of an enriched uranium stockpile to leave Iran. It now has enough for several bombs, and Washington wants substantial cuts below that level.

But the diplomats said the newly created catalog lists shipping out much of the material as tentatively agreed upon. The diplomats, who are familiar with the talks, spoke to the AP recently and demanded anonymity because they are not authorized to comment on the closed negotiations.

Issues that still need agreement, they said, include the size of Iran's future enrichment output. The US insists that it be cut in half, leaving Tehran with about 4,500 present day centrifuges used to enrich uranium, or less if it replaces them with advanced models. Tehran is ready for a reduction of only around 20 per cent, or approximately 8,000 of the machines, according to the diplomats.

Two other unresolved issues are Iran's Fordo underground enrichment site and the nearly built Arak nuclear reactor. The US and its five allies in the talks want to repurpose Fordo to a non-enrichment function because it is believed impervious to a military attack from the air. The six also seek to re-engineer Arak from a model that produces enough plutonium for several nuclear weapons a year to a less proliferation-prone model.

Negotiators hope to reach a rough deal by March and a final agreement by June 30.

Buckingham Palace Denies Sex Claim Against Prince Andrew

London:  Royal officials on Friday denied that Britain's Prince Andrew engaged in any "impropriety with underage minors" after he was named in US court documents related to a lengthy lawsuit against American financier Jeffrey Epstein.

In papers filed to a Florida court, an unidentified woman alleged that Epstein forced her to have sex with Prince Andrew in London, New York and on a private Caribbean island owned by Epstein when she was under the age of 18. The filing said the alleged encounters took place around 1999 to 2002.

Buckingham Palace said in a statement: "This relates to longstanding and ongoing civil proceedings in the United States, to which the Duke of York is not a party. As such we would not comment on the detail."

Prince Andrew, 54, is known as the Duke of York.

The statement added: "However, for the avoidance of doubt, any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue." The statement was unusual because royal officials typically do not comment on such allegations.

The woman's claims, filed on Tuesday, were added to a drawn-out lawsuit filed by two other women who claim they were sexually abused as minors by Epstein. The billionaire financier was sentenced to prison in 2008 after pleading guilty to child sex offenses.

The women have objected to how US prosecutors handled Epstein's case, and want authorities to reconsider a plea deal that allowed Epstein to avoid much more serious federal charges and potentially longer prison time.

The woman making claims against Prince Andrew - only identified as "Jane Doe No.3" - is one of two new accusers asking a West Palm Beach, Florida, judge to allow them to join the existing lawsuit against Epstein. The royal is not named as a defendant in that case, and no criminal charges or formal allegations have been made against him.

It was not the first time Prince Andrew has faced media scrutiny over his friendship with Epstein. In July 2011 the royal stepped down from his role as a UK trade ambassador following controversy over his links with the billionaire.

IMA Issues Guidelines as 2 Fresh Cases of Swine Flu Reported in Delhi

New Delhi:  Two fresh cases of swine flu were reported in the national capital today, taking the figure to 41 since last year.

Two women, aged 35 and 53, residents of CR Park and Chattarpur, have tested positive for H1N1 (swine flu) virus, according to the officials from the Health Department of Delhi government.

"The 35-year old woman is admitted to a private hospital in Kalkaji while the 53-year old is admitted to Fortis in Vasant Kunj," said Charan Singh, Additional Director (Public Health).

One case of swine flu was reported yesterday also. Delhi Health Secretary  S C L Das today reviewed the situation and held a stock taking meeting with all the designated hospitals.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) meanwhile has issued a set of guidelines to tackle swine flu and urged citizens not to neglect minor cases of fever with breathlessness.

"The matter is important as the current seasonal influenza vaccines are not expected to provide protection against human infection with avian or swine flu viruses. However, reducing seasonal influenza risk through vaccination might reduce the theoretical risk for recombination of influenza viruses of animal origin," IMA said in a statement.

According to the IMA, a total of 10 deaths in Hyderabad and one death in Delhi have occurred due to swine flu so far. Swine flu can have symptoms like fever, coryza, cough, sore throat and body aches. It may last for one-two weeks, said IMA. However, occasionally, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and rash may also occur.

The government has designated both government and private labs to test the presence of virus, it said.

The government has also set a control room- 23061469- for any kind of information on swine flu, it said.

'Providing Affordable, Quality Healthcare to All a Challenge': Health Minister

Mumbai:  Union Health Minister JP Nadda on Friday said the government is working towards making essential medicines available at a cheaper rate even as he acknowledged that providing access to quality healthcare at affordable rates, particularly to the poorest, remains a challenge.

"A list of essential medicines is being made and the government is working towards providing such medicines at a cheaper rate," Mr Nadda told reporters after delivering his address at the 'Global Health Summit: Access and Affordable Healthcare for People of India', organised by the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI).

Seeking suggestions from general public on the Centre's draft National Health Policy, the minister said the care has been taken to ensure that the blueprint focuses on the health of rural India.

"We have prepared a draft of the National Health Policy which we have put on our website. I appeal to people to come forward and give their suggestions which will be accepted till February 28," Mr Nadda said.

He said that the government has tried to ensure that the Policy focuses on rural areas of the country. "We need to promote preventive healthcare, shift focus from sick-care and reduce the need for hospitalisation / tertiary care," Mr Nadda added.

On healthcare, he said, "healthcare is a state subject" and the Centre is trying to understand the problems of the state governments on this front.

"We are trying to make states more aware of healthcare facilities. We are very serious about malnutrition in tribal areas. We are talking to states and are trying to understand their problems. But it is up to the states to finally implement Central government's policies," he said.

Mr Nadda said providing access to quality healthcare at affordable rates remains a challenge for the government.

"India wants access to affordable healthcare. Equity, access and affordability of quality healthcare to all, particularly to the poorest, is a challenge that government is acutely seized of. Meeting pocket expenditure on healthcare is a priority for the government," he said.

Mr Nadda said shortage of manpower in terms of doctors, nurses and para-medical staff to enable effective delivery of healthcare services, is a matter of concern.

"We have a shortage of about half a million medical doctors. We need to stress on medical education. (We) have to increase the capacity to train doctors, nurses and paramedical staff to enable effective delivery of healthcare services, particularly to the rural, remote and inaccessible areas of the country, where the need for healthcare is felt the most," he said.

The minister said instances of non-communicable diseases like cancer, diabetes, etc., are on the rise due to affluent lifestyles.

"Early detection and proper care is essential here. When these diseases are not addressed, it further stresses the healthcare system in the country," Mr Nadda said.

In Madhya Pradesh Village, Couple Allegedly Beaten Up on Orders of Village Panchayat as 'Punishment' for Eloping

Alirajpur:  A man and a woman were allegedly beaten up and paraded on the orders of a tribal panchayat in Madhya Pradesh's Alirajpur district on Tuesday, as 'punishment' for eloping.

The couple, which had eloped on December 21, was reportedly traced by family members on Wednesday and then brought back to their village.

When the couple was produced before the tribal panchayat, it reportedly ordered that the man be tonsured and the woman's hair be chopped off.

The couple was then reportedly paraded through the village and beaten up badly.

The woman, who has three children, told media personnel, "I was being harassed by my husband and in-laws. We eloped ten days ago, but we were caught by family members. Our hair was chopped off and we were beaten up."

The couple managed has filed a First Information Report or FIR in connection with the incident.

"We have received the complaint and we are doing everything we can to deliver justice to the victims. In the FIR, 10 people have been named. So far, we have arrested four. The other accused will be arrested soon," said Anand Singh Waskale, a senior police official.

Parents of Abducted Nigerian Girls Turn to UN

Abuja:  Parents of 200 Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Islamist rebels in April said they were appealing directly to the United Nations for help after losing hope that the Nigerian government would rescue them.

A group lobbying for government action on behalf of the parents met with UN Women, the Head of the UN representation in Nigeria, and with officials of the UN Office for West Africa last month. The group has also appealed to UNICEF, campaign spokeswoman Bukola Shonibare said.

UN officials were not immediately available for comment.

"If the government cannot take action, we are asking for the UN to come in and help and if they reject, we just don't know what to do," Reverend Enoch Mark, leader of the parents, told Reuters. Two of his daughters were kidnapped.

It is not clear what any UN agency could do without Nigerian government approval.

More than eight months since the abduction of the girls from Chibok, in remote northeastern Borno state, parents say they are still in the dark about what the government is doing.

A presidential spokesman said efforts to free them continue but that details of the missions are too sensitive to publish.

On April 14, Boko Haram militants raided the school while the girls were taking exams. They loaded 270 of them onto trucks. Around 50 escaped shortly afterwards.

Boko Haram, which is fighting for an Islamic state and whose name means "Western education is sinful", had been kidnapping children for more than a year, but the scale of this attack shocked the world and sparked a #BringBackOurGirls Twitter campaign that drew in celebrities including US First Lady Michelle Obama.

The five year old insurgency has killed thousands of people, displaced more than a million and raised fears voting in presidential elections on February 14 will be impossible across stretches of the northeast.

"The Chibok community is pained, we cannot take this anymore," Dauda Iliya, spokesman for the Chibok community in Abuja, said at a New Year's Day rally of parents, adding that they had written to the United Nations to "protest this neglect and nonchalance by the government."

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan says the government is trying to free the girls but a botched rescue mission would endanger them.

Dozens, possibly hundreds, have been kidnapped since the Chibok attack. Two weeks ago, gunmen abducted 172 women and children from Gumsuri, 24 km from Chibok.

Islamic State Cleric Killed in Northern Syria

Beirut:  A Saudi cleric with the Islamic State group has been killed in the northern Syrian town of Kobani that has been witnessing intense clashes for months between jihadis and Kurdish gunmen, activists said on Friday.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Othman al-Nazeh al-Assiri was killed on Thursday while battling Kurdish fighters in Kobani.

Facebook pages and Twitter accounts, including the Raqqa Media Center, which operates in areas under IS control, said al-Assiri was killed in an airstrike on Kobani by the US-led coalition.

Kurdish Democratic Union Party spokesman Nawaf Khalil said he has no confirmation that al-Assiri was killed while battling the members of the local Kurdish militia known as the People's Protection Units or YPG.

al-Assiri was known Sharia official with the Islamic State group and used to lead sermons at a mosque in the northern Syrian city of Raqqa.

Earlier on Friday, three activist groups said the US-led coalition warplanes carried out more than a dozen airstrikes overnight in and around Raqqa, the Islamic State group's de facto capital in northeastern Syria.

The air raids on the outskirts of Raqqa were the heaviest coalition strikes on the city along the Euphrates River since Islamic State group militants captured a Jordanian pilot after his F-16 jet went down near the city on December 24.

The anti-Islamic State activist group called Raqqa is Silently Being Slaughtered reported on Friday at least 13 coalition strikes. It said the Furoussiyeh area and the Division 17 military base were among the targets hit.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees activist collective also confirmed the air raids.

There was no immediate word on casualties.

Nearly 10,000 Apply for Human Paintball Bullet Tester Job

London:  Some 10,000 people from around the world have applied to be shot at as a paintball bullet tester, the British company posting the job advert said on Friday.

UKPaintball, which has more than 60 paint balling venues in Britain, said it was stunned by the response to its search for a "human bullet impact tester".

Candidates from not just Britain, but as far away as United States, Canada and India have applied for the $60,000 a year job testing the impact of paintballs.

"This incredible response is the last thing we expected when we posted the advert," said UKPaintball owner Justin Toohig.

"We couldn't have predicted that so many people in the UK and beyond would want to get shot for a living."

Applicants have cited a range of different skills to prove they were up to the job, including one who said he was fat, so would be easier to hit, he said.

"We've had individuals hoping to secure the job including an ex-army soldier boasting previous experience of guns and weaponry... and an ex-magician's assistant who was once almost shot for real in an illusion that went horribly wrong," Toohig added.

"It's going to be a real struggle attempting to whittle down the thousands of applicants to just one."

United States-Venezuela Discuss Improving Relations

Caracas:  Last year saw a rapid deterioration of relations between their countries, but on New Year's Day, US Vice President Joe Biden and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro shook hands and expressed their desire for restored ties.

The brief, impromptu meeting in Brazil came two weeks after US President Barack Obama signed legislation to impose sanctions on Venezuelan officials accused of violating human rights. Days before the sanctions were approved, Maduro had called on all Venezuelans to burn their US visas in protest of "imperialist Yankee" policies.

A photograph of Biden and Maduro smiling warmly at each other at the swearing in of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff became a meme on Friday, with Venezuelans inventing their own thought bubbles.

According to a US administration official traveling with the Vice President, Maduro told Biden he wants to improve US-Venezuela ties, but is concerned about the sanctions. The official insisted on not being quoted by name in discussing what was a private diplomatic conversation.

Biden said that one step Venezuela could take toward improving relations would be to release political prisoners, but Maduro responded that the opposition was destabilizing the country and sanctions would do the same, the official said.

Speaking to reporters afterward, Maduro described the meeting with Biden as "cordial."

"What do we ask of the United States? I told Vice President Biden, and have said it 1,000 times in public and in private, we want respectful relations, nothing more," Maduro said.

The two countries have not exchanged ambassadors since 2010, and public encounters between high-level leaders are rare. Four years ago, late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez spoke with then-US Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton in Brazil.

Venezuela is suffering as the price of oil plummets. The country derives 95 per cent of its export earnings from oil. Earlier this week, Maduro accused the US of waging an "oil war" to destroy the South American country's socialist revolution.

On Friday, the director of the Venezuelan polling firm Datanalisis told local TV station Globovision that Maduro's approval ratings had fallen to a new low of 22 per cent.

Anti-Government Protest Takes Place in Hungary

Budapest:  Thousands of Hungarians have held a rally in Budapest to protest the policies of Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

The demonstrators waved large red socialist flags and banners calling for Orban to represent the interests of the public in his policies.

"I think it is important for people to demonstrate," rally organizer and activist Zsolt Varady said in a speech from a stage set up outside the Opera House for the protest. "The politicians have gone far away from reality. They don't seem to represent the public's views."

Rallies against Orban's government have been held regularly over the past two months, sparked by a failed government attempt to tax Internet use, the Prime Minister's increasingly close economic ties with Russia, and suspected corruption among top officials.

Islamic State Seizes Dozens in Northern Iraq

Kirkuk:  The Islamic State jihadist group seized dozens of men from two villages in northern Iraq on Friday while searching for people who burned its flag, officials and residents said.

An intelligence officer said that a total of 170 men were taken from the villages of Al-Shajara and Gharib in Kirkuk province, after two IS flags were burned in the area, an account confirmed by other officials from the province.

"Members of the (IS) organisation who were driving around 30 vehicles took the kidnapped (people) to the centre of Hawijah," a nearby town where they have a court and a prison, the officer said.

A resident of Al-Shajara said that women pleaded with the IS militants not to harm the men, to which the fighters responded that they would investigate and only punish those responsible for the flag burning in the village.

A resident from Gharib said they took around 90 people from that village, and that the fighters said they were searching for 15 men who burned their flag there.

It is not the first time IS has turned to mass detentions as it seeks to quell resistence in the swathes of territory in Iraq that it has overrun since June.

It seized 50 people in Kirkuk province after residents burned one of their positions and flag in September, and 20 more the following week for allegedly forming a resistance group.

Some of those seized by IS have been subsequently released.

But the group has also executed thousands of people in areas it controls in Iraq and Syria, sometimes in grisly beheadings it videotapes and posts online.

Not All Obese People Prone to Poor Health: Study

Miami:  US scientists encouraged 20 obese people to eat extra fast food for several months, and found that about a quarter stayed in good health despite the additional pounds they gained.

The study in the January 2 edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation was led by a team of scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, Missouri.

Subjects were encouraged to eat 1,000 extra calories per day, mainly by frequenting fast food restaurants with the goal of adding six percent of their body weight.

"This was not easy to do. It is just as difficult to get people to gain weight as it is to get them to lose weight," said chief author Elisa Fabbrini, assistant professor of medicine.

Those not suffering from ailments typically associated with obesity at the outset of the study- such as insulin resistance, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and excess liver fat- did not have these problems even after adding about 15 pounds (seven kilograms) to their already overweight frames, said the findings.

The results mirror what scientists have seen in the general population, which is that about a quarter of obese people do not appear to suffer from metabolic complications that can lead to heart attack, diabetes and stroke.

But those whose did suffer from metabolic problems before the study grew even worse when they put on extra weight.

Fat-regulating genes

All the research subjects were helped by dieticians to lose the weight they gained for the study, which was featured on HBO's documentary "Weight of the Nation" while the research was under way.

Study authors said they now understand better how to distinguish obese people who will be more prone to ill health from those who may be more protected.

For instance, those with abnormal metabolisms accumulated fat in their livers, while the healthier people did not, even when they gained more weight.

"Another difference involved gene function in fat tissue," the university said in a statement.

The study found that overweight people with normal metabolisms had more fat-regulating genes.

"The activity of those genes increased even more when the metabolically normal people gained weight. That wasn't true for people with abnormal metabolism," the study found.

Since obesity is known to contribute to dozens of health problems, more research is needed to figure out why some are particularly prone to problems from obesity.

"Could it be genetics, specific dietary intake, physical lifestyle, emotional health or even the microbes that live in the gut?" queried senior investigator Samuel Klein, director of Washington University's Center for Human Nutrition.

"We need more studies to try to understand why obesity causes specific diseases in some people but not in others," Klein said. 

Promoters Say Bill Cosby's Canadian Shows Will Happen

Toronto:  The promoters of comedian Bill Cosby's three shows in Canada next week say the comedian's representatives informed them he has "every intent" to do them and they are legally obligated to put them on.

Chicago-based Innovation Arts & Entertainment said in a statement on Friday that they understand the decision is unpopular but that both they and the venues are legally obligated to proceed and that "we would face crippling legal obstacles for violation."

More than 15 women have come forward since November claiming to have been drugged, sexually assaulted or both by Cosby, who has never been charged in connection with any of the allegations.

Cosby is scheduled to appear in Kitchener, Ontario, on January 7; London, Ontario, on January 8; and Hamilton, Ontario, on January 9.

China's Deep Sea Submersible 'Jiaolong' Begins Exploration of Indian Ocean

Beijing, China:  China's deep sea manned submersible on Friday carried out the first dive on a mission to study active hydrothermal vent in the southwestern Indian Ocean.

The vessel Jiaolong was expected to dive 20 times to research polymetallic sulfides, biological diversity, hydrothermal microbes and genetic resources in the southwestern Indian Ocean during the 120-day expedition.

China has already secured contracts to explore Indian Ocean for polymetallic sulphide ore and its research vessel has discovered two hydrothermal areas and four hydrothermal anomaly areas in February last year in southwest Indian Ocean.

Earlier China's State Oceanic Administration (SOA) said the discovery of poly metallic deposits in the southwest Indian Ocean as "beyond anticipation."

The SOA said that scientists onboard the "Dayang-1" research vessel also gained insight on the origins of carbonate hydrothermal areas and made successful attempts to explore for sulfide.

Hydrothermal sulfide is a kind of sea-bed deposit containing copper, zinc and precious metals such as gold and silver. Those metals formed sulfides after chemical reactions and came to rest in the seabed in "chimney vents," official media here reported earlier.

Firming up its foothold in India's backyard, China has gained approval in 2012 to explore a 10,000 sq km polymetallic sulphide ore deposit in an international seabed region of the southwest Indian Ocean.

The 15-year approval was secured by China from the International Seabed Authority (ISA).

China also has obtained exclusive rights to prospect in a 75,000-square-km polymetallic nodule ore deposit in the east Pacific Ocean in 2001.

Jiaolong for the first time also took the second batch of pilot trainees in the diving, which was intended to enable the trainees to learn some skills of submersible operation in active hydrothermal vent and collect samples of hydrothermal fluid, sulfide, rocks, sediment and water, said Yu Hongjun, chief commander of the mission.

Scientists are able to see active hydrothermal vent and polymetallic sulfide in seabed and know the exact site and environment of samples when diving with Jiaolong, Tao Chunhui, chief scientist of the mission, was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua News Agency.

The information is important for China's future research in the polymetallic sulfide exploration contract area, Tao said.

Named after a mythical dragon, Jiaolong reached its deepest depth of 7,062 meters in the Pacific's Mariana Trench in June 2012 and started its five-year trial period in 2013.

Sudan Battles Darfur Rebels for Strategic Area

Khartoum:  Sudanese Government forces and rebels have been battling for control of a strategic area in the war-torn Darfur region, the two sides say, giving conflicting reports on developments there.

In the latest operation to end the conflict in Darfur, the army said on Thursday its troops had driven insurgents out of the Fanga area in the Jebel Marra region, killing at least 50 rebels and destroying 50 vehicles.

But the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement-Minnawi denied on Friday that its forces had retreated.

Army spokesman Colonel Al-Sawarmy Khaled Saad said regular troops and the controversial Rapid Support Force counter-insurgency unit had pushed back "the remnants of the rebels from the Fanga area east of Jabal Marra," according to state news agency SUNA.

"The Fanga area surrounds the road linking Nyala and El Fasher," Darfur's main towns, Saad said.

But SLM-Minnawi spokesman Abdullah Mursal said fighters "destroyed a large quantity of the enemy's military vehicles and captured quantities of weapons," without giving details of casualties.

The Fanga area is on the road linking El Fasher and Nyala, the capitals of North and South Darfur states.

Last month Sudan's military announced operation "Decisive Summer 2" to crush insurgents in Darfur and the Blue Nile and South Kordofan regions.

SLM-Minnawi is part of the Sudan Revolutionary Front, a coalition grouping anti-government insurgents in the three regions.

It was dubbed a "summer" campaign because it was launched after the end of Sudan's rainy season, which lasts from July until November and renders roads impassable.

Ethnic insurgents in Darfur rebelled against the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum in 2003, complaining of discrimination against them.

The conflict has killed 300,000 and displaced two million, the UN says, although the government puts the death toll at 10,000.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in the western region. 

Massive Protests After Train Services Disrupted in Mumbai, Lakhs Affected

Mumbai:  Lakhs of passengers in Mumbai were affected on Friday as the city's Central Railway came to a grinding halt following widespread violence over the disruption in suburban train services in Thane. Angry commuters pelted stones at trains, damaging 10 rakes and injuring one motorman.

An overhead wire reportedly snapped triggering sparking from a train that was approaching Diva near Thane, according to passengers. As the train came to a standstill, the schedule was thrown into disarray, with huge delays.

Railways sources say vandals from nearby slums joined the protesters, adding to the chaos and delaying trains further.

Three cars were torched and railway property was damaged. Policemen were deployed to ensure the security of motormen, who refused to drive trains after protesters turned violent.

"The fear that we had of facing people's rage was resolved by providing us the security we asked for," said Venu Nair, General Secretary of the Motormen Union.

The situation improved only after the police stepped in and resorted to a mild lathicharge. The incident has raised serious questions over the maintenance of rolling stock on Central Railways. Obsolete technology and an ageing fleet have led to frequent breakdowns, irking passengers.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis tweeted, "We will look into the reasons of disruption and work on corrective course for future."

Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu, who was in the city, said firm steps will be taken by rail authorities to ensure that the problems faced by commuters due to overload of passengers are eased.

US Seeks Life in Prison for London Imam Convicted on Terror Charges

New York:  US prosecutors on Friday urged a federal judge to sentence London imam Abu Hamza al-Masri to life in prison following his conviction on terrorism charges.

In a court filing ahead of his January 9 sentencing, prosecutors said Abu Hamza should be held accountable for his role as a "global terrorist leader who orchestrated plots around the world to further his deadly mission."

"The seriousness of this defendant's offenses and the need for just punishment and deterrence cannot be overstated," prosecutors under Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara wrote.

A jury convicted Abu Hamza, 56, in May on all counts he faced in one of two high-profile terrorism trials conducted in the Manhattan federal courthouse last year.

Prosecutors charged the one-eyed, handless Abu Hamza with providing a satellite phone and advice to Yemeni militants who kidnapped Western tourists in 1998, an operation that led to the deaths of four hostages.

Abu Hamza also was accused of dispatching two followers to Oregon to establish a militant training facility and sending an associate to Afghanistan to help Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

At trial, his lawyers claimed the case relied largely on the incendiary language in his sermons at London's Finsbury Park mosque, which earned him notoriety as one of Britain's most prominent radical Islamic voices.

But prosecutors in Friday's court filing said Abu Hamza was "far more than just a talker" and argued he should be held accountable for putting "his words of hate into action."

Lawyers for Abu Hamza declined to comment. But in a court filing last week, they told US District Judge Katherine Forrest a non-life sentence would be "appropriate" in light of mitigating circumstances.

The defense lawyers also argued that the judge require Abu Hamza be designated to a federal medical center and have accommodations fashioned to ensure he receives fair treatment while in custody.

Prosecutors have asked Forrest to defer to the US Bureau of Prisons, which in a separate court filing said it had adequate procedures in place to ensure Abu Hamza receives necessary medical accommodations.

Republic Day Function: Delhi Police to Put Their 'Best Foot Forward'

New Delhi:  Delhi Police on Friday said that it will put its "best foot forward" on security arrangements for the Republic Day function where US President Barack Obama will be the chief guest while giving an assurance that the city will not be "shut down" during the period.

"Security will be elaborate and we will put our best foot forward. The preparations are already underway and all the necessary steps are being taken. However, we would like to assure Delhiites that we will not shut down the city," Police Commissioner BS Bassi told reporters while addressing the annual Delhi Police press conference.

US President Barack Obama will be the chief guest at this year's Republic Day function and security will be several notches higher than previous occasions. The presence of President Obama, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with a host of dignitaries, at the parade is going to be a never-before high-stakes event for the security agencies.

During the event, the police would coordinate and work in tandem with multiple agencies, including US agencies, Special Protection Group, military and para-military forces and also police forces of neighbouring states.

An inter-state coordination committee meeting in which senior police officials of neighbouring states will participate is slated to be held in Delhi soon, a senior official said.

Security remains beefed up in the national capital in wake of the recent intelligence inputs about a possible terror strike with Delhi Police's Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) and hit teams being deployed at important installations like airports, railway stations, bus terminals, Metro stations and malls.

Three SWAT teams have been kept on standby 24x7 in the city. They have been stationed outside premier hotels while special measures were already in place to guard city schools after the terror attack on an Army school in Peshawar in Pakistan.

United States Sanctions North Korea Over Sony Cyber Attack

 The US had accused North Korea of having a hand in the cyber attack on Sony Pictures. The hack had been targetted at the movie 'The Interview', which revolves around a plot to kill North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Honolulu:  The US is imposing sanctions on North Korea in retaliation for the cyber attack against Sony Pictures Entertainment.

US President Barack Obama signed an executive order on Friday authorizing the sanctions. Although the US has already sanctioned North Korea over its nuclear program, these are the first sanctions punishing Pyongyang for alleged cyber attacks.

The Obama administration says the sanctions affect three North Korean entities, including a government intelligence agency and a North Korean arms dealer. The US is also sanctioning 10 individuals who work for those entities or the North Korean government.

Those sanctioned are barred from using the US financial system, and Americans are prohibited from doing business with them.

The White House says this is just the first part of the US response to the Sony incident.

Ex-Greek Premier to Form New Party Ahead of Poll

Athens:  Former Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou, revealed plans on Friday to create a new political party - a development that further complicates the landscape in Greece ahead of a snap general election later this month.

Papandreou, 62, announced the plan on his website, ahead of the Jan. 25 vote which is widely expected to see the anti-bailout Syriza party do well. Further details are expected Saturday after documents are filed to a high court.

Syriza has made great strides in Greece in recent years as it has taken many votes away from Pasok, the center-left party that Papandreou led back to government in 2009 and was in power during the height of the country's crippling financial crisis. Despite falling back sharply in 2012 elections, Pasok is currently a junior partner in the conservative-led government of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.

Papandreou ignored public appeals not to split Pasok, the party created by his father in 1974 and which governed Greece for much of the time since. Pasok's descent is evident in its current opinion poll rating of around 5 per cent.

"We are saddened by the immoral and irrational action taken by Mr. Papandreou, who has made a calculating attempt to divide Pasok a few days before the election," Pasok said in a statement.

The new party is likely to target those voters who have abandoned Pasok. Polls point to Syriza having to find coalition partners if it is to govern.

Syriza spokesman Panos Skourletis slammed Papandreou for being responsible for the crippling austerity measures that have been imposed on Greece in return for rescue money from its partners in the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund.

"There can be no form of cooperation with those who destroyed the country," he told private Vima FM radio.

Ecuador Tops List of Best Countries for Retirement

New York:  Looking for a safe, affordable place for retirement? With its warm climate, affordable housing and generous benefits, Ecuador was named the best country to retire in by InternationalLiving.com.

The South American nation bordered by Colombia and Peru topped the website's annual global retirement index of 25 best countries, scoring high points for affordable cost-of-living, entertainment and amenities.

Next are Panama, Mexico, Malaysia and Costa Rica, rounding out the top five nations in the index that looks at eight criteria to determine the best countries for retirement.

"The world's top retirement havens for 2015 may dot the landscape from Asia to Latin America to Europe, but they share certain assets," said Jennifer Stevens, Executive Editor of InternationalLiving.com.

"They're safe, offer good value and are places you can settle with relative ease," she added in the statement announcing the results.

Ecuador scored 92.7 out of 100 points, with top marks for climate, cost of renting or buying property and discounts on flights, public transportation and utilities offered by the government for retirees.

"Although prices have risen slightly in recent years, Ecuador's real estate is the best value you'll find anywhere," said Dan Prescher, Senior Editor at the website.

Panama is considered the best destination in Central America and offers a Pensionado visa, which is available to anyone with a lifetime pension of more than $1,000. The visa offers discounts on medical services, entertainment, meals, air fares, as well as electricity and phone bills.

"For under $2,000, a couple can live comfortably in a country with a well-earned earned reputation for being expat-friendly," according to the website.

Malaysia, the top retirement country in Asia, earned high scores for ease of fitting in, entertainment and amenities, as well as low cost of living. A meal with a bottle of wine can cost as little as $5 and a visit to the doctor just $15.

In Europe, sixth-place Spain was the top retirement nation thanks to its warm climate and low cost of living compared with other European countries. Spain scored top marks for infrastructure, a health-care system recognized by the World Health Organization as one of the best in the world, and entertainment.

Neighboring Portugal came in at No. 9, followed by Thailand, which won points for low healthcare costs, culture and affordable housing. Seventh-place Malta and Colombia at No. 8 completed the top 10.

Stop Distorting Facts, Say Eminent Historians To PM Modi

New Delhi:  Prime Minister Narendra Modi's comments in October, that Lord Ganesha was the product of plastic surgery, has prompted the Indian History Congress, attended by over 2000 professional historians in Delhi, to pass a resolution that says "genuine historians would stand by the values of their profession and resist interested distortions of our past."
The resolution, adopted during its Platinum Jubilee meet on Tuesday, mentions the Prime Minister's statement and also "calls upon the members of the political establishment to refrain from making statements contrary to well-established historical facts."
Speaking to NDTV, well-known historian Professor Aditya Mukherjee said, "The Prime Minister shouldn't confuse between history and mythology. In many societies, there are tales of people flying, doing other extraordinary things, but they can't be taken as history."
Mr Mukherjee, who also heads the School of Social Sciences in the Jawaharlal Nehru University, responded to the often-cited argument that Historiography in India has been Left-centric and biased.
"There should not be a problem if there are multiple perspectives. In fact, it is good that if the discipline's rigor is challenged but you can't treat imagination as history," said Mr Mukherjee
Indian History Congress's meet has been in the news for raising issues of contemporary debate. Apart from the PM's statement on Ganesha, the conference also talked about "attempts to change school textbooks".   Right-wing hardliners have been accused of trying to pressure the government to rewrite school books in line with Hindu-nationalist orthodoxy.
Inaugurating the event on Sunday, Vice President Hamid Ansari had cautioned that the attempt to portray "India as a homogenous nation is problematic".
The ruling BJP, however, didn't seek to join in any kind of war of words. Environment Minister Prakash Javdekar told NDTV, "In a democracy, people are entitled to their views. But history is history and it can't be changed."

In Gujarat, Police Drill Uses Men with Skullcaps to Play Terrorists

India Retaliates After Soldier is Killed, 4 Pakistani Jawans Dead

Samba:  Four Pakistani soldiers have been killed in retaliation after an Indian jawan was shot dead in the Samba district, 41 kms from Jammu.

Pakistani Rangers who guard the border in Kashmir fired on a group of Indian soldiers on patrol, the second ceasefire violation in 24 hours.  A jawan from the Border Security Force died.

He was identified as Constable Sri Ram Gowria, reported news agency Press Trust of India, quoting Rakesh Sharma, Inspector General (IG) BSF, Jammu Frontier. Another jawan suffered minor injuries, reports said.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh asked the BSF to give a fitting reply to the Rangers. An official statement released in Delhi said, "The Home Minister asked the DG, BSF to provide a suitable and appropriate reply for any such unprovoked firing".

This evening, India returned fire and three Pakistanis were killed. India stopped firing when the Pakistani Rangers raised a white flag, requesting time to remove the bodies of those killed. "Honouring their request, we stopped the firing and allowed them to lift the bodies," said Mr Sharma.

Last night, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar told reporters that the Indian army would retaliate with "double the force" if Pakistan opened fire across the border. His comments came as tension between the two countries has sharply escalated. 

Cross-border violence in Jammu and Kashmir has, in recent months, been the worst in over a decade. In October, at least 20 civilians were killed on both sides. 

India summoned Pakistani High Commissioner Abdul Basit earlier this week to protest against the possibility of 26/11 mastermind Zakiur-Rahman Lakhvi walking free.

Lakhvi, who was arrested in 2009 for orchestrating the Mumbai attacks, was granted bail by a Pakistani court on December 18, drawing strong condemnation from New Delhi.  He, however, is still in jail following arrest in another case.

Pakistan has said it will appeal against his bail in the Supreme Court but that has yet to happen.

India Retaliates After Soldier Killed, 3 Rangers Die. Pakistan Registers Protest

New Delhi:  Four Pakistani soldiers were killed in retaliation after an Indian jawan was shot dead in the Samba district, 41 km from Jammu.

Pakistani Rangers who guard the border in Kashmir fired on a group of Indian soldiers on patrol, the second ceasefire violation in 24 hours. A jawan from the Border Security Force died.

Later in the evening, Pakistan summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner to register protest about the deaths.

The deceased man was identified as Constable Sri Ram Gowria, reported news agency Press Trust of India. Another jawan suffered minor injuries, reports said.

The Indian retaliation came when Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh - after being briefed about the death - asked the BSF to give a fitting reply to the Rangers. An official statement said, "The Home Minister asked the DG, BSF to provide a suitable and appropriate reply for any such unprovoked firing".

In the evening, India returned fire and four Pakistanis were killed. India stopped firing when the Rangers raised a white flag, requesting time to remove the bodies.

In its official communique, Pakistan said it had summoned the Indian envoy to lodge strong protest over the "Shahadat of two personnel of Pakistani Rangers".

Last night, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said the Indian army would retaliate with "double the force" if Pakistan opened fire across the border. His comments came as tension between the two countries sharply escalated. 

Cross-border violence has, in recent months, been the worst in over a decade. In October, at least 20 civilians were killed on both sides. 

India summoned Pakistani High Commissioner Abdul Basit earlier this week to protest against the possibility of 26/11 mastermind Zakiur-Rahman Lakhvi walking free.

Lakhvi, who was arrested in 2009 for orchestrating the Mumbai attacks, was granted bail by a Pakistani court on December 18, drawing strong condemnation from New Delhi.  He, however, is still in jail following arrest in another case. Pakistan has said it will appeal against his bail in the Supreme Court.

LPG Consumers to Get Cash Subsidy in Bank Accounts From January 1

New Delhi: LPG consumers across the country will from January 1 get cash subsidy directly into their bank accounts so that they buy the cooking fuel at market price.

Domestic LPG users will get Rs 568 in the bank account the moment they join the Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme for LPG, which has now been renamed PAHAL. They will have to use this money to buy 14.2-kg refill at the market price.

Currently, the subsidised LPG costs Rs 417 per 14.2-kg cylinder while a market-priced refill costs Rs 752 in Delhi. It will be priced higher in other cities depending on local taxes.

The ambitious plan, launched by the previous UPA government in June 2013 but abruptly stopped earlier this year following court orders, has been modified to exclude the requirement of unique identification number (Aadhaar) for availing the cash subsidy.

"Consumers who wish to join the scheme will have to either link their Aadhaar number into their bank account and their LPG consumer number or if they do not possess Aadhaar number, they will have to link their bank account directly with their 17 digit LPG Id," an official statement said here.

PAHAL or 'Pratyaksh Hanstantarit Labh' was rolled out in 54 districts from November 15 and will extend to rest of the country from January 1.

Under the scheme, LPG consumers will get cash subsidy to buy twelve 14.2-kg cylinders or 34 five-kg refills.

Cash equivalent to the difference between the current subsidised rate and the market price is transferred to the bank account of a consumer the moment he or she makes the first booking for a cylinder after joining the scheme. The moment a consumer takes delivery of the cylinder, another advance cash subsidy is transferred to the bank account.

"Camps are being set up at various banks and LPG distributors' premises to enable consumers open bank account and enroll for Aadhaar if they need to do so to join the scheme," the statement said.

The scheme will cover over 15.3 crore consumers across 676 districts of the country.

Currently, over 6.5 crore consumers (43 per cent) have already joined the scheme and will receive subsidy in their bank accounts.

In Delhi, of the 50.68 lakh LPG consumers, 16.63 lakh have already become Cash Transfer Compliant (CTC), it said.

"DBTL is designed to ensure that the benefit meant for the genuine domestic customers reaches them directly and is not diverted. By this process, public money will be saved," the statement said.

So far, Rs 624 crore has been transferred to over 20 lakh LPG consumers since the launch of the scheme on November 15.

"LPG consumers who do not wish to avail the subsidy can simply choose to opt out of it. Over 12,000 citizens have already voluntarily given up subsidy, freeing up crores of

subsidy amount," the statement said.

DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) is designed to ensure that the subsidy meant for the genuine domestic customers reaches them directly and is not diverted.

The government is looking at saving Rs 10,000 crore in subsidy by curbing diversions and pilferages.

In 54 districts covering 11 states, the scheme covers 2.33 crore households. Currently, the Aadhaar generation level is 95 per cent in these districts.

Under the scheme, consumers will now receive SMS at every stage of enrollment.

'PK' Protestors Have a Wrong Number

PK is a cracker of a film. But some crackpots can't get it. There is a breed amongst us that just loves to hate any creative expression. And they resort to threats, thuggery and hooliganism if that piece of art remotely deals with religion, be it a painting, a book, a movie or a play.

These thugs are available in all shades and religious denominations in our country. Last year, the Muslims versions came after Kamal Hassan's Vishwaroopam, claiming that it painted a bad picture of Islam and hurt their religious sentiments. I was agitated then and I am agitated today as a different lot has now come breathing communal and parochial fire against PK.

It's a repeat telecast. Just replace the beards with saffron scarfs and tilaks. The only difference being that no one called Kamal Hassan anti-national or a traitor. He was labelled anti-Muslim. Today, Aamir Khan is being labelled not just anti-Hindu, but also anti-national. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has made an outlandish 'expose' on PK's funding, insinuating that it was funded by some underworld-terror syndicate. For him PK is not just an "anti-Hindu" film, but a grand "anti-India project".

And all his filth is only directed at Aamir Khan. He seems to conveniently forget that the movie is produced by Rajkumar Hirani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Siddharth Roy Kapur, and that it is directed by Rajkumar Hirani. So Dr Swamy, Aamir Khan can at best be blamed for playing his part in the movie and nothing more. But logic and facts as usual evade Dr Swamy. Hirani, Kapur and Chopra are boring names for him to pick on. His dirty politics can be played only in the name of Aamir Khan.

I am just curious about whether Dr Swamy and his fans also did some nationalistic investigation into the funding of another release, Oh My God, in 2012. It starred one of the finest actors today -  Paresh Rawal, who is now a BJP MP, and whose film was a  much more scathing a satire on Gods and godmen.

Let's talk about PK a bit. It demolishes, brick by brick, the institutions that religions have become today. It lifts the veil of spirituality from the faces of self-declared Godmen and pulls the rug from under their feet. And none are spared. Temples, mosques, churches all get it from PK in equal measure with the best weapon - humour.

For those who could only see Hindu Gods and Godmen being made fun of, please recall the scene where PK is seen carrying two bottles of wine to a Muslim place of worship. The song being played on his radio are famous lines by Ghalib: "Ghalib sharab peene de masjid baith kar, ya woh jagah bata jahan khuda nahi" (Let me drink in the mosque or tell me a place where there is no God) . Take a gulp. Here PK hits at the misguided notion of some holy places and the hypocrisy of the "faithful" who on the one hand claim that their god is omni-present and on the other imprison him within the four walls of a mosque or a temple or a church.

Or take that funny scene from the church where PK is amazed to know that the God here loves wine while the other God in a temple loved nariyal paani.

PK strips religions and gods of all rituals and make up. The godman is exposed, and the God is set free. It also tells us that if there's a relation one need to have with his/her God, it is that of love, not fear, as the managers of religions desire.  It urges its audiences to pause and think for a moment. Are we worshipping a God or the Godman/mullah/priest? Do we love our God or fear him/her?

PK also raps our hypocritical society about issues like sex. We all do it, but don't talk about it.

In another part, PK is baffled that Mahatma Gandhi's photograph is only respected on a currency note.

That PK's message is amusing and not  offensive  as claimed by protestors is evident from the fact that the country in general is loving it. The biggest test of a movie is the box office. People are coming out of theatres smiling, not nursing their hurt sentiments.  The protests and vandalism at theatres have not scared the people away. It can't be a coincidence that those protesting against the movie eerily resemble the characters in it.

Aamir Khan has till now rightly maintained a graceful silence on the issue. He need not shout from the roof top that he has only acted in an intelligent film and not participated in some anti-Hindu or anti-India mission.

The thumbs up from the audiences have made it clear that the likes of Dr Swamy and the VHP are dialing, what PK would describe as a wrong number. I am sure if they ever really encounter PK themselves, he will smile at them and ask "Pee Kay hain kya?"

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this blog are the personal opinions of the author. Blog is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this blog. All information is provided on an as-is basis. The information, facts or opinions appearing on the blog  do not reflect the views of Blog and Blog does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.

PM Modi Meets with Nirbhaya's Family About Safety for Women

New Delhi:  Prime Minister Narendra Modi met today with the parents of the young student whose fatal gang-rape on a Delhi bus two years ago outraged India and triggered a national debate on safety for women.

"The Prime Minister condoled their loss, and assured the parents that the Union Government would do its utmost for the safety and security of women," said a government statement.

The Prime Minister also appreciated the efforts of the girl's mother, who now runs the Nirbhaya Jyoti Trust, for the security and welfare of women, a statement from the Prime Minister's Office said.

"We had a discussion on the issue of security of women; he assured us that the situation will be better soon," said Nirbhaya's mother.

The student, whose identity cannot be revealed for legal reasons, was named "Nirbhaya" or "Fearless" by the media.

She was traveling home in a bus with a male friend on a cold December night from a popular South Delhi mall when she was assaulted by a group of six men, including the driver. They beat up her friend and then took turns assaulting her. Later, they threw the couple, naked and bleeding, onto the roadside.

Nirbhaya was flown from a Delhi hospital to Singapore for treatment; she died there two weeks later. Then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi were at the airport to receive her body. On the streets, for days, thousands of young students protested, demanding stricter punishment for crimes against women.

New, tougher laws were then introduced for sexual violence.

Centre Will Not Unilaterally Bring Anti-Conversion Law: Venkaiah Naidu

Thiruvananthapuram:  After mooting the idea of an anti-conversion law following the raging controversy over religious re-conversions, the government today made it clear that it would not bring the legislation unilaterally.

"Bringing an anti-conversion law is not the priority of the government and it did not think of bringing an anti-conversion law unilaterally," Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu told a meet-the-press programme here.

"No" was his short reply when asked whether the government was working on an anti-conversion law.

However, Mr Naidu said, "If there is a consensus, if opposition also feels there is a need for it, one can think about it."

Stating that the government has no role in the 'ghar vapsi' (home coming) programmes in some parts of the country, Mr Naidu said they were organised by individuals.

He accused the Congress of raking up the conversion issue to derail the development agenda of the Narendra Modi government.

Conversions had been going on for years. Lakhs of people across the country were being converted by "allurement and by spending crores of foreign money", he said, adding the Congress never acted on the same.

"Reconversion is happening over the last 100 years. Many Congress leaders were in the forefront of the reconversion campaign through 'Shuddhi' launched by Swami Dayananda Saraswati," he said.

"When I suggested a legislation to address their concern, the Congress realised its mistake and went on the backfoot," Mr Naidu said.

Justifying the government's decision to go for the ordinance route for insurance sector FDI and land acquisition reforms, he said the government was compelled to go for the ordinance due to the "negative mindset" of the Congress party.

The attitude of the Congress in the Rajya Sabha, whose proceedings were paralysed for several days over the conversion issue, was "a clear evidence of the negative and obstructionist mindset and this political philosophy was harming the national interest," he contended.

On the achievements of the seven-month old NDA government, he said in such a short time, it could increase power generation by 22 per cent, the wholesale price index based inflation has been brought to zero level and there was a substantial increase in foreign institutional and direct investments.

Children Skip School to be Lowered into Wells to Fetch Water

Beed, Maharashtra:  Even before summers arrive, wells in Marathwada tend to run dry. Though glints of water show at the bottom, pitchers sent down come up empty.

But the villagers have come up with a desperate solution: Before they send down a pitcher, they tie children with ropes and lower them into the wells. It is the child's task to fill the pitchers with mugs.

The wells are mostly over 60 feet deep.  The ropes are thin nylon, barely meant to carry more load than a full pitcher. It is only providence that has so far averted a tragedy.

And for this exercise every day, young children are made to miss schools.

 
For 12-year-old Priyanka Murkute of Marathwada's Murkutwadi village, water has priority over education.

Every day she is lowered into a 60-feet-deep well, tied precariously with a rope. Every time she descends into the well, she fills 10 pitchers of water and sends them up.

For an onlooker, the process is unnerving. At this well, the exercise is especially dangerous, since it is rocky and deep.

But for Priyanka, this is routine. Need takes precedence over fear and practice has made her an expert. "This has been happening for three years now. This is our only source of water, and I have to skip school at times," she said.

Groundwater levels have plummeted to 300 feet in several places across Marathwada owing to wanton boring for agricultural use or consumption. And it is the children who bear the burden.

Priyanka's village is part of the constituency of Maharashtra's Rural Welfare Minister, Pankaja Munde. And the administration and the local politicians have little to offer than age-old promises of tankers. There, however, is no contingency plan in case a similar drought grips Ahmednagar, from where the water is sourced.

Ms Munde was unavailable for comment.

Sachin Tendulkar Rates 2007 World Cup Exit as All-Time Career Low

Dubai: Legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar considers the early exit of the Indian team from 2007 cricket World Cup as one of the worst moments of his illustrious career and says the disappointment in the West Indies served as a boost to prove critics wrong four years later.

"The most forgettable ICC Cricket World Cup for me has to be 2007 edition in the West Indies. The early exit from the tournament ranks among the worst moments of my cricketing career," Tendulkar said in a column he wrote for the ICC in the run up to the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

"We had a fantastic team but it was not to be! My pursuit to be a part of the World Cup winning team continued. The disappointment in the tournament served as a boost to prove many naysayers wrong," he added.

Tendulkar, who is also an ICC ambassador for the 2015 World Cup, said winning the 2011 edition at home was the highest point of his career.

"In defeating top sides like Australia, Pakistan and eventually overcoming Sri Lanka in the final, India emerged as the first nation to win the World Cup on home soil. It was even more special as I had finally been part of World Cup winning team after 22 years of pursuit. The victory in 2011 was the highest point of my career as a nation unified in its celebrations," the iconic cricketer, who participated in record six World Cup editions, said.

Tendulkar, who retired last year on a pile of runs and records, recounted his journey from a World Cup 'ball-boy' to a World Cup winner.

"On June 25, 1983, India cricket team won the ICC Cricket World Cup 1983 and images of the team holding the trophy were inspirational for the entire nation. I was just 10 years of age and have fond memories of that victory. My parents allowed me to celebrate the victory till late in night. I was also inspired to take up playing the game with the season (hard) ball after the World Cup victory," Tendulkar, who played 45 World Cup matches scoring 2278 runs, said.

"My first 'live' piece of World Cup action was during the 1987 ICC Cricket World Cup, which was co-hosted by India and Pakistan. I was fortunate to be among the volunteers to be picked as a ball boy for the matches played in Mumbai. As I stood there watching Indian greats on the field, I kept telling myself that I need to be a part of action in the middle," he added. Another World Cup incident which rankled Tendulkar's mind for long a time was his dismissal in the semifinal against Sri Lanka in 1996.

"The ICC Cricket World Cup 1996 was special as it was jointly hosted in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. My dismissal in the semi-final against Sri Lanka rankled me for a long time as it was the start of a batting collapse, which brought an end to the India campaign," said Tendulkar who made his maiden World Cup appearance against England in Perth in 1992.

"I scored my first century in an ICC Cricket World Cup during this tournament and also scored another one against Sri Lanka, the eventual champion, during the league stage. The highs experienced during the league stage came crashing down and we were left to enjoy the brilliant batting of Aravinda de Silva, whose partnership with Arjuna Ranatunga on television set as Sri Lanka won its first World Cup defeating Australia," said the 41-year-old cricket icon.

He said the 1999 edition in England was a difficult tournament for him personally as he had to cope with the loss of his father in the midst of the tournament.

"It was very difficult as I tried to focus on the game inspite of my grief," Tendulkar said.

He said the Indian team of 2003 World Cup in South Africa was probably "a little too charged up" as it suffered a big defeat at the hands of the Australians in the final.

"The ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 was the closest I had come, till then, to lift the coveted trophy. The entire team had been playing well and we were extremely charged up to take on Australia in the final. A little too charged up, as we realised, as we lost losing the final by a big margin!

"I had a memorable tournament scoring 673 runs in 11 matches - the most by any batsman in a single World Cup. The player of the tournament award I received was little consolation for ending up as the second best side," Tendulkar said.

Judge Denies Motions to Move, Delay Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Trial

Boston:  Lawyers for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev asked a federal appeals court on Wednesday to overturn a judge's decision to not move his upcoming trial out of state.

The request was filed with the 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals hours after US District Court Judge George O'Toole denied the change-of-venue request and a motion seeking a nine-month delay in the start of the trial. The defense is now asking O'Toole to delay jury selection, scheduled to begin on Monday, pending the outcome of the appeal.

Tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty to federal charges connected to the April 2013 explosions at the marathon's finish line, which killed three people and injured more than 260. He would face the death penalty if convicted.

The lawyers argue that Tsarnaev can't receive a fair trial in the Boston federal courthouse near the bombing site.

In rejecting Tsarnaev's first request in September to move the trial, O'Toole said defense lawyers had failed to show that extensive media coverage of the bombings had prejudiced the jury pool to the point an impartial jury couldn't be chosen in Boston.

Prosecutors say Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 21, and his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, planted and detonated two pressure cooker bombs. Tamerlan died following a firefight with police several days after the bombings. Dzhokhar was captured later that day, wounded and hiding in a boat parked in a backyard.

Jury selection is expected to take several weeks because of extensive media coverage and the thousands of runners, spectators and others in the area affected by the bombings. The process also could be slowed if potential jurors express objections to the death penalty.

Ebola Global Cases Top 20,000: WHO

Geneva:  The Ebola virus is still spreading in West Africa, especially in Sierra Leone, and the worldwide toll from the epidemic stands at 7,905 deaths among 20,206 known cases at year-end, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.

Sierra Leone reported 337 new cases in the past week, including 149 in Freetown, the highest incidence in the capital of the former British colony in four weeks, the WHO said in its latest weekly update.

Nawaz Sharif Vows to Rid Pakistan of Terrorism

Islamabad:  Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday said that his government has taken concrete measures to address the challenge of terrorism as he vowed to rid Pakistan of terrorism.

"In our resolve to rid the country of terrorism, we will march further than any of the world powers," Sharif said while speaking in the Senate.

He said that there is no question of lagging behind in the fight against terrorism.

On setting up military courts, he said, "They (Asif Ali Zardari and some other political parties) talk about my arrest if the military courts are set up. But let me tell them how I can forget the innocent blood of the children.

"How I can forget the heads of the soldiers the terrorists played football with. How I can forget the bad treatment with the soldiers bodies by terrorists. This is in my mind and not my arrest (by the military courts) as some talk about it."

Zardari had cautioned Sharif about his decision to set up the military courts.

Sharif said he would present the sketch of the constitutional amendment in the upcoming session of the National Assembly while parliamentarians will pass the amendment in this regard.

"It was decided on December 24 that the government will establish military courts and military courts will only hear cases related to terrorism while the government will fix a time period regarding the working of military courts," he said.

Former Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and Lahore High Court Bar Association have also opposed setting up military courts terming it would be "unconstitutional step".

Sharif also said the Operation Zarb-i-Azb has delivered a fatal blow to terrorists.

"More than 50,000 Pakistanis have been killed in the war against terror," he said, adding the government had called on all political parties for the formation of a National Action Plan.

He said the meeting of parliamentary leaders had unanimously approved a 20-point agenda.

Boy in Walmart Shooting 'Unzipped' Special Purse Gun Pocket

Spokane:  Concealed weapons are part of everyday life in the Mountain West state of Idaho, and that's unlikely to change in despite a shocking accident in which a 2-year-old boy reached into his mother's purse, got hold of her gun and shot her in the head inside a Walmart.

Like other Western states, gun rights are a big issue in Idaho. State lawmakers passed legislation earlier this year allowing concealed weapons on the state's public college and university campuses. Despite facing opposition from all eight of the state's university college presidents, lawmakers sided with advocates who said the law would better uphold gun rights.

On Tuesday morning, Veronica J. Rutledge was shopping with her son and three nieces, when the small-caliber handgun discharged one time, killing her.

Terry Rutledge, Veronica's father-in-law, told The Spokesman-Review that the boy unzipped the special gun compartment in the woman's purse where the weapon was kept while she was looking at clothing.

Terry Rutledge said his 29-year-old daughter-in-law did not put the weapon "loosely into her purse."

Victoria Rutledge had a concealed weapons permit, and guns were a big part of Rutledge's life, her father-in-law said.

"She was not the least bit irresponsible," Terry Rutledge said, in a brief interview with The Associated Press. He complained about people using the incident to attack his daughter-in-law.

Terry Rutledge told The Washington Post that Veronica Rutledge and her husband practiced at shooting ranges and each had a concealed weapons permit. He said for Christmas this year, her husband gave her the purse with a special zippered pocket for a concealed weapon.

About 7 per cent of adults in Idaho had concealed weapons permits at the end of 2012, according to the Crime Prevention Research Center in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. That ranked Idaho among the top third of states.

Kootenai County, which has about 140,000 residents, has issued close to 16,000 concealed weapons permits, Kootenai County sheriff's spokesman Stu Miller said Wednesday.

"It's very commonplace in northern Idaho for folks to have a concealed weapons permit," Miller said, and most businesses do not prohibit firearms.

Veronica Rutledge lived in Blackfoot, in southeastern Idaho, and her family had come to the Hayden area to visit relatives for Christmas.

She was an employee of the Idaho National Laboratory near Idaho Falls, Idaho, where she was a nuclear scientist. The laboratory supports the US Department of Energy in nuclear and energy research and national defense.

Rutledge graduated from high school in Harrison, a lakeside town in the Idaho Panhandle. She was the valedictorian of her class. She graduated from the University of Idaho with a degree in chemistry.

She had taken the children to Walmart on Tuesday morning to spend their Christmas gift cards, family members said. Her young son, her only child, was in a shopping cart.

Responding deputies found Rutledge dead in the electronics section of the Walmart in Hayden, a rural town of about 12,000 people northeast of Spokane.

Colt Rutledge, 32, arrived to the store in Idaho's northern panhandle shortly after the shooting around 10:20 am Tuesday, Miller said. All the children were taken to a relative's house.

Officers viewed surveillance video provided by the store to determine what happened, Miller said.

Terry Rutledge told the AP that his daughter-in-law "was a beautiful, young, loving mother."

"She was taken much too soon," he said.

US Stocks Post Sixth Straight Year of Gains

New York: US stocks ended a strong 2014 with moderate declines Wednesday.

Even with the losses, the Standard & Poor's 500 index finished the year up 11.4 per cent, or 13.7 per cent when dividends are included. It was the sixth straight year of gains for the stock market.

Oil, by contrast, had its worst annual performance since 2008, ending down 45 per cent for 2014 after a sharp slump in the second half of the year.

The market's annual gain exceeded even most optimistic forecasts made at the beginning of the year.

"It turned out to be a great year for US economic growth, which got us higher corporate profits as well," said Cameron Hinds, regional chief investment officer for Wells Fargo Private Bank.

Most strategists believe the stock market will also rise in 2015, but they expect more modest gains of between 4 per cent and 6 per cent.

There was no major catalyst for Wednesday's selling. Trading has been slow all week because of the holidays and most fund managers have closed their books for the year. However, some investors do reshuffle their portfolios in the last few days of the year for tax purposes.

Roughly 2.6 billion shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange, compared with the 3.6 billion traded on an average day.

Energy stocks edged lower as the price of oil fell. Benchmark US crude dropped 85 cents to $53.27 a barrel in New York. Oil has plunged by half since June amid abundant supplies and weak global demand.

Oil drillers fell the most Wednesday. Diamond Offshore was the biggest decliner in the S&P 500, declining 3.6 percent. The energy component of the S&P 500 is down 10 percent this year

"I think most of the selling you're seeing today is related to the fall in oil, as well as repositioning before the end of the year," Hinds said.

US markets will be closed Thursday for New Year's Day and will reopen on a normal schedule on Friday.

On Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 160 points, or 0.9 per cent, to 17,823.07. It ended 2014 up 7.5 per cent, lagging behind the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.

The Nasdaq lost 41.39 points, or 0.9 per cent, to 4,736.05. The Nasdaq rose 13.4 per cent in 2014.

The S&P 500 fell 21.45 points, or 1 per cent, to 2,058.90.

Prices for US government bonds rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note edged down to 2.17 per cent. Bonds were an unexpected strong spot for the market in 2014. The 10-year note started 2014 at around 2.99 per cent. Bond yields fall as prices rise.

Gold fell $16.30 to $1,184.10 an ounce. The precious metal barely budged in 2014, falling 0.2 per cent, compared with its drop of 28.3 per cent in 2013.

Silver fell 68 cents to $15.60 an ounce and copper fell three cents to $2.83 a pound.

Gambia President Returns Home After Reports of Coup Attempt

Banjul:  Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh returned to Banjul on Wednesday and shops and banks reopened, a day after gunfire erupted around the presidential palace in an apparent coup attempt led by a former commander of the presidential guard.

In a sign of heightened security, government forces set up three checkpoints on the Denton Bridge into the capital to search people as they headed into work and check identity papers, witnesses said.

The US government and the United Nations both issued statements condemning any attempts to seize power but also warning against any further violence.

There was no word from Jammeh in the aftermath of the turmoil but the president, who returned to the country overnight, was expected to make a traditional New Year's Eve speech later on Wednesday.

The capital was locked down by security forces on Tuesday after gunfire erupted early in the morning. The sole government statement so far has played down the incident, denying any instability.

Diplomats monitoring the country- one of the most secretive in the region- warned of the possibility of a crackdown on those accused of having links to the attack.

"There are fears of reprisals. It is about whether (Jammeh) can be seen to be calm and in control without it getting too bloody," said one Western diplomat.

The diplomat said four attackers were reported killed and four others injured in clashes. Most are believed to be former members of the Gambian military, the diplomat said.

Local media and several analysts said the assailants included Lamin Sanneh, a former head of the presidential guard, and a US Army reservist who had US-Gambian nationality.

Following brief talks at the UN Security Council, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for a transparent investigation into the events and also urged restraint.

Jammeh's security forces foiled a coup plot in March 2006 and Amnesty International said in the wake of that incident it feared some of the alleged coup plotters may have been executed without trial.
Jammeh, 49, took power in a coup 20 years ago and since then has stifled dissent in his impoverished West African nation of 1.9 million.

He has faced increasing criticism from abroad over issues ranging from human rights to his claim he can cure AIDS.

This year the European Union withdrew millions of dollars in aid after Jammeh signed into law an act that could imprison homosexuals for life. The US government also recently removed Gambia from AGOA, its African duty-free trade partnership.

In 2012, Jammeh was criticised for suddenly executing nine people being held in prison.

The country attracts tourists, particularly during the northern hemisphere's winter. They include about 60,000 Britons a year. The British foreign office advised its citizens to stay indoors and avoid public gatherings.

Gambia's national territory comprises a splinter of land wedged into Senegal and facing the Atlantic. Senegalese police said on Wednesday Gambia's borders remained open.

Google Doodle Welcomes 2015 With Fireworks

A snapshot of the 1 January, 2015 Google Doodle.

New Delhi:  Keeping with tradition, as the clock struck midnight on December 31, signalling the end of 2014, many countries around the world welcomed the new year with fireworks. These included United Kingdom, Germany, Greece, Lebanon, Australia, Japan and even North Korea, to name a few. It also inspired the very first Google Doodle of 2015.

While the doodle dated December 31, 2014 recapped some of the most significant trends and news making events of the year gone by, (Flappy Bird, 2014 FIFA World Cup, the Philae Lander and the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge) the first short and sweet Google Doodle of the new year ushered 2015 in with sparkles with the 'Google' logo metamorphosing into '2015' surrounded by fireworks.

The first Google Doodle was published in 1998 commemorating the Burning Man Festival of 1998 and designed by Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.

Jammu and Kashmir Government Formation: BJP to Submit its Plan to Governor Today

Jammu/Srinagar:  The BJP will submit a formal proposal on government formation to Jammu and Kashmir Governor NN Vohra today. The meeting to submit the proposal comes a day after PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, the leader of the largest party, met the Governor on Wednesday.

After the meeting, Ms Mufti appeared to lean towards the BJP as she invoked former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's vision and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi "has a big responsibility" towards the state.

"We have to bring back Vajpayee's policies," she told reporters.

Her Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won 28 seats in the 87-member Jammu and Kashmir assembly after a deeply fractured state poll verdict, but is well short of the majority mark of 44. The BJP won 25 seats and the National Conference placed third at 15. The Congress won 12 seats.

Amid reports that her party could opt for a "Grand Alliance" comprising its arch-rival National Conference and the Congress, Ms Mufti hinted that the door was open for the BJP.

"Media reports say we have the support of 55 MLAs but we don't want to form a government for the sake of it. A government should be one that is about welfare and peace, and for that we need Mr Vajpayee's approach," said Ms Mufti, repeatedly dodging direct questions on whether she would join hands with the BJP.

The BJP's Ram Madhav said what the PDP leader said was "good" and added, "As and when something concrete happens, we will take it forward."

So far no party or combination of parties, has staked claim to form government. Last week, the Governor invited the PDP and the BJP separately for discussions.

The PDP's top leader Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Mehbooba Mufti's father, has been meeting party leaders and newly-elected lawmakers to firm up a decision on who to partner with.

There are reportedly strong voices within the PDP opposed to an alliance with the BJP; the opinions of the two parties are the diametric opposite on several key issues. Also, the PDP, with three more seats than the BJP, is disinclined to yield the post of chief minister.

A government has to be in place by January 19, failing which Governor's rule will be imposed in the state.

UN Ebola Team Leaders to Visit West Africa Starting Monday

United Nations:  The UN Ebola chief will be taking the new head of the UN's mission to fight the deadly disease on a tour of the most affected countries in West Africa starting Monday.

Dr. David Nabarro, the UN special envoy on Ebola, and Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the new head of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response, will first visit Ghana's capital, Accra, where the UN operation known as UNMEER is headquartered.

The UN said on Wednesday they will then travel to hardest-hit Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Mali until Jan. 13 to introduce Ahmed to key players in the fight against Ebola including government and local leaders.

Ahmed is taking over from Anthony Banbury, who led UNMEER for its first three months and has returned to UN headquarters.

Pakistan Airstrikes Kill 23 Militants: Military

Peshawar:  At least 23 militants were killed on Wednesday when Pakistani fighter jets bombed their hideouts in the country's trouble northwest bordering Afghanistan, military said.

The attacks also destroyed four militant hideouts in Shawal, in the North Waziristan tribal district, where the military has been mounting an offensive against Taliban strongholds since June.

The Pakistan military said in a statement late Wednesday that "23 terrorists were killed and four hideouts were destroyed through effective and precise aerial strikes in Shawal".

It was not possible to independently verify the casualties as journalists are banned from visiting the far-flung mountainous area during the ongoing offensive, but a local security official confirmed the airstrikes.

The army has intensified its offensive after the massacre of 150 people, 134 of them children, in a school in Peshawar in December, a carnage which Pakistan described as its own "mini 9/11" and a game-changer in the fight against extremism.

The Pakistani military says it has killed more than 1,700 militants so far in its heavy offensive in the tribal zone, with 126 soldiers having lost their lives.

Improved Weather Conditions Allow AirAsia Search to Resume

Pangkalan Bun, Indonesia:  A much needed break in the weather gave searchers a window Thursday to "fight with full force" to find the victims of AirAsia Flight 8501, with officials also hustling to locate the fuselage of the plane that crashed in the sea four days ago.

Only seven of the 162 bodies have been recovered so far, with four of them found over the past two days arriving Thursday morning in Pangkalan Bun on Borneo island. They will later be flown for identification to Surabaya, where the two-hour flight to Singapore originated on Sunday.

"The visibility is good this morning, we are ready to fight with full force to search for bodies, wreckages that can reveal what went wrong with this accident," said First Marshal Agus Dwi Putranto, an Air Force Operation commander helping to lead the search, adding four aircraft were dispatched to the area just after sunrise.

Choppy conditions had prevented divers from entering the water on Wednesday, and helicopters were largely grounded. But 18 ships surveyed the narrowed search area. Sonar images identified what appeared to be large parts of the plane, but strong currents were moving the debris.

Thursday's break in weather - blue skies and calm seas despite earlier storm predictions - could greatly speed up recovery efforts that have been severely hampered since the first bodies were spotted on Tuesday. Vice Air Marshal Sunarbowo Sandi, search and rescue coordinator in Pangkalan Bun, the closest town to the targeted area, said he was hopeful divers would be able to explore the wreckage site.

"It's possible the bodies are in the fuselage," he said. "So it's a race now against time and weather."

It is still unclear what brought the plane down. The jet's last communication indicated the pilots were worried about bad weather. They sought permission to climb above threatening clouds but were denied because of heavy air traffic. Four minutes later, the airliner disappeared from the radar without issuing a distress signal.

The cockpit-voice and flight-data recorders, or black boxes, must be retrieved before officials can start determining what caused the crash. Some items recovered so far include a life jacket, an emergency exit window, children's shoes, a blue suitcase and backpacks filled with food.

Simple wooden coffins - numbered 001 and 002 - with purple flowers on top contained the first two bodies, which were sent Wednesday from Pangkalan Bun to Surabaya for autopsies. The two victims were a woman wearing blue jeans and a boy. Three males and two females were also recovered, all but one was transported from a warship Thursday.

Nearly all the passengers were Indonesian, and many were Christians of Chinese descent. The country is predominantly Muslim, but sizeable pockets of people of other faiths are found throughout the sprawling archipelago. Around 10 percent of those in Surabaya, the nation's second-largest city, are Christian.

Many family members have remained at the Surabaya airport since getting word that the plane had disappeared. Some, like 15-year-old Chiara Natasha, are now alone.

Her entire family was coming to visit her in Singapore for New Year's.

She had just moved there in November to study at a Methodist girls' school on a government scholarship. Her parents and two brothers had promised to join her to celebrate the holiday and help her settle into dormitory life.

But instead of greeting her relatives at the airport, she returned home Sunday to Surabaya, Indonesia, to seek any word about the fate of AirAsia Flight 8501, praying that they had somehow survived.

Families who lost loved ones aboard the jetliner endured another excruciating day of waiting Wednesday as bad weather hindered efforts to recover any more bodies and sent wreckage drifting far from the crash site.

"Help us, God, to move forward, even though we are surrounded by darkness," the Rev. Philip Mantofa, whose church lost about 40 members in the disaster, told families gathered in a waiting room at the Surabaya airport.

On Wednesday, about 100 relatives gathered for the airport prayer service where Mantofa urged them to hold onto their faith despite their pain. About 40 members of his Mawar Sharon Church died in the crash.

"Some things do not make sense to us, but God is bigger than all this," he said. "Our God is not evil."

Before breaking up, those gathered stood together and sang with their hands reaching upward. "I surrender all. I surrender all," they repeated. "I surrender all to God our savior."

Many family members had planned to travel to Pangkalan Bun, 160 kilometers (100 miles) from the area where bodies were first spotted, to start identifying their loved ones. However, the manager of the Surabaya airport, Trikora Hardjo, later said the trip was canceled after authorities suggested their presence could slow down the operation.

Instead, some relatives gave blood for DNA tests and submitted photos of their loved ones along with identifying information such as tattoos or birthmarks that could help make the process easier.