Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo completes test flight

Virgin Galactic’s space tourism vehicle, SpaceShipTwo, recorded a new high Friday on its third rocket-powered supersonic test flight. The passenger-carrying reusable space vehicle departed from Mojave Air and Space Port in California at 7.22 a.m. Pacific Standard Time on its WhiteKnightTwo mothership, which took it to the planned altitude of 14,020 metres (14 km). At […]

India, US hope to put Khobragade affair behind them

With the bitter India-US row over the arrest of an Indian diplomat defused with her departure for India, both sides are hoping to bring the “important” relationship back on track in the weeks ahead. One sentiment encountered during the discussions to work out a deal over the treatment of Devyani Khobragade, India’s then deputy consul […]

Half the tourists in Nepal are from India

More than half of the tourists visiting Nepal are Indians, and a majority of them used land routes to enter the Himalayan nation, according to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB). According to report released by the NTB Friday, a study, which it has undertaken on a daily basis throughout the year 2012, found that at […]

Vivekananda’s 150th birth anniversary celebrations to end Sunday

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be the chief guest at the closing ceremony of the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Swami Vivekananda here Sunday. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Defence Minister A.K. Antony and Culture Minister Chandresh Kumari Katoch will also be present on the occasion at Vigyan Bhawan. A national committee under the chairmanship of […]

Pakistan polio workers refuse to join vaccination campaign

Around 70 health workers in Pakistan’s Khyber Agency area refused to take part in a polio vaccination campaign Saturday citing security concerns, a media report said. “We feel threatened and everyone is frightened after the killing of our colleagues last month,” Dawn newspaper quoted Haji Sadeeq, a spokesman for the workers, as saying. The workers […]

Shimla, Manali wrapped under white blanket

The Himanchal Pradesh’s Shimla and Manali – prominent tourist places – Saturday woke up to a blanket of fresh snow. Tourist spots near Shimla, such as honeymooners’ paradise Kufri, Fagu and Narkanda also experienced overnight snowfall, an official of the meteorological department here told IANS. Likewise, the Solang ski slopes, 13 km uphill from Manali, […]

Arvind Kejriwal holds ‘janta darbar’

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his ministers are holding a ‘janata darbar’ at the secretariat here Saturday to address the public grievances. The one-and-a-half-hour session began at 9.30 a.m. and will continue till 11.30 a.m. The chief minister said his entire cabinet will sit outside the Delhi Secretariat every week Saturday and “hear grievances […]

New cancer treatment to be available in Mumbai’s Tata hospital

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday laid the foundation stone for the new Rs.425-crore national hadron beam facility (NHBF) and a cancer care centre for women and children at the Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital (TMCH) here. The facility, part of radiation therapy to treat cancer, will be funded by the centre through the department of atomic […]

Don’t eat onions, prices will dip, SC tells petitioner

The Supreme Court Friday declined to entertain a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking direction to the government to regulate the prices of onions, potatoes and other seasonal vegetables. “Stop eating onions for two months, prices will come down to Rs.15 per kg,” said a bench of Justice B.S. Chauhan and Justice J. Chelameswar adding: “Now […]