Assorted

Karunagapally , Feb 18: Two men were arrested by the Ochira police on Friday on charge of attacking a young couple on the Azheekkal beach, near Karunagapally, on Valentine’s Day. The couple had on Friday morning lodged a complaint with City Police Commissioner S. Satheesh Bino. The Ochira police took six men into custody in connection with the incident. The couple identified two among them. The...

The Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala was closed after the five-day monthly rituals (puja) in the Malayalam month of Kumbhom on Friday evening. An auspicious Laksharchana ritual was performed at the temple. The Ayyappa temple will be opened on March 14 afternoon for the monthly rituals in the Malayalam month of Meenom that begins the next day.

Seoul, Feb 17: The heir of South Korean giant Samsung was today arrested as part of a probe into corruption and influence-peddling that caused President Park Geun-Hye to be impeached. "It is acknowledged that it is necessary to arrest (Lee Jae-Yong) in light of a newly added criminal charge and new evidence," a court spokesman said in a statement. Lee Jae-Yong, Samsung Electronics vice chairman...

New York, Feb 17: Last month was the third warmest January in 137 years of modern record-keeping, according to a monthly analysis of global temperatures by Nasa scientists. Last month"s temperature was 0.20 degrees Celsius cooler than the warmest January in 2016. However, it was 0.92 degrees Celsius warmer than the mean January temperature from 1951-1980. Two of the three top January temperature...

Feb 17: In November last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stunned the country by announcing that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were as good as garbage. Despite his insistence that the ban was meant to curb black money and put terrorists out of business, many analysts said it was motivated by politics rather than economics, and done with an eye on the Uttar Pradesh (UP) elections. Since the rise of...

Geneva, Feb 16: Using smartphones, laptops and other technology to work from home may help you do away with rush hour traffic, but also lead to longer working hours, higher stress and sleeping problems, according to a new UN study in 15 countries including India. "This report shows that the use of modern communication technologies facilitates a better overall work-life balance," said Jon Messenger...

Paris, Feb 16: The world's oceans have lost more than two per cent of their oxygen since 1960, with potentially devastating consequences for sea plants and animals, marine scientists said Wednesday. In those five and a half decades, parts of the oceans devoid of oxygen, called anoxic waters, have quadrupled, said a study in the science journal Nature. And the production and flow of nitrous oxide...

Bengaluru, Feb 16: Kalale Keshavamurthy, who contested the 2013 Assembly polls on JD(S) ticket in Nanjangud constituency, joined the Congress on Wednesday in the presence of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and KPCC president G. Parameshwara. Mr. Keshavamurthy will be the Congress candidate in the crucial bypoll to the Legislative Assembly from Nanjangud reserved segment. Meanwhile, Congress leaders...

London, Feb 14: A heroic Indian-origin Scotland Yard officer has been honoured with a top bravery award in the UK for risking his own life to save a family trapped in a burning house, winning the vote of thousands of Londoners. Shand Panesar, along with colleague Craig Nicholson, won the Total Excellence in Policing Awards at the annual ceremony last week for rescuing a couple from a burning...

Chennai, Feb 14: The 28-hour countdown for the launch of a record 104 satellites by India on board a single rocket from the spaceport of Sriharikota, about 125 km from here, commenced today. India will become the first country to script history if it succeeds in launching the 104 satellites in a single rocket. The countdown for the launch of PSLV-C37/Cartosat2 Series satellite mission began at 5...