Lalitgate: Congress questions PM Modi's silence, says he too is liable
-
NEW DELHI: Congress on Thursday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's continued "silence" in the Lalitgate and asked him to come out of his "meditation" and answer the nation as he too is "liable".
"It is ordinance raj. All mantris have become tantris. One minister, what he or she eats, drinks, where they go. The Prime Minister knows everything. But he is unaware when external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj was talking to UK authorities on Lalit Modi's travel documents," Congress spokesman Tom Vadakkan told reporters in Delhi.
"That means, there was consent of the Prime Minister (for granting travel documents to Lalit Modi)...he is liable. Prime Minister Modi should come out of political Vipassana, and keep truth before the nation," Tom Vadakkan said.
Asked about reports of scam-tainted former IPL chief Lalit Modi hosting Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor and Rajiv Shukla too, Vadakkan said they did not hold any official post unlike Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje and hence, there was no quid pro quo.
According to media reports, ex-IPL chief had hosted Tharoor, Shukla and Raje at a Mumbai hotel in 2010. Raje was the leader of opposition in Rajasthan assembly then.
"Now it has come to fore that the then leader of opposition in Rajasthan, who is the chief minister now, her bills were paid by IPL. Those who are against us will say Tharoor was there, Shukla was there, (NCP chief Sharad) Pawar was there, but they were not leader of opposition. In Raje's case, it is proved there was quid pro quo," he claimed.
On reports claiming that Raje's son Dushyant had business links with the former IPL chief, Vadakkan said the matter needs to be investigated.
"It is very difficult to say which Modi has what relations with whom. If the relations are with Chhota (Lalit) Modi, then in whose protection Chhota Modi is, who is giving him transit passport, these are all matters of investigation. These linkages involving "Bada" Modi, "Chhota" Modi can be established only then," he said.
"It is ordinance raj. All mantris have become tantris. One minister, what he or she eats, drinks, where they go. The Prime Minister knows everything. But he is unaware when external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj was talking to UK authorities on Lalit Modi's travel documents," Congress spokesman Tom Vadakkan told reporters in Delhi.
"That means, there was consent of the Prime Minister (for granting travel documents to Lalit Modi)...he is liable. Prime Minister Modi should come out of political Vipassana, and keep truth before the nation," Tom Vadakkan said.
Asked about reports of scam-tainted former IPL chief Lalit Modi hosting Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor and Rajiv Shukla too, Vadakkan said they did not hold any official post unlike Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje and hence, there was no quid pro quo.
According to media reports, ex-IPL chief had hosted Tharoor, Shukla and Raje at a Mumbai hotel in 2010. Raje was the leader of opposition in Rajasthan assembly then.
"Now it has come to fore that the then leader of opposition in Rajasthan, who is the chief minister now, her bills were paid by IPL. Those who are against us will say Tharoor was there, Shukla was there, (NCP chief Sharad) Pawar was there, but they were not leader of opposition. In Raje's case, it is proved there was quid pro quo," he claimed.
On reports claiming that Raje's son Dushyant had business links with the former IPL chief, Vadakkan said the matter needs to be investigated.
"It is very difficult to say which Modi has what relations with whom. If the relations are with Chhota (Lalit) Modi, then in whose protection Chhota Modi is, who is giving him transit passport, these are all matters of investigation. These linkages involving "Bada" Modi, "Chhota" Modi can be established only then," he said.
'Is Delhi BJP's first experiment?' Kejriwal tweets on Advani's Emergency remark
-
NEW DELHI: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday supported veteran BJP leader L K Advani's statement in which he had not ruled out an Emergency- like situation in the country again.
"Advani ji is correct in saying that Emergency can't be ruled out. Is Delhi their first experiment," Kejriwal asked in a tweet.
In an interview to the Indian Express ahead of the 40th anniversary of the Emergency, the veteran leader had said that "forces that can crush democracy" (in the country) were stronger.
Pointing that there were "not enough safeguards in India in 2015" to prevent an Emergency-like situation, Advani said that he could not assert confidently that an Emergency could not happen again in India.
NEW DELHI: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday supported veteran BJP leader L K Advani's statement in which he had not ruled out an Emergency- like situation in the country again."Advani ji is correct in saying that Emergency can't be ruled out. Is Delhi their first experiment," Kejriwal asked in a tweet.
In an interview to the Indian Express ahead of the 40th anniversary of the Emergency, the veteran leader had said that "forces that can crush democracy" (in the country) were stronger.
Pointing that there were "not enough safeguards in India in 2015" to prevent an Emergency-like situation, Advani said that he could not assert confidently that an Emergency could not happen again in India.
Infosys, Wipro, other IT firms revamp culture to attract young talent, battle start-ups
-
MUMBAI: India's oldest and most distinguished IT firms are doing what would have been almost sacrilegious a few years ago — holding coding marathons to develop innovative fixes and deploying "commando" units to resolve clients' IT woes within hours.
Infosys, Wipro and other Indian IT giants, which rose to prominence during the outsourcing boom in the 1990s and 2000s, have struggled to keep pace with mushrooming start-ups.The rate of revenue growth has more than halved since 2011—12, partly due to the emerging competition.
Those young set-ups say they go beyond cookie-cutter solutions and argue that they do the job more quickly and for less. They also attract the creme de la creme of India's engineering graduates with their culture of bubble chairs, breakfast bars and table tennis at work, in a way that the corporate, straight—laced atmosphere of the country's IT trail blazers struggles to.
Client demands are similarly changing in India's $147 billion IT outsourcing industry. Major telecoms, retail and banking firms want more than an outsourced help desk, and now demand everything from help solving a server crash overnight to help building an app, industry veterans say.
"When people around you change, moving from a very process-defined model to a much more agile model, it is definitely making a dent in everyone's thinking," said Sanjiv Kovil, Wipro's chief technology officer.
To deal with this, Wipro, for example, has set up small "commando force" units that help get swift solutions by copying a startup environment where small teams move fast. India's third—largest IT services provider has also introduced gaming-like training sessions and so—called hackathons to solve both fake and real client problems.
"It is not the wild west - there is a method to the madness. We have kind of defined the boundaries, but within that we have allowed for a lot of flexibility," Kovil said.
Earlier this month Infosys — long known for its inflexible rules of employee decorum — did away with a formal dress code. The company had already relaxed rules that stopped workers from accessing social networking web sites at work.
At Tech Mahindra, associates and mid-level employees can win quizzes and contests to spend a day with the CEO and exchange ideas, a practice that industry veterans say was impossible to imagine even a few years back.
Bearing fruit
There are some early signs the more flexible approach is yielding dividends.
Tech Mahindra said it won a contract last month to build an electric vehicle charging system for the city of Ontario, Canada, because its flatter structure had allowed the manager responsible to decide alone and move fast with his bid.
To be sure, it is hard for large IT companies, with an army of thousands of employees, to change overnight. Yet, steps as small as implementing a casual dress code and allowing employees to use their own tech devices mark a major cultural shift in an industry that still relies heavily on manpower to win business.
"These changes are cool. I like that they have finally decided that we are adults," said one young Infosys executive who has spent seven years with the firm, declining to be named.
"But the real changes are different — for example, giving smaller teams more authority, that makes more of a difference. That is happening, but slowly."
For now, even small changes should at least help retain the sector's traditionally fickle talent.
"(Young graduates) have access to overseas travel, they are spending time with customer organisations abroad and they are looking at that culture. So they are questioning their organisations," said Asheesh Mehra a senior Infosys employee who quit earlier this month to start his own company, Antworks.
MUMBAI: India's oldest and most distinguished IT firms are doing what would have been almost sacrilegious a few years ago — holding coding marathons to develop innovative fixes and deploying "commando" units to resolve clients' IT woes within hours.
Infosys, Wipro and other Indian IT giants, which rose to prominence during the outsourcing boom in the 1990s and 2000s, have struggled to keep pace with mushrooming start-ups.The rate of revenue growth has more than halved since 2011—12, partly due to the emerging competition.
Those young set-ups say they go beyond cookie-cutter solutions and argue that they do the job more quickly and for less. They also attract the creme de la creme of India's engineering graduates with their culture of bubble chairs, breakfast bars and table tennis at work, in a way that the corporate, straight—laced atmosphere of the country's IT trail blazers struggles to.
Client demands are similarly changing in India's $147 billion IT outsourcing industry. Major telecoms, retail and banking firms want more than an outsourced help desk, and now demand everything from help solving a server crash overnight to help building an app, industry veterans say.
"When people around you change, moving from a very process-defined model to a much more agile model, it is definitely making a dent in everyone's thinking," said Sanjiv Kovil, Wipro's chief technology officer.
To deal with this, Wipro, for example, has set up small "commando force" units that help get swift solutions by copying a startup environment where small teams move fast. India's third—largest IT services provider has also introduced gaming-like training sessions and so—called hackathons to solve both fake and real client problems.
"It is not the wild west - there is a method to the madness. We have kind of defined the boundaries, but within that we have allowed for a lot of flexibility," Kovil said.
Earlier this month Infosys — long known for its inflexible rules of employee decorum — did away with a formal dress code. The company had already relaxed rules that stopped workers from accessing social networking web sites at work.
At Tech Mahindra, associates and mid-level employees can win quizzes and contests to spend a day with the CEO and exchange ideas, a practice that industry veterans say was impossible to imagine even a few years back.
Bearing fruit
There are some early signs the more flexible approach is yielding dividends.
Tech Mahindra said it won a contract last month to build an electric vehicle charging system for the city of Ontario, Canada, because its flatter structure had allowed the manager responsible to decide alone and move fast with his bid.
To be sure, it is hard for large IT companies, with an army of thousands of employees, to change overnight. Yet, steps as small as implementing a casual dress code and allowing employees to use their own tech devices mark a major cultural shift in an industry that still relies heavily on manpower to win business.
"These changes are cool. I like that they have finally decided that we are adults," said one young Infosys executive who has spent seven years with the firm, declining to be named.
"But the real changes are different — for example, giving smaller teams more authority, that makes more of a difference. That is happening, but slowly."
For now, even small changes should at least help retain the sector's traditionally fickle talent.
"(Young graduates) have access to overseas travel, they are spending time with customer organisations abroad and they are looking at that culture. So they are questioning their organisations," said Asheesh Mehra a senior Infosys employee who quit earlier this month to start his own company, Antworks.
Infosys, Wipro and other Indian IT giants, which rose to prominence during the outsourcing boom in the 1990s and 2000s, have struggled to keep pace with mushrooming start-ups.The rate of revenue growth has more than halved since 2011—12, partly due to the emerging competition.
Those young set-ups say they go beyond cookie-cutter solutions and argue that they do the job more quickly and for less. They also attract the creme de la creme of India's engineering graduates with their culture of bubble chairs, breakfast bars and table tennis at work, in a way that the corporate, straight—laced atmosphere of the country's IT trail blazers struggles to.
Client demands are similarly changing in India's $147 billion IT outsourcing industry. Major telecoms, retail and banking firms want more than an outsourced help desk, and now demand everything from help solving a server crash overnight to help building an app, industry veterans say.
"When people around you change, moving from a very process-defined model to a much more agile model, it is definitely making a dent in everyone's thinking," said Sanjiv Kovil, Wipro's chief technology officer.
To deal with this, Wipro, for example, has set up small "commando force" units that help get swift solutions by copying a startup environment where small teams move fast. India's third—largest IT services provider has also introduced gaming-like training sessions and so—called hackathons to solve both fake and real client problems.
"It is not the wild west - there is a method to the madness. We have kind of defined the boundaries, but within that we have allowed for a lot of flexibility," Kovil said.
Earlier this month Infosys — long known for its inflexible rules of employee decorum — did away with a formal dress code. The company had already relaxed rules that stopped workers from accessing social networking web sites at work.
At Tech Mahindra, associates and mid-level employees can win quizzes and contests to spend a day with the CEO and exchange ideas, a practice that industry veterans say was impossible to imagine even a few years back.
Bearing fruit
There are some early signs the more flexible approach is yielding dividends.
Tech Mahindra said it won a contract last month to build an electric vehicle charging system for the city of Ontario, Canada, because its flatter structure had allowed the manager responsible to decide alone and move fast with his bid.
To be sure, it is hard for large IT companies, with an army of thousands of employees, to change overnight. Yet, steps as small as implementing a casual dress code and allowing employees to use their own tech devices mark a major cultural shift in an industry that still relies heavily on manpower to win business.
"These changes are cool. I like that they have finally decided that we are adults," said one young Infosys executive who has spent seven years with the firm, declining to be named.
"But the real changes are different — for example, giving smaller teams more authority, that makes more of a difference. That is happening, but slowly."
For now, even small changes should at least help retain the sector's traditionally fickle talent.
"(Young graduates) have access to overseas travel, they are spending time with customer organisations abroad and they are looking at that culture. So they are questioning their organisations," said Asheesh Mehra a senior Infosys employee who quit earlier this month to start his own company, Antworks.
18 top Ranbaxy executives including Indrajit Banerjee, Yugal Sikri, get marching orders as part of integration plan with Sun Phama
-
MUMBAI: Sun Pharma has asked 18 top executives of Ranbaxy Labs to leave the firm in one of the biggest culls of senior management professionals in recent times. The order comes a year after the Dilip Shanghvi-led firm acquired Ranbaxy in an all-stock deal and a few weeks after Q4 profits shrank 44 per cent due to costs incurred in assimilating the buyout and regulatory issues.
Those who have been asked to leave are Indrajit Banerjee, President and CFO; Yugal Sikri, country head (India) Ranbaxy; Maninder Singh, V-P marketing; Govind Jaju, global head, sourcing; Ratul Bahaduri, director-finance; among others, people close to the development said.
The executives have been given a severance package and the freedom to exercise their stock options before leaving. A Sun Pharma spokesperson said that the objective of the Sun-Ranbaxy merger was to create a larger and better organisation for all its stakeholders. "In order to make this happen, the company has made and will continue to make all efforts to utilise the total available talent in the most appropriate manner. If there are a few employees who could not be positioned appropriately, the organisation will make all attempts to handle the same in a fair, transparent and sensitive manner. We reiterate that our focus continues to be on creating an environment of meaningful professional opportunities for our employees to lead, succeed and grow," the spokesperson said. Ranbaxy's merger with Sun was always supposed to be an intensely complex exercise due to the sheer size of the two firms. The salesforce of the combined organisation is itself close to 30,000 in India and overseas.
The two companies also had more or less similar organisational structures with a focus on emerging markets, developed markets, Europe, Russia and India. A surplus was inevitable once the basic merger procedures were sorted out.
Most senior management who have been asked to leave were brought in after Japanese giant Daiichi bought Ranbaxy from the Singh brothers in 2008.
In the annual press conference last month, Sun CEO and MD Dilip Shanghvi warned that some leaders may have no role in the merged entity. "I have already announced people who will report to me, in coming days we will make more announcements of people who will be reporting to me," Shanghvi added. "However, there are a few senior leaders of Ranbaxy who have no role in merged entity, and they are talented individuals so we are looking at finding a way of retaining all people."
MUMBAI: Sun Pharma has asked 18 top executives of Ranbaxy Labs to leave the firm in one of the biggest culls of senior management professionals in recent times. The order comes a year after the Dilip Shanghvi-led firm acquired Ranbaxy in an all-stock deal and a few weeks after Q4 profits shrank 44 per cent due to costs incurred in assimilating the buyout and regulatory issues.Those who have been asked to leave are Indrajit Banerjee, President and CFO; Yugal Sikri, country head (India) Ranbaxy; Maninder Singh, V-P marketing; Govind Jaju, global head, sourcing; Ratul Bahaduri, director-finance; among others, people close to the development said.
The executives have been given a severance package and the freedom to exercise their stock options before leaving. A Sun Pharma spokesperson said that the objective of the Sun-Ranbaxy merger was to create a larger and better organisation for all its stakeholders. "In order to make this happen, the company has made and will continue to make all efforts to utilise the total available talent in the most appropriate manner. If there are a few employees who could not be positioned appropriately, the organisation will make all attempts to handle the same in a fair, transparent and sensitive manner. We reiterate that our focus continues to be on creating an environment of meaningful professional opportunities for our employees to lead, succeed and grow," the spokesperson said. Ranbaxy's merger with Sun was always supposed to be an intensely complex exercise due to the sheer size of the two firms. The salesforce of the combined organisation is itself close to 30,000 in India and overseas.
The two companies also had more or less similar organisational structures with a focus on emerging markets, developed markets, Europe, Russia and India. A surplus was inevitable once the basic merger procedures were sorted out.
Most senior management who have been asked to leave were brought in after Japanese giant Daiichi bought Ranbaxy from the Singh brothers in 2008.
In the annual press conference last month, Sun CEO and MD Dilip Shanghvi warned that some leaders may have no role in the merged entity. "I have already announced people who will report to me, in coming days we will make more announcements of people who will be reporting to me," Shanghvi added. "However, there are a few senior leaders of Ranbaxy who have no role in merged entity, and they are talented individuals so we are looking at finding a way of retaining all people."
Passengers harass crew members on Delhi-Ahmedabad flight
-
AHMEDABAD: Crew members of a private airline aboard Delhi- Ahmedabad flight on Tuesday night had a harrowing experience after they were allegedly harassed by few passengers. However, neither airline nor its crew members filed an official complaint with local police.
The incident happened during Spicejet SG-193 Delhi- Ahmedabad flight. The Sardarnagar police officials claimed that there were mere arguments between the passengers and crew members and there was nothing serious.
However sources said that around 3-4 passengers were clicking pictures of air hostesses aboard the Spicejet flight. When they were asked to stop, they got into arguments with the crew members. The pilot had to call for CISF jawans at the arrival gate. Those 3-4 passengers were handed over to CISF which in turn handed them to Sardarnagar police at airport.
"It was only heated arguments. No case was registered as both the parties resolved the issue," said K K Patel, senior police inspector, Sardarnagar.
AHMEDABAD: Crew members of a private airline aboard Delhi- Ahmedabad flight on Tuesday night had a harrowing experience after they were allegedly harassed by few passengers. However, neither airline nor its crew members filed an official complaint with local police.The incident happened during Spicejet SG-193 Delhi- Ahmedabad flight. The Sardarnagar police officials claimed that there were mere arguments between the passengers and crew members and there was nothing serious.
However sources said that around 3-4 passengers were clicking pictures of air hostesses aboard the Spicejet flight. When they were asked to stop, they got into arguments with the crew members. The pilot had to call for CISF jawans at the arrival gate. Those 3-4 passengers were handed over to CISF which in turn handed them to Sardarnagar police at airport.
"It was only heated arguments. No case was registered as both the parties resolved the issue," said K K Patel, senior police inspector, Sardarnagar.
KFC customer 'finds fried rat' in meal
-
CALIFORNIA: When most of us share a photo of our dinner on Facebook, it's usually to show off how delicious it looks - not because it resembles mistakenly deep-fried vermin.
But that's exactly why a photo taken by a KFC customer in California has gone viral, after he claimed he found a rat in his meal at the fast-food restaurant.
Former Child Development and Education student Devorise Dixon shared an image online of what appeared to be a rodent, complete with a long tail, rotund belly, and pointy face.
Dixon warned his Facebook friends not to eat at KFC, and claimed that the manager had apologized and said it was a rat.
"It's time for a lawyer," he wrote, adding: "Be safe don't eat fast food!!!"
Describing the moment he began eating what he believes was a rat, he wrote on Facebook: "As I bit into it I noticed that it was very hard and rubbery which made me look at it.
"As I looked down at it I noticed that it was was in a shape of a rat with a tail," he said.
Dixon also shared a video of the 'rat' in an attempt to prove the original photo wasn't tampered with.
However, KFC are skeptical and said in a statement on social media that Dixon has not responded to their attempts to contact him.
The fast food giant said in a statement seen by Yahoo News: "KFC has made various attempts to contact this customer, but he is refusing to talk to us directly or through an attorney.
"Our chicken tenders often vary in size and shape, and we currently have no evidence to support this allegation. We have extended the opportunity to have an independent lab evaluate the product at our own expense, but the customer refuses to provide the product in question."
KFC bosses told the Mirror that an investigation found no evidence to support this claim, however they did not confirm what the food was made of.
But that's exactly why a photo taken by a KFC customer in California has gone viral, after he claimed he found a rat in his meal at the fast-food restaurant.
Former Child Development and Education student Devorise Dixon shared an image online of what appeared to be a rodent, complete with a long tail, rotund belly, and pointy face.
Dixon warned his Facebook friends not to eat at KFC, and claimed that the manager had apologized and said it was a rat.
"It's time for a lawyer," he wrote, adding: "Be safe don't eat fast food!!!"
Describing the moment he began eating what he believes was a rat, he wrote on Facebook: "As I bit into it I noticed that it was very hard and rubbery which made me look at it.
"As I looked down at it I noticed that it was was in a shape of a rat with a tail," he said.
Dixon also shared a video of the 'rat' in an attempt to prove the original photo wasn't tampered with.
However, KFC are skeptical and said in a statement on social media that Dixon has not responded to their attempts to contact him.
The fast food giant said in a statement seen by Yahoo News: "KFC has made various attempts to contact this customer, but he is refusing to talk to us directly or through an attorney.
"Our chicken tenders often vary in size and shape, and we currently have no evidence to support this allegation. We have extended the opportunity to have an independent lab evaluate the product at our own expense, but the customer refuses to provide the product in question."
KFC bosses told the Mirror that an investigation found no evidence to support this claim, however they did not confirm what the food was made of.
CBSE seeks three months' time from SC to conduct AIPMT
-
NEW DELHI: The CBSE on Thursday told the Supreme Court that it was impossible to conduct AIPMT within a month as directed by the court.
It told a bench headed by Justice R K Agrawal that the board required at least three months to conduct re-examination of AIPMT which was quashed by the apex court in view of large scale cheating at various centres across the country.
However, Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar told the bench there are seven other exams pending and it was possible to conduct AIPMT within a month.
The apex court on Monday quashed the paper conducted by the Board on May 3 in which 6.3 lakh medical aspiring students appeared at 1050 centre across the country.
It directed the board all other authorities involved in conducting the exam to hold re-examination within four weeks.
NEW DELHI: The CBSE on Thursday told the Supreme Court that it was impossible to conduct AIPMT within a month as directed by the court.It told a bench headed by Justice R K Agrawal that the board required at least three months to conduct re-examination of AIPMT which was quashed by the apex court in view of large scale cheating at various centres across the country.
However, Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar told the bench there are seven other exams pending and it was possible to conduct AIPMT within a month.
The apex court on Monday quashed the paper conducted by the Board on May 3 in which 6.3 lakh medical aspiring students appeared at 1050 centre across the country.
It directed the board all other authorities involved in conducting the exam to hold re-examination within four weeks.
Nine dead as white gunman opens fire on black US church
-
CHARLESTON: A white gunman killed nine people at a historic African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina, the city's police chief said on Thursday, describing the attack as a "hate crime".
The suspect, who police described as a 21-year-old white man wearing a sweatshirt, jeans and boots, was still at large hours after the shooting on Wednesday evening.
Eight victims were found dead in the church, Chief Gregory Mullen told reporters at a media conference, and a ninth person died after being taken to a hospital. One other person was wounded and receiving treatment.
Mullen said: "It is unfathomable that somebody in today's society would walk into a church when people are having a prayer meeting and take their lives."
None of the victims were immediately identified. But the Reverend Al Sharpton, the New York-based civil rights leader, said in a Tweet that the Reverend Clementa Pinckney, the church's pastor and a member of the state Senate, was among the fatalities.
The shooting occurred at the Emanuel AME Church in the historic centre of downtown Charleston around 9pm (0100 GMT), according to Charleston Police Department spokesman Charles Francis.
After the shooting, a bomb threat was reported near the church, Charleston County Sheriff's Office spokesman Eric Watson said, and people who were gathered in the area were told by police to move back.
Chief Mullen told the press conference that the all-clear had been given after checks following the bomb threat.
A police chaplain was present at the scene of the shooting, and a helicopter with a searchlight hovered overhead as officers combed through the area.
Several men stood in a circle in front of a hotel near the church.
"We pray for the families, they've got a long road ahead of them," Reverend James Johnson, a local civil rights activist, said during the impromptu prayer service.
Police took a man with a backpack and a camera into custody,
but later said they were still searching for a suspect in the shooting.
Following the attack on the church, Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida, canceled an appearance in Charleston that had been scheduled for Thursday morning.
"Governor Bush's thoughts and prayers are with the individuals and families affected by this tragedy," his campaign team said in a statement.
Local broadcaster WCSC reported the FBI was on the scene. The FBI could not be reached immediately for comment.
The website for the church said it has one of the largest and oldest black congregations in the South. It has its roots in the early 19th century, and the current building was built in 1891. It is considered a historically significant building, according to the National Park Service.
CHARLESTON: A white gunman killed nine people at a historic African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina, the city's police chief said on Thursday, describing the attack as a "hate crime". The suspect, who police described as a 21-year-old white man wearing a sweatshirt, jeans and boots, was still at large hours after the shooting on Wednesday evening.
Eight victims were found dead in the church, Chief Gregory Mullen told reporters at a media conference, and a ninth person died after being taken to a hospital. One other person was wounded and receiving treatment.
Mullen said: "It is unfathomable that somebody in today's society would walk into a church when people are having a prayer meeting and take their lives."
None of the victims were immediately identified. But the Reverend Al Sharpton, the New York-based civil rights leader, said in a Tweet that the Reverend Clementa Pinckney, the church's pastor and a member of the state Senate, was among the fatalities.
The shooting occurred at the Emanuel AME Church in the historic centre of downtown Charleston around 9pm (0100 GMT), according to Charleston Police Department spokesman Charles Francis.
After the shooting, a bomb threat was reported near the church, Charleston County Sheriff's Office spokesman Eric Watson said, and people who were gathered in the area were told by police to move back.
Chief Mullen told the press conference that the all-clear had been given after checks following the bomb threat.
A police chaplain was present at the scene of the shooting, and a helicopter with a searchlight hovered overhead as officers combed through the area.
Several men stood in a circle in front of a hotel near the church.
"We pray for the families, they've got a long road ahead of them," Reverend James Johnson, a local civil rights activist, said during the impromptu prayer service.
Police took a man with a backpack and a camera into custody,
but later said they were still searching for a suspect in the shooting.
Following the attack on the church, Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida, canceled an appearance in Charleston that had been scheduled for Thursday morning.
"Governor Bush's thoughts and prayers are with the individuals and families affected by this tragedy," his campaign team said in a statement.
Local broadcaster WCSC reported the FBI was on the scene. The FBI could not be reached immediately for comment.
The website for the church said it has one of the largest and oldest black congregations in the South. It has its roots in the early 19th century, and the current building was built in 1891. It is considered a historically significant building, according to the National Park Service.
GENERAL AWARENESS PRACTICE QUESTIONS FOR SBI P.O. EXAM
-
1. World Environment Day (WED) was celebrated on June 5, 2015. The theme for this year’s WED is?
1) Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care
2) Small Islands and Climate Change
3) Think.Eat.Save
4) Many Species. One Planet. One Future
5) None of these
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. The Reserve Bank of India cut the repo rate on June 2, 2015 by 25 basis points. What is the present
repo rate?
1) 6.25 per cent
2) 7.25 per cent
3) 8.25 per cent
4) 8.5 per cent
5) 6.5 per cent
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Ameenah Gurib-Fakim is the first woman President of?
1) Liberia
2) Benin
3) Mauritius
4) Gabon
5) Namibia
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Who took over as Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on June 4, 2015?
1) Bikash Bhattacharya
2) Tessy Thomas
3) M.P. Kaushik
4) G. Satheesh Reddy
5) Venkatnarayana Raju
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Who won the prestigious DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2015?
1) Neel Mukherjee
2) Amitav Ghosh
3) Anita Desai
4) Kiran Desai
5) Jhumpa Lahiri
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Which bank launched ‘Digital Village’ project while adopting an entire village, Akodara in Gujarat on January 2, 2015?
1) SBI
2) Axis Bank
3) HDFC Bank
4) ICICI Bank
5) None of these
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Edgar Lungu assumed office as the President of which of the following countries on January 25,
2015?
1) Somalia
2) Mali
3) Zambia
4) Sudan
5) South Sudan
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Who took over as the Chairman of African Union in January 2015?
1) Robert Mugabe
2) Jacob Zuma
3) Goodluck Jonathan
4) Yoweri Museveni
5) None of these
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Which of the following programmes made its way into the Guinness World Records in January
2015?
1) Swachh Bharat
2) Jan Dhan Yojana
3) Make in India
4) Digital India
5) None of these
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. A.B. de Villiers of South Africa smashed the fastest century in one day internationals against
which of the following countries in January 2015?
1) Sri Lanka
2) India
3) Bangladesh
4) Zimbabwe
5) West Indies
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11. With regard to credit card or debit card, the abbreviation CVV stands for?
1) Card Virtual Valuation
2) Core Virtual Value
3) Card Vulnerability Value
4) Card Verification Value
5) None of these
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12. Which of the following is India’s first credit information company?
1) CIBIL
2) CRISIL
3) ICRA
4) CARE
5) None of these
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
13. Which of the following countries is not a member of OPEC?
1) Algeria
2) Libya
3) Venezuela
4) Ecuador
5) Syria
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14. Klaus Iohannis took over as the President of which of the following countries on December 21,
2014?
1) Switzerland
2) Germany
3) Romania
4) Albania
5) Serbia
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15. Who is the first woman Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)?
1) Jyotsna Suri
2) M. Sathiyavathy
3) Anita Kapur
4) Nidhi Razdan
5) None of these
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) commissioned 28 MW Nyaborongo Hydro Electric
Project in?
1) Zimbabwe
2) Kenya
3) Ethiopia
4) Rwanda
5) South Africa
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
17. Finance Industry Development Council (FIDC) is a self-regulatory organization for?
1) RRBs
2) Cooperative Banks
3) NBFCs
4) MFIs
5) Insurance companies
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
18. Identify the mismatched pair.
1) Hiroshima Day – August 6
2) Anti Tobacco day – May 31
3) Ozone day – September 16
4) Earth Day – March 21
5) AIDS Day – December 1
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
19. CP is an unsecured money market instrument issued in the form of a promissory note. In the abbreviation
CP, ‘P’ stands for?
1) Promissory
2) Paper
3) Portfolio
4) Position
5) Payment
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20. Who is the author of the book ‘Born Again on the Mountain’?
1) Raha Moharrak
2) Bachendri Pal
3) Arunima Sinha
4) Prmlata Agarwal
5) None of these
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic is the first female President of?
1) Croatia
2) Latvia
3) Lithuania
4) Estonia
5) Bulgaria
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22. Modibo Keita was appointed as the Prime Minister of which of the following countries in January
2015?
1) Uganda
2) Mali
3) Togo
4) Nigeria
5) Ghana
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
23. Which country won the Hopman Cup tennis tournament in Perth, Australia in January 2015?
1) USA
2) France
3) Poland
4) Great Britain
5) Australia
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
24. Who among the following won Padma Bhushan this year?
1) N. Gopalaswami
2) Subhash Kashyap
3) Harish Salve
4) Both 1 and 2
5) 1, 2 and 3
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
25. Mark Knowles was declared the 2014 International Player of the Year by the International Hockey Federation. He plays for?
1) Netherlands
2) Germany
3) Australia
4) Spain
5) UK
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
26. Who won the Ballon d’Or World Footballer of the Year in January 2015 for the second year in a row?
1) Lionel Messi
2) Neuer
3) James Rodriguez
4) Cristiano Ronaldo
5) Miroslav Klose
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
27. Who was chosen for the Vikram Sarabhai memorial award in January 2015?
1) G. Satheesh Reddy
2) Avinash Chander
3) M.Y.S. Prasad
4) K. Radhakrishnan
5) None of these
28. Who became the first woman to lead the Inter-Services Guard of Honor which was inspected by US President Barack Obama at Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 25, 2015?
1) Anjali Gupta
2) Pooja Thakur
3) Shalini
4) Deepika Misra
5) Karishma Sethi
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
29. Legendary cartoonist R.K. Laxman passed away in January 2015. He was the creator of?
1) Uncle Anu
2) Chacha Chaudhari
3) Amul girl
4) Common Man
5) Mungeri Lal
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
30. B.G. Verghese died recently. He was a renowned?
1) Actor
2) Director
3) Scientist
4) Hockey player
5) Journalist
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
31. James Rodriguez won the FIFA goal of the year award in January 2015. He plays for?
1) Uruguay
2) Colombia
3) Argentina
4) Peru
5) Brazil
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
32. A.S. Kiran Kumar is the?
1) Director of CBI
2) Director General of DRDO
3) Director of IB
4) Chairman of ISRO
5) None of these
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
33. Who was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in January 2015?
1) Maithripala Sirisena
2) Mahinda Rajapakse
3) Ranil Wickramasinghe
4) Sarath Fonseka
5) None of these
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
34. Beji Caid Essebsi is the current President of?
1) Algeria
2) Tunisia
3) Nigeria
4) Egypt
5) Morocco
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
35. Who won the Chennai Open men’s singles tennis title in Chennai in January 2015?
1) Aljaz Bedene
2) Jonathan Marray
3) Andy Murray
4) Leander Paes
5) Stanislas Wawrinka
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
36. Who among the following is not a Padma Vibhushan winner this year?
1) L.K. Advani
2) Dilip Kumar
3) M.R. Srinivasan
4) Veerendra Heggade
5) Rajat Sharma
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
37. With regard to WTO, what is the full form of TFA?
1) Trade Factoring Agreement
2) Trade Facilitation Agreement
3) Trade Fostering Agreement
4) Trade Featuring Agreement
5) None of these
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
38. Who won the London classic chess title in December 2014?
1) Michael Adams
2) Magnus Carlsen
3) Vladimir Kramnik
4) Viswanathan Anand
5) None of these
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
39. Olof Palme Human Rights Prize is given by which of the following countries?
1) Norway
2) Finland
3) Sweden
4) Iceland
5) Ireland
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
40. Shinzo Abe was reelected as the Prime Minister of which of the following countries in December 2014?
1) South Korea
2) North Korea
3) Philippines
4) Japan
5) Thailand
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ANSWERS:
1) 1 2) 2 3) 3 4) 4 5) 5 6) 4 7) 3 8) 1 9) 2 10) 5
11) 4 12) 1 13) 5 14) 3 15) 2 16) 4 17) 3 18) 4 19) 2 20) 3
21) 1 22) 2 23) 3 24) 5 25) 3 26) 4 27) 3 28) 2 29) 4 30) 5
31) 2 32) 4 33) 3 34) 2 35) 5 36) 5 37) 2 38) 4 39) 3 40) 4
1) Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care
2) Small Islands and Climate Change
3) Think.Eat.Save
4) Many Species. One Planet. One Future
5) None of these
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. The Reserve Bank of India cut the repo rate on June 2, 2015 by 25 basis points. What is the present
repo rate?
1) 6.25 per cent
2) 7.25 per cent
3) 8.25 per cent
4) 8.5 per cent
5) 6.5 per cent
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Ameenah Gurib-Fakim is the first woman President of?
1) Liberia
2) Benin
3) Mauritius
4) Gabon
5) Namibia
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Who took over as Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on June 4, 2015?
1) Bikash Bhattacharya
2) Tessy Thomas
3) M.P. Kaushik
4) G. Satheesh Reddy
5) Venkatnarayana Raju
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Who won the prestigious DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2015?
1) Neel Mukherjee
2) Amitav Ghosh
3) Anita Desai
4) Kiran Desai
5) Jhumpa Lahiri
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Which bank launched ‘Digital Village’ project while adopting an entire village, Akodara in Gujarat on January 2, 2015?
1) SBI
2) Axis Bank
3) HDFC Bank
4) ICICI Bank
5) None of these
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Edgar Lungu assumed office as the President of which of the following countries on January 25,
2015?
1) Somalia
2) Mali
3) Zambia
4) Sudan
5) South Sudan
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Who took over as the Chairman of African Union in January 2015?
1) Robert Mugabe
2) Jacob Zuma
3) Goodluck Jonathan
4) Yoweri Museveni
5) None of these
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Which of the following programmes made its way into the Guinness World Records in January
2015?
1) Swachh Bharat
2) Jan Dhan Yojana
3) Make in India
4) Digital India
5) None of these
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. A.B. de Villiers of South Africa smashed the fastest century in one day internationals against
which of the following countries in January 2015?
1) Sri Lanka
2) India
3) Bangladesh
4) Zimbabwe
5) West Indies
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11. With regard to credit card or debit card, the abbreviation CVV stands for?
1) Card Virtual Valuation
2) Core Virtual Value
3) Card Vulnerability Value
4) Card Verification Value
5) None of these
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12. Which of the following is India’s first credit information company?
1) CIBIL
2) CRISIL
3) ICRA
4) CARE
5) None of these
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
13. Which of the following countries is not a member of OPEC?
1) Algeria
2) Libya
3) Venezuela
4) Ecuador
5) Syria
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14. Klaus Iohannis took over as the President of which of the following countries on December 21,
2014?
1) Switzerland
2) Germany
3) Romania
4) Albania
5) Serbia
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15. Who is the first woman Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)?
1) Jyotsna Suri
2) M. Sathiyavathy
3) Anita Kapur
4) Nidhi Razdan
5) None of these
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) commissioned 28 MW Nyaborongo Hydro Electric
Project in?
1) Zimbabwe
2) Kenya
3) Ethiopia
4) Rwanda
5) South Africa
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
17. Finance Industry Development Council (FIDC) is a self-regulatory organization for?
1) RRBs
2) Cooperative Banks
3) NBFCs
4) MFIs
5) Insurance companies
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
18. Identify the mismatched pair.
1) Hiroshima Day – August 6
2) Anti Tobacco day – May 31
3) Ozone day – September 16
4) Earth Day – March 21
5) AIDS Day – December 1
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
19. CP is an unsecured money market instrument issued in the form of a promissory note. In the abbreviation
CP, ‘P’ stands for?
1) Promissory
2) Paper
3) Portfolio
4) Position
5) Payment
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20. Who is the author of the book ‘Born Again on the Mountain’?
1) Raha Moharrak
2) Bachendri Pal
3) Arunima Sinha
4) Prmlata Agarwal
5) None of these
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic is the first female President of?
1) Croatia
2) Latvia
3) Lithuania
4) Estonia
5) Bulgaria
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22. Modibo Keita was appointed as the Prime Minister of which of the following countries in January
2015?
1) Uganda
2) Mali
3) Togo
4) Nigeria
5) Ghana
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
23. Which country won the Hopman Cup tennis tournament in Perth, Australia in January 2015?
1) USA
2) France
3) Poland
4) Great Britain
5) Australia
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
24. Who among the following won Padma Bhushan this year?
1) N. Gopalaswami
2) Subhash Kashyap
3) Harish Salve
4) Both 1 and 2
5) 1, 2 and 3
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
25. Mark Knowles was declared the 2014 International Player of the Year by the International Hockey Federation. He plays for?
1) Netherlands
2) Germany
3) Australia
4) Spain
5) UK
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
26. Who won the Ballon d’Or World Footballer of the Year in January 2015 for the second year in a row?
1) Lionel Messi
2) Neuer
3) James Rodriguez
4) Cristiano Ronaldo
5) Miroslav Klose
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
27. Who was chosen for the Vikram Sarabhai memorial award in January 2015?
1) G. Satheesh Reddy
2) Avinash Chander
3) M.Y.S. Prasad
4) K. Radhakrishnan
5) None of these
28. Who became the first woman to lead the Inter-Services Guard of Honor which was inspected by US President Barack Obama at Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 25, 2015?
1) Anjali Gupta
2) Pooja Thakur
3) Shalini
4) Deepika Misra
5) Karishma Sethi
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
29. Legendary cartoonist R.K. Laxman passed away in January 2015. He was the creator of?
1) Uncle Anu
2) Chacha Chaudhari
3) Amul girl
4) Common Man
5) Mungeri Lal
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
30. B.G. Verghese died recently. He was a renowned?
1) Actor
2) Director
3) Scientist
4) Hockey player
5) Journalist
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
31. James Rodriguez won the FIFA goal of the year award in January 2015. He plays for?
1) Uruguay
2) Colombia
3) Argentina
4) Peru
5) Brazil
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
32. A.S. Kiran Kumar is the?
1) Director of CBI
2) Director General of DRDO
3) Director of IB
4) Chairman of ISRO
5) None of these
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
33. Who was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in January 2015?
1) Maithripala Sirisena
2) Mahinda Rajapakse
3) Ranil Wickramasinghe
4) Sarath Fonseka
5) None of these
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
34. Beji Caid Essebsi is the current President of?
1) Algeria
2) Tunisia
3) Nigeria
4) Egypt
5) Morocco
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
35. Who won the Chennai Open men’s singles tennis title in Chennai in January 2015?
1) Aljaz Bedene
2) Jonathan Marray
3) Andy Murray
4) Leander Paes
5) Stanislas Wawrinka
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
36. Who among the following is not a Padma Vibhushan winner this year?
1) L.K. Advani
2) Dilip Kumar
3) M.R. Srinivasan
4) Veerendra Heggade
5) Rajat Sharma
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
37. With regard to WTO, what is the full form of TFA?
1) Trade Factoring Agreement
2) Trade Facilitation Agreement
3) Trade Fostering Agreement
4) Trade Featuring Agreement
5) None of these
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
38. Who won the London classic chess title in December 2014?
1) Michael Adams
2) Magnus Carlsen
3) Vladimir Kramnik
4) Viswanathan Anand
5) None of these
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
39. Olof Palme Human Rights Prize is given by which of the following countries?
1) Norway
2) Finland
3) Sweden
4) Iceland
5) Ireland
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
40. Shinzo Abe was reelected as the Prime Minister of which of the following countries in December 2014?
1) South Korea
2) North Korea
3) Philippines
4) Japan
5) Thailand
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ANSWERS:
1) 1 2) 2 3) 3 4) 4 5) 5 6) 4 7) 3 8) 1 9) 2 10) 5
11) 4 12) 1 13) 5 14) 3 15) 2 16) 4 17) 3 18) 4 19) 2 20) 3
21) 1 22) 2 23) 3 24) 5 25) 3 26) 4 27) 3 28) 2 29) 4 30) 5
31) 2 32) 4 33) 3 34) 2 35) 5 36) 5 37) 2 38) 4 39) 3 40) 4
No comments:
Post a Comment