Himachal Pradesh rolls back ban on gutka, pan masala The Himachal Pradesh government's concern over rising number of cancer cases in the state went up in smoke when the state government rolled back its order banning sale and storage of tobacco products like gutka, pan masala and khaini. The rollback came, just four days after the ban was imposed, with a claim that it would now come into force from October 2. In the past few years, addiction to tobacco chewing has increased among youngsters and it has been found that around 30% students chew gutka and other tobacco products in the state. Himachal Pradesh is witnessing rise in the number of cancer patients with over 2,000 new cases reported every year..

Rajesh Khanna passes away is no more after being critically ill from last few months. He breathed his last in the presence of his ex-wife Dimple Kapadia, daughters Rinkie and Twinkle, son-in-law Akshay Kumar, grand children and close relatives. Kaka, as he was popularly known, was one of the highest paid actors of his time, his record of consecutive solo super hits still unbroken. Who can forget the years between 1970-1979 when he starred in mega hits like "Safar", "", "Sachaa Jhutha", "Aan Milo Sajna", "Anand", "Amar Prem" and "Mere Jeevan Saathi". Ever the urbane, suave romantic who wooed like few others. The mega story had a small beginning in Amritsar. Born Jatin Arora on Dec 29, 1942, he was adopted and raised by foster parents. He went from being Jatin to Rajesh, thanks to his uncle who changed his name, when he decided to join films. In 1965, the journey to filmdom started after he won the All India Talent Contest organised by United Producers and Filmfare. He made his debut with "Aakhri Khat" in 1966.

Gondwana University textbook declares Pranab Mukherjee as 14th President Though Presidential polls are yet to held, Gondwana University has already described UPA candidate Pranab Mukherjee as "the 14th President of the country" in a just-published textbook. The book, 'Democracy in India', has been prescribed for first year students of BA (Political Science) for the ongoing academic session of the newly-formed varsity. Page number 84 under chapter 4 of the book, published under the heading 'Union Executive', has a chart of the Presidents of India in which Mukherjee has been mentioned as "the 14th President of India". Sanjay Gore, chairman of the board of studies of the university and Madhukar Arjunkar, a scholar of political science, are the authors of the book.

Rare Indian snake species discovered at Katarniaghat sanctuary A rare Indian snake species Red Coral Kukri has been discovered at Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS) in the Terai region of Uttar Pradesh. This chance discovery was made by a young conservationist Fazlurrahman, who also is an officer bearer of an NGO, Katarniaghat Foundation (KGF). Though Rahman said he did not feel then that he had made the discovery of a rare Indian snake, the discovery of the Red Coral Kukri has enthralled the wildlife experts, conservationists and forest authorities. Abhijit Das, a reputed herpetologist and head of reptile division in Assam-based NGO Aaranyak, described the discovery as "most exciting". Das, who has recently presented his research paper on reptiles and amphibians of KWS in Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR), told that the Kukri sighted at KWS was the lone snake species, which has been named Oligodon Kheriensis after the Kheri location where it was first discovered in 1936.

Rajasthan bans gutkha The Rajasthan government decided to ban the production, storage, distribution and sale of gutkha. The ban will come into force after a notification is issued.

CAT 2012 from October 11 The Common Admission Test (CAT) for 2012 for admission to Indian Institutes of Management will be held from October 11 to November 6. It will be coordinated by IIM, Kozhikode. The test comprises two sections that are separately timed. Each of the sections will be of 70-minute duration. There will be 30 questions in each section. The sections are to test quantitative ability and data interpretation, verbal ability and logical reasoning. Once a section ends, candidates can no longer go back to it. They will be presented with the section on quantitative ability and data interpretation first, followed by verbal ability and logical reasoning. Vouchers for applications will be issued from July 30 to September 17 from the authorised bank and online registration can be made from July 30 to September 19.

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TOEFL scholarships for 10 Indian students Ten Indian students were awarded TOEFL scholarships by Educational Testing Service in New Delhi. This year, the TOEFL scholarship winners come from New Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Mumbai. The winners will be studying worldwide at acclaimed universities in Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands and the United States. Nine-hundred and sixty applications were received, representing more than a 30 per cent increase since 2011. Applicants were judged on English communication skills, leadership skills and extracurricular activities. The scholarships, which recognise the academic excellence of TOEFL test takers throughout the country, were awarded to help students continue their education at the undergraduate and school levels. For nearly 50 years, the TOEFL test has been the most widely accepted English-language assessment in the world, recognised by more than 8,500 colleges, universities, and agencies in more than 130 countries.

IGI airport gets credit for cutting carbon emission After Bangalore airport, Indira Gandhi International Airport here has become the second airport in the country to get accreditation for its “efforts in managing and reducing” carbon emissions. The Airport Council International (ACI), a global body of airports, has accredited the IGI airport, which is run by Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), at Level 2 “reduction” under the Airport Carbon Accreditation programme. Airport Carbon Accreditation is an institutionally endorsed programme that assesses and recognises airports’ efforts to manage and reduce their carbon emissions. The participating airports can be certified at four progressive levels of accreditation -- mapping, reduction, optimisation and neutrality.

Romania president likely to be impeached: Poll Romanian president Traian Basescu is likely to be impeached by voters in a referendum on July 29, an opinion poll showed, providing turnout is high enough to make the vote valid. Prime Minister Victor Ponta's ruling Social Liberal Union (USL) alliance also remains clear favourite to win a parliamentary election late in the year, the survey showed. Romania's Constitutional Court has ruled that more than half the electorate must turn out for the referendum to be valid, a decision which improved Basescu's chances of surviving.

Centrists dominate in Libya Final results in Libya’s election have confirmed that the centrist National Forces Alliance(NFA) has a commanding position in the new Parliament, winning more than double the seats of its principal rival, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Justice and Construction party. Libya’s election commission announced that the July 7 poll has given the NFA, led by a U.S.-trained economist, Mahmoud Jibril, and its allies 41 seats to the Justice and Construction party’s 17. For the Muslim Brotherhood, it was final confirmation of its failure to match the success of its sister parties, who have won power in Egypt and Tunisia, and were fellow participants in last year’s Arab spring revolutions. Mr. Jibril a former economic adviser to Muammar Qadhafi who defected during last year’s revolution to serve as the first rebel Prime Minister will feel satisfaction that he convinced Libyan voters with his mix of moderate Islam and pro-business policies. Libya’s first election since 1964 gives him just over half the 80 seats reserved for political parties, a further 120 seats in the 200-seat Parliament have been allocated to candidates running as individuals.

WikiLeaks has new payment route WikiLeaks has announced a “new payment gateway” for donors through a non-profit French group Carte Bleue to beat a financial blockade imposed by leading western financial institutions, including VISA, MasterCard, PayPal and Western Union, shortly after it started publishing secret American diplomatic cables in 2010. WikiLeaks said it was “open for donations” again and appealed to potential donors to “make use of this avenue immediately before VISA/MasterCard attempts to shut it down”. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said the group was “ready for the fight” if Visa tried to interfere with its new payment plan. In 2011, WikiLeaks was forced to suspend its activities temporarily as it feared running out of funds.

Kim adds another title North Korea announced that leader Kim Jong-un had been named Marshal, a title cementing his status atop the authoritarian nation’s military as he makes key changes to the 1.2-million-man force. The announcement of the title and the presentation of a new military leadership comes just three days after the dismissal of army chief Ri Yong Ho, a high-ranking figure in both political and military circles and seen as a close adviser to Mr. Kim.

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UST Global in pact with Centro Fox of Mexico UST Global, a California-based provider of IT (information technology) services and solutions with significant presence in India, has inked an exclusive partnership pact with Centro Fox, headed by former President of Mexico Vicente Fox. Centro Fox, the state-of-the-art presidential library and learning centre dedicated to leadership development throughout Mexico and Latin America, is a non-profit organisation. The partnership will result in the expansion of UST Global’s innovative IT services and solutions to support the Latin American operations of global enterprises, as well as local organisations based within the region.

Alphabetics Computer launches first educational tablet PC With an eye on the fast-growing e-learning education sector, Alphabetics Computer Services, launched its first educational tablet PC, TabGuru. It will be available in 7-inch and 10-inch screens. It uses the Android 4.0.3 operating system. It is priced at Rs.9,999 for Alpha Edu-I and Rs.14,999 for Alpha Edu-II, and will be launched across 5,000 touch-points in a month. Pankaj Kurulkar, CMD, Alphabetics Computer Services, said, “The education sector in India, at $600 billion, is huge. Private education is growing at 19 per cent annually, and is expected to reach $45 billion by 2015. While e-learning is present for a decade and is currently undergoing consolidation, it is expected to grow at 20 per cent annually. The high cost of infrastructure to enable e-learning is a deterrent to growth.” He said the TabGuru’s content would be a mix of animation and video format for English and regional schools from first to twelfth standard across SSC, ICSE and CBSC Boards. Weighing 345 gram, it has a 512 MB RAM, 4GB expandable to 32GB.

Grasim to set up VSF plant in Turkey Aditya Birla Group company Grasim Industries is working on setting up a $500 million (Rs.2,764 crore) plant in Turkey for producing viscose staple fibre (VSF), a raw material used for making apparels and home textiles. “A 1.80 lakh-tonnes per annum greenfield plant in Turkey is in planning stage,” Grasim Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla said. Grasim would invest $500 million over the next five years to set up the facility along with a captive power plant and sulphuric acid plant. It would come up in two phases. In the cement sector, Grasim is investing Rs.10,400 crore for expanding capacity in the existing plants in Chhattisgarh and Karnataka by 10 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to take the total to 62 mtpa.

Irish group CRH enters fray to buy Jaiprakash Associates' cement plants CRH Plc, the $13.7-billion Irish building materials group, has entered the fray to buy Jaiprakash Associates' cement plants in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, after the Indian company's discussions with the AV Birla Group got stuck due to differences over valuation and other issues. The deal, if it materialises, is expected to fetch Rs 8,000-9,000 crore for Jaiprakash Associates and will help the company reduce its total consolidated debt of about Rs 45,000 crore.

SWIFT to expand footprint in India Belgium-based financial transaction SMS provider SWIFT is working on a partnership with eight leading Indian banks to form a joint company by 2012-end to expand its footprint in banking and financial sector of India. The Reserve Bank of India has given in-principle approval in April for the company which would be incorporated by end of 2012 in Mumbai. The Society for Worldwide Inter-bank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) is a non-profit co-operative-based global service provider handles 15 million messages per day from more than 9,000 banks in over 200 countries. More than 120 Indian banks currently use SWIFT network.

Isuzu plans to launch low-cost LCVs in India Japanese commercial vehicle maker Isuzu will introduce low-cost light commercial vehicles(LCV) in India by the end of 2012 as fully imported units, and plans to set up a production facility in the future. Sale of the LCVs, which will be shipped from Thailand in the form of finished vehicles and knocked down kits, will begin before the end of 2012. To commence operations, the 1,400 billion yen Japanese firm, will establish a wholly- owned subsidiary under a proposed name Isuzu Motors India Pvt. Ltd. in August that will be headquartered in Chennai.

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Sania-Mattek duo bows out Sania Mirza ended her Olympics build-up on a disappointing note as she suffered a first round exit from the WTA Premier event in USA, along with her American partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands. The unseeded Indo- American pair lost 7-5, 4-6, 5-10 in one hour and 56 minutes to the Chinese Taipei combination of Hao-Ching Chan and Yung-Jan Chan in the $740,000 hardcourt event. It was a roller-coaster contest for Sania and Bethanie as they came from nowhere to win the first set after trailing 2-4 at one stage. They failed to carry forward the momentum, allowing the Taipei pair to draw parity before losing the match on a tie-break. This was Sania’s last tournament before the Olympics.

Second straight win for Humpy Koneru Humpy posted her second straight win in the FIDE women’s Grand Prix chess tournament at Jermuk (Armenia). The second-seeded Indian defeated Nino Khurtsidze of Georgia in the second round to take an early lead.

Mumbai Marathon in Jan. 2013 The 10th Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2013 will be held on January 20, with more running slots for women runners in the full marathon (250), half-marathon (1000) and overall increase in prize money by $10,000. Top Indian male and female performers will earn Rs. 4. 50 lakh each. Registrations commence on July 19, 2012 for full and half-marathons and close on Nov. 10; between Aug. 21-25 for Dream Run and between Aug. 27 and Sept. 15 for Wheelchair/Senior Citizens run.

Wiggins tightens yellow grip, Voeckler wins 16th stage Bradley Wiggins of Britain took another step towards securing his maiden Tour de France crown after a 16th stage won in stylish fashion by Frenchman Thomas Voeckler. Yellow jersey holder Wiggins repelled a number of attacks by Vincenzo Nibali on the fourth and final climb to come over the finish with his Italian rival and Sky teammate Chris Froome around seven minutes behind a triumphant Voeckler. He has been replaced in fourth by Lotto team leader Jurgen Van den Broeck (5:46), with Spaniard Haimar Zubeldia in fifth at 7:13 and American teammate Tejay Van Garderen in sixth at 7:55.

Akmal, Razzaq and Nazir make return Pakistan has recalled wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal, all-rounder Abdul Razzaq and opener Imran Nazir in its final 15-man squad for the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka. The 12-team tournament will run from September 18 to October 7. The squad : Mohammad Hafeez (captain), Imran Nazir, Nasir Jamshed, Asad Shafiq, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanveer, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Raza Hasan, Yasir Arafat, Mohammad Sami.

Indian junior team makes history India made history in the world junior men’s team squash championship in Doha by winning a medal (bronze) for the first time. Reaching the semifinal itself was a creditable show, but the icing on the cake came when India defeated England 2-0 in the third-placing match to clinch a bronze medal. After his heroics against Hong Kong earlier, Kush Kumar provided the decisive touch for India by winning the opening match against Richie Fallows of England.

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