Samajwadi Party wins Bhatparrani by-election

DEORIA (UTTAR PRADESH): Samajwadi Party candidate AshutoshUpadhyaya on Thursday won the bypoll for Bhatparrani assembly seat, defeating his nearest rival, an independent candidate, by 34,102 votes. Upadhyaya alias Babloo, son of former Uttar Pradesh Minister Kameshwar Upadhyaya, got 73,100 votes, while the independent candidate, Sabha Kunwar, was polled 38,998 votes. According to returning officer...

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Medicare paid $5.1B for poor nursing home care

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Medicare paid billions in taxpayer dollars to nursing homes nationwide that were not meeting basic requirements to look after their residents, government investigators have found.The report, released Thursday by the Department of Health and Human Services' inspector general, said Medicare paid about $5.1 billion for patients to stay in skilled nursing facilities that failed to...

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Benedict Pledges 'Obedience' to New Pope

In his farewell remarks to his colleagues in the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI, the first pontiff to resign in 600 years, promised his "unconditional reverence and obedience" to his eventual successor.Benedict, in a morning meeting at the Vatican, urged the cardinals to act "like an orchestra" to find "harmony" moving forward.Benedict, 85, is spending a quiet final...

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World powers and Iran set new talks in nuclear dispute

ALMATY (Reuters) - Six world powers ended two days of talks with Iran on its nuclear program without a breakthrough on Wednesday, but agreed to meet in Istanbul next month and resume negotiations in Kazakhstan on April 5. The six powers - France, Germany, the United States, China Russia and Britain - offered at the talks to lift some sanctions if Iran scaled back nuclear activity that...

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China overtakes Japan on IT spending: German trade body

BERLIN: China has overtaken Japan in terms of its share of global IT spending, German IT industry organisation BITKOM said on Wednesday, ahead of the CeBIT, the world's biggest high-tech trade fair.Global IT spending is poised to rise by 5.1 per cent to 2.7 trillion euros (US$3.5 trillion), said BITKOM in a new survey, with India (+13.9 per cent), Brazil (+9.6 per cent) and China (+8.9...

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Yechury supports calling Raja as witness before JPC

NEW DELHI: CPM member in the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on 2G spectrum allocation Sitaram Yechury today supported calling former telecom minister A Raja as a witness before the panel saying it will help reaching "closer to the truth". "We have no objection if he comes. More the witnesses the merrier, closer to the truth we can get," he told reporters outside Parliament House. On Friday...

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Advanced breast cancer edges up in younger women

CHICAGO (AP) — Advanced breast cancer has increased slightly among young women, a 34-year analysis suggests. The disease is still uncommon among women younger than 40, and the small change has experts scratching their heads about possible reasons.The results are potentially worrisome because young women's tumors tend to be more aggressive than older women's, and they're much less likely to get routine...

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What's Next for Pope Benedict XVI?

The party for the world's most prominent soon-to-be retiree began today when Pope Benedict XVI hosted his final audience as pontiff in St. Peter's Square.More than 50,000 tickets were requested for the event, according to the Vatican, while the city of Rome planned for 250,000 people to flood the streets.FULL COVERAGE: Pope Benedict XVI ResignationWith his belongings packed...

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Fatah-linked militants claim Gaza rocket after inmate death

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Gaza militants from Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades fired a rocket at Israel on Tuesday as a "preliminary response" after one of its members died in an Israeli jail.It was the first time a Gaza rocket had struck southern Israel in more than three months, and stoked fears that the mass protests in the West Bank over the fate of prisoners held in Israeli...

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Rajya Sabha to discuss chopper deal tomorrow

NEW DELHI: The AgustaWestland chopper deal had its echo in the RajyaSabha on Tuesday with BJP demanding a discussion on the issue and government agreeing to have it on Wednesday. "We are ready for a discussion on the issue tomorrow," minister of state for parliamentary affairs Rajiv Shukla said after BJP insisted on an immediate discussion on the issue. Raising the issue during zero hour, Prakash...

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