31st AUGUST, 2014

Chennai Metro Rail may begin its service from Koyambedu to Alandur by mid-November. The operations that were to start in October have been put off by nearly a month owing to the delay in the completion of stations along the 10-km line. Meanwhile, the Metro Rail trains have received clearance from the Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO). The speed certification from the RDSO is a statutory requirement to commence operations, according to CMRL.

The concept of ‘patta’ — a legal paper attesting to the actual owner of a plot of land — may not have been so popular in big cities, but landholders in Chennai can soon get ‘patta’ online under a new government initiative aimed at curbing bogus transactions. As the run-up to the exercise, 3.76 lakh land records in Chennai district have been computerised. The National Informatics Centre is developing a software. Once it is ready, computer-generated ‘patta’ documents can be issued

In a sign of growing warmth between the two countries, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was at the Kyoto state guest house to receive Mr. Modi. Earlier on Saturday, Mr. Modi arrived at Osaka airport and then drove to Kyoto. The two Prime Ministers witnessed the signing of a partner city affiliation agreement between Varanasi (Kashi) and Kyoto, which will see cooperation in the fields of heritage conservation, city modernisation and culture, an official Indian spokesman said. Mr. Abe then hosted Mr. Modi for an informal dinner moreover Mr. Modi Presented a book named Swami Vivekananda and Japan, and a bhaagwat geeta too. Also Mr. Modi and Mr. Abe will together visit the ancient Buddhist Toji temple in Kyoto on Sunday

Historian Bipan Chandra, a Left-leaning expert in economic and political history of India, died here on Saturday. He was 86. Chandra has written on wide areas, including theory of colonialism, national movement and contemporary history. Born in 1928 in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, Chandra studied at the Forman Christian College, Lahore; Stanford University, US, and the University of Delhi. A Padma Bhushan awardee, Chandra had donned multiple roles including that of chairperson of the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, member of the University Grants Commission and the chairman of the National Book Trust.

Former Chief Justice of India P. Sathasivam will be the next Kerala Governor following the resignation of Sheila Dikshit a few days ago. Justice Sathasivam said the warrant of appointment by the President Pranab Mukherjee was expected on Saturday night. This is the first time a retired CJI is being appointed Governor. Justice Sathasivam said that for the past four months, he had not accepted any corporate work and had been happy farming in the village.

Ms. Mridula Sinha will be administered oath of office as the Governor of Goa by the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court Mohit Shantilal Shah at Durbhar hall of Raj Bhavan near here at 11.30 a.m. on Sunday. Ms. Sinha is a writer of Hindi literature and former Chairperson of Central Social Welfare Board, Ministry of Human Resource Development. She is also a former President of Bharatiya Janata Party Mahila Morcha.

From seven branches in December 2013, the Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) is now looking to cross 80 this year with new ones in Kochi, Dholpur and other places. It already has a presence in 23 States. The Bank is slowly emerging as a chief option for women to get credit on easier terms than commercial banks. It lends money to women who set up small businesses, beauty parlours, day care centres and home-based initiatives and customers get up to Rs. 1 crore without a credit guarantee. They only have to take an insurance policy under the government’s Credit Guarantee Fund Trust Scheme and pay an annual premium, says Maya M.C., deputy general manager (resource mobilisation), BMB.

Veteran journalist Padma Bhushan Balraj Puri passed away after prolonged illness at a Government Medical College here on Saturday. Mr. Puri was conferred the Padma Bhushan for his contribution in the fields of Literature and Education in 2005 and also the Indira Gandhi award for national integration on October 31, 2009.

A former American sailor convicted during the Cold War of leading a family spy ring for the Soviet Union has died in a prison hospital in North Carolina, officials said on Friday. Retired Navy Warrant Officer John A. Walker Jr. (in picture) died on Thursday at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesman Chris Burke said. The cause of death was not immediately released. He was 77. Walker was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty in 1985 to passing secrets to the Soviets while he was a shipboard communications officer.

Lesotho Prime Minister Tom Thabane claimed on Saturday he fled in fear of his life after soldiers seized power in a coup, despite the military denying it overthrew the tiny mountain kingdom’s government. Powerful neighbour South Africa and the Commonwealth backed Mr. Thabane’s claims, with Johannesburg warning the Basotho army that such action “shall not be tolerated.

An Egyptian court on Saturday commuted a death sentence against the Muslim Brotherhood’s Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie to life in prison, in one of many trials of Islamists since their removal from power.

However Badie still faces the gallows, after another court in southern Egypt passed a separate death sentence over deadly riots in August 2013, almost a month after the army toppled Islamist President Mohamed Morsy. In Saturday’s ruling, a Cairo court that had initially sentenced him to death reduced the ruling to life in prison, on the recommendation of the mufti, the government’s Islamic law expert.

Unseeded Norwegian Rana Roop Singh Bhullar claimed the ITF juniors boys’ singles title with a 6-3, 7-6(2) victory over fourth seed Aryan Goveas here on Saturday. The girls’ title was won by Jennifer Luikham after she fought off Nandini Sharma 6-3, 1-6, 6-2.

Madras Cricket Club (MCC) honoured two of its “own children”— Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal — for having won a historic doubles gold in squash at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games here on Saturday. Ajit Kumbhat, President of MCC, while listing out the achievements of Joshna and Dipika, termed the two as “poster girls of squash” and said that “they are role models for future generations.”