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Chennai, January 24: Tamil Nadu Chief minister J. Jayalalithaa on Monday filed defamation complaints against Nakkheeran Gopal for printing a false article alleging that she ate beef and against Mr N. Ram of The Hindu for reproducing the malicious matter in his newspaper.

City public prosecutor M.L. Jagan moved the petitions on her behalf before the principal sessions court here.

The petition against Mr Gopal has also named his joint editor A. Kamaraj and reporter Umarmukhtat, while Mr B. Kolappan of The Hindu too figures as the author of the article that appeared in his paper.

London, January 24: Israel could launch a unilateral strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities without much prior notice to its closest ally for over 60 year, US, according to information reaching here from Tel Aviv.

Jaipur, January 23: Police are looking for a man who left the body of his wife at their rented house and disappeared as he did not have money to perform the last rites.

Police said Monday that Geeta Devi, 80, and her husband Ashok Kumar had been living in the city’s Bhrampuri area for 10 months.

“She died of old age (Sunday) evening,” a police officer told IANS.

The landlord informed the police that Ashok disappeared after her death.

“An auto driver conveyed the man’s message to the landlord that he did not have enough money to perform the final rituals,” said the officer.

Jaipur, January 23: The row over Salman Rushdie deepened today with five complaints being filed against the four authors who read out passages from his banned Satanic Verses at the Literature Festival and its organisers, as suspense grew whether his video address will take place tomorrow.

As the controversy over the 65-year-old India-born author continued to dog the Festival for the fourth day, a Festival organiser Sanjoy K Roy said the video address will go ahead as scheduled at 3.45 pm tomorrow.

Srinagar, January 23: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, himself a victim of shoe-throwing incident, today said he liked the response of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to a similar attack on him.

“I like Rahul’s reaction to the shoe throwing – ‘phenko, phenko, ek aur phenko’ (throw, throw one more),” Omar wrote on micro-blogging site Twitter.

A shoe was hurled towards Gandhi by a youth while he was addressing an election rally near Dehradun in Uttarakhand.

As security personnel and Congress supporters grabbed the youth, Rahul was heard saying “don’t hit him”.

Jaipur, January 22: A complaint has been lodged with the police here against the four authors who read out excerpts from Salman Rushdie’s “The Satanic Verses” in an unscheduled session of the Jaipur Literature Festival, police said Sunday.

The complainant, Ashok Kumar, a resident of Vashali Nagar area, here has claimed that the four authors — Hari Kunzru, Amitava Kumar, Jeet Thayil and Ruchir Joshi — read out the passages from the book which is banned in several countries across the world including India.

Jaipur, January 22: The Rajasthan government tonight said the IB had shared information on threats to Salman Rushdie’s life with the organisers of the Jaipur Literature Festival, rejecting the author’s charges that it was concocted.

“A confirmed information about a threat to Rushdie’s life was shared by the Intelligence Bureau with the organisers of the festival. Such inputs had started to come even before the beginning of the event,” the government said in a statement.

Mumbai, January 22: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is enjoying every moment of her motherhood. The actress is being flooded with offers and very good scripts, from many filmmakers, but she doesn’t seem too keen on getting back to work, anytime soon.

Buzz has it that some of the filmmakers have offered the actress films, casting hubby Abhishek Bachchan as the lead actor. Yet, Ash has rejected all of them.

Baghdad, January 22: The Iraqi authorities Sunday banned individuals from visiting former Iraqi president Saddam Hussien’s grave over two years after having already prohibited organised visits to it in the Salahudin province, a police source said.

“The Iraqi cabinet directed authorities of Salahudin province to take all necessary measures to prevent any visit to Saddam Hussein’s grave,” Xinhua quoted a source from the provincial operations as saying.

Jaipur, Jnauary 22: A day after his comments against Salman Rushdie created ripples, popular author Chetan Bhagat today said the Booker Prize winner was a hero to him as well but not for “attacking God” and religious sentiments in India have to be respected.

“He is a hero as far as his others writings are concerned, but writing something that attacks somebody’s god is not the right thing to do,” said the author on the sidelines of the Jaipur Literature Festival.

“I would not make him a hero on that count,” he said while responding to questions.

Jaipur, January 22: Is Imran Khan Pakistan’s new saviour? Forget it, says Fatima Bhutto, the granddaughter of Pakistan’s legendary leader Zulfikar Ali Bhutto amid rumours about her joining the former cricketer’s party.

“As a woman, I worry very much about Imran’s politics,” said Bhutto, the author of “Songs of Blood and Sword: A Daughter’s Memoir”, a biography of the Bhutto dynasty, here Sunday.

“Is he a saviour? No, I don’t think so,” said a sneering Bhutto while questioning Khan’s commitment to secularism and the minorities.

Tamirul Haq had just stepped out to buy some cigarettes, and probably told his family he’d be back soon. But the 42-year-old from Bengal’s North Dinajpur district never returned home. On the way, he questioned five policemen who were mercilessly dragging two men through the local market in Bariol. The infuriated cops started beating Haq with sticks and rifle butts. He was then taken to the Kotar police camp where he was tortured till he became unconscious. Haq was later taken to a nearby hospital but he had already died by then.

Kolkata, January 23: At least 26 infants have died in the past five days in a state-run hospital in India’s West Bengal state, authorities said on Sunday.

The hospital in Malda, about 340 kilometres (211 miles) north of Kolkata, has come under attack for negligence while state health officials claim the babies were underweight and several of them were “terminally ill”.

“Two more babies died on Sunday taking the death toll to 26. Most of them were underweight and had been suffering from birth asphyxia,” West Bengal health services director Biswa Ranjan Satpathi told AFP by telephone.

Los Angeles, January 22: A baby weighing a mere 9.5oz (270g) – roughly equivalent to two mobile phones – has finally gone home with her mother after spending nearly five months in an incubator.

Lucknow, January 22:) In the absence of a wave and no issue that could have an emotional sway on voters, the Muslim vote seems to be the one that could make or mar political fortunes in Uttar Pradesh.

At least three of the four major players plus a newly-formed political outfit are clearly eying the 19 percent Muslim vote that may determine the destiny of India’s most populous state of 200 million people.

Raipur, January 22: A 35-year-old man who buried four people alive including his wife and his house owner has been arrested in Chhattisgarh, police said Sunday.

Arun Chandrakar admitted of burying alive the owner of his rented house, Bahadur Singh Thakur, 50, in January 2005, Raipur Superintendent of Police Dipanshu Kabra told reporters.

“He had also buried his 30-year-old wife Leela, whom he married in 2008, and two close relatives in June and July 2011 respectively.”

Jaipur, January 22: If you want to look right, you have to learn to love your body, says model-turned-Bollywood item girl Yana Gupta who is also a budding non-fiction writer.

“Love yourself unconditionally. If you look in the mirror and don’t like what you see, you don’t start it… It all starts with the love, energy and the relaxation that comes into your life with loving yourself,” Yana told IANS at the Jaipur Literature Festival.

Mumbai, January 22: Mallika Sherawat has apparently promised to put Vivek Oberoi at ease before filming an intimate scene for ‘Kismat, Love, Paisa, Dilli’

She has almost made a career out of the number of kisses she has shared with her co-stars on screen. We could very well imagine then that a few steamy scenes would be no big deal for Mallika Sherawat.

However, the same cannot be said about her co-star Vivek Oberoi, who for the first time will be seen indulging in some serious lovemaking scenes with her in their film Kismat, Love, Paisa, Dilli (KLPD).

The attempt of a military coup in Bangladesh has created ripples in South Asia. Although the coup was foiled, it did raise questions about the extent of Islamist infiltration of the Bangladeshi Army.

According to the Army, the plot to overthrow Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was laid out by around 16 serving and former military officers with “extreme religious views” who wanted to introduce Islamic law in Bangladesh.

Hyderabad, January 21: Former minister Mareppa has warned the TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu that he would face trouble if he did not desist from making unsavory remarks against others.

Talking to the media here on Saturday, he said if Naidu did not stop making allegations against Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, people would teach him a lesson. He said that during his nine-year rule Naidu has cheated all sections of the people, and he would fall a prey to the curses of his victims, he added. (NSS)

Hyderabad, January 21: Describing TDP President N Chandrababu Naidu as an escapist for taking refuge in stay orders, Raychoti MLA Srikanth Reddy on Saturday said it would be dignified on his part if he volunteers for an inquiry into the allegations that have come up against him.

Hyderabad, January 21: Basavatarakam Indo American Cancer Hospital & Research Institute, in association with Press Club, Hyderabad, is organizing a free cancer screening camp for the benefit of members of press club, Hyderabad journalists and their family members on Sunday, January 22 at Press club , somajiguda. The camp will begin at 10 AM.

Mahoba, January 21: Amid the controversy over Salman Rushdie’s India visit, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Uma Bharti on Saturday said that the Congress will be looking to exploit the issue to the hilt to win over Muslims voters in Uttar Pradesh. Bharti, who is on a whirlwind tour of Uttar Pradesh, has been attacked by Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Digvijay Singh and Pramod Tiwari among others since BJP president Nitin Gadkari announced that she would contest from Charkhari constituency in Mahoba district.

Bhopal, January 21: Tired of being sexually abused by her ex-lover, a 35-year-old woman chopped off the head of her tormentor with an axe at Amoga village near Katni in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday.

The man, Shyamlal Yadav, was working alone in the field when he was killed.

After beheading him, the woman reportedly grabbed the head by the hair and walked one kilometre to a Shiva temple. People thronging a fair just outside the temple stopped her from entering the temple dangling the severed head. They called the police and handed her over.

Jaipur, January 21: Condemning the authors for reading from Salman Rushdie’s banned book “Satanic Verses” at the Jaipur Literature Festival, Muslim groups today said they were planning to file a police complaint against the writers and the event organisers and demanded action against them.

However, the groups said that no protests are planned for now.