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Lahore, January 15: Arfa Karim Randhawa, the world’s youngest Microsoft certified professional has died in a hospital here at the age of 16, her family said today.

Randhawa was admitted to a military hospital in Lahore two weeks ago after she suffered epileptic seizures that caused brain damage on December 22.

Doctors pronounced her dead late last night.

“Arfa was hospitalised in a critical condition with meagre chances of survival because of a severe attack of idiopathic epilepsy fits.

Islamabad, January 15 – Violence against women in Pakistan — from domestic incidents to sexual assaults — was on the rise in 2011, with 8,000 cases reported to the authorities.

According to incidents registered at police stations, courts and complaint cells, there was a 13 percent increase since 2008, Dawn News reported Sunday.

“This number is still unrepresentative of the issue on the ground, as our social norms prevent a majority of the cases from being reported,” said Omer Aftab, national coordinator of the White Ribbon Campaign Pakistan.

Lucknow, January 15: Amid strict watch of the Election Commission, Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP) supremo and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati today celebrated her 56th birthday with media persons by announcing the party candidates for the assembly polls.

This year the birthday of Mayawati was celebrated without any pomp and show due to the assembly elections. The CM attired in her usual pink dress with an overcoat besides the diamond ear tops and necklace addressed the media persons at the newly constructed party office.

Bhubaneswar, January 15: In a shocking incident, as many as 24 television sets in the railway station in Bhubaneswar showed an obscene film for about 10 minutes, for which one person was arrested on Saturday, police said.

“The incident occurred at around 3.30 pm, when obscene video clippings ran for about 10 minutes in all TV sets simultaneously at platforms, waiting rooms and reservation counters,” Baruna Behera, inspector of railway protection force (RPF) said, adding that the television operator was immediately arrested.

London, January 15: In a major cash-for-access scandal, a 50-year-old Indian-origin Conservative Party activist and fund-raiser was thrown out of the party after he was caught boasting in a video that he could provide Prime Minister David Cameron’s personal mobile phone number or a dinner with him for 10,000 pounds.

Rickie Sehgal — chairman of the British Asian Conservative Link (BACL) — said donors could dine with the prime minister and raise any issue they wanted, the Daily Mail reported Sunday.

Hyderabad, January 15: For people in parts of Andhra Pradesh, Sankranti is incomplete without cockfights and, like in the past, a ban could not prevent them from betting crores of rupees on it this time either.

Leading the violation of the ban were powerful politicians of all hues, who consider the cockfight a part of the culture of the coastal Andhra region. The participants included film personalities and businessmen.

Tehran, January 15:Iranian authorities on Sunday hanged 12 people convicted of various serious crimes in the southern city of Shiraz, news agency reported.

Seven of those executed were found guilty of drug trafficking. The other five were convicted of rape, kidnapping and armed robbery.

The deaths bring to 15 the number of hangings carried out in Iran so far this year, according to media reports.

The European Union last week expressed concern at the number of executions held in Iran in 2011, and called for “thousands” of convicts on death row to have their sentence commuted.

They buried a young scientist called Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan in Tehran on Friday. And if the hazardous carousel of attacks, embargoes and official threats does not slow down soon, there could be other bodies and hopes wrapped in a sheet and put into the ground.

Many more young men, peace in the Straits of Hormuz and beyond, and supplies of oil at an affordable price could all be as dead as the assassinated Roshan if the crisis over Iran’s nuclear project ratchets up further.

“No one came to Suvarna’s rescue. We were the only three women who saw the entire honour killing. “There were around 10 men, including her father beating her and finally hanging her to death. The entire village watched silently,” recalled 70-year-old Tholasamma, Govindaraju’s mother and his sister-in-law Thayamma.

Tholasamma and her two daughters-in-law, Thayamma and Mangala Gowri, are the main eye witnesses to the honour killing.

Chennai, January 14: Barely a month after AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa fancied a national role for her party in Lok Sabha polls due in 2014, BJP leader LK Advani today described her as a “natural ally,” fuelling speculation that both parties could come together ahead of the polls.

“We see in Jayalalithaa a natural ally,” Advani said at the 42nd anniversary celebrations of Tamil weekly ‘Thuglaq,’ edited by noted political commentator Cho S Ramaswamy.

New Delhi, January 14: A body of Muslim intellectuals today asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to institute a CBI probe into the Batla House encounter that took place in 2008.

The Millat Bedari Muhim Committee (MBMC), comprising mostly teachers and former teachers of the Aligarh Muslim University, had sent a memorandum to the Prime Minister in this regard.

The memorandum slammed Union Home Minister P Chidambram for describing the encounter as genuine, MBMC chief Razaullah Khan told reporters here.

Nagpur, January 14: A teenaged girl was allegedly raped by three persons over a period of nine days at different locations, police said today.

Police said, the 17-years old victim had gone to Futala Lake in the western part of the city on December 31 to celebrate the New Year eve, where she was lured by a Chinese fast food seller, who raped her at his room in a nearby locality.

According to police, the victim alleged that she was raped by the trio– Abhijit Das, Ajju and Chintu-between January 1 and 9 at different places. She told police that she was also gang-raped by the three.

New Delhi, January 14: A man threw black ink on the face of yoga guru Baba Ramdev as he was holding a press conference on black money and corruption at the Constitutional Club here Saturday. A nonplussed Ramdev remarked later, “What have I done to deserve this?”

The offender was caught and roughed up by Ramdev’s supporters. He was repeatedly slapped and he bled from the mouth.

Reacting after the incident, Ramdev said he had asked for the black money being returned to the country and instead got black ink.

Islamabad, Januayr 14: The prosperity of Pakistan lies in following the constitution, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani emphasised Saturday, days after he accused army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and the country’s spy chief Lt. Gen. Shuja Pasha of violating it.

“What I have learnt from my experience as a politician, mayor, speaker of the National Assembly, acting president and as the prime minister of Pakistan is that prosperity of Pakistan lies in following the Constitution,” said Gilani in Lahore.

New Delhi, January 14: Taking cognisance of AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s night stay at a college here, the district magistrate on Friday issued notices to college management, principal and district Congress president seeking their explanation on the matter within three days.

District Magistrate and Returning officer Ashutosh Dwivedi said that prima facie, it was a matter of Model Code of Conduct violation.

Kolkata, January 14: When a group of student activists from her party were seen on camera thrashing a college principal, Mamata Banerjee dismissed the attack on the Raiganj College campus as a minor matter. The Chief Minister of West Bengal also alleged that the Congress and the CPM were conspiring “to turn a molehill into a mountain.”

Ahmedabad, January 14: Former Gujarat minister of state for home, Gordhan Zadafia, on Friday told the Nanavati Commission that the decision to bring bodies of the victims of 2002 Godhra train burning incident to the city “could have” been taken by Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Bringing dead bodies back to the city is believed to have worsened the violence that followed.

Lucknow, January 13: Darul Uloom, Farangimahal, today issued a fatwa asking Muslims to protest against the expected visit of controversial writer Salman Rushdie to India this month.

Maulana Khalid Rashid Farangimahali,in a fatwa, following a question asked by one Ejaz Ahmed, about what should Muslims do to prevent Rushdie from coming to India said that the Muslims should hold protest and demonstration opposing entry of the writer.

” Demonstration against Rushdie without breaking any law is justified,” he added

The Fatwa was issued after Friday prayers.

Islamabad, January 13: What kind of Pakistan do Pakistanis want, a leading daily wondered Friday in the midst of a tense stand-off between the political leadership and the military.

The country might have taken a deep breath Thursday but…”the respite may be brief”, an editorial in Dawn said.

“With little certainty about the direction that events will take in the hours, days and weeks ahead, perhaps a stocktaking of what has transpired so far is in order.

New Delhi, January 13: The Delhi High Court Friday sent a lawyer to judicial custody for seven days after the court found him guilty of misbehaving with a female lawyer during hearing.

A male lawyer assaulted his female counterpart in the midst of a hearing before the Joint Registrar A.S. Jaichandra. It all started with a war of words between the lawyers, but soon turned ugly and the fight turned physical.

Hyderabad, Jan 13 (INN): Telangana Political Joint Action Committee Chairman Prof M Kodandaram on Friday stated that the JAC would convene a massive conference on January 20 to discuss the future course of action to achieve statehood for Telangana region.

Talking to media persons after emerging out of JAC meeting at the BJP’s State office at Nampally, Kodandaram said that the JAC, in its meeting, would discuss on taking forward the agitation. Prior to the massive convention, he said that the JAC would convene a meeting with district JAC leaders before January 19.

Jodhpur, January 12: Authorities at a Rajasthan government hospital removed from duty two employees for negligence over an incident in which rats allegedly nibbled on the ears, nose, lips and cheeks of a paralysed patient early this week, an official said Thursday.

The 70-year-old paralysed man on ventilator in the intensive care unit (ICU) was allegedly attacked by rats early Tuesday at the Mathura Das Mathur Hospital while the staff was asleep, hospital sources said.

Sydney, January 12: The Australian military was rocked on Thursday by more sex scandals, including allegations of assault, child porn, rape and drug-dealing within its ranks.

Documents obtained by Channel Seven News under the Freedom of Information Act detail what it called “ongoing, often major, breaches of discipline in Australia’s armed forces”.

It said more than 100 incidents had been reported in the last year, from weapons mishaps to sexual assault, especially in the Navy where allegations of misconduct on four warships are being investigated.

Hyderabad, Jan 12 (INN): Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Thursday paid rich floral tributes to former minister P Janardhan Reddy on his 64th birth anniversary.

On the occasion, the Chief Minister garlanded the statue of Janardhan Reddy at Khairatabad and observed two-minute silence as a mark of respect. He also recalled the services of Janardhan Reddy for the party and people of the State.

Handlooms and Textiles Minister P Shankar Rao, Jubilee Hills MLA Vishnu and party seniors attended the programme and recalled his services for the State.