Press Trust of India

The Delhi High Court Wednesday observed that impediments in setting up forensic laboratories “cannot come in the way of criminal investigation”, and directed the city government to search for buildings where such labs can be established immediately.

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice B.D. Ahmed and Justice Siddharth Mridul said each zone in the capital should have a forensic lab.

The court sought a status report within three weeks from the Delhi government on availability of buildings to set up temporary forensic labs till the time it comes up with permanent labs.

Jharkhand has recorded the lowest infant mortality rate in 2012-13, the Unicef said in a statement here Wednesday.

“Jharkhand has the lowest infant mortality rate (IMR), as per the recently released Annual Health Survey 2012-13. The IMR (death rate of children below 1 year) declined from 41 per 1,000 live births in 2010-11 to 38 in 2011-12 and now to 36 in 2012-13,” the statement said.

The survey was conducted in 304 districts in 9 states – Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Odisha and Assam by the Registrar General of India.

The Energy and Resource Institute Wednesday launched the world’s first tool named “WEB-GIS” to estimate the rooftop solar power potential for Indian solar cities, said an institute official.

The main objective of the initiative is to develop a high performing and flexible WEB-GIS tool to estimate the rooftop solar power potential in cities.

Chandigarh will be the first city where the tool will be launched followed by others.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Wednesday asked the Assam government to pay Rs.5 lakh each to the next of kin of two youth killed by a joint team of the army and the Assam Police in 2009.

A division bench of the NHRC, comprising members Justice D. Murugesan and Satyabrata Pal, passed the orders Wednesday. It asked the Assam government to submit proof of payment to the commission by April 17 this year.

The two youth — Munindra Kalita (26) and Pingal Deka (27) — were killed by the joint team at Nasatra in Barpeta district of the state July 10, 2009.

The Delhi High Court Wednesday directed police to provide a status report on “crime mapping” of the capital, especially on crimes against women.

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice B.D. Ahmed and Justice Siddharth Mridul directed Delhi Police to submit the report in a sealed cover.

“Delhi Police to file status report on crime mapping of the capital particularly of crimes against women,” said the bench, posting the matter for April 16.

Earlier, the bench directed police to do “crime mapping” in the capital to know the reasons behind incidents of harassment to women.

Donations and contributions from private mining companies are taboo for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Goa, a party leader said Wednesday.

The party, which will contest both Lok Sabha seats in Goa, unveiled its two candidates Wednesday.

Dattaram Desai will contest from the North Goa seat, while Swati Kerkar has been selected for the South Goa constituency.

The AAP said it was working towards replacing the private mining companies from Goa with a state-run corporation that will be the sole agency responsible for extracting ore.

The consumer price index-based inflation or retail inflation for February slowed to 8.10 percent as compared to 8.79 percent in the previous month, government data showed Wednesday.

The corresponding provisional inflation rates for rural and urban areas for February 2014 are 8.51 percent and 7.55 percent respectively.

Inflation rates for rural and urban areas for January 2014 were 9.35 percent and 8.09 percent respectively, the data stated.

Food inflation for February 2014 stood at 8.57 percent compared to 9.9 percent in January 2014.
(IANS)

India’s Media and Entertainment (M&E) industry is expected to log a 14.2 percent growth to more than Rs.1.78 lakh crore in the next four years, according to a FICCI-KPMG report released here Wednesday.

Driven largely by digitisation, the industry in 2013 grew at 11.8 percent over 2012 and touched Rs.91,800 crore.

“The media and entertainment industry is expected to register a CAGR of 14.2 percent to touch Rs.1,78,580 crore by 2018,” said the report titled “The Stage Is Set”.

Vani Kapoor shared Day 1 honours with fellow Delhi golfer Ankita Tiwana after Round 1 of the fifth leg of the Women’s Professional Golf Tour being held at the Classic Golf Resort here Wednesday.

The Delhi girls are two under 70, finishing tied first, one shot clear of Shweta Galande and Vaishavi Sinha, who are tied third with identical scores of one under 71.

Vani, who has been in sublime form this season, was her consistent self, carding three birdies on the third, 12th and 13th holes as opposed to a solitary bogey on the 18th hole.

The Ghaziabad district administration is facing a shortage of video cameras, said an officer Wednesday.

“To conduct peaceful elections we need about 200 video and still cameras but we possess only 80 cameras,” said Richhpal Singh, ADM City.

He added: “In the 2012 assembly elections, we hired cameras and paid at the rate of Rs.1,100 per camera per day. But this time, no one is ready to provide the cameras at this rate. So, we have written to the election officer to consider revising the rate at Rs.2,000 per camera per day for 12 hours of duty.”

Former Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal, who is in judicial custody here, regularly telephoned from prison a Delhi-based woman business associate, an inquiry report said Wednesday.

The report filed before the Margao district and sessions court Wednesday by prison authorities also said a SIM card seized from Tejpal’s prison cell at the Sada sub-jail, 35 km from here, was registered in the name of a woman from a Panaji suburb.

It said Tejpal regularly called Sheela Lunkad, who is Tejpal’s partner in a hospitality venture.