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Good news on AIDS front, new infections down by over 100,000

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New Delhi, December 01:India had reassuring news on the HIV/AIDS front on World AIDS Day Tuesday. The number of HIV positive people in the country had declined by 400,000 over the last five years and new infections were down by at least 100,000 per year.

“In 2002, over 27 lakh (2.7 million) people in India were HIV positive. The number has gone down to 23 lakh (2.3 million) in 2007. We have reduced the number by over 400,000,” Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said on the occasion of World AIDS Day here.

Minaret vote weakens Switzerland’s human rights stance: UN

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Geneva, December 01:The Swiss referendum approving a ban on construction of minarets puts the country on “a collision course with its international human rights obligations,” a UN official warned Tuesday.

Sunday’s vote was a surprise both domestically and internationally and left many Swiss concerned that the decision would make their country look intolerant.

“I hesitate to condemn a democratic vote,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in a press statement in Geneva.

Bihar legislator’s father held for torture on her complaint

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Patna, December 01: A man, who allegedly tortured his wife and has not been providing financial assistance to her, was arrested on the complaint of his daughter, who is a Bihar legislator.

Janta Dal (United) legislator Guddi Devi’s father Radhey Shayam Singh was arrested in Sitamarhi district.

“Police arrested Singh after a complaint against him was filed by his daughter Guddi Devi,” a police officer said.

Guddi Devi, legislator from Runni Saidpur, had complained that her father was torturing her mother and had stopped providing financial assistance to her.

PDP slams centre’s power policy in Kashmir

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Srinagar, December 01:The opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Tuesday slammed the central government for allotting large electric power projects in Jammu and Kashmir to NHPC Ltd and leaving “crumbs in the form of mini hydel projects” for the state government.

Germany, Pakistan forge economic deal, pledge cooperation

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Berlin, December 01:Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and German Chancellor Angela Merkel promised closer cooperation between their two countries Tuesday, and heralded the signing of a new economic agreement in Berlin.

Gilani is on a four-day visit to Germany to discuss economic cooperation, as well as the insurgency along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Sonia seeks explanation from MPs who missed parliament

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New Delhi, Dec 1 (IANS) Congress president Sonia Gandhi has sought an explanation from party MPs on their absence from the Lok Sabha Monday when question hour virtually collapsed because of missing members, a party official said Tuesday.

Congress chief whip in the Lok Sabha Paban Singh Ghatowar, who has been tasked to contact the absentee MPs, told IANS: “I am contacting them to know the reason (for their absence).”

Ghatowar said some MPs said they were absent as their trains had arrived late.

GM India November sales up 65 percent

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Mumbai, December 01:The Indian arm of the US-based auto giant General Motors has reported a 65 percent jump in its November sales as compared to the corresponding month last year.

General Motors India sold 7,118 units last month as against 4,307 units in November 2008, the company said in a regulatory statement.

The auto industry saw a slowdown last year due to the global financial crisis, but the stimulus packages announced by the government helped the sector return to growth.

Dubai International Rally to start Thursday

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Dubai,December 01: The 31st Dubai International Rally would start here Thursday, WAM new agency reported Tuesday.

Sheikh Majed Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum will flag-off the rally, the final round of the 2009 Middle East Rally Championship, Thursday evening from the start ramp in Burj Dubai.

Ranji Trophy scoreboard: Delhi vs Saurashtra

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New Delhi, December 01:Scoreboard on the first day of the Ranji Trophy Super League match between Delhi and Saurashtra here Tuesday.

Saurashtra first innings:

Chirag Pathak c Kohli b Rajat Bhatia 138

Sagar Jogiyani lbw Awana 26

Shitanshu Kotak c Bisht b Suyal 14

Jaydev Shah c Bisht b Suyal 0

Cheteshwar Pujara lbw Bhatia 83

Ravindra Jadeja c Kohli b Manhas 29

Prateek Mehta b Sangwan 8

Sandeep Jobanputra c Kohli b Sangwan 4

Sandeep Maniar not out 11

Jayesh Odedra lbw Sangwan 0

Balachandran Jadeja c Jain b Awana 5

Extras:( 1-b, 1-lb, 14-w) 16

Dotcom marriages heading for splitsville

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Hyderabad,November 30:Alliances made over dotcoms are crashing in the dusty corridors of family courts of Hyderabad. Lawyers working in family courts say 40 to 50 per per cent cases logging on to the city courts seeking separation in the recent past are of those who met on the net.

In most cases, the snag in these marriages is a pre-existing one, rooted in the profiles uploaded by boys and girls that are laced with lies about their wealth and education. In most cases, say family court lawyers, it is the lies about wealth that have ended alliances.

violence marks telangana bandh: KCR continues fast

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Hyderabad, November 30:Normal life remained crippled and the entire public transport system came to a grinding halt in various parts of Telangana on Monday as the region observed a total bandh which was marred by violent incidents and sporadic arson.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi has given the call for Telangana Bandh in protest against the arrest of party supremo, Mr K. Chandrasekhara Rao, on Sunday while he was proceeding to Siddipet to begin his indefinite hunger strike.

Table HIV-AIDS bill in this session only, demand victims, experts

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New Delhi, November 30:Three years after a bill to protect the rights of people living with HIV-AIDS was drafted and cleared by the health ministry, it is yet to be introduced in parliament. A group of experts and victims Monday demanded that the bill be presented in the current winter session.

Do not expect much from Copenhagen conference: Shyam Saran

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New Delhi, November 30:India should not expect much from the Copenhagen conference on climate change as it is more about the defence of national economic interests, the prime minister’s special envoy on climate change Shyam Saran said here Monday.

“We are a few days away from the much awaited Copenhagen conference on climate change. The purpose of the conference is to produce a set of binding agreements between nations to limit the global rise in temperature,” Saran said.

IAF Sukhoi crashes in Rajasthan, pilots safe

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New Delhi, November 30:In the second accident involving the frontline Sukhoi-30MKI of the Indian Air Force (IAF) this year, one of the Russian-origin combat jets crashed Monday near Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, but both the pilots ejected in time, an official said.

The aircraft, which took off from Bareilly airbase, was participating in a fire power demonstration.

“The aircraft crashed during an ongoing exercise. Both the pilot and the co-pilot are safe,” an IAF official told IANS, requesting anonymity.

The official refused to divulge more information.

Koda arrested, sent to judicial remand

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Ranchi/New Delhi, November 30: Former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda, who is at the centre of a Rs.2,500-crore money laundering scam, and a former state minister accused in the case were arrested Monday by the vigilance bureau. Koda has been sent to 14 days judicial remand, an official said.

“Madhu Koda and Kamlesh Singh have been arrested for possessing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income. We had procured their arrest warrant from the concerned court,” M.V. Rao, inspector general of police of the vigilance bureau, told IANS.

‘Paa’ to release in 20 countries with 700 prints

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Mumbai, Nov 30 (IANS) Amitabh Bachchan’s much-awaited “Paa”, in which Big B plays a 13-year-old boy suffering from progeria that accelerates the ageing process, will release Friday in 20 countries with 700 prints, including digital.

“Paa” is an AB Corp Ltd. presentation in association with Reliance BIG Pictures, which will release it simultaneously in India as well as other countries like Britain, Canada, US, UAE, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.

Beware! You may damage knees if you’re an exercise freak

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Washington, Nov 30 (IANS) If you are a middle-aged man or woman and tend to over- exercise, then you may unwittingly damage your knees, increasing chances of osteoarthritis, a new study says.

“Our data suggest that people with higher physical activity levels may be at greater risk for developing knee abnormalities and, thus, at higher risk for developing osteoarthritis,” said Christoph Stehling.

Stehling is a research fellow in radiology and biomedical imaging at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

TRS chief continues fast, life paralysed in Telangana region

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Hyderabad, November 30:Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao continued his ‘fast unto death’ in jail for the second consecutive day Monday as the day-long shutdown called by TRS to protest his arrest paralysed normal life in Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh.

Chandrasekhara Rao, who was arrested near Karimnagar town Sunday before he could launch his ‘fast unto death’ protest demanding a separate state of Telangana, continued his fast in Khammam sub-jail.

Three die, six taken ill from food poisoning in Kolkata

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Kolkata, November 29: Three people – a woman, a girl child and a teenaged boy – died and six others were critically ill in two incidents of suspected food poisoning in Kolkata Sunday, police said.

According to police, the woman and her niece died in a government hospital Sunday after they ate biryani at their Samsul Huda Road residence in South Kolkata’s Park Street area Saturday. Two other members of the family are in hospital and their condition is said to be serious.

3,500 students to participate in Children’s Science Congress

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Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 29 (IANS) With the aim of ‘catching them young’, the Kerala government will invite around 3,500 school students to attend the Children’s Science Congress (CSC) here in January and listen to eminent scientists speak.

The Children’s Science Congress will be held alongside the 97th edition of the Indian Science Congress (ISC). The ISC is being hosted by the Indian Space Research Organisation and the University of Kerala. The state government has sanctioned Rs.3.50 crore for the event.

India a win away from topping Test Championship table

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Mumbai, November 29:A win against Sri Lanka in the third and the final Test starting here Wednesday will propel India to the top spot in the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Test Championship table.

India lead the series 1-0 and if they manage to wrap up the series 2-0 they will get 124 rating points that will push South Africa (122) to the second place followed by Australia (116) and Sri Lanka (115).

British angry at far-right leader’s choice for climate summit

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London, November 29:Politicians and scientists have expressed outrage after the leader of the far-right British National Party (BNP) was selected to represent the European Parliament at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen next week.

Nick Griffin, who last week described climate change campaigners as “cranks”, confirmed Saturday that he would attend as the representative of the parliament’s environmental committee, The Observer newspaper reported Sunday.

Smita in Congress will weaken communal forces: NCP

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New Delhi, November 29:The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Sunday welcomed Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray’s daughter-in-law Smita’s move to join the Congress, saying such a move will “weaken communal forces”.

“If she has a realisation that she was at a wrong place, if she comes to the secular framework, it should be welcomed,” NCP general secretary Tariq Anwar told IANS.

The NCP is the alliance partner of the Congress in Maharashtra and the two parties won a majority in last month’s assembly elections.

FBI team coming to Delhi to reveal Headley links

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Port of Spain, November 29:A high-level FBI team will be coming to Delhi within a week with new information to unravel the terror plot hatched by David Coleman Headley and Tahawuur Rana and their links to the Mumbai carnage, National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan said here.

The decision of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to come to India followed intensive discussions between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President Barack Obama in Washington Tuesday.

The world is the market for e-book readers

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New Delhi,November 29:The horse is here to stay, but the automobile is a novelty, a fad. These were the words uttered famously by a president of the Michigan Savings Bank advising Henry Ford’s lawyer Horace Reckham not to invest in the Ford Motor Co. in 1903. Blame it on the Theory of Technological Evolution or call it the Survival of the Fastest (with due respects to Mr. Darwin) but for a majority of people, travelling in an automobile is as much a part of normal activity as may be bushing their teeth.