Month: September 2009

New Delhi, September 06: An Indian can adopt a child even though his or her personal law does not permit it, a Delhi court has said, giving hope to a Muslim couple who aspire to be the foster parents of an orphan.

“Indian citizens have a fundamental right under the Indian Constitution and under the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000, to adopt an Indian child,” District Judge Pratibha Rani said.

New Delhi, September 06: Recession-hit US wants to enhance its commercial engagement with India, which along with other emerging economies is expected to contribute to the bulk of global economic growth.

US Trade Representative Ron Kirk, who was here last week for the WTO informal ministerial meeting, has chalked out plans to return to India next month, mainly for pushing bilateral trade, which is at USD 43 billion at present.

“I will be back to India in almost less than a month when we are going to engage much more thoughtfully on our bilateral relationships,” Kirk had said.

New Delhi, September 06: With winter not far away, Pakistan has increased attempts to push maximum number of militants across the Line of Control (LoC) into Jammu and Kashmir with 12 incidents recorded in July and August this year.

“There has been a spurt in the number of infiltration incidents in the last two months, with a dozen incidents recorded in July and August alone along the LoC,” Army officers said.

Switzerland, September 06: As India and Switzerland prepare to renegotiate the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, the Swiss government has said it was confident that the pact would be finalised by next year and enable New Delhi to seek details about blackmoney stashed in banks there.

“Yes” was the emphatic answer of Switzerland’s Vice- President Doris Leuthard when asked whether renegotiating the treaty, which was signed in 1995, would enable India seek details of specific cases where tax evaders money was lying in Swiss banks.

New Delhi, September 06: Home Minister P Chidambaram begins an important four-day visit to the United States this week when he will discuss with the American establishment international terrorism and Pakistan’s inaction against perpetrators of Mumbai attack.

Chidambaram, who will begin the visit on Tuesday, will urge the American leadership to put pressure on Pakistan to take firm action towards dismantling of terror infrastructure in that country as well as prosecution of Mumbai attack accused, who are in Pakistan.

Kathmandu, September 06: More than three months after a bomb went off during mass at one of Nepal’s oldest churches, killing three women — two of them Indians, police Sunday arrested the mastermind who is the head of an outlawed Hindu militant organisation.

Ram Prasad Mainali, chief of the Nepal Defence Army, a shadowy outfit that had asked all Christians and Muslims to leave Nepal or face dire consequences, was caught with three associates from southeast Nepal.

The four men were said to be armed and were caught from Rajgarh between Jhapa and Sunsari districts in eastern Nepal.

New Delhi, September 06: Australia has ruled out uranium sale to New Delhi but is keen to develop strategic partnership and ensure that India becomes a “front-ranking” nation with which it has such ties.

Australian Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard said her country wants to build defence and security ties with India.

“We understand that energy security is important for India… (But) we have a longstanding position about uranium sales and nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT),” she said in an interview while explaining why Australia will not supply the nuclear fuel to India.

New Delhi, September 06: Thirteen government hospitals in the capital are now equipped with rape detection kits for victims of incest crimes as per guidelines issued by Delhi High Court, the Delhi Police has told the court.
Mukta Gupta, counsel for Delhi Police, contended before a division bench comprising Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice Manmohan earlier this week that of the 20 hospitals of the Delhi government, 13 are equipped with Sexual Forensic Evidence Kits (SAFE) and seven more are in the process of doing the same.

New Delhi, September 06: and in several other cities, my team holds workshops to explain in detail to women how they can come under attack in the most unexpected circumstances.

So it is good to learn and understand simple but effective self-defence methods. These need not be based on a rigid set of rules.

Rather, your safety lies in your habits, attitudes and activities. It is also learning what handy tools you can convert into powerful weapons for your protection.