Month: September 2009

Kasab had confessed voluntarily: magistrate

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Mumbai, September 30: Giving a boost to the prosecution case in the Mumbai terrorist attacks trial, a magistrate told the special court here Wednesday that captured Pakistani terrorist Mohammed Ajmal Amir alias Kasab had voluntarily confessed to his crimes in February.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Rama V. Sawant-Wagule, in a rare deposition by a top legal functionary, said that Kasab was remorseless when he voluntarily confessed before her Feb 20-21, nearly three months after the Nov 26, 2008 terror attacks.

UN ends US diplomat’s appointment in Afghanistan

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New York, September 30: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Wednesday terminated the appointment of a UN deputy representative in Afghanistan, who apparently left his job in disagreement with his superior.

Ban said he decided to recall Peter Galbraith, a US diplomat, and ended his posting as deputy to the UN chief of mission in Afghanistan, Kai Eide. News reports said Galbraith had disagreed with Eide over the recent elections in Afghanistan.

Italy, Pakistan sign military agreement

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Rome, September 30: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari presided Wednesday over the signing of a defence memorandum between their two countries.

“The agreement aims to increase the exchange of intelligence and bilateral trade in the military field,” Berlusconi said, at a joint news conference with Zardari in Rome.

Zardari, who said he was “impressed by the personality” of Berlusconi, thanked the conservative premier for Italy’s “support in the war against terrorism”.

Stones thrown at Haryana speaker

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Jhajjar (Haryana), September 30: A mob pelted stones at outgoing Haryana assembly Speaker Raghubir Singh Kadiyan during an election rally here ahead of next month’s polls, officials said.

Kadiyan, who is contesting the Oct 13 polls on the Congress ticket from Beri constituency, had gone to Dhigal village on Rohtak road.

30 drown as boat capsizes in Kerala

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Thekkady (Kerala), September 30: At least 30 tourists drowned when a boat capsized in a lake in the Periyar wildlife sanctuary of Kerala Wednesday evening, police said. With rescue work continuing, the toll was feared to go up.

Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan expressed deep anguish and ordered an inquiry into the accident.

Shiney’s bail plea hearing tomorrow

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Mumbai, September 30: The Bombay High Court will pronounce its order on Thursday on the bail plea of actor Shiney Ahuja, who has been in judicial custody for over three months for allegedly raping his maid. Ahuja, chargesheeted for allegedly raping his 20-year-old maidservant, is in custody since June 15. Lower court has rejected his bail application.

30 drown as boat capsizes in Kerala

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Thekkady (Kerala), September 30: At least 30 tourists drowned when a boat capsized in a lake in the Periyar wildlife sanctuary of Kerala Wednesday evening, police said. With rescue work continuing, the toll was feared to go up.

Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan expressed deep anguish and ordered an inquiry into the accident.

The Great Depression helped prolong life expectancy

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Washington, September 30: The Great Depression that ruined millions of families in the US during the thirties also saw life expectancy go up by 6.2 years, according to a latest research.

Life expectancy rose from 57.1 years in 1929 to 63.3 years in 1932 for both men and women, whites and non-whites, according to an analysis by University of Michigan (U-M) researchers Jose A. Tapia Granados and Ana Diez Roux.

Tribal leader Mahato has insurance policy worth Rs.1 cr: Police

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Kolkata, September 30: Chhatradhar Mahato, the arrested chief of a Maoist-backed body in West Bengal’s Lalgarh, has an insurance policy worth Rs.1 crore (Rs.10 million) and he recently bought a house in Orissa, a top police officer said here Wednesday.

“Mahato has confessed during interrogation that he has an insurance policy worth Rs.1 crore and he has also given two premiums for it. He also bought a house at Mayurbhanj area of Orissa recently,” West Bengal Director General of Police Bhupinder Singh said at a press conference.

Scientists create chip to sniff out type, severity of cancer

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Toronto, September 30: Researchers have developed a microchip that is sensitive enough to quickly determine the type and severity of a patient’s cancer and nip the disease in the bud.

“This remarkable innovation is an indication that the age of nanomedicine is dawning,” says David Naylor, professor of medicine at the University of Toronto (U of T).

“Thanks to the breadth of expertise here at U of T, cross-disciplinary collaborations of this nature make such landmark advances possible,” he adds.

Glucose could potentially power our gadgets, cars

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Washington, September 30: Glucose-the human body’s preferred energy source-can potentially power our gadgets, cars or homes.

Researchers at Brigham Young University (BYU) have developed a fuel cell-basically a battery with a gas tank-that harvests electricity from glucose and other sugars known as carbohydrates.

“Carbohydrates are very energy rich,” said BYU chemistry professor Gerald Watt. “What we needed was a catalyst that would extract the electrons from glucose and transfer them to an electrode.”

India bowl out West Indies for 129

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Johannesburg, September 30: India bowled out the West Indies for 129 runs in 36 overs in a Group A match of the Champions Trophy at the Wanderers here Wednesday.

Praveen Kumar and Ashish Nehra picked up three wickets each while Harbhajan Singh bagged two.

–Agencies

Champions Trophy: Australia beat Pakistan by two wickets

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Centurion, September 30: Australia beat Pakistan by two wickets in a nail-biting Champions Trophy Group A encounter at the SuperSport Park here Wednesday.

After restricting Pakistan for 205 for six, Australia lost quick wickets in the middle overs to win the match in the last ball.

For Australia, Mitchell Johnson (2-45) and Shane Watson (2-32) took two wickets each while Michael Hussey top scored with 64 runs.

Pakistan’s comeback bowler Mohammad Asif finished with figures of 2-34 while Saeed Ajmal claimed 2-31

Australia’s win means India are now out of the competition.

India scoffs at Pakistan for calling 26/11 evidence ‘half-baked’

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New Delhi, September 30: Home Minister P. Chidambaram Wednesday scoffed at Pakistan for terming as “half-baked” India’s evidence of Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed’s role in the 26/11 Mumbai mayhem.

“They are welcome to bake it fully. All the baking ingredients are in Pakistan. All the evidence is available on Pakistani soil,” Chidambaram told reporters.

Five teenagers rescued by IAF chopper from Andhra river

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New Delhi, September 30: Five teenagers, who got stuck midstream in a river in Mehboobnagar in Andhra Pradesh Wednesday, had a dramatic rescue after an Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter was summoned for help.

Seven children in the age group 10-15 years were caught in a small rivulet midstream in Mehboobnagar while they were trying to cross it as the water level rose suddenly. While two of them swam to safety, the other five did not know how to swim and took refuge on a rock as the water level continued to rise.

Goa tourism minister arrested yet again

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Panaji, September 30: Goa Tourism Minister Mickky Pacheco was once again arrested and released by the Crime Branch Wednesday, this time in a case of threatening and criminal intimidation, police said.

Pacheco, a National Congress Party (NCP) legislator, against whom this is the fifth criminal case booked in the last few years, was arrested this morning after he drove to the Crime Branch from the Secretariat, where he had addressed a press conference.

He was released on a personal bond and after he produced a local surety, Superintendent of Police Atmaram Deshpande told reporters.

Seven swine flu deaths take India’s toll to 316

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New Delhi, Septeber 30: Seven swine flu deaths, including four in Karnataka, were reported Wednesday, taking India’s total toll to 316, health authorities said here.

Also, 197 new influenza A (H1N1) cases were reported in the country, taking the total number of people affected with the virus to 10,233.

Two deaths were reported from the national capital – one from the Safdarjung Hospital and the other in a private hospital.

The death from the private hospital was reported Tuesday but the laboratory confirmation came Wednesday, authorities said without giving any details.

Spurned teenager kills girl, shoots himself too

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Ghaziabad, September 30: A 17-year-old boy shot dead a 15-year-old girl at her residence here Wednesday and then turned the gun on himself after she had allegedly spurned his advances, police said.

The boy went to the victim’s house in Mahendra Enclave locality, which falls under Kavi Nagar police station, and shot the girl dead with a pistol he stole from his employer. He then shot himself also, a police official said.

5.5 cr more LPG connections in five years: Deora

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Surat, September 30: A total of 5.5 crore additional households will be provided cooking gas connections over the next five years covering almost two-thirds of the country, Union Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said here Wednesday.

He said this would increase the coverage of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) connections to 16.5 crore households in India from 11 crore at present.

I’ll try to bring more kids to children film fest: Nandita Das

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Bhubaneswar, September 30: Actress Nandita Das, the newly appointed chairperson of the Children’s Film Society of India (CFSI), promises to bring maximum number of kids to the children film festival, starting Nov 14, despite the fact that kids are hooked to reality shows.

“My top priority at this moment is to attract large number of children from different regions and classes to the children’s film festival,” Nandita Das told reporters here while speaking on the sidelines of the programme “Joy of Giving”.

Radcliffe trying hard to get driving licence

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London, September 30: Twenty-year-old ‘Harry Potter’ star Daniel Radcliffe is so determined to pass his driving test that he has moved to Dorset to learn driving.

The young star finds it easier to concentrate on his driving lessons in the quieter country lanes than congested roads of the capital.

‘He told me he was down from London taking some driving lessons where it was quieter,’ quoted a friend of the young actor as saying.

—IANS

Bottoms up! Delhi to open 83 more liquor shops

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New Delhi, September 30: Time to say cheers! The Delhi government Wednesday decided to open 83 more liquor shops in the city and allow opening of alcohol vends in malls too, but said its excise policy encouraged consumption of mild liquor instead of hard drinks.

The decision was taken by a Delhi cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. With these 83 new shops, the number of government controlled liquor shops in Delhi will go up to 590.

Two more swine flu deaths in Delhi, toll 13

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New Delhi, September 30: At least two people succumbed to influenza A (H1N1) in Delhi Wednesday, taking the death toll in the capital to 13, health authorities said.

While one person died in a private hospital, a 22-year-old man died at the Safdarjung hospital. Though the details of the first person were unavailable, the second patient was suffering from pneumonia and respiratory distress and was under ventilation.

Girl crushed by Blueline bus

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New Delhi, September 30: A 21-year-old girl was crushed to death by a Blueline bus in central Delhi Wednesday, police said.

“The accident took place at around 3 p.m. when the victim, Simranjit Kaur, was trying to board the Blueline bus of route number 218 in Dev Nagar area,” said a police officer.

“She fell down from the bus and got crushed under its wheels. She was a resident of Tilak Nagar area of west Delhi. The bus driver has been arrested and further investigations are on,” the police officer added.

Chidambaram defends closing cases against Quattrocchi

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New Delhi, Septembaer 30: Home Minister P. Chidambaram Wednesday defended the government decision to close all cases against fugitive Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, accused of receiving illegal kickbacks in the Bofors gun purchase scandal of the mid-1980s.

Responding to a question on Solicitor General Gopal Subramanian’s intimation to the Supreme Court Tuesday about the government’s decision, Chidambaram said he agreed with the law ministry’s “conclusion that there is no conclusive evidence in the case” and that it could not be pursued endlessly.