Month: August 2012

Girl kills rival after row over boys, jailed

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A teenaged British girl has been sentenced to 10 years in jail for murdering a rival by stabbing her in the head with an Afro comb, which usually has a handle and long teeth used especially on curly hair.

Rebecca Douglas, then 15, spiked Julie Sheriff in the head with the comb’s handle after a row over boys in south London, The Sun reported.

As a judge passed sentence on Douglas, 16, he lifted an order protecting her identity.

She was told by the judge that the attack on victim Sheriff had led to “appalling consequences”.

China woos Indian tourists

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The tourism departments of Macau, Hong Kong and Guangdong province in China have come together to woo Indian travellers — and have vowed to provide vegetarian and Jain food as well.

“India is a huge market for us. Lots of tourists go to Hong Kong and Macau from here. Now they can also go to Guangdong. Every destination has its own strength. We are complimenting each other,” Mei Qijie, deputy chairman, Tourism Administration of Guangdong province (GDPTA), said here Wednesday.

Unusual increase in houses in two Pakistani provinces

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An abnormal increase in the number of houses in Pakistan’s Sindh and Balochistan provinces left a government-run statistics bureau so worried that it promptly brought it to the notice of Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf.

The house listing survey 2011 has revealed the abnormal growth and the results are important since it will be used to determine shifts in population and fresh demarcation of electoral districts and constituencies for the 2013 general election, the News International reported.

Drunk man chokes 70,000 chickens to death in US

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A man in the US has been charged with killing 70,000 chickens in a single booze-fuelled night.

Joshua Shelton, 21, cut off power to a battery chicken farm in Maryland, US, depriving the birds of food, water and cooling fans, The Sun quoted police as saying.

He now faces charges of burglary, malicious destruction of property and trespassing for the last Friday night incident.

According to court documents, within just 15 minutes, tens of thousands of chickens across three massive poultry houses began to perish in the sweltering conditions.

Wipro to train school teachers in US

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Indian IT major Wipro Limited will train 120 school teachers in partnership with the University of Massachusetts in Boston, US, over the next three years to foster excellence in science education among students.

“The 12-month fellowship programme is aimed at developing competencies in teachers and make them catalysts of change in schools where less privileged students from Boston and New York read,” the global software major said in a statement here Wednesday.

Iraq executes five over terrorism

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Iraq Wednesday executed five convicted prisoners over terrorism charges, including a Syrian and Saudi national, the justice ministry announced.

On Tuesday, Iraq executed 21 prisoners, including three women, over similar charges of terrorist crimes.

The death sentences were carried out after the Iraqi Presidency Council approved the penalty verdicts for all the five convicts, Xinhua quoted the justice ministry as saying in a statement.

Death penalty in Iraq was once suspended for over a year in 2003. But the Iraqi government reinstated capital punishment Aug 2004.

England captain Strauss retires from professional cricket

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England Test captain Andrew Strauss Wednesday announced his retirement from professional cricket with immediate effect.

The 35-year-old Middlesex opening batsman, who led England to two Ashes victories and the summit of the Test rankings, is retiring after 14 years in the professional game.

Strauss will be replaced as Test captain by Alastair Cook, who will also continue to lead the One-Day International side.

Strauss made his England debut in an ODI against Sri Lanka in 2003 and was awarded a Test cap a year later against New Zealand, scoring a century on debut.

Naroda Patiya massacre: Ex-minister Kodnani, 31 convicted

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Ten years after a mob hacked and burnt to death 97 Muslims in Naroda Patiya locality here during riots, a Gujarat special court Wednesday convicted 32 people, including former BJP minister Mayaben Kodnani and Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi, for the massacre.

The special court in Ahmedabad also acquitted 29 people. The sentencing is on Friday.

This is the first time that a former minister has been convicted in a Gujarat riots case.

All those convicted, including Kodnani, have been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 302 (murder) and 120B (conspiracy).

Shiv Sena demands public hanging for Kasab

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Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray Wednesday demanded public hanging for Ajmal Kasab, the only Pakistani terrorist caught alive after the 26/11 Mumbai strike that claimed 166 lives.

He also wanted to know why Afzal Guru, a 2001 parliament attack convict on death row, should not be hanged immediately.

“Why should enemies of the state be shown any mercy or leniency,” Thackeray demanded here after the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence awarded to Kasab.

Kasab will be hanged, Supreme Court says

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The Supreme Court Wednesday upheld the death sentence awarded to Pakistani terrorist Kasab for his role in the Mumbai savagery, marking the end of the legal battle for a man who desperately tried to escape the hangman’s noose.

In a ruling bound to cast a shadow on India-Pakistan relations, Justices Aftab Alam and C.K. Prasad said: “We are constrained to hold that death penalty is the only sentence that can be given in the circumstances.”

TDP corporators squat at Mayor’s chamber

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TDP corporators staged a sit in outside the Mayor’s chambers protesting against the laxity of GHMC in resolving people’s problems.

There was tension for a while when the corporators raised slogans against the city administration and tried to barge into the Mayor’s chambers. However, the Mayor called them inside and assured that the problems mentioned by them would be addressed soon. After obtaining the assurance from the Mayor, the corporators had withdrawn their agitation.

–Agencies

TRS supremo’s daughter meets Chandrababu Naidu

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Everything is fair in war and politics is a proverb. Apparently, TRS Chief K Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter and Telangana Jagruthi chief K Kavitha has adopted the proverb for a non-Telangana cause.

On Wednesday, Kavitha met her party’s bete noire TDP’s Nara Chandrababu Naidu and reportedly sought the latter’s support to mount pressure on the State government to install a statue of Dr B R Ambedkar on the Assembly premises. It is learnt that Chandrababu had agreed to do so.

Darkness vs. Light ……… ……….. ……….. …………

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Once I had to go to a city for a few days. My plane landed there during the late night hours. A brother gave me a ride to the place where I was going to stay. This was the first time I visited this town and was curious to see what it looked like. However, it was dark at night and I wasn’t able to see many things.

The next day, I went out with the brother and he happened to take the same road as the previous night. But since it was day time, I was able to see the river, hills, and many other landscapes that was not properly visible the previous night.

CBI Court rejects Nimmagadda’s bail plea

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The CBI Special Court on Wednesday rejected the bail application of noted industrialist Nimmagadda Prasad on the ground that investigations into the alleged irregularities in implementation of Vanpic project were still pending.
The court while rejecting his bail petition, conceded to the arguments of Central Bureau of Investigation that Prasad had invested nearly Rs 800 crore in the businesses of Kadapa MP Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and committed several deviations from the agreed plan for the Vanpic project to construct two ports and a huge industrial corridor in Prakasam and Guntur Districts.

Dy CM meets Shinde; avoids discussing Telangana issue

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Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha on Wednesday stated that the issue of separate Telangana statehood demand did not figure in their talks with Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde.

Talking to media persons after emerging from the meeting with Sushil Kumar Shinde, the Deputy chief Minister said that he has briefed about the latest political situation in the State to the Union Home Minister. Except the political developments, no other issues including Telangana issue did not figured in the talks, he said.

Police foil TDP’s Chalo Secretariat rally, arrest MLAs

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Several MLAs and MLCs of the Telugu Desam Party were arrested by the City Police when they staged dharna over the power crisis issue at Indira Park here on Wednesday.

The TDP legislators and activists led by Errabelli Dayakar Rao staged a sit-in protest at Indira Park demanding that Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy give an assurance to take all-party delegation to the Centre over the energy crisis. He threatened that if the Chief Minister fails to give an assurance by 2 pm, then the TDP MLAs would organise Chalo Secretariat protest.

SDPI demands parliamentary probe into Assam violence

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(Pervez Bari): The National Working Committee, (NWC), of Social Democratic Party of India, (SDPI), in a resolution at its Bangalore meeting on August 26 while condemning the violence in Assam has demanded a parliamentary probe into the perennial violence to identify the forces or groups responsible for the communal violence. It demanded to recommend measures to remove the communal virus as well as the role of the agencies of the government as well as the state government.

‘Osama bin Laden was unarmed, almost dead, when killed’

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Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda chief, was unarmed and had already died with a bullet to the brain when the US Navy commandos entered his bedroom during a raid in Pakistan’s Abbottabad city, a US Navy SEAL has revealed in a book.

Giving a firsthand account of last May’s raid, the SEAL who also participated in it, has disclosed that Osama had been fatally wounded before they entered the room.

BBC insulted Muslims in new sitcom

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BBC has received more than 200 complaints after broadcasting the first episode of ‘Citizen Khan’ accusing the sitcom of being guilty of “stereotypes about Asians” and “disrespectful to the Koran”.

One scene that particularly provoked anger was where a heavily-made up girl rushed to put on a hijab and pretended to be reading the Koran when her father entered.

The six-part series follows the fortunes of a Muslim community leader and aired for the first time on BBC1 on Monday. It has been created by British Muslim Adil Ray, who also plays the lead role of Mr Khan, reported Daily Mail.

Assam government to ban bandhs

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The Assam government Wednesday decided to ban calling of bandhs for the next one month in the state.

Assam’s Home Secretary G.D. Tripathi said the decision was taken in accordance with the Gauhati High Court order on January 2010 that declared bandhs as “illegal and unconstitutional”.

“First, the Kerala High Court termed bandhs as ‘illegal’ in 1997. In November 1997, the Supreme Court upheld the judgment of the Kerala High Court. The Gauhati High Court passed its order in 2010,” Tripathi said.

Anti-Obama film by Indian-American makes waves before US polls

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As the Presidential race in the US nears D-Day, an anti-Obama documentary made by an Indian-American has suddenly become a surprise box office hit and a must watch for Republican delegates trooping to storm-drenched Tampa.

The film ‘2016: Obama’s America’, which claims death and dismemberment of the US if Barack Obama wins a second term in the November 6 elections, has over the past week grossed about USD 6.5 million, jumping to the seventh spot in top 10 movies of the nation.

Faheem’s wife elated by SC verdict in 26/11 attack

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Yasmin, the wife of Faheem Ansari whose acquittal was upheld by the Supreme Court in the Mumbai terror attack case today, said she was “very happy” with the verdict as the terrorist tag on him has been removed. “I am very happy with the verdict since it has come from the highest court in the land,” an elated Yasmin said.

The “tag of terrorist” on him has been removed, she said.

However, Yasmin did not attend the Supreme Court hearing owing to her domestic pre-occupations.

US woman has collection of 16,400 shoes!

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A woman in California has amassed a staggering 16,400 pieces of shoes and shoe-shaped objects, beating her own world record for the largest such collection.

Darlene Flynn, dubbed as the Shoe Lady, numbers shoe-shaped furniture, clothes, teapots and phones among her haul. She even has a cowboy boot toilet brush holder and a replica of Cinderella’s glass slipper.

Having originally set the record in 2006 with 7,765 items, Flynn, 57, has now doubled her collection in size and it is worth a whopping 316,000 pounds (about $500,000), The Sun reported.

Blow to Modi: Death penalty sought for Naroda Patiya riot convicts

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BJP MLA and former minister in the Narendra Modi government Maya Kodnani and a Bajrang Dal leader were among 32 people convicted by a special court today in the 2002 Naroda Patiya riots case in which 97 people belonging to the minority community were killed.

Additional principal judge Jyotsna Yagnik held Kodnani and Babu Bajrangi guilty under sections 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy) and 302 (murder) of IPC in the post-Godhra riots case, while acquitting 29 others.

The massacre had taken place a day after the Godhra train burning incident of February 27, 2002.