Month: August 2012

Apple wins $1bn patent suit against Samsung

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In what can be called as one of the biggest patent cases in decades, Apple Inc scored a sweeping legal victory over Samsung on Friday that could have huge market repercussions.

The US jury found that Samsung had copied critical features of the hugely popular iPhone and iPad and awarded Apple USD 1.051 billion in damages.

The verdict — which came much sooner than expected — could lead to an outright ban on sales of key Samsung products and will likely solidify Apple’s dominance of the exploding mobile computing market.

Rajasthan reels under rains, death toll 33, Army called for relief ‎

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Army was on Friday roped in for rescue and relief work in Rajasthan in the wake of torrential rainfall which has claimed 33 lives so far and left many districts facing a flood-like situation.

Rajasthan, which had a rainfall deficit of 29.69 per cent on August 9 and was fearing a drought, has now received 4.89 per cent above normal rainfall after two days of downpour, officials said.

An elderly couple was killed after a wall collapsed on them in Churutaking the death toll to 33.

Gold marches ahead, hits fresh high of Rs 31,115 per 10 gms

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Gold climbed to a new record of Rs 31,115 per 10 grams on Friday, spurred by gains in the overseas market where it rose to over four-month high on speculation that the US will take steps to spur economic growth.

Gold rose by Rs 80, surpassing its yesterday’s record of Rs 31,035 per 10 grams.

On the other hand, silver met resistance at existing higher levels and declined by Rs 150 to Rs 56,850 per kg.

Traders said gold’s rally in global markets influenced sentiment here.

In New York, gold spurted by 2 percent to USD 1,677.50 an ounce, its highest level since April 13 in New York.

Geetika suicide: Kanda says he is victim of conspiracy

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Former Haryana Minister Gopal Kanda, arrested in connection with the suicide of his former employee, on Saturday claimed innocence and said he was a victim of a conspiracy.

“Some politicians are doing this to malign me. They are misguiding media. Truth will come out,” Kanda told reporters before being taken to court as his police remand ended on Saturday.

Kanda surrendered before police last Saturday after evading them for 11 days following registration of abetment to suicide case against him.

UN chief reiterates full support for new Syria envoy

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Days ahead of the new UN-Arab League joint special representative for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi takes charge, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon has reiterated his support him.

Brahimi is scheduled to assume his new position Sep 1.

The UN chief Friday met Brahimi, a former Algerian foreign minister, at the UN Headquarters in New York.

Brahimi was appointed last week to replace Kofi Annan, who would step down at the end of this month as the international mediator on the 18-month old Syrian crisis, Xinhua reported.

Arun Gawli, 11 others convicted in Sena corporator’s murder

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Gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli was today convicted along with 11 others by the MCOCA court for their involvement in the murder of Shiv Sena corporator Kamlakar Jamsandekar over four years back.

The charge sheet said that a sum of Rs 30 lakh was paid to the Gawli gang for the job. The trial had commenced from October 2010.

The sentence will be pronounced by the special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court on August 27.

—-PTI

Underprivileged kids to have special ‘Joker’ screening

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Producer Farah Khan, who is thrilled about her next home production ‘Joker’, intends to screen the film to underprivileged children.

Directed by Farah’s husband Shirish Kunder, ‘Joker’ is a fantasy-adventure film starring Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, Shreyas Talpade, Minnisha Lamba and others.

‘Joker’ is about a village called Paglapur, which lacks basic facilities like water supply and electricity.

Since no one comes forward to solve the problems, the character played by Akshay Kumar creates a drama involving aliens to attract people’s attention.

Five killed in Turkey road accident

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A total of five people were killed and one person was injured in a road accident in Turkey Friday, Anatolia news agency reported.

The accident occurred on a highway in Van province when a truck turned over as its driver lost control at a high speed, leaving five people dead and one person as injured, repoted Xinhua citing the report.

—-IANS

Arafat’s remains to be tested for Polonium poisoning

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The widow of Yasser Arafat has given her approval for a Swiss radiation laboratory to examine the body of the late Palestinian leader to see if he was poisoned by radioactive material Polonium-210.

According to news website swissinfo.ch, scentists at the Institute of Radiation Physics at the University of Lausanne have been ready to analyse Arafat’s remains for two weeks now, but Suha Arafat’s agreement only came Thursday.

How does it matter if Rajesh Khanna is dead or alive: Katju

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Press Council of India Chairman Markandey Katju today slammed television news channels for “excessive” coverage on film stars, cricket and astrology to boost viewership rather than focusing on real issues such as economy, poverty, unemployment and farmers’ suicides.

Speaking at a seminar on “Media and its responsibilities”, organised by the All India Small & Medium Newspapers Federation here, he expressed disgust over news channels devoting lot of time on “film star who got pregnant, film star who gave birth to a child”, topics of such nature, cricket and astrology.

US senators call for Sikh hate crime tracking

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Nineteen US Senators, led by California Democrat Dianne Feinstein, have urged the Justice Department to track hate crimes against Sikhs as they are particularly susceptible to violence because of their Sikh identity.

“Because many Sikhs wear turbans and do not cut their facial hair, they are often viewed as foreign and are easy to target for harassment and crime,” they said in a bipartisan letter to Attorney General Eric Holder Thursday.

Government denies internet censorship, Modi joins protest

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Protest by social media users against the Indian government’s move to block/disable 300 web pages, including some Twitter handles, continued Friday despite ministers denying curbing freedom of expression.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi joined the protest, blackening his Twitter display picture. “As a common man, I join the protest against crackdown on freedom of speech. Have changed my display picture. Sabko sanmati de bhagwan,” Modi tweeted.

Pass Lokpal, whistle blowers bills in monsoon session: Aruna Roy

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National Advisory Council (NAC) member Aruna Roy Friday demanded passage of the Lokpal bill, the grievance redressal bill and the whistle blowers’ protection bill in the ongoing monsoon session of parliament, saying the delay bodes ill for those who work against corruption and mismanagement.

In a letter to NAC chairperson and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Roy said she was “exceedingly disturbed and alarmed” at the violence unleashed on anyone who asks to see records or raises issues of corruption.

Sharad Pawar dissolves Meghalaya NCP unit

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Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar Friday dissolved the party’s Meghalaya unit after his 12 legislators in the state joined the National People’s Party (NPP), a party official said.

The dissolution of Meghalaya NCP came hours after Purno A. Sangma joined the NPP.

Sangma’s sons James K. Sangma and Conrad K. Sangma were among the dozen of NCP legislators who joined the new party.

Conrad is Leader of Opposition in the assembly.

‘Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi’: Farah shines

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Film: “Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi”; Starring: Boman Irani, Farah Khan; Directed by: Bela Bhansali Sehgal; Rating: ***

When two Parsis fall in love, there’s bound to be friction. They are such a talkative community. At least that’s what we get to know from the eccentric bustle that our movies tend to create when dealing with the community.

Britain has 1.5 mn obese adults

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Britain has around 1.5 million adults who can be classed as “morbidly obese”, The Sun reported Friday.

Weight loss operations in the country have soared by a whopping 530 percent in the last six years, it quoted government figures as saying.

According to data released by the National Health Service (NHS), thousands of people are too fat to get out their own homes or beds and face premature death, disease and disability, The Sun said.

There were 5,407 gastric bypass operations last year, compared to 858 in 2006. Gastric band operations went up from 715 to 1,316.

Agra doctor gives new hope to the hearing impaired

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A retired army doctor says he has perfected a simple and affordable technique to allow the hearing impaired to hear.

“I have developed a simple yet innovative approach in a family practice for age-related hearing loss (presbycusis), without the need for any hearing aid or surgical intervention,” Lt. Col. (retd.) Rajesh Chauhan told IANS.

“After treating dozens of senior citizens, I am reasonably sure that we might be on the brink of a major breakthrough. I have found an innovative, cheap, comfortable, reliable and permanent solution to restore hearing to those affected by presbycusis.”

Kanda close to being nailed in Geetika suicide: Police

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(IANS) Delhi Police have “enough evidence” against arrested former Haryana minister Gopal Goyal Kanda and his employee Aruna Chaddha to implicate them for abetment in the suicide of former flight attendant Geetika Sharma, police sources said Friday.

Kanda, who is in police custody the past seven days, will appear in court Saturday. Delhi Police are to seek his custody again for further questioning and to piece together the evidence against him, a senior police official told IANS.

A.K. Hangal’s condition very critical

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The condition of veteran actor A.K. Hangal, admitted to the Asha Parekh Hospital here last week, is quite critical, his son said Friday.

“Right now my father’s condition is little serious, can’t say anything. He has a breathing problem and is in ICU right now,” Vijay Hangal told IANS.

“He is in the ICU and is condition is critical,” he added.

Hangal was hospitalised following a major hip fracture.

Etihad, Alitalia to launch Rome-Abu Dhabi flights

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Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, and Italian flag carrier Alitalia have announced direct Rome-Abu Dhabi flights from December.

Alitalia will operate four weekly flights using an Airbus A330 aircraft from Dec 1.

The flights, with seating capacity for 230 passengers, will ensure maximum connectivity over Etihad Airways’ Abu Dhabi hub.

Etihad Airways will provide travellers with direct access to the Italian capital from Abu Dhabi, building on the daily service it already operates to the northern Italian city of Milan.

17 killed in Pakistan drone strikes

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At least 17 suspected militants were killed Friday in drone strikes launched in Pakistan’s northwest tribal region, a media report said.

Five drones fired six missiles at three different targets in North Waziristan around noon, Xinhua reported citing Urdu TV channel Aaj.

Three houses in Dandra, Darray Nashtar and Maki Ghar in Shawal region were targeted in the strike.

Geo News said 16 people were killed and at least 14 injured.

The identities of the victims were not known.

Bankrupt Greece proposes selling off coastline

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Greece, which is facing a severe economic crisis and could be even booted out of the eurozone, is reportedly considering selling off some of its historic islands and coastlines.

In a desperate move to pay back some of the country’s debts, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras made the extraordinary proposal, The Sun reported.

“On condition that no national security problem is posed, some of the islands could be used commercially,” he was quoted as saying.

Greece has more than 6,000 islands, but only “uninhabited” sites would be made available.

Alzheimer’s can be diagnosed with eye test

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Now Alzheimer’s can be diagnosed with a simple eye test, according to researchers.

Trevor Crawford, psychologist from the Centre for Ageing Research, Lancaster University, said: “The diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease is currently heavily dependent on the results of a series of lengthy neuropsychological tests.”

“However, patients with a dementia often find that these tests are difficult to complete due to a lack of clear understanding and lapse in their attention or motivation,” he said.

India tighten grip on first Test against Kiwis

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India tightened their grip on the first Test as New Zealand were struggling at 106 for five in the first innings, still needing 133 runs to avoid the follow-on, after the second day’s play in the first Test at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Uppal, here Friday.

Devastating spells by offie Ravichandran Ashwin (3-30) and left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha (2-35) left the Kiwis struggling on a day, which was completely dominated by India.

SC to hear CBI plea against Advani in Babri Masjid case

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The Supreme Court Friday said it will hold hearing in December on the CBI’s plea challenging the Allahabad High Court verdict discharging BJP leader L.K. Advani, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and 19 others in the Babri Masjid demolition conspiracy case.

A bench of Justice H.L. Dattu and Justice C.K. Prasad directed the listing of the matter in December’s first week.