Sunando Sen, the 46-year-old Indian immigrant who died after being pushed in front of a subway train here by a woman, will be cremated on Monday by his friends. Indian Ambassador to the US Nirupama Rao expressed her condolences on the death of Sen on micro-blogging site Twitter, describing it as a senseless and foul murder.
US President Barack Obama on Sunday said he never compares himself with the great American leader Abraham Lincoln, who has been his source of inspiration. In an interview to the ‘Meet the Press’ on NBC news channel, Obama denied this is his Lincoln Moment.
The UAE’s first all-female team of 24 aspiring engineers, researchers and astronauts, between the ages of 12 and 18, has completed an on-site space training at the NASA Space Center, Houston.
The training was organised and coordinated by Space Ed-Ventures, a UAE-based educational platform and the region’s only space exploration programme.
Maitha Al Zeyoudi, a 12th grade student at Applied Technology High School, said she was lucky to be nominated for the trip.
Spanish researchers have found that women university students get drunk – on purpose – quicker than their male counterparts, and live a more sedentary life than the latter.
According to a study by the University of Vigo, 56.1 per cent of female students are considered binge drinkers, as opposed to 41.3 per cent of males.
Researchers from the HealthyFit group at the university have studied university students’ lifestyles; their analysis, which includes alcohol and illegal drug consumption habits, sport and food, concludes that most students indulge in unhealthy behaviour.
Scientists have warned of more great earthquakes – of the magnitude 8 to 8.5 – in the Himalayas, especially in areas with their surface yet to be broken by a temblor.
A research team led by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has discovered that massive earthquakes in the range of 8 to 8.5 magnitudes on the Richter scale have left clear ground scars in the central Himalayas.
This ground-breaking discovery has huge implications for the area along the front of the Himalayan Mountains, researchers said in a statement.
Versatile actor Paresh Rawal feels film stars have lost their charm owing to extensive marketing and promotions.
“The stars have lost their magic in Bollywood. If I call myself a star, then no need to go door to door and ask the audience to come and watch me in theatres. There is no need for that. Does Rajinikant do that? Does any Southern star do that? Only we do that,” Paresh told IANS.
President Barack Obama pledged to put his “full weight” behind a legislative package next year aimed at containing gun violence, describing the shooting of 20 elementary school students as the worst day of his presidency.
In an interview with NBC television’s “Meet the Press” that aired today, Obama voiced skepticism about proposals to place armed guards at schools in the aftermath of the Dec. 14 deadly assault at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
As the entire country mourned the death of the Delhi gang-rape victim, megastar Amitabh Bachchan has composed a moving poem as a tribute to her hoping that the world wakes up to the right and dignity of women.
Referring to the 23-year-old girl as ‘Damini’ and ‘Amaanat’, the senior actor’s poem in Hindi and English said that long after the candle light vigil and floral tributes would end, “…the ‘fearless’ (nirbhayata) fire that has been ignited, shall rekindle the flames in our hearts…”
Following is the poem:
Skipper Dhoni’s superb century goes in vain as India suffer six-wicket defeat. A sluggish outfield, the dull middle overs and the total absence of any twist and turn and the general ennui for most of part made one wonder if it was an India-Pakistan one-day match.
A Delhi Home Guard, who was found sleeping during his duty on a night bus, was on Sunday dismissed from service, while the driver of the vehicle was placed under suspension.
The Delhi Transport Corporation bus was plying between Kashmere Gate to Najafgarh on route no 72 last night when a woman found the Home Guard on duty was sleeping.
Home Guards were recently deployed in night buses after an outrage over the gang-rape of a 23-year-old paramedical student in a moving bus.
To ensure cyber security in the city, Noida police on Sunday directed 70 cyber cafe owners to install a new software that will secure their computers from being misused.
Noida police in association with Ideacts Innovations today launched a new software ‘iCafe Manager’ to be installed in computers to check cyber crimes.
“Cyber cafes in Noida can avail this software free of cost and improve the user experience along with assisting in national security by securing their cafes,” Deputy Superintendent of Police (Crime) Triveni Singh said.
A raid by police on weapons caches held by suspected Islamic extremists in Tunisia has left one person dead and another seriously injured.
Interior Ministry spokesman Khaled Tarrouch says a suspect opened fire on police during the raid today at a house in the Douar Hicher neighborhood of Tunis, a district considered a bastion of radical Islamists.
He says police returned fire, seriously wounded the suspect and killing his wife. The spokesman says police seized two Kalashnikov rifles and a supply of ammunition, and made four arrests during a series of raids on houses in the district.
In the backdrop of New Delhi rape case, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and Transport Minister R Ashok on Sunday said as many as 6,000 public transport buses will be equipped with CCTVs and GPS to provide protection to travelling women.
“The state government has decided to install CCTVs and GPS in 6,000 public transport buses to protect women travelling in these vehicles,” he told reporters after inaugurating new fleet of city buses.
CCTVs would function as the eyes of the police to nab culprits indulging in crime against women travelling in public transport buses, Ashok said.
It was a chilly Sunday with overcast sky in the national capital. The minimum temperature dipped to 7.7 degrees Celsius, normal for this time of the year. Cold winds swept through the city.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast similar conditions Monday.
The maximum temperature fell by four degrees Celsius as compared to Saturday’s maximum of 21.4, one notch above average.
Sunday’s maximum temperature was 17 degrees, four notches below average.
Protests over the gang-rape of the 23-year-old girl in Delhi continued across Andhra Pradesh today.
College and school students took out protest marches and staged demonstrations in Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Kurnool and Warangal, among other towns.
Women’s groups, youth associations and political parties organised protests at various places.
Scores of people, mostly students, held a candle-light vigil at Tank Bund here last evening, as the news of the victim’s demise at Singapore hospital arrived.
–Agencies
A teenaged girl was molested allegedly by a conductor in a bus here late Saturday night, close on the heels of the brutal gang-rape of a young woman.
The incident took place in Mandi House in central Delhi at around 11 pm yesterday and the victim is a 16-year-old girl.
“The girl had boarded cluster orange bus. When it reached near Mandi House around 11 pm, she was molested by the conductor of another bus who was travelling in the same vehicle,” a senior police official said.
He said the girl had left the house angry with her family.
Hyderabad witnessed a batting collapse in the post-tea session to put hosts Rajasthan in the driver’s seat at stumps on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Group A match here today.
At close, Hyderabad were tottering at 160 for five in their first innings in reply to Rajasthan’s 384.
Parth Jhala was batting on five for the visitors in the company of Sundeep Rajan, who is yet to open his account.
–Agencies
There has been only one conviction out of over 600 cases of rape reported to Delhi Police this year even as crime against women has been on the rise in the national capital.
As many as 754 accused were arrested in the 635 cases reported to Delhi Police between January and November, the highest in past five years, Home Ministry data said.
Of these total accused, only one was convicted while 403 were facing trials, investigations were pending against 348 and two others were discharged.
Two women and a child were charred and four other labourers seriously injured when a consignment of fire-crackers to be used in New Year celebrations exploded at a manufacturing unit in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh on Sunday.
The condition of one of the injured women is critical as she has received 90 percent burns in the mishap that occurred at Sri Bhavani fire-cracker manufacturing unit in Kommarapalem village between 2-3 PM, they said.
A constable with the Chandigarh Police was arrested and suspended after a girl complained that he had misbehaved with her, police said Sunday.
Constable Joginder Singh was placed under suspension Sunday.
The incident happened Saturday when the girl had gone to the Sector 29 traffic police complex to pay the fine for a traffic offence.
The girl said that the constable gave her his mobile numbers and offered to help her, but later started misbehaving with her.
After the girl complained, the constable was arrested. He was bailed out Sunday.
—IANS
Severe cold wave claimed seven more lives in Uttar Pradesh taking the toll this winter to 69.
Two people lost their lives in Barabanki, one each in Gonda, Deoria, Ballia, Banda, and Hamirpur districts.
According to Met office, maximum temperature continued to be below normal by 6 to 11 degrees Celsius in parts of the state.
The lowest minimum temperature in the state was 0.7 degree Celsius at Lucknow airport.
Sources forecast that weather would be mainly dry with foggy conditions in eastern UP.
–PTI
YSR Congress Party has decided to stay away from the New Year celebrations.
Speaking to the media here on Sunday, the party senior leader and Nellore MP Mekapati Rajmohan Reddy has said that the party has taken this decision protesting against what he called the ‘illegal arrest’ of party Chief and Kadapa MP YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Congress MPs from Telangana region on Sunday said they would meet on January 4 to decide future course of action to make the Centre take a favourable decision on the statehood issue.
“Since we were let down earlier, we would like to continue to put pressure and see that a road map is announced for formation of Telangana,” Congress MP Ponnam Prabhakar told reporters here.
The future course of action would be deliberated on January 4, he said.
Police arrested some henchmen of Chaman, follower of the late TDP leader Paritala Ravindra, with lethal weapons.
They have reportedly planned to murder Congress leader Sudhakara Reddy of Kamireddypalli, and police had spoiled their plan.
It is learnt that four to six followers of Chaman were arrested at NS Gate under Ramagiri mandal of the district. A pistol, knives and sickles were seized from their possession.
–Agencies
Al-Qaida’s branch in Yemen has announced that it will pay tens of thousands of dollars to anyone who kills the US ambassador in Sanaa or an American soldier in the country.
An audio produced by the group’s media arm, the al-Malahem Foundation, and posted on militant websites yesterday said it offered three kilograms of gold, worth USD 160,000, for killing the ambassador.
The group said it will pay 5 million Yemeni riyals (USD 23,000) to anyone who kills an American soldier inside Yemen. It did not say how the bounty could be collected, but said the offer is valid for six months.