Month: January 2013

In a throwback to 2012 baby battering cases of Falak in Delhi and Ahuti Joshi in Mumbai, a 13-month-old girl was allegedly brutally beaten up by her father who was joined by some of his women relatives in the torture at their residence, police said on Wednesday.

The baby Jiya, with her both legs and a hand fractured, had been admitted to a private hospital in Theragon near here last week, they said, adding the parents told the hospital authorities that the girl sustained injuries as she fell from her bed at their residence in Pimpri-Chinchwad town.

Contrary to the popular perception, smoking does not relieve stress, while quitting does, a new study has found.

British researchers measured anxiety levels in almost 500 smokers – before and after they tried to give up and found the claims of benefits associated with nicotine are a myth.

One in five people said they smoked to help them deal with stress, the ‘Daily Mail’ reported.

All took part in an National Health Service (NHS) smoking cessation programme, which involved being given nicotine patches and attending two-monthly appointments.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday arrested a key accused in the Samjhauta blast, Dhan Singh, in the 2006 Malegaon blast case.

Singh was earlier arrested in the 2008 Malegaon blast case.

Meanwhile, a key accused in the 2007 Samjhauta blast case, Rajender Chaudhary, was also produced today in the special NIA court in connection with the 2006 blast case.

The court has remanded Singh and Chaudhary in NIA custody till January 17. The two accused told the court that their statements were taken “under duress.”

In view of increased instances of rape cases, including the horrific Delhi gang-rape, the US said it will continue to make protection of women’s rights a strong tenet of its foreign policy.

Hillary Clinton, who has not been keeping well for the last few weeks, is aware of the Delhi gang-rape case, State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said on Thursday.

“I’m sure she’s aware of it. It’s, as you know, had enormous press and it’s a subject that is very close to her heart,” she said.

Lawmakers are accusing the CIA of misleading the makers of the Osama bin Laden raid film, “Zero Dark Thirty”, by telling them that harsh interrogation methods helped track down the terrorist mastermind.

The film shows waterboarding and similar techniques as important to finding bin Laden in Pakistan, where he was killed by Navy SEALs.

A three-year Senate investigation showed that such methods produced no useful intelligence. The CIA’s acting director, Michael Morell, recently contradicted that, saying harsh techniques did produce some tips that led to bin Laden.

A car bomb blew up in a Damascus gas station, killing at least nine people, a Syrian activist group said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the death toll in the blast which took place on Thursday in the capital’s Masakin Barzeh neighbourhood is expected to rise because many of the wounded were in critical condition.

In the backdrop of personal rift between chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy and Majlis leadership, Majlis’ effort to teach a lesson to Congress proves dear to its MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi and government is tightening noose around him. Cases are being registered one after another, against Akbaruddin Owaisi who is said to be presently spending holidays in London.

The controversy over hate speeches by Majlis MLA is intensifying day by day. People across the country are expressing concern over the manner of speeches and it is being condemned from every corner of the society.

The Indian challenge in the Aircel ATP Chennai Open tennis tournament effectively ended when top seeded duo of Mahesh Bhupathi and Canadian Daniel Nestor, playing in their first event together, went down 4-6, 5-7 to South African Raven Klaasen and American Nicholas Monroe in the doubles quarter-finals here Thursday.

Earlier, third seeds Rohan Bopanna and his American partner Rajiv Ram, also playing together in their first tournament, went down 6-0, 4-6, 1-10, to the French-Swiss combination of Benoit Paire and Stanislas Wawrinka.

The results (prefix denotes seeding):

The Infosys Science Foundation Thursday honoured seven winners of the Infosys Prize 2012 across six categories spanning science and humanities at a simple ceremony here.

At the ceremony, coinciding with the centenary celebrations of the Indian Science Congress in Kolkata, former Norway premier Gro Harlem Brundtland felicitated the seven laureates, selected by an eminent jury from 220 nominees in diverse subjects such as engineering and computer science, life sciences, physical sciences, social sciences, mathematics and humanities.

Putting an end to all speculations, the two Italian marines, allowed relaxation in bail conditions to fly back home to celebrate Christmas, are scheduled to arrive in Kochi Friday morning, their lawyer said.

Counsel for the Italian marines here told reporters Thursday that the two are coming back much earlier than they were asked to report here.

“Since they were able to leave for Italy from here earlier than scheduled, they are coming back early. According to the relaxed bail conditions of the Kerala High Court, they need to report here latest by 3 p.m Jan 10,” said the counsel.

India’s leading private carrier Jet Airways late Thursday commenced its direct service to Dubai from this port city providing connectivity to the Gulf region and onward destinations in Europe and the US.

Mangalore is about 350 km from Bangalore.

Jet’s Boeing 737-800 aircraft took off from Bajpe airport at 8 p.m. with full component of passengers (170) in the economy class to land at Dubai at 10.30 p.m. (local time).

A proposed investment of Rs.5 lakh crore, jobs for two million people, new industrial corridors and attractions for micro, small and medium industries are part of Maharashtra’s New Industrial Policy 2013-18, announced here Thursday.

The new policy – which aims to increase the state GDP to 28 percent – will be implemented from April 1 and will be valid for five years, it was officially announced.

The government has proposed integrated industrial areas (IIA) to ensure all-round industrial development and boost the “walk to work” concept, said Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.

A 22-year-old architecture student suffered a knee injury during ragging by his senior college mates in a hostel here, said police Thursday.

Naveen Kujur, a B. Architecture student of the School of Planning and Architecture, was injured Sep 2, 2012, when he along with his other colleagues was ragged by seniors at a hostel in south Delhi’s Taimoor Nagar, said a police officer.

A case regarding the incident was registered at New Friends Colony police station Dec 30, 2012.

The Delhi government will construct 26 model night shelters using green building technology, Urban Development Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely said Thursday.

“The Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board Board is taking up the matter with Delhi Development Authority in this regard,” the minister said.

An amount of Rs.60 million had been approved for the financial year 2012-13 for the scheme.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Turkey Thursday signed an inter-governmental agreement worth $12 billion for the development of power plants and associated mines in Afsin-Elbistan region of Turkey.

The agreement was signed between the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, Turkey’s Electricity Generation Co. Inc. and the Turkish government.

The projects have a combined power generation capacity of up to 7,000 MW.

The Congress criticised West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for raising her demand for a special financial package for the state at the Indian Science Congress’ centenary session Thursday, saying it was not the appropriate platform.

“There were Nobel laureates. The President (Pranab Mukherjee) was also present on the occasion. Discussions between the centre and state can take place at several platforms like the National Development Council (NDC). But she (Banerjee) did not attend the NDC meet recently. She could have gone there,” said Congress leader Manas Bhunia.

At least 29 sailors, stranded for nearly three months without food and water aboard an oil tanker in the Arabian Sea off Mumbai, will be evacuated soon, a top maritime authority said here Thursday.

The directorate general of shipping said that the rescue operations would commence by Saturday to bring back the stranded sailors on board M.V. Pratibha Tapi as many are ailing and need urgent medical attention.

The embassy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Japan has launched its official website.

UAE Ambassador to Tokyo Saeed Ali Al-Nuwais inaugurated the website.

Al-Nuwais said up-to-date information provided by the website will enhance bilateral economic, educational and consular relations between the UAE and Japan, and will support the mission’s diplomatic work.

–IANS

The Rajasthan government suspended an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Thursday, a day after he was arrested on corruption charges, officials said.

The accused officer, Rajesh Meena, posted as superintendent of police (SP) in Ajmer district, was involved in extorting a fixed amount of money from station house officers (SHOs) of various police stations under his jurisdiction through a middleman, they added.

Image consultant-anchor Imam Siddique, who is known for his eccentric and brash behaviour inside the house of controversial TV reality show ‘Bigg Boss’, says he is not a psycho. While he was staying in the ‘padosi’ (neighbouring) house, Imam threatened to strip publicly and broke pots while creating a scene. “I am honest and humbled human being. I am not psycho… you can get my medical check up done. Like everyone I also react spontaneously when I am angry…I lose temper,” Imam said in a press conference, held in the activity area of ‘Bigg Boss’ house in Lonavala.

A 50-year-old man, accused in a murder case, allegedly committed suicide inside the sleeper coach of the Ernakulam-Karikkal express train this evening, railway police said. The man, T K Sabu, was found hanging from the ceiling fan of the train by the cleaning staff, in the evening. The train had arrived here in the morning. PTI

Kerala police’s cyber wing has begun a probe into the uploading of the photograph of an engineering student from the state on a social networking site claiming it as the picture of the Delhi gang-rape victim. The Hitech Inquiry Cell of the police started investigations after getting a complaint from the Kerala girl’s father who said the matter had caused distress and pain to his daughter.

Delhi Police will wait for a bone report of the minor boy accused in the Delhi gangrape case to ascertain his age before filing a report with Juvenile Justice Board. Police sources said they will ask the Board to get the bone density test done as fast as possible to determine the age of the accused. The boy had claimed using his school certificate that he is 17-year-old. However, police have refused to take the claim and sought for an ossification test to determine his age.

Humiliated at home for the second straight time in less than a month, India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni today blamed his batsmen and termed their performance “disappointing”, but added that the team needs to access the situation with a cool-headed approach. An insipid India slumped to yet another series defeat with a pathetic display as arch-rivals Pakistan spanked the hosts by 85 runs in the second cricket one-dayer to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series here today. “It was a very good effort by bowlers to pull them back and restrict them to 250.

Eight nurses working in a district hospital here were awarded five-year jail term and slapped a fine of Rs 5,000 each by a local court here today for securing government job on the basis of fake documents. The sentence was awarded by Additional Session Judge Rajendra Prasad Gupta against nurses Salma Siddqui, Nibha Nagvanshi, Mamata Pandey, Rubina Khan, Sarita, Archana Sharma, Kalpana Burman and Anjana Patel under various sections of the IPC, prosecution said.