Month: January 2013

A 13-year-old Indian student has been arrested here by Singapore police for posting a Facebook message in which he allegedly threatened to bomb a luxury casino resort in the city-state. The unnamed boy vowed to take “a big big revenge”, “spit everywhere” and “plant bombs on Marina Bay Sands”, a major tourist attraction, on the day he leaves Singapore, The Straits Times reported. The post also contained an expletive and was critical of Singapore, the paper said.

Aadhaar card was made mandatory from Monday for accessing various services provided by Delhi government like marriage registration, property registration and issuance of domicile ceritificate. “Aadhaar card has been made compulsory from today for accessing government services,” a top official said.

Unseeded Thai brothers Sanchai Ratiwana and Sonchat Ratiwana dashed the hopes of defending champion Leander Paes and Edouard Roger Vasselin of France 7-6 (7) 6-1 to breeze into the quarter-final of the Aircel Chennai Open Tennis tournament here on Wednesday.

Paes, who had won the doubles title here on five occasions in the company of Mahesh Bhupathi, was partnering Vasselin for the first time and the Thai duo steamrolled the rival in the second set completely. Vasselin was broken in the very first game and then Paes and his partner managed to return the compliment in the sixth game.

A toll-free round-the-clock phone helpline for women has been launched Phagwara on Monday to provide immediate help to them in case of sexual assault, police said.

Now women can dial helpline number 1091 in case of any trouble, City SP Harkamalpreet Singh Khakh said adding the identity of the caller will be kept secret.

The helpline facility is functional on BSNL landlines and mobile phones, he said. The move came amid nation-wide outrage over the recent gang-rape of a 23-year-old student in the national capital.

The Pakistani Judicial Commission, which will cross examine four witnesses in 26/11 terror attack case, is expected to arrive in New Delhi by the end of January after approval of the Bombay High Court.

The agreement on the visit of the second Pakistani judicial commission to Mumbai was finalised on December 25 in Islamabad following several rounds of discussions on complex technical and legal issues between a four-member visiting Indian delegation and Pakistani officials.

Congress on Monday steered clear of the controversial remarks of Union Minister Shashi Tharoor favouring making public the identity of the 23-year-old Delhi braveheart. “It is his personal opinion,” was the brief response of party spokesperson Rashid Alvi when asked to comment on Tharoor’s remarks.

In his posts on the microblogging site Twitter, Tharoor, the Minister of State for Human Resources Development, also said the revised anti-rape legislation should be named after the victim if her parents do not have any objection.

The Singapore doctor who carried out the postmortem of the 23-year-old gangrape victim will be included as a witness by the Delhi Police in the 50-page charge sheet in the case to be filed before a fast-track court in New Delhi on Thursday. The male friend of the victim will be the main witness in the case while the Singapore doctor, who carried out the postmortem and the Indian mission official who received her death certificate, would be asked to testify, police sources said.

Against the backdrop of a freeze on procurement of Tatra trucks, the Armed Forces have started looking for alternative vehicles to equip them with their missile systems. In view of Defence Ministry’s decision to put on hold the procurement of Tatra trucks pending the CBI probe into allegations of bribery by former Army Chief Gen VK Singh, several key missile projects of the Army and the Air Force have been held up.

A case has been registered against the owner of the bus in which the 23-year-old woman was gang-raped here Dec 16 night, police said on Tuesday.

Dinesh Yadav has been booked for giving false information to the state transport department to get a registration certificate and permit for the bus, which was being used for ferrying school children, police said.

“The residential proof submitted by Yadav was found false because he never resided at the mentioned address,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Sindhu Pillai.

Political parties, including the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP), on Tuesday slammed the United States of America and the United Kingdom for reviewing their travel advisories and asking their citizens to avoid a few areas here in view of the ongoing anti-rape protests in New Delhi.

Both countries have also asked their citizens to keep monitoring the news to avoid any confrontation with any demonstration in the vicinity.

Commenting on the issue, Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi assured the safety of all foreigners.

Former Pakistan captain Younis Khan today heaped praise on Junaid Khan, saying the young left-arm pacer has the traits of becoming someone like legendary seamer Wasim Akram.

The 23-year-old pacer had left India in tatters reducing them to 29 for five to set up Pakistan’s six-wicket win in Ahmedabad and take a 1-0 lead in the three-ODI series.

“Good to see him the way he’s performing consistently, it’s a good sign for him and the team. If he keeps on doing that then we will find another great left arm fast-bowler of Wasim Akram type,” he said.

With emotions after gang-rape and murder of a paramedical student still running high in the national capital, a 15-year-old physically challenged girl on Tuesday alleged that she was raped by her father two days ago.

A case was today registered in Dadri police station here and the accused was absconding, Superintendent of Police (rural) Ashok Kumar said.

“The girl in her complaint has alleged that on December 29, when her mother had gone to Aligarh and she was alone at home, her father gave her some sedatives and she fell unconscious,” the officer said.

A 16-year-old labourer was allegedly raped by a married youth known to her family, at a village near here, police said today.

The accused Ramesh Kodi (28) has been arrested after the victim’s family lodged an FIR against him, they said.

According to police, Kodi, a tractor driver, was known to her family. On December 29, he picked up the girl from her house in a village near here on the pretext of offering her some work.

A six-year-old girl was raped today allegedly by a youth in suburban Hadapsar area in Pune.

The minor was found lying at an open ground after the sexual assault this morning, police said.

Later, an 18-year-old youth was arrested by the police on the basis of a CCTV footage of the area.

The victim, who stayed with her mother in a slum colony, had left her house in the morning, police said adding, following the incident, she was admitted to a government hospital and was reported to be out of danger.

Russians can expect to see their real wages rise in 2013, but along with that will come higher utilities tariffs, according to forecasts from the economic development ministry.

Take-home pay is set to rise 3.7 percent in 2013, the ministry forecasts, and the minimum wage is also expected to rise, although it will still lag significantly behind that in place in Portugal, France or Luxembourg, the Vesti news website reported.

The state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has appointed three new directors for its various operational centres at Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu and spaceport Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

In a statement late Tuesday, the space agency said noted scientist S. Ramakrishnan took over as director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) at Thiruvananthapuram from P.S. Veeraraghavan, who retired Monday.

Pakistan was the most volatile region for media persons in south Asia in 2012, with 13 journalists losing their lives during the year, a report said.

According to the South Asia Media Commission’s (SAMC) Media Monitor 2012 report, five journalists were killed in India, three in Bangladesh and two each in Nepal and Afghanistan, the Dawn reported.

No journalist was killed in Sri Lanka, Bhutan and the Maldives, but media persons there continued to face professional challenges and hazards, the report said.

A seven-year-old was allegedly raped late Monday by an unidentified person at DJ Halli in the northeast suburb of the city, a police official said Tuesday.

“We have formed three special teams to look out for the accused as the girl does not know him and is unable give details. In the absence of clear evidence, we are waiting for the medical report to ascertain if she was raped or only an attempt was made,” Bangalore east Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Krishna Bhat told IANS.

A man was arrested for molesting a married woman during the New Year celebrations at Mumbai’s Juhu beach, police said Tuesday. He was later released on bail.

“Hyder Ali was arrested for molesting a 29-year-old woman after her husband complained that a drunken man touched her inappropriately,” an official from Mumbai’s Santacruz police station told IANS.

The accused was nabbed and presented in a Mumbai court, where he was granted bail.

The incident happened around 2 a.m. Tuesday while the victim and her husband were celebrating the New Year.

The 20-year-old woman call centre employee, who was stabbed to death here the day before, was attacked by her ex-lover as he wanted to settle scores with her, police said Tuesday.

Neha Yadav was stabbed by Devender, 20, around 5 p.m. Monday at Dallupura furniture market in east Delhi. The accused, a driver, was arrested soon after the attack. A city court Tuesday sent him to two-day police custody.

Police said the attacker stabbed his neighbour in Dallupura as she refused to marry him and befriended another man, Gaurav, 24.

Union minister Shashi Tharoor Tuesday suggested that a revised anti-rape law could be named after the 23-year-old Delhi gang-rape victim. His idea drew flak from the BJP which called it a “needless diversion” while the Congress termed it a personal view.

In a comment on micro-blogging site Twitter, Tharoor, minister of state for human resource development, said her name should be used and she should be honoured if her parents did not object to it.

Israel will train teenagers on cyber-warfare to prepare them for their future role in the military and intelligence community.

“The threat of cyber attacks against Israel comes from Iran and other elements,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the launch of the cyber-warfare programme.

“Our vital systems are targets for attack, and this will only increase as we enter the digital age.

“We are bolstering our ability to deal with these threats and are building a digital Iron Dome,” he said at Ashkelon.

Former and current Indian and Pakistan captains would be feted by the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) during the Jan 3 One Day International match between the two teams at the Eden gardens to celebrate the silver jubilee of the ground staging its first ever ODI.

The same two sides had clashed when the hallowed venue staged its maiden ODI Feb 18, 1987. Pakistan had won the thriller by two wickets, thanks to a 36-ball 72 by Salim Malik.

The death of a woman student of Osmania University under suspicious circumstances at the house of her classmate triggered protests by students here Tuesday night.

The 23-year-old post-graduate student was found dead in the house of Shiv Kumar in Chatrinaka area of the old city of Hyderabad. Shiv Kumar is untraceable.

The girl is suspected to have been strangled to death. Police have also not ruled out sexual assault on the victim.

The body has been sent for autopsy and police were waiting for the report.

Indian Police Service officer S.A. Ibrahim Tuesday took over as chief of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), becoming the first from the country’s main minority community to hold the post.

Home ministry sources said Ibrahim took over as IB director Tuesday.

Ibrahim, an IPS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, has taken over from Nehchal Sandhu who retired Dec 31. He will hold the post for two years.