Month: February 2013

TMC workers chop off panchayat employee’s ear

by

In a shocking incident, activists belonging to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress party on Thursday chopped off the ear of a panchayat employee in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district for defying party diktat.

As per reports, the employee had failed to report for work yesterday – the first day of the two-day nationwide strike called by trade unions.

TMC had issued a diktat asking all government employees to report for work despite the strike call.

Harbhajan to play his 100th Test in Chennai

by

Harbhajan Singh will become the 10th Indian to play 100 Tests when he takes the field in the first Test against Australia here Friday.

The off-spinner’s inclusion in the playing eleven was confirmed on the eve of the match here.

“It’s a big game,” Harbhajan was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. “(The previous) 99 are gone. Obviously a bit nervous but I am sure I will be fine. I have faced these situations before.

Fish oil may help protect brain after stroke

by

Triglyceride lipid emulsions rich in an omega-3 fatty acid injected within a few hours of an ischemic stroke can decrease the amount of damaged brain tissue by 50 percent or more in mice, according to a new study.

The results obtained by researchers at Columbia University Medical Centre suggest that the emulsions may be able to reduce some of the long-term neurological and behavioral problems seen in human survivors of neonatal stroke and possibly of adult stroke, as well.

Kamal Nath to speak on Kurien issue in Rajya Sabh

by

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath is likely to make a statement Friday in the Rajya Sabha on the controversy surrounding P.J. Kurien, deputy chairman of the upper house, sources said Thursday.

According to government sources, Kamal Nath met floor leaders of the upper house and tried to convince the Left parties not to make an issue of the allegations against Kurien.

Kurien’s name has been dragged into the 17-year-old Suryanelli rape case in Kerala and the Left opposition has been demanding a fresh investigation in the case and a debate on the issue in the upper house.

Sensex down nearly one percent; metal, bank stocks plummet

by

A benchmark index for Indian equities markets was trading lower by nearly one percent in mid-afternoon trade session Thursday, as metal, bank and capital goods stocks plummeted.

The 30-scrip Sensex, which opened at 19,549.05 points, was ruling at 19,463.59 points, down 179.16 points or 0.91 percent from its previous close at 19,642.75 points.

The Sensex touched an intra-day high of 19,554.65 points and a low of 19,447.64 points.

The midcap index was down 52.76 points, while the smallcap index was lower by 64.77 points.

India’s health infrastructure improved: President

by

India’s health infrastructure has improved due to government’s efforts, President Pranab Mukherjee said Thursday, highlighting that no new polio case has been detected in the country in the last two years.

“In January 2013, we completed two years without detection of even a single case of wild polio-virus. This is the longest polio-free period in the country ever since eradication efforts were launched,” the president said in his address to the joint session of parliament.

RGV to release background music of ‘The Attacks…’

by

Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma, who recently launched the music of his movie “The Attacks of 26/11”, will soon be releasing the background music also — titled “The Sound of 26/11”.

The film is based on the gruesome 26/11 Mumbai attacks in 2008 that took 166 lives.

“We are soon releasing the background score of the film titled as ‘The Sound of 26/11’. Composed by Amar Mohile, it will have 15 pieces,” Varma posted on Twitter Thursday.

Only two women candidates in Nagaland Assembly election

by

Only two women are contesting the February 23 Assembly elections in Nagaland where women comprise around 49 per cent of the electorate in the state.

Nagaland has a total electorate of 11,93,438, out of which male voters are 6,03,933 and female voters are 5,89,505, according to figures released by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer of the state.

The first Assembly election in Nagaland was held in 1964 and till the last Assembly election in 2008 no woman has emerged victorious to break the glass ceiling.

Diet drinks `not behind junk food cravings`

by

Sugar-free fizzy drinks are no more likely to make you eat junk food than water, researchers have claimed.

Previously, a number of studies had claimed that artificial sweeteners in diet drinks wreaked havoc with hormones and made people feel hungry and crave sweet and fatty foods.

It was believed that artificial sweeteners, due to their intense sweetness, disrupted hunger hormones and encouraged people to eat sweet food.

Desperate India eyeing fresh start against Australia

by

Shrugging off disappointments from the last season, India will seek to reaffirm their supremacy on home soil when they take on a new-look Australian side in the first cricket Test here tomorrow in what promises to a thrilling four-match series.

The Indian team under Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s leadership will ideally look to re-establish their invincibility at home — which has largely been dented by their 1-2 Test series defeat against England last year.

Guj: Banking services paralysed on day 2 of strike

by

Banking services remainedcrippled in Gujarat affecting financial transactions worth over Rs. 40,000 crore on the second day of the general strike called by central trade unions.

However, transport services resumed from midnight as Gujarat State Road Transportation Corporation

(GSRTC) employees joined duty.
“Employees of GSRTC have resumed duty since midnight and services have normalised,” GSRTC secretary PD Patel said.

Two minor siblings killed in fire

by

Two children of a family were burnt alive when their hut caught fire in Tikri village in the district today, police said.

Anas (5) and two-and-half-year old Basso died in the fire yesterday which according to police might have erupted from a wooden stove.

Father Naushad and his wife Hussnajahaan were living with their four sons and three daughters and working in an oil press, located nearby their hut, they said.

—PTI

Protesters attack factories in Delhi

by

A flash mob attacked at least eight factories in the capital Thursday during the final day of a two-day nationwide strike called by major trade unions, police said.

Hundreds raising slogans against the government’s economic policies suddenly attacked the garment factories in the Okhla industrial estate in south Delhi.

Police detained some of the attackers.

“The situation is now under control,” Additional Commissioner of Police Ajay Chaudhary told IANS.

–_IANS

Ishrat Jahan case: IPS officer GL Singhal arrested

by

In a significant development, the Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday arrested IPS officer GL Singhal in connection with 2004 Ishrat Jahan encounter case.

The investigation in the case is being monitored by the Gujarat High Court. During the last hearing the court had asked CBI to submit a progress report by March 15.

Ishrat Jehan(19), Pranesh Pillai alias Javed Sheikh, Zeeshan Johar and Amjad Ali Rana were shot dead by Ahmedabad city crime branch officers between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar on June 15, 2004.

‘Embattled’ Yahoo attempts to halt falling revenues with update to homepage

by

Embattled Internet firm Yahoo has announced a long-awaited update to its homepage as it attempts to halt falling revenues.

The new page has been redesigned in an effort to get users to visit the site more frequently, and to spend more time there when they do so.

The update also comes as Yahoo attempts to regain some of the ground lost to Google, the Telegraph reports.

Home Minister”s ”saffron terror” remark is a matter of deep concern: BJP

by

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday said that while it has accepted Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde”s apology over his ”saffron terror” remark in the interest of democracy and to allow Parliament to function without disruption, and added that it was still quite disturbed about the fact that he did make the statement, giving room to hostile countries like Pakistan to say that India has a Home Minister who claims that political parties are indulging in terror within territorial limits.

Flexible, transparent imaging device developed

by

Austrian researchers have developed an entirely new way of capturing images based on a flat, flexible, transparent and potentially disposable polymer sheet.

The new imager, which resembles a flexible plastic film, uses fluorescent particles to capture incoming light and channel a portion of it to an array of sensors framing the sheet.

Bangalore court summons Akbar Owaisi in hate speech case

by

The Bangalore Chief Metropolitan Magistrate has issued summons to MIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi in a hate speech case. The Banjara Hills police on receiving directions from the Bangalore court this afternoon served summons to the recently released MLA of MIM and asked him to appear on 23 February.

According to the sources the Bangalore court has taken cognizance of a complaint filed in CC No.1433/13 with Cr.No. 203/13 Under sections 153,153(A),298 and 500 IPC against Akbar Owaisi.

The Sub-Inspector Banjara Hills Syed Nayeemullah served the summons.

Facebook, Google among tech giants launching $15 mln prize to cure deadly diseases

by

The founders of Google, Facebook and other tech giants have announced a new multi-million-dollar prize for scientists who are working to cure the world’s most devastating diseases.

Mark Zuckerberg, his partner Priscilla Chan, Google cofounder Sergei Brin, 23andMe founder Anne Wojcicki, and Russian venture capitalist Yuri Milner, Google’s Brin, will launch 15 million dollars annual Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences in hopes of curing cancer and other diseases

India to launch mission to Mars in 2013: Mukherjee

by

President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday said several space missions are planned for 2013, including India”s first mission to Mars and the launch of the first navigational satellite.

Addressing a joint session of Parliament for the first time as President, Mukherjee said ”our space programme epitomizes India”s scientific achievements and benefits the country in a number of areas”.

”I am aware that an aspirational India is emerging”: Mukherjee

by

President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday said that an aspirational India is emerging that demands more opportunities, greater choices, better infrastructure, and enhanced safety and security.

“As I speak to you, I am aware that an aspirational India is emerging, an India that demands more opportunities, greater choices, better infrastructure, and enhanced safety and security. Our youth, our greatest national asset, are a confident and courageous lot. I have no doubt that their passion, energy and enterprise will take India to new heights,” said President Mukherjee.

Government deeply concerned about women’s security: President

by

President Pranab Mukherjee Thursday said the government, deeply concerned about incidents of sexual offences against women, promulgated an ordinance amending criminal law to provide stringent punishment for sexual offences.

“After considering the recommendations of the Justice J.S. Verma Committee, the government has promulgated an ordinance, amending the criminal law to provide for stringent punishment for heinous sexual offences against women,” the president said.

Mumbai peaceful on second day of shutdown

by

The city remained peaceful with business as usual for private establishments Thursday, the second day of the nationwide shutdown called by major trade unions.

Suburban trains, buses, taxis, autorickshaws and private vehicles plied in Mumbai as usual. Public transport ferried commuters to their daily destinations like any other day.

No acts of violence have been reported in the city so far.

However, the two-day shutdown that began Wednesday evoked a mixed response across Maharashtra, crippling the financial sector and most industrial units.

Normal life hit on second day of Bengal strike

by

Normal life was partially affected in West Bengal Thursday on the final day of a two-day nationwide strike called by central trade unions.

The impact was, however, less compared to Wednesday as the West Bengal unit of the Marxist CITU decided to observe Thursday only as an industrial strike.

This, it said, was because Feb 21, the International Mother Tongue Day, is celebrated as ‘Bhasha Divas’ in West Bengal.

Industrial activity was affected and banking services were crippled.