Month: July 2013

Ishrat case: Top Gujarat cop appears in court on stretcher

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Senior Gujarat IPS officer P P Pandey, an accused in the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case, today appeared in a Special Court here on a stretcher for hearing on his anticipatory bail application.

After hearing the prosecution and defence, Special CBI Judge Gita Gopi reserved her order on the pre-arrest bail plea filed by Pandey, an Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) rank officer, who has been absconding since February last after his name surfaced in the 2004 encounter case.

Jilted lover sets minor girl on fire, 1 held in Odisha

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A jilted lover allegedly sexually abused and set a 15-year-old girl on fire after being rejected by her at Kharinasi village in Kendrapara district of Odisha.

The victim, a Class VIII student of a nearby government school, is battling for life at SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack while the police arrested one of the two accused youths, about 20-years old.

CWC decision on Telangana likely tomorrow

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Taking a step forward, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) tomorrow may give a go-ahead to the creation of Telangana state, a decision that could trigger protests from within the party amidst reported threat of resignation by Chief Minister Kirankumar Reddy.

The CWC, the highest policy-making body of the Congress, is scheduled to meet at 1730 hours. Just before that the party, which is said to have made up its mind on the division of Andhra Pradesh, will consult UPA allies on the ticklish issue.

Man kills mother, brother; shoots self

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A man allegedly killed his mother and brother today over a property dispute before committing suicide himself, police said.

In the incident which took place at Dhanpur village in the Mitauli area, one Sandip (40) first shot his mother Pushpa Devi (70) and his elder brother Sanjay Kumar (45) before turning the gun onto himself.

While Pushpa and Sanjay breathed their last at a local hospital where they were admitted after being shot, Sandip
died on the spot.

A property dispute between the two brothers is stated to be the trigger behind the incident.

————-PTI

Indian man given death penalty in UAE for raping 7-year-old

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An Indian man was today sentenced to death by a UAE court for raping a seven-year-old Emirati girl at an Abu Dhabi school where he worked as a cleaner.

The Abu Dhabi Criminal Court bench, presided over by Judge Sayyed Abdel Basir, handed down the capital punishment, which was unanimously reached with two other judges, to the 56-year-old Indian school concierge.

He was found guilty of three charges of rape, sexual assault and making killing threats, The Khaleej Times
reported.

Gujarat: 43 IPS officers transferred

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In a major reshuffle in the higher echelons of the state police, Gujarat government today transferred 43 IPS officers, while promoting some of them.

As per the state Home Department, 14 Inspector General-level and 29 superintendent-level police officers have
been transferred, with 11 of them getting promotion.

Superintendent of Sabarmati Central Jail, Ahmedabad, R J Pargi, who came under scanner when some of the 2008

Egypt Islamists arrested, protesters call mass demonstration

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Daring the military-backed government,supporters of deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi today called for a “million person march” tomorrow against his ouster, even as the police arrested two top leaders of an Islamist party in a widening of crackdown on protesters.

“We call for a million person march under the banner of ‘Martyrs of the Coup’ on Tuesday,” the Anti-Coup Alliance of Islamist groups organising the protests said in a statement.

Also today, pro-Morsi Wasat Party head Abul Ela Mady and his deputy Essam Sultan were both arrested in Cairo for

Now, tooth sensor that rats you out if you lie to doc

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Scientists have developed a sensor that when embedded in a tooth could tell doctors if patients have ignored medical advice to give up smoking or eat less.

The sensor works by maintaining a record of how people use their teeth. Built into a tiny circuit board that fits in a tooth cavity, it includes an accelerometer that sends data on mouth motion to a smartphone.

Machine learning software is taught to recognise each telltale jaw motion pattern. Then it works out how much of the time someone is chewing, drinking, speaking, coughing or smoking, ‘New Scientist’ reported.

Egypt police arrest 2 more Islamist leaders

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Egyptian officials say police have arrested two leaders of a Muslim Brotherhood-allied Islamist party on suspicion of inciting violence .

The officials said today that Abul-Ela Madi and Essam Soltan of the Wasat Party have been taken to Tora prison where a number of Brotherhood leaders have been held since the July 3 military coup that deposed Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

Officials say the two men, who had warrants out for their arrest, were found late yesterday hiding in a home in a Cairo neighbourhood located near the main protest site of Morsi’s supporters.

Congress govt failing to provide security to people: AGP

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With five explosions taking place in Assam in a week, including the one at Paltan Bazar here, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) today accused the Congress government of failing on all fronts, specially in providing security to
the common people.

The Tarun Gogoi-led state government is a “bigger failure” than the Manmohan Singh’s UPA government at the
Centre, AGP president Prafulla Kumar Mahanta told reporters here.

The law and order situation in the state is completely devastated. The government has failed in providing security.

The Home department is under the Chief Minister.

13 houses gutted in fire

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At least 13 houses were completely gutted in a devastating fire that broke out in a village at West Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh today.

According to official report, the fire mishap, which, occurred at Kamba Village in the district, completely gutted 13 dwellings besides partially damaging the primary health center (PHC).

The devastating fire broke out near the premises of the Kamba PHC at 2.30 am in the morning and engulfed several
houses. However, there have been no reports of any human casualty.

I have no plan of getting married anytime soon, says Alia Bhatt

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Alia Bhatt has revealed that though she has no plan of getting married anytime soon, she has decided on everything for her wedding right from her lehenga to jewellery.

The 20-year-old actress, who recently made her ramp debut on the finale of India Bridal Fashion Week, confessed that she wants to wear Manish Malhotra designed lehenga for her own wedding.

She said that she has decided on her lehenga, colour and matching jewellery for the big day.

Bhatt also added that she is not a jewellery freak but will wore those, which will enhance her look.

ANI

Britain’s Home Office sends mixed signals on visa bonds

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Britain’s Home Office was today at the centre of a volley of confusing statements around the proposed 3,000 pounds visa bonds for visitors from six “high-risk” countries, including India.

While some reports indicated that a pilot scheme involving a refundable 3,000 pounds cash bond for visitor visa
applications from the six Afro-Asian countries originally shortlisted was to go ahead as planned, a Home Office
spokesperson insisted “we are not confirming the list of countries at this stage and our original statement on the issue stands”.

Molecular robots could help create more targeted therapeutics

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A new technique using molecular robots could help develop more targeted drugs, a new study has revealed.

Sergei Rudchenko, Ph.D., director of flow cytometry at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York City and a senior author of the study, said that the next step is to conduct tests in a mouse model of leukemia.

In the new study, which is a collaboration between researchers from HSS and Columbia University, scientists designed molecular robots that are capable of identifying multiple receptors on cell surfaces, thereby effectively labeling more specific subpopulations of cells.

How brain filters out distractions to concentrate

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Researchers have shed new light on the cellular mechanisms responsible for the ability of brain to pay attention to relevant information while ignoring distractions.

Without the ability to focus and filter out “noise,” we could not effectively interact with our environment.

Researchers from Dartmouth`s Geisel School of Medicine and the University of California Davis studied communications between synaptically connected neurons under conditions where subjects shifted their attention toward or away from visual stimuli that activated the recorded neurons .

Walking in the woods can help relieve stress

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Taking a stroll in the woods can help manage stress levels, lessen BP and help fight heart ailments, a new study has revealed.

One of the experiments, conducted by the researchers at the University of Essex, discovered that just looking at images of forests helped to reduce strains.

Dr. Valerie Gladwell led a team of scientists that carried out experiments on volunteers while measuring their stress levels.

The participants in the research were asked to walk in specified “green environments” at lunchtime slept better that night.

DNA mutation breakthrough could help treat TB, cancer

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A new method has been developed by researchers that has the capability of looking at a specific segment of DNA and point out a single mutation, which could help diagnose and treat diseases like cancer and tuberculosis.

These small changes can be the root of a disease or the reason some infectious diseases resist certain antibiotics.

5,000 doctors worldwide to view live surgery in India

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More than 5,000 doctors from all over the world will witness a live surgery to treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), a sleep disorder, to be performed at the Asian Heart Institute (AHI) here Tuesday, an official said here Saturday.

This is the first time that such a live robotic surgery will be performed before a global audience of medicos along with expert lectures on the occasion.

Leading ENT surgeon Vikas Agrawal will operate on three patients to show the different issues pertaining to OSA among Indians.

How to get back into shape post-pregnancy

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After delivering a child, women not only fight against sleepless nights, but also body shape. To gain back a pre-pregnancy figure, use whatever time you have in hand for workouts, yoga and much more.

“The key is to do what you can in the time that you can, and do it more intense to make for the lack of time,” an online portal quoted celebrity trainer Andrea Orbeck as saying.

She is responsible for helping models Heidi Klum, Kimora Lee Simmons and Adriana Lima quickly getting back into shape.

Alcohol affects men and women differently

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Alcohol has different effects on men and women as gender influences which emotions drive heavy drinkers to drink, and how they feel the next day, a new study has found.

For men, anger drove drinking. A man who felt angry was more likely to drink the next day than a man who didn`t feel as enraged, researchers said.

They found that neither happiness, nor sadness had particular sway as a trigger for drinking in one gender over the other.

Researchers also said that neither of the genders who drink heavily effectively drown their sorrows with alcohol.

T-Cong MPs ask SA counterparts to follow High Command

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The Congress MPs V Hanumantha Rao and Palvai Govardhan Reddy on Monday demanded their counterparts from Rayalaseema and Andhra region to follow the decision of Congress High Command on the Telangana issue.

Adresssing separate press conferences, VHR and Palvai accused the Seemandhra MPs and other leaders of trying to obstruct the formation of Telangana State. They said that the MPs were sabotaging the process of Telangana formation by confusing the Centre and other parties in the UPA.

T-activists held at Gandhi Bhavan

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Over one hundreds activists of Samajika Telangana Ikasa (Telangana Social JAC) were taken into custody by the police when they tried to storm the Congress headquarters Gandhi Bhavan here on Monday.

The activists were raising slogans against the Rayala-Telangana proposal. They demanded that the Centre should carve out Telangana State with 10 districts with Hyderabad as its capital. A few activists tried to enter the Gandhi Bhavan. However, the police foiled their attempts and took all into custody. (INN)

Dilapidated buildings: GHMC wants owners to pay for demolition

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GHMC Commissioner MT Krishna Babu on Monday said that the GHMC has initiated action against the dilapidated buildings as on today 654 buildings have been identified out of which 361 have already been demolished, remaining 293 buildings are to be taken up and notices have been issued to the owners for strengthening the buildings, failing which GHMC will demolish the buildings by duly collecting the demolition charges from the building owners.

Don’t impose Rayala-Telangana on Rayalseema people: Srikanth Reddy

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YSRCP MLA P Srikanth Reddy on Monday said that the Centre could not impose Rayala-Telangana on the people of Rayalaseema region.

Talking to reporters in the Assembly premises here, Srikanth Reddy said that Rayala-Telangana was never demanded by the people of Rayalaseema or even Telangana. Therefore, he said the Centre had not right to kill the identity of Rayalaseema by first dividing it and then merging its parts into two States.

Minister reviews arrangements for CM’s Iftar

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Minorities Welfare Minister Syed Mohammad Ahamadullah on Monday requested the officials to make elaborate arrangements for the Iftar-Dinner to be hosted by Chief Minster N Kiran Kumar Reddy at Nizam College Grounds on August 2.