Month: March 2014

New-born found abandoned near shrine

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A new-born baby girl was found abandoned near a famous shrine in downtown Srinagar and was admitted to a hospital, police said today.

Police found the baby near Zeyarat Makhdoom Sahib in Nowhatta area in old city last evening, a police spokesman said.

The one-day-old infant was later admitted to G P Panth Children Hospital at Sonwar.

“The baby is under treatment and in good health,” the spokesman said.

It was not immediately known who abandoned the baby at the shrine, the spokesman said adding “investigations are on to trace parents of the child.”

Roadside eatery owner stabbed to death

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A 62-year-old owner of a roadside eatery was Saturday stabbed to death by a man when he refused to serve him food after the accused said he would pay later, police said.

Kashi Ram was stabbed five times when he refused to give “Chole Kulche” to 28-year-old Gurmeet, a declared criminal, at his shop in Sultanpuri area of west Delhi.

The incident took place around 10.30 a.m.

Kashi Ram refused to serve Gurmeet as he had just opened his shop and Gurmeet was the first customer and he refused to pay at the moment, a witness told police.

Ghazi murder case: Musharraf granted exemption from appearance

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A court in Pakistan granted exemption to former president Pervez Musharraf from appearing Saturday in the Abdul Rasheed Ghazi murder case and summoned him for its next hearing March 15.

A murder case was registered in September 2013 against the former army chief for the death of Islamabad’s Lal Masjid cleric Ghazi during the 2007 military siege of the mosque.

Additional sessions court judge Wajid Ali heard the case, Dawn online reported.

Musharraf’s lawyer requested for permanent exemption for the former president in the case.

LS polls: AAP tickets for novelist, ex-policeman

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The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Kerala has roped in novelist Sara Joseph and former IPS officer Ajith Joy to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Joseph will contest the Thrissur seat while Joy has been named for the capital city constituency that is currently held by junior HRD Minister Shashi Tharoor.

Speaking to IANS, AAP’s state convenor Manoj Padmanabhan, an IT professional based in Kochi said the state unit had submitted a list of candidates to the national leadership and these two names were cleared.

Obama behaved ‘too black’ during youth, says half- brother

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Barack Obama’s half-sibling has confessed that his initial impression of the current President of the United States of America was that he is just “too black”.

During an interview with Newsmax, Mark Ndesandjo said that when they first met in 1988, Obama found him “too white” while he found him “too black”, the Washington Times reported.

Parrikar quotes Ramayana to defend Modi cult in BJP

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Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar drew a parallel with the Ramayana Saturday to defend the cult within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vis-a-vis its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

During a public interaction organised by a national television channel in Panaji, Parrikar said right from the times of the Ramayana, Indians have loved being led by individuals.

Kalyan Singh resigns from Lok Sabha, returns to BJP

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Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh Saturday resigned from the Lok Sabha and said he was returning to the BJP.

Addressing the media at his Mall Avenue residence, Kalyan Singh said the time has come when India takes a decision to vote for good governance and vote out the corrupt and non-performing politicians.

The 82-year-old leader, who represents Etah in the Lok Sabha as an Independent, left the Bharatiya Janata Party in December 1999 only to return in January 2004 before the Lok Sabha elections. He again left the party on the eve of the Lok Sabha polls.

Time for Congress to decide on alliance: Lalu Prasad

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The responsibility of defeating communal forces is not of the Rashtriya Janata Dal alone, and it’s time for the Congress to decide on an alliance, RJD chief Lalu Prasad said Saturday.

“Time for alliance has ended. Now it’s time to go to ground for political battle,” Lalu Prasad said after arriving here Friday night from Delhi, where he was trying to finalise his party’s alliance with the Congress but no decision was taken.

On Saturday, the former Bihar chief minister told the media that he was still keen on an alliance with the Congress.

Bengal shows the way: Mamata

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Hitting out at the Centre for giving large advertisements on its achievements, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today claimed that it was the West Bengal government which was carrying out development though lacking funds.

“Who did it? West Bengal? Isn’t it?,” Banerjee asked.

Giving the example of polio, she said that the last polio case was detected in the state 3 to 4 years ago after which her state government eradicated it.

Cong woman killed by husband for ‘kissing’ Rahul, SP denies

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A controversy has arisen over the death of a woman allegedly killed by her husband for “kissing” Rahul Gandhi, but top police officials and the local Congress MLA have denied her presence during his interaction with women party workers in Jorhat this week.

According to her neighbours as well as some of the women who attended the interaction, Bekajan Gaon Panchayat councillor Bonti Chutia (38) had died after her jealous husband allegedly burnt her for planting a kiss on the cheek of Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi during the interaction.

Yasin’s perfume shop used to set up IM’s Darbhanga module: NIA

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A perfume shop of Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal in Karnataka became the hub in 2001 for establishment of the Darbhanga module which plotted a string of terror attacks in the country, the NIA has said.

According to NIA, IM’s Darbhanga module came into existence after some key IM members, including Yasin and Fasih Mahmood, developed close links in 2001 at the perfume and naturopathy medicines shop in Bhatkal in Udupi district.

Pakistani leaders will control nukes even in crises: Report

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Pakistan will not delegate “advance authority” over nuclear weapons to military unit commanders even in the event of a crisis with India, according to a media report.

An unnamed senior Pakistani official was quoted by Washington-based National Journal as saying that the nuclear arsenal was under the control of a central body headed by the Prime Minister.

The country’s top leadership “would not delegate advance authority over nuclear arms to unit commanders, even in the event of a crisis with India”, the official told reporters in Washington on Tuesday.

High command will take care of TRS merger issue: AP Cong chief

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Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president Botsa Satyanarayana today said the party high command would deal with the issue of merger of Telangana Rashtra Samiti.

“TRS was born for the cause of Telangana. Now that Telangana state is becoming a reality, it is for TRS to decide about its future,” Botsa told reporters here today.

The merger issue was the concern of the Congress high command, and it would take care of it, he added.

About the exodus of legislators from Congress to other parties, he said such migrations were common ahead of the elections.

Rajnath did not apologise over Gujarat riots: BJP

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BJP today said that party president Rajnath Singh had not apologised to Muslims for the 2002 post-Godhra riots in Gujarat, contrary to some media reports.

“The BJP president did not apologise. We want people from all sections of society to come with us. We don’t feel the need to apologise,” party spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said here.

“He (Singh) has not apologised for any past (issues). We believe in taking everybody along. We talk of ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’ (One India, Great India),” he added.

New painkiller pill set to kill people as soon as it hits shelves!

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A new FDA-approved painkiller isn’t set to hit pharmacy shelves until next month, but critics are already warning that popping just two pills could be lethal.

Zohydro, which the FDA gave the green light in October against the advice of its advisory panel, will serve as a powerful pain pill for those who can’t get relief from what’s already out there.

It contains the same basic ingredient ( hydrocodone) as Vicodin, but it has 5 to 10 times the power, Forbes noted, and without the added acetaminophen.

Face masks give false hope of protection against pollution to wearer

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Demand for face mask is so high in China that, they are now in short supply in Beijing, according to reports.

But, experts said, a closer look at the kinds of masks people get, the way they wear them and the hazards they’re facing suggests that the masks are unlikely to help much, Discovery News reported.

In fact, images of masked citizens navigating the stress of Beijing highlight the false confidence that people put in face masks in all sorts of situations, including flu outbreaks and operating rooms.

Removing pesky tattoos just got a whole lot easier

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A new laser technique has been developed to get rid of painful tattoo memories.

The ‘PicoSure’ is a picoseconds aesthetic laser that can administer short pulses of lasers directly into the skin in just trillionths of a second, which would help in removing tattoos with fewer treatments and with lesser particles from the laser, CBS News reported.

Dr. Gary Lask, director of dermatologic surgery at UCLA said that this technique provides a more intense reaction that destroys the tattoo particles, which is the first new breakthrough for tattoo treatment in about 20 years. (ANI)

Meet the self-confessed nymphomaniac who needs five orgasms every day

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A 24-year-old girl from Cromer, Norfolk has come out in open regarding her sexual appetite.

Nessa Jay has revealed that she is a nymphomaniac and gets sweaty palms, feels angry and need to satisfy herself if she doesn’t get at least five orgasms a day through sex, Daily Star reported.

In an interview with The Sun, Jay said that if she is not having sex then she either writes about it, reads about it or even teaches her friends who aren’t as confident in the bedroom as she is.

5,351 Pak students help set new Guinness World Record for largest art class

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The students of ‘Beaconhouse’ have set a new Guinness World Record for the largest art class on February 28, 2014 in collaboration with the Punjab Sports Board.

5,351 Beaconhouse students led by the Manager of Art Curriculum for Beaconhouse came together for this significant effort in the presence of ‘Guinness Book of World Records’ team, the Nation reported.

Students created their artwork with the help of acrylics, water colors, mixed media, color pencils, pastels and canvas. The arrangements for the attempt were made by the Punjab government in association with Beaconhouse.

AAP announces third list of Lok Sabha candidates

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The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) declared their third list of candidates for 20 Lok Sabha seats on Saturday.

Among the prominent names were Savita Bhatti, the widow of late comedian Jaspal Bhatti, who will contest the polls from Chandigarh.

Professor Anand Kumar of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) will contest from a seat in North East Delhi.

AAP also announced candidates for Kerala (two), seven from Madhya Pradesh, seven from Odisha and one from Bihar.

The third list has a doctor, actor, teacher, former diplomat, educationists and social activists.

Former BJP chief Bangaru Laxman is dead

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Former BJP president Bangaru Laxman died here Saturday after a prolonged illness, family sources said. He was 74.

Laxman breathed his last at a private hospital in Secunderabad. He is survived by a son and three daughters.

Laxman was union minister of state for railways from 1999 to 2000 and president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 2000-2001.

He quit as party chief when he was caught on camera while taking bribe in a sting operation by news website Tehelka in 2001.

Correct time to bring ‘Samvidhaan’: Shyam Benegal

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Veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal’s TV show “The Story of the Making of the Constitution of India – Samvidhaan” will depict the difference between the way debates were conducted in the parliament post Independence, and the way they take place now. He says “it is something to learn from”.

“Samvidhaan” is a series which will sketch the making of the Indian constitution.

Syrian militants post photos on Twitter showing man having his hand cut off

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Militants in Syria reportedly cut off a man’s hand and posted the photos on Twitter in what appeared to be live-tweets of the entire episode.

The victim was punished for thievery and his hand was chopped off with a sword by a group of Syrian Islamist militants in the northern town of Maskanah, near Aleppo.

According to the Daily Mirror, an extremist group calling themselves ISIS (Islamist State in Iraq and Syria) said it was responsible and claimed the man, an alleged thief, had asked to be punished in this way.

Smartphone-based voting technology may result in fewer user errors: Study

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Many U.S. counties have incorporated electronic voting technology, largely in response to well-publicized challenges related to older mechanical and punch-card models, according to a new study published in Human Factors.

Although these updated systems have solved some usability problems, they present a new set of issues for voters unfamiliar with the technology.

The study examines how smartphone-based voting systems can be incorporated into the current large-scale election process.