We can beat any side in any condition: Dilshan

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Royal Challengers Bangalore opener Tillakaratne Dilshan said on Monday that his team’s first aim was to gain two vital points and defend the table topper’s position in Tuesday’s match against Pune Warriors before they embark on winning away matches.

“Our aim is to win the match tomorrow and get those vital two points to finish at the top of the table before we embark on away matches. We are playing away from home for next 15 days and we need to adjust to conditions as soon as possible. That is the main task at our hands,” he told reporters at pre-match press conference here.

Boston bombing suspect’s wife ‘very distraught,’ lawyer says

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The wife of deceased Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev is “very distraught” and “cries a lot,” her lawyer told Monday.

The FBI wants to interview Katherine Russell about her husband, but for now, agents only have been able to talk to attorney Amato DeLuca.

“She knew nothing about it at any time,” DeLuca told CNN’s Chris Lawrence, referring to the bomb plot.
Russell, 24, learned through news reports that the father of her 2-year-old daughter was suspected in the attack, DeLuca said. “That’s my understanding.”

Hearing that news devastated her, he added.

Teenage girl brutalised, thrown into gutter for opposing rape

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A 17-year-old girl was brutally assaulted for resisting an alleged rape attempt by two men, who crushed her under their motorcycle and dumped her in a drain assuming her to be dead in RS Pura sector of Jammu district. The minor was on her way to a nearby school on April 19, 2013, in Arnia village of Jammu when she was intercepted by a local youth, Nitin, who asked her to sit on his motorcycle, police said.

Indian Mujahideen involvement likely in B’lore blast: sleuths

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Investigators probing the blast in Bangalore have suggested that the Indian Mujahideen (IM) was behind the April 17 terror attack in the Southern city.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing the blast along with Karnataka Police, conveyed to the Home Ministry that the activists belonging to the IM were suspected to be behind the terror attack that injured 16 people, including 11 policemen.

Jundal’s discharge plea rejected by Nashik court

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A local court today rejected an application filed by suspected LeT operative and 26/11 Mumbai attacks conspirator Sayad Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, seeking discharge from the Maharashtra Police Academy attack conspiracy case.

Sessions Judge K K Tantrapale rejected Jundal’s plea, special prosecutor Ajay Misar told reporters.

Bilal Shaikh, Himayat Baig and Abu Jundal have been arrested in the case. Baig was sentenced to death in Pune’s German Bakery blast case last week.

–Agencies

Probe complaint against Sonia on Telangana issue: Court to cops

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A court in Andhra Pradesh on Monday directed the police to probe allegations brought against Congress president Sonia Gandhi in a complaint which says she “cheated” the people of Telangana on the statehood issue.

Acting on a private complaint filed against Gandhi by state BJP leader Satish Agarwal in a court in January this year, the Malkajgiri court (in Ranga Reddy district) near here asked the police to investigate it and submit a report.

Current H-1B visa system incredibly disruptive, Microsoft tells US lawmakers

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The current H-1B visa system, the numerical limit of which was set by the Congress in 1990, is incredibly disruptive to business planning and operations of US employers, software giant Microsoft told lawmakers on Monday.

The company came out in support of the comprehensive immigration reform which recommends substantial increase in the H-1B visas.

Drunken police join recording dance

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Instead of stopping obscene recording dances that are common in the village side, two cops got fully drunk and joined the dancers in Kurnool district.

It has been the custom in Maramdoddi village of Kurnool district to have recording dance during Sriramanavami festivals. Two constables who were sent to stop the obscene dances, instead got fully drunk and danced to the tune of double meaning songs along with dancing girls.

Odisha tribal, Dalit students to get laptops

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Odisha government is likely to handover free laptops with data cards to meritorious tribal and Dalit students within the next 60 days.

This was discussed at a review meeting of the Odisha Youth Policy 2013, presided over by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here. The Information Technology (IT) department has been chosen as the nodal department to make arrangements for the distribution of free laptops among the students, official sources said on Monday.

Two workers buried alive in HP

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Two workers, engaged in the construction of a link road, were killed in a mudslide in moutainous Sirmaur district, some 100-km from here, early this morning, police said.

Some eight labourers were carrying out the construction work when the incident happened in Sangrah area, Additional SP Bhagat Ram Thakur said.

“Two workers were buried alive when sand and mud suddenly started falling from the hill,” an eye-witness said.

Others were rescued by fellow labourers, the Additional SP said adding a probe had been ordered to ascertain the casue of the mudslide.

Sonia Gandhi asks partymen to hit back, not take criticism lying down

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In the meeting, which was also attended by party Vice President Rahul Gandhi, who was earlier incharge of the organisation as AICC general secretary, the Congress chief lauded him for initiating a process of transformation in the student body.

With Government under intense Opposition attack on various issues, Congress President Sonia Gandhi today asked partymen to fight back by not allowing opponents “to get away with propagating negative impressions”.

Shahi Imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid praises Mayawati, says she only knows how to rule

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He alleged the state government was cheating Muslims who were feeling insecure under the current dispensation.

Showering encomiums on Mayawati, Shahi Imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid Maulana Ahmed Bukhari, who has parted ways with the Samajwadi Party, says if anyone knows how to rule in this country, it is only the BSP supremo.

Addressing a rally in SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s native place here last night, Bukhari said Mayawati’s regime was better than the present Akhilesh Yadav-led SP government in Uttar Pradesh.

Male circumcision reduces bacteria, offers protection against HIV: New study revealed

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Removing the foreskin causes a significant shift in the bacterial community or microbiome of the penis, a new study has revealed.

Male circumcision reduces the abundance of bacteria living on the penis and might help explain why circumcision offers men some protection against HIV, according to a study led by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen).

This international collaboration focused on 156 men in Rakai, Uganda — part of the world’s largest randomized-controlled trial on male circumcision.

Former CJI J.S.Verma dead

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Justice J.S. Verma, who headed the panel which suggested changes to the anti-rape laws in the aftermath of the Dec 16 gang-rape, died due to liver failure and bleeding in the stomach here Monday. He was 80.

The former Chief Justice of India died at Gurgaon’s Medanta Hospital.

“Justice Verma was admitted to the hospital on Friday with complaint of liver failure. He died at 9.30 p.m. of liver failure and bleeding in the stomach,” Medanta’s official spokesperson told IANS.

Justice Verma was the 27th Chief Justice of India from March 25, 1997 to Jan 18, 1998.

–IANS

Teenage girl kidnapped, raped in Gujarat

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An 18-year-old girl was allegedly kidnapped and raped by two youths in the district, police said today.

The victim was kidnapped by the accused, identified as Mahendrasinh and Khuman Parmar, on the night of April 14 when she was on her way to relieve herself in a field at Pratappura village, police sub-inspector N K Goswami said.

“The girl was then taken to another village the next day by the accused and was raped again,” he said, adding that the duo dropped her in Pratappura village on April 18 and threatened her with dire consequences if she disclosed the matter.

Boston bomb suspects ‘innocent’, framed by FBI: father

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The father of the suspected Boston bombers insisted in an interview published today that his sons Tamerlan and Dzhokhar were innocent and could not have carried out the bombings.

Their plans for the future had included returning to work in Russia, Anzor Tsarnaev said in the telephone interview withKomsomolskaya Pravda daily, adding that he hoped to travel tothe United States where his younger son Dzhokhar is in hospital after his capture with serious injuries.

I only know what they are showing on television. We plan to go and see him in America if Allah permits.”

US-China military ties very important: China’s top soldier

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The interaction between Chinese and US armies is of great importance, Fang Fenghui, chief of the general staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, said here Monday.

“(The interaction) not only concerns the relations between the two armies, but also affects the peace and stability of the Asia-Pacific region,” Fang told a joint press conference after talks with visiting chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey, reported Xinhua.

Watson powers Rajasthan to 185/4 against Super Kings

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Shane Watson smashed the first hundred of this Indian Premier League and powered Rajasthan Royals to 185 for four against the Chennai Super Kings here Monday.

Watson hammered 101 off 61 balls while Stuart Binny chipped in with 36 off 22.

Turkish, Palestinian presidents discuss Mideast peace process

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Visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas held talks with Turkish President Abdullah Gul Monday over the latest developments in the Middle East.

The two leaders discussed issues such as bilateral relations, the Middle East peace process and efforts to reach Palestinian reconciliation, according to a statement issued by the Turkish presidency, reported Xinhua.

Father flings son to death after quarrel with wife

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A father fatally flung his one-and-a-half year old child from the third floor balcony of a house in east Delhi after a violent quarrel with his wife, police said Monday.

The father, a casual worker, has been arrested.

According to police, Hari Om, a resident of Gujarat, had come to his in-law’s house in New Usmanpur area in east Delhi to take his wife and son back to his home.

Two workers buried alive in Sirmaur

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Two workers, engaged in the construction of a link road, were killed in a mudslide in moutainous Sirmaur district, some 100-km from here, early Monday morning, police said.

Some eight labourers were carrying out the construction work when the incident happened in Sangrah area, Additional SP Bhagat Ram Thakur said.

“Two workers were buried alive when sand and mud suddenly started falling from the hill,” an eye-witness said.

Others were rescued by fellow labourers, the Additional SP said adding a probe had been ordered to ascertain the cause of the mudslide.

Two more gang-rape accused sent to judicial custody

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A court here Monday sent two men, who along with six others had allegedly gang-raped a 13-year-old girl here last month, to judicial custody till May 4. Four others were earlier in custody and two are still absconding.

Metropolitan Magistrate Muneesh Garg remanded the two accused to judicial custody after they were produced before him following their arrest. The Delhi Police arrested them Sunday.

Haryana rape victim’s family attempts suicide, two dead

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Allegedly harassed by police over their missing daughter, who was a rape victim, a Dalit family in Haryana’s Hisar district Monday attempted suicide, leaving two dead and three others in a critical condition.

The mother of the rape victim and her sister were declared dead by doctors in Hisar civil hospital, 230 km from here, while the father and two brothers, aged 11 and nine, were admitted to the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) in Rohtak in a critical condition.

Mukesh to pay for his heightened security

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Amidst attack from Left parties for its decision to provide Z class security to RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani, government today said the business tycoon would himself bear the expenses for it.

“Ambani will bear the expense for the Z category of security being provided to him,” a highly-placed government source said.

The order issued by the Union Home Ministry, also states the CRPF deployment for the protectee (Ambani) will be on a “cost-reimbursement” basis and the commandos will also be provided barracks by him.

13-year-old gang-rape victim shifted to AIIMS

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The 13-year-old girl, who had consumed an overdose of sleeping pills Saturday after being gang-raped during nine-day captivity last month, was shifted to AIIMS from Hedgewar Hospital Monday, her family said even as another of the eight accused was arrested.

“She was shifted to AIIMS at around 4 p.m. today (Monday). The doctors said that she will have a slow recovery. She is in the general ward,” the victim’s mother told IANS.