Carrying widowed mother, he is modern day Shravan Kumar

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Lucknow, October 21: Balancing his mother and his few worldly possessions, a youth in Uttar Pradesh has set out on a pilgrimage just like Shravan Kumar of Indian epic Ramayana who carried his parents in two baskets slung across his shoulder.

Virendra Kumar Verma, 21, a resident of the Chandpur village in Sitapur district, says he wants to fulfil his mother’s wish by taking her on the pilgrimage to the Hindu holy city of Haridwar in Uttarakhand and is making the journey on foot as he has no money.

Punjabi village in US all set for annual Sikh parade

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Yuba City (California), October 21: Yuba City, known as the first Punjabi village in the US, is all set for the annual Sikh Parade next week.

Home to the descendants of the earliest Indian immigrants to the US, Yuba City, near the California capital of Sacramento, is famous for its annual Sikh Parade. Over 75,000 Sikhs from around the world are expected to attend the 30th anniversary of the parade next week.

Pink taxis for women now on Mexico’s streets

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Puebla (Mexico), October 21: Thirty five pink taxis – driven by female cabbies and picking up only women as customers – travel back and forth in this central Mexican city, leaving residents astonished and curious.

“The people stop us on the street to congratulate us and the women ask us how they can request one of our units,” Lidia Hernandez, one of the cabbies with Pink Taxis, a company that says it’s the first of its kind in Mexico, told the Spanish news agency EFE.

Private bank looted in Jaipur

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Jaipur, October 21: Three masked robbers today allegedly looted Rs 3.85 lakh cash at gun-point from a private cooperative bank in Khatipura area here, police said.

Robbers, who struck at Rajlaxmi Cooperative Bank this afternoon, also snatched away gold chain of a woman clerk before fleeing on motorcycle, Inspector-General of Police B L Soni said.

They used two country-made pistols to terrorise the employees, the officer said, adding the armed guard of the bank was in toilet when the incident occurred.

Sensex ruling in volatile zone, down 0.22 percent

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Mumbai, October 21: A key Indian equity index was ruling on a volatile note Wednesday and was down 0.22 percent from its last closing figure, less than 90 minutes before the end of trade.

Profit booking was putting pressure on the indices with investors looking to exit stocks at current high levels.

At 2.16 p.m., the sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened higher at 17,229.72 points, was ruling at 17,184.64 points — 38.37 points or 0.22 percent down from Tuesday’s close at 17,223.01 points.

Sehwag, Yuvraj take part in net session

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Mumbai, October 21: Returning from injuries, dashing batsmen Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh joined the rest of the Indian cricket team in an over two-hour long net session to prepare for the seven-match ODI series against Australia starting October 25.

Sehwag, who has recovered from a shoulder injury, and Yuvraj, still nursing a fractured finger, looked comfortable during their stay in the middle at the Mumbai Cricket Association’s Bandra-Kurla complex grounds.

Sehwag, Yuvraj take part in net session

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Mumbai, October 21: Returning from injuries, dashing batsmen Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh joined the rest of the Indian cricket team in an over two-hour long net session to prepare for the seven-match ODI series against Australia starting October 25.

Sehwag, who has recovered from a shoulder injury, and Yuvraj, still nursing a fractured finger, looked comfortable during their stay in the middle at the Mumbai Cricket Association’s Bandra-Kurla complex grounds.

Roads deserted, uneasy calm at Bengal police station

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Sankrail (West Bengal), October 21: Amid scattered furniture and blood stains, an uneasy calm prevailed at the Sankrail police station area Wednesday – a day after Maoists carried out a daring attack, killing two officers and abducting another.

Even as police recovered one landmine and a metal pot containing Maoist posters near the violence-hit area in West Midnapore district, the streets wore a deserted look. Most shops and roadside kiosks were closed, with normal life almost coming to a halt.

12 killed as Goa Express rams stationary train

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Mathura, October 21: At least 10 passengers were killed and around 20 injured when the Delhi-bound Goa Samparkranti Express rammed into the stationary Mewar Express near here in the wee hours today.

The Goa Express hit the Mewar Express from behind at 4:50 AM, Rajesh Vajpayee, CPRO North-Central Railway, told PTI.

An unreserved compartment of the Mewar Express was damaged in the accident that took place between Mathura and Vrindavan.

Divisional Railway Manager, Agra, R D Tripathi, who was at the spot, said prima facie the train driver of the Goa Express was at fault.

Infant’s thumb sucking may impair speech

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Washington, October 21:Pacifier, baby bottle or thumb sucking may hamper a child’s speech development if the habit goes on too long, says a new study.

The children were more likely to have difficulty producing certain word sounds and to simplify their pronunciation.

A team led by Clarita Barbosa from Corporacion de Rehabilitacion Club De Leones Cruz Del Sur in Patagonia, Chile, conducted the study with University of Washington (UW) Multidisciplinary International Research Training (MIRT).

Five-month tots can tell human from monkey sounds

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Washington, October 21: Five-month-old infants can tell human voice from monkey sounds, say psychology researchers.

Their finding provides the first evidence that human infants are able to correctly match different kinds of vocalisations to different species.

While young children know that humans speak, monkeys grunt, and ducks quack, it’s not clear when we come to know which vocalisations each of these animals produce.

PM’s panel calls for special focus on agri, power sectors

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New Delhi, October 21: The Prime minister’s Economic Advisory Council Wednesday recommended that the agriculture and power sectors should be given special focus in the next few years.

“Over the medium term, we need to largely focus on two major sectors, agriculture and power,” C. Rangarajan, the chairman of the advisory council, told reporters while releasing the “Economic Outlook for 2009-10” here.

Good if Ambanis can resolve differences amicably: FM

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New Delhi, October 21: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today hoped that Mukesh and Anil Ambani would be able to sort out their differences amicably for the Indian market’s sake, but said no one can say what would happen.

“I do not know what would happen because they are too big. They have substantial influence over the Indian market, therefore it is better that they sort out among themselves amicably. But, after all it is for them to decide,” he told PTI when asked if he saw the dispute being resolved out of court.

Infant’s thumb sucking may impair speech

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Washington, October 21: Pacifier, baby bottle or thumb sucking may hamper a child’s speech development if the habit goes on too long, says a new study.

The children were more likely to have difficulty producing certain word sounds and to simplify their pronunciation.

A team led by Clarita Barbosa from Corporacion de Rehabilitacion Club De Leones Cruz Del Sur in Patagonia, Chile, conducted the study with University of Washington (UW) Multidisciplinary International Research Training (MIRT).

Prime minister’s economic council projects 6.5 percent growth

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New Delhi, October 21: The Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council has projected a lower growth of 6.5 percent for the Indian economy during the current fiscal year, due mainly to a two-percent decline anticipated in farm output over the previous year.

While industrial output, the council said Wednesday, will rise 8.2 percent, as against 3.9 percent growth in the previous fiscal, services will also register a lower growth of 8.2 percent against 9.7 percent in 2008-09.

Why can’t you go for ‘arbitration’, SC asks Ambanis

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New Delhi, October 21: The Supreme Court today asked the Ambani brothers’ group firms RIL and RNRL why they cannot settle their gas supply dispute through arbitration or mediation.

During hearing of the dispute over supply of gas by RIL to RNRL at USD 2.34 per mmBtu, the bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan said the two parties could arrive at a “suitable arrangement” through arbitration, as the Bombay High Court that approved the Reliance empire’s demerger cannot spell what is the ideal arrangement.

Abducted policeman’s family meets Buddhadeb

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Kolkata, October 21: The family of an abducted West Bengal police officer met Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Wednesday, hoping the government would take no steps that would put his life in danger.

The family members of Atindranath Dutta – officer-in-charge of Sankrail police station in West Midnapore district who was kidnapped Tuesday – including his wife Indrani, father Ashok and mother Chhanda spoke to Bhattacharjee for about 45 minutes at the state secretariat Writers’ Building.

Obama takes on Fox, his aides say ‘it’s not news’

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Washington, October 21: In the midst of a review of America’s Af-Pak strategy in the war against terror, President Barack Obama has opened a new front of a different kind targeting Fox News TV channel owned by media baron Rupert Murdoch.

On Sunday, two of Barack Obama’s top aides took shots at Fox in a CNN programme. White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said it was “not a news organization,” and the president’s top strategist, David Axelrod, said it was “not really a news station.”

White House Communications Director Anita Dunn has called Fox “an arm of the Republican party”.

Too early to exit economic stimulus: FM

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New Delhi, October 21: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said it is premature to “exit” the fiscal stimulus as the global economy is not showing robust recovery, but was optimistic about economic growth.

Ahead of the monetary policy review on October 27 by Reserve Bank, he plans to hold consultations with the apex bank and would not like to comment on issues like where interest rates are headed.

Delay in film sours Ghai, Sunny relationship

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Mumbai, October 21: Actor Sunny Deol and producer Subhash Ghai are at loggerheads over the completion and release of “Right Yaa Wrong”.

“I’m the producer of the film. So I’ll be blamed for the delay. I’m used to it. Every film of mine that gets delayed I take full blame for it,” Ghai told IANS.

He says the real reason for the delay in “Right Yaa Wrong” is the additional shooting.

Three family members killed in road accident

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Lucknow, October 21: Three of a family were killed when a car collided with a truck in Banthara area on Lucknow-Kanpur highway, police said here.

Sabali (48), his nephew Ramu (22) and another relative Dholi (25) were killed when the car they were travelling in rammed into a stationary truck in Banthara yesterday, they said.

Sabali, who was a scrap dealer from Gonda, was on his way to Unnao to deliver a consignment. He was injured and rushed to a hospital where his condition was stated to be serious, police said.

IT spending to rebound in 2010: Gartner

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Bangalore, October 21: The global IT industry will return to growth in 2010, with technology spending increasing 3.3 percent ($3.3 trillion) after declining by 5.2 percent in 2009, IT research and advisory firm Gartner has said.

“The IT industry is exiting its worst year ever with 5.2 percent decline in technology spending worldwide. IT spending by enterprises is projected to drop 6.9 percent over 2008,” Gartner said in its latest outlook for the high-tech industry.

Chhattisgarh towns to be connected by air

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Raipur, October 21: Major towns in Chhattisgarh will soon be connected by intra-state air services.

A cabinet meet presided over by Chief Minister Raman Singh late Tuesday agreed in principle to a civil aviation ministry proposal for connecting at least eight major towns in the state by air.

The services, involving small aircraft, will be operated by private carriers, officials said Wednesday.

Pakistan shuts educational institutions till security improves

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Islamabad, October 21: All government and private schools, colleges and universities throughout Pakistan have been closed after fears of militant attacks in the wake of twin suicide bombings at a university campus here, officials said.

The News Wednesday quoted the officials as saying that all educational institutions will remain closed till the security situation improves in the country.

All schools run by the armed forces have been shut since Sunday in the wake of the military offensive against the Taliban in South Waziristan that began Saturday.

Uttar Pradesh announces Rs.10 lakh for train mishap victims

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New Delhi, October 21: The Uttar Pradesh government will give compensation of Rs.10 lakh and a job to the families of those killed in the train accident in Mathura early Wednesday, the state’s Agriculture Minister Laxminarain Choudhry said.

At least 13 people were killed when two Delhi-bound passenger trains collided early Wednesday in Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura city. Hours after the Goa Express rammed into the stationary Mewar Express, several people continued to be trapped in the mangled carriages.