Former TN minister, wife attacked

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Erode, Oct 21 (PTI) A DMK MLA and his wife sustained serious injuries when they were allegedly attacked by an unidentified gang at their house at Kanjikoil near here in the wee hours today, police said here.

The 10-member gang, armed with deadly weapons, barged into the house of N K K P Raja, DMK MLA from Erode assembly constituency, at around 2 AM and attacked the minister and his wife Uma.

Both sustained serious injuries and were admitted to a private hospital here.

Raja was Handloom and Textile Minister for nearly a year in 2006 in the DMK ministry.
-Agencies

Areva, Maharashtra transmission firm sign Rs.900-crore pact

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New Delhi, October 21: French energy major Areva Wednesday signed an energy procurement and construction (EPC) alliance agreement worth Rs.900 crore with the Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Co for turnkey design and construction of 220 KV and 132 KV sub-stations.

The scope of the agreement involves setting up 36 substations across Maharashtra over three years.

Orders for the first 18 sub-stations worth Rs.360 crore have already been booked.

Genetic irregularity linked to Type-1 diabetes

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Sydney, October 21:Scientists have discovered a tiny genetic irregularity that boosts the expression of a key gene which may lead to the development of Type-1 diabetes.

Type-1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease, where the body attacks and destroys its own

insulin-producing cells. A serious illness, leading to many complications, it often starts in childhood or teenage years.

While there is no cure yet, prevention therapies are on the horizon, making the development of reliable screening tools critical. And that’s where the current finding has promise.

Now, get a diploma in patent law online

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New Delhi, October 21: Delhi’s National Law University has started a postgraduate course in Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and patent law.

The course, to be run through video conferencing, will enable students to get absorbed in research and development organisations, government and non-government agencies.

Barcelona’s Dani Alves out for around three weeks

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Madrid, October 21: Barcelona right-back Dani Alves will probably be out of action for around three weeks, after tearing a muscle in the back of his right thigh during his side’s shock 2-1 defeat at home to Rubin Kazan.

The injury was sustained at the end of the Champions League match Tuesday and the Brazilian was due to undergo rigorous medical checks Wednesday.

Alves’ absence will oblige coach Josep Guardiola to field veteran captain Carles Puyol at right-back, since Barca do not have another right-back in their squad.

–Agencies

No coalition government, says Karzai’s main rival

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Kabul, October 21: Incumbent president Hamid Karzai’s main rival Abdullah Abdullah Wednesday ruled out the possibility of forming a coalition government, saying this is not the solution to the country’s problems, Xinhua reported.

“The way for the solution of the problem of the country is not formation of coalition government,” he told newspersons at his first press conference after the election runoff was announced.

Gul Panag to be Twitter Face for Wills fashion week

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New Delhi, October 21: Gul Panag is among the most regular celebrities on the social networking site Twitter and the actress is now taking it to the next level – she has been signed to post live updates of the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW), starting Saturday.

The critically acclaimed actress has been given the tag of the ‘Twitter Face’ for the event, said a press release.

Iran uranium talks set to resume

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Vienna, October 21: Iran was set to hold a third day of talks Wednesday with world powers on a uranium enrichment agreement, a deal which could help defuse tensions over its controversial nuclear programme.

The negotiations, on a proposal for Iran to ship its low-enriched uranium abroad for further processing, had appeared to stall on Tuesday but the parties met briefly and were due to hold further talks on Wednesday.

“I think and I believe that we are making progress,” the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, said after the talks Tuesday.

Top US court to hear Guantanamo Uighur case

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Washington, October 21: The US Supreme Court agreed to hear the case of Chinese Muslim Uighurs held in Guantanamo Bay despite being cleared of all charges, the first such hearing since Barack Obama entered the White House.

The long-running case comes after a federal judge last year ordered that the men should be released onto US soil where families from the large Uighur community are willing to host them.

Paris Hilton jumps out of cake

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New York, OCtober 21: Socialite Paris Hilton jumped out of a giant-sized cake to surprise her boyfriend Doug Reinhardt on his birthday.

The 28-year-old star threw a surprise birthday party for her beau and doubled the effect when she burst out of the huge cake wearing a sexy hot pink outfit and a black diamond mask, reported New York Post.

Obama stands by Iraqi troop pullout

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Washington, October 21: President Barack Obama renewed his vow on Tuesday to have all US combat troops out of Iraq by next August, while nudging Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to see that his parliament quickly passes a critical election law essential to a nationwide vote in January.

Without an election law, the vote could be delayed, snarling American plans to begin significantly scaling back US troop presence after the national referendum.

I’m incapable of directing a film: Amitabh Bachchan

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Agra, OCtober 21: He has dabbled in acting, production, playback singing and also worked as a television host, but Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan has no plans to direct a film.

“Direction is a very difficult and classified job, which I feel I am incapable of doing. Since I don’t possess the skills to make a film, I would not like to do it. I am happy doing the other things I have been doing,” Amitabh told reporters here.

New Nasa rocket set for test flight

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Washington, October 21: Nasa’s new rocket arrived at the launch pad yesterday for a test flight next week at a time when the future of the country’s space-flight programme is uncertain. It is the first time in 34 years that a rocket other than a space shuttle has stood at Launch Pad 39-B.

Nasa modified the pad for this rocket, which is supposed eventually to carry astronauts to the Moon. But the White House may scrap those plans. A panel of aerospace experts that provided President Barack Obama with a list of possible exploration options is issuing its final report this week.

Immune cells ‘key to women’s infertility’

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Washington, October 21: A new study has shed fresh light on why some women are infertile and why some pregnancies end in miscarriage, after researchers found that immune cells have an important role to play in both the cases.

An international team has examined the role of a type of immune cells known as macrophages or white blood cells within the ovary, which are found in abundance near developing eggs and in hormone-producing structures within the ovary.

Director Roman Polanski loses bail plea

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Geneva, October 21: Roman Polanski lost his appeal on Tuesday to be released from jail, as a Swiss court rejected multiple offers from the 76-year-old director to post bail or go under house arrest to reassure authorities that he would stay in the country.

The Federal Criminal Court said Polanski poses too “high” a flight risk to be freed and that even his Swiss chalet in the luxury resort of Gstaad was insufficient collateral to guard against his escape.

City Airport owner pays £1.5bn for Gatwick

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London, OCtober 21: Airports operator BAA today unveiled a deal to sell Gatwick to the owner of London City Airport for just over £1.5 billion.

The agreement with US-based investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) comes a year after BAA’s Spanish owner Ferrovial put Gatwick up for sale, amid competition concerns about the operator’s market dominance.

BAA is currently involved in an appeal against a ruling by the Competition Commission that it should sell three of its airports – Gatwick and Stansted and one of either Edinburgh or Glasgow.

Assembly polls counting to start on Thursday

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New Delhi, October 21: Counting of votes in Assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh will be taken up on Thursday and the ten-day long suspense over who will form the next government is expected to be over in a few hours later.

Considered the first crucial test of popularity for major political parties after the Lok Sabha polls, the elections in the three states were held on October 13.

Situation in Pakistan very serious: India

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New Delhi, October 21: Indian Defense Minister AK Antony said here on Monday that India was ready to face any challenge from the Taliban. “The situation in Pakistan is very serious and terrorism is spreading,” said Antonio, responding to questions from reporters about Pakistan’s action against the Taliban.

Gerrard limps off before Liverpool crumble again

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Manchester, October 21: On a disastrous night at Anfield Liverpool endured their worst sequence of defeats for 22 years and may lose their captain, Steven Gerrard, for Sunday’s encounter with Manchester United.

Gerrard, who had missed the weekend’s reverse at Sunderland with a groin injury, suffered a recurrence of the problem and limped off after 25 minutes of a 2-1 loss to Lyons, sealed by a last-minute goal from Cesar Delgado. Not since 1987 had the club lost four in a row.

Taliban university bomb kills six

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Islamabad, October 21: Taliban militants attacked Pakistani forces and recaptured a strategic town yesterday while two suicide bomb blasts at an Islamic university in the capital killed six people and wounded at least 20, officials said.

The government made an immediate link between the university attack and an offensive against the Taliban, with the Interior Minister Rehman Malik saying “all roads are leading towards South Waziristan”.

Prakash clears first hurdle at US Challenger event

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New Delhi, October 21: Prakash Amritraj advanced to the singles pre-quarterfinals of the USD 50,000 ATP Challenger event in Calabasas in US when his opponent retired mid-way in the first round.

Prakash, who got a wild card entry into the main draw, was leading 6-3 3-2 when Serbian Llija Bojoljac opted out of contest, thus clearing the way for the Indian to the next stage.

Prakash will now fight it out with third seed and local favourite Jesse Levine for a place in the quarterfinals.

Relief for the US as Karzai concedes election run-off

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Kabul, October 21: Two months to the day that the people of Afghanistan cast their ballots for president, Hamid Karzai yesterday finally caved to intense international pressure and reluctantly agreed to a run-off vote next month.

Washington, London and Paris all praised his statesmanship for agreeing to a second round with his rival, Abdullah Abdullah, on 7 November. No one mentioned the widespread fraud that had seen the UN election auditors strip Mr Karzai of nearly a third of his first-round votes.

My Nude scene in Jail won’t offend moms: Neil Nitin Mukesh

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Mumbai, October 21: He does a full monty in Madhur Bhandarkar’s upcoming movie “Jail”, but Neil Nitin Mukesh insists the nude scenes won’t distract any mother because the narrative is high on emotional quotient.

“I was asked to strip down completely and the only question before doing the scene that I had in mind was – what would be my parents’ reaction when they watch the film? Would they be ashamed of me as their son? But I think they’ll be extremely proud of me as an actor to have gone ahead and done it with a lot of courage, ” Neil told in an interview here.

Indian doctor in UK under the scanner

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London, October 21: A doctor of Indian-origin is likely to be banned from practising in the UK following a series of diagnostic errors that resulted in the death of a 26-year-old Briton.

The General Medical Council, the apex organisation that monitors and licences doctors to practice in the UK, has launched a ‘fitness to practice’ hearing against the doctor, Navin Shankar, who qualified from the Patna Medical College in 1971.

Maoists blast school building in Bihar

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Banka, October 21: Maoists blew up a state-run primary school at Gerua village in Bihar’s Banka district in the wee hours today.

Over 100 ultras surrounded the building at around 2.30 am and used dynamites to trigger the explosion, police said.

The roofs of the three-room school caved in due to the explosion.

The school was adjacent to the Sangrampur block office which was blown up by the Maoists last week.

The district administration had earlier planned to set up a police post at the school.

Senior officials reached the spot and combing operation was on in the area.
–PTI