For a third time, an Indian software consultant has been convicted by a US court of groping a woman while they were seated next to each other aboard an airplane.        

Srinivasa S Erramilli, 45, remains free on bond pending sentencing, which has been set for April 26, 2013, by US District Judge Joan H Lefkow at a Chicago court.        

Erramilli, on a work visa in the US, faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison and a $250,000 fine.   Incidentally he was convicted twice previously for nearly identical crimes.        

Evidence at the trial showed that Erramilli was the last passenger to board a Southwest Airlines flight to Chicago's Midway Airport on June 14, 2011, and was seated in the only open seat available between the victim, who had chosen a window seat to sleep during the flight, and her husband, who had chosen an aisle seat to enable easier access during the flight.

The Meghalaya Lokayukta Bill, 2012 was today passed in the assembly, repealing an act passed ten years ago, amidst opposition from legislators.        

The new act covered the chief minister, governor and all public servants, but allowed the state government through a clause to exclude complaints by citing public interest.        

Stating that the short timing of the session would not allow a threadbare discussion on the act and its contents, Chief Minister Mukul Sangma proposed that it be passed since sub-rules (c) of Rule 72 of the Rules of procedures and conduct of business was suspended, which allowed him to move a motion to pass the bill.

The country can look forward to a higher growth in next financial year, Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said in the Lok Sabha.  

Bitter medicine taken this year will be good for the economy, Chidambaram added.

Author of a book on the internal conflict in Sri Lanka involving its armed forces and rebel LTTE today said around 1.06 lakh persons were missing in LTTE-controlled areas after the war and the Sri Lankan government should explain this.        

Having worked as a BBC correspondent in Sri Lanka from 2000 to 2004, Frances Harrison said she had accessed World Bank population data in this regard to substantiate her claim.        

"The number may not include (LTTE) detainees or those who had left the country but the government has to explain (the dip in the population in Tamil-dominated areas)", she told reporters in Chennai today.        

Harrison said she had accessed the World Bank data on population of Mullaitheevu, Kilinochi, Vavuniya and Mannaar in the island nation, which she said, revealed that 1.06 lakh persons were "missing" after the war.        

Author of the book "Still Counting the Dead," which is set to be released in Tamil soon, said it was based on tales of survivors including a former rebel, a nurse, a nun and a teacher, among others.

Pakistan has sent a second letter to Interpol asking it to arrest former President Pervez Musharraf, who had been declared a fugitive by an anti-terrorism court for failing to cooperate with investigators probing the 2007 assassination of Benazir Bhutto.        

The Federal Investigation Agency, which is probing the assassination, attached arrest warrants for Musharraf and some pieces of evidence to the letter, which was sent to Interpol yesterday.        

The Interpol office in France had earlier returned a similar request by the FIA as no evidence against Musharraf had been provided. The evidence sent with the letter yesterday includes a statement by US Journalist Mark Siegel and records of emails sent by Musharraf to former premier Bhutto, the website of The Express Tribune reported.        

FIA Special Prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali confirmed that the letter had been despatched.

  Indian High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal today met Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik ahead of his visit to New Delhi for the operationalistaion of a new visa agreement.        

Malik and the Indian envoy discussed "bilateral relations and matters of mutual interest", Pakistani officials said. They also discussed the new visa pact.         Sabharwal provided Malik the schedule for his visit to India, the officials said.        

Malik is scheduled to leave for Delhi at 2 pm. Indian officials described the meeting as a "courtesy call" by the envoy.

The dreaded attacks on school children returned to haunt China again as 22 primary students and a villager were injured today in a knife attack at the gate of a school in China's central Henan Province.        

Local police said they have arrested the suspect, identified as 36-year-old Min Yingjun, according to state-run Xinhua news agency. The attack happened at around 7:40 am at the entrance of Chenpeng Village Primary School in Wenshu Township of Guangshan County in the city of Xinyang, a police officer said.        

This is a major attacks on school children in China in recent years.

Be your own man, Ratan Tata has advised Cyrus Mistry, who will succeed him at the helm of the $100 billion Tata group two weeks from now. "I don't think it is right to have a ghost to shadow over somebody," says Tata, dismissing any notion that his larger-than-life persona would linger even after he retires on December 28 when he turns 75.        

The Tata patriarch has told Mistry, 31 years younger, "you should be your own person, you should take your own call and you should decide what you want to".        

Tata spoke about his 50 years with the group, 21 as its chairman, the highs and lows of his tenure, his equation with Mistry and his post-retirement plans during an expansive interview to PTI in his office at "Bombay House", the group headquarters.        

Mistry, currently vice chairman of the conglomerate that spans automobiles, IT, hotels, tea and steel across 80 countries, has been working closely with Tata to prepare for the transition.

A man was trampled to death by an elephant in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district today.         

Md Bashiruddin was guarding his crops when an elephant attacked him and damaged his crops at Angrabhasa gram panchayat near Dhupguri in the wee hours today, forest department officials said.

Union Minister M K Alagiri's son Durai Dayanidhi has surrendered before a Madurai court.   The Madras high court on Monday quashed a non-bailable arrest warrant against Durai Dayanidhi and granted him anticipatory bail in the alleged multi-crore illegal granite quarrying scam.  

Dayanidhi and nine others are facing charges that firms owned by them had mined sand and granite without permission. Cases had been registered under various IPC sections including 120(b) (criminal conspiracy), 447 (criminal trespass) and 420 (cheating) against them.

Government had cracked down on several firms after former Madurai Collector U Sahayam in a report, estimated the losses incurred from illegal granite mining at around Rs 16,000 crore. Police had alerted immigration authorities to help them in preventing Dayanidhi and other accused from leaving the country. The companies' accounts had already been frozen.

CNN-IBN: In a shocking incident, a government doctor and two others were charged with murdering a one-day-old infant only because it was born out of wedlock.

The baby's body was found by the police in a stream and their investigations led them to a government hospital in Kupwara where the baby had been born. The villagers are now demanding strict action against the accused.

The Health Ministry has assured prompt action in the case. Sources add that the doctor actually has a history of abortions.

Some more steps will be taken in next few weeks to turn around the economy, Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said.  

Retail inflation still remains sticky; no room for complacency, he added.

PTI: Extending losses for the sixth session, the BSE benchmark Sensex today lost nearly 19 points in early trade as stocks of IT, FMCG and consumer durables sectors fell on sustained selling by participants ahead of Wholesale Price Index data.        

The 30-share index, which has lost almost 258 points in the previous five sessions, fell further by 18.41 points, or 0.09 per cent, to 19,210.85.         Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange Nifty declined by 8.05 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 5,843.45.     

Brokers said increased selling by funds ahead of WPI data to be announced later today and overnight losses at the US market on fiscal cliff concerns, mainly dampened the trading sentiment here.        

Meanwhile, in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index up by 0.10 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei down 0.33 per cent in opening trade. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.56 per cent lower in yesterday's trade.

BBC: A Russian official has said for the first time that the Syrian government may be defeated by opposition forces. President Bashar al-Assad's forces are "losing more and more control and territory", deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov said.

He said Russia, one of Syria's staunchest allies, was making plans for a possible evacuation of thousands of its citizens. Separately, Syria denied reports it had fired Scud missiles at rebels.

North Koreans have gathered in Pyongyang for a mass rally to celebrate Wednesday's long-range rocket launch. State television showed huge crowds cheering to mark the launch, which has been condemned by many nations as a banned test of missile technology.

South Korea, meanwhile, says it has retrieved debris from the rocket and will study it to assess its technology. The first stage of the rocket fell west of the Korean peninsula. South Korea's navy located it shortly afterwards. It was North Korea's first successful use of a three-stage rocket to put a satellite into orbit.

North Korea said on Friday that more launches would go ahead. The UN Security Council has condemned the launch, calling it a missile test that violated two UN resolutions banning Pyongyang from such activities passed after its nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.

Read more on BBC

Rebecca Somers, the wife of Ron Somers, who is the president of the US India Business Council, has died, her family members said. Rebecca, 55, was suffering from breast cancer for quite some time now.        

An outspoken friend of the people of India, she lived in Bangalore and New Delhi between 1992-2004 when Somers was there for the India Private Power Initiative under USAID, the Cogentrix Project, and for UNOCAL.        

During her stay in India, Rebecca served as volunteer at an Indira Nagar orphanage and had underwritten dozens of scholarships anonymously for deserving students. She always remained active supporting young women and girls education in India. "She helped me feel the warmth and generosity of heart that is India," Ron Somers said.        

Rebecca was born on December 18, 1956 in Chateauroux, France and graduated from University of California, Berkeley.

BBC: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez suffered bleeding during surgery for cancer in Cuba on Tuesday but is recovering well, his Communications Minister said.

Ernesto Villegas said the 58-year-old president will require "proper time" to recover because of the complexity of the surgery and its complications. This is the president's fourth operation since last year.