LIVE
Wed, 01 February 2012
Hazare to undergo naturopathy treatment now

Timeline  Refresh

image
18:00  
mint_ed tweets: I am told this is common knowledge, but in case you haven't heard, Vinod Mehta announced his departure/retirement from Outlook today.
image
17:58   Anna to check in to Jindal's naturopathy clinic
Anna Hazare will leave for Bengaluru tomorrow for naturopathy treatment after spending three days at the super-speciality Medanta hospital in Gurgaon where he underwent a detailed check-up. 

The 74-year-old activist will fly to Bengaluru in the morning and get himself admitted to Jindal Naturecare Institute, his close aides said. 
image
17:52   Netanyahu bests party rival, early Israel polls likely
Israel's hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today won a landslide victory against his sole opponent in the Likud party primary polls, the result which will shore up his position within, raising speculation of early general elections. 

Netanyahu defeated his rival Moshe Feiglin, raising speculation of early polls, which are scheduled for late 2013. With 85 per cent of the votes tallied, Likud sources said the premier beat his rival by 75 to 24 per cent.
image
17:50   Schwarzenegger is guest of honour at Green Globe awards
On Thursday The Terminator will be in New Delhi.

That's right, former California governor Arnonld Schwarzenegger will be in Delhi as guest of honour at the 4th Green Globe Foundation Awards, reports the Daily Mail, UK.

And no, he will be in the city for just a day, and there are no sight-seeing trips or a quick getaway to Agra planned for him. 'As of now, we can just confirm that Arnold Schwarzenegger will be in Delhi for a day. He will be staying in the city on Thursday,' says Sabbas Joseph, director, Wizcraft, the organiser of the event.

Read more about Arnie's visit here.
image
17:46   Kashmiri film makes it to Sundance film festival
Kashmiri film Valley of Saints has won two awards so far  -- World Cinema Audience Award: Dramatic and is co-winner of the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize. Its next port of call, the Sundance film festival,  becoming in the process the first Kashmiri film to make it to a prestigious international festival, says the Daily Mail, UK. 

'Boatman Gulzar Ahmed and translator Afzal Sofi had no idea what it would mean when they were told that their film Valley of Saints was selected for the Sundance Film Festival last month... The film, directed by Musa Syeed, a New Yorker of Kashmiri origin, narrates the story of a young boatman who develops an unlikely relationship with an environmentalist during a violent summer in the Valley,' it says.

Read more about the film, here.
image
17:35  
satishacharya tweets: Indian cricketers are not doing well because the performer of the day is sent to face the press!
image
17:29   Kolaveri in British paper over India choosing Rafale
Tim Shipman and Sue Reid have gone ballistic in the Daily Mail over India awarding the multi-billion dollar fighter jets to the French, despite Britain's one billion pound aid package.

Some of the points they make in their article:

Britain is sending 280million to India for each of the next four years, even though the country has more billionaires than Britain and has its own space programme. 

The aid package is 15 times larger than the 18million France sent to India in 2009.

Such is the economic power of India that it now gives out more foreign aid than it receives, and has handed over 3.5'billion to cement relations with impoverished Africa.

Indians have squirrelled away more money in Swiss bank accounts (a total of 900'billion since independence from Britain in 1947) than the rest of the world combined.

India is racing up the league of rich nations. Indeed, its soaring economy will outstrip the UK's by 2022. According to financial advisers Merrill Lynch, India has 153,000 dollar-millionaires -- a 20 per cent rise in a year, compared with Britain's own paltry increase of less than one per cent.
image
17:20   Infant abandoned in Bengaluru's parking area
After battered Delhi baby Falak's case, another horrifying matter came to the fore today when a newborn was found in a carton box in a busy area in Bengaluru. 

The baby boy, wrapped in a cloth, was spotted by garbage cleaners in a parking area in the morning, deputy commissioner of police (south division) Sonia Narang said. 

To ensure the baby's sound health, he has been shifted to a private hospital where he will be kept for a day or two and then handed over to a city-based NGO which adopts abandoned babies, she said.
image
17:12   Pfizer aborts one million birth control pills in US
Some one million packets of birth control pills are being recalled in the United States, with pharmaceutical company Pfizer saying a "packaging error" meant the doses were not correct and they might not prevent pregnancy.

BBC reports that Pfizer has said the tablets did not pose any health dangers, but there was a risk of "unintended pregnancy". Read about this tragedy here.
image
17:05   Bihar govt moves court to recant cases against Nepal's Maoists
The Bihar government moved a local court today seeking to withdraw cases lodged against 11 Nepal Maoist leaders, apparently following a request from the Union home ministry. 

Public prosecutor Jai Prakash Singh said he had filed a petition in the court of additional district judge (IX) Bashishtha Narain Singh, under section 321 of the Criminal Procedure Code under which the public prosecutor or assistant public prosecutor in-charge of a case may, with the consent of the court at any time before the judgment is pronounced, withdraw from the prosecution of any person.
image
17:02   Four British nationals admit to terror plot on LSE
Four British nationals -- Mohammed Chowdhury, Shah Rahman, Gurukanth Desai and Abdul Miah -- have pleaded guilty to engaging in conduct in preparation for acts of terrorism, reports the BBC. They were arrested in December 2010.

Apart from them, five other men have pleaded guilty to other terrorism offences.

The nine will be sentenced next week.

The LSE plotters intended to send five mail bombs in the run-up to Christmas last year and even discussed launching a "Mumbai-style" atrocity, says BBC.

Read the chilling account here.
image
16:57   Laughter could be the best medicine for India
Writing in the Los Angeles Times, Mark Magnier says: The expressions of hurt and outrage in India that followed recent jokes by late-night comedian Jay Leno and the hosts of the BBC program "Top Gear," along with treason charges against a cartoonist, have sparked a debate here: Is the nation too thin-skinned to take a joke?

Whatever your answer to that poser, read it here.
image
16:45   Upset at being denied ticket BSP MLA consumes poison
Apparently upset over the denial of party ticket for Uttar Pradesh assembly election, a sitting BSP legislator today attempted suicide by swallowing some poisonous substance in Unnao district. Radhey Lal Rawat, BSP MLA from Hasanganj, who was declared as party candidate from Mohan seat in Unnao, was upset after JP Rawat was given ticket in his place recently, the police said.Rawat's condition was said to be out of danger. 
image
16:41   7 minutes stood between Beijing and devastation
Seven minutes is all that stood between Beijing and large-scale devastation in October last year, it seems.

'The Chinese capital was directly in the flight path of Germany's research satellite Rosat when it plunged into the Bay of Bengal last October, two decades after it's launch,' says the Daily Mail, UK. 'The consequences of chunks of the 2.5 ton satellite falling into the city would have been catastrophic; huge craters, shattered fuel lines, explosions, wrecked buildings and untold human casualties in a metropolis of 20 million people.'

If you thought Earth was safe after this, you are wrong. 'Next on the worry list is the NASA Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer which will present a 1-in-1,000 chance of harming someone when it makes an uncontrolled fall from Earth orbit some time after 2014,' says Daily Mail.

For more of the horror scenario, read here.
image
16:34   Mourning veteran diplomat AK Damodaran
We mourn the veteran diplomat AK Damodaran who passed into the ages on Tuesday, with his recollections of China in a talk he delivered some years ago, here and here.

Ambassador Damodaran's son Ramu Damodaran, an Indian Foreign Service Officer who served as then prime minister P V Narasimha Rao's private secretary, now works for the Unuted Nations.
image
16:33  
AwaaraMaseeha tweets: I think this Sehwag comes for Pitch Testing. One Shot. Gestures back to dressing room..haan bhai sab ok. Ab khelo. And Goes
image
16:28   Former Army vice chief, 2 others, helped Pune builder
Former vice chief of Indian Army Lt Gen Nobel Thamburaj and two others were on Tuesday booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating and misconduct in an out of court land dispute settlement to benefit a private builder to the tune of Rs 46 crore.

The case was registered against Lt Gen Thamburaj on Tuesday evening under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act in a designated CBI court in Mumbai after receiving requisite sanction from the defence ministry.

Lt Gen Thamburaj, while he was posted as general-officer-in-command of Southern Command, is alleged to have entered into a criminal conspiracy with former  defence estate officer SR Nayyar and Pune-based Kalpataru builders in settling a matter out of the court of a defence property despite having favourable orders from various courts, a CBI statement said. 

The CBI today carried out searches at various places in Mumbai and Pune which included the residential premises of the retired general. 

This is possibly for the first time that a vice chief of the Indian Army is facing corruption charges.
image
16:14   N Ram, Nakkheeran editor summoned in defamation case
A court in Chennai today ordered the issue of summons to five journalists, including former editor-in-chief of The Hindu N Ram and editor of Tamil magazine Nakkheeran, in connection with a defamation complaint moved against them by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. 

Jayalalithaa had on January 23 filed separate complaints in the court against Nakkheeran and The Hindu accusing them of publishing 'derogatory and defamatory' comments about her eating habits. Principal sessions judge P Kalaiarasan ordered the issue of summons to Ram and a reporter of The Hindu for their appearance in the court on March 5. The judge also summoned Nakkheeran Editor R Gopal, the joint editor and a reporter of the bi-weekly to appear before him on March 1. 
image
16:08  
Taslima Nasreen tweets: The PBS publisher with friends have released my book under the open sky at Kolkata Book Fair. Book release in the AC hall was banned.
image
16:04   West Bengal chief minister blames media for rumours
Blaming a section of the media for joining the Opposition chorus over the death of babies in state-run hospitals, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today dubbed it as 'rumour' since the child mortality rate has actually dropped in the state. 

"It is a rumour intended to mislead the people. It is not a fact that children are dying in state-run hospitals due to negligence," Banerjee told reporters during a visit to the Sunderbans. 

Blaming a section of the media for spreading rumours she said, "They may be supporters of the AMRI hospital authorities where 94 patients died due to suffocation during the December 9 fire."
image
16:01   Delhi student shot at for stealing a pup
Stealing a puppy almost cost a young student in Delhi his life when an enraged Municipal Corporation of Delhi employee and his relatives allegedly opened fire at him in outer Delhi, the police said today. 

The incident took place in Bajitpur village in Outer Delhi's Bawana on January 19 and Karambir alias Sonu, the MCD employee, was arrested yesterday, B S Jaiswal, deputy commissioner of police (outer), said.
image
16:00   Kokilaben to inaugurate Ambani memorial on Feb 3
Reliance founder Dhirubhai Ambani's memorial in Chorwad town in Gujarat's Junagadh district will be thrown open to public from February 3 in the presence of family matriarch Kokilaben Ambani. The memorial is in the same place where the founder of Reliance spent his childhood, and a rented section of the bungalow, then called 'Mangarolwalo Delo', was the place where he lived. 

Dhirubhai had purchased the bungalow in 2002 which is now renamed as 'Dhirubhaino Delo'.  

The bungalow has three sections, comprising a picture gallery, the old residence of the legendary industrialist and an auditorium for screening a short film on Dhirubhai's life to visitors. A sepia gallery at the structure depicts Dhirubhai's journey captured in pictures while his old dwelling is arranged the way it used to be when he lived there.
image
15:43   TripAdvisor pulled up by watchdog over marketing claims
'TripAdvisor has been ordered to rewrite some of its marketing claims by the UK's Advertising Standards Authority,' reports BBC, and that 'the ruling follows complaints by hotels that the site had said that its holiday reviews could be "trusted".'

BBC has also quoted TripAdvisor as describing the ruling as a "highly technical view" of "copy that was used in a limited capacity". Read the report here.
image
15:39   Mumbai BJP chief's daughter-in-law takes back rebellion
In a dramatic turn of events, Mumbai BJP chief Raj Purohit's daughter-in-law Hema, who yesterday filed her nomination as an Independent candidate for the Mumbai municipal corporation polls, today withdrew from the fray in the "larger interests of the party". 

Hema had raised a banner of revolt against the BJP after she was denied the ticket and filed her nomination papers from ward number 219. "I am withdrawing on my own. I have taken this decision in the larger interest of the party," she told reporters without elaborating further.
image
15:36   Alpha men are a misfit at the workplace, says study
Alpha men may not agree, but a new study has claimed that they could be a misfit in office, after researchers found that those with high testosterone levels are stubborn, over-confident, and hard to work with. 

"Testosterone also affects our decisions, by making us more egotistical. Most of the time, this allows us to seek the best solution to a problem, but sometimes too much testosterone can help blind us to other people's views. 

"This can be very significant when we are talking about a dominant individual trying to assert his or her opinion in, say, a jury," the Daily Mail quoted Nick Wright at University College London, who led the study, as saying.
image
15:28   University of Windsor study says US Muslims don't want Shariat
'North American Muslims are more than satisfied with the secular legal system and do not want a set of parallel courts for Islamic law, according to a new study of US and Canadian Muslims by a Washington-based think tank,' reports the Huffington Post..

'The study, by University of Windsor law professor Judy Macfarlane for the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, would seem to refute critics' claims that American Muslims want to impose Shariah, or Islamic law. In fact, the study indicates that Muslims are just as unwilling to accept Islamic law as non-Muslims,' it says.

Read the report here.
image
15:24  
Salman Rushdie tweets: 30 yrs ago @ImranKhanPTI was a fan at my 1982 Delhi lecture and 100% secular. Now my work "humiliates" his "faith." Which is the real Imran?
image
15:21   Tibet resolution in US Congress tells China to ease off
Voicing serious concern over the deteriorating situation in Tibet, six top American senators have introduced a resolution in the United Congress Congress asking China to suspend implementation of religious control regulations and immediately start a dialogue with the Dalai Lama. 

Mourning the recent death of Tibetans and deploring the repressive policies, the resolution calls on China to release all persons that have been arbitrarily detained; to cease the intimidation, harassment and detention of peaceful protesters; and to allow unrestricted access to journalists, foreign diplomats and international organisations to Tibet. 

The resolution, introduced in the Senate by Senator Diena Feinstein, is supported by several other senators including Joe Lieberman, Marco Rubio, John McCain, Jim Webb, Barbara Boxer, Dick Durbin, Mark Udall. 

The resolution has been sent to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for necessary action.
image
15:17   An agenda for Afghan peace talks
Former diplomat MK Bhadrakumar writes on his blog on rediff.com that the reform of Afghanistan's political system is integral to any durable settlement. 

'There is much to be said in favour of the initiative taken by US congressman Dana Rohrabacher. A parliamentary system based on proportional representation provides the check and balance preventing an outright Taliban takeover,' he writes. 

But, the hitch seems to be that 'the team put together by the late Richard Holbrooke comprises seasoned 'Afghan hands' who have come out of the wood work of the Afghan jihad of the 1980s and are still wedded to cold-war mindset. They  feel uncomfortable with non-Pashtun groups whom they see as proxies of Russia and Iran. They would rather flesh out a peace deal with Pakistan's cooperation and keep things strictly under wraps that way.'

Read him here
image
15:14  
'I'd been lured here by the promise of extraordinary diving and snorkelling '" as well as the intrigue of going to a place no one had heard of. Instead, I found myself captivated by the quiet dignity of life on the island. No one attempted to sell me tourist tat, asked me for money or tried to rip me off '" a state of affairs that compared favourably to the Indian mainland.' Jo Caird writes in the Independent, London, of India's Lakshadweep islands, Kadmat specifically.

Caution, reading this article during the workday may lead to murderous, or suicidal, tendencies, so don't tell us we didn't warn you.
image
15:04   FII inflow in Jan highest in 16 months, says Sebi
Overseas investors poured in over Rs 26,000 crore (US $ 5.08 billion) into Indian markets in January 2012, the highest one-month net inflow in 16 months, as sentiments got a boost from easing of inflation concerns and attractive valuations. 

Foreign Institutional Investors purchased equities and debt securities worth a gross amount of Rs 76,548 crore in January 2012, while their gross sales for the month were worth Rs 50,219 crore, translating into a net inflow of Rs 26,329 crore, as per data compiled by the market regulator Sebi. 

 This is the highest net investment by FIIs in stocks and bonds since September 2010.
image
15:02   Court dismisses PIL to cover Nehru family statues in UP
The Allahabad high court today struck down a PIL seeking directions for covering the statues of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi in various parts of Uttar Pradesh as they may help the Congress "derive" political mileage during the assembly polls.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice S R Alam and Justice Ran Vijai Singh struck down the public interest litigation filed by Allahabad-based organisation Adivasi Samajotthan Evam Kalyan Samiti through its president R K Maurya. 

The PIL was filed on January 21, barely a fortnight after the Election Commission had ordered the covering of statues of the elephant -- which is the poll symbol of the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party in the state -- and those of party supremo and Chief Minister Mayawati.
image
14:59   Congress president addresses two rallies in UP
Kicking off her election campaign in Uttar Pradesh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi today attacked Chief Minister Mayawati for dismissing her ministers on election eve and asked whether this has cleansed her government. 

"The present chief minister dismissed 21 of her ministers on election eve. She was not able to see their corruption in the past five years. I want to ask whether taking resignations made her government clean," Gandhi said. "Is this not cheating the people...not an attempt to cheat the people," she asked at Gonda.

Gandhi is scheduled to address another election rally at Deoris.
image
14:58   Income tax raids on liquor baron Ponty Chadha
The income-tax department today conducted searches at the premises of prominent Uttar Pradesh-based liquor baron and businessman Ponty Chadha, in the state and at a few locations in Delhi. 

The searches, which began early this morning, were conducted at more than 10 premises of the businessman after the I-T department got inputs regarding alleged tax evasion by firms associated with him, sources said. 

The searches were conducted by the Delhi-based criminal investigation unit of the department and, according to the sources, the searches were related to the alleged mispricing of huge liquor consignments in the state and other places. 

Chadha is one of the largest liquor businessman of Uttar Pradesh, with numerous dealerships, and his business interest is also in the Cinema and multiplex sector. 

A number of residential and official premises in the state and neighbouring Noida were covered in the searches by a team of about 80 I-T officials, the sources said. 

While on the subject, read this article from Tehelka on how the Mayawati government sweetened the sugar mill deal for Ponty Chadha
image
14:50   Judges Nicole, Paula and Steve out of X Factor US
In a major shake-up, judges Nicole Scherzinger, Paula Abdul and host Steve Jones have been unceremoniously dumped from the US version of X Factor

Abdul, 49, was personally recruited by show boss Simon Cowell for the show after leaving American Idol. She said that she will still remain "dear friends" with Cowell, despite hinting she would've liked to have stayed on the show, reported TMZ Online. Scherzinger, 33, is currently rehearsing for her upcoming European tour that kicks off next month and her camp insists it was her decision not to return. Jones took to his Twitter account to call his departure "a shame." "I won't be hosting next seasons X Factor which is a shame but I can't complain as I've had a great time. Good luck to everyone on the show," he tweeted.

The show, which is very popular in Britain, was launched with much fanfare in the US but failed to live up to the expectations.
image
14:45  
Taslima Nasreen tweets: Kolkata Book Fair committee canceled my book release program today at Kolkata Book Fair. Why?Some religious fanatics don't want it to happen
image
14:43  
Forwardshortleg tweets: MSD thought this was CHennai & opened bowling with Ashwin & played so many spinners..someone tell him this is Sydney!
image
14:42   In the US, thieves target Indian families for their gold
'In the UK, with other investments looking distinctly shaky in the economic crisis, last year gold prices reached record levels. In the autumn, an ounce reached a peak price of 1,194; today it is worth around 1,100 and analysts predict it could reach a new peak later this year or early next, as people seek safer investments, and demand for gold jewellery rises with the growing middle-classes in India,' writes Emine Saner in the Guardian, but this has had a negative fallout on Indians families. Now burglars with metal detectors are targeting the homes of British Asian families for their collections of high-quality 'Indian gold' jewellery, here
image
14:33   US studying South Asian diet to identify heart ailment factors
For the first time in the United States, a $ 500,000 study titled 'Masala' is being conducted on the food habits of South Asians to identify what factors lead to heart disease in them. 

 The study started 16 months ago with an aim to understand genetic, social, environmental and behavioural risk factors for heart diseases and diabetes among South Asians in the United States. 

 The identification of these factors may help the US provide information for future treatments to prevent or cure heart disease in South Asians. In terms of direct cost, the study is funded by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute that falls under National Institute of Health.
image
14:30   Abhishek Bachchan to get award, and it's not for films
Bollywod actor Abhishek Bachchan will receive Green Globe award for outstanding efforts in fighting climate changes by a celebrity. The 35-year-old actor will be honoured by Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger at the 4th Panasonic Green Globe Foundation awards tomorrow.
image
14:22   Election allies Jaya, Vijaykanth clash in TN assembly
Tamil Nadu's Opposition Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam members, including their leader Vijayakanth, were today evicted from Tamil Nadu assembly after a fiery verbal exchange between him and Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who dubbed his conduct as "obnoxious" and regretted the tie-up with his party in the assembly polls. 

A war of words erupted between the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the DMDK over the hike in bus fares and milk prices last year, which soon turned into a one-on-one clash between Jayalalithaa and Vijayakanth. Speaker D Jayakumar later referred the behaviour of the Opposition to the Privileges Committee.
image
14:19   Home ministry's fleet of Dhruv copters grounded
The home ministry is planning to buy and wet-lease choppers to assist its forces engaged in internal security duties, including anti-naxal operations, as its entire fleet of indigenous Dhruv helicopters has been grounded following a series of mishaps. 

Home Minister P Chidambaram said the Mi-17 helicopters of the Indian Air Force will help the paramilitary and state police forces to do their job till alternative arrangements were made.
image
14:12   SC upholds election of JD-U MP unseated by HC
The Supreme Court today upheld the election of Janata Dal-United member of Parliament Mangani Lal Mandal, setting aside the Patna high court verdict unseating the Bihar parliamentarian for not disclosing information about his first wife and her property. 

A bench headed by Justice RM Lodha also imposed a cost of Rs 1 lakh on the voter who had challenged Mandal's election, as he failed to convince the apex court that the MP's failure to disclose the information had "materially" affected the election.
image
14:10   Pak security forces helping Afghan Taliban, says BBC
BBC reports that the Taliban in Afghanistan 'are being directly assisted by Pakistani security services', quoting a secret Nato report seen by the BBC. 

The leaked report, says BBC, 'derived from thousands of interrogations, claims the Taliban remain defiant and have wide support among the Afghan people.'

'A BBC correspondent says the report is painful reading for international forces and the Afghan government,' it says, and quotes a Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman calling the accusations "ridiculous".

Read the explosive report here.
image
14:04   US yoga maker cancels designs featuring Lord Ganesha
The Santa Monica Daily Post reports that 'a Santa Monica-based company that sells custom yoga mats has decided to pull a design which features the Hindu deity Lord Ganesha after receiving a complaint from the president of the Universal Society of Hinduism's Rajan Zed'. 

Zed sent a letter to the company, YogaMatic, on January 27 demanding the company pull the mats featuring Lord Ganesha, following which its CEO William Cawley told the SMDP that he chose to remove the design in question. Read about the controversy here.
image
13:57   The last word has not been said on the Rafale deal
The New York Times reports: 'Analysts stressed that Dassault's selection marked the beginning of what could still be an arduous negotiation process. Defense procurement has typically been a long, slow process in India and the country continues to use decades-old technology in many parts of its armed forces.' Read here.
image
13:55   Know Stephen Hawking's theory on time travel
In 1995, with their forthcoming 15th anniversary issue in mind, The Face magazine approached Stephen Hawking and asked him for a time travel formula. They soon received the following response by fax, says lettersofnote.com, and here it is!
image
13:44  
Sachin Kalbag tweets this Mid-Day report about a  29-year-old man who alleges that cops picked him up for chatting with a friend, who they claimed was a thief; let him go only after allegedly coughing up Rs 10,000 as bribe. Read it here.
image
13:42   Saving Kashmir's snow leopard
'Amongst the lesser known casualties of the conflict between India and Pakistan is wild life. In times of war, we hear of the loss of life and property but seldom notice the huge impact on wildlife. Animals found in the vicinity of the disputed India-Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir are on the verge of extinction. One such is the snow leopard in the border district Kargil,' writes Shivam Vij on kafila.org. 'It is time for India and Pakistan to demilitarise the Line of Control and make a trans-border peace park to save the snow leopard from extinction,' he says here, and we we agree.
image
13:35   Pak prof tells hijab not needed in class, gets threats
A senior professor of a reputed medical college in Pakistan's most populous Punjab province has received threats after he asked a student not to wear the 'hijab' or headscarf in his classes. 

Shaharyar, head of the oncology department of King Edward Medical University in Lahore, had asked a girl attending a fourth-year MBBS class not to wear the hijab. "It's better if you wear the hijab outside the classroom," Shaharyar had said while delivering a lecture a few days ago. 

Shaharyar said: "I have received threatening messages on my cell phone. I have done nothing wrong as I had just told the girl student that the hijab was unnecessary in class."
image
13:18  
Reuters reports that the US defense  department on Tuesday repeated its willingness to share information about the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jet if the Indian government expressed interest in buying the stealthy new, multinational fighter plane, here.
image
13:11   RTI plea upheld, I&B ministry to reveal Sun TV's shareholding
The Central Information Commission has directed the information and broadcasting ministry to make public the stake of Kalanithi Maran, brother of former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran, in Sun TV, saying such details cannot be held back citing commercial confidence.

"List of members of a company, shares issued, etc are required to be furnished (usually by way of annual returns) to the registrar of companies in compliance with the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956.  This information is available on the RoC website on payment of the prescribed fees. Therefore, such information cannot be treated as confidential, more so because it is accessible to the public," Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi said.
image
12:59   Delhi HC asks for Vikas Yadav's medical records
The Delhi high court today asked the Tihar Jail authorities to produce the medical records of Vikas Yadav, serving a life term along with two others in the Nitish Katara murder case, on a plea that he had visited hospitals 87 times by misusing his financial and political influence. 

"The jail superintendent is hereby directed to produce all the relevant medical records of convict Vikas Yadav," a bench of justices Gita Mittal and V K Shali said while posting the matter for hearing tomorrow. "Jail superintendent is also directed to file a report as to whether other inmates have also been permitted to visit hospitals like Vikas Yadav."
image
12:57   NSCN is in talks with us, but indulging in violence: PC
Home Minister P Chidambaram has accused the Naga insurgent group NSCN-IM of indulging in kidnapping and other unlawful activities despite holding peace talks with the government. Chidambaram also said security forces continue to be deployed in Manipur to ensure the safety and security of the Electronic Voting Machines, polling personnel and the candidates. 

"The NSCN-IM is in talks with the Government of India. There is an interlocutor. But it is also true that NSCN-IM cadres along with some other organisations continue to indulge in kidnapping and some time violence," he told reporters in New Delhi last evening.
image
12:55  
Modern Family star Sofia Vergara has been voted the 'Most Desirable Woman in the World' in an online poll. 

The actress, who will be 40 in July, is the oldest person to win the title in AskMen.com's Top 99 Most Desirable Women in the World list after beating off competition from the likes of Rihanna and Kim Kardashian. 

More than one million votes were cast for the survey, which featured 11 of the honourees aged at least 35 or older, with 49-year-old Demi Moore, the eldest in the list.
image
12:49   Fletcher failed to learn from Kirsten, says Aakash Chopra
'The Indian coach made many glaring errors and paid heavily for it. It seemed that he swung between being too ambitious and being cautious enough to not stir the hornet's nest too soon,' writes Aakash Chopra on his blog here.

While on the subject of Chopra, here is the Rajasthan Ranji opener's interview to rediff.com's Bikash Mohapatra where he says of India's Oz debacle, that the writing on the wall was there, we just chose not to see it.
image
12:42   Believe It Or Not: Mind-reading device not too far away
It may now appear to be just the stuff of science fiction, but scientists say a mind-reading device is inching its way ever closer to reality. 

In fact, an international team claims to have already showed it could tell what someone was hearing just by decoding their brain waves, a breakthrough which may lead to an implant that can interpret imagined speech in patients who can't talk. 

In their research, the scientists demonstrated that the brain breaks down words into complex patterns of electrical activity, which can be decoded and translated back into an approximate version of the original sound. 

And, as the brain is believed to process thought in a similar way to sound, the research offers hope to thousands of brain-damaged patients who are not being able to communicate with their loved ones, The Daily Telegraph reported.
image
12:36   Indian scientists find new pathway to chemistry behind life
A team led by two Indian-origin scientists claims to have shown the plausibility of a new pathway to life's chemical building blocks, in what may help recreate the chemistry that might have allowed life to emerge on Earth. 

Chemists have for long considered a chemical pathway known as the formose reaction as the only route for producing sugars essential for life to begin. Now, Vasu Sagi along with Ramanarayanan Krishnamurthy and colleagues at California's Scripps Research Institute say they have found an alternative pathway to those sugars, called the glyoxylate scenario, the Journal of the American Chemical Society reported.
image
12:33   Pak militants kill 14 soldiers in Balochistan
At least 14 paramilitary troopers were killed in a militant attack on a security post in the restive Balochistan province of southwest Pakistan, official sources said today. 

Sources in the Frontier Corps told reporters in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, that 15 more troopers were injured in the attack in Sibi district late last night. 

When troopers did not return to their barracks from a check post in Marawar area, 40 km from Quetta, last evening, other soldiers went to the post. They found 14 bodies and injured troopers lying at the post, the sources said.
image
12:26   Delhi Metro station vandalised after eve-teasing incident
Tilak Nagar Metro station in West Delhi was vandalised late on Tuesday night, following an incident of eve-teasing. According to reports, after a woman was allegedly harassed by two male passengers and her fiance thrashed for protesting the incident, the couple's friends and relatives protested at the metro station against the Central Industrial Security Force men for doing nothing to help the couple. They then went on a rampage inside the station, breaking window panes and grills.
image
12:19   Veteran Bollywood music arranger Anil Mohile is dead
Veteran Bollywood music arranger of yesteryear Anil Mohile passed away in the early hours of Wednesday following a heart attack in his home in Andheri west, Mumbai. He was 71.

Mohile is survived by his wife, and two children -- a daughter and a son.

Mohile has arranged the music for scores of Hindi and Marathi films, incuding a few Amitabh Bachchan starrers. His son Amar is also a music arranger, and worked on the recent Ajay Devgan starrer Singham.
image
12:06   Twitter suspends two fake PMO accounts
Ever since the Prime Minister's Office took to Twitter #PMOIndia, under the aegis, no doubt, of the new communications advisor Pankaj Pachauri, two other accounts with a similar handle had been spreading a miasma of confusion with their misleading tweets.We are glad to note the two accounts, PMOlindia and PM0india, have since been suspended by Twitter.
image
11:55   Chandrahas Choudhury dissects ToI-Hindu ad war
'From around the time of the liberalization of India's economy in 1991, these two venerable newspapers have taken sharply divergent routes toward the business of journalism. Today one might say that they stand, respectively, for a journalistic restlessness that verges on self-harm, and a stability that can seem hidebound.' 

That's Chandrahas Choudhury writing in bloomberg.com about the advertising war between the Times of India and The Hindu newspapers that has gone viral on the internet. Read Chodhury's dissection here.
image
11:49   Indian Army beefing up for limited war with China: US
Noting that India is increasingly getting concerned about China's posture on its border, a top American intelligence official today said the Indian Army was strengthening itself for a "limited conflict" with China.\

"Despite public statements intended to downplay tensions between India and China, we judge that India is increasingly concerned about China's posture along their disputed border and Beijing's perceived aggressive posture in the Indian Ocean and Asia-Pacific region," director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, said in his prepared testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

"The Indian Army believes a major Sino-Indian conflict is not imminent, but the Indian military is strengthening its forces in preparation to fight a limited conflict along the disputed border, and is working to balance Chinese power projection in the Indian Ocean," he said.
image
11:42   Lisa Ray gets engaged to beau Jason Dehni
Lisa Ray, the gorgeous Indo-Canadian actress who describes herself as an 'Accidental Actress, Covert Social Activist and Host of Top Chef Canada. Global Indian, Curious Canadian, Mixed Breed Specimen' (and may we add: multiple myeloma survivor), has got engaged. 

The actress tweeted: 'Delicious update': ENGAGED to the love of my life. Jason Dehni proposed in Napa, and has posted the link to the pic here.
image
11:36   Head of Tamil Nadu temple held for stealing funds
The executive officer of Chokkanathaswamy temple in Virudhunagar, Tamil Nadu, has been arrested for allegedly defrauding funds, collected under the annadhana (free meal) scheme and from hundial to the tune of Rs 13 lakh. Murugesan had been placed under suspension following a series of complaints about him and a departmental inspection was ordered into the accounts of temple, temple sources said.
image
11:34   Munger jail raided, 10 cell phones seized
A joint team of police and district officials today raided the divisional jail in Bihar's Munger district's and seized 10 mobile phones phones and several other prohibited items, sub-divisional officer NK Das said.
image
11:33   Maruti finally bucks downtrend, sales up 5 pc in Jan
The country's largest car-maker Maruti Suzuki has made a turnaround in monthly sales after seven consecutive months of drop, with the company reporting 5.18 per cent rise in sales to 1,15,433 units for January. The company had sold 1,09,743 units in the same month last year, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said in a statement.
image
11:28   Fortis acquires 85 pc stake in Singapore diagnostic firm
Fortis Healthcare (India) today said it has acquired a majority stake in the Singapore-based diagnostic firm RadLink-Asia Pte Ltd for 62.9 million Singapore dollar (about Rs 245 crore). 

'Fortis Healthcare Singapore Pte Ltd, the company's offshore subsidiary, has acquired 85 per cent stake in RadLink-Asia Pte Ltd, an outpatient diagnostic and molecular imaging chain in Singapore, for a purchase consideration of S62.9 million dollars,' the domestic healthcare major said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
image
11:25   Imran Khan, religious parties, and the US
Is Pakistan's new great white hope, Imran Khan, catering to religious parties just to gain power? At least the Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam's Samiul Haq faction thinks so. Its leader, Maulana Samiul Haq, said that Khan had been trying to put his Pakistan Tehreeq e Insaf on both the boats of religious groups and the United States. Those boats are on completely different and divergent paths, Haq said, and warned Khan that he would not be able to use religious groups for coming to power and have US support at the same time. Read it here.
image
11:22  
Shivam Vij writes in Caravan magazine that obscured by the media's penchant for prediction, too often ground realities in Uttar Pradesh reveal the issues that truly determine results, here.
image
11:16   HC rejects plea to summon Modi before Nanavati panel
Just In: The Gujarat high court has rejected plea to summon Chief Minister Narendra Modi before the Justice Nanavati-Mehta Commission inquiring into the post-Godhra riots of 2002. The petition was filed by an NGO, Jan Sangharsh Manch, representing some of the riot victims.
image
11:11   Indian-Americans present award to Union minister
Union Minister for Labor and Employment Mallikarjun Kharge, who is visiting Washington, DC, has been presented with the 'Pride of India' award by the Indian-American community for his over four decades of public service. 

The award was presented jointly by the Indian American Friendship Council and the India Association of North Texas at a reception hosted in honour of the visiting union minister in Dallas over the weekend.
image
11:05  
For those of you wanting to read Supreme Court judges, Justice G S Singhvi and Justice A K Ganguly's ruling on Tuesday, on the public's right to seek sanction to prosecute corrupt ministers, here's the link.
image
11:00   Soon, tribal products may get patent
Aiming to preserve the indigenous knowledge of tribals and products manufactured by them with the help of natural resources, the government is planning to patent some of these under the Intellectual Property Rights.

"The tribal affairs ministry has taken an initiative to patent the forest by-products and indigenous knowledge of making these products through IPR," Tribal Affairs Minister V Kishore Chandra Deo has said.
image
10:58   Almost 400 Russian tourists stranded in Goa
Nearly 380 Russian tourists are stranded in Goa, four days after the sudden suspension of operations by Russia's biggest tour operator Lanta Tur Voyage on account of financial collapse. 

Vikram Varma, representative of the Russian consulate in Goa, said around 160 tourists had been sent back in the last three days on two flights. "Negotiations are in process to ensure that none of them are left grounded in the state," he said. 

 Lanta Tur Voyage had stopped operations last week, resulting in several thousand travellers who had purchased tour packages from the company being stranded.
image
10:54   Sensex down 55 pts in morning trade, Nifty too
The BSE benchmark index Sensex fell by 55 points in early trade today as investors booked profits after recent gains. The 30-share barometer, which rallied by 330.25 points in the previous session, moved down by 54.62, or 0.32 per cent, to 17,138.93 points in early trade today. 

In a similar fashion, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty declined by 21.35 points, or 0.41 per cent, to 5,177.90 points.
image
10:52   Blueprint to curb Mumbai's TB menace unveiled
A team of doctors deputed by the Union ministry of health and family welfare has come up with a blueprint to curb TB cases in Mumbai, a top municipal official said in Mumbai.

"The pilot project will be adopted across the country after it suceeds in Mumbai," Additional Municipal Commissioner Manisha Mhaiskar told PTI.

The project, to be carried out under Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme, would be integrated with the basic public health machinery, she said.
image
10:50   News As It Happens
Good morning and welcome to today's edition of Live! News As It Happens.   

Today's Mumbai Mirror, in true tabloid fashion, gives you the lowdown on the efforts that went on to get Bollywood director Farah Khan and hubby Shirish Kunder to patch up with actor Shah Rukh Khan at the latter's Mumbai residence, Mannat. Read all about it here.

The Times of India has a report on two European tourists who were deported from America for their 'destroy America' tweet. Read about it here, and be careful what you tweet the next time you call on Uncle Sam.

The Asian Age reports that in order to promote national integration and check regionalism, the government proposes to keep a minimum 20 per cent seats in central universities for students from states other than where these are located. It also wants 20 per cent of the faculty at each such university be recruited from other parts of the country. Read about it here

The Hindustan Times reports that a Class 11 student at Delhi Public School, Sushant Lok, slapped a security guard and then joined his father and relatives in beating up the man with baseball bats following an argument over parking a car. The 51-year-old guard, Avdesh Sharma, is in a hospital with a fractured leg. Read about the horror here.  

Don't take that water for granted, the DNA reports that the Centre has plans to privatize water supply. Read it here

The Indian Express reports that the West Bengal government announced Tuesday that it had decided to withdraw the trade union rights of its employees. The announcement, made at the secretariat by the labour minister, has triggered outrage among state government staff. Read about it here.

And for a quick recap of yesterday's news, go here.

TOP STORIES