LIVE! 147 Zika cases detected in America

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Sat, 27 February 2016

147 Zika cases detected in America

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23:47 Abdullah disapproves of JNU event on Afzal Guru hanging

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah disapproved of the event at JNU on the death anniversary of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, saying it has "discredited" the university.

"What was the necessity to bring in Afzal Guru into the campus? Whosoever raised the issue did a wrong thing. He has discredited and brought a bad name to JNU," he said.

He, however, said "had police not been called in, the VC could have controlled the situation... When the issue got ignited, the country was on fire."

23:21 147 Zika cases detected in America

There have been 107 cases of Zika virus among US travellers returning from Zika-infected areas, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The CDC also reported 40 locally acquired cases of the virus in US territories. Thirty-five are in Puerto Rico, four are in American Samoa, and one is in the US Virgin Islands.

Not included in that count are an additional 117 diagnosed cases of the virus in Puerto Rico that were reported to the CDC after they totaled the above numbers. CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden said Puerto Rico is clearly the most affected area, with the potential for hundreds of thousands of cases of the virus.

The Russian military has halted airstrikes in areas of Syria as part of a cessation of hostilities agreement. Russia has stopped attacks on armed groups included in the temporary truce, defense ministry official Sergei Rudskoi said.

Legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and chess maestro Viswanathan Anand will join Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 17th edition of the 'Mann ki baat' programme tomorrow.

Prime Minister Modi will share his thoughts on upcoming board exams in his radio address, which would be broadcast on the entire network of All India Radio and Doordarshan at 11 am.

The radio address will also include tips to cope with stress and other associated issues while preparing for board exams. The Central Board of Secondary Examination Class 12th board exams 2016 are set to be held from March 1 to April 24, while class 10 exams will begin from March 1 and will end on March 28.

21:42 Gujarat will remain a BJP bastion: Amit Shah

BJP President Amit Shah described Gujarat as the "laboratory" of Sangh Parivar's ideology and expressed confidence of a victory for the party in 2017 assembly polls as he once again attacked Rahul Gandhi over the JNU episode.

Giving a pep talk to Gujarat BJP workers in the wake of recent loss in local body polls, Shah asked them not to get disappointed with the outcome, confident that the saffron outfit will emerge victorious at the Assembly polls and also the 2019 national elections.

"We should not get disappointed here as this is the laboratory of our ideology. The 2012 win in Gujarat was the stepping stone for 2014 Lok Sabha win and in the same way 2017 victory will pave the way for win in 2019 national elections," Shah asserted.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is India's most powerful person while RSS chief Mohan Bhagat is the second most powerful person, according to the 2016 Indian Express Power List, which ranks the 100 most powerful Indians.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat holds the second spot, indicating the huge influence his organisation exerts on the present government. "While Narendra Modi is seen to have complete Sangh backing, Bhagwat has ensured that the RSS maintains its distinct and larger identity as a flagbearer of Hindu pride," the survey said.

BJP chief Amit Shah held the third spot, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Congress President Sonia Gandhi occupied the fourth and fifth spots. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi held the ninth spot. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal held the 8th spot.

BJP's hanta Kumar dashed off a strong-worded letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggesting that the World T20 India vs Pakistan match should not be allowed at Dharamshala, headquarter of Kangra district -- a home to hundreds of valiant jawans, martyrs and ex-servicemen.

He feared that holding the match at Dharamshala close on the heels of martyrdom of two gallant soldiers -- Sanjeevan Rana and Jagdish Chand --who laid down their lives fighting Pakistan militants at Pathankot airbase attack, can create a serious law and order situation, apart from hurting the sentiments of the families living barely few meters away from the stadium.

MNS chief Raj Thackeray said that the BJP should not issue "certificates of patriotism" by politicising the issue of alleged sedition in Jawaharlal Nehru University.

"While anti-national sloganeering in JNU has to be condemned, it is not for BJP to issue certificates of patriotism or treason," Thackeray said at a function. "The BJP has a lot to answer on its alliance with PDP in Jammu and Kashmir, where the state assembly took a stance supporting the Parliament House attack convict Afzal Guru.

"The party has struck an alliance with a party like PDP in J&K, and is parading its patriotic credentials outside," he said. The leader added that the saffron party should not "politicise the issue to bring in its students' wing ABVP on the university campuses."

News that Nergis Mavalvala, the Karachi-born astrophysicist who was in the team that verified Albert Einstein's 1915 general theory of relativity, has been invited to visit Pakistan and to meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has delighted the country's gay community.

Mavalvala is openly gay and a single, independent mother. In Pakistan, both her sexuality and possibly her status would be frowned upon. But Sharif has praised Mavalvala as a source of inspiration for Pakistani scientists and students.

19:00

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's radio programme Mann Ki Baat to be broadcast tomorrow at 11 am.

18:55 German minor alleges sexual assault by auto rickshaw driver in Central Delhi

A teenage German national has alleged sexual assault by an auto rickshaw driver in central Delhi around two months back. The teen, claimed, that on December 14, 2015, she lost her way and an auto rickshaw driver offered her a lift after which he allegedly sexually assaulted her.

She claimed the driver again tried to assault her but after raising an alarm, the auto driver, who was with two other men, fled from the spot. The victim approached Delhi Commission for Women, on February 9 through email. Subsequently, she recorded her statement before DCW on February 20.

18:14 Rohit Vemula's mother meets Sonia Gandhi

Radhika, the mother of Dalit student Rohith Vemula, who committed suicide at Hyderabad University last month, meets Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi.

Yesterday, Rohith's mother held a press conference, along with other family members and friends, and slammed Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani for her 'blatant lies' in Parliament. Vemulas mother shot out at Irani, saying, This is not the small screen where you can act, this is our life. If you have the capacity, bring out the facts but dont fabricate them. You are lying in Parliament.

18:08

JUST IN: Delhi court extends police custody of JNU students, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, arrested in sedition case, by two more days.

17:49 Huge blast near Afghanistan defence ministry building

A loud explosion rocked the Afghan capital Kabul near the defence ministry on Saturday, hours after a suicide bomber killed at least 11 people in the eastern province of Kunar. Interior ministry spokesperson Najib Danish said it was not yet clear what caused the blast but casualties were feared.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar asked people to share information, if they have any, with the state police regarding the alleged incident of sexual assault of women near Murthal in Sonepat during the Jat quota agitation.

Those people who possess any information (regarding Murthal incident) must come forward and share it with the police. But we do not understand why the information is not being shared with the police by people (if they have), Khattar said.

Khattar, whose government faced wrath for alleged failure in containing arson and violence during Jat agitation, said a committee has been formed for receiving information about alleged rape or sexual assault with women.

A special team has been formed and their mobile numbers have been given. If any complaint comes or any eyewitness provides any information, immediate action will be taken, he further said.

In the backdrop of JNU and Hyderabad university row, some faculty members and students of the Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Social Sciences, along with some activists, are holding a two-day conference to discuss the "attack on autonomy of educational institutions and freedom of expression".

"This is not an official event of TISS. We are a group of academics who are deeply concerned at the attack on autonomy of some higher education institutions," R Ramkumar, Professor and Dean (School of Development Studies) at TISS, said.

The initiative, called 'Celebrating freedom and pluralism', will be held at the Y B Chavan Centre, Nariman Point, on March 5 and 6, he said.

"We are organising this event because we are concerned over the evolving situation in the country where different constitutional rights of citizens are under threat," Ramakumar said.

A resident of Indore has been receiving telephone calls since yesterday after Haryana Police listed his number among the names and numbers of three officers for receiving information concerning the alleged incident of sexual assault on some women near Murthal during the Jat stir.

When a journalist called up the mobile number given yesterday by Haryana Police DGP Y P Singhal of DIG Rajshree Singh, heading the three-member women police officer's team, it turned out to be of an Indore resident.

The Indore resident immediately asked the journalist whether he wanted to ask about the alleged rape cases.

When told that he wanted to talk to DIG Rajshree, the Indore resident retorted that this was not the number of the DIG and he was being harassed since yesterday as he was repeatedly getting calls.

"I have lodged a complaint with the local police," the recipient of the call said.

On a phone directory application, the number was found to be of Madhya Pradesh circle in the name of some other person instead of DIG Rajshree while the mobile numbers of the other two officers matched with the details on the app.

NDTV reports: Confronted by a team of lawyers sent by the Supreme Court, policemen at Delhi's Patiala House Courts were able to offer little explanation for the violence that unfolded for the second time last week when arrested JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar was assaulted while being produced for his hearing.

"How do you allow the attack to take place in court premises? Your men are posted everywhere? So what were they doing? Sleeping?" a policeman can be heard being asked in front of the panel that included senior advocates Rajeev Dhawan, Kapil Sibal, Dushyant Dave and Haren Rawal.

"How can he (the attacker) go away from the court premises? Do your men have instructions not to intervene?" the policemen are asked, drawing squirming responses.

Several policemen, including three Station House Officers or SHOs who are asked to explain the assault on Kumar can be heard saying they were not present when it happened. They also fail to name any policemen who were there.

"The attack didn't happen inside the court, it happened outside," one of the policeman claimed -- instantly challenged by a JNU professor and other witnesses. The police have said that a last-minute change in plans to produce Mr Kumar resulted in confusion leading to the violence.

16:25

Congress leader Digvijaya Singh granted bail in MP Assembly Recruitment Scam

15:25 Amid JNU row, President Pranab calls for Indian Penal code revision

Amidst a national debate over the use of sedition charges against Jawaharlal Nehru University students, President Pranab Mukherjee called for a revision of the Indian Penal code to meet the needs of the 21st century.

Speaking at an event in Kochi on the occasion of the year-long celebrations of the 155th anniversary of the Indian Penal Code, the President said that it has undergone very few changes since its inception.

"The IPC has undergone very few changes in the last 155 years. Very few crimes have been added to the initial list of crimes and declared punishable," he said at the valedictory event on the occasion of the year-long celebrations of the 155th anniversary of IPC.

"Even now, there are offences in the code which were enacted by the British to meet their colonial needs. Yet, there are many new offences which have to be properly defined and incorporated in the code," he said.

The premier code for criminal law was a model piece of legislation but requires a "thorough revision to meet the changing needs of the 21st century", he said.

Hindustan Times reports: Joint secretary of JNU students' union, Saurabh Kumar, will hold a public screening on campus of the T20 cricket match between India and Pakistan scheduled for Saturday evening.

Saurabh is the sole member of right wing ABVP in the JNUSU. The screening is being done at a time when the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus is at the centre of a debate on nationalism following an event on Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's on February 9.

Saurabh Kumar said the screening is being done on students' demand.

Kumar said that they will show the match to students using big screens and projectors.

"Students in campus wanted to see the match so we thought of doing this. We will put up a screen, use projectors. In this way many students can see the match together," Kumar said.

Read more HERE

15:11

Delhi court summons ex-Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran, Kalanithi Maran, his wife as accused in a money laundering case related to Aircel-M: PTI reports

15:08

Congress to move privilege motion against HRD minister Smriti Irani : ANI

14:52

JUST IN: Karishma Kapoor files FIR under Sections 498 A (Dowry law) and 34 against husband Sanjay and mother-in-law Rani: ANI

14:50 Inventor Alfred E Mann, who helped develop pacemakers, dead

Philanthropist Alfred E Mann, an entrepreneur and inventor whose wide-ranging business endeavors included aerospace, pharmaceuticals, electronic circuitry and biomedical research, has died. He was 90.

His death on Thursday was announced by MannKind Corp, where Mann served as chairman of the Valencia, California-based company from 2001 to earlier this month.

The son of an immigrant grocer, Mann amassed his fortune through founding a string of companies. His pioneering work included development of the first rechargeable pacemaker and inhalable insulin.

He started out in aerospace, where his firms developed solar cells, semiconductors and other technologies for America's military and space programs.

Later, he earned hundreds of millions of dollars by producing pacemakers for heart patients and insulin pumps to help treat diabetics.

In 2007, Forbes magazine estimated his fortune at $2.4 billion.

A Pakistani court has granted bail to a young die-hard fan of ace Indian batsman Virat Kohli after he spent more than a month behind bars over treason charges for hoisting the Indian tricolour atop his home.

The additional district and sessions court in Okara admitted bail plea of 22-year-old Umar Daraz, a tailor by profession who was arrested on January 25, from his home in Okara district, some 200 kilometres from here, in Punjab province.

The Kohli lookalike, who had said he hoisted the tricolour to show his love for the batsman, was accused of acting against Pakistan's sovereignty and could face up to 10 years in prison or fine or both.

Advocates Rizwan and Muhammad Yousaf applied for his bail with the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Asadullah Siraj after district court judge Anique Anwar rejected Daraz's bail plea on February 18, notwithstanding a police clean chit.

Yesterday, after examining police and judicial case files and hearing arguments of both sides, the court admitted the plea and ordered him to furnish a surety bond worth Rs 50,000, the Dawn reported.

13:23 Malayalam filmmaker Rajesh Pillai dead at 42

South Indian filmmaker Rajesh Pillai died on Saturday at a private hospital in Kochi, according to a report in The News Minute.

The 42-year-old director was suffering from a liver problem and had been on ventilator support since Friday.

His latest film Vettah, starring Kunjacko Bobban, Manju Warrier and Indrajith, released this Friday.

The director was admitted to hospital several times during the course of making the film, contracting pneumonia while Vettah was in the final sound mixing stage. He had been suffering from liver cirrhosis for a long time.

Pillai had been adviced to go in for a liver transplant but asked by the doctors to reduce weight first. The director chose to wait for his film's release instead, which aggravated his condition.

The number of men smoking tobacco in India rose by more than one-thirds to 108 million in 17 years, according to an alarming new study led by an Indian-origin researcher, which also found that cigarettes are replacing the traditional bidis.

The study found the number of men smoking any type of tobacco at ages 15-69 years rose by about 29 million, or 36 per cent, from 79 million in 1998 to 108 million in 2015, representing an average annual increase of about 1.7 million male smokers.

"In 2010 smoking caused about 1 million deaths or 10 per cent of all deaths in India, with about 70 per cent of those deaths occurring between the ages of 30 and 69, what should be the prime of their lives," said Prabhat Jha from University of Toronto who led the study.

The overall age adjusted smoking prevalence at ages 15-69 years declined modestly from 27 per cent in 1998 to 24 per cent in 2010 but total numbers rose due to population growth, researchers said.

13:08 Samsung wins US appeal in Apple patent case

A US appeals court has handed Samsung a win over Apple in a long-running patent fight, overriding a jury verdict ordering it to pay $119.6 million to the iPhone maker.

The court ruled yesterday that two Apple patents at issue were not valid, according to a copy of the decision posted online.

"We are delighted with the resounding victory from the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which found that two

of Apple's patents should never have been issued," Samsung said in a statement.

"Today's decision is a win for consumer choice and puts competition back where it belongs -- in the marketplace, not in the courtroom."

Apple originally filed the suit against Samsung in early 2012, accusing the South Korean consumer electronics giant of infringing on an array of patents related to smartphones.

Samsung denied it had done anything wrong and filed a countersuit saying that Apple had infringed on some of its patents.

The number of patents involved was whittled down during the lengthy litigation process.

At least 10 people were killed and over 40 injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up near a market in Afghanistan's eastern province of Kunar today, officials said.

"A suicide bomber riding a motorcycle detonated his explosives in a market in Asadabad the provincial capital, 10 people were killed and over 40 were injured." Ghani Mosamem, spokesman for the provincial governor told AFP.

Another Jawaharlal Nehru University student, Ashutosh, who the police was looking out for in connection with the sedition case, joined investigation on Saturday after receiving a police summon.

Ashutosh, who is JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar's predecessor, is one of the five students, including Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, who resurfaced in the varsity's campus on Sunday night.

Ashutosh received the summon on Friday night and produced himself on Saturday at RK Puram Police Station, where Khalid and Anirban are presently being interrogated, a police official said.

Other two students, Rama Naga and Anant Kumar, are yet to receive any police summon. They had earlier written to police that they are ready to join investigation too.

Times of India reports: Kanhaiya Kumar, according to police sources, has claimed that he did not know Umar Khalid or Anirban Bhattacharya, now in Delhi Police custody, personally but was aware of their political affiliations.

He has allegedly claimed that he knew them only as fellow students and did not agree with their political ideology.

He has stuck to his claim that his role was limited to having intervened during a clash between two groups on February 9.

Now, police officials are looking at arresting at least four others whose role has been confirmed during interrogation and evidence collection. They may soon contact these students who are accused of being involved in the conspiracy.

Indian Express reports: The investigation into alleged anti-national slogans raised on Jawaharlal Nehru University campus earlier this month has been transferred to the Delhi Police Special Cell. The move to transfer the case to the unit that probes terror cases came on the day three JNU students arrested so far were questioned together.

Police sources said the case was transferred to the Special Cell as it specialised in investigations related to national security.

"Joint questioning of the three persons was done by the Special Cell. And the report mentions that the accused are not cooperating with the investigation. There is involvement of people from other states as well in the whole incident," said a senior police officer.

The order includes the names of all the three students -- JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya -- with their age and addresses.

Read more HERE

10:15 JNU row: Shutdown across Kashmir today

A complete shutdown is being observed across Kashmir today against the crackdown on the Jawaharlal Nehru University students and former Delhi University Professor SAR Geelani who have been slapped with charges of sedition by the Centre.

The shutdown call was given by the Hurriyat conference and other Separatist organizations have supported this call.

All shops, business establishments are closed and public transport is off from the roads. The authorities have deployed Police and Para Military forces at vital places to stop any kind of violent protests.

Meanwhile, with the three-day police custody of JNU students Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya ending today, the Delhi police will produce both of them in a makeshift court room following an order by the Delhi High Court to "maintain confidentiality" during their remand proceedings.

Times of India reports: HRD minister Smriti Irani should know that university students are "not her baccha" nor "do we need a mother like her", said Anant Prakash Narayan, one of the students charged with sedition for the controversial February 9 event.

Reacting to Irani's speech in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, the former JNU Students' Union vice-president said, "This is entirely a political issue and we're her political opponents. We're such a threat that she needs the state apparatus to battle us."

On Friday, JNUSU described Irani's speech as a "shocking bid to mislead Parliament about ministerial muscle-flexing and crackdown on students." The other students whose arrest is being sought by the police also emerged to refute the facts as stated by the minister.

Read more HERE

10:10

JUST IN: One dead, two injured after a crude bomb exploded in Birbhum district of West Bengal

09:30 US defence officials line up for 'Make in India' F-16 proposal

US defence secretary Ashton Carter's two-day India visit beginning late on April 10 will be the high point of a string of visits by top defence officials of the Obama administration.

The quickened pace of the India-US defence relationship is a consequence of last week's formal "Make in India" proposal from Washington on single engine F-16 and twin engine F-18 multi-role fighters.

As importantly, less than a year is left in Obama's second term, and the entire gamut of India-US defence relations, including transfer of F-414 engine technology and joint development of an aircraft carrier, has to be reviewed in the limited time available.

The conveyor belt will be set in motion by foreign secretary S Jaishankar's visit to the US next week in connection with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's presence at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington from March 31-April 1 as well as for talks on issues related to intellectual property rights.

Read more HERE

A ceasefire brokered by the United States and Russia went into effect across Syria today, marking the biggest international push to reduce violence in the country's devastating conflict, but the Islamic State group and al-Qaida's branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, were excluded.

The ceasefire aims to bring representatives of the Syrian government and the opposition back to the negotiating table in Geneva for talks on a political transition. The UN's envoy, Staffan de Mistura, announced that peace talks would resume on

March 7 if the cessation of hostilities "largely holds."

If it does, it would be the first time international negotiations have brought any degree of quiet in Syria's five-year civil war. But success requires adherence by multiple armed factions and the truce is made more fragile because it allows fighting to continue against the Islamic State group and Nusra Front, which could easily re-ignite broader warfare.

The Syrian government and the opposition, including nearly 100 rebel groups, have said they will abide by the ceasefire despite serious skepticism about chances for success.

North Korea today boasted of a newly developed anti-tank weapon that its leader said was so powerful it could turn the most heavily armoured enemy tanks into "boiled pumpkin".

Pyongyang's state media said leader Kim Jong-Un had watched tests of the portable, laser-guided rocket and declared it had the "longest firing range in the world", and was "as accurate as a sniper's rifle".

"He noted with great satisfaction that even the special armoured tanks and cars of the enemies which boast their high manoeuvrability and striking power are no more than a boiled pumpkin before the anti-tank guided weapon", the KCNA news agency.

Kim called for the weapon to go into mass production as soon as possible and for it to be deployed to frontline units and coastal defence units.

With just 32 squadrons remaining out of the actual requirement of 42, the Indian Air Force may be ill prepared to give an effect resonse in the event of an enemy assualt, said an NDTV report.

The seriousness of the situation is highlighted by the fact that Defence Minister Manohar Parikkar has escalated the matter to PM Narendra Modi, it said.

Parrikar has reportedly made a detailed presentation to PM Modi recently on the operational difficulties that the IAF is facing.

Citing top IAF commanders, the NDTV reported that out of the total requirement of 42 fighter jet squadrons, the Indian Air Force only has 32.

The air force needs at least 42 squadrons to protect its borders with Pakistan and China. And by 2019 -2020, it would lose another 14 squadrons of the vintage MiG 21s and MiG 27s, the report said.

President Pranab Mukherjee will launch five key projects, including declaration of Kerala as the first digital state and dedication of the UL CyberPark to the nation, at Kozhikode on Saturday.

Dedication of the Gender Park by the department of Social Justice of Kerala government to the nation, state government's Digital Empowerment Campaign and "Kanivu" (Compassionate Kerala) are the other three projects to be launched by the President.

All the projects will be launched at a function at UL CyberPark premises at Kozhikode which will be attended by Governor P Sathasivam and Chief Minister Oommen Chandy besides other dignitaries.

Gender Park, an autonomous institution, is the first-of-its-kind platform in the country to resolve gender inequity in development and address the gender issues, its officials said.

00:43 Delhi Police probing 'threat' mail to Kejriwal

Delhi Police is probing a "threat" mail received on Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's official e-mail address, with regard to which a complaint was lodged at central Delhi's IP Estate police station.

According to the complaint, a mail was received in the chief minister's official e-mail address on February 15 in reference to a comment posted on a YouTube video earlier.

The "self-explanatory" contents of the e-mail, sent by an account named after one Gaurav Kumar, posed "death threat" to the CM, the complaint read.

The complaint was lodged on February 15, following which a non-cognizant report was registered at central Delhi's IP Estate police station, which has Delhi Secretariat under its jurisdiction, police said. "We are looking into the matter," a senior police official said.

00:05 Top headlines of the last 24 hours

Justice Karnan asked to join Calcutta HC before Mar 11
SC seeks Centre's suggestions to ban child pornography
MP recruitment scam: Digvijay faces non-bailable arrest warrant
Irani resorted to 'blatant lies' in Parliament: Rohith's mother
He taught me to be informed, unafraid: Slain B'desh blogger's stepdaughter

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