High Court rejects parole plea of convict in Jessica Lall murder case

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday turned down the three-month parole plea of a convict in the Jessica Lall murder case.

Amardeep Singh Gill, who is serving a four-year jail term along with Manu Sharma, sentenced to life imprisonment in the case had sought the parole for seraching another house on rental basis for his family as his present landlord had given a notice terminating the tenancy.

Justice M.L Mehta said that unless there is some emergency situation, he cannot grant parole to any person. Also added that it is not possible to grant parole for such a long period.

The court,however, said that Gill can be granted custody parole for three to four days for the purpose.

The convict had moved the court after the Delhi Government rejected his plea in October, last year following a report from the Delhi police that he could jump the parole as his family was not having a permanent address.

The petition referred to his "good conduct" during the 13 year jail term.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had upheld the conviction of Sharma, son of Congress Minister Vinod Sharma, Gill and Yadav in the case.

Lall was shot dead on April 29, 1999 at the Tamarind Court Cafe restaurant of Socialite BinaRamani at Qutub Colonnade in New Delhi.

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Kasab not given fair trial: Amicus curiae to Supreme Court

Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab, the sole convict in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case today contended before the Supreme Court that he was not given a free and fair trial in the case.

Senior Advocate, Raju Ramachandran, who has been appointed as amicus curiae by the Apex Court so as to defend Kasab, told a bench headed by Justice Aftab Alam that he was not a part of the conspiracy for waging war against the nation.

Ramachandran said that even if he is guilty for murder under Section 302 of IPC and other provisions, it cannot be said that he was a part of the larger conspiracy of waging war.

Maintaining that the prosecution has failed to prove the case against him beyond doubts. He told the bench that his right against self incrimination as well as his right to get himself adequately represented by a counsel to defend himself in the case have been violated during the trial of the case.

The Apex Court later on October 10, last year stayed the death sentence of the 24-year-old Kasab, the lone surviving gunman involved in the 2008 Mumbai attack.

In the Special Leave Petition filed by Mr Kasab, challenging the Bombay High Court decision has claimed that he was brainwashed like a robot into committing in the shocking crime in the name of god and that he does not deserve capital punishment owing to his young age.

Kasab had been lodged in a prison in Mumbai and had moved the SLP through the jail authorities. Through this petition he had challenged his conviction and death sentence in the terror attack case.

Kasab along with nine other Pakistani terrorists had arrived at Bhudwar Park in South Mumbai on November 26, 2008 night from Karachi by sea and had gone on a shooting spree at various landmark places leaving behin 166 people dead and many more wounded.

While Kasab was captured, all the other terrorists were killed in the attack. He was sentenced to death by a special anti-terror court on May 6 last year.

The Bombay High Court had on February 21, 2011 upheld the verdict of the trial court order of death sentence of Kasab.

Kasab's death penalty was upheld on charges of criminal conspiracy, waging war against the nation and various other provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

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2G case: Supreme Court allows Swamy's petition on sanction of prosecution

The Supreme Court on Tuesday held that filing of a complaint under the Prevention of Corruption Act is a constitutional right of a citizen and the competent authority has to decide within a time frame on granting sanction of prosecution of a public servant.

While setting aside the Delhi High Court order refusing to give direction to the Prime Minister on the request for sanction of prosecution against the then Telecom Minister A Raja in the 2G scam case. The two judge bench of the High Court held that if the sanction is not given within four months then it is deemed to have been granted.

The bench comprising of justices, G.S Singhvi and A.K Ganguly held that Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy, who had sought for sanction for the prosecution of Mr. Raja, had the locus standi to seek it.

It said that the sanction should be granted within a time frame and the authority shall decide in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in Vinnet Narain case of 1996.

Justice Ganguly, who wrote a separate judgement agreed with justices G.S Sighvi and said santion would be deemed to be granted if the competent authority fails to take a decision within a period of four months.

The bench added that the right to file a complaint under the Prevention of Corruption Act is a constitutional right.

The bench also added that it was not accepting certain submissions made by the Attorney General in defending the stand of Prime Minister's office.

 Mr. Swamy alleged that there was an inordinate delay on part of the Prime Minister in taking a decision of his plea for granting sanction to prosecute Mr. Raja in the scam and his plea was neither allowed nor rejected for over 16 months.

The court said it was not declaring as ultra vires the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The Apex Court had reserved its order on November 24, 2010 on the petition filed by Mr. Swamy alleging that there was delay in taking action on his plea seeking sanction to prosecute Mr. Raja.

The government said as the CBI probe was going on it was necessary to wait for its completion before taking any decision on granting sanction.

 Mr. Swamy had approached the Apex Court challenging the Delhi High Court judgement that had refused to take any direction to the Prime Minister for taking decisions on sanction.

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Battered child undergoes second surgery, still critical condition

The two-year-old baby who was battered admitted at the trauma centre at AIIMS underwent another life saving surgery on Monday even as the Police spread the net to locate a man who had adopted the baby and gave her to a teenaged girl for upkeep.

Police also questioned a woman who got the baby from her biological mother, and later handed her over to Rajkumar alias Dilshad aged 28 years, who left the baby with his minor girlfriend before leaving to Mumbai for the treatment of his children.

The baby was admitted to AIIMS with severe injuries and is battling for life after the teenaged girl admitted her into the hospital. The teenager was looking after the baby after Rajkumar left to Mumbai leaving behind the child in her custody.

Though investigators traced him to his in-law's house, Mr. Rajkumar managed to slip out of police net in Mumbai after his friends gave him clue about the same.

After 12 days of her treatment, doctor's said that the child's codition is not yet improved much and she had to be put back on ventilator in the wee hours of the day.

Doctors were compelled to carry out the surgery in the afternoon after investigations revealed water accumulation in her brain.

This was the second surgery the little child was undergoing  after she was brought to hospital on January 18, 2012.

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Anna Hazare to be shifted to Delhi for medical treatment

Anna Hazare's associates reported on Sunday that Anna Hazare has been moved to a hospital in Gurgaon for better treatment.

Anna's aide Datta Awari said from Ralegan Siddhi that Hazare won't be leaving for Delhi tomorrow.

He added that they are now planning Ayurvedic treatment and therefore he will be soon admitted to Medanta hospital in Gurgaon.

Manish Sisodiya, a member of Hazare's core team, said Hazare would be soon taken to Gurgaon for medical check-up as he was ailing from persistent cough and back-pain.

The 74 year old anti-corruption crusader was treated for acute bronchitis at Sancheti Hospital earlier this month.

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24 fall ill after drinking contaminated water

As per the official reports, nearly 24 persons has become ill after drinking contaminated water in a village in Savadatti taluk, about 70 kms from Belgaum.

The District Health Officer Ashok Murgod said that the condition of the villagers hailing from Kagdal village,  who were admitted with diarrohea and vomiting yesterday after drinking the polluted water is stable.

Zilla Panchayat CEO, Ajay Nagabhushan said that the incident occurred due to the negligence of some workers who, after cleaning the overhead tank that supplied the water to the village, failed to close the valve of the distribution pipe.

He added that as a result the water containing chemicals which had to be let out, was released to the distribution pipe insyead, leading to contaminated water for the purpose of drinking.

The district administration has assured that it would take stringent action against the workers who were responsible for the incident.

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Philippines underground river named new wonder of nature

The head of a global competition said on Saturday that the underground river in the wetern Philippines was confirmed to be among the world's new seven wonders of nature.

The Puerto Princesa Underground River in Palawan province is the second of the world's new seven wonders of nature to be confirmed after provisional results were announced last November.

Bernard Weber, founder and president of the New 7 wonders, announced the confirmation in Manila and hailed the support for the nomination in the global competition.

He said that today's confirmation is the well-earned reward for the Filipino people who are in the verge of extraordinary enthusiasm.

He added that the Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the campaign has raised awareness about the river where the visitor's arrivals has increased tremendously. And added that the in turn is the proof positive of how a national effort of this sort can be , to build awareness, express pride and achieve results.

The 8.2 kilometre navigable underground river is the world's longest. The other five provisional  winners are the Amazon, Halong Bay, Iguaza Falls, Komodo and Table Mountain are currently undergoing the final verification process for their confirmation.

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Hunt on for man who raped teen, brutually assaulted two-year-old baby

Police are trying to trace the man who allegedly kidnapped and raped a teenage girl and brutually assaulted a two-year-old baby in Mongolpuri. While the little kid is battling for her life at the Trauma Centre at AIIMS, the 14-year-old teenager is been sent to a shelter home at Lajpat Nagar by the Childs Welfare Committee.

According to police, Raj Kumar had allegedly kidnapped the teenager from her home in Sangam Vihar in June last year. Since then he had been keeping her at a paying guest accommodation in Mongolpuri.

Additional Commissioner of Police, Ajay Chaudhary said the the girl's father who is a vegetable vendor in Govindpuri, had thereby registered a missing complaint with the Sangam Vihar Police. He added that since the girl is minor, they have registered a case of kidnapping and rape and are involved seriously on the task of searching the accused.

The teenager had resurfaced at the AIIMS Trauma Centre on January 18 with the two-year-old child. The child was in a batered state, with severe brain injuries, broken arms, bite marks on her face, and cheeks branded with hot iron.

The girl's contention that the baby sustained injuries owing to a fall from her bed made the doctor's suspicious.

Doctors fear that the baby, who sustained two cardiac arrests in the last three days, may have also suffered permanent brain damage. She is now on ventilator support t the hospital's Neurosurgery ICU.

 Doctors at AIIMS said the baby has a 50%  chance of survival. According to Dr. M C Misra said the contention put forth by the teenga egirl claiming the baby fell from her bed is suspicious. He added that they think the reason for the child's present status is due to physical abuse.

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Minor girl abducted for 'human sacrifice'

As per the police report, a man and his son were today arrested for allegedly abducting a minor girl for "bali".

Nathulal Maratha and his son Rajesh kidnapped the five-year-old girl named Bhumika from neighbourhood in Indore. The police said that they were arrested last evening.

The police further claimed that the minor girl's father, Ghanshyam, alleged in his FIR that his daughter who was missing since afternoon, was abducted by the twosome for the purpose of bali (human sacrifice).

Police officials further added that they are putting their best effort for extracting the exact reason behind the kidnapping.

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Supreme Court stays Lokayukta proceedings against Krishna

The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the Karnataka High Court order directing the lokayukta police to probe him in the alleged illegal mining during his tenure as the Chief Minister of the state.

The bench comprising of justices Altamas Kabir and Gyan Sudha Misra said that they are inclined to stay the proceedings. Accordingly the FIR proceedings on the issue ordered by the Karnataka lokayukta will remain stayed.

The court also said that the probe ordered by the lokayukta court is premature.

It later on issued a notice to Karnataka government and the complainant on whose plea the FIR was registered and sought their response within three weeks.

The court passed the orders on a plea by Krishna seeking the quashing of private complaint and probe by lokayukta police against him over the alleged illegal mining  when he was the Karnataka Chief Minister from 1999 to 2004.

The petition filed by Krishna had challenged the January 20 decision of Karnataka High Court by which his plea for quashing the private complaint and proceedings ordered by the lokayukta special court against him was declined.

He later on contended that the Cabinet decision was a collective one taken unanimously  by 34 ministers and therefore a single individual cannot be held responsible for it.

The High Court had ordered that the investigation should continue into offences relating to  dereservation of forest area in mineral-rich fragile zones.

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IIM-Lucknow student arrested for murder in 2008

The CBI on Wednesday arrested a first-year-student Rahul Verma of IIM-Lucknow for the murder of Mumbai-based fashion designer Aadesh Bajpai in Kanpur in the year 2008. Rahul was then a BTech student at IIT-Kanpur. A CBI court remanded Rahul in three-day police custody.

CBI team searched his IIM-hostel room and his house at Lucknow's Indranagar and seized his laptop and some documents. Investigators said that both Aadesh and Rahul had met on a website for gays and were in touch through a social network site.

Aadesh had come to Kanpur from Mumbai on August 10, 2008 to meet his cousin Vivek Trivedi. He told him that he was going to meet his friend at IIT-Kanpur. He went missing after that.

He was last seen with Rahul Verma on August 10^th. After Aadesh's murder, Kanpur police visited the IIT-Kanpur campus and questioned several students, including Rahul. About 13 days after Aadesh disappeared, the police found his skull and 16 bones dug in a place near the campus.

His parents, camping in Kanpur, said that the skull seemed to be that of their son. A sample was sent for DNA testing to the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting  and Diagnostics in Hydrebad. Kanpur police later informed the Aadesh's family that DNA from the samples could not be extracted. But the second sample sent to Hydrebad confirmed that the remains were of Aadesh.

The police worked on the case for nearly 20 months. On April 1,2010, the case was suddenly transferred to the CBCID. Aadesh's father Surya kumar Bajpai then approached the Allahabad High Court seeking transfer of the case back to the district police on the grounds that about 75% of the probe was complete. In May 2010, the court ordered the case to be returned to the Kanpur police.

Aadesh's family again approached the High Court. They had a fear that the investigation was being influenced and demanded a CBI probe. The probe was then handed over to the CBI.

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Abandoned, 2-year-old battles for life in ICU

The two-year-old child who had been abandoned is suffering from severe head injuries, the brain has suffered permanent damage, the arms are broken, the cheeks branded with hot iron, had had two cardiac arrests in the last three days.

The two-year-old who had been abandoned, with human-bite marks all over her body is waging a lonely battle for her life at the Neurosurgery Intensive Care Unit of the AIIMS trauma centre.

She was brought in on January 18 by a teenage girl, who claimed to be her mother. The moblie phone number which she gave is currently switched off. The address which she gave turned out to be the address of a paying guest accommodation in Southwest Delhi.

She told the hospital authorities that the baby, who flits in and out of consciousness and is on ventilator support, was injured in a fall from the bed.

The nature of injuries which needed urgent surgeries did not backed what she claimed.

Dr. Deepak Agarwal, a neurosurgeon in the traumtic centre said that the injuries suggest that the baby was battered mercilessly, with her head smashed probably against a wall.

A social worker, who volunteers at the hospital said that the behaviour of the mother raised suspicion. The girl who claimed herself as the mother did not looked more than 15 years age and she herself seemed confused about the baby's age. She could not answer any queries about the baby satisfactorily.

The hospital informed the police, who presented the girl to the Child Welfare Committee.  She has been sent to juvenile home. The police have registered a case but have not been able to trace the baby's parent or family.

Dr. Agarwal said that the baby still surviving severe injuries, there is still 50% chance for her survival.

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India celebrates 63rd Republic Day

India is celebrating its 63^rd Republic Day, showcasting its military might and the nation's rich cultural heritage. The main ceremonial parade was held in the capital with Thailand's first woman Prime Minister Yinluck Shinawatra as the guest of honour. The ceremony began arund 10 a.m with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh laying a floral wreath at the Amar Jawan Jyoti to pay tribute to an unknown soldier.

This was followed by a grand parade highligting the might of Indian armed forces as neatly uniformed men and women marched past, shoulder-to-shoulder, saluting the President Pratibha Patil on the dais.

 Lt Gen Vijay Kumar Pillai, general commanding officer, Delhi area and deputy Major General Rajbir Singh commanded the parade.

The marching contingents of the Indian army included horse-mounted columns of the 61^st Cavalry, Parachute Regiment, Bengal Engineer Group and Centre, Brigade of the Guards, Kumaon Regiment, Assam Regiment, Mahar Regiment, Gorkha Rifles Regiment and Corps of Military Police.

 The Indian Navy's contingents was led by Lt. Commander Manikandan K and the Air Force contingent by Flight Lieutenant Sneha Shekhawat, the first women ever to lead an IAF contingent at the Republic Day parade.

The contingents of paramilitary and other auxiliary forces included those from the Border Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force, Assam Rifles, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Coast Guard, Sashastra Seema Bal, Central Industrial Security Force, Railway Protection Force, Delhi Police, National Cadet Corps and National Service Scheme

Tableaux from 23 states and central ministries presented the varied historical, architectural and cultural heritage of the country in the ongoing parade.

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NHRM scam: Key accused commits suicide in Lucknow

Sunil Verma, project manager in the Construction and Design Division of Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam who is being tagged as the prime accused in the NHRM scam committed suicide at his residence in Vikas Nagar, Lucknow today morning.

Family members has been reported as stating that he was under depression since the last one week after being interrogated by the CBI. The NHRM scam, has so far, claimed the lives of four government officials in the state of U.P.

According to police reports, Verma shot himself dead with his revolver at his residence at about 8:30 a.m. He was soon rushed to a hospital, but was of no use.

He had been interrogated by the CBI in connection with the scam on January 4^th.

Lucknow Range DIG , DK Thakur said that Verma's son had informed them about the unfortunate incident. He added that they were carrying out their investigation in the proper channel and therefore he was depressed about the same as he was being interrogated by the CBI in the alleged NHRM scam. But so far even the police authority has failed to point out the exact reason behind the suicide.

In connection with the scam, so far two medical officers namely Vinod Arya and BP Singh have committed suicide.  Later a chief medical officer named Sachan who was also involved in the scam, has ended up his life by hanging himself in the toilet of jail hospital. Later, the High Court also demanded the CBI to probe the scam as well as the killings associated with it.

Besides top officials in the Health and Medical department, the CBI is also questioning the CMO's of 72 districts from where the irregularities in the MHRM fund have been reported. Two ministers from Mayawati government namely Babu Singh and Anant Mishra have also been questioned by the CBI. Mayawati had dropped the following two ministers after the scam surfaced in April last year.

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Hazarika, T.V Rajeswar named for Padma Vibushan awards

Late lyricist and singer Bhupen Hazarika and former civil servant and Governor T.V. Rajeswar has been chosen for this year's Padma Vibushan award.

Late cartoonist Mario de Miranda, eminent painter K.G. Subramanyan and Kantilal H. Sancheti, well known orthopaedic in whose hospital in Pune, Anna Hazare had undergone treatment recently, were also named for the Padma Vibushan award.

As many as 109 awards, including five Padma Vibushans, Padma Bushans and Padma Shris from various disciplines and fields of activity is to be announced on Republic Day evening.

Fourteen people in the category of Foreigners, NRIs, PIOs and posthumous figure in the award list on Wednesday.

There are nineteen women among the awardees and about one-third of these awards are being awarded to people in the field of art.

Actors Dharmendra and Shabana Azmi, director Mira Nair, painter Jatin Das, London-based sculpture Anish Kapoor and Carnatic instrumentalists T.V. Gopalakrishnan and M.S. Gopalakrishnan is being nominated for the Padma Bushan awards.

Persons nominated for Padma Bushan awards are B. Muthuraman (M.D of Tata Steel), Subbiah Vellayan (industrialist), eminent cardiologist Devi Prasad Shetty and cancer specialist Suresh H Advani.

N. Vittal, who brought Central Vigilance Commission to limelight during his tenure as its chief, and former Ambassador to the U.S Ronen Sen were among the list of Padma Bushan awardees.

Noted musician Vanaraj Bhatia, playwright Moti Lal Khemmu, famous Bhajan singer Anup Jalota, Malayalam film director Priyadarshan, industrialists Priya Paul and Swati Piramal, eminent diabetologist V Mohan, Marathi theatre playwright Satish Alekar, Vice Chancellor of Mata Vaishno Devi University Rameshwar Nath Koul and agriculture scientist K L Chadha were among the 77 persons who were chosen for the Padma Shri awards.

In the sports category, cricketer Jhulan Goswami, former hockey Olympian Zaffar Iqbal, archer Limba Ram and yesteryears cricketer commentator Ravi Chaturvedi were picked for the Padma Shri awards.

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2G scam: Swamy claims he has evidence against Chidambaram

Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy, who has filed an application seeking the prosecution of Home Minister P. Chidambaram in the 2G spectrum case on Sunday and claimed he had all evidence against him in the case.

He said at a ABVP meeting here on corruption-free Kerala that he has all evidences against Chidambaram in the 2G spectrum case.

On Saturday, a Delhi Court reserved its order for February 4 on Swamy's plea seeking Chidambaram's prosecution in the case.

During the arguments, Swamy had said the evidence he had brought to court's record prima facie shows that Chidambaram is equally culpabale as former Telecom Minister A Raja, who is facing the trial in the 2G spectrum allocation scam.

Swamy said DMK President M Karunanidhi had no moral right to state that the Supreme Court should decide on the issue as he had not implemented its order on raising the dam height when he was the Chief Minister.

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4 girls rescued from brothel

Police said that four girls, including a minor, were rescued from a brothel in a joint operation by both Meghalaya and Assam Police in Silchar town of Assam.

The four girls from Meghalaya were brought here by a trafficker, whose name the police refused to disclose, and sold to Gita Sinha and Suku Debnath, who run a brothel near Fatak Bazar, the largest wholesale and retail market in the southern part of the state.

The Meghalaya Police, acting on a tip-off, informed their Assam counterparts and rescued the four.

The trafficker was absconding but the police arrested Sinha and Debnath.

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Brit teacher arrested for talking dirty

Police said that a British national who heads an international school in Bangalore has been arrested on charges of inappropriate conversations with a seventh standard student.

Head Master of the British International School, Trio World School, Paul Francis Meekins was produced on Saturday before a Judicial Magistrate, who released him on bail.

A senior police official told the reporters that he has been charged under the Juvenile and Information Technology Acts.

Parents of the said boy, whose identity is not been disclosed, complained that the accused called the boy to his chamber and talked about sex and also chatted with him on the same subject on a social networking site.

The private school following the British curriculum has thereby removed the 37 year old Meekins till completion of the inquiry. Police sources said that his passport has been confiscated.

The school mangement said they are deeply shocked and disappointed by an unfortunate issue, wherein a parent approached the school management, with an allegation that Meekin was allegedly having inappropriate conversations on chat with the pupil.

It said in a statement that immediately the management conducted an emergency meeting and decided to suspended him from his current responsibilities forthwith pending investigation not withstanding his past success. Thereafter, a police investigation was initiated and the management wouthorities has extended their full co-operation to the police authorities.

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NRHM scam: Anomalies in spending of Rs. 5,000 crore

The CAG probing the NHRM scam in Uttar Pradesh has found anomalies in spending of around Rs. 5000 crore under the scheme.

The sources sai that state health department failed to give proper details of spending worths Rs.5,000 crore of the Rs. 8,657 crore given to the state.

They said that the Comptroller and Auditor General submitted a report on its findings to the Governor on Friday. They added that the probe was carried out on the request of the UP Chief Secretary in August last year amidst mounting pressure for a CBI inquiry into the scam.

They said that it was found that the entire amount was transferred through non-registered society and contracts worth Rs. 1,170 crore were given against the open tendering process and agreement flouring established norms.

They said that only one officer of the Principal Secretary rank was making all crucial purchase decisions whereas the rules suggest that three offices of this rank, including one from planning and finance department.

The issue of financial irregularities in NHRM funds came to light when the murder of two CMO's, Family Welfare, Dr. VK Arya in 2010 and Dr. BP Singh in 2011 surfaced and deputy CMO YS Sachan was found dead under mysterious circumstances in the district jail here.

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13 killed and two police injured in Maoists attack in Jharkhand

At least 13 police personnel, including a sub-inspector, were killed and two injured after the naxals of the CPI Maoist triggered a blast blowing a police van in Jharkhand's Garhwa district today.

The incident is reported to take place in Bariganwa forest in the district's Bhandari block, around 222 kilometres from Ranchi. Police added that Bhandari sub-inspector Rajbali Chaudhary was one among the one who got killed.

Director General of Police, G S Rath said that thirteen policemen were killed and two policemen were injured in the blast.

The police party who has been injured and killed in the blast is reported to be a part of an escort party to the Bhandari block development officer, who was going to meet the villagers.

According to the police, the blast was followed by a fierce encounter between the security forces and the rebels. The police headquarters situated in Ranchi has sent reinforcements to bail out the exhauted force stuck in the jungle.

DIG Suman Gupta said that information reached the police headqaurters lately as the communication devices were destroyed in the blast, and mobile phones didn't have network.

DIG of police added that the block office is safe and a relief team has been sent to the place of action.

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Man arrested for throwing shoe at Team Anna

As per the police reports, a man was arrested today who threw a shoe at Anna Hazare.

The incident took place when Arvind Kejriwal, Manis Sisodia and Kiran Bedi were addressing a public meeting at Lord Venkateshwara Hall.

The man who threw the shoes has been identified as Kishan Lal, aged 35 years who hails from Prem Nagar locality of Dehradun.

However, Mr. Goswami has denied the media reports stating that the shoe was tossed at Anna Hazare.

Goswami said that they tried to catch hold of the man when he was about to throw a shoe.

A section of the public who were present for the meeting, however claimed that the man managed to throw the shoe but fortunately it did not hit the target.

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Woman beheads sexual harasser

A married woman from Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur district on Friday beheaded with an axe a man who used to sexually harass her.

The woman, who has been identified as Rajkumari cut off the head of Shyamlal Yadav and then took it to the police station, where she confessed about her act.

Rajkumari told the newspaper reporters at Majoli police station that this man used to harass her sexually and today she called him to a field and axed his head four times. And therefore died on the spot. Later, she carried with herself his head to the police station.

Police also arrested her for the act.

Both the victim and the accused are residents of Amoda village in Jabalpur district.

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Mumbai lawyer held for molesting air-hostess

A lawyer from Mira Road named Chandan Shrivastav, has been arrested for allegedly molesting and cheating air-hostess who had consulted him to fight a case against an airline.

After the complainant, was asked to resign by a domestic airline, she requested Shrivastav on October 25, 2011 to file a case against the aairline for allegedly not paying her salaries and dues. The victim complained that Shrivastav took the originals of her important documents but did not file a case for a month. She added that all he did was insisting her to meet her and nothing else.

The police said that on November 23, when the victim went to meet Shrivastav in his office, next to Mira Road police station, he allegedly tried to hold her hand and tried to kiss her. When she protested, he refused to give back her papers. After she lodged a complaint, Shrivastav went absconding and later on filed an application for anticipatory bail in Thane Sessions Court and the High Court, but did not get one. On Tuesday, acting on a tip-off, the police arrested him from Thane sessions court. Another complainant Arjun Saini had also lodged a cheating case against Shrivastav after he took Rs. 45,000 from Saini to fight a case which never saw the light of the day.

Three FIRs and 19 complaints were filed against Shrivastav.

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CWG scam: Suresh Kalmadi gets bail after 9 months

The Delhi High Court on Thursday granted bail to Suresh Kalmadi, MP and former chief to the Common wealth Games Organising Committee, accused in a corruption case related to the 2010 sporting event.

His aide V.K. Verma has also been granted bail. The court has allowed bail to Kalmadi on a personal bond of Rs. 5 lakhs and surety of the like amount.

Kalmadi was arrested on April 26 last year for his alleged role in awarding a contract for installing the Timing-Scoring-Result system to Swiss Times Omega at an very expensive cost of Rs. 141 crore, allegedly causing a loss over Rs. 95 crore to the public exchequer.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had opposed to grant bail to the above said two accused.

Kalmadi and Verma moved the court for bail on the observation of Supreme Court in the 2G case that bail should be the rule and jail should be an exception.

The Trial Court in the month of June last year had rejected the bail plea of Kalmadi, following which he later on approached the High Court.

The two accused in the instant case and the two companies in the case were charged under various sections of the IPC for cheating, criminal conspiracy and forgery and booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

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MAn held for raping HIV and minors

Police said that the President of an NGO running a shelter home in Gurgaon for AIDS victims was detained and her son was arrested on Thursday on charges of raping two HIV and minor girl.

Sunita Gupta was detained for allegedly hiding the facts of sexual harassment of the girls. Her son as well as the board member Ankur Gupta, aged 38 years, who too is said to be a HIV patient, was arrested on rape charges.

The victims were produced before the court of judicial magistrate Ashok Mann, wherein their statements were recorded.

On Wednesday, eight minor girls were rescued from Drone Foundation's shelter home at Maruti Kung Bhondsi and shifted to another NGO in Delhi.

On Thursday, five more children were rescued.

 Deputy Commissioner of police Hamid Akhtar told the reporters that, Ankur Gupta was arrested on Thursday evening from his hideout in Gurgaon. Sunita isnt arrested yet as the inquiry initiated against them is not yet completed.

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Kodak files for bankruptcy

Photography pioneer Eastman Kodak Company has filed for bankruptcy protection to re-organise its business so as to survive the intense competition.

Kodak company after its 130 years existence has many firsts to its credit, including the invention of its cameras as well as the use of its technology for taking the initial photographs of the moon's surface.

The company said in a statement that Kodak and its US subsidiaries has filed voluntary petitions for Chapter 11 business reorganisations  in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

The company has attained a lifeline of USD 950 million from Citigroup Inc and expects to emerge from the restructuring in the year 2013 as a lean, profitable, digital, imaging and materials science company.

It further said its subsidiaries outside US are not subject to the court's proceedings.

Chairman and CEO Antonio M Perez said in a statement that after considering the advantages of Chapter 11 at this point of time and the entire senior management team unanimously believe that this is a necessary step and the right thing to do for the future of Kodak.

He added that their goal is to maximise the value for stakeholders, including their employees, retirees, creditors and pension trustees. They are also committed to working with their valued customers.

The firm has been struggling all the way to keep afloat and had already exited certain traditional operations, closing down 13 manufacturing plants and 130 processing labs and reducing its workforce by 47,000 since 2003.

Kodak expects that its busniess reorganisation would boost its liquidity in the US and abroad, monetise non-strategic intellectual property, fairly resolve legacy liabilities and enable the company to focus on its most valuable business lines.

It has made pioneering investments in digital and materials deposition technologies in recent years, generating about 75 per cent of its revenue from digital business in 2011.

The company said it has taken this step after preliminary discussions with key constituencies and intends to work toward a consensual reorganisation in the best interests of its stakeholders.

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Trio arrested for rape-cum-murder of 3-year-old

A senior police official said that recently a shocking news has come up where three men is accused of raping and subseqently murdering a three year old minor girl in West Delhi.

The officials said that the trio of Jawahar (30), Birbal (26) and Raj Kumar (24) were arrested for the crime that took place at Kirti Nagar on January 6.

As per the officials report, Jawahar is known to the three year old victims family and allegedly taken her out with her parent's knowledge to an under-construction building where he along with his two friends raped her.

The men then allegedly murdered her and fled away from the scene.

The officials added that the postmortem report confirmed that the victim was sexually assaulted before her murder.

Investigators got some clue that the girl was raped and murdered in an under-construction building following which police interrogated around 250 people. It came to light that the trio were missing and investigators gathered their details.

The officials said that Jawahar is  a resident of  Bihar's Gaya and police team arrested from here. Subsequently, the other two persons were also arrested.

A case of murder and rape was registered against them.

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Principal arrested for attempting to rape student

As per the police report the principal of a primary school in Muktapur village has ben arrested for allegedly trying to rape a nine-year old girl in the school campus.

They said that the incident is said to have took place yesterday when the girl was in the school and principal Manishankar Chaubey tried to rape her.

The accused was later arrested by the police.

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Army Chief going to Supreme Court : Government

Government on Wednesday termed the action of Army chief Gen V K Singh going to the Supreme Court for the settlement of his age issue as an unhealthy precedent and unfortunate development.

Minister of state for Defence M.M Pallam Raju while describing the matter as a sensitive one said that it is a unhealthy precedent and unfortunate development either for the defence ministry or for the armed forces. He also added that this is not a matter for public debate.

Gen Singh moved the Supreme Court challenging the government's action of rejecting his claim on his date of birth.

The Defence Minister recently rejected his contention that he was born in 1951 and not in 1950.

In the recent order, the Ministry has taken his date of birth as May 10, 1950 and not May 10, 1951, which the General has claimed as true as per his matriculation certificate.

Government had on Tuesday filed a caveat petition in the Supreme Court requesting it to be heard before passing any order on the writ petition filed by Gen Singh.

Defence Minister A K Antony and Law Minister Salman Khurshid had held a meeting yesterday with the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss the pros and cons of the Army Chief's action. But there was no word on what the government's strategy would be.

However there was a speculation that Gen Singh may be asked to proceed on leave pending the Apex Court's view on his petition. But there was no confirmation of such a course from the Ministry.

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Anticipatory bail granted to Yeddyurappa, Somanna

The High Court on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to the Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa relating to an alleged land scam, holding no allegation of monetary benefit has been made out in the complaint.

Justice Subhash B. Adi also granted anticipatory bail pleas of Housing Minister Somanna, his wife Shailaja and land owner Lingaraju pertaining to the alleged land irregularities case by Mr. Yeddyurappa.

The court directed all of them to furnish a personal bond of Rs. 2 lakhs each and two sureties each and told them not to tamper with evidences and witnesses or to leave the country without its permission and asked them to cooperate with the investigation agency.

The Judge observed that it is not at all a sudden that the denotification has taken place, even in case of conspiracy there has to be an agreement to do an illegal act.

The court said that there is no allegation of monetary benefit or pecuniary advantage to Yeddyurappa is made out in the complaint and however if there is a possibility of geeting the accused arrested with an intention to lower the image of the accused then it would be dangerous.

Complainant Krishnareddy, a Software Engineer, had alleged that Mr. Somanna had secured denotification of 22 guntas of land in Nagadevanahalli in Kangeri Hobli for an educational institution run by his wife violating rules when Mr. Yeddyurappa as Chief Minister.

After the Lokayukta Court took cognisance of the complaint, all the four had moved High Court for anticipatory bail.

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Two-year-old girl branded 12 times in Kutch Village

As part of the age-old custom prevailing in India, the practice of branding kids in the supposed belief that it will cure them from their ailments, a two and a half year old girl child was branded twelve times on her abdomen in the remote Vagad village of Kutch District.

Kusum Koli, who was suffering from celebral malaria with septicemia, was branded twelve times on her abdomen by her parents on January 12 to cure the child of their diseases. However, the child's condition worsened and subsequently she fell unconscious and was brought to Gandhidham.

Dr. Rajesh Jeswani, a pediatrician based in Gandhidham, who treated the child said that the little girl was branded twelve times with hot iron on her lowest chest and upper part of the abdomen.

Jeswani of Masoom Children's Hospital said that the girl was unconscious and had a fever. She regained her consciousness after 48 hours of treatment. Her parents, who are saltpan workers, had branded her thinking that it will cure the disease.

Jeswani informed that the practice of branding sick children with iron rods, nails etc on abdomen, forehead, neck to cure them of diseases like malaria and pneumonia was rampant in rural areas of Kutch. Jeswani informed that at least five such cases are reported every month.

National Human Rights Commission had taken suo moto cognizance of a recent media report alleging that children in Vagad area of Kutch District and some parts of Rajkot district in Gujarat had been branded with iron rods, heated nails, wires etc in the belief that it will help them to cure their diseases. And most of the victims are children in the age gropu of 0-15 years.

The Commission observed that it raised a serious issue of violation of human rights of children, and had issued a notice to Chief Secretary, Government of Gujarat, calling for a report on the matter.

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Team Anna to hit the campaign trial on Jan 21

Team Anna on Monday will reveal its campaign plans for the assembly polls in five states starting with Uttarkhand on January 21 and spending a major part of February in Uttar Pradesh but will not ask people to vote in favour or against any other party.

However, they added that they will not target a single party during the campaign but will put forward the need to have a strong Lokpal bill.

During these tours, the response of various parties to the movement and their stand on Lokpal bill would be told to the people. People would be encouraged to ask all parties whether they would bring a strong Lokpal bill.

Team Anna spokesperson said that the movement would not ask the people to vote in favour or against any other political party. It will be left upto their complete discretion.

 The first state that the Team Anna is proposing to visit is Uttarkhand, where they would tour for three days till January 23 followed by Punjab for two days on January 24 and January 25. After this the team will return to Uttarkhand on January 27 and 28.

Team Anna's spokesperson again added that in the month of February they have dedicated to Uttar Pradesh elections which Team Anna would visit from February 2^nd till February 25.

The tour program would coincide with the different phases of election in UP.

On February 28, 29 and March 1, the campaign will be in Goa.

Team Anna had faced criticisms for its anti-Congress stand earlier and it revised its stand eraly this month after a meak response to Anna Hazare's protest in Mumbai.

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