Wednesday 30 January 2013

‘Vishwaroopam’: Kamal Haasan reaches truce with Muslim community

Chennai: Kamal Haasan has agreed to edit certain objectionable portions from his film ‘Vishwaroopam’ and has said that the film is in no way Anti-Indian Muslims. 

Emphasising on the fact that the film is Pro-Indian Muslims and that he does believe that he is a victim of somebody’s confusion over what he is trying to convey through his film.

The actor is believed to have held a meeting with Muslim leaders and the two parties have mutually arrived at a consensus.

The actor has said that it is now the government and the Police’s duty to maintain law and order pertaining to the violence triggered because of the film.

Sunday 27 January 2013

'Amanat' case: Fast track court to hear framing of charges against five accused


Defence lawyers in the Delhi gang-rape case will today argue on framing of charges at a fast track court in the Saket District Court complex in Delhi against the five accused who brutally gang-rape 'Amanat' (NOT her real name) on December 16 last year.

The trial in the case will begin once charges are framed against the five accused.

One of the five accused has claimed that he is below 18 years of age and should be tried in a juvenile court. As per police records, the gym instructor is 20 years old.

The court is likely to pass an order today, on whether a bone marrow test should be conducted on the fifth accused to determine his exact age.

The barbarous assault prompted weeks of angry protests by thousands of people in Delhi and other cities, who demanded swift justice for Amanat, faster trials for rape cases, and harsher punishment for sexual crimes.

The 23-year-old medical student and her boyfriend boarded the bus, after they were led to believe that it was a charter bus, used commonly in Delhi as public transport.  They were then assaulted with an iron rod before the men allegedly took turns raping her, the police says. The couple was later thrown from the bus, and managed to escape an attempt by the men to run them over. 'Amanat' died two weeks later from the horrific injuries of her attack.

A committee of legal experts set up by the government to suggest amendments to existing laws submitted its report last week.  The commission, headed by Justice JS Verma, has asked for sweeping changes, but has not recommended the death penalty for rapists.  Instead, the panel suggests that the maximum sentence for rapists should be life imprisonment "which shall mean for the rest of the convict's natural life." Currently, convicts sentenced to life in prison are often released after 14 years in jail.

Wednesday 23 January 2013

Apple's iPhone disappointment fans doubt on growth

San Francisco: Apple Inc missed Wall Street's revenue forecast for the third straight quarter after iPhone sales came in below expectations, fanning fears that its dominance of consumer electronics is slipping.

Shares of the world's largest tech company fell 10 per cent to $463 in after-hours trade, wiping out some $50 billion of its market value - nearly equivalent to that of Hewlett-Packard and Dell combined.

On Wednesday, Apple said it shipped a record 47.8 million iPhones in the December quarter, up 29 per cent from a year earlier. But that lagged the 50 million that analysts on average had projected.

Expectations heading into the results had been subdued by news of possible production cutbacks by some component suppliers in Asia, triggering fears that demand for the iPhone, which accounts for half of Apple's revenue, and the iPad could be slowing. But some investors clung to hopes for a repeat of years of historical outperformance, analysts said.

"It's going to call into question Apple's dominance in the space. It's still one of the strong players, the others being Samsung and Google. It's still a two-horse race, but android continues to grow rapidly," said Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu.

"If you step back a bit, it's clear they shipped a lot of phones. But the problem is the high expectations that investors have. Apple's conservative guidance highlights the concerns over production cuts coming out of Asia recently."

Apple is forecasting revenue of $41 billion to $43 billion in the current, second fiscal year quarter, lagging the average Wall Street forecast of more than $45 billion.

Fiscal year first-quarter revenue rose 18 per cent to $54.5 billion, below the average analyst estimate of $54.73 billion, though earnings per share of $13.81 beat the Street forecast of $13.47, according to Thomson Reuters.

Apple also undershot revenue targets in the previous two quarters, and these results will prompt more questions on what Apple has in its product pipeline, and what it can do to attract new sales and maintain its growth trajectory, analysts said.

The net income of $13.07 billion was virtually flat with $13.06 billion a year earlier on higher manufacturing costs. The year-ago quarter also had an extra week compared to this year. Gross margins consequently slid to 38.6 per cent, from 44.7 per cent previously.

"You can't just keep rolling out iPhones and iPads and think that everybody needs a new one," said Jeffrey Gundlach, who runs DoubleLine Capital LP, the $53 billion bond firm. "The mini? What is that all about? It is a slightly smaller iPad - so what? So that is our new definition of innovation?"

"There are plenty of competitors like Samsung and other legitimate competitors like them," added Mr Gundlach, one of the highest-profile Apple bears. He maintains a $425 price target.

Taking into account the drop in shares in Wednesday's after-hours trading, Apple's stock is now down 34 per cent from its September record high and the company has lost about $227 billion in market value.
The shares of several of Apple's suppliers crumbled. Chip suppliers Skyworks and Cirrus Logic both fell more than 6 per cent. Qualcomm Inc slipped 1.8 per cent.

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Delhi gangrape impact: Justice Verma Committee to submit report on reform in anti-rape laws today

More than a month after the horrific Delhi gangrape-cum-murder, the Justice Verma Committee will submit its recommendations on reform measures in Indian anti-rape laws.

Shaken by the fury of the capital's angry youth and apparently needing promptings of Sonia Gandhi, a clueless Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde had announced the setting up of a three-member committee of eminent jurists to review the country's rape laws. The committee, comprising Justices (retd) J.S. Verma and Leila Seth and noted jurist Gopal Subramaniam, was to submit its report in 30 days.

The Committee was given a mandate to review existing legal options and suggest measures to strengthen such legislation to check crimes against women. The Committee was also asked to invite the views of citizens, NGOs, rights groups, activists and other stakeholders.


Keeping in mind the current case, the Committee was asked to review if enhanced punishment for aggravated or extreme assaults fell withing judicial bounds.

The Committee was also to recommend the validity of death sentences in rape cases and the increase of rape sentences to life.

Tuesday 22 January 2013

Google may soon replace passwords


LONDON: Search giant Google is set to kill off passwords and is experimenting with USB keys, mobile phones and even jewelry that can act as a physical 'key' to give users access to their account.

The firm's security experts including an Indian are set to publish their findings next month, the 'Daily Mail' reported.

In the upcoming issue of IEEE Security & Privacy Magazine, Google Vice President of Security Eric Grosse and engineer Mayank Upadhyay will detail what is basically a physical key with a 'smart chip' embedded inside it.

"Along with many in the industry, we feel passwords and simple bearer tokens such as cookies are no longer sufficient to keep users safe," the pair write in their paper, according to Wired.

To log, users simply place the tiny Universal Serial Bus (USB) drive into their computer.

The firm is also believed to be experimenting with wireless chips that are already built into some mobile phones, and can even be built in jewelry.

"We'd like your smartphone or smartcard-embedded finger ring to authorise a new computer via a tap on the computer, even in situations in which your phone might be without cellular connectivity," the team writes.

"One option uses a tiny USB key called a YubiKey. When the user plugs the key into a latop, they are automatically logged into all of their Google accounts - without ever having to type in a password," they explain.

"Another option uses a 'smartcard-embedded finger ring to authorise a new computer via a tap on the computer," they said.

The firm is also believed to be addressing the obvious problem with the system users losing their 'key' and is thought to be developing a simple system to replace them.

However, the pair admit that they will have to rely on websites to support the scheme.

"Others have tried similar approaches but achieved little success in the consumer world," they write.

"Although we recognise that our initiative will likewise remain speculative until we've proven large scale acceptance, we're eager to test it with other websites," they say. 

Monday 21 January 2013

Trial of Delhi gang-rape suspect has begun: Prosecutor

NEW DELHI: Five men went on trial Monday over the fatal gang-rape of student on a bus in Delhi as the victim's father urged the special fast-track court to deliver swift justice and sentence her attackers to hang.

With the case being held behind closed doors and subject to a gagging order, it was left to one of the prosecutors to announce the start of the case to reporters packed outside the sessions court in New Delhi.

"The trial has begun," Dayan Krishnan told AFP. "The chargesheet has been submitted before the judge and the arguments will begin on January 24."

The trial is being held in a special "fast-track" court in the capital set up to circumvent India's notoriously slow justice system, with the victim's family leading widespread calls for quick closure on the horrifying case.

The start of the trial was delayed until late in the afternoon Monday by a failed application to overturn the gagging order while a lawyer for one defendant also sought to move the trial out of New Delhi.

The father of the 23-year-old victim said her family would rest only once the culprits were convicted and hanged and he urged judge Yogesh Khanna to complete his work quickly.

"We have finished the mourning rituals for my daughter in the village but our mourning will not end until the court passes down its verdict. My daughter's soul will only rest in peace after the court punishes the men," the father told AFP.

"It is the duty of the court and the judges to ensure that the final order to punish all the accused is handed down quickly and all the men are hanged.

"No man has the right to live after committing such a heinous crime."

The assault last month on the medical student, who cannot be named for legal reasons, sparked mass protests across India -- in particular in New Delhi which has been dubbed the country's "rape capital" over the incidence of such attacks.

Though gang-rapes and sexual harassment are commonplace in India, the case has touched a nerve, leading to an outpouring of criticism of the treatment of women in Indian society.

Sonia Gandhi, president of India's ruling Congress party, on Sunday condemned the "shameful" social attitudes which she said led to crimes like gang-rape. The New Delhi case had "shaken the entire country," she added.

The five men face murder, rape, robbery, kidnapping and other charges, with prosecutors expected to demand the death penalty. A sixth suspect, who claims he is 17, will be tried by a separate juvenile court.

Defence lawyers say they will enter not-guilty pleas and accuse police of torturing the adult defendants -- aged between 19 and 35 -- to confess.

The woman, a promising student whose father worked extra shifts as an airport baggage handler to educate her, suffered massive intestinal injuries during the assault on the bus in which she was raped and violated with an iron bar.

She died 13 days later after the government airlifted her to a Singapore hospital in a last-ditch bid to save her life.

In a move that could lead to a significant delay to proceedings, the Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider a request to transfer the trial to a venue outside New Delhi.

M.L. Sharma, counsel for defendant Mukesh Singh, said it would be impossible for his client to receive a fair hearing in the city where the December 16 attack took place.

The application for a transfer will be considered by the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

V.K. Anand, a defence lawyer for another suspect called Ram Singh, asked the judge to lift the reporting ban on proceedings, but his request was refused.

"Crime is against society at large. Society has the right to know what happens in the court," he argued when speaking to AFP.

Senior prosecutor Rajiv Mohan, who has vowed to seek the death penalty for the "heinous" crime, has said that he has "sufficient evidence" against all the accused to secure a conviction.

Police have gathered DNA evidence allegedly linking the defendants to the attack while the victim's hospital-bed declaration before her death and testimony from her 28-year-old companion are also set to be crucial.

India says it only imposes the death penalty in the "rarest of rare cases". Two months ago, it hanged the lone surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks -- the country's first execution in eight years.

Friday 18 January 2013

Crimes against women blot on our conscience: Sonia Gandhi

Congress president Sonia Gandhi said here Friday that issues related to crimes against women and children must be promptly dealt with.

"Discrimination against the girl child and atrocities against women are a blot on our collective conscience. Sexual harassment, women trafficking and female foeticide should shake us and awaken us," Sonia Gandhi said at the party's meeting here.

"Gender issues are fundamental and the entire party must bring this to the heart of political activity and change mindsets," she said.

On the situation on Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, she said: "Dialogue with neighbours must be based on accepted principles of civilised behaviour."

Asking the Congress to look at its strengths, weaknesses and threats, Sonia Gandhi said: "There is increased competition and inroads have been made in our traditional strongholds. We have to strike a fine balance between respecting alliances and ensuring rejuvenation of the party."

She asked partymen to observe austerity. "Lavish weddings will lead to questions on where money came from," she said.

Thursday 17 January 2013

Delhi gang-rape case moved to fast-track court: Lawyer

NEW DELHI: The case against five adults accused of gang-raping and murdering a student in New Delhi was moved on Thursday for trial in a fast-track court, a lawyer for one of the defendants said.

"The magistrate has committed the case to the sessions court which is fast-track," Sadashiv Gupta, the lawyer for fruit-seller Pawan Kumar, told reporters outside a district court in south Delhi. The court would hold its first hearing on the case on January 21, Gupta added.

Iraq car bombs kill 15 pilgrims

Fifteen people have been killed in a series of bomb attacks in Iraq.

An Iraqi provincial health official said at least 11 Shiite pilgrims died when two car bombs exploded near Dujail, 50 miles north of Baghdad, as they were heading to a shrine in the town of Samarra.

Raed Ibrahim, head of the Salahuddin provincial health directorate, said more than 60 other people were injured.

Earlier, another car bomb killed four Shiite pilgrims as they were heading to shrines in the south of the country.

Shiite pilgrims are a favourite target for Sunni insurgents who seek to undermine the country's Shiite-led government.

Wednesday 16 January 2013

Two dead in London helicopter crash

 Two people died when a helicopter clipped a crane at the top of a building in central London Wednesday, scattering debris to the ground as it burst into fire.

The BBC, quoting police, said one of the victims died in the helicopter, without giving further details. Reports said earlier there was only one person on board the AugustaWestland AW 109.

“There was a massive explosion. People were shouting and screaming,” an eyewitness told the BBC. One person was rescued from a burning car, witnesses said.

People who were on their way to work during the morning rush hour reported parts of an aircraft falling out of the sky before the helicopter “plummeting down.” Police said two people died in the accident, in Wandsworth in south-east London. The helicopter reportedly came down in misty weather conditions near the Battersea heliport, used mostly by private plane owners.

Ambulances and more than 60 fire brigades rushed to the scene, as people were being evacuated from homes and offices. The fires were extinguished around two hours after the crash at 0800 GMT.

“I could see the top of the crane was shaking on the top of the building. It was very foggy so the helicopter probably couldn’t see it,” said one witness.

The accident, not far from Waterloo train station and a major bus depot, caused long traffic delays on the roads and on the public transport network.

Tuesday 15 January 2013

Red wine wards off cholesterol

Drinking red wine can ward-off cholesterol build-up resulting from eating red meat, say scientists.

Harmful compounds from red meat form in the bloodstream, creating "bad" cholesterol that damages blood vessels and heightens cardiac risks.

The researchers showed, however, that anti-oxidants in the wine known as polyphenols prevented these compounds from being absorbed into the bloodstream where they can cause harm, the "Journal of Functional Foods" reports.

Ron Kohen, professor from the Institute of Drug Research at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said this may help to explain why red wine has frequently been found to reduce the risk of heart disease, according to the "Telegraph".

"Meat is rich in polyunsaturated fat and cholesterol. Our results could provide an explanation for the association between frequent meat consumption and increased risk in developing cardiovascular diseases. Including polyphenol rich products as an integral part of the meal significantly diminish these harmful effects," said Kohen.

Over four days, the researchers fed a group of healthy volunteers a series of meals of dark turkey cutlets and asked them to avoid other meats and fish. A smaller group of the same individuals then repeated the four-day diet, accompanying each cutlet with the equivalent of a glass of red wine.

The research showed that when the volunteers ate the meat alone, they had increased levels of a compound known as malondialdehyde in their bloodstream. They also showed greater levels of cholesterol that had been modified by malondialdehyde in their blood.

After four days of eating the meat, the levels of modified cholesterol had increased by 97 percent. It is thought that such modified cholesterol is responsible for hardening arteries and creating plaques that lead to heart disease.

When they had the cutlets with red wine, however, the levels of modified cholesterol did not change and even fell in some cases.

Friday 11 January 2013

Suspect in Delhi gang-rape case appeared in TV show

NEW DELHI — A driver charged with the gang-rape and murder of a student on his bus in New Delhi was accused of drink driving by a former employer when he appeared on a reality TV show in 2010, footage showed on Friday.

Ram Singh, one of six people accused of the fatal December 16 attack on a 23-year-old student, featured in Aap Ki Kachehri (Your Court), a show hosted by former top police officer Kiran Bedi who tries to resolve civil disputes.

Singh, wearing a loose bright orange shirt, argued on the programme that he was entitled to compensation from his employer for injuries that he suffered while driving one of their buses in the capital.

But his employer, who also appeared on the show, in turn accused Singh of "drunk, negligent and rash driving" and alleged that he had taken the bus out despite being told it had been withdrawn from service.

"He alleged that his employer had not financially assisted him with hospital bills following the accident," Bedi told The Times of India.

"The employer refused to pay any compensation as he alleged that Singh had a history of irresponsible behaviour. Singh did not get any compensation at the end of the show," she added.

The episode also showed Singh pleading that he was a widower and had a young son to take care of.

"All I want is the compensation so that I can live the rest of my life peacefully and bring up my son nicely," Singh said, standing on a podium and facing the judge.

Singh and his five co-accused are alleged to have taken it in turns to rape the woman as well as assaulting her male companion before throwing them off the moving bus.

The victim died in a Singapore hospital, 13 days after the attack, which triggered mass protests across India.

Singh, if convicted, could face the death penalty.

Thursday 10 January 2013

Lawyers Named for Delhi Rape Accused



NEW DELHI -- A Delhi court on Thursday officially recognized lawyers for five men accused of carrying out the deadly gang rape of a 23-year-old woman last month aboard a moving bus.

The next hearing in the case is Jan. 14, after which it will move to a fast-track trial court.

Police allege the men raped the woman and savagely attacked her with an iron rod as they drove around South Delhi on the night of Dec. 16. She died on Dec. 29 from injuries inflicted during the attack.

All five men have been charged with rape, murder and other offenses. A sixth alleged perpetrator is a juvenile and his case is being dealt with on a separate track.

M.L. Sharma, a lawyer for Mukesh Singh, one of the accused, claimed his client had been subjected to "third degree" torture in jail.

Rajan Bhagat, a Delhi police spokesman, declined to comment on the torture allegation, citing the ongoing legal proceedings.

Wednesday 9 January 2013

Are you overweight? Don't just blame fast food, it's in your DNA!

It’s not just what you eat that makes those pants tighter — it’s also genetics, researchers have claimed.

In a new study, scientists discovered that body-fat responses to a typical fast-food diet are determined in large part by genetic factors, and they have identified several genes they say may control those responses.

The study is the first of its kind to detail metabolic responses to a high-fat, high-sugar diet in a large and diverse mouse population under defined environmental conditions, modeling closely what is likely to occur in human populations.

The researchers found that the amount of food consumed contributed only modestly to the degree of obesity.

“Our research demonstrates that body-fat responses to high-fat, high-sugar diets have a very strong genetic component, and we have identified several genetic factors potentially regulating these responses,” first author Dr Brian Parks, a postdoctoral researcher at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA said.

“We found that obesity has similar genetic signatures in mice and humans, indicating the mice are a highly relevant model system to study obesity. Overall, our work has broad implications concerning the genetic nature of obesity and weight gain,” he said.

The dramatic increase in obesity over the past few decades has been tightly associated with an increase in obesity-related conditions such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

And while high-calorie diets containing high levels of fat and sugar, along with sedentary lifestyles, have been considered the most significant environmental factors contributing to this epidemic, the new UCLA research demonstrates that body-fat responses to food are strongly inherited and linked to our DNA.

The researchers note that overconsumption of high-calorie, high-sugar food is an important factor contributing to the obesity epidemic, but stress that food consumption is only one of many environmental factors that affect obesity.

The findings are published in the online edition of the journal Cell Metabolism.

Tuesday 8 January 2013

Sony unveils the waterproof phone you can use in the bath - and it will even keep working if you drop it down the toilet

It is the mobile phone you can use in the bath or shower without fear - and can even survive being dropped down the toilet.

Sony has unveiled its latest mobile phone - and hopes the waterproof design will help it take on the iPhone.

The Xperia Z was unveiled at the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas.

Sony says the handset, which has a 5in (12.7cm) screen, is capable of being submerged in water of up to one metre (3.3 ft) in depth for 30 minutes.

The firm says it can survive being dropped in a toilet, and if it gets dirty, can simply be washed under a tap.

Sony claims that about one in 10 people had dropped their phone down a toilet at some point, something this would protect against.

The trade-off is that handset's various ports, including the one for its headphones, all feature protective plastic covers that must be unclipped before they can be accessed.

The handset also has an NFC chip allowing owners to play back video on their TV simply by tapping the phone against it.

This chip could also be used as a credit card in the future, it is believed.


Delhi gang-rape victim equally responsible, suggests Asaram Bapu

NEW DELHI: Spiritual leader Asaram Bapu courted controversy for suggesting that the victim of the brutal sexual assault was equally responsible for the crime and saying the girl could have called her assailants brothers and begged them to stop.

Asaram's remarks on the gangrape of the 23-year-old girl sparked condemnation across the political spectrum and from women's bodies today with the BJP saying it was "regrettable, deeply disturbing and painful".

Addressing his followers recently, Asaram said that when the girl encountered six drunk men "she should have taken God's name and could have held the hand of one of the men and said I consider you as my brother and should have said to the other two 'Brother I am helpless, you are my brother, my religious brother.'

She should have taken God's name and held their hands and feet...then the misconduct wouldn't have happened."

He also went on to say, "Galti ek taraf se nahi hoti hai (mistake is not committed from one side)." The girl was gangraped on the night of December 16 in a moving bus and died nearly a fortnight later at a Singapore hospital.

"The accused were drunk. If the girl had chanted hymns to Goddess Saraswati and to Guru Diksha then she wouldn't have entered the bus...," he added.

BJP spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad said Asaram is a religious guru and that the country looks upto him. "His statement is regrettable, deeply disturbing and painful," he said.

"For him to make the statement in relation to a crime which has shocked the conscience of the country is not only unfortunate but deeply regrettable," he added.

An aide to Asaram sought to downplay the controversy over the remarks. Neelam Dubey said the remarks were made at a religious discourse in Delhi in the context of how one should invoke God's name to avoid incidents like crimes against women. Some reports said the event was held in Rajasthan.

Dubey said Asaram was trying ta drive home the point that incidents like the gangrape of the girl could have been avoided by reciting mantras, by reciting names of Gods. "If she(victim) would have taken God's name or recited a mantra God inside her might have suggested her to how to avoid such crimes," she said, seeking to explain Asaram's remarks.

"He was giving that idea to his devotees. He was citing the gangrape incident to say one should use commonsense to avoid such incidents," she added.