Lord Ganesha’s reflection in almond

ALLAHABAD, Aug 2: An almond in the shape of Lord Ganesha is attracting hundreds of devotees to the shop of a local jeweller in the Mahajani Tola area.

The jeweller Shantibhushan said that he noticed the "miracle" in one of the almonds, he had brought as ‘prasad’ from Vaishno Devi.

"I was astonished to see the lord’s image, when I peeled the cover of the almond last afternoon," he said.

As soon the word got out a large number of people thronged Shantibhushan’s shop for ‘darshan’. Priests performed prayers before placing the ‘almond idol’ at the jeweller’s shop for ‘darshan’.

Later the almond was placed at the nearby temple. (UNI)

Two approvers in 93' Mumbai
serial blasts case discharged

MUMBAI, Aug 2: The TADA court today discharged the two accused-turned approvers in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, for supporting the prosecution.

The duo were earlier released on bail in October 1996, after they agreed to co-operate with the prosecution and bear testimony against the other perpetrators of perhaps one of India’s biggest terror attacks.

Judge P D Kode pronounced their discharge today, which can be officially considered as the last day of the process of pronouncing judgement in the historic trial.

Attired in a white Kurta Pyjama, the duo presented themselves before the trial court amid heavy police protection. The Judge also issued a direction to mediapersons restraining them from disclosing the identification and address of the two discharged approvers.

The middle-aged prosecution witnesses were given only serial numbers for identification, as approver number one and approver number two.

Notably, approver number two had played a vital role in the prosecution’s case and based on his deposition, the state could manage to secure maximum convictions. A majority of the 100 convicts met their nemesis through this approver. Many of them were even handed the death penalty.

As per the evidence before the court, approver number two had attended conspiratorial meetings with prime absconding accused and master-mind Tiger Menon in Mumbai and Dubai, visited Pakistan for receiving training in arms and ammunation, helped in filling the deadly rdx in vehicles and planted bombs at various places. He had also planted the bomb at a petrol pump near Sena Bhavan which resulted in the death of four people and left 20 others injured. He was involved in the entire conspiracy and execution of the black Friday blasts, right from the very beginning.

On the other hand, approver number one was only involved in attending the conspiratorial meetings and making travel arrangements for one convict, Farooq Motorwala and going to Pakistan for arms related training.

Both were earlier lodged in Thane jail in April 1993 following their arrest. They turned approvers and managed to secure bail in October 1996. They have been out of jail since.

According to legal experts, the crime in which they were involved easily attracted the death penalty, but since they became approvers, they were discharged. (UNI)

Man kills wife for delay in serving breakfast

JAMSHEDPUR, Aug 2: A 55-year-old man killed his wife in an inebriated state after there was some delay in serving him breakfast.

The incident occurred at Gandhania village, about 50 kms from here, under Ghatsila Police Station yesterday.

The accused, Jeetu Bera, a farmer, asked his wife Durga to give him breakfast as he was to leave for his paddy field.

When the breakfast was being prepared, Durga asked Jeetu to wait for a while, leading to an altercation between the two, police said.

The matter worsened when Jeetu, who was in an inebriated state, picked up a ladle and hit Durga on her head several times, the police said.

Durga, who suffered severe injuries, colllapsed. She was immediately rushed to a nearby health centre, where doctors declared her brought dead, the police said.

Jeetu was arrested.

Jeetu, who has four grown up children, was an alcoholic and used to pick up quarrel with wife and children on trivial issues frequently, the police said. (PTI)

Sanjay Dutt likely to be shifted out of Arthur Road jail

MUMBAI, Aug 2: Actor Sanjay Dutt is likely to be shifted to a prison outside this city after he today withdrew his application to be kept at Arthur Road jail here.

Dutt, given a six-year jail term in the 1993 serial blasts case on Tuesday, withdrew his application after authorities submitted a a report that cited several reasons why he could not be kept at a prison meant only for persons facing trial.

When the matter was taken up in the special TADA court of Judge P D Kode, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said the report cited the need to provide security to Dutt and other reasons why the actor could not be held in the Arthur Road jail in central Mumbai.

There is no provision for work or jail industry inside Arthur Road jail where Dutt could serve his sentence of rigorous imprisonment for six years, Nikam pointed out.

The report stressed that the jail is only meant for under -trials and that all other persons sentenced in the blasts case had been shifted out of it, he said.

Judge Kode disposed of the application after Dutt’s lawyer Farhana Shah withdrew it following the submission of the report.

Jail authorities were not immediately available for comment as to where and when Dutt would be shifted.

Other convicts have been shifted to various prisons in Maharashtra, including Yerwada jail near Pune and Nasik jail. (PTI)

Govt plans to reduce mother to child
HIV transmission by 2011

NEW DELHI, Aug 2: With a whooping of over 23,000 children getting contracted to HIV from their mothers every year, accounting for 3.45 per cent of the total HIV cases, the Government has planned several steps to drastically reduce this deadly transmission by 2011.

"The most significant source of infection in children and infants is the transmission of HIV from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding," according to an official report.

The report, children and AIDS: programme update India, said the target is that by 2011 the Government will ensure that 80 per cent of the estimated annual HIV positive women in the country receive prophylactic anti-retroviral therapy.

"With an effective prevention of Parent to Child Transmission of HIV (PPTCT) programme, this can be decreased to almost zero per cent rate of transmission of the virus, thus preventing new infections in children through this route," said the report compiled by National AIDS Control Organisation and Ministry of Women and Child Development.

Under the National AIDS Control Programme-3, the Government plans to cover 7,500,600 pregnant women with counselling and testing services and 75,000 HIV positive women with Arv prophylaxis services in the next five years.

But the major problem Government faces to meet this target is the lack of access and utilisation of maternal and child health services and weak outreach system in providing HIV prevention and treatment services to eligible HIV positive pregnant women.

Quoting the National Family Health Survey-3, it said the percentage of institutional delivery ranges from as low as 12 per cent (Nagaland) as high as 90 per cent (Tamil Nadu).

It has been estimated that out of 27 million pregnancies in India every year nearly 78,3000 occur in HIV positive mothers leading to an estimated 23,490 infected babies, it said.

"In HIV high prevalence states and districts that have low institutional delivery coverage with PPTCT services translates to a large number of babies being born `needlessly’ with HIV," the report added.

Under NACP-3, Naco aims to establish 4,955 centres to provide comprehensive services. Currently, 1027 centres provide the services.

The number of women registered in anti-natal clinics that received comprehensive PPTCT services increased dramatically between 2002 and 2006 — from 42 per cent in 2003 to 78 per cent in 2006. But, the report also noted that there was a dramatic decrease in number of positive pregnant women who receive arv prophylaxis.

Noting that women seemed to be on the periphery of the epidemic a decade ago, the report pointed out that today they are at the epicentre. Presently, almost 30 per cent of India’s population living with HIV/AIDS comprises women, it said.

Among women, the peak age for HIV prevalence tends to be around 25 years, which is 10 to 15 years lower than that of the men. In 2004, it was estimated that 22 per cent of HIV cases in India comprised housewives with a single partner, the report said.

"Therefore, empowering women to increase their capacity to take charge of their health needs is the most effective strategy and has impact on many issues related to hiv even within the family system such as their own health seeking decision making actions," it concluded. (PTI)

Kiran Bedi to resume duty today

NEW DELHI, Aug 2: Senior IPS officer Kiran Bedi, who had gone on a three-month leave to protest the appointment of Y S Dadwal as Delhi Police Chief, today said she will resume duty from tomorrow.

"I am leaving things behind and moving on. I have a very frank and happy meeting with Home Minister Shivraj Patil this morning and I am resuming duty tomorrow," Bedi said.

Furious at being overlooked for the post of City Police Commissioner, Bedi, country’s first woman IPS officer, had proceeded on a three-month "protest" leave on July 25, a day after the Government cleared the appointment of Dadwal who is two years junior to her in service.

Bedi is currently the Director General of Bureau of Police Research and Development.

Bedi said she was "very happy" with her meeting with Patil and that she would not have decided to join duty if she had still any grievances left.

"I had a very very good... Great meeting with the Home Minister. I am grateful to him. I will continue to deliver my very best," she told reporters after the meeting at the Home Minister’s office in North Block.

Dadwal also had a separate meeting with Patil. The Delhi Police Chief was not immediately available for comments.

Bedi, a 1972 batch IPS officer, had earlier threatened to taking recourse to legal means against the overlooking of her claims to the post.

She had said the decision was "not fair" and complained there was gender bias in appointments to top posts.

The Magsaysay Award winner is known for the reforms she carried out in Tihar Jail and had served the United Nations. (PTI)

Congress, Left helped bring Maudhany acquittal: Naqvi

NEW DELHI, Aug 2: Accusing the Congress and the Left parties of facilitating the acquittal of Coimbatore blasts accused Abdul Nasser Maudhany, BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the pseudo secular character of the two parties stood exposed and warned them against following pro-terrorist policies for votes.

Describing Maudhany as India’s Osama bin Laden, he urged the Congress and the left to take a lesson from the condition in neighbouring Pakistan where President Pervez Musharraf was facing a threat from militants as a result of adopting pro-terror policies.

In a statement, Mr Naqvi said the two parties were displaying "height of so called secularism" by celebrating Maudhany release. "their so called secularist charactor stands exposed today," he said.

During the Kerala polls, he posters of both the Congress and the left featured Maudhany which showed the extent the parties could stoop for the sake of votes, he added.

The Kerala Assembly resolution for Maudhany’s release and the fact that leaders of both the parties met Madani in jail, proved that the UPA Government and the State Governments of its allies were compromising on terorism.

He said abrogation of POTA and the delay in the execution Mohommad Afzal, convicted in the December 13 Parliament attack case, would only encourage anti-national and separatist forces. (UNI)

HC notices to Centre, NCT on PIL against play school

NEW DELHI, Aug 2: The Delhi High Court has expressed displeasure over a popular play school here for asking parents of a boy, suffering from anorectal disorder, to withdraw their ward as he was attending the school having the catheter attached with him to drain the urine.

"This is unfortunate and should not have happened," a division bench of Chief Justice M K Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Khanna said yesterday and issued notices to the Centre and the NCT through its Chief Secretary.

Directing both the Governments to explore all possibilities to take appropriate step to avoid such incidents in future, the bench also issued notice to the Principal of the play school ‘Mother’s Pride’, west Patel Nagar and asked all of them to file their replies by September 19.

The parents of four-year-old Vishesh were asked on July 25 by the Mother’s Pride to withdraw the child from the school, saying that he came to the school with having the catheter attached to his appendix, which was scaring other children in the school.

According to the parents, Vishesh had undergone a surgery due to a neurogenic bladder, which is an inability to pass urine without using catheter.

The court was hearing a PIL filed by an advocate Rakesh Prabhakar, accusing the school authorities of adopting discriminatory attitude.

Prabhakar sought direction to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) to organise workshops or seminars in the educational institutions with a view to train the teachers to deal with the children suffering from anorectal disorder.

He also sought directions to hrd ministry to issue guidelines to schools in the city to employ persons who are trained enough to take care of children of such kind.

He also sought the Governments to include this disorder in the category of "disabilities" under the disabilities act. (PTI)

Police deny sending any dossier on Haneef to Australia

BANGALORE, Aug 2: Police here today denied that they had sent to Australian authorities any dossier on doctor Mohammed Haneef, recently cleared of terrorism charges, that linked him to Al-Qaeda.

Reacting to reports in a section of the Australian media that said the city police had provided a dossier on Haneef which contained information on his alleged links with Al-Qaeda, a senior police official said: "The reports are blatantly false and misleading. We have not sent any such dossier."

The Australian authorities had not sought any information from police here on this issue, the official said on condition of anonymity.

"We cannot send any report to any foreign agency unless it is routed through the proper channel," another official clarified.

Asked whether the probe by police here had thrown up evidence of links between Haneef and any militant oufit, he said, "so far we have not been able to establish any such links."

Referring to the ongoing probe into the activities of Haneef’s cousin Kafeel Ahmed, who allegedly drove a blazing jeep into the Glasgow Airport during a botched terror attack, and his brother Sabeel, currently under arrest in Britain on charges of being in the know of the failed terror plot, the official said: "We will continue to quiz people when required." (PTI)

Raman comes to office sans beacon on his vehicle

RAIPUR, Aug 2: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh today removed the red light on his official vehicle before being driven to work.

Singh came to office without the red light on his car as he felt it was not an essential element for a Chief Minister, officials said here.

Following this move, all Secretaries and other officials too stand to lose the red lights on their vehicles, they said.

According to a decision made today, only the Director General of Police, Chief Secretary, Home Secretary and field officials dealing with law and order will be eligible to have the beacon atop their vehicles, officials said.

Ministers are free to decide whether to retain the red lights, they said.

Though no reason was given for the Chief Minister’s sudden decision, sources in the ruling BJP said some dissidents had complained to the party’s Central leadership about some officials and leaders moving around in cars with red lights when they were not eligible to do so.

The State Government had failed to check the misuse of red and orange lights, the sources said. (PTI)

Sanjay Dutt to be shifted to Yerawada jail near Pune

MUMBAI, Aug 2: Actor Sanjay Dutt will be shifted to Yerawada jail near Pune from Arthur Road jail here after he today withdrew his application to be kept in a prison in this city.

Inspector General (prisons) Satish Mathur said the actor, given a six-year jail term in the 1993 blasts case, would be taken to Yerawada jail like many other convicts in the same case but did not specify when he would be shifted.

Dutt was on Tuesday sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for six years by a Special Court here after being convicted for illegally possessing an AK-56 rifle and a 9mm pistol. (PTI)

Student dies after teacher’s beatings

JAIPUR, Aug 2: A student of a school in Udaipur today succumbed to his injuries allegedly inflicted on him by his teacher.

According to reports, Arpit Kawriya, a Class XII student of Aloke Vidyalaya, was mercilessly beaten up by his teacher.

Confirming the news, Home Minister Gulabchand Kataria said a post-mortem would be conducted to ascertain the reasons behind the death. (UNI)