Delhi gang-rape: Four accused sentenced to death

Four convicts in the December 16 gangrape-cum-murder case were on Friday awarded death penalty  by a Delhi court which said the gravity of the offence cannot be tolerated.

"Death to all," Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna said while delivering the verdict in the case that had evoked nationwide outrage and led the government to bring in a stringent anti-rape law.

"Besides discussing others offences, I straightaway come to section 302 (murder) of IPC. This falls under inhuman nature of the convicts and the gravity of offence they committed cannot be tolerated. Death sentence given to all the four convicts," he said.

The offence committed by Mukesh (26), Akshay Thakur (28), Pawan Gupta (19) and Vinay Sharma (20) falls under the rarest of rare category warranting capital punishment, the judge said.

The four were convicted by the court on September 10 for the gangrape and murder of a 23-year-old paramedic student.

"Court cannot turn a blind eye to such a gruesome act," the judge said, while handing down the maximum punishment.

He said, "When crime against women is rising on day-to-day basis, so, at this point in time court cannot keep its eye shut."

"There should be exemplary punishment in view of the unparallelled brutality with which the victim was gangraped and murdered, as the case falls under the rarest of rare category. All be given death," the court said while reading out a portion of the order.

"This is a time when serious crime against a woman has come to the fore and now its judiciary's responsibility to instill confidence among the women," it said.

Besides murder, the four have been also convicted for offences including gangrape, unnatural offences, attempt to murder, dacoity, destruction of evidence, conspiracy, kidnapping or abducting in order to murder, while acquitting them of the charge of murder in dacoity. Immediately after pronouncement of sentence, the victim's mother expressed satisfaction over the verdict.


The victim's father and two brothers and mother were also present in the jam-packed court room when the sentence was pronounced.

Hearing that he will face the gallows, Vinay started crying in court while the other three convicts-Mukesh, Pawan, Akshay-started shouting for pardon, with one of the defence lawyers A P Singh also joining them in seeking mercy.

Advocate V K Anand, who appeared for Mukesh, said he has regard for the verdict and he will file an appeal in the Delhi High Court.

Special public prosecutor Dayan Krishnan said, "I have done my job and we (prosecution) are happy with the verdict."

Soon after the verdict was delivered, people waiting outside the courtroom started clapping. The girl's mother said that no such victim should remain silent and must come forward to lodge a complaint.

Defence counsel A P Singh said he will move high court only "if no other rape takes place in next two months after this verdict".

"If the country wanted this case to be a deterrent, I will wait for two months to see the crime scene. If no rape takes place due to death being given in the instant case, I will give in writing that my clients be hanged," he said.

Vinay, who started crying and screaming after the order, sat down in the courtroom when the police personnel came to take him back to jail.

The post-lunch work at the Saket Court had come to a standstill with court staff members and litigants eagerly waiting for the pronouncement of the quantum of sentence.

The corridors of six-storeyed court building was crowded with people. Groups of people had assembled outside the court complex to know about the verdict and as soon as the order was delivered, they started raising slogans that the juvenile convicted in the case by the Juvenile Justice Board, should also be hanged.

"Juvenile ko bhi phansi do (Give death penalty to juvenile also," was the slogan raised by people outside the court complex.

The juvenile accused was on August 31 convicted and sentenced to a maximum of three years in a reformation home.

On the night of December 16, last year, Ram Singh, Vinay, Akshay, Pawan, Mukesh and the juvenile had gangraped the girl in a bus after luring her and her 28-year-old male friend, who was also assaulted, on board the vehicle, which was later found to be plying illegally on Delhi roads.

The victim's friend, a software engineer, suffered fractures in his limbs. The girl succumbed to her injuries on December 29, 2012 at a Singapore hospital.

Ram Singh (34) was found dead in the prison cell in March and proceedings against were abated.

The incident shook the nation's conscience and sparked massive protests. It prompted a number of steps by the Centre and the Delhi government to ensure safety of women, curb such incidents and facilitate quick disposal of cases.

Burning Uttar Pradesh : 31dead in Muzaffarnagar communal riots .

At least 31 people have been killed so far in spiralling communal violence in Muzaffarnagar. The Army staged flag marches and thousands of anti-riot police personnel were deployed to restore law and order in the western Uttar Pradesh district.
While curfew remained in force in Civil Lines, Kotwali and Nai Mandi town areas of the district with Army carrying out a flag march, violence has now spread to more rural areas.

 

However, authorities in Meerut have directed closure of all primary schools and degree colleges as a precautionary measure in view of the situation in Muzaffarnagar.

 

Army also staged flag march in Shamli and Kairana town near Muzaffarnagar. Tension prevailed in Agra following a clash between members of two communities in the Wazirpura locality of the city last evening.

 

Brick batting and firing occurred during the incident, officials said, adding police and PAC personnel have been posted as a precautionary measure with two persons being arrested in connection with the violence.

 

A high alert has been sounded in neighbouring Uttarakhand also. Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar has asked the administration and the police to be vigilant especially in Dehradun, Haridwar and Udhamsingh Nagar districts which border Uttar Pradesh.

 Meanwhile, the Centre has sought a report from Uttar Pradesh government on violence in Muzaffarnagar and directed it to take strong action to curb riots.

 

Muslims condemn the communal unrest 

 

Condemning the violence in Muzaffarnagar, Muslim clerics cautioned the people against "political conspiracies" aimed at dividing them on religious lines and appealed for peace and harmony in Uttar Pradesh.

 

"The Muzaffarnagar violence is condemnable. For past few days, there were attempts to create tension in western UP. The violence there is result of political game, which should be exposed," member, All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Maulana Khalid Rashid Farangi Mahli said, appealing to people to ensure that peace is restored.

 

Burning Egypt : violence after crackdown kills more than 1000 people

Hundreds of supporters of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood stormed a government building in Cairo on Thursday and set it ablaze, as fury over a security crackdown on the Islamist movement that killed hundreds of people spilled on to the streets.
In Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city, hundreds marched to protest against Wednesday's violent breakup of Brotherhood sit-ins in the capital, prompting nationwide violence in which more than 1000 people died and 2000 were wounded.
"We will come back again for the sake of our martyrs!" the protesters chanted.
They demanded the reinstatement of former President Mohamed Mursi, who was deposed by the army six weeks ago after mass demonstrations against him, and whose ouster triggered a crisis that has polarised the most populous Arab nation.
Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad told Reuters that anger within the movement, which has millions of supporters, was "beyond control".
"After the blows and arrests and killings that we are facing, emotions are too high to be guided by anyone," he said.
The Brotherhood has called on followers to march in Cairo later on Thursday, while funeral processions for those who died provide further potential flashpoints over the coming days.
On Wednesday, protesters clashed with police and troops who used bulldozers, teargas and live ammunition to clear two Cairo sit-ins that had become a hub of resistance to the military.
The clashes spread quickly to Alexandria and numerous towns and cities around the mostly Muslim nation of 84 million.
A Reuters witness counted 228 bodies, most of them wrapped in white shrouds, arranged in rows on the floor of the Al-Imam mosque in northeast Cairo, close to the worst of the violence.
Some men pulled back the shrouds to reveal badly charred corpses with smashed skulls. Women knelt and wept beside one body. Two men embraced each other and shed tears by another.

Mid-Day Free Meal Poisoning: 20 Children Die in Indian state Bihar

The free mid-day meals at a school near Chhapra, Bihar, proved fatal for 20 children on Wednesday. Most of those who died, allegedly due to food poisoning, were aged below 10 years.
Another 40 children who were provided the meals fell seriously ill and were admitted to the Patna Medical College Hospital. The incident took place at the government school in Dahrmasati Gandawan village in Saran district, around 25 km from Chhapra.
"Nearly 50 students got very sick after eating the mid-day meal at home. By the time they were taken to PSC Mashrak, two children died. By the time they came to us, seven more children had died. We're treating the children at the moment. Doctors found some foreign chemical matter present. The post-mortem of some of the children is complete. The doctors did their best to save the children, but there was so much poison in their food that the doctors couldn't save them all," Chhapra's District Magistrate Abhijeet Sinha told NDTV.
Civil surgeon Shambhunath Singh confirmed to The Hindu that the students died of "food poisoning and yellow phosphorous poisoning". Reports said that the poisoning may have been caused by the presence of pesticides or insecticides in the food. The meals consisted of rice, dal and soyabean.
Parents complained that dead lizards, frogs, insects have been found in the past in the mid-day meals.

Rapist buried alive in Bolivia

A man suspected of rape has been buried alive by villagers in the southern highlands of Bolivia.

Police had identified the 17-year-old as the possible culprit in the rape and murder of a 35-year-old woman near the municipality of Colquechaca.
The chief prosecutor says more than 200 furious local people seized Santos Ramos and buried him in the grave of his alleged victim.
He says residents blocked roads into the village to stop police arriving.
A reporter for a local radio station, who would only speak anonymously for fear of reprisals, told the media that Mr Ramos was tied up at the woman's funeral.
He said mourners threw him into the open grave alongside the woman's coffin and filled the grave with earth.
Colquechaca is a town of about 5,000 inhabitants some 207 miles ( 333 km) south-east of the Bolivian capital, La Paz.
Correspondents say lynchings sometimes happen in isolated, poorer parts of Bolivia, where police and other authorities are scarce.

Gay culture gaining momentum in Singapore

Although homosexuality is against the law, the gay community in this city-state has become more prominent recently.

Homosexuality in this Southeast Asian city-state has been illegal here for more than a century, dating back to law under colonial British rule. In a country that still lashes convicted criminals with a cane, sexual contact between men is punishable by up to two years in jail.

But in recent years the country has become ambivalent about enforcing its homosexuality laws, and as a result, gay culture is slowly emerging here in ways that seemed unimaginable just a decade ago.
"Pink Dot Sg" - a play on words on Singapore's nickname, Little Red Dot - is an open-air event where thousands dress in pink and gather to form a giant dot in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) causes. The festival marks its fifth year on June 29, and the organisers say they expect turnout to be enormous.
Attendance estimates for the first Pink Dot event in 2009 ranged from 500 to 2,500, while last year's event drew a record 15,000 people.
Major corporations have begun to sponsor the event, including Google, JP Morgan, and Barclays.
"The growing number of companies who are coming out and supporting social movements like Pink Dot is humbling," says Paerin Choa, spokesperson for Pink Dot Sg. "Increasingly, corporate entities are recognising the importance of values like inclusiveness and diversity, not just in the creation of a good working environment for employees, but also as a gesture of goodwill to clients and customers.

First gay magazine
In conjunction with the festival, the nation's first-ever gay lifestyle magazine - only available in electronic formats, and hosted by an Internet server in the US to bypass Singapore's restrictions on print publications - is publishing its second issue in June. 
The magazine, named Element, bills itself as "The Voice of Gay Asia" and targets the tech-savvy "pink dollar" market.
The magazine's features include listings on gay films with live links to movie trailers, gay-friendly resorts, and an interactive map of gay-themed events around the world. The publication stresses it is a lifestyle magazine, not a skin magazine. Singapore bans the sale of pornographic magazines and blocks sexually explicit websites.
"There are people who would read a lifestyle magazine that really covers different aspects of their life," says Hirokazu Mizuhara, the managing director and creative force behind Element. "It's not just about nudity or hot guys." 
Meanwhile, two court cases are seeking the overturn of Section 377A of Singapore's penal code, which forbids consensual sex between adult men.
"Any male person who, in public or private, commits, or abets the commission of, or procures or attempts to procure the commission by any male person of, any act of gross indecency with another male person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years," the article states.
After reviewing the penal code, the government in 2007 declared oral and anal sex to be legal for heterosexuals and lesbians, but not for gay men. The government assured the remaining ban on consensual sex between men would not be "proactively enforced", striking a middle ground between gay rights advocates and religious and social conservatives.

 

Mother flushed her newborn baby in the toilet in China

New born baby rescued from sewage pipe in China

He has no name, just a number: Baby 59. But his face is now familiar to millions and wellwishers across China are anxiously monitoring the fate of the tiny newborn after firefighters freed him from a sewage pipe where he was trapped beneath a toilet.
Weighing just 5lbs, the boy was found wedged in the pipe beneath a shared bathroom in a residential building in Jinhua, in China's eastern province of Zhejiang. His placenta was still attached.

Early reports suggested residents heard his cries late on Saturday and raised the alarm – but updates suggested his unmarried mother had been the first to call for help, pretending she had merely come across him.

The extraordinary footage of his rescue showed firefighters sawing away an L-shaped section of the narrow pipe from the floor beneath the bathroom after attempts to pull him out failed. Medics at Pujiang People's hospital helped them to take it apart piece by piece with pliers and saws – a process that took almost an hour. It reportedly had a diameter of just 10cm.
State media said the baby, identified only by the number of his hospital incubator, had a low heart rate when he was admitted and had suffered cuts and bruising, but was now in stable condition.
The woman was on the scene during the entire rescue process … and admitted [she was the mother] .Police had not yet decided whether to file charges and that there was no information on the father.

Deadly Heat wave claims 84 lives in Andhra Pradesh in India

The severe heat wave conditions in Andhra Pradesh in India  have so claimed 84 lives from April 1, officials said.
The state remained in the grip of heat wave Friday, with many towns recording maximum day temperature of over 43 degree Celsius.
Munuguru in coal mines area of Khammam district was the hottest place Friday with the mercury shooting up to 50 degrees, the highest this season. Rentachintala in Guntur district recorded 48 degrees.
Bapatla and Ramagundam recorded 47 degrees Celsius while for the third consecutive day, Hyderabad sizzled at nearly 44 degrees.
Officials said 26 people died Friday alone but the unofficial sources have put the day's toll at 100. Over 20 deaths were reported Thursday.
According to Commissioner for Disaster Management T. Radha, the heat wave claimed 84 lives since April 1. Karimnagar district bore the brunt, accounting for for 43 deaths. Twelve people died in Medak, 11 in West Godavari, six in Chittoor, four in Vizianagaram, three each in Nalgonda and Nizamabad and one each in East Godavari and Visakhapatnam district.
The death toll may be higher as reports were yet to reach the state capital from many districts. The commissioner directed the collectors to submit detailed reports about the loss of lives.
Revenue Minister N. Raghuveera Reddy, who reviewed the situation with officials, said under Apathbandhu scheme, Below Poverty Line (BPL) families of those who died due to sunstroke were eligible for assistance of Rs.50,000.
In a tragic incident, a mother and her two-year-old child died of sunstroke on a road at Hayatnagar in Ranga Reddy district. The woman, who was being taken to hospital by her husband, died on the way. Her daughter also succumbed in her lap.
The labourer couple had migrated from Mahabubnagar district. As the man was seen crying on the road, the local people donated money for last rites of his wife and daughter.
According to India Meteorological Department, severe heat wave to heat wave conditions prevailed over parts of the coastal Andhra Pradesh while heat wave conditions prevailed over most parts of Telangana.
It has warned that the head conditions would continue for next two days. The met office has attributed the heat wave to hot winds blowing from Rajasthan.

Eight people die from heat wave in Punjab, Haryana:

The on-going heat wave conditions in most parts of Punjab and Haryana on Saturday continued unabated, claiming at least eight lives and forcing people in the region to confine indoors.

While six persons lost their lives due to intense heat wave in Punjab, two died in Haryana in the past three days, officials said in Chandigarh on Saturday.

In Punjab, three persons lost their lives in Amritsar, two in Ferozepur and one in Tarn Taran, whereas in Haryana one each died in Hisar and Sirsa.
All the eight deaths took place due to the heat wave, officials said.

According to the Met office in Chandigarh, there are no chances of relief in the next couple of days.

The Met forecast that the maximum temperature will hover between 41 to 43 degrees Celsius at most of the places in the region.

Warm winds will also sweep the region and dust storms might strike in some areas, the Met office said, attributing the unusually high temperature in the region to the absence of western disturbances.
Chandigarh is braving a temperature of 43 degrees Celsius, the Met said.

Massive tornado hits through Moore, Oklahoma USA : 51 killed, including 20 children; more feared dead

A devastating, two-mile-wide tornado touched down near Oklahoma City In US on Monday, killing at least 51 people—including at least 20 children—decimating homes, businesses and a pair of elementary schools in the suburb of Moore.
According to the state's medical examiner, the death toll was expected to rise.
The schools—Plaza Towers Elementary and Briarwood Elementary—were leveled by the tornado. It was unclear how many children were in them at the time the twister hit, but according to KFOR-TV, at least seven children died at Plaza Towers, and as many as two dozen more were feared to be trapped inside the rubble.  A makeshift triage center was set up in the school's parking lot.
Emergency officials urged people to remain off the roads so rescue workers and first responders could reach people potentially trapped in rubble, as the National Guard was called in to help in the search for victims.

The tornado left a debris field 20 miles long and several miles wide. According to the National Weather Service in Norman, Okla., the tornado was on the ground for approximately 40 minutes, and a tornado warning was in effect for 16 minutes before the twister developed.
Weather officials estimated the strength of the storm to be an F4 or F5 on the Fujita Scale—the highest rating a tornado can achieve. The National Weather Service said the tornado's preliminary classification was an F4, with winds up to 200 mph.
Communication was snarled as landlines and cellphone towers were knocked down. A water treatment plant in Oklahoma City was also damaged.

Cyclone Mohasen may hit Bangladesh early Thursday

Bangladesh and Myanmar are bracing for Cyclone Mahasen, a severe storm which could affect millions of people in coastal areas of South Asia region, the United Nations has warned.
The cyclonic storm may hit Bangladesh coast with a speed of 115 to 134 kilometer per hour on late Wednesday night or Thursday morning, says different met office sources.
According to the bulletin the cyclone now lied over West Central Bay and adjoining east Central Bay and was centred at 6:00 pm Tuesday about 1080 kms southwest of Chittagong Port, 1015 kms Southwest of Cox's Bazar Port and 970 kms South Southwest of Mongla Port.
The bulletin said the storm was likely to intensify further and move in a north-northeasterly direction. "We, however, don't expect the cyclone to hit our coastline ahead of tomorrow night or Thursday morning," met office director Shah Alam told BSS.
The cyclonic storm "Mahasen" over south Bay and adjoining west central Bay moved slightly northwards in the same area on Tuesday evening.
It is likely to intensify further and move in a north-northeasterly direction, said the bulletin. Maximum sustained wind speed within 54 kms of the storm centre is about 62 kph rising to 88 kph in gusts/ squalls. The sea will remain very rough near the storm centre.
The cyclone forced the authorities to hoist local cautionary signal No. four for maritime ports of Chittagong, Cox's Bazar and Mongla.
All fishing boats and trawlers over North Bay have been advised to remain close to the coast and proceed with caution. They are also advised not to venture into the deep sea till further notice, the bulletin added.
The cyclonic storm 'Mahasen' has caused heavy rains in the north and eastern parts of Sri Lanka killing at least seven people and leaving nearly 3,000 people homeless. The Disaster Management Centre in Lanka said that at least 7 people were killed, while two more are missing as a result of the storm.

Latest China food scandal :Rat meat sold as lamb meat

Rat meat sold as Lamb meat

Chinese police have broken up a criminal ring accused of taking meat from rats and foxes and selling it as lamb in the country's latest food safety scandal.

The Ministry of Public Security released results of a three-month crackdown on food safety violators, saying in a statement that authorities investigated more than 380 cases and arrested 904 suspects.
Among those arrested were 63 people who allegedly ran an operation in Shanghai and the coastal city of Wuxi that bought fox, mink, rat and other meat that had not been tested for quality and safety, processed it with additives like gelatin and passed it off as lamb.
The meat was sold to farmers' markets in Jiangsu province and Shanghai, it said.
Despite years of food scandals — from milk contaminated with an industrial chemical to the use of industrial dyes in eggs — China has been unable to clean up its food supply chain.
The announcement came as China's top court on Friday issued guidelines calling for harsher punishment for making and selling unsafe food products in the latest response to tainted food scandals that have angered the public.
The Supreme People's Court said the guidelines will list as crimes specific acts such as the sale of food excessively laced with chemicals or made from animals that have died from disease or unknown causes.
China's penal code, which forbids unsafe and poisonous food, does not specify what acts are considered in violation of the law.
Adulterating baby food so that it severely lacks nutrition is also punishable as a crime under the guidelines. Negligent government food inspectors are also targeted for criminal punishment.
The supreme court said 2,088 people have been prosecuted in 2010-2012 in 1,533 food safety cases. It said the number of such cases has grown exponentially in the past several years. For example, Chinese courts prosecuted 861 cases of poisonous food in 2012, compared to 80 cases in 2010.

"The situation is really grave and has indeed caused great harm to the people," Pei Xianding, a supreme court judge, told a news conference.

 

Deadly building collapse in Bangladesh .....deaths hit 640

An eight-storey block housing factories and a shopping centre collapsed on the outskirts of the Bangladeshi capital on Wednesday, killing more than 640 people and injuring 2000, a government official said.

Fire fighters and army personnel worked frantically through the morning at the Rana Plaza building in Savar, 30 km (19 miles) outside Dhaka, to rescue people trapped inside.

One fireman told  that about more than 6000 people were in the building when the upper floors jolted down on top of each other.

"It looks like an earthquake has struck here," said one resident as he looked on at the chaotic scene of smashed concrete and ambulances making their way through the crowds of workers and wailing relatives of those still inside.

"I was at work on the third floor, and then suddenly I heard a deafening sound, but couldn't understand what was happening. I ran and was hit by something on my head," said Sohra Begum a worker at one of the garment factories.

The Rana Plaza was owned by a person who is a local kingpin of the ruling party and how such a person came to own such wealth is another matter but there is no confusion that he could build a death trap with impunity. He was told by the engineers that this building was not stable at all and had developed cracks which pointed to a major fault in the structure. He swished away the observations saying that they were ‘just cracks in the concrete’. The garments factory owners with over 6000 workers were also told to shut the factories down as the building was unsafe. Nobody bothered and the very next day, the building collapsed.

Director of the Industrial Police Mostafizur Rahman has said that, “The Industrial Police had asked the owners of the factories to suspend operations after cracks were noticed.” “But the factories owners had ignored our directives and decided to open their units on Wednesday”.

India completes Australia whitewash

Shane Watson said Australia would take some hard lessons from its tour of the subcontinent after India completed a clinical 4-0 sweep with a six-wicket win on Sunday.
Cheteshwar Pujara wasted no time as he ruthlessly batted India to victory inside three days in Delhi after Australia was bowled out for 164 in its second innings during the middle session.
The hosts were left needing a supremely achievable 155 to win and they reached that after barely raising a sweat as the tourists' bowling attack again offered little resistance.
Watson was given the reins in the absence of Michael Clarke, who returned to Australia to treat a back injury and missed the fourth Test.
The Queensland-born all-rounder, who scored 17 and 5 for the match after being dropped for the third Test and returning home for the birth of his first child, said the series was educational if nothing else.
"This is really as foreign as you get to playing cricket for an Australian cricket team," he said at the post-match presentation.
"It's been a great learning curve for all of us. Everyone has got a hell of a lot out of this tour."
Indian skipper MS Dhoni belted the winning runs to the mid-wicket boundary off Nathan Lyon, Australia's best bowler by far with match figures of 9 for 165, but it was Pujara who set it up.
Dhoni finished on 12 from 14 deliveries but Pujara piled on an unbeaten 82 from 92, smashing 12 off one Mitchell Johnson over as he chased down Australia's total in imperious fashion.
Australia will have plenty of questions to answer after a dismal series in which it won the toss in every outing but failed to salvage even a draw on the subcontinent.
It has been 43 years since the Australians have lost a series 4-0, the last time in 1970 when Bill Lawry's side lost in South Africa.
"It was a hard-fought Test ... we gave it everything we had," Watson said.
"We were up for it, but unfortunately things did not go according to plan with the ball in the second innings.
"We always thought 150-200 on that wicket ... was going to be enough. We just did not bowl as we wanted.
"Pujara batted very nicely to take it away from us."
Spinner Ravindra Jadeja was named man of the match for his haul of 7 for 98, while partner-in-crime Ravichandran Ashwin won man-of-the-series honours.
Lyon had 2 for 71 in the second innings while Glenn Maxwell, who became the first Australian cricketer in 84 years to open the batting and bowling in a Test, took 2 for 54.

Hugo Chavez influential leader dies at 58

Hugo Chavez the polarizing president of Venezuela who cast himself as a "21st century socialist" and foe of the United States, died tuesday on 5th day of March 2013 .

Chavez, who had battled cancer, was 58.

Chavez's democratic ascent to the presidency in 1999 ushered in a new era in Venezuelan politics and its international relations.

Once a foiled coup-plotter, the swashbuckling former paratrooper was known for lengthy speeches on everything from the evils of capitalism to the proper way to conserve water while showering. He was the first of a wave of leftist presidents to come to power in Latin America in the last dozen years.

As the most vocal U.S. adversary in the region, he influenced other leaders to take a similar stance.

But the last months of Chavez's life were marked by an uncharacteristic silence as his health worsened. Chavez underwent a fourth surgery on December 11 in Cuba, and was not publicly seen again. A handful of pictures released in February were the last images the public had of their president.

Chavez's ministers stubbornly maintained a hopeful message throughout the final weeks, even while admitting that the recently re-elected president was weakened while battling a respiratory infection.

Unrest Bangladesh .. more than 100 people have been killed

At least more than 100  people have been killed since January 2013 in fresh clashes across Bangladesh at the start of a nationwide strike called over a death sentence given to an Islamist party leader for war crimes in the Muslim-majority nation.
Delwar Hossain Sayedee, of Jamaat-e-Islami, was found guilty on Thursday of murder, religious persecution and rape during the 1971 independence war, triggering violent clashes between Jamaat supporters and police across the country.
Security forces were deployed in the northern district of Bogra, as local media reported Jamaat activists attacking police outposts early on Sunday.
More than 10,000 stick-wielding protesters attacked five police stations in Bogra, forcing police to open fire, they said.

The Jamaat-e-Islami, country's largest Islamic party, has enforced a nationwide two-day strike, that begins on Sunday, to protest against the verdict and killing of its activists in police "brutalities".
An inter-city train was torched late on Saturday in the northwest, but there were no casualties, police said.
The death toll in the clashes over the war crimes verdicts has risen to 100 since January 21, including 62 killed in the past four days after Jamaat's vice president was sentenced to death, police said.
Delwar Hossain Sayedee was found guilty on Thursday of murder, religious persecution and rape during the 1971 independence war, triggering violent clashes between Jamaat supporters and police across the country.

India take 1-0 lead with eight-wicket win against Australia

MS Dhoni, R Ashwin, Virat Kohli and Tendulkar were the pivotal contributors to India's 1-0 series lead, showing greater discipline and awareness of the sort of cricket best played on the MA Chidambaram Stadium's clay court. Save for Michael Clarke's first-day century and James Pattinson's fiery pace, it was not until Moises Henriques stood up with the bat in the second innings that the tourists showed evidence of catching up.

A target of only 50 to win was reached with the help of some Tendulkar fireworks - towering sixes from his first two deliveries against Nathan Lyon - but Pattinson again bowled well to the openers and Lyon showed far greater consistency of line and control of length than he had managed while being taken for 3 for 215 in the first innings.

India were left with some questions about their opening pair, M Vijay and Virender Sehwag doing little in either innings, and they may also wonder about subtracting another seam bowler from their XI should the Hyderabad surface be anything like this one. Australia have found a steady batting hand in Henriques, but much of their display in this match will be the cause of serious introspection.

Henriques and Lyon had put on 66 for Australia's last wicket, a defiant gesture after the earlier batsmen had failed to stand their ground. Henriques' unbeaten innings completed a fine double for the debutant, who has surely made his place safe for the second Test.

Ultimately it was Ravindra Jadeja who ended the stand after 25 minutes on the final morning, switching from over to around the wicket against Lyon and coaxing an inside edge onto pad that was snapped up by short leg.

Pattinson's first ball of the innings was a snorter, pitched short and seaming back sharply at Vijay, though it angled away from Matthew Wade and flew away for four byes. The ball kept Vijay thinking, and after depositing Lyon for one straight six, he fell when an indecisive drive was well taken by Henriques at a shortish mid-off.

In the next over Cheteshwar Pujara offered a sharp chance when padding up to Lyon, the ball striking pad and glove but eluding Wade, who was unable to adjust to the ball's shifting trajectory. Sehwag sliced a brace of boundaries over the slips cordon from Pattinson, and when Peter Siddle replaced him he drove sweetly down the ground.

Lyon, meanwhile, showed some evidence of improvement in his bowling. He twirled down far fewer deliveries that could be tucked around the corner behind square leg, and the better line forced some impatient premeditated strokes from Pujara. It also undid Sehwag when he snicked to Clarke at slip. This little joust was ultimately immaterial to the result, sealed as it was by Tendulkar's sixes, but demonstrated that Lyon was learning.

Dhoni's double century builds large lead against Australia

Spectators entered the M Chidambaram Stadium earnestly hoping to see a Sachin Tendulkar century. They were to leave it chanting the name of the unbeaten double-centurion MS Dhoni, after watching one of the most brutal and influential innings the ground has witnessed.
It was a passage that sapped Australia, its after-effects notable in the final session when a contest once finely balanced now looked almost as lopsided as that between Dhoni's top and bottom hands for control of the bat. The debutant and No. 9 Bhuneshwar Kumar played the pesky tail-end role with aplomb, and by the close had taken part in a record, unbroken ninth-wicket stand for India against Australia. In all, 144 runs were ransacked from the final session.
Dhoni arrived with India becalmed. He responded with hard hands and aggressive shots, while Kohli heeded his captain's example and pulled a Lyon long hop into the crowd beyond midwicket to help them regain their voice. Boundaries began to leak again where previously none could be found, and the 50 stand was raised at better than four an over.

Others fell by the wayside - R Ashwin edged Lyon onto the stumps via his boot, and Harbhajan Singh gifted Henriques a first Test wicket with an unseemly waft that did not impress Dhoni - but Bhuvneshwar provided sturdy support. Dhoni toyed with the strike, taking singles at times and spurning them at others, and invariably connecting cleanly when he deigned to swing for the fences.

Australia's bowlers and fielders gradually wilted, Ed Cowan missing a tough chance from Bhuvneshwar while others misfielded, and Pattinson's pace dipped as steadily as Lyon's bite. All the while, the lead grew from pesky to match-defining dimensions. Such a possibility had seemed so unlikely at the moment Tendulkar fell.

Valentine’s Day Dinner Singapore

For many, Valentine’s Day is a dreadful day as restaurants mark up their prices ridiculously. However, it is still possible to have fun celebrating Valentine’s Day – with your partner, your family, or a group of friends – if you know where to go.
Akashi Japanese Restaurant
Akashi is probably not the most romantic restaurant, but what it lacks in ambience it certainly makes up for with top quality Japanese food. This is a nice place to go for your first omakase experience as the restaurant uses the finest ingredients imported from Japan. Otherwise, there are also many value-for-money bento sets to choose from.
Five and Dime Eatery 

Located in a colonial shop house along River Valley Road, Five and Dime Eatery is a restaurant which serves comfort food like mac & cheese, burger, fish & chips, and pasta. Most of the items are priced between $20-30.

It is a charming place, with a friendly and cosy atmosphere. Take my word for it: Five & Dime Eatery is the perfect place to spend Valentine’s Day with your partner.

Pakistan blown away record 49 lowest test total

If Pakistan were in any doubt about the challenge of facing South Africa's pace attack, they were quickly disabused on the second morning at the Wanderers, as they were bowled out for their lowest total in Tests. Dale Steyn took 6 for 8, his 20th five-wicket haul in Tests, in an extraordinary, lethal display that gave South Africa a choke hold on the match with a lead of over 200. Graeme Smith, deciding not to enforce the follow-on, then picked up his bat with a view to having some more fun in his 100th Test as captain.

As South Africa ascended to the No. 1 Test ranking over the last year, a succession of teams have been left thrashing helplessly in their wake. After dispatching England and Australia in their own backyards, Smith's team are now relishing the chance to display their talents in front of home crowds. The only disappointment for the Johannesburg locals may be that this contest - like the two Tests against New Zealand last month - is unlikely to go anywhere near the distance.

The Pakistan innings could not have resembled a horror show any more had Freddie Krueger been spotted in the stands. As ever, Dale Steyn was a batsman's nightmare incarnate, his opening spell decapitating the Pakistan top-order in a manner worthy of any slasher flick, as the South Africa bowlers made perfect use of swinging conditions, useful bounce and more than a modicum of indecision among the tourists. After lunch arrived with Pakistan clinging on at 40 for 7, Steyn returned to stamp on their fingers and send them hurtling into the abyss. His relentless display produced six wickets and 39 dot balls, and only allowed three scoring shots, in 8.1 overs of mesmeric bowling.

Having resumed without loss, Pakistan would have known that the chances of them getting up towards South Africa's first-innings 253 rested on their successfully getting past the new ball. Recognising that did not come close to actually helping them achieve it, however, and at 12 for 3 after six overs the tone had been set. A partnership of 24 in almost 14 overs seemed to have stabilised the Pakistan innings, only for the darkness to swallow them up again, the last seven wickets falling for 13 runs and the roar of the crowd becoming a blanket of white noise.

North Korean parents 'eating their own children'

A starving man in North Korea has been executed after murdering his two children for food, reports from inside the secretive state claim.
A 'hidden famine' in the farming provinces of North and South Hwanghae is believed to have killed up to 10,000 people and there are fears that incidents of cannibalism have risen.
The grim story is just one to emerge as residents battle starvation after a drought hit farms and shortages were compounded by party officials confiscating food.

The informant said the father killed his eldest daughter while his wife was away on business and then killed his son because he had witnessed the murder.
When his wife returned the man told her they had 'meat' but she became suspicious and contacted officials who discovered part of the children's bodies.
Jiro Ishimaru, from Asia Press, which compiled a 12 page report, said: 'Particularly shocking were the numerous testimonies that hit us about cannibalism.'
Undercover reporters said food was confiscated from the two provinces and given to the residents of the capital Pyongyang.
A drought then left food supplies desperately short.

Indian politican wears shirt made of 3.5 kilograms gold

The new gold man, Datta Phuge, has stitched himself a shirt made out of the precious yellow metal weighing approximately 3.5 kilograms. The shirt is in addition to 6 to 6.5 kilograms of golden ornaments — including chains, bracelets and rings and necklaces — that he has been wearing for the past few years.

Apart from wearing so many golden ornaments, what made him to stitch himself a golden shirt?

“Unlike many, I have no passion for high-end luxury vehicles like Audi or purchasing something else that is fancy. I had money and wanted to invest in gold. Even while investing in gold, I wanted to do something that would earn me the title of being a gold man. Then the idea of stitching myself a golden shirt came to me when I visited a jewellery shop a month ago " Phuje said .

Indian women were given 21,000 knives to defend themselves from rapists

A radical Hindu nationalist party Shiv Sena in India has handed out kitchen knives and chili powder to women in the city of Mumbai following the gang rape that ignited a national debate on the best way to tackle sex crimes.
The Shiv Sena party, an ally of the main opposition BJP, said it had handed out 21,000 knives with three-inch blades to women in the city and surrounding areas and plans to distribute 100,000.
Mumbai police said they were examining the knives and considering legal action.

"This is a symbolic gesture," said Shiv Sena spokesman Rahul Narvekar, adding that a knife shorter than six inches in length does not fit the definition of a weapon. The party also handed out small bags of chili powder -- apparently to throw into an attacker's eyes.

"It's only to pass a signal to eve-teasers [men who molest women], anti-social elements and perpetrators of crime against women that women are empowered and they can take care of themselves," Narvekar said.

Rape continues in India : Nursery student raped on moving school bus In Mumbai

In a yet another shameful act, a four-year-old nursery student was sexually assaulted in a school bus that was taking her home. Police has arrested the bus conductor, a 35-year-old, in connection to the case.

As per the reports on Tuesday afternoon, Ramesh Rajput allegedly raped the young girl when the bus was dropping children home. She was the only student left in the vehicle when the conductor sexually assaulted her.

Sources say that the child was in the front row, waiting for her turn when Rajput threatened her to go with him to the backseat and allegedly raped her. Ramesh then warned the girl of dire consequences if she spoke about the incident to anyone.

According to the police officers, the school has broken state government policy as no woman attendant was present on the bus at the time of this horrendous crime. The school, however, insisted that a female attendant was at hand and it was she who confronted Rajput and stopped him.

Sources say that after the girl informed her parents about the incident, they immediately took up the matter with the school and filed a police complaint.

Ramesh was arrested on Thursday and booked for rape and molestation under the Indian Penal Code and invoked several sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.

Sources reveal that the driver's role in the crime too is suspect. He said that he neither noticed the girl being attacked nor heard her cries for help.

Deadly Bomb blast rocks Pakistan , death toll rises to 120

The death toll from a series of deadly bombings across Pakistan rose Friday to 120, police said, marking one of the deadliest days the country has seen in years.
Five people who were wounded in twin bombings on a billiards hall late Thursday died of their wounds overnight, senior police official Hamid Shakeel from the southern city of Quetta said, putting the death toll from that attack at 86.
The strike was the worst of three deadly bombings targeting Shiites and soldiers in Quetta, capital of the volatile Baluchistan province, and worshippers at a Sunni mosque in the northwest on the same day. Funerals are expected later Friday.
The billiards hall bombing, in a Shiite area of the city, started with a suicide attack but was followed by a car bomb minutes later in the same area. Militants often use such staggered bombings as a way to maximize the body count by targeting rescuers and others who rush to the scene after the first explosion to help.
Pakistan's minority Shiite Muslims have increasingly been targeted by radical Sunnis who consider them heretics. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a Sunni militant group with strong ties to the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack. Hazara Shiites, who migrated from Afghanistan more than a century ago, have been the targets of dozens of attacks by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi in Quetta over the past year, but Thursday's attack was by far the bloodiest.
Another bomb, hidden in a bag, went off near a vehicle carrying paramilitary soldiers elsewhere in the city, killing 12 people and wounding more than 40 others. It had been spotted by a local resident but was detonated by remote control before soldiers could react.
The United Baluch Army, a separatist group, claimed responsibility for the attack in calls to local journalists. Pakistan has faced a violent insurgency in Baluchistan for years from nationalists who demand greater autonomy and a larger share of the country's natural resources.
The third blast Thursday targeted a mosque in the northwestern Pakistani city of Mingora, killing 22 people and wounding more than 70. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for that explosion.

Cold wave continues to sweep north India, kills 200 people . Lucknow shivers at -0.2 degree Celsius. Extreme Cold in Ukraine Kills 110 People, Closes Schools.

Cold wave continues to throw life out of gear in North India with the minimum temperature dipping to -0.2 degree Celsius in Lucknow on Tuesday.

There was no respite from the cold wave  across north India on Monday as the mercury dipped close to the freezing point at several places in the region and killed 29 more people, mounting the toll from it this season to around 200.

Officials said six people died in Ghazipur, three each in Azamgarh and Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh. Two deaths were reported from Fatehpur, Sultanpur and Chandauli besides one each in Jaunpur and Siddhartnagar in the state that had reported the maximum cold-related deaths - 175 - this season.

Three more people died in Amritsar that recorded a low of 1.8 degree C, while Patiala and Ludhiana shivered at 2.4 and 2.7. The cold snap has killed 13 people in Punjab and eight in Haryana so far.

Officials said four people died of cold in Uttarakhand's Haridwar, where the minimum temperature touched one degree C, and two in Rajasthan's Bundi.

Agra was the coldest place in Uttar Pradesh with a low of just 0.6 degree above the freezing point. Muzaffarnagar shivered with a minimum temperature of 0.7 degree C, seven notches below normal.

The dipping mercury forced the state government to order closure of all schools up to class VIII till January 12.

Narnaul in Haryana was the coldest place in the state with the mercury plunging three degrees below freezing point, the lowest in 15 years. Hisar shivered at a low of 0.8 degree C. The mercury in the town had slipped to a low of minus 1.1 degree C early on Sunday.
Meanwhile Siberian shivering weather conditions across Ukraine left 110 people dead and forced the government to shut schools across the country as temperatures plunged below minus 26 degrees Celsius,

Shot Pakistan Schoolgirl Malala Yusufzai Leaves Hospital

Pakistani teenager Malala Yusufzai has been discharged from Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.

The Pakistani teenager shot by the Taliban for campaigning for women's rights is discharged from hospital in Birmingham.

The 15-year-old was shot in the head by the Taliban in Pakistan in October and later flown to Britain for specialist treatment.
She will continue her rehabilitation at her family's temporary home in the West Midlands before having cranial reconstructive surgery in the next month, her doctors say.

Over the past couple of weeks she has been leaving the hospital on a regular basis on "home leave" to spend time with her father Ziauddin, mother Toorpekai and younger brothers, Khushal and Atul.
Malala was shot on a school bus in the Swat Valley area for campaigning for women's rights and their right to an education.
The bullet entered just above her left eye and ran along her jaw, "grazing" her brain. It was later removed by surgeons in Pakistan before she was flown to the UK.
She is now likely to secure permanent residence in the UK after her father was granted a job with the Pakistani consulate in Birmingham.
Mr Yusufzai has been appointed education attache for three years, with the option of an extension for a further two years afterwards.
Both he and his daughter have had threats made against their lives by the Taliban since the shooting.

 

Delhi horror continues , another minor girl gangraped in Delhi by Facebook met

Just after 2 days the Delhi gang-rape victim Damini  died  at Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital, another shocking incident of molestation took place in  Delhi ..
Another gangrape was reported from the India capital's Safdarjang area on 31st december 2012. The victim is a minor girl who is studying in one of the leading schools in Delhi. She met the accused via the social networking site Facebook. The two accused asked her to join them for New Year when the incident occurred. The two accused, Naveen and Vijay work at an IT company in Gurgaon.

New Year stampede :At least 60 people died in Ivory coast

At least 60 people have been crushed to death and some 250 injured during new year festivities in Ivory Coast's main city Abidjan, rescue officials say.

The incident occurred in the early hours of Tuesday near a stadium in the central Plateau area of the city where a fireworks display was held.
The cause of the stampede is not yet clear. It occurred as people were heading home after the event.
The victims included many children, and the death toll is expected to rise.
The site - near Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium - is littered with abandoned clothes and blood stains.
Relatives have gone there to get news of missing loved ones.
The distraught mother of a nine-year-old boy told local media: "I have just seen all those bodies, but I can't find my son."
The 65,000-capacity Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium was named after the founding president of Ivory Coast. The night before the tragedy, it hosted a concert by US performer Chris Brown.