Former French President Jacques Chirac to stand trial

Paris:  After years of claiming presidential immunity to avoid legal proceedings, Jacques Chirac is finally facing a court.

The former president, a bugaboo for George W. Bush during his rush to war in Iraq, on Monday becomes France's first former head of state to go on trial since its Nazi-era leader was exiled.

That is, if the whole case isn't derailed by a last-minute protest by another defendant.

If the trial goes ahead as planned, Chirac, 78, faces a month in court on charges that he masterminded a scheme to have Paris City Hall pay for work that benefited his political party when he was mayor - before he became president in 1995
A prison term is seen as highly unlikely, but in principle if convicted, Chirac could be jailed for up to 10 years and fined euro150,000 ($ 210,000).

France's restive political circles are gearing up for next year's presidential race, but the fallout from this trial is unlikely to hit anyone other than Chirac and the nine other defendants including a grandson of Gen. Charles de Gaulle and a former left-wing labour union leader.

Still, the trial looms as an embarrassing coda to Chirac's 12-year presidential term, potentially denting his legacy, recent philanthropic work and image as one of France's most popular personalities since he left office.

The trial will also shine a spotlight on the underside of high-level politics that could be uncomfortable background noise for Chirac's successor and one-time protégé, President Nicolas Sarkozy, who wants to rebuild his depleted poll numbers before a possible re-election bid.

The trial fuses two separate but similar cases.

One of the other defendants, former Chirac aide Remy Chardon, says the two cases shouldn't be combined. His lawyer told The Associated Press he will ask the judges Monday to decide whether the decision was constitutional, which could throw the whole trial into disarray.

In the first case, investigating magistrate Xaviere Simeoni in Paris has  focused on claims that Chirac had City Hall pay for 21 contract hires who never worked for the city but instead worked for his party, then called RPR. He faces charges of embezzlement and breach of trust.

Simeoni, in her order for Chirac to stand trial, wrote that he was the "conceiver, author and beneficiary" of that system.

The other case, led by investigating judge Jacques Gazeaux in the western Paris suburb of Nanterre, centres on seven jobs at Chirac's former party said to be improperly paid for by City Hall. Chirac is accused of illegal conflict of interest in that case.

That case netted a conviction and temporary ban from political office in 2004 for Chirac's long-time political ally Alain Juppe, a former prime minister who recently returned in a big way to political life -- and is now foreign minister.

Chirac will answer for only a fraction of the scandals that have hounded him over the years: the others were either thrown out for a lack of evidence or had exceeded the statute of limitations. Even for those going to court, he will answer for just 21 total jobs out of 481 turned up in the investigation by Simeoni's team: Those before 1992 are too old to warrant prosecution.

Plus, under one of the unusual aspects of France's legal system, the Paris prosecutor, Jean-Claude Marin, will actually argue against a conviction. He argues there's not enough evidence. It's up to the judges to determine now whether there is.

Additionally, while not acknowledging wrongdoing, Chirac and his party struck a deal last year with City Hall -- now run by the opposition Socialists -- to pay back an $2.2 million calculated to be the amount paid in the jobs in question. As a result, the city won't be among Chirac's accusers in court.

For years, investigating magistrates had sought to prosecute Chirac, who hid behind his presidential immunity during his term from 1995 to 2007.

Chirac has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, insisting that France had no judicial rules laying out a framework for party financing at the time, and that the expenses were approved by the city council.

The behaviour smacks of an era when France's economy was fresh off a 30-year post-war boom and political largesse was commonplace, both on left and right. Chirac ran Paris like a fiefdom, and made it his power base.

The trial, while focusing on his pre-presidency years, will inevitably raise the hypothetical question: Would Chirac have become head of state had he not -- if as alleged -- dabbled in corruption to build his political machine?

He will be the first former French head of state to stand trial since Marshal Philippe Petain, the leader of France's Nazi collaborationist regime, was convicted of treason and shipped into exile after World War II.

The debonair Chirac has been one of France's most towering political figures for at least 35 years: president for 12 years, prime minister twice, four-time presidential candidate, mayor of its biggest city for 18 years, Cabinet minister, National Assembly lawmaker and regional councillor.

Some say the case amounts to a test for the French judicial system as well as muscle-flexing by France's independent-minded investigative judges, who have often run afoul of conservative governments in recent years.

Chirac's five-lawyer legal team has grown increasingly silent about the case as the trial nears, and Chirac wants to keep his comments for the court hearings, scheduled to run through April 8.

His health has been in question. In January, Chirac told a French TV station he was doing "fine" and denied he was too feeble to stand trial, and his wife denied a report saying he might have Alzheimer's disease as "a lie." Chirac was hospitalized for a week in 2005 for a vascular problem that has never been fully explained.

He is also said to not be letting on much about his state of mind ahead of the proceedings. Chirac spokeswoman Benedicte Brissart told The Associated Press only that he views the trial as "an ordeal."

One major question is how much the proceedings -- and a possible conviction -- could stain his legacy as president.

In his term, Chirac was perhaps best known internationally for vocally opposing Bush's drive to war in Iraq, and earlier, for resuming French nuclear tests in the South Pacific and recognizing the French state's responsibility in the Nazi deportation of Jews during World War II.

Chirac, in recent years, has morphed from his image as a backslapping bon vivant with an uncanny knack for the political game into a more avuncular former president widely appreciated for his service and style.

Jean-Francois Probst, who was a high-ranking Paris City Hall official under Chirac in the 1980s and author of two books on him, said he thought the ex-president was "relatively calm" going into the proceedings.

"He'll explain what he believes in his conscience is the truth," he told the AP. "But it's never fun to go to trial -- he's never been there in his life."

Jr NTR failed over Ram Charan

The extensive publicity and increasing anticipations of public on 'Shakti' are sending shivers down the spine for Jr NTR and director Meher Ramesh. Although there is four weeks of time for the release of movie, expectations are mounting high and obvious comparisons with 'Magadheera' are making more noise in market. One of the positive pulling factors for 'Magadheera' was Ram Charan's impeccable horse riding skills, which were wonderfully utilized by SS Rajamouli canning the best ever horse chasing shots in world cinema. Perhaps story of 'Shakti' has basis in Egypt’s ancient times combined with fiction backdrop. The cine folks say that best available way to heighten Jr NTR in 'Shakti' with the given story and locations would be to explore the unseen horse riding skills in young tiger. Till today none of directors attempted Jr NTR on a horse. Though trailers and visuals does not show a single shot of Junior NTR driving a horse. In spite he is seen sitting on the elephant with dignity and charm. If 'Shakti' is analyzed from the angle of boosting the heroism by horse driving, undoubtedly Jr NTR failed over Ram Charan in 'Magadheera'.

Now, a software to filter SMS spam

New Delhi:  Tired of junk messages flooding your cell phone inbox? Try SMSAssassin - software that segregates spam from regular messages.

Being a cheap option to reach the masses, SMSes are widely used by different companies for offering value added services and advertisement. However, these spam messages is a problem for mobile users as it clogs their inboxes.

Even the countermeasures offered by the government has failed to stop spam SMSes. According to available data, in India an estimate 100 million spam messages are sent every day.

Companies dedicated for SMS-based advertising solution have been launched and they are able to reach to 1,00,000 people in about Rs. 3,500.

"This is what inspired us to come up with SMSAssassin," Ponnurangam Kumaraguru, assistant professor at Indian Institute of Information Technology - Delhi, said.

"SMSAssasin performs the spam filtering automatically. It is designed to run on mid-range phones wherein it filters such spam messages and also gives user freedom to receive SMSes which are spams but still useful to him or her," he said.

Kumaraguru said a study conducted by his team of researchers in IIIT-Delhi found that an SMS is a spam or not, differed from person to person.

"Females mostly tagged message related to festivals offers, beauty products, discount offers on food/goods etc as ham; males mostly tagged messages related to sports, businesses(opening of new shop etc), job, studies, social gathering and recharge schemes related messages as ham. Further, we have observed that most of food discount offers were tagged as ham by males and females both," he said.

Since the spam SMS keywords and patterns keep on changing, SMSAssassin uses crowd sourcing to keep itself updated, he said, adding, "the software is currently designed to run on Nokias Symbian operating system, but the team is also developing versions for Google Android and Windows Mobile."

Varun Gandhi-Yamini Roy tie the nuptial knot

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Varanasi:  The youngest of the Gandhis, Varun, got married to graphic designer Inca Yamini Roy Chaudhary at the Kamkoteshwar temple in Varanasi on Sunday.

The wedding ceremony, performed as per the Vedic traditions, began around 6.30 am. Rituals were performed by Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati and other priests amid the rhapsodic ragas of shehnai and sonorous sound of conches.

While Varun wore a cream-coloured kurta pyjama, Yamini was dressed in a light pink saree.

The Kamkoteshwar temple on Hanuman Ghat, one of the most sacrosanct temples in Varanasi that wore a bridal look, turned into a fortress with district police, provincial armed constabulary (PAC) and other security personnel standing at its every nook and corner

The haldi rasm (a pre-marriage ceremony) was performed on Saturday at a simple function in the temple complex.

The function had limited guests.

Varun's wedding reception in Delhi, slated for March 8, had been cancelled following the death of his grandmother.

Seventy seven-year-old Amteshwar Anand, mother of Maneka Gandhi, passed away on February 28 in Delhi.

Interceptor missile test fired successfully

Balasore, Orissa:  In a leap forward to fortify its skies, India today successfully test-fired its indigenously developed interceptor missile which destroyed a 'hostile' target ballistic missile, a modified Prithvi, at an altitude of 16 km over the Bay of Bengal.

The 'hostile' target ballistic missile, a modified surface-to-surface 'Prithvi', was first lifted off from a mobile launcher around 0933hours from the launch complex-3 of ITR at Chandipur-on-Sea, 15 km from here.

In less than three minutes, the interceptor, Advanced Air Defence (AAD) missile positioned at Wheeler Island, about 70 km across sea from Chandipur, received signals from tracking radars installed along the coastline and travelled through the sky at a speed of 4.5 Mach to destroy it.

ITR Director S P Dash said the interceptor hit the 'target' missile at an altitude of about 16 km over the Bay.

"It was a fantastic launch. The trial, conducted from two launch sites of ITR off Orissa coast for developing a full fledged multi-layer Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) system, was fully successful," he said.

"Detailed results and the 'kill' effect of the interceptor were being ascertained by analysing data from multiple tracking sources," a Defence Research Development (DRDO) scientist said soon after the trial.

The interceptor designed for endo-atmospheric condition (up to 30 km altitude) is a seven-meter long and single stage solid rocket propelled guided missile, equipped with an inertial navigation system, a hi-tech computer and an electro-mechanical activator under command by the data uplinked from sophisticated ground based radars.

The interceptor designed for exo-atmospheric condition is a two stage missile.

As a safety measure, the Balasore district administration had temporarily shifted401 civilian families comprising a total of 3221 people, residing within two km radius of ITR launch pad-3 at Chandipur this morning to the nearby shelter centres.

As the trial was aimed at achieving the desired result with precision, the interceptor missile had its own mobile launcher, secure data link for interception, independent
tracking and homing capabilities and sophisticated radars, sources said.

This is for the sixth time that DRDO scientists are testing the interceptor missile.
The previous trials were conducted on November 27, 2006, December 6, 2007 and March 6, 2009 from Wheeler Island.

The fourth test which was scheduled in mid-March 2010 was put-off twice. Due to some technical glitches in the sub-system of the missile, the mission was aborted prior to take off on March 14.

The next day on March 15, 2010 the target missile, modified 'Prithvi' deviated from its pre-determined trajectory, which forced the scientists of DRDO to put-off the launch of the interceptor missile in last minutes.

However, the last trial, fifth in its series, conducted on July 26, 2010 incorporating some new technologies to the interceptor missile was a success. 

A school without roof or walls

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Allahabad:  Every child has a right to education but there are so many poor children in India who are forced to drop out because of the absolute lack of basic amenities in their schools.

In Allahabad, a 1000 girls in a government school have been studying under a tree for the last 10 years.

The building constructed during the British times is now lying in ruins. It is miracle that the school is still running in this condition for the last 10 years under the open sky. The funds are available but due to a legal stay order the building cannot be repaired. In 1948, the government had rented the place from a missionary, now the matter crowds the already crowed halls of the local courts.

"We have been telling the authorities. We have given a letter to the higher authorities many times and they have also inspected us several times. We can only do this much. We can only talk about our problems. Time and again there are inspections; the Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary or minister also came, they have seen everything," said Meera Ghosh, Vice-principal, Rajkiya Inter College.

The students are sitting in the midst of traffic trying to concentrate. And then there are the occasional animals and rallies that pass through these grounds.

Thousands of girls study for 6 years under these conditions, before they finally start college.

"Studying under the open sky is very noisy. We are disturbed by either cars or rallies or sometime trucks," said Rajkiran Gaur, teacher, Rajkiya Inter College.

"All the cars etc, pass through here. We feel scared that they might come in. We also want to study in a room. Here under the trees we have crow dropping and feathers dropping on our heads and they also make a lot of noise," said Shivani Gupta, student, Rajkiya Inter College.

But despite all these problems this school has a 100 % result and is considered the best girls school in the city. As far as sports are concerned the participation is very little - the reason being buildings, grounds and society.  

"Whatever we do here can be seen from the outside. When there is a match, we have kabbadi matches or kho kho matches, then children have to wear shorts and T-shirts and then we have a huge crowd of onlookers," said Mamta Shrivastav, Sports teacher, Rajkiya Inter College.

In Allahabad, the Civil Lines address is a status symbol. In this civil lines there is just one civil school. Just the government will not be able to change the situation we all have to lend a hand. 

Bhopal: Two murdered over a cricket match

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Bhopal:  It started with a cricket bat, but ended with a sword, and bloodshed. In a shocking incident in Bhopal, two boys, Vishal and Rishabh, were killed over a dispute in a friendly cricket match.

Cricket was Vishal's passion, and every evening, the engineering student played with his friends Rishabh and Deepesh in his neighbourhood.

On saturday evening, after Vishal and Rishabh's team lost, there was an argument, and Deepesh slapped Rishabh. Sometime later, Vishal, Rishabh and two others went to Deepesh's house to settle scores. There was a violent confrontation, with swords and sticks, and Vishal and Rishabh died on the spot. The other two are seriously wounded, and in hospital.

The police have filed two FIRs. "We have filed a case of illegal trespassing and causing grievous injury with sharp weapon against four people, out of which two are already dead. We have also filed a case of attempt to murder and murder against Ram Snehi and his sons," said A K Pandey. Additional Superintendent of Police, Bhopal City
Both families are still in shock - unable to understand how a game of cricket could have such a horrific end.

Fierce battle for key Libyan city of Zawiya

Tripoli: 

Government forces in tanks rolled into the opposition-held city closest to Tripoli after blasting it with artillery and mortar fire, while rebels captured a key oil port and pushed toward Muammar Gaddafi's hometown in a seesaw Saturday for both sides in the bloody battle for control of Libya.

With the Gaddafi regime's tanks prowling the centre of the city of Zawiya, west of Tripoli, residents ferried the wounded from the fierce fighting in private cars to a makeshift clinic in a mosque, fearing that any injured taken to the military-controlled hospital "will be killed for sure," one rebel said after nightfall.

The rival successes - by Gaddafi's forces in entering resistant Zawiya, and by the rebels in taking over the port of Ras Lanouf - signalled an increasingly long and violent battle that could last weeks or months and veered the country ever closer to civil war.

Rebels in the east advanced from their eastern stronghold toward Sirte, setting the stage for fierce fighting with pro-Gaddafi forces that hold sway in the tribal

Western leaders focused on humanitarian aid instead of military intervention, and the Italian naval vessel Libra left from Catania, Sicily, for the rebel-held port of Benghazi in eastern Libya, with 25 tons of emergency aid, including milk, rice, blankets, emergency generators, water purifying devices and tents. It is due to arrive early Monday.

The crisis in Libya has distinguished itself from the other uprisings sweeping the Arab world, with Gaddafi unleashing a violent crackdown against his political opponents, who themselves have taken up arms in their attempt to remove him from office after ruling the country for more than 41 years. Hundreds have been killed.

Gaddafi has drawn international condemnation for his actions. President Barack Obama has insisted that Gaddafi must leave and said Washington was considering a full range of options, including the imposition of a "no-fly" zone over Libya.

The storming of Zawiya, a city of some 200,000 people just 30 miles (50 kilometres) west of Tripoli, began with a surprise dawn attack by pro-Gaddafi forces firing mortar shells and machine guns.

"The number of people killed is so big. The number of the wounded is so big. The number of tanks that entered the city is big," the rebel in Zawiya said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he feared government reprisal. The rebels vowed to keep up the fight in the city.

Witnesses who spoke to The Associated Press by telephone with gunfire and explosions in the background said the shelling damaged government buildings and homes. Several fires sent heavy black smoke over the city, and witnesses said snipers shot at anybody on the streets, including residents on balconies.

The rebels initially retreated to positions deeper in the city before they launched a counteroffensive in which they regained some ground, according to three residents and activists who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

By mid- afternoon, the rebels had reoccupied central Martyrs' Square while the pro-regime forces regrouped on the city's fringes, sealing off the city's entry and exit routes, the witnesses said. Members of the elite Khamis Brigade named for one of Gaddafi's sons who command it, have been massed outside the city for days.

The pro-Gaddafi forces then blasted Zawiya with artillery and mortar fire in late afternoon before the tanks and troops on foot came in, firing at buildings and people, witnesses said.

Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Qaid said "99 per cent" of Zawiya is under government control.

"The situation in Zawiya is quiet and peaceful right now," he said Saturday at a news conference. "We hope by tomorrow morning, life will be back to normal."

The rebels fared better in the east, capturing the key oil port of Ras Lanouf on Friday night in their first military victory in a potentially long and arduous westward march from the east of the country to Gaddafi's eastern stronghold of Tripoli.

Witnesses said Ras Lanouf, about 90 miles (140 kilometres) east of Sirte, fell to rebel hands on Friday night after a fierce battle with pro-regime forces who later fled.

"Go to Tripoli!" one of the fighters yelled in English.

Another brandished a bayonet, pointed to its blade and said: "I need head Gaddafi! Head Gaddafi I need!"

An Associated Press reporter who arrived in Ras Lanouf Saturday morning saw Libya's red, black and green pre-Gaddafi monarchy flag, which has been adopted by the rebels, hoisted over the town's oil facilities.

One of the rebels, Ahmed al-Zawi, said the battle was won after Ras Lanouf residents joined the rebels.

Al-Zawi, who participated in the fighting, said 12 rebels were killed in the fighting, in which rocket-propelled grenades and anti-aircraft guns were used.

Officials at a hospital in the nearby city of Ajdabiya, however, said only five rebels were killed and 31 wounded in the attack. The discrepancy in the figures could not immediately be explained.

"They just follow orders. After a little bit of fighting, they run away," said another rebel at Ras Lanouf, Borawi Saleh, an 11-year veteran of the army who is now an oil company employee.

A witness in Ajdabiya said rebels had begun their push toward Sirte, reaching the town of Nawfaliyah, 50 miles (80 kilometres) from Ras Lanouf. The witness said he was going to join them and expected fierce fighting with pro-Gaddafi forces.

Also Saturday, witnesses said a Libyan jet fighter crashed near Ras Lanouf. They were displaying pictures showing the pilot's body and twisted wreckage from the plane. The cause of Saturday's crash couldn't immediately be determined.

Pro-Gaddafi forces have launched a number of airstrikes against rebel targets as they seek to put down the 19-day-old rebellion.

In Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city, funerals were held for some of the 26 people killed in an explosion Friday at a large arms and ammunition depot outside town. The massive blast levelled flattened buildings, cars and trees in an area three times the size of a soccer field.

It also deprived the rebels of arms and ammunition. It was not immediately clear how the depot blew up, but suspicion immediately fell on Gaddafi agents.

Hundreds lined the streets to pay their respects to the dead before starting chants against Gaddafi.

US ups pressure on Sri Lanka over slain civilians

Washington:  The United States is increasing pressure on Sri Lanka to investigate the deaths of thousands of civilians at the end of its civil war. Human rights groups contend a Sri Lankan government commission has demonstrated no intent of doing it.

The Senate passed a resolution this past week urging an international investigation of war crimes allegations. The State Department has yet to go that far, but said on Friday that pressure to do so would grow if Sri Lanka should fail to investigate the abuses properly.

The quarter-century-long Sri Lankan conflict had a bloody conclusion in 2009, when ethnic Sinhalese-dominated government forces cornered the last Tamil Tiger rebels on a sliver of land in the northeast of the island nation.

About 300,000 Tamil civilians were caught in the climactic battle. Amnesty International says 7,000 to 40,000 are estimated to have died in the final five months as the two sides exchanged artillery and other fire. No independent group can say with certainty how many perished.

Journalists, human rights activists and all but a few humanitarian workers were barred from the battle zone.

The government in Colombo appointed a "Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission" last year, which has taken evidence from ethnic minority Tamils, government officials, politicians, civil and religious leaders and former rebels. International rights groups have refused to testify before it, saying the commission is pro-government and has no mandate to investigate the killings.

Robert Blake, the assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, said the U.S. wanted to see a proper investigation into abuses by both sides in the conflict and was giving the Sri Lankan commission the chance to do so.

"We hope the Sri Lankans will themselves do this, but if they are not willing to take the accountability issue seriously, then there will be pressure from the international community to look at some kind of international option," Blake, who was serving as U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka at the end of the war, told The Associated Press.

According to a diplomatic cable published by the WikiLeaks website, Blake's successor as ambassador, Patricia Butenis, reported in January 2010 that there was little hope of Sri Lanka pressing for accountability as responsibility for many of the alleged crimes rests with senior civilian and military leaders. That included President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gen. Sarath Fonseka, who was army chief at the end of the war but is now a jailed opposition leader.

Sen. Robert Casey, D-Pa., who introduced the Senate resolution, said that a "state of denial" exists in the Sri Lankan government that is "not helpful" in achieving accountability for the bloodshed. He said the government, including its leaders, "has to be willing to subject itself to scrutiny."

Sri Lanka's External Affairs Ministry said on Friday that "motivated groups" target influential bodies such as the Senate to persuade them "to adopt ill-founded positions." A ministry statement defended the Sri Lankan commission's work and said the attorney-general could institute criminal proceedings based on material it collects.

But Jim McDonald, Sri Lanka specialist for Amnesty International USA, said there was little point in waiting for the commission to complete its work, due in May, before opening an international probe. McDonald said the commission was failing even to challenge official assertions that government forces did not kill civilians.

"It's not really looking hard at what happened during the war and the thousands of civilians killed." McDonald said. "The commission is being used by the Sri Lankan government to deflect international pressure."                     

Surgeon creates new kidney on TED stage

California:  A surgeon specializing in regenerative medicine on Thursday "printed" a real kidney using a machine that eliminates the need for donors when it comes to organ transplants.

"It's like baking a cake," Anthony Atala of the Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine said as he cooked up a fresh kidney on stage at a TED Conference in the California city of Long Beach.

Scanners are used to take a 3-D image of a kidney that needs replacing, then a tissue sample about half the size of postage stamp is used to seed the computerized process, Atala explained.

The organ "printer" then works layer-by-layer to build a replacement kidney replicating the patient's College student Luke Massella was among the first people to receive a printed kidney during experimental research a decade ago when he was just 10 years old.

He said he was born with Spina Bifida and his kidneys were not working.
"Now, I'm in college and basically trying to live life like a normal kid," said Massella, who was reunited with Atala at TED.

"This surgery saved my life and made me who I am today."
About 90 per cent of people waiting for transplants are in need of kidneys, and the need far outweighs the supply of donated organs, according to Atala.

"There is a major health crisis today in terms of the shortage of organs," Atala said. "Medicine has done a much better job of making us live longer, and as we age our organs don't last."