Mother jumps in front of train with one-year-old baby

Allahabad:  A young woman and her one-year-old daughter were killed on Tuesday after the mother jumped before a speeding train carrying the baby in her arms, police said.

The incident took place at Saidabad railway station, about 40 km from the city. The woman, in her mid-20s, jumped off the platform while a train was passing through, GRP officials said.

Prima facie, it seemed that the woman took the extreme step following a tiff at home, they said.

The badly mutilated bodies were taken for post-mortem.

Some onlookers claimed they knew the woman, who worked as a daily wage labourer and reportedly had frequent squabbles with her alcoholic husband, GRP officials said.

Mother jumps in front of train with one-year-old baby

Allahabad:  A young woman and her one-year-old daughter were killed on Tuesday after the mother jumped before a speeding train carrying the baby in her arms, police said.

The incident took place at Saidabad railway station, about 40 km from the city. The woman, in her mid-20s, jumped off the platform while a train was passing through, GRP officials said.

Prima facie, it seemed that the woman took the extreme step following a tiff at home, they said.

The badly mutilated bodies were taken for post-mortem.
Some onlookers claimed they knew the woman, who worked as a daily wage labourer and reportedly had frequent squabbles with her alcoholic husband, GRP officials said. 

Youth jailed for 10 years for attempting to murder ITBP man

Delhi:  A city court has jailed a 22-year-old youth for 10 years for making a murderous bid on an ITBP personnel, observing that security of armed forces members inside the country is "sacrosanct" as they protect us from the enemy.

"The injured was a member of the armed force which secures the borders of the country against aggression from the outside enemy. It is very sad that instead of respecting their duty towards the nation so that we live and sleep in peace, the convict had attacked him to take his life and he (ITBP personnel) had to undergo surgical operation for saving his life," Additional Sessions Judge Gurdeep Singh said.

The court awarded the stern punishment saying, "The members of armed forces will have a very demoralising effect if such person is not punished with heavy hands as their security is more sacrosanct for us as they protect us from the enemy."

The court convicted East Delhi resident Abhimanyu alias Chhotu for attacking Vikas, an Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel posted at Leh, and causing serious injuries to him.
An east Delhi native, Vikas, had come home on leave when he was attacked on October 10, 2008 evening, when he was going to the neighbourhood market with his younger brother Monty, a Class X student.

In the market, convict Abhimanyu and his friends Deepak, 26 and Ravi, 22, attacked Monty, who earlier had an altercation with the convict in a gym near his home where he used to go regularly. 

Earlier during the day too, Abhimanyu had met the two brothers in a restaurant and had an heated argument with Monty, but Vikas had pacified him. 

As Abhimanyu and his two accomplices from Ghaziabad attacked Monty on his way to the market, Vikas tried to save him, but the trio charged at him as well, stabbing him in his chest and stomach.

Following the attack, the two brothers had to be rushed to the GTB hospital, where Vikas had to undergo surgery twice and had to be remain admitted there for several days.

Monty was discharged from the hospital a day later. The trio were arrested a day after they attacked the two brothers.

Noting that "the convict had attacked him (Vikas) to take his life and he had to undergo surgical operation for saving his life," the court convicted Abhimanyu on attempt to murder charges under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code.

On charges of colluding with Abhimanyu in attack on two brothers, the court jailed Ravi for a year and Deepak for four months.

Girl's body found hanging in her room on the day of her exam

Kanpur:  The body of a 22-year-old woman was found hanging from the ceiling fan of her room on Wednesday morning in Bangli Mohal Mohalla area of the city, said the police.

Komal was a BSc final-year student and she had her Physics exam on Wednesday.

Komal's family suspect that she might have committed suicide due to stress, police said. However, the police also added that her family claimed that she was a good student.

The family members told the police that Komal had been upset for the last few days as she didn't fare well in one one of her papers.
On Wednesday morning, when Komal's mother came to wake her up, she found that the doors of her room were locked. On looking through the window, she found her daughter hanging from the ceiling fan.

Hearing the mother scream, other family members rushed towards Komal's room. They broke open the room and dismounted her body.

Police have sent the body for post-mortem and investigations are on.

Modi govt's chargesheet against IPS officer Kuldeep Sharma quashed

New Delhi:  A principal bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) today quashed the Modi government's chargesheet against senior Gujarat IPS officer Kuldeep Sharma. The decision to downgrade his ACR has also been quashed.

Kuldeep Sharma had faced the ire of the Modi government with officials alleging that he had been indirectly helping the CBI probe in the Sohrabuddin case.

Sharma had also alleged that Modi and former Home Minister Amit Shah put pressure on him to arrest danseuse Mallika Sarabhai in an alleged human trafficking case.

10 Indian fishermen arrested by Pak authorities

Islamabad:  Pakistani authorities have arrested 10 Indian fishermen for allegedly violating the maritime boundary, taking the number of such people detained on similar charges to 70 in a month.

     
The fishermen were taken into custody on Tuesday by the Maritime Security Agency, which also seized three boats, officials said.
     
They were handed over to police in Karachi after interrogation and an FIR was registered against them under the Foreigners Act, they said.
     
A total of 61 Indian fishermen were arrested by the MSA for allegedly fishing in Pakistani waters last month. Pakistan arrests scores of Indian fishermen every year.

The two countries recently agreed to work on measures for the expeditious release of people who inadvertently cross land or maritime boundaries.

Over 40,000 supporters for Hazare on Facebook

New Delhi:  Jantar Mantar remains the focal point of activity, but the fight against corruption isn't being fought only on the streets. As Anna Hazare continues his fast-unto-death, demanding a more stringent anti-corruption law, those who can't make it to the concourse are showing their solidarity through the Internet.

Social networking sites are flooded with updates and requests to join the fight against corruption. A group by the name "Join Anna Hazare in fast unto death to demand anti-corruption law" has seen more than 7,500 people joining in the past 48 hours. 

The official Facebook page of 'India Against Corruption' now has been joined by more than 40,700 users. The activists have set up a helpline at Jantar Mantar (09718500606) with six people to receive calls. Hazare's aides say they have been receiving numerous calls from even the remotest corners of the country. Their 'missed call number' in Mumbai (9122- 61550789) has received almost 2.5 lakh calls so far.

Facebook and Twitter have seen around 45-50 updates per minute on Hazare. Users are updating their views and are asking others to join the cause. Even the Google Trend shows that keywords like Anna Hazare and Lokpal Bill have been among the top 10 searches by netizens in India in the last two days.
Some Facebook users are looking at this crusade in the context of the movement in Egypt. Rishab Manocha wrote on Facebook: "It was Egypt and Libya...And now we will see same in India. Let this protest go on; we are with Anna Hazare."

Many young students and college-goers came to see the Gandhian ideologist at Jantar Mantar. "I read it in newspapers how Anna Hazare is on hunger strike to change the system for a better future. I couldn't do anything other than supporting him by coming here. I have clicked his picture and will share it with other friends on social networking websites," said Harsh Vardhan, a resident of Sheikh Sarai area.

Similarly, cyclist Gaurav Jain came to Jantar Mantar on his trek bike and has decided to starve for day to support the cause. "On Tuesday I came on my trek bike from Rajghat to India Gate and then to Jantar Manar to fight against corruption and support Hazare. I have decided to starve for a day and to be with the cause till the end," he added.

Political leaders trying to meet anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare at the fasting site here were on Thursday prevented from speaking to him by his supporters, prompting a rebuke from the Gandhian who said they should listen to all shades of views.

RLD chief Ajit Singh, INLD president Om Prakash Chautala and Hindutva leader Uma Bharti along with their supporters reached Jantar Mantar separately where Hazare was sitting on a indefinite fast demanding 'Jan Lokpal Bill' since Wednesday.

As soon as the leaders arrived, Hazare's supporters shouted slogans and prevented them from going on the dais and discussing issues with the 72-year-old activist. The leaders beat a hasty retreat without meeting Hazare.

The first mention of an anti-corruption ombudsman (Lokpal) was made in the early 1960s when Jawaharlal Nehru was the Prime Minister. But it was in 1966 that a Lokpal was proposed at the Centre and Lokayuktas in states.

In 1968, a Lokpal Bill was presented for the first time in the fourth Lok Sabha. The House passed it in 1969. But while it was pending, LS was dissolved.

The Bill was revived in 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998 and 2001. But each time, it was referred to some committee of Parliament. The government has now prepared a rough draft of the Bill.

A fresh movement for an effective Lokpal began in 2010 after a series of scams. An alternative draft - Jan Lokpal Bill - was prepared by activists India Against Corruption under the guidance of Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde and senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan.

The sub-committee on the Lokpal bill is headed by Defence Minister A.K. Antony. Apart from Sibal, its members were Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Law Minister M Veerappa Moily. After questions were raised about their credibility by Hazare's supporters, Pawar decided to resign from the GoM on Wednesday.

Aamir Khan Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking him to pay heed to the voice of Anna Hazare.

"I am merely one of many who fully support Hazare, and have come to appreciate that this upright 72-year-old man is willing to sacrifice his life in the fight against corruption," wrote Aamir Khan, in his letter, to the PM. Khan described himself as "one of over billion citizens of this country who is affected by corruption". 

Hazare wrote an open letter to PM Manmohan Singh on Wednesday, raising many questions and seeking his reply. "It is being alleged that I am being instigated by some people to sit on this fast. Dear Manmohan Singh ji, this is an insult to my sense of wisdom and intelligence. I am not a kid that I could be "instigated" into going on an indefinite fast. 

I am pained that the government, rather than addressing the issue of corruption, is trying to allege conspiracies, when there are none," Hazare wrote in the letter. "It is being said that I have shown impatience when the government has "initiated" the process. I would urge you to tell me - exactly what processes are underway?" he asked in the letter.

Notices to Jayalalithaa, Vijayakanth for violation of poll code

Chennai:  The Election Commission (EC) has issued notices to AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa and her ally DMDK chief actor Vijayakanth for their alleged personal attacks against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and his family members in their campaign speeches, officials said today.
   
In the notice, the EC has asked both the leaders to furnish their replies by 5 PM today, they said.
   
The EC's notice came in the wake of a recent compliant by members of DMK poll committee who alleged that both Jayalalithaa and Vijayakanth were making personal attacks targeting Karunanidhi and his family members in their poll campaign for the April 13 Assembly elections.
   
With just six days to go for polls, the campaign has reached feverish pitch with both DMK and AIADMK-led fronts playing for high stakes in one of the fierce poll battles ever.

I-Tem girls face the heat

Mumbai:  After Bollywood's leading ladies like Katrina Kaif and Priyanka Chopra found themselves at the receiving end of Income Tax (I-T) raids earlier this year, it is the turn of item girls and small-time actresses to face the heat. 

Scores of these actresses have been found to have evaded filing returns on their income after a background check was run on alleged defaulters, said a senior I-T official.

I-T officials have served notices to some actresses, which has resulted in a sudden spike for accountants

Some of the names include a controversial item girl, an actress who shot to fame through a reality show and several other item girls who are on the fringes of stardom.

The scrutiny of these actresses' sources of income by I-T officials revealed that they were paid large sums of money for stage shows and item songs.

The officials also found that the actresses did not file their returns despite producers deducting tax at source (TDS). 

Notices to file returns have been served to some actresses by the department, which has resulted in a sudden spike in business for chartered accountants and tax consultants, especially in the Bandra-Andheri belt.

All the actresses who have not filed their returns are now flocking to these professionals to help them do so as soon as possible to avoid coming under the I-T scanner.

One such actress, who did not wish to be named, said, "We are keeping all the paperwork ready and are trying to file the returns at the earliest.
 
Having witnessed what has happened to some actresses, we don't want any problems from the I-T department later."

Rizwan Siddique, a renowned legal and tax consultant who has many film stars, television actors and event management companies as clients, said, "Yes, it is true that the I-T department and all other departments connected to revenue, like the Service Tax department, have been extremely active in their approach this year. Many different industries have come under their scanner and the film and television industry is just one of them."

Siddique, who also has several item girls as clients, added, "My varied client base, including reputed models and item girls, have become extremely cautious with the filing of their I-T returns.
 
They want it done on time and are maintaining all their books of accounts and relevant documents in a proper manner."

"This sudden seriousness is because a lot of them have either received notices from the I-T department or their returns are under scrutiny," he added.

'Skype School' brings knowledge to Indian village

The electricity keeps cutting out, the Internet connection is crackly and the speakers don't always work, but Santosh Kumar knows that 20 pupils far away in eastern India are relying on him.

Once a week, Kumar uses the Skype computer program to teach maths to children in Chamanpura, a poor village in the struggling state of Bihar, 600 miles (970 kilometers) from his two-story house in the suburbs of New Delhi.

The free Internet service allows the class to see, via a projector, Kumar's tutorial which includes an animated tale about a greedy priest and a wily countryman to teach the students about numbers and the concept of infinity.

"The first time I did this, they were really excited by the technology, now they don't care," Kumar said. "It's normal to them."
Kumar, a successful 34-year-old engineer, grew up in Chamanpura village before battling his way to a place at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and on to a well-paid job in the Indian capital.

"It's an uphill task to bring education to villages," he said, recalling his teenage years when he would cycle eight miles to college in a nearby town.

Kumar's cousin Chandrakant Singh, also now a well-paid engineer, decided during a trip back to the village to set up a school for children aged between 6 and 12.

"I wanted to provide a world-class education to students in the remotest place on Earth," said Singh, who remembers studying at night under the dim light of a kerosene lamp.

Unfazed by the fact that Chamanpura has no mains electricity, or by the refusal of experienced teachers to travel to Bihar, Singh approached his friends for donations to fund the Chaitanya Gurukul boarding school.

He installed two power generators and organized training for 16 local teachers before hitting on the idea of using Skype to connect students with professionals across India.

"The world's greatest teachers don't want to go there, so I thought maybe we could use technology to help our students learn faster," he said.

The school opened its doors in April 2010, offering admission to 500 students, 50 of whom pay nothing, with the rest charged according to their parents' ability to afford fees.

The Skype lessons take place in the evenings after the day's regular classes and at weekends.

Kumar was on board from the beginning, adamant that he could help the students and give them more "clarity" on what they learn in class.

"Some of them were curious, others got intimidated, I had to work with them to rid them of their fear," he said, pointing out many of them had never seen a computer before.

"Now it's like television for them, it entertains them and hopefully they learn something," he said during another power outage. "The technical problems happen often. It's extremely frustrating but we carry on."

During his maths lesson, some students appeared engrossed by the video, while others chattered inaudibly in the back rows.

But they snapped to attention during the question session, with everyone answering correctly.

"It's a very different way of teaching, it helps me remember what I learn better than if I just read it," Anmol Kumar Jaiswal, 11, told AFP via the two-way Skype link.

Pragya Parashar, a 12-year-old girl sitting behind Jaiswal nodded in agreement.

"I like these lessons, it helps me understand things better," she said shyly. "I also want to become an engineer like my teacher."

59 bodies found in pits in Mexican border state

Mexico City:  Mexican security forces searching for abducted bus passengers in a violent northern state bordering Texas have stumbled on a collection of pits holding a total of 59 bodies.

The grisly find was made near the ranch where drug cartel gunmen less than a year ago massacred 72 migrants who were trying to reach the United States.

Investigators struggled to exhume the bodies in the mass grave to determine whether they belonged to kidnapped bus passengers, migrants who frequently ride buses in the area, or drug traffickers executed by rivals.

Tamaulipas state investigators and federal authorities went to the site about 80 miles (130 kilometers) south of the border at Brownsville, Texas, to investigate reports that gunmen had begun stopping buses and pulling off some passengers in the area starting March 25.

Two other such cases were reported in subsequent days, in what may have been an attempt at forced recruitment by a drug gang, Tamaulipas state interior secretary Morelos Canseco said. The gunmen reportedly abducted almost exclusively men and allowed the remaining passengers to continue on their way.

State and federal investigators and soldiers conducted the raid, but differed on what exactly happened.

The federal Interior Department said the first pit was discovered Saturday and soldiers detained five suspected kidnappers. Tamaulipas officials said the pits were found Wednesday, and a total of 11 suspected kidnappers were captured and five kidnap victims were freed. The reason for the discrepancy was not clear.

But the security forces agreed that a series of eight burial pits had been found, one of which contained 43 bodies and the others 16 corpses. The bodies were being examined to determine their identities and cause of death.

Canseco said two of the dead were women. Many of the victims found in the pits appeared to have died between 10 and 15 days ago, dates that would roughly match the bus abductions, he said.

A statement from the Tamaulipas government, which "energetically condemned" the killings, did not say what drug gang, if any, the suspects belonged to.

President Felipe Calderon's office issued a statement saying the find "underlines the cowardliness and total lack of scruples of the criminal organizations that cause violence in our country."

While there was no immediate confirmation that a drug cartel was involved, officials refer to the cartels as "criminal organizations."

The pits were found in the farm hamlet of La Joya in the township of San Fernando, in the same area where the bodies of 72 migrants, most from Central America, were found shot to death Aug. 24 at a ranch.

Authorities blamed that massacre on the Zetas drug gang, which is fighting its one-time allies in the Gulf cartel for control of the region.

The victims in the August massacre were illegal immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Ecuador and Brazil. An Ecuadorean and Honduran survived the attack, which Mexican authorities say occurred after the migrants refused to work for the cartel.

Mexican drug cartels have taken to recruiting migrants, common criminals and youths, Mexican authorities say.

But drug gunmen also operate kidnapping rings, and erect roadblocks on highways in Tamaulipas and other northern states, where they hijack vehicles and rob and sometimes kill passengers.

San Fernando is on a major highway that leads to the U.S. border, but it wasn't immediately known whether the victims found in the mass grave had been kidnapped from that road.

Drug gangs across Mexico also sometimes use mass graves to dispose of the bodies of executed rivals.

The wave of drug-related killings -- which has claimed more than 34,000 lives in the four years since the government launched an offensive against drug cartels -- drew thousands of protesters into the streets of Mexico's capital and several other cities Wednesday in marches against violence.

Many of the protesters said the government offensive has stirred up the violence.

"We need to end this war, because it is a senseless war that the government started," said protester Alma Lilia Roura, 60, an art historian.

Several thousand people joined the demonstration in downtown Mexico City, chanting "No More Blood!" and "Not One More!" A similar number marched through the southern city of Cuernavaca.

Parents marched with toddlers, and protesters held up signs highlighting the disproportionate toll among the nation's youth. "Today a student, tomorrow a corpse," read one sign carried by demonstrators.

The marches were spurred in part by the March 28 killing of Juan Francisco Sicilia, the son of Mexican poet Javier Sicilia, and six other people in Cuernavaca.

"We are putting pressure on the government, because this can't go on," said the elder Sicilia. "It seems that we are like animals that can be murdered with impunity.

Immigrant boat capsizes off Italy; 250 missing

Rome:  A boat carrying as many as 300 terrified migrants from Libya capsized in rough seas off the Italian coast early Wednesday, as rescuers, hampered by strong winds, struggled to get to them.

The Italian coast guard rescued 48 people and a fishing boat picked up another three, but as many as 250 more remained unaccounted for as night fell Wednesday.

Survivors told The International Organization for Migration that they swam in the darkness toward approaching coast guard vessels, but many others drowned because they couldn't swim, or were dragged down by screaming fellow passengers.

The coast guard is searching for survivors in what could be one of the worst tragedies since a wave of illegal migration from North Africa to Italy began in January, officials said.

However, Pietro Carosia of the coast guard warned that the operations, conducted by Italian helicopters, patrol boats and a Maltese plane, were still being frustrated by strong winds and rough waters.

The incident occurred at about 1 a.m. about 40 miles (64.37 kilometers) off the coast of Lampedusa, an island closer to North Africa than mainland Italy.

Carosia said the boat had sailed from Libya and likely been at sea for around two days. He said about 200 people were believed to be on board, although the IOM and survivors put the number of passengers at 300.

The IOM said the migrants and asylum seekers were from Bangladesh, Chad, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Somalia and Sudan. Among them there were 5 children and 40 women, of whom only two survived.

Antonio Guterres, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, said many of those on board had sought asylum in Libya, only to be forced to flee by the fighting.

"These people were refugees twice... I appeal to all those patrolling the Mediterranean Sea to do everything they can to help vessels in distress," he said.

Upon arriving in Lampedusa Wednesday morning, survivors were offered blankets, warm drinks and food. Officials who provided first aid said many were in a state of shock and suffering from hypothermia.

"One man told me he had lost his 1-year-old son," said Simona Moscarelli of IOM. "One of the two surviving women told me how she had lost her husband."

Another relief official who assisted them, Cono Galipo, said many didn't know where they were, or where they had come from. "I'm under the impression some still don't know whether they are dead or alive," she added.

ANSA and LaPresse news agencies said at least 20 bodies had been seen in the water, including those of women and children.

The coast guard said it was unclear what happened, and that the incident was being investigated.

The commander of a fishing boat that rescued three people described a terrifying scene.

"What we saw was incredible: Heads were coming in and out (of the water) and people were screaming," Francesco Rifiorito told ANSA. "We did all we could."

More than 20,000 people -- mostly Tunisians -- have arrived from North Africa on Italy's shores, fleeing the turmoil that has engulfed the region. Many leave from Zarzis, Djerba and Sfax, all in Tunisia, IOM said.

On Wednesday, the U.N. refugee agency's goodwill ambassador Angelina Jolie was in Tunisia, where she met refugees from Libya. In a statement, she said she was "deeply saddened" by the shipwreck.

"It is all the more devastating knowing that children were on board," she said.

Italy has pressed Tunisia to step up patrols of its coasts and to take back migrants who make it to Italy. The two countries struck a deal Tuesday, with Tunis agreeing to the repatriation of new arrivals and Rome supplying equipment and other assistance to crack down on smuggling rings. Italy also agreed to issue short-term residency papers for 20,000 illegal immigrants already here.

But Tunisia's state news agency, citing the Interior Ministry, reported Wednesday that the government opposes any "collective repatriation" of Tunisian nationals from Lampedusa.

Tunisian officials took that stance during talks with Italy over the matter, notably during a rapid visit by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to Tunisia on Monday, the TAP news agency reported.

"The Tunisian side insisted that it was impossible to accept a collective repatriation of Tunisians on the basis of figures put forward by Italy, notably given the current context in Tunisia," the ministry said, according to TAP.

Now Afridi opens his heart, praises Dhoni

Lahore:India is lucky to have a "stable" captain like Mahendra Singh Dhoni, according to Pakistan's ODI skipper Shahid Afridi who is still trying to play down his negative remarks against Indians that caused an uproar.
"I thought Dhoni led the Indians very shrewdly and performed brilliantly in the final. India is lucky to have a stable captain like him, Afridi told PTI in an interview.

"He had a big role to play in the Indian victory and I am sure this victory means a lot for Indian cricket and their people. But I also hope the World Cup coming back to Asia will also boost the sport in this region again and normalise bilateral Indo-Pak cricket relations," he said.

Afridi acknowledged that India were the better side on that day and deserved to win the World Cup. "They were the better side and deserved to win the world cup. Any side that can beat us should win the World Cup," he said.

Afridi heaped praise on Indian batting icon Sachin Tendulkar, saying that his hunger for runs is amazing and he still has plenty to offer to Indian cricket.

"His hunger for runs is amazing and only he can best decide what he wants to do in the future. But I can tell you this age is no bar to his success in either Tests or one-day internationals," he said.

Afridi said he did not have any words to describe the Indian maestro and disclosed that he has a framed jersey autographed by Tendulkar in his drawing room.

The Pakistan captain once again played down his negative remarks about Indian people that he made on a Pakistani television channel talk show that has caused an uproar in the neighboring country.

"I have nothing against the Indian people and I have always enjoyed going to India as the people there appreciate and support good cricket and players," Afridi said.

"The remarks I made on the show have been misunderstood and taken out of context. My main emphasis was that sports should not be mixed with politics and there were some elements who didn't want the people of the two countries to get closer," Afridi clarified.

"It is unfortunate whenever someone tries to bring politics into sport. This is unacceptable and will only lead to misunderstandings," he said.

Afridi's remarks about the Indian media being negative about Indo-Pak relations and the Pakistani media being 100 times better have also caused a furore. 

"I don't want to sound condescending but I have always wanted good relations between the two countries and I have in my own way tried to play a positive role," he said