Maldives crisis: Former president Mohamed Nasheed seeks refuge in Indian embassy - India

13   feb  2013

Maldives crisis: Former president Mohamed Nasheed seeks refuge in Indian embassy

Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India

Click to Expand & Play

Male: Former president of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, has sought refuge at the Indian High Commission in Male and, sources said, India has agreed to give him shelter there. Outside the building, the police are waiting to give effect to an arrest warrant issued by a court against him.

"They (Nasheed and his supporters) came to speak with the High Commissioner, but the High Commissioner wasn't there at that time. Now, the High Commissioner has reached. When we will get information about the meeting, we will inform you about it," said External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid.

The stand-off is likely to continue for some more time as the high court has rejected Mr Nasheed's request that the arrest warrant issued by the lower court be stayed. Sources close to Mr Nasheed said he would like to remain at the Indian high commission until an all-inclusive election is held in the country. As long as the former president is inside the High Commission, the Maldivian police cannot arrest him as it is Indian territory.

BJP leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj tweeted, "The situation in Maldives is a matter of serious concern. I have spoken to NSA (National Security Advisor) and asked him that the government should keep us informed in this regard."

The sources said the former Maldivian president has sought India's assistance for an early solution and that he could extend his appeal for refuge to a request for asylum in India.

Mr Nasheed had earlier tweeted, "Mindful of my security and the stability of the Indian Ocean, I have taken refuge at the Indian High Commission in Maldives." He is inside the embassy with six of his MPs.
 

Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India

The court issued the arrest warrant after Mr Nasheed failed to attend a previously scheduled trial hearing on February 10. The former President was on a visit to India after being granted permission to depart the country by the court. Despite the travel period he was allowed expiring on February 9, Mr Nasheed arrived back in Male only on February 11, Maldivian media reported.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Mr Nasheed has asked the current President Mohamed Waheed to step down to enable Speaker to form a transition government.

Mr Nasheed is charged with abusing his power as president after winning the first free elections in the country in 2008. Mr Nasheed was forced out of power in February last year in what he has described as a coup orchestrated by former ruler Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Italian marines will be able to serve jail sentence in Italy - India

12  feb  2013

Italian marines will be able to serve jail sentence in Italy

Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India

New Delhi: If convicted, the two Italian marines facing murder charges in Kerala will be able to serve rest of their jail term in Italy, once the agreement between India and their country on transfer of sentenced prisoners comes into effect.

The agreement, which was notified December 17 last year by India, will come into effect two months after the exchange of diplomatic communications from both sides regarding completion of all process at their respective ends.

While Italy has already sent its diplomatic letter informing India of completing its process to implement the pact, India is yet to send the same.

"We are in the process of completing our judicial process," official spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs said when asked about the agreement and its impact on the Italian marines.

The pact will not apply to convicts on death row. The two Italian marines, Salvatore Girone and Massimiliano Latorre, were arrested on February 19 after they shot and killed two Indian fishermen -- Ajesh Binki (25) and Jelestine (45) - off Alapuzha coast in Kerala on February 15 from the merchant vessel 'Enrica Lexie'.

The incident resulted in Italian government taking up the issue with India strongly, both at diplomatic level as well political.

Women helpline in Bhopal getting calls from men too - India

09 feb 2013

Women helpline in Bhopal getting calls from men too

Bhopal: A helpline for women on phone number 1090 in Bhopal is also getting calls from men who are threatened by their wives.

The helpline number has been working for 38 days and has received calls from about 12 men who complained about their wives.

Most of them said their wives had a penchant for getting into fights, using offensive words and becoming angry at the slightest provocation.

However, the helpline staff has been telling the males that the number is set up only for women and directing them to contact their local police stations.

GPS devices installed in 12,000 autos, buses - India

7  feb  2013

GPS devices installed in 12,000 autos, buses

Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India

New Delhi: As part of efforts to enhance security for women and respond promptly to their distress calls, Delhi Police has revamped its helpline number 100 by increasing the number of lines from 60 to 100 and installed Global Positioning System (GPS) devices in 12,000 autos and all Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) or cluster buses.

This was conveyed by the city police to the Special Task Force headed by Union Home Secretary R K Singh, constituted to look into the safety issues of women in Delhi and review the functioning of Delhi Police, at its  second meeting held here last week.

The meeting reviewed the status of different helplines; Police Control Room (PCR) Vans, DTC/cluster bus service and women help desks in Police Stations among other issues.

While reviewing helpline No. 100, Delhi Police noted that it has been revamped and the number of lines has been increased from 60 lines to 100 lines. The number of lines for phone number 1091 meant for women in distress has been increased from two to 10.

Anti-stalking Helpline No. 1096 and Helpline 1091 will be merged by making the total number of lines as 14, an official release said.

The Task Force was also informed that all DTC/Cluster buses and about 12,000 autos are already equipped with GPS devices and these have been connected with the Centralised Control Room. The Transport Department of the Delhi Government has issued instructions that all remaining public vehicles should have GPS devices before end-April 2013.

The Task Force also decided that the Home Ministry and the Delhi Police will take up the case with Telecom Authorities so that the location of the tower and the caller in distress particularly women are available to the PCR van immediately.

This measure will help the police to reach caller in distress faster.

There are 4,627 notified bus-stops at present in Delhi and out of these 1407 are already properly lit. Work is on at another 288 bus-stops which will be completed this month.

The Home Secretary mentioned that the remaining bus-stops be reconstructed with illumination facility in a time-bound manner, the release said.

Regarding the display of name, photograph of driver and staff inside the buses, Delhi Police has been asked to verify these public vehicles and start impounding the vehicles violating the revised permit conditions with immediate effect.

The issues of Photo Identity Card for public service vehicle crew, Close Circuit Television (CCTV)/Web-cam at parking and shopping malls, verification of school bus staff, vulnerable bus routes and street-lighting were also reviewed by the Task Force. Delhi Police informed that Women Help Desk at Police Stations is fully operational.

Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) stated that they have prepared a list of volunteers and would start deploying them at Women Help Desk in consultation with the Delhi Police, it said.

Snowfall, rain lash North India, bring chill back - India

05  feb   2013

Snowfall, rain lash North India, bring chill back

Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India

New Delhi: Snowfall and rain lashed North India for a second day on Tuesday, triggering landslides and cutting off parts of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, and waterlogging roads in Delhi.

Delhi received the heaviest rainfall of the winter season since Monday, breaking a six-year-old record, at 46 mm. Delhi's Ridge at 50 mm, Delhi University northern campus at 51 mm and Lodhi Road at 53.6 mm were the wettest spots in the capital, and gave commuters a harrowing time with waterlogged key roads.

The minimum temperature in the capital was recorded at 13.5 degrees Celsius. The maximum was 19.3 degrees Celsius.

In Himachal Pradesh, the situation was worse as piles of snow blocked vehicular movements along road to towns in Shimla, Kullu and Kinnaur districts. The heavy snowfall and rain will continue till Wednesday, the Met Office said.

Traffic beyond Kufri, a hill station near Shimla, was suspended after a stretch of Hindustan-Tibet Road was closed due to heavy snow. Connectivity on Kullu-Manali national highway was affected five km ahead of Manali.

Kalpa in Kinnaur experienced 54.7 cm of snowfall and mercury dipped to minus 3.4 degrees Celsius while the minimum temperature in Manali was 1.2 degrees below the freezing point.

Further north, the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway No.1A, the lifeline to the Kashmir Valley, remained closed for the second consecutive day due to overnight snowfall and landslides. Hundreds of load carriers and passenger vehicles were stranded.

A Border Roads Organisation official said the piled up snow blocked the road in the Banihal sector while landslides hit the road in Panthal, Seri and Kela Morh areas.

He said if weather permitted, stranded vehicles would be allowed to move on from Jammu to Srinagar.

There were about 200 people stranded at Jammu bus stand due to closure of the highway.

Almost all mountainous parts of the Jammu region too remained cut off. The 100-km stretch between Patnitop and Banihal had over a dozen road blockades caused by snow, landslides and shooting stones.

Police said they have given food and shelter to stranded passengers who could be reached while police units were trying to access those who are cut off. Even telecom links and electricity supply were disrupted.

The number of pilgrims visiting the Vaishno Devi hill shrine also fell drastically to about 5,000, from 8,500 on Monday, a Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board official said.

The snowfall in Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh brought on heavy rains and strong winds in the plains of Haryana and Punjab.

In Haryana, Narnaul and Karnal received 30 and 23.8 mm of rain, respectively. Rain was also reported in Ambala and Hisar.

In Punjab, Patiala received 13.6 mm of rain. Amritsar and Ludhiana also had showers.

Chandigarh received 11.5 mm of rain till Tuesday morning. The rain was accompanied by high velocity winds.

Incessant rain also brought back winter chill in Uttar Pradesh. The weather department forecast more showers.

The rainy weather forced Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh to postpone their trips to the state, party leaders said.

The rains, with lightning, thunder and icy winds, began late on Monday and continued till Tuesday, pulling down mercury.

The minimum temperature in Lucknow was 4.7 degrees Celsius -- six notches below normal.

In Kanpur, it was 5.3 degrees Celsius, while Allahabad recorded 5.1 degrees.

The rains were caused by a westerly disturbance - a storm system emanating from the Mediterranean and moving onto the Himalayas in Afghanistan and Pakistan - and the situation was likely to remain more or less similar for the next few days, said a Met official.

Vishwaroop fares average, mints Rs 7.66 crore on weekend - India

04  feb 2013

Vishwaroop fares average, mints Rs 7.66 crore on weekend

Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India

The multilingual film stars Kamal in the title role, while Rahul Bose, Shekhar Kapur and Pooja Kumar too make an appearance in the movie.

The Hindi version of actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan's Vishwaroopam hit the screens on February 1 amid controversies and the espionage thriller, made at Rs 95 crore, grossed approximately Rs 7.66 crore in its opening weekend.

The Hindi version earned Rs 1.99 crore on the opening day. The footfalls increased over the weekend, but reception by audience was not as per the expectation.

"Weekend had 50 percent occupancy on an average. More young crowds are coming, but it is less than what we expected. So far 6,000 people came," Punit Sahay, senior manager, programming and operations, Spice told IANS.

"The footfalls might not increase over weekdays but we are hoping that during next weekend more and more people will come," he added.

The multilingual stars Kamal in the title role, while Rahul Bose, Shekhar Kapur and Pooja Kumar too make an appearance in the movie.

"The movie has done very well despite being a dubbed movie. Mixed kind of audience is coming," said Piyush Raizada, director Delight Cinema.

The Tamil and Telugu versions, titled Vishwaroopam, were scheduled for Jan 25 release, but it was banned after some Muslim organisations claimed that certain scenes in the movie will hurt religious sentiments of the community. As a result it was banned Tamil Nadu and later the film's screening was stopped in Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Though the ban was lifted in Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh on January 29, protesters in Tamil Nadu did not allow the release of the movie.

Later Kamal agreed to edit out the objectionable scenes from the film and now it will hit screens in Tamil Nadu February 7.

German Islamist threatens to attack Germany, Angela Merkel: report - India

2  feb  2013

German Islamist threatens to attack Germany, Angela Merkel: report

Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India

Berlin: A German Islamist has threatened to attack Berlin this summer and kill Chancellor Angela Merkel in a video posted on the Internet, a newspaper reported on Saturday.

A spokesman for Germany's intelligence service, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, confirmed its agents had seen such a video.

"This is an Islamist battle song. It is known to the security services and is being evaluated," said the spokesman.

Die Welt newspaper reported that a three-minute video had surfaced on the Internet with a German Islamist calling himself Abu Azzam, believed to be a radical Salafist who moved to Egypt last year.

"Looking back at an Arab spring, we are looking forward to a European summer," said Abu Azzam in the video, according to the newspaper.

"Osama, wait for us... We want to see Obama and Merkel dead," he was quoted as saying, adding that Germany's Reichstag parliament building would be subject to attacks like those on New York's World Trade Center in 2001.

German authorities have stepped up surveillance of Salafist groups who espouse a radical version of Islam. Germany is home to roughly 4,000 Salafists, a tiny proportion of the total Muslim population of about four million.

Germany's involvement in the NATO mission in Afghanistan has led to fears of an attack on German soil. Berlin is also supplying military transport planes to fly West African troops to Mali to help French and Malian forces fighting Islamist rebels.