No role in house attack, says Pinarayi

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New Delhi: CPI-M state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday ruled out any role of the party in the attack on the residence of newly elected RSP MP N K Premachandran in Kollam.

“The incident is unfortunate. The CPI-M has no role in it. It is not an approach of the party to attack its political foes,” said the Marxian, who is in Delhi to attend the politburo meeting.

Unidentified persons pelted stones at the house of Premachandran, damaging windowpanes early morning Saturday. None were injured in the attack as the MP and his family are in Delhi.

Locals told police that a group of 10 persons came to the spot late yesterday night, pelted stones and also pasted posters, accusing the MP of 'deceiving' the Left Democratic Front (LDF) for power and position.

Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) had severed its ties with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) led LDF on the eve of the April 10 Lok Sabha polls and became a partner in the ruling Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF).

Premachandran had defeated CPI-M politburo member and former state Minister M A Baby in the polls.

RSP is stated to merge with RSP (Bolshevik), which is already a partner in the ruling front, at a "re-unification" conference here on June 10.

RSP state secretary A A Azeez and State Labour Minister and leader of RSP(B) Shibu Baby John visited the house and requested the state government to take serious note of the incident.

UP policemen thrashed by mob for not registering rape complaint

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Lucknow: Policemen were attacked and senior district officials roughed up in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar late on Friday for refusing to lodge a complaint about the rape of a mentally-challenged woman. The situation was brought under control only on Saturday, an official said.

The victim was raped on Tuesday near Basi village graveyard, but her family learnt about it only on Friday. The victim's brother went to lodge a complaint with the police but the station house officer (SHO) of Dulhera allegedly refused to do so.

Incensed at the SHO's refusal to lodge a complaint, hundreds of villagers from Palda, Rasoolpur Jatan, Mukandpur, Kutba-Kutbi, Kamalpur, Shahpur and Kakda villages protested at the Shahpur police station.

They also manhandled the SHO who was chased on to the road and beaten up.

When the news reached the district administration, top officials, including District Magistrate Kaushalraj Sharma and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) H.N. Singh, rushed to the spot.

The SSP was also not spared by the mob and his uniform was torn.

The crowd was angry that the police not only refused to register a case, but also refused to send the victim for a medical examination.

Sensing that the situation might get out of control, the DM ordered a medical examination of the woman.

The state government also intervened midnight and suspended six policemen, including circle officer (CO) of Shahpur.

The situation was brought under control Saturday, though additional police force has been deployed, an official told IANS.

Muzaffarnagar in western Uttar Pradesh was the scene of communal riots in September 2013, leaving 63 dead and thousands homeless.

The riots had started after the police let off some youths accused of molesting a girl. When the brothers of the girl protested, they were shot dead. IANS

Indian-origin scientist makes breakthrough in laser technology

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New York: Your personal computer may soon become more compact and energy efficient as laser could replace the mesh of wires.

Scientists at University of Michigan, led by an Indian American Pallab Bhattacharya, have found a new and more efficient way to make a coherent laser-like beam.

The 'laser-like' beam is made up of precarious particles called polaritons that are part light and part matter.

This polariton laser is fuelled by electrical current and works at room temperature, rather than way below zero.

Those attributes make the device the most real-world ready of the handful of polariton lasers ever developed.

'This is big. For the past 50 years, we have relied on lasers to make coherent light and now we have something else based on a totally new principle,' said Pallab Bhattacharya, professor of engineering at University of Michigan.

The work could advance efforts to put lasers on computer circuits to replace wire connections, leading to smaller and more powerful electronics.

It may also have applications in medical devices and treatments among several other things.

Today lasers are used in the fibre-optic communication that makes the Internet and cable television possible.

'The new prototype requires 1,000 times less electricity to operate than its conventional counterpart made of the same material,' Bhattacharya concluded. IANS

With 41 million obese, India third after US, China: Report

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Kolkata: India, with 41 million obese people, ranks third after the US and China in having the highest number of overweight people in the world, says a study.

Together, India and China represent 15 percent of the world's obese population.

The 'Global, regional, and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults during 1980-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013' report highlights nearly one-third of the world's population is obese or overweight.

The study, that was released May 29, spanned 33 years and 188 countries.

It also states the number of overweight and obese individuals globally increased from 857 million in 1980 to 2.1 billion in 2013.

The analysis was conducted by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington and published in The Lancet May 29.

One in five Indian men and women are either overweight or obese.

However, these rates are lower than Bhutan and Pakistan, but higher than Nepal and Bangladesh.

Although the prevalence of obesity has increased over the course of the 33-year study in India, only 3.7 percent men and 4.2 percent women were obese in 2013.

In the last 33 years, no country has successfully reduced obesity rates.

'In the last three decades, not one country has achieved success in reducing obesity rates, and we expect obesity to rise steadily as incomes rise in low and middle income countries in particular, unless urgent steps are taken to address this public health crisis,' said Christopher Murray, director of IHME and a co-founder of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study in a statement. IANS

North India reels under heat wave, power cuts; monsoon hits Kerala

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Lucknow/Chandigarh/Shimla: Heat wave conditions intensified across north India Friday with the mercury hovering between 46 and 48.4 degrees Celsius at several places. No respite was in sight in the coming days though the monsoon hit Kerala, a day behind schedule.

Extreme heat wave conditions continued in most parts of Uttar Pradesh, the country's most populated state, with the mercury climbing steadily. Met officials said Mahoba, with a maximum temperature of 48.4 degrees Celsius, was the hottest.

Day temperatures in the state hovered around 46 degrees Celsius in most places, including state capital Lucknow. Temperatures significantly soared in Agra, Unnao, Kanpur, Bareilly, Kannauj, Mainpuri, Muzaffarnagar, Deoria and Gorakhpur and humidity levels were also high.

Power outages made life miserable for the common people. No power supply in many parts of Lucknow and other districts added to the people's problems with power cuts extending from 8 to 10 hours. People at many places took to the streets to protest and, in some instances, even held power staff hostage.

The only good news Friday was that the monsoon hit the coastal belt in Kerala.

Regional Met director J.P. Gupta, said in Lucknow that the monsoon, after hitting the Kerala coast earlier in the day, was 'on schedule' and in all likelihood, will reach the eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh June 15.

In neighbouring Haryana, Hisar town sizzled at 46.5 degrees as heat wave conditions intensified over most parts of the state and Punjab. The temperature at most places ranged from 44 to 46.5 degrees, Met officials said.

Bhiwani recorded a high of 45.6 degrees while Ambala recorded 44.9 degrees.

In Punjab, Patiala was the hottest at 45.6 degrees while the Sikh holy city of Amritsar and industrial hub Ludhiana had a high of 45.5 degrees. All were four degrees above normal.

Chandigarh recorded a high of 44.5 degrees, five degrees above normal.

Met officials here said that the weather will remain dry, sunny and hot in the coming days with the heat wave intensifying.

People preferred to remain indoors during the day time with the searing heat prevailing outside.

Met officials ruled out any relief from the heat wave in the next two to three days.

The hills of Himachal Pradesh were slightly better than the plains but the mercury soared here also.

State capital Shimla recorded a maximum temperature of 30.7 degrees Celsius, a whopping six notches above the season's average.

'Temperatures across the state rose abnormally, remaining above average by two to seven degrees Celsius,' an official of the Met Office in Shimla told IANS.

According to him, Una town was the hottest place in the hill state with the maximum temperature touching 44.4 degrees Celsius.

Sundernagar in Mandi district recorded a maximum of 39.8 degrees, Bhuntar in Kullu district touched 36.5 degrees, Dharamsala in Kangra district was at 35.4 degrees, and Kalpa in Kinnaur district marked a high of 26.4 degrees.

Picturesque tourist resort of Manali recorded a high of 27.2 degrees. IANS

Afghan presidential candidate escapes bombing attack

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Kabul: Afghan presidential candidate Dr. Abdullah Abdullah Friday escaped unhurt twin-bomb blasts in Afghanistan's capital city Kabul, media reported.

"Following a political gathering, our vehicle was struck by a mine. None of our team members in the vehicle was hurt in the explosion," Xinhua quoted Abdullah as saying.

The blasts occurred at around 12:10 p.m., shortly after a political rally ended in Ariana restaurant in western Kabul.

The meeting was attended by several political leaders and hundreds of their supporters.

However, Abdullah, a former foreign minister, said several of his bodyguards were injured in the first blast, adding that none of the injured received life-threading wounds.

The attack took place as Afghanistan is preparing for the presidential runoff between Abdullah and his rival Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzi to be held on June 14.

IANS

Orphanage issue: HC for "serious investigation"

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Kochi: The High Court Thursday wanted a "serious investigation" in the matter relating to bringing of 588 children from Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal to orphanages in the state and suo motu impleaded the Railway ministry and social welfare ministries of the three states. 

"There should be a serious investigation in the matter to know the real cause or reason why such a huge number of children from outside the state came to Kozhikode and Palakkad," a division bench, comprising Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice PR Ramachanra Menon said.

The Court suo motu impleaded the states of Bihar, West Bengal and Jharkhand and issued notices to the Ministry of social welfare in each of the three states. The Railway ministry was also impleaded in the case. 

The bench directed the state to place on record from time to time details of the investigation by the crime branch in the case and posted the case to June 19. The directions were issued on a PIL filed by Rajendra Prasada, President of Thampu, an NGO, seeking a direction to send back the children immediately to their homes. The children belonging to extremely impoverised communities were brought to the orphanages. 

The bench directed the government to place on record all details of children, including their age and state to which they belonged. The reports of the child welfare committee on the incident should also be placed before the court, it said. The report should also contain details on how many children were sent back to their respective states, who were in charge of the children, it said. 

On June 3, the state child rights panel had directed the government to send back the children to their home states-- Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal--within three weeks, after it found they were brought without due documents and not following procedures under Juvenile Justice Act and Orphanage and Other Charitable Homes Act. 

A police investigation is already under way by a special team and an FIR has been lodged following the arrest of eight persons, who accompanied 586 children at Palakkad, where they were brought in two batches by train. The children, meant to be taken to some orphanages, had been kept in state-run juvenile homes of the Child Welfare Society in Palakkad, Malappuram and Thrissur.

The issue has also caused ruptures within ruling UDF with key partner IUML resenting the steps taken by the Home Department.

PTI

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Munde's body brought home to Beed for last rites

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Latur/Beed (Maharashtra): The body of senior BJP leader and union minister Gopinath Munde, who was killed in a road accident in New Delhi early Tuesday, was flown in to Latur from Mumbai Wednesday morning.

Thousands of mourners, including senior party leaders, activists and commoners received the coffin at Latur airport.

Earlier, the body was taken from the Mumbai residence of the Munde family, where security forces accorded a guard of honour, for the flight to Latur.

From Latur, it was taken by a special helicopter to Beed, which is around 65 km away, for the last rites.

The body will be kept for public homage at the sprawling Vaijnath Sugar Factory campus till around 2 p.m. before the last rites. The state government has announced a three-day mourning for Munde.

Munde's eldest daughter and Parali legislator Pankaja Munde-Palve will perform the last rites at the state funeral being accorded to Munde. His wife is Pramod Mahajan's sister and they have three daughters.

Top BJP leaders, including L.K. Advani, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Sushma Swaraj, other union ministers, Maharashtra political bigwigs, chief ministers of several states and party activists from all over the country are expected to attend the funeral.

Late Tuesday evening, Munde's body was brought to Mumbai from Delhi and kept at his residence in Purna Building, Worli, where relatives, friends and close acquaintances besides VVIPs paid their last respects.

Ironically, it is the same building where his brother-in-law and former BJP strongman Pramod Mahajan was gunned down by his brother Pravin eight years ago.

Subsequently, Munde's body was kept at the BJP state headquarters at Nariman Point in south Mumbai where party workers from Mumbai and surrounding areas paid homage.

Munde was scheduled to go to Beed Wednesday to address a series of victory rallies, his first visit to his home district after the BJP-led NDA swept to power last month.

Munde was born Dec 12, 1949, in Parali-Vaijnath village where he had his schooling.

Soon afterwards, he plunged into student politics along with BJP strongman and later his brother-in-law, late Pramod Mahajan, and was imprisoned during the Emergency of 1975-1977.

Over the years, Munde was elected five times as legislator in Maharashtra, then Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra assembly, deputy chief minister of the state, and subsequently as the deputy leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, and last week was made the union minister for rural development.

Germany to launch probe into US spying on Merkel

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Berlin: Germany's Federal Prosecutor General Harald Range has decided to launch a criminal investigation into alleged hacking of Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone by the US National Security Agency (NSA), a German daily reported Tuesday.

The mass spying on German citizens by the NSA, however, will at least provisionally not be placed under formal investigations, Xinhua reported citing German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

It is said that Range's decision to look into the monitoring of Merkel's cell phone is a reaction to angers triggered by reports about a possible drop of NSA snooping investigations.

Range did not find enough evidence to warrant criminal proceedings into the cases, reported Sueddeutsche Zeitung last week, citing sources from the prosecutor's office.

In Range's opinion, the newspaper said, the proceedings would be purely "symbolic" since it is impossible to gather evidence about the activities of the NSA or its British counterpart GCHQ on German soil.

IANS