African migrant boat capsizes off Yemen, 70 dead

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SANAA, YEMEN: Yemeni security officials said a boat carrying African migrants has capsized off the country's western coast, killing 70.

They say most of the migrants were from Ethiopia, and the small boat sank Sunday due to high winds and waves in the Red Sea. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.

Tens of thousands of migrants make the treacherous journey between the Horn of African and Yemen every year, refugee organizations say. The United Nations has documented more than 200 deaths at sea so far in 2014 which they say exceeds the combined totals of 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Body of missing engineering student found

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NAWADA: The body of a missing engineering student, who was reportedly in love with a girl of another community, was today recovered from Datraul village in the district.

Ragib Abdullah (22), a native of Pakribarama Bazar who was studying engineering at a college in Hyderabad, was missing since October 28 after he was invited by the girl's family during Chhath festival, Pakribarama Deputy Superintendent of Police Ram Pukar Singh said.

On a complaint from Abdullah's family, four persons were arrested, police said, adding, based on their information the highly decomposed body was recovered.

Police said the girl has also been missing since the disappearance of Abdullah and a search is underway for her too.

9-year-old girl gangraped, accused arrested

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BALLARI (KTK): A 9-year-old girl was allegedly gangraped by four minors at an open space in Hospet, following which the accused were arrested, a top police official said today.

"We have arrested four minors in the age group of ten to thirteen years for gangraping the nine-year-old student in an open space at NC Colony in Hospet, about 60 km from here, yesterday," Ballari Superintendent of Police Chetan Singh Rathore told reporters here.

The minors, studying in different schools, have been arrested under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. They were produced before the juvenile justice board and remanded to an observation centre, Rathore said.

The minors, also neighbours of the victim, lured her by offering chocolates, took her to an open space and gangraped her yesterday, the SP said.

Police swung into action after the mother of the victim lodged a complaint, he said.

Dilip Kumar stable, recovering in hospital

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Mumbai: Veteran actor Dilip Kumar, who was hospitalised on Saturday for treatment of pneumonia after he complained of cough and cold, is stable.

"Dilip saab is fine. He is stable and recovering. He is in a normal room and not in ICU," a family source said on Sunday.

The 91-year-old actor was admitted to Lilavati Hospital here. He has been under observation for routine check-ups, sources said.

When contacted, hospital spokesman said the veteran actor was admitted with chest infection yesterday, and is stable and recovering.

Earlier, the actor was hospitalised in September last year after he suffered a silent heart attack.

Kumar, known as the 'King of Tragedy', essayed iconic roles in classics like 'Devdas', 'Madhumati', 'Mughal-e-Azam' and 'Ganga Jamuna'.

Born Muhammad Yusuf Khan on December 11, 1922, in Peshawar (now in Pakistan), his acting career spanned six decades and over 60 films.

He was the first to receive Filmfare Best Actor honour when the awards were started in 1954 and, with eight wins, he shares with Shah Rukh Khan the record for the most number of Filmfare awards won in that category.

Kumar was honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 1991 and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1994 for his outstanding contribution to Indian cinema.

He was also nominated to Rajya Sabha for a term from 2000 to 2006.

In 1998, he was awarded Nishan-e-Imtiaz, the highest civilian award conferred by the Pakistan government.

Identification no more a hassle for bank account holders

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Banks made identification papers mandatory for customers to prevent money laundering and other economic offences. The Reserve Bank of India has issued fresh guidelines to ensure that ordinary customers are not put through unnecessary hassles in the name of such screening.

One-time identification

Once the bank is convinced that a customer is clean, it should not ask for more papers. Banks are required to periodically renew the identification papers. Customers can self-certify that there is no change in the information they had submitted. No more proof is required if address and other personal details are unchanged. In case of any change, customer can mail or e-mail self-attested copies of relevant records.

An existing account holder who has already given all the identification papers should not be asked for more records. Such customers don’t have to submit these papers again if they wish to open an account in another branch of the same bank.

Change in address

Banks will no longer ask for proof every time your temporary address changes, if you have given proof of your permanent address. Banks ask for address proof along with photo identity cards.

No more lockouts

The new guidelines prohibit the locking of transactions on accounts which have not yet submitted identification papers. Such account holders will be given time to submit the necessary records. They will be put on notice for the first three months. For the next three months they will not be able to withdraw money. Before that the customers should be issued a notice, giving them a chance to close the account. If the records are not submitted within six months, the accounts will be blocked from receiving and withdrawing money. Banks are authorised to cancel such accounts.

Help for migrants

These guidelines help the mobile workforce. Those who are frequently transferred across the country can also continue to access their bank accounts without interruptions. The RBI also wants the banks to circulate its simplified guidelines to all branches. This is to avoid situations when bank clerks continue to insist on unnecessary records saying they are yet to get any directions on the amended guidelines.

Nursing student commits suicide at AIIMS

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New Delhi: A 20-year-old student, who was depressed over her relations with the hostel superintendent and other staff at the AIIMS, committed suicide by hanging herself from the ceiling fan of her hostel room at the institute, hospital authorities said on Monday.

Pallavi Grover, a third year student of BSc Nursing, had returned from her home in Mayapuri in Delhi on Sunday night.

"Her dead body was found around 10 pm on Sunday by her hostel mates when the door of her room was found open. A suicide note has also been found, which is with the police for analysis," said a senior AIIMS official.

The official added that Grover had told her friends and family members about her poor relations with the hostel authorities.

The body has been taken by the police for post mortem.

Speaking on the matter, AIIMS Director M.C. Misra said that the entire incident was being analysed.

"However, it is not possible to remove the superintendent. Until the hostel warden's version is known, no action can be initiated," he told IANS.

A group of her friends staged a protest outside the director's bungalow on Monday morning.

Kohli to lead India, Clarke declared fit to captain Australia

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Adelaide: Virat Kohli will lead India for the first time in Tests after regular skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was ruled out due to injury even as a fit-again Michael Clarke was confirmed Australia's captain for what promises to be an emotional opening Test starting here on Tuesday.

"Yes, I will be leading tomorrow," Kohli said in the pre-match press conference.

Dhoni, who joined the squad on Saturday, has failed to recover from a thumb injury. The 33-year-old was originally ruled out of the opening Test, but came back in contention after the schedule of the series was rejigged following Phillip Hughes' tragic death.

Kohli, who recently led India to an ODI whitewash over Sri Lanka at home, will be in-charge of the team for the first time in the five-day format.

In the Australian camp, the morale of the team was lifted with the inspirational Clarke declared fit for the match after recovering from a hamstring injury.

"It's a huge boost to have him back in and playing for us and with his captaincy," pacer Mitchell Johnson said.

"And it shows how strong he has been over the last couple of weeks with the tragedy we have had. He is a strong leader and has always been an aggressive leader ... he just has something about him when he's out there as captain."

Apart from injury, Clarke had been battling the emotional stress of losing Hughes, whom he considered his little brother. Hughes lost his life after being hit by a bouncer during a domestic game earlier this month.

In a touching gesture to honour his memory, Hughes was named 13th man of the squad announced for the opening Test.

Australia XI: Chris Rogers, David Warner, Shane Watson, Michael Clarke (c), Steve Smith, Mitchell Marsh, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris, Nathan Lyon. Josh Hazlewood (12th), Phillip Hughes (13th).

Horn loudspeakers banned in Kottayam

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Kottayam: The district police have banned horn loudspeakers to comply with a Supreme Court order. Even places of worship will not be allowed to use these, superintendent of police M.P. Dinesh said.

All police officers have been instructed to take strict action against those found using these loudspeakers. Organisers of public meeting and operators of public address systems should avoid horn loudspeakers, the SP said.

The apex court had banned horn loudspeakers to curb noise pollution. The order has been implemented fully in the northern districts of Kerala.

Any noise above 80 decibel is harmful to humans. Listening to loud noises for a long time will affect hearing, said Dr Satheesh, ENT specialist at the District Hospital, Moovattupuzha.

Studies show that noise pollution can cause physical and mental problems. It can cause a loss of balance, lack of sleep and stress. Loud noises can lead to hypertension and heart diseases, Dr Satheesh said.

Numbers on lottery tickets do a vanishing act in Thrissur

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Thrissur: Fortune seekers and sellers of Vadakkancherry here are facing a strange trouble; something they have never heard of before. The very numbers that could have brought them a bounty is doing a vanishing act. Both the sellers and buyers of the state government's lotteries here are a troubled lot as the numbers printed on the tickets vanish within hours after they are purchased.

The retailers and buyers allege that the tickets are fake. Retailers are suffering monetary loss as the authorized agencies are not willing to buy back the tampered tickets.

The numbers become unclear because the printed digits break or get blurred. It has been happening at Vadakkancherry and Chelakkara regions, that share border between Thrissur and Palakkad districts, for the past week. The numbers on 'Karunya', 'Akshaya', Win-win' and 'Dhanashree' tickets are getting erased. All such tickets were purchased from the government-authorised agencies.

The sellers allege that such tickets were brought from other states, including Tamil Nadu. However, the agencies have not given any explanation. The retailers have demanded that a detailed inquiry be carried out into the issue.

India, Russia to hold talks on FGFA aircraft project

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NEW DELHI: Ahead of President Vladimir Putin's visit here, Indian and Russian officials will be holding talks on the multi-billion dollar Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) joint project.

Defence sources said talks would be held before Putin's visit on December 10 as both India and Russia are keen to go ahead with the FGFA.

However, there are issues on which both sides have not arrived at a consensus.

"There are issues that exist. Talks were held earlier too but nothing concrete has emerged so far," the sources said, adding that another round of talks will be held on December 9.

The preliminary design agreement on FGFA had been signed in 2010 between HAL and Russian Sukhoi Design Bureau to build the jet for use by both countries.

But the final R&D contract, which was to be signed by 2012, is still to be finalised. The contract would pave the way for prototype development and flight testing.

Sources said that it is "unlikely" that the contract would be signed during Putin's visit.

Though India is investing 50 per cent of the cost of the multi-billion dollar programme, its work share in the research and development and other aspects of the programme has come down to only around 13 per cent, something which Indian officials are not happy about.

They say this will impact India's indigenous capabilities to develop such an advanced fighter aircraft. Sources also said that there are issues related to other aspects of the plane too.

The FGFA project is based on the Russian Air Force's Sukhoi T-50 PAK-FA platform. The Indian version will be tweaked to add some more advanced features. The total programme is expected to cost India about $25-30 billion.