Our angel Aarushi is with us, say Talwars as Nupur leaves jail

Ghaziabad: Nupur Talwar, who left jail today after five months, and is charged along with her husband with murdering their daughter and their domestic help said today that "the truth will prevail."

Mrs Talwar said she will ensure she abides by the law while on bail - the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had argued in court that if she were allowed to leave jail, she would attempt to influence witnesses. As she walked out of the jail - dressed in a peach salwar-kameez - to a horde of waiting mediapersons, her husband Rajesh was beside her, his arm wrapped protectively around her. "We will face the trial and we will be vindicated. It has been a long, dark night for us so far...our angel Aarushi is here to take us through this," Mr Talwar, also a co-accused in the case, said.

13-year-old Aarushi, the Talwars' only child, was found dead in her bedroom in their Noida home in May 2008. Aarushi's father, Rajesh, told the police that their domestic help, Hemraj, was missing, and the police declared he was the main suspect and sent teams to his village in Nepal to search for him. However, hours later, Hemraj was found dead on the Talwars' roof.

The Noida police then arrested Mr Talwar, who is a dentist like his wife, and kept him in jail for nearly two months till the CBI took over the case and declared there was no evidence against him.

After that, the police arrested four domestic workers, including a man who worked as a dental assistant at Mr Talwar's clinic, but months later, the CBI did not oppose their bail, acknowledging that it had not found any proof of their involvement in the double-murder at the Talwars' home.

In December, the CBI asked the Ghaziabad court handling the case for permission to close its investigation because it had found no hard evidence. However, the agency said Mr Talwar was the main suspect, prompting criticism among legal experts, who said the CBI could not announce a suspect while acknowledging it had little proof against him. The judge refused to allow closure of the case, and said the Talwars would both be tried for murder and destruction of evidence.

Mr Talwar had been granted bail by the Supreme Court - a decision the CBI has challenged recently. Mrs Talwar was arrested on April 30 and moved to a jail in Dasna. 

Diesel price hike: Who said what

New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs on Thursday approved a Rs. 5 hike in the price of diesel. Here are some of the reactions on the price hike:

Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief: We want a rollback. I am shocked. The matter is very serious and sensitive. We can't compromise with the people's issue. We will discuss our plan of action in our party meeting. We know the economic crisis we are with the government but enough is enough. I will be most happy to withdraw support (from the UPA). If I withdraw support, then other parties will provide support to them. And, then ask why we left the UPA which led to its collapse. People had misunderstood us when we had withdrawn support earlier.

Digvijaya Singh, Congress General Secretary: We are not in favour of a hike in diesel prices to such an extent because it hurts the farmers and common man. At the same time, there are some unpleasant decisions that have to be taken by the government by taking an overall view of what is best for the country.

Sushma Swaraj, BJP leader: We have a massive loot of national resource like Coal on the one hand. The Government is now robbing the common man to pay for that loot. Strange are the  policies of this Government which got elected in the name of the common man. They have demolished the kitchen of a lady who is to manage the house.

Yashwant Sinha, former finance minister and BJP leader: This is going to cause undue hardship. Prices are not under control. This will lead to overall inflation and mayhem in the economy. Need a system where the burden isn't transferred to the people in this hamhanded manner. If prices are to be raised, they should be raised in small dozes, not like by huge margins like Rs. 5.

Anant Kumar, BJP leader: It will be a direct hit on the common man and the farmers of the entire country. Cap on  number of cylinders is highly condemnable.

Kamal Farooqi, leader, Samajwadi Party: The jump is too big and it seems to be a political one than an economic decision. Immediately after Parliament, they have done it. Will demand a rollback. Definitely, we will ask for some consideration to be given, we are concerned.

Akhilesh Yadav, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party leader (to NDTV): Decision ill-timed, will hurt the common man.

Gurudas Das Gupta, CPI leader: Never seen such a massive increase. It will stimulate inflation and aggravate the economic slowdown, which will cost jobs. We will protest in every way we can.

Prakash Karat, CPM leader (to NDTV): UPA government has taken the anti-people's step by raising diesel prices, no way can we accept it. Unless the govt rolls back the price hike, it will have to face the political consequences.

J Jayalalithaa, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK chief: Centre is betraying the poor. The diesel price hike will lead to an overall price rise. The Centre should rollback the hike if its interested in people's welfare. Limiting the subsidised gas cylinders would affect poor and middle class households.

C Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (to a private TV channel): The government had taken the right decision, and that fiscal deficit had to be contained. An increase in diesel prices in India should avert a credit rating downgrade for the country.

RS Butola, CMD, Indian Oil Corporation: Diesel accounts for 53 per cent of total subsidies. Oil companies are running a deficit of Rs. 6000 crore every month. We are committed to cutting petrol prices whenever possible. By reducing excise duty on petrol, we have brought down the gap between the prices between petrol and diesel. A narrow margin between petrol and diesel will be good for economy. If prices of petrol fall internationally, we will pass on the benefits.

RK Singh, CMD, Bharat Petroleum: This is a very good decision, and will certainly help oil companies and reduce the burden on the government in terms of subsidies. The reduction in the excise duty on petrol is good for us."

TK Ananth Kumar, CFO, Oil India: This is a welcome move and is very good for the oil industry.

Status of World Trade Center site, 11 years later

New York: Eleven years after terrorists attacked the World Trade Center, the new multibillion-dollar World Trade Center once again dominates the lower Manhattan skyline. Hundreds of construction workers are at the 16-acre (6.5-hectare) site every day, and tourists snap thousands of photos of the two towers that are nearing completion.

Here is a look at the status of the trade center's major components, according to its developers:

- Most of the 8-acre (3.2-hectare) memorial quadrangle at the World Trade Center opened last year on the 10th anniversary of the attacks. Since then, some 4.5 million people have visited the memorial, with its twin reflecting pools where the towers stood. But a museum being built in a cavern beneath the plaza is still incomplete. Work all but stopped last fall because of a funding dispute between the memorial foundation and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, but on Monday the two parties announced an agreement that will pave the way for its eventual completion. Joseph Daniels, president of the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum, said that once construction resumes it will take more than a year to finish the job, meaning the museum might not open until 2014.

- One World Trade Center, formerly known as the Freedom Tower, will open in 2014 on the northwest corner of the trade center site with 3 million square feet (280,000 square meters) of office space. Tenants so far include magazine publisher Conde Nast and the federal government's General Services Administration. The spire atop the 104-story building will reach the symbolic height of 1,776 feet (541.3 meters). There will be observation decks on the 100th, 101st and 102nd floors. The building without the spire has reached its full height of 1,368 feet (417 meters). It is expected to cost $3.9 billion by the time it is finished.

- The first office building to open will be the 72-story 4 World Trade Center at the southeast corner of the site. It has reached its full height of 977 feet (298 meters) and is scheduled to open in October 2013. Tenants will include the Port Authority, the bi-state agency that owns the trade center site and lost its headquarters when the twin towers were attacked.

- Just north of 4 World Trade Center is 3 World Trade Center, which is now an eight-story stub but will reach 80 stories and 1,150 feet (350.5 meters) when it's complete. Developer Larry Silverstein is required to lease at least 400,000 square feet (37,160 square meters) of space before finishing the building. Silverstein's team is projecting a completion date of 2015 or 2016.

- At the northeast corner of the site, 2 World Trade Center is up only to street level. The building is planned as an 88-story skyscraper but will not be built until the commercial real estate market picks up enough to fill it.

- The new transportation hub at the trade center will connect 13 subway lines and PATH trains to New Jersey when it opens in 2015. It will replace the temporary PATH station that was built after the Sept. 11 attacks. Designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, the station will serve 250,000 travelers a day. There will be two levels of retail space. None of the tenants has been announced yet. The cost of the transportation hub, originally pegged at $2.2 billion, is now expected to exceed $3.5 billion.

- A performing arts center planned for the site has been in limbo for years. A board of directors was named this year and was given the task of raising funds to build the center, which is to include a 1,000-seat theater.

- An underground vehicle security center and bus parking facility just south of the main trade center site will open in 2013.

From: NDTV

Miraculous rescue of two-year-old boy kidnapped in Pune

Pune: For 26-year-old Smitha Joshi, the world suddenly came crashing down when her two-and-a-half-year-old son, Abeer, disappeared from a bus stand in Pune on Sunday. She thought that her son had been kidnapped. But just 24 hours later, there was relief and joy in the Joshi household - Abeer was back in his mother's arms after being miraculously rescued.

The tearful reunion followed a harrowing day and night of desperation and frantic search for Abeer. A native of Aurangabad, Smitha was boarding a bus home from the Shivajinagar bus stand in the city on that fateful Sunday afternoon. While she went inside the bus to place the luggage, little Abeer was standing outside. But when Smitha got down the bus, she found Abeer missing - all in a matter of minutes.

"I had just gone inside to keep my bag in the bus...Abeer was standing down...as I came back, he was not there," Smitha said.


A search for the boy began but in vain. The Joshis feared the worst - their son had been kidnapped.

A missing person's complaint was lodged at the Shivajinagar police station. In the meanwhile, Abeer's family and relatives continued their search, scouring all bus stands and the railway station in the city to look for him. After almost 24 hours, Abeer's uncle finally spotted a woman with a little boy near a bus stand in the city. He grew suspicious - the woman had covered her face with a cloth and was approaching the bus stand. As she came closer, he realised that it was Abeer who was with the unidentified woman.

"We are trying to find whether this woman is part of an organised gang but the very fact that she kept the boy with her for 24 hours without informing the police is suspicious...we will interrogate her," Smita Mehendale, Inspector, Shivajinagar Police Station said.

The woman will now be produced in court and the police hope that her interrogation may help them in unearthing what could possibly be a bigger racket.

For the Joshis, meanwhile, their joy knows no bounds. "I am very happy now...my son is back...I was so concerned what may have happened to him...he was not well," Abeer's mother said. But not everyone is as lucky. Every year, thousands of children go missing - while some get lost, others are kidnapped by gangs and syndicates and are later made to beg or become victims of trafficking. 

Harda jal satyagraha: Police start forcibly evicting protesters

Harda: A jal satyagraha to demand a reduction of water level in the Indira Sagar Dam from 262 metres to 260 metres entered the 15th day today in Khardana village of Madhya Pradesh's Harda district. And now the police have begun cracking down on the protesters who have been sitting in neck-deep water.

The cops are evicting villagers from the protest site after authorities clamped prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on Tuesday, asking villagers to come out of water citing health concerns. Some ambulances have also reached the spot.

However, the police are facing problems in bringing these protesters out of water as they continue with their key demands that the water level of the dam should be brought down and affected people be rehabilitated. After the prohibitory orders were imposed in the area yesterday, the protesters had intensified their agitation and moved at least 200 metres away from the banks, into the water. 200 others are protesting outside.

The district authorities, meanwhile, say that the government has agreed to 14 of the protesters' 16 demands. Harda's Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Manjusha Rai, Collector Sudam Khade and the Superintendent of Police are at the protest site and are taking stock of the situation.

Over a hundred policemen and Rapid Action Force personnel have been deployed in the area.

The protests in Harda came to prominence after the state government gave into demands of villagers in nearby Khandwa who sat on a jal satyagraha for 17 days. Villagers in Harda allege that while the state government agreed to the demands of Khandwa protesters, it has not addressed their grievances yet. They also accuse the government of "double standards".

The state government has increased the water level in the Indira Sagar dam to 262 metres, which threatens to inundate 19 villages. Three villages are already submerged in water. In fact, the state government plans to further increase the water level in the dam by .02 metres.

"The Chief Minister has not announced anything for us, just for the protesters in Khandwa. He has agreed to bring down the water level there, and to rehabilitate the people affected. Until they will accept our demands we will not leave, the chief minister has done discrimination with us," said one of the protesters.

The protest in Khandwa's Ghogalgaon village ended on Monday after 17 days when Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan agreed to lower the water level in the Omkareshwar dam, one of the key demands of the 51 protesters, sitting in neck-deep water.

Both Omkareshwar and Indira Sagar dams are built across the Narmada river and are part of the Indira Sagar Project. The water protests were launched with the help of the Narmada Bachao Andolan to demand proper rehabilitation for land that the villagers have lost and a reduction in the water level of the dam.

The unusual protest was highlighted by the media and brought widespread attention to the villagers sitting in water. The photograph of the shriveled, bruised feet of a woman protester went viral on social networking sites.
 

Labourer asks for pay, employers allegedly cut his hands off

Ranchi: In a shocking case, a labourer's hand was chopped in Garhwa district of Jharkhand allegedly after he asked his employers for his salary. The incident happened on Sunday.

The proprietors who run an illegal alcohol making unit, punished labourer Aliyaar when he demanded his three month's pending wages to feed his family.

"Ram Singh Yadav and his brother cut my hand and I became unconscious immediately. I don't remember how many other men were present there... God alone knows how will I run my family now," said Aliyaar.

"There has been a fight between 2-3 people. The place where this incident occurred is an alcohol manufacturing unit owned by Ram Singh Yadav and Uday Yadav. These two men cut the victim's hand. Ram Singh Yadav has been arrested. Police is investigating the motive behind this incident," said Dr Mical Raj, Superintendent of Police, Garhwa.

He is being treated at Ranchi's Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) and may not be able to work for life.

"My husband, who is a labourer, he went to ask for his salary. There were 2 men present there, they cut my husband's hand. He used to also cut wood and earn some money for us. We are a 10-member family, how will we survive, what will we eat now?" said the victim's wife.

The state government's indifference came to light when Chief Minister Arjun Munda said his state has the lowest crime rate as he was asked about this incident.

"As far as law and order situation is concerned or if we see national crime bureau's report, Jharkhand is in a very good state," said Mr Munda.
 

Cartoonist Aseem Trivedi refuses to apply for bail, sent to jail till September 24

Mumbai: Cartoonist Aseem Trivedi has been sent to jail by a Mumbai court till September 24 on charges of sedition. He can apply for bail, but has said he will not. The cartoonist wants the charge of sedition against him dropped.

The court order remanding the 25-year-old cartoonist to judicial custody came after the Mumbai police, who arrested Mr Trivedi on Sunday, told the court today that they were done with questioning him and surrendered his custody. The Mumbai court had on Sunday ordered him to be held in police custody until September 16 for offences under sedition and information technology laws.

Mr Trivedi's stand refusing to apply for bail will embarrass the police and the government, already being slammed by media and anti-graft activists, who have described his arrest as evidence of a lack of respect for freedom of expression.

The cartoonist was produced in court this afternoon and has been quoted by his supporters as saying, "If telling the truth makes me a traitor then I am one." Before being taken to jail on Sunday after a private complaint from a Mumbai-based lawyer, he had said, "If I am booked under sedition for doing service to the nation then I will continue to do so," he added.

Activists have protested against the serious charge of sedition being applied. Lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan said, "The sedition charge is constantly being misused by the government. It should only be used only if someone incites violence. By no stretch of imagination was Aseem promoting violence." Mr Bhushan's colleague Arvind Kejriwal added, "I know Aseem personally. He is not a traitor. Traitors are those who clash in Parliament or those who sell off coal blocks at a pittance."

Mr Trivedi's supporters allege that he is being targeted by the government for supporting activist Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement. Some of his cartoons were displayed at recent protest camps organized by Anna and his aides.

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ambika Soni said today that disrespect for the national symbol could not be taken lightly. "We are not against democratic rights, we are all for free speech... people have made cartoons of Nehru, Indira  earlier. But there is a thin line you draw between free speech and what can be termed as offensive especially against national symbols."

The cartoonist, who has also been accused of hosting obscene content on his website, has controversially depicted the national emblem of India replacing lions with wolves with blood dripping from their mouths, suggesting that corruption is devouring the nation. A Mumbai police inspector explained, "He has shown disrespect to the national emblem and therefore he has been arrested."

Mr Trivedi's supporters today staged protests outside union minister Sriprakash Jaiswal's house in Kanpur, the cartoonist's home-town. The protesters shouted slogans and demanded that Mr Jaiswal, who is the local MP and the union coal minister, intervene.

"A lot of my workers from Kanpur and Unnao met me and made this demand that there is some Aseem Trivedi who has been arrested by the Maharashtra Police. Now I will try and find out on what charges he has been arrested, what exactly has happened, and only then I would be able to comment," Mr Jaiswal said today.

"What was so different with Aseem Trivedi? He said thru cartoons what many others say about governance or lack of it in columns every day," tweeted S Irfan Habib.

Mr Trivedi was scheduled to visit Syria starting September 12 to receive the 2012 Courage in Editorial cartooning award.

(With inputs from Agencies)

Protests against Kudankulam nuclear plant intensify, one killed in police firing in Tuticorin: Latest developments

Kudankulam:  One person has reportedly died in police firing as protests against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu became more intense on a day that fuel was to be loaded in the first of two 1,000 megawatt reactors to enable it to start producing power. Demonstrators attempted to lay siege to the nuclear power plant, demanding a halt to the loading of enriched uranium in the reactor.Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today assured protestors that the nuclear plant is safe and called for peace.

Here are the latest developments:

1. One protester was reportedly killed when the police opened fire in Tuticorin district, which neighbours Kudankulam, after an agitation by fisherman in support of the Kudankulam protesters went out of hand. The situation is tense now.
2. In Kudankulam, protestors jumped into the sea when the police, caught by surprise when a 1000-strong demonstration used marched in using a different route, fired tear gas in an attempt to control the crowd.
3. The tear gas was fired when the protesters were on the sea shore and just half a kilometre from the controversial plant which has been opposed by villagers and fishermen who remain unconvinced by assurances from experts and the government about security measures.
4. Defying prohibitory orders, the protesters refused to disperse from the shores, despite repeated pleas by top police and district officials. Activists have cited the Fukushima disaster in Japan, triggered by a tsunami last year, to draw parallels about the dangers of a nuclear plant in this coastal part of India.
5. The villagers and the police are now blaming each other for the violence. While the police says the villagers spread nets on seashore to trap them and attacked them with sticks, villagers accuse the police of deliberately creating a situation to target them.
6. Reacting to the protests, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said today, "Foreign NGOs are supporting the Kudankulam protests.  Nuclear energy is clean energy." Back in February, the Prime Minister had also blamed foreign NGOs for inciting and funding the Kudankulam protests.
7. So far, the village of Idinthakarai had served as the base camp and protest site for the activists and villagers. The villagers and activists want the government to immediately close the plant. The campaign has been led by SP Udhayakumar who heads the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy. Mr Udhayakumar was warned yesterday that he would be arrested along with many others if he went ahead with today's rally. 5000 policemen have been posted around the plant.
8. Commissioning the first unit at the atomic plant was cleared by a recent inspection conducted by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB).
9. After intense protests last year, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa wrote to the PM to suspend all operations at the atomic project.  However, after experts said that the plant has world-class safety features, she did a u-turn and has since been demanding that all the power generated by Kudankulam must be made available for Tamil Nadu.
10. During the peak of the protests, engineers and scientists had to be given police escorts to enter the Indo-Russian plant.

(With inputs from Agencies)

Indian couple's custody battle in US: Govt asks for report

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister SM Krishna has asked the Indian embassy  in the United States to report on an Indian couple's battle for custody of their child.

The couple ,who is originally from West Bengal, has been given limited access by American authorities to their one-year-old son after he underwent surgery for an injury.

Nirmal and Sonarani Saha, the grandparents of Indrasish, said he fell from a bed on August 9 at the couple's New Jersey home when his mother Pamela was cooking and his father Debas was in office.

Indrashish was immediately rushed to a state-owned hospital where he was admitted by doctors and underwent a surgery.

After he recovered, his parents wanted to take him home but child welfare services alleged that he was not being cared for by his family.

Indrashish's grandfather said that he has appealed to the President, the Prime Minister and the West Bengal Chief Minister for help.

In May, two Indian children in Norway were taken into foster care by Child Protection Services who said that Sagarika and Anurup Bhattacharya  -were unfit to look after two-and-half-year-old Abhigyan and five-month-old Aishwarya.

The custody battle became a diplomatic stress point; the Indian government intervened on behalf of the Bhattacharyas and finally, the children were sent to India in the custody of their uncle,  Arunabhas Bhattacharya.

(with PTI inputs)

Agreement reached for New York's 9/11 museum's completion

New York: An agreement that paves the way for the completion of the Sept. 11 museum at ground zero was reached on the eve of the 11th anniversary of the terror attacks.

The memorandum of understanding between the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the foundation that controls the National September 11 Memorial & Museum was announced Monday.

The museum was supposed to open this month, but construction all but ceased a year ago because of a funding squabble between the foundation and the Port Authority, which owns the World Trade Center site.

Three powerful political figures became entangled in the dispute: The governors of New York and New Jersey control the Port Authority, while New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is the foundation's chairman.

"By ensuring that no additional public funds are spent to complete the memorial and museum," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, "today's agreement puts in place a critical and long overdue safeguard to finally protect toll payers and taxpayers from bearing further costs, and, at the same time, put the project on a path for completion."

Bloomberg said the agreement "ensures that it will be restarted very soon and will not stop until the museum is completed."

"The museum is important to the families of those who died on 9/11 - they've contributed photos and memories of their lost loved ones, who deserve a thoughtful tribute," he said.

Earlier Monday, before the agreement was announced, Bloomberg was asked if the museum could be finished by 2013 if construction started soon.

"We have to do it safely, and we want to do it with the quality of work that will stand up to time," he said. "Whether it's doable by then, I don't know. ... To me, the date is nowhere near as important as the other two things. Third I would say you've got to do it within budget. You know, you can work 24 hours a day, with enormous overtime - in this day and age, there isn't the money for that. The date will be great whenever we get it. And nobody's going to remember whether it was one months or three months later."

The memorandum of understanding announced Monday addresses issues including coordination of the site and general financial terms but doesn't go into detail on specific levels of financing. The agreement outlines that the memorial will have six months' operating expenses on hand as net working capital and that it will give the Port Authority a security deposit equal to six months' utility expenses, but it doesn't say what those figures are.

It remains unclear how the foundation will cover the costs of running the museum, once it does open, although the agreement calls for the memorial and the Port Authority to work together to try for federal funding.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said in a statement he was "gratified to be a part of a unified commitment and agreement with Governor Cuomo and Mayor Bloomberg to immediately resume around the clock construction at the 9/11 Museum."

The underground museum is to house such artifacts as the staircase workers used to escape the attacks. Visitors also will be able to see portraits of the nearly 3,000 victims and hear oral histories of Sept 11.

The memorial includes a plaza, where waterfalls fill the fallen towers' footprints. Almost 4.5 million people have visited it since it opened last September.

Indian hospitals hire bouncers to deter attacks

New Delhi: Pradeep Kumar, a muscular man in shades and tattoos, pulls up on a motorcycle, ready for his job as a bouncer. Not at a nightclub, but at another workplace where violence is common in India: a hospital.

He and his burly colleagues keep the emergency and labor rooms from filling up with patients' often agitated relatives and friends. The bouncers are polite, yet so tough-looking that people think twice about ignoring their orders.

"These guys look like they walked right out of an action movie," said Pawan Desai, who brought his 4-year-old daughter to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital for treatment for a cut on her hand.

Working in an Indian hospital can be dangerous. In April, a week before DDU hired the bouncers, friends of an emergency-room patient punched a doctor in the face and broke his nose before going on a rampage with hockey sticks, swinging at windows, lights, furniture and medical staff.

The medical staff at DDU, a government hospital, had faced nearly one attack a month and had gone on strike 20 times over six years demanding better security. Since the hospital replaced its middle-aged, pot-bellied guards with bar bouncers, bodyguards, and wrestlers sporting muscles and tattoos, "there hasn't been a single incident," said Dr. Nitin Seth, the doctor who was injured in April.

"These guys do a good job controlling the crowds," he said.

Thousands of attacks occur in Indian hospitals every year, said Dr. Narendra Saini, spokesman for the Indian Medical Association.

In January, a man in the southern city of Chennai was charged with using a sword to hack to death a surgeon he held responsible for his pregnant wife's death during surgery. Three months later, a mob at a Delhi hospital beat up six doctors in retaliation for supposed sexual misconduct after the medical staff unsuccessfully tried to resuscitate a female patient using CPR.

When someone dies in the hospital, relatives often start blaming - even attacking - doctors. At expensive private hospitals, families feel especially cheated, Saini said. "They expect their patient to live because that's what they paid for."

The DDU Hospital guards, a team of 21 split across three shifts, cover the busiest areas of the campus, especially the emergency and labor rooms.

People who come in with pregnant or trauma patients "are most likely to lose their cool," Kumar said. "That's why we try not to let in more than one per patient."

The only way to prevent a bad situation from getting worse is to keep people moving and not let crowds collect at all, said Dr. Promila Gupta, the hospital's medical superintendent. "I think what works for our new guards is that the (patients') relatives are afraid of them because of their good physique," she said.

Despite the tough image, Kumar and the other guards are a soft-spoken bunch. "We don't let anyone in unless they need to be there, and we know how to be polite about it," he said.

"First we talk nice," said bouncer Amarjeet Singh. "If they don't listen, troublemakers are taken to the Casualty Medical Officer's room to sort things out, and if that doesn't work, police from the nearby post are called in to get them evicted.

"In any case, we are not allowed to rough anyone up," he added.

Few Indian hospitals can afford this kind of security. The generally overcrowded and understaffed government facilities often don't even have the resources they need to save lives, said Dr. Saini of the Indian Medical Association.

Dr. Prithvi Madhok, a former surgeon at some of Mumbai's top hospitals, has studied the rash of doctor assaults in India and said hiring better security will not solve the underlying problem.

"As a society, we are just not trained to be patient. We don't wait for our turn, or let things go through their due process," he said.

Madhok said patients or their attendants turn violent because they think they can get away with it. Attacking a doctor might be a serious crime, "but in my several years of practice, I have never seen anyone get booked for it," he said.

Seth, the DDU doctor, is glad that the new guards are serving as a deterrent.

"These guys save lives too," he said. "Just as doctors here are always ready to save a patient, these bouncers are here to save us doctors."

From: NDTV

Iraq's fugitive Vice President convicted as attacks kill 92

Baghdad: Iraq's fugitive Sunni vice president was sentenced Sunday to death by hanging on charges he masterminded death squads against rivals in a terror trial that has fueled sectarian tensions in the country. Underscoring the instability, insurgents unleashed an onslaught of bombings and shootings across Iraq, killing at least 92 people in one of the deadliest days this year.

It's unlikely that the attacks in 13 cities were all timed to coincide with the afternoon verdict that capped a monthslong case against Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, a longtime foe of Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Still, taken together, the violence and verdict could energize Sunni insurgents bent on returning Iraq to the brink of civil war by targeting Shiites and undermining the government.

Al-Hashemi fled to Turkey in the months after the Shiite-led government accused him of playing a role in 150 bombings, assassinations and other attacks from 2005 to 2011 - years in which the country was mired in retaliatory sectarian violence that followed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein's Sunni regime. Most of the attacks were allegedly carried out by al-Hashemi's bodyguards and other employees, and largely targeted government officials, security forces and Shiite pilgrims.

The vice president declined to immediately comment on the verdict after meeting with the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Ankara. He said he would "tackle this issue in a statement" in coming hours.

The politically charged case - which was announced the day after U.S. troops withdrew from the country last December - sparked a government crisis and fueled Sunni Muslim and Kurdish resentment against al-Maliki, whom critics say is monopolizing power.

Violence has ebbed significantly, but insurgents continue to stage high-profile bombings and shooting rampages. Al-Qaida's Iraq branch has promised a comeback in predominantly Sunni areas from which it was routed by the U.S. and its local allies after sectarian fighting peaked in 2007.

"These attacks show al-Qaida's ability to hit any place in Iraq and at any time," said Ali Salem, 40, an elementary school teacher in Baghdad. "The lack of security could take us back to zero."

The worst violence on Sunday struck the capital, where bombs pounded a half-dozen neighborhoods - both Sunni and Shiite - thoughout the day. But the deadliest attacks in Baghdad hit Shiite areas Sunday evening, hours after the al-Hashemi verdict was announced. In all, 42 people were killed in the capital and 120 wounded, according to police and hospital officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

The countrywide attacks began before dawn, with gunmen killing soldiers at an army post in the central Iraqi city of Dujail. A few hours later, a car exploded in a lot where police recruits waiting in line to apply for jobs outside Kirkuk in the country's north. Both Dujail and Kirkuk are former insurgent strongholds.

Over the day, at least 92 people were killed and more than 360 wounded in at least 21 separate bombings and shootings, according to reports from police and hospital officials. No group immediately claimed responsibility, but Iraq's Interior Ministry blamed al-Qaida in Iraq.

"The attacks today on the markets and mosques are aimed at provoking sectarian and political tensions," the ministry said in a statement. "Our war against terrorism is continuing, and we are ready."

The courtroom at Baghdad's criminal court was silent Sunday as the presiding judge read out the verdict. It convicted al-Hashemi and his son-in-law, Ahmed Qahtan, of organizing the murders of a Shiite security official and a lawyer who had refused to help the vice president's allies in terror cases. The two defendants were acquitted in a third case of the killing of a security officer due to a lack of evidence.

The court sentenced both men in absentia to death by hanging. They have 30 days to appeal the verdict and could win a retrial if they return to Iraq to face the charges. Al-Hashemi - who has been in office since 2006 - is on Interpol's most-wanted list, but Turkey has shown no interest in sending the vice president back to Baghdad.

The defense team began its closing statement with a searing indictment of Iraq's justice system, accusing it of showing no independence and siding with the Shiite-led government.

"From the beginning and through all procedures it has become obvious that the Iraqi judicial system has been under political pressure," attorney Muayad Obeid al-Ezzi, the head of the defense team, told the court.

The presiding judge immediately interjected, warning that that the court would open legal proceedings against the defense team if it continued to heap accusations on the court or the legal system.

Reaction to the verdict was largely along sectarian lines on the streets of Baghdad.

Sunni lawyer Abdullah al-Azami called the trial "another farce to be added to the Iraqi judicial system."

Shiite pharmacist Khalid Saied, meanwhile, said he supported the verdict and hoped the government would broadcast all the evidence against al-Hashemi "so that the entire world knows him."

Sunday's violence came amid fears that the insurgency has gained new strength after suffering heavy setbacks in U.S. and Iraqi offensives. Four of the attacks targeted Kirkuk, where city police commander Brig. Gen. Sarhad Qadir blamed the violence on al-Qaida.

The carnage stretched into the country's south, where bombs stuck to two parked cars exploded in the Shiite-dominated city of Nasiriyah, 320 kilometers (200 miles) southeast of Baghdad. The blasts were near the French consulate and a local hotel in the city, although the consulate did not appear to be a target of the attack.

Local deputy health director Dr. Adnan al-Musharifawi said two people were killed and three were wounded at the hotel, and one Iraqi policeman was wounded at the consulate. Al-Musharifawi said no French diplomats were among the casualties. In Paris, France's Foreign Ministry said it "condemns with the greatest severity" the wave of attacks.

A string of smaller attacks Sunday also struck nine other cities. It was one of the worst outbreaks of violence in Iraq in 2012, although the single deadliest day was July 23, which saw at least 115 people killed - the most in more than two years. 

Kudankulam protests: Villagers hold huge rally amid tight security

Kudankulam: With enriched uranium fuel set to be loaded in the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu, protests against the controversial project were intensified again on Sunday. An uneasy calm prevailed at the nuclear plant with anti-nuclear protesters bracing for a showdown with authorities.

Villagers in and around the site of the plant held a rally yesterday to reiterate their demand of shutting down the controversial nuclear plant. Defying prohibitory orders, the protesters tried to lay siege to the plant and refused to pay heed to repeated appeals by authorities to disperse. Although police stopped them around half kilometre away from the plant, villagers continued to camp on the sea shore through the night.

The procession, the first outside the village of Idinthakarai in six months, is viewed as an attempt to lay siege to the plant, according to sources. With Pattali Makkal Katchi's (PMK) support to the rally, elaborate security arrangements were made with around 5000 policemen, including from the Rapid Action Force, were deployed around the plant.

Police said they will take action "as per the prevailing situation." The security authorities had also asked SP Udhayakumar, the face of the movement, to stay away from the rally.

However, over 1,000 anti-nuclear protesters led by Mr Udayakumar tried to march towards the plant but were prevented from proceeding by the Rapid Action Force personnel and police, half a kilometre from the site, police said.

Mr Udhayakumar is the coordinator of the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy or PMANE, the banner under which the agitation is being carried out.

The fresh protests come in the wake of the country's nuclear watchdog, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), having given its go-ahead on August 10 for loading of 163 enriched uranium fuel bundles in the first unit of the two 1,000 MW Russian reactors at the Kudankulam plant. After the reactor is fuelled, activities to approach first criticality-starting fission chain reaction, for the first time in a reactor, will be taken up. Then the power generation will be gradually scaled up on AERB's permission based on the results of various studies.

The project has been fiercely opposed by the locals and activists who have cited health and safety concerns arising out of the functioning of the nuclear plant. The agitation, which began last year, has pointed towards the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima plant in Japan last year that was triggered by a tsunami. The marathon sit-in protests and hunger strikes, which even saw the participation of children, had resulted in work being stopped at the plant.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had repeatedly allayed the fears of the locals with an expert committee constituted by the Centre having declared the project safe in January this year. The Tamil Nadu government, which initially sided with the locals and passed a resolution last year asking the Centre to halt work at the site, later gave its nod to the project in March this year. Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had also announced Rs.500 crore for local area and infrastructural development.

The Madras High Court had, last month, greenlighted the commissioning of the plant.

But that has failed to convince the agitators who remain adamant on their position.

(With inputs from IANS, PTI)

Odisha bandh: 50 Congress workers arrested; public transport hit

Bhubaneswar: Public transport has been hit in Odisha today due to the statewide bandh called by the Congress to protest last week's police crackdown on its party workers during a rally in Bhubaneswar. While train and bus services were affected, autorickshaws too stayed off the road in the morning, according to initial reports.

The police has already arrested around 50 Congress leaders and workers for blocking roads. A large number of preventive arrests have also been made.

Heavy security has been deployed through the state today after last week's clashes in the capital  saw several protesters along with around 60 policemen being injured. 51 platoons have been deployed in Bhubaneswar alone while 25 have been put in place in Cuttack.


"We appeal to the people in Odisha to make the bandh successful tomorrow and observe the Odisha bandh peacefully without any violence. The police may try to instigate to resort to violence, we appeal everybody not to be instigated," senior Congress leader Narasimha Mishra had said yesterday.

Senior leaders from the Congress and the police have blamed each other for the clashes outside the state assembly. The Bhubaneswar Police last week filed criminal conspiracy cases against leaders Jagdish Tytler and Niranjan Patnaik while the Congress has filed a counter case against the state government and the police. The First Information Report or FIR filed by the Congress blames them for alleged "brutalities" and "excesses" against party workers.

The clashes broke out when close to 25,000 Congress workers, reportedly led by Mr Tytler, were protesting outside the assembly to demand the resignation of Chief Minister Navin Patnaik for what they allege is his involvement in the coal block allocation scam.

Police had put prohibitory orders in the area, which the Congress workers defied. As some of them broke through one of the barricades to storm the assembly, the cops resorted to tear gas to control the situation.

While the Bhubaneswar Police says protesters threw stones at policemen first, the party alleges that the cops violated the law by hitting people on their heads. The Congress also insists that not all the thousands present during the protests were Congressmen.

Several policemen including a 39-year-old woman cop, Pramila Padhi, were injured in the clashes. Local TV channels showed footage of protesters thrashing Ms Padhi with bamboo sticks as she lay on the ground trying to protect herself.

Ms Padhi has alleged that she was attacked after Mr Tytler called for barricades to be broken. "I was trying to persuade people to stay calm when 30 to 40 of them caught hold of me, dragged me along and even molested me. They kicked and beat me up. They attacked me as soon as Jagdish Tytler called on party workers to break the barricades," the woman cop has told the Press Trust of India.

The Congress has apologised for the assault on Ms Padhi, but insisted that the crowd present outside the Assembly on Thursday included "unemployed youth, agitating teachers and auto-rickshaw drivers unhappy with new rules."

"We are sorry that the woman cop got injured," Mr Tytler said, but quickly added that "there are two sides to the story. Our people have also been injured. The cops attacked us first. "

Alleging that the police attacked party workers first, Congress MLA Bhupinder Singh said, " They should have targeted only those who jumped over the barricade instead of launching attacks on the stage erected for the rally."

But Bhubaneswar Police Commissioner Sunil Roy said television footage clearly shows that the protesters threw stones at policemen around the time the last speeches were delivered by Congress leaders. The police, he said, used utmost restraint in using water canons and tear gas shells to disperse the crowd. But the mob kept coming back to attack the policemen and it was then that they decided to chase them away, he said. Mr Roy said that the Congress leaders who had organised the rally would be taken to task for violating the conditions of the licence granted to them to hold a "peaceful rally and demonstration".

From: NDTV

Cartoonist Aseem Trivedi's arrest: Charges absurd, says Press Council of India Chairman Markandey Katju

Mumbai: There is widespread outrage at the weekend arrest of Kanpur-based cartoonist, Aseem Trivedi, on charges of sedition, with his supporters alleging that it is politically motivated and that he is being punished for backing Anna Hazare's anti-corruption campaign.

The Mumbai police arrested Mr Trivedi on Saturday based on a private complaint filed by a lawyer in December last year that he had put up banners mocking the Indian Constitution during an Anna Hazare rally in Mumbai. He has also been charged with posting seditious and obscene content on his website, which has been blocked. Cartoons like one where the activist has altered the three-lion national emblem in a satirical depiction to highlight corruption have attracted the sedition charge. Mr Trivedi has been remanded in police custody till September 16.

The Chairman of the Press Council of India, Markandey Katju, slammed the Mumbai police for the arrest, comparing them to Nazi War criminals. "The policemen who make such illegal arrests cannot take the plea that they were obeying orders of political superiors. In the Nuremberg trials, the Nazi War Criminals took the plea that orders are orders, and that they were only obeying the orders of their political superior Hitler. But this plea was rejected by the International Tribunal which held that illegal orders should be disobeyed," Mr Katju said yesterday.


The Mumbai police has said the arrest is a procedural formality and that it has acted on a complaint. "He has shown disrespect to the National emblem and therefore he has been arrested under section 124 A," said Chandrakant Bhosale a senior inspector of the Mumbai Police said. The First Information Report states that the accused had put "ugly and obscene content" on his website.

Mr Trivedi, as he was arrested, remained defiant. "If telling the truth makes one a traitor, then I am happy. Likewise even Gandhi, Bhagat Singh are traitors. If while doing service to the nation I am booked under sedition, I will continue to do so and get arrested," he said. AK Khan, a friend of the cartoonist, has alleged that Mr Trivedi has been repeatedly manhandled since his arrest. India Against Corruption or IAC, which has been attacking the government over a series of alleged scams, says Mr Trivedi is not a member of the organisation, but has pledged support for him alleging that the arrest is politically-motivated.

Mayank Gandhi of the IAC said, "If anyone is talking against corruption, proclaiming it as anti-national and slamming charges of sedition, one needs to understand that this (Mr Trivedi's cartoons) is against the government and not against the country...He is not a member of IAC but is fighting against corruption and we are here to lend him moral support."

Another IAC member, Preeti Menon, said, "Whoever raises their voice against corruption is termed as a seditionist, anti-nationalist and a Naxalite."

A Mumbai court had issued a non-bailable warrant against the cartoonist last month on lawyer and Republican Party of India member Amit Katarnavea's complaint that Mr Trivedi mocked the Indian Constitution during Anna Hazare's anti-graft rally held last year at the Bandra Kurla Complex. A police team was sent to his residence in Kanpur but he wasn't traceable; so his parents were informed and the warrant was served. Mr Trivedi surrendered on Saturday.

The cartoonist's father Ashok Trivedi says the family had no prior information. "Whenever he drew cartoons, it was in the welfare of the country and when he organised this exhibition of his cartoons on December 25, 26 during Anna's movement at MMRDA grounds last year, then some member of the Maharashtra Congress Committee filed a writ in the High Court and based on that Police issued a warrant without any prior information," he alleged.

Mr Trivedi was scheduled to visit Syria starting September 12 to receive the 2012 Courage in Editorial cartooning award.

From: NDTV

US grandmother gives birth to her own grandchild

Chicago: Emily and Mike Jordan couldn't help but feel anxious.

More than two years before, at age 29, Emily had been diagnosed with cervical cancer. But just before she was to undergo a radical hysterectomy, she was told that she was pregnant.

Faced with saving her life or their unborn child's, the young couple made the excruciating decision to go forward with her surgery. It meant losing the baby and forfeiting any chance at having children.

Or so they thought.

"I can't describe what that was like after finding out you have cancer, after finding out your chance of ever carrying a baby is gone," Emily says.

But now, more than two years later, she and Mike had come to a Chicago hospital to realise the dream they thought was lost to become parents, though not the way they had imagined.

Alongside them was Emily's mother, Cindy Reutzel a fit, silver-haired 53-year-old grandmother with a pregnant belly.

Reutzel was about to give birth to her own grandchild.

Just 34 years ago, Louise Brown, the first "test tube" baby, was born in Great Britain. The result? A veritable in-vitro baby boom.

It started with would-be mothers in their 20s and 30s.

"Then people started pushing the envelope," says Dr Helen Kim, director of the in vitro fertilisation program at the University of Chicago. "If you could help a menopausal woman in her 30s, could you help a menopausal woman in her 40s? And then it became, 'Can you help a menopausal woman in her 50s?' "And the answer is yes."

Some older women were having their own babies. But more often, they were using egg donors to have their own children, or serving as surrogates or "gestational carriers."

There was the 51-year-old grandmother in Brazil who gave birth to her twin grandchildren in 2007. There've been others, grandmothers in their 40s or 50s and even 60s.

Cindy Reutzel, Emily's mom, had a vague recollection of those stories. So when doctors shared the news that they had been able to keep Emily's ovaries intact, Reutzel immediately made the offer.

"What if I carried your baby for you?" she asked.

Emily and Mike didn't take it too seriously at first. "We didn't really think that was a realistic option," says Emily. It turned out that it wasn't that far-fetched, particularly for a young grandmother who's in good health.

After a process that included psychological evaluation and hormonal manipulation to prepare their bodies, Kim eventually implanted Reutzel's uterus with an embryo created with an egg from Emily and Mike's sperm.

"The thought of Emily and Mike not being able to have children and share that piece of their lives with someone just broke my heart," says Reutzel. "I want Emily to have that connection with another human being like I had with her." As her belly grew, people started asking about "her baby."

But she was quick to tell them the story.

(AP)
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China quake: Death toll up to 80, crippled infrastructure hampers rescue operations

Beijing: At least 80 people were killed in earthquakes that hit southwest China, as crippled infrastructure in the remote area complicated efforts to assess the scale of the disaster.

The Xinhua news agency quoted a spokesman with the provincial civil affairs department as warning the toll could climb further because impassable roads and downed communications were making it difficult to collect information.

An earlier report from Friday's quakes had said 67 people were killed and 731 injured when the tremors struck on the border of Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, toppling houses and sending panicked crowds onto the streets.

Xinhua did not give an updated figure for the number of people injured when the twin 5.6-magnitude quakes, which were followed by a series of aftershocks, struck the poorly developed region.

Southwest China is prone to earthquakes. In May 2008, an 8.0-magnitude tremor rocked Sichuan and parts of neighbouring Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, killing tens of thousands and flattening swathes of the province.

The Global Times newspaper said the latest tremor highlighted China's continued vulnerability to natural disasters, despite decades of rapidly improving wealth and living standards in much of the country.

"A quake as strong as Friday's... could have caused fewer or even no casualties in a more developed region," it said.

"People who have illusions about China's national strength have to wake up to the fact that many people still live in houses with similar conditions," added the editorial.

Residents described how people ran out of buildings screaming as the two shallow quakes hit an hour apart around the middle of the day. Television footage showed roads strewn with fallen bricks and rocks in Yunnan province's Yiliang county, which appeared to be worst hit.
Authorities were sending thousands of tents, quilts and coats, and Premier Wen Jiabao was also heading to the area, Xinhua said.

Footage on state television network CCTV showed hundreds of people crowded into a sports field in Yiliang.

People took cover outside after the first quake and did not return indoors, said a man surnamed Xia reached by phone. "Lots of people are outside because they fear aftershocks," he said.

"I was walking on the street when I suddenly felt the ground shaking beneath me," posted one witness on Sina Weibo, a microblog similar to Twitter. "People started rushing outside screaming, it still scares me to think of it now."

The US Geological Survey said the first quake struck at 11.20 am (0850 IST) at a depth of around 10 kilometres (six miles), with the second quake around an hour later.

The earthquakes cut off electricity and triggered landslides, blocking roads, Xinhua said.

Li Fuchun, the head Luozehe township, identified as the epicentre, told Xinhua: "Roads are blocked and rescuers have to climb mountains to reach hard-hit villagers."

Peng Zhuwen, a worker at a zinc mine in Luozehe, added: "It is scary. My brother was killed by falling rocks. The aftershocks have struck again and again. We are so scared."

Yunnan's civil affairs department said that 6,650 houses had been destroyed and 100,000 people evacuated. There were also fears of disease after thousands of cattle were killed when sheds caved in.

Rocks as big as four metres (13 feet) across crashed into mountain roads, crushing houses and cars, Xinhua said.

Corner cutting in construction projects leading to shoddy buildings, especially schools, was blamed for the death toll being as high as it was in the 2008 Sichuan quake.

The Global Times said that after the latest quake, authorities should emphasise safety and sustainability in future developments.
"Many would prefer bigger, rather than safer but more expensive, houses or apartments.

"To take the time and invest money in the prevention of natural disasters, which are unpredictable and are unlikely to occur, does not seem like a persuasive proposal to many in China," it concluded.

From: NDTV

Four found dead, with throats slit, in Kolkata house

Kolkata: Four people, including a septuagenarian woman, were found dead with their throats slit at a house in Behala on the southern fringes of the city on Thursday night.

The alarm was raised by a physiotherapist who came to the house on Biren Roy Road (east) area to see one of the victims - Gouri Bhattacharjee, aged around 75, at 8 pm. He alerted the neighbours when he found the front door of the house open.

Police said besides the bodies of Mrs Bhattacharjee and her 50-year old son, her nurse and a domestic help were also found dead with throats slit in the same house. While the bodies of the mother and the son were discovered on the first floor of the house, the maid was found locked in a kitchen on the ground floor and the body of the nurse was discovered in the dining room.

Police are yet to find any clue on the assailants and their motive. Though sources say, the attackers could be professional killers. According to reports, there were no signs of burglary as nothing looked missing from the house.

Mayor Sovan Chatterjee, who visited the spot, said it was apparently a case of murder from the way the bodies were discovered with deep gashes on throats. Commissioner of Police RK Pachnanda, who inspected the place, said the matter was being investigated.

(With inputs from PTI)

Mumbai: Buildings evacuated in Bandra-Kurla complex after major fire

Mumbai: A major fire broke out today on the 12th floor of the First International Financial Centre (FIFC) building in the busy Bandra-Kurla complex of suburban Mumbai.

Seven water tankers and seven fire engines were at the spot. The fire, which began at 10:45 am, was brought under control after nearly one and a half hours.

Flames and smoke was seen at the windows of the 12th floor. Reports say no one is trapped in the building, however, it is not immediately known whether there are people injured.

The fire officials had evacuated the FIFC as well as neighbouring buildings so as to avoid any injuries or casualties.

The FIFC is a commercial high-rise next to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) building. The Bandra-Kurla complex is emerging as the new business hub of Mumbai and a lot of companies and banks are now housed here.

The immediate cause of the fire is not known yet.

From: NDTV

Farmer thrashes labourer to death for stealing vegetable

Kapurthala: In a shocking incident, a farmer in Punjab's Kapurthala murdered a labourer for plucking a few pieces of ridge gourd.

The accused Amrik Singh, annoyed from this act of Joginder Singh, beat him up with a sickle. Joginder later died of injuries.

The police have registered a case against Amrik Singh who is absconding.

"We have registered a case against Amrik Singh under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)... he abused family member of Joginder Singh after incident," said Deputy Superintendent of Police Paramjit Singh.

From: NDTV