British govt. promoted fake bomb detectors?

Three British government departments and agencies promoted the international sale of fake bomb detectors which are thought to have cost lives, despite a government-wide warning that they were useless.

On Tuesday, Kent businessman Gary Bolton (47) was jailed for seven years at the Old Bailey criminal court in London for fraud over the sale of thousands of devices based on novelty golf ball finders which he claimed could detect explosives and drugs but which detectives said were “nothing more than plastic handles with aerials as antennae”.

In the aftermath of Bolton’s sentencing, it can be revealed that the Ministry of Defence, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the government’s trade arm, UKTI, gave promotional, diplomatic and financial backing to Bolton over several years even though a Home Office expert in bomb detection equipment found his device’s ability to detect explosives was no better than random. In Thailand, where hundreds of the bogus devices were sold under the brand GT200 for use at police and army checkpoints, human rights campaigners have reported they failed to detect bombs that then killed four people. Hundreds more have been wrongly imprisoned after the fake equipment indicated they had handled explosives. The devices were sold to security hotspots including Pakistan, India and Egypt as well as Mexico, where authorities fighting a bloody drugs war bought 1,200 of the units.

Last night, ministers were under pressure to mount an urgent investigation into Whitehall’s role in the trade, which one MP labelled “a national embarrassment”. The devices cost Bolton as little as £1.82 to make but were sold for as much as £15,000 each, resulting in a trade worth up to £3 million a year. A Home Office scientist who ran a test in 2001 that demonstrated the so-called bomb detector was useless said on Tuesday he had issued a written warning against the device which was circulated to at least 1,000 officials across Whitehall, the military and police departments.

Following the trial, the business department has admitted that "UKTI provided advice on overseas markets through the Overseas Market Introduction Service and support to attend trade shows overseas through the Tradeshow Access Programme". In Mexico, "sales meetings sometimes took place in the embassy or the residence, occasionally with the presence of the ambassador," the court heard. Paxman even wrote to the state authorities in Sonora, which borders the US, "emphasising the excellence of the UK security industry".

Bolton's sentence follows that of his former business partner, Jim McCormick, who was jailed for 10 years in May for selling around £50m worth of similar devices, many to post-war Iraq, where their use is thought to have cost lives. Speaking in mitigation, Jonathan Higgs QC, said Bolton has three children, including a eight-month-old baby, and had been diagnosed with depression, which the judge said he was sceptical about given he was a fraudster.

In his remarks, the judge said Bolton's "glib salesmanship persuaded these agencies to support the sales" and concluded: "You have damaged the reputation of British trade abroad, having duped UKTI and other agencies dedicated to supporting the export of quality British goods as opposed to the dross that you manufactured."

At the time of his arrest last year Bolton admitted "he had no background in science, research, training or specifically security" and he called in his defence an expert in dowsing, a method of "divining" for water using sticks.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: "The government supports thousands of British companies around the world each year in our efforts to help boost trade and investment. Global Technical received limited support from the embassy in Mexico prior to any suggestion that their activity was fraudulent."

Dhanush Next Movie Title ‘Velai Illa Pttathari’

Dhanush, who has earlier reported that the titled of his 25th film will be unveiled on Au 15, on the occasion of Independence Day has now unlocked it along with logo and the title is ‘Velai Illa Pattathari’.

On this Dhanush in his twitter page said, “happy independence day ! here is d title of my 25th film.

Amala Paul, who has earlier paired top notch stars of Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam, will be seen opposite Dhanush in ‘Velai Illa Pattathari’. Cinematographer Velraj will wield the megaphone for this Dhanush starrer that will have music by Anirudh Ravichander.

Produced under his banner Wunderbar Films, this movie will be Dhanush's 25th film excluding the cameos he had done in some movies. The team is set to start shooting for the film from August 20. Amala Paul plays a lovable Chennai girl, someone who's very rational in the family entertainer. Velraj who was the DOP of Dhanush's Polladhavan, Aadukalam and 3turns into director for this film and Anirudh will be scoring the music.

Social media: a potential saviour?

What can parents do to trace a missing child, other than filing a police complaint? What if there is no ransom call and the child has not been kidnapped but just got lost? What if the desperate father approaches the media, only to be asked to place an advertisement instead? What if the family does not have the means to do this or announce a reward to the public for useful information ?

This isn’t a hypothetical scenario. This was a recent nightmarish reality for Maurice Lai, who works at IIT Madras. Except one newspaper and a local TV channel, no one cared to take up his cause. For that matter, very strangely, no one thought of pressing the social media button either. A simultaneous three-pronged strategy — a manhunt by the cops, publicity in the mainstream and local media and ‘shares’ of his picture on Facebook or retweets of the link on twitter could have made a difference. In this case, the difference was between life and death. Seventy-two hours later, the father got a call from the Railway Police asking him to bring his teenaged autistic son’s picture. And then, horror of horrors — to identify his son’s body at the ‘unclaimed section’ in the mortuary. The family believes that Mathew had strayed out of his home, landed up at a suburban railway station and fell out of a moving train.

It’s all over now. But it’s still worth raising a few questions. What has happened to our news sense and priorities? If newspapers have enough space for pictures of affluent youngsters posing merrily at parties and, in one case, even for insensitive stories such as hair bands for “bald girl babies” with expressions like “ugghh” thrown in, don’t tell me they didn’t have a few column centimetres for a missing autistic boy? I even came across a story of a bank manager in Chennai who recently promised to pay a lakh to anyone who passed on information that would help him trace his missing dog.

With almost all media houses now equipped with robust online editions, backed by a strong social media presence, can ‘space’ be an issue any longer? If the Chennai Traffic Police can have an active page on Facebook, what about the other wings of the Police across the State? Imagine, a drill of culling out pictures and information from every FIR on missing persons and posting it on police Facebook and Twitter accounts. Wouldn’t it give their search an impetus?

The social media can easily turn saviour — just like it does when it comes to spreading the word about blood donation. Just like it did few years ago when little Tamanna went missing from the Marina Beach. She was reunited with her family, thanks to a thoughtful Facebook campaign by a teenager, backed by persistent mainstream media reportage and a police search. Mathew Lai may have been alive today, had the social media stepped in. Almost everyone has a mobile camera.

If only some passenger had clicked his picture at the railway station or on the train and posted it on Facebook or Twitter! If only that update had been shared or retweeted, the way jokes and pictures are! If only the journalists who directed his father to the advertising section had hammered out a status message or tweet on the boy’s plight on their official accounts or even on their personal handles! If only a fraction of celebrity social media moguls who flaunt their ‘verified signs’, and who try to outsmart each other with hashtags in a polarised arena, use their massive following for a spot of CSR — Citizen Social Responsibility.

If only a search operation had gone viral like a film song! If wishes were updates, a special child would be playing with his favourite bat and ball and not be just a photograph in a Chennai home. RIP, Mathew Lai. We failed you. And forgive us; for we know what we didn’t do.

Top 10 Richest Indian Businessmen in 2013

From top 10 Shashi Ruia and Ravi Ruia ($10,200) Vodafone-Essar is on 4th place:

The brothers, Shashi and Ravi Ruia, sold their one-third stake in telecom unit Vodafone Essar for $5.4 billion in July, 2011 after their plan for listing the holding was opposed by Vodafone.

Essar is a global corporation with investments in the sectors of steel, energy (oil & gas and power), infrastructure (ports, projects & concessions) and services (shipping, telecom, realty and outsourcing and technology solutions). With operations in more than 25 countries across five continents, Essar employs over 73,000 people and has revenues of $39 billion.
Essar began as a construction company in 1969 and diversified into manufacturing, services and retail. Essar is managed by Shashi Ruia – Chairman, and Ravi Ruia – Vice Chairman.

Over the last four decades, it has grown through strategic global acquisitions and partnerships, or through Greenfield and Brownfield development projects, capturing new markets and discovering new raw material sources. Today, the company has expanded its global footprint, focusing on markets in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. Essar invests significantly in the latest technology to drive forward and backward integration in its businesses, and on leveraging synergies between these businesses. It also focuses on in-house research and innovation to be a low-cost manufacturer with high quality products and innovative customer offerings.

Alongside its ambitious business pursuits, Essar has been committed to its social responsibility. It runs community outreach initiatives in all its plant locations, with a focus on education, healthcare, environmental and agricultural development, and self-employment. Essar is committed to sustainable business practices. Our HSE (Health, Safety and Environment) management system is at par with global standards. Essar is also taking climate change initiatives to reduce its carbon footprint. This includes several CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) projects that can earn the company CER (Certified Emission Reduction) credits. A growing number of Essar's businesses are certified to international environment standards, like ISO 9001 /14001, and health and safety standards, like OHSAS 18001.
Essar is widely regarded as a responsible and conscientious global employer. It has experience in managing businesses in different geographies with a culturally diverse workforce.

Vodafone India , formerly Vodafone Essar and Hutchison Essar, is the third largest mobile network operator in India after Airtel and Reliance Communication by subscriber base. It is based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It has approximately 147.48 million customers as of December 2012.

In July 2011, Vodafone Group agreed terms for the buy-out of its partner Essar from its Indian mobile phone business. The UK firm paid $5.46 billion to its Indian counterpart to take Essar out of its 33% stake in the Indian subsidiary. It will leave Vodafone owning 74% of the Indian business, while the other 26% will be owned by Indian investors, in compliance with Indian law.

On 11 February 2007, Vodafone agreed to acquire the controlling interest of 67% held by Li Ka Shing Holdings in Hutch-Essar for US$11.1 billion, pipping Reliance Communications, Hinduja Group, and Essar Group, which is the owner of the remaining 33%. The whole company was valued at USD 18.8 billion.The transaction closed on 8 May 2007. It offers both prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular phone coverage throughout India with good presence in the metros.

Vodafone India provides 2.75G services based on 900 MHz and 1800 MHz digital GSM technology. Vodafone India launched 3G services in the country in the January–March quarter of 2011 and plans to spend up to $500 million within two years on its 3G networks.

Vodafone Essar started its operations in India in 1994 and is under the Vodafone Group. The company Vodafone Essar Limited has become one of the leading companies in the telecom sector in India due to its high standard of services that it provides to its customers.

The company Vodafone Essar has its operations in 16 telecom circles of the country, which covers around 86% of the customer mobile base in India. The company offers both postpaid and prepaid GSM cellular mobile coverage all across India and its hold is especially strong in the metropolitan cities. The company Vodafone Essar Limited provides services like 2G, which are based on 1800Mhz and 900Mhz GSM digital technology. The company Vodafone Essar also offers voice and data services.

Vodafone Essar Limited has received many awards over the years such as the Best Mobile Service in India, Most Effective and Most Creative Advertiser of the Year, and Most Respected Telecom Company. The company Vodafone Essar Limited's chairman is Asim Ghosh, vice chairman is Arun Sarin, and non- executive chairman is Ravi Ruia. The Vodafone Essar subscriber bases in the cities of India are:

• Kolkata - 1,632,875
• Mumbai - 2,989,970
• Delhi - 3,002,442
• Chennai - 981,996

The company Vodafone Essar Limited plans to spend more than ` 250 crore in launching low price cell phones in India. The company's objective in doing this is to bring in millions of cheap mobile handsets from around the world into the country and then sell them under the Vodafone brand name in order to maximize sales. It is expected that the company Vodafone Essar Limited will price the handsets in the range of ` 666, ` 999, and ` 888. In this way the company expects to attract new customers and thus expand its customer base that stands at 35 million in 2007. 

Vodafone Essar plans to sell the low price handsets from its 4 lakhs distribution outlets. The company will buy the low cost cell phones from the firm ZTE that is located in China. The Company ZTE will ship more than 10 million low cost cell phones to India that will then be sold by the company Vodafone Essar. Vodafone Essar Company also has plans to expand in the near future and for this it is planning to take a loan overseas of around US$ 500 million. The company Vodafone Essar Limited will use the money to expand the company's network, better its technology, and open more distribution centers. All these measures will help to increase the customer base of the company Vodafone Essar. 

Vodafone Essar is one of the topmost companies in the telecom sector in India and is well known for the best quality of products and services offered to its customers. And this is the reason that the customer base of the company Vodafone Essar Limited has been increasing at a very rapid pace. The company is planning to launch low price cell phones in the country and also expand its operations. This is sure to help the company Vodafone Essar to grow and prosper even more in the future. 

Curfew continues in eight Jammu districts, 11 held

An Army personnel keeps vigil during prohibitory orders in force in Jammu on Monday. An indefinite curfew have been imposed in the Jammu region following communal clashes in Kishtwar.

Curfew continued in eight districts of Jammu region on Tuesday even as the annual Amarnath Yatra resumed after three days, officials said. Eleven people have been arrested in connection with the communal clashes in Kishtwar.

The Amarnath Yatra had remained suspended for the last three days.

“The Amarnath Yatra resumed early today. 225 pilgrims were allowed to move from here to the Valley around 4.30 a.m. this morning,” a police official said.

“The pilgrims moved in six buses and one light vehicle. Adequate security has been provided to ensure their safety,” he said.

Normal traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar highway has still not resumed. Traffic on the Pathankot-Jammu and Jammu-Srinagar highway was halted following tension along the road after the Kishtwar violence on Friday.

Curfew continued in the eight districts of Jammu, Kathua, Samba, Reasi, Udhampur, Rajouri, Doda and Kishtwar districts of Jammu region. Loudspeaker-fitted police vehicles announced in the morning that curfew was in force in these districts and that people should remain indoors.

While curfew continued for the fifth day in Kishtwar district where it was imposed on Friday following communal clashes, in other districts it continued for the fourth day on Tuesday.

No curfew was imposed in Ramban and Poonch districts of Jammu region in the aftermath of the Kishtwar clashes.

The Doda district magistrate said no curfew has been imposed in Doda town, although the same was imposed as a precautionary measure in Gandoh, Thatri, Prem Nagar and Bhaderwah areas of the district.

Authorities Monday evening relaxed curfew for three hours in Samba district after which it was re-imposed. In all other parts of Kathua district, except the main town, curfew was relaxed for two hours Monday evening.

In Reasi district, curfew was relaxed for three hours, while in Udhampur, authorities relaxed curfew for two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening.

“Except for some stray incidents in Kishtwar town and Raipur area of Jammu district, the situation remained completely peaceful elsewhere Monday,” an administrative officer told IANS.

“In fact, prominent citizens and civil society members from both the communities have already started carrying out peace marches at some places to defuse tensions,” he said.

Reports reaching here from the hilly Kishtwar town said a vehicle hired by police was Monday set ablaze by miscreants at Shalimar Chowk, five km from Kishtwar town.

Police arrested 11 people in connection with the communal clashes in Kishtwar. The arrested include Abdul Qayoom Mattu, a separatist leader police allege was responsible for instigating people to violence.

Protestors including women and children defied curfew in Kishtwar town Monday to protest the arrests. The protestors engaged police in stone pelting, in which two police officers including an additional superintendent of police and a deputy superintendent of police were injured.

Five protestors were also injured. The army later carried out a flag march in the area to restore order.

Meanwhile, mobile internet services remained suspended throughout the state for the third day Tuesday.

While authorities said the services have been suspended to check rumour-monging, professionals, academicians, students and journalists have criticised the suspension, saying it amounted to pushing the state into the another Stone Age.

“When information is gagged, rumours always run wild. I wonder what they want to achieve by this internet suspension, except for telling the world that Jammu and Kashmir is being pushed into another Stone Age,” said an academician.

Curfew imposed in Rajouri; Jaitley may be sent back from airport:

A police vehicle in flames after two groups indulged in stone-pelting and arson in Kishtwar district on Friday.

With the tension mounting in Jammu, authorities have clamped curfew at the district headquarters of Rajouri even as the options of imposing curfew in the capital of Jammu and denying permission to a BJP delegation’s visit to Kishtwar were being considered at a high level meeting late on Saturday night.

Superintendent of Police Rajouri Mubassir Latifi confirmed to The Hindu that curfew was imposed on the township indefinitely late on Saturday. “We had serious apprehensions of trouble. Deputy Commissioner has now imposed curfew”, Mr Latifi said.

Sources said that in view of certain untoward incidents at New Plot and Gujjar Nagar on Saturday evening, tension was building up fast and the authorities were likely to announce imposition of curfew in the capital city of Jammu anytime around the midnight.

Authorities are understood to have decided to deny permission to a BJP delegation’s visit to the curfew-bound Kishtwar on Sunday. The BJP delegation, headed by the senior party leader Arun Jaitly, is scheduled to arrive at Jammu airport at 9.00 a.m. Mr Jaitley’s requisition for a helicopter to ferry the party’s delegation to Kishtwar was unlikely to meet a positive response.

Well placed authoritative sources revealed that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was not in favour of permitting any political visit to Kishtwar for the next few days as the situation in the curfew-bound town had not stabilized. Mr Jaitley and his party colleagues, according to the sources, are likely to be intercepted at Jammu airport and sent back in a plane as had been done by the Omar Abdullah government when Mr Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj wanted to join a BJP youth rally at Lakhnapur, on Punjab-J&K border, a few years back. Sources said that section 107 Criminal Procedure Code was likely to be invoked to prevent the BJP delegation from visiting Jammu, Kishtwar and other towns.

Party’s J&K spokesman and a member of the National Executive Dr Jitendar Singh has been reportedly stopped at Batote on Saturday and told that the Government was not permitting any political delegation’s visit to Kishtwar for now.

Tension prevailed in Jammu as the BJP in the evening announced to extend the shutdown to 72 hours. “Bandh will continue in Jammu province on Sunday and Monday”, a senior leader said.

Earlier report:

Curfew continued in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday and the Army conducted a flag march to restore order after Friday’s riots left two persons dead and about 80 injured.

The Hindu-dominated Jammu province observed complete shutdown on a call from the Bharatiya Janata Party while the Muslim-dominated Kashmir valley remained equally paralysed with a strike call from Syed Ali Shah Geelani of the radical faction of Hurriyat Conference.

Sources said that notwithstanding violent incidents and clashes over the last few days, pilgrimages to Budha Amarnath (Poonch), Machail (Kishtwar) and Amarnath (Kashmir) had not been terminated. “These are all in progress, though one or two of them has been suspended temporarily,” an official said.

Twin tragedy

Funeral rites of the two persons, Arvind Kumar Bhagat and Bashir Ahmad Mochi, were performed in the afternoon at Sangram Bata, in the periphery of the district headquarters in an emotionally-charged atmosphere. Twenty-three-year old Arvind is said to have died of bullet wounds near Kuleed Chowk where the clashes originated. Hindu activist groups insisted that the young man was fired upon from .12 bore single barrel gun by an arsonist while Muslims insisted that Arvind died in police firing. Everyone, now, is awaiting the post-mortem reports.

Bashir’s nondescript house is yards away from Arvind’s at Sangram Bata. Residents said that Bashir, the poor 4th class employee of the Public Health Engineering Department had been captured by a mob, beaten up mercilessly and burnt alive just as a hotel had been set ablaze. His charred body was later shifted to Chowgan Grounds. It was identified in the morning as Bashir had a metallic rod in his fractured arm. “Tragedy is not new to this family. Bashir’s brother Farooq who was a painter, fell last year from a jail building that was under-construction and died,” a relative said.

“Who cares for these sweepers and scavengers?,” sobbed Ghulam Mohammad, another relative.

Bashir’s wife Waheeda works as a sweeper at a tuition centre. His daughter Rabia is an Anganwadi worker and his son Danish is a 10th standard student.

Parotta, wrong recipe for your heart

Bleaching products used for processing maida are toxic to pancreas which secretes insulin

HOT AND TASTY, BUT LIFE-THREATENING:Cardiologists advise people, especially the middle-aged, to avoid 'Parotta' for healthy heart.

Parotta is a popular dish in almost every home. Be it among the adults or children, it is always on the must have list. Its taste and flavour, combined with salna attracts all. The mushrooming parotta stalls and the demand for ‘parotta masters’ in the city reveals the prominent a role it plays in the dietary habits of the people.

However, there is a word of caution for parotta lovers from leading cardiologists in Madurai who say that it may be a mouth-watering dish but at the same it is also heart damaging. The heart of the matter lies in the ‘maida’ which is said to be a wrong recipe for a healthy heart.

At a time when heart attacks, cardiac diseases and diabetes are threatening the productive young population, heart experts have revealed some hard truths about the fluffy soft parotta which gives arouses the taste buds but puts the health of the eater at risk.

“Parotta contains the purest form of carbohydrates and the maida flour with which it is prepared is an enemy to your heart. Eating it means it is a direct depositing of fats and cholesterol in to your body,” says R.Raghunathan, Head of Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH), here.

Colour of maida flour may look fair and fine when compared to wheat flour, but the process involved in its preparation shows how dangerous it is for vital parts such as heart and pancreas.

A.Madhavan, senior interventional cardiologist at Apollo Speciality Hospitals who is also a Fellow of heart specialists certified by the Geneva-based World Heart Federation, explained that the chemical Alloxan which is used to give softness to maida flour could lead to diabetes and thereby cause heart problems in the long run.

“Majority of the people prefer parotta for its taste. But, remember that Alloxan is dangerous to pancreas which regulates glucose/sugar in our body. It is advisable not to get bowled by the taste alone but also bear in mind the chemicals present in maida flour,” he cautions.

Bleaching products used for processing maida are toxic to pancreas which secretes insulin. The bleaching agents present in maida are used to produce diabetes in experimental creatures such as rodents/animals.

Dr.Madhavan says that it is time to end the obsession with parotta in view of increasing child obesity, hypertension, early diabetes and heart attacks. “I think we can do a ‘Maida study in Madurai’ to come out with findings. Those who are regular parotta eaters and those who keep away from that can be screened,” he said.

Chief of Department of Cardiology at the GRH, R.A.Janarthanan, too joins in a campaign against parotta wave in view of its threat to heart. “Lifestyle changes and mental stress are taking a heavy toll on our youngsters as many youngsters between 30 and 40 years of age are becoming heart patients. In such a case, the food we eat matters a lot and parotta is not good,” he says.

Absence of fibre content in maida is seen as a major negative factor in parotta. It gets even more aggravated because of the side-dishes or paraphernalia that accompany it such as ‘salna.’ Parotta has the capacity to shoot up your body sugar level.

“One gram of carbohydrate gives nine calories of energy. Imagine the impact of a parotta which is full of only carbohydrates and especially when you do not do sufficient physical exercises. Parotta may be cheap but it will be costly for your heart,” cautions Dr.Raghunathan.

The parotta-diabetes-heart link can be gauged from the current trends.

Even though there is no documentary evidence to say that maida is the actual villain, Dr.Madhavan says that changing food habits will indeed damage the heart.

“Out of 10 master health check-ups I do, three persons are newly detected diabetes cases. When I tell them they have sugar, they get shocked. So, right food at right time is the right way,” he tells.

N.Ganesan, cardiologist, Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre, says that cardiac fitness is of utmost importance these days. “Heart metabolic activity is vital. Every middle-aged man should walk for 10,000 steps a day. I don’t mean climbing of steps, but a regular normal walking of 10,000 steps during the entire day, between morning and night,” he suggests.

According to him, prevention aspects can begin at young age itself. “Fifty per cent of heart problems crop up in persons below 50 years of age and 25 per cent of cases are reported before 40 years of age. So, you can understand the gravity of the situation,” Dr.Ganesan.

The message from Dr.Janarthanan was that people should go for healthy food such as idli, puttu and chapathi while following nutritional balance with fruits and vegetables.

Next time, you order for a parcel of ‘chilly parotta’ or ‘kothu parotta’, think twice because it can parcel off your heart and pancreas.

“Make parents’ nod must for love marriages”

Paattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) leader S. Ramadoss, who has run a campaign against inter-caste marriages, now wants the government to amend the Hindu Marriage Act to make the consent of parents compulsory if a girl wants to marry before she is 21.

In a statement here, he referred to a suggestion by a Division Bench of the Karnataka High Court in 2011 that “in the case of love affair of a girl, who is below the age of 21 years, there shall be a condition that the parents of the girl should approve the marriage; otherwise such marriages shall be declared void or voidable.”

Dr. Ramadoss said the Karnataka High Court had explained the “untold misery and hardship” of parents of teenage girls falling in love. The legal age for marriage for girls is 18.

He also referred to a dispute between Tamil film-maker Cheran and his daughter over her intention to marry an assistant director. The daughter, Kamani, has filed a complaint with the Chennai Police accusing her father of threatening her lover.

“I can understand the pain of Cheran as a father,” he said and added that he agreed fully with Mr. Cheran’s argument that a father could not accept a bad character as his son-in-law.

Dr. Ramadoss said it was a good gesture on the part of the City police advising Mr. Cheran’s daughter to complete her studies before getting married even though she and her lover had reached marriageable age. 

“If the police had followed the same principle and advised Divya and Ilavarasan of Dharmapuri, Divya’s father would not have committed suicide and all the unwanted things that followed the death could have been averted,” he said.

Ilavarasan’s watch gives time of impact:

Investigators probing the death of the Dalit youth E. Ilavarasan have more evidence to suspect that it was a case of suicide, though his family is alleging that it could be a murder.This time, it is the watch of the victim recovered from the scene where his body was found along the railway track on July 4 in Dharmapuri.

The watch stopped functioning at 1.20 p.m. On suspicion that the watch came apart when Ilavarasan was hit by the speeding train, police sought to know the exact time when the Coimbatore-Mumbai Kurla Expressed crossed the location.

Five die as earth caves in on road

Earth and rubble that caved in over the road in a landslip at Cheeyappara on the Kochi-Dhanushkodi road 

Landslips triggered by heavy downpour claimed six lives in the high range Idukki district of Kerala on Monday.

Five persons were killed and many others are feared buried under rubble after the earth caved in over vehicles and shops at Cheeyappara, near Kothamangalam, on the Kochi-Munnar road on Monday.

The bodies of the five persons were recovered from under the rubble.

In separate landslips elsewhere in Idukki district since Sunday night, eight others were killed, taking the toll to 13. Four persons who were rescued at Cheeyappara were rushed to the Adimaly government hospital. The condition of one of them is stated to be serious.

Search and rescue operations are under way despite heavy rain that has made the effort extremely difficult.

Those killed in the landslip were Rajan, driver at the Devikulam taluk office; Thoppilkudy Josy, and Palakkad resident Jibin and two unidentified persons.

Those trapped in the mass of rubble that crashed down from a height of around 20 feet included tourists who had stopped over to watch rescue operations following an earlier landslip, and rescue workers, who were engaged in clearing the road.

A mini tourist bus, a jeep belonging to the revenue department and a few motor cycles were buried in the rubble from the landslip or swept away in the flash floods that followed in its wake.

Police and Fire and Rescue Service personnel from Adimaly and Neriyamangalam, with the support of the local people, are continuing the rescue operations. The landslip occurred between 7.30 a.m. and 8 a.m., said Janardhanan, a casual worker with the National Highways Authority.

He said that he was clearing the debris of a minor landslip near here when the second one occurred. He rushed to the spot to find that an entire hill had caved in, completely blocking the road. Hasainar, a driver, one of those who reached the spot first, said that he could not initially comprehend what had happened as out of the nearly 20 shops in the area, 10 were buried beneath the rubble.

Aliyar, a fire and rescue service personnel, said that the human toll could have been reduced had the tourist vehicles not halted to watch the first landslip. It was during that time that the hill caved in over their vehicles.

It was a tough time for the police to control the bulging crowd which reached the area. The continuing rain also hampered the rescue operations.

In a landslip at Thadiayanpadu near Cheruthoni, two sisters were killed when earth caved in on their house.

3 killed, 11 hurt as building under construction collapses in Kengeri:

Three workers were killed and 11 injured when a building under construction collapsed in Kengeri Satellite Town on Monday morning.

The labourers were constructing a three-storey marriage hall at Bandeswamy Math in Kommagatta. The moulding of the second floor’s ceiling was under way when it collapsed. At least 25 workers were on the roof when the accident occurred at around 10 a.m. Some workers fell from the roof while others on the ground floor were trapped under the debris.

Fire and Emergency Services personnel along with advanced rescue vehicles rushed minutes after the collapse. Officials said three bodies had been removed from the debris while a few injured workers were taken to nearby hospitals.

Labourers at the site said over 100 workers from Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka were at work for the last six months. Some 70 workers were on the ground floor mixing cement and doing other work. Some 25 workers were on the roof. Lalchand (30), one of the labourers injured, toldThe Hindu : “All I remember is that the building collapsed and I was trapped under the debris till some people pulled me out.” The injured were rushed to Rajarajeshwari hospital and Shreya hospital nearby.

The victims have been identified as Venkateshappa (40) from Andhra Pradesh, Shivanna (25) from Gulbarga and Sumit Mondal Khapari (24) from Bihar. Shivanna, who was laying the concrete on the roof, came plummeting down while the other two workers were working on the centring and were trapped underneath the debris.

Police suspect a weak centring led to the collapse. A senior official said the centring was built of wood for a height of 25 feet.

This rendered the building unstable, they said. It was a serious case of negligence on the part of the building authorities, the police added. It is owned by the Eka Bilva Bande Veerashaiva Math.

Cases have been booked under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) against contractor Krishnamurthy, centring supervisor Murthy, engineer Jagannath Rao and Sachidananda Swami of the Math. Murthy and Krishnamurthy have been arrested.

Telangana fallout: Demand for smaller states hits Parliament

The uproar over the creation of a separate Telangana state from Andhra Pradesh resonated in Parliament today with many Members of Parliament who were against the government's decision raising slogans in both the Houses.

Rajya Sabha was briefly adjourned after protests by these MPs. In the Lok Sabha, many leaders were heard shouting, "We want justice."

Many banners were also seen in both Houses of Parliament demanding statehood for other regions. Parliamentarians from the Bodoland region in Assam staged a protest in Parliament premises with their demand for a separate statehood. "Bodoland's demand is a very genuine and legitimate demand. It is the right of the Bodo people. If they can give Telangana then why can't we have Bodoland? We want similar kind of justice," said S K Bwismuthiary, an MP from Kokrajhar in Assam.

The government's announcement last week that Telangana will be created as India's 29th state has upset many Congressmen from Andhra Pradesh. The ministers said they had been assured that a high-level panel would be set up to address concerns of coastal and southern Andhra Pradesh. Several Congress ministers and lawmakers from these two regions have been on a resignation spree, amid angry protests outside their homes since the announcement.

The party has been on a firefighting mode since it announced the creation of Telangana. The new state will take at least six months to become a reality.

Residents and leaders of Telangana, which includes the IT hub of Hyderabad, are celebrating the fruition of a five-decade-long movement for statehood, but the other two regions of the state, coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema, say they have been betrayed

Kirobo is world's first talking robot sent into space

Japan has launched the world's first talking robot into space to serve as companion to astronaut Kochi Wakata who will begin his mission in November.

One giant leap for robotkind! The world's first talking robot astronaut - Kirobo - was successfully blasted into space on August 4 by Japanese scientists.

The robot was designed to be a companion for astronauts to stop them from getting lonely while in space.Officials at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said the H2B rocket, carrying food, water and other supplies, lifted off from the island of Tanegashima today.

Included in the cargo is a small robot named Kirobo, which will serve as a companion for Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata who will join the crew later this year.

Kirobo was put through a series of zero-gravity and other safety tests before it was deemed ready for flight.

The name of Kirobo is a merging of Kibo and robot, project officials have said.

Kirobo and Mirata were built by scientists and engineers at the University of Tokyo.

Both robots come equipped with voice-recognition and face-recognition technology, as well as a camera, emotion recognition software and natural language processing.

"I want to help create a world where humans and robots can live together," Kirobo told reporters when the project was unveiled.The android took off from the island of Tanegashima in an unmanned rocket also carrying supplies for crew onboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Measuring 34cm (13 inches), Kirobo is due to arrive at the ISS on 9 August.

It is part of a study to see how machines can lend emotional support to people isolated over long periods.

The launch of the H-2B rocket was broadcast online by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa).

The unmanned rocket is also carrying drinking water, food, clothing and work supplies to the six permanent crew members based at the ISS.

Tomotaka Takahashi with his creation

'Giant leap'Kirobo's name derives from the Japanese words for "hope" and "robot".

The small android weighs about 1kg (2.2 pounds) and has a wide range of physical motion. Its design was inspired by the legendary animation character Astro Boy.

Kirobo has been programmed to communicate in Japanese and keep records of its conversations with Mr Wakata who will take over as commander of the ISS later this year.

In addition, it is expected to relay messages from the control room to the astronaut.

"Kirobo will remember Mr Wakata's face so it can recognise him when they reunite up in space," the robot's developer, Tomotaka Takahashi said.

"I wish for this robot to function as a mediator between a person and machine, or a person and the Internet, and sometimes even between people."

The biggest challenge was to make the android compatible with space, Mr Takahashi added.

Dozens of tests were carried out over nine months to ensure Kirobo's reliability.

Kirobo has a twin robot on Earth called Mirata, which will monitor any problems its electronic counterpart may experience in space.

"It's one small step for me, a giant leap for robots," Mirata said of the mission last month.

Robot astronaut Kirobo is launched towards the ISS

The endeavour is a joint project between Mr Takahashi, car producer Toyota and advertising company Dentsu.