Evan Rachel Wood miffed over deletion of oral sex scene in new flick

Evan Rachel Wood has slammed Motion Picture Association of America for promoting a double standard as they cut a sex scene from her new movie 'Charlie Countryman'

The 26-year-old actress took to twitter by saying that after seeing the new cut of the movie, she would like to share her disappointment with the MPAA, who thought it was necessary to censor womans sexuality once again, the New York Daily News reported.

The 'Thirteen' star added that the scene where the two main characters make 'love' was altered because they felt that seeing a man give a woman oral sex made people uncomfortable but the scenes in which people are murdered by having their heads blown off remain intact and unaltered.

She said that this is a symptom of society that wants to shame women and put them down for enjoying sex.

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What Tejpal did falls within legal definition of rape: Victim

NEW DELHI: Rejecting "insinuations" that her complaint is part of a pre-election political conspiracy, the victim of Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal's alleged sexual assault on Friday said what he did to her "falls within the legal definition of rape".

In a statement ahead of Tejpal's journey to Goa to face police questioning, she said she was heartened by the broad support she has received over the past fortnight.

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Please take me to hospital, otherwise I will die: Vinod Kambli

MUMBAI: Former India cricketer Vinod Kambli was in all sorts of trouble before being rushed to a hospital, apparently after suffering a heart attack, and said "please take me to hospital, otherwise I will die", according to a Mumbai Traffic Police officer.

Famous for his world-record 664-run partnership with Sachin Tendulkar in a school match in 1988, Kambli has been admitted to the cardiac ICU of the Lilavati hospital in suburban Bandra, and is undergoing treatment, hospital sources said.

The 41-year-old was spotted in distress while driving at a busy road at Sion, central Mumbai this morning. He was immediately taken to the Lilavati Hospital by a team of traffic police, headed by Sujata Patil, Senior Inspector posted in Matunga.

Patil said at about 9.30 am she received a phone call from her colleague Kumar Datta Shedage, a constable, who said Kambli was feeling uneasy.

The ex-cricketer was behind the wheels of his Pajero and driving from suburban Chembur to Bandra, where he resides.

"The constable handed over the mobile phone to a weeping Kambli, who told me 'please take me to a hospital, otherwise I will die'. He was not feeling well," Patil stated adding "Kambli was alone in the vehicle".

"Without wasting time, I reached near the vehicle and arranged a private driver, who drove the Pajero to the hospital while Kambli was seated in the rear seat with the constable," said Patil.

"We escorted the vehicle till Lilavati Hospital in just 11 minutes from Sion," she explained. Usually it takes 30-40 minutes to reach the hospital from Sion in morning."

Patil had hit headlines in January this year when she wrote a controversial poem in a police journal using certain words to criticize protesters from a particular community, who had turned violent during a meeting at Azad Maidan in August 2012.

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Bullett Raja

Story: Simple Raja Mishra turns into deadly Bullett Raja - who goes bang and who whimpers?

Review: Straight up, Bullett Raja (BR) is zany and funny, an Uttar Pradesh take on Sholay's Jai and Veeru, 'twice-born' in Lucknow as Raja Mishra (Khan) and Rudra Pratap (Shergill). Educated Raja and Rudra are reluctant gangsters, turned by violent, caste-ridden UP politics into what political advisor Srivastava (who Skypes from jail) calls "political commandos." These 'commandos' work at the command of minister Ram Babu Shukla (Babbar), finishing his enemies and finessing his friends. But there's a big bang when Raja and Rudra meet Bajaj (Grover), powerful financier who's rude to the dynamite duo - and gets kidnapped by them. Revenge follows with conspiracies, lots more bang-bang and some LOL jokes.

Hence, opponents are shot during a 'Bak the Talk' shoot, gangster Sumer Yadav (Ravi Kishan, in good form) is told, "Aap jail ke superstar hain, fan following toh hogi", Raja tells girlfriend Mitali (Sinha) how he prefers 'noose' and 'jaanwaron ka channel' to serials - and says 'I love you' in a precious scene. All along, the bang-bang cascades and ace cop Arun Singh (Jamwal) is dispatched to kill Raja.

BR scores with its tight performances, Saif terrific with his clenched-jaw comedy, Shergill intense and growlingly funny, Jamwal's flying kicks and wavy hair making the landscape even hotter. Sonakshi's pleasant if unsurprising while Babbar and Grover infuse their roles with oily, kachori-like spice. UP comes alive too as Bullett Raja leaps from Gomti to gaus, sex to sex pistols, Hollywood to Hazratganj, its imagery somewhere between Omkara and Dabangg.

Where the film misses a bulls-eye is an excess 20 minutes, music that, despite Tamanche Pe Disco, remains average and direction that sometimes - don't miss the guy flagellating himself as Saif makes a momentous decision - wavers. Still, BR is a racy ride, cynical, yet sweet, dark, yet bright. Go watch - you'll enjoy those bangs in the dark.

Note: You may not like this film if you avoid violent political tales.

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'I eat two kilos of apples and two dozen oranges everyday'

It's not easy to essay the character of Bheem, one of the pivotal characters in Indian mythology. But for Saurav Singh Gurjar, who plays the role in the telly show Mahabharat, an even bigger challenge is adjusting to life in a big city like Mumbai.

A kickboxing champion and a wrestler, Saurav is quintessentially a small-town boy from Madhya Pradesh. In fact, the offer to act was a big surprise for him. Says he, "Even my forefathers have been associated with wrestling, so being an actor was never on my mind. In fact, I find life in Mumbai tough. It's very congested. There is no room to walk in apartments and people are always running around or looking out from small windows in their buildings."

The actor also has to maintain his diet. Standing tall at 6 feet 8 inches, he weighs 135 kilos and is a vegetarian. He says, "My weight is proportionate to my height. Wrestlers in India generally weigh around 127 kilos. I have no medical problems."

The production house, says Saurav, takes care of his diet. He says, "My day starts with one litre of milk and 45 pieces of soaked badam. For breakfast, I have around six aloo parathas. Lunch consists of one litre dal and dahi, lots of veggies and around 16 rotis. I consume a lot of fruits —around two kilos of apples and oranges everyday. Now, I have started drinking protein shakes too. My dinner is heavier than my lunch, because I can't sleep without eating properly at night."

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Former Indian cricketer Vinod Kambli suffers heart attack

NEW DELHI: Former Indian cricketer Vinod Kambli has been admitted to Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital, following a heart attack on Friday.

Kambli was taken ill while he was driving from Chembur to Bandra and suddenly stopped the vehicle.

A policewoman on duty, Sujata Patil noticed he could not drive and arranged to rush him to Lilavati Hospital.

Hospital sources say he is under observation and undergoing various tests to determine his health condition.

Kambli had undergone angioplasty on two of his blocked arteries in July 2012.

Kambli featured in the famous 664-run stand with Sachin Tendulkar for their school Shardashram Vidya Mandir in February 1988.

The flamboyant left-hander hit two double-centuries and two hundreds in his first eight Test innings after earning a debut in 1993, but another three-figure knock in Tests eluded him.

Kambli played the last of his 17 Tests in 1995 before he had turned 24, finishing with 1,084 runs at an average of 54.20.

He also scored 2,477 runs in 104 one-day internationals with two centuries. Kambli announced his retirement from international cricket in 2009 while he retired from first-class cricket in 2011.

(With input from IANS)

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Stop praising Sachin Tendulkar, Taliban warn Pakistan media

ISLAMABAD: The banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has asked Pakistani media groups to refrain from praising Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar.

In a video message, Taliban spokesperson Shahidullah Shahid, flanked by two AK-47 wielding masked men, talks about Sachin's farewell to international cricket.

"There is this Indian cricket player Sachin Tendulkar. It was unfortunate to see Pakistani media go to great extent to pay tribute to him," Shahid said in the video message.

"On the other hand, it was sad to know same Pakistani media badly criticized captain Misbah-ul-Haq. No matter how good Tendulkar is, don't praise him because he is Indian. No matter how bad Misbah-ul-Haq plays, he should be praised because he is a Pakistani," the video shows the Taliban spokesperson as saying.

The Pakistan media had extensively covered Tendulkar and his farewell speech was covered live. Pakistan media praised Tendulkar after he retired from the game on November 16.

Newspapers paid rich tributes to Sachin saying "the game of cricket will surely be the poorer without him".

Dawn wrote Tendulakar's retirement marks the end of a truly memorable career that spanned nearly a quarter of a century.

Rated by critics and contemporaries as arguably the greatest postwar batsman to have played the game, Tendulkar continued to rewrite the record books with his brilliant batting skills since making his debut against Pakistan in Karachi way back in 1989, it had said.

The Express Tribune and Daily Times wrote Tendulkar is rightly considered the most complete batsman of his age, possessing every shot in the book and having the ability to both, tear apart bowling attacks and to control his natural aggression to suit the needs of his team.

Insaaf, an Urdu daily, wrote 'Tendulkar like cricketers are not born every day. His is widely loved and respected.'

His fans must be sad as "cricket without him is surely the poorer."

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'Error' by Hyderabad lab changed course of Aarushi probe

HYDERABAD: Five-and-a-half years of investigation, numerous twists, turns and trials and a judgment later, the primary bone of contention in the Aarushi-Hemraj double murder case continues to lie on one crucial finding: the report of the Hyderabad-based CDFD (Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnosis) that was first submitted to CBI in November 2008 and "rectified" in March 2011.

Speaking to TOI from New Delhi, the Talwars' counsel, Rebecca John, termed it the most "explosive" evidence in the case that, when rectified, was "surprisingly accepted by the court". Defence lawyers are expected to strongly highlight this argument in their future appeal in Allahabad high court.

John's claim finds support in senior lawyers and DNA experts who have now come out to question the authentication of CDFD's revised statement. Their allegation: There is no provision for submission of a rectification report on a forensic finding, under law. The CDFD report of 2008 said that the purple pillow cover (labelled as Exhibit-215 in the judgment) discovered from Krishna's (Rajesh Talwar's compounder) room had Hemraj's blood on it. This suggested Krishna's possible involvement in the crime and turned a needle of suspicion towards him. Cut to March 2011 and in a sudden turn of events, CDFD, on being asked by CBI's AGL Kaul, if Krishna's name had appeared as a "typographical error" in the document, seconded it. The pillow cover, it said, was in fact from Hemraj's room.

"To label this error as typographical is not enough, considering it changed the course of the investigation," said Dil Jit Singh Ahluwalia, Supreme Court advocate. He further added , "Any major rectification of the opinion, as done in this case, under the rubric of typographical error, could have been used as a platform by the defence to impeach the credibility of the expert, if it is based on the same parameters as were furnished to him earlier. Embellishments by witnesses are viewed with suspicion." While a numeric figure here and there can be accepted as a typographical mistake and subsequently changed, this particular error (that reportedly occurred more than 10 times in the CDFD report ), Singh said, is of a far more serious nature.

CDFD director Gowrishankar J dismissed the charge and maintained that it was incorrect to accuse the governmentrun organization of "mala fide intentions" . "We were only responding to the request of an investigating agency that submitted our report to the court. If the judiciary thought there was something amiss, it could have dismissed the report (the corrected version) or simply thrown it away," he said.

Nevertheless experts argue the matter needs further scrutiny . "Neither Section 45 of the Indian Evidence Act nor Section 293 of CrPC makes any provision to rectify an original report . How was it then allowed in this case?" questioned prominent DNA expert G V Rao.

According to the defence lawyer when the representative of the CDFD was brought in for cross-examination in 2011, he was categorically asked if the lab had re-examined the exhibits to conclude there was a typographical error.
"Not only did he respond in the negative to this, he also had no answers to offer when asked just how CDFD had come to discover the mistake," John stressed, indicating that the forensic team blindly toed the CBI line of investigation.

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Ram Leela and a new Pakistani love affair with India

LAHORE: Popular conversation in Lahore's affluent society these days revolves around whether they have seen Bollywood's latest release, 'Ram Leela', which is running to packed audiences in many cinema halls. This is not the only movie being lapped up by the denizens of Lahore. Though the reviews in the local papers have dubbed the movie as being mediocre, 'Gori Tere Pyar Mein' is also drawing audiences. On a Sunday evening show at a multiplex in the city's posh Gulberg area, the audience breaks into thralls as the hero of the movie, the dhoti clad Imran Khan, runs away from the marriage mandap.

This is not all. Pakistani newspapers carry huge ads of television serials like 'Kahta Hai Dil Jeele Zara' and 'Afsar Bitiya' that you thought were accessible only in India. But in Lahore you can switch on the TV and see the machinations in the house of Big Boss and more.

Pakistan is having a new love affair with India and wants to be recognized for this. "We feel close to India and we perceive that there is little to differentiate us. We have to be close friends and have intense cultural interactions," says Ataul Haq Qasmi, a well-known Urdu columnist and chairman of the Lahore Arts Council. Nasrullah Khan, a well-known ENT surgeon concurs: "There is no other way for us."

It is not only such moderate Pakistanis who are airing such views. At a meeting to discuss the role of the media in promoting Aman ki Asha, a participating TV anchor gets emotional: "I was a brilliant student but took the same training like the Taliban and indulged in the same activities as the Taliban. But then I realized that the rich and the famous are sending their students to English schools and enjoying life. What's the point of wielding the gun?" he asks. Another TV journalist delivers a sermon to a huge audience collected at the same meeting: "These leaders misled us and talked about a one thousand year war with India and led us on by saying that one day the Pakistani flag will fly at Delhi's Red Fort. All this is trash. Get ready for peace because there is no other way but amity."

It is this new context of increased love for India that makes Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif cry out for dismantling the requirement of visa for movement between the two countries. "You must tell your government that we want peace and want to move forward," he told this correspondent.

"Let me assure you there is a consensus across the board in Pakistan that peace talks must be renewed and good relations must be built with India," says well-known journalist and for a brief while the chief minister of Punjab, Najam Sethi. He is almost right but not absolutely. A day after Nawaz Sharif called for dismantling visa requirements between India and Pakistani, the chief of the Jamaat-i-Islami lashed out at him for now trying to 'sell' the Indian agenda. But local analysts say that his opposition is not serious. They point out that new love for India has much to do with the growing Pakistani disenchantment with the US. "They are using us for fighting their battles and giving us dollars which makes our elites dependent on them. We have to shake off this American dependence," says Feroz, a taxi driver. What has incensed Pakistanis most are the US drone attacks on Pakistan. Though aimed at flushing out the Taliban targets in 'settled' areas in cities of the frontier Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa province has led to large-scale demonstrations in major cities of Pakistan. "They cannot take our sovereignty for granted. India and Pakistan must work together to form a bulwark against outsiders meddling in our region," Feroz adds.

Stories about Narendra Modi are appearing in the Pakistani press and many want to know about the future of the relations between the two countries if he becomes prime minister. Leading journalists like Nazir Naji, group editor of Roznama Dunya, have detailed information about the political scene in India like the strength or otherwise of BJP in a state like Andhra Pradesh.

The general Pakistani feeling is that in this new love affair, the Indians are not reciprocating with the same zest. "Our channels are not being shown in India nor are our movies. We know your Deepika, Kareena and Priyanka, but do you know our heroines?" asks Rukhsana Noor of Hush Films. Journalist Naji says that the perception in Pakistan is that India is one of the largest acquirers of defence equipment in the global market and this amassment is for use against Pakistan. "This makes us apprehensive," he points out and refuses to buy the argument that India shares a huge border with expansionist China also. Other analysts point out that being a scion of huge industrial group, Prime Minister Sharif's Aman ki Asha has much to do with opening up of the Indian market to Pakistani companies.

Incidentally, Pakistan is probably one of the few countries that you can across over by foot from India. But it is the only country where Indian cellphone operators cannot provide international roaming facilities. At the border, before the cellphone went dead, when this correspondent called up his host on the other side of zero line, a Border Security Force official said: "With this call your phone is now on watch."

Pakistani civil society has this new obsession with India, but on the fifth anniversary of the Mumbai blasts can this affair of the heart progress much before the civilian governments play a dominating role in Pakistan? As is known, the perpetrators of the Mumbai carnage are still roaming free in Pakistan and there is no indication that they will ever be punished.

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Shraddha’s wardrobe malfunction

Call it a publicity stunt or sheer lapse of memory, but actress Shraddha Sharma, Raja Chaudhary's ex and former Bigg Boss participant, forgot to wear her bare essentials at a recent event. She went commando while addressing the media and the pictures are now doing the rounds online.

We wonder if Shraddha did it to revive her failing career. Despite repeated attempts, we couldn't reach Shraddha for comment.

A similar incident had happened three years ago with Bollywood item-girl Yana, who created a stir after she forgot to wear her underwear at an event and that was captured by the paparazzi.

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Ind vs WI: Dashing Dhawan powers India to series win over West Indies

KANPUR: India clinched the ODI series against West Indies 2-1 with a comfortable five-wicket victory in the third and final match, riding on Shikhar Dhawan's sparkling century.

Scorecard | Match in Pics

The Indians first restricted West Indies to 263 for five and then overhauled the target with 23 balls to spare to lift yet another ODI trophy at home.

Dhawan stole the limelight with an attacking 119 that came off 95 balls, his fifth ODI hundred, while Yuvraj Singh notched up a 74-ball 55 to seal the issue for the home side at the Green Park Stadium which was hosting an international game after a gap of nearly four years.

It was a welcome return to form for Yuvraj, who cautiously put together 129 runs for the third wicket with Dhawan to set the platform for the easy win.

Earlier, the trio of Kieran Powell, Marlon Samuels and Darren Bravo struck half-centuries to propel West Indies to a challenging total.

Powell (70) carried on his good form from the last match and registered his second fifty of the series. Together with Samuels (71), he shared a 117-run second-wicket partnership to lay the foundation for West Indies after the visitors were put into bat by India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Towards the end, Darren Bravo (51 not out) and Darren Sammy (37 not out) played aggressively to take West Indies past the 260-run mark.

Comfortably placed at 137 for one at one stage, West Indies looked set for a big score but India staged a comeback with quick wickets to restrict West Indies to the manageable score.

For the hosts, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was the pick of the bowlers with figures of two for 45 from his quota of 10 overs.

India's chase did not start on a very good note even though Dhawan made his intentions clear in just the second over of the innings when he clobbered Jason Holder thrice to the fence.

The hosts lost Rohit Sharma in the fifth over with just 20 runs on the board. Rohit gave a straight-forward catch to Dwayne Bravo at the first slip while trying to push at an away going delivery from Ravi Rampaul.

Virat Kohli looked in great touch during his brief 19-run stay but he too was undone by Rampaul's probing length outside the off stump.

While trying to leave a delivery at the last moment, the ball just brushed Kohli's bat on to the safe hands of wicket-keeper Johnson Charles.

But from there on it was a Dhawan-Yuvraj show as the duo went about its business in style and shared the run-a-ball century partnership.

Dhawan was the aggressive one among the two. The hallmark of Dhawan's innings was his elegant drives through the extra cover region and short-arm pulls.

Dhawan sent the West Indies bowlers' on a leather hunt and found the fence at will. He completely dominated the Caribbean attack and hit as many as 20 boundaries during his fiery knock.

By the time Yuvraj and Dhawan got out, they had ensured the series-clinching victory for India.

Yuvraj was caught by Dwayne Bravo at the slip off Sunil Narine in the 31st over but not before the left-hander reached his fifty which was laced with seven fours.

Dhawan finally departed in the 38th over, caught by Dwayne Bravo of his own bowling as the bat turned in his hand.

Dhoni (23 not out) and Ravindra Jadeja (2 not out) completed the formalities for India with consummate ease.

Dhoni's decision to bowl first after winning the toss did not yield the desired result as his bowlers could pick up just one wicket before Powell and Samuels joined hands to take West Indies forward.

Opener Johnson Charles (11) failed yet again when Bhuvneshwar Kumar went through his defence in the fifth over with a perfect inswinger leaving West Indies at 20 for one.

But thereafter Powell and Samuels got together and played sensibly, mixing caution with aggression to stitch a century stand for the second wicket and lay the foundation for a big total.

Both Powell and Samuels were cautious in their approach as they brought up the West Indies fifty in 11.3 overs.

Both the batsmen were content to see off the new ball in the morning. The duo kept rotating the strike with ones and twos and punished loose deliveries that came their way.

But once they managed to set in their eyes, both Powell and Samuels played freely and in the process brought up their 50-run stand in 53 balls.

Samuels finally opened up and welcomed off-spinner R Ashwin with a huge six over long-on as West Indies reached the 100-run mark in 21.2 overs.

Powell was the aggressor as he reached his half-century in 66 balls with the help of six boundaries. Samuels, on the other hand, played second fiddle and took 73 balls to score his fifty.

But just when it seemed the duo might run away with the initiative, both Powell, who scored 59 in the last match, and Samuels once again threw their wickets away.

Powell and Samuels, who was dropped on 60 by Virat Kohli at slip off Ravindra Jadeja, failed to convert their fifties into three-figure scores as Ashwin brought India back into the match by dismissing both the set batsmen in a span of 37 balls.

Ashwin broke the dangerous-looking 177-run partnership when Powell gave a simple catch to Shikhar Dhawan at short fine-leg trying to sweep the off-spinner.

He scored 70 runs off 81 deliveries and struck nine boundaries in the process.

A few overs later, Ashwin was once again in the thick of things when he went through Samuels' defence by luring the batsman with a tossed up delivery.

Samuels, who made 71 off 93 balls, laced his innings with seven boundaries and one six. Darren Bravo, on the other hand, started in an attacking fashion and hit Ashwin for a four and six in consecutive balls.

West Indies decision to take the batting powerplay in the 35th over backfired as the visitors lost two key wickets scoring just 26 runs.

New man in Lendl Simmons (13) too perished early in search of quick runs. He hit Jadeja for two boundaries in the 39th over before the left-arm spinner took his revenge when the batsman failed to negotiate extra bounce and edged one to Dhoni while going for a cut.

Skipper Dwayne Bravo (4) did not help his reputation either and holed out to Ashwin while going for his favourite extravagant lofted shot over extra cover off Mohammed Shami as West Indies slumped to 196 for five from a comfortable position.

But Darren Bravo and Sammy ensured a decent total for their bowlers to defend, stitching unbeaten 69 runs off 49 balls for the sixth wicket. Both Darren Bravo and Sammy used their long handles to great effect.

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Aarushi verdict: Court lists circumstances that point to Talwars' guilt

From oral and documentary evidence given by prosecution, court said it reached the "irresistible and impeccable" conclusion that only the accused were responsible for committing the murders. It enlisted circumstances that point towards the hypothesis of guilt of accused.

On night of May 15/16, 2008, both accused last seen with both deceased in Flat No. L-32, Jalvayu Vihar, around 9.30pm by Umesh Sharma, driver of Dr Rajesh Talwar.

On morning of May 16, around 6am, Aarushi found murdered in her bedroom which was adjacent to bedroom of accused and there was only one partition wall between the two bedrooms.

Body of Hemraj found lying in pool of blood on terrace of flat on May 17 and door of terrace found locked from inside.

Close proximity between the time when both accused and deceased persons last seen together alive and when deceased murdered in the intervening night of May 15/16, 2008. The gap so small that possibility of any other person(s) other than the accused being behind crime impossible.

Door of Aarushi's bedroom fitted with automatic click-shut lock. Mahesh Kumar Mishra, then SP (City), Noida, said Dr Talwar told him on morning of May 16 that he had gone to sleep with the key at 11.30pm the previous night, after locking the door of Aarushi's bedroom from outside. Accused admitted door could be opened either with key from outside or without key from inside. How was door opened? No explanation by accused.

Internet active on night of murders, suggesting at least one accused awake.

Nothing to show that outsider(s) came to house that night after 9.30.pm.

No disruption of power supply that night.

No one seen loitering near the flat in suspicious circumstances that night.

No evidence of forcible entry by any outsider into the flat that night.

No evidence of any larcenous act in the flat On May 16 morning when maid (Bharti Mandal) came to flat for cleaning. Ruse by Nupur Talwar that door might have been locked from outside by Hemraj, though it was not locked or latched from outside.

Bharti nowhere claimed that when she came inside, both accused were weeping.

From Bharti's testimony, it's clear that when she reached the flat and spoke to Nupur, she didn't complain about the murder of her daughter and rather told her deliberately that Hemraj might have gone to fetch milk from Mother Dairy booth after locking the wooden door from outside.

Clothes of both accused not found soaked with blood.

Highly unnatural that parents of deceased Aarushi didn't cling to her body or hug it.

No outsider would have dared to take Hemraj to terrace in severely injured condition and thereafter search for a lock to be put on the door of terrace.

Not possible that outsider(s) after committing the murders will muster courage to take Scotch whisky knowing that the parents were in a nearby room.Top priority would be to run away.

No outsider will bother to take body of Hemraj to terrace. One person cannot take the body to terrace anyway.

Door of terrace was never locked earlier but found locked on May 16 morning. The accused didn't give key of lock to police despite being asked for it.

Accused said that about 8-10 days before murders, some painting work had started in complex and labourers used to take water from the tank on terrace. Hence, Hemraj started locking it and keeping the key with himself. If it was so, it won't be easy for an outsider to find key.

If an outsider(s) had indeed committed the crime and gone out of the flat, the outermost mesh door or middle mesh door must have been found latched from outside.

Motive of commission of crime established.

Not possible for an outsider to dress up crime scene after commission of crime.

Golf club no 5 thrown into the loft after commission of crime and the same produced after many months by Dr Talwar.

Pattern of head and neck injuries of both accused almost similar in nature and can be caused by golf club and scalpel, respectively

Dr Talwar was a member of Golf Club, Noida, and golf clubs were produced by him before CBI. Scalpel is used by dentists and both accused are dentists.

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Aarushi-Hemraj murder case: 26 CBI points that sealed the fate of Talwars

NEW DELHI: It's the circumstantial evidence provided by CBI that sealed the fate of Dr Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar in the Aarushi-Hemraj murder case. In its order, the court discussed 26 points that were brought by the prosecution during the trial to buttress its case. The court noted that in a case "where there is a fight between ocular evidence and documentary evidence", the documentary evidence prevails.

During the trial, the CBI had alleged there were only four persons in house - two were found dead (Aarushi and Hemraj) while other two (Talwar couple) committed the crime. To back its claim, CBI produced maid Bharti who was the first to visit the flat.

The CBI had also told the court that the crime scene had been dressed up by the dentist couple while doctors claimed that the private part of Aarushi was cleaned. The defence's counter was that a poly-light test conducted in the flat did not bear out this charge of cleaning up of evidence. The post-mortem report, on the other hand, did not say that Aarushi's private part had been cleaned.

The court, however, accepted the CBI's argument and said that from the evidence it was "adduced" that the accused persons destroyed the evidence, cleaned the house, etc. It mentioned that there was tacit approval of the accused persons in cleaning of the apartment where the murders took place.

On Nupur Talwar's involvement in the murder, the judge noted that the manner in which the murders were committed, it could not have been a "handiwork" of only one person. The court also observed that golf stick No 5, from the set which was seized by CBI, was thrown into the loft by the accused.

Relying on various Supreme Court rulings, including that of Priyadarshini Mattoo rape-cum-murder case, the court said that it was obligatory on part of the accused to furnish some explanation about incriminating circumstances associated with him.

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Aarushi case: Court awards life sentence to Talwars

GHAZIABAD: A special CBI court on Tuesday sentenced the dentist couple, Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar, to life imprisonment in the Aarushi-Hemraj double murder case.

Special CBI judge Sham Lal opted to award the minimum punishment prescribed for the murders saying that the crime did not fall under the 'rarest of rare' category.

The Talwars were on Monday convicted for the murder of their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj, destruction of evidence and common intention.

During the arguments on the quantum of sentence, CBI sought death penalty for the couple on the grounds that the offence was grave in nature and the victims had been brutally injured multiple times. The defence counsel on the other hand sought leniency arguing that it was an act of sudden and grave provocation.

The court imposed a total fine of Rs 32000 on the couple, out of which Rs 17000 is to be paid by Rajesh Talwar and Rs 15000 by Nupur Talwar.

Defence counsel Tanvir Mir countered CBI's argument and said the evidence against his clients were weak and sought leniency for Talwars, Singh said.

On Monday, five-and-a-half years after 14-year-old Aarushi and her family's domestic help, Hemraj, were found dead in their Noida apartment, a special CBI court in Ghaziabad held Aarushi's parents, Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, guilty of the double murder that had gripped the nation as one of the most puzzling crimes ever.

Special CBI judge Shyam Lal convicted the couple of murder (section 302), destruction of evidence (201) and common intention to commit the crime (34).

In a case widely speculated as one of honour killing, 49-year-old Rajesh was also convicted separately for "furnishing false information to the police regarding the murder of his daughter by Hemraj" (section 203).

"Now is the time to say omega in this case ... it is proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused are the perpetrators of the crime," the court said in its judgment, which relied heavily on circumstantial evidence provided by the CBI.

The verdict comes after a 15-month-long trial, which saw many twists and turns.

Aarushi and Hemraj were murdered on the intervening night of May 15 and 16, 2008, days before the birthday of the class IX student.

Rajesh and Nupur, 48, were said to be angry over their daughter's liaison with 45-year-old Hemraj, who hailed from Nepal, which triggered the crime.

In his 204-page order, the judge leaned heavily on holy books and edicts to disapprove of the parents' actions. "They have extirpated their own daughter who had hardly seen 14 summers of her life and the servant... in the breach of the commandment 'thou shall not kill' and injunction of Holy Quran 'take not life which God has made sacred'," he observed

"The parents are the best protectors of their own children. That is the order of human nature but they have been freaks in the history of mankind where the father and mother became the killer of their own progeny," the judge said.

The court noted that the parents did not just stop at killing their daughter but also participated in destroying evidence. "They are also found guilty of secreting and obliterating the evidence of the commission of the murders to screen themselves from punishment," the court said.

"Dharmo rakshati rakshitaha (If we protect dharma, dharma will protect us). If we protect the law, the law will protect us. Both the accused have flouted the penal law of the land and therefore are liable to be convicted for murder, destruction of evidence and having common intention to commit the crime," the judge added.

As soon as the judge pronounced the verdict, the Talwars broke down, sources said. They were taken into custody and sent to Dasna jail by the court.

Interestingly, within minutes of the verdict being pronounced, an official statement in the name of dentist couple was circulated expressing their "disappointment" over the verdict.

Reacting to the conviction, defence lawyer Satyaketu Singh said the judgment was wrong in law and would be appealed against in the high court.

The latest trial in the case got over on November 12 after almost 19 months during which CBI used testimony of close to 90 witnesses in order to prove that it was only the parents who could have committed the murders and there was no possibility of an outsider entering the house.

During cross-examination and their final arguments, the counsel for Talwars - Satyaketu Singh and Tanveer Ahmed Mir - slammed every aspect of CBI's investigations. They alleged that its important witnesses like Dr Sunil Dohre, Naresh Raj and M S Dahiya had improved their statements while many witnesses like maid Bharti and CDFD (Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics) experts had been tutored by the agency. Talwars' lawyers alleged that CBI had tampered with, fabricated and changed the evidence to frame the parents and that its case against them was full of "alternate hypothesis" and had no merit.

The case had been first investigated by the Noida police and Dr Rajesh Talwar had been arrested. Then IG Gurdarshan Singh had addressed a press conference where he announced the honour killing theory leading to severe criticism and his eventual transfer. The police were blamed for not properly pre-serving the crime scene and going easy on the probe. The then chief minister, Mayawati, transferred the probe to CBI.

The first twist came when CBI, led by then joint director, Arun Kumar, arrested three servants - Krishna Krishna, Rajkumar and Vijay Mandal - and called a press conference to claim that they were the killers and that there was "scientific evidence" against them. Dr Talwar was given a clean chit. The agency had at that time conducted several tests, including lie-detection, psychoanalysis and narco analysis, on the servants. However, Kumar's team later did not file a chargesheet, saying "they did not have enough evidence against the servants" and they were released on bail.

In September 2009, after reports of Aarushi's vaginal swabs being changed and pathology reports going missing emerged, the then CBI director, Ashwini Kumar, changed the investigation team. The new team was headed by joint director Javed Ahmad (in Lucknow) and SSP Neelabh Kishore. Additional SP AGL Kaul, investigating officer of the case, re-investigated the matter by re-examining the scene of crime, going through the case dairies, checking hospital records and conducting narco tests on Talwars in February 2010. The trail led them back to Dr Talwar.

Though Kaul wanted to file a chargesheet against the parents, his seniors suggested a closure report. This report was filed on December 29, 2010, with evidence against Dr Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar, along with statements of 84 witnesses, documents and forensic reports.

In a dramatic turn, however, the special CBI judge rejected the closure report and summoned both parents as accused for murder and destruction of evidence on the basis of statements and circumstantial evidence cited by CBI. After then for over a year, the Talwars filed many applications in lower courts, Allahabad high court and Supreme Court, seeking relief against the charges and rebutting the charges. However, Supreme Court asked them to join the trial as soon as possible.

The CBI, meanwhile, filed many applications in court seeking to send Nupur Talwar to judicial custody since she had been summoned as an accused. She was sent to Dasna Jail on April 30, 2012, until Supreme Court gave her bail on September 17 that year.

During the past 19 months of trial, the dentist couple has maintained that they have not killed their daughter and servant and that the CBI's conclusions were based on "presumptions, conjectures and surmises" and "not substantiated or supported by true and actual facts". The Talwars have claimed that the CBI's charges against them show "deliberate lapses" in investigations besides "noticeable non-mentioning of material pieces of evidence". They have called the probe as "tainted and tailored".

TIMELINE:

May 16, 2008: Aarushi Talwar, the daughter of dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, found dead with her throat slit in the bedroom of her Noida home. Nepalese domestic help Hemraj suspected of murder.

May 17: Body of Hemraj found on the terrace of the Talwar house.

May 18: Police say murders were conducted with surgical precision, insider job suspected.

May 23: Aarushi's father Rajesh Talwar arrested for double murder.

May 31: Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) takes over case.

June 13: Krishna, Rajesh Talwar's compounder, arrested by the CBI. Ten days later, Raj Kumar, the servant of a doctor friend of the Talwars, and Vijay Mandal, the domestic help of Talwars' neighbour, were also nabbed.

July 12: Rajesh given bail by a Ghaziabad court after CBI fails to present evidence against him.

Jan 5, 2010: CBI moves court to conduct narco test on Talwar couple.

Dec 29: The CBI files closure report, stating Rajesh is the main suspect, but there is not enough evidence against him.

Jan 25, 2011: Rajesh Talwar attacked in Ghaziabad court premises.

Feb 9: A special Ghaziabad court rejects CBI's closure report and orders that Rajesh and Nupur Talwar be tried for Aarushi's murder. The couple also face allegations of destruction of evidence. A CBI special court in Ghaziabad issues bailable warrants against the couple for not being present in court.

March 14, 2012: CBI argues in court for cancellation of Rajesh Talwar's bail.

April 30: Nupur Talwar arrested.

May 3: Sessions court rejects Nupur Talwar's bail plea.

May 25: Rajesh and Nupur Talwar charged by Ghaziabad court with murder, destruction of evidence and conspiracy.

September 25: Nupur Talwar released on bail on the Supreme Court's order.

April 2013: CBI officer tells court that Aarushi and Hemraj were killed by the Talwars. CBI also tells court that Aarushi and Hemraj were found in an objectionable, compromising position.

May 3: Defence counsel pleads before a special court to summon 14 people, including former CBI joint director Arun Kumar as witness. CBI opposes the plea.

May 6: Trial court dismisses Talwar's petition for summoning 14 witnesses. It orders recording of statements of Rajesh and Nupur Talwar.

October 18: CBI closes arguments, says Talwars "misled" investigators.

November 12: Court reserves verdict in the case for November 25.

November 25: Court delivers verdict in double-murder case.

November 26: Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were sentenced to life term by a CBI court.

22.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

Is Aishwarya fed up of Jaya Bachchan’s constant interference?

Bollywood diva Aishwarya Rai has been living as a dutiful daughter-in-law since she got married to Abhishek Bachchan in 2007.

She is known to share a strong bond with both her father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan and his wife Jaya Bachchan. However, if rumours are to be believed then Aishwarya is keen to move out of the family home and live separately with her husband and daughter.

A report in Indian Express says that things are not smooth between Aishwarya and Jaya. The report further adds that Jaya allegedly keeps a tab on all activities of her bahu and keeps on interfering in her professional as well as personal matters. It is said that Aishwarya is expected to update Jaya about all her professional activities, something that Aishwarya does not appreciate.

There are also rumours that both of them are very uncomfortable in each other's company at public events. It was also reported a few days back that Jaya scolded a reporter who called Aishwarya by her name, creating quite a scene at a party.

Well we sure hope that they resolve their differences and can put these rumours about a rift between the saas-bahu to rest.

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Zaheer Khan returns for South Africa tour; Gautam Gambhir ignored

VADODARA: Veteran pacer Zaheer Khan made a comeback to India's Test side after close to a year but opener Gautam Gambhir was ignored as the selectors on Monday announced the squads for the Test and ODI tour of South Africa starting December 5.

The 35-year-old Zaheer, who had been battling fitness issues and was even dropped from the BCCI's list of contracted players, was chosen in the 17-member Test squad after taking 13 wickets in three Ranji Trophy matches at an average of 19.84 this season.

Gambhir, however, had no such luck as the opener, who has been downgraded to group B in the list of contracted players, failed to find a place despite a healthy average of 74 plus in the ongoing Ranji season.

"His name was discussed, in fact, we discussed a lot of things. Even skipper MS Dhoni was consulted and all the players were selected unanimously," BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel said after a meeting of the selection committee.

The month-long tour featuring three ODIs followed by two Tests is India's first international assignment after the retirement of iconic batsman Sachin Tendulkar.

Baroda batsman Ambati Rayudu, a seasoned domestic player, has been named in both the Test and ODI squads, while veterans like Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh continued to remain on the sidelines.

The 28-year-old Rayudu, who is currently a part of the team in the ongoing ODI series against the West Indies, has played four one-dayers for India.

There were no major surprises in both the squads with the selectors opting to go in for a pace-heavy bowling attack considering the conditions in South Africa.

Pacer Ishant Sharma, who has been struggling for form, was retained in both the squads. The gangling speedster took a match-haul of nine wickets in Delhi's win over Haryana in a Ranji Trophy match on Sunday.

Another fast bowler Umesh Yadav, who had been dropped due to poor form in the recent series against Australia and West Indies, has been recalled in both the Test and ODI squads largely because of his ability to bowl fast.

An off-colour Yuvraj Singh has managed o hold on to his ODI spot despite having an indifferent show against Australia and the ongoing series against West Indies.

Rookie Haryana pacer Mohit Sharma has also been included in the 16-member ODI squad. Wriddhiman Saha, a regular in the overseas Test tours, was retained as a reserve wicketkeeper, pipping Tamil Nadu's Dinesh Karthik and Gujarat's Parthiv Patel.

The Test squad has seven specialist batsmen, two wicketkeepers, five pacers, two spinners and one all-rounder in Ravindra Jadeja.

While Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay are certain to open the innings, Virat Kohli is expected to take the number four slot vacated by Tendulkar.

Cheteshwar Pujara will bat number three, while Rohit Sharma will take the number five slot, followed by Ajinkya Rahane or Ravindra Jadeja depending on the team combination.

Zaheer is expected to feature in the playing XI while the quartet of Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav will be vying for the two remaining slots.

R Ashwin is expected to mantle the spin duty and bat at number eight, while Pragyan Ojha may get a chance depending on the pitch conditions.

The three ODIs are scheduled to be held in Johannesburg, Durban and Centurion on December 5, 8, 11 respectively.

This will be followed by a two-day practice match against South African Invitational XI at the Willowmoore Park in Benoni.

The first Test match starts on December 18 at the New Wanderers while the 'Boxing Day' Test from December 26 will be played at the Kingsmead in Durban.

Test squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Wriddhiman Saha, Zaheer Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Pragyan Ojha

ODI Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Amit Mishra.

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Talwar couple found guilty of killing daughter Aarushi and servant Hemraj

NEW DELHI: A special CBI court on Monday convicted dentist Rajesh Tawlar and his wife Nupur Talwar for killing their daughter Aarushi and servant Hemraj.

Special CBI judge Shyam Lal held the couple guilty of murder and destruction of evidence under section 302 and 201 of Indian Penal code (IPC) respectively. Rajesh Talwar was also separately held guilty, under section 203, of registering a false FIR. Soon after the judgment, Talwars issued a statement saying they were deeply disappointed and hurt by the verdict.

The two were taken into custody immediately after the verdict.The court will hear the arguments on the quantum of sentence on Tuesday.

The verdict comes almost five-and-a-half years after the sensational double murder was committed.

The CBI had accused the parents — Rajesh and Nupur Talwar — of being the killers, going by circumstantial evidence, testimony of witnesses and forensic reports.

The Talwars had all along claimed that "they have been framed" on the basis of conjectures and tutored witnesses.

When the Noida police first came to know on May 16, 2008 that the 14-year-old daughter of prominent dentist Dr Rajesh Talwar had been murdered at their residence in Jalvayu Vihar allegedly by their servant, Hemraj Banjade, it appeared as a regular murder case.

But things changed dramatically the very next day when Hemraj's body was found on the terrace of the house. The Noida police and two CBI teams investigated the case, which saw many twists and turns.

From Dr Rajesh and Nupur Talwar going to jail and allegations of tampering of evidence to witnesses turning hostile, police officers getting shifted, closure report being filed, parents coming out on bail and then a trial - the case has kept both the media and people transfixed.

The latest trial got over on November 12 after almost 19 months during which CBI used testimony of close to 90 witnesses in order to prove that it was only the parents who could have committed the murders and there was no possibility of an outsider entering the house.

The motive: Dr Talwar found his daughter in an objectionable state with Hemraj after which he killed them with a golf club and slit their throats using a surgical scalpel or knife. CBI's investigating officer A G L Kaul stated that he wanted to make Dr Rajesh Talwar's brother, Dinesh Talwar, a suspect as well.

During cross-examination and their final arguments, the counsel for Talwars - Satyaketu Singh and Tanveer Ahmed Mir - slammed every aspect of CBI's investigations. They alleged that its important witnesses like Dr Sunil Dohre, Naresh Raj and M S Dahiya had improved their statements while many witnesses like maid Bharti and CDFD (Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics) experts had been tutored by the agency. Talwars' lawyers alleged that CBI had tampered with, fabricated and changed the evidence to frame the parents and that its case against them was full of "alternate hypothesis" and had no merit.

The case had been first investigated by the Noida police and Dr Rajesh Talwar had been arrested. Then IG Gurdarshan Singh had addressed a press conference where he announced the honour killing theory leading to severe criticism and his eventual transfer. The police were blamed for not properly pre-serving the crime scene and going easy on the probe. The then chief minister, Mayawati, transferred the probe to CBI.

The first twist came when CBI, led by then joint director, Arun Kumar, arrested three servants - Krishna Krishna, Rajkumar and Vijay Mandal - and called a press conference to claim that they were the killers and that there was "scientific evidence" against them. Dr Talwar was given a clean chit. The agency had at that time conducted several tests, including lie-detection, psychoanalysis and narco analysis, on the servants. However, Kumar's team later did not file a chargesheet, saying "they did not have enough evidence against the servants" and they were released on bail.

In September 2009, after reports of Aarushi's vaginal swabs being changed and pathology reports going missing emerged, the then CBI director, Ashwini Kumar, changed the investigation team. The new team was headed by joint director Javed Ahmad (in Lucknow) and SSP Neelabh Kishore. Additional SP AGL Kaul, investigating officer of the case, re-investigated the matter by re-examining the scene of crime, going through the case dairies, checking hospital records and conducting narco tests on Talwars in February 2010. The trail led them back to Dr Talwar.

Though Kaul wanted to file a chargesheet against the parents, his seniors suggested a closure report. This report was filed on December 29, 2010, with evidence against Dr Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar, along with statements of 84 witnesses, documents and forensic reports.

In a dramatic turn, however, the special CBI judge rejected the closure re-port and summoned both parents as accused for murder and destruction of evidence on the basis of statements and circumstantial evidence cited by CBI. After then for over a year, the Talwars filed many applications in lower courts, Allahabad high court and Supreme Court, seeking relief against the charges and rebutting the charges. However, Supreme Court asked them to join the trial as soon as possible.

The CBI, meanwhile, filed many applications in court seeking to send Nupur Talwar to judicial custody since she had been summoned as an accused. She was sent to Dasna Jail on April 30, 2012, until Supreme Court gave her bail on September 17 that year.

During the past 19 months of trial, the dentist couple has maintained that they have not killed their daughter and servant and that the CBI's conclusions were based on "presumptions, conjectures and surmises" and "not substantiated or supported by true and actual facts". The Talwars have claimed that the CBI's charges against them show "deliberate lapses" in investigations besides "noticeable non-mentioning of material pieces of evidence". They have called the probe as "tainted and tailored".

TIMELINE:

May 16, 2008: Aarushi Talwar, the daughter of dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, found dead with her throat slit in the bedroom of her Noida home. Nepalese domestic help Hemraj suspected of murder.

May 17: Body of Hemraj found on the terrace of the Talwar house.

May 18: Police say murders were conducted with surgical precision, insider job suspected.

May 23: Aarushi's father Rajesh Talwar arrested for double murder.

May 31: Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) takes over case.

June 13: Krishna, Rajesh Talwar's compounder, arrested by the CBI. Ten days later, Raj Kumar, the servant of a doctor friend of the Talwars, and Vijay Mandal, the domestic help of Talwars' neighbour, were also nabbed.

July 12: Rajesh given bail by a Ghaziabad court after CBI fails to present evidence against him.

Jan 5, 2010: CBI moves court to conduct narco test on Talwar couple.

Dec 29: The CBI files closure report, stating Rajesh is the main suspect, but there is not enough evidence against him.

Jan 25, 2011: Rajesh Talwar attacked in Ghaziabad court premises.

Feb 9: A special Ghaziabad court rejects CBI's closure report and orders that Rajesh and Nupur Talwar be tried for Aarushi's murder. The couple also face allegations of destruction of evidence. A CBI special court in Ghaziabad issues bailable warrants against the couple for not being present in court.

March 14, 2012: CBI argues in court for cancellation of Rajesh Talwar's bail.

April 30: Nupur Talwar arrested.

May 3: Sessions court rejects Nupur Talwar's bail plea.

May 25: Rajesh and Nupur Talwar charged by Ghaziabad court with murder, destruction of evidence and conspiracy.

September 25: Nupur Talwar released on bail on the Supreme Court's order.

April 2013: CBI officer tells court that Aarushi and Hemraj were killed by the Talwars. CBI also tells court that Aarushi and Hemraj were found in an objectionable, compromising position.

May 3: Defence counsel pleads before a special court to summon 14 people, including former CBI joint director Arun Kumar as witness. CBI opposes the plea.

May 6: Trial court dismisses Talwar's petition for summoning 14 witnesses. It orders recording of statements of Rajesh and Nupur Talwar.

October 18: CBI closes arguments, says Talwars "misled" investigators.

November 12: Court reserves verdict in the case for November 25.

November 25: Court delivers verdict in double-murder case.

22.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

Google Nexus 5 review: High-end Android, mainstream price

Nexus phones used to serve a different purpose. They were supposed to be the phones for app developers.

But slowly Nexus phones evolved. We saw how the design became mainstream with Nexus S. Then Android itself changed with Ice Cream Sandwich. The result of this evolution is the new Nexus 5. It is arguably the first Nexus phone aimed at mainstream consumers and not only at developers. It is also the first Android phone where Google-services are integrated deep within the operating system.
But can it beat other flagship Android phones? Is Google's Android better than the version of Android put out by companies like Samsung, LG, Sony and HTC?

In short, the answer is yes. Nexus 5 is a fantastic phone. And there is one primary reason for that...
It's fast, fast, fast
Outside the synthetic benchmarks, Nexus 5 is the fastest Android phone you can buy in the market. It has no user interface lag, which can be occasionally seen on even flagship devices like Galaxy S4 and LG G2. Apps feel very responsive. Demanding games play smoothly. Scrolling though lists is smooth. Browsing is fast and lag-free. Call quality is fantastic.

Nexus 5 is as fast as the top iPhone. In fact, it feels faster than iPhone 5S because the slower animations in iOS 7 make the user interface the Apple's phone feel a bit slow.

There are two reasons why Nexus 5 is so fast: Premium hardware and Android KitKat aka Android 4.4, which is the latest version of Google's mobile OS.

Unlike in the past when Nexus devices used one generation old hardware compared to other flagship Android phones, Nexus 5 uses top notch hardware. It is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, has 2GB RAM, a FullHD screen and an 8MP primary camera with optical image stabilization. For a phone that costs almost 30% less than other flagship Android phones, it packs in fantastic components.
In particular, screen is really good. It is incredibly sharp, shows great colours, is very bright and has butter-smooth touchscreen response. This is definitely a better screen than what you can get on iPhone 5S or iPhone 5 and matches the screens in LG G2 or Galaxy S4, which cost much more than Nexus 4.

In terms of design, Nexus 5 matches the polish and finish of more expensive phones. It does not feel overly large despite its big 4.95-inch screen. The rounded corners and slim design make it comfortable to use with single hand.

The build quality of the phone is very good, though in terms of "sexiness" the phone does not match devices like iPhone 5S, HTC One, Xperia Z1 or even Nexus 4, which used the back cover topped with glass. Nexus 5 is an all plastic phone. The quality of plastic is very good, though. The back cover feels soft and rubbery to touch. The black Nexus 5 uses matte plastic. The white model has a back cover in matte finish but the frame around the phone is made of glossy plastic.

Other than the lack of bling (or metal), we found two minor issues regarding design of the phone. Nexus 5 has speaker grills on the left side of USB port on the bottom of the device. The position of grills could have been better. When the phone is held in landscape mode, it is easy to cover the grills with hands. The speaker in Nexus 5 is not very loud and when grills are covered, it is hard to hear the sound coming from it. Buttons too could have been better. Made of ceramic, they feel great. But they have sharp edges, which can be felt if you press them. They also feel a bit loose in their sockets.

KitKat = Google + Android
Other than the speed, KitKat offers several unique features and a slightly tweaked user interface. Broadly, it is the same old Android. You get a home screens and few more screens where you can put widgets or app icons. The usual app drawer is there and so is the notification drawer with toggles for frequently accessed settings.

But icons are bigger and the user interface has a fresh paint of gloss to make it more modern and cleaner-looking. KitKat looks really good. The notification bar is now transparent, just like how it has been on Samsung phones for a while now. Similarly, instead of the solid black colour, the wallpaper now also serves as the background in the app drawer.

A bigger change is how KitKat integrates with Google services.

Phonebook is the primary example of this integration. When you look for a contact on Nexus 5, you see results from your phonebook as well as from the web. For example, if you search pizza, you will not only see the number of your friend who is a manager at Pizza Hut but also the publicly available numbers of local pizza joints.

Another example is Google Now. The left screen adjacent to the home screen on Nexus 5 is reserved for Google Now. Thankfully, the Google Now service is rather nice and useful - it pulls in information like local weather that could be relevant to users -- so it is good for users. Google Voice now doesn't require a user to tap on the speaker icon in the search bar. It responds if a user says "OK Google."
The old SMS app is now gone. In its place, KitKat gives users Hangouts. This is an app that integrates SMS as well as Google Talk in one place. This is similar to iMessage on iPhone but not as good. Thankfully, a user can install a third-party SMS app and use that as the default app instead of Hangouts.

Unlike the earlier versions of Android, KitKat makes it very clear that this is Google's operating system. Chrome is the default browser. Quickoffice is preinstalled.

From the perspective of users, the changes are welcome. They make Nexus 5 a more complete phone.

Two reasons not to buy Nexus 5
Nexus 5 has average battery life and camera performance.

The good news is that Nexus 5 shoots much much better images than what Nexus 4 was capable of. But it doesn't compare well to phones like Galaxy S4, iPhone 5S and Lumia 1020. The images shot with Nexus 5 lack the amount of detail that better cameras can manage. Also, in low light the colours in images do not have adequate contrast.

The biggest problem with Nexus 5 camera is how it struggles to get focus, especially in low light. You can't take it out, point and then shoot to get a nice image. You can get a good image with it but only if you are willing to shoot two or three images and are careful enough to keep an eye on the quality of focus.

The videos are captured at 1080p. The phone shoots clear videos but the contrast and colours are not as punchy as what phones with cameras can manage.

Battery life is another disappointment. When used with a 3G connection, the phone lasts around 10 to 11 hours. This is with fairly heavy use. If you don't browse the web much or do not use the phone to access social media apps, the battery will last more.

Best value for money
At its asking price of Rs 28,999 on the Google Play store - in retail stores the price is Rs 29,999 - Nexus 5 is a very good buy. It is a fast and capable phone with great screen and future-proof hardware, including Wi-Fi AC that is faster than standard Wi-Fi and hardware to track physical activity like walking.

Nexus 5 also a phone that will get future Android updates without any delay. This is a very important factor to consider.

But Nexus 5 doesn't make other Android flagship phones irrelevant. If battery life is important to you, you should look at LG G2. If you want stylus and related features, Galaxy Note 3 holds a lot of value. If you want a fantastic camera, Galaxy S4 is the phone to buy. If design matters to you, Xperia Z1 or HTC One are good picks.

A lot depends on what is more important for you. Do you care about fast performance, lag-free phone, a good-looking user interface and promise of faster Android updates in future? Can you manage with an average camera and around 11 hours of battery life? If yes, get Nexus 5. But if you won't settle for an average camera and want great battery life, other high-end Android phones are better choice for you. Though you will also have to pay more for those devices.

Pros
Great performance
Very good screen
Easy-to-use design
'Pure' Android experience
Good price
Future-proof hardware
Guaranteed fast Android updates for around two years

Cons
Average camera and battery life
Speaker has low volume

Key specs
Display: 4.95-inch IPS touchscreen (1080 x 1920 pixels resolution);
Operating system: Android 4.4 (KitKat)
Processor and RAM: 2.26GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, Adreno 330 graphics chip and 2GB RAM;
Storage: 16 and 32GB internal storage, no microSD card support;
Camera: 8-megapixel camera, 1080p video recording, optical image stabilization, 2MP front-facing camera;
Connectivity: 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS;
Battery: 2,300mAh non-removable battery

Price: Rs 29,999

22.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

Sex CD forced Narendra Modi govt to tail woman, SC told

NEW DELHI: Suspended IAS officer Pradeep Sharma on Saturday put Narendra Modi right at the centre of the raging controversy over Gujarat government's purported illegal surveillance on a woman by telling the Supreme Court that the young architect was subjected to hostile and intense scrutiny because the Gujarat CM was enamoured by her.

In his petition to the SC seeking a CBI probe into the alleged violation of the woman's right to privacy and the Indian Telegraph Act by Modi and his political aide Amit Shah, Sharma has alleged that he was suspended and framed in half a dozen cases between 2010 and 2012 because of Modi's suspicion that he knew about the contents of a Video Compact Disc (VCD) allegedly showing the woman in a compromising position.

This is the first time BJP's PM candidate has been directly accused of complicity in the "snoopgate". The original charge was directed at Shah, with two investigating websites alleging that Modi's confidant illegally directed police in 2009 to keep tabs on the woman because of the wishes of "saheb".

He has dismissed as an afterthought the Gujarat government's claim that the woman's father had approached the Modi government to ensure her safety by keeping an eye on her, and said that the tapes of Shah's purported conversation with police officer G L Singhal make it clear that she was victim of a hostile and intrusive scrutiny in violation of her right to privacy as well as the Indian Telegraph Act.

Claiming that he had introduced the architect from Bangalore, originally hailing from Bhuj in Gujarat, to Modi in 2004 when she was 27 years old.

"The applicant (Sharma) verily believes that Modi and the said female architect remained in touch with each other for next several years. There was also wide spread rumours regarding the Video Compact Disc (VCD) featuring the said female architect and a man in compromising position," his application filed through advocate Sunil Fernandes stated.

"Sharma has no concern with this VCD, But, he believes that Modi harboured a totally misconceived apprehension that Sharma is the recipient of the information regarding this VDC, the contents of which if disclosed in public would be detrimental to the carefully constructed and publicized image of Modi and consequently damage his electoral prospects," the suspended bureaucrat said.

"It is for this reason that a number of false and frivolous cases against the applicant herein were registerd with a view to implicate him and 'punish him'," he said.

Filing and bringing on the record of the Supreme Court transcripts of the entire footage telecast by websites 'Cobrapost' and 'Gulail', Sharma said the conversations between Shah, then minister of state for home in Gujarat, and G L Singhal, then SP in Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) in Ahmedabad, was during the period August-September 2009 when Singhal was reporting to Shah.

"The transcripts of the taped conversations reveal that the said lady architect and the applicant (Sharma) were placed under an all-pervasive and intrusive surveillance at the behest of a person referred to as 'Saheb" by Amit Shah," he said.

He alleged that the taped conversations revealed "severe and material violations" of the Indian telegraph Act, 1885, and an absolute disregard to the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in its December 18, 1996 judgment in the People's Union for Civil Liberties case.

Terming the explanation that the 'snooping' on the woman was being done at her father's behest as an 'after thought", Sharma said, "this explanation seems absolutely incredulous and unworthy of any belief in the light of the contents of conversations between Shah and Singhal, which reveal that the surveillance was extremely intrusive and hostile and not as innocuous and benign as sought to be made".

The purported 'no objection' from the woman's father did not absolve Modi, Shah and others of brazenly violating the law and the guidelines laid down by the apex court, he said and pleaded that the truth would be buried if the Gujarat Police investigated into the matter.

"It is important to note that the state intelligence bureau, the crime branch of Ahmedabad city police and the ATS were all involved in this illegal telephone interceptions and surveillance without having any role to play in the investigations relating to the case in hand," Sharma said.

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Won't do a film only because it has Deepika: Ranveer

(Ranveer SinghMore Pics )

Ranveer Singh is more relieved than elated with all the appreciation he has received as Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Ram. He has tasted what he always heard is the effect of a good Friday on an actor, as he is flooded with offers. But what has given him a high is a hand-written note from his idol Amitabh Bachchan. He talks to TOI about the role of Ram-Leela in his life. Excerpts:

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Ind vs WI: R Ashwin scalps Bravo, Powell to put West Indies in trouble

NEW DELHI: Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck for the second time by scalping Dwayne Bravo to give West Indies fifth blow inside 200 runs in their chase of 289 in the second ODI.

Scorecard | Match In Pics

Bravo (18) pulled Kumar on leg side only to be caught by Shikhar Dhawan at the rope at the score of 185.

Off-spinner R Ashwin got rid of both Darren Bravo (50) and Kieran Powell (59) after their rebuilding act to give India control.

Both batsmen slammed half-century each to rescue the visitors from early setback. However, Ashwin broke the dangerous looking partnership by getting Bravo caught behind in the 23rd over at the score of 123.

Three overs later, Ashwin struck again to dismiss Powell after his fighting knock, reducing West Indies to 147/4.

Earlier, Mohit Sharma scalped Marlon Samules while Bhuvneshwar Kumar sent back Johnson Charles (12) to give India a good start after the hosts posted 288/7.

Kumar took a stunning return catch to end Charles's challenge in the third over. Sharma then got Samuels caught behind to reduce the visitors to 23/2.

Virat Kohli missed out on a hundred by just one run before skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's fiery knock propelled India to a challenging total.

Electing to bowl, unsure of how the wicket would behave after two days of incessant rains, the West Indies kept India under pressure for most of the time but the hosts scored 62 runs off the last five overs to steal the thunder from the Caribbeans.

Kohli showed calmness to soothe the nerves but only to fall victim to a rash pull as India were in danger after losing two wickets for 15 runs in the batting power-play.

But once again captain cool Dhoni stood to the task with an unbeaten 51, his 50th ODI half-century, to give India a decent total to defend.

Dhoni slammed three sixes and four boundaries in his 40-ball knock in an entertaining 47-run seventh wicket partnership with R Ashwin.

Earlier, Sharma had a rare off day at his mother's home town when he was taken at second slip to bring an end to a dream run, during which he scored one double ton, two 100s and an equal number of half-centuries in his last five outings.

After Sharma's dismissal India crawled to 48/1 in the first powerplay. The West Indies clearly had an upperhand dismissing the other opener, Shikhar Dhawan, with an addition of another 48 runs.

Included in place of Narsingh Deonarine, Veersammy Permaul made Indians sweat under the scorching sun reducing them to 69/2 after Dhawan miscued one against the turn to be caught at slip.

Having remained under cover with the ground under water, the outfield and the wicket was very much unlikely of the belter that the ACA-VCA Stadium used to offer.

The mighty Indian batting line-up had to fight for every run in the first 25 overs, in a phase where Permaul and Sunil Narine had put them the visitors an edge.

Kohli had a stroke of luck when on 64 when skipper Bravo dropped him off his own follow through.

Suresh Raina got an easy reprieve on 13 after being dropped by Lendl Simmons in an easy catch as the Windies fielding looked ordinary.

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Kareena Kapoor gets nervous on Comedy Nights with Kapil

(Kareena on Comedy Nights…)

It was 'Tooh' much fun when Bollywood's heartthrob Imran Khan and style-queen Kareena Kapoor visited the sets of COLORS' laugh-a-thon 'Comedy Nights with Kapil' to promote their upcoming movie, 'Gori Tere Pyaar Mein'.

It was Kareena's first appearance on the show and she was visibly nervous as she said "Meri toh band bajne wali hai aaj." But as the show progressed all her nervousness disappeared as she mingled with the different members of the Sharma family.

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Sting hits AAP, Shazia Ilmi offers to quit poll race

NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party, already battling controversies over its funding, found itself in another embarrassing spot on Thursday. A sting operation by a web portal on eight AAP candidates and one member, including well-known faces like Shazia Ilmi and Kumar Vishwas, allegedly found some of them willing to take donations in cash without a receipt and get work done in return for funds.

AAP's political affairs committee went into a huddle around 5pm, after the 'sting' appeared on TV, emerged around 9pm to announce that they would decide on a course of action within 24 hours.

"We have asked the web agency to submit raw footage to us so that we can study it and decide if the members concerned are actually guilty. We have spoken to all of them and they have a different version of the story to tell. We are very clear on one matter. If anyone is found guilty, they will not contest," said senior AAP member Yogendra Yadav.

"We also believe that more such allegations may be in the offing," he added.

Other AAP candidates who featured in the sting were Manoj Kumar from Kondli, Dinesh Mohaniya from Sangam Vihar, Irfan Khan from Okhla, Mukesh Hooda from Rohtas Nagar, Bhawna Gaur from Palam and Prakash from Deoli.

Of these, Gaur is seen not committing to any help and seems in a hurry to get rid of the sting team. Prakash too refuses to grant favours to the undercover journalist and adds that any question regarding donations should only be posed to party convenor Arvind Kejriwal, since all candidates fielded by the party are only "dummy candidates".

"You better speak to Arvind ji. He will tell you what we want. He has fielded 70 candidates, all are dummy (sab dummy hein). I will not be able to take any decision," Gaur is seen saying on tape.

Party national secretary Sanjay Singh, who along with Yadav will investigate the matter from the party's side, said AAP did not want blame anyone for conspiring against it. "It is true that some people have been staging a sustained campaign against us but it does not matter whether BJP, Congress or anyone else is behind this sting. If what has been portrayed is true, it is of concern to the party," he said.

The footage released by web portal mediasarkar.com, the authenticity of which TOI cannot confirm, shows AAP's R K Puram candidate Shazia Ilmi first refusing to help a woman in defaming a rival company without legal documents. Later, she is shown agreeing to accept Rs 15 lakh in cash without a receipt and tells the undercover journalist how the money will not be accounted for and used for cash expenditure like volunteer stipends. Her assistant also reveals how they have accepted similar donations from several other people which are used for media campaigns and daily expenditure.

The party is being slapped with one charge after another over the past couple of weeks. After Anna Hazare raised doubts over diversion of funds from the Jan Lokpal movement to AAP, Kejriwal got slapped with a notice by the election commission for asking for votes on religious grounds.

Even as the party was been targeted on its alleged foreign funding, another charge cropped up against Kejriwal — that of selling a seat. Amrish Chaudhury, shortlisted for the Badarpur seat, accused Kejriwal of eventually selling the seat for Rs 2 crore to the selected candidate. AAP said the charges were completely fabricated.

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Are ‘Krrish 3’ box-office collections inflated?

(Hrithik Roshan in Krrish…)

While the nation is going gaga over Hrithik Roshan's 'Krrish 3' box-office collections and reports claim that it is the fastest film to enter Rs 200-crore club, trade experts beg to differ.

Quoting a trade analyst, a DNA report says that the figures quoted by Roshans have irked Salman and Shah Rukh Khan, as they feel that these figures are inflated. Roshans have been claiming that Krrish 3 is the highest domestic Bollywood grosser of all time.

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Katrina Kaif's wardrobe malfunction

Wardrobe malfunctions aren't new to celebrities who sometimes end up showing more than intended at various media sightings. One such incident occurred with Katrina Kaif at the launch of her song 'Dhoom Macha Le'.

The shutterbugs had a field day as they clicked Katrina's 'oops' moment as her bright bubble gum short dress got the better of her. While she looked lovely in her short dress and black high heels, Katrina's flirtatious attire put to display her inner wear for the media present at the event.

However this isn't the first time the actress has made headlines because of her wardrobe malfunction. Last year during the promotions of ' Jab Tak Hai Jaan', a short cream dress worn by Kat revealed more than planned while she sat down crossed leg. Even during the shoot of ' Ek Tha Tiger' Katrina had to ride a bicycle wearing a short dress that resulted in a similar manner.

We advice Katrina to be a little more careful with her outfits at public events, especially with the roving eye (read cameras) around!

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Boy wonder Prithvi Shaw rises in Mumbai

MUMBAI: Barely four days after a legendary Mumbai cricketer retired, Prithvi Shaw, created a sensation by plundering a world record 546 for Rizvi Springfield against St Francis D'Assissi in the elite division of the Harris Shield tournament for senior schoolboys.

Prithvi, a Class 9 student who was appointed captain of the Mumbai Under-16 team on Wednesday, celebrated the occasion with this special knock, going past the previous highest score in school cricket (498) recorded by his schoolmate Armaan Jaffer in 2010.

Captain of his school team, Prithvi, an opener, had been unbeaten on 257 on Tuesday after his team had bowled out D'Assissi for 92 on Day One of the three-day game. On Wednesday, he continued his innings and spent almost six hours at the wicket in all, slamming 85 boundaries and five sixes in his 330-ball knock. He was finally out caught-and-bowled.

Riding on Prithvi's knock and his 619-run partnership with Satyalakshya Jain (164), Rizvi amassed 991 runs in 116 overs against the opposition's hapless bowling attack.

Prithvi and Jain missed going past the 664-run partnership between Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli in 1988 when Jain got stumped.

Prithvi is a well-known name on the Mumbai schools circuit and has had two playing stints in England. He was in Manchester for three months last year and earlier this year played for Gloucestershire's second team, which is just below the level of first-class cricket.

He now joins the highest scorers globally. His is the third highest score if one goes by all registered scorecards available worldwide since the start of competitive cricket. Englishman A E J Collins had scored 628 not out in a match in England in 1899, and Australian C J Eady had got 566 in 1901.

Highest scores by Indians in minor cricket
Score	Batsman	Match	Season
546		Rizvi Springfield vs St Francis D'Assissi	2013-14
515	DR Havewalla	BB & CI Railways vs St. Xavier's	1933-34
502*	Chaman Lal	Mehandra College Patiala vs Govt College Rupar	1956-57
498	Arman Jaffer	Rizvi Springfield vs IES Raje Shivaji	2010-11
442	RY Deshmukh	Baroda University vs Akola University	1978-79
439		Rizvi Springfield vs Indian Education Society	2009-10
Highest individual scores in minor cricket
628*	AEJ Collins	Clark's House vs North Town	1899
566	CJ Eady	Break-o-day vs Wellington	1901-02
546	Prithvi Shaw	Rizvi Springfield vs St Francis D'Assissi	2013-14

The previous highest by an Indian is 515 by Dadabhoy Havewala for BB and CI Railway vs St Xavier's College, Mumbai, in 1933-34.

Julian Wood, a former English county cricketer and founder of the JW cricket academy who spotted Prithvi at the MIG Club in Bandra five years ago, had told TOI earlier this year: "If he keeps up the work, in five years he will arguably be the best batsman in the world."

The 14-year-old was besieged by the media after he got out, but he tackled all questions the way he had batted-with total command. In the slight British accent he has picked up because of stints in England, he said, "I was beginning to tire. I ran a lot between wickets. But when you are getting runs, these things take a backseat. The joy of getting a century, then a double ton, a 300, 400 and finally 500... is magical. The high of a big century helps overcome tiredness."

England, he said, had been a learning experience. "I struggled for the first few days because everything was new. The weather, culture, but most importantly the playing conditions. I had to adjust a lot. But once I settled down, I began to enjoy."

According to reports, Prithvi's mother died when he was just four years old, and his father shut his business to concentrate on bringing the boy up. At a young age, he is the family's breadwinner: he was signed up by former Indian spinner Nilesh Kulkarni's sports management company for Rs 3 lakh a year.

Prithvi has been part of the famous trio of Rizvi-the other two being Jaffer (15) and Sarfaraz Khan (16)-from 2009. As an opener, Prithvi ensured most times that the other two got a solid platform to take the attack to the opposition. And more often than not, the duo delivered by scoring big centuries and walked away with the limelight. On Wednesday, though, Prithvi was the one in demand.

Has it been frustrating for him to have lived under the shadow of the other two?

"Absolutely not," he said. "We have shared very good moments together and shared rooms when playing outside Mumbai. Such thoughts never come to mind. We have an extremely healthy relationship on and off the field."

Naushad Khan, Sarfaraz's father and a former cricketer of repute, said, "It is a great day for Mumbai cricket. I have seen Prithvi ever since he was a small kid. My prayer is that all three should play for India in the future."

Prithvi's batting partner Jain, though, is kicking himself for having played an adventurous shot, because of which they didn't get past the Tendulkar-Kambli partnership. The thought of that partnership did cross their mind. "We were aware we approaching it, but..." Jain trailed off.

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Payal Rohatgi with Kushal Tandon on Bigg Boss 7?

Small screen's controversial reality show Bigg Boss is known for throwing interesting twists and turns every time the show goes through a dull moment.

But this time along with the viewers, the contestants of Bigg Boss 7 will also be soon in for a surprise as ex Bigg Boss contestant Payal Rohatgi will enter the house with Kushal Tandon.

Sources inform that the show will soon witness an interesting special Freeze Task. During the task, close friends or family members of the Bigg Boss contestants are unaware about the entry of their family members and once they make an entry the contestants have to remain in a statue position. While doing the freeze tasks the contestants cannot talk, react or move. Apparently, the makers of the show had also approached Armaan Kohli's girlfriend Tanya Singh for the show but she refused to be a part of it.

For the uninitiated, a similar task was done last year in season 6 when Delnaaz Irani's brother Bakhtiyaar and Urvashi Dholakia's two sons had entered the house.

Both Payal and Kushal remained unavailable for comments.

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No-show by US companies at campus placements, techies worried

MUMBAI: American presence at India's campus placements this year will be conspicuous by its absence. Apart from Facebook that isn't visiting any of the IITs, most US companies that do not have operations in India have not registered for placements at the country's tech schools. There's no trace yet of Twitter, which paid big bucks in the last recruitment season. Slot Zero, the promising opening day of campus placements on December 1, has probably never looked less American.

While most students and faculty members were tight-lipped about the no-show of American companies, several job aspirants said the US visa issue last year was a great concern and many American companies that hire in large numbers—and with big pay packets—had decided to stay away from Indian engineering college campuses now. Last year, the annual quota of 65,000 H1-B work visas were snapped up by job-immigrants even before graduating techies had their first degree in hand, forcing many to take an unpaid vacation to work at the US companies' India offices or fly to another country for a year.

Smart IITians who fear a similar repeat occurrence this time around are filling up forms and making alternative profile plans, both local and international.

"There are more Japanese firms coming to IIT-Bombay than companies with operations solely in the USA," said Avijit Chaterjee, chairman of IIT-Bombay's placement cell. Japanese firms like Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Uhuru Software and Sony Japan have made their way to the top slots.

Apart from that, the bad economy has seen little attrition; most companies said they have fewer vacancies to fill.

IIT-Madras placement advisor Babu Viswanathan said getting a US visa was a big problem last year but it is too early to say if there will be a "noticeable drop" in students who will be offered a profile in the US this year too. "Also," he cautioned, "companies can have a change of mind and may decide to come anytime during the placement process."

Sources at IIT-Delhi said, "Two large IT companies with operations in the US are not coming; that is our biggest loss. But there are about five new international companies coming for the first time, including some Japanese ones."

Comparing notes over dim sum, graduating students at IIT-Kanpur underwent a semester-long language course. Students picked up the Japanese language and a few finer details of Japanese culture so that they are better prepared for interviews. By January, this college will release a placement brochure in Japanese, apart from one in English.

The placement team in Kanpur has forecast that technology, politics and economic factors will alter the geographical distribution of companies coming on their campus and a multi-lingual placement brochure— with students' profiles in German, French, Japanese and English—will be released from next year.

Among the American companies that have promised to come this year are gaming company Pocket Gems, Epic Systems, Rocket Fuel and Tower Research. Then there are US firms like Microsoft, Google, Oracle, Schlumberger that have registered; however, they will pick fewer candidates, many for their India offices. "These companies have a good relation with the campuses and they may come and pick a student or two," said a student on the placement committee.

There was a time when computer science students were high currency; they were plucked by companies that offered them dollar dreams and flew them out no sooner they graduated. This year, with not many greenbacks arriving, candidates from other branches are feeling the heat too. "If CS students are all not going to get absorbed by IT firms, consulting and finance companies are going to fall over each other to bag them. That is going to affect candidates from other branches that are not so popular," said a student.

Clearly, many things are working to alter the placement landscape. Recruitment season on Indian campuses, said an optimist placement member, is going to get a more global flavour.

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Woman bank manager attacked inside ATM kiosk in Bangalore, bleeds for 3 hours

BANGALORE: A woman bank manager was brutally attacked inside an unguarded ATM kiosk on busy JC Road on Tuesday morning. The kiosk, located in the LIC divisional office building, is about 50 metres from Halasuru Gate police station.

Jyothi Uday, 44, manager in charge of the cheque truncation system at the Mission Road service branch of Corporation Bank, was attacked at 7.10am. A gun-wielding attacker hit her on the head with a machete after she resisted his demand that she withdraw cash and hand it over to him.

After the attacker fled, Jyothi, a Rajarajeshwari Nagar resident, lay unconscious in a pool of blood for over three hours. Two schoolchildren who saw blood flowing out of the ATM raised an alarm, drawing the attention of a traffic policeman and passersby.

Doctors said Jyothi has suffered injuries to her skull, leaving the right side of her body paralyzed.

Jyothi usually leaves her home around 6.30am and takes a bus to NR Square before walking to her Mission Road workplace, a stone's throw away. On Tuesday, she took a detour to the Corporation Bank ATM in the building that houses LIC's accounting division, opposite Unity Building.

Investigating officers gathered CCTV footage from inside the ATM kiosk and reconstructed the crime.

The bank manager entered the kiosk six seconds before 7.10am. Within seconds, the attacker came in and pulled down the shutter. "The man wore a blue striped shirt. We can see his face clearly in the visuals. He first pulled a gun out of a bag he was carrying and asked her to withdraw cash. She resisted," a police officer said.

When Jyothi refused, he pulled a machete out of the bag and hit her on the head and face. She collapsed after three or four blows. The attacker then left with some contents of her purse, including her mobile. He is also seen using a piece of paper or cloth to rub the bloodstains from the machete. "Everything was over in less than four minutes. The attacker walked out of the ATM, pulled the shutter down and left," the officer added.

Police sources said the attacker may have brandished a fake gun, and spoke in Kannada.

The ATM had no security guard. Guards of the LIC accounting division came in to work only at 10.15am.

Pappanna, the person in charge of security guards at the building, told TOI he noticed the shutter had been pulled down. The ATM had been closed for maintenance, and he did not suspect anything amiss.

"We work during office timings. I reached the building around 10.15am. After opening the main gate of the building, I waited for the officers to come and open the office," he said.

Around 10.30pm, two boys going to school saw blood flowing out of the ATM kiosk. They said they heard moans from inside. The duo ran to a traffic policeman manning the busy intersection and informed him about what they had just seen. The constable and passersby found Jyothi lying in a pool of blood. SJ Park police were alerted and Jyothi was rushed to Victoria Hospital in an autorickshaw.

Suresh AN, a senior manager at the service branch of Corporation Bank, said Jyothi would reach office around 7.45am when on morning shift. On Tuesday, around 8.15am, her colleagues tried calling her because she had not come in. "The phone rang the first few times. Later, it was switched off. Around 10.40am, we got a call from police saying she had been attacked," he said.

SJ Park police shifted a profusely bleeding Jyothi to Victoria Hospital, from where she was later moved to Nimhans for observation. Jyothi suffered injuries on her head, arm and nose. She was later moved to BGS Global Hospitals, Uttarahalli, where she underwent surgery in the evening.

Colleagues who visited her at the hospital said: "She was unable to give details of the attack. We have informed her husband, who had gone to Bidadi for a business trip."

Other angles investigated although it looked like a robbery attempt, police are investigating other angles. That the assailant left behind all the gold jewellery Jyothi wore has raised suspicion about other motives. "We are also investigating if there was any personal vendetta," Kamal Pant, additional commissioner of police, law and order, said.

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Modi charm fading in Madhya Pradesh?

BHOPAL: The first leg of Modi's last-lap carpet bombing of Madhya Pradesh to wipe out rising anti-incumbency was not a blitzkrieg if one goes by the turnouts at his rallies.

Just 7 weeks ago, there were 7 lakh people rooting for Modi at the party's mahakumbh in Bhopal. On Monday, there were only 7,000 people listening to BJP's PM-in-waiting - a trickle in comparison to the mahakumbh flood. His rallies at Sagar, Chattarpur and Guna also received tepid response. Is the Modi charm fading in Madhya Pradesh?

"Even the rally turnout of 7,000 in Bhopal is on the higher side," said a senior police official. When Modi's chopper landed in Bhopal, rally organisers were left red-faced. The sprawling Dussehra Maidan was still empty.

Somehow, a local BJP leader managed to mobilise a crowd of 2000 students from a local college. That saved the BJP from a big embarrassment.

State BJP spokesperson Hitesh Vajpayee said, "Modi reached Sagar before time, so crowds were just beginning to move in. But at Chattarpur, Guna and Bhopal, the turnout was on expected lines."

After touching down at Sagar, Modi expressed his displeasure to the sitting BJP MP, Bhupendra Singh, who is also contesting the election from Khurai. "Maidan toh khali hai (The maidan is empty)", Modi reportedly told Singh.

When the rally began, there were around 10,000 people at the meeting ground. As a strategy, BJP allowed Shailandra Jain, party candidate from Sagar, Bhupendra Singh Thakur from Khurai and Gopal Bhargawa from Rehli to speak before Modi. In the meantime, police were requested to remove barricades to let people enter the rally ground. And 20 minutes later by the time, Modi began speaking, the turnout was about 25,000.

In fact, Modi was jolted the moment he landed in Madhya Pradesh at around 11 am at the Khajuraho airport by a chartered plane. At 11.35 am, he was in Chattarpur and was shocked to find a thin crowd at the meeting ground.

Ghasiram Patel, district president of BJP said, "he reached at 11.35 pm at the meeting place when his scheduled arrival was around 1. He was before time and we could not spread the message around." About 20,000 people turned out at Chattarpur.

In Guna, the same day, just before the Bhopal rally, he landed around 3.25 pm and the first question that he asked a local party leader, "How is the crowd?."

And the answer did not impress Modi. He preferred waiting at the helipad before reaching the Dussehra maidan in Guna, only to find thin crowds. There were around 15,000-20,000 people only.

Organisers said first his meeting was scheduled at 3.45 pm and then it was rescheduled for 2 pm.

Off the record, BJP leaders confided that a security threat to Modi is looming large. In Bhopal, the party discouraged a large turnout as it was already dark when the rally began.

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