
Shimla: As per a government survey, Himachal Pradesh has emerged as the "first smoke free state" in the country, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal on Thursday said. As per the latest survey report of health department, there is an effective compliance of Smoke Free Rules under Tobacco Control Act, 2003 in all district headquarters, the Chief Minister said. All district headquarters qualify for smoke free status, Dhumal said while presiding...

03:58 AM, Jun 01, 2012

Guwahati: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday expressed concern over the rise in crimes against women in Assam but described the situation as better on the issue of rights violations. "The data available with the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) shows that Assam is ranked second in the country in the category of crime against women. Most of the cases are related to kidnapping, rape and cases of...

03:02 AM, May 30, 2012

Shimla: Himachal Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal on Saturday made it clear that there is no move in his state to slash the VAT on petrol to offset the impact of steep rise of Rs 7.50 per litre in the price of petrol. Interacting with media persons on the conclusion of election campaign for Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) polls, Dhumal said, any decision in this regard would be taken after...

08:59 PM, May 26, 2012

Monaco: Veteran Michael Schumacher posted the fastest time in an action-packed qualifying session at the Monaco Grand Prix on Saturday, but a grid penalty means that Mark Webber's Red Bull will start Sunday's race in pole position. Webber beat Nico Rosberg's time on his final lap, only for the 43-year-old Schumacher to surpass Webber's effort just moments later in a thrilling finale. But the grid penalty Schumacher incurred at the...

07:18 PM, May 26, 2012

New Delhi: Essar promoters Ravi and Anshuman Ruia, and Loop Telecom's Kiran Khaitan and IP Khaitan have been charged with conspiracy while Essar's Director for Strategy and Planning Vikash Saraf has been charged with cheating and conspiracy in the 2G spectrum allocation scam. The Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court also granted them bail on a surety bond of Rs 5 lakh each while charging them. Advancing arguments on...

04:22 PM, May 25, 2012

NEW DELHI: Anurag Kashyap's 'Gangs of Wasseypur', being screened at the 65th Cannes International Film Festival, is a male-dominated script, but had room for strong female characters as well, says Huma Qureshi, who makes her acting debut with the movie. "It is a male-dominated movie but the women are also very strong and irreplaceable. Though the women might not have a direct impact in the film - for example, none...

04:53 PM, May 19, 2012

London: Scotland Yard on Friday charged four Indian citizens and two Ghana citizens of Indian-origin all based in London for allegedly trafficking a woman from Hyderabad for sex. Official sources confirmed that four of the suspects were Indian citizens while two were Ghana citizens of Indian-origin. The six suspects include a computer professional, an optician, a butcher, a supermarket manager and a secretary, they said. The four Indians are "...

10:18 PM, May 18, 2012

New Delhi: To tackle overcrowding in prisons across the country, the National Human Rights Commission has suggested holding of night courts in jails for trial of petty offences. NHRC Chairperson KG Balakrishnan said various strategies could be employed to bring down the prison population like ensuring that police does not make any arrest indiscriminately and also providing legal aid to the poor. He said the number of undertrial prisoners is...

09:40 AM, May 13, 2012

London: Mercedes' Michael Schumacher has criticised Pirelli's Formula One tyres by saying they make him feel like he is driving on raw eggs. The seven-time world champion, who has not stood on the podium since he began his comeback in 2010, told CNN in an interview that the Italian tyres were having too much of an effect on racing. "They are so peaky and so special that we don't put...

08:49 AM, May 09, 2012

New Delhi: All the airports across the country have been put on a high alert following a threat of a possible sabotage attempt by a human bomb. The CISF and NSG teams have been alerted. Sources say the threat is not specific but general in nature. More security personnel have been deployed at the airports. ...

10:30 AM, May 08, 2012

Seoul: South Korea has seized thousands of smuggled drug capsules filled with powdered flesh from dead babies, which some people believe can cure disease, officials said on Monday. The capsules were made in north-eastern China from babies whose bodies were chopped into small pieces and dried on stoves before being turned into powder, the Korea Customs Service said. Customs officials refused to say where the dead babies came from or...

09:43 AM, May 08, 2012

London: British scientists claim to be for the first time growing human body parts at a laboratory at the University College London, which they say could soon make organ donation a thing of the past. A team, led by Prof Alexander Seifalian of the varsity's Department of Nanotechnology and Regenerative Medicine, claims it's actually focussing on growing replacement organs and body parts to order, using a patient's own cells. "This...

03:39 AM, May 07, 2012

Kabul: The in-laws of a child bride who became the bruised and bloodied face of women's rights in Afghanistan have been sentenced to 10 years in prison for torture, abuse and human rights violations. The plight of 15-year-old Sahar Gul captivated the nation and set off a storm of international condemnation when it came to light in late December. Gul's husband's father, mother and sister were each sentenced to 10...

04:54 PM, May 06, 2012

Srinagar: As many as 129 Army personnel, including three dozen officers, were found guilty of human rights violations mostly in Jammu and Kashmir and North East in the last two decades, defence sources have said. Following the establishment of human rights cell in 1993, the Army has received more than 1,500 allegations of rights violations against its men but most of these have been found false and baseless, they said....

04:42 PM, May 06, 2012

Morena: In a case of human trafficking, a widow was allegedly sold by three persons, including a woman, for Rs 60,000 to a Rajasthan-based man, police said on Thursday. Seema Parihar, a resident of Keshav colony in Morena was taken to Rajasthan by her acquaintance Vijay Singh Rawat under the pretext of visiting Kaila Devi temple but he sold her there to one Kalli Meena of Kaseda village in Karauli...

06:39 PM, May 03, 2012