IAF officer Anjali Gupta reports sick, fails to turn up in court; Fardeen to wed Natasha soon; Delhi police stations to have condom vending machines; Unregulated sale of tincture has Agra residents up in arms; Law and order top priority, says Buta; Nepali journalists hold convention, stage demonstrations; 60 killed, 150 wounded in Iraqi sucide bomber blast; Angelina Jolie denies being Brad Pitt's love; EBay to auction Pope's old car; Angelina Jolie takes motorcycling lessons to help the poor; Sandra Bullock loves free food; India Travel Times, Indian News, Tourism, Hotels, Airlines, Tour, Travel, Ayurveda, Yoga, Festival, Hindu, Taj Mahal, Kathakali, Dance,

Home Contact Us Dateline New Delhi, Wednesday, May 4, 2005

IAF officer Anjali Gupta reports sick, fails to turn up in court

Bangalore: Indian Air Force (IAF) woman officer Anjali Gupta was referred to the Command hospital for health check-up on Wednesday after she reported sick and did not turn up for the courtmartial proceedings against her on various charges, including indiscipline and financial irregularities. IAF prosecutor Wing Commander RD Dubey alleged that Gupta was "feigning" illness to evade the court martial proceedings. "She is feigning illness so that she evades (being in the court martial). Why would she not want the daily diet?," he said, adding Gupta, who is under close arrest (meaning house arrest), was instead consuming large amounts of mango juice. Dubey sought an adjournment of the court till tomorrow. IAF officials said the four-member Court of Inquiry team, headed by Air Vice Marshal V R Iyer, was waiting to record Gupta's statement. Gupta, an education officer at the Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE) here had filed sexual harassment charges against three officers.

Fardeen to wed Natasha soon (Go To Top)

Mumbai: It is official. Bollywood star Fardeen Khan will get engaged to his London-based girlfriend Natasha Madhvani on May 5. Natasha, the daughter of former actress Mumtaz and British business tycoon Mayur Madhvani has been Fardeen's girlfriend for a long time. The ceremony will be held at a classy London venue with 50 to 60 family members and close friends attending it. The date of the marriage is still to be fixed. There already are two marriages coming up as cousin Zayed ties the knot with girlfriend Mallika in December. However, it is heard that they are planning for a wedding in early 2006. Fardeen will be clad in a handmade, classic formal 3-button suit with 2 back vents with satin detailing and finishing white, hand- woven silk, with a wedge collar with cufflink sleeves. He will have silver crystal cufflinks and also a custom-made, white hand woven silk tie to complete the look. The dress will be designed by Shaahid Amir.

Delhi police stations to have condom vending machines (Go To Top)

New Delhi: All police stations in the capital will have condom vending machine. According to Arun Baroka, Additional Secretary, Health, Government of Delhi, the decision was taken in view of the success of the scheme at the Delhi Secretariat, which has witnessed a consumption of around 6000 condoms per day. The Delhi Police had approached the department to install these machines within the premises of all the police stations across New Delhi. Baroka said that tremendous workload, combined with long working hours was preventing police officials from getting condoms from medical shops. Coupled with this was the inhibition on the part of many cops to purchase them from the open market. The installation of these machines, he said would solve both these problems faced by policemen. The main idea behind this project, he said was to promote the idea of safe sex.

Unregulated sale of tincture has Agra residents up in arms (Go To Top)

Agra (Uttar Pradesh): The unregulated sale of tincture by chemists has raised the hackles of residents of Agra, the city in which the famous Taj Mahal is located. Claiming that tincture is being used to manufacture a cheaper form of alcohol, Agra's residents said that so far over 500 people have died after consuming this concoction over the last three years. They said that the tincture brand Ginger is available off the shelf with chemists. Each 100 gram bottle sells for Rs.16 and it has been alleged that many poverty ridden alcoholics consume it with country liquor or without. Joined by a group of eunuchs, the people of the city have threatened to commit suicide if the authorities do not take remedial steps to arrest this practice immediately. The local health authorities have said that a crackdown will be launched on chemists and druggists selling tincture without medical prescription. "The trade of tincture Ginger should not be done here, this is not what the licence is issued for. We have only given them permission for medicines. If they have violated the rules, we have already sent notices to them," said Roshan Lal, a chief medical officer at one of Agra's main hospitals. Every year hooch tragedy accounts for hundreds of lives of mostly poor people. Atleast 16 died in southern Karnataka state last month while 17 died a month earlier in northern Uttar Pradesh state. Alcoholics are known to get addicted to cheaper Ayurvedic medicines with high alcohol content, as the liquor is heavily taxed. Tincture contains ethyl alcohol. Tincture-Iodine, the most common compound, contains 40-55 percent ethyl alcohol and upto five percent Iodine. It can cause severe irritation or burns, affect the nervous and resipratory systems, blood, liver and cause skin allergy.

Nepali journalists hold convention, stage demonstrations (Go To Top)

Kathmandu: Has press freedom returned to Nepal? If the holding of the 21st General Convention of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) here is anything to go by, it certainly seems so. Coinciding with World Press Freedom Day on Tuesday, the FNJ Convention got underway here with a focus on the theme "Press Freedom for Peace and Democracy". The convention was inaugurated by former Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala at the Royal Nepal Academy (RNA). It was the first time in several months, that so many political bigwigs of different party affiliations had managed to appear on a single platform. In his address to convention delegates, Koirala appealed for democratic forces to come forward to defend the freedom of the press. CPN-UML General secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal said that press freedom was synonymous with democracy. Rashtriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) chairman Pashupati Shumsher Rana and former Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa also endorsed this view wholeheartedly. About 900 people are participating in the convention. The occasion also saw over 1,000 journalists defying restrictive orders imposed by the local administration to take out a peace rally in Kathmandu. Carrying placards and shouting slogans, the journalists called for the removal of curbs on press freedom and the release of detained colleagues.

The demand was made three days after Nepal's King Gyanendra lifted an emergency rule that he had imposed across the kingdom on February 1. Bishnu Nisthuri, the general secretary of the FNJ, claimed that the journalists were celebrating World Press Freedom Day amid chaos and uncertainity. Taranath Dahal, the president of the FNJ, claimed that Nepal was passing through an unprecedented crisis. What was notable about the peace rally was the fact that it took place in the presence of the riot police, who were armed with bamboo batons, but did not intervene. On Monday, the district administration office in Kathmandu had asked the FNJ not to hold the rally or take it through restricted areas of the city. This missive was rejected and the rally eventually proceeded to the RNA without hindrance. Meanwhile, the United Nations has once again appealed to the Government of Nepal to lift its curbs on the media and put an end to its controls on television and radio stations. "Allow unimpeded access to foreign news channels through cable operators, end the ban on government advertisements in private media and end the countrywide harrassment and intimidation of media persons and release detained journalists," a U.N. statement said. It further went on to say that an independent media could play an important role in conflict prevention and resolution. News journalists are barred from criticising the King, his government and the security forces. In the last three months, dozens of journalists have been arrested and at least 12 are said to be still in jail.

60 killed, 150 wounded in Iraqi sucide bomber blast (Go To Top)

Baghdad: A suicide bomber killed at least 60 people and wounded 150 more when he blew himself up at the office of a Kurdish Democratic party in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil, officials said. So far, 25 bodies have been removed from the area. Police and security officials said a large crowd was gathered outside the building and recruiting centre when the suicide bomber struck.

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