Malaysian watchdog to monitor brutality on Indians

Kuala Lumpur (PTI): Concerned over increasing brutality and deaths in police lock-ups of ethnic Indians, the Malaysian Indian Congress, the party representing the minority community, has set up a watchdog to monitor such cases here.

The decision to form the watchdog comes in the wake the death of a 22-year-old ethnic Indian, A.Kugan, who was arrested in connection with a car theft and later died in police lockup allegedly of abuse last month, New Straits Times said on Monday.

The newly formed committee will comprise seven lawyers and three representatives from non-governmental organisations, all members of Malaysian Indian Congress' (MIC) Youth wing, Acting MIC Youth chief T. Mohan said the committee had already begun compiling the details of the death of Kugan from the police and his family.

The ethnic Indian party noted that at least 80 Indians had died in police custody in the past eight years, the report said. MORE...

Read more...

Indian immigrant set on fire in Italy

Italian police have arrested three young men for allegedly beating and setting on fire an Indian immigrant who was sleeping on a train station bench in a seaside town near Rome, investigators said Monday.

The attack on the 35-year-old man in Nettuno sparked outrage in Italy and fueled a debate on attitudes toward immigrants.

Carabinieri paramilitary police said the three poured gasoline on the man early Sunday, then set him on fire.

The man has severe burns over 40 percent of his body, said Dr. Paolo Palombo, an official of Sant'Eugenio hospital in Rome, where the immigrant was taken for treatment. Palombo told SKY TG24 TV that the patient would undergo skin grafts Friday to help fight the danger of infection.

The mood among some citizens has turned ugly in recent years following the arrest of immigrants as suspects in several high-profile crimes, including the slaying of an Italian admiral's wife in suburban Rome and the rape of a young Italian woman in the countryside near Rome. MORE...

Read more...

Indian Accountant Arrested After Onboard Hijack Threat

An Indian accountant who allegedly threatened to hijack a domestic flight Sunday evening has been charged Monday under the civil aviation law. Commandos surrounded the jet after its emergency landing in New Delhi, prompting a major security scare for a country still on edge after the Mumbai terror attack more than two months ago.

Authorities say a 42-year-old accountant has been charged with threatening to kill and negligent conduct following the emergency landing of a commercial jetliner at New Delhi's airport. The passenger, identified as Jitender Kumar Mohala, the son of a retired high-ranking military officer, has been remanded for two weeks to judicial custody while an investigation continues.

Two other passengers, a man and a woman, were detained for questioning but later released without being charged.

The civil aviation ministry says "all precautionary measures were activated" after a couple of passengers threatened to hijack Indigo Flight 664 on Sunday following takeoff from Goa, a popular tourism destination. MORE...

Read more...

India promises $10 laptops for students

Can a laptop be manufactured for $10? The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project created by Nicholas Negroponte and the MIT Media Lab has struggled to keep its promise to provide $100 laptops to school kids in developing countries (In fact, the cheapest one goes for around $188). But the Indian government says it will distribute laptops to students throughout India that each cost less than a movie ticket in New York City.

Too good to be true? Afraid so. BBC News today reported that the announcement – widely reported by new pubs over the weekend – has since been "corrected" to $100 per laptop.

But even at $100 a pop, the price tag would still be the cheapest for a school computer since Negroponte and his colleagues launched OLPC in 2005. Since then, NComputing launched its "thin client" model that allows schools to extend the computing power of one PC out to several PCs (at a cost well over $100 per desktop) and chipmaker Intel has helped bring to market the Classmate netbook PC, which starts at $300. Other computer makers, including Asus and HP, are flooding into the netbook market promising cheaper laptops, but they won't touch the $100 price point for some time. MORE...

Read more...

India Signs Nuclear Inspection Accord With UN Investigators

India and the United Nations nuclear agency today signed an agreement that will give international inspectors access to Indian facilities, a crucial step toward implementing a U.S.-led atomic accord.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei and Indian Ambassador Saurabh Kumar signed the inspections agreement today in Vienna, according to an IAEA statement. The safeguards agreement, approved by the IAEA’s 35- member board of governors on Aug. 1, grants inspectors access to 14 civilian nuclear reactors in India.

The U.S. helped to overturn a three-decade international ban on India’s purchase of nuclear-energy supplies last year after the government in New Delhi pledged more transparency into its atomic activities. MORE...

Read more...

Dalai Lama is taken to hospital

The Dalai Lama has been taken to hospital in the Indian capital, Delhi, after complaining of pain in his arms, his spokesman said.

The Tibetan spiritual leader was taken to hospital from his home in the Indian hill town of Dharamsala, Chimme Chhoekyapa told the BBC.

Mr Chhoekyapa says it is "nothing to worry about" and that the Dalai Lama plans to visit Europe in a few days.

In October the Dalai Lama, 73, had surgery to remove a gallstone.

He had been admitted to hospital in August suffering from stomach pains.

The Dalai Lama is due to start a visit to Italy and Germany on 8 February. MORE...

Read more...

India May Ease Takeover Rules for ‘Special Cases’

India’s market regulator said it will look at easing takeover rules in “special cases,” ahead of a possible acquisition of Satyam Computer Services Ltd., the software company at the center of India’s biggest fraud inquiry.

Satyam’s board has asked for exemptions from the takeover rules, Securities and Exchange Board of India Chairman C.B. Bhave said at a press briefing after the regulator’s board meeting in Mumbai today. Buyers must now offer to pay the higher of the average share price for the past 26 weeks or two weeks.

A relaxation of the rules will make it easier for suitors including Larsen & Toubro Ltd., India’s biggest engineering company, to bid for Hyderabad-based Satyam. Larsen is among at least four bidders that want to buy a controlling stake.

“We recognize the need for this and will look to make amendments for such special cases,” Bhave said. MORE...

Read more...