Businessman, servant acquitted in 2006 serial killing case
The Allahabad High Court on Monday acquitted, due to a lack of evidence, the two men jailed for the murders of 19 children and young women nearly two decades ago, their lawyers said.
Police arrested businessman Moninder Singh Pandher and his servant Surender Koli in December 2006 and filed 13 cases against the pair in relation to the killings.
The murders came to light after body parts in plastic bags were found buried in Pandher’s backyard and drains in a suburb of New Delhi.
The Allahabad High Court acquitted Koli in 12 of the cases and Pandher in two, and set aside the death sentences handed down by the court, said Koli’s counsel Payoshi Roy.
Top court declines to allow same-sex marriages
The Indian Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to allow same-sex marriages in the country.
But it said India had a duty to acknowledge lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) relationships and to protect them from discrimination.
Advocates representing nearly two dozen petitioners said it was time for India to treat its LGBTQ community as equal citizens under its Constitution.
Ex-navy man arrested for 2004 crimes
A former Indian Navy employee, who had been living under a false identity after faking his own death, was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly strangling a man and setting two others on fire nearly 20 years ago.
Balesh Kumar, now 60, was arrested after Delhi Police were tipped off to his whereabouts, about 30km from the location of the 2004 murder in Bawana.
Kumar had changed his name to Aman Singh and was working as a property dealer, said Delhi Police crime division senior officer Ravinder Yadav.
Google to make smartphones in India starting with Pixel 8
Alphabet will start manufacturing in India and will partner with international and domestic manufacturers to produce its Pixel smartphones locally, starting with Pixel 8, an executive said on Thursday.
The devices are expected to be rolled out in 2024, Mr Rick Osterloh, senior vice-president of devices and services, said at a Google event.
“India is a priority market for Pixel smartphones, and we’re committed to bringing the best of our hardware and underlying built-in software capabilities to people across the country,” Mr Osterloh said.
India is aiming to become a manufacturing powerhouse, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” initiative.
High-risk Himalayan glacial lakes to be monitored
The Central government aims to install the first part of an early warning system at some high-risk glacial lakes in the Himalayas next year, a senior official said on Monday, as the country responds to deadly floods this month that killed at least 60 people.
There are 56 at-risk glacial lakes in India, and the urgency to monitor them was stepped up after Lhonak Lake in the eastern Himalayas burst its banks two weeks ago and caused widespread damage in Sikkim.
“We will try some monitoring systems at lakes that are at risk,” said Krishna S. Vatsa of India’s National Disaster Management Authority, which is partnering Indian and international institutes for the project.
Kerala chief minister flags first ship into Vizhinjam port
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday flagged in the first ship at the Rs7,700 crore ($1.3 billion) deep-water international Vizhinjam port, near the state’s capital Thiruvananthapuram.
Tugboats pushing in the Chinese vessel Zhen Hua 15, which was carrying yard cranes, also gave it a water salute.
The Vizhinjam port is being constructed under the public-private partnership model. The Adani Group is the private partner in the development of what will become one of the largest ports in the world, once commissioned.
The project, initially scheduled to be commissioned in 2019, was delayed due to several issues related to land acquisition.
Tiger kills forest guard at Jim Corbett reserve
A tiger mauled a forest guard to death while he was on patrolling duty at the Jim Crobett Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand on Wednesday, reported The Times of India.
The tiger pounced on forest guard Pawan Kumar in the Paterpani area, leaving him bleeding profusely.
He was rushed to a medical facility, where he succumbed to his injuries.
Court denies poor cooking skills as grounds for divorce
The Kerala High Court has held that a wife not preparing food for her husband due to a lack of cooking skills cannot be termed as cruelty for the purpose of dissolving a marriage.
The ruling by a division bench of Justices Anil K. Narendran and Sophy Thomas was made in a man’s petition to seek divorce on the ground that his wife was not ready to cook for him.
The woman dismissed the allegations and contended that her husband had sexual perversions.
India aims to send astronaut to the Moon by 2040
India aims to send an astronaut to the Moon by 2040, the government has said. The country’s goals also include plans for a space station by 2035.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced these ambitions on Tuesday, and asked scientists to also work on missions to Venus and Mars.
The Indian Space Research Organisation is working on the Gaganyaan project, which aims to send a human crew to an orbit of 400km and bring them back safely to land in Indian waters.
Cricket captain pulled up for speeding on highway
Even as India geared up for their fourth match of the ongoing cricket World Cup against Bangladesh in Pune yesterday, skipper Rohit Sharma found himself in trouble en route to reaching the city after he was issued three tickets by the traffic police for speeding on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.
A report in the Pune Mirror said that the 36-year-old drove his Lamborghini at speeds in excess of 200kmh and even touched 215kmh during his journey to Pune, from Mumbai, to join his teammates ahead of the match.
India wants to host Olympic Games in 2036
India is interested in hosting the Olympic Games in 2036, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday, at the opening ceremony of the International Olympic Committee session in Mumbai.
The country has never hosted the Olympics, though it has hosted the Commonwealth and Asian Games.
“India will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to organise the Olympics in India in 2036,” said Mr Modi.
“This is the age-old dream of 1.4 billion Indians, it is their aspiration.”
