Friday, January 15, 2010

Hotels to install solar water heaters by March 31

Jaipur, Jan 16 (PTI) Hotel Association of Jaipur has decided that all hotels would install solar water heaters by March 31 as it has been made mandatory by Rajasthan government, its secretary said today.

To emphasise the need of solar energy in hotel industry, a workshop will begin with the collaboration of state energy department here tomorrow, Arvind Agarwal said.

About 300 delegates would take part in the workshop, he added.

The state government in its gazette notification has made it mandatory for hoteliers and industrialists to save electricity and make use of solar energy.

Ruchika case: CBI to meet Ruchika''s father

Chandigarh, Jan 15 (ANI): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that has begun its investigation into all fresh cases filed against former Director General of Police (DGP) SPS Rathore relating to the molestation of Ruchika Girhotra, will meet with Ruchika''s father Subhash Chander Girhotra along with her friend Aradhana''s father Anand Prakash at their Chandigarh camp office on Friday.

Earlier on Wednesday evening, CBI officials visited the Girhotra residence.

The CBI took over the case on Monday (January 12) and is now probing the three new FIRs filed against Ruchika''s tormentor SPS Rathore, including abetment to suicide.

The former cop has been charged for allegedly molesting 14-year old teenager Ruchika Girhotra, a budding young tennis star in 1990s.

Rathore has three cases pending against him in the court; all filed by Ruchika''s family and friends.

Ruchika''s family lawyer Pankaj Bharadwaj had earlier filed two First Information Reports (FIRs) against Rathore.

The lawyer had claimed that the first FIR was filed for forging documents like the inquest report and the other for illegal detention of Ruchika''s brother, Ashu, who was kept in illegal detention at the behest of Rathore and given tortures.
The third case is that of abetment to suicide against him. The family has claimed that Ruchika was expelled from Sacred Heart Convent in Chandigarh due to Rathore''s influence.
Teenager Ruchika had killed herself three years after the incident by drinking poison.

The CBI is investigating whether Rathore drove Ruchika to suicide after she filed molestation charges. An inquiry by the Chandigarh administration has found that Ruchika was unfairly expelled from her school in 1990. The report also concluded that the expulsion took place under pressure from ''an external influence''.

The Special CBI court had earlier held the former cop guilty under Section 354 IPC and sentenced him to six months imprisonment and had imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 on him.
Rathore, had also moved the High Court against the decision of the District and Sessions judge Panchkula, who had rejected his bail plea on January 8 in connection with the two cases registered against him in Panchkula on December 29 last year, under sections 166, 167, 182, 191, 195-A, 201, 307, 340, 471, 506, 120 B IPC. (ANI)

South Korean President to be Republic Day 2010 chief guest

New Delhi, Jan.15 (ANI): South Korean President Lee Myung-bak will be the chief guest at this year''s Republic Day Parade.

Myung-bak is visiting India at the invitation of President Pratibha Devisingh Patil from January 24 to 27, 2010.

President Lee will be accompanied by his wife Mrs. Kim Yoon-ok and a high-level delegation. They will also visit Chennai and Delhi, a MInistry of External Affairs press release said.

President Lee and the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, will hold delegation-level talks and discuss bilateral, regional and global issues.(ANI)

China's claim over Arunachal Pradesh condemned

Arunachal Vikas Parishad (AVP), a social organisation in the North Eastern state, Thursday condemned China's claim over Arunachal Pradesh.

Speaking to media persons here, working president of the organisation Pratik Potom charged that "China is staking claim on Arunachal Pradesh. Years ago China annexed Tibet and made it part of China. Vast Indian territory is under the illegal occupation of China even today," he said.

"We are facing threats from that country these days. China is not issuing visa for the people saying that Arunachal is a part of China. We strongly condemn this claim and oppose all sort of aggression from China," he said.

Alleging that Christian missionaries were converting poor people in the state by giving money and offering other temptations, he said, another problem was infiltration from Bangladesh.

Potom is leading a 115-member team on a week-long tour of Kerala,'Arunodaya 2010' to study the achievements made by like minded organisations in the state.

Three, including soldier, killed in Assam gun battles

Two militants and an army soldier were killed in two separate gun battles Thursday in Assam, security officials said.

A police spokesperson said an army soldier and a surrendered militant of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) were killed in a gunfight at village Pengeri in Tinsukia district, about 550 km east of Assam's main city of Guwahati.

"A group of surrendered ULFA militants attacked a routine army patrol leading to a gunfight. An army soldier and a surrendered militant were killed in the gunfight," an army officer said.

Two other surrendered rebels managed to escape.

"We had information that a group of surrendered ULFA militants were actually working on behalf of the outfit and were indulging in an extortion drive in the area," the officer said.

In another gunfight with security forces Thursday, a militant of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) was killed near village Joldoba in Kokrajhar district, 220 km west of here.

"Acting on a tip-off, a joint team of the army and police launched an operation at Joldoba and killed the militant after a gunfight," a police official said.

A revolver with two rounds of ammunition, huge quantities of Bangladeshi currency and several documents were recovered from the dead militant.

Missing First Lady puts police on edge

Iceland's First Lady gave some anxious moments to the Mumbai police when she went incommunicado for a few hours from her suite at Hotel Trident.

Dorrit Moussaieff, wife of Iceland President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, went "missing" for six hours from the hotel on Monday, following which police were put on alert.

"We were about to launch a manhunt for the President's wife across the city, when she walked into the hotel with shopping bags," a senior officer at Marine Drive police station said.

Dorrit, he said, had gone for shopping and had visited a spa.

The President and his wife, on an official visit to the country, had made a low-key stopover in the city and attended a dinner at Raj Bhavan on January 12.

While Dorrit arrived in Mumbai on Monday morning, the President had reached later in the evening.

At around 1130 hours, Dorrit suddenly disappeared from her suite. "A team of around 25 policemen deployed for her immediately informed us at the police station after which more men were pressed into action," the official said.

Sources in Mumbai police's Protection Branch said as the First Lady did not want a heavy police escort only a few from the Branch accompanied her. The matter was a closely guarded secret and even policemen deployed for her security did not get a whiff of it.