1993 Mumbai blasts: Supreme Court serves notice on enhancing sentences

The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice on 48 appeals filed by the Maharashtra government seeking enhancement of sentence of 67 accused who were awarded varying jail terms by the trial court for their involvement in the 1993 Mumbai blasts.



Since the case was investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), in all the 48 appeals, the state government has moved through the investigating agency.



Besides this, the court listed 58 appeals by the accused, including cine star Sanjay Dutt, challenging their conviction and consequent sentencing. Of these 58 appeals, eight are of those who were awarded the death sentence.



A Supreme Court bench of Justice P. Sathasivam and Justice B. S. Chauhan directed that all said the replies to the notice and the rejoinders should be completed before the matter is taken up for final hearing on January 11, 2011.



The court made it clear that once the final hearing commences, there would no adjournments. Justice Sathasivam said that the hearing would take place on every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday till it concludes.



Even as Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam suggested that the appeals by the state government could be considered as admitted, counsel appearing for one of the convicts, Mushtaq Ahmed, objected to this, saying the CBI has discriminated in filing the appeal against the conviction and sentencing of the accused.



Meanwhile, the court allowed the centre to move an application seeking the shifting of Yusuf Abdul Razak Memon, the younger brother of prime accused Tiger Memon, from hospital to jail. The court extended by four weeks its earlier order allowing Memon to be shifted to hospital for his treatment of schizophrenia.



The court gave its nod after Gopal Subramaniam submitted that the hospital authorities have said Memon was better and was in a position to be moved to the jail. At this Justice Sathasivam said that CBI could move an application and accordingly directions would be issued.

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Security July 24, 2010 6:27 AM Four Ways IPv6 Will Save the Internet

The world is almost out of IP addresses--or at least it's almost out of the IPv4 addresses that IT admins and users are most familiar with. Fortunately, IPv6 has been developed to exponentially expand the pool of available IP addresses while also providing a few other benefits.

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Artwork: Chip TaylorTo address issues with the current IP protocol in use (IPv4), and to add features to improve the protocol for the future, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has introduced IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6). Let's look at a few ways that IPv6 will come to the rescue and save the Internet.

1. More Addresses. IPv6 uses 128-bit addresses rather than the current 32-bit addresses allowing for an exponential increase in the number of available IP addresses. Network routing experts have been aware of the limitations of IPv4 addressing since the 1980's--before most of the world even knew the Internet existed, and before the Web became ubiquitous.

With 32-bits, IPv4 only allows for approximately 4.3 billion IP addresses. Since every Web-connected device--server, desktop, notebook, smartphone, tablet PC, and more--must have an IP address, and since the Web has exploded in countries like China and India, the world is rapidly approaching the end of the available IPv4 addresses.

With 128-bits to use for creating unique addresses, IPv6 is capable of an insane number of IP addresses far exceeding the demands of today's Internet and Web connected devices. Rather than 4.3 billion address limitation of IPv4, IPv6 has enough addresses that every single person on the planet could have billions upon billions assigned to them personally.

2. Backwards Compatible. IPv6 is backwards compatible with IPv4 so that different networks or hardware manufacturers can choose to upgrade at different times without disrupting the current flow of data on the Internet. Given the world's dependence on the Internet and Web for news, commerce, public safety, national security, and more this is an important feature of IPv6.

Eventually, all IPv4 equipment will be replaced by attrition and IPv6 will be the only address protocol in use. But, that could take decades, so backwards compatibility will be crucial for the foreseeable future.

3. Better Security. IPv6 was designed with encryption and authentication in mind. IPsec is an optional security component of IPv4, but in IPv6 it is mandatory. With IPsec each individual data packet is encrypted and authenticated, making many of the malicious attacks plaguing the Internet today impossible--or at least substantially more difficult.

4. Better Performance. Changes have been made to the way IP packets and headers are formed, and to the way IPv6 routers process the packets to improve performance--resulting in fewer missed or dropped packets, and more reliable and efficient connections. With more people and devices sharing the Internet, and higher demands for VoIP (voice over IP) and video streaming, performance will be more critical than ever.

It has been coming for more than two decades, but the IPv4 address crunch is beginning to get very real. Expect to see a spike in IPv6 adoption in the near future

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Karbonn Mobiles graces Indian market with K25

Last month, Karbonn was spotted launching two new handsets namely the K485 and the K777. Extending its portfolio of affordable handsets, the company recently released the stylish Karbonn K25 in the Indian market. Packed with a QWERTY keyboard, this handset is said to offer an immersive multimedia experience and also features an optical trackpad.

The phone enhances convenience as it supports dual SIM and comes integrated with social networking apps like Facebook, Twitter, Opera Mini, Yahoo Messenger and MSN. Incorporated with rich multimedia experience, the K25 offers exceptional sound quality and several equalizer effects.

Additionally, it offers features like FM Radio, video recording, torch and extended memory space up to 8GB. Users can capture vibrant photos with a 2.0 mega pixel camera and the handset also comes enabled with A2DP Bluetooth. The Karbonn K25 blends together interesting features and various style elements.

Users can now grab this attractive handset for an affordable price of Rs. 4400.

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Deepika interested in working with Ranbir

Deepika Padukone, the model-turned actor is presently all smiles, thanks to the success of Housefull, however contrary to popular belief she had to go through the grind as well। She started off in a music video by Himesh Reshammiya and this is when Farah Khan noticed her. She was cast in the super hit Om Shanti Om and Deepika tasted instant success. However, according to the actress it was only after post-Love Aaj Kal that her career graph started to show a rise.

She also talks about playing the role of a blind girl in the forthcoming, Lafangey Parindey. She says that Aditya Chopra had selected her to play the role of Pinky Palkar, the aforementioned blind girl. The character is not jut visually impaired, but is also a dancer on skates. Deepika had to go through rigorous training and self-control in order to perfectly essay this tough role.

It’s also said that Deepika and her co-star Neil Nitin Mukesh have bonded very strongly. She claims that he’s the most encouraging and supportive co-star she ever had.

She also reveals that she wouldn’t mind working with Ranbir, her ex-beau. She doesn’t have any films with him for the time being, but she would like to do one with him, sometime in the future.

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Colombo Test: Sri Lanka dominate Day One

Post-lunch session (107 runs, 33 overs, no wickets):

Soon after resumption Paranavitana completed his fifth Test fifty with a single off Sehwag.

And while he held fort at one end, Sangakkara cut loose at the other.

It didn't take long for the latter to complete his half-century, a boundary followed by a single to mid-on (off Ishant) ensuring him his second 50-plus score of the series -- after his hundred at Galle.

And the captain's confidence brushed in on Paranavitana as well, the opener coming down the track and smashing Harbhajan for maximum to help his side cross the 200-run mark, while also ensuring the 100-run stand for the second wicket.

At tea (after 62 overs), the hosts were 235 for one, having consolidated their advantage to a considerable extent.

Post-tea session (77 runs, 28 overs, 1 wicket):

It was the same story in the final session as well: the Indian bowlers were as unimpressive as they were in the opening sessions.

However, with the Sri Lankan batsmen preferring to relax vis-a-vis stepping up the pedal, this session witnessed runs coming in a trickle.

Paranavitana, resuming on an unbeaten 89, soon completed his second Test century with three runs off Sehwag.

Three balls later, his captain joined him.

Sangakkara, resuming at 80, reached his 23rd Test hundred -- his fifth as a captain -- in emphatic manner, with a boundary towards mid-on.

However, the visitors struck in the next over, with Ishant inducing an inside edge of Paranavitana's blade that clipped the bails.

The second wicket partnership had yielded Sri Lanka a whopping 174 runs even though the batsman dismissed again blew away an opportunity to build further on his score.

Paranavitana's 100 came off 221 balls and was inclusive of 10 hits to the fence and one over it.

Sangakkara and Jayawardene ensured the home side finished the day without any further loss.

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Swine flu adds to gastro agony

LUDHIANA: With the first case of swine flu being reported from Jalandhar, it seems that the health department is not concerned much as the isolation ward meant for swine flu patients is being used for gastro patients.

It seems that the monsoon is already keeping the health department on toes as the gastroenteritis cases are pouring in along with the new scare of the H1N1.

After Lovepreet Singh from Jalandhar tested positive for H1N1 from Regional Testing Lab Department of Virology, his became first case in Punjab this year.

While giving information, one of the officials of the health department said that already the guidelines had been sent to all the districts to get prepared for any kind of emergency. He added that for this all the hospitals had been told to maintain isolation rooms, along with the ventilators.

On the condition of anonymity, one of the medical officer at Civil Hospital said that there was a permanent isolation room but due to high number of gastro cases, it was being used for them.

According to the information last year during the swine flu outbreak in the state, a total of 1,041 beds in the isolation wards were there. Of these, 437 were with civil hospitals while 604 were with the private hospitals. As far as ventilators were concerned, a total of 160 were available and out of this 86 were in the government and 74 in private hospitals.

Dr Deepak Bhatia, state nodal officer, National Integrated Surveillance Department, said that already all the districts had been issued the directions to get ready and make all the necessary arrangements. He added that last week all the districts had been issued the directions to make necessary arrangements.

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In Bihar, women give 'birth' to 5 kids in 2 months

A woman, as everyone knows, usually gives birth to a baby after nine months of pregnancy, but in Bihar 298 women claim to have delivered two to five children in a span of 60 days – at least that`s what records of incentives amount given to new mothers under a government scheme show.

Noted author Aroon Kumar said," this is absolutely shocking that people are misusing the programmes of government to earn money. This is eye -opener for the Bihar government.It must take action against all those who are responsible for looting the money."

A woman gets around Rs1,000 when she gives birth under the government`s Janani Suraksha Yojana but a total of Rs6.6 lakh was paid as incentive to 298 women who claimed to have delivered two to five children within 60 days under the scheme, says a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) that exposes corruption in the state.

"The concerned officials paid incentives under the Janani Suraksha Yojana to these women two to five times in 60 days," the report says.

Unfortunately, thousands of genuine lactating mothers were denied the incentive due to them. The CAG report says that of 470,307new mothers, 97,146 were not provided cash incentives under the Janani Suraksha Yojana for want of funds.

Opposition leaders criticised the state government for the corruption in the implementation of the Janani Suraksha Yojana in the state.

"All this is happening in Bihar when Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is claiming good governance. This is just a trailer of the unbelievable corruption in implementation of welfare schemes," Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) state president Abdul Bari Siddiqui said.

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