AHMEDABAD, India - A woman paid with her life when she refused money to her drunkard, unemployed husband for buying liquor. In an argument that The argument soon turned violent and in a fit of rage the woman identified as Manjula poured kerosene on herself and threatened to set herself alight if he did not mend his ways. The irate husband took a matchbox and set his wife on fire, the police said.
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Indian spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is keen to play the peacemaker in war-torn Sri Lanka. Claiming that he enjoys the trust of both the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers, Ravi Shankar says he does not need any invitation to act to try ending one of the world's longest running armed conflicts.
Ravi Shankar, 51, is the founder of Art of Living, which enjoys millions of followers worldwide. He has visited Sri Lanka thrice, the last time in September.
MUMBAI, India - The on-going doctors' strike in Maharashtra forced a woman to deliver in a cab. The woman, Seema Bano, was on her way to the government-run Baba Hospital in Bandra, north Mumbai, but was denied admission by the striking doctors.
The frantic couple then rushed to a private nursing home nearby, but on the way Bano went into labour and delivered a baby girl in the taxi itself, without any medical help.
The mother and baby are doing fine. The doctors have apologized for the incident.
MOIDA, India - The Noida police claimed to have arrested the gang leader behind the spate of crimes here when gangsters shot dead a former airhostess, attempted to kill a retired army officer and robbed three people. Noida Senior Superintendent of Police A.S. Ganesh told newspersons that Mukesh alias Mukhia Yadav, the leader of the gang, was nabbed after they put his telephone under surveillance. After the arrest, the police recovered a mobile robbed from Sheeba Thomas, a former air hostess of Virgin Atlantic who was killed and several guns.
HYDERABAD, India - About 30 child labourers were rescued, including from the homes of senior government officials and those working with multi-national companies, during raids in upscale colonies in this city over the weekend. The raids were significant as several top officials and people from the film industry reside in the two targeted areas. A girl child working as a maid in a top government official's house was also rescued.
According to officials, the city has more than 50,000 child labourers. A majority of them are working as domestic workers.
KATHMANDU, Nepal - A supporter of embattled King Gyanendra who fought the crucial election rooting for monarchy was killed by unidentified assailants in Nepal's Terai plains raising fears of post-poll violence. Rudra Bahadur Singh, who contested the constituent assembly election from Nawalparasi district in southwest Nepal, was gunned down in his own residence. Singh was a candidate from the controversial Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal, the only big party to have fought the crucial election in support of monarchy. Singh is the fourth contestant to have been killed in connection with the twice-postponed polls.
PANIPAT, India – Hitching a ride on a truck cost a young engineer in Haryana his life after the truck crew set him on fire for not paying them for the ride. The youth had taken a lift from the truck crew neat Samalkha town, 25 km from here. The police officials who investigating the case said it appeared that the truck crew picked up an argument with the youth as he got down from the vehicle over the payment for the ride. "It is believed that they asked for Rs.100 and he was ready to pay only Rs.25. This led to an argument and they poured diesel on him and set him on fire," a police official said.
PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Taliban officials executed three people in public for allegedly killing a teenager in the South Waziristan region. The three people, one of whom was identified as an Afghan national, were killed by a Taliban firing squad after being accused of homicide. The Pakistani news agency said Taliban officials conducted a probe into the crime before deciding to publicly execute the suspects.
CHENNAI, India - The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India has filed a Right to Information request with the Ministry of Railways asking what action it has taken to protect elephants from being knocked down by speeding trains. On Feb 11, three elephants including a pregnant jumbo were killed after they were hit by a speeding train near Coimbatore. The elephant herd was crossing the rail track in the early hours of the morning. According to Sandeep Tiwari of the Wildlife Trust of India, more than 110 elephants have been killed in train-hits since 1987. This year at least six such deaths have been recorded so far.
