Highway authority files caveat in HC

NEW DELHI: Caught napping by GMR moving Delhi High Court to stop NHAI from encashing the performance security of Rs 260 crore after it served the termination notice on Kishangarh-Udaipur-Ahmedabad project, the highway authority has filed a caveat before the same court against GVK which has also served termination notice for Shivpuri-Dewas stretch. NHAI is also looking into the aspect of "debarring" GMR from future bidding.

Sources said that GVK has submitted at least Rs 100 crore as performance security to NHAI for the project. Though the authority has responded to the company's notice, there are chances of the firm exiting from this work. Officials said the viability of the project has "gone down on account of reduced traffic, increase cost of construction" and the company finding it difficult to raise equity. The NHAI has filed the caveat anticipating that GVK might follow GMR's footstep to get a stay on NHAI encashing the security amount.

Meanwhile, another infrastructure major IVRCL Group which had bagged 6-laning of Gundugolanu-Rajahmundry section on NH-5 in Andhra Pradesh, has also filed a caveat before Delhi High Court fearing NHAI might encash its security amount after it sought some clarification on "contract condition".

This case comes up for hearing on January 23.

Read More..

Report: Death rates from cancer still inching down

WASHINGTON (AP) — Death rates from cancer are continuing to inch down, researchers reported Monday.

Now the question is how to hold onto those gains, and do even better, even as the population gets older and fatter, both risks for developing cancer.

"There has been clear progress," said Dr. Otis Brawley of the American Cancer Society, which compiled the annual cancer report with government and cancer advocacy groups.

But bad diets, lack of physical activity and obesity together wield "incredible forces against this decline in mortality," Brawley said. He warned that over the next decade, that trio could surpass tobacco as the leading cause of cancer in the U.S.

Overall, deaths from cancer began slowly dropping in the 1990s, and Monday's report shows the trend holding. Among men, cancer death rates dropped by 1.8 percent a year between 2000 and 2009, and by 1.4 percent a year among women. The drops are thanks mostly to gains against some of the leading types — lung, colorectal, breast and prostate cancers — because of treatment advances and better screening.

The news isn't all good. Deaths still are rising for certain cancer types including liver, pancreatic and, among men, melanoma, the most serious kind of skin cancer.

Preventing cancer is better than treating it, but when it comes to new cases of cancer, the picture is more complicated.

Cancer incidence is dropping slightly among men, by just over half a percent a year, said the report published by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Prostate, lung and colorectal cancers all saw declines.

But for women, earlier drops have leveled off, the report found. That may be due in part to breast cancer. There were decreases in new breast cancer cases about a decade ago, as many women quit using hormone therapy after menopause. Since then, overall breast cancer incidence has plateaued, and rates have increased among black women.

Another problem area: Oral and anal cancers caused by HPV, the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus, are on the rise among both genders. HPV is better known for causing cervical cancer, and a protective vaccine is available. Government figures show just 32 percent of teen girls have received all three doses, fewer than in Canada, Britain and Australia. The vaccine was recommended for U.S. boys about a year ago.

Among children, overall cancer death rates are dropping by 1.8 percent a year, but incidence is continuing to increase by just over half a percent a year. Brawley said it's not clear why.

Read More..

James Holmes' Elaborate Booby Trap Plan Revealed

A gasoline-soaked carpet, loud music and a remote control car were part of an elaborate plan by accused Aurora gunman James Holmes' to trick someone into triggering a blast that would destroy his apartment and lure police to the explosion while he shot up a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., according to court testimony today.

FBI agent Garrett Gumbinner told a Colorado court about Holmes' complex plans to booby trap his apartment. Gumbinner said he interviewed Holmes on July 20, hours after he killed 12 and wounded 58 during the midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises."

"He said he rigged the apartment to explode to get law enforcement to send resources to his apartment instead of the theater," Gumbinner said.

Click here for full coverage of the Aurora movie theater shooting.

His plan failed to prompt someone into triggering the bombs.

Gumbinner said Holmes had created two traps that would have set off the blast.

The apartment was rigged with a tripwire at the front door connected to a mixture of chemicals that would create heat, sparks and flame. Holmes had soaked the carpet with a gasoline mixture that was designed to be ignited by the tripwire, Gumbinner said.

"It would have caused fire and sparks," the agent said, and "would have made the entire apartment explode or catch fire."

James Holmes: Suspect in Aurora Movie Theatre Shootings Back in Court Watch Video

Police Testify at Hearing for Accused Colorado Gunman Watch Video

New Jersey Missing Teens: Body Pulled From Lake Watch Video

Holmes had set his computer to play 25 minutes of silence followed by loud music that he hoped would cause a disturbance loud enough that someone would call police, who would then respond and set off the explosion by entering the apartment.

Gumbinner said Holmes also told him he rigged a fuse between three glass jars that would explode. He filled the jars with a deadly homemade chemical mixture that would burn so hot it could not be extinguished with water.

Holmes set a second detonation system outside the building, the agent said.

Holmes, Gumbinner said, rigged one of the triggering devices, called a "pyro trip box" with a remote control. He then took the remote control outside and placed it on top of a white trash bag near the apartment building.

Next to the remote, Holmes placed a remote control car. Inside the trash bag, he put a portable stereo set to play 40 minutes of silence, followed by loud music, the agent said.

The plan, Gumbinner explained, was for someone to hear the music and be drawn to the remote control car with what appeared to be the remote control lying next to it. When that person picked up the remote to activate the car, he or she would have unknowingly triggered the explosion in the apartment.

Holmes also left rows of white powder on the floor, which Gumbinner said was ammonium chloride. The powder, Gumbinner believes, was meant "to scare us" and would have created a large amount of smoke if it had ignited.

Prosecutors showed several photographs of the devices in court.

Holmes legally bought thousands of bullets, four guns and chemicals, months before prosecutors say he opened fire on a crowded movie theater, an ATF agent testified today.

Click here for more details on his deadly arsenal.

Earlier in the day, prosecutors played two 911 calls in court, including the very first call from movie goer Kevin Quinonez as the shooting was still underway.

At least 30 rapid-fire gunshots could be heard in the background of the 27-second call, along with screaming.

"Gunshots?" Quinonez can be heard saying.

The dispatcher pleads with Quinonez to give the theater address, but the sound of gunshots and chaos drowns him out.

Read More..

U.S. does not rule out complete pullout from Afghanistan after 2014

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration does not rule out a complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan after 2014, the White House said on Tuesday, just days before President Barack Obama is due to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

The comments by U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes were the first signal that, despite initial recommendations by the top military commander in Afghanistan to keep as many as 15,000 troops in the country, the final decision may be to remove everyone, as happened in Iraq in 2011.

Asked about consideration of a so-called zero-option once the NATO combat mission ends at the end of 2014, Rhodes said: "That would be an option that we would consider."

"Because again, the president does not view these negotiations as having a goal of keeping U.S. troops in Afghanistan," he added, saying the objective was to ensure the training and equipping of Afghan forces and combating al Qaeda.

Rhodes, lowering expectations of any breakthrough in the talks with Karzai at the White House on Friday, said it would be months before a final decision is made on troop levels.

In Iraq, Obama decided to pull out all U.S. forces after failing in negotiations with the Iraqi government to secure immunity for any U.S. troops who would remain behind.

The Obama administration is also insisting on immunity for any U.S. troops that remain in Afghanistan, and that unsettled question will figure in this week's talks between Obama and Karzai and their aides.

Jeffrey Dressler, an Afghanistan expert at the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War who favors keeping a larger presence in Afghanistan, questioned what battlefield conditions would allow for a complete U.S. pullout.

"I can't tell that they're doing that as a negotiating position ... or if it is a no-kidding option," Dressler said. "If you ask me, I don't see how zero troops is in the national security interest of the United States."

U.S. officials have said privately that the White House had asked for options to be developed for keeping between 3,000 and 9,000 troops in the country, a lower range than was put forward initially by General John Allen, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan.

Allen suggested keeping between 6,000 and 15,000 troops in Afghanistan.

(Reporting By Matt Spetalnick and Phil Stewart; Editing by Eric Beech)

Read More..

'Gun Appreciation Day' to be held in US

WASHINGTON: American gun enthusiasts can express their zeal on an upcoming "Gun Appreciation Day" right before Barack Obama is sworn in for a second term as president.

A new coalition of gun rights and conservative groups is urging Americans to show support for the right to carry firearms by turning out in large numbers on January 19 at gun stores and firing ranges. Obama's swearing in is to be take place two days later.

"The Obama administration has shown that it is more than willing to trample the Constitution to impose its dictates upon the American people," said Gun Appreciation Day chairman Larry Ward.

In the wake of the shooting last month in Connecticut which claimed the lives of 20 small children and six elementary school workers, Obama said he will support a new bill to restore a ban on military-style assault weapons.

Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation and chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, said: "We need to ban politicians who assault our rights, not firearms that are used thousands of times a day to protect lives and property from criminal attack."

The second amendment to the US constitution guarantees the right to bear arms.

The pro-gun day is the initiative of a dozen or so associations which say they expect support from some 50 million Americans. The country's most powerful gun lobby, the National Rifle Association, is not among the organisers.

- AFP/jc

Read More..

Alagiri men in shock, but silent on Stalin elevation

CHENNAI: As bouquets and greetings poured in for M K Stalin a day after DMK chief M Karunanidhi's dramatic announcement that his younger son would inherit the throne, there was a tell-tale silence on the Madurai turf of his older brother M K Alagiri on Monday. Sources said the mood in the Union minister's camp was one of shock, disappointment and despondency rather than anger.

If silence in the opposite camp can be considered a tacit acceptance of Stalin as the next DMK chief, one could say Karunanidhi has ended the succession war with a single, calculated stroke. There have been no voices of dissent following the announcement by Karunanidhi which effectively sidelined Alagiri, the party's south zone organizing secretary and perceived for the past few years as one of the contenders for the top post.

"Kalaignar (Karunanidhi) is the final authority and we abide by his decision. All we ask is due respect for Annan (Alagiri)," said a veteran DMK functionary and Alagiri supporter. So subdued have been the reactions that the Alagiri camp is now uncertain whether his supporters, who were gearing up to put up a gala show on January 30, which happens to be his birthday, would go ahead with the celebrations.

Alagiri, once the unquestioned strongman of Madurai, preferred not to react on Monday even as some leaders and cadres who have been his ardent supporters tried to come to terms with the DMK patriarch's verdict. But none was ready to make a comment, fearing disciplinary action. At a meeting of the DMK district secretaries on Sunday, Karunanidhi had openly lambasted Alagiri loyalist Murthi, indirectly sending out a warning that any rebellion would be quelled.

A report from Madurai said the Alagiri camp had virtually thrown in the towel seeing the writing on the wall. "Alagiri was made the pointman in southern Tamil Nadu by Karunanidhi and the leaders and cadres owing loyalty to the Kalaignar had naturally gravitated towards the elder son. So if Karunanidhi today has chosen to name Stalin as his successor, then these sections have already deserted Alagiri and rallied around the prince-in-waiting," a senior DMK leader observed.

The balance has been steadily tipping in Stalin's favour despite the DMK's dismal performance in the 2011 state assembly elections as he made a conscious effort to reach out to Alagiri's supporters, some of them in jail for alleged land grabbing, and recruit members for the youth wing by keeping out kin of senior leaders owing allegiance to his elder brother. 'Stalin's formula' as it has come to be known had also ensured that age limits were adhered to while picking organizers and deputy organizers for the youth wing. After the recent death of Alagiri supporter Veerapandi Arumugam, who dominated the western belt, Stalin has made huge inroads and weaned away the rest of the local leaders.

While Karunanidhi has seemingly suppressed any kind of dissent with his categorical announcement that Stalin would succeed him, it is early days yet. It remains to be seen if Stalin can marshal together the support of all the family members, particularly his belligerent brother Alagiri, who has always opposed his elevation within the party when his father was still in charge. Party seniors are waiting with fingers crossed to see what happens on January 19 when Stalin will be in Kanyakumari, technically an Alagiri stronghold, to take part in a protest. Sources said Alagiri's faithful followers may keep away from the event, just like their leader.

Read More..

Organ donations fall in Germany after scandal

BERLIN (AP) — Organ donations have dropped sharply in Germany following a scandal over alleged corruption at several transplant clinics.

The German Foundation for Organ Transplantation says the number of organs donated fell almost 13 percent to 3,917 last year, the lowest figure in a decade.

Several German clinics are being investigated over allegations that doctors manipulated waiting lists to help some patients appear sicker than they were and so receive transplants sooner.

The foundation said Monday that the scandal had "massively shaken" the public's faith in the transplant system.

Some 12,000 people in Germany require organ transplants each year.

Read More..

Cops Break Down as They Describe Aurora Horror

Two veteran police officers broke down on the stand today during a preliminary hearing for accused movie theater gunman James Holmes, with one officer choking up when he described finding the body of a 6-year-old girl inside the theater.

Sgt. Gerald Jonsgaard needed a moment to compose himself as he described finding the little girl, Veronica Moser Sullivan, in the blood splattered theater in Aurora, Colo.

An officer felt for a pulse and thought Veronica was still alive, Jonsgaard said, but the officer then realized he was feeling his own pulse.

A preliminary hearing for Holmes began today in Colorado, with victims and families present. He is accused of killing 12 people and wounded dozens more in the movie theater massacre. One of Veronica's relatives likened attending the hearing to having to "face the devil."

The officers wiped away tears as they described the horror they found inside of theater nine.

Officer Justin Grizzle recounted seeing bodies lying motionless on the floor, surrounded by so much blood he nearly slipped and fell.

Grizzle, a former paramedic, says ambulances had not yet made it to the theater, so he began loading victims into his patrol car and driving to the hospital.

"I knew I needed to get them to the hospital now, " Grizzle said, tearing up. "I didn't want anyone else to die."

Arapahoe County Sheriff/AP Photo

James Holmes Tries to Harm Himself, Sources Say Watch Video

Aurora, Colorado Gunman: Neuroscience PhD Student Watch Video

Grizzle drove six victims in four trips, saying that by the end there was so much blood in his patrol car he could hear it "sloshing around."

Click here for full coverage of the Aurora movie theater shooting.

An officer who took the stand earlier today described Holmes as "relaxed" and "detached" when police confronted him just moments after the shooting stopped.

The first two officers to testify today described responding to the theater and spotting Holmes standing by his car at the rear of the theater on July 20, 2012. He allegedly opened fire in the crowded theater during the midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises."

Officer Jason Oviatt said he first thought Holmes was a cop because he was wearing a gas mask and helmet, but as he got closer realized he was not an officer and held Holmes at gunpoint.

Throughout the search and arrest, Holes was extremely compliant, the officer said.

"He was very, very relaxed," Oviatt said. "These were not normal reactions to anything. He seemed very detached from it all."

Oviatt said Holmes had extremely dilated pupils and smelled badly when he was arrested.

Officer Aaron Blue testified that Holmes volunteered that he had four guns and that there were "improvised explosive devices" in his apartment and that they would go off if the police triggered them.

Holmes was dressed for the court hearing in a red jumpsuit and has brown hair and a full beard. He did not show any reaction when the officers pointed him out in the courtroom.

This is the most important court hearing in the case so far, essentially a mini-trial as prosecutors present witness testimony and evidence—some never before heard—to outline their case against the former neuroscience student.

The hearing at the Arapahoe County District Court in Centennial, Colo., could last all week. At the end, Judge William Sylvester will decide whether the case will go to trial.

Read More..

Five accused in India rape case charged in court

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Five men accused of raping and murdering an Indian student were read the charges in a near-empty courtroom on Monday after the judge cleared out lawyers for bickering over whether the men deserved a defense.

The 23-year-old physiotherapy student died two weeks after being gang-raped and beaten on a moving bus in New Delhi, then thrown bleeding onto the street. Protests followed, along with a fierce public debate over police failure to stem rampant violence against women.

With popular anger simmering against the five men and a teenager accused in the case, most lawyers in the district where the trial will be held refuse to represent them.

Before the men arrived for a pre-trial hearing on Monday, heckling broke out in a chamber packed with jostling lawyers, journalists and members of the public after two of the lawyers, Manohar Lal Sharma and V. K. Anand, offered to defend the men.

"We are living in a modern society," declared Lal Sharma, defending his decision. "We all are educated. Every accused, including those in brutal offences like this, has the legal right ... to defend themselves."

One woman lawyer prodded V. K. Anand in the chest, saying: "I'll see how you can represent the accused."

Unable to restore order, presiding magistrate Namrita Aggarwal ordered everyone to leave except the prosecution, and set police to guard the entrance.

She said the trial would now be held behind closed doors because of the sensitivity of the case.

FACES COVERED

Reuters video images showed the men stepping out of a blue police van that brought them from Tihar jail and walking, their faces covered, through a metal detector into the South Delhi court building.

The court was across the street from the cinema where the victim watched a film before she was attacked on her way home.

Aggarwal gave the men copies of the charges, which include murder, rape and abduction, a prosecutor in the case told Reuters.

Police have conducted extensive interrogations and say they have recorded confessions, even though the men have no lawyers.

If the men, most of them from a slum neighborhood, cannot arrange a defense, the court will offer them legal aid before the trial begins.

Two of them, Vinay Sharma and Pawan Gupta, have offered to give evidence against the others - Mukesh Kumar, Ram Singh and Akshay Thakura - possibly in return for a lighter sentence.

Mohan, describing what he called a heinous crime, said: "The five accused persons deserve not less than the death penalty."

The case has sharpened long-standing anger against the government and police for a perceived failure to protect women.

A male friend who was assaulted with the woman on December 16 said on Friday that passers-by left her unclothed and bleeding in the street for almost an hour and that, when police arrived, they spent a long time arguing about where to take them.

The woman lived for two weeks after her attack, dying in a Singapore hospital where she had been taken for treatment.

FAST-TRACK COURT

Aggarwal said the next hearing would be on January 10. The case is due to move later to another, fast-track court set up since the woman was attacked to help reduce a backlog of sex crime cases in Delhi.

Legal experts say the lack of representation for the five men may give grounds for appeal if they are found guilty. Convictions in similar cases have often been overturned years later.

Some legal experts have also warned that previous attempts to fast-track justice in India in some cases led to imperfect convictions that were later challenged.

The sixth member of the group alleged to have lured the student and a male friend into the private bus is under 18 and will be tried in a separate juvenile court.

The government is aiming to lower the age at which teenagers can be tried as adults, acknowledging public anger that the boy will face a maximum three-year sentence.

The victim was identified by a British newspaper at the weekend but Reuters has opted not to name her.

Indian law generally prohibits the identification of victims of sex crimes. The law is intended to protect victims' privacy and keep them out of the glare of media in a country where the social stigma associated with rape can be devastating.

The dead woman's father repeated on Monday that he wanted her identified and said he would be happy to release a photograph of her.

"We don't want to hide her identity. There is no reason for that. The only condition is it should not be misused," he told Reuters.

He said he was confident the trial would be quick and reiterated a call that the perpetrators be hanged.

(Writing by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Robert Birsel and Tom Pfeiffer)

Read More..

Obama set to nominate Hagel as defence secretary

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama is poised to nominate Chuck Hagel as his new defence secretary on Monday, but Republicans are signalling a fierce confirmation fight even though he is one of their own.

Obama has decided he wants the 66-year-old former Republican senator to succeed Leon Panetta at the Pentagon and will make his announcement on Monday, an administration source told AFP, confirming US media reports.

Obama is also expected to announce who he has chosen to replace David Petraeus at the helm of the CIA, with acting director Michael Morell and counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan seen as the frontrunners, CNN said.

Despite the fact that Hagel is a fellow Republican, party heavyweights scenting blood in bitterly-divided Washington have accused him of hostility toward Israel and naivety on Iran, auguring a tough nomination process ahead.

The top Republican in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, praised Hagel when he left his Nebraska seat in 2009 for his "clear voice and stature on national security and foreign policy," but his tone was markedly different on Sunday.

"He ought to be given a fair hearing like any other nominee, and he will be," McConnell told ABC. "I'm going to wait and see how the hearings go and whether Chuck's views square with the job he would be nominated to do."

But over on CNN, leading Republican Senator Lindsey Graham did not shy away from a full-frontal attack, saying Hagel would be "the most antagonistic defence secretary towards the state of Israel in our nation's history.

"Not only has he said you should directly negotiate with Iran, sanctions won't work, that Israel must negotiate with Hamas, an organisation, terrorist group, that lobs thousands of rockets into Israel.

"He also was one of 12 senators who refused to sign a letter to the European Union trying to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation," Graham said.

Hagel would be an "in-your-face" and "incredibly controversial choice" by Obama that would probably represent a "bridge too far" for him and a lot of other Republicans, he said, before adding that the hearings would provide the expected nominee with a chance to "set some of this straight."

Hagel, a decorated Vietnam veteran, is known for a fiercely independent streak and a tendency to speak bluntly. Some Republicans have never forgiven him for his outspoken criticism of ex-president George W. Bush's handling of the Iraq war.

If confirmed by the Senate as Pentagon chief, Hagel will have to manage major cuts to military spending while wrapping up the US war effort in Afghanistan and preparing for worst-case scenarios in Iran or Syria.

Administration appointments are often tense affairs in the United States as the confirmation hearings provide senators with opportunities to turn away unwanted candidates or score cheap political points, or both.

Unyielding opposition from Graham and two other top Republicans, senators Kelly Ayotte and John McCain, last month derailed the ambition of US envoy to the United Nations Susan Rice to become the next secretary of state.

Rice, a longtime member of Obama's inner circle, had been a favourite to succeed Hillary Clinton as the nation's top diplomat.

But her role as administration defender over the attack that killed the US ambassador to Libya in Benghazi on September 11 drew her into a furious row with Republicans keen to dent Obama after his re-election victory.

Rice folded her bid on December 13 and asked Obama not to pick her. A week later the president nominated Senator John Kerry, who is expected to face little Republican resistance, not least because his Senate seat in Massachusetts will now be up for grabs.

Seen as having come off second-best against Obama in the New Year fight over the "fiscal cliff," after being forced to agree to tax hikes on the richest Americans, Republicans appear to be girding for another fight.

However, it is unusual for presidential nominees for cabinet posts to be voted down by the Senate, and Obama's Democrats currently hold the potentially decisive majority in the upper house.

Should Republicans choose to use an obstructive tactic known as the filibuster to prevent the matter from being brought to a vote, Obama would only need to woo a handful of their number to see his nominee confirmed.

- AFP/jc

Read More..