A 19-year-old student, who set himself on fire Saturday during protests over the Telangana issue, succumbed to his burns at a hospital here early Sunday.

A police officer said Siripur Yadaiah, who sustained 80 per cent burns, died at Apollo DRDO Hospital.

Yadaiah, a class 12 student of New Nobel Junior College in the city, set himself ablaze at about 2 pm on Saturday at the main gate of Osmania University when the police stopped hundreds of students from marching towards the assembly to lay siege.

A resident of neighbouring Ranga Reddy district, Yadaiah poured kerosene and set himself on fire, shouting the slogan Jai Telangana. The youth, who was immediately engulfed in flames, ran towards policemen standing at a barricade as hundreds watched in shock.

Eye witnesses said he fell down after running for about 50 metres and the policemen tried to put out the flames. He was taken to the hospital, where he succumbed after battling for his life for nearly 12 hours.

The police shifted Yadaiah's body to his native Nagaram village after autopsy and handed it over to relatives.

A suicide note recovered from his bag revealed that he had come prepared to take the extreme step at the university, the nerve centre of Telangana movement where another student committed suicide January 19.

In the suicide note written in Telugu, Yadaiah said he was an orphan and had lost his parents in childhood.

"I was hopeful of getting a job in separate Telangana state but it appears that the separate state will not be formed. I am laying down my life for the cause of Telangana and many more will do so till the goal is achieved," the note said.

Leaders of students' Joint Action Committee (JAC) and pro-Telangana parties reached the village to attend the last rites of Yadaiah.

Meanwhile, the university campus remained tense after students-police clashes in and around the campus Saturday evening. The students staged angry demonstrations after Yadaiah's self-immolation. They pelted stones on policemen, who retaliated with baton-charge.

Police Saturday foiled the JAC's plan to lay siege to the assembly demanding resignation of all elected representatives from Telangana to protest terms of Srikrishna panel formed by the central government to look into the Telangana issue.

Pro-Telangana parties have rejected the terms of reference saying they were not favourable to formation of Telangana state, which was promised by the central government through a statement December 9 last year.
 

(malathi)

Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has decided to submit her resignation as the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, according to an aide of hers.

She is expected to step down from the post on the opening day of the Budget session of the Assembly on Monday, he said.

Raje had sent her resignation to the party high command on October 23 last year but it was not forwarded to speaker Deependra Singh Shekhawat. The BJP central leadership had asked Raje to quit the post in August following BJP' s poor performance in the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls.

He said that Raje decided to quit after holding discussion with some of her loyalists late Sunday night.
 

(malathi)

The rupee appreciated by 20 paise to 46.10 a dollar in the early trade on Monday in line with other firming Asian currencies.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the rupee appreciated by 20 paise to 46.10 a dollar. The domestic currency had closed 2 paise lower at 46.30/31 in the previous session on Friday.

Forex dealers said rupee gained against the dollar in line with other Asian currencies. Besides, fresh capital inflows by foreign funds into equities also supported the Indian rupee, they added
 

(malathi)

Pranjali is 20 days old. And she shouldn't be alive. But this infant is made of something stronger. For what baby, only merely days old, would survive a nail shoved down her throat, and live to prove the tale?

In a horrific case, an infant barely more than a fortnight old was brought to Nair Hospital from a remote village in Dahanu with a rusty nail embedded in her chest. Fortunately for her though, doctors at the hospital who rushed to save her life got the nail out before she breathed her last. A three member team of doctors that included Dr Milind Navalakhe, Dr Shalika Jaiswal and Dr Meenal Harde conducted the risky operation on the child and she is now recovering in the hospital's NICU.

But the doctors at Nair hadn't seen the worst. 'When the baby was brought to the ENT specialist in Dhanau, the child was gasping and the doctors found strips of cloth stuffed down the baby's throat. He then did a chest scan revealing the nail. What's more is that when we extracted the nail, it was wrapped in cloth and tied with string. That is very odd for an accidental injury,' said Navalakhe.

Meanwhile Pranjali's parents were in a state of shock. Her mother Bharti Machi (26) said that she was home alone with her other daughter Kasturi (5) when the incident happened. 'She began to cry and we didnÂ't know what to do. We saw that she was bleeding and we took her to a nearby hospital. She was then brought her,' said a weeping Bharti whose husband Dinesh of eight years works at a bobby pin factory in Dahanu. 'We are so scared. We don't know who did it,' she said.

'The case is currently under investigation,' said Nair hospital dean R V Rananavare. 'It is however a miracle that she survived. It wouldn't have happened if our doctors had not made the timely intervention.' Cases have been filed with both the Agripada and local Dahanu police stations
 

(malathi)

London, Feb 22 (DPA) Britain's up-and-coming star Carey Mulligan won the best actress category at the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs) Sunday in London, where Kathryn Bigelow scooped up the best film and best director awards for her Iraq war drama 'The Hurt Locker'.

Mulligan, 24, took the prize for her lead role in the British-made film 'An Education', based on a novel by Nick Hornby on the adolescent life of journalist Lynn Barber.

In what was a true veteran versus newcomer contest, Mulligan beat competition in the best actress category from Meryl Streep for 'Julie & Julia' and Audrey Tatou for 'Coco Before Chanel'.

Shaking with emotion, Mulligan said after winning the award: 'I really didn't expect this at all, so I didn't think of anything to say. Thank you so much, BAFTA. I was here a year ago, and I didn't imagine in a million years that this would happen'.

Bigelow said she was overwhelmed by the dual recognition of best film and best director for her war epic, as she became the first woman in BAFTA history to win the best director award.

She fought off competition including ex-husband James Cameron, whose sci-fi blockbuster 'Avatar' had also been nominated in both categories.

'Avatar' and 'The Hurt Locker' had eight nominations each for best film, as did 'An Education'.

'This is beyond our wildest dreams. This is so unbelievable, we're just so deeply honoured and humbled,' said Bigelow.

British actor Colin Firth won the best actor award for his part in 'A Single Man'.

At the start of the ceremony at London's Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Prince William, 27, was announced as the new president of BAFTA, taking over from veteran filmmaker Richard Attenborough.
 

(malathi)

New York, Feb 22 (IANS) Tiger Woods may have apologized to the whole world Friday, but one of his mistresses is fuming at the golfer for not mentioning her and all the 18 other women in his life in his statement. She has termed his apology 'phony.'

Mistress number 10 and Playboy model Loredana Jolie Ferriolo has told the New York Post that she is disturbed by Woods' omission of his mistresses' names in his apology statement. She said he might have apologized to everyone in the universe but not her and the 'other women' in his life.

Ferriolo, who is also allegedly a call-girl, said Woods owed all of them an apology because he is responsible for dragging their names into the mud, according to the tabloid.

'He didn't mention anything about the girls (he had trysts with),'' the Playboy model told the Post.

She said, 'It seems like he was just brushing it off and not getting into it. I think he should've mentioned something in regards to the girls - an apology or something.

'He was saying how the media was harassing him and going around after his kids, disturbing his family. But I'm sure all the girls have dealt with the same. I have, my life has changed drastically.''

Calling his apology 'phony,' the mistress number 10 said, 'He just didn't seem genuine enough and it was very much scripted.

'It just didn't sound like it came from him, it was more like someone wrote a script and he just read it. I think they wanted to hear more about him going back to play, his fans especially.''

She said, 'He was definitely nervous and he kept saying constantly that he needs help, he kept saying that he needs help and needs a lot for guidance and a lot of people's support, so I believe that's why it was scripted.''

According to the Post, another mistress and porn star Joslyn James, who claims to have been impregnated by the golfer, says she is 'open to a telephone apology from Tiger'' because 'I didn't deserve this.''

Mistress number 2 Jaimee Grubbs has also demanded an apology from Woods.
 

(malathi)

South Asian nations including India would not be able to eradicate poverty and ensure minimum education for all by 2015, according to a new poverty index to be released next week in Delhi.

The Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) 2009 has found that South Asia will get 80 points on the index by 2015, 10 points higher than the present value of 70. India has got 68 points in the index, an increase of a meagre four points since 2004.

The global NGO Social Watch's index of over 130 countries says a score of 100 points defines the well being of citizens based on children getting education till the primary level, the child mortality rate and the percentage of births attended by skilled labourers. The BCI does not use income as an indicator. "The index shows that despite our (India's) economic growth, we are still way behind on providing basic amenities to people," said Amitabh Jha, of Social Watch-India, a conglomeration of civil society groups in India.

Working on similar well-being criteria, the Suresh Tendulkar committee in December had said 38 per cent of Indians are poor. The index to be released on Monday in an international workshop agrees that providing basic facilities to all, as committed in the millennium development goals, is still a challenge for India.

The index, however, said that South Asia, a region with the worst BCI showing in 2004, has been making fast progress, but the situation is still "extremely critical". Since 2004, the report said, one-third of the countries failed to raise their BCI value by more than one per cent and only one out of six countries showed significant progress. "Most of the countries in the world are very far from achieving the social objectives committed to for 2015," said Roberto Bissio, coordinator of the Social Watch secretariat.

The index also tells about the increasing gap in the living standards of the rich and poor in the world. The highest BCI value is 97 for Iran and the lowest is 44 for Chad in Africa, followed by Afghanistan, Ethopia, Bangladesh and Nepal. "There is an enormous gap in living conditions between the nations with the highest average BCI (north America) and regions with the worst (Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia)," the report said. Bissio said the index can guide policy makers on the social impact of economic growth and the social progress of nations in comparison to that of others.
 

(malathi)

New Delhi, February 22 (ANI): Lal Krishna Advani was unanimously elected as the working chairman of India's main opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Sunday, while regional Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav took over as the convenor of the coalition. BJP Deputy Leader RS SS Ahluwalia informed this on the same day.

The two changes in the NDA hierarchy were made in view of the health condition of chairman and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and outgoing convener George Fernandes.
 

(malathi)

New Delhi, February 22 (ANI): Lal Krishna Advani was unanimously elected as the working chairman of India's main opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Sunday, while regional Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav took over as the convenor of the coalition. BJP Deputy Leader RS SS Ahluwalia informed this on the same day.

The two changes in the NDA hierarchy were made in view of the health condition of chairman and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and outgoing convener George Fernandes.
 

(malathi)

New Delhi, Feb 22 (IANS) The government had a 'zero tolerance' policy towards terrorism and remained vigilant against all forms of challenges posed by the threat, President Pratibha Patil Monday said.

'Zero tolerance of terrorist activities is our principled policy. We have to keep constant watch and innovate against global terrorist groups,' Patil said, addressing a joint sitting of both houses of parliament on the opening day of the budget session.

Detailing some measures taken by the government to strengthen the security apparatus, Patil said the establishment of the four National Security Guard (NSG) hubs, the operationalisation of the National Investigation Agency and strengthening the Multi-Agency Centre that analyses intelligence alerts on a real time basis had helped hinterland security.

'The overall internal security, law and order and the communal situation remained largely under control during 2009. Infiltration of terrorists from across the line of control in Jammu and Kashmir has gone up,' she said.

'Even then, the security situation has improved significantly in Jammu and Kashmir as well as the north east, but left wing extremism continues to be a significant cause of concern.'
 

(malathi)