Yuvraj has cancer, undergoing chemotherapy in US
New Delhi: Yuvraj Singh, who played a stellar role in India's ODI World Cup triumph last year, has been diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy in the United States.

The 30-year-old left-hander has been in US since last month being treated for what was earlier claimed to be a tumour in the lungs by his family.

But it has now been diagnosed as malignant and Yuvraj is currently undergoing chemotherapy in the Cancer Research Institute in Boston.

His physiotherapist Dr Jatin Chaudhary, however, assured that the ailment is curable and the batsman would be fit to resume cricket in ... Read More

Review petition likely against Supreme Court verdict in 2G case: Digvijay
PTI

Hyderabad: The Supreme Court judgement cancelling the licences of telecom companies in 2G spectrum allocation case is likely to be challenged by way of a review petition, AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh said here today.

"If there is something wrong with the allotment of licence, the CBI is already inquiring into it.

"At the same time, by cancelling the licence, some of the companies which have already gone ahead and built up infrastructure, got large clientele, what will happen to them.

So it is an order which has to be challenged. It will be challenged," he told reporters, adding, "Probably, a review ... Read More

Sridevi to help NRI women
One of Bollywood's most reclusive divas is all set to break free of her unapproachable image to reach out to thousands of women across the world.

Sridevi has so far restricted her limitless talents to her on-screen roles, keeping herself aloof from life beyond the camera and and beyond the domain of her domesticity.

That is about to change. The shy hermetic diva is about to come out and reach out to a very special galaxy of Indian women across the world: the NRI housewives who find themselves isolated in foreign lands due to linguistic constraints.

To rewind a bit, ... Read More

Schwarzenegger's warmth bowls over Indian fans
"We have been following him and his movement for a long time. He is very passionate towards his work. He was very generous and listened to people very attentively. The actor has left his star status behind long back and has beautifully moulded himself in this form," a woman delegate, who didn't wish to be named, told IANS Thursday.

Schwarzenegger has no starry airs and it was quite evident when he was going up to each and every person and introducing himself, said Rajiv Chhibber, manager, corporate communications TERI.

"You would not see any star of his stature going and introducing himself ... Read More

WHY DR. GROVER?S CASE SHOULD BE CONSIDERED A HATE CRIME
Paul Winn

Please click on the following link and sign a petition that is being delivered to Prime Minister Harper : http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/justiceforchandergrover

Dr. Chander P. Grover is a Canadian Citizen of South Asian origin who was employed as a senior internationally recognized scientist at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC). In 1986 he became the target of racial discrimination by NRC management.

There did not seem to be any ends to which the NRC management was prepared to go to suppress and demean an individual or group that somehow offended their perverse sensibilities about non-white employees. An example of ... Read More

Gilani refuses to investigate the president for corruption
Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan's Supreme Court has summoned Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to appear February 13 to be charged with contempt of court, his lawyer said Thursday.

The move raises the stakes in a long-running battle over the court's demand that the prime minister investigate President Asif Ali Zardari, among others, for suspected corruption.

Gilani has refused, saying the head of state is immune from prosecution.

If he is found guilty of contempt, Gilani could be forced from office, but his lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan said Thursday that Gilani would keep his position unless electoral officials disqualified him.

Ahsan said he was advising ... Read More

Canadian accused of bribing minister Praful Patel
Greg Mcarthur, David Montero and Stephanie Nolen

The RCMP have implicated a Canadian tech executive in an alleged bribery and bid-rigging scheme that involves prominent public figures in India at a time when outrage over corruption has paralyzed its Parliament.

The federal Justice Department is planning to prosecute businessman Nazir Karigar, an Indian-born Canadian citizen on charges that he violated the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act � a law that forbids the payment of bribes abroad. The case is scheduled to be heard at Ottawa�s Ontario Superior Court of Justice in September.

More than four years in the making, ... Read More

Grape seed extract kills cancer cells
Washington: Cancer cells, which kill nearly 12,000 people in the US alone every year and affect more than half a million worldwide, could be eradicated with grape seed extract, reveals a study.

The extract creates conditions unfavourable for the cancers' growth by damaging both their cells' DNA and stops the pathways that allow repair.

"It's a rather dramatic effect," said Rajesh Agarwal, study investigator at the University of Colorado Cancer Centre and professor at the Skaggs School of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

"Cancer cells are fast-growing cells. Not only that, but they are necessarily fast growing. When conditions exist in which they can't grow, ... Read More

US proposes changes in H-1B, F-1 visas
Washington: Amidst pending comprehensive immigration reform, the United States has proposed several steps - including changes in the F-1 and H-1B visas - to attract foreign skilled workforce, a move likely to benefit professionals from countries like India.

Prominent among these reforms include providing work authorisation for spouses of certain H-1B visa holders, 17-month extension of optional practical training (OPT) for F-1 international students to include students with a prior degree in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, allow for additional part-time study for spouses of F-1 students and allow outstanding professors and researchers to present a broader scope of evidence of ... Read More

Indian cabinet minister in bribery scandal asks his PM for help
Greg Mcarthur

An Indian cabinet minister who says he has been unfairly implicated in a foreign bribery case in Ottawa has called on his Prime Minister to intervene with Canada to ensure that he and the Indian government aren’t caused more “embarrassment.”

Praful Patel, India’s Minister of Heavy Industries and a former aviation minister, also called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to open up the books of Air India to clear up any suggestion of his involvement in what the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has called a bribery and bid-rigging scheme at the state-run airline.

In a Globe and Mail report Wednesday, ... Read More

India's growing defence market
By Arup Roychoudhury

REUTERS - India plans to spend about $100 billion over the next 10 years to upgrade its largely Soviet-era military equipment, as Asia's third largest economy looks to match its military power with its economic clout.

In what has been described as one of the world's most dangerous regions, with three nuclear-armed countries bordering each other, India's fears of the rising might of China and threats from Pakistan -- along with a underdeveloped aerospace industry -- have made it the world's leading weapons importer. That makes it a lucrative market for firms such as Boeing and Dassault .

The following ... Read More

India's low-cost tablet hits headwinds
Stephanie Nolen

But just as Datawind rolls out its first shipments under a government contract, it is battling reports that the device has disappointed users in initial tests and that the company violated terms of its deal.

Datawind CEO Suneet Singh Tuli said accusations against the company are driven by envy, sour grapes and corruption in the Indian media. His firm has followed its contracts to the letter, the device does everything it was meant to, and a deluge of orders for the ultra-cheap tablet speaks for itself, he said.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development, which commissioned the product, did not ... Read More

Indian top court scraps scandal-hit telecom licenses
By Harmeet Shah Singh, CNN

New Delhi (CNN) -- India's supreme court Thursday ordered the cancellation of 122 cellular permits that have been at the center of a multibillion-dollar scandal involving the country's booming telecommunication sector, attorneys said.

A telecom minister awarded the licenses in 2008. The former minister -- A. Raja -- is in jail for his alleged role in what is believed to be a rigged sale of radio waves to companies.

Lawyer Prashant Bhushan called the judgment "historic."

"It will change the manner in which corruption will be examined and dealt with in the country," said Bhushan, also the petitioner.

The top ... Read More

Immigration system will bring in more tradespeople: Kenney
By Robert Hiltz

OTTAWA — Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says changes are coming to Canada’s immigration system to make it more flexible in an effort to combat labour shortages.

Kenney told CTV’s Question Period that the government is planning to change the points system for selecting immigrants to recognize the skilled trades. This policy change would alter the focus of the traditional immigration preference for university-educated migrants including engineers and doctors.

“People who are skilled tradespeople have an almost impossible job of coming to Canada under our current system because the skilled worker program basically selects people with advanced ... Read More

Human Rights Watch slams India's record
The global report released on Monday pointed out that immunity for abuses committed by security forces also continued, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir, the northeast, and areas facing Maoist insurgency.

However, the report found that killings by the Border Security Force (BSF) along the Indo-Bangladesh border decreased dramatically.

"India, the world's most populous democracy, continues to have a vibrant media, an active civil society, a respected judiciary, and significant human rights problems," the report said.

The report highlights that India is yet to repeal laws or change policies that allow de jure and de facto impunity for human rights violations, and has failed ... Read More