Rathore gets interim relief
Allowed bail till Jan 7 if he’s arrested
Panchkula, January 1
Tainted former Haryana top cop SPS Rathore today got interim relief from a court here that allowed him bail till January 7 if he is arrested for the two fresh cases registered against him in connection with the Ruchika molestation episode.

CBI to take over cases

Row over Ruchika’s ‘stepmother’ resurfaces
Panchkula, Janauary 1
The controversy over Veena, the alleged stepmother of Ruchika, once again surfaced in the Panchkula court today when Abha Rathore, counsel and wife of former DGP SPS Rathore, claimed that Subhash Girhotra had got married to Veena in 1991.

Fallout of Ruchika case
Trial in sexual offences within 2 months
New Delhi, January 1
Taking a stern step, which seems to be a fallout of the Ruchika molestation and suicide case, the Union government has carried out crucial amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) that will enable speedy trials in all sexual offences, including rape.

India, Pak exchange lists of N-plants
New Delhi, January 1
Despite the chill in bilateral ties, India and Pakistan continued with the tradition of exchanging lists of nuclear installations on the New Year day. But in another development, India took strong exception to the reported remarks of the so-called chief minister of Gilgit-Baltistan in which he said Gilgit-Baltistan had become the ‘fifth province’ of Pakistan and henceforth had no connection to Kashmir.

Nepal Army to decorate Gen Deepak Kapoor
Kathmandu, January 1
Indian Army chief Gen Deepak Kapoor will be visiting the Himalayan republic this month to be decorated with the honorary title of general of the Nepal Army. Gen Kapoor, who assumed office in 2007 and kicked up a controversy last month by opposing the induction of Nepal’s former Maoist guerrillas into the Nepal Army, will resume the tradition of Indian army chiefs visiting Nepal to receive the honour after four years.

Who benefits out of Delhi Games?
New Delhi, January 1
The 2,500-year-old city of Delhi is going through a makeover. The Ridge, the Yamuna, and much else is being transformed in the run-up to the Commonwealth Games in 2010. The avowed aim is to make Delhi a “world-class” city. Says Amita Baviskar, a sociologist, who has studied the changing urbanisation patterns of Delhi, “World class is a meaningless term. Delhi’s own character makes it unique, its history and connection with two ecological features the Ridge and the Yamuna make it distinctive.”

Some relief likely on chill front New Delhi, January 1 There is some good news on the weather front on the first day of 2010. The Indian Meteorological Department today said cold wave conditions, which have been prevailing over plains of northwest India, including Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, in the past one week are likely to abate from January 3.