Tuesday, February 15, 2011, Chandigarh, India
Updated at 2:30 am (IST)

India’s UN bid faces China wall
Premature plans will undermine unity among UN members, says China
New Delhi, February 14
China today yet again sought to stonewall India’s attempt to secure a permanent seat in the expanded UN Security Council (UNSC). Presetting results for reforms or forcing premature plans would not only undermine the unity of UN member states, but would ultimately harm the UNSC reform process itself which was not in line with anybody’s interests, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ma Zhaoxu said in response to a question on the ongoing debate at the UN on reforming the Security Council.

(From left): Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood of country music group Lady Antebellum pose with their awards at the 53rd annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. The group bagged five Grammys.

( L-R) Gareth Unwin, Emile Sherman, Colin Firth, Tom Hooper and Iain Canning pose with the best film award for 'The King's Speech' at the British Academy of Film Awards at the Royal Opera House in central London — AFP

Rahman loses out on BAFTA 
London, February 14
Music maestro AR Rahman lost out on a British Academy of Film and Television Arts award in the Best Original Music category to Alexandre Desplat, who bagged the trophy for his score in ‘The King’s Speech’. The Oscar-winning musician was in the race for his second BAFTA award after being nominated for Danny Boyle’s ‘127 Hours’.
British actress Helena Bonham Carter. — AFP

Karnataka HC quashes pleas of 5 Independent legislators
Bangalore, February 14
In a major relief to the BJP government in Karnataka, the high court today dismissed petitions filed by five Independent MLAs, who had challenged their disqualification by Assembly Speaker KG Bopaiah.

RCom favoured for dual-tech licence: Tatas
Say Ambani’s firm, others got permission even before the policy came
New Delhi, February 14
A day after Reliance Communications (RCom) accused old GSM operators (Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Idea) of fraudulently causing a huge loss to the exchequer, Tata Teleservices today rebutted a portion of that statement and alleged “it is indeed special and intriguing that Reliance Communications and two other operators (HFCL and Shyam Telecom) applied and got the DoT approval even before the dual-technology licence policy was announced”

Death in custody triggers violence
Mob torches Hansi police station; DSP injured 
Hisar, February 14
A furious mob today torched a police station and a police post at Hansi  town, 25 km from here, following the death of a resident of Sainipuira village in police custody.The jeeps of the Deputy Superintendent of Police and the Station House Officer (SHO) and six mobikes parked at the police station were set ablaze. The mob also threw stones, injuring at least six policemen, including DSP Amrik Singh. The trouble began when the body of Subhash, a resident of Sainipura, was found hanging from the ceiling of the police lockup this morning. He had been detained last night on charges of creating public disorder.

A police Gypsy that was set afire by a mob at Hansi, near Hisar, on Monday. A Tribune photograph

Relief for Rahat in currency case
New Delhi, February 14
Noted Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan was released from custody this evening by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) following a 28-hour detention. The release reportedly came after Pakistan applied diplomatic pressure on India. Rahat was detained at the Indira Gandhi International Airport yesterday for possessing a large amount of foreign currency which he had not declared to the authorities in violation of laws.

Army to probe leak of Howitzer gun trial report New Delhi, February 14 The Army on Monday said a probe has been ordered into the leak of a classified field trial report of the M-777 ultra-light Howitzer guns, which are being purchased by it from the US. Know the Howitzer gun M-777 ultra-light Howitzer guns are capable of firing 155 mm ammunition. These can be slung under an Mi-26 chopper and placed at a desired location within a short period  A total 160 Howitzer guns are being procured for $ 647 million from the US  These are meant to arm 10 regiments of the Army in mountainous areas