Cong slams Centre over Dawood issue; says govt tarnishing India's image

Congress on Wednesday charged the Narendra Modi government with tarnishing India's image by saying that the location of Dawood Ibrahim was not known, even  when previous governments have maintained that the underworld don lived in Pakistan.

Opposition parties also sought a statement from the home minister on the issue, which the government agreed.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said the enquiry in 1993 Bombay blasts had established that Dawood was the culprit.

In the last 20-22 years, he said the stand of the successive governments; whether that of “Atal or Congress” or any other party has been that Dawood lives in Pakistan.

“Our intelligence agencies have knowledge about his residence and location. We expect the same (stand) from this government. We profusely regret this (that government does not know location of Dawood). This (statement) has maligned the image of the country as never before,” he said.

Maintaining that on several occasions India has given proof to Pakistan of Dawood's involvement, Azad demanded a statement from the home minister on the issue.

The senior Congress leader said during the last general election campaign the United Progressive Alliance government used to be blamed for not being able to get Dawood back from Pakistan.

These conjoined sisters have given up eating for Salman

Saba and Farah Shakeel, 19, who are joined at the head, are so grief-stricken by the news of their ‘bhaiya’s’ sentencing that they are now fasting for his well-being. 

The news of actor Salman Khan being sentenced to 5 years in jail in the 2002 hit-and-run case has shocked several of his fans, with many of them taking to social media to vent their shock and sadness.

In the house of Saba and Farah Shakeel in Samanpura locality in Patna, one can sense the disappointment and the grief.

The conjoined twin sisters, avid fans of Salman, were so grief-stricken by his sentencing that they have refused to eat and are only praying for his well-being. 

“Both Saba and Farah are shocked that the court found Salman guilty. They have decided not to eat lunch. It is still to be seen if they will eat dinner,” said Shakeel Ahmad, the twins’ father.
Speaking about their love for Salman bhaiya, as they refer to him, Shakeel says that the twins have been his fan since childhood. Their love for him grew even stronger when a few years ago, the Bollywood star invited them to his house in Mumbai on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan and gifted the two of them Rs 50,000.

Farah and Saba are joined at the head since birth. Medical tests show that the twins have distinct brains and are neurologically and psychologically normal, but only one of them has kidneys. Abu Dhabi’s crown prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed had earlier offered to pay the entire medical bill for the surgery of the twins but the girls and their family turned down the offer as it could put the life of one of them at risk. Dr Benjamin Carson, an American neurosurgeon, had also offered to operate on the conjoined twins a few years ago. He said that they need a series of surgeries and each surgery would put the life of one of the girls in danger. He found out that the sisters share a vital blood vessel in the brain and Saba doesn’t have a kidney. 

However, in 2013, the Supreme Court had ruled out the option of carrying out a surgery to separate them and ordered the Bihar government to give financial help to the family.

Sound of aliens? Eerie 'X-Files' noises recorded from edge of space

London, May 6 Mysterious 'X-Files' sounds have been heard 22 miles above the Earth.

The recording equipment, which was sent up by a graduate student as part of a Nasa project to record sound from the edges of the atmosphere, captured hisses and whistles in 2014, the Independent reported.

The microphones picked up infrasound, frequencies so low that they can't be heard by human ears, but speeding up the recordings means that the sounds can be heard.

The recordings were taken from a helium balloon in August last year. The and were one of 10 sent out by Nasa as part of the High Altitude Student Platform.

Daniel Bowman, the University of North Carolina student who captured the sounds, said that microphones dangling over New Mexico and Arizona helped get the first infrasound recordings ever taken at such altitudes.

Current guesses include sound from a wind farm, the ocean, wind or vibrations from cables on the balloon, according to Live Science.

The scientists will be sending more devices up as part of the 2015 run of the project, and hope that they can learn more then.

Bowman, who described the sounds as "like the X-Files," said that he was surprised by the sheer complexity of the signal, adding that he expected to see a few little stripes. 

Sania Mirza wants to inspire girls across subcontinent

 Outside Bollywood films, Sania Mirza might be the only Indian success welcomed as warmly in neighbouring Pakistan and the 28-year-old expects her doubles feats to inspire girls on both sides of the border to pick up a tennis racquet.

Mirza has long been the face of the women's game in India and her high-profile cross-border wedding to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik five years ago placed her in a unique position.

Her rise to the top ranking in WTA doubles was hailed in both countries, though they remain suspicious of each after fighting three wars since independence in 1947.

Malik's international career has stalled since his last one-day match two years ago, but Mirza last month became the first Indian to climb to the top after winning the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina, her third successive title partnered with Martina Hingis.

"It feels good," Mirza told Reuters in an interview.

"Me and my husband, we live in a kind of extraordinary situation because we both are professional athletes from different countries who still represent their own country after marriage and I don't think that happens very often.

"We both are very active, still playing and it's great if it can inspire not just people in India and Pakistan but hopefully girls can pick up tennis racquets in the whole subcontinent, really think that sports can be a career option.

"That does not come first to the head of any girl or parent ... Whether it's India, Pakistan or anywhere in the subcontinent, I'd like to believe people hopefully will get a little inspired by this and hopefully things change."

Once a top 30 singles player with a potent forehand, Mirza was the first Indian to win a WTA singles title in 2005, but after battling knee and wrist injuries, feels her switch to doubles has been vindicated.

"I ended my singles career solely for the reason that my body was not just able to take it anymore," said Mirza, calling it a "surreal feeling" to top the doubles rankings.

"I had three surgeries in seven-eight years and in those years ... it was either playing doubles or not playing tennis at all. I love tennis too much to have given up on it so soon."

Finally at peace, Mirza has set herself a couple of goals.

"It would be great to try and get records on how long I stay there and definitely try and win a women's doubles grand slam which has not happened. (I) have come close so many times even though (I) won mixed grand slams. Hopefully try and end the year at one, if not this year, next year."