Sunday night routine behind bus rape

New Delhi: The six December 16 gang-rape accused would habitually drink through Sundays and take out the chartered school bus at night to pick up sex workers, a senior police officer said.

Police sources alleged that the accused, charged with murder after the victim's death on Saturday, had tried to run her and her male friend over after throwing them out following the assault, but the friend had somehow dragged the victim away from the vehicle's path.

"On Sundays, the accused would first take the bus out to ferry passengers, earn extra bucks and buy more liquor. At night, they would pick up roadside sex workers and have sex inside the bus," the officer said.

On December 16, a Sunday, the victim, a 23-year-old trainee paramedic, and her friend had boarded the bus at night thinking it was a public bus.

Slapgate

True to its nature, the Indian Hindi film industry had its own share of drama, death, fights, sleaze, controversy, comebacks, corruption, commercial success and failure, and nudity, in 2012. The same ingredients that some of the Bollywood films employ to tease, titillate, torture or teach its committed audiences. Here are some of the most interesting Bollywood events from the year 2012

 

It was supposed to be a success party but it ended up being one of the most controversial events of this year. A slanging match turned into fisticuffs and superstar Shah Rukh Khan ended up slapping estranged friend Farah Khan’s husband Shirish Kunder.

12 Celebrities who made news by Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

 

Aishwarya’s post-pregnancy weight-gain was the focus of much debate and discussion. Ash tried her best to cut down on public appearances during the final stages of her pregnancy and managed to shield her baby girl from the paparazzi for almost 10 months. However, sections of the media and some of her fans slammed her when she was snapped at some Bollywood dos looking chubby and sporting a double chin.

South Africa seek to build on top spot

South Africa will seek to consolidate their top place on the world Test rankings when they play New Zealand in a two-match series starting at Newlands on Wednesday.

The series shapes up as a mismatch, with eighth-ranked New Zealand hit by injuries and the withdrawal of former captain and star batsman Ross Taylor, but coach Gary Kirsten said the South Africans would not take victory for granted.
Kirsten said South Africa wanted to start a busy year of Test cricket on a strong note after capturing and then retaining the number one spot with successive away series wins against England and Australia.
"We had a good meeting around the year ahead," said Kirsten. "We're likely to have ten Test matches in 2013, and what we do as a team is set our goals about what we want to achieve for the year. The New Zealand series will be an important stepping stone to that.

Narendra Modi

From shaking up the very foundations of the Indian government to stirring up unseemly controversies, from showing incredible courage in the face of extreme adversities to losing a reputation built over years of hard work in just a blink of an eye, from setting the electoral hustings afire with golden speeches to getting into trouble for not speaking at all, there were many 'newsmakers' in 2012 who caught the common man's imagination. Some made it for stellar reasons, others for all there is wrong with the society. Here are 12 'newsmakers' that deserve a mention.

From an obscure party worker to becoming a powerful political brand, Narendra Damodardas Modi's evolution as a leader with prime ministerial ambitions makes an interesting story. When he took over the reins of Gujarat he was relatively unknown but the torching of the Sabarmati Express train in Godhra and the subsequent riots in the state changed his political fortunes.

Facebook IPO

Perhaps the biggest tech story of 2012 was the highly anticipated event of Facebook going public at a whopping, previously unheard valuation of $100 billion.

Virat Kohli Indias performer of the year

 

Virat Kohli had proven his talent long ago. As the previous year’s highest scorer in ODIs, he had also demonstrated his capability to shine on the international stage. So just how did 2012 become the year of Virat Kohli?

For one, Kohli showed that he had the ability to focus on his game.  Till recently the brash batsman from Delhi was more in the news for his angry young man attitude and lavish lifestyle. Reacting to abusive crowds with the middle finger and to his own dismissals with a selection of expletives didn’t exactly earn him brownie points.

Things changed when India’s new star decided to let his bat do all the talking instead. He was the architect of famous wins in the CB series triangular and in the Asia Cup, bringing India back from the brink of nowhere. He conquered bouncy tracks and hostile bowlers in Australia while all the other established batting legends were struggling to get bat to ball. His performance Down Under cemented his place in the Test side and he was India’s lone positive from the tour.

What further marked Virat’s coming of age, was his ability to master all three formats of the sport. In an era of specialisation, Kohli alone stands out from the new brigade as someone who has seamlessly blended into Tests, ODIs and T20 cricket without having to alter his game.  He has a sound technique against the quicks and spinners alike, but never misses out on the opportunity to play his shots.

With consistency as his watchword and a brief stint as vice-captain under his belt, Kohli is now being touted as the natural successor to both Sachin Tendulkar (as batsman) and MS Dhoni (as captain). Big boots, indeed.

Delhi government announces Rs 15 lakh for rape victims family

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government Monday announced a compensation of Rs.15 lakh to the family of the gang-rape victim who died Saturday.

The government has also announced a government job for one member of her family.

The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, said an official.

The woman was brutally raped Dec 16 and died Saturday in Singapore. She was cremated here Sunday morning.