NATIONAL NEWS

Stating that he acted "not only as a beast but also as a savage", the Delhi High Court Monday upheld life imprisonment for one in the 2002 gang rape of a Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC) student. The other person held guilty by a lower court was set free.

Upholding life imprisonment for Rahul, a division bench of Justices Pradeep Nandrajog and Suresh Kait said: "He (Rahul) acted not only as a beast but also as a savage."

India Monday forecast its economic growth for this fiscal at 7.2 percent, as against 6.7 percent achieved in the previous fiscal, despite a 0.2 percent declined predicted in farm output.

The advance estimates of the country's gross domestic product released by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) forecasts a growth of 9.9 percent in services and 8.9 percent in manufacturing -- the highest among the eight broader economic activities.

Bangladesh's new chief justice, Mohammad Fazlul Karim, has said all judges should declare their assets in the interests of transparency.

"I think everyone should disclosse their assets to ensure their transparency as superior judges (of the Supreme Court)," Justice Fazlul Karim said Sunday after being felicitated as chief justice.

Maoist guerrillas torched a truck and a tractor in a Bihar village early Monday to enforce a 72-hour shutdown to protest a proposed security operation against them, officials said.

The incident took place at Chelabh village near the Maoist stronghold of Sherghati in Gaya district, about 100 km from here, police said. The shutdown entered its second day Monday.

A benchmark index for Indian equities was ruling with a negative bias -- 78 points lower than its previous close -- about 90 minutes into Monday morning trade.

At 10.28 a.m., the 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened weak at 15,931.34 points, was ruling at 15,837.09 points, down 78.56 points or 0.49 percent from its previous close at 15,915.65 points.

A man's right hand was mercilessly severed by a group of moneylenders after he failed to settle a debt of around Rs.600, police in Uttar Pradesh's Hardoi district said Monday.

The incident took place late Sunday in Kachauna town in Hardoi, some 110 km from Lucknow, where four loan sharks chopped off the hand of Bhaiya Lal, who is in his 20s and is a labourer.

A warm cloudy morning greeted Delhiites Monday with the met office forecasting a windy day with some rain in the evening.

"The day could be cloudy since one or two spells of showers are expected. There maybe some hailstorm or thunder squall in some areas also," an official at the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

Can best friends be good life partners? Tennis star Sania Mirza probably didn't think so as she called off her engagement to childhood friend Mohammad Sohrab Mirza due to 'incompatibility' issues.

While it's hard to pinpoint the ingredients of a perfect marriage, psychiatrist Samir Parikh says one reason for incompatibility can be that a commitment happens too quickly, bringing along faulty expectations.