Crime returns to Bangalore: Woman hacked in BTM Layout

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

Bangalore:
A young woman was hacked to death on Monday evening by two bike-borne assailants in full public view on 7^th Cross, BTM Layout.
    Divya S, 23, an employee of a private company, was heading to her NS Palya home at 6.45pm when the two men blocked her. They slashed her repeatedly on the neck and face with a machete before speeding away on their twowheeler, which bore no registration number. It was all over in 40 seconds, eyewitnesses told TOI.
    While some shocked passersby ran away, others tried to stop the assailants. The rush-hour traffic was blocked for nearly 30 minutes, and police had a tough time clearing vehicles and shifting Divya to Sagar Hospital on Bannerghatta Road.
    Divya succumbed to her injuries at 9pm. Her family members said she breathed her last even before she was taken to the operation theatre.
    Deputy commissioner of police, southeast, PS Harsha told TOI: “We have definite clues about the assailants and will arrest them shortly.”
    The incident took place a stone’s throw away from the IPS officers’ colony, where senior officers, including DG&IGP-in-charge A R Infant and former city police commissioner Shankar Bidari, reside.
    Divya worked as administrative head with a private footwear-manufacturing company in Koramangala. She is survived by her parents and three sisters. Hailing from Kundapur, the family shifted to Bangalore around five years ago.
    Last month, a friend of Divya is reported to have proposed to her, but she said “no” as she had already chosen her life partner, a friend of hers said. Divya’s colleagues said she moved around with the man, making him think she was in love with him. He hacked her without any mercy: eyewitness 
Bangalore: The brutal killing of Divya S, a private firm employee, on a busy street in BTM Layout sent shockwaves through the area.
    Eyewitnesses said they froze as the gory scene unfolded before them. Narayana Gowda, accountant with a private firm, was sipping tea, and close to him, two men were sitting on a grey Yamaha motorbike.
    “The place is full of eateries and it is common to see men sitting on bikes,” he said. Narayana, a resident of Kadirenahalli, said: “I saw this girl walking towards the circle. Suddenly, the man on the pillion pulled out a machete and ambushed her. He swung the machete towards her head and her skull cracked open. Blood pumped out like a fountain. I could not believe what I saw,” he said.
    The rider started the bike and they sped away towards Ragi Gudda, leaving the machete behind. “Though some of us tried to stop them, they vanished in no time. The bike had no registration number and the rider was wearing a full-face helmet,” another eyewitness told TOI. The news spread quickly, and Divya’s friends and colleagues gathered near Sagar Hospital. The main suspect appears to be a friend who had proposed to her, and who she had turned down.
    “We know the name of the man, but we’re not revealing it for investigation purposes,” a senior police officer said.

Divya S

Divya’s father Shyam (R) and a relative are inconsolable after her death

CRIME SITE: The spot where S Divya was murdered at BTM Layout, on Monday; (left) The sword used to kill the girl

Bangalore Metro Update: Metro from Peenya by the year-end

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

Bangalore: The wait for Peenya-Malleswaram commuters to hop on to the Metro is getting shorter. Trial runs on the stretch will begin by the last quarter of this year. 
    BMRC chairman and managing director N Sivasailam on Monday said tracks have been laid on Reach 3 and 3A, starting from Malleswaram to Peenya depot, which will be followed by the third rail. “This time, we are laying the third rail after track work is completed to prevent damage,” he said. 
WAITING FOR NOD Sivasailam said BMRC has been waiting for three-and-ahalf years to get clearance for constructing a viaduct above the railway line. Except for the 66-metre span over the railway line in Srirampura near Malleswaram, civil works on the track of the northern line are over. “We have written to the Railways to give clearance for the viaduct. We are also awaiting permission from the commissioner for railway safety,” he said. 
    He hinted that the entire northern reach is ready for operations but for the Malleswaram station. It can start from the northern depot up to the station on Maha Kavi Kuvempu Road. 
FEDERAL BANK CARD On Monday, Federal Bank officially became the merchant banking partner for Reach 3 and 3A (northern line), allowing account holders to swipe their debit or credit cards to travel by the Metro. Those who don’t have accounts can swipe their Metro travel card or SBI travel card to commute between Malleswaram and Peenya. Federal Bank will be the channel to transfer the money collected at automated fare-collecting gates at the entrance and exit of the stations. 
    Referring to the MoU with the bank, Sivasailam said: “This is an indication to commencement of the northern line connecting Malleswaram and Peenya. Over the next few weeks, we will sit with bank members to fix technical platforms for them in the stations on the 12.4-km stretch. Security implications have to be taken into account.” The bank will have to keep their counters ready two to three months before the line is operational, he added. 
    On having different banking partners for the stretches, Sivasailam said: “The idea is to make travelling simpler. The banks are selected through bidding and we hope they will help commuters having travel combo cards.” 
HOW LONG A WAIT? Reaches 2, 4 and 4A will open in 9-12 months Underground section will open by March-April 2013 Overall project will be completed by 2014

Common entrance test to IITs, IIITs, NITs from 2013

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: A common national test for admission to engineering courses across the country that takes into account Class XII board exam marks will be introduced from 2013. All aspirants will have to
give two exams — JEE main and JEE advanced — to be held on the same day.
The aspirant’s set of scores will decide whether he or she will be eligible for admission to the premier Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), centrally funded institutions like NITs or IIITs or state-funded institutions.
For admission to IITs, students will be shortlisted on the basis of their cumulative score for Class XII and the main test (50% weightage each). Class XII marks will be standardized on percentile basis by a formula worked out by the Indian Statistical Institute. The merit list will be decided on the candidate’s performance in the advance test. For students who have appeared for Class XII board in 2012, the council has decided that they may be allowed to sit for the board exam again if they would like to improve their performance. CBSE and state boards will be asked to make appropriate arrangements.
The decision, after two years of consultations and deliberations, was taken at a meeting with the joint councils of IITs, NITs and IIITs. The All-India IIT Federation has submitted a dissent note at the meeting continuing with their insistence that the exam be postponed till 2014 and Class XII be given a maximum of 40% weightage.
FOR THAT DREAM SEATStudents eyeing seats in IITs, IIITs and NITs will appear for two examinations — JEE Main and JEE Advanced
For IITs, cumulative scores of Class XII and the main test (50% weightage each) will be considered
For centrally funded institutes like NITs and IIITs, Class XII marks will carry 40% weightage, 30% each of JEE Main and JEE Advanced scores
JEE Main will be a multiple-type paper; the nature of JEE Advanced will be determined by IITs’ Joint Admission Board 3 states OK new IIT exam format 
New Delhi: Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal on Monday admitted “resistance’’ from the IIT system to the government’s proposal to introduce a common entrance test for IITs, IIITs and NITs from the next academic year.
The minister pointed to two key concessions that have been made. The first demand of the IIT Senates and faculty federations was academic control, including paper-setting, evaluation and preparation of merit list over the exam. The faculty also wanted that main exam scores be used in addition to the board exam to shortlist eligible students.
In turn, Sibal has managed to get the IIT Council to agree to the introduction of the common entrance test next year itself. The minister added that states like Haryana, Maharashtra and Gujarat had already agreed to adopt the new format.
An education ministers’ meeting on June 5 will be crucial to gauge interest among states who will have the freedom to decide their own weightages within the format.
Stressing that this will reduce mental and financial burden among aspirants Sibal said the new system would ensure better results in school and cut down dependence on coaching institutes.
For admission to all the centrally funded institutes like NITs and IIITs, there would be 40% weightage for performance in Class XII (after normalisation of marks), 30% weightage for main test scores and 30% for the advanced test. Explaining the selection of candidates under the new format, IIT-Kanpur director Sanjay Dhande said results of advance test of only those students who have crossed the “barrier” of the 50% weightage to board marks and mains will be counted while preparing the merit list. PATTERN OF NEW ENTRANCE TEST 
Common admission test for engineering institutions will be introduced from the 2013 academic session
A joint entrance exam for undergraduate courses will be conducted in two parts: JEE main and JEE advanced
All students will give both the main and advanced tests on the same day
The Class XII board exam and the main exam will have 50:50 weightage which will be used by IITs for screening candidates
Only a fixed number of candidates (about 5 times the number of seats for admission to IITs or a pre-fixed cut-off) will be screened on the basis of merit of this cumulative score (Class XII and JEE main marks in the 50:50 ratio) and will be eligible for admission to the IITs
Two merit lists will be prepared, one for the IITs and the other for centrally funded institutions. The ranking for admission to IITs will be based entirely on performance in the JEE advanced exam
For all other centrally funded institutions, IIITs and NITs the weightage of the board exam will be 40%, along with 30% weightage for the main exam and 30% weightage for the advanced exam
The JEE main will be multiple choice, objective type questions. The modalities related to JEE advance test will be worked out. All academic matters, including paper setting, evaluation and preparation of merit list will be done by joint admission board, part of the IIT system
The IITs have approved shifting to the 40:30:30 system by 2015
Candidates will have three sets of scores. So, each state can choose to give appropriate weightage for admission to their institutions. This will ensure students do not have to give multiple tests

Sreerag Love Killed Him

Gayathri wracked by guilt over her deadly stratagem
Her rejection is being cited as the reason for Sreerag ending his life
Sharath Sarma Kalagaru bmfeedback@indiatimes.com


    Be happy and be cherished for what you are. Let others be jealous of how happy you are but never let a gaze fall on you...” techie Sreerag wrote to his unseen girlfriend before committing suicide. But his last wish has turned into an antithesis for 23-year-old Gayathri.
    Instead of being happy, this telemarketing employee is now reeling under guilt. Instead of making others feel jealous, she is being sneered at for the prank that went wrong. Instead of not letting a gaze fall on her, she has become the cynosure of all eyes. While Gayathri has been weeping inconsolably for the last five days, the police point towards her and say, “We would not have been investigating this case had both Sreerag and Gayathri been straight and frank with each other.” She is now in depression.
    Sreerag, a native of Kozhikode in Kerala, committed suicide inside his car in Mahadevapura after his marriage proposal was turned down by Gayathri, whom he became close with on a social networking site in January. Gayathri had introduced herself as Jennifer and mailed him a friend’s photograph, claiming it was her. After looking at the photograph, Sreerag was head over heels in love. But he got dejected when Gayathri told him that she was engaged to a London resident and took the extreme step.
    “I was a bit scared when I received his e-mail, but I never thought he would end his life. I thought he was threatening, like boys usually do in such situations. When I heard of his death on television, I started trembling out of fear. I didn’t know how I became close to him, I was very happy that he was in love with me.
    But with his death, I am only filled with guilt,” a police officer quoted Gayathri as saying.
    Gayathri reportedly told the police, “I was hardly noticed by guys. When Sreerag came in, I became close to him on the phone and through chat. When he insisted on seeing me, I sent him the photo of a good-looking girl as I did not want him to be disappointed. I feared losing him. I was very happy that someone was in love with me. But when his interest became intense, I did not have the courage to go before him. I cooked up a story that I was getting married to another guy. I wanted him to move on, but did not expect him to end his life.”

Kolkata Knight Riders 2012 IPL Champions

TOI

Gautam Gambhir’s Kolkata Knight Riders score 192/5, the highest target ever achieved in an IPL final, to win with 2 balls to go and deny Chennai Super Kings a hat-trick of titles

Twists & Turns
CSK race to 190/3 as Suresh Raina comes good with 38-ball 73
Player of the season Sunil Narine gets just one of the first 13 overs, which allows CSK batsman to get into groove. Ends with 0/37
Gambhir, IPL 5’s second-highest runscorer with 590 runs, falls early. But Manvinder Bisla (89) and Jacques Kallis (69) post 136-run stand to swing match back for KKR
Michael Hussey catches a Kallis slogsweep but topples over boundary as a dismissal turns into a six on the last ball of the 16th over
Kallis holes out off a Hilfenhaus full toss in the second-last ball of the 19th over as KKR seem to be choking on the brink of victory
With KKR needing 16 runs off 7 balls, Shakib al-Hasan is caught off Hilfenhaus but it’s called a no-ball for being above waist height and the batsmen run 2. Shakib then hits a 4 as a single ball costs CSK 7 runs
Batting at No. 7, Manoj Tiwary (9 runs off 3 balls) finishes off match in final over

I want to apologize to the kids for my misbehaviour at MCA. I shouldn’t have behaved in that manner. But today my team has won, so I guess all you fans should forgive me Shah Rukh Khan |
KKR OWNER



A STAR IS BORN
Man of the match Manvinder Sultansingh Bisla, 27, blazed 89 off just 48 balls. The Hisarborn wicketkeeperbatsman earlier played for Deccan Chargers and Kings XI Punjab. Was approached during recent TV sting on match-fixing but refused to take the bait