1 of 3. People arrive at a district court in New Delhi January 3, 2013. The December 16 attack on the physiotherapy student and a male companion provoked furious protests close to the seat of government in New Delhi and has fuelled a nationwide debate about the prevalence of sexual crimes in India, where a rape is reported on average every 20 minutes.

Credit: Reuters/Adnan Abidi

NEW DELHI | Thu Jan 3, 2013 8:22am EST

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Five Indian men were formally charged in court on Thursday with the gang rape and murder of a physiotherapy student in a case that has generated widespread anger about the government's inability to prevent violence against women.

The December 16 attack on the 23-year-old student and a male companion provoked furious protests close to the seat of government in New Delhi and has fuelled a nationwide debate about the prevalence of sexual crime in India, where a rape is reported on average every 20 minutes.

The woman died of her injuries in hospital in Singapore, where she had been taken for treatment, on Saturday.

The five are accused of assaulting the woman on a bus in New Delhi, leaving her with such severe injuries that she died two weeks later. They were not present in court.

A sixth accused is under 18 and is due to be tried separately in a juvenile court.

A public prosecutor read out charges including murder, gang rape and criminal conspiracy. The court will examine the charges on Saturday, duty magistrate Surya Malik Grover said.

Murder carries the death penalty in India.

The father of the woman said earlier he backed the chorus of calls for those responsible to be executed.

"The whole country is demanding that these monsters be hanged. I am with them," the father told reporters in his home village of Mandwara Kalan in Uttar Pradesh state. The woman was born in the village but the family later moved to New Delhi.

She has not been identified and nor have members of her family, in accordance with Indian law.

In a sign of the depth of feeling surrounding the case, the bar association at the court said none of its members was willing to represent the accused. The court is expected to assign a defense lawyer for the men.

Advocates dressed in black robes protesting outside the court called for fast justice. In the northern state of Kashmir, school girls marched with black ribbons over their mouths and demanded harsh punishment for the accused.

The case is due to be processed by a new, fast-track chamber set up in response to the crime.

While the fast-track procedure has broad support, many lawyers worry new that legislation written in haste could be unconstitutional and oppose introducing the death penalty for rape.

"A swift trial should not be at the cost of a fair trial," Chief Justice Altamas Kabir said on Wednesday.

ANGER

Police have said the accused have admitted to torturing and raping the student "to teach her a lesson". She fought back and bit three of them, a police source told Reuters, and the bite marks are part of the evidence against them.

After throwing her from the private bus, the driver tried to run the victim over but she was pulled away by her companion, a senior police official told Reuters.

Police have prepared a dossier of evidence and charges against the accused, which is believed to run to 1,000 pages, including testimony from the woman's friend who survived the hour-long attack and a man who said he was robbed by the same gang prior to the rape.

Days of protests in New Delhi and other cities followed the attack. Many of the protesters have been students, infuriated by what they see as the failure of the government to protect women.

In the northeastern state of Assam on Wednesday, village women beat a politician and handed him to police for what they said was the attempted rape of a woman, police said. Anti-rape protests have also broken out in neighboring Nepal.

The government has set up two panels headed by retired judges to recommend measures to ensure women's safety. One of the panels, due to make recommendations this month, has received some 17,000 suggestions from the public, media reported.

India's chief justice inaugurated the first fast-track court for sexual offences on Wednesday - a long standing demand of activists to clear a court backlog.

A review of India's penal code, which dates back to 1860, was presented to parliament last month, before the attack, and widens the definition of rape, another demand of activists.

That bill is now likely to be revised further, with chemical castration and the death penalty in rape cases among proposals under consideration.

"We want the laws to be amended in such a stringent way that before a person even thinks of touching a girl, he should feel chills down his spine," said lawyer Suman Lata Katiyal, protesting at the south Delhi courthouse.

Hanging is only allowed in the "rarest of rare" cases according to a 1983 Supreme Court ruling. It was used for the first time in eight years in November when the lone surviving gunman from a 2008 militant attack on Mumbai, Mohammad Ajmal Kasab from Pakistan, was executed.

(Additional reporting by Diksha Madhok, Annie Banerji and Satarupa Bhatgtacharjya in NEW DELHI; and Gopal Sharma in KATHMANDU; Writing by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Robert Birsel)

View the original article here

Policemen stand guard outside the cremation ground during the funeral of a rape victim after her body arrived from Singapore, in New Delhi December 30, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Adnan Abidi

NEW DELHI | Mon Dec 31, 2012 1:35am EST

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - One of hundreds of attacks reported in New Delhi each year, the brutal gang rape and murder of a young medical student in a private bus this month caught authorities and political parties flat-footed, slow to appreciate it had become symbolic of all the others.

In the moments before the December 16 attack, the 23-year-old woman from India's urban middle class, who had recently qualified as a trainee physiotherapist in a private Delhi hospital, and her male friend, a software engineer, were walking home from a cinema at a shopping mall in south Delhi, according to a police reconstruction of events.

A bus, part of a fleet of privately owned vehicles used as public transport across the city of 16 million, and known as India's "rape capital", was at the same time heading toward them. Earlier that day, it had ferried school students but was now empty except for five men and a teenage boy, including its crew, police said. Most of the men were from the city's slums.

One of the six - all now charged with murder - lured the couple onto the bus, promising to drop the woman home, police have said, quoting from an initial statement that she gave from her hospital bed before her condition deteriorated rapidly.

A few minutes into the ride, her friend, 28, grew suspicious when the bus deviated from the supposed route and the men locked the door, according to her statement. They then taunted her for being out with a man late at night, prompting the friend to intervene and provoking an initial scuffle.

The attackers then beat him with a metal rod, knocking him unconscious, before turning on the woman who had tried to come to his defense. Police say the men admitted after their arrest to torturing and raping the student "to teach her a lesson".

At one point, the bus driver gave the wheel to another of the accused and dragged the woman by the neck to the back of the vehicle and forced himself upon her. The other five then took turns raping her and also driving the bus, keeping it circling through the busy streets of India's capital city, police said.

The woman was raped for nearly an hour before the men pushed a metal rod inside her, severely damaging her internal organs, and then dumped both her and her friend on the roadside, 8 km (5 miles) from where they had boarded it, police said.

Robbed of their clothes and belongings, they were found half naked, bleeding and unconscious later that night by a passerby, who alerted the police.

FAMILY ROLE MODEL

The woman, whose identity has been withheld by police, gave her statement to a sub-divisional magistrate on December 21 in the intensive care unit of Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital, according to local media reports. She was undergoing multiple surgical procedures and her condition later began to rapidly worsen.

Ten days after the attack and still in a critical condition, she was flown to Singapore for specialist treatment. She died in Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital two days later. Her body was flown back to Delhi and cremated there on Sunday in a private ceremony.

Family members who had accompanied her to Singapore declined to speak to reporters, but relatives told the Times of India newspaper she had been a role model to her two younger brothers.

Unlike most traditional Indian families who only send their sons to fee-paying colleges or universities, her parents pinned their hopes on the daughter and took loans to fund her studies.

She was born and brought up in a middle class Delhi neighborhood after her family moved to the city more than 20 years ago from India's northern Uttar Pradesh state.

Her male friend recorded his statement to a local court days after the attack and helped police identify the six accused. He left for his hometown in Uttar Pradesh late on Saturday, missing the woman's funeral, local media reported.

SHAME, ANGER IN SLUM

Four of the accused, all in custody, live in the narrow by-lanes of Ravi Das Camp, a slum about 17 km (11 miles) from the woman's home in southwest Delhi. Inside the slum - home to some 1,200 people who eke out a meager living as rickshaw pullers and tea hawkers - many demanded the death penalty for the accused.

"The incident has really shocked all of us. I don't know how I will get my children admitted to a school. The incident has earned a bad name to this place," said Pooja Kumari, a neighbor of one of the accused.

Girija Shankar, a student, said: "Our heads hang in shame because of the brutal act of these men. They must reap what they have sown."

The house of one of the accused was locked, with neighbors saying his family had left the city to escape the shame and anger. Meena, a 45-year-old neighbor, said she had wanted to join the protests that followed the rape, but was too scared.

"You never know when a mob may attack this slum and attack our houses. But we want to say we're as angry as the entire nation. We want them to be hanged," she said.

Two of the six alleged assailants come from outside Delhi, according to police. One is married with children and was arrested in his native village in Bihar state and the other, a juvenile, is a runaway from a broken home in Uttar Pradesh.

In India, murder is punishable by death by hanging, except in the case of offenders aged below 18.

(Additional reporting by Suchitra Mohanty; Editing by Mark Bendeich and Ian Geoghegan)

View the original article here

TATA MEGAPIXEL(CAR)

 

 

PRESS RELEASE

Tata Megapixel, a new global car concept, displayed at the 82nd Geneva Motor Show

Geneva,
March 6, 2012:

Tata Motors today presented at the 82nd Geneva Motor Show the Tata Megapixel, a new four-seater city-smart global range extended electric vehicle (REEV) concept for the performance-seeking and environment-conscious motorist anywhere in the world. Combining a lithium ion phosphate battery and an on-board petrol engine generator for recharging on the move, the Tata Megapixel offers a range of up to 900 km (with a single tank of fuel), path-breaking CO2 emission of just 22 gm / km and fuel economy of 100 km / litre (under battery only power).

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Prakash M. Telang, Managing Director - India Operations, Tata Motors, said, “The Tata Megapixel, developed by our design centres in India, the UK and Italy, is our idea of a city car for discerning motorists in any megacity of the world. It is a result of the progress we have made on the Tata Pixel, displayed last year, and also denotes the company’s future design direction.”

The class-leading ‘Zero Turn’ drive system of the Tata Pixel (shown at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show) has been taken to an even higher level of manoeuvrability in the Tata Megapixel. The car’s electric drive has four independent electric motors, one at each wheel. When parking, the electric hub motors drive the wheels in opposite directions, while the front wheels are turned at an acute angle, enabling an exceptional 2.8 metre turning radius. The at-home charging system is an as innovative induction charging system. The car has simply to be parked over the induction pad for charging to begin.

The Tata Megapixel is as distinctive in elegantly melding Indian uniqueness – in colours, graphic themes or materials – with global styling preferences. The integrated lamp and grille graphics sweep back over the front wheel arches to render a dynamic front end. It is echoed on the panoramic roof, creating a harmony between sun & shade and sense of interior space. The floating C-pillar and wrap-around belt line finisher integrate perfectly with the sculpted body surface, flowing freely to the rear and encapsulating the 5-spoke wheel design.

A double-sliding door system and the car’s B-pillar less design make entry/exit easy, besides superb visibility. The battery layout and hub motors maximize the interior package. So, the Tata Megapixel comfortably accommodates four adults with luggage. The front seats are cantilevered on the central tunnel, releasing floor space for additional storage. Light leather trims and rose metal details accentuate the joyous marriage of richness of tradition and innovativeness of technology.

This fusion is heightened by an advanced human machine interface (HMI). The console docking point can connect a smart phone with the car. The built-in large touchscreen HMI, at the centre of the instrument panel, thus becomes a common access point for the repertoire of the smart device and for controlling the functions of the car, like temperature, ventilation, driving modes and performance.

Tata Motors’ displays also include the new generation Tata Safari Storme SUV, the Tata Aria crossover, the Tata Indigo Manza sedan and the Tata Indica Vista hatchback.

About Tata Motors
Tata Motors is India's largest automobile company, with consolidated revenues of Rs. 1,23,133 crores ($ 27 billion) in 2010-11. Through subsidiaries and associate companies, Tata Motors has operations in the UK, South Korea, Thailand, Spain and South Africa. Among them is Jaguar Land Rover, the business comprising the two iconic British brands. It also distributes Fiat cars in India, and has an industrial joint venture with Fiat in India. With over 6.5 million Tata vehicles plying in India, Tata Motors is the country’s market leader in commercial vehicles and among the top three in passenger vehicles. It is also the world's fourth largest truck manufacturer and the third largest bus manufacturer. Tata cars, buses and trucks are being marketed in several countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, South East Asia and South America. (www.tatamotors.com)

TECHNOLOGY

 

OVERVIEW

 

• Range Extended Electric Vehicle - enabling a combined range of up to 900 km.
• CO2 emissions of just 22 g/km and fuel economy of 100 km/litre under a combined driving mode (as per ECE R101).
• ‘Zero Turn’drive maximizes manoeuvrability when parking.

The Tata Megapixel, a range extended electric vehicle (REEV), is a new four-seater city-smart global car concept for the performance-seeking and environment-conscious motorist anywhere in the world.

Combining a lithium ion phosphate battery and an on-board petrol engine generator for recharging on the move, the Tata Megapixel offers a range of up to 900 km (with a single tank of fuel), path-breaking CO2 emissions of just 22 g/km and fuel economy of 100 km/litre under a combined driving mode (as per ECE R101). At home charging is via an innovative inductive charging system. The car has simply to be parked over the induction pad for charging to begin.

The class-leading ‘Zero Turn’ drive system of the Tata Pixel (shown at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show) has been taken to an even higher level of manoeuvrability in the Tata Megapixel. The car’s electric drive has four independent electric motors, one at each wheel. When parking, the electric hub motors drive the wheels in opposite directions, while the front wheels are turned at an acute angle, enabling an exceptional 2.8 metre turning radius.

The Tata Megapixel is as distinctive in elegantly melding Indian uniqueness – in colours, graphic themes or materials – with global styling preferences. The integrated lamp and grille graphics sweep back over the front wheel arches to render a dynamic front end. It is echoed on the panoramic roof, creating a harmony between sun & shade and sense of interior space. The floating C-pillar and wrap-around belt line finisher integrate perfectly with the sculpted body surface, flowing freely to the rear and encapsulating the 5-spoke wheel design.

A double-sliding door system and the car’s B-pillar less design make entry/exit easy, besides superb visibility. The battery layout and hub motors maximize the interior package. So, the Tata Megapixel comfortably accommodates four adults with luggage. The front seats are cantilevered on the central tunnel, releasing floor space for additional storage. Light leather trims and rose metal details accentuate the joyous marriage of richness of tradition and innovativeness of technology.

This fusion is heightened by an advanced human machine interface (HMI). The console docking point can connect a smart phone with the car. The built-in large touchscreen HMI, at the centre of the instrument panel, thus becomes a common access point for the repertoire of the smart device and for controlling the functions of the car, like temperature, ventilation, driving modes and performance.

The Tata Megapixel denotes Tata Motors’ progression from the Tata Pixel, based on the Tata Nano and a city car concept for Europe, reflecting the company’s future design direction

KEY FEATURES

Design

• Unique ‘India Global’ exterior and interior design language 
• Panoramic roof 
• Light and spacious, elegant interior
• Cantilevered seating system
• Comfortable seating for four adults 
• Ergonomic ‘all in one,’ touch screen command centre

Drive system and performance

• Electric drive through four independent in-wheel motors 
• On-board recharging from auxiliary power unit 
• Maximum vehicle range of over 900 km, including battery range of 87 km 
• Optimised weight distribution and All-Wheel-Drive for agile handling 
• Low rolling resistance tyres

City wise

• ‘Hands free’ induction battery charging 
• Advanced double sliding side door system for easy entry and egress in confined spaces 
• Compact dimensions and good all round visibility 
• Zero turn manoeuvrability with park assist system 
• ‘Hands on’ connectivity via in-vehicle display and smart phone 
• In-car access to your online world 
• Integrated ‘infotainment plus’ system with control over key vehicle functions and entertainment system

 

Anyone looking for stories of outrages committed against women in India this month doesn’t need to look far. Just after an attack on a woman in the northeast city of Guwahati, and a plea by an Islamist group in Jammu & Kashmir for female tourists to dress more conservatively, a group of village elders in Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh has released some new rules to ensure that women stay safe. The only loss they’ll suffer is individual freedom:

- Women cannot use mobile phones in public

- Women under the age of 40 cannot go outside without a male relative to accompany them.

- Women should cover their heads in public.

- Village boys cannot play songs or music on their mobile phones in public.

The village elders, known as a khap panchayat, took the actions, they said, to prevent sexual harassment. The result, of course, is to punish women pre-emptively by restricting their liberties in the name of protecting them from men who cannot be trusted to restrain themselves.

The Uttar Pradesh government said that the panchayat has no legal authority to enforce such rules, and that people should report attempts to do so. When the police tried to step in, a crowd of people beat them up.

On the same day, a row over attending classes in hijab (headscarf) sprung up in Mangalore when some female students belonging to the Muslim community boycotted classes in Sri Ramkunjeshwara First Grade College, Ramkunja. They were protesting the management’s decision to ban the hijab as a part of their dress code.

The management argued that the institution does not permit students to dress according to their faith. The college administration said it told parents and students about the dress code when they applied, so they should know about the rules already.

Countries that have taken similar action, such as France and the Netherlands, have argued that veils and other kinds of primarily Islamic clothing are repressive for women. But wouldn’t a progressive government allow people to choose what they want to wear? In India, this seems like a priority, given the country’s promise of equal rights to citizens regardless of their religion.

People who assign themselves the protectors of other people’s morality seem to always find a way to enforce their will on women. The idea is that you must:

- restrict their movements so they don’t harm themselves

- restrict their freedom to be equal to men lest they arouse the passions that men are powerless to control

The conclusion is always the same: it’s the woman’s fault. Look at the Guwahati incident, at the claims that surfaced here and there that if the victim weren’t drinking in a bar and doing other morally suspect things, this wouldn’t have happened.

Nobody in India, or many other countries for that matter, would have said this about a man. Where does that leave a country like ours? How do you change the thinking of millions of people? The most common methods so far — legislation, shouting about it online, protests — don’t seem to have much effect. Now what, India?

View the original article here