Diamonds, Gold Worth Rs. 2.71 Crore Stolen

This burglar surely hit a jackpot, but he is likely to be the unhappiest soul on earth, if ever he comes to know that the steel chest he struggled to carry away contains diamonds and gold worth Rs 2.71 crore. Reason. The chest cannot practically be pried open. Moreover, it has a bio-metric lock and its walls are seven mm thick.

Only the prolonged use of a gas cutter could open the chest, but the investigators doubt whether the intruder, who strode into RSR Jeweller’s office near Sadhuram Eye Hospital in Domalguda on Monday, would have access to a gas cutter.

The burglar could have broken the latch of the second floor door and found the steel chest apparently after scouting the portion. “The mud footprints suggested he had no footwear and could be a rag picker or labourer,” the police said.

Police hope that the intruder would leave the chest unopened somewhere. Incidentally, the watchman went to his village five days ago and it did not have any closed circuit cameras.

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Six Labourers Buried Alive in Guntur

Six labourers, including four women were buried alive here today when earth caved in at a construction site and the adjacent compound wall collapsed on them, police said.

The incident took place this morning on Donka Road, Arundelpet when the workers were digging the foundation for a five-storeyed building for Narayana Concept School, they said.

The victims have not been identified yet. The contractor and the college employees fled from the spot following the incident. Further investigations are on, police added.

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Prices Get Down to Earth at Jubilee Hills

Owning a house in Jubilee Hills and Banjara Hills is regarded as something of a status symbol, affordable only by the rich. But new building rules will change that. Now, middle class families can also own a flat in these upmarket areas as the state government has removed the “density clause” in the new uniform Building Rules-2012 issued recently.

Builders and developers can now construct small sized flats on fourth and fifth floors of a building if its height is not more than 15 metres. Previously, only four flats (four units) were allowed on the fourth and fifth floors due to the density clause. As a result, builders used to construct bigger flats of 3,000 sq. feet or more, the cost of which was easily over Rs 1.5 crore per flat.

Now, with the cap on the density clause being lifted, builders say they can construct smaller single-bedroom flats costing around Rs 40 lakh. The going rate per square foot is Rs 6,000 in several areas of Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills. At this rate, a small flat of 600 sq. ft built-up area, comprising a hall with open kitchen and a bedroom, will be available at Rs 36 to Rs 40 lakh.

Mr Ashwin Rao of Manbhum Constructions said that though builders were allowed to construct any number of flats on the first three floors of buildings in Jubilee Hills, and the density clause was confined to the fourth and fifth floors, they used to construct bigger flats on all floors to maintain uniformity and also marketability as people from the same high-end income group would not want to consort with those less well off occupying lower floors.

“It’s a win-win situation for builders and people having an ambition or a dream to buy a flat in these posh localities. From the build-ers’ point of view, it is easy to get three customers for three flats each costing less than Rs 50 lakh, than to find one customer for a flat priced at over Rs 1.50 crore.

There will be many people who would like buy a small flat in Jubilee Hills rather that a larger flat at the same price outside the city limits,” said Mr Rao.

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Curfew After 6 Hurt in Clashes

An indefinite curfew was clamped on Sunday in Madannapet and Saidabad areas of Hyderabad after groups of two communities clashed. The situation became tense after news spread on Sunday morning of a place of worship being desecrated.

Mobs damaged 16 RTC buses on the stretch between Madannapet Mandi and Chanchalguda Chowrasta and hurled stones at shops, forcing them to down shutters. Clueless commuters and shoppers had to hurry back home from their Sunday marketing at around 9.30 am as patrol cars rushed past them, sirens blaring. A car and four bikes were also damaged.

The police had a tough time controlling the mobs as they hurled stones and bricks at each other near Reliance World on the Saidabad Police Station road. Mobs also targeted a lone police vehicle after its driver fled. Commissioner of police A.K. Khan said that six persons were injured by flying missiles and three of them had been treated as outpatients at the Osmania General Hospital. The others are unde-rgoing treatment at various hospitals in the city.

Police also took several youths into custody for stone pelting. A large contingent of Rapid Action Force was deployed in the afternoon after the curfew was imposed. Director general of police V. Dinesh Reddy visited the violence-hit areas at around 5 pm including the place of worship that was allegedly desecrated.

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IIT Madras Student Kills Self Over Love Failure

A second-year civil engineering student of IIT-Madras (IIT-M) committed suicide by hanging himself inside the campus hostel room in Guindy on Sunday. Police said a vexatious love affair could have been the reason behind the extreme step taken by the youth.

It was around 9.45 am and Kuldeep Yadav of Agra in UP had not emerged from his room No 111 in the Narmada Hostel. As repeated knocking did not elicit any response, his classmate Krishna Rao looked through the window and saw Yadav’s legs dangling in the air.

Students broke open the window and, opening the door latch, entered the room. They found that Yadav had hanged himself with a nylon rope from the fan.

An IIT-M official said the students called an ambulance and took him to the campus hospital at 10 am and later to a hospital in Adyar. Yadav’s pulse was revived and he was placed in the ICU, where he died at 2.20 pm. “He was academically bright,” said a senior faculty member.

Investigating officer K Ramesh told Express that the body had been sent to KMCH for autopsy. Yadav’s father Yashodhar Singh, a farmer, was informed and he was on his way to Chennai. A search was conducted in Yadav’s room and a diary, with entries in Hindi and English, was seized, he said.

Yadav did not leave behind any suicide note, but a message received by him on his cellphone from a woman batchmate on Sunday indicated that a failing love affair could have prompted him to end his life, Ramesh said.

Three IIT-M students, including a HAL engineer, had committed suicide last year.

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Facebook Pic Triggers Riot,1.3Cr Property Destroyed

It was a tough time for Hyderabad police who struggled a lot to control the mob in the city which witnessed a massive riot over a controversial image posted in a Facebook account of a person who resides in Sangareddy, Andhra Pradesh.

According to police source, properties worth of Rs 1.3 crore have been destroyed when two groups started pelting stones on shops ans houses in the city in the midnight of Thursday, Mar 29.

One group of people approached the cops demanding of removal of the controversial and objectionable image from the Facebook account of the concerned person. Police imposed section 144 in and around the region to avert any serious and dire consequences.

Twenty people including one police official were injured brutally, though no casualty reports have been reported yet. Meanwhile, Police personnel said, "The cyber crime police received several complaints that miscreants were trying to create a rift between communities for selfish gains." Cops have removed all images from Facebook, informed Hyderabad police.

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China Student Hacks Indian Military Research Firms

China's real face once again has come out when a report claims that a former Chinese University student allegedly hacked Indian military research organizations and shipping companies.

Trend Micro, a computer security firm with headquarters in Tokyo, is expected to disclose the reports on Friday, Mar 30. The reports will also show how a former graduate student at Sichuan University, in Chengdu, China, Gu Kaiyuan hacked several computers belonging to companies in Japan and India and to Tibetan activists.

According to the reports, Mr Gu also hacked at least 30 computer systems of Tibetan advocacy groups and aerospace, energy and engineering companies in Japan.

A former diplomat and expert in computer security, James A Lewis said, "A private Chinese hacker may go after economic data but not a political organization." However, the report did not link Gu's activities directly to the Chinese government.

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J&K Earthquake Measuring 5.2 Richter Scale

An earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter Scale hit Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday.

The quake lasted for 3 seconds and occurred at 9:47 am today.

The epicentre of the quake was Hindu kush region in Afghanistan.

No casualties and property losses have been reported so far.

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