David Beckham "Attacked" by fan

June 9, 2008

David Beckham's luckiest male fan ran onto the field to hug and high-five his idol in the middle of a match between the LA Galaxy and the Colorado Rapids in Los Angeles on Saturday. The fan managed to reach Becks and touch him before he was knocked down by Galaxy teammate Chris Klein and then pinned by security. After the boy had been wrestled to the ground and Beckham felt safe, he helped him to his feet. "I was slightly concerned when I first saw him running at me because he didn't have a smile on his face and he didn't have a Galaxy shirt on," Becks said later. Sadly, the fan has been banned from Galaxy games for life. But totally worth it. (Source; photos: AP)

Six-pack abs may make you infertile

Mail Today
New Delhi, Monday, May 19, 2008
BOLLYWOOD stars Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan may take pride in flaunting their well-toned bodies, but doctors warn that using steroids to realise the 'six-pack dream' may lead to mental and physical disorders.
Experts warn that such steroids which are easily available in markets - may cause side-effects such as impotency, shrunken testis, cardiovascular and liver disorders and male breast enlargement (Gynaecomastia). steroids packaged as 'health- boosters' are flooding markets, with many products even carrying tags like '100 per cent Ayurvedic' and 'Herbal'.
"Youngsters looking to make their sixpack ab dream a reality take anabolic steroids which can adversely affect fertiIity," said Shivani Sachdev Gour, a consultant fertility specialist at Fortis Hospital.
"Use of these steroids stimulates unrestrained secretion of testosterone, which leads to bulging muscles but ultimately leads to exhausted sexual functioning and suppresses the work of other vital organs," she added.
A survey conducted in Britain revealed over 80 per cent of active steroids users had sperm counts below two crore, the lower limit of sperm count set by World Health Organisation, while 20 per cent were azoospermic, that is, they had no sperm at all.
Samir Parikh, a psychiatrist with Max Hospital, said that such drugs cause psychological disorders like sleeplessness, mood swings, depression, change in food habits, sudden fits of anger and aggression and advises youngsters not to use steroids without medical supervision.
The mania caught up with youngsters after Shah Rukh Khan created a stir with his six-packs in Om Shanti Om.
Some common steroids used in India are Dianabol, Decadurabolin and Sustanon, which are available as tablets, injections, creams and gels.
"Consuming steroids is not hazard-free even under the supervision of a gym instructor. It is better to avoid them completely," said Gour.
PTI

Bodyguard who complained of sexual harassment suspended

Indiaenews.com
From correspondents in Bihar, India
Saturday, May 03, 2008

A policeman who had accused a Bihar Congress legislator of sexual harassment, has been suspended, official sources said Saturday.

Bal Yogeshwar Sharma was suspended by the state government for violation of service rules because he made his charges against Sunita Devi public before lodging a complaint with his department, police sources said.

Sharma, who worked as the lawmaker's bodyguard for two years, lodged a complaint at the Kotwali police station here April 29, charging her with sexual exploitation from 2006.

The legislator denied the charge by her former bodyguard and told IANS the policeman was trying to blackmail her.
Sunita Devi is the Congress legislator from Korha assembly seat in Katihar district, about 180 km from the state capital here.

Superintendent of Police, Patna, Anwar Hussain said the police have received permission from the chief judicial magistrate to begin probe into the complaint lodged by Sharma against the legislator.

The Congress party has set up a three-member committee to probe the allegation.

NOTE FROM SAVING MEN'S SPACES: Had it been a case of a woman accusing a man of sexually exploiting her, will she too have been suspended?

When women have extreme power, don't men feel helpless before them?

Are women any less likely to be sexual predators?

What kind of social Equality is this?

Cop accuses woman MLA of sexual harassment

IANS
Wednesday, April 30, 2008 23:23 IST

PATNA: A police officer has accused Bihar Congress legislator Sunita Devi of forcing him to have sex with her for two years. The legislator has denied the charge by her former bodyguard.

Bal Yogeshwar Sharma has lodged a complaint at the Kotwali police station here, charging her with sexual exploitation. He alleged that Sunita Devi began exploiting him from 2006, a police official said.

The legislator forced him to sleep with her, he said. This, he alleged, continued for some two years, causing him mental and physical torture. He said she threatened to have him sacked if he did not cooperate. “I have evidence such as photos and letters written by her,” Sharma, now posted in Patna, told a television channel.

Sunita Devi, who is in her 40s, refuted Sharma’s allegations. “There is no truth in them,” she said, adding that the policeman was trying to blackmail her.

She is the Congress legislator from Korha assembly seat in Katihar district, about 180 km from here.

NOTE FROM SAVING MEN'S SPACES: Most of the reporting of this news by the heterosexualised press of India has been diminutive of the Policeman's version. It is presented just as an accusation. While, had it been the case of a woman accusing a man, the headlines would have screamed, "woman sexually exploited by minister (man)".

Rushdie no longer finds marriage 'necessary'

The Times of India
1 May 2008

LONDON: Having tied the knot four times himself, controversial Indian-origin writer Salman Rushdie says he doesn't think marriage is "necessary". Attacking the institution of marriage, Rushdie said he did not believe in it and that women rushed to the altar only because they wanted to wear a "wedding dress". The author of The Satanic Verses has been married four times. He split with his fourth wife, Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi, last year. Rushdie has been married four times. His first wife was Clarissa Luard, to whom he was married from 1976 to 1987 and with whom he has a son, Zafar. His second wife was the American novelist Marianne Wiggins; they were married in 1988 and divorced in 1993. His third wife, from 1997 to 2004, was Elizabeth West; they have a son, Milan. In 2004, he got married to Indian actress and model Padma Lakshmi, the host of the American reality-television show Top Chef and that marriage ended on July 2, 2007 with Rushdie indicating that it was her desire to end the marriage. "It's strange, given that I've been married four times, but I actually don't think marriage is necessary," Salman said in an interview for the Elle magazine . "Girls like it, especially if they've never been married before — it's the dress. Girls want a wedding, they don't want a marriage. If only you could have weddings without marriages." Salman also disclosed that he and Lakshmi had marriage counselling, but without success. In a recent interview, he had said time was running out, so with only a handful of books left in him he is choosing his subjects carefully. After having published The Enchantress of Florence , the 60-year-old said he would write a children's story next to keep a promise he made to his younger son Milan.

Ragging in army school

HT, New Delhi, Dec 12, 2005

Soumyajit Patnaik

Bhubaneswar, December 11

The occasional boarder's horrifying tale notwithstanding, the Sainik School has been the byword for discipline. That reputation was shaken when ragging raged in Bhubaneswar Sainik School, following which school authorities asked students to vacate hostels and leave the premises on Saturday.

The campus now wears a deserted look except for the policemen on duty.

Though the school management has remained tight-lipped on the issue, even barring the media from entering the campus, the Bhubaneswar police said they had deployed a team to restore normalcy to the campus.

According to sources, trouble started when some students of Class IX were asked to parade naked before their seniors. When the students protested, fisticuffs ensued which later turned into a free-for-all with both groups fighting with hockey sticks. After the clash, all the students from Class IX to Class XII were asked to pack up.

Bhubaneswar superintendent of police Amitabh Thakur told the Hindustan Times that the school authorities did not inform them of the incident. "We deployed our force on campus though the school administration was reluctant to accept our assistance," he said.

Students trooping out of the hostel gates, on their way to the railway station, said a few of their classmates had sustained head injuries and were being treated at the school dispensary. Many of the students, most of them from outside Orissa, had difficulty in getting to the railway station as it is quite far from the school. Booking tickets for their journey was another problem.

Cricket is boring to watch: Gavaskar

Sunny@stumps: Cricket boring

Samrat

Chennai, September 10, 2006

Cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar was the star on day two of BlogCamp, "India's biggest blog unconference". The Little Master, who has a podcast called "My own pitch" on Yahoo, said he was thinking of starting a cricket blog as well - though he claimed he was "not a good watcher of the game… I think cricket is a boring game to watch".

The cricketer-turned-commentator took the audience of bloggers through the nuances of TV commentating in his talk and later answered questions.

He said he found podcasting more difficult than commentary - even after one year of being a podcaster. "In commentating you're feeding off the other commentator and reacting to what is happening," said Gavaskar. "Podcasting, by contrast, involves sitting down in a room at the end of the day and compressing thoughts on the day's events to five or six minutes." He podcasts whenever India plays a match.

"I look around and I see almost everyone here sitting with a laptop in front," he said. "I belong to the transistor generation. My columns even now are written in longhand."

His presence and comments were immediately blogged 'live' on their laptops by at least three of the bloggers present. One of them, Maxiblog, wrote a post titled "Sunny is on now".

Another stopped him as he was on his way out and interviewed him for a video podcast using the video feature on his mobile phone. It was, Gavaskar said, the first time he had given such an interview.

(Source: Hindustan Times)

Pitt won't marry till gay marriages are legal

Hindustan Times, September 10, 2006

Hollywood hunk Brad Pitt has revealed that he will not tie the knot with Angelina Jolie unless gay marriages are legalised in the US. The Mr. and Mrs. Smith star told Eonline he plans to wed Jolie only when the institution has been democraticised. "Angie and I will consider marriage when everyone else in the country who wants to be is legally able," he said. Pitt also waxed on about the state of his family with Jolie, something he said he "cannot imagine life" without. Of adopted children Maddox, 5 and Zahara, 1, Pitt told the magazine "they're as much of my blood as any natural-born."

ANI

Panchkula cops in dock for beating boy

Monday, October 10, 2005, Chandigarh, India

TV channel ‘exposed’ case in April
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, October 9
The Haryana police today registered a case and ordered an inquiry into the alleged beating up of a minor boy by the CIA staff of the Panchkula police on its office premises in Mansa Devi. The said incident, “exposed” by a television channel, took place during the last Navratra mela at the shrine there.

The police was thrown into a tizzy as soon as the news spread about the beating up of the minor, picked up from an adjoining cluster of jhuggis on April 13 this year. Senior police officers, including the IG (CID), Mr P.V. Rathee, and the Superintendent of Police, Mr Balbir Singh, arrived at the CIA Staff office.

Wrongful confinement A case causing hurt, wrongful confinement and unnatural offence under Sections 323, 342 and 377 of the Indian Penal Code has been registered by the police on the basis of a complaint made by Utsav Bains, grandson of Justice Ajit Singh Bains, president of the Punjab Human Rights Organisation.

Speaking to mediapersons, Mr Balbir Singh said a case was being registered on the basis of the video-clipping shown by the channel. “We are checking up our records to see if any minor was booked by the CIA Staff around the time the video was shot. Also, we are checking our staff deployment for those days and making inquiries from the staff now,” he said.

Maintaining that they had approached the channel to provide them a copy of the footage, the SP held that the guilty would be punished. “We can’t identify the man beating the boy, Mukesh, shown hanging from a tree with his hands tied at the back in the video. The child or his parents must come forward and help identify the culprit. If it is established that a policeman was guilty of the crime, a criminal case will be registered against him and departmental action initiated,” he stated.

Meanwhile, the family of Mukesh and two other boys, also allegedly subjected to torture by the CIA, have been shifted to a “safer” place by the channel. Apprehending trouble for the families, this morning the family members were “removed” from their jhuggis.

The video was shot at the CIA Staff Office behind the Mata Mansa Devi shrine by local lawyers Arvind Thakur, Hirday Pal Singh and Ravinder Pal Singh, also members of the Lawyers for Human Rights, an NGO .

“We had been receiving complaints about police staff atrocities in the area. We stumbled upon this evidence during a routine round of the police station. Then, another boy from the small jhuggi cluster was beaten up in a similar fashion. We have recorded that as well and will release it shortly,” Mr Thakur claimed.

He said for any theft, the police picked up minor boys and beat them up to “extract” a confession and then registered an FIR. “Contrary to set procedures of first registering an FIR and then proceeding to arrest the accused, the Haryana police operates rather differently. It’s a callous force, evident from the treatment meted out to the children. Their only fault is that they come from poor families and can’t raise a voice,” he held.

“We approached the top brass of the police, the Haryana Government and even the local authorities to bring the culprits to book. However, none of these agencies took me seriously and seemed completely disinterested in our evidence. We had no alternative but to turn to the media,” the lawyers said.

They also alleged that the minor boys were sodomised by the CIA Staff during the illegal detentions. “We are not satisfied by a plain inquiry being marked into the matter. We want the suspension of the police post in charge at that time. We will also move court to get justice for the boys and their families,” he held.

Minor boy sodomised

Wednesday, May 11, 2005, Chandigarh, India

LUDHIANA TRIBUNE

Our Correspondent

Khamano, May 10

A 14-years-old boy was sodomised last night by a 45-year-old person in a truck on Badeshan road Khamano. According to information available, 14 year boy was working as a cleaner with a truck driver.

The Truck driver was identified as Chhinderpal Singh a resident of Panaichan village, near here and the boy Pankaj belongs to Khamano Town of Ward No 9 at 8.30 pm. Yesterday, the driver of truck No PB-12A-4027 returned from Khanna in the truck with the boy. When they reached Khamano, the driver took liquor and also forced the boy to drink. After drinking he sodomised the boy.

The boy tried to escape but failed. In the meantime a passerby heard the cries of the boy and when he reached near truck, the driver escaped. according to SHO police station Khamano, a case under section 377, 506 of the IPC was registered against the driver but he is absconding yet.

(Source: here)

PANCHAYAT PARDONS RAPE

HT 9 October, 2005

HT Correspondent

Muzzaffarnagar, October 8

IN YET another strange rape verdict, a village panchayat in Muzaffarnagar has not onoly condoned the alleged rape by a young man of an influential family, but also pleaded that to safeguard the reputation of the village and family's honour to which the young man belongs, the matter should be declared closed. The ruling came after the father of thee accused publicly apologised before the Pancyayat regretting his son's conduct.

The youth allegedly raped the teenaged daughter of a factory watchman of Kakrauli village and fled.

U.S. Bishops to Pick New Chief in Sex Abuse Aftermath (Reuters)

Posted Sunday, November 14, 2004, 11:00 am

By Deborah Zabarenko
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The priest sex abuse scandal that shook the U.S. Roman Catholic church to its foundations two years ago could turn out to be a key issue as America's bishops gather to choose new leaders this week.

Victims of clerical sexual abuse are campaigning against the front-runner for next president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bishop William Skylstad of Spokane, Washington, saying he is unwilling to address the issue.

Skylstad's diocese announced just days ago it planned to declare bankruptcy to shield itself from lawsuits launched by those who say priests abused them.

One victims' group, Survivors Network of those abused by Priests, known as SNAP, took the symbolic step of endorsing an alternate candidate for the top job, Bishop Blase Cupich of Rapid City, South Dakota.

"We don't know as much about him as we'd like," said David Clohessy, SNAP's national director . "But in an odd sort of way, that's a good thing," indicating that Cupich had not been tarnished by the scandal.

(Source: here)

Boy sodomised beaten in school

By Bhadra Sinha

Times News Network

New Delhi: A 12-year-old boy was allegedly sodomised by four boys who locked him in a bathroom of Sarvodaya Vidyalaya school, Madangir, on Friday afternoon.

Three of othe four accused have been arrested. They were apprehended at the spot after the boy's cries caught his teachers attention. The class 7 boy was also beaten up.

"The fourth accused managed to give us the slip because of the commotion. We however, have his description and should be able to nab him because he lives in Dakshinpuri itself," a police officer said. Tjhe accused Sunny, Bobby and Subhash (all are aged between 25 to 30 years) are also residents of the same colony.

The boy's father RAmesh Ved said his son was under trauma since the incident, "I took him to the hospital on late Friday to get him medical treatment. His face has got swollen.

During the lunch break, the boy had gone to the toilet with three of his friends. the accused let the other three boys get away.

"The school toilets are in a separate block. Every toilet does not ahve a separate door. There is a common door for all of them," Ved added.

The boundary wall, adjoining the toilets, is broken. The four boys entered the school complex from there.

He added the boy does not know the accused and there is no animosity between them. "We have never met them earlier," Ved said.

Model accuses Bhandarkar of rape

CHANDNI BAR director Madhur Bhandarkar, currently working on his new project PAGE 3, has got himself trapped in a controversy. There is a criminal complaint lodged against the filmmaker for allegedly attempting to rape the model Preeti Jain. The Versova police have booked a case under section 376, (for attempting to rape) and section 506 (for criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code against Bhandarkar. But what is surprising is that Jain has lodged the complaint three years after the alleged incident took place. Jain in her statement to the police alleged that Madhur Bhandarkar has physically abused her repeatedly from January 2000 to December 2003, while he maintains that he doesn�t even remember meeting her. According to her, the director promised her the role of a heroine in his film CHANDNI BAR and promised to marry her. Bhandarkar's lawyer meanwhile will be moving for anticipatory bail in the Bombay High Court on Friday. If convicted Madhur Bhandarkar would be imprisoned for not less than seven years under section 376.

Bhandarkar has been an assistant director to several film directors including Ram Gopal Varma. The turning point in his life though was the National Award winning CHANDNI BAR, his second film after TRISHAKTI. After which he went on to make SATTA and AAN.

(Source: here)

Madhur sexually exploited me: model

rediff Entertainment Bureau | July 23, 2004 16:02 IST

A model and�actress�-- who rediff.com will not identify -- has accused film director�Madhur Bhandarkar�of rape and intimidation.

Speaking to the media, the starlet said, "Someone had to take a stand."

Excerpts from a media briefing:

Why did you take so long (nearly three years) to go to the police�and make this allegation?

I can't talk about it. Obviously, there is a reason behind it, which you will know later.

Madhur Bhandarkar says it is�a publicity stunt.

How ridiculous! It takes a lot of courage and guts for someone to come out in the open and expose herself to the media and people.�Madhur [Bhandarkar] has been in touch with me till recently. All my mobile phone records are proof enough for people to know what the relationship was all about.

Did you work in any of his films?

I have not worked with him in any film.�All I can say is I have attended the mahurat of�Chandni Bar, only because he had invited me.

Did he promise you any role?

Yes. I know him for the last five years. He kept promising me that he would cast me as the�heroine of his next film, which never happened. He only sexually exploited me.

Why did you decide to speak up?

Someone had to do it. Other newcomers should be aware of such misdoings�in the film industry. I have a responsibility towards society. Someone had�to stand up and stop such people from exploiting innocent�girls

(Source: rediff.com)

Bruce Will is shy of kissing Dark Angel Alba!

Bruce WillisDark Angel star Jessica Alba has said that Die Hard actor Bruce Willis, in spite of his macho image, is actually very shy of kissing on screen.

The actress was surprised when her co-star grew nervous while shooting for a kissing scene in their recent hit Sin City.

It happened when Bruce suddenly asked director Robert Rodriguez to shoot the scene differently. However, Alba, who plays a stripper in the movie, seemed to have no problems in getting intimate with the actor.

'It was easy for me. I've done a few kisses in my day. We had this big romantic kiss and it was supposed to be like this big epic beautiful kiss... like you're anticipating this thing. We finally get to that scene and Bruce is sitting down and I'm going in for the kiss and he goes, 'Maybe I get up and walk away and she runs after me.' He says it to Robert when we were shooting it and Robert was like, 'What?'

'He got nervous -- Bruce Willis! It was really cute, because it's like this man, Die Hard and Moonlighting," contactmusic quoted Alba saying.

Eventually, Bruce mustered up enough courage to go ahead with the scene.

http://in.rediff.com/movies/2005/apr/25holly.htm

Blow to machismo as Spain forces men to do housework

Giles Tremlett in Madrid

Friday April 8, 2005

Guardian

Spanish men will have to learn to change nappies and don washing-up gloves under the terms of a new law designed to strike a blow at centuries of Latin machismo. The law, due to be passed this month, is likely to provoke a revolution in family affairs in a country where 40% of men reportedly do no housework at all. It will oblige men to "share domestic responsibilities and the care and attention" of children and elderly family members, according to the draft approved by the Spanish parliament's justice commission.

This will become part of the marriage contract at civil wedding ceremonies later this year. "The idea of equality within marriage always stumbles over the problem of work in the house and caring for dependent people," said Margarita Uría, of the Basque Nationalist party, who was behind what is an amendment to a new divorce law. "This will be a good way of reminding people what their duties are. It is something feminists have been wanting for a long time." Failure to meet the obligations will be taken into consideration by judges when determining the terms of divorces. Men who refuse to do their part may be given less frequent contact with their children.

Spanish women spend five times longer on housework than their husbands. Even where both have jobs outside the home, Spanish women still do three times as much work in the house.

"It is not just about housework, though. Women also end up doing most of the caring for the elderly," said Ms Uría. A study five years ago by Spain's Centre for Sociological Investigation concluded that fathers spent an average of 13 minutes each day looking after their children.

Only 19% of Spanish men thought it was right for mothers of school age children to have a full-time job. More than a third thought mothers should not work outside the home at all. The change to the Spanish legal code will see domestic obligations added to a list of marital duties that currently includes fidelity, living together and helping one another. The initiative has received the backing of all Spain's political parties, including those of a conservative or traditionally Catholic bent.

Ms Uría said that the Socialists, who run Spain's minority government and voted against the clause when the draft went through the commission, had told her that they, too, were now in favour of it.

That should guarantee that, when the law - which will also make divorce proceedings faster and easier - is voted on in parliament in the next few weeks, the obligation to share domestic chores will be added to the statute books.

(Source: the Guardian)

Man arrested for stripping in DU Art faculty

HT Correspondent

New Delhi, March 25, 2004

A FORMER Delhi University student has been arrested on Thursday for stripping in front of the gents toilet in DU's Art Faculty in the North Campus.

The incident took place in the afternoon. Some girl students approaching their German and Romanian language classrooms were startled to find Jose (24) stripping outside the men's toilet.

They shouted for help and after an initial struggle, Jose was caught with the help of some employees and handed over to the police. He has been arrested under 107/ 151 Cr. PC which relates to breaching of public peace.

Jose is a former B.Com student of DU. Department head Vibha Maurya met the Commissioner of Police later in the day and apprised him of the situation.

Earlier, incidents of 'flashers' have been reported from JMC, Gargi and Maitreyi College and also from Greater Kailash.

Policeman held for sodomy

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: A head constable of Delhi Police has been arrested for allegedly sodomising a 16-year-old boy. The accused, posted in Badarpur police station, has been sent to judicial custody.

Head constable Rajbir also reportedly threatened the boy with dire consequences if he disclosed about the abuse to anyone.

"Rajbir was suspended from duty immediately after the incident was reported," said a senior police officer.

According to the officer, the matter came to light on Thursday after the boy's father went to the police station to file a complaint. However, Rajbir was taken into custody only after the boy's medical examination at AIIMS confirmed the assault.

The alleged incident took place on Wednesday. Rajbir reportedly picked up the boy, a vegetable vendor, in a market in Badarpur area. "The head constable brought him to the police station on the pretext that he was wanted in a theft case and that he needed him for questioning, "the official said.

The boy was kept in the lock-up and beaten up. At night Rajbir went to the lock up and allegedly took the boy to his barrack. On returning home, the victim complained to his father who approached the police the next day.

Lettter to newspaper on 'homosexuality'

An Indian Christian in a letter to the editor of a Delhi newspaper article claiming homosexuality (sic) is natural

Natural, Unnatural

THIS REFERS to the editorial Talk about an unnatural law (January 17). How can you claim that 'natural law' is a product of culture and time? Is the fact that a woman can conceive and a man can't a matter of convention based on culture and time? That is a natural law and has come into force not because of what the British enacted in 1862.

Homosexuality is a serious moral problem and has added to the menace of Aids. There is need to be understanding, without being paternalistic and moralising, of those caught in this web of behaviour.

DOMINIC EMMANUEL, Delhi