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J&K students in Jodhpur attacked in retaliation for NIT Srinagar clashes

Kashmiri students at Jodhpur’s Vyas Dental College were assaulted on Thursday evening in apparent retaliation against the police attack three days ago on non-Kashmiri students at the National Institute of Technology in Srinagar. The victims at Jodhpur said that they had been attacked by 30 people armed with knives, iron rods and sticks. “Local students and outsiders, who had their face covered, chanted Pakistan Murdabad slogans and looked for Kashmiri students at the function. They beat up every Kashmiri they found,” said one of the students. The police confirmed the attack and said they had identified the culprits.

No potable water for IPL grounds: Fadnavis

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has reiterated that potable water will not be provided to cricket stadia in the drought-stricken state for this year’s IPL. “My government has taken a strong position in the high court,” said Fadnavis, according to the Hindustan Times. “We have said we will not provide potable water for IPL for this season. We don’t have any problem even if IPL is shifted, but no potable water will be provided.” 

Court directs police to investigate Ramdev’s ‘hate speech’

A Delhi court has asked the police to investigate a complaint of hate speech against yoga guru Ramdev, filed by Congress leader Subhash Batra. Batra wants Ramdev arrested for his speech at a Rohtak rally on 2 April, during which he said he would behead anyone who refused to chant Bharat mata ki jai if it wasn’t against the law. The court asked the police to submit its report by 30 April, according to the Hindustan Times.  Ramdev is the Haryana government’s brand ambassador. 

Asaram plotted attack on witness: Arrested devotee

KD Patel, an arrested Asaram devotee, told the Ahmedabad police during interrogation that the self-styled godman had planned to murder a witness who deposed against him in a case related to the deaths of two minor boys near his ashram in 2008. Asaram is currently in a Jodhpur jail on a rape charge. Patel had allegedly financed the attack on a witness and former follower of Asaram. He was the manager, financier and head of the legal cell at Asaram’s Ahmedabad ashram. After the two boys from his ashram died, Patel did a sting operation on Asaram, according to the Hindustan Times.

Two Delhi teens shoot Uber driver after minor altercation

Two boys killed the driver of their Uber cab in Delhi on Wednesday as he retaliated after a taunt they made about his native town. Thakur had begun using the Uber app just that day. According to the police, the boys shot the driver, Kuldeep Thakur, three times. The boys are students of class XI at a private school in Delhi. They are aged 16 and 17, and were detained on the basis of the mobile phone details they provided when they booked the cab, says the Hindustan Times. 

‘Encounter specialist’ IG Vanzara back in Gujarat, hints at political future

Y chromosome, the missing link between us, Neanderthal

To this day, individuals of European and Asian heritage retain Neanderthal DNA in their genomes and now, a new study suggests that we did not inherit male genes from them. The Stanford University researchers completed the first in-depth genetic analysis of a Neanderthal Y chromosome. The findings offer new insights into the relationship between Neanderthals and modern humans and some of the genetic factors that might have kept the two lineages apart. Their analysis suggests that Neanderthals and modern humans diverged almost 590,000 years ago, consistent with earlier evidence. The researchers say that the Neanderthal Y chromosome they sequenced is distinct from any Y chromosome observed in modern humans, suggesting that the lineage in question is to be extinct. They also found some intriguing protein-coding differences between genes on the Neanderthal and modern human Y chromosomes.

Drought effect: No surgeries in Latur as docs lack water even to wash their hands

Doctors in drought-stricken Latur, Maharashtra, are putting off surgeries because there is not enough water for them to even wash their hands before an operation. “We have to depend on tanker water. The tankers are finding it hard to supply water because they get water from borewells from far flung areas where the water table is going down,” said Deepak Gugale, president of the Latur Indian Medical Association. As of now, the doctors are treating only emergency cases, but may have to stop even that after 15 days, according to The Economic Times. 

India, China, US, Brazil account for half of the world's adults with diabetes

A new report has revealed that since 1980, the number of adults with diabetes worldwide has quadrupled from 108 million to 422 million in 2014. Senior author Majid Ezzati, from Imperial College London, London, UK, said, "Rates of diabetes are rising quickly in China, India, and many other low and middle income countries, and if current trends continue, the probability of meeting the 2025 UN global target is virtually non-existent." The study includes data from 751 studies totalling 4.4 million adults in different world regions. Between 1980 and 2014, diabetes has become more common among men than women. Half of adults worldwide with diabetes in 2014 lived in five countries: China, India, USA, Brazil and Indonesia. Age-adjusted prevalence of diabetes has more than doubled for men in India and China (3.7 per cent to 9.1 per cent in India; 3.5 per cent to 9.9 per cent in China); and increased by 50 per cent among women in China (5.0 per cent to 7.6 per cent) and 80 percent among women in India (4.6 per cent to 8.3 per cent). The study appears in The Lancet. 

New mosquito trap that can help fight Zika spread

A team of researchers has come up with a new mosquito trap that could be used to help slow the spread of the Zika virus around the globe. Developed by Argentinian researchers from the Centro de Investigaciones de Plagas e Insecticidas, the trap can be used to effectively monitor and control the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is the primary transmitter of Zika, dengue, chikungunya, and yellow fever. The plastic ovitrap is a small cup made of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) that has been infused with the larvicide pyriproxyfen. When the cup is filled with water, the larvicide is immediately released from the plastic. Female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes prefer to deposit eggs in small containers such as pots and tires that contain water, so the trap is an attractive egg-laying location. The trap is described in the Journal of Medical Entomology.