Force India wins copyright case

London: Caterham (formerly Team Lotus), its Chief Technology Officer Mike Gascoyne and Aerolab have been found liable for copyright infringement and using confidential information of Formula One team Force India, at the London High Court.

Following the publication of Team Lotus wind tunnel model pictures in November 2009, Force India lodged a complaint with the Criminal Court in Italy and subsequently commenced civil proceedings in the UK High Court, citing concerns in respect of Team Lotus, Aerolab and Gascoyne "illegally copying" its design intellectual property accessed from secure files held at Aerolab.

Gascoyne was Force India's Chief Technical Officer till November 2008 before being roped in by the then Team Lotus.

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"The case was heard at the High Court, London during January 2012 with Mr Justice Arnold finding Team Lotus (now known as Caterham) and Aerolab liable for copyright infringement and using confidential information respectively.

Some parts created using Force India confidential information were used on the Team Lotus race cars in the early part of the 2010 season," Force India said in a statement.

"The judgement will now be referred for the consideration of Formula One's governing body, the FIA, while the Italian criminal case against Gascoyne, Tony Fernandes and Jean Claude Migeot remains ongoing."

Man blackmails wife's friend for money, sex

Mumbai: Money and sex -- Umesh alias Karan Rathod thought he had found a beeline to both. The journey didn't last long. Kasturba Marg police arrested the 38-year-old yesterday for allegedly blackmailing his wife's friend for money and sexual favours. According to cops, Rathod was harassing a 36-year-old Kandivli resident after he saw the woman with her alleged paramour and clicked their photo.

The victim, who works at a private bank in Borivli (East), approached the police on Wednesday when the accused asked for Rs 20,000 from her to keep her extramarital affair a secret from her husband. The woman, who is a friend of the accused's wife, has been married for four years and had a fling with a colleague. The officers said she was walking with her boyfriend in Borivli (East) when Rathod spotted the two and clicked a photo on his mobile phone.

Rathod, a resident of Shantidaan located at MHADA colony in Andheri (East), then met the woman and demanded sexual favours from her along with Rs 20,000 to keep her affair from her husband and her family. The victim gave Rathod Rs 5,000. That, however, didn't placate the accused. He wanted the rest of the amount as soon as possible. Fed up with Rathod's biddings, the woman filed a complaint against him.

"The victim had refused to fulfil the demands of the accused when he threatened her, saying that he would show the photo to her husband," said Sr Inspector Rajendra Thakur, Kasturba Marg police station.

On Wednesday, cops set a trap and asked the victim to call Rathod near Sanjay Gandhi National Park to collect the remaining amount. "We nabbed Rathod from the spot while accepting the cash from the victim. He has been arrested for blackmailing and extortion. We will present him before the court on Thursday," said Thakur.

Police have seized the accused's mobile phone and have sent it for forensic analysis to extract the compromising photo that Rathod had clicked.

Hockey legend, two others elected to RS from Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Hockey legend and former Indian captain, Dilip Tirkey was among the three persons who were on Thursday declared elected unopposed to Rajya Sabja from Odisha.

Besides Tirkey, BJD leader Rabi Narayan Mohapatra of Nayagarh and AV Swamy from Nuapada, supported by the ruling BJD, were also declared elected to the upper house of Parliament to fill three vacant seats from Odisha.

The results were declared by returning officer and Assembly Secretary Amiya Kumar Sarangi after the time schedule for withdrawal of nomination was over.

As there was no other contestant in the fray for the biennial election, it would not be necessary to hold election earlier scheduled for March 30 for the three vacant seats from the state, he said.

Though four others had filed their nomination for the Rajya sabha polls, these were rejected during scrutiny as the papers were without any proposer.

The three Rajya Sabja seats had fallen vacant following completion of tenure of Kishore Mohanty, Rudra Narayan Pani and Sushila Tiriya.

SL war crimes resolution: DMK, Left welcome India's move

New Delhi: The United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva adopted the resolution against Sri Lanka on alleged war crimes on Thursday with 24 countries, including India, voting in favour, 15 against and eight abstaining.

Welcoming the move of India to vote in favour of the US-backed resolution, DMK MP Kanimozhi said that all the parties in Tamil Nadu were asking for it and the credit for it went to each one of them.

She said that the move "makes sure that Tamils get their rights, rehabilitation happens and they get justice".

"It is very important that international law is followed. Many countries have voted against it," said Kanimozhi.

Referring to the war crimes in Sri Lanka, the DMK MP termed it as human rights violation.

The move was also welcomed by Left leader D Raja, who said, "I thank the Prime Minister."

He, however, said that the need was to keep up the pressure on Sri Lanka.

Raja said, "We have to continue pressure on Lanka, so that Sri Lankan Tamils get genuine political solution."

The government, meanwhile, said that the move was meant to protect human rights.

Union Minister Vayalar Ravi said, "The government was concerned about the safety and security of Tamils in Sri Lanka, so naturally, it is a move to protect human right."

"India always stood for the prevention of human rights violation...this is what India has done," he said.

Nayanthara returns to Tamil films

New Delhi: Ending months of speculation over what film she will next be seen in, actress Nayanthara has signed the dotted line for a movie that will mark Telugu actor Gopichand's re-entry in Tamil. Gopichand had earlier played villain in the movie Jeyam, and will be seen playing the protagonist in this film.

This commercial flick will be director by Bhoopathi Pandian, who had earlier made films Devadhaiyai Kandein with Dhanush and Malaikottai with Vishal.

Shooting for the same will begin in April. The movie has been given the working title of Production Five, and will be produced by Jayabalaji Real Media.

This full-fledged commercial flick will mark the return of Nayanthara to Kollywood, after a two-year break. Her last outing in Tamil was Boss Engira Baskaran, in which she was paired with actor Arya. The movie hit the screens in September 2010, after which the actress did not sign any Tamil film and instead, relocated to Mumbai. She was last seen in the Telugu flick Sri Rama Rajyam.

Rumoured to have broken up with boyfriend Prabhu Deva, Nayanthara has finally ended her sabbatical in films, and has already agreed to feature in Ajith's next. This is an action thriller to be directed by filmmaker Vishnuvardhan. Ajith, Nayanthara and Vishnuvardhan had earlier teamed up for the 2007-blockbuster Billa. This yet-to-be-titled film, shoot for which is said to begin this summer, is believed to be the remake of the Saif, Akshay Khanna starrer Race.

Odisha hostage crisis: Naxals say they will free one of the abducted Italians if two demands are met

Bhubaneswar: Negotiations between the mediators and Maoists are set to begin on Thursday. Mediator Dandapani Mohanty has told CNN-IBN that one hostage will be freed on Thursday if two of their 13 demands of the Maoists are met.

The demands include action against officials who violated human rights of tribals and freeing several Maoist sympathisers including Sabyasachi Panda's wife Subhasree Panda.

The Italian hostage Claudio Colangelo who is reportedly ill might be handed over to a select group of journalists by Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda and set free.

However the second hostage Paolo Bosusco is likely to remain captive by the Maoists as negotiations begin in Bhubaneswar. One of the appointed mediators BD Sharma will be in Bhubaneswar on Thursday and is likely to begin talks with the Maoists.

The extended deadline to give into the Naxals' demands ended on Wednesday evening but the state government is yet to come up with any kind of truce.

Earlier, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik also hit out at the Centre for not helping the state in the case. He said that the central government did not do anything to end the hostage crisis.

Two Italians - Puri-based tour operator Paolo Bosusco and tourist Claudio Colangelo - were abducted while trekking in Kandhamal district on March 14.

The two Italians had driven down from Puri and entered a forested area in spite of being warned by the Daringibadi police about the presence of Maoists.

A driver and cook who were accompanying them and their vehicle were released by the Maoists subsequently.

A report from Puri said that the driver, Kartik Parida, and cook, Santosh, were interrogated by the police.