Kolkata, INDIA - Indian health workers urged villagers at the centre of a bird flu outbreak to stop dumping dead fowl in ponds, as ignorance about the virus hampers efforts to contain its spread. In many of the quarantined villages, bare-chested villagers in cotton wraparounds picked dead birds with their hands and dumped them in ponds, increasing the risk of the virus spreading. More than 40, 000 birds and poultry have died in the latest outbreak, the fourth in India since 2006. No human infection has been reported so far. Most of West Bengal's border with Bangladesh has been sealed after the H5N1 virus spread to poultry in 25 of that country's 64 districts.

MALAPURRAM, India - With temple thefts increasing in parts of Kerala, the police have set up a 'People's Force' to guard the shrines at night. The first area to be covered will be Malappuram district's Kondotty area, which boasts of some 30 temples.
The 'People's Force' will be made up of 10 to 12 locals. Kerala witnessed a large number of temple thefts in 2007.  The thieves usually take away ornaments which are made of precious metals besides lamps and utensils made of special alloys.

BANGALORE, India - Over 1,700 people in 44 groups sang for 40 hours non-stop at Karnataka's coastal town Mangalore to set a Guinness record and raise funds to promote Konkani language and culture. The attempt during which 645 Konkani songs will be sung by the groups from Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa, the organisers said in a statement.
The Konkani Nirantari programme aims to beat the existing record of 36-hour non-stop singing of a Brazilian group, Communidadae Evanelica Lauterana Sao Paulo.

CHANDIGARH, India - They were ubiquitous at market places, traffic intersections and other busy spots. But suddenly Chandigarh's beggars seem to have disappeared into thin air in a bid to avoid a rehabilitation scheme. "The beggars simply evaporated after word spread that city officials were trying to trace them. We know that they must have shifted their activities to the city's periphery for now but that has hampered our campaign. They have left us begging for beggars," an education official told IANS. The city has a population of nearly 1.1 million residents, of which over 300,000 live in slums.

MUMBAI, India - Bollywood star Suneil Shetty is not only a successful restaurateur and a health freak, he is also a gourmand who can gobble up any amount of his favourite dishes without a care in the world. "I am not particularly calorie-conscious. I don't distinguish between food because I have taste buds for all varieties of dishes. But after having had my fill, I make it a point to burn the fat with rigorous exercises," the star told an amused gathering while inaugurating a food festival at the forecourt of the World Trade Centre in South Mumbai.

MUMBAI, India - Gold worth Rs.7.3 million ($186,300) was stolen from a manufacturing unit in Mumbai.  "Some unidentified people broke into the unit through the roof and decamped with 3.5 kg of gold powder worth Rs.3.64 million ($86,800) and gold wire worth Rs.3.66 million ($93,440)," a police official told IANS. The unit, located in the Apollo Industrial Estate of the MIDC in Andheri, northwestern Mumbai, was shut for Republic Day.

MUMBAI, India -  Ashwini Kumar Bhat, a senior executive of pharmaceutical major Nicholas Piramal India Ltd who went missing two weeks ago, has been found near the Chambal valley in Madhya Pradesh Police said he had been kidnapped by dacoits. He was found early this morning. The dacoits had mistaken him for somebody else and later passed him on to other groups. Bhat was in charge of the company's plant operations in India. Nicholas Piramal has several operations in India and abroad, including Britain and Canada.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - - Sri Lankan police are investigating the gruesome discovery of 16 bullet-riddled bodies dumped in shallow graves in a government-controlled part of the island. The bodies were found by villagers in a district 206km north of the capital Colombo. The victims had been blindfolded, tied up and shot, officials said. The latest discovery is certain to compound concerns over the rights situation in Sri Lanka and an increasingly dirty war between troops and Tamil Tiger rebels in which both sides are accused of killing civilians. Since the start of this month, Sri Lanka's defence ministry has said government forces have killed 630 rebels while 26 soldiers have died.

AGRA, India - Veteran actor Rajesh Khanna visited the famous Goat Research Institute at Farah in Mathura district, 30 km from here, to collect information about a documentary on goats he is reportedly planning to make.  The actor is also keen on setting up a goat farm in Mumbai. Goat farms, unlike poultry and cattle farms, are not as popular. It is difficult to breed goats and improve their stock.  The subcontinent has nearly 20 well-characterised goat breeds, which vary in their genetic potential for production of milk, meat and fibre. Indian goats make up 20 per cent of the world's goat population.

NEW DELHI, India -  The Supreme Court has refused to stall a judicial probe by the Tamil Nadu government into allegations of land grabbing by former chief minister J. Jayalalitha. The probe by the present government had been challenged by a close aide of Jayalalitha on the grounds that it was politically motivated.

The commission was set up to probe allegations that a farmhouse iThe farmhouse was built on 53 acres of land given to Dalits by former chief minister C. Annadurai in 1967.  According to the allegations, Jayalalitha the used the farmhouse extensively during her tenure as chief minister, although she has maintained that she got the house on rent.