India police arrest father-in-law over 'honour killing'

The father-in-law of a lower-caste student brutally hacked to death in a suspected "honour killing" in India has been arrested, police said Tuesday.

Three men armed with sickles and sharp weapons attacked the 22-year-old student from the lowest Dalit caste and his wife on a crowded street in the southern state of Tamil Nadu on Sunday, killing him and seriously injuring her.

The woman's father and uncle were among five people arrested over the assault, which was apparently motivated by her decision to marry outside her own caste, police said.

"We have arrested five accused and are looking for five more," A. Dhavamani, an investigating officer, told AFP.

"Three of them were involved in the attack, including the woman's uncle," he said, adding that the others have confessed to conspiracy to kill the victim.

The Press Trust of India news agency said the woman's mother was also among those arrested, although this could not immediately be confirmed.

Her father surrendered to police late on Monday and was formally arrested.

Police said the 19-year-old woman married the Dalit engineering student eight months ago in defiance of her family, who are from the higher Thevar caste.

Marriage outside caste or religion still attracts strong censure in parts of India and can even lead to so-called honour killings, carried out to protect family pride.

Dalits, formerly known as untouchables, are a historically marginalised community who have faced centuries of discrimination in India.

The couple had reportedly faced threats from her family before Sunday's attack that was captured on CCTV, footage from which showed three men on a motorbike stop and attack them as they walked along a crowded street.

There are no India-specific figures on honour killings available, but United Nations statistics say 1,000 out of the 5,000 such killings every year are in India.

India's Supreme Court ruled in 2011 that those involved in honour killings should face the death penalty.

Charcoal : the Lean, Mean, Cleaning Machine

It’s startling to think that charcoal, one of the most basic elements on earth, can be such a powerful cleaning force. Here’s how it works…

Carbon is the sixth-most abundant element in the universe – a fact that should be pretty pleasing to you, given that we humans are, after all, carbon-based life forms. So while you’re patting yourself on the back, don’t forget that apart from being a basic building block of your body, carbon is also a fantastic cleaning agent.

The science of clean

How does this work? Well, the process starts when carbon takes the form of charcoal, a material mankind has worked with ever since we discovered fire. This lightweight black material is highly porous – and that’s one of its super-weapons in the fight against dirt.

Hence why the cleaning experts of the hit UK show How Clean Is Your House have this tip to share: if you’ve got a stinky fridge, fill a baking tin with several charcoal briquettes. Place them in the fridge, and within a few hours they will have absorbed all the nasty odours.

A super-powered black sponge

Activated carbon, which has been treated with oxygen to increase the pore structure, has cleaned up even bigger messes than that. This is thanks to its fantastic property of adsorption. Adsorption is not quite the same as absorption. A paper towel, for example, will soak up or absorb water into its material body.

An adsorbent material, meanwhile, such as activated charcoal, attracts liquids or gases only onto its surface. That’s why the charcoal is often used in the latter stages of oil spills, which are notoriously difficult to clean up. Activated charcoal is also a popular tool in pesticide spills, thanks to its mindboggling ability to adsorb 100 to 200 times its own weight in toxins and grime.

Total cleaning

As such, it’s no wonder that Colgate Total Charcoal Deep Clean toothpaste uses the best properties of activated charcoal. Colgate Total Charcoal Deep Clean- a toothpaste with micro-charcoal particles that cleans deep in between the teeth. Cheers to charcoal!

Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus smartphone launched at Rs.8, 499

New Delhi: Chinese multinational computer technology company Lenovo has unveiled its latest flagship, the Vibe K5 Plus smartphone in India.

The cost of the smartphone is Rs.8,499. The phone will be available for sales exclusively on Flipkart from March 23.

The Vibe K5 Plus was first unveiled at the recently concluded MWC(Mobile World Congress) 2016 in Barcelona, Spain.

The Vibe K5 Plus comes with a five-inch FullHD IPS display with a 1080×1920 pixels resolution which roughly translates to 441ppi pixel density.

The smartphone would be available in three different colour variants of Gold, Grey and Silver.