News Digest: Wife calling her husband 'obese elephant' ground for divorce, says Delhi HC

Here are some important reports from the biggest newspapers of India:

1. Wife calling her husband 'obese elephant' ground for divorce: HC

Calling your overweight husband "mota haathi" (fat elephant) is grounds for divorce as it is “destructive of the matrimonial bond”, the Delhi HC has ruled.

It upheld a divorce granted by a family court in 2012 to a man who said he was subjected to cruelty by his wife for being overweight and alleged failure to satiate her sexually, the Hindustan Times rported.

"The calling of names such as ‘mota haathi’ by the appellant in respect of her husband — even if he was overweight, is bound to strike at his self respect," justice Vipin Sanghi said.

2. India's 'fastest train' beats first Shatabdi by all of two minutes

The flagship Gatimaan Express between New Delhi and Agra, to be launched as India's fastest train service at a top speed of 160 km per hour, will in fact be only a few minutes quicker than — if not just about as fast as — the first Shatabdi Express launched as the fastest train in India 28 years ago.

According to the Indian Express, the first Shatabdi Express, rolled out between New Delhi and Jhansi in 1988 by then railway minister Madhavrao Scindia to commemorate the centenary birth celebrations of Jawaharlal Nehru, took 115 minutes to reach Agra, Railway archives show.

The Gatimaan Express, with three decades worth of advancement in railway technologies and a good two years of work into it, would take 113 minutes to reach the Taj Mahal city — as per its latest, and what is being touted as its final, trial before launch.

3. IIM-A likely to take up Mallya fiasco as case study

Once Vijay Mallya was invited to deliver a lecture in Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kolkata. Now he is likely to become a study Once Vijay Mallya was invited to deliver a lecture in Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kolkata. Now he is likely to become a study material of IIM-A students due to his current debt travails. The IIM-A professors are mulling over project ‘The Liquor Baron’s debt fiasco’ as a case study for the business school students.

According to the IIM-A sources, post-graduate students in finance and accounting faculty at the B-school are likely to study the case of Mallya who had allegedly fled away from the country with overdue of Rs 9,000 crore debt and its interest to various banks, the Times of India reported.

4. 'Sacred' lemon fetches Rs 39k in temple bid

A lemon fetched Rs 39,000 at an auction held by the management of a temple as a part of Panguni Uthiram festival in Tamil Nadu’s Villupuram district.

It is the custom of the authorities to auction the fruit spiked on the spear of the deity, Lord Muruga, at the Balathandayuthapani temple during the last day of the 11day festival in Tiruvanainallur. The villagers believe that possessing the lemon would bring prosperity and couples would get children, the Times of India reported.

This year, a couple, Jayaraman and Amaravathi, made the successful bid. The other eight lemons also went for a good price and altogether fetched Rs 57,722 this year.

5. Man held in Pakistan my nephew but he's not a Patel, says ex-cop

Former assistant commissioner of police in Mumbai Subhas Jadhav told TOI on Saturday that the picture on the passport seized by Pakistan from an alleged RAW agent purportedly held in Balochistan was that of his nephew Kulbhushan Jadhav. However, he denied his nephew was also known as Hussain Hussein Mubarak Patel, the name that the passport flashed on Pakistani TV channels carries. He refuted Pakis tan's allegation that his nephew was in any way associated with India's spy agency. He said, though, he had been est ranged from his brother and Kulbhushan's father Sudhir and his family for two decades “due to various issues."

The government has admitted Jadhav is an Indian national and has sought consular access to him but has made it clear he has no link with the government. Sources close to the family said that Kulbhushan’s father Sudhir Jadhav had, like the uncle, retired from the Mumbai police force as assistant commissioner.

6. Street vendors get smarter with digital wallets

Twenty two-year-old Pappu Shah's paan shop is a modest stall under a tree in Noida sector 8, right next to the printing press he quit to set up shop.

But for about nine months after he set up the shop, he struggled to break even and manage loose change. His regular customers paid him ` 100 for single cigarette, or asked him to give credit, the Hindustan Times reported.

It was a nightmare keeping tabs on who to collect dues from, and who to pay back, he says.

7. Statutes don't say eating beef is an offence: HC

Ruling that beef eating is not an offence under the Indian Penal Code, the Madras High Court bench said that there is no restriction on the eating habits of people belonging to different religious denominations under any other law as well.

Justices S Manikumar and CT Selvam made the observation while dismissing a public interest litigation petition that sought eviction of shopkeepers who eat beef on the Girivalam (circumambulation) pathway around the Dhandayuthapaniswamy Temple at Palani in Dindigul district, the Hindu reported.

The judges said, "Claiming to be a practising lawyer and under the garb of president Hindu Munnetra Kazhagam, K. Gopinath, party-in-person, is before us, seeking for a writ of mandamus. Nowhere in the Indian Penal Code it is stated that eating non-vegetarian food is an offence."

8. This thief came in luxury cars to strike at high-end flats

Whenever Nadeem Qureshi drove to an apartment in a luxury car, nobody suspected that he had come to steal. In fact, the guards would carry his bags stuffed with stolen valuables for him and show him out.

Once safely out, he would fly to Mumbai to enjoy the fruits of his labour — he would lavish money on bar girls and resorts.

Qureshi, a proclaimed offender, faces more than 500 cases of robbery, theft, dacoity and burglary — over two dozen of them registered in Mumbai and another attempt-to-murder case in Mathura, the Times of India reported.

9. Yoga can cure cancer, government may have proof in a year: Minister, AYUSH

Union Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Yasso Naik on Saturday said yoga asanas can cure major diseases like cancer, and said the government could come out with scientific evidence on this in a year.

"It is a proven fact. We have visited the Bengaluru-based Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (S-VYASA) institute, where many people told us they have been cured of cancer by regular practice of yoga. The institute has found a technique of yoga for the prevention and cure of cancer," he said, speaking at the inauguration of a four-day National AROGYA fair.

S-VYASA chancellor Dr H R Nagendra is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's yoga guru, the Indian Express reported.

10. JNU incident was a crime: Kiran Bedi

Former IPS officer Kiran Bedi has termed as “crime” the February 9 event held at the Jawaharlal Nehru University against the hanging of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. She claimed the issue was blown out of proportion because it was "politicised".

“If you ask me about the JNU incident, it is nothing but a breach of law. JNU incident was a crime. That’s it. The whole issue became overblown because it was politicised and then the police was expected to go easy,” Bedi said.