News Wrap: Pranab, Sangma file nominations; Surjeet meets family

- Pranab Mujherjee and PA Sangma have filed their nominations for the presidential race. As Mukherjee proceeded with the formalities, he was accompanied by Congress heavyweights such as Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram in a massive show of strength. For Sangma Senior BJP leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Sushma Swaraj were present for the event.

- After spending 31 years in a Pakistani jail, Indian prisoner Surjeet Singh today walked free and crossed over to his home country in an emotional renunion with his family. Sixty-nine-year-old Singh, was released from Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail. He said he did not have any hardship in the Pakistani jail and he got daily necessities like food and clothes. Singh admitted that he was in Pakistan to spy and denied that he tried sending any messages to his family while he was there.

- And in a landmark decision and a setback to 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy victims, a US court has held that neither Union Carbide nor its former chairman Warren Anderson were liable for environmental remediation or pollution-related claims at the firm’s former chemical plant in Bhopal. The court ruled that it was Union Carbide India Ltd, and not its parent company UCC that was responsible for the generation and disposal of the waste that polluted drinking water, and the liability rests with the state government.

- Tech circles are buzzing with the introduction of the Nexus 7 – marking Google’s formal entrance into the ever expanding tablet market. The Google conference saw the latest update to the Android- the Jellybean. It will also allow you to use Google maps when you are offline and boasts of Google Now— which will respond to your queries in a human voice much like Apple’s Siri.

- Over to sport and the Euro 2012 semifinal last night. Portugal lost 4-2 on penalties in a shootout where Cristiano Ronaldo did not even get a chance to score. Also, news is in that the Sri Lankan Premier League franchises have all been bought by Indian businesses. On the Olympics front, David Beckham has missed out on Team GB’s football team.

- And finally, a ‘genetic vaccine’ will halt nicotine cravings and could even be used to stop children starting the habit, say experts. Just one jab could provide life-long protection against nicotine cravings and it could eventually be used to vaccinate children to stop them ever getting hooked.