UK Indian students

London, Jan. 12 (PTI): The number of Indian students coming to the UK for higher education has fallen because of stringent student visa norms.

Students coming to study in UK schools and universities fell by 23. 5 per cent while for postgraduate level it was 28 per cent. Figures released by the Higher Education Statistics Agency yesterday showed fewer than 30,000 Indian were studying in UK higher education institutions in 2011-12 compared to 40,000 the year before.

Pooja caller

Mumbai (PTI): A man from Pune was arrested on Saturday for allegedly making threatening and obscene calls to actress-turned-producer Pooja Bhatt. Preliminary probe suggested Ashish Swarnakar made the calls to harass Pooja.

Victim brother

Ballia (PTI): The Uttar Pradesh government will bear the educational expenses of the two brothers of the 23-year-old Delhi gang rape victim. Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav took the decision after visiting the girl’s family on Saturday, district magistrate A.B. Chandramauli said.

Blast kills 3

Madurai (PTI): Three men died in a blast at a firecracker factory on Friday, Tamil Nadu police said on Saturday. The workers were mixing chemicals when the blast occurred. On January 2, a worker was killed and two injured in a blast at a cracker factory near Pudukottai.

Pune heritage

Pune (PTI): French experts have been roped in by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to restore about 250 heritage structures. The project, to be initiated in three months, will have an allocation of around Rs 5 crore in the first phase. The restored structures will be used to promote tourism, PMC executive engineer Shyam Dhavale said.

Leopard birth

Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): A 17-year-old leopard gave birth at the city zoo on Wednesday, officials said. The cub is healthy and its sex has not been ascertained as the zoo keeper has not been able to closely inspect the animal. The zoo now has seven leopards.