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Mumbai, Dec 5 : A more than 11-year-old hit-and-run case involving Bollywood star Salman Khan has been assigned a fresh trial, with all evidence and witnesses scheduled to be re-examined, officials said in the Maharashtra capital Thursday.

A Mumbai sessions court, while accepting Khan's plea for a retrial after he was charged under the serious section relating to "culpable homicide, not amounting to murder", has ordered that the retrial start Dec 23.

London, Dec 5 : Scientists have linked inadequate sleep to mood disturbances and lower quality of life in extremely obese people, said a study.

"There was a clear association between the sleep problems such as short sleep duration, and the psychological disorders, and with quality of life," said G. Neil Thomas, lead supervisor, study methodology lead, and reader in epidemiology at the Department of Public Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Birmingham in Britain.

The study results appear in the December issue of the journal Sleep, reports the Science Daily.

Beijing, Dec 5 : The number of Chinese microblog accounts exceeded 1.3 billion in November, making this a major channel for disseminating information, according to the State Internet Information Office.

Media institutions' microblogs are developing fast and about 37,000 such accounts have been opened through popular websites including weibo. com and t. qq. com, said Liu Zhengrong, a senior official with the office.

Mumbai, Dec 5 : Led by good buying support in banking, capital goods and realty stocks, a benchmark index of the Indian equities markets soared past the 21,000-points-mark in pre-noon trade Thursday.

The 30-scrip S&P Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened sharply higher at 20,992.25 points, was ruling at 20,995.21 points in the afternoon session, up 1.38 percent or 286.50 points from its previous day close at 20,708.71 points.

Toronto, Dec 5 : The father's absence during a the critical growth periods of children may lead to their turning to drugs and crime when they become adults, new findings show.

The Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre in Quebec said that the absence of a father during the growing years leads to impaired social and behavioural abilities in adults.

The scientists, who conducted the study on mice raised only by their mother, found that they were more aggressive and had abnormal social interactions.

Beijing, Dec 5 : China Thursday urged the US to respect its establishment of the East China Sea Air Defence Identification Zone objectively and fairly.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei was responding to media reports that said US Vice President Joe Biden conveyed Washington's "deep concerns" over the air-defence zone during talks with Chinese leaders Wednesday, Xinhua reported.