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Back to Today's Headlines Reliance Launches India's 'Cheapest' Mobile Service NEW DELHI: Reliance Industries on Friday launched its much awaited mobile service, which the company claimed to be the cheapest available in the country. The service has been initially launched in Mumbai only even as Reliance plans to launch its wireless-in-local loop (WLL) services in 673 cities across the country within the next two months. The service, named 'Reliance Infocomm', offers a tariff of 40 paise per minute, with a 15-second pulse rate. Besides, incoming calls would be free, and the company will offer 40 per cent discount on STD calls as a promotional exercise. The corporate giant will also provide free short message service (SMS), Internet and voice-mail for three years to all its subscribers. Services will be available to the customers through a 11,000-strong network of retail outlets across the country. The company will offer its free handsets and allow mobile handsets to be exchanged. Speaking on the occasion, company chairman Mukesh Ambani said that "providing cheap communication services across India was the dream of Reliance patriarch Dhirubhai Ambani". Fog Disrupts Air, Rail Services in Northern India (Go To Top) NEW DELHI: As usual during this time of the year, several parts of northern India has been enveloped in a thick blanket of fog since Tuesday last after a shower at many places. Rail services were the worst affected. Rescheduling of services had a chain reaction all over. In Delhi, visibility on Friday was down below 20 m on the roads. The traffic police issued advertisements alerting drivers on do's and dont's. The minimum temperature on Thursday was 10 degrees C (Max. 16.4 degrees C) and it was expected to fall further considerably over the coming days as this is the time winter is at its peak. Indian Airlines cancelled four flights that included Kathmandu-Delhi and Mumbai-Delhi and Jet Airways six. In Delhi flights on Friday were held up till noon when the fog lifted. Trains such as Jharkhand Express, Jaisalmer Express, Howrah Express, Magadh Express and several Rajdhanis and Shatabdis were either delayed or rescheduled. India, Pak to Swap N-lists: Western Envoys (Go To Top) BRUSSELS: Despite stalemate in Indo-Pakistan ties, European diplomats claim that the two rivals have decided to exchange the lists of their nuclear installations next week. The exchange, reports the News quoting the diplomats, is supposed to herald a new era of conciliation and rapprochement as both the countries have given a firm commitment to the international community to bolster the set of confidence-building measures synonymous with the so-called Gate's Mission, culminating in resumption of structured dialogue during the first quarter of the new year. Western diplomats in Brussels pronounce that India and Pakistan are poised to exchange lists on January 1, 2003 covered under the agreement that prohibits either country from attacking each other's nuclear installations. This accord was signed on December 31, 1988, and entered into force on January 27, 1991. The exchange, the paper adds, will be carried out through diplomatic channels simultaneously in New Delhi and Islamabad. Under the agreement, the two countries are to inform each other on January 1 of every calendar year of the nuclear installations and facilities to be covered by the agreement. The first such exchange took place on January 1, 1992. The latest lists are expected to cover, according to a diplomatic source, 11 nuclear installations on the Indian side and six on the Pakistani side. Was MiG Shot Down by Militants? (Go To Top) SRINAGAR: An MiG-21 fighter aircraft on a training flight crashed on Thursday on a house near Srinagar airport, killing two people (yesterday's report had said only one person was killed) and badly damaging the building, according to official sources. The pilot ejected safely. The plane came down on the house of Ghulam Ahmad Ganai in Lalgam village in Badgam district at around 2.25 pm. He and his 14-year-old son were killed. The house caught fire and suffered extensive damage. The aircraft's wheels had reportedly failed to open in time as it approached an air base. Later, the pro-Pakistan militant outfit Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen claimed that its cadre shot down the MiG-21 fighter plane but the Indian Air Force ruled out any such possibility. A spokesman of the outfit reportedly said over the phone in Srinagar that Jamiat's members fired a missile at the plane, bringing it down, in reaction to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's appeal to militants on Wednesday to surrender arms. He added, it is believed, that no weapons will be laid down and "every such appeal would be met with same reaction." But IAF spokesman Squadron Leader RK Dhingra said in Delhi that there was no possibility of the aircraft being hit by a missile or ground fire. Indo-US Pact on Extradition Unfortunate: Amnesty (Go To Top) LONDON: The Amnesty International on Friday termed the Indo-US pact on extradition as unfortunate, saying the pact will "undermine India's sovereignty". "The signing of an Indo-US bilateral pact sends a clear signal that the Indian Government lacks that commitment to bring to justice even those accused of genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity. It is, however, extremely unfortunate that India has succumbed to US pressure to sign this impunity agreement," the international body said in a statement here. Rejecting as "spurious" and without any basis the arguments that national jurisdiction and sovereignty were undermined by multilateral human rights protection instruments like the International Criminal Court (ICC), the global rights body said, "As of December 10, 2002, 139 States have signed and 87 States have ratified the Rome Statute of ICC. It is far-fetched to suggest that all these countries or Governments do not care for their sovereignty or national jurisdiction." "India loses the right to determine which court - its own or that of an International Criminal Court to which it has delegated its authority under a multi-lateral treaty - will investigate and prosecute crimes committed in its territory or by persons found in its territory," it said. India and the US signed the pact in New Delhi on Thursday so that each country will not knowingly facilitate, consent to or cooperate with efforts by any third party or country for the extradition, surrender or transfer of each other's nationals to any international tribunal. Baby Elephant Killed in Accident on Rail Track (Go To Top) BHUBANEWSAR: A baby elephant of Chandaka forest reserve in Orissa was killed in an accident on Thursday while it was crossing a railway line. A herd of pachyderms had sneaked out from the sanctuary in search of food in the nearby paddy fields.
The villagers found the elephant dead when they came to their
fields early in the morning. "No, we did not see it but when we came
in the morning at about 4 am., one dead elephant was lying on the track.
There were a few people along with me who also saw that this elephant
had been killed in a train accident," said Shubendhu Mohanty, a villager. Nearly five elephants of the Chandaka sanctuary have died in similar accidents. Villagers say elephants have become a menace, alleging that they frequently destroy standing crops scattered over vast areas. In the last four years, six people have also been trampled by elephants, according to official figures. A rise in human population in and around the forest has led to loss of habitat for the elephants and frequent man-animal conflicts. The inability of the State Government to find a solution to the problem has angered the villagers. "We demanded that they should protect us from the elephants. They (Government) should make such an arrangement that the elephants stay out of our fields. Otherwise we will protest against the State Government and go up to any length to resolve this problem," said Abhi Babu, another villager. The State Government has apparently been slow in utilisation of funds meant for digging trenches around Chandaka elephant sanctuary to stop the animals from straying into nearby villages. According to reports, the Government had spent only Rs 17.76 million for digging the trench out of Rs 33.53 million received for the purpose. Elephants in India are scattered in over 15 States and their estimated number now stands anywhere between 15,000 and 20,000. Heroin Worth Rs 15 Crore Seized in Capital (Go To Top) NEW DELHI: The Delhi police on Friday seized 150 kg heroin worth Rs 15 crore in the international market from four persons hailing from Rajasthan. All the four have been arrested and sent to jail. Acting on a tip-off, a police party was formed to intercept the drug traffickers who were travelling from Rajasthan to the Capital. Police said ten packets, each containing 1.5 kilograms of heroin, were recovered from a bag that one of the four accused was carrying. Giving details, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Narcotics Bureau) DL Kashyap said, "in this total four persons were arrested. While the rest three have been sent to jail, one has been sent to police remand for January 1. We will raid their premises in Jalawad, Rajasthan, from where these people get drugs and will try to nab the main persons behind the racket". In police custody, the accused are being interrogated about their modus operandi, source of supply and their associates. According to a survey by the Delhi police's Narcotics branch, during the current year at least 103 cases of drug smuggling have been reported in which 167 people have been arrested. This was the second such drug haul in the country. Two days back cannabis worth Rs 11 crore was seized in Kullu valley. Naxalites Kill Seven in Bihar (Go To Top) PATNA: Seven people have been killed by Naxalites in Bihar. The victims were low-caste farmers, including three children, in Masaurhi town, 40 km from Patna, according to a senior police official. He said a Sunil Kranti gang was responsible for the killings, apparently because of old enmity. The MCC rebels had called for a ban on harvesting until extortion money was paid, the police said. Hekmatyar Joins Al-Qaeda, Declares Jihad Against US (Go To Top) ISLAMABAD: Gulbadin Hekmatyar, Afghan warlord and most wanted Muslim guerrilla leader after Osama bin Laden, has announced jihad against Americans after joining Al-Qaeda along with hundreds of his followers. This was revealed by the NNI, whose office in Peshawar had received a fax message in Pushto language to this effect from Engineer Gulbadin Hekmatyar. BBC has also said that the message of Hizbe Islami Afghanistan chief has been circulated among the supporters of Hekmatyar bearing "declaration of jihad against the international peace forces in Afghanistan". Hekmatyar has reportedly told his supporters that there is now need to gear up jihad with full force and resources. According to reports, the Hizb-e-Islami had been enjoying a marginal support of Pushtoons as well as in Pakistan. The fax message of Tuesday said that the former Afghan prime minister has rejected outrightly reports of his patch-up with Karzai Government and announced jihad against foreign forces and their supporters in the country. A people's Islamic Government could be established in Afghanistan only if the country is liberated from the clutches of foreign powers, he affirmed, NNI adds. -ANI & India Overseas |