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27 injured in grenade attack, 3 jawans killed in mine blast
Srinagar, June 27 (ANI): At least 27 people were wounded when suspected militants lobbed a grenade in a crowded marketplace in Anantnag town, 55 km south of Srinagar. Two of the injured in the grenade attack are Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel. Police said that the target of the grenade attack was a CRPF patrol. The grenade missed its target and exploded on the road. "This happened around 11:30-12:00 this morning. We were selling vegetables to the army people when we heard the grenade blast. At least 27 people have been injured in the incident. I don't think anybody has died. There are 1-2 paramilitary soldiers wounded as well," said Bilal, an eyewitness of the grenade attack. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The wounded have been taken to the S.M. Hospital in Srinagar. In a separate incident, at least three soldiers were killed when an army vehicle ran over a landmine near Pahalgam, 100 km southeast of Srinagar. Pahalgam is the starting point for an annual Hindu pilgrimage due to start next month. Militant violence has continued in Kashmir despite an easing of tensions between nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan, who have massed a million troops on their border in a dispute over the region. About a dozen groups are battling Indian rule in Jammu and Kashmir, India's only Muslim-majority state where officials say more than 33,000 people have been killed since a rebellion broke out in 1989. Separatists put the toll closer to 80,000.(ANI) Fernandes says no de-escalation till October
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to top Ahmedabad, June 27 (ANI): Defence Minister George Fernandes said on Thursday country's troops would stay mobilised on its border with Pakistan until at least October. The archfoes have massed a million troops along their border since a December raid on parliament that New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based militants fighting its rule in Kashmir. "Tension is still there, this we agree to. Army is there. Yesterday (Wednesday) government again decided that army will stay on borders till October. There we are facing the situation. The witdrawal of troops depends on the situation at the border," Fernandes told reporters in Ahmedabad. Jammu and Kashmir goes to polls in October. New Delhi sees the elections as vital to ending the dispute over Kashmir. It is hoping the polls will enhance the legitimacy of the state assembly and bolster its claim over Kashmir. Replying to a question on recent statements from Islamabad, Fernandes said Pakistani establishment was not firm on its promises as it keeps shifting its stand. "The posture taken by Pakistan......The head of Pakistan says one thing at a time then backtracks the next moment. Then it is very difficult to comment on that," Fernandes said. Pakistan this week said India should withdraw its forces as a matter of urgency to avoid a small incident triggering a flareup in tensions between the nations, which have gone to war three times, twice over disputed Kashmir. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf this week reiterated a pledge to the United Sates to put a permanent end to militant incursions after a U.S. news magazine quoted him as denying he had made such a promise. Tensions have eased between Islamic Pakistan and mainly Hindu but officially secular India following intense U.S.-led diplomatic efforts this month to pull them back from the brink of war. But New Delhi has said it will not pull back its forces until it is convinced Islamabad has made good its pledge to stop the flow of militants into Jammu and Kashmir, India's only Muslim majority state, where a separatist revolt has raged since 1989. Indian military officials have said it could take six months to determine whether fewer militants are infiltrating Kashmir. Islamabad has repeatedly urged its bigger neighbour to pull back and hold talks to resolve the decades-old Kashmir dispute. Islamabad denies direct involvement in the Kashmir revolt but says it gives moral and diplomatic support to Kashmiris in what it calls their struggle for self-determination.(ANI)
Reshuffle on July 1: Mahajan Go to top New Delhi, June 27 (ANI): Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan confirmed on Thursday that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, under pressure to revive the flagging fortunes of his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), would reshuffle his cabinet on July 1. Vajpayee, whose BJP-led government is midway through its five- year term, had been expected to reshuffle his top team after a series of setbacks for his party but had to postpone the move because of a military standoff with Pakistan over the disputed Kashmir region. Fears of war have receded following a pledge by Pakistan to halt cross-border militant infiltration in Kashmir. "It is not for me to say who will be inducted, how many will be inducted or who will lose their posts. I can just say that a decision has been taken to undertake a cabinet expansion and cabinet reshuffle. I can only tell you the scheduled time. It is the Prime Minister's prerogative to tell the media after final decisions on cabinet members have been taken. This will be on the evening of July 1, after taking into consideration the President's convenience," Pramod Mahajan told reporters. The BJP, which suffered badly in state elections earlier this year, has been under fire over the country's sluggish economic growth and recent religious violence in Gujarat, deadliest in a decade. Domestic media has focused on speculation that Vajpayee might drop or move Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, who has faced heavy criticism from BJP members over what they see as his failure to sell economic reforms to the electorate.(ANI)
Tehelka tapes authentic: Tejpal
Go to top New Delhi, June 27 (ANI): Chief of a web portal, which last year created a furore by exposing corruption in defence deals, appeared before a one-man judicial commission on Thursday. The government appointed retired Supreme Court judge Justice K. Venkataswami to probe the alleged pay-offs. A commission official said the hearing will continue on Friday. Talking to reporters after the hearing, Hariharan, counsel for P. Sashi, one of the accused in the case, said the tapes presented by the portal were doctored. P Sashi, an assistant with the defence ministry, is alleged to have received kickbacks from the portal. "What we actually portrayed out here was that what was provided to us that was edited version and is different from unedited version which is there with the honourable commission. So how do we believe, what they say that the tapes are not doctored. It's a very plain and simple thing. What is the answer that they have for this....This is our plea from the very beginning that what is being actually shown in public domain is not what actually happened," said Hariharan. But Tarun Tejpal, CEO of Tehelka.com, said the tapes submitted to the commission were authentic. "There is absolutely not a single frame in any tape that has been doctored. We have submitted the entire original tape to the commission, even those tapes that have damaged us in the last few months. So we have given everything that we had. All the original tapes to the comission, they are today with the commision. and it's these tapes that constitute our evidence or the evidence of the expose that we did," said Tejpal. Several heads rolled in after Tehelka showed its documentary at a press conference in New Delhi last year. Among them was BJP president Bangaru Laxman, who quit after the documentary showed him apparently taking Rs 100,000 to influence what was in fact a fictional deal to supply the army with thermal-imaging cameras. Samata Party president Jaya Jaitley, who was also named in the alleged pay-off, had to relinquish her charge. The expose set waves of protests across the nation, resulting in the resignation of Defence Minister George Fernandes who was later reinstated.(ANI)
Four bombs found near nuclear blast site, defused Go to top Jodhpur, June 27 (ANI): Four bombs were found on Wednesday close to a railway line near the site of the 1998 nuclear blasts at Pokhran in Rajasthan. The bombs were later defused by security forces. "Labourers carrying out repairs on the railway line found the bombs on Wednesday and alerted the police," a police officer said on Thursday. Traffic on the railway route was stopped for about five hours to defuse the bombs, out of which only one was a dud.(ANI) Karnataka CM inducts nine new ministers
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top Bangalore, June 27 (ANI): Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna dropped five ministers and inducted nine new members in the cabinet reshuffle on Thursday. The ministers dropped were B B Chimmanakatti, A M Hindasgeri, T B Jayachandra and S R Khashappanavar all holding Cabinet rank and Minister of State Veerkumar A Patil. In his two-and-a-half year old government, Krishna admitted three new cabinet ministers and six ministers of state. State minister, Dr Parameshwara was the only minister to be raised to the cabinet rank. The rest who found place in the ministry include, V S Koujalagi, H M Revanna and Ramalinga Reddy (all cabinet rank), Basavaraj Patil, Vasanth Saliyan, M L Ustad, K N Gaddi, Rajugowda and K B Koliwad, all ministers of state. On Wednesday, all ministers had submitted their resignations to the chief minister for a smooth reshuffle.(ANI)
Gyanendra's 'sacrifice plan' irks animal rights activitists
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The Nepal monarch, on a visit to India since Monday, is due to sacrifice a buffalo, a sheep, a goat and a duck at a four-hour ceremony in the temple of Goddess Kamakhya on Thursday. The animal rights groups said they have complained to Assam and the Central governments, saying that the sacrifices would constitute a violation of the laws against cruelty to animals. The People For Animal, one such group from Assam, has already lodged a "prior information report" to the local police tipping them about the coming event. Sacrifice of animal is banned under Indian laws but continues to be a common practice in the Kamakhya temple. "(It's about) King Gyanendra of Nepal. Actually we have already lodged a complaint. This is actually an information to the police. We have requested them to stop it. It is actually illegal according to the animal (rights) acts," said Sangeeta Goswami, secretary of the Assam unit of PFA. "I have approached the Deputy Commissioner (of Police) of Kamrup (district). I have given him a letter and a memorandum. I have also faxed a message to Chief Minister of Assam. So let's see what they do. We are requesting them," said Goswami. But the residents of Guwahati are divided over the issue. "In any case animals are sacrificed inside the temple. Now the Nepalese King is coming, they should not make so much of an issue over this," said Ravi Kumar, a resident of Guwahati. Asked whether sacrificing of animals was correct, he said: "Well, it is not right but this is what is happening all the time. So when the Nepal king is doing this, there is no need to take so much offence." There were however others who felt animal sacrifice was not acceptable. "I have heard that the Nepalese king is coming to the temple and plans to make animal sacrifice. It is not right. Because in these modern times, animal sacrifice is not acceptable. It should not be allowed," said Mukul Gogoi, another resident. The Indian government would not comment on the issue and Nepali officials could not be contacted for their reaction. Media reports said security had been boosted at the temple. Thousands of devotees and holy men from all over India have assembled at the temple of Kamakhya to hold special prayers to please the goddess. Holy men and widows observed fast and refrained from eating non- vegetarian food during the just-conluded Ambubachi festival, celebrated to mark the menstruation period of the goddess during which the sanctum sanctorum of the shrine remains closed to the public. It is believed that prayers offered to the goddess at this time pleases her and it is an auspicious time to attain spiritual salvation. The temple is situated about 300 kilometres above sea level on the banks of river Brahmaputra. The idol of the goddess is represented by female phallic symbol. (ANI)
Fernandes in Ahmedabad to visit relief camps
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The riots displaced thousands of people. Many of them had nowhere to go except go to the more than 100 poorly-equipped relief camps all over the state. The camps in makeshift tents have no sanitation and drinking water supply is scarce. Around 30,000 people, mostly Muslims, still live in these relief camps, too petrified to return to their neighbourhoods for fear of more attacks. (ANI)
Qayyum denies Qaeda presence in Kashmir Go to top Islamabad, June 27 (ANI): National Kashmir Committee chairman Sardar Abdul Qayyum has denied the presence of Osama bin Laden's network Al-Qaeda in Kashmir. Speaking in the BBC TV programme Hard Talk, Qayyum said: "If Al- Qaeda is there, it means the area of conflict was expanding. The expansion of the area of conflict is not in the interest of the Kashmiris." To a question about the departure of foreign militants from Kashmir, he said: "We gave a public statement to that effect (in Dubai). I have always been in agreement with that perception because the presence of any foreign elements on Kashmiri soil was detrimental to the Kashmiri cause, which is internationally recognised. We will not promote or encourage any foreign elements there." He said the Kashmiris need assistance or mediation of the United States and particularly that of the United Kingdom, which left the Kashmir issue as unfinished agenda in 1947. "Elections cannot be a substitute for plebiscite and this is declared under the UN Security Council resolution of 1957. Free elections cannot be held in the presence of 800,000 Indian troops, gross human rights violations, rape of women and torture of local population," he added. The Kashmiris do not respect the Line of Control (LoC) as a boundary, controlling their movement from one side to the other. "As a Kashmiri I see no reason to respect it (LoC). LoC is not sacrosanct for Kashmiris. Kashmiris do not accept it." He said: "We accepted it only as a ceasefire line and not as a control line. The UN has permitted Kashmiris to cross over from both sides," he added. In response to a question whether there is a guarantee for stopping terrorism in Kashmir, he said: "Guarantee is the international community. It is an area open for anybody to go and visit, particularly the UN military observers have been there." Sardar Qayyum said in "Azad Kashmir" there are 150,000 trained people, who were retired from the different cadres of the military service. In reply to a question, he said: "President Musharraf has done what maximum he could do to stop (terrorism). No other president or the prime minister could have done what President Musharraf has done because he has the backing and support of the army."(ANI)
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Guwahati, June 27 (ANI): King Gyanendra's plan to sacrifice
animals in a temple here for the well-being of his family and the
nation after last year's royal massacre has angered animal rights
activists in Assam. 
Ahmedabad, June 27 (ANI): Defence Minister George Fernandes
arrived here on Thursday to visit the relief camps.
Ahmedabad bore the brunt of the religious violence that broke out
in late February and continued till May this year after the
Godhra incident.