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22 killed in Vadodara train mishap

     Samlaya/Vadodara/Ahmedabad: At least 22 people have been killed in a train accident when Sabarmati Express collided head on with a goods train near Samaliya village in Vadodara district of Gujarat early on Thursday. Over 70 people have been injured and 15 passengers are still believed to be still trapped in the debris. According to preliminary wire reports, the incident happened at around 3:20 am (IST). At least five coaches were badly mangled. These include one AC coach, two second class sleepers (S-5 and S-6) and one general coach. Nearly 50 people have also been given first aid and despatched to their homes, said AK Bhargav, DGP, Gujarat, Ahmedabad. Casualty reports varied widely as rescue teams reached the site of the early morning crash in Gujarat state and began removing the dead and injured from the crumpled wreckage.

     At least four cars of the passenger train, called the Sabarmati Express, jumped the tracks at Samlaya station, about 30 km (20 miles) north of the industrial town of Baroda, after the collision. Officials said 50 injured passengers had been treated on the spot before being sent to hospitals. Reports said the train was packed with young people on their way to sit tests for coveted railway jobs. The train had been travelling from the northern holy city of Varanasi to Ahmedabad, Gujarat's main city. Some of survivors have been transported to nearby cities by locals and police. About 300 accidents occur every year on India's railways, which operate almost 12,000 trains carrying more than 13 million people every day. Experts say the rail system, saddled with huge losses because of rock-bottom fares and a massive workforce, has little money to invest in improving safety and infrastructure.

RSS chief Sudershan flays new Pope for his rigidity (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: Chief of the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (RSS) .S.Sudershan has flayed Pope Benedict XVI for his rigidity and lack of respect for other religions. At a function held in New Delhi on Wednesday, Sudershan said Pope Benedict XVI alias Joseph Ratzinger was one of the few religious heads who had shown scant respect for the multiplicity of faiths during the 2000 Millennium Peace Summit. "The new Pope Ratzinger is the same person who during the millennium peace summit in 2000 in New York had said three things. First was that no religion can match Roman Catholic religion and those who are striving to bring their religions closer to the Roman Catholic religion are crossing the limits of tolerance. The second thing he said that the followers of non- Christian religion will not get salvation, because they do not consider Jesus Christ to be the only son of the god. He also said that there are several shortcomings in non-Catholic religions because they don't consider the Pope to be their leader. Therefore, they are also not going to get salvation. This mentality that we are the best and others are wrong leads to conflicts," said Sudarshan. Germany-born Ratzinger was elected Pope on Tuesday. Hardline Hindu groups accuse minority Christians of forcibly converting poor Hindus. But missionaries say they only offer charity. More than 80 percent of India's one billion people are Hindus and less than three percent are Christians.

PPP a reality in Pakistan, says Musharraf (Go To Top)

     Islamabad: Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf has said that it is necessary to take along the PPP along on all national and international matters, as it is a liberal party. According to The Nation, Musharraf while addressing journalists in Manila said that PPP was a reality, which could not be ignored. He further said that Zardari was a free man and could go wherever he wanted to. "He is free and can go wherever he wants," the paper quoted him as saying. He further said that Zardari had himself told his party workers not to receive him at the airport. Musharraf's utterances carry significance as it comes in the wake of statements made by Zardari earlier that the army was a reality in Pakistan and the PPP respected it as an institution.

Dr AQ Khan is a national hero: Musharraf (Go To Top)

     Islamabad: Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf has said that he would never allow foreign inspectors to examine the country's nuclear facilities. He said that all questions of the IAEA or foreign scientists examining Pakistan's nuclear facilities and interrogating nuclear scientist Dr AQ Khan only laid credence to the charge that Pakistan could not be trusted. "That is tantamount to admitting that we cannot be trusted in our own house. Our nuclear programme is for the protection of the people of Pakistan," The Nation quoted him as saying. He further said that Dr Khan was a national hero and the issue relating to his interrogation and questioning by foreign scientists was very sensitive for Pakistan. "You have to understand that Khan is a national hero in our country. We will question him. No one should doubt our intention to give all the facts on this matter. You have to understand that this is a very sensitive issue for us. And our people are sensitive to outsiders coming into our country asking questions. It's as though we cannot be trusted," he added. "If the IAEA has questions about our nuclear programme then let them ask us. We have nothing to hide. We will give them all the information they want but we will not allow their inspectors into our country to question our officials or inspect our facilities. If we did that it would be admitting that we can't be trusted," he further added.

Kolkata traders begin 10-day anti-VAT shutdown (Go To Top)

     Kolkata: Wholesale trading activities in West Bengal have come to a complete standstill after traders began a 10-day shutdown here on Wednesday to protest against the implementation of controversial Value Added Tax (VAT). Most of wholesale markets are closed, though according to Federation of West Bengal Trade Association Publicity Chairman, Mahesh Singhania, small traders and vegetable and meat sellers have been kept out of the purview of the nation-wide strike keeping in the public's interest in mind. "We have been trying to make a collective pressure on our state finance minister as well as other finance ministers, so that, what they had assured us, uniform rate of tax, levy of VAT (Value Added Tax) rate at a time, removal of CST(Central Sales Tax), traders and consumer friendly act, those things should come out. You know by our negotiations, much before our agitation, we have been able to convince our finance minister and got many essential commodities out of the proposed vat tax net," Singhania said. The strike will culminate with an all-India shutdown on April 29, when retailers will also join the protest. The traders worry that they will pay more under the new regime and that they cannot cope with the paperwork and even tax collectors are ill-prepared. India's biggest tax reform for years, VAT, has been delayed five times in nearly 10 years. At least 21 out of India's 29 states and six federally administered tiny territories adopted VAT from April 1. But eight states, including five led by Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have refused to implement it, fanning worries among traders that they will lose out to businesses in the hold-out states.

     VAT is levied on the value manufacturers and retailers add to goods at each point of sale and will replace a web of sales taxes across the states that creates duplicate taxation. It will cover 550 goods and have two basic rates of 4 percent and 12.5 percent, with a special rate of 1.0 percent for gold and silver ornaments. Traders say they do not yet know which rates apply to which goods. They also complain that other taxes, including a central sales tax, will continue to run alongside VAT. The government intends to phase out the central sales tax by April 1, 2006. The government has given no estimate for how much it eventually expects VAT to bring in for the regions but a study by an industry lobby group, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry, has said it should fetch additional revenues of nearly 750 billion rupees.

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