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Indonesia rocked, another tsunami feared

     New Delhi: A massive earthquake, measuring upto 8.5 in magnitude on the Richter scale, rocked Indonesia late Monday night triggering off tsunami warnings in India, Thailand and Sri lanka, the epicentre being somewhere near the Sumatra island of Indonesia.The quake lasted upto 2 minutes. Details are awaited

     The quake reportedly killed dozens of people and destroyed hundreds of homes in the main town on the Nias island and forced residents to flee hotels and homes and move to higher ground as a precautionary measure. It also shook the city of Banda Aceh on Sumatra's northern tip, the hardest hit area in the December 26 tsunami.

     The Indian Home Ministry's emergency control room, set up after the last tsunami, sounded an alert in the Andaman and Nicobar islands and the southern states. The armed forces were on the stand-by to meet any contigencies.

     Most governments were prompt in issuing tsunami alerts, with warning going out shortly after the earthquake.

Two BSF jawans killed, eight wounded in J and K (Go To Top)

     Jammu: Two BSF jawans were killed and eight wounded in a militant attack last night in the Rajouri region of Jammu and Kashmir, police said today. The ambush occurred when BSF petrol party was fired by grenades and assault rifles in Metka village of Rajouri district, 150 km north west of Jammu, police sources said. The incident happened around 10 last night. Head constable Saroop Chand and lance naik Hoshiyar Singh were killed. Eight injured jawans were rushed to the hospital in critical condition, police said. They belonged to a patrol party of 26 battalion of BSF, they added. In another incident two policemen were also killed in a grenade explosion in a teashop on Sunday night. No group has yet claimed responsibility for either of the incidents.

Bollywood flicks to hit Pak screens in April (Go To Top)

     Lahore: Pakistan's culture minister Muhammad Ajmal Khan has said that the federal government had "in principle" agreed to screen Indian movies in Pakistan and was looking forward to the screening of five Indian films in the first week of April. He said that earlier this month, a meeting was held in Islamabad between key film industry figures and government officials, reports the Daily Times. "The screening of Indian movies was discussed at the meeting," the paper quoted him as saying. He however said that the final decision to screen Indian films would be made by Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. "The Prime Minister will be briefed on the issue at the end of this month," Khan added. Pakistan's film industry, popularly known as Lollywood, has raised apprehensions over the screening of Indian films across theatres in Pakistan, and said that allowing Indian films to be screened in Pakistan would ring the death knell for the local film industry.

Pakistan detains 15 Indian fishermen (Go To Top)

     Karachi: Pakistan has detained 75 foreign fishermen, including 15 Indians, for illegally entering its territorial waters in the Arabian Sea, the country's Maritime Security Agency (MSA) said on Sunday. The fishermen, including nationals of China, Taiwan, Philippines and India, were detained yesterday, 110 nautical miles southeast of the port city of Karachi, said Mohsin Mirza, an official of the MSA. "Originally these ships belong to China and Taiwan, but they have been chartered by Indian companies, and the Indian Registrar of Fisheries have issued licence to them. They catch fish in the Indian maritime fishing zone," he said. "We have called in the police and immigration (officials.) They (fishermen) will be questioned and handed over to them", Mirza told reporters, adding the two trawlers were spotted by a Pakistani civilian aircraft. He said they had a licence to fish in Indian waters but had ventured into Pakistan. The authorities had determined there were 15 Indians in the group but the breakup of the rest of the nationals was not immediately known. Pakistan and India frequently arrest each other's fishermen for trespassing in their territorial waters despite a recent thaw in their relations.

Pak wins Bangalore, levels Test series 1-1 (Go To Top)

     Bangalore: Pakistan levelled the Test series against India 1-1 today after handsomely winning the third and final Test at Bangalore by 168 runs. The visitors bundled out the hosts 214, after setting the target of 383 this morning. Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi played an anchor role in Pakistan's win even as he took the three most prized Indian wickets - Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly. Afridi finished with an impressive figure of 3-13 off 17 overs. The hosts lost their last nine wickets for a meagre 106 on a M Chinnaswamy Stadium wicket. Leg-spinner Danish Kaneria completed Pakistan's dream victory when he trapped Lakshmipathy Balaji leg before with just 6.1 overs remaining. The Indian tail-enders, led by gutsy Anil Kumble (37 n.o.), offered stiff resistance by lasting as many as 20 overs to delay the inevitable.

Laxman, Kumble dropped from ODI squad (Go To Top)

     Bangalore: Leg-spinner Anil Kumble and middle- order batsman Venkatsai Laxman have been dropped from India's squad for the first two one-days against Pakistan, the national selectors announced here on Monday. India made two more changes from the team which lost the third and final Test against the tourists by 168 runs, omitting wicket- keeper Dinesh Karthik and opener Gautam Gambhir. Batsmen Dinesh Mongia and Mohammad Kaif, left-arm spinner Murali Kartik and wicket-keeper Mahender Dhoni have been included in the 14-man squad. Kumble has taken 323 wickets in 260 one-days, while Laxman has made 2,309 runs in 83 matches. Pakistan won the third Test here Monday to level the series 1-1. They had drawn the opening match at Mohali and lost the second at Calcutta by 195 runs. India and Pakistan will now play six one-dayers, the first match starting at Cochin on April 2. India squad for the first two one- days: Sourav Ganguly (capt), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Mohammad Kaif, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Mongia, Mahender Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Laxmipathy Balaji, Murali Kartik, Ashish Nehra.

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