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Venugopal can continue till Nov 7: HC

      New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday extended the stay on the removal of AIIMS Director Dr Venugopal till November 7. The court decided to extend the stay after Venugopal's counsel, Maninder Singh sought more time to file the rejoinder on the Centre's reply in the Institute's Governing Council's decision to terminate Venugopal's services as the Director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). Earlier, Venugopal was given two weeks' time by the court to file his reply on a PIL filed by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation alleging that the former's appointment as the Director AIIMS in 2003 for a six-year term was itself illegal as he was due to retire in 2007. The war of words between Venuopal and Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss reached its peak after AIIMS Board Members dismissed Venugopal from the post, citing his breach of official rules by speaking about the Health Ministry in public. Apart from this, 44 other reasons were also cited in his termination letter.

Two CRPF men injured in Srinagar attack (Go To Top)

      Srinagar: Two Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were injured when suspected militants attacked a security patrol here on Thursday, said officials. The incident occurred when militants opened fire on the CRPF personnel who were on patrol at the Koker Bazar in the busy Lal Chowk area here, which is in close proximity to the heavily guarded Civil Secretariat, High Court and several other governmental departments. The injured were rushed to the state hospital where their condition was stated to be critical. Meanwhile, the police have cordoned off the area and a manhunt for those behind the attack has been launched even as no militant outfit has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. Authorities, however, refused to divulge more details on the matter, saying a formal statement would be made later.

CBI registers cases against Maneka Gandhi

       New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday registered a criminal conspiracy case and a cheating case against former Union Minister Maneka Gandhi. The cases pertain to irregularities in distribution of funds to some NGOs during her tenure as the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment in the NDA Government. Earlier this month, the CBI had filed a report before the Delhi High Court on a PIL filed by advocate V M Singh seeking a CBI probe into the matter. After a preliminary inquiry into the charges, a regular case was made out against her. The cases have been registered under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and other sections of Prevention of Corruption Act. The case has also been registered against Maulana Azad Education Foundation Secretary F U Siddiqui.

Bismillah Khan shifted to hospital (Go To Top)

       Varanasi: Shehnai maestro Bismillah Khan, who was on liquid diet for last few days, was admitted to a hospital here on Thursday. Nonagenarian Khan, who had earlier refused to be shifted to a hospital in spite of being unwell, had to comply with the doctor's decision after he developed acute weakness due to deficiency of certain necessary nutrients. "Till now, he was getting treatment at home only under the care of his family doctor, Nadeem Jafri. But the problem there was that treatment was restricted tol daytime. Yesterday, the District Magistrate of Varanasi forced him to get admitted and now as he is being hospitalized, he will be better," said Dr. Sanjay Rai, Secretary, Indian Medical Association (IMA). Just a day before, a team of doctors from the IMA visited the Shehnai maestro's home and proclaimed him fit. Khan's family members had said yesterday that he was suffering from weakness because of his age and was not eating solid food for the past couple of days. The 'Shehnai' legend was put on intra-venous drip by his personal doctor Nadeem Jaffri three days back at his residence in Harha Sarai locality here. Physicians have been attending to the 91-year-old Bharat Ratna awardee for the last few years. Khan, who started his music career in 1930, earned recognition nationally as well as internationally purely on the strength of his talent. He has played Shehnai in all the five continents and has won international acclaim. His ancestors were court musicians in the princely state of Dumraon in Bihar and he was trained under his uncle. Khan has been conferred with innumerable awards, including top civilian awards by the Government of India, which include Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri and has the distinction of performing from the rampart of Delhi's Red Fort on August 15, 1947, when India regained independence. Khan had also performed in the Parliament in 2003.

Ayodhya security inadequate: Residents (Go To Top)

       Ayodhya: Terrorist attacks on religious and public places appear to have deeply affected the general psyche, especially at holy places like Ayodhya. People here say that the need of the hour is for a more permanent system of security. Ayodhya's residents are an anxious and dissatisfied lot these days over the security arrangements in the area. "We are not satisfied with the security here. No doubt there are arrangements but only during special occasions. There should be security throughout the year," said Nageshwar. A large number of devotees visited many temples in Ayodhya on Janamashtami, the day of Lord Krishna's birth, on Wednesday. However, the priests of the temples where security modes are reinforced feel that the metal detectors, whose utility is partial and momentary, are proving to be a hindrance for the devotees since they have to stand in queue for hours. According to a Ram Das Akhara priest, it is a waste of public money on high tech equipments if they are not used properly. "Security should be there but I believe that metal detectors are of no use or do not have any importance. Whenever, we cross through a metal detector, we here a beep sound, because of the presence of coins and mobile phones in our pocket. But I feel that we should be thoroughly searched if a person is carrying something else. If this is not done, it is total wastage of public money," he said.

Exiled Tibetans seek Indian intervention (Go To Top)

       New Delhi: Dozens of exiled Tibetan students protested in front of the Chinese Embassy here on Thursday, demanding an end of the alleged human rights abuses by China in Tibet. The protestors urged New Delhi to raise the issue with the visiting Chinese Vice Minister for Labour, who is likely to hold a meeting with his Indian counterpart. Chandra Shekhar Rao. The students were from Dharamshala, the home to the Dalai Lama and headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile. Recently, an official Chinese commentary had accused the Dalai Lama of collaborating with the US Central Intelligence Agency, rejecting the Tibetan leader's overtures and casting a shadow over fence-mending talks. The Dalai Lama has proposed a "Middle Way" policy seeking autonomy but not independence for Tibet. But the online edition of the China Daily, the government's English-language mouthpiece, rejected the Dalai Lama's overtures in an unsigned commentary. "In the name of 'organizing armed troops to fight their way back into Tibet', he collaborated with the Indian military and American CIA to organize the 'Indian Tibetan special border troops'," the commentary said.

It's a Reliance-farmer issue: VP Singh  (Go To Top)
by Chandrika Jain

       Noida: Former Prime Minister VP Singh today questioned Uttar Pradesh Government's role in an issue that was solely a matter of the company and farmers. Criticizing Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav's meddling into Anil Ambani's firm to acquire land for his energy project, Singh said, "Why is UP Government so keen to play an active role in the Reliance energy project when it could be best left to the company and the farmers to bring a resolution?" Singh, who along with his newly formed Party Jan Morcha President Raj Babbar, was leading a gathering in Ghaziabad to protest against the State Government's brutal act of repressing farmers' demand for a better deal for their acquired lands. Asserting that he would go ahead with the planned agitation to get a fare price for the land acquired to set up a power plant, Singh said: "How can they acquire farmers' lands in the name of development? If the government has guts, let it acquire TATA Steel's property. They cannot acquire anything else but farmers' lands".

     VP Singh, film actor turned-politician Raj Babbar and CPI General Secretary AB Bardan along with over 50 supporters were detained for violating prohibitory orders in Dadri. They were arrested while leading the farmers' agitation demanding adequate compensation for land acquired to set up a power plant.

Shahid Malik new envoy to India  (Go To Top)

      Islamabad: The name of Shahid Malik, who is currently serving as Pakistan High Commissioner to Canada, is learnt to have been approved by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, as the next High Commissioner to India. He would replace the present incumbent Aziz Ahmed Khan, whose term ends this month, reported the Dawn. The government is in the process of approaching the Indian government for his agreema (diplomatic acceptance of an envoy), the paper quoted official sources as saying. Khan, who was appointed HC to India in June 2003, will continue until Malik gets the green signal from New Delhi, the sources said, and added "The whole process could take a month or so." In another related development, it has also been learnt that Riffat Masood, the Director of SAARC at the Pakistan foreign ministry, will be posted as Counsellor (Political) at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. She is expected to proceed to India next month.

Two Indians abducted by Nepali Maoists released

       Mahendranagar (Nepal): Two Indian citizens kidnapped by Maoists in Nepal on August 15 were released on Wednesday. Lakhbeer alias Lucky and Rajiv Soti, who hail from Chandigarh, were kidnapped from Mahendranagar, some 800 km from Kathmandu. The Maoists said that duo was not abducted for being Indians, but alleged that they were indulging in immoral activities. "We did not abduct them because they were Indians but because of what they did. They were indulging in immoral activities in a local beer bar-'Monalisa beer bar'. The people here informed about it. Such incidents have been taking place here for long time now. We sent a team there which managed to catch them red- handed," Manav a Maoist said. However, Lakhbeer said that he was innocent. "We do not know what happened. I had gone to the phone booth nearby, when I came back, I saw that there were some problems here. We do not know who took us away. We do not know where they took us," Lakhbeer said.

11 killed police-Maoist gunfight in Bangla  (Go To Top)
by Nazrul Islam

       Dhaka: At least 11 alleged extremists were killed and 50 others were injured in a fierce gunbattle between the police and members of a banned Maoist outfit in northern Bangladesh on Thursday. Police said they arrested as many as 10 members of the Purba Banglar Communist Party (PBCP) from three villages of Sujanagar upazila in Pabna district, about 102 kilometres northwest of the capital Dhaka. Police said the PBCP members have been involved in anti-state activities in the name of pursuing communism in Bangladesh. An on-duty officer in Sujanagar Police Station said that the contingents of police, while acting on tip-off, raided three villages -Raninagar, Nakhrachhpur and Khalilpur-in the upazila at around 2.30 a.m. (local time) Following the incidents, the lawmen have launched a massive hunt in the north-western district, a stronghold of the banned Purbo Banglar Communist Party, locally known as Sarbahara Party.

'Heathrow plot was to mark 9/11 anniversary'

       London: Scotland Yard investigators now believe that last week's attempt to blow up ten trans-Atlantic flights in mid-air after they left from London's Heathrow Airport was aimed at marking the fifth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 al Qaeda aerial attacks across the United States. Intelligence sources were quoted by the Daily Mail as saying that the plot did not succeed because of the inexperience of the conspirators, and therefore more time was required to question 23 of the 24 suspects who were arrested since last week. The officials alleged that many of those held learnt how to handle weapons and bomb-making training by reading textbooks. It has also emerged that up to 17 people are now being held in Pakistan on suspicion of collaborating with the British 'cell'. They include alleged ringleader Rashid Rauf, 25, a father of two young children.

First Pak woman to work at NASA (Go To Top)

       Lahore: US-based space agency NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) has selected a Pakistani woman for a mission starting in January 2008, a Geo TV report said last evening. Numara Aslam, who originally hails from Lahore and is currently living in France, would be the first Pakistani to fly into space if the mission goes ahead. An artist by profession, Numara has been selected as part of a six-member team made up not of astronauts, but people from other professions. But, Numara would not be the first woman from South Asia selected to work at NASA. Kalpana Chawla, an Indian woman was selected by NASA in December 1994. While on her second space mission in 2003, she died a tragic death while returning to Earth. She was one of the seven members of the crew of 'STS-107' as Mission Specialist. The mission had lasted 15 days, before the space shuttle 'Columbia' disintegrated in air on 1st Feb, 03 about 16 minutes before it was scheduled to touch down, killing all seven crew members.

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