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No disinvestments, Govt to revive
loss-making PSUs: PM

      New Delhi: Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Saturday said that the UPA Government was keen to revive even loss-making Public sector units after having reversed the policy of disinvestments and speedy closures of PSUs. Speaking at a meeting with trade union leaders, Dr. Singh said: "Government has reversed the previous trend of speedy closure and disinvestment of all PSUs. Rather, the emphasis has been on reviving even loss making PSUs to the extent possible". Stating that the revival package worth rupees 5600 crores that has been approved, Dr. Singh assured the trade union leaders that the Government would "try to see that workers of loss making PSUs do not suffer unduly". He also said that the UPA government was trying hard to provide some degree of social security to workers belonging to the unorganised sector and added that new jobs be created in the manufacturing sector since agriculture already employs two-third of our population. "We need to sit back and reflect how we can boost our manufacturing sector, create more jobs, have better incomes for our workers and have better working conditions for our workers," Dr. Singh said.

Heavy rain in Gujarat, dams open (Go To Top)

      Ahmedabad: Unrelenting heavy monsoon rains in Gujarat have forced thousands from the low-lying areas to evacuate to higher ground, officials said on Saturday. A high alert has been sounded in the low-lying areas as more water was released from Dharoi dam into the Sabarmati River. A large number of huts near the river have submerged in the increasing waters. "Heavy rains in the Rajasthan side of the Dharoi dam have increased the volume of water in the dam to 1.5 lakh cusecs. There is a possibility that the quantity of water in the dam will increase to three lakh cusecs," said D. Tara, District Collector of Ahmedabad. Devastating floods and swollen rivers have swamped thousands of villages and towns in parts of industrialised Gujarat, forcing millions to leave their homes and halting output at a major gas station that serves power plants in the country. Heavy monsoon rains have killed more than 350 people, submerged villages, damaged crops, and hit business, especially in Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Four SP MLAs in UP disqualified (Go To Top)

      Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Assembly Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey on Saturday disqualified four Samajwadi Party (SP) MLAs from the State Assembly membership under the Anti-Defection Act since they had not followed the party whip and had voted for the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls. Pandey said that the four members of the Legislative assembly Omvati Devi, Sunderlal, Aratan Lal Ahirwar and Kalyan Singh Doahre violated the SP whip of voting for the party or party- supported candidates in the RS polls that has led to the members attracting the disqualification clause as prescribed in the tenth schedule of the Anti-Defection Act. The SP had issued a clear direction to its MLAs during the biennial RS polls held in March this year to vote in favour of party candidates or those supported by the party in preferential order, he added. On verification of the ballot papers it was found that the four MLAs did not vote as directed but had voted for BSP candidates, Pandey said.

Kerala Govt not averse to women's
entry in Sabarimala temple (Go To Top)

       Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Government on Friday said it was not averse to allowing women to worship in Sabarimala Temple that traditionally barred women's entry into the temple complex. The announcement came hours after the Supreme Court issued a notice to the State Government to explain its stand on restricted entry of women to the popular temple in the state. State's Temple Affairs Minister G.Sudhakaran said the government was not opposed to women's entry into the shrine.

     The temple has been in the thick of controversy since the past couple of months when Kannada actress Jaimala claimed that she had visited the Sabarimala temple and had paid obeisance by touching the feet of the idol of Lord Ayyappa in 1987. It is believed that Lord Ayyappa is a bachelor and hence only girls below 10 and women above 50 are allowed in the temple. More than ten million devotees visit the hill shrine of Sabarimala during an annual pilgrimage, which is billed as one of the biggest religious congregations in the world after Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The temple situated at the top of the Sabarimala hill. Incidentally, Sabarimala is one of the rare temples in India where people of all faith could visit.

No question of walking out of
my marriage: SRK (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: Not many actors would be honest enough to disassociate themselves from their reel-life role. But Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan took a moral high and said he wouldn't advocate his role in Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna in real life. Participating in a debate on the anatomy of marriage on a TV channel, Bollywood's King Khan said: "I don't believe in my character in my film. Marriage is a very very personal affair. I may have been lucky to have married my childhood sweetheart. We have worked our way in our own fashion in marriage at times making adjustments with each other.

   Taking a volley of questions on marriage and films from a selective audience Khan said he would never think of deserting his wife and kids for another woman's love, as the character he donned in KANK did. "No, in no circumstance I am going to leave my son or daughter. And, I am not telling anybody through this film to leave his or her family. I would like sacrificing a lot of things for the happiness of my children in personal life," SRK said. Speaking on the need of commitment SRK stressed it is the most important aspect of any marriage and appealed everyone to value it. "The commitment of marriage is within you, instead of commitment to families or others. Commitment given to oneself is the most important thing. If you can commit to yourself only then believe in a marriage, otherwise, don't get into it." "I don't think the unhappy parents can bring up happy children. If you have once committed and brought them (the kids) into this world, just stay committed, unless there are extraordinary circumstances," said Khan.

Sarabjit's sister threatens suicide again (Go To Top)

      Amritsar: After the failure of her first attempt to commit suicide, Dalbir kaur, sister of Sarabjit Singh, who is facing the death sentence in Pakistan jail, threatened to commit another suicide attempt. Speaking to ANI from her hospital bed, Dalbir said, "I am not acting, if anyone feels so then even they can try it". Expressing discontent Dalbir alleged that the Government was not trying to save her innocent brother's life. "I have made several requests to the Prime Minister, the President, Sonia Gandhi and other leaders but none has cared to bother about us," said a weeping Dalbir. Meanwhile, Tarn Taran police have, lodged a complaint against her for attempt to suicide and may further register a First Information Report (FIR) after getting a report from the Forensics Laboratory, Patiala. On Friday evening Dalbir was admitted to Vijay Hospital here after she allegedly consumed poison protesting against government's apathy to secure her brother's release from Pakistan where he has been charged of being a spy.

Lalu escapes bomb blast at Patna (Go To Top)

      Patna: Railway Minister Lalu Yadav had a narrow escape on Saturday when a low-intensity crude bomb exploded at the Patna Railway Station. Police said that they had also receovered three other crude bombs just an hour before Lalu Yadav was to flag off the Banka-Rajendra Nagar Express from the Banka Station. Amrik Singh Nimran, IG Railways, said: "These were four country made bombs. There are no security threats because they were defused oin time". A combing operation was carried out by the police around the area, but no leads were found. Police are also investigating the possibility of a sabotage in connection with the incident, as Lalu Yadav was going to board a train to Banka. It is now being viewed as an act carried out by local goons and was not a terror attack.

Judge to inspect Uphaar fire site (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: Additional Sessions Judge Mamta Sehgal will today visit the Uphaar Cinema fire tragedy site before the next hearing of the final arguments of the case on September 26. A Sessions Court yesterday rejected the pleas of six accused and the victims' association to accompany Judge Sehgal during the inspection of site. Earlier, the Delhi High Court had ordered for fresh investigations into allegations of tampering, mutilation and destruction of evidence against certain accused in the case. Sushil Ansal, who is one of the proprietors of the cinema hall, has been charged with the destruction of evidence relating to the case. In 1997, 59 people lost their lives in the stampede following a fire breakout in the Uphaar Cinema in South Delhi. The theatre caught fire after an overheated generator burst in the basement of the building. Men, women and children all scampered to rush out of the cramped hall, which had only four exits for an audience of over 500.

JK police busts another sex racket (Go To Top)

       Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Police have arrested six persons for running another prostitution racket under the garb of a voluntary organisation in the state's Kupwara District. The police said that the voluntary body trapped girls, mostly minors, and whisked them away to Kupwara by either abducting them or offering them jobs. The first clue came to light when parents in Rajouri filed a complaint with the police that their daughters had been missing for several days. "A few days ago Kupwara police told us that few minor girls missing from Rajouri were spotted in Kupwara. On the basis of this information, a special police team was sent to Kupwara. It was found that an NGO by the name 'Women's Organisation - Arts' Centre' was luring these girls, on the pretext of providing jobs in its Kupwara centre," Muhammad Subhan Lone, Deputy Inspector General of Kashmir police (north) said. Among the arrested include Abdul Majeed Bhatt, a functionary of Janata Dal (United) who heads the voluntary body. This is the second sex-scam unearthed in Kashmir in less than six months. Investigating agencies are already probing the major sex scandal in Srinagar in which the names of two top politicians, 13 police and security force officers and a ring of 43 girls had surfaced.

Maoists kill three Andhra policemen (Go To Top)

       Nalgonda (Andhra Pradesh): Three policemen were killed and one severely injured when suspected Maoists attacked the Atmakur police station here. "A dozen heavily armed Maoists attacked the Atmakur police station in Nalgonda district, killing Sub-Inspector, Assistant Sub-Inspector and the Home Guard. One constable was injured and he has been admitted to the hospital," D Anuradha, Deputy Inspector General of Warangal range said. The Andhra Pradesh Government has announced a compensation of 90,00,00 rupees each to the families of deceased Sub-Inspector and Assistant Sub-Inspector. A compensation of 50,00,00 rupees to the family of the Home Guard has also been announced. The incident, which took place in the early hours of Saturday, comes just a month after eight suspected Maoists, including four women, were killed by security forces in a shootout in Erragundapalem in the Nallamalla forests of Prakasam district. Top Maoists leader and State Committee Secretary Madhav, was also injured in the fight, but he managed to escape into the forest. Andhra Pradesh is one of the worst affected of the 13 states where the leftist extremists are active and have killed thousands of people over the past three decades. The rebels claim to fight for the rights of landless labourers and poor peasants.

Pak also curbs diplomats' movement (Go To Top)

      Islamabad: Apparently in a tit-for-tat move, Pakistan also restricted the movements of the Indian diplomats posted at the Indian Embassy in Islamabad, asking them not to move outside the limits of the Pakistani Capital. "Pakistan is constrained to take the matching action since India had been engaged in water-testing game with Pakistan and Pakistan would like to make it clear to them that the reciprocity would be buzz word in dealing with Pakistan," The News quoted a Pakistan government source as saying. New Delhi had imposed similar restrictions on Pakistani diplomats posted at the Pakistani Embassy on Thursday, diplomatic sources reportedly said. Meanwhile, Pakistan is in the process of appointing new diplomats in New Delhi to replace those who had completed or are yet to complete their tenure. The country's political counsellor in Washington mission Syed Zulfikar Ali Gardezi has been transferred to New Delhi's High Commission, where Muazzam Ali and his wife Leena Muazzam, both counsellors, have been transferred to the headquarters. Leena will be replaced with Saarc Desk Director at Foreign Office Riffat Masood.

Bomb scare diverts British plane to Italy (Go To Top)

      London: A British Boeing 767 plane, which was carrying 269 passengers and nine crew, made an emergency landing at the Brindisi Airport in Italy on Friday after a bomb scare note was discovered on board. The Excel Airways flight, according to the Washington Post, took off from London's Gatwick Airport on Friday morning and landed in Brindisi after a passenger found a handwritten note in an air- sickness bag that read: "There is a bomb on board this flight." The paper further went on to say that the note was passed around. The passengers were said to be in a state of shock before the note was finally given to the pilot of the aircraft. He decided to land the aircraft at the nearest airport as a precautionary measure. An Italian F-16 fighter jet escorted the plane to Brindisi, reports said. After the plane landed, Italian police searched and questioned passengers. No explosives were found, and no arrests were made. Sue Lester, the spokesperson of Excel Airways, said that landing the aircraft was "a prudent measure" and "it was absolutely the right thing to do." The chartered flight later departed for the Red Sea resort of Hurghada in Egypt. The incident came eight days after police thwarted a suspected plot to blow up as many as 10 passenger planes flying from Britain to the United States.

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