NewsBriefs
Back to Headlines

ULFA targets Rajdhani Express, oil pipelines

      Guwahati: Normal life in the Asom continued to be disturbed for third day in a row on Saturday following a series of subversive activities engineered by the banned United Liberation Front of Asom(ULFA). In the latest incident, Police on Saturday morning sounded red alert in the Guwahati city as an explosive timer device found in front of Kamrup SP office in Panbazar. "The recovered device was kept in a Tiffin box which was programmed to explode at 6:15 (IST) in the evening," said police sources adding that the hand of ULFA was suspected. The passengers of Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express had a miraculous escape as a bomb planted on the tracks near Naharkatia in the Dibrugarh district detonated just before the superfast train was to pass last night, said official sources. On Friday night, at least six persons injured in the state, following five powerful blasts which was suspected to be triggered by the banned outfit. These blasts came barely hours after a powerful bomb explosion that killed five people and injured over 15 at a busy vegetable market in the Guwahati city on Friday evening.

    According to police, at least six persons injured when a bomb exploded in the house of one Milan Deori in Rupaisiding- Tapoban- Tiniali area in the Tinsukia district allegedly planted by ULFA militants. Besides this the outfit reportedly blew off four Oil pipelines belonging to Assam Gas Company Limited and Oil India Limited (OIL) successively at two places in the Dibrugarh district last night. Police source said that two blasts occurred at 10:25 (IST) and 25 minutes later damaged pipeline used for electricity generation at Namrup Thermal Power plant at a place under Naharkatia police station. Later two more explosions resulted severe damage to two crude oil pipelines belonging to OIL, nearby Bhadoipanchali. In another incident, at least three army personnel injured when militants hurled grenade at an army truck at Doomdooma in Tinsukia district at around 8 pm(IST) yesterday. On Thursday, there were four separate explosions that left 34 people injured in the districts of Dhubri, Mangaldoi and Nagaon. On Wednesday, Centre had announced date for the third round of talks between government peace representatives and an 11-member civil society group from Assam chosen by the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) would be held on June 22 in New Delhi. The rebel group has demanded the release of at least five senior jailed ULFA leaders before the outfit begins direct peace talks with New Delhi. The ULFA which is active since 1979, considered as most powerful insurgent outfit in Asom. Over 15,000 people have lost their lives to insurgency in Asom since the foundation of ULFA.

Koirala leaves for Kathmandu (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: Nepal Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has left for Kathmandu after his successful visit to India. Koirala, 84, held extensive talks with the Indian leadership during his four-day visit, which ended Friday. India has extended an aid package worth 10 billion rupees to Nepal to help rebuild the Himalayan nation after years of civil strife and Maoist insurgency.

    At the end of the four-day visit, New Delhi agreed to a package, which included grants and soft loans, debt waivers, exemption on duties for the country's exports and an increase in annual aid. Apart from the Rs.100 crore one-time grant, India would expedite progress on long-term mega infrastructure projects in areas of road development, railway linkages, border infrastructure, water resources and construction of an oil pipeline, Special Economic Zone, airports upgradation, and other areas to be mutually agreed upon by the two governments. New Delhi has also offered a soft credit line of 100 million dollars for the execution of infrastructure development projects as prioritised by Kathmandu and agreed to enhance its 'Aid to Nepal' budget for the current financial year from 65 crore rupees to 150 crores annually. Both sides also agreed that New Delhi would waive off dues outstanding as on date owed by the Government of Nepal to the Government of India on account of defence purchases. It was also agreed that India would immediately arrange for the supply of 25,000 metric tons of fertilizers to Nepal at subsidized prices and would grant exemption to all exports of goods manufactured in Nepal into India from the four percent Additional Duty of Customs. Both sides agreed that New Delhi would accelerate the release of all funds to Nepal under the Duty Refund Procedure Scheme and double the number of scholarships provided by the Government of India for Nepalese students, including girls. The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) will also work out with the Nepal Oil Corporation the modalities for rescheduling the dues owed to it on account of oil supplies, a government spokesman said here.

     Koirala has been leading efforts to rebuild the country since he was appointed Prime Minister in April, after weeks of pro- democracy protests forced King Gyanendra to restore parliamentary democracy in the Himalayan kingdom. The Maoists, who have fighting for the establishment of a Communist state since 1996 and the new Koirala government have agreed to hold elections for a special assembly to prepare a new constitution that would decide the future of the monarchy.

Rahul Mahajan case: Sahil brought back to Delhi

      New Delhi: Sahil Zaroo, the key accused in Rahul Mahajan case, was brought back to Delhi from his hometown Srinagar after the Delhi Police conducted searches in his house. However, Police have said that the searches have not revealed any concrete evidence in the case. Zaroo allegedly delivered drugs to the late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan Rahul and his private secretary Bibek Moitra on June 2 at the Mahajan's 7, Safdarjung Road residence. Zaroo claimed innocence in the case on being asked by the newspersons on his role in the entire episode and said that he was being implicated. A special team of Delhi Police took the 21 year old Zaroo to Srinagar on Friday and straight away took him to his Nigeen House. Assisted by Jammu and Kashmir Police, the special team searched Zaroo's house for more than two hours. However, no concrete evidence was found in his house during the searches. However, the police have seized Zaroo's clothes he had worn on June 2, from two different places. Sources said, Zaroo's shirt was seized from his Nigeen residence and the trouser from the house of his maternal uncle Mohammad Yousuf Kawoosa House at Shalimar. It was not immediately clear whether the vomiting marks were still there on Zaroo's clothes. Reports said that Zaroo had vomited immediately after tasting some powder at Mahajan's residence. Zaroo surrendered to the police at the office of a private news channel here on June 3 after Trishay, Rahul and Karan, all the three present at Mahajan's party informed the police about Sahil. Zaroo was taken to Delhi next morning where a Delhi court sent Sahil to police custody till June 12.

Baton charge on Lucknow BJP workers (Go To Top)

      Lucknow: The police in Lucknow resorted to a baton charge on Friday to disperse Bhartiya Janata Party workers agitating against the recent hike in fuel prices. Hundreds of protestors blocked the railways tracks and shouted slogans against the recent hike in fuel prices disrupting the train services for more than an hour. Lady protestors demanded an enquiry into the incident alledging that the police had misbehaved with them and there were no lady police personnel to manage the situation. "The police force misbehaved with us specially the ladies. They were dragging us. And now they are blaming the ladies. How is it possible? We are fighting for a cause, the rise in fuel price and that is for the benefit of the people specially the middle class and obviously for the poor. Why are they stopping us. The politicians occupying particular chairs are minting money at the cost of people's lives," said Indrani Kumari, a BJP protestor. India increased fuel prices recently to cut losses at the state- run refineries opening against crude oil prices. The move, which has eased pressure of refiners, has irked millions of consumers and most of the political parties. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Congress Party has also called for a partial rollback of the 9.2 percent rise in petrol and 6.6 percent rise in diesel prices.

Sindhu Darshan festival begins June 12 (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: The three-day Sindhu Darshan - Ladakh Singhey -Khababs Spring Festival will begin at Leh on June 12 with the inaugural ceremony to be held at the Sindhu Ghat. Union Minister of Tourism and Culture Ambika Soni will be the Chief Guest on the occasion. Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Ghulam Nabi Azad along with other senior leaders and dignitaries will also be present on the occasion. The festival will begin with hoisting of the Tricolour, followed by an all religion prayer at the Sindhu Ghat at Leh. The festival will attempt to showcase the cultural richness of the Ladakh region and Jammu and Kashmir as well. Performances by noted exponents of various dance and music traditions of the region like Lbarnna, Char-Tses, Chabskyan dance, Lion Dance, Kashmiri Dance, Shondol, Talwar Dance and Tashispa will also be showcased at the three-day festival. The inaugural performance will be held at the Sindhu Ghat with subsequent performances at the local Polo Ground, every day during the festival.

13 members of family burnt alive in AP (Go To Top)

      Hyderabad: Thirteen people, including five women and four children, have reportedly been burnt alive on Saturday in a house in Mehbubnagar distict of Andhra Pradesh. The incident occurred at 4 am. The police have said that there was a dispute over property between the two groups of same family. The police further claimed that this incident was in retaliation of a murder last week in the same village.

Gudiya' family objects Bollywood venture
by Priyanka Singh/Vijay Singh

       Mumbai/Meerut: The family of Gudiya, the poor woman whose misfortune after the return of her husband from Pakistan jail gripped national media a year ago, has raised objection over a Bollywood film being made on her life. The unwanted publicity of Gudiya's traumatic saga has enraged her family, which is against the depiction of their daughter on big screen for public entertainment. "Neither the director nor the producer of the movie has approached us. We don't want our family issues to become public so we do not want the movie to be made," said Hamid, brother Arif A resident of Meerut, Gudiya died at a Delhi hospital last year of a rare degenerative disease. Her trauma began soon after her marriage with an army man Mohammad Arif, who had to leave for duty in the Kargil war barely ten days after their wedding. Arif was declared a deserter by the army but had in fact been taken a Prisoner Of War (PoW). But when he finally returned to his village, four years after he first disappeared, he found Gudiya had married another man, Taufeek. The villagers decided that Gudiya, who was eight months pregnant, should return to her first husband Arif. Left with no option before villagers decision, Gudiya gave in and complied with it. But soon the sorry tale of Gudiya spilled out of Mundali village and triggered a national debate. And, so much so, the tale appealed to filmmaker Prabhakar Shukla, who decided to take it up as the topic of his first venture. "It is an international social issue and by filming this issue we are aiming to preventing hundreds and thousands of Gudiyas. This can create stir in the society. I got the support of All India Muslim Public Law Board. They said that all Muslim women are with you and we want this kind of movie to be made," said Shukla, the filmmaker.

New judge to review JK sex scandal case (Go To Top)

      Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to record the statement of the two other girls, who revealed the sex racket, in the presence of District Judge at Pulwama or Anantnag, and submit the report. The CBI officials informed the court that they could not record the statement of two other girls as the District Judge Anantnag was not available due to illness. "The District Judge Anantnag fell ill due to which he could not go with the CBI team to record the statement of those two girls. So, the court has now nominated another district judge for recording the statement of those two girls. He is the District Judge, Phulwama. The court has directed the CBI that out of the two (judges), they can take one District Judge with them and record the statement of two girls," said Mian Qayoom, President Kashmir Bar Association. Qayoom further added the court will be closing for vacations from June 12 but keeping in view the urgency and importance of the matter, the case has been listed on June 19.

    The scandal emerged last month and led to widespread protests. The scandal broke after an NGO handed over a pornographic CD to the police. The CD contained images of a local girl thought to be 15 or 16 years old. That led to the arrest of a woman alleged to be at the centre of a prostitution ring. The case was handed over to the CBI after allegations that the state government was covering up the case allegedly to protect influential officials who are said to be involved. It even led to major protests especially by an all- woman separatist group, the Dukhtaran-e-Millat (Daughters of the Nation). A senior Indian police official has surrendered and is to be questioned in connection with an investigation into an alleged sex scandal in Kashmir. KS Padhi, deputy inspector general of the Border Security Force, was arrested earlier this month by officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation. He is the most senior official to be arrested over the scandal involving an underage girl. Four people have already been arrested in connection with the case.

World Cup ball to bamboozle goalies: scientist

     London: Experts have said that the new football unveiled by sports giant Adidas for the FIFA World Cup 2006 will unsettle goalkeepers at some stage or the other. Teamgeist, the new football for this edition's World Cup has only 14 panels with fewer seams. Though this makes the surface smoother than conventional footballs, which have a 26 or 32 panel hexagon-based pattern, it gives the ball a more unpredictable trajectory in flight. "This makes it aerodynamically closer to a baseball and, when hit with a slow spin, will make the ball less stable, giving it a more unpredictable trajectory in flight. With a very low spin rate, which occasionally happens in football, the panel pattern can have a big influence on the trajectory of the ball and make it more unpredictable for a goalkeeper," said Dr Ken Bray, a sports scientist at the University of Bath. "In baseball, pitchers often throw a 'curve ball' which is similar to a swerving free kick and the rotating seam disrupts the air flow around the ball in much the same way as a football does. Occasionally though, pitchers will throw a 'knuckleball' which bobs about randomly in flight and is very disconcerting for batters," Dr. Bray said. "It happens because pitchers throw the ball with very little spin and as the ball rotates lazily in the air, the seam disrupts the air flow around the ball at certain points on the surface, causing an unpredictable deflection," he added.

     Dr Bray who has also authored the new popular science book "How to score - science and the beautiful game" said that with teamgeist in action, spectators will have the opportunity to witness some spectacular free kicks during the tournament. "With the world's best players in Germany this summer, there are bound to be plenty of spectacular scoring free kicks. But watch the slow motion replays to spot the rare occasions where the ball produces little or no rotation and where goalkeepers will frantically attempt to keep up with the ball's chaotic flight path," he added. Quite naturally, English goalkeeper Paul Robinson and German keeper Jens Lehmann have criticised teamgeist during the warm up matches to the World Cup for its light-weight and unpredictable behaviour.