Catholic priest murdered in Goa

     Curtorim (Goa): Father Eusebio Ferrao, the parish priest of Macazana Church near Curtorim town in south Goa , was murdered at his residence here last night. Preliminary investigations suggest that 62-year old Father Eusebio Ferrao was murdered by the two men who had visited him last night. People in large numbers who came to the church in the morning visited the priest's quarters located inside the church campus. The priest's room was locked. After getting no response from the priest, people broke the door of the house and found the father lying dead on floor.

     Felipe Neri Ferrao, the Archbishop of Goa, Daman and Diu, has expressed grief over the murder and requested the police to investigate the matter and book the culprits as soon as possible. "We are indeed deadly pained with the sad development, the unexpected death of the fairly young Parish priest who was rearing such wonderful care in this Parish community of Macazana. As a community of faith we accept this painful, unexpected death in a spirit of faith," said Felipe Neri Ferrao, Archbishop, Goa, Daman and Diu "We expect that the authorities concerned will look into this painful death and they take necessary steps and find out those who are responsible for this very evident and painful death," added the Archbishop Meanwhile, police say it looks that the priest knew the two men as he allowed them to stay in his house. "It appears that the two boys who came yesterday and disappeared early in the morning have committed this job," said Shekhar Prabhudessai, Superintendent of Police, South Goa. The church cook who prepared the dinner for the three last night can recognize the two men. Police is counting on the cook to give them the details of the murderers. In search of the two men, police are keeping a strict vigil on railway stations and bus-stands here. Till now the motive of the murder has not been ascertained.

More violence in Navi Mumbai  (Go To Top)

      Mumbai: Violence continued for the third consecutive day today in some parts of Navi Mumbai, where three people were killed in police firing after clashes between two groups on Thursday. Navi Mumbai Police Control Room authorities said that the sporadic incidents of violence were reported, mainly from the Jimmy town in Khoparkhairane area, but there was no major violent incident. To prevent any toward incident, a curfew has been clamped at Koparkhairne village and orders prohibiting assembly of persons have been imposed in Koparkhairane police Chowky, Bonkawade village and Gulab Dairy precincts. Police has started searching each and every home in the sensitive areas and Rapid Action Forces and the State Reserve Police have been deployed in heavy numbers. A mob of at least 2000 people attacked the Koparkhairane Police Chowky of Rabale Police Station this afternoon and clashed with the cops forcing the police to fire tear gas at them. The angry mob primarily targeted the media vehicles in the area for 'misrepresentation of the facts'. The police also charged batons and fired tear gas shells at crowds of protestors outside the residence of Environment Minister Ganesh Naik. At least 100 people have been arrested for unlawful assembly in the area. "We have appealed to the people to co-operate with police and be calm. We are sorry that such incidents are taking place in the area," Sanjiv Nayak, Mayor of Navi Mumbai said.

    Police said that the violence, which started as a tiff between residents of Ghansoli village and Mathadi workers (porters) after the alleged molestation of a village girl on the Holi festival, has now spread to adjoining villages including Koparkhairne, Turbhe, Juhu and Nerul villages in Navi Mumbai. Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil has invited representatives of both the groups to resolve the matter through talks. Patil has said that an inquiry would be held into matter. Residents of Nerul stormed the local police station last night, and thrashed three constables there. Ghansoli area is still under curfew where the trouble first started during the Holi celebrations. The government has announced a compensation of Rs one lakh for those injured in the riots. A special committee has also been set up to inquire into the incident.

Cartoon controversy: Danish PM trip off (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: India and Denmark today agreed that Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen should defer his visit to India in the wake of the global controversy generated by the cartoons on Prophet Mohammad. Rasmussen was scheduled to arrive in India on April 2 on a five- day official visit. A statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs said "the two sides have found that the proposed timing for the visit was not optimal." It further went on to say that the Indo-Danish relationship is strong and excellent and is moving into a new phase which is focused on political dialogue and economic cooperation instead of the decade old development cooperation, which has been phased out by the end of 2005. India and Denmark it said would continue to establish a new cooperation framework in areas like ICT, biotechnology, maritime transport, double taxation and the establishment of a joint commission.

     There have been widespread protests in India and in other parts of the world, some of which turned violent, against the cartoons that first appeared in a Danish newspaper in September. The Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy began after editorial cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad were published on September 30, 2005. Flemming Rose, the cultural editor of the conservative daily newspaper,contacted approximately 40 cartoonists and asked them to draw the prophet as they saw him. This was meant to highlight the difficulty experienced by Danish writer Kere Bluitgen in finding artists to illustrate his children's book about Muhammad. Artists previously approached by Bluitgen were reportedly unwilling to work with him for fear of violent attacks by extremist Muslims. Rose eventually received twelve cartoons from different cartoonists for the project and published the cartoons accompanied by an article on self-censorship and freedom of speech. Danish Muslim organizations staged protests in response. As the controversy has grown, some or all of the cartoons have been reprinted in newspapers in more than 50 other countries, leading to violent protests, particularly in the Islamic world. Several death threats and rewards for murdering those responsible for the cartoons have been issued, reportedly resulting in the cartoonists going into hiding. Critics claim that the cartoons are culturally insulting, Islamophobic, blasphemous, and intended to humiliate a marginalized Danish minority. Supporters of the cartoons claim they illustrate an important issue and their publication exercises the right of free speech. They also claim that there are similar cartoons about other religions, arguing that Islam and its followers have not been targeted in a discriminatory way. Rasmussen has described the controversy as Denmark's worst international crisis since World War II. The foreign ministries of eleven Islamic countries demanded action from the Danish government, and several Arab countries eventually closed their embassies in Denmark in protest after the government initially refused to intervene or apologize. Rasmussen said, "The government refuses to apologize because the government does not control the media or a newspaper outlet; that would be in violation of the freedom of speech."

'Deal: India can make 50 weapons a year'  (Go To Top)

      Washington: India will be able to produce as many as 50 nuclear warheads a year after the approval of the Indo-US nuclear deal by the US Congress. The Daily Times quoted a Washington Post report as saying that the agreement would help India far exceed its present weapon producing capacity. The Bush administration was originally looking for a plan that would have permitted New Delhi to continue producing fissile material for the manufacture of six to 10 weapons a year. India did not accept it and the US did not insist upon it, said the report.

     The paper quoted experts as saying that the Bush administration accepted the plan that 90 percent of India's future nuclear expansion would be directed towards civilian facilities for generating electric power. Leading South Asia expert Stephen Cohen has also given the view that India's prime interest was in economic development rather than military expansion. But experts opposed to the view say that the current deal undermines the current nonproliferation regime and gets America nothing in return, while India gains on several fronts. The Bush administration has however, said that the deal would bring India into the non-proliferation mainstream, allowing India's civilian nuclear programme under IAEA scanner. Senator Richard Lugar who introduced a bill in the Congress for waiving certain requirements under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 with respect to India, said that India has provided a "credible plan to separate its civil and military facilities. "India has provided a credible plan to separate its civil and military facilities, materials, and programmes, besides filing a declaration regarding its civil facilities with the IAEA," he said. The bill further said, India was "working with the United States for the conclusion of a multilateral Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty" and "supporting international efforts to prevent the spread of enrichment and reprocessing technology".

India's medals tally now seven gold (Go To Top)

     Melbourne: Yamnam Renu Bala Chanu won the gold medal weightlifting in the 58-kg category, at the 18th Commonwealth Games here today. With this haul, India's tally in weightlifting stands at two gold. The 19-year-old was successful with all six lifts to finish with a total of 185 kgs. She lifted 80 kg in the snatch and signed off with a lift of 105 kg in the clean and jerk. Emily Quarton of Canada bagged the silver and Australian Natasha Barker, the bronze. Earlier on March 16, Kunjarani Devi won the first gold medal for India setting a new Games record. Kunjarani set a Games record in the women's 48-kg category event with an overall lift of 166 kgs, which included 72 kgs in a snatch and 94 kgs in the clean and jerk at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre. Indian pistol shooter Samaresh Jung won two titles with different partners on Saturday to become the first double gold medallist at the 18th Commonwealth Games. Jung teamed up with Vivek Singh to win the 10-metres pairs title and then joined with Ronak Pandit in the 25-m standard pistol pairs to add two golds to the silver medal he won on Friday. In the process, they beat the experienced English pair of Mick Gault and Nick Baxter and the Australian duo of Daniel Repacholi and David Moore. Samresh Jung and Vivek Singh had won a silver medal in the Men's 50-m Pistol Pairs.

India goes down against Pak in hockey (Go To Top)

     Melbourne: Pakistan defeated archrival India 4-1 in their opening hockey match in the Commonwealth Games here on Saturday. Till the half time both the countries were locked in a 1-1 tie after India lost its lead in the 24th minute of the first half with Mudassar Khan's strike from the top of the circle. Soon after the resumption of the play in the second half, Pakistan's Tariq Hussain and Adnan Maqsood scored two gaols consecutively placing Pakistan to a comfortable lead of 3-1. In the final 54th minute of the game Pakistan netted the fourth and final goal of the match clinching the victory. Pakistan's Adnan Masood scored two goals while from India Tejbir Singh was the lone scorer. With this defeat India is in a tight position, as it needs to win the remaining two matches against South Africa and Trinidad to remain in the contention for a semi-final birth from Group B, after drawing its first match against Malaysia. Pakistan will meet with South Africa in its next match.

Ferozeshah Kotla gears up for ODI (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: The Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA) is gearing itself up for the first one-day International match between India and England to be held on March 28. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit visited the ground today and expressed her satisfaction with the preparations. She also informed that the no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the non-levying of entertainment tax has been cleared. "We are very satisfied with the arrangements this time. Everything is in order. What happens you know at the last minute nitty- gritty is being worked out. The entertainment tax is through. The MCD no objection certificate (NOC) is through. So, I do not think there is any problem now. And the seats are being put up and I think we would draw a very, very good crowd," said Dixit. Arun Jaitley, President of Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA) said the ground is ready to host the match and will have a record capacity. Tickets will be sold through Public Sector Banks. "The chief minister always comes before and after the match. We have always got the co- operation of Delhi government and the MCD. We have hosted matches even when the stadium was incomplete. There is a block and two of it's floors will be used and the other two are under construction. The stadium is ready and will have a record capacity. Through the Public Sector Banks, tickets will be sold," Jaitely said. Meanwhile, Jaitley said as of now the DDCA has not received any formal information about Prince Charles's visit to watch the first ODI in Delhi. But necessary arrangements will be made if the Prince arrives. "We have no formal information. But if he comes then it will be an honour for us to be a host. As per the protocol, whatever security is required will be provided to him," added Jaitley. Tickets of denominations of Rs.400 to Rs.1,000 will be sold from next week.

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