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Rafiganj rescue operation to be over soon
Rafiganj (Bihar), Sept 12 (ANI): Rescue workers continued to pull out bodies till Thursday from overturned rail coaches of a luxury train that jumped the tracks here early this week. Rescue teams have till now pulled 105 bodies from the twisted wreckage of the accident. But, with relief workers still cutting through the last of the mangled coaches, the death toll is expected to slightly climb further. The high-speed Rajdhani Express, heading from Calcutta to New Delhi, veered off the rails on an old bridge on Monday night near Rafiganj, 210 km south of Patna. Relatives of victims have complained that relief has been slow and tardy. However, Bandaru Dattatreya, junior railway minister, promised that rescue operations would be completed at the earliest. "I will hold a meeting with railway officials and give them instructions that rescue operation should be carried on war footing and that complete rescue work should be over by tomorrow," said Dattatreya during a visit to the accident site. Railway officials suspect sabotage in the incident, possibly by Maoist rebels in the area, but Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani said on Tuesday the information he had, suggested, it was an accident. Most of India's one billion people depend on the antiquated rail network of over 63,000 km as their main form of transport. Indian Railways, which celebrated its 150th anniversary this year, runs nearly 14,000 trains carrying more than 13 million passengers daily. It has about 300 accidents a year.(ANI) Bangalore shut-down to protest CRA decision
Bangalore, Sept 12 (ANI): Bangalore city observed a dawn-to-dusk shutdown on Thursday to protest the Karnataka government's decision to release more waters of the Cauvery river to neighbouring Tamil Nadu. The Cauvery river has for long been a cause of dispute between Karnataka, from where it originates and neighbouring Tamil Nadu, the lower basin state. The shutdown call was given by various organisations opposing the decision of the Cauvery River Authority to release 9,000 cusecs of water everyday to Tamil Nadu. The Cauvery River Authority, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, had taken the decision last week. Business activity came to a standstill in the country's technology capital. Most city roads wore a deserted look, with city buses and three-wheelers off the roads and cinema halls and petrol bunks closed. Security personnel were out in full strength as a precautionary measure. The state Home Minister, Mallikarjuna Kharge said the situation in the capital city was peaceful. "Bangalore at present is quite peaceful. In some parts shops are closed and in some parts people are moving. So far no untoward incident has happened though we are watching our police people patrolling throughout the city. And we hope it will be peaceful and without any (untoward) incident," said Kharge. The Supreme Court had on September 3 directed Karnataka to release 1.25 TMC feet of water everyday to help farmers in the Cauvery delta to complete sowing of paddy. Kerala and Pondicherry also fall in the river basin, but are not significantly affected. Karnataka had earlier refused to accept a tribunal's verdict saying it should not be dictated the amount of water to be shared since the flow could be seriously affected by poor monsoon rains.(ANI) Karnataka loosens noose around Veerappan
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to top Bangalore, Sept 12 (ANI): Karnataka Home Minister Mallikarjuna Kharge on Thursday said that his government was considering easing combing operations against the notorious forest brigand Veerappan. The sandalwood smuggler is currently in the news for abducting former state minister H.Nagappa, nearly three weeks ago. Kharge admitted that pressure from Nagappa's family and opposition parties had forced the government to rethink its strategy. "Nagappa's family is also threatening to go on fast and also all opposition parties are demanding that operations should be stopped and they are hopeful if the operation is stopped then they will get Nagappa released through negotiation. That is their impression and that is the persuasion by opposition and also the family members," said Kharge. Kharge added that the main objective was the safe return of the former minister. "Since beginning we are also telling first objective is to get Nagappa released without any harm and for that naturally this operation was also necessary and cornering Veerappan was also necessary but opposition party people feel that this is not a good strategy so government is also considering how to go (about) and what to do because our main objective is to get release (of) Nagappa. So to get him released whatever strategy is to be adopted will be adopted by the government," Kharge added. Over 3,000 special security forces men are combing the dense jungles bordering Karnataka and Tamil Nadu where the bandit is supposed to be holed up. For the first time, Indian Air Force helicopters and air surveillance teams of the National Security Guards have been pressed into action to hunt down Veerappan. The forest brigand, wanted for over 120 murders and smuggling of sandalwood and ivory worth millions of dollars, has threatened to behead his hostage if his demands were not met, but gave no details in an audio cassette recording soon after the kidnap at Kamagere, 110 miles ) south of Bangalore. The bandit, famous for his long, twirling moustache, has sought the release of his jailed sympathisers, who include ethnic Tamil extremists, but has given no names. Veerappan hit world headlines two years ago when he kidnapped a regional movie icon, Rajkumar and released him after 108 days. (ANI)
No religious bias in school syllabus: SC Go to top New Delhi, Sept 12 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Thursday observed there was no deliberate attempt on the part of the federal school syllabus framing authority to inject religious bias into education. A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the National Curriculum Framework for Secondary Education (NCFSE) to delete certain portions from history textbooks for Secondary classes. The BJP-led government was accused of religious bias when it decided to drop references to beef being served on special occasions in ancient India. Hindus do not eat beef as cows are considered sacred. The apex court dismissed a public interest litigation filed by educationists seeking a ban on the implementation of the syllabus across the country. The Supreme Court also held that non-consultation with an advisory body in the framing of the syllabus could not be held as a ground to declare the national syllabus as unconstitutional. Minister for Human Resource Developement Murli Manohar Joshi said the court judgement cleared the government of allegations of religious bias. "The Supreme Court in its ruling has clarified everything and clearly said that there was no communalism when our syllabus was first made. There was no communalism at all. Secondly, the Supreme Court also said that there was nothing wrong in teaching children about religion. The apex court has said that it is wrong to preach one religion. We have said that in the syllabus, good teachings of each religion should be incorporated so that every child has knowledge about every religion. That is the best way to ensure unity in diversity," said Joshi. "By the ruling today, the allegation against us that we had some specific objectives in mind while forming the syllabus has also been dismissed. This was not our objective," the minister added. The BJP-led government has been under fire from opposition in recent months for what they said were attempts to foist its own brand of Hindu ideology on school curricula and rewrite history in a partisan manner.(ANI)
Weather satellite successfully launched
Sriharikota (AP), Sept 12 (ANI): METSAT, an exclusive meteorological satellite, was launched successfully by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C4 from Sriharikota space centre in Andhra Pradesh on Thursday. Officials said the satellite, which lifted off successfully from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, will give India more accurate weather forecasts, especially on developing weather conditions. Unlike the previous five satellites launched into the polar orbit which is closer to the Earth's north and south pole, METSAT was pushed into a geo-synchronous transfer orbit about 36,000 kilometres from the Equator. The scientists said that METSAT would enable better data collection and transmission to the meteorological stations. The PSLV has been upgraded to give the required push to put the satellite into a geo-stationary orbit. The third stage of the vehicle is lighter and accommodates more solid propellant to give the required thrust. Indian Space Researh Organisation (ISRO) has spent around 750 million rupees for the launch. ISRO believes that the upgraded PSLV would be an attractive and cheap option to launch satellites for the international market.(ANI)
Karzai says Taliban leader alive, will be caught Go to top New York, Sept 12 (ANI): Afghan President Hamid Karzai has blamed remnants of the Taliban for attempting to kill him last week and said he was convinced the group's leader, Mullah Omar, was still alive, reports Dawn. In an interview with CNN broadcast today, Karzai said he did not know whether Omar's al Qaeda ally, Osama bin Laden, was still alive, but he could not go on hiding forever if he was. "We have to arrest them and put them through justice," Karzai said. At the same time, Karzai said the Taliban, which ruled Afghanistan for more than five years until its overthrow late last year, was defeated as a movement. "They are now defeated and just running away from law. They are not a political order any more."(ANI) |