BAGHDAD: American and British air raids pounded areas on outskirts of Baghdad on Tuesday while US troops fired on a civilian car in central Iraq, killing seven women and children. The soldiers shot at the car when it failed to stop at a checkpoint in the desert near the town of Najaf on Monday afternoon despite warning shots, US military officials were quoted as saying.

          Reports from the US Central Command in Qatar said 13 women and children were in the vehicle. Seven were killed and two wounded. This incident is sure to inflame anger in the Arab world. These were the first confirmed civilian deaths from US gunfire since the war began on March 20.

          Defending the action, marine corps general Peter Pace, vice-chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said the troops "absolutely did the right thing", because they thought their lives were threatened, agency reports said. The US had said it cannot confirm its weapons were responsible for blasts in civilian areas of Baghdad that have killed scores of people. Central command is investigating but says errant Iraqi surface-to-air missiles may be to blame. Air raids have been hitting areas on the edges of the city where elite Republican Guard units are thought to be dug in ready to face US troops advancing from the south.

N Korea Fires Anti-ship Missiles, Says Japan (Go To Top)

          HONG KONG: North Korea fired a surface-to-ship missile on Tuesday, a news agency said quoting Japan's transport minister, Chikage Ogi. The missile was fired at 10:15 am Japanese time (0115 GMT), according to Jiji agency. Foreign ministry spokesman Hatsuhisa Takashima said that there did not appear to be a direct threat to Japan. The South Korean defence ministry said it was checking the report. There was a muted reaction to the reports from Tokyo financial markets, which are focused on developments in Iraq.

PM to Visit Kashmir on April 18

          NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will visit the Kashmir valley for two days from April 18, according to sources. Vajpayee is expected to inaugurate the North-South Corridor project on April 18. He will perform 'bhoomi pooja' to mark the inauguration. He will also address a public meeting in Srinagar, attend several functions, including laying of the foundation stones of a new terminal at the Srinagar airport and a railway line at Awantipora, and address the Kashmir University convocation.

Security Tightened at Vaishno Devi (Go To Top)

          JAMMU: The authorities in Kashmir on Tuesday beefed up security at the hill-top Vaishno Devi shrine, a development after suspected militants gunned down 24 Hindus at Nadimarg last Sunday. Perched atop Trikuta hills at 1,700 metres above sea level, the holy cave shrine attracts more than five million Hindu pilgrims every year.

           Special gadgets, including electronic scanners, are being used to check the baggages of pilgrims. Additional security has been provided from the base camp at Katra and along the route to the temple. However, the added security has not dampened the pilgrims' enthusiasm. "We are here for worshipping the Goddess Durga. We are not scared of militants," said Ramesh Chand, a pilgrim. Rahul, another pilgrim, said he even planned to visit the restive Kashmir valley. "What's there to fear when the blessings of God are with us. We are even planning to go to Kashmir," he remarked.

          In November 2002, at least 40 Hindu pilgrims on their way to Vaishno Devi were killed in suicide attacks by Muslim guerrillas.

VAT Was Manmohan's Idea, not Jaswant's: Mahajan (Go To Top)

          JAIPUR: In an environment already charred with 'mixed reactions' over Value Added Tax, proposed to be implemented from today (Tuesday), BJP general secretary Pramod Mahajan has made it clear that the idea behind implementation of VAT came from former finance minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, of the Congress, and not BJP's Jaswant Singh.

          Mahajan said, "The chief minister and Government of Rajasthan are opposing VAT as if it (VAT) is the decision of BJP or of finance minister Jaswant Singh. Rather, former finance minister Manmohan Singh and the States have decided to replace CENVAT with VAT." He added, "VAT is not a 'law' or the 'tax' for the Central Government. It is a matter of States. The Centre does not come in the play regarding VAT." The Centre is not forcing anyone to implement VAT, he added.

Commercial Vehicles Go Off the Roads in Mumbai (Go To Top)

          MUMBAI: Commercial vehicles barring taxis went off the roads here on Tuesday to protest against a recent court order to phase out old vehicles. The Bombay High court had ordered vehicles more than 15 years to stop plying or change over to cleaner fuel. Nearly 4,50,000 trucks, tempos, tankers and private buses joined the indefinite strike. Officials of the transport association said the Maharashtra Government should move the Supreme Court to get the order modified and lower the tax regime.

           The court has fixed a fine of 500 rupees per day for vehicles that flout the order. The strike has badly hit head-load workers. "Our work has almost stopped with the trucks going on strike. The companies won't be sending their materials...our job would come to a halt," a worker said.

           Meanwhile, about 700 school buses have also decided to join the strike. According to the Bombay Bus Owners Association, there are 7,400 trucks and lorries, and nearly 2,385 buses including private and contract buses that are more than 15 years old.

Medical Test of Spouse Permissible: SC (Go To Top)

          NEW DELHI: A Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice VN Khare, Justice SB Sinha and Justice AR Lakshmanan has stated that the right to privacy is not an absolute right and medical test is permissible if a couple filed a divorce case on health grounds.

           This landmark judgment came on a petition filed by a woman called Sharda challenging a Rajasthan High Court order that upheld the directive of a matrimonial court asking her to undergo medical tests on a petition for divorce filed by her husband, alleging her to be of "unsound mind". Rejecting the statement that medical examination would be violative to right of privacy, the court said, "When there is no right to privacy specifically conferred by Article 21 and with the extensive interpretation of the phrase 'personal liberty' this right has been read into Article 21, it cannot be treated as absolute right." Defending the judgement of undergoing a medical test, the bench has said that the decision is not the violation of right to personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.

British Sikhs Demonstrate in Support of Bhullar (Go To Top)
-by Trevor Barnard

          LONDON: Hundreds of British Sikhs, many of them Khalistan supporters, demonstrated outside the Indian High Commission on Sunday as part of a continuing campaign to save Sikh activist Davinderpal Singh Bhullar from the gallows. The particular point of protest on this occasion was the decision by the Indian Supreme Court on March 12 not to admit a petition calling for Bhullar's reprieve.

           As India House is manned by a lone duty officer on Sundays, it was left to passers-by to listen to the chanting and take note of the messages of the banners and placards - such as, "Sikhs around the world demand justice," "Will the Indian President defy world opinion ?" and "Khalistan is the only solution."

           The demonstration was one of a series of co-ordinated rallies and marches around the world - in Delhi, New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Sydney, Paris, Brussels, Frankfurt, Geneva and other cities in Europe. The 'Save Bhullar' campaign is co- ordinated in the UK by a group calling itself the Sikh Secretariat, which is openly supportive of the Khalistan movement, a fact that calls in question its claim to speak for "700,000 British Sikhs".

Kerala Vegetables, Fruits Rotting at Airports (Go To Top)

          THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The US-led war on Iraq is taking its toll on vegetable exports from Kerala to the Middle East. More than Rs 3 billion worth of seasonal vegetables and fruits like pineapple, banana and string beans, have been rotting at the international airport as the Iraq war enters its 13th day.

           The export of vegetables and fruits in the first week of the war was around 22 per cent less than it was in the week just before the US invaded Iraq. As the situation gets worse day by day, transportation will be difficult and expensive. Exporters feel that in view of the war situation, the airlines would impose hefty hike on freight, the main component which jacks up prices of perishables at landing ports by almost double their value in domestic market. Traders fear that a hike in freight rates would spell disaster for Indian fruit and vegetable exports which had begun looking up during the last decade.

           A large quantity of Kerala's agri-exports is consumed by over two million Malayalees, emigrants from India's coastal state, in the Middle East based largely in Kuwait and Syria. An average of 65 to 70 tonnes of perishables are exported every day, bananas constituting almost 70 per cent of the perishable exports.

Pak Bought N Korean Nuclear Missiles: Post (Go To Top)

          WASHINGTON: Pakistan bought fully assembled nuclear-capable Rodong missiles from North Korea during a period of time ending in August last year, says a Washington Times report. Pakistan used US-made C-130 aircraft to transport the missiles, the newspaper said quoting US officials. The deal reportedly prompted Bush administration to impose commercial sanctions against a Pakistani company named Kahn Research Laboratories, which is involved in Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme.

          However, Islamabad has denied that Pakistan has bought missiles from North Korea, but acknowledged that KRL has been the target of US sanctions. According to the News, a senior State Department official said KRL had imported missiles from North Korea's State-owned Changgwang Sinyong Corp, which has been under the same sanctions since August. The State Department is simultaneously imposing new two-year sanctions on the North Korean company and the North Korean government, but the only effect of that is to extend existing sanctions until March 2005 instead of August next year, it added.

           In Islamabad, foreign minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri told reporters that America suspected the KRL of exporting nuclear material to other countries and that was why they had put ban on export to the Pakistani research organisation. "We reject the charges made by the American administration." he affirmed and sought evidence from Washington to substantiate the alleged KRL export of nuclear material.

           "Our nuclear programme is purely for defence and we are not involved in any kind of such proliferation," Kasuri added. Pakistan would not be deterred to supplement the defencive needs of its armed forces, as India was responsible for arms race in the region, he said and remarked that the US decision was based on imagination.

Gooding Was Like 'Jekyll and Hyde', From Martinez Flies Sparks: Kylie (Go To Top)

          LONDON: Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue has revealed that her former lover, British model James Gooding, had a "Jekyll and Hyde" personality. "He really hurt me - because I loved him. One minute he'd be kind and gentle, the next he'd snap at anything. It was as if I was going out with a completely different person," she was quoted as saying by People News.

           According to her friend, it was Gooding who was obsessive and not Kylie as he revealed in a recent interview. "He couldn't stop talking about her, but was sleeping with other women behind her back. It was one rule for him and another for her," said the friend. Kylie is currently dating French actor Olivier Martinez. "As soon as I met him (Olivier) there was a definite spark. I can't predict what will happen but the present is nice," said Kylie.

Watch Out! 'King Kong' Is Coming Back (Go To Top)

          LONDON: A re-make of the original 1933 version of 'King Kong' is all set to hit the cinemas in 2005. According to Hollywood Reporter, the film would be directed by Peter Jackson, with Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens serving as the screen-writers. All three are part of the team behind the 'Lord of the Rings' films. For many years now, Jackson has been wanting to re-make King Kong but had to put the idea aside to make the highly successful Lord of the Rings trilogy. In his own words, it would have a "life-time of anguish" if he did not re-make it, reports the Telegraph.

'Gwyneth, Show Me the Ring', Everyone Seems to Ask (Go To Top)

          WASHINGTON: Will love continue to elude Oscar- wining US actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who has had two failed engagements till now. If rumours are to be believed, then her relationship with Chris Martin, the frontman of Grammy-winning British rock band Coldplay, might be in doldrums. Apparently, Martin, 25, has still not presented the 30-year-old Paltrow, who was previously engaged to Hollywood hunks Brad Pitt and Ben Affleck, with a ring. She has told friends that she is `jinxed' and that her latest relationship wouldn't last long.

          According to one friend, the pair have had a `string of rows' in the past fortnight. Indeed, the tension between them was evident at a concert at the Royal Albert Hall here last week. The couple had an argument backstage after one mutual friend walked up to congratulate them. "The friend was somewhat taken aback when Gwyneth got really sarcastic and said how could it be a proper engagement when she was still waiting for the ring? She was staring right at Chris, who stood there looking at his feet," a witness was quoted as saying by Teenhollywood.com.

           Another friend has confirmed Paltrow's insecurity, saying: "The absence of a ring nearly a month after they got engaged has become an issue and has triggered a lot of soul-searching for her. She is terrified that this relationship could be going the same way as all the others. She's really keen to get married, but she can't understand why Chris is taking so long over the ring."

Duran Duran Will Get Together Again (Go To Top)

          SYDNEY: The British pop band Duran Duran, which gained immense popularity and sold millions of records all over the world, are planning a comeback. They've been pictured together for the first time in 16 years. The original line-up of Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor, Roger Taylor and Andy Taylor are set to release a new album and are planning a world tour in the northern summer, according to a report in News.com.au.

           The band decided to re-form in late 2001 and have since been working in the studio, writing and recording an album. The first ever Duran Duran singles box will go on sale on May 12 and feature a 13 CD collection spanning the early years through to Andy and Roger Taylor's departures in 1985.