Archives

First Sars case in Goa

          New Delhi, Apr 17: A 32-year-old man who recently returned from Singapore has tested positive for Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome), Health Ministry sources said on Thursday. This is the first such case confirmed in the country. The patient, whose name was not disclosed, is a marine engineer and was admitted to Goa Medical College on April 10. He complained of acute fever and cough. After two days, he was discharged as his chest x-ray was found to be normal and fever subsided. Confirming the case, a senior official of DGHS (Directorate-General of Health Services) said the patient's blood and sputum samples were tested at the National Institute of Virology, Pune, and the virus-causing Sars "new coronavirus" was detected.

Bush calls for end to UN sanctions on Iraq

          Washington, Apr 17: President George W Bush has called on the United Nations to lift sanctions on Iraq now that Saddam Hussein regime has "passed into history." "Now that Iraq is liberated, the United Nations should lift economic sanctions on that country," Bush told Boeing defence workers on Wednesday. The United States "in the near future" will offer a UN resolution ending the UN-administered "oil-for-food" programme to enable Iraq to sell freely on world markets, according to White House spokesman Scott McClellan.

Saddam's half-brother captured (Go To Top)

          Baghdad, Apr 17: Saddam Hussein's half-brother has been captured by US-led special forces in Baghdad, says US Central Command. US Army Brigadier-General Vincent Brooks said on Thursday that Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, the former head of Iraqi intelligence, was captured following a tip-off by Iraqis. The announcement was welcomed by human rights groups, who accuse him of human rights abuses on a massive scale. "Early this morning, coalition special operations forces, supported by US Marines, captured Barzan Ibrahim Hasan al- Tikriti," said General Brooks at his regular briefing in Qatar.

           "Barzan was an adviser to the former regime leader with extensive knowledge of the regime's inner working. There were no friendly or enemy casualties," he added. It had been thought he was killed last week when his home was targeted by an air strike. "We are currently asking a number of questions and finding out whatever we can from this capture," said General Brooks. "He will be questioned over coming days and information may point us in the direction of the inner workings of the regime."

           Barzan al-Tikriti ran the Iraqi intelligence service between 1979 and 1983 before becoming Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations. He is number 52 on the American list of 55 most wanted Iraqis and the second of Saddam Hussein's three brothers to be taken. British-based organisation Indict alleges that, as head of intelligence, he was responsible for a catalogue of mass murder and torture who personally participated in a number of atrocities. They accuse him of participating in the detention and murder of several thousand men who disappeared from the Barzani tribe in 1983.

Iran won't defend Syria against US, says Khatami (Go To Top)

          Teheran, Apr 17: Iran will not defend neighbouring Syria militarily against the United States, according to Iranian President Mohammad Khatami. "We support Syria which is on the front line against the Zionist regime and defends the Palestinian cause, but that does not mean we are going to enter a military phase to defend Syria against an eventual attack," Khatami said on Wednesday after his weekly cabinet meeting. Khatami also called on US forces to leave Iraqi territory to preserve their interests.

Truckers' strike paralyses life (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, Apr 17: Many Indian ports continued to remain paralysed on Thursday and food and water supply was severely hit as the truckers' strike dragged into its fourth day. In New Delhi, drivers were seen sitting idle with trucks parked along the roadside. Although many tempos and other small vehicles replaced trucks in the Capital's wholesale markets, they failed to deliver in bulk.

          The truckers have threatened that if their demands are not met by Friday, delivery of milk and cooking gas, till now exempted from the strike, would be stopped. The latest reports said talks between the Union government and the striking truck owners remained inconclusive on Thursday.

           In Mumbai, truck drivers who have been out of work for four days, said they were feeling the pinch but had no alternative. Similar scenes were witnessed in Ahmedabad. According to truckers, more than 2.7 million vehicles were losing business worth Rs 15 billion a day. The truckers, who carry the bulk of India's freight, went off the roads on Monday to back demands for stable diesel prices, minimum freight rates, fewer levies and taxes and the repeal of an order to scrap trucks older than 15 years.

HC stays Amar Singh's arrest till May 16 (Go To Top)

          Lucknow, Apr 17: The arrest of Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh, in connection with cases of alleged misuse of discretionary funds filed against him and others by the Mayawati government in UP, has been stayed until May 16. The Allahabad High Court gave the order on a petition filed for quashing the FIRs registered against him, SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and other party leaders. The petition also sought a stay on the arrest of the persons named in the FIRs.

           A Division Bench comprising Justice Vishnu Sahai and Justice Abdul Mateen, while staying the arrest of Singh, directed Chief Minister Mayawati, Principal Secretary (Home) Pradeep Kumar, state government and the state BSP president K K Sachan to file their replies within four weeks and posted the matter for further hearing on May 16 next. Singh, in his petition, had pleaded that the FIRs were "politically motivated and were the result of rivalry." He also apprehended that the persons named in the FIRs could be arrested anytime under pressure from Mayawati. As many as 136 FIRs were registered against SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and others pertaining to the misuse of discretionary funds during Yadav's stint as UP Chief Minister.

Hindu Bengalis being ousted by Manipur rebels (Go To Top)

          Silchar, Apr 17: Is there any design behind the eviction of Hindu Bengalis from Jiribam in Manipur by the People's Liberation Army (PLA), United National Liberation Front (UNLF) and the People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK)? ID Swami, Union Minister of State for Home, who visited the relief camps of these victims of yet another sort of ethnic cleansing recently, said, "I am yet to know the details as the state government has not yet submitted any report on it to the Centre".

           About 700 Bengalis - men, women and children - are sheltered in the camps in Lakhipur sub-division of Cachar. They were forced to leave their homes by the extremists at gunpoint. The Union Minister, however, said he would soon convene a meeting of the Chief Ministers of Assam and Manipur, Tarun Gogoi and Ibobi Singh, respectively, to discuss the issue in New Delhi, and to ensure the safe return of the refugees. He would also discuss with them the security arrangement in Jiribam, regarded as the hotbed of different extremist outfits, Swami said.

           The inmates of the camps told the minister their tales of mental torture by the extremists to create a fear psychosis and their eventual eviction. The militants are grabbing their houses, land and other property and allegedly selling them cheap to persons of doubtful citizenship from Bangladesh. A source from Jiribam, separated by river Jiri in Cachar, pointed out that the new settlers are from Moulvi Bazar areas of Bangladesh. This does expose a pattern behind this ethnic cleansing. Manipur-based extremist outfits have their camps in Bhanugach, Shamsher Nagar, Chotodhamai, Nayapattan, Longta, Ram Nagar, Ambarkhana, Adampur and Sonarupa Tea Estate in Moulvi Bazar.

           Moulvi Bazar in Sylhet has a sizeable Meitei population which has emotional rapport with the Manipur militants. The settlement of the Meitei Muslims in the deserted homes of Bengalis in Jiribam "is to protect the interests of the extremists in Bangladesh," the source added. This is not a new phenomenon. Two years ago, replying to the memorandum of the Young Bengalee Association on the issue, the then Chief Minister of Manipur, Nipamacha Singh, during his visit to Lakhipur, had talked of joint operation by Manipur, Assam and Nagaland to flush out the extremist groups from Jiribam.

           But since then nothing has happened. If the Bengali settlements in Jiribam are allowed to be disturbed, it might create social tension and snowball into a major law-and-order problem in Cachar, already in the coil of ethnic violence between the Dimasas and Hmars.

Blast rocks UNICEF office in Jalalabad (Go To Top)

          Islamabad, Apr 17: A powerful explosion rocked the UNICEF office in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad causing damage to the building but details of any casualties were not immediately available, sources said Thursday. They said the blast occurred late Wednesday in a room of the UNICEF office just two km from the airport in the eastern part of the city. It could be heard some three km away, forcing people to rush out of their homes. The room in which the blast took place was badly damaged.