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A-I suspends 15 more pilots

          New Delhi, Apr 27: Air-India on Sunday suspended 15 more agitating pilots, taking the total number of suspensions so far to 27. Twelve pilots were suspended on Saturday. The pilots are refusing to fly with any crew who has been to a Sars-affected region in the past 10 days. But the demand has been outrightly rejected by the civil aviation ministry. Even as the strike continued, most of the AI flights were cancelled on Sunday. Only two of the eight early morning flights took off from New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport and were re-routed through Mumbai.

Two more Sars cases confirmed in Mumbai, Kolkata

          Mumbai, Apr 27: Two more Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome) cases were reported from different parts of the country on Sunday. With this the total number of Sars cases went up to seven. A 34-year-old man affected with Sars was admitted to the Kasturba Hospital in Mumbai. He had come from Hong Kong on April 13 and proceeded on business trips to Delhi and Chennai. On his return to Mumbai on April 22 he developed fever. On Saturday night he was shifted to New Delhi's Infectious Diseases Hospital.

           In the case reported from Kolkata, a 42-year old man tested positive for Sars in the Apollo Hospital. He had come from China on Thursday and developed fever and symptoms of pneumonia. Sources at the West Bengal health ministry said the National Institute of Virology in Pune has confirmed that the patient was Sars positive. He had come to Kolkata from China via Mumbai. Meanwhile, as many as 11 cases around the country have been sent to laboratories for tests.

Pak strategy soon for talks with India (Go To Top)

          Lahore, Apr 27: Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali said on Sunday that Pakistan would soon announce a strategy for starting talks with India. "We have already welcomed Vajpayee's offer. We will announce a strategy for talks with India within two or three days," Jamali told reporters near Lahore. Jamali's comments were in response to Vajpayee's recent offer that he is ready for talks with Pakistan to discuss all issues, including the core dispute over Kashmir.

SAD panel discusses merger (Go To Top)

          Chandigarh, Apr 27: Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal's) political affairs committee met here on Saturday to discuss the proposed merger with Gurcharan Singh Tohra's All India Shiromani Akali Dal. Shiromani Akali Dal president Prakash Singh Badal said that the Political Affairs Committee of Akali Dal has given him all rights to make any decision on merger with Tohra's Akali Dal. Asked about the need to join hands with arch rival Tohra who had earlier accused Badal of being in league with Congress, Badal replied that it is not a question of need or necessity but things just happen as it had to happen.

           Badal said that the merger decision was not his personal decision but it was the decision of the party members. Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal's) PAC also passed resolutions, asking the Congress government to mitigate the sufferings of farmers and other sections of society.

UK has secret plan to offer Aziz a secure home: Report (Go To Top)

          London, Apr 27: Despite a denial by the Home Office on Saturday, a Sunday newspaper here has claimed in an exclusive article that it has uncovered a secret plan to allow Saddam Hussein's former deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz, to be accommodated in England. The Sunday Express, quoting "intelligence sources who have seen a secret Government briefing document," says that contingency measures are already in place to house him in a protected location somewhere in the countryside. This follows reports that Aziz, on surrendering to US forces, asked his captors to move him to Britain, in exchange for information about the Iraqi regime.

           With a new identity, possibly helped by plastic surgery, the 67- year-old would be kept under constant protection in a safe house, the report says. Police and security guards would be on duty 24 hours a day, and there would be a radio link to police headquarters and other alarm devices. The security is likened to the protection given to India-born author Salman Rushdie, while he lived under the threat of an Iranian fatwa that called for his death because of his book, Satanic Verses.

          The cost of maintaining such a safe house is estimated at a million pounds a year - a cost which, according to the Sunday Express report, would be met by British and US taxpayers for the rest of Aziz's life. The report's source is quoted as saying: "Aziz would be retired on a pension similar to that awarded to ex-KGB officers and defectors coming to the UK from overseas and would amount to a living allowance and the costs associated with normal daily living."

          Meanwhile, there is Press speculation that Aziz was the "senior official" within the Ba'ath regime who provided the information that led to the cruise missile attack on Saddam Hussein's bunker in southern Baghdad at the outset of hostilities. The Sunday Telegraph speculates that this co-operation may have led to the favourable terms afforded Aziz and his family by his American captors.

Mayawati calls on Vajpayee (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, Apr 27: UP Chief Minister Mayawati on Sunday called on Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in New Delhi. Vajpayee's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is a junior coalition partner in UP. The meeting assumes significance as some of the regional BJP leaders are reported to be unhappy over Mayawati's style of functioning. Relations between the two parties strained after strong dissent arose within the BJP on continuing in the coalition.

           Mayawati's image has taken a beating after the main opposition Samajwadi party released video cassettes of the chief minister asking her deputies to divert development funds to her party coffers. The videos created a political furore but eventually culminated in a futile no-confidance vote against the Mayawati government.

           Mayawati has since then slapped several criminal cases against many of the opposition leaders for what she terms as a "befitting reply" against attempts to tarnish her image. Her government has also booked several high-caste leaders under anti-terrorism law and is facing much criticism for indulging in what many term as "revenge politics".

Kupwara boat mishap: 10 kids still missing (Go To Top)

          Kupwara (J-K) Apr 27: Massive search operations continued in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday to fish out missing school children after a boat capsized killing four of them. At least ten others were still missing after a boat carrying students capsized on Saturday in the flooded Pohuru river in Kupwara district. The children who were rowing the boat could not control it as the river was flowing at a high speed. Local residents said about 10 children have been rescued. There were over 25 children in the boat. They were students of a local school in Baryamripora and were returning home after attending their classes.

Benazir says she will return soon (Go To Top)

          Dubai, Apr 27: Pakistan People's Party chairperson Benazir Bhutto looks set for a head-on confrontation with the government when she told her party leaders here on Saturday : "I will soon be among my people," indicating her intention to end her self- exile. "Make preparation for my arrival; this time I want you to get me a two-thirds majority, not just a simple majority," she told the party stalwarts, implying the present political setup will soon be gone, paving the way for new elections. The party leaders, who met her to inquire about the health of her mother, Begum Nusrat Bhutto, remained with her for more than eight hours.