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Five killed in Amarnath copter crash

          Srinagar, Aug 5: Five people, including a woman, were killed and one injured when a helicopter ferrying pilgrims to Amarnath crashed near here on Tuesday morning. The six-seater BEL 407 helicopter, which took off from the Nehru helipad for Amarnath, crashed near Gund valley in the state's Ganderbal district. Four people, including the pilot, died on the spot, while one person succumbed to injuries at the hospital. The helicopter belonged to the Jammu and Kashmir Government and had been ferrying pilgrims to the holy cave shrine for some time.

12 killed in Jakarta hotel blast

          Jakarta, Aug 5: A bomb explosion rocked the Marriott Hotel in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, leavig at least 12 people fead. The blast completely damaged five floors of the American-owned hotel, shattering glass and damaging cars parked outside. Indonesian Defence Minister Matori Abdul Jalil said it was triggered by a bomb and was "apparently an act of terrorism". The governor of Jakarta, Sutiyoso, said the explosion was "very likely" to have been carried out by a suicide bomber. Staff and guests have been evacuated from the hotel building, which is located near foreign embassies and office blocks.

C'wealth Games inspection team visits Delhi

          New Delhi, Aug 5: Members of the Commonwealth Games Federation on Tuesday visited various stadia in New Delhi to assess the city's bid for the 2010 Games. The seven-member inspection team assessed transportation, accommodation, sports facilities and past records of the venues. Indian sports officials said hosting international events like Commonwealth Games will ensure proper utilisation of stadia. "Unless and until you hold activities in the stadium and you don't utilise it, what is the use of the stadium? It is very necessary to utilise them. If there is an international event, there will be more improvement in the condition of stadia," said Randhir Singh, Secretary-General of Indian Olympic Association. He added that so far the federation team's reaction on Indian stadia has been good. The selection of the host city for the 19th Commonwealth Games will be announced in November after final voting in Jamaica. India has suggested it will host 15 disciplines, including cricket and rugby, subject to the approval of the international federations of these sports. India is also hosting the next Afro-Asian Games to be held in Hyderabad in October-November 2003.

Bangla cabinet okays Dhaka-Agartala bus service (Go To Top)

          Dhaka, Aug 5: The Bangladesh Cabinet has given the go-ahead for the proposed Dhaka-Agartala bus service starting this month. Official sources said here on Tuesday that the Dhaka-Agartala bus service would be launched on the lines of the Kolkata-Dhaka bus service. Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan told newspersons here that the approval was in keeping with the Indo-Bangladesh Joint Economic Commission (JEC) meeting held in Dhaka on July 14-15 wherein it was decided to extend the bus service.

A 10-day Buddhist spiritual discourse begins in Dharamsala (Go To Top)

          Dharamsala, Aug 5: Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has begun a special discourse on Buddhist teachings in Dharmasala. During the 10-day-long spiritual discourse, the Dalai Lama would explain the meanings of Buddhist scriptures to the devotees. Hundreds of Indian and foreign devotees on Monday listened to the Dalai Lama as monks turned the prayer wheels. This is the Dalai Lama's second discourse on Lord Buddha's teachings this year. The monastery resounded with the chants of Buddhist monks from all the four sects - Nyingma, Kagyud, Sakya and Gelug. "All the four sects, Buddhists of all traditional backgrounds, irrespective of their culture, traditonal backgrounds come here to listen to his discourse because there is no demarcation of sects and schools and traditions in his teachings. He will just explain tantra i.e Buddhist tantra which applies to Buddhist religion irrespective of their cultural background," said Sonam, a monk. For the first seven days, the Dalai Lama would give special discourses to monks from Taiwan's Bliss and Wisdom monastery. During the next three days the Dalai Lama is expected to teach the disciples about the rituals of initiation, purification and benediction. Buddhists believe that the ceremony would bring peace and harmony throughout the world. The Dalai Lama runs the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala with thousands of his followers since an abortive uprising in 1959 against Chinese rule.

Pakistan resents US F-16 offer to India (Go To Top)

          Islamabad, Aug 5: Pakistan has expressed its angry reaction to Washington's reported offer of F-16 aircraft to India, declaring it as "very, very disturbing" as it would cause "very, very negative impact on the South Asian security situation", Dawn said in a report on Monday. Foreign Office spokesman Masud Khan did not spell out any steps from the Pakistan side to persuade the US administration to halt the reported supply of F-16s to India. In reply to a question on the reported impending visit of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to India, Masud Khan termed it a serious development for the region and said the "burgeoning Indo- Israeli defence cooperation" would have a negative impact on the security situation in South Asia.

Benazir, Zardari sentenced in Switzerland (Go To Top)

          Islamabad, Aug 5: Swiss authorities have handed former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto and her husband Senator Asif Zardari a six months' suspended sentence and fined them 50,000 dollars each in a graft case, their lawyer announced here Tuesday. Benazir could file an appeal against the order, the lawyer added. Farooq Naek, defence counsel of both Benazir Bhutto and Asif Zardari, issued the following statement. The Swiss investigation officer Devaud on July 31, his last day in office, passed an order proving Bhutto and Zardari do not have Swiss billions although he did pass a minor suspended sentence of six months and a fine of 50, 000 dollars each in the pre-shipment inspection case.

          An elected official, Investigating Officer Devaud's tenure ended on July 31. His order on the last day of office attempted to justify an inquiry that failed to find billions of corrupt dollars despite international publicity. The order diverts public attention from a politically motivated inquiry that could have resulted in a possible civil suit from the defendants who were wrongly alleged to have collected billions of dollars from corrupt practices. Former Prime Minister Bhutto rejected the finding and cited the letter given her by a Swiss law officer that the disputed accounts were unrelated to her.

          The undemocratic departure of the PPP government in 1996 led to politically motivated charges against the Bhutto government. Extremists fearing Bhutto's massive popular appeal alleged that the former Premier had amassed a fortune through corrupt means and moved Swiss government for disclosure. The Geneva Canton, investigating the Pakistani charges, claimed in 1997 that it had frozen Bhutto accounts.

          Bhutto challenged the findings through her legal advisor who wrote to the Swiss Attorney General to provide him the details on which the release was issued so that the matter could be legally tackled. As per the report of the law officer, the Swiss law Attorney General stated that none of the disputed accounts belonged to Bhutto. Following this admission by the Swiss Attorney General, Bhutto disasociated from the inquiry. The inability to find the so-called billions of dollars is a great moral and political victory for the PPP and its supporters who all along contended that the charges of corruption were politically motivated.

Srinath opts out of camp for NZ series (Go To Top)

          Mumbai, Aug 5: Javagal Srinath, spearhead of many a campaign for India, has opted out of a training camp for the forthcoming Test series against New Zealand in October, raising the question that he may finally be contemplating retirement from international cricket. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday named 36 players for the training camp at Bangalore, which starts on August 14. "Srinath told the board he is not keeping well. He is undergoing rehabilitation and he's not fully fit. He will not be in the camp with the other probables, but depending on his fitness, we will decide whether to pick him for the series," BCCI secretary S.K.Nair told reporters here on Tuesday. Rahul Dravid, Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh have been excused from attending the camp because of their English county commitments. But will be asked to play a local Challenger series from September 10-14. India plays two Tests against New Zealand in October followed by a one-day triangular series also involving Australia. The squad is as follows: Saurav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Dinesh Mongia, Parthiv Patel, Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Sangar Bangar, Shiv Sundar Das, Gautam Gambhir, Wasim Jaffer, Satyajit Parab, Hemang Badani, Sridharan Sriram, Rohan Gavaskar, Ambati Rayudu, Murali Kartik, Vijay Bharadwaj, Amit Mishra, Amit Bhandari, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Avishkar Salvi, Irfan Pathan Jr, Mithun Minhas, Ajay Ratra, Tilak Naidu, Vangipurappu Laxman, Sairaj Bahutule, Ramesh Powar, Jai Prakash Yadav, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Sarandeep Singh and Siddharth Trivedi.

Bottomlines

 

The kiss of the 'Tomb Raider' (Go To Top)

          London, Aug 5: After devastating reports of Kylie Minogue's French beau Olivier Martinez and Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie becoming an item, here is another one. According to People News, the 'Tomb Raider' star has been photographed kissing her other handsome co-star, Ethan Hawke, who is married to blonde actress Uma Thurman and reportedly share a 'rock solid' relationship. The pair chatted, smooched and then walked over to the set to continue filming 'Taking Lives'. Ethan married Uma in 1998 and has two children - Maya Ray, 5, and Roan, 1 by her.

Secret of Kylie's famous assets (Go To Top)

          Washington, Aug 5: Wanna know what sexy Kylie Minogue does to keep a shapely rear? The pop vixen insists that dancing regularly is the secret behind her 'legendary backside'. Moreover, the beauty, whose perfect bottom is her trademark, credits choreographer Dan Karaty for her sexy asset, according to a report in rate the music.com "I really don't do anything to my backside. I don't use lotions or anything like that. I work hard, I run around a lot and I dance when I have to. But that's it," she says. "Kylie doesn't use the gym. She keeps herself fit through dancing," Karaty adds.

Britney, Timberlake in 4.8 million dollar reunion! (Go To Top)

          Washington, Aug 5: It seems Britney Spears may reunite with one time boyfriend Justin Timberlake after all. The pop stars have reportedly been offered 4.8 million dollars by the fashion store GAP to feature together in a series of TV advertisements. According to the music.com, Spears and Timberlake, who ended their relationship bitterly last year, are in secret talks to appear in the glossy promotions. "The entire world followed the Britney-Justin romance and getting them together in a television commercial will get the world talking again," says a source. Gap had earlier featured Madonna and Missy Elliott in its advertisements. They appear now to be keen to offer at least 2.2 million dollars each to Spears and Timberlake. The 'Oops! I Did It Again' star says she is not averse to the idea of a televised reconciliation. "I think it would so cool," she says.