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Muslims in India preparing Jihad squads: Pak cleric

          Lahore, Aug 9: Muslims based in Kashmir and in other parts of India are reportedly organizing themselves into 'Jihad' squads to realize their objective of self-determination in the northern state, said a leading Pakistani cleric on Friday. "The Kashmiri freedom struggle is a source of inspiration for Indian Muslims, " the Daily Times quoted Jamaat-ud-Daawa Ameer Hafiz Muhammad Saeed as saying during Friday prayers at the Jamia Qadsia here.

Sonia launches 'Win Delhi' campaign

          New Delhi, Aug 9: Launching her Congress party's campaign for winning the Delhi assembly elections, party president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday attacked the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, calling it corrupt and incompetent. Addressing a rally to mark the August Kranti Day, Sonia said the government's persistent refusal to hand over vital documents relating to the Kargil coffin scam case to Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) was deplorable. "What expectation can one have from a government that does not show respect to the nation's martyrs," she said, while accusing the Centre of taking bribes for the purchase of coffins. She also targeted the government for forcing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to drop charges against Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani and others in the Babri demolition case. Senior party leaders Ahmed Patel, Arjun Singh, R.K. Dhawan and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and her colleagues were also present.

Fernandes declares innocence in Kargil coffin scam

          New Delhi, Aug 9: Union Defence minister George Fernandes on Saturday refuted charges of being involved in the 'Kargil Coffin' scam, as indicated in a report prepared by the Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) and submitted to the Parliament's Public Accounts Committe (PAC). "I was nowhere in the picture when the army went through the process of acquiring the caskets. The purchase was cleared at the level of the defence secretary under his delegated powers. I learnt about the transaction only when the matter was raised in the parliament after the CAG (Comptroller Auditor General) report was submitted," Fernandes told ANI in an interview here. He said the purchase of the coffins for the dead soldiers did not cause any loss to the government. "In the whole deal, there has been no loss really to the exchequer."

          "The current controversy is politically motivated. It pains me that there are people in this country who want to exploit this for political advantage without any respect for truth, and are unmindful of the hurt they cause to the sentiments of our armed forces and the damage to their morale," he added. The PAC has said it will not review the CAG report without the Ministry of Defence furnishing the findings of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), on which the CAG report is based. The CAG report claims the defence ministry signed a 1.5-million dollar contract for 500 aluminium caskets and 3,000 body bags, but did not follow established procedures of procurement. The BJP, which heads the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), has alleged that the PAC findings were leaked to the press to embarrass the government, and is now demanding an inquiry into it.

Tribals lynch nine Maoists in Jharkhand village (Go To Top)

          Domaria (Jharkhand), Aug 9: Nine Maoists have been lynched by tribals in a remote village in Jharkhand's Domaria District The incident occurred in remote Lango village, located deep into the dense forests of Domaria, 240 km from state capital Ranchi late on Friday. "Nine rebels have been killed, eight of them died on the spot and the ninth died on his way to the hospital. Two more boys are injured but out of danger," area superintendent of police Arun Oram told reporters. The Lango tribals still live according to their own laws and customs and do not like any outside interference. Officials said the rebels, belonging to the banned People's War Group (PWG), had been trying to dictate terms to the tribal village body for a long time. The incident was triggered off after they landed at the village with a 14-member self-styled tribunal to solve a land dispute, provoking the villagers' ire. PWG is one of the many Maoist rebel groups that make up the Naxalite movement, which started in India in 1960s. The Maoists are waging an armed struggle against the Indian government and the police for radical redistribution of land from the rich to poor farmers. Though clashes between the police and the naxals are common, this is the first time that a clash between peasents and the rebels has been reported.

Himachal ban on use of polythene (Go To Top)

          Shimla, Aug 9: Himachal Pradesh has become the first state in the country to impose a complete ban on polythene bags. State Chief Minister Veerbhadra Singh said that non-compliance of the ban would result in imprisionment of five years or a fine of up to Rs. 5 lakh or both. He also said that a proper awareness drive would be undertaken to educate people on the ill-effects of polythene bags. Asserting that proper care would be taken to rehabilitate the small-scale industries affected by this ban, he said it was being introduced to preserve ecological balance. The people of Himachal are quiet happy with the move.

Apang meets Naidu, may join NDA (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, Aug 9: New Chief Minister of Arunachal, Gegong Apang is likely to join the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Sources contacted here said that Apang held a crucial meeting with BJP President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday to discuss this point and other issues pertaining to his state. The state's Deputy Chief Minister K. Dolo and other cabinet colleagues accompanied Apang. Apang is believed to have told Naidu that his government wanted to work closely with the Centre. Naidu told Apang that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee would take a decision. Apang took over as chief minister on August 3 after the Congress Government was defeated in a confidence motion following large-scale defections.

Cross-border terrorism continues: Advani (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, Aug 9: There is "no perceptible" change as far as cross-border terrorism is concerned, Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani told reporters on Saturday while en route to Hyderabad. Admitting that tensions had decreased somewhat on either side of the Indo-Pak border because of people-to-people contact, Advani said: "These are developments which indicate lessening of tension though on the ground no perceptible change is evident on the incidents of cross-border terrorism." "There is a thaw in the climate regarding relations between the two countries, but we still need to be watchful," Advani said.

          Menon presents credentials to Musharraf Islamabad, Aug 9: India's High Commissioner-designate to Pakistan, Shiv Shankar Menon, presented his credentials to President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday. Menon, 53, told reporters after the ceremony that he would aim to build bridges between the people of the two countries during his stint in Islamabad. Saturday's ceremony marked resumption of top-level diplomatic ties between the two countries after 20 months. Menon, who arrived here on July 15, was also presented a guard of honor by the Pakistan Army at the Aiwan-e-Sadar (President's House). Diplomatic ties between the two countries were snapped on December 31, 2001, after terrorists attacked the Indian Parliament on December 13. Bus services between Lahore and New Delhi were resumed on July 11 and discussions for restoration of air links between the two countries are scheduled to take place on August 27 and 28. Both countries are reportedly also keen on resuming rail links.

Vajpayee still indisposed, cancels engagements (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, Aug 9: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee cancelled his engagements on Saturday as he continues to remain indisposed with viral fever. Sources told ANI that he was better but still needed rest. He has been ill since Thursday.

Cockroaches found in Haldiram mixture packet (Go To Top)

          Lucknow, Aug 9: After PepsiCo and Coke, it was the turn of fast food chain Haldiram to suffer an image dent. The company suffered a setback when the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) seized a packet of Haldiram 'dalmoth' allegedly containing cockroaches. The packet was sent for a test on Friday. Uttar Pradesh Information Director Rohit Nandan, who found large number of cockroaches in the packet, has directed Lucknow's Chief Medical Officer Dr HB Kumar to have the specimen tested for contamination. Zonal Health Officer Dr A.K. Pandey and sanitary food inspectors A.M. Srivastava and Nafees Ahmad collected more samples of the namkeen from a supplier in Narhi, who had delivered the contaminated packet.

Beenamol gets Rajiv Khel Ratna (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, Aug 9: Asian Games gold medallist K.M. Beenamol was given the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the country's most prestigious sports award, here on Saturday. Beenamol edged out ace shooter Anjali Bhagwat who was initially in the running after the committee recommended that the award be shared between the two top women performers of 2002. The Kerala-based athlete had won two gold medals and a silver medal at the Busan Asian Games. The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna was instituted in 1991-92. Winners of the award get Rs. five lakh, a medallion and a scroll of honor. President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam will give the award away at a formal ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan on August 29.

Anand draws with Kramnik (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, Aug 9: Former World No 1 Viswanathan Anand has ensured a 21-move draw with arch-rival and World classical chess champion Russian Vladimir Kramnik in the eighth round of the Sparkassen Dortmund International Grandmasters Championship in Dortmund, Germany. Reports reaching here on Saturday said that Viktor Bologan of Moldova had emerged as the leader in the tournament with 5.5 points. Bologan too managed a draw against Peter Leko of Hungary. Anand and Kramnik are in the joint second place on 4.5 points. Earlier, the former world champion scored three brilliant victories - a rarity in Category 18 and above tournaments - to race into joint second position with Vladimir Kramnik with four points each from seven rounds.

Bhupathi enters ATP Masters semis, Paes out (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, Aug 9: Top seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi has advanced to the doubles semi-finals of the 2.45-million- dollar ATP Masters tennis tournament held in Montreal, Canada. Bhupathi and Mirnyi of Belarus defeated Wayne Arthurs and Paul Hanley of Australia 7-6 (10/8) 7-6 (7/5) on Friday to book a berth in the last four, reports reaching here said. The duo will now take on Cyril Suk and Martin Damm of Czech Republic, who beat James Blake of USA and Joshua Eagle of Australia 6-2 3-6 6-4 in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Bhupathi's Indian counterpart Leander Paes and his double partner David Rikl were defeated by second seeds Bob and Mike Bryan of USA 3-6, 4-6 in the quarterfinals. The Bryans now face the fourth seed pair of Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden and Todd Woodbridge of Australia.

 

Bottomlines

`Writers block' fear haunts Eminem (Go To Top)

          Washington, Aug 9: Oscar and Grammy-winning US rap icon Eminem yearns to go on a holiday but can't take one because he fears writer's block might set in. "I haven't had more than a two-day break. Even if I take a break, I'll start writing and I can't control the thoughts. I wanna take a break but I get frustrated if I get writer's block," rate the music.com quoted him as saying. "That's my worst fear - I'll wake up tomorrow and won't be able to write. That if there's not drama and negativity in my life, all my songs will be really wack and boring or something," Eminem added.

`Hush-hush' wedding for Gwyneth, Chris (Go To Top)

          London, Aug 9: Oscar-winning U.S. actress Gwyneth Paltrow and her beau Chris Martin, frontman of the Grammy-winning British rock band 'Coldplay,' are plannig to tie the knot in a secret ceremony next month. According to a report in the Sun, the couple have already informed close pals to be ready for a `hush-hush' ceremony. Chris has been touring with his band for the past few weeks with Gwyneth in tow.

Bollywood bug hits Sophie Dahl; Role for Om Puri (Go To Top)

          London, Aug 9: British supermodel-actress Sophie Dahl will soon be seen in an English-language Bollywood flick, titled 'King of Bollywood,' in which she will play an Englishwoman making "an affectionate documentary" about Bollywood, says a report in the Telegraph. According to one unconfirmed suggestion, since the plot involves her having an Indian grandparent, she may require make-up to give her a darker complexion. "She is not an obvious choice but it was an inspired piece of casting by the English casting director," the paper quoted Andrew Pavord, the film's line producer, as saying. The film, for which principal photography begins next week, also stars Om Puri.

-ANI