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First Lucknow-Jeddah Flight Takes Off LUCKNOW: Civil Aviation Minister Shahnawaz Hussain flagged off the first direct flight to Jeddah from Lucknow on Sunday. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati was also present on the occasion. About 40 Air India flights would take off this year to ferry nearly 7500 Haj pilgrims to Mecca between January 15 and March 29, 2003. (Details)
ISI Re-organising Militant Outfits: Report (Go To Top) NEW DELHI: Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) has shifted several militant training camps from Pak-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) to Pakistani territory, and is re-organising the command structure of militant organisations it uses for terrorist strikes in India, according to informed sources.(Details) RSS Flays VHP for Criticising Vajpayee (Go To Top) NEW DELHI: The RSS criticized VHP leaders on Saturday for delivering a poor comment on Vajpayee's Goa Musings. In his unofficial visit to Goa, the Prime Minister had said that the term Hindutva was misinterpreted by some fundamentalists and it was presented in a narrow and rigid form which is against its true spirit. The RSS strongly defended Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani's 'rathyatra', which the parivar outfit alleged had damaged the cause of Ram temple. They said through his 'rathyatra', he had immensely contributed to mobilising public opinion in favour of Ramjanma bhoomi temple. They further said that RSS and VHP are part of a family and they will solve their dispute through dialogue. Landmine Blast Kills Three Constables in Guntur (Go To Top) HYDERABAD: Three constables were killed on Sunday in a landmine blast at Dachepally in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh. The constables, who are yet to be identified, were on escort duty for the State Government's Janmabhoomi programme. They were escorting nodal officers of the programme in the area when they accidentally stepped on the mine. Islamic System to Be Enforced, Says NWFP CM(Go To Top) ISLAMABAD: NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani declared on Saturday that enforcement of Islamic system in the province was round the corner and now there were no ifs and buts in this regard, reports Dawn from Timergara. "We have given a word to the masses during and after the electioneering for moulding the laws in the light of the Islamic injunctions." He said the MMA Government had set up a commission in the province to review the recommendations of the Islamic Ideological Council which would be enforced in the province in letter and in spirit. UK's Contingency Plan for Gulf War (Go To Top) LONDON: The Ministry of Defence would not confirm reports in the Daily Telegraph and Chicago Tribune that Britain would order up to 20,000 troops to the Gulf next week. A ministry spokeswoman said on Saturday the Government was making "contingency plans" for war, but that no decision had been taken on military action. British officials and politicians return to work next week after the Christmas and New Year break, and will likely step up both military and diplomatic pressure on Iraq. Prime Minister Tony Blair flew home on Saturday from a 10-day family holiday in Egypt, his office said, and law-makers return on Tuesday to the House of Commons. On Monday and Tuesday, British ambassadors from around the world will meet in London to discuss Iraq and other issues. Britain announced in November that six Royal Navy vessels, including the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal and a nuclear submarine, will head for the Gulf this month en route to a long-planned exercise in south-east Asia. The Daily Telegraph reported on Saturday that the Government would announce next week that it was sending 20,000 troops to the region and calling up 7,000 military reservists. Britain currently has no ground forces in the region. Major Charles Heyman, editor of Jane's World Armies, said the bulk of a British ground force would likely come from among the 25,000 British troops stationed in Germany. He said it would take a month to move the troops to the region, making late February or early March the most likely time for an attack. "There just aren't enough troops in the Gulf at the moment," he said. India's Moon Mission by 2015 (Go To Top) BANGALORE:A senior space research official has said that India plans to send a manned mission to moon sometime between 2005 and 2015. ISRO chief Krishnaswami Kasturirangan, addressing the Indian Science Congress here on Friday, said that we would first send an unmanned flight around moon. He said India's latest launch vehicle can put satellites weighing up to 2,000 kg into a geostationary orbit, in which a satellite remains above the same spot on earth. He said the future development will enable the launch of satellites weighing up to 4,000 kg. The Science Congress which began on Friday was attended by 6,000 delegates, including 120 scientists from abroad. They discussed various topics, including climate change, information technology, genome research and nanotechnology. -ANI |
