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Copter service begins for Kedarnath Dehra Dun, May 28: The Uttaranchal government has started Pawan Hans helicopter service for pilgrims visiting Kedarnath shrine. The helicopter service became operational from May 16 after successful test flights for ten days. Daily Pawan Hans services are available from 6:30 am to 11:30 am. The five seater helicopter fares are Rs 4000 one way and Rs 8001 to and fro, inclusive of darshan. "Earlier attempts were made to start a flight but could not be successful because of the exorbitant fares. Augustmuni is the nearest and the most convenient spot to start flights. If it turns out successful, the fares mat be lowered with the introduction of more helicopters," said the state tourism minister. I'll retire
if Indo-Pak talks fail: PM Berlin, May 28: Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has said that a resolution of Kashmir dispute with Pakistan involves "serious compromises". Without elaborating on the nature of the "compromises", he told a German newspaper that he will "retire" if his current and third peace initiative with that country fails.
Earlier, speaking at a reception hosted by the Indian Ambassador to Germany here on Tuesday evening, Vajpayee said India is craving for peace and stability in the Indian sub-continent, but at the same time it cannot leave the defence of its borders unattended. He said he has given peace with Pakistan a third chance. He went to Lahore in 1998 with a message of peace, but "the bus to Lahore collided at the Kargil heights and collapsed". "I went to Lahore with the message of peace. It's a different thing that the bus for peace collided at the Kargil heights. Not merely collided but broke into pieces," he remarked. The
talks with Pervez Musharraf at Agra had collapsed because of the
unacceptable conditions put forward by the Pakistan President, according
to him. "Talks collapsed, but still we did not accept defeat and
have given peace a third chance," he said addressing Indian expatriates
in Berlin. "Some think how India could pursue the path of peace,
when it is preparing for its defence. But we cannot leave the borders
undefended," the Prime Minister observed. "The world is full of
contradictions. We crave for peace, but if the other side doesn't
want it, we should be prepared to protect the country," he stressed. India
accepts Aziz Khan as Pak envoy
Islamabad, May 28: Pakistan has appointed Aziz Ahmed Khan as its new high commissioner to India after formal approval from New Delhi, a press report said Wednesday. Khan, a career diplomat, has already served as High Commissioner for Malaysia and Ambassador to Afghanistan. His earlier diplomatic assignments have been Buenos Aires, Brasilia, Maputo, Lisbon, Vienna, New Delhi and Los Angeles. He has been spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Director-General of the Foreign Service Academy. Earlier, on arrival at the airport, Vajpayee said he would hold discussions on global terrorism with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, besides other matters of mutual interest. Vajpayee, who is on a three-nation tour, arrived at Berlin-Tegel airport accompanied by External Affairs Minister Yaswant Sinha and Law and Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley. Besides holding bilateral meeting with Schroeder in Berlin, the Prime Minister will address a meeting of the captains of commerce and industry at Munich on Wednesday. Vajpayee will also travel to St. Petersburg to participate in the tercentenary of the city alongwith several heads of states and governments, before leaving for France to participate in the G-8 meeting at the invitation of French President Chirac. Shiv Sena decries Govt decision to resume bus service to Lahore (Go To Top) New Delhi, May 28: Shiv Sena on Wednesday condemned New Delhi's decision to resume bus service to Pakistan, terming it as a threat to internal security. Holding anti-Pakistan banners and placards, the party's youth activists took out a mock funeral procession of the Delhi-Lahore bus. The decision to renew bus service is the latest in the series of confidence-building measures by India and Pakistan since last month, meant to create a climate for eventual peace talks. Ajay Srivastava, the youth wing head of Shiv Sena, said infiltration and cross-border terrorism was on the rise when the bus was operating. The bus service linking New Delhi with Lahore was stopped in December 2001 after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for sponsoring militants who carried out a raid on Indian parliament. The buses between the two nuclear-armed neighbours are hugely popular, as many divided families live on either side of the border. Renewing this bus service carries particular resonance in India, bringing echoes of a bus journey made by Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to Lahore in 1999 in what was ultimately a failed peace bid. JMM leader Soren arrested in Jharkhand (Go To Top) Ranchi, May 28: Tribal leader Shibu Soren, who was leading a protest against the recruitment of outsiders for the post of teachers in India's eastern Jharkhand, was arrested on Wednesday. Soren, the leader of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (Jharkhand Freedom Front), blamed the state government for the violence during the strike on Tuesday. The two-day strike which began on Monday has been extended by a day against police firing on protesters on Tuesday in which three people, including a child, were killed. The protestors want the government to stick to a controversial domicile policy which makes it mandatory for job seekers to prove their ancestral roots in the state, which dates back to 1932. Though the state government had notified the policy, it was stuck down by a local court in Ranchi. Meanwhile, state Chief Minister Arjun Munda justified the government's policy to induct teachers, even from outside Jharkhand. The reason for the present problem is the government's decision to appoint 10,000 teachers in state-run schools. The mineral-rich Jharkhand state was carved out of Bihar three years ago. CM says he's not opposed to greater Nagaland (Go To Top) New Delhi, May 28: Nagaland Chief Minister on Wednesday said his government could consider the issue for a greater Nagaland as demanded by Naga rebels. Nipiho Rio was in New Delhi to hold talks with Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani regarding the ongoing peace process between the federal government and a powerful rebel group, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN). NSCN has been pressing for a single administrative region for Naga-dominated areas in the northeast. "You know in a democracy the will of the people is supreme. So if a person or a group wishes to have something which is rightful to them they should have it and I am telling you this is not a new issue. During 1960's also when the 16-point agreement was signed, the integration of the Naga areas was one point which was committed to the Nagas," Rio said. He, however, reiterated his earlier stand that he would not seek personal participation in the process. "When the mass base, civil societies are supporting the state government, I am not like my predecessor insisting that I should be included in the talks. When my people are there, I am there," he said. In January this year, NSCN chairman Isak Chisi Swu and party general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah had travelled to New Delhi to hold talks with top leadership. Though no concrete agreement was signed, the two sides expressed happiness at the progress of talks. Analysts say any move to include Naga-dominated areas in states neighbouring Nagaland would draw strong protests. While most Nagas live in Nagaland, some are in Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. In 2001, Manipur was rocked by violent demonstrations over fears the federal government planned to create a greater Nagaland that would have carved out part of Manipur. Federal interlocutor for the North-east K. Padmanabhaiah who recently held talks with NSCN (IM) leaders in Bangkok refused to comment on the talks saying the issue was complex and would take time. "Anything which we decide for Nagas would affect everything else. This is the reason that this issue is so complex," Padmanabhaiah said. Last November, the government lifted a 12-year ban on the NSCN, the biggest among the northeast's 50-odd rebel armies, to pave the way for its leaders to return to try to end a conflict that has claimed 50,000 lives over more than five decades. India's northeast, comprising seven mountainous federal states, is home to about 200 ethnic groups and has been plagued by revolts since India won independence from Britain in 1947. Rebels accuse the federal government of looting the region's rich mineral resources and neglecting its economy. Amnesty spares none (Go
To Top)
London, May 28: Not for the first time, India is heavily criticised by Amnesty International for its handling of human rights. Among the violations cited against it in the organisation's annual report are: extra-judicial killings, torture and ill-treatment, detention without charge or trial, executions under the death penalty, and abuses by armed opposition groups. Pakistan is similarly charged, escaping only the criticism of abuses by armed opposition groups - an omission that many would regard as curious. Bangladesh is free of extra-judicial killings and legal executions but is accused of imposing death sentences. Sri Lanka is additionally accused of holding prisoners of conscience. The United States is accused of torture and ill-treatment, detention without charge or trial, sentencing people to death and abuses by its armed forces in Afghanistan. The United Kingdom is criticised for, among other failings, abuses by armed opposition groups and violations in its reaction to September 11. None of the 151 countries covered by the report gets a clean sheet. Launching the report in London, Secretary-General Irene Khan, concluded that the world is more insecure today than at any time since the end of the Cold War, and she stressed that there were many forgotten conflicts hidden from public attention by major events, such as the war in Iraq.
They were husband and wife once upon a time, and now ... (Go To Top) London, May 28: ... they are planning to get back together - not in real but reel life. In an attempt to get rid of the bad vibes between them, Oscar- nominated US actor-director Sean Penn is keen on signing Grammy- winning pop diva Madonna for a new film. Titled 'Madonna and Child,' the romantic film involves around a middle-aged star who dreams of recapturing her success. Sean even wants an acting role in the movie. "Sean's very serious about a reunion with Madonna. The idea just came to him. He thinks the electricity between them on screen would be tremendous," a source was quoted as saying by the Sun. Filming is set to begin early next year. A `down-to-earth' holiday for Kidman family (Go To Top) Sydney, May 28: She may be the current "golden girl" of Hollywood, but that doesn't stop Nicole Kidman from enjoying a "down-to-earth" holiday in the Italian countryside. Currently on a break from promoting her latest film 'Dogville', the Oscar-winning Aussie actress, along with her parents, is put up in a rather modest 150 dollars-a-night three-star Hotel Elisa in Peschici in southern Italy. Sporting a hat, pigtails, comfortable trousers and sturdy walking shoes, she is often seen hiking and jogging on the beach with her father, reports the Daily Telegraph. However, all this doesn't mean that Nicole has left her luxurious Hollywood life behind. She has hired two chauffeurs and limousines to ferry her around each day at a cost of 6513 dollars. J.Lo to tie the knot at St. Paul's Cathedral (Go To Top) London, May 28: Here is yet another rumour doing the rounds about Jennifer Lopez's upcoming wedding to her fiance, Oscar- winning US actor Ben Affleck. The two are reportedly planning to tie the knot here. And the venue for the big occasion will be St. Paul's Cathedral, the same place where Prince Charles got married to the late Princess Diana in 1981. The singer-actress has told her friends that she fell in love with the church after watching the Princess Diana wedding, according to British magazine. "Jennifer feels that the UK - where she is always warmly received - would make a great start for her wedding to Ben. She knows people will laugh, but she has this dream of a fairy-tale wedding and sees St Paul's as the perfect setting," an inside source was quoted as saying by TeenHollywood.com. Keanu Reeve and his magnanimity (Go To Top) London, May 28: Hollywood star Keanu Reeves, who is known for his generosity, has decided to give away 50 million pounds from the profits earned from two Matrix sequels to effects and costume designers who worked on the movies. "Money is the last thing I think about. I could live on what I've already made for the next few centuries," he said. The two films are expected to pull in about 450 million pounds worldwide - netting the megastar nearly 70 million pounds, according to a report in the Sun. He negotiated a bumper contract which gives him 15 per cent of box office takings for the Matrix Reloaded and its follow-up, the Matrix Revolutions. Keanu, who doesn't own a home and lives in hotels, while filming the sequels in Australia, surprised 12 stuntmen by giving them Harley-Davidson motorbikes. Robbie to have another go at US market (Go To Top) London, May 28: So far all his attempts to conquer the music market across the Atlantic have failed but that hasn't stopped Robbie Williams' record label, EMI, from ordering him to have yet another go. And why not? After all, EMI has invested a whopping 80 million pounds on the British pop star and yet he continues to be a virtual nobody in the world's most lucrative music market. He will now undertake a three-month tour of the United States beginning in September. "There's a lot of commentary about how hard his life is as a star. To Americans it's: `Who is this guy complaining about the hardships of being a celebrity? We've never heard him before,'" a pundit was quoted as saying by People News. Zellweger's sartorial suffering on film set (Go To Top) Washington, May 28: 'Chicago star Renee Zellweger is not happy with the fact that she has to look gorgeous and wear a variety of dresses for her role in the romantic comedy titled 'Down with Love' where she plays a lovelorn author of the 60's. The actress was left in tears on the set of the movie, which also stars Ewan McGregor, as she was asked to wear sharp outfits, according to a report in teenhollywood.com This idea was not joyous experience for the Texan beauty who said, "I'll tell you, they weren't thinking about comfort in the shoe department back then. I also have an allergy to false eyelashes, but every day we had to put fake ones on. I'd pry them off and my eyeballs would swell up." The irritations made the star have a great appreciation for living in the present. "I thought about Marilyn Monroe and the ingenues of the day and I'm glad that I do not have to do that every day," she remarked. Titanic director predicts end of celluloid (Go To Top) Washington, May 28: Celluloid is on the way to its demise. So says director James Cameron of the Titanic' fame. And to speed up the process, he will start production early next year on an ambitious 3-D digital feature. What the planned movie is about is still a secret. Cameron is making no secret of his belief that the movie-going public is now ready for the biggest transformation in the business since talkies were invented, reports Wired News. "I think (the movie) is going to be huge, and it's going to be a huge enabler for the 3-D experience," he said in a brief interview earlier this month at the Large Format Cinema Association conference and festival, devoted to works for Imax theaters and other super-sized movie screens. According to the report, he used new lightweight, high-capacity, high-resolution cameras to shoot for 'Ghosts of the Abyss', his just-released 3-D Imax documentary about his voyage 12,500 feet below the ocean to the wreckage of the Titanic. These are "light years" ahead of cameras used for his only other 3-D project, the T2 3-D ride at Universal Studios, he said. Even if Cameron's next movie is shot digitally, the digital version will be shown only at the several hundred theaters worldwide projected to be equipped with digital projectors when the movie comes out. So he will have to convert his digital files back to celluloid for most theaters. But film purists are not ready to give up just yet. Cinematographer David Douglas said there is still a "yawning chasm" between the resolution of film and digitally shot movies. "In 10 years, we'll have this conversation again," he said. A small and private wedding for 'Harry Potter' (Go To Top) Washington, May 28: Kenneth Branagh, the 42-year old Harry Potter actor, has married his girlfriend Lindsay Brunnock in a secret ceremony. Branagh, whose Shakespearian credentials include 'Henry V' and 'Much Ado About Nothing', is notoriously private about his personal life and gave no details about his wedding ceremony other than that it was small and private, reports the People News. He was married to Emma Thompson for seven years but the couple divorced in 1996. Following this, Ken dated Helena Bonham Carter for three years before his second wedding to Brunnock. Branagh started dating art director Brunnock two years ago on the set of the Channel 4 drama 'Shackleton' in which he starred as the polar explorer. -ANI |