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Nepalese Maoists might sneak in: Advani

          Hazaribagh: Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani on Friday said that Maoists fighting the Nepalese monarchy could enter India after growing instability in the Hindu kingdom. "The Maoists might be trying to make their presence in the Indian territory bordering Nepal due to instability there," Advani told reporters in Hazaribagh during his nation-wide chariot-ride. Advani's comments come a day after Nepali authorities said they had information that Maoist revolutionaries fighting to overthrow the monarchy in the world's only Hindu Kingdom planned to infiltrate through Bihar and Uttaranchal.

          In the recent surge of violence suspected Maoists on Wednesday killed 26 policemen in a landmine blast in Chaibasa district of Jharkhand, which borders Bihar. State Chief Minister Arjun Munda had said the attacks were aimed at disrupting Advani's ongoing Rath Yatra. The Maoists say that they are fighting for the distribution of land to poor peasants and frequently attack policemen and government property, accusing the authorities of repression in the poor region. Advani, who is on the second leg of his country-wide campaign, also said his BJP was wrongly projected in the eyes of minorities. "I believe that this stage has certainly come where minorities feel that for all these decades we have been taken for a ride. And the BJP is certainly not what its adversaries have been projecting to us. Further more they also feel convinced that their interest was never the welfare of Muslims. Their sole interest has been how do we use them as valuable vote banks," said Advani.

Toll in Uri blast rises to 11 (Go To Top)

         Srinagar: Two of the injured in Thursday's grenade attack on the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rally in Uri died on Friday, taking the death toll to eleven, official sources said Friday. Sources said that the two persons died in hospital late last night. Jammu and Kashmir Finance Minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig and Tourism Minister Ghulam Hassan Mir were among 58 others injured in the incident. Militants hurled a hand grenade at senior leaders of the PDP including its president Mehbooba Mufti, who were leading a rally in Uri to press for the opening of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road. The Jamait-ul-Mujahideen, which claimed the responsibility for the attack, warned of more such attacks in future.

Good Friday observed with special services (Go To Top)

         New Delhi/Cochin: Early morning masses, special prayers and services in churches across the country marked the day of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Friday. Churches conducted special services with priests urging the devotees to imbibe the spirit of forgiveness preached by Jesus Christ. "This is a very important day for it remembers the passion, suffering the Jesus had," a priest at St. Thomas Church in the heart of Indian capital said after a prayer ceremony. During the whole week preceding Easter, there are lengthy canonical prayers at churches with readings from the Gospel, Epistles and the Old Testament. People also do social service during the week. The native church in southern Kerala celebrated Good Friday as the "Friday of Sorrow". Christians in the country make up roughly three percent of its over mainly Hindu one billion population.

Jallianwala Bagh survivor a disillusioned man (Go To Top)

          Amritsar: The lone survivor of the tragic Jallianwala Bagh incident of 1919 is a disillusioned man today, as he is yet to get government help promised to him by none other than President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam himself. The 108-year old Shingara Singh was honoured by President Kalam when the latter visited the site of the carnage last year in Amritsar. Singh alleged that Kalam made several promises, including a job to one of his family members, government pension for the last 86 years, a book on him in all Indian languages and renaming a road after him.

         "I have not got pension for the past 86 years. Nobody came to ask about our problems, President Kalam came here and promised to do something. If nothing is done then it is wrong. He had promised to provide employment to my sons," Singh said. Singh's grandson Balraj Singh said that they have been running from pillar to post, but nothing has happened. "Despite promises being made by the President it has been one and half years and nothing has been done. We have also met DC twice, they say the files are being made and he said he has no knowledge. Nothing practical has been done as the DC has changed and we do not know anything," he said. One of the worst crimes of the British colonial government was committed in Punjab on April 13, 1919, when General Michael O'Dyer, who was Punjab Lt. Governor of Punjab then, ordered his troops to fire on the peaceful and hapless crowd who had gathered at the Jallianwala Bagh, a ground enclosed on all sides.

          About a thousand people were estimated to have been killed in the attack. According to the report of the evidence given by the General Dyer before the Committee of Investigation presided by Lord Hunter, over 400 Indians were killed and 1,500 wounded by the deliberate firing on a crowd of 5,000 who were listening to a speech. Dyer admitted later, this cold blooded carnage, was perpetrated to "strike terror into the whole of Punjab". The massacre stunned the people and became a turning point in the history of the country's struggle for freedom.

PAF test pilots fly JF-17 `Thunder Aircraft' (Go To Top)

         Islamabad: Two Pakistan Air Force (PAF) test pilots created history by flying the newly manufactured single-seat JF- 17 Thunder prototype-1 aircraft for the first time. The PAF test pilots - Squadron Leader Muhammad Ehsan ul Haq and Squadron Leader Rashid Habib - flew two sorties of 30 minutes each in the skies of Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province of China. It signifies an important day in the history of aviation in Pakistan. According to the News, the pilots evaluated the flight performance of the aircraft in different phases of flight. After landing, both the pilots reported that they were extremely happy with the excellent performance of the aircraft in all phases of its flight. With these flights, the Pakistani pilots have joined the chosen team of Thunder test pilots, which already includes the Chinese test pilots. From now, PAF pilots will regularly participate in the test-flights of JF-17 aircraft alongside their Chinese counter parts to complete the flight test and evaluation phase of JF-17 aircraft.

Intel's chip goes green (Go To Top)

         Washington: Intel, the world's biggest microchip manufacturer is going eco-friendly. The company has planned to reduce the lead content of its most important components by 95 per cent in 2004, as part of a drive to reduce environmental damage caused by discarded PCs, reports New Scientist. Lead is used mainly in the solder used to glue electronic components such as transistors to circuit boards. Intel will soon start releasing microprocessors and motherboards using a solder alloy consisting of tin, silver and copper instead of tin and lead in the second half of 2004. The only remaining lead will be used to link the highly complex silicon core of the microprocessor to its outer packaging. Intel says it will also remove this lead once a suitably reliable alternative has been found. Environmental pressure groups welcomed Intel's decision to remove most of the lead from its components. But the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition says the PC manufacturing industry needs to take further steps. "There are over 1000 chemicals that go into making a computer and many of them are hazardous. We don't know what the overall impact of all those chemicals is on the environment," said Sheila Davis, of the group's Clean Computer Campaign. Intel switched to non-lead materials for all of its flash memory products in 2001.