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Lalu makes surprise inspection at rail HQ

          New Delhi: Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, who made surprise inspection at the Railway Ministry headquarters here today, was angered to find 453 non-gazetted and 66 gazetted staff absent from their duties. Taking a serious view of it, Laloo ordered a deduction of one day's salary for their absence and warned that strict action would be taken against habitual latecomers. Yadav, the Chairman of the Railway Board, R K Singh, and the Director General, Railway Protection Force (RPF), A K Suri, reached the Rail Bhawan this morning and ordered the closure of the entry gates at 9 a.m. Out of the total staff of 2300 in the premises, over 500 failed to report for duty till 10 a.m. though the reporting time is 9 a.m. The Minister also inspected the security arrangements at the Rail Bhawan and found several cars without parking stickers. He ordered their immediate removal from the premises. Later talking to reporters here, he said senior Railway Ministry officials must maintain exemplary conduct in terms of punctuality in attendance, efficiency and productivity.

CBI arrests Telgi in a fresh stamp seizure case (Go To Top)

          Mumbai: Abdul Karim Telgi, the prime accused in the multi-crore fake stamp paper scam, was today arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with a fresh stamp seizure case. The CBI produced Telgi in the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class, where it appealed for the latter's custodial interrogation to unearth the racket. Special Judge S M Shembole, presiding over the MCOCA court in Pune, had directed the jailor of Yerawada prison to produce Telgi in a Thane court for the same.

RBI freezes South Indian Cooperative Bank's assets (Go To Top)

         Mumbai: Harried customers of the privately-run South Indian Cooperative Bank today rushed to withdraw their deposits after the Reserve Bank of India froze its assets and placed restrictions on operations. In a statement, the RBI said that under Section 35 A of the Banking Regulation Act 1949, the bank, which has around 50,000 customers and 13 branches, should not give new loans without the RBI's permission during the moratorium. The RBI has not given details of the South Indian Cooperation Bank's losses, but said that its net worth and capital adequacy are negative. The RBI has allowed the withdrawal of only Rs.1, 000 rupees of the total balance in every savings bank or current account or any other deposit account. Customers were shocked by the development. This not the first bank on which the RBI has placed a moratorium. The other banks that have fallen into its net are the Benares State Bank, Nedungadi Bank Ltd. in Gujarat and the Global Trust Bank.

Dhananjoy to be executed on Aug 14 (Go To Top)

         Kolkata: Rape and murder convict Dhananjoy Chatterjee would be hanged on August 14 at 4:30 a.m. Chatterjee's execution was fixed at a high-level meeting at the office of West Bengal's Jail Minister, Biswanath Choudhury, the state's IG for Prisons, Joydeb Chakraborty, told reporters here this evening. Chakraborty said that the hanging would be carried out at the high-security Alipur Central jail where Chatterjee is lodged in a condemned cell. He also confirmed that Chatterjee's family had been informed about the date of the execution as per jail rules, adding that they could be present during the execution at the discretion of the jail superintendent. Chakraborty said a deputy magistrate or his representative, a medical officer and the Jail Superintendent would be present at the time of hanging. There is also a provision for the presence of eminent citizens of the metropolis during the hanging, but it would be at the discretion of the Jail Superintendent, he said, adding that the media would not be allowed. To a query, Chakraborty said Dhananjoy is in good health and doctors are making regular checks on him. Chatterjee was convicted on the charge of raping and murdering 14-year old Hetal Parekh, a schoolgirl, in 1990 in Bhawanipore area of the metropolis.

Rampur villagers flee fearing Tibet flash floods (Go To Top)

          Rampur: Thousand villagers from Rampur have reportedly opted to move out following a flood threat from a lake in Tibet. The lake that was formed after a landslide blocked the River Pareechu, a tributary of the River Sutlej in Tibet. Eight villages on the banks of the Sutlej in Himachal Pradesh, have been evacuated as at least 350 villages are threatened by the floods. Officials said the government and the armed forces are keeping an hourly watch on the rising water levels. "There is danger of flash floods in our region. My house is on the river bank," Kala Devi, a village woman, said. "Everybody has left their houses due to fear of floods. We are very scared. We are facing a lot of problem, nobody can even sleep because of the flood scare," Ganga Devi, another villager, added. China has ruled out the controlled blasting of the landslip to allow the water to gradually drain out, citing the area's mountainous terrain. "We are on alert in case of any eventuality. As far as the latest position is concerned, we have been informed that the water has begun flowing out in a phased manner. So, the threat has somewhat eased," Union Minister of State for Food and Civil Supplies, Singhi Ram said. Meanwhile, power generation has been partly suspended at the Nathpa-Jhakri hydroelectrical project, which supplies around a third of the power to Northern Grid, because flood threat. The Rajiv Gandhi and Karcham-Wangtu projects are also reportedly under threat.

15 kids die as encephalitis grips Gorakhpur (Go To Top)

          Gorakhpur: At least 15 children have died and dozens more are critically ill with encephalitis in Gorakhpur. Harassed parents, mostly living in villages that don't have proper healthcare facilities, are crowding state-run hospitals to get their children treated. Widely prevalent in eastern UP, the disease is caused by a viral infection of the brain during summer and rainy seasons. Though curable if detected early, unhygienic living conditions coupled with the lack of proper medical care in the region have led to its spread. According to official records, at least 3,000 people have succumbed to the disease in the past 20 years. The deadly encephalitis virus follows a particular pattern by striking every alternate year. The patients run the risk of slipping into coma. Vaccination is supposed to be the only guard against the disease. The vaccine, which has two strains--Chinese and Japanese, has been effective in eradicating encephalitis from around 25 countries in the world.

First round of Indo-Pak Home Secretary talks conclude (Go To Top)

          Islamabad: The first round of two-day talks on anti-terrorism and drugs between the Home Secretaries of Pakistan and India concluded here on Tuesday. The two sides reviewed contentious issues and reportedly signed an agreement to adopt a joint strategy for resolution of these issues. The talks on anti-terrorism and drugs are part of the ongoing bilateral composite that was initiated by President Pervez Musharraf and former Indian Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee on the sidelines of the 12th SAARC Summit that took place in January this year. Interior Secretary Tariq Mehmood was leading Pakistan in talks with the assistance of Additional Secretary Abdul Rauf Chaudhry, DG Crisis Management Cell Brigadier Javed Iqbal Cheema, DG Rangers Punjab Major General Hussain Mehdi, D.G. Anti Narcotics Force Major General Nadeem. Home Secretary Dhirendra Singh led the 10-member Indian team, and included Shiv Shanker Menon, India's Ambassador in Pakistan. The final round of talks would be held on Wednesday from 10 a.m.

Musharraf is 61 (Go To Top)

          Islamabad: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf who will turn 61 tomorrow is to celebrate his birthday privately with his family members. Musharraf was born in New Delhi on August 11, 1943. At the time of partition his parents shifted to Pakistan and settled in Karachi, where he was brought up and spent most of his life. Since shifting to Pakistan, Musharraf only once visited his birthplace in New Delhi's Chandni Chowk when he came for the Agra Summit a couple of years back.

Cairn makes fresh oil discovery in Rajasthan (Go To Top)

          London: Shares in British oil firm Cairn Energy have jumped by over six per cent after it announced another "significant" oil find in Rajasthan. According to the BBC, the latest discovery, the fourth in the region this year, has an estimated reserve of 300 million barrels of oil. Chief executive Bill Gammell said the find boded well for "future exploration and appraisal success" in the region. Cairn's share price has more than tripled since the first discovery was announced in January. Share values of the firm predictably rose after the announcement.

Pak India hockey series schedule announced (Go To Top)

          Lahore: The schedule for the eight match hockey series between Pakistan and India has been announced. Both the teams will face each other after gap of four years. Addressing a press conference here, Brigadier (retired) Musarratullah, secretary of Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) said the first four matches would be played in Pakistan and the remainder in India. According to the program, the Indian team will reach Karachi on September 23 and play the first match of the series on September 24. The other three matches will be played on September 27 in Quetta, September 29 in Peshawar and October 1st in Lahore. According to The News, both teams will then head for India to play matches at Chandigarh (October 4), New Delhi (October 6), Hyderabad (October 8) and Bangalore (October 10). Malaysian and South Korean umpires will supervise the series.

OCA gives its approval for World Cup Kabaddi (Go To Top)

          Mumbai: The Olympic Council of Asia has given its approval for the conduct of the first ever World Cup Kabaddi tournament scheduled to be held in Mumbai from November 19-21. In a letter to the respective Olympic committees of eight participating countries, OCA secretary-general Randhir Singh requested them to facilitate the participation of these nations in the tournament. The letter has been addressed to the NOCs of all those nations who have accepted the invitation to take part in the tournament. These include Bangladesh, Iran, Japan, Korea, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Germany, UK, Canada and the West Indies have already confirmed their participation for the championship, which is to be organised by South Kanara Sports Club under the auspices of the