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SC turns down Dhananjoy's appeal

          New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the appeal of Dhananjoy Chetterjee, who had been found guilty of raping and killing of a 14-year old girl in Kolkata in 1989. Now it appears the accused will go to the gallows on August 14, if not at a later date. Chatterjee had yesterday moved the apex court a second time, requesting it to commute the death penalty into life imprisonment. The case has generated enough media attraction even as Dhananjoy's execution would be second after a considerable number of years. He was awarded the death penalty in 1994, but due the sluggish legal system in the country he managed to evade it on one pretext or other.

          In Kolkata, Nata Mullick, the only surviving hangman in West Bengal, is waiting for official confirmation. Mullick said that though he has not received any official letter, his security has been tightened and movement restricted. "Till now, we have not received an official letter from the government. But since August 10, I have been given security from the police station. They have restricted my movements and also that of my children. I have made all the preparations since June 25. Whenever I get the official confirmation, I will do the task," he told reporters here on Thursday. Chatterjee is likely to be hanged at Kolkata Alipore Jail on Saturday, the first execution in the country in 13 years. Mullick, however, is unfazed over the nature of his job. "This is a part of my profession and I have no qualms in executing it," he said. Apart from drawing a regular salary, Mullick charges the West Bengal government Rs.10, 000 for every execution. But the dreaded job has few takers, and with fresh death penalty cases piling up, the state government has been left with no other option but to offer the job to either Mahadev, Mullick's son, or Prabhat, Mullick's grandson. India inherited the penalty of death by hanging from British colonial rule but uses it only rarely and only for, what the law says, the "rarest of rare" crimes. Only about 40-45 people have been hanged in the past three decades and the appeal process, going right up to the Supreme Court and the president, can take several years.

Fears of lake burst in Tibet grip apple growers in Kinnaur (Go To Top)

          Kinnaur (HP): Apple growers in Himachal Pradesh are a worried lot, as the possibility of a flooded lake in China bursting its banks is becoming quite realistic. The lake was formed behind a landslide late last month that blocked the Pareechu river, a tributary of the river Sutlej in Tibet, Indian satellite images show. On Tuesday, Indian satellite images estimated the lake has swollen to over 188 hectares from 150 hectares on August 6. Eight villages on the banks of the Sutlej have been evacuated. Another 350 are under threat. "We are very scared and a few people have migrated to safer places. Earlier due to flash floods we suffered huge losses," said Ram Sukh, a villager. Apple growers complain that they are unable to transport their produce due to the rains. "We are not getting vehicles to transport our apples. There is a threat to a small bridge connecting the upper reaches to the main city due to the impending floods. And another problem is that we are not having stock of food," said Raj Kumar, an apple grower. Beijing has also barred Indian experts from visiting the lake. But army officers said the two militaries had begun to swap information through a hotline on the frontier. Six power plants in the region have partially shut down due to fears of floods disrupting power supply in northern India.

Manipur withdraws controversial AFSPA partially (Go To Top)

         Imphal: The Manipur government today announced that it was partially withdrawing the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from the municipal areas of Imphal and Greater Imphal on a trial basis. Chief Minister Ibobi Singh took the decision even as police fired teargas shells in the air in Imphal to disperse a protesting mob that set up roadblocks by burning tyres. Before announcing the decision to withdraw the act temporarily, Singh met Irom Sharmila, who has been on fast for the last four years against the law, and asked her to break it. Sharmila, however, refused, saying that the act has to be completely withdrawn for her to do so. "The seven assembly segments which cover the Imphal municipal area, just as a beginning we have decided to withdraw this AFSPA in this area," Singh told reporters here. Singh said that he had informed New Delhi about the decision. "Let's wait for a few days, we will request the central government that at least they should allow us a reasonable timeframe," Singh said. There was no comment from the Union government, which is opposed to the withdrawal of the law. The killing of 30-year-old Thangjam Manorama, suspected to be a rebel, on the night of July 10 has triggered widespread demands for the repeal of the law under which troops have wide-ranging powers. Manipur has been rocked by violence and the protesters have said they would not accept less than the scrapping of the AFSPA.

26th batch of pilgrims leave for Amarnath (Go To Top)

         Jammu: The 26th batch of Amarnath pilgrims left for the Pahalgam, the base camp of the Amarnath pilgrimage, this morning, official sources said. The batch, comprising of 1,017 pilgrims and 34 vehicles, left from the MAM stadium at 5 AM. It was escorted by 300 BSF security personnel.

Soren to appear before Giridih court (Go To Top)

         Ranchi: JMM chief Sibu Soren, who is in a judicial custody, will appear before a Giridih court today in connection the a 30-year old murder case. In 1974, Soren and nine others had killed four people in Kurko village of Giridih. The incident was a revenge killing by members of Soren's group, who were agitated that some people had killed their goat. Arrest warrants were issued three times against Soren in 1975, 1979 and then again in 1981. But he never turned up for any of the proceedings. Eight other accused were earlier let-off for lack of evidence. According to the police sources, Soren, who is lodged in a makeshift jail at Jamtara since August 2 for his alleged involvement in 1975 Chirrudih massacre case, left Jamtara for Giridih this morning. He is scheduled to appear before a First Additional and District Judge Manoranjan Kavi there on Friday.

Protests continue over Uttaranchal capital shift (Go To Top)

          Dehradun: Activists in Uttaranchal today continued their protests over the state government's refusal to consider their demand for shifting the state capital from Dehradun to Gairsain. Members of the Uttarakhand Jan Sangharsh Morcha marched with banners and shouted anti-government slogans here. Their leader, Baba Mohan Uttarakhandi, who was on an indefinite fast since July 2, died on Monday. Sixty-one-year old Uttarakhandi had refused to give up his fast- unto-death despite several appeals from political leaders as well as social organizations. Kamala Pant, a member of the front, said the government is not keen to set up a new capital somewhere in the mountains. "Whatever will be the government's decision, if they can build a dam like Tehri in the mountains, then they can make Gairsain the capital. Deciding on the capital is a very small issue. The government should be clear in its intention," she said. "The creation of the capital is an important issue. We have taken out a rally on that issue. It becomes all the more important since the chief minister of the state changes his statements everyday," said B.B. Thapa, another activist. Chief Minister Narain Dutt Tiwari, however, said that at present it was difficult to shift the capital.

Sobhraj found guilty in Nepal double murder case (Go To Top)

          Kathmandu: Charles Sobhraj, has been found guilty in a double murder case by a court in Nepal. According to the BBC, the case relates to the deaths of two backpackers in 1975. The judge sentenced Sobhraj, a French national, to life in prison. Sobhraj has been linked with up to 20 murders in a number of countries across Asia in the 1970s. This is the first time he has been convicted of murder. He spent 20 years in jail in India for drugging and robbing tourists.

Indian Ambassador-designate to US calls on Powell (Go To Top)

          Washington: India's Ambassador-designate to the US Ranendra Sen met Secretary of the State Colin Powell on Thursday and discussed with him various issues, including the next stage of the strategic partnership between the two nations. "In general terms, I would say Secretary of State Powell expressed his satisfaction at the development of the bilateral relations, following the elections in India, maintaining the momentum in these relations in diverse fields," said Sen. Sen said that both sides support maintaining the upward swing in relations and attach utmost importance to them, adding that leaders of both countries keep in touch with each other regularly over phone. "Joint air exercises have been held both in India and the US and an Indian mission headed by External Affairs Ministry official S Jaishankar is here having discussions on the new partnership, with the first stage covering peaceful uses of nuclear energy and space cooperation," he added. In the meeting they also discussed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's forthcoming visit to the US to attend the UN General Assembly meeting.

US rejects Pak stance on LoC fencing (Go To Top)

          Washington: The US has rejected Pakistan's stance that the fencing on the line of control (LoC) by New Delhi would change its status, but said that it would stop infiltration. According to The News, senior State Department officials while talking to the visiting Pakistani and Indian journalists observed that the US government had no stated position on the fencing on the LoC by the Indian forces. Pakistan has apprehensions that fencing the LoC could end up dividing Kashmir permanently.

           The US officials said that infiltration of terrorists into Kashmir has increased violence in the Valley, and could jeopardise the ongoing peace process between the two nations. "Infiltration has resulted in violence in the occupied Kashmir to undermine any peace process," they said while interacting with the visiting Indian and Pakistani journalists here Wednesday.

India, population 1.1 billion, still chasing the elusive gold (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: The last time India, the world's second most populous country, won an Olympic gold was way back in Moscow 24 years ago. India stumbles from one Olympics to the next not sure where the next medal will come from. One bronze in Sydney and a similar haul in Atlanta do not go far among a population of 1.1 billion. Indian sports bosses do not expect things to be any different in Athens. Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi admitted it at a function for the Athens-bound squad. "As far as our medal prospects are concerned, India has never in the last 50 years, won more than one medal in Olympics. We had won one medal at Sydney and one medal before that in previous year's Olympics. So, if anybody is trying to say there will be lots of medals...no. We have had the best performance at Asian Games, Commonwealth Games. We are sending a good team and let's see what happens," Kalmadi said.

          India's overall medal haul is eight gold, one silver and five bronze medals with just three individual third place finishes. All the gold medals belong to their men's hockey team who won six in a row in the first half of the last century. The hockey players also account for the silver medal besides two bronze medals, their unassailable status eroded once the game was switched from natural grass to artificial turf in 1976. Having slumped to eighth and seventh in the last two Games, the team's chances appear dimmer this time after a lacklustre build- up which led to the abrupt sacking of coach Rajinder Singh close to the Games. And even the athletes, themselves, are not too sure whether hoping for a medal would be realistic enough.

DD strikes deal for telecasting India cricket matches till '07 (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: Doordarshan will be telecasting all India-centric cricket matches, including the two championship trophies and a World Cup, till 2007 with the Prasar Bharati reaching agreement with the ICC satellite rights holder Sony. Also, the government will soon be bringing a legislation to ensure that Prasar Bharati, which also includes All-India Radio, gets access to air all India-centric matches on a "non- competitive basis. "This means that whichever company gets right for a particular cricket tournament featuring India, it will be obligatory for it to share the rights with Prasar Bharati," its CEO K S Sarma, and Additional Secretary in the I and B Ministry, Vijay Singh, told newsmen here after a meeting with Prasar Bharati board. Sarma said Prasar Bharati would also submit its bid for the BCCI rights (for matches played in India) in a day or two. Also, he said the public broadcaster was open to submit a joint bid, including with ESPN-Star Sports.

Brett Lee says upcoming ICC Champions trophy challenging (Go To Top)

         New Delhi: Australian fast bowler Brett Lee today said his team is eager to win the forthcoming ICC Champions Trophy in England. Lee, who was in New Delhi on a promotional tour for a major sports brand, said that Australia having never won the Champions Trophy, posed a challenge to the world champions. "It's actually on the contrary that Australia has never won the Champions trophy. But now we have a challenge ahead of us. It starts in Holland. After that we have Champions trophy on 12th October, our first match is against US. But Ricky Ponting's gone on record saying publicly that we are looking forward to a big series. We actually look forward to play with India," he said. Lee, 26, said he was looking forward to having a bowl against India's top batsmen. "Every opportunity that we get playing against India, it's great. I personally love coming to India ... Every opportunity we get to play against India is great as we get to play against Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, who are awesome and who are the best within the top six in the world," he said.

'Ticket cancellations caused Naeem to blow the whistle' (Go To Top)

         Karachi: Former PCB treasurer Muhammad Naeem Khan raised the banner of revolt against other Board officials because Shahryar Khan and Rameez Raja had abruptly cancelled all the 400 tickets Naeem had booked for the last two ODIs with India. According to a PCB source, Naeem was also hurt by the unbecoming remarks passed by Rameez during an emergency meeting called for scrutinising the list of PCB officials who had booked an excessive number of tickets, The News reported. The meeting was arranged after Pakistan leveled the ODI series 1- 1 in the second ODI, which created enough interest in the rest of the series. The Board wanted to make available the maximum number of tickets for the general public. The source said that it was found that Naeem had booked around 400 tickets. This infuriated Rameez, who, in turn, asked Shahryar Khan to cancel all his tickets. This treatment was meted only to Naeem, while other officials got away with having the number of tickets reduced, the paper added.