Kerala
CM AK Antony resigns
Thiruvananthapuram:
Kerala Chief Minister AK Antony on Sunday tendered his resignation
to his party (Congress) chief Sonia Gandhi here today. According
to latest reports, he had gone to submit his resignation
with the State Governor. Antony made the announcement to
reporters at the airport here immediately after Congress
chief Sonia Gandhi left for Delhi after her brief visit
to the state. The veteran Congress leader said he had offered
to quit in the wake of the Congress drubbing in the state
in the Lok Sabha elections in May. He said he had waited
so far due to 'several reasons." This is the second time
that Antony is resigning from the Chief Minister's post.
In the late 1970s, he had resigned as CM following differences
with the central leadership.
Uma
will not seek bail, says BJP
Bangalore:
The BJP on Sunday said that the erstwhile Madhya Pradesh
chief minister Uma Bharti will not seek bail and that it
will launch a massive nationwide agitation against the Congress.
"We have not moved the court. Our former chief minsiter
has made it clear that she is not going to seek bail also.
It is a fight for justice. It is going to be a massive fight.
It is going to all-India movement for truth, first of its
kind in the recent years," BJP president Venkaiah Nadu said
here Sunday. Bharti had allegedly defied police orders to
hoist the national flag at a disputed site. The incident
sparked violence and six people were killed when police
fired to disperse clashing mobs. The BJP, which has accused
the Congress of victimising its leader, has been taking
out rallies to muster support for Bharti.
Army
guns down three militants in Kashmir (Go
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Poonch:
The Indian Army said on Sunday that they gunned down
three dreaded militants, including a top commander, along
the line of control (LoC). Army said one of the militants,
Abu Zubair, an area commander of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba
(LeT), was behind the massacare of 13 people, including
five women in Rajouri district earlier this year. The Army
said they ambushed the militants in Hill Kaka area early
morning after two months of hard work. "It was result of
a meticulous planning in that we managed to track him and
kill him. It took us almost two months in tracking him,
a lot of hard work and a lot of people had been involved
in this operation," said Major Panging, Indian army official.
Panging said one sniper rifle, two AK-47 rifles and some
incriminating documents pertaining to some high-profile
figures were recovered from the slain militants. Locals
said they were relieved with Zubair's killing. "We are quite
relieved that this militant is dead because he had killed
many innocent people in this region," said Javed Ahmed.
LeT is fighting for Muslim-majority Kashmir's merger with
Pakistan, one of the biggest guerrilla groups in the restive
region. Violence has continued in Kashmir despite recent
peace moves between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan.
Eight
suspected LeT militants detained in Hyderabad (Go
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Hyderabad:
At least eight suspected militants belonging to the
Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) have been arrested here for plotting
to blast the famous Ganesh Temple near the Secunderabad
railway station during the Ganesh festival next month. Those
arrested belong to Hyderabad and nearby districts. Police
said they have links with the LeT module in Andhra Pradesh.
Around three kg of ammonium nitrate, an explosive device,
gelatin sticks and a revolver have been seized from the
arrested militants. The explosive materials seemed similar
to those used in the blast of Sai Baba temple at Dilsukhnagar
two years ago, police said.
Agni-II
missile test-fired (Go
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Balasore:
Surface-to-surface missile Agni-II was test fired today
from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Wheelers' island
in the Bay of Bengal off the Orissa coast. The sleek missile
roared into the sky from a mobile launcher at launch complex
(LC) four of ITR at 12.55 pm (IST) under an overcast sky
leaving behind a trail of white smoke. Defence Minister
Pranab Mukherjee, Scientific Advisor to the Defence ministry,
V K Atre and Project Director, Agni, R N Agrawal along with
over 100 defence scientists were present at the launch complex.
This is the third test flight of Agni II developed by the
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The
first experiment was conducted on April 11, 1999 and second
on January 17, 2001. Agni II, an intermediate range ballistic
missile, has a range of 2000 to 2500 km which can carry
both conventional as well as nuclear warheads weighing upto
1,000 kg.
Aiyar
brushes aside Sena's agitation (Go
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New
Delhi: Union Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar on
Sunday brushed aside the `joota maro' agitation against
him by the Shiv Sena on the Savarkar issue. The minister
said the party is free to protest. "I think everyone has
the democratic right to protest and everyone, by the same
token, has the democratic right to hold an opinion," he
said. The Congress leader said: "So I hold an opinion and
some people protest. I don't see anything unusual about
this." Sarcastically he said: "It looked more like Ram Naik
than it looked like me, so why should I object to chappals
being hit on that face." On Friday, the Shiv Sena began
an agitation to condemn Aiyar and the Congress after the
minister's purported act of removing the plaque containing
Savarkar's quotes at Cellular Jail in Andaman.
Tamil
Nadu Muslims demand reservation (Go
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Chennai:
Muslims took to streets here Sunday demanding independent
reservation in jobs. The protest comes in the wake of Andhra
Pradesh's recent move to extend reservation of seats in
government jobs and educational institutions to minority
Muslims. The Congress-led UPA government in Andhra Pradesh
had announced five percent quota last month, fulfilling
an election made promise during state polls earlier this
year. The issue has created a furore in the country with
the opposition Hindu nationalists fearing it could sow seeds
of communalism in the already sensitive Indian society.
Tamil Nadu's Muslim Munnetra Kazhgham is also angry with
Chief Minister Jayalalitha's controversial statement. Jayalalitha
had refused reservation to Muslims saying that the state
followed Hindutva ideology. "We are organising this strike
to go to the chief minister's (J. Jayalalitha) house. We
want independent reservation for Muslims. She told that
she cannot do any reservation for Muslims. She is telling
already Muslims are enjoying a lot facilities in Tamil Nadu
which is a Hindutva state. We are against this statement.
We want she should withdraw her statement," Abdul Jaleel,
president of Tam
Interpol
experts in Bangladesh for blast probe (Go
To Top)
by Nazrul Islam
Dhaka:
Two Interpol exports arrived here on Sunday to assist
Bangladesh investigators to probe into the deadly attack
on an anti-terrorism rally to kill the country's former
premier Sheikh Hasina on August 21. On their arrival, Geoffrey
Isles, an officer of Australian Federal Police, and Jacqueline
Polansk, a US private terrorism expert, had parleys with
local investigators from the Criminal Investigation Department,
officials here told Asian News International. The CID officials
briefed the international experts about the bombing incident
that that killed 19 opposition workers and injure 300 more.
"The experts will prepare a report on their preliminary
findings, based on which the Interpol will decide its follow-up
actions," Shahudul Haque, the inspector general of police
said. The international experts will examine the extent
of damage by the grenades, how many were blasted, how many
remained unexploded, and their nature and the casualties,
he added. Five other agencies and a judicial body are investigating.
The experts' team is learnt to hold meetings with the other
investigators. On repeated demands by the opposition political
parties to launch and international investigation, the government
sought help from the International police organisation.
Meanwhile, the main opposition party Awami League stated
that the Interpol has no mechanism for independent investigation
and urged the government for launching an investigation
under supervision of the United Nation or the Commonwealth
to find out the real culprits. "For the sake of fairness,
we want the investigation be conducted under the UN or Commonwealth,"
Awami League general secretary Abdul Jalil told reporters
on Saturday, a day ahead of the Interpol experts arrived.
In the wake of repeated bomb blasts, sources said, the police
headquarters has decided to form a 30-member bomb squad
within a few days.
