Politician
among 9 killed in Srinagar terrorist attack
Srinagar:
A youth wing leader of Kashmir's main Opposition party,
the National Conference (NC), was amongst nine people killed
in separate terrorist attacks today in Jammu and Kashmir.
The terrorists shot at Farooq Zargar while he was on the
way to a relative's house in Srinagar. He died two hours
later in hospital. Though no rebel group has claimed responsibility
for the assassination, but extremists have been known to
target pro-India leaders particularly during elections,
which they see as validating New Delhi'
Nanavati
Commission's term extended (Go
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New
Delhi: Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee today announced
the government's decision to extend the term of the JUstice
G.T.Nanavati Commission, which is probing the 1984 riots
in Delhi in the aftermath of assassination of Indira Gandhi.
Addressing a press conference in the Indian capital, Mukherjee
said that the Union Cabinet had decided to extend the comiission's
term by a month. The Commission's term was to expire on
December 31. The Commission, which was set up on October
3, 2000, has almost completed its job and it is in the process
of writing its report, Mukherjee told reporters.
Domestic
private airlines can now fly overseas (Go
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New
Delhi: The Centre has allowed domestic private airlines
to fly on international routes as a part of its drive to
strengthen and expand the nascent sector. Civil Aviation
Minister Praful Patel announced this in the Capital today.
"The cabinet today approved domestic private airlines to
fly overseas, apart from the Gulf countries. The gulf region
has been reserved for the next three years (for state-owned
carriers," Patel told reporters after a cabinet meeting
in New Delhi. The move will boost the prospects of private
airlines such as Jet Airways, India's biggest private domestic
airline, and Sahara Airlines Ltd, the third ranked local
carrier. Until last year, only two state-owned carriers
- international flag carrier Air-India Limited and the mostly
domestic Indian Airlines Ltd. - were allowed to fly on money-making
international routes. A civil aviation ministry statement
said domestic airlines planning to fly overseas needed to
have been in the business for five years and have a fleet
of at least 20 aircraft. But, Patel said that the two state-owned
carriers would be allowed to retain their monopoly to fly
to the Gulf region for the next three years to protect their
businesses. A large number of Indian professionals, most
of who travel regularly to the country, are working in Gulf
countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab
Emirates. The country's aviation sector is growing on the
back of rising domestic air travel in Asia's fourth-largest
economy. A cut in government taxes and increased competition
has resulted in lower fares that are boosting business and
tourist-travel in the country. Domestic air travel market
expanded 26.5 percent in the first half of the fiscal year
to March to 18.52 million passengers. As a result, almost
all airlines have chalked out ambitious expansion plans
and some corporates have rushed to start budget carriers
as well.
Thousands
pay homage to Shirdi Sai Baba (Go
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Shanishignapur
(Maharashtra): Thousands of devotees are visiting the
holy town of Shirdi in Shanishignapur area of Maharashtra
to pay homage at the shrine of Sai Baba. The Sai Baba, as
he is famously known, attracts men and women from all caste,
religion, class and places. His shrine consists of his "Samadhi",
his life-size idol and even some of his belongings. "I have
come especially for darshan," said Ravinder Saran, a devotee.
Legend has it that a nameless pauper took shelter in a mosque
at the village but never asked for food, water and hardly
spoke. Curious villagers took pity on the feeble and sparsely-clothed
man and donated fruits and clothing. But, to their surprise,
the "fakir" shared whatever he got with the destitute and
even animals. The man's life evoked immense respect and
awe amongst the sick and elderly who found solace in his
sermons. Soon "Baba" and "Sai" both words associated with
saints were prefixed to his name and the poor, needy and
the destitute from far off began pouring in to hear him.
The revered saint, who is till date claimed by both Hindus
and Muslims, preached his principle of love and faith to
all his disciples irrespective of caste and creed. The Sai
Baba died in October 1918 and his body was laid in the tomb
at Shirdi. A shrine or temple was later built over it and
his disciples visit it every year to seek his blessings.
It is believed that no devotee visiting the Sai Baba has
ever returned empty handed.
7th
International Film Festival to start on 6th January (Go
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Mumbai:
Mumbai Academy of Moving Image is organizing the 7th
International Film Festival a 7 day event, which will begin
on 6 January 2005. This year, they will be screening 125
films from 34 countries including India. The countries participating
for the first time in the festival are Peru, Bolivia, Chile,
Colombia, Serbia & Montenegro and Lebanon. This year the
"Life Time Achievement award" will be given to Shammi Kapoor
followed by other awards like, the award for contribution
to music in films will go to Manna Dey, for Technical excellence
to Babubhai Mistry and for significant contribution to cinema
for over 25 years to Naseeruddin Shah.
