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Mufti escapes grenade attack, 4 injured

          Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed escaped a bid on life on Tuesday when some unidentified militants hurled a grenade on a police party just after the CM's convoy passed by. The minister was on his way to inaugurate a maiden flyover. The incident left 2 police personnel, including a DSP and 2 civilians injured.

Traders boycott bourses over Chidambaram's turnover tax (Go To Top)

          New Delhi/Mumbai: Stock market traders at various exchanges across the country today commenced a boycott of the bourses in protest against Finance Minister P Chidambaram's budgetary proposal to levy a 0.15 per cent turnover tax on securities transaction. Representatives of the trading community are also scheduled to meet Chidambaram today to discuss the issue. Traders claim that the tax will discourage investments and sap liquidity. They are also worried about their thin margins turning into losses with the new tax. These concerns have seen business volumes on the bourses crash by nearly 50 percent over the last two days. The issue has also affected the bond market, and prices of government securities fell by 40-60 paise on Monday. Trading volumes were also driven down to nearly a third as compared to the day before the budget was presented. Meanwhile, Chidambaram has categorically ruled out the rolling back the new levy, though he might consider changing the rates. He may also tinker with short-term capital gains tax if he decreases the transaction cost.

Six killed in militant attacks in Tripura (Go To Top)

          Agartala: At least six people, including three security personnel, were killed in three separate attacks in Tripura late on Monday. Police suspect rebels belonging to the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) could be behind the attack. The first incident took place near Tamakari, a village near Agartala, in which three labourers were beaten to death and their vehicle in which they were moving was set ablaze. The other attacks on security forces took place in the Khowai sub division in remote Jirana district. Police said the incidents were in retaliation against the failure of a shutdown called by the ATTF on Sunday. "Suddenly fire came on them and the three of them who were in the front, first, second and third, the three boys got injured and they took the position and fired. The CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) was on the back...The commander has already gone there and they are at the spot. A further inquiry is being conducted and the details will be known," said C.Ramarao, Insepctor General of Police, Tripura.

Murdered British school girl's parents seek justice (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: With a glint of hope in their eyes, Trevor and Hillary Foster have travelled 4000 miles to ask for help to nab their teenaged daughter's alleged killer. Hannah Claire Foster, a 17-year old girl, was raped and killed by a Sikh migrant Maninder Pal Singh Kohli settled in Southampton when she was returning from school in March last year. Since then Kohli has been absconding.

           Fosters are currently in India, where they would be visiting Punjab, Kohli's native state to appeal for his whereabouts. "The reason we haven't come earlier is that we just haven't felt strong enough to deal with the pressures that we knew would be here if we came. I guess a year on we are still not strong enough but we just felt determined to do it so we have come and we are going to do the best to raise awareness about the investigation and really to offer any help we can to the police to help find this man," said Trevor in an emotional appeal here on Tuesday.

          The Fosters have set up a new telephone hotline for people to ring with information on Kohli and have announced a reward of Rs. five million. "Most important for us was that we were sitting at home so many miles away and thinking what we could do to help find this man. We thus decided to set up this independent phone line so that the Indian public has an alternative. They don't have to phone the police. They can phone our line. And Trevor and I guarantee that it is truly anonymous," said Hillary Foster.

           Meanwhile, Punjab Police has said that they have launched a manhunt for the British Indian truck driver accused of raping and murdering the girl. Punjab Police, who are under immense diplomatic pressure to crack the case, said they had questioned Singh's relatives but it was unlikely that they were harbouring him. "So far, after questioning his (the suspect's) relatives, we have not come to the conclusion that they are actually giving shelter to him. So the only thing we have come to know is that his mother is quite sick and his brother is in Punjab police and is willing to give all the cooperation to Punjab police. He has also been questioned by us but nothing new has come up," local SP Rakesh Aggarwal said. Aggarwal added that Kohli might have changed his identity and escaped to southern India or to Nepal. "As of now there are no pointers towards his presence in Punjab. Maybe, if he is India, he may be at some other place, which is distant to Punjab because our police are concerned and most of the officers know that this person is wanted. So, he may be in the south side of India or he may have fled away from India to Nepal," Aggarwal said. Meanwhile, a group of British police officers will also visit the state in the coming weeks.

De-mining exercise along Indo-Pak border (Go To Top)

          Srinagar: The Indian army has launched extensive de-mining operation along the Pakistan border. Around 500 kilometers alongside the international border was mined in 2002 during Operation Parakram when both countries were on the verge of engaging in their fourth war. About 25,000 acres of agricultural land in Surankote region was under mines. With the Army clearing about 80 percent of the farmland, the villagers are ecstatic over prospects of being able to cultivate their lands once again. "Earlier mines were laid in the entire field so we were unable to work in our fields or sow anything. But now with the de-mining process on, we have been able to sow our fields in that portion. Once it is complete then we would be able to harvest in rest of the de-mined fields," Ashfaq Khan, a villager said. "People are very happy now that their fields are being de-mined and farmers have already started work in fields that were de- mined earlier," Masood Beig, another villager added.

          For the army itself, the de-mining operation is anything but safe. The soldiers have to apply extreme caution and have to wear tons of protective gear, which makes the entire process twice as slow. Six 10-member teams of specially trained men crop every inch of the fields detecting the mines. The operations are dangerous and complex and after eight to nine hours of gruelling work, the soldiers manage to clear barely 200 meters of land. "We started with the manual recovery of mines and then gave our troops a protective gear so that they do not have any injury, we have virtually cleared the entire fields of mines. Eighty percent of de-mining process is complete and those fields have been handed over to the owners," said Brigadier A K Wason, Chief Engineer, 16 Corps, and the commander placed in-charge of the de- mining project. He said the entire land would be cleared by month-end and handed over to the villagers. Studies indicate that for every 5,000 mines cleared, one de-miner is killed and two are injured. With all of the problems related to landmine production and use, still 2.5 million new mines are laid each year and 16 countries including India continue to produce and sell landmines despite lobbying against their production and use. Alarmingly a landmine can last up to a century in the ground unless it is removed. In most cases, unsuspecting persons like a child or a farmer detonate the landmines, leading to excessive loss of life and property.