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SC asks Govt to release funds to Bhopal gas victims

          New Delhi: The Supreme Court today asked the government to distribute Rs 1,503 crore among the families of 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy victims. In 1989, Union Carbide had settled an amount of 470 million dollars as its liability towards the victims before the Supreme Court. The court had directed that the money be put in a dollar account and the same money with interest today stands at Rs 1,503 crore. The court also ordered the welfare commissioner of Bhopal Gas Relief Fund to file before it an account of how the money will be dispersed.

'I am old goods now and finished,' laments Maninder Kohli's wife (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: Maninder Pal Singh Kohli's Indian wife, Bharati Das, has become the unfortunate victim of his crimes. According to the Telegraph, Bharati was swept off her feet by the sophisticated "Mike Dennis" alias Kohli at a Red Cross vaccination camp in Kalimpong last year. A romantic courtship was followed by marriage that shocked residents of Kalimpong. "What am I to do? I have been married, but now I have no husband. In our society, no one will ever want to marry me now. I am finished. I am old goods," she was quoted as saying. Kohli, on the run for 18 months, has been accused of the rape and murder of Hannah Foster, a 17-year-old British citizen. The law finally caught up with him a month after his marriage to Bharati, when he was nabbed by the police on July 15 in Siliguri. A devastated Bharati now says that she will be grateful for any financial assistance. "For one thing, it was this cursed marriage which brought Kohli to everyone's attention. If we had not married, no one would have recognized the wanted man at all," she was quoted as saying.

Sen, Sharma to be new envoys to US, UK (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: Ranendra Sen and Kamlesh Sharma, both of whom are retired diplomats, were on Monday appointed as the country's envoys to the US and UK, respectively. Sen, a 1966 batch IFS officer and a former High Commissioner to UK, and Sharma, a former permanent representative to the UN, would assume charge of their respective offices shortly, an External Affairs Ministry release said Monday. Besides the UK, Sen had served as ambassador to Russia, Germany and Mexico, and retired in April this year.

Flood situation in Bihar worsens (Go To Top)

         Samastipur/Patna: Flood situation in Bihar worsened on Monday as death toll mounted to over 100. Floodwaters have swept away power lines, embankments, railway tracks, swamped highways and destroyed dozens of small dams in the province. Many lost not only their crops and livestock, but entire lives' savings. In Samastipur, 46 miles away from state capital Patna, people accused the government of failing to provide even the basic minimum assistance. "Till date, we have received no help from the authorities. We have been literally forced to live on the streets. There are no arrangements for water and electricity," said Ram Singh, a flood victim. "We are facing lots of problems. All our villages have submerged, and there has been no help from the government," said Rakesh, another flood victim. In Patna, activists of the opposition Janata Dal (United) staged a sit-in. "People are starving, and many are marooned. The government claims to have made speedy relief arrangements, but we feel it has been very unsuccessful in providing relief to those affected. The government also did not take any precautionary measures, prior to the floods, which has made the situation even worse. It is the people who are paying the ultimate price," said Upendra Kushwaha, leader of JD-U. The floods this season have brought about unprecedented damage to the state. Last week, over 40 people died, when a boat capsized in the rain- swollen Bagmati river in Muzaffarpur district. In another incident last week, 30 prisoners escaped from Darbhanga jail taking advantage of floods.

Floods shut down B'desh's international airport (Go To Top)

          Dhaka: As flooding continue to aggravate in Bangladesh, authorities here shut down one of the three International Airports of the country as its runways submerged by ankle-deep water on Monday. Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) said that it suspended operation of north-eastern Sylhet Osmani International Airport for indefinite period. Biman Bangladesh Airlines, the official flag carrier, diverted one international flight from Osmani Airport to Zia International Airport on Monday. It cancelled three domestic flights, Syed S. Kazi, public relation director of the airline, said.

Natwar Singh arrives in Pak (Go To Top)

          Islamabad: Indian External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh arrived here Monday to hold talks with his counterparts from Pakistan and other SAARC countries. On his arrival he said he had come with a message of goodwill from the government and people of India. Besides meeting his Pakistani counterpart Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, Singh is scheduled to call on Pakisyan President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shujaat Hussain. "I shall do my best to use this opportunity to contribute further to creating an even better climate for taking forward our Composite Dialogue process," said Singh, who will be attending the two-day SAARC ministerial meeting beginning tomorrow. Singh, who flew in a special aircraft, said, "I am delighted to be in Islamabad after a gap of nearly 16 years."