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Brahmos missile test-fired

          Balasore: Brahmos missile was on Sunday successfully test fired from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, about 15 km from here, defence sources said. The missile was fired from a mobile launcher at 12.15 pm amidst incessant rains caused by a deep deepression in the sea along the Orissa coast, the sources said. The launched was undertaken following clearance by the meteorological department.

Vajpayee hints at leadership change in Gujarat (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: Former Prime Minister and NDA chairman Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who said Gujarat violence could be one of the reasons for BJP's defeat in the recent Lok Sabha elections, indicates Sunday that change of leadership in Gujarat could be one of the issues that may be discussed at the party's national executive in Mumbai later this month. "We are reconsidering Gujarat (reasons). All issues will be reconsidered at the Mumbai national executive meeting and all possible decisions can be taken," he told a TV Channel in Manali where he is holidaying. Asked if removing Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was one of the options, he said "yes. We have to see what (steps) can benefit us and what will not." BJP's national executive will meet in Mumbai later this month to take stock of the reasons for the party's electoral defeat. Vajpayee said a new strategy will have to be thought out putting behind the damage Gujarat violence did to party's image. "Whatever damage could have happened has happened. Now, we have to think of a new beginning," he said. "Leadership change is also an issue," he said.

Man detained at Mumbai airport on suspicion of selling N-secrets (Go To Top)

          Mumbai: Police has detained a man at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport here and, along with central intelligency agencies, was grilling him extensively following allegations that he was involved in leaking country's nuclear secrets. The man, identified as Akthar Hussain, 35, was held at midnight following a tip-off from Dubai Police about his alleged involvement in selling information regarding Indian nuclear projects. It is claimed that one of his close relatives works with an Indian nuclear and research agency. According to police sources, Hussain was yet to be arrested, but is being questioned thoroughly. It is not clear whether Hussain was deported from Dubai or he came to India on his own.

Buddha orders probe into starvation deaths (Go To Top)

          Midnapore (Bengal): Authorities in West Bengal have launched an inquiry into five starvation deaths over the last three months, which have become a major cause of embarrassment for the state government. The deaths occurred in Amlasole village of Belpahari area in Midnapore district, one of the most poverty stricken areas of the state. All the five victims belonged to the Sabar tribe, and locals say five people died because they had nothing to eat for days. "My neighbour died as he was ill, could not get proper medicines and not enough food," said Shankar, the neighbour of a person who died due to alleged starvation. The poverty in Amlasole village is as stark as it is abject. No work, no money, no food is the common woe of residents of Amlasole. A majority of the villagers used to eke out a living selling wood gathered from nearby forests. But with their entry into the forests being restricted, most villagers have been left with no other option but to turn to roots and leaves for nourishment. West Bengal's communist chief minister denied that the deaths are the result of starvation but admitted even if these were due to poverty, the loss of lives was no less deplorable. "I agree that there is a situation of starvation in that area but the five deaths which have occurred need not be due to starvation. I have reports of the reason for their deaths and if it is due to poverty, it is all the more shameful. I am concerned that such situation does not arise. I have ordered an inquiry into it", said Buddhadeb Bhattacharya. Following numerous reports of starvation deaths from several states in 2002, the Supreme Court had said it would hold district authorities responsible for any deaths due to starvation.

They can only pray for them...! (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: Seven years since India's worst-ever cinema disaster, which claimed 59 lives, families and survivors organised a prayer meeting at a memorial set up near the theatre in New Delhi on Sunday. It was on this day in 1997, 23 men, seventeen women and 29 children were choked to death after the Uphaar cinema caught fire leading to a stampede. The cinema was engulfed when a generator got overheated bursting in the basement of the building. Men, women and children all scampered to rush out of the crammped hall with only four exits for an audience of over 500. Last year, the state High Court ordered a payment of 1.5 million rupees each to relatives of the victims who were less than 20 years at the time of tragedy and 1.8 million rupees to those who were above 20 years. The relatives of the victims, however, have not received the compensation ordered by the court due to a legal wrangle over the responsibility of various civic bodies indicted by the court. Uphaar was owned by Ansals, leading construction group in the country.

Multi-purpose ID cards in Assam (Go To Top)

          Karimganj (Assam): There is an air of excitement and curiosity among the people of Patharkandi village in Assam's Karimganj district. These villagers are keen to get their Multi- purpose National Identity Cards or MNICs as soon as possible. The union home ministry is issuing these cards in the border districts of 13 states as a pilot project, which will later be extended to the hinterland. And, Patharkandi is one of such pilot village. The data collected will be consolidated as the National Register of citizens. The cost of the project is estimated to be 4000 crore rupees. The MNIC project will be completed in four phases. In the first phase, a base line survey is conducted, where a population register is maintained. Then the photographs of people, above the age of fifteen are taken and a record similar to that of bio-data is maintained. The third phase involves verification of the data collected and then the validation, to determine whether a person is to be provided with the MNIC or not. There is growing concern among the people regarding the issue of illegal immigration. But with proper implementation of the MNIC project, the identification of citizens from non-citizens could prove easier.

Tina Ambani's new role (Go To Top)

          Mumbai: Tina Ambani formally announced the first of its kind initiative to promote the cause of senior citizens in India. The initiative will try to help the elderly sustain within themselves a sense of pride and self esteem. Tina Ambani preferred to call the elderly as 'silver citizens' or generation A. The harmony initiative for senior citizens will take shape at Harmony Interactive centres and 'harmony India.org'. The centres will be a forum for older people to come together and the website its interface. Tina will also launch 'Harmony-Celebrate Age', a magazine for silver citizens. The magazine is filled with human interest stories and a range of columns by experts from different fields. Tina also intends to take the initiative to national standards. The harmony interactive centre in Mumbai will be launched soon. It will be a platform for the elderly to interact with other aged people. The main aim of the centre is to sensitize the general public about the issues of the elderly. The centre will have a well-equipped library, computer facilities, interactive games, yoga, meditation, laughter club, soft fitness programme and health camps. The elderly will be able to avail themselves of these facilities with a nominal charge. Tina is aware of the fact that the centre, because of the fee factor, would cater only to certain sections of the society and not all of them.

A billion Indians will be glued to Anju at Athens (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: After finishing fifth at the Golden Spike Super Grand Prix meet at Ostrava in Czech Republic recently, India's ace long- jumper Anju Bobby George faces one of the biggest challenges of her career at the upcoming Prefontaine Classic in Eugene in the USA. Anju, who finished with a below par leap of 6.59 metres at the Grand Prix, now faces an additional pressure to win a couple of such events to be a serious contender for a medal at Athens. The Ostrava event was first of a series of international meets that Anju plans to take part as build-up events leading to the Athens Olympic Games in August. Anju, currently ranked fourth in the world, was indeed below her best after she won her first Super Grand Prix gold with a 6.82 metres leap last month in Doha, Qatar.

          Anju, bronze medalist in the Paris World Championship last year, has made Paris her training base as part of Olympic preparations. While the world is thinking whether Anju can break the seven metres barrier, she is focussed on winning her first Olympics gold. "(I think)..seven metre..I can do anytime..but (a) gold...we can get only at the Olympics. So If I am doing seven metre and getting gold...I will be happy," she said. On the winning score at the upcoming Athens Olympics, she feels anything above 6.95 metres could fetch her a medal. "Above 6.55 to 7.10....I think (if I can jump) anywhere between 6.95 to 7.10, I will get a medal (at Athens)," she added. President of the Athletics Federation of India and Indian Olympic Association, Suresh Kalmadi feels she is slowly peaking and would be at her best in the Olympics. "She is slowly peaking to form and in Qatar she had done very well and I think she will come very near to the seven metre mark by the time it's Olympics...Well she could win any of the three medals," said Kalmadi. Legendary Indian long-jumper T.C.Yohanan feels the competition in lead-up to the Olympics will only make Anju more stronger. "She has got all the abilities--weightwise, heightwise..all athletic concern ..she has got a very good built..she can do nearabout seven metre..maybe more...but she can get a medal and not only that, now that she is also getting a lot of competition, it will be much more easier for her to get a medal because she will know exactly where she stands," feels Yohannan.

         Yohannan had brought Indian athletics glory twenty seven years ago when he won the gold medal in long jump at the 1974 Teheran Asian Games, setting one of the longest standing records in Indian athletics by leaping to a distance of 8.07 metre. After participating in the Prefontaine Classic which starts on June 19, Anju will return back to Europe to take part in the Norwich Union Super Grand Prix at Gateshead on June 27. The closest India had come to winning an athletics medal was at the 1960 Rome Olympics when sprinter Mikha Singh started as favourite for the 400 meters race but finished fourth, missing a medal by one- tenth of a second despite timing better than the then world record. Yesteryears sprint queen P.T Usha made the 400m hurdles final at Los Angeles in 1984 but she also came fourth, in a photo finish, even though she set a personal best of 55.42 seconds.