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25 killed, 100 injured as Konkan train falls into river

         Mumbai: At least 25 people were killed and 100 were injured after 11 coaches and the engine of the Matsyagandha Express derailed this morning near Raigarh in Maharashtra, around 150 km from Mumbai. The casualty is likely to go up. "Ten to twelve bodies have been recovered from the accident site, but the final picture would emerge after some time later as the site has no approach road and the terrain is difficult," said Chief PRO, Konkan Railways, Vaishali Patange. The accident, the second on the Konkan line, occurred between the Roha and the Vir stations at about 6 a.m. The train was on its way from Mangalore to Mumbai, when the engine and two coaches fell off a bridge. According to initial reports, boulders, which fell on the tracks because of a landslide, may have been the cause of the accident. Railway officials have reached the place and rescue operations have begun. Patange told reporters that the Konkan Railways had opened three help line contact numbers for kith and kin to contact the authorities for information. These were 022-27579938/39 022- 27572685.

IA announces 10 pc fare hike (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: Indian Airlines (IA) announced a ten per cent hike on Wednesday on all domestic sectors with effect from June 21. The airlines cited the increase in prices of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF). An IA spokesman said the increased fares will not be applicable to confirmed tickets booked before June 21. However, any open ticket or a new booking after June 21 will be charged as per the new tariff, he added. The hike in passenger fares would be across the board, which includes apex fare and promotional schemes. Jet Airways, Air Sahara and Air Deccan have already announced hike in their fares by 10 per cent. The increase was necessitated due to the spurt in global crude prices that has added Rs 200 crore to Indian Airlines' fuel cost, more than the budgeted estimate for 2004-05 fiscal. The ATF price has shot up from Rs 21,530 per kilolitre (KL) in March this year to Rs 26,000 this month, IA sources said.

Ambani, Najma, Jaswant, Soni file papers (Go To Top)

         New Delhi: Anil Ambani, one of the powerful businessmen, will contest a seat in the Rajya Sabha later this month. Already at the top of the oil-focused Reliance group, India's largest conglomerate with 22 billion dollars in annual sales, Ambani has put one of the country's most influential family names in the running for election to the 250-seat Rajya Sabha. Ambani will run as an independent candidate from Uttar Pradesh where he has met regularly with leaders of the ruling Samajwadi Party. Ambani will remain in his post as chairman and managing director of Reliance Energy, one of India's two main private-sector power utilities, which is setting up a gigantic 3,740-megawatt, gas- based power plant in Uttar Pradesh. The longest serving deputy chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, Najma Heptulla, also filed filed her nomination to the Upper House on Wednesday. Elected till last term as a candidate of ruling Congress party, Heptulla recently joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Former federal finance minister and senior leader of the BJP, Jaswant Singh and Congress party's senior leader Ambika Soni were also among those who filed nominations to the upper house on Wednesday. While Singh filed nominations from Rajasthan, Soni will be contesting from Punjab. Elections to the 65 vacant seats of the Rajya Sabha from 14 states will be held on June 28. State legislators elect 238 members, while the president nominates the remaining 12. Polls for the 545-seat lower house, or Lok Sabha, were completed last month.

Two suspected Lashkar terrorists killed in Mumbai encounter (Go To Top)

          Mumbai: Two suspected terrorists of the Lashkar-e- Toiba' were on Wednesday gunned down by the police in North-West Mumbai and a huge cache of weapons and incriminating documents seized from them, highly-placed police sources said. Acting on a tip-off, the duo was asked to surrender near the Gold Spot junction at Andheri here. They, however, opened fire on the police party. In the retaliatory fire, they were injured and rushed to the Cooper Hospital, where they were pronounced dead on admision. One of them was identified as Adnan Kirmani alias "Abu Salem" (28). His accomplice, who is also said to be in his twenties, is yet to be identified. Four Star-make pistols, live cartridges, gelatin sticks and detonators were seized from them, the sources said. The operation was carried out by Unit V and Unit VII of the Crime Branch-CID. The encounter comes a day after the Gujarat police shot dead four suspected Laskhar members at Ahmedabad who were planning to assassinate Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Left cautious about UPA fuel price hike (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: Left parties giving outside support to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government have reacted cautiously to its decision to hike domestic fuel prices on Tuesday. On Tuesday, the government hiked petrol prices by Rs.2 per litre, diesel prices by Rs.1 per litre and LPG prices by Rs.20 per cylinder. "We are happy that kerosene prices have not been hiked, but we urge the government to reconsider LPG price hikes," D Raja, a CPI leader was quoted by a television channel as saying on Wednesday. The BJP has already attacked the Congress led UPA government over issue by dubbing the hike in fuel prices as "anti-people" and "anti-farmer". It has threatened to take to the streets against the government's decision. But Aiyer maintains the decisions will not be rolled back. He has also said that to take care of future increase in international prices, the government may announce a more comprehensive package policy with fiscal incentives in the budget. It is the first big economic decision of the UPA government and the message it is trying to send out is that reforms, even at the cost of increasing LPG prices, will continue.

Tamil Nadu team to meet Karnataka CM over Cauvery issue (Go To Top)

         Bangalore: A Tamil Nadu delegation is likely to meet Karnataka Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh today to brief him about the need to release waters of the River Cauvery immediately to help farmers in the delta region bordering the two states. The delegation will be led by Tamil Nadu's Minister for Public Works, O Panneerselvam and includes three ministers, the Chairman of Cauvery technical cell, and two senior officials. The meeting comes after a request from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to her Karnataka counterpart for the release of water.

Somnath for greater foreign investment in West Bengal (Go To Top)

          Kolkata: Brushing aside impressions that the Left ruled West Bengal was averse to foreign and private investments, newly elected Speaker of the Lok Sabha Somnath Chatterjee said that foreign investment was welcome but on certain terms and conditions. Chatterjee was speaking at a function organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) to felicitate him. "Tata's have decided to invest and have also gone ahead with a project in the state. Plans are alo to expand it later.We also have offers for foreign investment. As gainst the common impression we have never been against foreign investment. We only say that foreign industries should not totally oust Indian industries," said Somnath. He reiterated his commitment to the North-eastern states which he said were hitherto the most isolated. "I am not suppressing my weakness for north-eastern states of India. I have been the chairman of different standing committees of Parliament during the last five years and I have never forgotten the chapter of north-eastern states. In fact, these states need support, they are a part of India. But they have always been discriminated against. This needs to be corrected now."

Brit plan to introduce ID cards slammed as racist (Go To Top)

          London: Britain's Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) has strongly criticized Home Secretary David Blunkett's plan to introduce national ID card, saying that it could give the police more opportunities to racially victimize Blacks and Asians. According to The Daily Mail, the CRE has said that various aspects of the multi-billion pound proposal could have a harmful effect on British race relations. The CRE told the 'Commons' Home Affairs Select Committee' that the Blacks were eight times more subjected to police investigations, while for Asians it was three times. According to the CRE paper, "There is scope for police officers to use ID cards to inconvenience ethnic minorities unnecessarily, and authorities in France and Germany have been accused of discriminating against ethnic minorities with on the spot requests for ID cards even where this is forbidden." The paper also warned that forcing foreign nationals to hold the identity cards before any other groups could give rise to conflicts. "The CRE is concerned to some degree about the message this approach sends out to the public, one that suggests that foreigners are second-class people within society. This would not promote good relations between different national or ethnic groups," the paper added. CRE claimed that instead of tackling illegal immigrants and illegal working the plan would rather lead to increase in underground existence. Chairman of the CRE, Trevor Phillips, told the MPs that introduction of ID cards could create a great deal of unease among ethnic minorities. He also showed concern over the technology Home Office would use to measure biometrics, such as facial recognition and iris recognition, which would then be included on the ID card's microchip.

Muslim girl expelled from school for wearing 'burkha' (Go To Top)

          London: A 15-year-old British-born Muslim schoolgirl, Shabina Begum, has been expelled from her school for insisting on coming to the school wearing a 'Burkha'. The High Court gave its judgment against Shabina; whose father and mother are both dead, and the girl is now trying to get admission in a new school now. Shabina blamed the head teachers and governors of Denbigh High School, Luton, for unlawfully denying her the "right to education" and to manifest her religious beliefs. Rejecting her application for a judicial review, Justice Bennett ruled that Shabina had failed to show that there was a breach of her human rights. He said that the school was free to limit Muslim students to 'Salwar Kameez', comprising trousers and a tunic. He also said, "The uniform policy was necessary to protect the rights and freedoms of others who did not want to be like Shabina and wear a 'Jilbab'(a headscarf and flowing robe covering from head to toe)." Ruling of this case has important implications for schools in which students belonging to different religions study. It also echoes the controversy in France where politicians have voted for a ban on all apparent religious symbols in schools, including the 'Hijab', the headscarf worn by Muslim girls and women.

         According to The Daily Mail, the Muslim Council of Britain described this decision of High Court as very worrying and objectionable. The judge added, as Shabina knew that after her refusal to wear the 'Shalwar Kameez', she wouldn't be allowed to attend the classes, she had decided not to return to Denbigh. "If she has been excluded, it is for a refusal to abide by the school uniform policy rather than her religious beliefs as such," the judge was quoted as saying. Shabina's family was already familiar with school's uniform policy, as her elder sister was also in the same school. Her brother, Shuweb Rahman, told the court that 'Sharia' law required girls above 13 to completely cover the body except for hands and face, and in 'Shalwar Kameez' too much of the arms were left exposed and the tunic was short.

40 killed in Pak bus accident (Go To Top)

          Islamabad: At least 40 people were killed when a bus plunged into a small river after crashing through a bridge on Wednesday near Islamabad, police and rescue workers said. Police said that the bus veered off the bridge after getting hit by another vehicle and plunged into River Soan. "The trailer hit the bus from the back, as a result of which the bus lost control and fell off the bridge," a police official said. Police said at least 40 people were killed and 10 others injured in the accident, which happened at 0630 local.

24 killed in Nepal bus plunge (Go To Top)

          Kathmandu: At least 24 people were feared dead and 21 injured when a bus plunged over a ravine into a raging river in Makwanpur district of central Nepal, police said on Wednesday. Police and soldiers who rushed to the scene recovered the bodies of eight people while sixteen other passengers were missing, feared washed away in the river, a police spokesman said. The bus, which left Kathmandu early on Wednesday with 45 passengers aboard, fell at least 150 metres down the ravine into the river. The cause of the accident, which occurred between Singbhanjyang and Alarekhola localities west of Kathmandu, was not immediately known, a Home Ministry official said.