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Frantic hunt on for killer cats in Mumbai

         Mumbai: Forest officials in Mumbai have begun frantic operations to capture wild leopards, which have killed six people, including three children, since early this month. The big cats have been prowling in Goregaon suburb of the commercial hub, which neighbours a 103 square km national reserve and officials say the animals could have been driven out due to flooding. Park officials say they have already captured and caged around 13 leopards but as many as 33 are at still at large. Forest rangers have begun patrolling the sensitive areas and residents have been asked not to move out at night. "We have laid traps for the Leopard. We have also asked residents not to allow their children to go out in the open in the evenings. Even when they themselves have to go they should use drums and torchlight to scare the animal away. Since June 3 three adults and three children have been killed and two have been injured," Tuslidas Rathod, a forest guard, said. Rathod added they will also release around 500 pigs into the forest for the leopards.

          The locals, meanwhile, continue to be terrified, with some even considering relocation. "Leopard attacks are continuing, we are scared to move out of our houses. If they rehabilitate us in some other place it would be good," Sanjay Rokade, a resident, said. The cats however are not the only one to blame as several illegal encroachments along the jungle borderlines by tribals or builders trying to erect plush resorts have severely pressed them for habitat. Demand for land is intense in Bombay, crammed into a tiny stretch of coast and home to more than 13 million people.

Yash Johar's body cremated (Go To Top)

          Mumbai: The body of noted film producer Yash Johar, who died here on Saturday night, was cremated at the Shivaji Park crematorium in central Mumbai on Sunday. The 75-year old producer passed away at the Leelavati Hospital where he had been admitted for the past fortnight for acute chest congestion. Johar had been put on life support system for past couple of days and had been under constant medical observation. The body of the producer was taken from the hospital to his house at suburban Bandra on Sunday morning. Among those who paid their last respects to Johar included Reliance Group Vice Chairman Anil Ambani, Rajya Sabha member Jaya Bachchan, Censor Board Chief Anupam Kher and prominent members of the film industry, including Tabu, Shahrukh Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Rani Mukherjee, Rakesh Roshan and his son Hrithik and Juhi Chawla.

First round with Khokhar ends on positive note (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: India and Pakistan on Sunday held the first of two days of talks to tackle their dispute over Kashmir. Foreign Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna told reporters after the end of the first meeting the signs were positive. "They (Indian and Pakistani foreign secretaries) discussed the subject of peace and security including CBMs (Confidence Building Measures). Ideas and proposals were exchanged to take the process further. Discussions were held in a positive and constructive atmosphere and talks tommorow will be on Jammu and Kashmir," he said, adding that he would give no details until the end of the talks.

           The meeting comes a day after Pakistan's Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali quit. But that is not expected to have any impact as military ruler Musharraf is seen to be in direct control of foreign policy. The meeting between Indian Foreign Secretary Shashank, and his Pakistani counterpart, Riaz Khokhar, is part of a renewed bid for peace launched by the two countries last year after they came close to a third war over the troubled Himalayan region in 2002. Highlighting the stakes of the talks, militants shot dead 12 villagers, including four children and a teenage girl, in Kashmir on Saturday.

          Reacting to Pakistan's efforts to end cross-border terrorism, a charge India levels against Pakistan, its foreign office spokesman Masood Khan said his country was committed to end terrorism globally. "We must end global terrorism, end it in all its form. As far as Pakistan is concerned we are committed to wiping terrorism out and are working on all levels to achieve our goals," Khan said. Khan also dismissed speculation that heightened violence in Kashmir would derail talks on the issue, asserting the fresh round of talks would end substantively. "This round of talks is meant to explore ways to resolve this issue (Kashmir), to address it substantively," Khan said. Khokhar also met Syed Ali Shah Geelani, head of a hardline faction of an alliance of Kashmiri separatist political groups, a Pakistani embassy official said. He is also due to hold talks with Maulana Umer Farooq, Kashmir's chief Muslim cleric and a leader of the separatist alliance's moderate faction.

         Moulvi Abbas Ansari, who heads the moderate faction of the separatists, said Kashmiris needed to be involved by India and Pakistan to find a resolution to the Kashmir dispute. "If they (India and Pakistan) include the issue of Kashmir and the people of Kashmir in the talks then we will welcome and accept the dialogue process. If they have to make this a bilateral process only, then no matter how much they talk, what level they talk, it will not be furitful for the Kashmiris and they will oppose it," Ansari said in Srinagar. The first day of the talks was expected to cover measures to increase the size of Indian and Pakistani diplomatic missions, the release of prisoners in each country and military coordination.

Separatists meet Khokhar (Go To Top)

         New Delhi: Separatist leaders, including Shabir Shah, today met Pakistan Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar and sought the inclusion of the people of Kashmir in any talks to resolve the Kashmir issue. JKLF chief Yasin Malik and People's League supremo Sheikh Abdul Aziz also met the Pak official before he began his two-day talks with his Indian counterpart Shashank. The two Foreign Secretaries were scheduled to discuss Kashmir on Monday. Emerging after the two-hour meeting, Shah told reporters that no bilateral talks could lead to a solution of the Kashmir problem. Malik said even the European Union delegation, which recently visited the state, had favoured inclusion of the people of Kashmir in the Indo-Pak talks. Meanwhile, informed sources said, India may raise the issue of continuous suppression of human rights in the Pak-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and the Norhtern Areas of Gilgit and Baltistan when the two officials meet tomorrow.