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Mirage crashes in Madhya Pradesh

         Gwalior: An Indian Air Force Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft crashed between Bhopal and Gwalior today when its wheel fell off soon after take off. Squadron Leader Gill, the pilot, however, ejected safely from the aircraft that left the Gwalior air base for a practice interception sortie at 12.45 p.m., said an IAF spokesperson. A Court of Inquiry has been ordered into the crash.

Militants kidnap Kashmir CM's nephew

         Srinagar: Unidentified militants kidnapped a second nephew of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's today morning from Anantnag. They also abducted one of the nephew's neighbours. According to the police, the unidentified gunmen entered the house of CM's cousin Mufti Sharief-ud-din in Bob Mohalla village of Bijbehara and abducted his son Mufti Sarwar on gunpoint. Bijbehara is CM's home town, 45 km from Srinagar. Later, the gunmen entered a nearby house and kidnapped one Muzamil Ahmad Kakroo. The kidnappings came a day after an unsuccessful bid on the life of the CM in Anantnag district town while he was filing his nomination for by-polls to Pahalgam assembly seat that goes to polls on October 13.

Jail for ex-minister in sexual harassment case (Go To Top)

         Kozhikode: A local court today awarded one year simple imprisonment to former Kerala Minister A. Neelalohitadas Nadar in connection to a sexual harassment case. First Class Judicial Magistrate Court found Nadar guilty of sexually harassing a former Nilambur Divisional Forest Officer, Pragati Srivastav. The prosecution alleged that the minister had sexually abused the woman officer at the government guest house on February 2, 1999. Nadar, who was the Forest Minister in the former CPI (M)-led LDF state government, said that he would go to appeal against the verdict.

Bibi Jagir Kaur elected as SGPC president (Go To Top)

         Amritsar: Bibi Jagir Kaur has been elected as the President of the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC). Her name was proposed by former Punjab chief minister Prakash Singh Badal. Besides managing a budget of more than Rs. 200 crores, the SGPC also manages historical shrines and educational institutions of the Sikh community all over the country.

Singh turns to Narayanan, Dixit for Kashmir roadmap (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has reportedly told his advisers for national and internal security, J.N.Dixit and M.K.Narayanan, to work out a roadmap on Kashmir that will include Kashmiris in the ongoing dialogue process. Informed sources reportedly told the Daily Times, that this instruction was given before Singh left for London and New York. It has also been rumored that the PM has asked Home Minister Shivraj Patil to hand over the file on Kashmir to Narayanan, though this hasn't been officially confirmed as yet. "He (Patil) will continue with his role in the talks on Kashmir and he is still required to keep the PM posted with developments and proposals on Kashmir. The roadmap is a strategy paper aimed at mainstreaming Kashmiris vis-a-vis the peace process," the paper quoted the sources as saying. Singh is also reported to have asked Dixit to coordinate with the home and the external affairs ministries to speed up work on the Kashmir file. The sources also speculatively said that it would not surprise them to see both Narayanan and Dixit dislodging N N Vohra, the present interlocutor on Kashmir affairs. It is believed that Dixit wants to start negotiating with the Hurriyat leadership directly and prepare grounds for the PM's meeting with the Hurriyat leaders at the earliest. If approved, this step would help to meet the Hurriyat's demand to negotiate at the highest level in Delhi. The sources said that Singh is probably acting on advice given by Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who is believed to have told him that it wasn't enough to say that everyone concerned with the Kashmir issue would be spoken to. Rather, what was needed was a firm policy that emphasized that no attempt is being made by the present government to scuttle the peace initiative started by its predecessor.

ULFA ban spells doom for Assam film industry, theatres (Go To Top)

         Dispur: Assam's film industry and theater is in the doldrums following a ban imposed by the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) and eight other separatist outfits on the screening of Hindi films since November 2003. Though some of the cinema owners have defied the ban and gone ahead with the screening of Hindi films, but the attendance continues to remain thin in most of the 150 registered halls in the state, causing heavy financial losses. The Assamese film industry, which used to churn out 25 films in Assamese language annually, has produced only five this year. Phani Sharmah, a member of Eastern India Motion Pictures Association, said that the ban has led to 6000 employees losing their jobs. "If the attendance was 40 per cent in the cinema halls, it has come down to 20 per cent. That means 50 per cent attendance is not there. We are just running from hand to mouth. And our staff is poorly paid. We are running just to see that they get the maintenance charges," said Sharmah. Ticket sales in the state have gone down by about 75 percent, said Sharmah, adding that only 15 to 19 regional movies are produced annually which are not enough to help them recover losses. Rakesh Tiwari, a film distributor, said, "The cinema theatre owners wanted to run both Hindi and Assamese films, the distributors wanted to show them also. But with the ban, the Hindi films have not suffered much, instead the Assamese film industry has been hit badly." Tiwari said that they have appealed to the ULFA, which claims that Bollywood films are destroying the local culture, to review its ban. The separatists have not imposed a ban on Western films, which remain popular in the region where English is more widely spoken than Hindi.

Tea worker families die of starvation as units close (Go To Top)

          Kathalguri (W.Bengal): Families of tea workers working in West Bengal are dying of starvation following the closure of tea estates that have left thousands jobless. There are over 263 sprawling tea gardens in the state's beautious northern Darjeeling region employing some 500,000 people as pluckers, machine operators, techinicians or in the packaging units. The units shut down in 2002 citing poor profits and continuous strike by workers demanding better pay benefits like provident fund, gratuity and medical allowances. Workers, however, deny the charges saying that owners are raking in huge profits, but not giving a penny to them. Those lucky enough to escape starvation, have fallen victim to diseases like malaria and diarrhoea because of their exposure to living in dirty and cramped localities. "We are facing problems since July 2002 when our tea estate was shut down. Several people have died since then. Also, recently 13 people died due to diarrohea," Balram Chetri, member of the Kathalguri village body, said. The tea industry in West Bengal forms the backbone of the state's economy. Tea from the gardens in Darjeeling are famous world over for their finest blends. The provincial government had promised to give a monthly allowance of Rs.500 to jobless women, but locals here say that they have detected major discrepancies in this supposed largesse too. Dharma Barai, whose mother died due serious malnutrition, said they never recieved a penny's help from the authorities. "We did not have money and so we could not afford her treatment. We required money to go to hospital which we do not have. There were no doctors, so what else could we do," he said.

Delhi police arrests Hizbul militant (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: The Delhi Police today claimed to have arrested a Hizbul Mujahideen militant from the city's Jama Masjid area. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Ashok Chand said that Shabir Ahmed Shah had been trained in Pakistan and had come here to carry for carrying out disruptive activities. Shah, who hails from Handwara in Jammu and Kashmir, had reportedly undergone plastic surgery in Delhi following injuries sustained in a blast in Kashmir. He is wanted in connection with several acts of militancy, and has booked under various sections of the Criminal Procedure Code (CRPC).