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Planning Commission dissolves consultative groups

         New Delhi: In a bid to defuse the controversy over the appointment of "foreign" consultants, the Planning Commission today announced dissolution of all the consultative groups established for mid-term appraisal of the 10th Plan. "The Commission will revert to the earlier practice of consulting individuals separately as part of the mid-term appraisal process," an official statement said.

UPA committed to resolving Kashmir issue: Sonia

         Kargil: President of India's ruling Congress Party on Monday (September 30) said that the government was committed to resolve the Kashmir dispute through talks. "We believe that dialogue is necessary. It has to continue. This is the only way to a final and durable peace. We were even encouraging the then government to proceed on these lines. That continues. That is very much our policy," Gandhi told reporters before addressing a public meeting in the border town of Kargil. Gandhi said that the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session was a step towards establishing peace in the region. The neighbours, who went to the brink of war in 2002, embarked on a peace process last January with a new sense of purpose. But some of that hope has dissipated in recent months, especially after Singh's Congress party won back power in May, replacing the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.

       NCP suspends 13 rebel candidates (Go To Top)

         New Delhi: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which has been plagued by infighting and rebel candidates, on Thursday decided to act tough. The party suspended 13 of its leaders today, most of them rebel candidates in Maharashtra. Among those suspended are three sitting legislators. "The NCP has expelled 13 rebel candidates, including sitting legislators Tukaram Tupe, Vitthal Gosavi and Narsing Patil from the party for six years," party spokesperson Bharti Lavhekar told newsmen. The party has also accepted resignations of three members -- former state unit chief Babanrao Pachpute, Harshvardhan Deshmukh and K P Patil. "The battle has just started. Now strict action will be taken against those who have abandoned the party line. But before that all our attention will be to defeat them," said party supreme Sharad Pawar.

Eight killed in Ghaziabad factory blast (Go To Top)

         Ghaziabad: At least eight persons were killed and 10 injured in an explosion in Ghaziabad on Thursday. The explosion in some scrap occurred inside a factory situated in the Link Road area, near the border with Delhi, police sources said. All the victims were the workers of the factory, they said. The explosion occurred at around 3.30 pm when the scrap was being unloaded, the sources said. The blast is suspected to have occurred in some shells in the scrap, they said.

Two militants killed in Agartala (Go To Top)

         Agartala: Assam Rifles security personnel killed at least two militants in Khowai area, around 140 km southeast of Agartala in West Tripura district. The slain militants were said to be affiliated with the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT), Bishwamohan (NLFT-BM) group. According to AR spokesman, the incident took place around 10 a.m. when a party from Champahur post of 22 AR on information of militant movement laid an ambush at Durgacharanpara, 4.5 km under Champhawar police station in Khowai. On locating a group of 10-15 armed militants, they challenged them but were fired upon. The AR personnel retaliated, and in the firing which continued for around half an hours, two militants died. The rest fled into the dense jungle. There was no report of any casualty or injury in the AR part. Later, during search of the area two AK rifles, four magazines, 104 round of ammunition and several indiscriminating documents were recovered from the possession of the slain militants.

Three killed in Orissa blast (Go To Top)

         Bhubaneswar: At least three persons were today killed and 12 injured in an explosion at Ambadola in Rayagada district in Orissa. The blast occurred when a person, travelling in a jeep, was unloading his luggage of two bags after alighting at Ambadola at around 9 a.m. The jeep was going from Muniguda to Rayagada. While one died on the way to the hospital, the two others succumbed to injuries in the hospital. Police said the whereabouts of the man in whose baggage the explosives were believed to have been kept was being ascertained.

Three killed in IED explosion near Baramulla (Go To Top)

        Srinagar: Three persons were killed and five others injured in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosion by militants in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir today, official sources said. The militants had planted the IED at Kanishpora, near local depot of Food Corporation of India on Baramulla-Delina road. According to the sources, it went off when a security convoy was passing by, killing three civilians on the spot and injuring five others. The convoy, however, remained unharmed. No militant group has taken responsibility for the blast.

Three militants killed in Doda (Go To Top)

        Jammu: Three suspected Hizbul Mujahideen militants were killed in an encounter in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir, official sources said here today. According to the sources, one of them has been identified as Abu Hanief, a Hizbul Tehsil commander. Three AK rifles, six magazines, 124 rounds of ammunitions, three grenades, one rocket, seven mines and one radio set have been recovered.

35 killed in Baghdad bombings (Go To Top)

        Baghdad: At least 35 people were killed in a multiple bomb attack on a US military convoy travelling through Baghdad. Police said the first blast appeared to be a car bomb, which was followed by two more as US soldiers rushed to help those hit in the first explosion. A local hospital source said it had received many dead bodies, including many children, besides dozens of injured people.

Blair allows citizenship rights to Gurkhas (Go To Top)

        London: The Tony Blair government has allowed the Gurkhas in the British Army to settle in the UK and gain British citizenship. According to a BBC report, the announcement made by the Prime Minister himself follows a government review and a campaign by the Nepalese soldiers. While making the announcement, Blair said that the Gurkhas had made an "enormous contribution" and it was important that their commitment and sacrifice were recognised. Gurkhas have fought as part of the British Army for almost 200 years.

US waives sanctions against Indian space, nuclear entities (Go To Top)

        Washington: Moving a step forward in strengthening bilateral ties between the United States and India, the US Commerce Department has lifted some of the sanctions against the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) subordinate entities and Department of Atomic Energy entities. US decision to lift sanctions against these entities would ease export of some high tech items to the country. The ISRO subordinate entities against which sanctions have been lifted include - ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network; ISRO Inertial Systemsnit, Thiruvananthapuram; Liquid Propulsion Systems Center; Solid Propellant Space Booster Plant; Space Applicatons Center, Ahmadabad; Sriharikota Space Centre; Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram.

Kiran More appointed chairman of selection committee (Go To Top)

         Kolkata: Former Test wicket-keeper Kiran More today appointed chairman of the national selection committee in place of Syed Kirmani whose three-year term has ended, according to a senior Board member. VB Chandrasekhar of South Zone has been included in the committee to take Kirmani's place, the BCCI member, who was part of the deliberations, said. Kirti Azad of North Zone has been replaced in the five-member committee by former Test star Yashpal Sharma while Gopal Sharma took the place of Sanjay Jagdale of Central Zone as his term also come to an end. Pranab Roy of East has been retained. A former announcement about the reconstitution of the committee would be made.

BCCI clears Sony for India, Australia series coverage (Go To Top)

        Kolkata: The new president of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Ranbir Singh Mahendra, on Thursday said that the Test series between India and Australia will be shown on Sony Television. The BCCI president said that Ten Sports will produce the live feed for the Cricket Board, but he refused to comment on television rights since the matter is in court. "The board has decided to produce the live telecast of the series itself and distribution will be done by Sony TV," Mahendra told newsmen. Mahendra said based on the recommendations of its Marketing Committee, the Board had decided to produce the live telecast itself. He also said live feeds would be produced by Ten Sports network for BCCI, while "telecast, distribution and marketing" would be done by Sony Entertainment Network on a "revenue sharing basis". The telecast of India-Pakistan Platinum Jubilee match on November 13 and two-Test series between India and South Africa in November-December would be done under the same arrangement, Mahendra said. He said the live telecast would be subject to any order passed by the Supreme Court, where a matter is pending in this regard.