Indian toll 21 in Bahrain boat tragedy

     New Delhi: The number of Indians who died in Thursday`s boat tragedy off the coast of Bahrain has risen to 21, and it includes five women. Of the Indians who died in the mishap, seven were from Kerala, three from Tamil Nadu, two each from Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Goa and Karnataka, and one from Bihar. The details about two other Indians were not yet known, a spokesman of the Indian embassy in Manama, Bahrain, was quoted as saying on Saturday. He said arrangements were being made to send the bodies to the victims` homes, in consultations with their relatives and the Bahrain authorities. Meanwhile, the condition of three injured Indians, being treated at a government hospital in Manama is stated to be satisfactory. In all, 57 people of various nationalities were killed when the overloaded wooden boat on a dinner cruise capsized off the coast of Bahrain, about one kilometre from a causeway connecting two islands in the Gulf state. Sixtyseven people were rescued.

    Following is the list of the Indian nationals who died in Thursday`s boat tragedy. Kerala: Sikhil Babu, Abdul Latif Abdul Wahab, Santosh Chakra Puthenpurackal, Kuthyil Mohammad. Majeed, Arby Mathews, Basant Kumar and Siru Arby Tamil Nadu: Saravanan Kumar Murugesan, Chellappan Thirugnam and Muthukumar Murugan Andhra Pradesh: Nag Bhushan Pilla and Mrs. Nag Bhushan Pilla Delhi: Alok Kumar Verma and Mrs. Kirit Verma Bihar: Mohammad Hassnein Goa: Clarence William and Maryan Vyland Karnataka: Sayeed Farooq Syed Ahmed and Mrs. Rabiah Farooq Maharashtra: Saur Suhas Thorar.

Dwarka sub-city metro opens for public (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: The extension of Delhi Metro Barakhamba Road-Dwarka line within the Dwarka sub-city in south-west Delhi will be open for public use today. The new section has six stations in Dwarka. These are Sector 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14. The last station in the section is at Sector-9. With the addition of the new section, 6.5 km is added to the Delhi Metro network that is now covering over 62 km. Earlier, the distance between two stations on the network was 40.5 km from Rithala to Dwarka, but now, it is now 47 km from Rithala to Dwarka Sector-9. A unique feature of the metro stations in the Dwarka sub-city is that the stations are just 6.7 m high, compared to the 12-12.5 m height on other elevated sections. The frequency of metro trains to the sub-city will be every ten minutes. According to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation sources, there will be no hype in fares, though the distances to be covered by the train have increased. There will be no change in the fare structure much to the relief of the passengers. The minimum fare will remain Rs 6 and the maximum will continue to be Rs 22, even for the additional stations. From Sector 9 to 14, the journey will cost Rs 9. At present, the only mode of transport inside the sub-city is the rickshaw. This journey costs about Rs 20 on rickshaw. Sector 9 to Uttam Nagar East will be Rs 12, till Kashmiri Gate ISBT Rs 19 and just Rs 18 till CP. Metro is expecting an increase of about 25,000 in its ridership. At present, the ridership of the entire system is about 4.5 lakh. Even work was also set to begin on further extension of the Metro beyond Sector 9, to Dwarka Sector 22, towards the international airport. The Metro service yesterday was flagged off by Outer Delhi MP Sajjan Kumar. The Delhi Metro started operating on December 24, 2002, becoming one of Asia's newest rapid transit systems.

RAF to rein in striking Delhi traders (Go To Top)
by Chandrika Jain

      New Delhi: The Government of Delhi on Saturday ordered the deployment of the elite Rapid Action Force (RAF) in key markets of the capital, as traders and shopkeepers refused to relent and stop their protests against a drive by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to seal their business establishments in line with a high court order. Hundreds of traders came out on to the roads in Kapashera, an area lying between the states of Delhi and Haryana to protest against the sealing drive. Ravinder Arora, a shop owner in Karol Bagh, said: "The earnings from this shop is the only source of earning of me, and therefore I had to open it today. If the MCD's demolition drive continues, we will again go on strike". The shopowners and traders of Karol Bagh have been on a 48-hour strike since Thursday. Due to the strike called by traders even the daily buyers had to suffer. Shouting slogans, traders of the marble market in Rajouri Garden surrounded the MCD office and locked its gates. They claimed that the sealing drive was unwarranted as their shops were not causing pollution or traffic jams. Around 194 shops were sealed on Thursday. The Supreme Court of India had asked the MCD to seal all commercial establishments operating from residential areas in the national capital in violation of the Master Plan. According to the trade bodies, the order would affect over 500,000 people directly making a living through this.

UPDC post not one of profit: Amar Singh (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: Replying to the Election Commission's notice in connection with holding an "office of profit", Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh said on Saturday that the Uttar Pradesh Development Council (UPDC) is not a government body. Singh, who is the Chairman of the UPDC, said that the council was registered under the Societies Act and it was not a government body. He said that the Election Commission had also misinterpreted the case of former Rajya Sabha member Jaya Bachchan, whom the commission had disqualified on the ground that her chairpersonship of the UP Film Development Council was an office of profit. The Election Commission had issued notice to Singh on March 10 on a petition seeking his disqualification from the Rajya Sabha on the ground that he held an office of profit and asked him to file a reply by 31st March. He will send a detailed reply later, the sources said. The Uttar Pradesh State Assembly had on March 30 passed a UPDC Bill 2006 to accord institutional status to the Council, with retrospective effect from October 15, 2003. As per the provisions of the new bill, the chairman of the UPDC would be appointed by the state government and would enjoy five years term. Chief Secretary of the state has been designated as the convener of the council. Besides the state government would have the authority to nominate 12 members from the Indian corporate world, who would also have a five years term. The government has also reserved the right to appoint special invitees to the council. State Governor TV Rajeshwar is yet to give his consent to the Bill. The UPDC was set up as a society under the Firms and Societies Act on October 10, 2003. Apart from Bollywood icon Amitabh Bacchan, who is also the brand ambassador of UP and Well-known industrialist Anil Ambani, the council includes Kumarmanglam Birla, former Hindisutan Lever chairman M S Banga, Adi Godrej, M V Kamath, and Subrato Roy. Anil Ambani recently quit his Rajya Sabha membership following the office of profit controversy. Ambani was elected to the Upper House as an independent candidate with the SP's support in 2004 along with Bachchan.

Third phase of Bengal polls (Go To Top)

     Kolkata: The Election Commission today issued a notification for the third phase of the assembly elections in West Bengal, slated for April 27. Polling will take place in 77 assembly constituencies in Kolkata, North 24-Pargans and South 24-Parganas Districts. Twenty-one constituencies are in Kolkata and 28 constituencies each in North 24-Parganas and South 24-Parganas districts, said West Bengal's Chief Electoral Officer, Debasish Sen. Nominations for the third phase of election have begun and would continue till April eight, Sen said, adding that the scrutiny of nominations for the third phase poll would be held on April 10. The last date for the withdrawal of nominations is April 12. Sen said that the Election Commission is monitoring the activities of political parties to ensure that they remain within the bounds of the Model Code of Conduct that came into force on March 1 this year.

MEA official summoned from Brazil (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: Senior diplomat Rakesh Kumar has been asked to cut short his visit to Brazil and return to New Delhi to answer CBI queries regarding his alleged role in a human trafficking case. Kumar, who is expected in the capital sometime today, is in Brazil attending the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) forum meeting. Kumar, Special Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs, has been asked to report here to help in the probe, sources said here on Friday. Kumar was part of the Indian delegation, led by Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma, at the meeting scheduled for March 29-31. The Indian delegation was scheduled to return late tonight or in the wee hours of Sunday. Kumar, a 1972 batch ifs officer, faces allegations of criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery, in a CBI case pertaining to trafficking of nine individuals to Berlin during his tenure as Director General of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) in September last. He is likely to be questioned by CBI soon after his arrival.

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