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Meteors strike Saurashtra, no casualties

      Rajkot: An unexpected meteorite shower caused panic in the Saurashtra and Kutch regions of Gujarat on Monday, though no loss of life was reported. Residents of Vandhiya village near Samkhiyali, which lies on the border between the Saurashtra and Kutch regions of North Gujarat, panicked when they witnessed meteors flying over their makeshift dwellings. Reports said two of the dwellings were damaged. News of the event spread like wildfire, compelling the state government into sending probe teams, commissioners of various districts and police officials to investigate the matter and collect pieces of meteorites for further studies. The Special Investigation Officer of Rajkot Rural Police, B.K Rana, visited the village and collected some of the fallen parts of the meteors. "The Superintendent of Police is sending these stones to Junagarh for special investigation. It appears like glass, coated with traces of black soot but there is also glass inside. No loss of life is reported but only two tiles and pipes of a house have been damaged," said Rana. This is not the first time that meteors have been sighted in India. In September 2003, officials investigated a meteorite that had crashed somewhere in Orissa. Witnesses then said that the meteor lit up the night sky "like daylight" in Orissa. One witness said then that skies over seven to eight districts, covering about 14,000 to 15,000 square kilometres" came alight because of the meteors. He said only three people had been injured as a result of the meteorite falling to earth. Earlier reports said at least 20 people had been hurt. According to the state authorities, two large fragments of the meteorite, weighing roughly five kilograms each, were recovered then.

Court rejects Pravin Mahajan's bail plea (Go To Top)

      Mumbai: A sessions court on Tuesday rejected the bail plea of Pravin Mahajan, who is facing charges of murdering his elder brother and BJP General Secretary, Pramod Mahajan. The Mumbai Police submitted before the Sessions Judge that they had prima facie material against Pravin. Sessions judge Abhay Thipsay accepted the police statement and rejected Pravin's bail. On July 29, the court after a brief hearing, posted the matter for further hearing till today. Police had objected to Pravin's bail, saying that if he was released, he would run away. Pravin was arrested on April 22 after he admitted to firing three shots at Pramod Mahajan at the latter's Poornima building apartment in the Worli area of Central Mumbai after an argument. Pravin has been charged with Sections 302 (murder) and 449 (house trespass) of Indian Penal Code. Pravin, a Thane-based builder, is the youngest of three brothers and two sisters. Pramod was the eldest.

Poonch-Rawalakot bus service a record (Go To Top)

      Poonch: The trans LoC Poonch-Rawalakot bus service created a record of sorts when it crossed over to the Indian side of Kashmir at Chakan-Da-Bagh yesterdy. An official said 106 civilians crossed over to the Indian side from Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and 116 civilians from the Indian side crossed over to PoK from here. Out of the 106 civilians who crossed over from PoK, 76 were new passengers and 30 were Indian citizens who were returning to their homes in Jammu and Kashmir after spending time with their relatives and friends in PoK. Similarly, out of the 116 civilians who went to PoK from Poonch, 62 were Indian citizens and 54 residents of PoK who returned to their homes after spending a month or a fortnight here, the local daily, Daily Excelsior reported. Deputy Commissioner, Poonch, Mohd Ramzan Thakur attributed the highest number of civilians crossing over due to the closure of Tatta Pani point for the last one month. India and Pakistan started the Poonch-Rawalakot bus service in June this year, as part of their confidence building measures. Last April, the Srinagar-Muzafffarabad bus service was launched amidst tight security and fanfare with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh flagging off the historic bus service. Plans to start a truck service across the LoC on the Srinagar- Muzaffarabad bus route and a bus service connecting Kargil in India and Skardu in PoK are in the pipeline.

Met department warns of more rains (Go To Top)

      Pune: The Meteorological Department on Tuesday warned that there might be another deluge in western and central parts of the country, saying the current lull in rains could be short-lived. In July, there had been around 95 per cent rains of the long-term average as against the forecast 97 per cent, weather officials said. "There is a brief respite in the rains but we envision that if a certain low pressure area over the northern part of the Bay of Bengal strengthens then it will bring rains and thunder showers to central and western India and also to Orissa. But we cannot say so with conviction as yet, as the data we require to study for that is yet under compilation," said Meera Khole, Director of the meteorological department. The western region of the country has received heavy rainfall in the last one month, with several places inundated. Army had to be called in to evacuate villagers in Maharashtra's Sangli district. Major rivers had risen to alarming levels and inundated their catchments, leading to massive rescue and relocation operations. At least 44 people had died in Maharashtra alone due to heavy rains. The deaths were reported to have taken place due to drowning, lighting strikes and building collapses. Heavy monsoon rains have also lashed neighbouring Gujarat in the past few weeks. At least 55 people have died in rain-related accidents while thousands have been left homeless, officials said. In Orissa, hundreds of hectares of paddy crop -- the state's staple -- were damaged in downpours.

Kashmir Human Rights Commission chief quits

       Srinagar: Disappointed over the Jammu and Kashmir Government's inability to implement even a single recommendation referred to it by State Human Rights Commission (SRHC) despite knowing that human rights abuse was growing in the state, SHRC Chairperson Justice (Retired) Ali Mohammad Mir has quit his post. Justice Mir claimed that the Commission has not been able to accomplish the objective for which it was established. "During my tenure, not a single recommendation made by the Commission has been implemented. In the wake of growing human rights violations in the State, the Commission, under my leadership, has not been able to accomplish the objective for which it was established," said Justice Mir in his resignation letter to Governor Lt. Gen. (retd) S K Sinha. Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's Government appointed Justice Mir as Chairperson of SHRC for a three-year term in October 2003. In his letter, Justice Mir observed that the Government was not serious about the Commission. "I continued in office much against my conscience. I am certain that my further continuance will be of no use," he added. The SHRC was constituted by Dr Farooq Abdullah's National Conference (NC) Government in 1997. Complaints regarding human rights abuse against any government organisation are made to the SHRC and then the Commission conducts investigation and grants relief to victims or their families and suggests remedial measures and recommendations to the Government.

I was treated poorly by PM: Jaswant

      New Delhi: Alleging that he was "treated poorly" by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in connection with the 'mole in the PMO' issue, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Jaswant Singh on Tuesday sought an open debate on the subject. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh dared the former External Affairs Minister, to name the 'mole' during Narsimha Rao's Government who had leaked nuclear secrets to the United States. During a debate in the Upper House on the issue, Manmohan Singh asked him "why was he shying from naming the mole". "If Jaswant Singh doesn't name the mole, let the country draw its own conclusions," he added. In nearly an hour-and-a-half long statement, Jaswant Singh did not name the spy. There was a brief adjournment of the House with the UPA members wanting nothing but the name. Jaswant Singh in his reply said, "The Prime Minister chose not to meet me. I have been treated poorly by the Prime Minister". "There should be an open discussion in the Rajya Sabha," he added. Jaswant Singh has referred to existence of a mole in the Prime Minister's Office in 1991, who was allegedly funnelling nuclear secrets to the United States of America.

Bus falls into Sonepat canal: 8 kids die (Go To Top)

      Sonepat (Haryana): At least eight children were killed when a school bus fell into a canal near Avlana village in Sonepat in Haryana on Tuesday. There were 32 children in the bus at the time of the mishap. They were studying at the Geeta Vidya Mandir in Kheri Gujjar village. Twelve children have been rescued so far. The bus driver escaped from the scene of the mishap, Superintendent of Police (Sonepat Range) Yogendra Nehra said. The Haryana Government has announced a compensation of Rs. two lakh to the families of those killed in the accident.

Two CRPF men killed in militant attack (Go To Top)

     Srinagar: Two personnel of the Central Reserve Police (CRPF) were killed and a civilian injured when unidentified militants opened fire on their patrol vehicle in Srinagar's Dal Gate area today. According to witnesses, the militants fired shots indiscriminately at the patrol vehicle. One of the CRPF personnel died on the spot, while the other succumbed to his injuries while being taken to the hospital. The Dal Gate area has been cordoned off for a security and search check. No militant outfit has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.

India, Pakistan to continue peace talks  (Go To Top)
by Nazrul Islam

      Dhaka: India and Pakistan have agreed to continue their composite dialogue peace process, which came to a halt last month following the serial blasts in Mumbai on July 11, for which India has blamed Pakistani radical groups. Coming out of a bilateral meeting held on the sidelines of the SAARC Standing Committee meeting here, the Indian and Pakistani foreign secretaries expressed the view that the peace process should continue. "The peace process between the two countries is important and all possible efforts should be made to see that this process is not in anyway adversely affected," Indian Foreign Secretary, Shyam Saran, told reporters after meeting his Pakistani counterpart, Riaz Muhammad Khan. The sideline meeting lasted for nearly an hour and was held late on Tuesday night. Khan said the peace process is important for both countries. "There is no other option," he added. Asked what was discussed, he said: "We discussed where we stand and how should we move forward." He termed the meeting as a positive one and assured his Indian counterpart to extend every support for the investigations into the Mumbai blasts, for which the peace process had been stalled. Saran said that they discussed every aspect of the bilateral relations. Asked whether a future date for the resumption of peace talks had come up during the course of the meeting, Saran said that the talks would continue as per an agreed timeline. Commenting on the issue of counter-terrorism, Saran said that Khan had told him that Pakistan was doing everything possible to check terrorism. Khan described his meeting with Saran as candid on all points.

BCCI rules out action against Sehwag (Go To Top)

      Rajkot/Bangalore: Reacting to Virender Sehwag's statement on former skipper Saurav Ganguly's comeback chances, BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah today ruled out possibility of taking any action against the Indian team Vice-captain. Shah said that Sehwag did not say anything that violates the guidelines of the BCCI and the board would not discuss the issue with him. "I spoke to Rahul Dravid and discussed Sehwag's remarks, but Rahul himself had sent him to address the press conference in Bangalore and I do not know for which question Sehwag was answering. But his remarks must be very personal and since he was addressing the press officially, so we (BCCI) do not think that he has breached the guideline set by the board for the players other then the captain and the coach," said Shah. Shah, who had once warned Sehwag on behalf of the board for speaking on Ganguly, admitted that the Indian opener might have some soft corner for his former captain. Ganguly's hopes of a comeback have been raised after a national selector said the sacked former captain was likely to be included in the provisional squad for this year's ICC Champions Trophy to be played in India in October. Currently playing for Northamptonshire in England, India's most successful Test skipper was sacked and, later dropped from the one-day side last October, following a prolonged batting slump, fitness woes and a row with coach Greg Chappell. The 34-year-old was subsequently dropped from the Test side following a 1-0 series loss to Pakistan in January, with chief selector Kiran More saying his panel wanted to infuse young blood. The selectors will meet on August 9 to finalise the initial list for the Champions Trophy, which will be played from October 7 to November 5.

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