NewsBriefs
Back to Headlines

Boucher, MEA officials discuss nuke deal

      New Delhi: US Assistant Secretary of State for Central and South Asia, Richard Boucher, held talks with senior Ministry of External Affairs officials in the capital on Monday. A government spokesman said that Boucher had fruitful meetings with S.Jaishanker, Joint Secretary (Americas) and the Joint Secretary (Eurasia). The discussions included a review of the follow up action to the March 2, 2006 and 18 July 2005 Joint Statements. They noted that considerable progress has been made on economic, trade, agriculture, energy, science and technology and defence cooperation areas outlined in those statements. Views were also exchanged on regional issues of mutual concern. Boucher was scheduled to meet Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran later in the evening.

India, Tajikistan ink five pacts

      New Delhi: India and Tajikistan on Monday inked five bilateral cooperation pacts, and will sign a sixth one on Tuesday. The pacts, according to an MEA release included a Joint Declaration signed by both Tajik President Emomali Rahmonov and Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. Apart from the Joint Declaration, the other five agreements inked included an MoU on energy cooperation, a programme of cooperation in the field of science and technology, an MOU on foreign office consultations, an agreement on promoting cultural exchange programmes and an MOU on Cooperation between the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) and Tajik Academy of Sciences. The last agreement will be signed at the ICWA on Tuesday, said an MEA spokesman.

Varanasi Shiv Sainiks court arrest (Go To Top)

      Varanasi: Hundreds of Shiv Sena activists courted arrest here on Monday while attempting to breach a disputed religious site and offer prayers there. Over 125 members of Shiv Sena were arrested while trying to worship at a religious site in the temple city of the country on the last day of Shravan. "We are Hindus and to exercise our duties and responsibilities, we attempted to reach the Lord's designated site and conduct the religious ceremony. But the State administration in an attempt to appease the Muslim vote bank has snatched away our basic right. Today, we were denied the right to offer our respects to the Shringar Gauri and Baba Vishwanath. We honour our country's republic status and therefore we are courting arrests," said Gulshan Kapoor, Chief of Shiv Sena's Varanasi unit. The police arrested the activists, saying that no breach of court orders would be allowed at the site. "The site is involved in a dispute and the outcome from the courts of the land is awaited. Until then, these people have no right to go in there and attempt worship," said Kamlesh Bahadur, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Varanasi. Hindu activists had claimed a mosque adjacent to a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva in Varanasi, which they claim stands at the site of temple.

Expelled Kaul returns to India  (Go To Top)
by Ravinder Singh Robin

      Wagah: A relived Indian diplomat Deepak Kaul crossed into India on Monday evening, forty-eight hours after being expelled by the Pakistan Government for allegedly performing and undertaking duties not compatible with his diplomatic status. Wearing a white shirt, Kaul alighted from his car on Indian side of the Wagah border, and told reporters that what he had experienced should not happen to any diplomat. He also said that the actions of Saturday did not speak well of the Pakistan Government. Kaul, who entered India at 5.45 p.m., was received by senior immigration and customs officials. "I am disappointed. Eight persons of Pakistan security pounced upon me, picked me, put me in a car, handcuffed me and interrogated me for five hours," he said before leaving for Amritsar. Kaul , however refused to comment whether his expulsion would have any adverse impact on relations between India and Pakistan. "I can't comment on it," he said. Kaul's expulsion invited a tit-for-tat response from New Delhi, which expelled Pakistani diplomat Syed Mohamed Rafiq Ahmed on similar charges. Meanwhile, Pakistan said that the expulsion of diplomats should not make any difference to the peace process. "In our view the expulsions should make no difference to the peace process," Tasnim Aslam, the Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson told newspersons at a weekly briefing in Islamabad.

S-I, 2 others killed in Tripura ambush (Go To Top)

     Agartala: Three persons, including a Sub-Inspector, were killed and two others were seriously injured in an ambush near here on Monday evening. The incident took place at around 6.30 p.m. at Hadukalakpara area on National Highway 44 near Geolcherra under Ambasa Police Station in Dhalai district, about 110 km east of Agartala. The deceased included on Sub-Inspector Apan Devburman, one Constable and their driver. The attack is suspected to have been carried out by the National Liberation Front of Tripura's (NLFT) Biswamohan faction. Meanwhile, a search operation has been launched to catch those behind the incident. The attack is being seen as an act of terror just ahead of the Independence Day.

Chhattisgarh BJP chief sacked (Go To Top)

      Raipur: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday sacked Shiv Pratap Singh from the post of party's Chhattisgarh unit chief, for allegedly involving in anti-party activities. Pratap Singh had been critical of Chief Minister Raman Singh and was allegedly trying to unite the party's tribal legislators against the State government. The sacked leader represents the Surajpur assembly constituency. The party was contemplating bringing Lok Sabha MP from Rajgarh and a tribal leader Vishnudeo Sai in place of Shiv Pratap Singh. Meanwhile, expelled BJP leader and Bharatiya Janshakti Party President Uma Bharti has offered Shiv Pratap Singh to join her outfit.

Rains hit road, rail, air traffic in Mumbai (Go To Top)

     Mumbai: Unrelenting rains in and around Mumbai have taken a severe toll of transportion and communication services. Traffic on roads, rails and air has been adversely affected, placing commuters in a difficult situation. On Monday morning, trains on the western route were delayed by 20 to 30 minutes due to increase in the water level at Matunga, Dadar and Mahalakshmi stations, railway sources said. Road traffic along main routes were free of water-logging. Rains have led the authorities to throw open potholes to facilitate the free flow of water off the roads. Poor visibility has also affected flight services. Meanwhile, the weather bureau has warned fishermen not to venture out to sea. Total rainfall recorded during the last 24 hours till 8.30 a.m. today was 191.6 mm at Colaba in southern Mumbai and 224.2mm at Santa Cruz in the suburbs, the weather bureau sources said. The flood situation in Maharashtra continues to remain grim. People in Nanded, Parbhani and Hingoli districts are being extended all help by eight army companies and five helicopters. Around 1,00,000 people have been evacuated from the flood- affected areas in the state so far.

CBI court summons Bangaru Lakshman (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: Taking cognizance of a chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) last month against former BJP President Bangaru Lakshman in the infamous Tehelka tape case, a special court on Monday directed him to appear before it on August 21. The chargesheet, which was first in the Tehelka expose episode, was filed on July 18 under Section 9 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Special CBI Judge I K Kocchar will also take up the application filed on behalf of Lakshman for regular bail on the same day. The CBI had in 2004 registered five cases in connection with the Tehelka expose, including one naming Lakshman and two of his personal staff members - Uma Maheshwar Raju Alias Raju Venkatesh and Satyamurthy - under Section 120-B (conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act. A major political controversy had broken out when the Tehelka tapes were made public march 2001, leading to the resignation of Lakshman and then Defence Minister George Fernandes who was, however, reinducted after the 9/11 terror attacks in the US. Lakshman was shown in the Tehelka video footage accepting the money and demanding additional payments in dollars for rendering assistance in the fictitious firm`s effort to sell hand-held thermal imagers to the armed forces. In the meetings, the company representatives had held "detailed discussions with the former (BJP) president and sought his assistance and patronage in getting favourable orders from the Ministry of Defence in respect of hand-held thermal imagers offered to be supplied by the (fictitious company) west end international for the use of the Indian Army," the CBI chargesheet had alleged after a 15-month probe. Simultaneously, they offered Rs five lakh to the then BJP president, out of which the "first payment of Rs one lakh was received by the said president on January five, 2001 and for the balance amount, when the said persons enquired from the said president as to his preference for having the same in rupees or dollars, Lakshman gave the preference for dollars," the CBI chargesheet claimed.

Notice to Centre on war room leak (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday issued a notice to the Centre on a PIL seeking direction to the Intelligence Bureau (IB) to share confidential information with the CBI in the infamous Navy War room leak case. In the PIL, the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) alleged that the IB was hiding certain vital information to protect highly influential persons. Following reports that the leaks pertain to purchase of six French 'Scorpene' submarines worth Rs 13,000-crore the Government had referred the case to the CBI. A Delhi court on July 22 had remanded businessman Abhishek Verma to ten days police custody. Verma accused of offences under sec 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and relevant sections of the Official Secrets Act, 1923 was arrested in the case on July 21 CBI claims that Verma had passed on sensitive information to the other accused in the case Commander Kulbhushan Parashar and Ravi Shankaran, who is absconding, and the "foreign office bearers" of Atlas Group of Companies, with whom he allegedly had close links. A Delhi court on July 5 had granted bail to Mukesh Bajaj and Raj Rani Jaiswal accused in this case on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh each and a local surety of the same amount. CBI had arrested Bajaj and Jaiswal from Pune on April 6. The CBI had filed a fresh chargesheet on July 3 against former defence officials including Commander Kulbushan Parashar, sacked Naval Commanders Vijender Rana and V K Jha and former Air Force Wing Commander S L Surve. Earlier in December last year, when intelligence officers had found a pen drive from senior Air Force Officer Wing Commander S L Surve which reportedly contained classified naval information, the Navy had formed a board of inquiry. On June 23, 19 places, including 15 in New Delhi were raided by the CBI in this connection. Earlier, the CBI had conducted nation-wide raids on April 6 and questioned nine people in connection with the case besides declaring Ravi Shankaran, a kin of Naval Chief Admiral Arun Prakash, a proclaimed offender.

Amritsar-Vilaspur Express derails (Go To Top)

     Nagpur: Landslides caused by heavy rains led to the derailment of five coaches and the engine of the Amritsar- Vilaspur 'Chhattisgarh Express' near Nagpur on Monday morning. The train derailed between Maramjhiri and Dharakhoh, which comes under the jurisdiction of the Central Railways. No casualties were reported, but railway authorities said that movement of trains along the North-South route has been diverted. Senior railway officials are at the site to monitor rehabiltation and service resumption efforts.

Men in Blue on a musical date (Go To Top)

     Bangalore: Taking a break from their gruelling training sessions, the Indian cricket team on Sunday spent a musical evening with a visually impaired orchestra band and pledged their support for the band. For the 11-member Indian Disabled League (IDL) Blind Band, the moment was a special one as their first live show was graced by Team India. The Men in Blue, swayed by the soft tilting music of the band, tapped their feet during the performance. Praising the young musicians, Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar said: "Zakir Hussain would be more than happy to give the tabla to him. It's great that such an artist can promote talented tabla players. I heard some real good guitar and many other instruments and I am sure the musicians would be more than happy to help them out. I will try my best". The band consists of six instrumentalists and six vocalists and sings in several Indian languages. They are trained professionally in singing and are able to play guitar, flute, keyboard, tabla, bongo and triplet. Members of the Indian cricket team interacted with the band members in an effort to boost their morale and fight disability. Nagina, a member of the band, was excited to meet the cricketers, and said: "I am feeling very happy (to perform in front of Sachin) and want to become a popular singer one day". The Indian cricket team is attending a conditioning camp in Bangalore before their forthcoming tri-series in Sri Lanka, which is scheduled to begin from August 14.

Back to Headlines                  Go To Top