| Cyclone
Aila claims 11 lives in Bengal Kolkata:
At least eleven people have been killed across West Bengal by cyclone Aila.
High speed winds of 90 kmph lashed Kolkata and surrounding areas on Monday, uprooting
over 80 trees across the city. Several vehicles were damaged and main thoroughfares
were blocked by fallen trees. Five persons have been killed in road accidents
in Kolkata. Four were killed in South 24 Parganas, one person in Howrah and one
in Bankura district. Winds with a speed of 100 kmph lashed the coastal areas of
East Midnapore, South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas. The army has been deployed
in both South and North 24 Paraganas districts, where several rivers have breached
their embankments to flood many villages. Heavy rainfall up to 25 cm is expected
in South and North Bengal. According to Dr Gokul Chandra Debnath, Director, Regional
Meteorological Centre, such cyclones are normal during the storm season, which
come ahead of the monsoons. Dr Debnath said the monsoons have arrived, ahead of
time. Normally, monsoons arrive in Bengal only in the first week of June. Violence
rocks Punjab over Vienna Gurdwara shootout Top Phagwara/Jalandhar/Patiala/Amritsar:
Several parts of Punjab are experiencing heavy bouts of violence in protest
against a shooting incident that took place in a Sikh Gurdwara in Austrian capital
Vienna on Sunday. Thousands of agitated protestors came onto the roads on Sunday
and Monday, creating a law and order probelem in Patiala, Jalandhar, Phagwara
and Amritsar. Protestors also indulged in sloganeering. Some of them smashed vehicles,
damaged shops, burnt buses and forced shop owners to down shutters of their outlets.
In Patiala, shopowners were asked down the shutters of their business establishments.
Protesters burnt tyres on roads to block movement of traffic. In Jalandhar, curfew
had to be imposed after violence. Nearly 20 kilometres of road between Jalandhar
and Phagwara were blocked and damaged by protesters despite the presence of heavy
security. The Army’s help has been sought to bring the situation under control
in the city. At some places, mediapersons have also been attacked. In Phagwara,
a large number of protestors blocked traffic. At least three bogies of Kanyakumari-Jammu
Tavi Express were set on fire and another train near Phagwara was attacked by
agitated protestors on Monday morning. The authorities have closed the Jalandhar-Phagwara
road to prevent an escalation of violence. In Amritsar, protests were taking place
in several parts. The Delhi-Ambala Highway was also blocked. According to railway
authorities, rail services have been disrupted or suspended due to violence in
Jalandhar, Phagwara and other parts of the State. On
Sunday evening, Jalandhar witnessed protests over the shooting incident in Vienna
in which at least 11 people were reportedly injured. Tension gripped Jalandhar
as soon as the news about the shooting of Sant Niranjan Dass, the head of Dera
Sachkhand Ballan, reached the city. Agitated followers turned violent and torched
several vehicles. Local authorities and witnesses initially said the assailants
were from two feuding families, but later they said, it involved members of rival
Sikh groups in Vienna who had been at odds for several years. In
New Delhi, External Affairs Minister SM Krishna said the Indian Government would
take all necessary steps to bring the culprits of the Vienna violence in which
Sant Rama Nand died. The violence in Vienna occurred soon after the second in
command of the Dera Saccha Khand Baland (a Sikh school of thought), Sant Ramanand
and Sant Niranjan Dass were invited to deliver a sermon at the gurudwara. They
were allegedly assaulted by at least six followers of the gurudwara with knives
and guns. Over 20 people were injured in the attack. Sant Ramanand, 57, succumbed
to injuries in a hospital. Gold,
silver looted from Mumbai airport Top Mumbai:
Four armed men looted packets containing 100 kg of gold and silver coins from
Air India cargo terminal at Mumbai airport on Monday. A security guard was injured
during the incident and was rushed to a nearby hospital. "It was a case of robbery.
This is not related to terrorism," said Rakesh Maria, Mumbai police official.
Security in and around the airport has been tightened after the firing and search
is being carried out to nab the robbers. Madhav
Kumar sworn in as Nepal Prime Minister Top Kathmandu:
Newly elected Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal took oath of office and secrecy
on Monday. President Dr Ram Baran Yadav administered the oath of office and secrecy
to the newly elected Prime Minister amidst a ceremony at the Presidential residence
in Shital Niwas this morning. Vice-President Paramananda Jha, Constituent Assembly
(CA) Chairman Subash Chandra Namwang, various political party leaders, chiefs
of security bodies, heads of the government and international diplomatic representatives
were present at the ceremony. Madhav Kumar, a UML (Unified Marxist Leninist) nominee,
was chosen ''unopposed'' as the new Prime Minister of Nepal during a legislature-parliamentary
session of the Constituent Assembly (CA) on Saturday. Fifty six-year-old Madhav
Kumar, an alumni of Bihar''''s Goenka College, received the support of around
360 legislators of 22 political parties, excluding 238 legislators from Maoists
and two from the Communist Party of Nepal (United). He was the Deputy Prime Minister
in the Nepalese government during the CPN (UML) minority government as well as
the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly. He campaigned for the solution
of Nepal Civil War through talks and did not believe that mobilization of the
army was the solution. He was arrested in 2001 during a crackdown on anti-government
protest. Following the palace massacre he called for Prime Minister Girija Prasad
Koirala to step down, though later joined forces with him to launch a campaign
against King Gyanendra''''s assumption of executive powers. On April 12, 2008,
Nepal resigned as General Secretary of the CPN (UML) after having lost the Kathmandu-2
seat to Maoist candidate Jhakku Prasad Subedi in the 2008 Constituent Assembly
election. Nepal was also defeated in Rautahat-6 constituency by CPN(M) candidate
Devendra Patel. In June 2008, the CPN (UML) proposed that M. K. Nepal become the
country''s first President, following the declaration of the country as a republic.
North Korea
tests a second nuclear weapon Top Pyong
Yang (North Korea): The North Korean Government on Monday formally announced
that it had conducted a second nuclear test, an event that is likely to invite
strong criticism from the international community. In a statement issued through
the official Korean Central News Agency, the North Korean Government said: “The
Democratic People''s Republic of Korea successfully conducted one more underground
nuclear test on May 25 as part of the measures to bolster up its nuclear deterrent
for self-defence in every way as requested by its scientists and technicians.”
"The current nuclear test was safely conducted on a new higher level in terms
of its explosive power and technology of its control and the results of the test
helped satisfactorily settle the scientific and technological problems arising
in further increasing the power of nuclear weapons and steadily developing nuclear
technology,” the Telegraph further quoted the statement, as saying. Musharraf
buys flat in UK, to be new neighbour of Tony Blair Top
London: Pakistan’s former president General (retired) Pervez Musharraf has
bought a flat in the Edgeware Road neighbourhood where former British premier
Tony Blair lives and Interior Minister Rehman Malik possesses a house, sources
have said. Malik’s flat was the venue of the signing of the historic Charter of
Democracy between the late Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. But some of his close
friends in London said that Musharraf is looking around to buy a flat in central
London, preferably around Edgware Road area where most of the property is owned
by Arabs and where a two-bed room flat costs around pounds 500,000 to pounds 700,000.
Others said that he was looking for a villa in Chelsea where the property was
worth between two million pounds to five million pounds. In London, Musharraf
stays at the Richmond house of his old friend and long-standing bridge partner
Brigadier Niaz, The Dawn reported. Musharraf’s close friends also insist that
he has no intention of settling down in the UK. 12
labourers die while digging in Adilabad Top Adilabad
(Andhra Pradesh): In a tragic incident at least 12 labourers, including five
women, were killed and one person wounded when earth caved in while they were
digging in Andhra Pradesh's Adilabad district on Monday. According to the police,
the digging was being done to strengthen the base of an electricity tower at Mulkala
village in Mancherial mandal of Adilabad district. Though seven to eight metres
deep earth had been dug using a machine, the labourers went inside to put cement
material to strengthen the base of the massive tower before the earth caved in,
official stated. The bodies of the deceased had been taken out and the wounded
labourer was admitted to a hospital. All labourers belonged to Devarakadra of
Mahabubnagar district. Supreme
Court grants bail to Binayek Sen Top New
Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to Chhattisgarh human rights
activist Binayek Sen, who has been charged with aiding and abetting Naxal activities
in Chhattisgarh and was lodged in a jail for the past 22 months. Sen has been
in custody since May 2007, and he contended that there was no evidence against
him to be booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. The Chhattisgarh
Government has accused Sen, who is the vice-president of the People's Union of
Civil Liberties (PUCL), of acting as a courier for an alleged Naxalite who is
in jail. Earlier, Sen had filed a bail petition for an urgent hearing. The Supreme
Court Vacation Bench comprising Justices Markandey Katju and Deepak Vermahad had
said that the matter would be listed for hearing on May 25, after senior advocate
Shanti Bhushan mentioned Sen's petition in which a notice was issued to the Chhattisgarh
government. After the notice, a Bench headed by Justice D. K. Jain had directed
the state government to provide medical aid to Sen, who has been suffering from
heart ailments. He had sought bail on medical grounds, saying that he had been
suffering from a heart ailment and needs treatment at the Christian Medical College
in Tamil Nadu. Sen, a doctor by profession, had also sought bail on the ground
that the chargesheet against him has already been filed and he has remained in
jail during the investigation of the case registered against him. |
