Month: April 2010

Police to destroy 24 kg RDX after judgement in 26/11 case

by

Mumbai, April 29: Police plans to dispose of 24 kgs of RDX recovered from the target spots of the 26/11 terror attack after the verdict in the case is delivered on May 3.

Judge M H Tahaliyani had last month allowed police to dispose of the RDX recovered from the terror target areas.

The RDX will be burnt in a controlled atmosphere in the presence of a magistrate, crime branch sources told PTI, adding that they have yet to decide the place where the explosive would be destroyed.

World champion Anand wins fourth game to go 1 up

by

Bulgaria, April 29: World champion Viswanathan Anand scored a rampaging victory over challenger Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria in the fourth game to grab the lead in the 12-game World Chess championship in Sofia.

Anand, who had lost the first game unceremoniously won the second in sparkling fashion and after drawing the third and winning the fourth game comprehensively, the fans are looking up to him to do what he did to Russian Vladimir Kramnik a couple of years ago at Bonn in Germany.

The scores are now on Anand’s side as he leads the 12-games match by a 2.5-1.5 margin.

Police to destroy 24kg RDX after judgement in 26/11 case

by

Mumbai, April 29: Police plans to dispose off 24 kgs of RDX recovered from the target spots of the 26/11 terror attack after the verdict in the case is delivered on May 3.

Judge MH Tahaliyani had last month allowed police to dispose off the RDX recovered from the terror target areas.

The RDX will be burnt in a controlled atmosphere in the presence of a magistrate, crime branch sources told PTI, adding that they have yet to decide the place where the explosive would be destroyed.

2 Palestinian kids killed by Israeli jeep

by

Jerusalem, April 29: Two Palestinian children have been killed in a collision between an Israeli army jeep and a tractor.

In the incident, an Israeli army jeep hit the trailer of a tractor in the Jordan Valley of the occupied West Bank.

The children, aged four and five, were on the tractor with two other Palestinians who were seriously injured, AFP reported on Wednesday.

Two Israeli soldiers in the jeep were slightly injured.

An Israeli army spokesman said two girls were “killed in a road accident” without giving further details.

——–Agencies

US flight diverted after bomb threat

by

Raleigh, April 29: A domestic Continental Airlines flight enroute to the US capital was diverted to North Carolina on Wednesday after an apparent bomb threat was found in the plane’s bathroom.

A message scrawled on an airplane restroom mirror “left the impression that it could be a bomb situation on the airplane,” said Ted Johnson, executive director of Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greenboro, North Carolina.

Man stabs 28 children at kindergarten in China

by

Beijing, April 29: A knife-wielding man wounded 28 children and three adults Thursday at a kindergarten in eastern Jiangsu province, the second such violent assault at a Chinese school in two days.

Five of the students were in critical condition in hospital, said Zhu Guiming, an official with the propaganda department in Taixing city. Zhu said two teachers and a security guard also were hurt.

The attacker was a 47-year-old local man, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Ahmadinejad plans NY trip, US says

by

Tehran, April 29: The US State Department says Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has applied to visit the US to attend a nuclear non-proliferation conference in New York.

US State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley confirmed that the applications for Ahmadinejad and his delegation had been submitted in Bern, Switzerland, and he indicated they were likely to be approved.

“We have certain responsibilities as the host of the UN,” The Washington Post quoted Crowley as saying on Wednesday.

Americans losing faith in healthcare

by

Washington, April 29: Despite the passage of a sprawling healthcare bill, the American public is steadily losing confidence in receiving healthcare, survey suggests.

The Thomson Reuters Consumer Healthcare Sentiment Index revealed on Wednesday that confidence lost three percentage points from a baseline of 100 in December to 97 in March.

“Strikingly, Americans expect the situation to worsen significantly in the next three months,” said Gary Pickens, chief research officer at Thomson Reuters.

Knife-wielding Chinese man attacks 26 students

by

Beijing, April 29: A knife-wielding man attacked 26 children at a kindergarten in eastern China on Thursday in the third such attack in a month, state media reported.

The attack occurred in the city of Taixing in Jiangsu province, according to the brief dispatch by Xinhua news agency, which gave no further details.

It comes one day after a man injured at least 15 students and a teacher in a knife attack at a school in southern China, according to state media. Eight students were killed in a similar attack in the country’s southeast last month.

–Agencies

‘Bigot’ gaffe haunts UK’s Brown before TV debate

by

London, April 29: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown goes into his final pre-election debate on Thursday trying to rescue his Labour Party from defeat while fending off a gaffe in which he called one of his traditional voters “bigoted”.

Brown, whose critics paint him as socially unskilled and bullying, was caught on tape on Wednesday complaining about a woman in her 60s who had challenged his 13-year-old Labour government’s approach to immigration.

Egypt sentences 26 Hezbollah men for spying, plotting attacks

by

Cairo, April 29: An Egyptian court on Wednesday sentenced 26 suspected Hezbollah members to jail with three of them being awarded life in prison on charges of spying for the Lebanese militant group and plotting attacks in Egypt.

The rest of the 26-member group – including 18 Egyptians, five Palestinians, one Sudanese and two Lebanese nationals – were sentenced between six months and 15 years in prison by the Emergency Higher State Security Criminal Court.

Israeli troops kill Gazan protester

by

Jerusalem, April 29: Israeli soldiers have shot and killed a 20-year old Palestinian during a protest in the besieged Gaza Strip, along the heavily-guarded border with Israel.

Ahmed Salim was shot on Wednesday morning as dozens of Palestinians held a peaceful demonstration against a decision by Israel to build a buffer zone in the area.

Israeli soldiers opened fire on protesters to disperse the crowd which was estimated at a few hundreds.

Roadside bomb kills 12 civilians in Afghanistan

by

Afghanistan, April 29: A roadside bomb struck a passenger van in southeast Afghanistan, killing 12 civilians, a local official said.

Dawlat Khan Yaqubi, head of the Tani district of Khost province near the Pakistan border, said women and children were among the dead. The vehicle caught fire and the bodies were burned, he said.

Home made bombs planted in roads are by far the deadliest weapon used by insurgents against NATO troops and Afghan government targets and frequently kill civilians.

Sensex recovers 99 points in opening trade

by

Mumbai, April 29: The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex recovered by 99 points in the opening trade today as funds pumped in more money on expectations of good corporate earnings.

The 30-share index, which had lost over 310 points in the previous session, bounced back by 98.94 points, or 0.56 per cent cent to 17,479.02 points in the first five minutes of trading.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange’s Nifty rose 28.05 points, or 0.53 per cent, to 5,243.50 points.

Rs 7,300 cr road projects approved in Naxal-affected areas

by

New Delhi, April 29: The government on Wednesday said road projects worth Rs 7,300 crore have been approved for implementation in Naxal-affected areas over the next three years.

In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways R P N Singh said the government has approved a scheme for development of 1,202 kilometres of national highways and 4,363 kilometres of state roads in “Left Wing extremism-affected areas of 34 districts in eight states”.

My son died for serving water to Kasab, says 26/11 victim

by

Mumbai, April 29: Fifty-year-old Jamuna Waghela, who escaped death by a whisker on the fateful night of 26/11, recalls with horror how her young son was shot dead after serving a glass of water to gun-wielding Ajmal Kasab and wants the Pakistani terrorist hanged without delay.

“Why has Kasab been kept alive? He should not be shown any mercy and hanged without delay,” says an angry Jamuna as she waits for justice to be done to her family five days from now when the anti-terror court is to pronounce its verdict in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case.

Eight drown as boat capsizes

by

Saharsa, April 29: Eight persons, including five children, drowned when a boat capsized in a river at Samariaghat in Saharsa district, police said today. The small boat, with 12 persons on board, was sailing to the other side when it turned upside down last night.

While four persons swam to safety, the rest eight drowned, police said. Six bodies were fished out this morning while local divers were pressed to trace the remaining two.

The victims were returning home after attending a feast on the other side of the river.

—PTI

US Navy has encounter with Iranian jet

by

Washington, April 29: A U.S. military official says the Navy had a close encounter with an Iranian surveillance jet last week in the Gulf of Oman.

The official says the jet buzzed a Navy aircraft carrier, the USS Eisenhower, coming within about 1,000 yards (meters) of the ship. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said the April 21 incident occurred in international waters.

The jet was described as a maritime patrol aircraft generally used for surveillance.

Government Involved, Says Leaked Report

by

Mumbai, April 29: Copy of a purportedly leaked report says conversations of topmost industrialists, two senior journalists, were tapped with home secretary’s permission

Politicians may not be the only ones whose phones are being tapped. Government agencies seem to be eavesdropping on the biggest names of corporate India. A 2009 report drags a few senior journalists into the controversy as well.

Women essential to build bridges with Muslim world: Hillary

by

Washington, April 29: Women are essential to the effort of the Obama administration to improve its relationship with the Muslim world, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said.

“President (Barack) Obama is committed to promoting entrepreneurship to help seed conditions for broader and deeper economic progress.”

“And this week’s summit has focused on our efforts in Muslim majority countries. I know and you know that women are essential to this effort,” Hillary said in her remarks on Breakfast with Women Entrepreneurs Attending Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship.

No more tamasha, just cricket

by

Mumbai: April 29: For those who simply could not afford a whopping Rs 40,000 entry fee to be part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) parties at night, it is time to rejoice, although the tournament itself may lose some of its glamour.

The very first act of the interim IPL chief, Chirayu Amin, is to shut down those parties. “The parties will be stopped, “ he declared, bringing to an end the extravaganza introduced by the suspended IPL commissioner, Lalit Modi.

My son died for serving water to Kasab

by

Mumbai, April 29: Fifty-year-old Jamuna Waghela, who escaped death by a whisker on the fateful night of 26/11, recalls with horror how her young son was shot dead after serving a glass of water to gun-wielding Ajmal Kasab and wants the Pakistani terrorist hanged without delay.

“Why has Kasab been kept alive? He should not be shown any mercy and hanged without delay,” says an angry Jamuna as she waits for justice to be done to her family five days from now when the anti-terror court is to pronounce its verdict in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case.

Iran’s Islamic dress crackdown

by

Tehran, April 29: A national crackdown on the opposition movement will extend to women deemed to be dressed immodestly, reported.

Tehran chief of police Brig. Hossein Sajedinia has said the authorities will be taking to task all Iran’s “suntanned women and young girls who look like walking mannequins.”

“We are not going to tolerate this situation,” said Sajiedinia, “and [we] will first warn those found in this manner and then arrest and imprison them.”

Raveena Tandon bats for Lalit Modi

by

Mumbai, April 29: Actor Raveena Tandon has come out in support of suspended Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi.

“Look at the heights where this man has taken the game of cricket to. In all the nations where cricket is played or has fans of this game, IPL is a hit.”

In the same breath, Tandon came to the defence of her colleagues Shilpa Shetty, who is one of the owners of Rajasthan Royals, and Preity Zinta, who co-owns Kings XI Punjab, by saying, “I stand by these two for I know they would never lie.”

State secret? Documents on Maharashtra formation go invisible

by

Mumbai, April 29: When Maharashtra’s politicians launch into competitive jingoism on the 50th year of the formation of the state, they should reflect on the shoddy way they have treated history.

Many documents relating to those tumultuous days both during and after the Samyukta Maharashtra agitation that cost 105 lives are invisible in the public domain today.