Farooq Abdullah seeks probe into detention of cricketers

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Jammu, October 18: A day after two cricketers from Jammu and Kashmir were detained and questioned in Bangalore, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy and president of the state cricket body Farooq Abdullah called for a probe in the matter.

Talking to journalists in Jammu on Sunday afternoon, Abdullah, president of the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA), said: “The entire blame cannot be laid on the Karnataka Police, for they were fed with wrong information by some people from here.”

Two teens killed during Diwali celebrations in UP

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Lucknow, October 18: Two teenagers were killed and three others suffered burns in separate incidents related to bursting of crackers on Diwali, police said.

Shiva (16) was killed and one Yash (10) seriously injured when three fire cracker shops caught fire at Garhmukteshwar area in Ghaziabad last evening. Parts of burst crackers fell in the shops leading to the accident.

In Kaushalpuri area of Kanpur district, a teenager identified as Sonu (14) was killed when a cylinder exploded after a house caught fire from crackers stored in a room, police said.

Bengal cricketer among six injured in car accident

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Kolkata, October 18: Avik Chowdhury, a Bengal cricketer, was among six people injured in a car accident here Sunday. Chowdhury was in critical condition and on ventilator support in a private hospital after sustaining multiple injuries, a doctor said.

Five others in the car that hit a road divider on the eastern metropolitan bypass were also admitted to the hospital with various degrees of injuries. Four of them are in the intensive cardiac care unit (ICCU), said one of the attending doctors.

Death of PF scam accused shrouded in mystery

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Ghaziabad, October 18: The death of the jailed prime accused in the multi-crore provident fund scam was shrouded in mystery today with a post-mortem unble to determine the probable cause, as his family demanded a CBI probe suspecting foul play.

43-year-old Ashuthosh Astana, the alleged brain behind the Rs 23 crore scam in which a number of judges of the higher and lower judiciary were allegedly involved, has been in jail since his arrest in January last year.

Peace activists demand common SAARC currency

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Amritsar, October 18: Activists of the South Asian Foundation (SAF), who have gathered here for an India-Pakistan peace festival, Sunday demanded the introduction of a common currency for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries on the lines of the European Union’s euro.

Shakira addicted to performing since 5!

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London, October 18: Colombian pop star Shakira has revealed she has been addicted to performing on stage since she was five.

The “She Wolf” songstress first experienced a desire to entertain when she saw a belly dancer gyrating in a restaurant and took to performing from then on, reports contactmusic.com.

Two hardcore criminals arrested

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Kurukshetra, October 18: Police today arrested two gangsters wanted in over three dozen criminal cases including those of rape and murder in Punjab and Haryana.

Kuldeep Singh and Jasbir Singh were arrested after their motorcycle was intercepted by Pehova police but instead of stopping their vehicle they fired at the policemen, Kurukshetra SP K V Ramana told reporters here.

However, the policemen caught the duo after grappling with them for sometime, he said.

A country-made pistol, a live cartridge and a knife besides the motorcycle were recovered from their possession.

Illegal arms unit unearthed in Tamil Nadu; 3 held

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Tirunelveli (TN), October 18: An illegal arms manufacturing unit was unearthed today and one person arrested in this connection in Sankarankoil, 50 km from here, police said.

A special team led by district Superintendent of Police Ashra Garg raided the factory and arrested Natarajan allegedly with several country made weapons, knives and ammunition.

Natarajan confessed to his involvement in the illegal trade for past five years, police claimed.

Boy drowned in a temple pond

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Kurukshetra, October 18: A eight-year-old boy drowned at a pond, where he had gone to have a dip today, police said.

He was rushed to civil hospital, where he was declared brought dead.

His body was sent for postmortem after which it was handed over to his parents.

–Agencies

Police resorts to minor lathi charge

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Kapurthala, October 18: Police today resorted to mild lathi charge to dispel the agitating mob, which was trying to ransack some shops following a clash between two groups here.

The agitating mob was also protested against tearing of a poster of Bhagwan Valmiki by some miscreants and staged a dharna on Kapurthala-Sultanpurlodhi road and blocked the vehicular traffic for more than one hour, police said.

Police guard hotel accommodating stranded US marines

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Mumbai, October 18: Security has been beefed up in and around a five-star hotel in the western suburbs where over 200 passengers of the US aircraft checked in after their plane was ordered to land at the airport here today, police said.

A Bangkok-bound chartered US plane in which American marines were among the 205 passengers was ordered by authorities to land at Mumbai airport for flying over Indian airspace without getting the mandatory military clearance.

Togadia slams Khurshid on CEOs salary remarks

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New Delhi, October 18: Slamming Union Minister Salman Khurshid for his remarks on salaries of CEOs, a top VHP leader today alleged these were intended to destabilise the Indian economy.

“Mr Khurshid is saying the salaries of the CEOs are vulgar. This is a part of a conspiracy and we should realise this soon,” VHP General Secretary Praveen Togadia said in RSS mouthpiece Organiser.

“The salaries of the CEOs are not vulgar, rather your motive to destabilise the economy is vulgar,” he said.

ATS conducted searches at Sanatan Sanstha office linked with Margao blast

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Panaji, October 18: Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) sleuths on Sunday conducted searches at an office here run by Sanatan Sanstha, a Hindu right-wing organisation allegedly linked with the Margao blast in which two of its members were killed.

The ATS personnel, who arrived here today, conducted searches along with state police at the office of the Sansthan, linked to 2008 Malegaon blast accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, in Nesai near Margao town.

Pak claims 60 militants killed in operation

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Islamabad, October 18: The Pakistani Army says 60 militants have been killed in the first 24 hours of a major operation against the Taliban close to the Afghan border.

An Army statement said on Sunday that six soldiers had been killed over the same time period.

It was not possible to independently verify those figures because the Army prevents reporters from getting close to the battlefield.

I’ll quit if can’t return as Australia’s Test spearhead says Lee

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Sydney, October 18: Australian fast bowler Brett Lee has declared his intention to return as the Test spearhead this summer, and vowed to quit if he can’t measure up.

Laughing off last year`s injury-plagued summer, Lee scoffed at talk of slowing down his bowling to prolong his international career.

Fast and faster was how Steve Waugh instructed him to bowl when he burst on to the Test scene in 1999-and that`s the way he will roll until he retires.

Rafael Nadal advanced into Shanghai Masters

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Shanghai, October 18: Rafael Nadal has advanced to the Shanghai Masters after Feliciano Lopez became the ninth player to retire from the tournament when trailing 6-1, 3-0.

The unseeded Lopez said he woke up Saturday with a right foot infection, and then twisted his right ankle on the last point of the first set.

Nadal, whose quarterfinal opponent Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia retired with a left hip injury, will play sixth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko in the final. The Russian outlasted second-seeded Novak Djokovic 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (1).

—Agencies

Five ULFA rebels arrested in Guwahati

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Guwahati, October 18: Security forces on Sunday claimed to have foiled a major terror attack by arresting five militants of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) in separate raids in the heart of Assam’s main city of Guwahati.

A police spokesperson said the five ULFA rebels were in Guwahati to stage terror attacks, including explosions, besides carrying out extortion.

Two rebels were arrested from Guwahati’s Hengrabari area Saturday, while three more were arrested from the city’s Gandhibasti area late Friday.

Three swine flu deaths take toll to 408 in India

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New Delhi, October 18: Two people died of swine flu in Maharashtra while one person succumbed in Uttarakhand, taking the all India toll to 408, a health ministry official said on Sunday.

Maharashtra, which tops the casualty list, has reported a total of 173 deaths.

Uttarakhand has reported its third death. According to the official, the person who died October 14 in Uttarakhand has been confirmed to have died of H1N1.

Gandhi’s ideas influenced release of Lockerbie bomber

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London, October 18: The recent release of the alleged Lockerbie bomber was in line with Mahatma Gandhi’s principles of compassion and non-violence, Scotland first minister Alex Salmond has said.

Speaking during a conference of his Scottish National Party, in Inverness, Salmond said that the Scottish justice secretary Kenny MacAskill was right in deciding to release Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds in August.

Himachal Pradesh by-election war hots up

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Shimla, October 18: The hills of Himachal Pradesh have again warmed up to election fever – this time for the Nov 7 by-elections, with both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress kicking off their poll campaigns.

The by-elections will be held for the Rohru and Jawali constituencies.

The Congress has pitted Manjit Singh Thakur and former minister Sujan Singh Pathania from Rohru and Jawali, respectively, against BJP’s Khushi Ram Balnatah and Baldev Raj Chaudhary.

The Congress had won Rohru in the 2007 assembly elections, while the BJP got the Jawali seat.

India may provide financial aid to Sri Lanka if needed says Chidambaram

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Chennai, October 18: The Indian government is ready to release Rs.500 crore (Rs.5 billion) to Sri Lanka if needed for the rehabilitation of Tamils affected by the internal strife there, union Home Minister P. Chidambaram said here Sunday.

“The Indian government has already announced financial assistance of Rs.500 crore for the rehabilitation of the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees. We are ready to sanction a similar amount if needed,” he told reporters.

Harassed by legislator, woman commits suicide

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Hyderabad, October 18: A woman agriculture officer in Andhra Pradesh committed suicide alleging mental harassment by a legislator, a minister said on Sunday.

B. Rajeswari Sunday died of burn injuries at a corporate hospital, where she was undergoing treatment after she set herself ablaze four days ago.

Minister for Small Industries D.K. Aruna said action would be taken as per law against those responsible for the woman’s death. She said Rajeswari named a legislator and two other people’s representatives in her statement.

Coal Ministry issues show cause notice to AP Genco

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Hyderabad, October 18: The Union Coal Ministry has issued a show cause notice to the Power Generation Corporation of Andhra Pradesh Limited (AP Genco) seeking an explanation as to why there was an inordinate delay in development of coal blocks allotted to it more than two years ago.

The ministry gave 15 days time to the AP Genco to explain why the delay in development of the coal blocks should not be treated as violation of the terms and conditions of the allotment.

Waziristan operations: Top US general arrives in Islamabad

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Islamabad, October 18: General David Petraeus, chief of the US Central Command, arrived here Sunday on an emergency visit for talks on the Pakistani military’s offensive against the Taliban in the restive South Waziristan region along the Afghan border and bilateral issues.

Petraeus will meet President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and other officials during his stay here, Online news agency quoted sources as saying.

Ganguly begins season on a high

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Kolkata, October 18: Former India captain Sourav Ganguly began the season on a positive note, slamming an unbeaten 45-ball 62 in a practice Twenty20 match at the Eden Gardens here today.

Ganguly hit two sixes and six fours to guide his team to an eight wicket victory.

The southpaw, who retired from international cricket after Australia series last year, hit the Bengal bowlers all over the ground with disdain.

Divided into two teams – A and B – Bengal cricketers played their second T20 match before they leave for Dhanbad for the Mushtaq Ali T20 East Zone meet.