Indian Express

Army doctor kills 13 at United States base, `terror not ruled out'

2009-11-07T10:52:00.001+05:30

Investigators today began piecing together how and why they think an Army psychiatrist facing deployment to Afghanistan gunned down dozens of people yesterday at the Fort Hood Army post in Texas, in one of the worst mass shootings ever on an American military base.

The gunman, identified as Major Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, was shot four times by a Fort Hood police officer responding to the scene. Hasan remained hospitalized on a ventilator but was in stable condition, Army officials said.

A day of mourning has been declared on the base for the 13 people killed 12 soldiers and one civilian and 28 wounded in the rampage, and US President Barack Obama said that flags at the White House and other federal buildings would fly at half-staff until Veteran’s Day, “as a modest tribute to those who lost their lives.”

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A chase to remember

2009-11-06T11:05:00.001+05:30

He final ball of the fifth over during India's chase in Hyderabad may have had little significance to the eventual outcome of the match, but for the capacity crowd at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, what had transpired before it and what was to follow were from two different worlds.

When Sachin Tendulkar flicked Ben Hilfenhaus through mid-wicket for three runs, he became the first batsman in the history of one-day cricket to reach 17,000 runs. It was the moment that the people of Hyderabad had waited for with fingers crossed, and when it arrived, the celebration was absolutely no-holds-barred.

After all, with India chasing an improbable 351 against a fired-up Aussie outfit, it seemed like the only real hurrah up for grabs as far as the 30,000 spectators at Uppal went.

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Twelve year old Sarfaraz breaks Harris record with 439

2009-11-05T10:42:00.001+05:30

Twelve year old Sarfaraz Khan was batting on 235 when stumps were drawn in his Harris Shield match on Monday evening. He spent a sleepless night, wondering if he could go past the 346 runs Sachin Tendulkar had scored in Mumbai's inter-school cricket competition 21 years ago.

Sarfaraz's father, Naushad Khan, is a local coach who has trained players like Iqbal Abdulla and Rahil Shaikh both members of the Mumbai Ranji team as well as left-arm fast bowler Kamran Khan, who came into spotlight in the IPL's second season for the Rajasthan Royals. Many of them, at some point or the other, have stayed at Sarfaraz's place.

"My father was telling me I should try and better Tendulkar's score. I was already on 235, and as one of the boundaries at Cross Maidan is short, I felt it was possible," Sarfaraz says.

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Remote sensing confirms China building dam

2009-11-04T10:57:00.001+05:30

The National Remote Sensing Agency(NRSA)confirmedtoday that construction was on at theZangmusiteontheChinesesideof theBrahmaputrariver,promptingthe government to take up the matter with China at a "political" level.

In its presentation to the Committee of Secretaries (CoS) formed to assess Chinese plans regarding possible diversion of the Brahmaputra's water, the NRSA presented evidence of "houses, construction/excavation, and movement of trucks" in and around a 3-4 km range at the site.

Accordingly, the CoS, headed by Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar, decided that the issue was too significant to be handled by the expert-level mechanism on floodwater data-sharing.

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All square as India stumble

2009-11-03T09:48:00.001+05:30

Ricky Ponting wouldn't have minded taking a few of the Indian batsmen out for dinner last night, but the Aussie skipper spent time celebrating with his own team, relieved at having escaped defeat, and pleased at having thrown a punch or two at the Indians.

Even as the last of the 35,000-odd fans left the PCA stadium, stunned at how the Indian batting choked chasing a very gettable 251, the home dressing room presented a stark contrast to how it had been during the mid-innings break. The bowlers had done their job then, and for the second game running, their fielding had been top notch, accounting for four run-outs. But, by the time the last ball of the day had been bowled, the players couldn't figure out how they had thrown it away.

From a position of great strength, they lost the match by 24 runs, and a series that India seemed to be dominating against a ragged Australian outfit is now tied 2-2.

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`Morale-lifting' revamp of posts on China border

2009-11-02T10:11:00.000+05:30

UP against rapidly modernizing Chinese military infrastructure along its northern border, India has decided to completely revamp its border posts at heights above 14,000-15,000 feet, using know-how from Scandinavian countries.

The aim is to improve the conditions in which soldiers live in these high altitudes. The decision was taken after a military survey revealed that poor living conditions were adversely impacting the morale and combat preparedness of soldiers manning these posts.

The survey itself was prompted by former Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran's report on improving infrastructure along the China border,

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Army land scam spreads, from Bengal to Uttarakhand

2009-10-30T10:31:00.001+05:30

The Army land fraud case in Darjeeling threatens to turn into a major scandal with a probe indicating that an educational institution posing as an affiliate of the Mayo College in Ajmer was close to finalising more deals elsewhere to purchase military land.

This comes even as Defence Minister A K Antony today asked Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar to order an inquiry into the case that has brought some of the seniormost Army officers under the scanner. The Ministry inquiry will be separate from the Court of Inquiry (CoI) that has been convened by the Army, Ministry officials said.

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Dhoni hits the spot

2009-10-29T10:31:00.002+05:30

It's been a while since Mahendra Singh Dhoni hit a one-day hundred against a Test playing nation four years, to be precise. In playing nation four years, to be precise. In the last week of October 2005, he had smashed an incredible 183 against Sri Lanka in Jaipur. And while four years is a very long time in Indian cricket, it's remarkable how much has changed between then and Wednesday, when he powered his way to a match-winning 124 against Australia on Wednesday.

In 2005, Rahul Dravid was the captain and Dhoni an impact player who looked a bit like Tarzan. Now, Dhoni has graduated to the top job and is seen as more of a brainy than a brawny cricketer. During this long journey, he has lost a lot of hair some to the barber's scissors and some to pressures of responsibility.

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Kalmadi climbs down: ‘I will agree to whatever Mike Fennell decides’

2009-10-28T09:51:00.001+05:30

Even as he was conducting dry runs in Buckingham Palace for the commencement of the baton relay ceremony, Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi was preparing his strategy for the crucial meeting with Commonwealth Games Federation chief Mike Fennell who is landing in London tomorrow.

In a clear climbdown from the strident stand he adopted in New Delhi where he had demanded the recall of CGF Chief Executive Mike Hooper, Kalmadi said he was now prepared to dub the London meeting as “peace talks.”

The crucial brainstorming between the duo Union Sports Minister M S Gill will also be presen

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At old British base, US and India train for new wars

2009-10-27T10:21:00.001+05:30

After a tough fight, Indian forces manage to capture Abu Abida, the dreaded warlord who, with the covert support of a neighbouring state, had been pushing in heavily armed insurgents to subvert the country. As the terrorist is escorted out of the war zone with the help of American forces, the convoy is attacked by militants trying to free him. Within minutes, Indian and US Army soldiers mount a rescue mission, pummelling the enemy village with tank and Infantry Combat Vehicle (ICV) fire. US troops are air-dropped by Indian helicopters to mop up the remains.

The setting might as well be Iraq or Afghanistan, where US troops face such situations on routine basis, but this is in fact a nondescript firing range 400 km south of Delhi where the two countries have just concluded their largest ever army exercise. Incidentally, the Babina range has a past dating back to the British days — its full form is British Army Base in North Asia.

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Huma Akram passes away

2009-10-26T11:15:00.000+05:30

The wife of former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram's died at a hospital here on Sunday following multiple organ failure. She was 42.

Huma had been admitted on October 20 in an emergency situation, suffering from a fever, en route to Singapore from Lahore.

She was to be treated for tumours in Singapore but a fever led to infection in her blood, which rapidly down spiralled to sepsis.

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Shiv Sena feels the MNS hurt, even bastion Dadar falls

2009-10-23T14:58:00.001+05:30

Shivaji Park is the birthplace of the Shiv Sena, the party headquarters, its strongest bastion. But today, loyal Shiv Sainiks wore a shocked, sombre look. The MNS's Nitin Sardesai had tamed the tiger in its den, defeating both a Sena candidate and a veteran Sena MLA-turned-Congress candidate. Once the results came in, young MNS supporters rode two-wheelers on the streets, shouting slogans cheekily near the Sena Bhavan, and shopkeepers, meeting over endless cups of tea, debated how and why the Sena lost its fortress.

The elders, especially mill workers who still support the Shiv Sena, maintained that the youth had gone the MNS way. "I have always been a Sena loyalist but my son is an MNS supporter. I cannot change his view," said Uday Patil who lives near Sena Bhavan.

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Death in dawn train crash

2009-10-22T10:04:00.001+05:30

At least 22 people were killed and 26 injured when the Delhi-bound Goa Express, whose engine driver is suspected to have ignored a signal, rammed into the last coach of the Mewar Express which had stopped near Mathura at daybreak today.

The Goa Express hit the Udaipur City-Hazrat Nizamuddin Mewar Express near a bridge, 4 km from Mathura, around 5 am. Ten women and five children were among the dead — the last two coaches of the Mewar Express had reserved space for women and the physically challenged.

The guard of the Mewar Express and two from the pantry car staff of the Goa Express were also killed.

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Arunachal again, China slams Dalai Lama tour

2009-10-21T10:11:00.001+05:30

On a day when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told military commanders that the “overall situation in our immediate neighbourhood has worsened,” China again raked up the issue of Arunachal Pradesh, this time objecting to Dalai Lama’s plans to visit the state next month. New Delhi had earlier said that that Arunachal Pradesh was an “inalienable” part of India and the Tibetan spiritual leader was free to visit any part of the country.

In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said: “China’s position on so-called Arunachal Pradesh is consistent and clear and we firmly oppose the Dalai Lama’s visit to the region. China is greatly concerned over the news.”

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Proposal to limit Indian Institutes of Technology entry to Class XII 80-percenters

2009-10-20T10:21:00.001+05:30

Calling for more “weightage” for Class XII Board exams towards the Joint Entrance Examination for admission to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said here today that the required minimum of 60 per cent marks for JEE eligibility could be raised to at least 80 per cent.

After a meeting of the IIT Council, the apex decision-making body for the institutes, here, Sibal said there was a need to ensure that IIT applicants give as much importance to their school examination as they did to the JEE and check the mushrooming JEE coaching industry.

When asked if this meant raising the cut-off from the present 60 per cent, Sibal said: “The present cut-off of 60 per cent is not enough.

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Thane fire: 6 firemen trapped in lift, die

2009-10-19T10:49:00.000+05:30

Ignoring an important safety rule not to use lifts in case of fire claimed the lives of six firemen who were part of a team that had gone to extinguish a fire in Vartak Nagar early on Sunday here.

The firemen belonging to Thane Municipal Corporation were trapped after the lift that they had taken to reach the 14th floor of a housing complex stopped due to a power failure. Smoke emanating from the house that had caught fire filled the lift, suffocating the firemen, the police said.

The fire brigade had received a call about a fire in a house in Tarangam housing complex around 11.30 pm.

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Terror wave hits Pakistan

2009-10-16T09:30:00.001+05:30

Days after they attacked the Army General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, Taliban militants unleashed a fresh wave of terror across Pakistan today, storming three security facilities in Lahore, bombing a police station in Kohat and setting off a car bomb in Peshawar, the strikes killing at least 40 people.

Police said 18 people 13 security personnel and five civilians were killed in coordinated attacks on the provincial headquarters of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and two police training facilities in Lahore by three groups of terrorists between 9.15 am and 9.40 am local time, the fifth major terror strike in the country within 11 days.

Ten of the gunmen were shot dead by security forces or blew themselves up.

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China begins building dam on its side of the Brahmaputra

2009-10-15T10:17:00.002+05:30

So far, Beijing has denied any plans to build a dam on its side of the Brahmaputra river. But strong evidence has now emerged to suggest that China has begun constructing a dam on the river which it calls the Yarlungzangbo (better known as Yarlong Tsangpo to the Tibetans).

It’s learnt that the Zangmu hydroelectrical project was inaugurated on March 16 this year and the first concrete was poured on April 2.

The 1.138-billion Yuan (1 Yuan = $0.15) project has been awarded to a five-company consortium

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China chooses Election Day to stir the Arunachal pot again

2009-10-14T10:48:00.000+05:30

To keep underlining Arunachal Pradesh as a “disputed” territory is in tune with its stated position but Beijing caught New Delhi by surprise on Tuesday when it went public with an unusually strong statement opposing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s election campaign-related visit to the state earlier this month. India, for its part, expressed its “disappointment and concern” over the statement that came on a day when the state recorded a 72 per cent voter turnout.

It’s learnt that yesterday itself the Chinese side had lodged a protest through official channels. While China has routinely protested visits by prominent Indian leaders to Arunachal Pradesh, the decision to go public has not gone down well with New Delhi. Only recently, Beijing had objected to the Dalai Lama’s plan to visit the state next month.

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Foreign ‘experts’ to monitor Kalmadi and Co

2009-10-13T10:35:00.000+05:30

Calling “every day pivotal and every hour vital”, president of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) Mike Fennell on Monday put the Suresh Kalmadi-led Organising Committee (OC) on a tight leash with the announcement that an “independent technical committee” of foreign experts would oversee preparations for the 2010 Games and report on a monthly basis.

Hours later, Treasurer of the Organising Committee and vice-president of the Indian Olympic Association A K Mattoo hit back, accusing the world body of having come to India with an agenda.

“It was extremely demoralising,” Mattoo told The Indian Express

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Pakistan Army retakes GHQ, frees hostages, captures militant

2009-10-12T10:08:00.002+05:30

Pakistani commandos stormed an office building on Sunday and rescued 39 people taken hostage by suspected Taliban militants after a brazen attack on the army’s headquarters.

Saturday’s attack on the tightly guarded army headquarters in Rawalpindi, next door to capital Islamabad, came as the military prepared an offensive against the militants in their stronghold of South Waziristan on the Afghan border.

The strike at the heart of the powerful military called into question government assertions that the militants were virtually crippled by recent setbacks.

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Twice in 2 years: Mission in Kabul targeted again

2009-10-09T10:32:00.001+05:30

A scar packed with explosives blew up beside the Indian Embassy today, leaving at least a dozen dead in what India’s Foreign Secretary said was an attack on the embassy compound, the second in two years.

The blast killed at least 17 people and wounded 63, according to the Afghan Interior Ministry. Indian authorities said none of the embassy staff had been hurt, but three guards outside — New Delhi said one was from the ITBP — had been wounded.

“The suicide bomber was directed against the embassy,” Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao told reporters in New Delhi.

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Beheading is new Naxal signature

2009-10-07T10:39:00.001+05:30

In the first instance of an abducted police officer being executed by Maoists, Jharkhand Special Branch Inspector Francis Induwar was beheaded and his body thrown on a forest stretch of National Highway 33 near Raisa, 23 km from Ranchi, this morning. He was killed three days after the Maoists reportedly demanded the release of their arrested leaders, including Kobad Ghandy, in exchange for the officer.

In Delhi, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram called the act unacceptable. “The cold-blooded murder is simply not acceptable. I condemn it.” The Jharkhand DGP, he said, had informed him that no demand for a swap had been made.

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Supreme Court slams Delhi High Court judge who said the CJI comes under Right to Information Act

2009-10-06T10:49:00.001+05:30

Challenging the Delhi High Court order directing it to disclose assets of judges under the Right to Information Act, the Supreme Court today called it an “error in law” and an “academic” exercise.

It said all its judges had filed declaration of assets as per the 1997 resolution but the office of the Chief Justice of India and the Supreme Court registry were not one and the High Court “single judge erred in law in holding that all the information received by the CJI falls under the purview of the Act”.

The Supreme Court, filing an appeal okayed by Attorney General G E Vahanvati, called for setting aside the September 2 order of Justice S Ravindra Bhat.

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Flood toll in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh up to 205

2009-10-05T11:19:00.001+05:30

The retreating monsoon claimed 12 more lives as the death toll due to torrential rains and rampaging floods in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh soared to 205 on Sunday even as relief operations were on in full swing in the two states to provide succour to the affected.

Karnataka, which reported all the 12 fresh deaths, accounted for 168 fatalities and neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, where the flood situation in Krishna district remained grim, 37, officials in the two states said.

Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa appealed to the Centre to declare the worst flooding in the state a national disaster.

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