Ansals Granted Bail in Uphaar Case

The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to the Ansal brothers -- Sushil and Gopal-- who were convicted and sentenced to one year imprisonment in the Uphaar fire tragedy case. 59 people had died of asphyxia and over a 100 injured in the stampede at the cinema hall back in 1997.

A bench, headed by Justice S B Sinha, also issued notices on the cross appeals filed by the Ansals and Association of the Victims of the Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) challenging the one year sentence imposed on the accused by the Delhi High Court.

The bench ordered that the Ansal brothers be released on the personal bond of Rs 10,000 each.

While the Ansals had challenged the sentence imposed by the High Court, the victims' association had sought enhancement of the punishment on the ground that the offence fell under the purview of section 304 IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder).

The High Court had earlier reduced the sentence to one year prison term from the two years imposed by the Sessions Court.

Afghan Presidential Polls Postponed

Afghan officials said Thursday that Presidential elections in the country stand postponed and would now be held in August. The officials attribute the decision to more time required to prepare for polls, which will see President Hamid Karzai seek re-elecion for the top office.

The decision, to postpone polls, apparently contravenes the country’s Constitution and raises questions over the legitimacy of what could be President Karzai’s final months in office.

Karzai in stark contrast to his predecessors is a key New Delhi ally and has sided with India on several counts, including the attack on the Indian Mission in Kabul and the recent terror strikes in the Indian commercial capital.

Azizullah Ludin, the chairman of the Independent Election Commission, said his office had decided to put off the voting until Aug. 20, which would give election workers more time to register candidates and set up voting machinery, and soldiers more time to bring dozens of chaotic districts under control.

Ludin said the new date would allow the presidential election to take place under more favorable weather.

The Afghan Constitution states that the presidential term expires on May 22. and elections, the Constitution says, must be held 30 to 60 days before the end of the term.

Citing the Constitution, Opposition leaders say they would stop recognizing Karzai’s authority after May 22. They called on the United Nations and Western governments to help them appoint a temporary president after Karzai’s term formally expires.

The development comes amid media reports that, for several weeks now, have suggested that Karzai may be on his way out of power and any controversies on the matter may see an interim government, blessed by the US, put in place in Kabul.

ATS to Question Sene Chief

Worries for Sri Ram Sene chief Pramod Muthalik continue to burgeon on Friday, as Muthalik, who hit headlines after his supporters attacked women in a Mangalore pub, will now be questioned by Maharashtra's Anti Terror Squad (ATS) for allegedly praising Sadhvi Pragya Singh.

In a speech he made earlier this month he praised Sadhvi Pragya Singh, an accused in the Malegaon blast case.

It has also emerged that the prime accused in the blast case, Lieutenant Colonel Purohit, also knew him. A team of the national commission for women is also reaching Mangalore.

NDTV, on its website, claims to have a copy of a speech Muthalik made 10 days ago where he praised Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and warned that no one could stop the power of Hindu extremism.

Pro-Tamil Protest: 38 Arrested in Chennai

At least 38 people were arrested Friday for protesting the killing of Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka, police said. The protesters were on a road leading to the Sri Lanka's deputy high commissioner's office in Chennai the state capital of Tamil Nadu. According to the police, a majority of those arrested are students.

Staff at the deputy high commissioner's office did not see or hear the protests, but saw it on television news, diplomatic sources said. The sources added that they have full confidence in the law and order machinery of Tamil Nadu.

Security had been tightened outside the mission in south Chennai Thursday after a man set himself on fire outside a building housing central government offices to protest the killing of Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka, triggering a mob attack on a Bank of Ceylon branch.

A sub-inspector and three constables have been placed under suspension for the attack on the bank

PM May Come out of ICU Today

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who underwent a coronory bypass surgery at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on January 24, walked around in his room today and took regular meal, doctors say he might pull out of the intensive care unit late in the day today (Wednesday).

The PMO said in Delhi on Tuesday evening that the PM was making steady progress in the post-operative period. Dr Singh is being supported by a team of cardiac rehabilitation and physio-therapy experts.

Doctors attending to Singh say, the prime minister is being weaned off the ICU and will b administered routine care Wednesday onwards.
Several of his invasive monitoring lines have been removed and physiotherapy is being given to enable early mobilisation. Premier Singh is conversing with the family and the doctors.

Israeli Raids Target Gaza Tunnels

In a pre-dawn attack on Wednesday Israeli jets blew-up tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border, no casualties were reported in the raids that, reportedly, sent hundreds of people fleeing their homes in panic. Israel later confirmed the raids which came hours before the newly appointed US Middle East peace envoy was due to arrive in Israel.
The raids were ostensibly in retaliation of an attack on an Israeli army patrol that killed an officer and wounded two other soldiers.

Confirmed the raids, Israel said the attacks on the Rafah tunnels are aimed at stopping alleged weapons smuggling into the Gaza Strip by Hamas fighters.

The tunnels are also used to smuggle food, fuel and consumer goods from Egypt and are considered a life-line for thousands of ordinary Gazans.

The latest attack came despite fragile ceasefires declared by Israel and Hamas last week, ending a 22-day Israeli military campaign on Gaza in which 1,300 people were killed.

Israeli jets had targeted scores of cross-border tunnels during the recent war, but many tunnels resumed work shortly after the ceasefire.

Neither Hamas nor any other group has claimed responsibility for Tuesday's bomb attack targeting an Israeli army patrol along the Gaza border.

Meanwhile, Egyptian mediators have been talking separately to Israel and Hamas to negotiate a more permanent ceasefire.

Hamas wants the border crossings into Gaza reopened, including the Rafah checkpoint bordering Egypt, to end the Israeli blockade in the territory.

Israel wants to stop the rocket fire and prevent Hamas fighters from using smuggling tunnels under the border with Egypt to rearm themselves with weapons.

Barack Obama, the US president, has despatched George Mitchell to the region to discuss the ceasefire efforts.

Speaking on Monday Obama said he had instructed Mitchell, who played a prominent role in the Northern Ireland peace process, to "engage vigorously" to achieve real progress between Israel and the Palestinians.

Ex-President Venkatraman Passes Away

India’s eighth president Ramaswamy Venkataraman passed away on Tuesday. Elected to the post of President in 1987, his five-year term at the Rastrapati Bhawan saw Venkatraman work with four prime ministers, including three - V P Singh, Chandrashekhar and Narasimha Rao – appointed by him.

His term rang-in the era of constitutional politics in the country that resulted in marginal players hold key offices in the country.

Venkataraman was admitted to the Army’s Research and Referral Hospital on January 12 and breathed his last at 1430 hours on Tuesday. Venkataraman is survived by his wife, Janaki, and three daughters. His wife and son-in-law were at his side at the time of his death.

He was hospitalised after he complained of delirium and dehydration. Hospital authorities said he was suffering from multi-organ failure and was on life support systems.

Venkataraman, who was elevated from Vice-Presidency, assumed the office of President on July 25, 1987 and his term lasted till July 25, 1992.

Earlier, as Minister in the Union Cabinet, he held the key portfolios of Defence and Finance. He was also Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission.

He was a member of the Constituent Assembly that drafted the Constitution.

President Pratibha Devisingh Patil, Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi paid rich tributes to the departed leader.

The President said Venkataraman was a true patriot who served the nation with distinction in various capacities in public life, and rose to occupy the highest office.

Vice-President Hamid Ansari said that the former president had left a distinct mark in the national polity with his “innate simplicity, vast erudition and deep sensitivity for the poor and the deprived in his long public career.”

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that the former president would be “remembered long for his service to the nation, the strength of character and his knowledge and wisdom.”

Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said in the death of Venkataraman, Indian politics had lost a “guiding light”.

The government declared a seven-day state mourning in the country.

Freak Jam Disrupts ATC Links to Seven Aircraft

Passengers and crew-members aboard seven civil flights approaching Kolkata had a harrowing time Tuesday morning, as a freak snag hit the Air Traffic Control (ATC) communication systems severing all contact with the aircraft hovering over the city for landing and ground support.

ATC officials later claimed they managed establish contact with the pilots using alternative channels and asked them to hover till the snag was sorted out.

Media reports attributing inputs to well placed sources, however, say anything could have happened in the half hour when the seven planes became incommunicado.

All was fine till 0955 hours, suddenly, things went horribly haywire.

The very high frequency (VHF) radio, over which air traffic controllers keep in touch with departing and incoming flights, began to behave in a very peculiar manner, said a report on Times of India website.

Some reports say the VHF signals were jammed by an unidentified instrument.

The ATC says it contacted the approaching aircraft to hover over the city but make no attempt to land.

Peculiarly, through the epsode, the ATC link to an approaching Jet Airways flight from Bangkok was not broken.

The ATC decided to land the lone aircraft it was still in touch with, to decongest the airspace, the flight touched down at around 1020 hours, following which the jammed frequencies ‘miraculously’ opened up and links to the remaining flights were restored.

Relieved ATC officials later parried queries on probable causes for the jam, which after intelligence agencies expressed fear of Pakist6an based terror organisations attempting to launch air-borne attacks against the country to disrupt republic day celebrations on January 26.

Crisis Worsening in Lanka: Red Cross

With nearly 250,00,000 unprotected civilians caught in the midst of Sri Lanka’s bitter war with itself, aid agencies fear outbreak of a major humanitarian crisis in the island nation, where government troops are pressing forth in a “decisive war” against Tamil Tiger rebels.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has appealed to both sides to facilitate the movement of civilians out of the combat zone which has seen intensified fighting.

"People are being caught in the crossfire, hospitals and ambulances have been hit by shelling and several aid workers have been injured while evacuating the wounded," Jacques de Maio, ICRC head of operations for South Asia in Geneva said in a statement on the ICRC Web site."

The violence is preventing the ICRC from operating in the region.

In the capital, Colombo, foreign affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee huddled Wednesday with Sri Lankan President Mahindra Rajapaksa on the potential humanitarian crisis.

"The Sri Lankan government has reassured that they would respect the safe zones and minimize the effects of conflict on Tamil civilians," Mukherjee said.

His discussions with Rajapaksa also envisioned a post-civil war Sri Lanka.

"We will work together with the government of Sri Lanka to enable all Sri Lankans, and particularly the Tamil community who have borne the brunt of the effects of the conflict, to lead normal lives as soon as possible," Mukherjee said.

Mukherjee’s visit that followed pressure tactics employed by a vital ally of New Dlhi’s ruling-UPA coalition has failed to enthuse political outfits in Tamil Nadu, the Indian state has close cultural and family ties with Tamils living in neighbouring Sri Lanka.

As expected, Mukherjee’s visit was a tight-rope walk between New Delhi’s oft-pronounced resolve to counter terror and compulsions of alliance politics.

Back in the battle-zone, the ICRC says hundreds of patients are in need of emergency treatment and evacuation to Vavuniya Hospital in the government-controlled area and has urged that humanitarian assistance be unhampered in the Vanni region.

"When the dust settles, we may see countless victims and a terrible humanitarian situation, unless civilians are protected and international humanitarian law is respected in all circumstances," Maio said.

"It's high time to take decisive action and stop further bloodshed because time is running out."

Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has also called for the safety of civilians as humanitarian groups try to provide aid to people trapped in the region.

"The secretary-general is deeply concerned about the safety and well-being of civilians caught in intensified fighting in the Vanni region of Sri Lanka," a spokesman for Ban said in a statement Monday.

Ban called on the government and the separatist Tamil Tigers to respect "no-fire zones" and civilians areas, including schools, hospitals and humanitarian posts. He also asked both sides to allow civilians trapped in the fighting to move to "safe areas."

Sri Lankan soldiers seized a key rebel stronghold in a surprise attack Sunday, even as humanitarian agencies feared for the safety of civilians. Video Watch a report on the recent fighting »

"It's an incredibly serious situation," James Elder, a U.N. spokesman, said Monday. "We have a very large number of people, including tens of thousands of children, trapped in a fast-shrinking conflict zone."

Troops crossed a lagoon and entered the town of Mullaittivu before encountering heavy resistance from Tamil fighters, according to the government-run news agency.

"Our troops fought their way through a 40 km (25 mile) thick jungle track," Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka said in a televised address Sunday.

"This is the long-awaited victory and I am happy to say that our heroic forces today captured the Mullaittivu town after 12 years," the Sri Lanka Army chief said.

There has been no confirmation from the rebels that the strategic garrison has been overtaken.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) -- commonly known as the Tamil Tigers -- have fought for an independent homeland for the country's ethnic Tamil minority since 1983. The civil war has left more than 70,000 people dead.

The rebels gained control over Mullaittivu in 1996 and established a military garrison there, according to the government.

In recent days, the military has said it has made significant progress in its campaign to recapture rebel strongholds.

Earlier this month, troops regained control of the northern town of Elephant Pass, the point at which mainland Sri Lanka links to the northern Jaffna peninsula.

It had been in rebel hands for more than nine years.

The recapture enabled the government to use a highway linking the mainland to the peninsula to move troops and supplies. Previously, it was done by air and sea.

"The area that the LTTE has dominated has shrank phenomenally," Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India, C.R Jayasinghe, told CNN. "They lost ... about 90 percent of what they had."

(With CNN Inputs)

14 Kg Heroin Bust on Samjhauta

Acting on a tip-off, Indian customs officials carried out ‘special frisking’ of some suspected passengers traveling aboard the trans-border Samjhauta Express, when the train arrived from Pakistan at the Attari railway station on Monday, the search operatio resulted in the recovery of some 14 kgs of heroin.

The heroin, being smuggled into the country from Pakistan, was seized and four passengers arrested for allegedly carrying the contraband, having a street value of Rs 70 crore, officials said in Amritsar on Tuesday.

All those arrested are Indians and include two women, identified as Saddiqiquan, of Muzaffarnagar and Bundila while the males were Akhtar Abbas and Ali Baksh, residents of Bulandshahr. The four had traveled to Pakistan on January 19.

During the interrogation, they said that the consignment of heroin was given to them at the Lahore railway station to deliver to a person who would contact to them on reaching India, according to customs officials.

The four are being questioned to extract information about the persons who were to collect the consignment on the Indian side, they said.

Barabanki, Bulandshahr and Muzaffarnagar – all in Uttar Pradesh - are known to be strategic feeder points on the country’s drug map.

With international agencies repeatedly pointing out towards a vital link between drug-trade in the sub-continent and terrorism, the security agencies are sure to probe every possible angle.

After the November 26 terror attacks in Mumbai, Indian security agencies have enhanced frisking at the Attari railway station and the Attari check post on the land transit route.