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.

German Tourist Rape: Sentence Today

A Chandigarh court on Wednesday will sentence the accused convicted in the German woman gang rape case on Tuesday. The accused - Pankaj, Manvir Singh Jolly, Harpreet Singh, Sompal and Sukhwinder Singh, all from Haryana, face stern sentences for the crime that made national headlines September last.

The court framed rape charges against the youths who had sexually assaulted the 20-year-old German woman after picking her from the swank Taj Hotel in Sector 17 at about 0200 hours on September 28, 2008.

The men allegedly picked up the German tourist in their black Scorpio SUV from the parking area of the hotel.

She was taken to a farmhouse in Haryana's Ambala district, where she was sexually assaulted for several hours before being dropped off in Chandigarh by one of the men the next evening.

The tourist had accompanied a Germany-based Indian friend to attend his wedding. The victim had gone to the Taj for coffee.

While her two friends sat in the hotel coffee shop, she came out in the parking lot to smoke. It was here that she was befriended by one of the accused who offered to let her drive the SUV.

The man was later joined in by his friends.

The examination of the victim conducted by the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory (CFSL) here that confirmed rape.

The Chandigarh police later changed the case registered against the youths from molestation to rape and criminal intimidation.

Sexual assault on unsuspecting tourists is not uncommon in India, where Central and State governments spend millions of dollars on advertising to woo foreign tourists and earn foreign exchange vital to the country’s huge development requirements.

Top LeT Militant Gunned Down in J&K

Security forces in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday morning gunned down Abu Hamza, a top commander of the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT), after a fierce encounter with the militant. Hamza was in-charge of the outfit activities in the Baramulla district of the state.

Hamza was holed up inside a house in Amargarh village, along with one more militant. He was one of the most wanted militants in the state. He was believed to have been behind several attacks.

The encounter, which started yesterday, continued for over 18 hours.

No confrmation of the second militant’s fate was forthcoming and it could not be ascertained if he too died in the gun-battle or managed to flee.

A jawan of 52 Rashtriya Rifles was also killed in the gun-battle, while another jawan suffered injuries.

SSP Baramulla Anand Jain had earlier told local media that the state police and CRPF and Rashtriya Rifles jawans launched a combing and search operation in the area on Tuesday following a tip-off that militants could be hiding there.

The security forces managed to zero-in on a residential house, where the militants were hiding, Jain said. The militants refused to surrender on being asked to do so and opened fire, triggering an encounter, he added.

Reports said that the house belongs to one Mohammad Akbar Ganie.

In another encounter that also broke out on Tuesday at village Bakihara in Handrawa area of Kupwara district, an unidentified militant was killed while two security men were injured today, sources said.

The operation is still continuing.

Sena MP Held, Bailed

Move over Raj Thackeray, the original Sena is back in business, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut was on Tuesday arrested for allegedly "leading the attack" on a five-star hotel in suburban Andheri last week to protest against the management's decision to sack 21 employees.

The Shiv Sena is known for leading violent agitations in Maharasshtra, especially in Mumbai and garbs it motivated campaigns as a part of a ‘democratic’ struggle to resurrect Marathi ‘asmita’, (honour).

Raut, a Rajya Sabha member and Executive Editor of Shiv Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana', he was produced in Andheri metropolitan magistrate's court later in the day, where he was granted bail.

He has been booked under IPC sections related to rioting, said a senior police official from Sahar police station.

So far 53 persons from Shiv Sena-led Bhartiya Kamgar Sena (BKS), who were involved in the attack, have been arrested in this case.

Raut was arrested following pressure from the Centre which had directed the Maharashtra Government to deal sternly with those involved in the attack, sources said.

Around 500 Shiv Sena/BKS workers had vandalised the lobby and kitchen of Lalit Group's Intercontinental Hotel to protest against sacking of 21 employees by the management on January 21.

BSF Fires to Foil Infiltration Bid

The Border Security Force (BSF) fired twice after noticing "suspicious movement" along Jammu and Kashmir's border with Pakistan early Sunday. BSF Inspector General (Jammu Frontier) AK Saroolia later said BSF personnel in Kanachak area spotted two to three people at 0230 hours and opened fire at them.

The infiltrators were again noticed at around 5 a.m. and the guards fired again. "We saw some footprints in the area this morning... It could be an infiltration attempt."

Security forces along the border are on high alert in the run up to the Republic Day on Monday.