Twin blasts rock Karachi; 12 killed, 40 wounded

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Sun, 03 March 2013

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Queen Elizabeth II has been hospitalised in London due to apparent stomach infection

The 86-year-old royal is suffering from a suspected bout of gastroenteritis, and made the rare move of pulling out of a public appearance as she recovers.

The monarch was due to appear in Swansea on Saturday to honour soldiers following St David's Day, which recognizes the country's patron saint.

At least 12 people, including two children, were killed and about 40 others injured when two blasts ripped through a Shia-dominated area of the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi on Sunday, witnesses and officials said.

The first blast occurred outside an imambargah (Shia prayer hall) in Abbas Town at about 7 pm as people were leaving after prayers.

The second explosion, which was less powerful, went off in the same area within ten minutes, witnesses said.

Officials at Patel Hospital said they had received eight bodies, including one that was in pieces.

Four more bodies were received at Jinnah Hospital and Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

Two children and a woman were among the dead.

About 40 injured people, including women and children, were taken to nearby hospitals.

Carrying garlands into the revered shrine of Sai Baba at Shirdi would soon be a thing of the past.

This is because the Shirdi Sai Sansthan trust, which runs the temple, has decided to impose a ban on devotees bringing flowers and garlands into the temple in order to avert any possibility of a terror attack on the temple.

The trust feels that the close proximity of the recent twin Hyderabad blasts to a Sai Baba temple there as well as the looming terror threat on the Shirdi shrine could not be a mere coincidence.

Reviewing the security arrangements at the temple, following the Hyderabad terror strike, the trust has decided to disallow devotees from bringing garlands and flowers, which terror groups could use to conceal bombs and sneak in, in case of an attack.

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18:52 APCC chief return to Hyderabad empty handed

Andhra Pradesh Congress chief Botsa Satyanarayana was in New Delhi on Sunday apparently to finalise the list of legislative council members.

However, Botsa failed to secure an appointment with either party chief Sonia Gandhi or members of the party high command.

He, however, did manage to meet state in charge Ghulam Nabi Azad following which he returned to Hyderabad

18:17 Odisha govt resumes Posco land acquisition

Amid tension in proposed Posco plant area where three anti-project activists were killed last night while allegedly making bombs, Odisha government on Sunday resumed land acquisition for the mega steel project.

Police today recovered the three bodies and materials like gun powder and blades used for making explosives.

Jagatsinghpur SP Satyabrata Bhoi said three persons were killed and another was critically injured in the blast when members of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) were making crude bombs at Patana village, a charge denied by the anti-project body.

"Police have recovered the materials used for making crude bombs from the site," Bhoi said, adding the bodies were sent for postmortem, while the injured was rushed to SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack in critical state.

While tension prevailed in the area, three betel vines were demolished in the presence of top officials at Gobindpur village as Jagatsinghpur district administration resumed the land acquisition process, a senior official said.

18:12 Separatists issue weekly protest calendar

The Majlis Mashawarat, an amalgamation of several separatist groups, has issued the weekly protest calendar in support of their demand for handing over of mortal remains of Mohammad Afzal Guru and Mohammad Maqbool Bhat to their families.

In a statement, the Majlis (Consultative Committee) also called for a complete shutdown in the Valley on Monday to protest the death of Kashmiri student Mudasir Kamran who was found hanging from the ceiling of his hostel room in Hyderabad.

"Kamran was murdered for leading funeral prayers for Guru," the statement said alleging the police were misleading the people about the circumstances of his death.

The amalgamation called for a march to Kamran's native village Parigam in south Kashmir Pulwama district on Tuesday for expressing solidarity with the bereaved family.

During the march, the demand for return of mortal remains of Parliament attack convict (Guru) and JKLF founder (Bhat) would be reiterated, the statement said.Z

The Delhi Police on Sunday claimed to have solved the killing of two siblings with the arrest of their 22-year-old uncle and his two friends who were eyeing Rs 30 lakh the victims' family had got in a property deal.

The bodies of Mansij (7) and his sister Yashbi (5) were found near Pragati Maidan yesterday morning, four days after they were kidnapped from their school in east Delhi's Mandawli area.

The gang had tried to kidnap the children on a previous occasion on February 23 but could not do so as they did not go to school that day. They even allegedly planned it to be that perfect that they locked the door of the victims' house so that their mother could not go out to pick them up from school.

They allegedly strangled the children and smashed their heads with rocks on the same day they kidnapped them after they found that it was difficult to keep the siblings with them.

16:50 Modi's speech was full of lies: Congress

Congress hit back at Narendra Modi for his comments on the UPA government during his address at the BJP National Executive meet.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla said Modi's speech is full of lies.

"Modi's speech was full of lies. Why did he not support Pranab Mukherjee for the post of the President. He did not have the courage to do so," said Shukla.

Meanwhile, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari, too, took a dig at the Gujarat Chief Minister and said then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had reminded Modi about 'Raj Dharma' in the wake of the 2002 riots in the state.

"Is it not true that Vajpayee ji reminded a certain CM about Raj Dharma in 02? What did Vajpayee attribute their 2004 defeat too," wrote Tewari.

16:33 Internet banned aboard Titanic II!

No Twitter and Facebook for Titanic II passengers!

Social media and other Internet facility including e-mails will be banned on board the replica of the doomed Titanic liner to give passengers a chance to relax and talk to each other.

"It will be a chance for people to return to a different age, when there was a whole different social fabric. It's no bad thing to take some time with your family and friends," Australian Mining tycoon Clive Palmer, who has unveiled the blueprints for a successor ship to the ill-fated Titanic, said.

"In 1912 things were simpler," the 58-year-old billionaire tycoon, said.

Palmer's Blue Star Line has agreed a deal in principle with China's state-owned CSC Jinling Shipyard to build Titanic II to the original design, but with modern safety improvements, 'Express.co.uk' reported.

Around 40,000 people have already expressed an interest in booking one of its 835 first, second or third-class cabins for the historic voyage planned to begin in late 2016.

Have a query on Budget 2013-14? You can directly ask Finance Minister P Chidambaram as he will take questions on all proposals on Monday on Google Hangout -- a multi-person online video chat.

This is for the first time the Finance Minister will use Google Hangout to answer netizens' queries on the Budget presented on February 28.

Chidambaram will respond to citizens' questions on Budget 2013-14 at 2000 hrs tomorrow, a Finance Ministry release said.

Chidambaram will be joined by a select group of panelists from including Jahangir Aziz, Senior Asia Economist and India Chief Economist, JP Morgan; Anand Mahindra, Chairman and Managing Director of Mahindra & Mahindra; and Amit Singhal, Senior Vice-President, Google Inc.

He would join the league of other powerful personalities across the globe including US President Barack Obama; Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard; Malaysian Prime Minister Najib; and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi who had interacted with netizens on Google Hangout.

Modi turned to Google Hangout on August 31, 2012, to connect with voters during his election campaign.

Google+ Hangouts are multi-person video chats and allow up to 10 people participating at a point of time. One can later share the hangout on YouTube or live stream it using Hangouts on Air.

Netizens can submit their questions by uploading a video, by commenting on the YouTube channel or through the Google India Page and tagging text or a video with the hashtag #askthefm.

In what could help them nab the culprit, the Delhi police have managed to prepare a sketch of the accused on the basis of the statement given by the girl who was allegedly raped in a municipal school here on February 27, said a report.

According to a news channel, the victim told the police that she did not see the accused at school regularly.

On Saturday, three people -- including the school inspector and principal -- were suspended.

"School inspector Balraj Singh, principal Neelam Karwal, class teacher Monica Kohli, school attendant Sushila watchman Kailash have been suspended in the alleged sexual assault case at Mangolpuri Municipal Primary School," BK Gupta, municipal commissioner, North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), said.

The Class 2 student was allegedly raped in the NDMC-run school in Mangolpuri area when she went to collect her midday meal.

She was admitted to Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital on Friday afternoon.

Chandigarh Shatabdi will be the first train to have "Anubhuti" coaches, the special AC luxury class proposed in this year's rail budget, providing higher travel comfort to passengers.

Railways will roll out 10 state-of-the-art AC coaches from Rae Bareli coach factory by October.

"We will be beginning the Anubhuti trial with Chandigarh Shatabdi to be followed with Jaipur Shatabdi. Later on, all Shatabdi trains will be equipped with one Anubhuti coach in a phase-wise manner," said a senior Railway Ministry official.

Anubhuti, the first of its kind modern LHB coach with ergonomically designed cushioned seats, LCD screens, modular toilets and world class interiors is estimated to cost about Rs 2.80 crore. Currently, it costs about Rs 2.5 crore for manufacturing a LHB coach.

He said similarly one Rajdhani train will be selected for introduction of Anubhuti coach to be followed by all other 23 Rajdhani services. Mail and express trains will also be equipped with Anubhuti coaches in a gradual manner.

While AC 1 Executive Class has 56 seats in Shatabdi, new design Anubhuti with automatic opening and closing of internal doors will have about 50 seats only.

Jeffrey Archer fans, here's some good news for you! The third book of the master storyteller's "The Clifton Chronicles" will be released in India next week ahead of its global launch and the British author will travel to Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and New Delhi.

"Best Kept Secret" is the highly anticipated third instalment of "The Clifton Chronicles" and takes the reader on a breakneck journey from Bristol to the US and on to Buenos Aires in the mid 1950s.

Published in India by Pan Macmillan India, it bears all the hallmarks of a classic Archer thriller, keeping the reader guessing throughout with his fast-paced narrative and nail-biting cliff-hangers.

Says Archer on travelling to India for the launch, "Everyone knows my love of India, and I'm delighted to be back again with the third volume of 'The Clifton Chronicles', 'Best Kept Secret'. Don't keep it secret - let everyone know!"

13:59 Lankan Navy again targets Indian fishermen

Large number of fishermen from Tamil Nadu were on Sunday attacked allegedly by Sri Lankan naval personnel with stones and bottles while fishing off Katchatheevu, causing damage to some boats, officials said.

The fishermen from Rameshwaram, Mandapam and other coastal areas of Ramanathapuram and Nagapattinam districts were fishing in about 1,400 boats near Kathchatheevu early Sunday morning when the Lankan Navy allegedly attacked them, they said.

They allegedly pelted stones and other missiles, including bottles. They also snapped the fishing net of ten boats, Nagapattinam Assistant Director of Fisheries Gunasekaran said.

The fishermen said most of them could not fish in view of the continuous stone pelting by the Sri Lankan naval personnel. Some of the boats from Nagapattinam were steel bodied and they could manage to fish, he said.

Kathchatheevu is an islet ceded by India to Sri Lanka under an agreement in the 1970s.

In a warning to tax dodgers, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said that a huge amount of data is being mined to go after them and ruled out any amnesty scheme for defaulters.

"No. In income tax there is no case for amnesty. Because now almost all returns are online except a small category which was exempt. We have a huge amount of data which is being mined. Therefore, there is no case for amnesty today. Best case I can make out is tell people 'please don't hide your income'. Just admit your income and pay tax and be a proud citizen," he told PTI in an interview.

He was asked whether government would consider giving an amnesty to tax defaulters to unearth an estimated huge amount of black money on the lines of amnesty given to service tax defaulters announced in the budget.

Chidambaram pointed out that no tax burden had been imposed in the budget on any category of people other than a "small burden" of 10 per cent surcharge on relatively affluent 42,800 people with incomes of over Rs one crore a year, he pointed out today.

The government's offer-for sale for offloading 9.33 per cent stake in trading giant MMTC is likely to hit the markets on March 14, which could rake in about Rs 300 crore to the exchequer.

The Empowered group of Ministers (EGoM) on disinvestment, headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, is scheduled to meet on March 12 to decide on the floor price for the proposed stake sale.

"The EGoM for MMTC is scheduled to meet on March 12 and the issue is likely on March 14," official sources said.

The government has shortlisted three merchant bankers, including IDFC, for selling over 9.33 crore shares or 9.33 per cent of its stake in MMTC in the current fiscal through an Offer For Sale (OFS).

Since the public float of the company is very less, the merchant bankers are in the process of evaluating the valuation of the shares which will be acceptable to investors.

"We are expecting somewhere between Rs 250-300 crore through the stake sale," another official said.

At Bharatiya Janata Party's national conclave in the national capital on Sunday, Modi attacked the Congress on all fronts whether it was price rise or inflation or corruption.

"BJP is for mission, Congress is for commission," he said in a statement dripping with sarcasm.

Emphasizing on the need to uproot the Congress from Centre Modi said, "I can see that the country is on its way. The people of this country have decided to throw the Congress out of power."

FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke has confirmed the 2022 World Cup in Qatar could be moved to the winter if research shows holding the tournament in the region's intense summer heat would be dangerous for players.

Since being awarded the right to host the event, Qatar's tournament organisers have had to deal with a barrage of questions about the suitability of staging the World Cup in searing June and July temperatures, which can reach up to 50C.

FIFA, the game's world governing body, had previously suggested that Qatar would have to make the request to move the tournament.

But speaking at the International Football Association Board meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland, Valcke became the first senior FIFA official to admit that the event could be moved if his organisation received strong medical advice that it needed to do so.

11:58 India's solar mission could be tripping up

Over three years ago, the government launched one of the world's most ambitious solar power programmes. But if you think that your home is about to be lit up with sun power, think again -- the programme is a mess

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11:53 From grievance to greed

The criminal activities of Maoists are alienating the common people. Mao Zedong has likened guerillas to fish and the masses to water but criminalisation of the Maoist movement in Jharkhand is poisoning the water where the very survival of insurgents is increasingly becoming difficult.

No civilised society can condone planting of bombs in the body of a soldier.

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Social activist Irom Sharmila, who has been on fast for about 12 years demanding the repeal of controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), has been flown in to Delhi in connection with a court case.

"Sharmila was flown to Delhi on Sunday as she has to appear before a court in connection with the fast she undertook in Delhi in the past demanding the repeal of AFSPA," Imphal central jail superintendent IK MUivah said.

She has to appear before the court under IPC 309 (attempt to commit suicide) for fasting at Jantar Mantar in Delhi.

Sharmila has launched her fast unto death in 2000 after 10 civilians were killed by Assam Rifles personnel at Malom area near Imphal airport. She is now in jail and is being fed through her nose at JNIMS Hospital in Imphal.

11:32 President Pranab in Bangladesh amid clashes

President Pranab Mukherjee left on Sunday for Dhaka on a three-day state visit as clashes in Bangladesh raged between youngsters celebrating the death sentence for the war crimes and supporters of the convicted Jamaat-e-Islami chief Delwar Hossain Sayeedi.

Also, a general strike has been called by Jamaat-e-Islami in Bangladesh to protest conviction of its three top leaders for war crimes.

Mukherjees trip is expected to take bilateral relations between the two neighbours to new heights.

The two-day strike called by Jamaat coincides with Mukherjee's visit as does another shutdown called by the fundamentalist outfit's alliance partner and main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by Khaleda Zia on the last day of the visit on March 5.

Jamaat has called the strike demanding a halt to the trial of its leaders on war crime charges and BNP is set to enforce the shutdown protesting alleged crackdown by police on Jamaat activists last Thursday.

Addressing Bhartiya Janata Party's national conclave in the national capital on Sunday, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi said that the only force who can throw out the Congress out of power are the workers of the party.

Modi started his address on an emotional note saying that he has no words to explain what he felt when BJP president Rajnath Singh honoured and garlanded him yesterday.

Gujarat victory is not one person's victory but the victory of the party. It is the victory of BJPs thought process and ideology. The win is the victory of the people of Gujarat. It is also the victory of the guidance provided by our senior leaders.

Taking on the UPA government he said, "The government at the Centre has doomed the country. One cannot understand whether there is a government at all in the centre. The poor are suffering and the Congress party does not have it in them to take the country forward."

"Soon after India got independence, the Congress had all the opportunities to take the country forward. But it was not to be. All other countries, including China, went ahead of us," he added.

"How prudent is it to sacrifice the interest of the country for the sake of one family?" he asked.

Modi, favoured as a prime ministerial candidate by many in the BJP, has hogged the limelight at the national council meeting even as president Rajnath Singh asked the party ranks to be prepared for early Lok Sabha polls.

00:05 NATO apologises after two Afghan boys killed

The Nato-led Isaf force has apologised for the deaths of two Afghan boys, killed when a helicopter fired on them, mistaking them for insurgents. The boys, aged under seven, were killed on Thursday in Uruzgan province.

Isaf takes "full responsibility for this tragedy", its commander said. Analysts say civilian deaths enrage the Afghan people and President Hamid Karzai, who recently stopped his troops calling in foreign air strikes in built-up areas.

00:04 Top headlines at this hour

Modi may get place in BJP's central team

Asaduddin Owaisi arrested in Bidar

Rahul to hold fresh talks with AICC leaders next week

Raj dares Ajit Pawar to intimidate MNS without state help

Police yet to make headway in Mangolpuri rape case

Sadhvi's family members refuse to cremate father

Bhayander: Guard loots ATM after locking up mechanic!

Trade unions take war against FDI in retail to next level

Implement Sachar report or be ready to go: Mulayam to UPA

Rio stakes claim to form government in Nagaland