Hindustan Times: October 2009

Huge blaze in Jaipur oil depot

At least five people were killed and over 100 injured when a ferocious blaze, with flames leaping up to the height of three or four-storeyed buildings, engulfed an Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) depot at Sitapura Industrial Area, 16 kilometers south of Jaipur, on Thursday night.

The fire, beginning with an explosion at around 7.30 p.m., reportedly due to a leaking pipeline, spread to at least 12 oil tanks in the vicinity, the police said.

"Around 80 injured people have been admitted to hospital," said Kanhaiya Lal, Assistant Director General (Crime).

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Prime Minister reaches out to Jammu & Kashmir, Pak

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday reached out to separatists in Jammu & Kashmir and made a renewed effort to resume talks with Pakistan, but with a caveat -- Islamabad must rein in anti-India terror groups operating from its soil.

Separatists would also have to abjure violence, Singh said, as he inaugurated a 18-kilometre rail link to strengthen connectivity within the Kashmir valley.

"I appeal to Pakistan to strengthen the hand of friendship we have extended. It is in the interest of people of both nations," Singh said.

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Rajdhani held hostage in Naxal land

The Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express slowed down and stopped at Banstala, near Kharagpur, at 2.35 pm on Tuesday. About 300 flag-waving activists, armed with axes, swords, bows and arrows surrounded it. They had placed wooden logs across the tracks.

Activists of the Maoist-backed People's Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCPA), pelted stones at the train, breaking some glass windows and injuring at least one passenger.

They next abducted the train's driver K. Anand Rao and his assistant K.G. Rao, assaulted some passengers, and finally called up the office of the railway manager at Kharagpur, 145 km east of Kolkata. The driver and his assistant were released five hours later.

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Same pollution norms for home and factory soon

By end 2009, India will set a uniform limit for pollution across the country, making no distinction between industrial and residential areas, sources in the ministry of environment and forests said.

At present, for instance, the amount of `Respirable, Suspended Particulate Matter' (RSPM), a major pollutant, allowed in industrial areas is 120 unit grams per cubic metre (ug/m3), while the maximum tolerated in non-industrial ones is only 60 ug/m3.

"When air quality norms were first notified in 1994 most industrial areas were far away from residential areas," said a top ministry official. "With both industrial and residential areas expanding, this is no longer the case. There cannot be two different air quality standards for citizens living side by side."

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`Dalai Lama honoured guest'

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday described Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama as India's "honoured guest", and said India and China agreed that they had an obligation to maintain peace and tranquility along the border.

Singh met his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao on the sidelines of the 10th Asean (Association of South East Asian Nations) summit at this Thai resort twice on Saturday.

Addressing a news conference on Sunday, the Prime Minister was asked if China had raised the issue of the Dalai Lama's forthcoming visit to Arunachal Pradesh. "No they did not.

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Congress beats divided Opposition...

The Congress did not win as much as the opposition parties lost. But it has the mandate now to push ahead with its agenda on education, climate change and disinvestments.

The first round of assembly elections after the 15th general elections in May endorsed the Congress and showed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the principal opposition, continuing its downward slide.

The Congress is set to retain power in all three states that voted on October 13 -- sweeping Arunachal Pradesh, narrowly winning Maharashtra in alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and roping in independents to hold on to Haryana, having failed to win a majority on its own.

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Mathura train collision kills 22

At least 22 people were killed mostly women and children and about 40 injured when a train rammed into another near Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, about 150 km southeast of Delhi, on Wednesday.

Both trains were Delhi-bound. At 4.30 a.m., the Mewar Express came to a halt after a chain was pulled. Forty-five minutes later, the Goa Express, coming from behind at full throttle, rammed into its brake van and general compartment for ladies and disabled persons.

Later, it emerged three policemen from Rajasthan had pulled the chain to catch a prisoner, who had tried to escape.

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Educated youth drive crime in Noida

Across the lanes and streets of Noida and Greater Noida, the police are facing a new menace: youth in the 1825 age group, belonging to middle-income-group families and armed with crude weapons and professional degrees.

Unlike professional criminals, these troublemakers "rob, snatch and con to fund their high-roller lifestyle", said Deputy Superintendent of Police Rajiv Narayan Mishra.

"Since last October, about 75 per cent of petty street crimes in Noida and Greater Noida -such as robbing and snatching of wallets -- has been done by first-time offenders," he said

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Indian Institute of Technology entrance exam bar to be raised

Students aspiring for the IITs will have to take their Class XII boards a lot more seriously now. They may have to score substantially more than 60 per cent to qualify to take the entrance test.

"A qualifying mark of 60 per cent is not enough," said Human Resource Development minister Kapil Sibal on Monday, announcing a plan to raise the qualifying percentage from the current 60 per cent.

"It should be 75 or 80 percent," Sibal said after a meeting with the IIT council, the apex decision-making body for the elite engineering institutes.

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Ganga family seeks Goddess Laxmi's blessings

Outside the team hotel, the party is about to begin on Friday night. With beers in hand, dressed in the Trinidad and Tobago jerseys, waving the unmistakable red and black flags, the guests are ready. But the heroes of the night haven't arrived yet.

On the eve of Diwali, the team has given them the perfect present in the form of a stunning win against New South Wales Blues here. The Trinidadians were just thrilled being part of Champions League, let alone beating three big teams. The party people inform that back home, in the tiny Caribbean island, they have stopped work and are celebrating even if it's only midday. "Trinidad is in a mess right now. People have one foot in a rum shop and the other in the office!" exclaims one gentleman. "

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Pakistan terror wave kills 39

Five militant attacks in quick succession rocked Pakistan on Thursday with Lahore bearing the brunt. The wave of violence left 39 people dead.

Four of the attacks targeted law enforcement facilities in Lahore and Kohat, a town in North West Frontier Province while the fifth target was a colony for government officers in Peshawar in the northwest.

The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the Lahore strikes, which coincided with Pakistani warplanes bombing their suspected hideouts and some civilian areas in south Waziristan, killing 17 militants and some civilians.

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Bt brinjal gets the green signal

The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), India's biotech regulator, on Wednesday cleared Bt brinjal the country's first genetically modified (GM) food for commercial use.

However, the Centre will take a final decision on whether this will be allowed.

"The GEAC, after considering reports of two review committees, has given its approval to Bt brinjal," environment minister Jairam Ramesh said.

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Cancer can be passed on from mom to baby in womb

Scientists have established the world's first case of cancer being transmitted from a woman to her baby in the womb, at the Institute of Cancer Research, University of London.

They used genetic fingerprinting techniques to show that leukaemia cells of a 28 year old mother had crossed the placenta and infected her unborn baby.

Usually, when cancer cells cross the placental barrier, the baby's immune system recognises them as foreign invaders and destroys them.

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Time's short, so talk less, work more, say Games chief

The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) on Monday delivered a loud and clear message about the state of Delhi's preparedness to host the 2010 edition.

"It is not time to debate what needs to be done, but time is now to recommend to do what is recommended and get done with it," CGF chief Michael Fennell told the media.

He spelt out a host of measures to address Delhi's deficiencies, while maintaining that it did not mean taking over the preparations from the Games's Organising Committee (OC).

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Twenty20 tickets going at discount

Outside the ticket counter at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground, hours before the Sussex vs New South Wales match on Sunday, three men were seen trying to sell tickets they had bought in bulk earlier.

This is a common sight outside cricket stadiums in India. But here's the catch: the tickets were being sold at a price lower than marked.

Turnouts at Champions League matches have been ground. With the tournament not getting the kind of response organisers had hoped for, tickets in Delhi are being sold at a discount.

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Embassy in Kabul bombed, 17 locals dead, Indians safe

For the second time in 15 months, the Indian embassy in Kabul was attacked by a suicide car bomber.

The blast killed 17 people, all Afghans, and injured nearly 80. Three Indian paramilitary soldiers on guard duty were hit by shrapnel. Unlike last year, the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on a website.

Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said the attack had clearly targeted the Indian embassy.

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Indian Institute of Science professor wins Chemistry Nobel

Indian-American Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, 57, has won this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the Nobel Foundation announced on Wednesday. He shares it with Thomas Steitz, an American, and Ada Yonath, an Israeli.

Well known as `Venky' in India's scientific circles, Ramakrishnan, has been a visiting lecturer at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore, for many years. He was born and schooled at Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu and graduated from M.S. University in Vadodara, Gujarat, before moving to the United States for his Ph.D. from Ohio University.

He is the seventh person of Indian origin to win the Nobel.

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Ravaged by Rain

The government on Monday stepped up its relief and rescue operations, as torrential rains that have left 271 dead and more than 2.5 million homeless in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra, spread to new areas.

In Gujarat, cyclonic winds and thunderstorms killed 12 people, while heavy rains came down in Goa, western Madhya Pradesh as well as the northeastern states.

But the brunt of nature's fury continued to be borne by Andhra and Karnataka.

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Orissa High Court judges want `corrupt' colleague out

An additional judge of the Orissa High Court has been recommended for removal for rigging a selection test for subordinate judges, according to documents seen by HT.

The judge, to be confirmed as a full-fledged judge next January, had "wrongly increased the marks of two candidates", says a letter written by the high court to Chief Justice of India K.G.Balakrishnan and the Union law ministry.

The judge's name is being withheld as efforts by HT to seek his view got no response.

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Government wants baby borrowing TV show stopped

The government wants a popular television reality show where celebrity couples look after babies of strangers for four days, stopped.

The Ministry of Women and Child Welfare has asked NDTV Imagine, the channel broadcasting Pati, Patni aur Woh, and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to ensure this.

"The children are too small, they can't say anything," said Sandhya Bajaj, a member of the autonomous National Commission for Protection of Child Rights endorsing the decision.
"It is our responsibility to listen and react."

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Lashkar stronger, richer after 26/11

Ten months after the devastating attacks in Mumbai by Pakistan-based militants, the Lashkar- e-Tayyeba(LeT) remains largely intact and determined to strike India again, according to Lashkar members and Pakistani intelligence.

Despite pledges from Pakistan to dismantle militant groups operating on its soil, and the arrest of a handful of operatives, Lashkar has flourished since 10 of its members carried out the Mumbai attack last November.

Pakistan's chief spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, or ISI, helped create the LeT two decades ago to challenge Indian control in Kashmir.

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Labels: challenge, control, documents, Kashmir, lashkar e tayyeba, militant groups, operatives, pakistani intelligence, pakistani militants, spy, strike

We are like this only...

After failing to ament, India's fire all tournament, India's bowlers brought their big game to the party on Wednesday, but it was too little, too late, and there was nothing left to celebrate though India breezed past West Indies by seven wickets.

For the third time in as many editions, India failed to make the final four of the Champions Trophy, and this consolation win against the weakened Windies will not go far in easing the pain.

Ashish Nehra, India's bowler of the tournament, set to work immediately, generating more pace than he has in years. When Nehra finds his natural length, too short to play off the back foot and too full to play forward, at pace, he is as dangerous as any bowler in the world.

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Labels: ashish nehra, champions league, champions trophy, champions trophy scoreboard, india champions trophy, india out of champions trophy, india vs west indies, seven wickets, trophy final four

Hindustan Times

Friday, October 30, 2009

Huge blaze in Jaipur oil depot

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Prime Minister reaches out to Jammu & Kashmir, Pak

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Rajdhani held hostage in Naxal land

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Same pollution norms for home and factory soon

Monday, October 26, 2009

`Dalai Lama honoured guest'

Friday, October 23, 2009

Congress beats divided Opposition...

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Mathura train collision kills 22

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Educated youth drive crime in Noida

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Indian Institute of Technology entrance exam bar to be raised

Monday, October 19, 2009

Ganga family seeks Goddess Laxmi's blessings

Friday, October 16, 2009

Pakistan terror wave kills 39

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Bt brinjal gets the green signal

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Cancer can be passed on from mom to baby in womb

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Time's short, so talk less, work more, say Games chief

Monday, October 12, 2009

Twenty20 tickets going at discount

Friday, October 9, 2009

Embassy in Kabul bombed, 17 locals dead, Indians safe

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Indian Institute of Science professor wins Chemistry Nobel

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Ravaged by Rain

Monday, October 5, 2009

Orissa High Court judges want `corrupt' colleague out

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Government wants baby borrowing TV show stopped

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Lashkar stronger, richer after 26/11

We are like this only...

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