Mukesh Ambani backs Tata's Nano

NEW DELHI: Warning that 'fear psychosis' was being created to slow down projects of national interest, India's corporate leader Mukesh Amabni has thrown his lot behind Tata's Nano project in Singur saying industry and politicians need to work together. "A fear psychosis is being created to slow down certain projects of national importance. This will be counter productive for the country's economic growth, its global image as well as our ability to attract investments from across the world," the Reliance Industries Chairman said in a statement. Ambani called for the Indian industry and the political leadership to work together to meet aspirations of millions of Indians in urban and rural areas.

Two held on charges of planting bombs in Surat

SURAT: The police have got a major breakthrough in the case of planting of 25 bombs in the city with the arrest of two persons, police officials said. "We have arrested two persons - Tanveer Pathan and Zahir Patel - both residents of Surat, for planting the bombs in the city," they said. Police found as many as 25 bombs and two cars laden with explosives from the city in the last week of July after the Ahmedabad serial blasts. Bombs were predominantly found from the densely populated Varacha region where majority of the diamond cutting and polishing units are situated. Some of the bombs were found hanging on a tree and hoardings. Though none of the bombs exploded, it had created panic among people and as a result all the commercial activities, especially in the Varachah region, had come to a standstill for over four days.

Libya talks to Sudan jet hijackers after passengers freed

TRIPOLI (AFP) — Two hijackers claiming to be Darfur rebels on Wednesday released all 87 passengers from a Sudanese jet at a remote Libyan airport, keeping the crew captive for a reported bid to fly to France. "All of the passengers have left the plane," a Libyan official told AFP from Kufra oasis where the aircraft was forced to land on Tuesday evening after being hijacked en route from Darfur's main city of Nyala to Khartoum. "The two hijackers and the seven crew are still inside. We are continuing to negotiate with them," he said, requesting anonymity. A Sudanese official said there were eight crew on board. The jet was granted permission to land by Libyan authorities at the isolated World War II-era airport in the southeast of the country, close to the Sudanese border, after it ran short on fuel. The passengers had reportedly been given water but no food and some fainted when the air conditioning failed in the searing desert heat. Sudan called on the Libyan authorities to arrest and deport to Khartoum the "terrorist" hijackers, saying that Libya was being "very helpful" as the crisis entered its second day.

Ansal brothers arrested, granted bail by CBI

NEW DELHI- Real estate tycoon brothers Gopal and Sushil Ansal were arrested in connection with the Uphaar fire tragedy and granted bail soon after, in accordance with a Supreme Court order that had issued bailable arrest warrants against the two. Confirming the arrests of the brothers, who own the Uphaar cinema property where 59 people were killed in a fire on June 13, 1997, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Joint Director Arun Kumar said: "We have executed the arrest warrants issued by the Supreme Court." "As the warrants were bailable, we also granted them bail on their furnishing a personal bond," Kumar told IANS , adding that the warrants had been executed in the last "two or three days".

Five killed in Jammu gunbattle, four hostages rescued

JAMMU: Security forces have rescued three children and a woman, who were held hostage during a gunbattle in which three civilians, an army officer and a militant were killed on Wednesday in the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir. The militants, holed up in a house in Chinore on the outskirts of this city, took six civilians hostage on Wednesday morning. The police said they were trying to rescue the two remaining hostages before launching an assault on the militants. The police said three militants had crossed into Jammu and Kashmir from the Kanachak sector of the border with Pakistan on Tuesday morning. They were intercepted at the police check post of Chinore on Wednesday morning, around 20 km north from the centre of Jammu. The militants, dressed in police uniforms and carrying AK-47 assault rifles, shot dead a junior commissioned officer and then hijacked a three-wheeler. They then fired indiscriminately killing Shabeet Hussain, a milkman, and motorcyclist Naseeb Singh before killing the three-wheeler driver, Vijay Kumar, said the police. The guerrillas then entered a house in Chinore. Police and army personnel cordoned off the area and were engaged in a gunbattle with the militants. Once the remaining hostages were rescued, there would be a "final onslaught", said an army officer, which in military terms means blowing up the building with rocket launchers or explosives. "This (civilian hostages) is what is holding us up from launching final onslaught. We are ready for that," the army officer said. Army personnel have taken positions on roof tops of adjoining houses in densely populated Chinore, located on a hillock.

Shoot-at-sight orders in Kandhmal, Orissa

NEW DELHI- Orissa orders shoot-at-sight orders at eight places in Kandhmal district. Minister of State for Home is to visit the violence affected areas later today. Curfew continues in Kandhmal in the wake of the VHP leader, Swami Laxmananda Saraswati’s killing. The death toll from the violence in the state has risen to nine with the situation threatening to spiral out of control with mob seeking revenge for the killings of the VHP leader and four of his disciples, vandalizing churches and prayer halls. Thousands of people in communally-sensitive Kandhmal district moved into forests for safety. At least four people were killed in a clash between members of Hindu and Christian communities at Barakhama village in Kandhmal on Tuesday. Violence was also reported from Tikabali, Sarangada, Raikia and other places in the tribal-dominated district, prompting the administration to extend curfew from four to seven towns in Kandhmal and also seek deployment of more central forces and an army helicopter to deal with the situation. Violence continued in various parts of Orissa, with hundreds of houses, including 60 at Barimunda village in Kandhmal, were set afire and churches and prayer halls damaged. Though two additional RAF companies were rushed in, cops in the southern district found it difficult to move into interiors because of road blockades, officials said.

Parliament session to begin on 17th Oct

The next Parliament session, probably the last of the 14th Lok Sabha, will be held from 17th October to 21st November by which time the Indo-US nuclear deal is expected to go through all the processes. The delay in the schedule prompted a sharp reaction from the Left which said "this was a clear subversion of democracy...to dovetail our Parliamentary schedule to the time table of the US Congress".A decision to convene the session was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, chaired by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi on Tuesday. The five-week session will be the second phase of the two-day session which saw the Manmohan Singh government winning the trust vote.

Marathi nameplates: Raj gives Thursday deadline

MUMBAI: Stepping up his campaign for Marathi signboards, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray has warned shopowners that not putting up the boards by Thursday will invite the wrath of his men. He has also asked Marathi policemen to think before acting against his party workers. Raj said he had written a letter to policemen asking them to "think twice" and ask their conscience before using lathi-charge against MNS activists involved in the agitation to enforce the Mumbai civic body's deadline stipulating Marathi signboards on city shops by August 28. "Most of the shopowners have complied with the signboards deadline," said Raj, while addressing MNS workers at Ravindra Natya Mandir in central Mumbai. The two-year-old MNS has had regular confrontations with law-enforcement agencies over its strident anti-north India stance. "However, there are some shopowners who are deliberately raising the bogey of oppression and coercion by MNS activists," Raj said, naming Viren Shah, owner of a leading garment store in Mumbai.