BOLLYWOOD ACTOR SUNJAY DUTT RELEASED FROM YERAWADA JAIL IN PUNE ON THURSDAY INDIA BOLLYWOOD NEWS HEADLINES STORY

SUNJAY DUTT THE BOLLYWOOD ACTOR AND SUPERSTAR RELEASED FROM PUNE JAIL INDIA NEWS HEADLINES: - Actor Sanjay Dutt was released from Pune's Yerawada jail on Thursday morning. Dutt's lawyer Satish Maneshinde visited Yeravada jail at around 8.30 am with the relevant papers and delivered them to the jail authorities. He was accompanied by Dutt's former secretary Pankaj Kharbanda. Dutt, sentenced to six years imprisonment under the Arms Act in connection to the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, has been lodged in Pune's Yeravada jail since October 22. The actor was released at approximately 9.50 am and he is likely to take a chartered flight back to Mumbai. The actor was convicted for possessing illegal weapons like AK-56 and a pistol. The TADA court delivered the order copy to him on October 22 and Dutt was sent back to the Yerawada jail. After his sentencing, Dutt had spent a month in jail before the Supreme Court granted him interim bail, on the ground that the actor had not yet received a copy of the TADA court verdict.

PERVEZ MUSHARRAF BECOMES CIVILIAN PRESIDENT OF PAKISTAN NEWS HEADLINES

GENERAL PERVEZ MUSHARRAF BECOMES THE CIVILIAN PRESIDENT OF PAKISTAN AFTER HE STEPS DOWN AS MILITARY COMMANDER NEWS HEADLINES

PERVEZ MUSHARRAF THE CIVILIAN PRESIDENT OF PAKISTAN RAWALPINDI NEWS HEADLINES STORY: - An emotional Pervez Musharraf stepped down as army chief yesterday and will be sworn in as a civilian leader for a second five-year term today. In doing so he has fulfilled one of the long-held demands of his political rivals and Western allies, taking off the uniform he has referred to as his “second skin” and becoming a civilian president ahead of national elections in January. In a moment many Pakistanis thought they would never see, Musharraf passed the baton of command to his hand-picked successor, General Ashfaq Kayani, at a farewell parade ceremony at army headquarters here. His resignation from the military was welcomed by the United States, Britain and opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, but all said further steps were needed, including the end of emergency rule. The 64-year-old former commando dabbed at his eyes behind his glasses at one point and lifted a handkerchief to his nose after his speech. Buglers announced Musharraf’s arrival at a stadium at army headquarters in Rawalpindi and then, to the tune of “Auld Lang Syne,” an honour guard escorted him and former spy chief Kiyani to their position on a dais.

“The system continues, people come and go, everyone has to go, every good thing comes to an end, everything is mortal,” a sombre-looking Musharraf said. Addressing hundreds of invited guests and dignitaries, Musharraf, wearing a green sash over his light khaki ceremonial dress and medals, praised the army as Pakistan’s “binding force”. “After remaining in uniform for 46 years I am saying goodbye to this army. This army is my life, this army is my passion. I have loved this army.” Musharraf hailed the armed forces as the “saviour of Pakistan”. He also voiced full confidence in Kiyani. But without the army, the main source of his power, Musharraf faces a torrid time ahead of elections set for January 8, with growing calls for him to end emergency rule. Ordinary Pakistanis welcomed Musharraf’s departure from the army and some said it was time he left politics too. “I think his role in Pakistani politics is ending now, and it’s only a matter of time before he will be kicked out by the people, or by the army itself,” said Abdul Aziz Khan, a retired banker in Karachi. Musharraf has said that he expects Pakistan to be governed by a troika, made up of himself, Kayani and the new prime minister. The opposition parties of ex-prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif welcomed the resignation. “It is a pleasant moment in the history of Pakistan. Now our army will get a full-time general as its leader,” Bhutto said in Karachi. The opposition insists Musharraf’s October 6 re-election as president was illegal, claiming he imposed emergency rule to purge the Supreme Court of hostile judges who threatened to overturn his victory. In a sign that Musharraf may respond to the clamour, attorney general Malik Muhammad Qayyum said the emergency would be lifted “very soon”, without specifying a date. Musharraf’s spokesman Rashid Qureshi said he would address the nation today after he takes the oath as president, but gave no more details.

PAKISTAN MILITARY COMMANDER RESIGNS GENERAL PERVEZ MUSHARRAF NEWS HEADLINES STORY

PAKISTAN PRESIDENT GENERAL PERVEZ MUSHARRAF STEPPED DOWN FROM HIS POWERFUL POST OF PAKISTAN MILITARY COMMANDER NEWS HEADLINES

PAKISTAN PRESIDENT GENERAL PERVEZ MUSHARRAF STEPS DOWN FROM MILITARY COMMANDERS POST NEWS HEADLINES: - President Pervez Musharraf stepped down Wednesday from his powerful post as Pakistan's military commander, a day before he was to be sworn in as a civilian president in a long-delayed pledge not to hold both jobs. During a change of command, Musharraf relinquished his post by handing over his ceremonial baton to his hand-picked successor, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani. Pervez Musharraf's retirement from the military has been a key opposition demand and the move may help defuse a possible boycott of parliamentary elections in January by parties opposed to his rule. Since seizing power in a coup in 1999, Musharraf has served as president while retaining his post as head of the armed forces. "(You) are the saviors of Pakistan," Pervez Musharraf said in an emotional final speech to the troops. He appeared to be blinking back tears as the guard of honor performed a final march-by.

Pervez Musharraf had promised to give up his army role at the end of 2004. But Pervez Musharraf reneged on that pledge, saying the country still needed strong leadership in the face of Islamic extremism. Musharraf reacted by proclaiming a state of emergency on Nov. 3, sacking the chief justice and other independent judges and replacing them with his appointees. The reconstituted top court then duly approved his election. Pervez Musharraf was re-elected by parliament in October, but his confirmation was held up by the Supreme Court following complaints that a military man could not constitutionally serve as an elected head-of-state. "I'm proud of this army and I was lucky to have commanded the world's best army," Pervez Musharraf said. "I will no longer command ... but my heart and my mind will always be with you." On Wednesday, hundreds of senior officers, politicians and other civilians watched from the stands as an unsmiling Pervez Musharraf , wearing a phalanx of medals and a green sash across his uniform, reviewed the ranks to the strains of "Auld Lang Syne."

Opponents on Tuesday welcomed Pervez Musharraf's belated conversion to civilian rule and appeared to pull back from a threat to boycott the elections. But Sharif also kept up his rhetoric against the general, insisting that Pervez Musharraf lift the state of emergency. Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister Musharraf ousted in a 1999 coup, said Musharraf's conversion to a civilian president would make "a lot of difference," and he would only refuse to participate in the vote if all opposition parties agreed to do so as well. Pervez Musharraf insists his continued rule as president is essential for Pakistan, which faces an increasingly violent onslaught from Islamic extremists, to remain stable as it reverts to democracy. Pervez Musharraf has faced increasingly adamant calls from critics at home and abroad to lift the emergency and make good on a long-standing pledge to restore civilian rule. To calm the turmoil, Pervez Musharraf has released thousands of opponents and let all but one of Pakistan's independent news channels go back on the air.

The crackdown on dissent has dealt a blow to Pervez Musharraf's relations with Benazir Bhutto, another former prime minister who has returned from self-exile and who shares his secularist, pro-Western views. Kayani, a close associate of Pervez Musharraf, is widely expected to maintain the army's pro-Western policies even as he tries to repair the image of a force damaged by its direct involvement in politics. Bhutto, who has twice been put under house arrest to stop her from leading protests, has joined Sharif in denouncing Musharraf's backsliding on democracy. However, she and Sharif are fierce political rivals, and there are doubts that they can forge a united front to force out Musharraf. "Uniform or no uniform, it would not impact our war on terror," Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said.

Sharif, who returned Sunday from exile in Saudi Arabia, went on CNN in September to calm doubts about his commitment to battling the Taliban and al-Qaida. An official insisted Tuesday that Pervez Musharraf's switch would bring no change in resolve against terrorism. But Sharif, a conservative with good relations with religious parties, is reaching out to the many Pakistanis who disagree with sending the army to fight militants along the Afghan border and who deride Pervez Musharraf as an American stooge. Civilians as well as militant have died in those operations and occasional U.S. missile strikes on targets inside Pakistan. "You can't fight terror the way Mr. Musharraf is fighting," Sharif said, adding that the Pakistani leader "needs the threat of terror for his own survival. We will fight out of conviction." That posture could entice some votes away from Bhutto, who has said she might let U.S. troops strike at Osama bin Laden if the al-Qaida leader is found in Pakistan.

"If the outside world declares somebody a terrorist, we shall not act on it blindly," he told reporters in his home city of Lahore. "We are against extremism and terrorism. But it doesn't mean to allow foreign countries to bomb our people." It remains unclear whether Sharif can assemble a slate of candidates strong enough to challenge the pro-Musharraf ruling party or Bhutto's party in January. Still, a day after filing his nomination papers, Sharif gave the strongest hint yet that he would actually take part. "If all political parties agree, I think we should boycott the polls because it is a lethal weapon," he said. "But if we don't get an agreement, we should try to reach our objectives in the polls."Associated Press writers Sadaqat Jan in Islamabad and Zarar Khan in Lahore contributed to this report.

NASA RELEASE ANTARTICA MAP HIGH DEFINITION LANDSCAPE ANTARTICA NASA NEWS HEADLINES

HIGH DEFINITION MAP OF FROZEN ANTARTICA LANDSCAPE UNVEILED BY NASA NEWS HEADLINES

ANTARTICA HIGH DEFINITION COLOUR MAP BY NASA NEWS HEADLINES: - The frozen landscape of Antarctica can be seen in more detail than ever before. Scientists have stitched together more than a thousand satellite images of Antarctica to make a new, true-color map of the southernmost continent Antarctica, unveiled by NASA today. The mosaic of Antarctica is made up of about 1,100 images from the NASA-built Landsat 7 satellite, nearly all of which were captured between 1999 and 2001. The only gap in the map of Antarctica in the images is a doughnut hole-shaped area at the South Pole. Features half the size of a basketball court are visible on the Antarctica map, making it the most detailed view of Antarctica yet. The Antarctica map, dubbed the Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica, is a realistic, nearly cloudless view of the southernmost continent with a resolution 10 times greater than in previous images.

ANTARTICA SATELLITE IMAGES: - The first satellite images of Antarctica were taken in 1972, though these provided much less detail. Prior to satellite, images of Antarctica came from airplanes and survey ships. "This innovation is like watching high-definition TV in living color versus watching the picture on a grainy black-and-white television," said Robert Bindschadler, chief scientist of the Hydrospheric and Biospheric Sciences Laboratory at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "These scenes of Antarctica don't just give us a snapshot, they provide a time-lapse historical record of how Antarctica has changed and will enable us to continue to watch changes unfold." "This mosaic of images of Antarctica opens up a window to the Antarctic that we just haven't had before," Bindschadler said. "It will open new windows of opportunity for scientific research as well as enable the public to become much more familiar with Antarctica and how scientists use imagery in their research." Researchers hope that the more detailed map of Antarctica can be used to better plan scientific expeditions and help geologists map the continent's rock formations.

The map mosaic of Antarctica is freely available to the public on the Web, with eight different versions available for download.

• Video: New Hi-Res Antarctica Map
• North vs. South Poles: 10 Wild Differences
• Images: Ice of the Antarctic
• NASA New Hi-Def Map of Antarctica

MEXICO PROTECTS MONARCH BUTTERFLy NEWS HEADLINES STORY

MEXICO PLANS TO PROTECT MONARCH BUTTERFLy AS TOURIST ATTRACTION NEWS HEADLINES STORY

MEXICO TO PROTECT MONARCH BUTTERFLY NEWS HEADLINES STORY: - The President Felipe Calderon of Mexico unveiled a sweeping plan Sunday to curb logging and protect millions of monarch butterfly that migrate to the mountains of central Mexico each winter, covering trees and bushes and attracting visitors from around the world. Calderon said protecting the monarch butterfly would help boost tourism and support the economy in an impoverished area where illegal logging runs rampant.

The plan will put $4.6 million toward additional equipment and advertising for the existing Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, covering a 124,000-acre swathe of trees and mountains that for thousands of years has served as the winter nesting ground to millions of orange- and black-winged monarch butterfly. "It is possible to take care of the environment and at the same time promote development through this move to protect monarch butterfly," the president said. While the monarch butterfly does not appear on any endangered species lists, experts say illegal logging in Mexico threatens its existence in North America because it removes the foliage that protects the delicate insects from the cold and rain. "By even taking a single tree out near the butterfly colony you allow heat to escape from the forest and that then jeopardizes the butterflies," said Lincoln Brower, professor emeritus of zoology at the University of Florida and at Sweet Briar College in Sweet Briar, Va. The new initiative is part of ongoing efforts to protect the butterfly, which are a huge tourist attraction and the pride of Mexico. In some areas, officials can even be found standing guard along highways and slowing cars that might accidentally hit a monarch butterfly flying across the road.

Brower, who has studied the monarch butterfly for 52 years, described the Mexican nesting grounds as "the Mecca of the whole insect world." The monarch butterfly return to the U.S. and Canada in late March, where they breed and cycle through up to five generations before heading back south. Scientists say monarch butterfly are genetically programmed to return to Mexico, where the monarch butterfly settle into the same mountains their ancestors inhabited the year before. Brower said the monarch butterfly isn't at risk of extinction because it can be found in Mexico, Canada, the U.S., most of South America and even parts of Australia and New Zealand. But disappearing habitat could threaten a delicate migratory route that has existed for an estimated 10,000 years for these monarch butterfly. "The whole monarch butterfly migratory phenomenon which involves two continents and over a million square miles could just go down the drain," he said.

Each September, the monarch butterfly begin their 3,400-mile journey from the forests of eastern Canada and parts of the United States to the central Mexican mountains. The voyage is considered an aesthetic and scientific wonder. According to Brower, sometimes monarch butterfly even return to the exact same trees — probably because previous monarch butterfly have marked the area through a mechanism scientists don't yet understand. The monarch butterfly that spend the winter in Mexico do not reproduce until they return to the U.S. and have a much longer life span than those monarch butterfly born in the spring and summer. Omar Vidal, director of the World Wildlife Fund's Mexico program, applauded Calderon's plan. "This is the longest migration of all insects, a unique phenomenon and a natural wonder and Mexico has the biggest responsibility to protect monarch butterfly because they come here to hibernate," he said.

BACK PAIN PREVENTION PLAN HEALTH NEWS HEADLINES STORY

BACK PAIN PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE AND MUST START WITH A BACK PAIN PREVENTION PLAN HEALTH NEWSHEADLINES

BACK PAIN PREVENTION PLAN BY NATIONAL ATHLETIC TRAINERS' ASSOCIATION NEWS HEADLINES: - A ten-step plan to help you reduce body stress and prevention of back pain, especially during the demanding holiday season, is outlined by the U.S. National Athletic Trainers' Association. Back pain affects 80 percent of adults at some point in their lives, according to the Arthritis Foundation. Each year, Americans pay about $24 billion for treatment of back pain, limited mobility and stiffness. "The human body is an incredible machine that adapts to the stresses we give it every day. Stresses such as poor posture, unusual movement or activities, or even a sedentary lifestyle can lead to poor mechanics and pain. Disability from back pain is second only to the common cold as a cause of lost work time," certified athletic trainer Darrell Barnes of the St. Vincent Sports Performance Center in Indianapolis, Ind., said in a prepared statement.

Enumerated below are the 10 things you can do to prevent and reduce back pain. Remember" PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE":

• First you must Identify and correct body stresses such as poor posture, improper lifting techniques, or weak or tight muscles. By Strengthen your back, learn proper lifting methods, carry lighter loads, and use luggage carts for heavy packages and suitcases to reduce the risk of back pain.
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• Next, you must Increase your muscle mobility by stretching or doing activities -- such as yoga, tai chi, swimming or pilates -- that helps to keep you limber.
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• Thirdly, you need to Boost your strength by doing exercises that involve the whole body, especially the core muscles of the stomach, back, hips and pelvis to alleviate back pain problems. In addition, strengthening your legs and shoulders can help improve your ability to squat, lift and carry items without overworking or injuring your back to reduce back pain problems.
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• As far as possible you must practice good posture which is the main cause of back pain. If possible, don't sit for long periods of time which can induce back pain in healthy individuals too. Get up every 15 to 30 minutes and move around or stretch. When you're seated, keep your hips and knees at right angles to one another and use a chair with adequate lumbar (lower back) support as these measure will surely reduce back pain problems.
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• The Aerobics exercises, like walking, swimming and running, for at least 20 minutes three times a week will improve back pain problems. This kind of exercise increases muscular endurance and cardiovascular fitness, improves blood flow to the spine, and helps reduce stress which again helps reduce back pain.
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• When standing, keep your head up, shoulders straight, chest forward and stomach tight. Don't stand in the same position for too long. Use your legs, not your back, when pushing or pulling heavy items as a back pain preventive measure.
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• Ensure that you Sleep on a firm mattress and box spring that doesn't sag. Always Sleep in a position that allows you to maintain the natural curve in your back to prevent back pain.
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• Use proper lifting techniques especially if you already have back pain problem. When lifting objects from a position below your waist, stand with a wide stance and a slight bend at your hips and knees. Tighten your stomach as you lift and keep your back as flat as possible -- don't arch or bend it. When carrying heavy items, keep them as close as possible to your body. Don't carry items on only one side of your body. These will help you prevent back pain problems cropping up.
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• Warm up before exercise or sports. Increasing muscle temperature and mobility beforehand will reduce the risk of injury and prevents inducing a back pain.
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• Maintain/adopt a healthy lifestyle. Obesity and smoking increase the incidence of back pain.

BIPASHA BASU INSULTED IN LONDON RACIALLY BOLLYWOOD NEWSHEADLINES STORY

BOLLYWOOD ACTORS BIPASHA BASU AND ARSHAD WARSI WERE RACIALLY INSULTED IN LONDON DURING A FILM SHOOT BOLLYWOOD NEWS HEADLINES STORY

BIPASHA BASU & ARSHAD WARSI RACIALLY INSULTED IN LONDON NEWS HEADLINES: - Bollywood stars Bipasha Basu and Arshad Warsi have claimed that a group of white men hurled racial abuses at them, while they were filming in London. "It's the first time I've experienced this. For me it was an alien thing. It was like, do people actually think like that?" Arshad Warsi added. Bollywood stars Bipasha Basu and Arshad Warsi were shooting scenes for forthcoming movie Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal when the group passed racist remarks at them. "I was shocked. I'm not used to this sort of thing. A car stopped with a couple of white guys. They just lashed out at us and totally gave us their point of view," Contactmusic quoted Arshad Warsi, as saying. Bollywood star Bipasha Basu and Arshad Warsi claims that they were "very shaken" by the incident that occurred in May (07).

JET LI CHINESE ACTION HERO BREAKES RECORD BEIJING NEWS HEADLINES STORY

JET LI GETS 100 MILION YUAN OR $13 MILLION FOR HIS LATEST MOVIE TO SET THE RECORD OF HIGHEST PAID ACTOR IN A CHINESE LANGUAGE FILM

JET LI CHINESE ACTION HERO ACTOR GETS RECORD BREAKING PAY CHEQUE OF 13 MILLION, BEIJING NEWS HEADLINES: - Chinese action star Jet Li is set to rake in 100 million yuan ($13 million) for his latest movie, a record for an actor in a Chinese-language film, state media reported on Sunday. "Without Chinese action star Jet Li, we would not dare to invest $40 million in a Chinese-language film," Xinhua news agency quoted director Peter Chan as saying. Chinese action star Jet Li was a "guarantee" for global sales, Chan said. Nearly half of the $40 million budget for "The Warlords" went to the cast, among whom were Hong Kong heartthrob Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Beijing-based actress and director Xu Jinglei, in addition to Chinese action star Jet Li.

The earlier salary record was held by Chinese action star Jet Li himself for his role in "Hero", for which he earned 70 million yuan. "The Warlords", a war epic based on a Qing Dynasty story, is slated for release in Asia in mid-December and in North America from next March featuring the Chinese action star Jet Li. Chinese action star Jet Li who turns 44, a childhood martial arts champion, has also broken into English-language films, featuring in action pictures such as "Romeo Must Die" and "Lethal Weapon 4". Chinese-language movies have registered a string of hits in the past few years, from Ang Lee's martial arts tale "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", to Zhang Yimou's ancient history epic "Hero".

GUWAHATI CURFEW RELAXED GUWAHATI SITUATION TENSE NEWS HEADLINES STORY

GUWAHATI SITUATION TENSE EVEN AFTER RELAXING CURFEW IN GUWAHATI INDIA NEWS HEADLINES

GUWAHATI CURFEW RELAXED GUWAHATI SITUATION TENSE INDIA NEWS HEADLINES: - Curfew in Guwahati was today relaxed for 12 hours from 8:am in Beltola area of the city - the scene of a clash between activists of a tribal students union demanding Schedule Tribe status and locals - which left one dead and at least 240 injured in Guwahati. Yesterday, large-scale violence rocked the area after Adivasi Students Association activists vandalised property, torched vehicles, attacked policemen and injured a magistrate after they were obstructed by the police. Kamrup (Metro) deputy commissioner Avinash Joshi of Guwahati said the situation was tense, but gradually returning to normal due to which the curfew had been relaxed during the day time in Guwahati.

The protestors then attacked private property in Guwahati and shops and set ablaze cars and buses turning the area from Dispur to Bashista into a battleground in Guwahati. The local people, furious at their property being attacked, retaliated and clashed with the protestors resulting in injuries to both sides in Guwahati. Two hundred injured people have been discharged from the Gauhati Medical College while 40 seriously injured are being treated, hospital sources said in Guwahati. The Army and para-military forces were called out to control the situation in Guwahati even as Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi ordered a high level probe into the incident in Guwahati. Joshi said patrolling continued in the sensitive areas in Guwahati and the district administration was keeping a watch on the situation in Guwahati.

HINDU PRAYERS DISALLOWED IN UK HOUSE OF COMMONS NEW YORK NEWS HEADLINES STORY

HINDU PRAYERS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO BE READ IN THE UK HOUSE OF COMMONS NEWS HEADLINES STORY

HINDU PRAYERS DISALLOWED IN UK HOUSE OF COMMONS NEWS HEADLINES: - The UK House of Commons has denied a request for reading the opening prayer by Rajan Zed, the Hindu chaplain who came to attention for reading the first Hindu prayer in the US Senate in July. In a reply to Zed's request, Angus Sinclair, secretary to the speaker of the House of Commons, wrote, 'Since 1660, and without exception, prayers have been conducted by the Church of England, a Protestant denomination with the Christian faith. The Church of England is the established Church of the United Kingdom and any change to the prayers could only occur after much parliamentary debate which would precede consultation with the Sovereign, Queen Elizabeth the Second.' 'Please understand that there is no compulsion for members of Parliament to attend prayers,' Sinclair added. Based in Reno, Nevada, Zed has also recited Hindu prayers in California State Senate, Nevada State Senate and Nevada State Assembly this year. He is active in interfaith dialogue in the region. In another communication on the issue, Pamela Carrington, Rector's Secretary, St Margaret's Church, Westminster Abbey, said, 'Canon Wright (Canon Robert Wright, the Speaker's Chaplain) asked me to say that, regrettably, this is not possible - Prayers in the Chamber are always said by the Anglican Chaplain.'

GOA GOVERNOR ASSASINATION UNSUCCESSFUL IN NAGALAND BY SEPARATISTS BOMBS INDIA NEWS HEADLINES STORY

GOA GOVERNOR SC JAMIR SURVIVES ASSASSINATION ATTACKS BY SEPARATISTS IN NAGALAND INDIA NEWS HEADLINES STORY

GOA GOVERNOR SURVIVES BOMB ATTACK AND ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT IN NAGALAND, GUWAHATI INDIA NEWS HEADLINES: - At least two security personnel were injured Saturday when suspected Naga separatists made an unsuccessful assassination bid on Goa Governor S.C. Jamir who is on a visit to Nagaland, officials said. Jamir, a former chief minister of Nagaland, has survived three earlier assassination attempts. 'The Goa Governor S.C. Jamir's 30-vehicle convoy was on its way from the town of Mokokchung to Dimapur when it came under bomb attack near the village of Changki. Except for two security men who sustained minor injuries, there were no casualties in the attack,' Mokokchung Deputy Commissioner R. Lotha told IANS by telephone.

GOA GOVERNOR SURVIVES INDIA NEWS HEADLINES: - 'A total of five explosions took place, all from improvised explosive devices, as the Goa Governor S.C. Jamir's convoy was negotiating a stretch of the road that was under construction. The bombs were placed on a drain along the road,' Lotha said. 'Mr. Jamir appeared unruffled by the attack and directed his convoy to keep proceeding. Goa Governor S.C. Jamir has since arrived in Dimapur,' Lotha said. Policemen who reached the spot soon after the attack found four live bombs and were in the process of defusing them, the deputy commissioner said. A loaded rifle was also found at the scene. Personnel from the Nagaland Police, Assam Rifles, the India Reserve Battalion and the Central Reserve Police Force started a combing operation in the area to nab the attackers.

However, it is known that the Isac-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) has been a bitter critic of Goa Governor S.C. Jamir. 'We have not yet established the identity of the rebel group which may have carried out the attack,' Lotha said. On his part, Goa Governor S.C. Jamir, one of Nagaland's veteran political leaders, has been advocating the need for unification of all the Naga rebel factions for a lasting solution to the insurgency problem in the State.

BOMB BLASTS IN RAWALPINDI PAKISTAN NEWS HEADLINES

RAWALPINDI PAKISTAN ROCKED BY TWO BOMB BLASTS ON SATURDAY MORNING NEWS HEADLINES STORY

Two blasts rocked Rawalpindi in Pakistan on Saturday morning. A Pakistan military spokesperson has confirmed the two explosions were suicide attacks. The first blast hit a military bus and the second blast hit a checkpost near the Military Headquarters. The exact details are still trickling in and the death toll is still not known. Several people are feared dead; only one person has been confirmed killed in the blast at the checkpost.

TASLIMA NASREEN GETS TIGHT SECURITY IN NEW DELHI INDIA NEWS HEADLINES STORY

TIGHT SECURITY FOR BANGLADESHI WRITER TASLIMA NASREEN IN INDIA NEWS HEADLINES

TIGHT SECURITY ARRANGED FOR BANGLADESHI WRITER TASLIMA NASREEN: - A very tight security cordon was made around Rajasthan House Saturday where controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, who was virtually hounded out of Kolkata, is temporarily staying after arriving in the national capital from Jaipur in Rajastan. 'We kept Taslima Nasreen in a guesthouse outside Delhi initially but decided to move her to Rajasthan House once we got the green signal,' said a senior home ministry official. 'We will be taking a call today on where Taslima Nasreen will finally stay.' The security personnel kept the gates of the guesthouse locked and the premises were completely sealed off to the public after Taslima Nasreen arrived here past midnight in a speedy and stealthy operation.

TASLIMA NASREEN WHERE ABOUTS: - Taslima Nasreen, who is facing threats from Muslim hardliners, has been shunted from one place to another since Thursday -- first shifted to Jaipur by the West Bengal police following large-scale violence in Kolkata by a Muslim organisation demanding cancellation of Taslima Nasreen's visa, and then to Delhi. Senior police officials visited Rajasthan House to review security arrangements but refused to talk to the media. A number of police personnel from Delhi and Rajasthan were present at Rajasthan House Saturday, ending a daylong mystery about Taslima Nasreen's exact whereabouts. Anticipating outbreak of violence in various parts of Rajasthan, especially Jaipur, senior officials of the state government contacted Taslima Nasreen, who wanted to be sent back to Kolkata. Taslima Nasreen was hurriedly shifted from Jaipur to Delhi on Friday after the All India Milli Council threatened to hold protests if the writer was kept in Rajasthan for long.

TASLIMA NASREEN SECURITY: - Accordingly, arrangements were made by the Rajasthan government to send Nasreen to Kolkata. However, the West Bengal police simply refused to accept the idea. The cabinet committee on security, which met in New Delhi Friday, was expected to discuss the threat perception to the author and take a call on where to house her. But the agenda of the meeting was changed due to the serial blasts in Uttar Pradesh. Then it was decided that Taslima Nasreen would be a guest of the state government, but outside the state, till such time union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) takes a decision on her stay and security. The author Taslima Nasreen has been living in exile for more than ten years now after a fatwa was issued against her in Bangladesh. A DIG-rank police officer and commissioner Rohit Kumar Singh were in charge of the security team that brought Taslima Nasreen to the national capital from the Pink City. According to home ministry officials, Taslima Nasreen's visa is valid till February 18 next year. Since the 1990s, Taslima Nasreenhas faced numerous threats from Islamic groups for her writings. Activists of Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) attacked her at a book release function in Hyderabad in August.

TERRORISTS ATTACK ON INDIAN LAWYERS IN UTTAR PRADESH INDIA

TERRORIST BOMB ATTACK ON LAWYERS OF UTTAR PRADESH INDIA IN FARIDABAD LUCKNOW AND VARANASI NEWS HEADLINES STORY

TERRORIST ATTACK ON LAWYERS IN UTTAR PRADESH INDIA NEWS HEADLINES: - It was a bright sunny Friday afternoon with thousands of lawyers and their clients milling around, till coordinated blasts ripped through the civil court premises of three cities in India's most populous state Uttar Pradesh killing at least 13 people. At least 127 people have died in these bombings that have taken place from Ludhiana in the north to Hyderabad in the south, all of them bearing the hallmark of precision planning and ruthlessness. Terror came calling in India again for the sixth time year, this time in the cities of Lucknow, Faizabad and Varanasi in the north when six blasts ripped through the civil court premises within five minutes of each other.

In Uttar Pradesh, the blast sites were sealed off after the synchronised explosions around 1.30 p.m. just when people were getting ready for lunch. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was in Uganda attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), reacted with shock and promptly announced ex-gratia relief of Rs.100,000 for the next of kin of the dead and Rs.50,000 for the seriously injured. The US and Britain also reacted swiftly to condemn the blasts. Nine people were killed and 40 injured in the temple town of Varanasi, 300 km from Lucknow, in three blasts within the court compound. In Faizabad, 120 km from the state capital, there were two blasts that claimed the lives of four people. A national alert was declared and security tightened around sensitive installations like the Supreme Court in the national capital as well as in most states as details of the bombings began to filter in. The explosion in Lucknow was low in intensity and did not result in any casualties. But it was a narrow miss that sent dozens of lawyers and litigants running helter-skelter. Most of the dead in the latest round of terror were lawyers though the dead were yet to be identified, even hours later. Hours after the blasts, a bomb detection squad discovered an unexploded bomb in the local court compound. Officials busy trying to defuse the bomb said it could have caused major damage 'if it had exploded'.

'All the blasts took place within five minutes between 1.26 p.m. and 1.31 p.m.' State Director General of Police (DGP) Vikram Singh said the attacks were planned well in advance. 'The bombs used in the blasts were not crude, it was all pre-planned. The explosives were not plastic. Pellets were used in the blasts,' he said. In Varanasi, the blast occurred at the local court premises in the Cantonment area during the busy court hour. Over 2,000 people were present in the court premises when the bomb went off. A four-member team of the elite National Security Guards (NSG) has been dispatched to Uttar Pradesh to uncover the nature of the explosives used. While officials were circumspect in ascribing a motive to the terror attack, lawyers in the city saw a link between some of their colleagues roughing up the three terrorists arrested last week for allegedly plotting to abduct Rahul Gandhi. They had confessed their affiliation with the Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad.

In Lucknow, the bomb appeared to be a crude device hidden in a bag of 'khoya', a milk product, and kept on a bicycle that was strategically left along a tree near the tin sheds under which hundreds of lawyers operate in their makeshift offices. Sadeer Bhatia, Lucknow's bar association president, said, 'We have been demanding better security in court premises. We have been telling the police that people entering the court premises should be frisked properly but that is not done.' The blame game continued outside the court as well. 'Central agencies did not give us any tip-off on the movement of these terrorists nor did they sound any alert. This reflects the total failure of the central intelligence agencies,' she said. Soon after the incident, Chief Minister Mayawati called a press conference and put the blame on central intelligence agencies for not tipping them off earlier.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani agreed and said that it 'prima facie shows intelligence failure'. Attempting to deflect some of the criticism, Home Minister Shivraj said in the Lok Sabha: 'It looks as if antinational groups are widening their activities. We found more bombs after the explosions.' 'This was not an isolated case of a blast going off in a market or a bus station. These blasts have been prepared over a period of time and shows there has been preparation,' he said. But for the victims of the latest terror attack to strike India, that is just so many words. In a written statement, Patil condemned the blasts and said the government would continue to fight terrorism in a resolute manner.

VILLAHERMOSA MEXICO FLOODS GULF COAST DISASTER

VILLAHERMOSA MEXICO FLOODS THE REAL REASON BEHIND NEWS HEADLINES

The government knew Mexico's Gulf coast was a disaster in waiting long before three rivers surged out of their banks, flooding nearly every inch of the low-lying state of Tabasco and leaving more than 1 million homes under water. The tragedy was reminiscent of the Hurricane Katrina disaster in 2005, when levees failed and swamped much of New Orleans, forcing people to flee by wading through dirty waters. In Tabasco, days of relentless rain — not a hurricane — were to blame. But officials admit they never finished a $190 million levee project that was supposed to have been done by 2006 and would have held back much of the rising waters that flooded Tabasco at the end of October. Tabasco Gov. Andres Granier said 280 people are still unaccounted for three weeks later, although he thinks many of the missing are likely just separated from family members and living in shelters. The flooding killed at least 33 people in Tabasco and Chiapas. Nadia Gomez, the 24-year-old wife of a car mechanic in a slum on the outskirts of Villahermosa, said the government didn't do enough to protect low-lying neighborhoods.

Both the state and federal government acknowledge Tabasco wasn't prepared for unusually heavy rains that hit in October, even though a flood-control plan had been drawn up after flooding in 1999 left tens of thousands homeless and caused $375 million in damage. With water receding this week, people are returning to clean out their homes as questions pile up over what went wrong. "Maybe if they had built more defenses it would have been all right. But they only care about the rich people of Tabasco, not the poor," Gomez said, standing with her three children outside her flooded shack.

But state officials admit they never finished the levee project, 72 percent of which was funded by the federal government. In 2003, officials announced the Integral Project Against Flooding, which called for building 110 miles of levees and 120 miles of drainage canals along the Grijalva, Carrizal and Samaria rivers. It's not known what happened to the money earmarked for the project. State officials say the federal government didn't deliver all the money. Congress members responsible for allocating the funds left office last year and it isn't clear who was responsible for overseeing that part of the budget. Gilberto Segovia, the Tabasco spokesman for the National Water Commission, said about 70 percent of the levees and drainage canals were built. Although the original plan called for all to be completed by 2006, former Gov. Manuel Andrade, who left office last Dec. 31 and was largely responsible for carrying out the levee project, had extended the deadline to 2012.

Fingers also are being pointed at the Federal Electricity Commission. Some people also blame deforestation in Mexico's highlands, saying that has lessened the ability of mountainous terrain to absorb heavy rainfall and reduce runoff into low-lying areas like Tabasco. Critics say it waited too long to let begin letting water out of a dam upstream, forcing workers to release a huge amount in a short time when the reservoir level surged. The agency also gave little warning to people downstream about the impending disaster, critics contend. "It's clear they didn't take all the precautions that they could have, many of which were clear after what happened in 1999," he said. "While we may not have been able to avoid the tragedy, it wouldn't have had the same dimension and magnitude." Sen. Arturo Nunez, a leftist politician from Tabasco, says officials at all levels failed. Federal water officials are investigating alleged failures or misconduct and will release the results publicly, although the deadline is not clear, Segovia said. "We are going to get to the bottom of this ... and if someone is responsible, they will be publicly named," he said.

Mexico's Senate has called key federal officials to testify about what might have been done to avoid the disaster. Hearings are expected to begin in the next few weeks. Natural disasters haven't been limited to Tabasco, nor have accusations of inaction or possible corruption. At the same time Tabasco was under water, a rain-soaked hillside collapsed into a river in southern Chiapas state, sending a wall of water crashing over a small community. Fifteen bodies were recovered and 10 more people are still missing. Chiapas officials have refused to comment publicly on the matter, but this week they began relocating 6,000 people who live in communities along the still-rising Grijalva River. Authorities in Tabasco also began forcibly removing hundreds of people from an area at risk of landslides. The National Water Commission said 30.5 inches of rain fell in October in Tabasco state, with 12 inches falling on Oct. 28-30. The average for October is just 15 inches. Despite the complaints about the lack of preparations, officials and even some critics say state and federal agencies could not have completely prevented the October flood because so much rain fell in such a short time. "Simply put, the unprecedented levels that several rivers reached indicate that the rain was the main cause of the tragedy," said Segovia, the water commission spokesman.

BPO GIRLS GET MOBILE SECURITY DEVICE NEWS HEADLINES STORY

BPO EMPLOYEES AND GIRLS TO GET MOBILE BASED SECURITY SYSTEM PROTECTION INDIA NEWS HEADLINES STORY

MOBILE BASED SECURITY SYSTEM FOR BPO GIRLS, NEW DELHI, INDIA NEWS HEADLINES STORY: - Even as the rape and murder of a Pune call centre employee by her cab driver is fresh on everyone's mind, a software analyst has developed a mobile phone-based system that may provide better protection to BPO staff in transit. 'The GPS-based systems are not adequate as India have not developed maps for every single nook and corner of our cities. However, our system Webtra will work everywhere as it is mobile technology based,' Nampoothiri told IANS. As soon as an employee gets into a cab, he/she will log on to the mobile phone and send an SMS to a centralised number and after five minutes, a message automatically goes to the employee. 'After two cases of rape and murder of female call centre employees, BPO firms have an uphill task so far as security is concerned. And here comes our system - simple and effective,' said Chennai-based V.M. Sankaran Nampoothiri. 'It is really foolish to expect that a person in trouble will be able to call any helpline or office. For us, it's not communication but break of communication that is a good alert.' 'If he or she does not respond to the message, a call will follow in after five minutes. If the person fails to respond, then the system will declare a crisis alert. The transport department will then call the family or any close friend of the person and all other employees who are slotted in the cab,' he said.

Nampoothiri said currently two BPOs - one each in Bangalore and Chennai - were using his system but scores of others were in talks with him. Earlier this month, a Wipro call centre employee in Pune was found raped and murdered by her cab driver. Her body was recovered off the Mumbai-Pune Express Highway. Two people were arrested for the alleged rape. 'Many BPOs in Pune, Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Bangalore and Chennai are interacting with us for installing the new system.' Last year, a Bangalore-based woman employee had faced a similar fate and the culprit was again the cab driver. 'Our system has a data base of thousands of hospitals across the country and this can help employees and companies rush them to a nearby hospital in case of emergency,' said the analyst, who was in Delhi to interact with some leading BPO firms in the national capital region. Nampoothiri said there were six reasons for delay in arriving in office or reaching home - traffic, mechanical failure, diversion from original path (indicator of a possible crime), bad health, accident and delay by staff.

When asked about false alerts and subsequent chaos that the system may create, the analyst said: 'Since these employees are young, you can expect them to ignore messages but they will be on their toes. Due to their negligence, the system may sound 90 percent false alerts but the remaining 10 percent will be of great help.' The analyst, who has been associated with the industry for 16 years, said the cost of installing the system could be around Rs.350 per person per month. Besides, he said: 'It's better to be on alert always that let a crime happen.' 'If a company wants to install the system with speech detectors, the cost will be more. A speech detector could translate at least 10 languages and scores of regional accents into English. This will help in deciphering the voice and language of a cab driver and employees,' said Nampoothiri, who is currently associated with the software firm LatticeBridge in Chennai.

OKLAHOMA QUARTERBACK SAM BRADFORD NEWS HEADLINES

OKHLAHOMA QUARTERBACK SAM BRADFORD CLEARED TO PLAY AGAINST OKLAHOMA STATE NEWS HEADLINES

OKLAHOMA QUARTERBACK SAM BRADFORD NEWS HEADLINES: - Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford was cleared to play Saturday against Oklahoma State. "Everything has checked out and barring any unforeseen circumstances Sam will play this week," Sooners coach Bob Stoops said Thursday in a statement. Bradford was injured in the first quarter of Oklahoma's 34-27 loss at Texas Tech, which probably knocked the 10th-ranked Sooners (9-2, 5-2 Big 12) out of national title contention. He has thrown for 2,520 yards and 28 touchdowns with only six interceptions this season. Bradford, the nation's top-rated passer, sustained a concussion last weekend at Texas Tech, but doctors determined he's healthy enough to face the Cowboys. Stoops didn't release additional information about injured defensive end Auston English, who is doubtful for Saturday. English has missed the past two games with a hairline fracture in his leg. Backup quarterback Joey Halzle completed 21 of 41 passes for 291 yards with two touchdowns and one interception in relief of Bradford against Tech. The Sooners can clinch the Big 12 South title with a victory over rival Oklahoma State (6-5, 4-3). A win would send them into the conference championship game in San Antonio on Dec. 1.

INDIAN SENSEX FALLS AGAIN MUMBAI STOCK EXCHANGE NEWS HEADLINES

SENSEX FALL BY 678 POINTS MUMBAI STOCK EXCHANGE INDIA NEWS HEADLINES

SENSEX FALLS AT MUMBAI STOCK EXCHANGE INDIA NEWS HEADLINES: - The Indian benchmark Sensex on Wednesday tumbled by 678 points triggered by weakening global trend amid crude oil surging to more than USD 99 a barrel as said by Mumbai stock exchange officials. The major puller to the market were shares in metal sector, which dropped the most by 1,057.10 points at 16,253.59, followed by capital goods index with a fall 1,046.64 points at 19,302.78. PSU index fell by 606.17 points at 9,625.17, oil and gas index by 405.59 points at 11,730.99, banking index by 536.82 points at 10,227.71 and realty index by 493.72 at 9,953.63.

The Bombay Stock Exchange barometer dropped 678.18 points at 18,602.62 on selling in stocks of firms in metal, capital goods, PSU and refinery sectors. It touched the day's low of 18,515.30 and high of 19,218.88 points. The broader National Stock Exchange's Nifty slid by 219.85 points at 5,561.05, after moving between 5,790.05 and 5,530.95 during the day. During the day, crude oil surged to cross the USD 99 a barrel mark in international market resulting in heavy selling by investors here, marketmen said.

IMRAN KHAN PAKISTAN CRICKET EX CAPTAIN CONTINUES HUNGER STRIKE ISLAMABAD PAKISTAN NEWS HEADLINES

PAKISTAN CRICKET EX CAPTAIN IMRAN KHAN CONTINUES HUNGER STRIKE AFTER BEING RELEASED FROM JAIL ARREST ISLAMABAD NEWS HEADLINES

CRICKETER IMRAN KHAN RELEASED BUT CONTINUES HUNGER STRIKE ISLAMABAD PAKISTAN NEWS HEADLINES: - Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan was on Wednesday released from the Dera Gazi Khan jail in Punjab province but was continuing his hunger strike for the reinstatement of judges deposed under the emergency. "It is confirmed that Imran Khan has been released from jail and is now in the house of PML-N leader Zulfiqar Khosa in Dera Ghazi Khan," said Admiral (retd) Jawaid Iqbal, additional secretary general of Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaaf party.

KOLKATA CURFEW LIFTED INDIA NEWS HEADLINES

KOLKATA CURFEW LIFTED NORMALCY RETURNS IN KOLKATA NEWS HEADLINES

KOLKATA CURFEW LIFTED INDIA NEWS HEADLINES: - The night curfew, which was clamped in the city of Kolkata following large-scale violence during a shut down, was lifted in five police station areas in Kolkata on Thursday morning. "The Army and the police are jointly patrolling the affected areas of the Kolkata city," he said, adding a review meeting would be held soon to assess the situation after which the government might take a decision on continuation of army deployment in Kolkata. "The Kolkata city is fast returning to normalcy. Schools and colleges in Kolkata are opening. People have also resumed their normal life," Police Commissioner of Kolkata, Gautam Mohan Chakrabarty said. The Army would also review the situation in Kolkata, he said. The Army was called out to stage flagmarch on the streets of central Kolkata where violence erupted during a three-hour shutdown called by a minority group of Kolkata on Wednesday.

The shutdown in Kolkata was called to demand cancellation of the visa of Bangladeshi writer Tasleema Nasreen and to protest the Nandigram violence. The administration later imposed an eight-hour night curfew in violence-hit areas of Kolkata.

GREEN HOUSE GASES CARBON POLLUTION INCREASE BY INDUSTRIALISED COUNTRIES

CARBON POLLUTIONS OR GREENHOUSE GASES EMISSION BY INDUSTRIALIZED NATIONS ON THE RISE NEWS HEADLINES

GREEN HOUSE GASES CARBON POLLUTION NEWS HEADLINES: - Emissions of greenhouse gases by industrialised countries are surging anew after a long decline, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) said on Tuesday ahead of a crucial forum on tackling global warming. They blamed continued growth in Western economies and a revival of growth in former East Bloc nations, with pollution from transport the biggest culprit by sector. "Greenhouse-gas emissions between 1990 and 2000 went down, but then between 2000 and 2005 they increased again, by 2.6 percent." "Industrialised countries' overall greenhouse-gas emissions rose to a near all-time high in 2005," UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer said in a press conference telecast from Bonn. The data released on Tuesday comes on the heels of a grim warning by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 2005 is the latest year for which the 40 industrialised countries which have signed and ratified the UNFCCC have reported their emissions data, under their obligations to this treaty.

At the weekend, the Nobel-winning IPCC issued a historic report that declared climate change was already visible and could wreak "abrupt or irreversible" damage if unchecked. That conference is tasked with setting down a two-year strategy of negotiations leading to a new pact to deepen curbs on greenhouse gases beyond 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol's current pledges expire. Publication of the figures also coincides with the runup to a UNFCCC meeting in Bali, Indonesia, running from December 3-14. The United States -- the world's biggest carbon polluter in 2005 but widely tipped to be overtaken by China in 2007 -- remains outside the Kyoto Protocol. It signed the pact in 1997 but has refused to ratify it, although it remains a member of Kyoto's parent treaty, the UNFCCC. Under the Protocol, only industrialised countries that have signed and ratified it are required to make targeted cuts in their emissions. Developing countries do not have these pledges. De Boer clarified a UNFCCC press release that had said emissions by the convention's industrialised countries, the so-called "Annex 1" countries, had broken records in 2005. "It is at a near all-time high, not an all-time high," he said.

RUSSIAN FORCES READY TO ATTACK WITH NUCLEAR WEAPONS SAYS RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN NEWS HEADLINES

RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN SAYS RUSSIA IS READY TO ATTACK WITH NUCLEAR FORCES IF REQUIRED NEWS HEADLINES STORY

RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN SAYS RUSSIAN FORCES READY TO ATTACK MOSCO NEWS HEADLINES: - President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia's nuclear forces must be ready for an adequate response to any aggressor and warned Moscow could not remain indifferent to what he termed NATO's "muscle-flexing." "We cannot allow ourselves to remain indifferent to the obvious 'muscle-flexing'," Putin said, RIA news agency reported. Putin, speaking to top generals less than two weeks before December 2 parliamentary elections, said the NATO military alliance had built up its forces close to Russia's borders. He said Russia's strategic nuclear forces -- its long-range missiles -- should be ready to deliver a "swift and adequate response" to any aggressor.

BOLLYWOOD SUPERSTAR SANJAY DUTT JAIL BAIL INDIA NEWS HEADLINE STORY

SANAY DUTT THE BOLLYWOOD SUPER STAR IN JAIL TO BE BAILED OUT INDIA NEWS HEADLINES STORY

WILL SANJAY DUTT BOLLYWOOD STAR GET BAIL FROM JAIL NEW DELHI, INDIA NEWS HEADLINES: - The Supreme Court on Tuesday is expected to hear the bail petition of actor Sanjay Dutt who has been sentenced to six years imprisonment in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case. The Bench on November 2 had declined him an urgent hearing. In his plea, Dutt has contended he was only convicted under the Arms Act and during the 14 years of trial, he has already undergone one-fourth of the six-year imprisonment he was sentenced to. A Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, is scheduled to take up Dutt's plea along with petitions of three other convicts Yusuf Mohsin Nallawala, Samir Hingora and Zaibunisa Anwar Qazi. It has been 14 years since Dutt was first arrested in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case. The actor was picked up by the Crime Branch on April 19, 1993 for illegally possessing arms and spent 16 months behind bars as an undertrial. He raked up quite a controversy when he got bail and walked out of prison despite being charged under TADA. If Dutt is granted bail on Tuesday, he could be released from the jail later in the evening. Dutt, who got a copy of the judgement on October 22, complied with the bail condition and surrendered before being taken to Yerrawada jail in Pune. This wasn't the only instant when luck favoured him. He has had several other near misses at the court. The most significant being absolved of terrorism and conspiracy charges.

WEIGHTLOSS PROBLEM TO COURT INDIA NEWS HEADLINES

INDIAN MP IN JAILTAKES WEIGHTLOSS PROBLEM TO COURT INDIA NEWS HEADLINES STORY

WEIGHTLOSS PROBLEM OF JAILED MP TO COURT, NEW DELHI, INDIA NEWS HEADLINES STORY: - An RJD MP Pappu Yadav weighs 150 kg and is desperate to get in shape but finds jail is no place to do that. He is being tried for murder in a Purnea court, but right now his biggest problem is “morbid obesity”—a life threatening weight problem. Yadav, who represents Bihar’s Madhepura constituency in the Lok Sabha, is lodged in Delhi’s Tihar prison for his alleged involvement in the murder of CPM leader Ajit Sarkar in June 1998.
A bench comprising Justice S B Sinha and Justice H S Bedi asked AIIMS to file a report on Yadav's health within two weeks. Yadav has a filed a petition before the Supreme Court, appealing for treatment outside Tihar jail. The court on Monday issued notice to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and asked the hospital to conduct tests on Yadav and determine if he needed treatment. The RJD member was earlier shifted from Beur Jail of Patna to Tihar Jail after the apex court cancelled his bail Jan 19, 2005, taking strong exception to the "five star" treatment being provided to him there despite being an under-trial. IANS reports the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has already told the court that it had no objection to Yadav undergoing treatment outside Tihar Jail in case the jail manual permits it.

WHITE TAILED EAGLES NOT EXTINCT BIRD NEWS HEADLINES

WHITE TAILED EAGLES ARE NOT EXTINCT IN BRITAIN NEWS HEADLINES

WHITE TAILED EAGLES BACK FROM EXTINCTION: - The majestic white-tailed eagle that was once declared extinct in Britain is soaring over its skies once again. A survey has shown there are now 42 breeding pairs, all on the west coast of Scotland, six more than last year. It has also been a record year for breeding with 34 young birds emerging from 24 successful broods. According to The Telegraph, there are now more white-tailed eagles than at any time since a recovery programme was launched more than 30 years ago. The white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus Albicilla) sometimes known as the sea eagle and Britain's biggest bird of prey, was persecuted to extinction in the early 1900s and the last surviving bird was shot in 1918.

There are now an estimated 200 individual white-tailed eagles in Scotland. The bird has an eight-feet wingspan with distinctive 'fingers' at the tips and short wedge-shaped tail and is known as "flying barn doors" by bird watchers. Birds were brought back from UK extinction by reintroduction programmes, first on the island of Rum from 1975 to 1983 and then on Wester Ross from 1993 to 1998. It is now firmly established as well on Skye, Mull and the Western Isles. Since the drive to reintroduce the eagle began it has been closely monitored by the Sea Eagle Project team, which includes RSPB, Scottish Natural Heritage and Forestry Commission Scotland. The Irish are introducing a similar programme in the Killarney area of south-west Ireland and eventually it is hoped they will be reintroduced to England. The next phase of the project will involve the introduction of chicks taken from nests in Norway, where the bird flourishes, to the east coast of Scotland. Expansion has come with increasing numbers and breeding pairs have established territories as far south as the Argyll islands and west on to the mainland in the Highland district of Lochaber.

The eagle preferred habitat is sheltered lochs or sea lochs rather than exposed coastal sites and they prefer to nest in trees rather than cliffs. They are resident all the year round and normally remain close to their nest site. The eagles do not begin to breed until they are five to six years old and have a low reproductive rate with the females laying only one to two eggs per year. They feed on fish, sea birds and duck but most bird watchers look for them on a high perch overlooking water from where they swoop and pluck fish from the surface. More than half of the fledgling eagles - 60-70 per cent - will not survive their first year but if they do they can live for more than 20 years. The eagles have also become big business. Mull's birds are a tourist magnet, boosting the island's economy by 1.7 million pounds annually. The 350,000 visitors who visit Mull every year spend 38 million pounds on the island, and of this between 1.45 million pounds and 1.69 million pounds is brought in by the sea eagles.

BCCI CRICKET SELECTORS TO QUIT INDIA NEWS HEADLINES STORY

BAN NATIONAL CRICKET SELECTORS IN NEWS PAPERS AND THEY WILL QUIT IF THE BCCI DOES NOT LIFT THIS ORDER

INDIAN CRICKET SELECTORS TO QUIT INDIA NEWS HEADLINES: - In an unprecedented revolt against the Cricket Board's policy to ban national selectors from writing columns, three selectors threatened to quit their posts if the BCCI persisted with the gag order. "We are not servants, we cannot be treated in such a way. If such a gag order continues, some of us may step down", one of the selectors told PTI on condition of anonymity. The selectors said that they could be forced to relinquish their posts if the BCCI did not lift the ban, giving a dramatic new twist to the ongoing tussle between the BCCI administrators and the selectors. He said chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar, who has been writing newspaper columns for nearly 15 years, was 'extremely angry' with the gag order and two of his colleagues also shared his views. While the selectors have taken a tough stand, the BCCI said it was not aware of any such development. "The selectors have been made to look like jokers. While we have been banned from interacting with the media, the BCCI officials have been selectively leaking news. We cannot compromise with our dignity", he said. Another BCCI source said that Vengsarkar had sought special permission from the BCCI to continue writing columns. "The BCCI has not received any communication from the selectors in this regard. We are not aware that they have threatened to quit", BCCI Vice President Rajiv Shukla said. "We are considering his request, but no decision has been taken as yet", the source said.

SUPER CYCLONE SIDR CLAIMS 4000 LIVES IN BANGLADESH NEWS HEADLINES

SUPER CYLCONE SIDR HAS CLAIMED 4000 LIVES OR MORE IN BANGLADESH NEWS STORIES HEADLINES

BANGLADESH SUPER CYCLONE SIDR TOLL RISES TO 4000 SAYS BANGLADESH NEWS HEAELINES: - Four days after super cyclone Sidr killed at least 2,350 people, rescuers were struggling to reach isolated areas along the country's devastated coast and give aid to millions of survivors. Media reports and Bangladesh Red Crescent Society chairman, Mohammad Abdur Rob said the death toll had already surpassed 3,000, and was likely to go up. The government put the official toll at 2,408 confirmed dead. "The tragedy unfolds as we walk through one after another devastated village," said relief operator Mohammad Selim in Bagerhat, one of the worst hit areas. "Often it looks like we are in a valley of death." While it will take several days to determine the number of dead and missing, some 3 million survivors who were either evacuated from the low-lying southern coast or whose homes and villages were destroyed will need support, the government said. "We are trying to reach all the affected areas on the vast coastline as soon as possible, when we will know how many people have exactly died in the devastation," one government official said on Monday. Reuters reporters in the affected districts said bodies were being discovered by the hour in the rivers, paddy fields and under piles of debris. Aid workers fear inadequate supplies of food, drinking water and medicine could lead to outbreaks of disease. Grieving families begged for clothes to wrap around the bodies of dead relatives for burial. In some areas, they put corpses in mass graves.

Cyclone Sidr smashed into the country's southern coastline late on Thursday with 250 kph winds that whipped up a five metre tidal surge. Officials in affected areas say the death toll given by the ministry is far below the real numbers and aid agencies have said the toll could rise to 10,000 or more. Military ships and helicopters were trying to reach thousands of people believed stranded on islands in the Bay of Bengal and in coastal areas still cut off by the devastating storm. In its wake, dead people and animals floated down rivers and the stench of death filled the air. Relatives tried to identify and bring them ashore, and bury them without a proper funeral. "Some 2,000 people have died in my area alone," said Anwar Panchayet in Bagerhat district. A huge effort was under way to get food, drinking water and shelter to the millions affected by the storm, the worst to hit disaster-prone Bangladesh since 1991 when nearly 143,000 people died in a cyclone and the tidal surge it triggered. "The extent of destruction is unimaginable," said Reuters cameraman Rafiqur Rahman from a coastal village, on Monday. A much improved disaster preparedness plan, including storm shelters built all along the southern coastline since the 1991 storm, has been credited with saving hundreds of lives. "In the 7 km I trekked this morning, I saw not a single house standing," he said by telephone. "Only a few leafless trees and a couple of dogs reminded me it was once a village," he said.

MORE THAN A THOUSAND FISHERMEN REPORTED MISSING IN SIDR SUPER CYCLONE THAT HIT BANGLADESH NEWS HEADLINES

World Vision officials said on Monday some 1,000 fishermen were still unaccounted for in the Bay of Bengal. The house was made of corrugated iron, she told Rafael Palma of the World Vision, one of many NGOs working to help the cyclone survivors. "All at once, our house was taken away like a toy. We discovered ours on the ground but without its roof and walls," said Rika Halder, a girl of Kandi village in southern Mongla. "I need to put a roof over the head of my children. But I don't know how I am going to do this," said Nirmal Moitra, 45, another Mongla resident. "It is apprehended that hundreds, even thousands, might have been swept into the sea and got a watery burial," it added. "We have seen more bodies floating in the sea," the Daily Independent newspaper quoted fisherman Zakir Hossain as saying. Zakir returned from the Bay alive but brought along two decomposed bodies, the daily said.

Pope Benedict called on Sunday for international aid. Bangladesh appealed to the International Red Cross for $6 million, while the European Union and the United States have pledged millions more. Two U.S. Navy amphibious assault ships with helicopters, the USS Essex and the USS Kearsarge, were sailing to Bangladesh to help in relief and rescue operations, a U.S. embassy statement said on Sunday. Helicopters flew sorties to devastated areas, dropping food, drinking water and medicine for the survivors. "But there are not many places where we can land," said one pilot who was involved in the rescue mission , as large areas were still under water.