August 31, 2003

Gulf Malayali main suspect in Bombay Blast

Bombay - C.A.M. Basheer of Kaprissery near Aluva, who has been living in a Gulf country is suspected in he recent Mumbai bomb blasts that killed over 50 people. According to reports, Basheer, a former student of the Aluva UG College and national President of the banned Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), Baheer (43) is said to be currently in the Gulf. The state chief Minister A.K. Antony said inquiries were being made in this regard throughout the state following the intellignec agency report that the suspect had links with the Mumbai blasts. The issue was being viewed seriously and contacts were on with neighbouring states.

The Mumbai police had reportedly found that the explosives used in the blasts were received by fundamentalist elements from the Malabar region. The federal government has informed the governments of Kerala and Karnataka that the gang that worked behind the blasts had widespread links with people in both the states, according to a Gulf News report quoting intelligence sources.

After his college education, Basheer did a course in aeronautic engineering at Chalakkudy, worked at the New Delhi airport and moved to Pakistan before settling in the Gulf, the sources said. He was said to have developed contacts with Pakistani secret agency ISI in the Nineties, the GN report said.

He became a subject of intelligence observation as figured in a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case registered in Ahmedabad. His name is also linked to the Khalistan movement and Al Qaida and several militant attacks in India.

Labour contract to be uniform in two weeks' time

DUBAI - The uniform labour contract which was officially introduced by a ministerial order issued by Mattar Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs (MLSA) and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Human Resources Development and Employment Authority Tanmia in December last year, will practically come into force in two weeks. The uniform labour contract for nationals working in the private sector specifies the minimum wages of nationals at Dh1,000 and the maximum salary ceiling at Dh50,000, reported Khaleej Times.

Pointing to the delay in the enforcement of the ministerial order issued eight months ago, Dr Al Khazraji confirmed that no private company has as yet signed or registered a uniform contract with a UAE national employee, explaining that there were some technical problems that the Pensions Authority and the ministry had managed to overcome.The technical problems blamed for the delay in the implementation of the order was attributed to the development of the requisite computer system at the Pensions Authority.

 

Sinking of the Russian Submarine takes the lives of nine

A decommissioned Russian nuclear-powered submarine ''K-159'', being taken to the scrap yard, sank early on Saturday morning in the Barents Sea killing nine of the ten ten member crew, the Russian Defense Ministry said, but added there was no danger of contamination as there were no weapons on board and the reactors had been shut down. The incident of the sinking of the submarine K-159 had raised concerns of environmental damage and further dented the deteriorating navy's prestige. The submarine, which belonged to Russia's Northern Fleet, had decommissioned in 1989 and was being taken to a utilization facility at Polyarny to be scrapped. One man out of the ten-man skeleton crew was rescued.The only crew member who has been rescued
is Senior Lieutenant Maxim Tsibulsky. ''Lt Tsibulsky is presentl y staying on board one of the vessels of the Northern Fleet. He
was helped to recover from the state of shock,'' Capt Navrotsky said, adding that the the state of the saved sailor was assessed as satisfactory and he would be soon delivered to the hospital in Severomorsk. The toll was revised from two to nine, after hopes
faded of finding the seven members who were earlier listed as missing.

The K-159 submarine sank at 4 am (0730 IST), at a depth of 170 meters near the Kildin island in Barents Sea while on way to
ship-breaking plant in Polyarny town on the Arctic coast, Russian Navy spokesman Cmdr Igor Dygalo said. In the heavy storm
four pontoons supporting the decommissioned submarine got detached making it sink. The submarine was decommissioned in
1989 and had no weapons on board, its reactor too has been shut down, Dygalo told NTV channel. Defense Minister Sergei
Ivanov said the ship's conning tower had been left open, and he fired the commander of the submarine division that included the
K-159. The two nuclear reactors of the 40-year-old submarine have been shut down since it was decommissioned in 1989 and
radiation levels remained normal after it sank about 3 nautical miles northwest of Kildin Island near the entrance to Kola Bay,
Russian military officials said. Navy deputy chief Adm. Viktor Kravchenko said one sailor was rescued and the bodies of two
others were pulled out of the 50-degree waters. Retired Adm. Eduard Baltin recalled that the K-159 was already taking water
when it made its last mission in 1983. He said on Echo of Moscow radio that the navy shouldn't have placed the crew on the
submarine, saying that "it was like putting them in a barrel full of holes."

Russian President Vladimir Putin was informed of the accident while on the island of Sardinia for a three-day meeting with Italian
leader Silvio Berlusconi. The sinking "testifies to how the sea demands discipline, it does not forgive any kind of blunder or
mistake," Putin said while conducting Berlusconi on a tour of a Russian missile cruiser anchored off Sardinia. A thorough
investigation will be conducted into the sinking of a decommissioned submarine in the Barents Sea , Russian President Vladimir
Putin said early on Saturday morning. The condition of Russia's aging nuclear submarine fleet has long raised international
concern. Russian officials said it will cost an estimated $3.9 billion to scrap more than 100 mothballed nuclear submarines that
await destruction. Yet last year, the Russian government budgeted just $70 million for improving nuclear safety in the country as a
whole.

The K-159 entered service in 1963. A November-class submarine, it was intended for attacking enemy ships with conventional
or low-yield nuclear torpedoes. The submarine had been taken out of the combat formation of the Navy on 16 July 1989 and had
been stationed near the base location of Gremikha waiting for utilization. The submarine's nuclear reactor was placed in the state
of nuclear safety and the ammunition was unloaded.

This year had seen large-scale exercises of the Russian Navy in the Far East and the Indian Ocean. Joint exercises of the Russian
and Italian fleets are scheduled for later this year.

 

One more encounter in Srinagar; 4 Pak trained militants dead

Srinagar: In yet another fierce encounter, Four Pakistan-trained militants were shot dead by security forces in frontier district of Kupwara Saturday night, defense sources said. The four, yet to be identified, were killed in the fight that broke out at Gabdori near area in the district, they said adding further details were awaited. A pro-Pakistan Hizbul Mujahideen militant Ghulam Mohiuddin Malik was caught in Baramulla district of north Kashmir Saturday evening, according to the sources. Three rifle grenades, a magazine and 18 rounds of ammunition were recovered from his possession, they said.

India's first-ever medal at athletics world championships bagged by Anju Bobby George

Paris: Anju Bobby George became the pride of India and a chapter in the history of Athletics by bagging a bronze medal with a leap of 6.70m which surpassed her season best of 6.65m. winning India's first-ever medal at 9th World Athletics championships on Saturday. She recorded a jump of 6.70 metres for the third place behind Eunice Barber with 6.99, host country's first gold medal of these world championships, and silver medalist European champion Kotova with 6.74 meters. Her coach Mike Powell who has been men's world record holder, has helped her win the medal, training her for the past six months. And according to Powell, a gold medal is not out of the question for the 26-year-old from Chennai next year at the Athens Olympics. ''She has the potential to jump 7 metres and beyond. I hope we can move up to the gold next year,'' said Powell. ''I am very happy for myself and my country. I was very confident ahead of the competition,'' said the delighted Anju. Anju stands a good chance of ending India's Olympic drought as her results in recent years have show steady progress to the top of her event. She won a Commonwealth Games bronze medal last year and then added an Asian Games gold. In 2002, she raised her personal best to 6.74m. Anju has given her husband and coach, Bobby, a lot of credit for her improvement since they started working together in 1998. He convinced her not to quit the sport after a string of injuries to her right ankle.

Encounter in Rajouri district: one militant killed, 2 army jawans injured

Jammu: In yet another encounter at Morina village in Rajouri district in Jammu region early on Sunday morning, at least one militant was killed and two army jawans were injured when the troops clashed with a group of heavily-armed militants. Police said
acting on a tip-off that some ultras were hiding in Morina village, troops launched a search operation. As the jawans reached the area, the militants opened fire on them. In the following gun battle, one ultra Mohammad Iqbal was killed while two jawans
sustained bullet wounds. A search operation is on to nab the remaining terrorists. The injured have been rushed to nearby Healthcare Centres, sources added.

A major terrorist plot in the capital city foiled

New Delhi: In an encounter which took place in the capital city of Delhi, the plans of a major terror plot were foiled as two Jaish-E-Mohammad terrorists were killed and three persons arrested and also with the seizure of a truck laden with huge cache of
arms and ammunition and recovery of 21 kgs of explosives. The militants, including a Pakistani, were killed at around 10.45 pm in Indraprastha Park under Nizamuddin police station, nearly three hours after police seized a truck in the Sadar Bazar area in Central Delhi carrying 10 hand grenades, 10 grenade shells, one Under Barrel Grenade Launcher (UBGL) and arrested its three occupants. The militants -- Zahoor Ahmed of Pakistan and Habibullah -- were killed after police tried to intercept them following a lead provided by three persons -- Pervez Ahmed, Feroz Ahmed and Noor Mohammad -- who were occupants of the truck carrying three boxes filled with ammunition, Joint Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Neeraj Kumar told reporters at the spot. An AK-56 rifle, its two magazines with 30 rounds each and two loaded Chinese pistols besides Rs two lakh in cash were recovered from the slain terrorists, he said.

Two JEM terrorists arrested following the encounter

New Delhi: Following the encounters on Saturday night in which two Jaish-e-Mohammad(JEM) ultras were shot dead in the capital, the Delhi Police on Sunday made further inroads into the outfit's network in Delhi arresting another two of its members from Bulandsahar district of western Uttar Pradesh Sunday morning. According to Joint Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Neeraj Kumar the two arrested terrorists have been identified as brothers of Habibullah, one of the two terrorists killed in an
encounter by the special cell in the Indraprastha park on the Ring Road near Nizamuudin bridge last night. The arrests of Atik and Rashed Ahmed by the special cell of the Delhi Police at 0600 hrs from Quaziwada in Sikandrabad area, was the result of the leads that were provided by the three local contacts of the JEM arrested in the capital yesterday.

Tripura Government announces reward of Rs 1 lakh for 9 ATTF militants

Agartala: The Tripura government had announced a reward of Rs. 1 lakh for nine militants of the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF). According to Official sources the names of the nine militants were published in the local newspapers and displayed in public
places. The 9 ultras have been charged with the massacre of 30 non-tribals including infants and women, on the eve of the Independence Day celebrations at Khowai in West Tripura. On the night of August 14, the ATTF militants in simultaneous
attacks killed 14 people at Kamal Nagar under Kalyanpur Police Station and 16 villagers at Krishnapur under Teliamura Police Station, both under Khowai sub-division. An Additional Sessions Judge court yesterday sentenced a militant to seven-year
rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1000. The ultra, along with five other extremists kidnapped four people at gun point on January 27, 2000. The five other ultras were still absconding.

Pakistan will release 269 Indian Fishermen on Sept 1

Islamabad: Pakistan will release on September 1,2003, 269 Indian fishermen, arrested for illegal entry into its borders, while 16 Sikh youths would be released on September 6. Maritime Security Agency (MSA) headquarters in Karachi told authorities in
Islamabad that arrangements for the repatriation of 269 Indian fishermen on 31 boats has been finalised, Daily Times quoted sources as saying yesterday.MSA Operations Director Commander Mohammad Zakir said the remaining 74 Indian fishermen
would be repatriated after repairs are completed on their 18 boats. The 16 Sikh men currently in jails in Lahore and Quetta, whose nationality has been confirmed by the Indian High Commission, will be returned to India on September 6 via the Wagah
Border, sources added. The Indian High Commission in Islamabad would be approached shortly by the Foreign Affairs Ministry to request for assigning one Indian officer to take charge of the Indian fishermen and their boats.