Military aircraft crashes in Morocco, 78 killed

At least 78 people were killed when a Moroccan military aircraft crashed in the south of the country on Tuesday, the army said.
In a news alert carried by the official news agency MAP, the army said three other people were severely wounded in the crash, Morocco's deadliest air disaster in several decades.

Police arrest Mumbai blasts suspect in Kathmandu

A Nepali man, believed to be in his early 40s, has been arrested from capital city Kathmandu on the suspicion that he had links to this month's serial blasts in Mumbai which killed 24 people and injured nearly 150, Nepal's official media said.

Mohammad Zahir, a resident of Sarlahi district in Nepal's Terai plains near the Indian border, was arrested by Nepal Police's anti-terrorism cell on the basis of intelligence reports, the state-run Gorkhapatra daily reported Tuesday.

The man was said to have been conducting suspicious activities from his rented apartment in Baluwatar, an upmarket area in the capital where the official residence of the Prime Minister is located. He was found to have had phone conversations about the Mumbai blasts as well as sent text messages on his mobile phone, the daily said. It said Zahir was arrested last week but the news was kept secret. Currently, he is in police custody.

There were no immediate comments from police authorities. Three serial blasts rocked Mumbai July 13, causing death and destruction in Zaveri Bazaar, a jewellery hub, the Opera House business district and Dadar.

A terrorist group, the Indian Mujahideen, is suspected to have been behind the attacks. With India and Nepal sharing an open border, Indian authorities have often claimed that several groups planning terror attacks in Indian cities had links in Nepal, either smuggling in firearms and hit men from the Himalayan state or providing logistical support from there.

Reformist Darul Uloom VC sacked for praising Modi

Nine members of the committee voted in favour of 60-year-old Vastanvi's removal.

Maulana Ghulam Mohammad Vastanvi on Sunday became the first Vice-Chancellor of the Darul Uloom Deoband to be sacked by the governing body.

As announced after the February 23 emergency meeting of the governing body, Working Vice-Chancellor Maulana Abul Qasi Banarasi will be elevated to replace Vastanvi.

The Majlis-e-Shoora removed the Mohtamim, after he refused to resign claiming that the reports of the members of a three-member inquiry committee that also looked into his conduct were incomplete.

An agitated-looking Vastanvi himself announced the Shoora’s decision to the large press contingent camped outside the Guest House of the seminary: “I had said that I would resign if the report indicts me. However, the reports presented before the Shoora were incomplete – they only concentrated on what happened outside the Darul Uloom, not on the agitation by students.” He went on to say that some forces had influenced the students, and that Deoband does not belong to any one individual.

“I have not resigned. The Shoora has decided to remove me,” he said. Even as Vastanvi described the decision of the Shoora, students atop the walls of the Darul Uloom began cheering loudly. The anti-Vastanvi slogans soon spread deep into the campus.

Vastanvi said that “5-6” members of the Shoora had implicitly offered him their support, but eight of the 13 present were against him. In the end, Vastanvi could find only four Aye’s.

“I will not be going to court. I do not want to trouble the Darul Uloom. I will continue to be a member of the Shoora,” said Vastanvi. However, he seemed intent on going out with his head held high: “For the seven months that I have been here, I have not been allowed to work. I am not from here, and I have to look after my 200 madrasas and hundreds of other institutions,” he said.

A Letter To Amy Winehouse

I believe it was last year that VH1 was showing this special called “The 27s: The Greatest Myths of Rock & Roll.” It came on after “The Soup,” and I was feeling incredibly lazy, so I decided to watch it. Luckily I did, because the incite I got was ridiculous…

The 27 Club aka Forever 27 aka Club 27, is a group of 34 Rock & Rollers at their peak who all died at the young age of 27 years old. And in this club, you have the greats that some, most, or a small amount of us grew up listening to: Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin…

The special, to say the least, creeped me out just a little bit. Not too much, but to the point where I was spooked and intrigued to find out more about the “club.” They went into deep analysis, from dates to color palettes to social behaviors and mental backgrounds… Of course, many of these artists had involvements in drugs and alcohol, but most, if not all, had issues.

Serious serious issues. Issues that should have been dealt with but that couldn’t be, and issues that they used as their art. As either a plea for help, or their way of saying, “This will be all that’s left of me. This is all I need to get across. After this… I think I’m done.”

Matter of fact, it was Neil Young that said: “It’s better to burn out than to fade away.”

At the end of the special, they spoke about those who they felt would be well on their way to this club, due to the rate in which they were going. You, Amy Winehouse, were the first on their list. Sure, it all added up, but in the same year, many sources said you were getting better. That you were doing pretty good, laying low, keeping your life out of the newspapers. Slowly but surely, you would get back on track, if you were on track to begin with…

Well, Amy…

I checked the 27 Club Wiki page. Guess what? You’ve already been added to the list. Hook, line and sinker…

Dammit, all of the cues were in your lyrics. All of it. The tone of your voice, the messages of your songs, the names of your albums… But, regardless. Help was never on the way, was it? You were spiraling way too deep into the depths of your mind that to be pulled out of that chaos would be an act of death. Could that have been the reason?

After you checked out of rehab just as quick as you had checked IN, you went on tour in Europe, and got severely booed off stage, due to forgetting your lyrics as you performed your most famous songs, and for coming on stage intoxicated and completely disheveled. The tour was cancelled due to the incident, and everyone felt it can come back on once you got some more help, which you didn’t get. Could this have been the reason?

What was it? Was it because your life was spiraling out of your control COMPLETELY, or was it because you were finally fading out because of your life, and out of fear that you would be forgotten instead of remembered, that you would rather have burned?

It’s all over now, Amy. Sleep well. I hope you finally find that peace you were looking for that you couldn’t find here.

Explosion rocks Government Building in Central Oslo , 2 confirmed dead

Smoke rises from buildings in Oslo, Norway, at the scene of a large explosion which tore apart several buildings.

A loud explosion today shattered windows at the government headquarters in Oslo which includes the Norwegian prime minister’s office, injuring several people.  Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg is safe, government spokeswoman Camilla Ryste said.

Norway PM Stoltenberg says the blasts are “very serious,” bit it istoo early to say if terrorists are to be blamed.

There was no claim of responsibility, though NATO member Norway has been the target of threats, if not bombs, before, notably over its involvement in conflicts in Afghanistan and Libya. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg was safe, NTB said.

NRK radio said at least two people were killed in an attack that may have brought global political violence to the quiet Scandinavian city.

Images on Norwegian television showed the prime minister’s office and other buildings heavily damaged, sidewalks covered in broken glass and smoke rising from the area.The explosion blew out most of the windows of the 17-storey central government building, cast a huge pall of smoke over the city and scattered shards of metal and other debris for hundreds of meters.

Nearby ministries were also hit, including the oil ministry, which was on fire. Heavy debris littered the streets.

“So far I can confirm that we have received seven people at Oslo University Hospital,” a press officer at the clinic said. “I don’t know how seriously wounded they are.”

Smoke is seen billowing from a damaged building as debris is strewn across the street after an explosion in Oslo, Norway Friday July 22, 2011

Witness Ole Tommy Pedersen was standing at a bus stop about 100 meters from the high-rise at around 3:30 pm (1330GMT) when he saw the blast shatter almost all windows of the 20-floor highrise. He said a cloud of smoke is billowing from the bottom floors.

“I saw three or four injured people being carried out of the building a few minutes later,” Pedersen said. Nearby offices were evacuated including those housing some of Norway’s leading newspapers and news agency NTB.

An AP reporter at the scene saw one person with a bleeding leg being led away from the area.

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg was reported to have not been in his office at the time of the blast. Police had sealed off the area, which houses the offices of the prime minister, the finance ministry and the country’s biggest tabloid newspaper Verdens Gang (VG).

NRK radio said at least two people were killed in an attack. AP

Two cabinet ministers said that Stoltenberg had been scheduled to be visiting areas far outside Oslo today. News agency NTB also reported that Stoltenberg was “safe”.

Witnesses said the damage was extensive and that injured victims could be seen.

John Drake, senior risk consultant, at London-based consultancy AKE said: “It may not be too dissimilar to the terrorist attack in Stockholm in December which saw a car bomb and secondary explosion shortly after in the downtown area.”

“That attack was later claimed as reprisal for Sweden’s contribution to the efforts in Afghanistan.”

NATO member Norway has sometimes in the past been threatened by leaders of al Qaeda for its involvement in Afghanistan. But political violence is virtually unknown in a country known for sponsoring the Nobel Peace Prize and mediating in international conflicts, including in the Middle East and Sri Lanka.

It has also taken part the NATO bombing of Libya, where Muammar Gaddafi has threatened to strike back in Europe.

Hummingbirds catch flying bugs with the help of fast-closing beaks

The shape of a hummingbird's beak allows for a "controlled elastic snap" that allows it to snatch up flying insects in a mere fraction of a second —with greater speed and power than could be achieved by jaw muscles alone, says a new study in a forthcoming issue of Journal of Theoretical Biology.

Hummingbird beaks are built to feed on flowers, but hummingbirds can't live on nectar alone. To get enough protein and nutrients they need to eat small insects too, said co- author Gregor Yanega of the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center in Durham, North Carolina.

"Hummingbirds need the equivalent of 300 fruit flies a day to survive," Yanega said. But how can a long, slender bill so well suited for sipping nectar also be good at catching insects, and often in mid-air? In 2004 in the journal Nature, Yanega and University of Connecticut biologist Margaret Rubega reported that part of the answer lies in the hummingbird's flexible bill.

Using high speed video of three hummingbird species catching fruit flies, the researchers found that the hummingbird's bendy lower beak flexes by as much as 25 degrees when it opens, while also widening at the base to create a larger surface for catching insects. While watching the ultrafast videos, however, Yanega also noticed something else: As soon as the hummingbird's beak is maximally bent, it suddenly springs back to its original position and snaps closed.

"Their beaks snap shut in less than a hundredth of a second," he explained. "It's fast." Yanega teamed up with engineers Matthew Smith and Andy Ruina of Cornell University to unlock the secret to the hummingbird beak's sudden snap.

Armed with data on the length, thickness, and density of the bones and muscles in the hummingbird's head, the researchers developed a mathematical model of the elastic energy in the beak from the time it flexes open to the time it snaps shut. Part of the trick lies in how the hummingbird's beak is built, the authors said. While other insect- eating birds such as swifts and nighthawks have a cartilaginous hinge near the base of their beaks, hummingbird beaks are solid bone. "They're also incredibly thin," Yanega said. "This makes their lower beaks stiff yet springy, like a diving board."

The researchers' mathematical model revealed that the downward bend of the hummingbird's lower beak puts stress on the bone, storing elastic energy which eventually powers its sudden snap closure, explained first author Matthew Smith, now at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

"The extra speed likely leads to greater success in catching insects," Smith said. Known as snap-buckling, the phenomenon is similar to the opening and closing of a snap hair clip, Smith said. "Or, remember those little pop-up toys that consist of a half sphere made of rubber?

When you invert one and set it on a hard surface it will eventually snap back into place and jump off the surface," Smith added. Snap-buckling has also been observed in plants and insects. "The classic example of snap-buckling in plants is the venus flytrap, which uses this trick to catch insects," Smith said. "Cicadas, too, have tiny ribs which they snap-buckle to produce their distinctive song."

This study marks the first time snap-buckling has been observed in vertebrates, the authors added. ### The study will appear in the August 7 issue of Journal of Theoretical Biology, and is also available online at doi:10.1016/ j.jtbi.2011.05.007. CITATION: Smith, M., G. Yanega, and A. Ruina. (2011). "Elastic instability model of rapid beak closure in hummingbirds." Journal of Theoretical Biology 282: 41-51.

The National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) is a nonprofit science center dedicated to cross- disciplinary research in evolution. Funded by the National Science Foundation, NESCent is jointly operated by Duke University, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University. For more information about research and training opportunities at NESCent, visit www.nescent.org.

After Nano Tatas to build world's cheapest home for Rs 32000

After driving in the world's cheapest car -- Nano, sporting a price tag of $2500, and the cheapest water filter at $21 with Swach, the Tata group has now set its sights on building the world's cheapest house by the end of the year priced at just Rs 32000 (Euro 500)!

What's more, nicknamed the `Euro 500 home', a 20 square metre house works out to less than Rs 32,000 and can be built from scratch in just a week flat.

All one needs is a small piece of land and a kit of parts like doors, windows, roofs made out of different materials.

Currently being pilot-tested in West Bengal, the world's cheapest home is the brainchild of a team of nearly 15 innovators from Tata Steel's Indian and European operations and will be cheaper than the Tata group's own `Nano homes' project promising homes for $7,800 to urban poor that was rolled out a couple of years ago.

"These houses are typically targeted at beneficiaries of the Indira Awaas Yojana, that has an outlay of around Rs 40,000 per house. The challenge is to make it cheaper and more acceptable to rural users because many pre-fab manufacturers have built demo homes across the country but have failed to gain popularity," said Sumitesh Das, who heads Tata Steel's global research programme, on Friday.

"We have already prepared 2-3 different designs based on discussions with users and are gathering more feedback. Hopefully, in the next 6-8 months we should be able to roll it out in the market nationally," explained Das, who was in town to participate in a conference on intellectual property organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Apart from the basic version, the company is also working on higher end versions like a 30 square metre home for Euro 700 or higher for homes boasting of facilities like a solar panel on the roof or a veranda.

India Successfully Launches GSAT-12

It was on 15th July, 2011 that the proud nation put another feather on the cap on the launch of GSAT 2011 from the space station at Shriharikota. The launch occurred from the Satish Dhawan space center at 4.48pm when the massive satellite was successfully placed into its elliptical orbit.

“I am extremely happy to state that the PSLV-C17 GSAT12 mission is successful. The launch vehicle injected the satellite very precisely into the intended orbit,” said the most delighted ISRO chairman K.Radhakrishnan. The scientists could not refrain themselves from breaking into cheers seeing one of their most wanted dream come true.

GSAT aims at extending the capacity of INSAT for increased facilities related to medicine, resource mapping and education facilities. Due to the failures in the previous two launches in April and December, 2010, the ISRO team without any further experimentation used PSLV for the most safe transmission medium. The total time mission for GSAT is about eight years with an estimated cost of about Rs.2 crore.

The main reason for the launch was to meet the country’s demand for increased transponders which is a device with a transmitter and receiver that will generate a reply signal on proper electronic interrogation. Pleased and delighted with the success of the launch the ISRO chairman has also declared the team’s future plans for designing reliable GSLV cryogenic stage.

The happy Prime minister greeted the whole ISRO team for their success which in turn promised to keep their determination and dedication alive forever for the country’s sake.

South Korean Lawyer Starts Class-Action Suit Against Apple Inc.

Apple Inc.'s South Korea unit last month paid about $950 to settle a court ruling in a case brought by a South Korean attorney who claimed damages over the disclosure earlier this year that the company's iPhone retained location information about users.

On Thursday, the attorney said he was starting a class-action suit against the company. The attorney, Kim Hyung-seok of Changwon, South Korea, said about 300 people expressed interest in joining the suit and that he hoped to win as much compensation for each of them as he got from Apple.

Apple didn't respond to the original lawsuit. As a result, the administrative court in Changwon ordered Apple to pay Mr. Kim 998,000 won, or about $942, within two weeks.

Apple sent Mr. Kim a check to comply with the court's order, a company spokesman in Seoul said, but made no other statements or acknowledgements in regard to Mr. Kim's claim. The Apple spokesman declined further comment.

Mr. Kim then set up a website to allow other South Koreans to join in a bigger lawsuit against the firm.

"I never agreed that my location can be tracked through iPhone. That means Apple tracked my location information illegally and it was an obvious invasion of privacy," Mr. Kim said in an interview.

Apple's retention of location data flared into a controversy in mid-April when data-safety researchers in the U.S. said iPhones stored months of location information in unencrypted form. Within a month, Apple changed the operation of the phone to retain only seven days worth of location information.

The location system is used in applications such as maps and navigation systems and to confirm user eligibility for features like watching TV broadcasts.

Mr. Kim said he filed his lawsuit soon after hearing news coverage of the finding by the U.S. researchers. Mr. Kim said he wasn't aware of using the location service for any apps.

99% terror attacks stopped: Rahul Gandhi

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said that 99% of the terror attacks had been stopped in the country, thanks to various measures, including improved intelligence. Addressing a press conference
in Bhubaneswar, a day after serial bombings in Mumbai killed at least 17 people and injured more than 130, the Congress MP called for efforts to stop terrorist attacks in the country.

"It is very difficult to stop any single terrorist attack," he said, adding that 99% of the attacks have been stopped. "We must stop 100% attack." Referring to Wednesday's attack, Gandhi said the response of the government was prompt.

"We are responding to it in a quite organised fashion." Gandhi, the son of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, is on a two-day visit to Orissa beginning Wednesday to strengthen the grassroots base of the party.

He returns to New Delhi on Thursday.

CCTVs reveal vital info about Mumbai serial blasts: Maha C.M.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday said that the security cameras installed around the blast sites in Mumbai have given very crucial information and they are being examined and analysed.

The Maharashtra Chief Minister has also said that the state Home Minister RR Patil informed the Cabinet on the investigations in Wednesday's blast.

The Maharashtra Cabinet on Thursday held a special meeting to discuss the fallout of Wednesday's bomb blasts. The state Cabinet discussed about the medical facilities of the injured. Security post 26/11 was also discussed.

Terror struck Mumbai once again on Wednesday when three bomb blasts rocked some of the most crowded places of the city killing at least 17 people and injuring 131 others.

The first blast took place at 6:54 PM at south Mumbai's crowded Zaveri Bazaar. Within a few minutes Opera House and Dadar, too, were hit by powerful explosions.

Wednesday's blasts took place just two days after the fifth anniversary of the Mumbai serial train blasts on July 11, 2006 in which at least 186 people were killed. The blasts also evoked horrific memories of serial
blasts in the past as both Dadar and Zaveri Bazar have been targeted earlier too.

Mumbai blasts: Three blasts rock Mumbai, 21 killed, 141 injured

Terror has struck Mumbai once again killing
at least 21 people and injuring more than
hundred. Two days after the fifth
anniversary of the 7/11 serial bombings,
three explosions rocked the Maximum city
once again.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar
said at least 21 people were killed and over
100 injured in the attacks.The Ministry of Home Affairs confirmed a
terror plot and said that Improvised
Explosive Devices had been used in the
blasts. It had said at least 20 people had
been killed in the attacks and 113 others
injured.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj
Chavan had earlier said thirteen people
were killed and 81 hurt in the attacks. He
said the police officials had reached the
spot, adding he was in constant touch with
Home Minister P. Chidambaram. He
appealed to the Mumbaikars to maintain
calm. The home minister leaves on
Wednesday night for Mumbai.
The MHA said the leads pointed to the Indian
Mujahideen's hands.
Mumbai Police are questioning two IM
members, who had been arrested on
Tuesday. Internal Secretary, Home Ministry,
UK Bansal said the attacks at dense areas
were intended to cause maximum damage.
All the blasts occurred at Mumbai's crowded
market places in the peak rush hour. The
explosions occurred at Zaveri Bazar, Dadar
and Opera House between 6:45PM and 7PM.
The first blast took place in south Mumbai's
Zaveri Bazaar, near the famous Mumbadevi
temple. Four to five cars have been badly
damaged.
The second bomb went off in a taxi in
Dadar's Kabutar Khana area, a stone's throw
distance from Dadar railway station. The
number of that taxi is MH-43 A 9384. Two
people are said to be in the taxi. They have
been injured in the blast. Police have also
recovered a tiffin box from the area.
The third explosion occurred at the Opera
House building next to Pancharatna
Diamond Market. The blast took place in the
Prasad Chamber of the building.
According to JJ Hospital, 10 people have
been brought from the Zaveri Bazar blast
site. One of them has been confirmed dead,
while nine others are seriously injured.
All mobile networks have been jammed in
the blast areas.
While Chidambaram chaired a high-level
meeting in Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh spoke to Chavan to stock of the
situation.
Chidambaram said all the injured had been
evacuated. "The explosions took place
within minutes of each other, hinting at the
co-ordinated terror attacks," he said,
appealing for calm. He said the Home
Ministry will issue statements on every two
hours.
Mumbai Police Commissioner Arup Patnaik,
on being asked if it was a terror attack, said,
"I believe so."
Union Home Secretary Raj Kumar Singh has
spoken to the DGP of Maharashtra. An NIA
team has been rushed to Mumbai for probe
into the serial blasts.
Bomb investigation unit of the NSG and a
forensic team of CFSL are also being sent to
Mumbai. High alert has been sounded in 14
cities including Delhi, with Delhi Police
spokesperson saying, "We are keeping eye
on the situation in Mumbai." The quick
reaction team of the Army has been put on
standby.
Maharashtra PWD Minister Chhagan Bhujbal
advised people to stay indoors.

Mumbaikars ignores blood, bombs; rushes in to help and heal

Panic and shock gripped the food
bazaars of South Mumbai and the busy
weekday market of Dadar as a series of
explosions rocked the crowded locations on
Wednesday evening. At Zaveri Bazar as well
as Opera House, it was the peak-hour rush
at the two khau gallis that became the
target. Dadar Market, on any day, is a sitting
duck.
From the scenes of crime to the halls of
healing , ordinary citizens sidestepped glass
shards and pools of blood to cart corpses,
injured persons and severed body parts to
hospital. Volunteers diverted traffic and gave
right of way to ambulances and fire engines
even as civic workers helped the police
gather evidence and remove debris.
The street lights went out in the alleys of
Zaveri Bazar and the rain dampened rescue
efforts. Sho cked shop owners pointed to
the remains of the scooter upon which the
explosive had been placed.“We saw an
umbrella wrapped in wires on the scooter.
The vehicle did not bear a number plate and
did not belong to any of the local
residents,”said eye-witness Vinod Divecha.
Added another volunteer, Snehal Shah, “This
area is abuzz with traders and workers who
park their scooters as they stop by for
food.”
All hands on deck as Mumbai goes into
emergency mode
Snehal Shah, a volunteer, lamented the
inaction on the part of the authorities
despite repeated complaints about illegal
parking in the Zaveri Bazar area.
Although the jamming of mobile phone
networks for two hours added to the panic,
Mumbai rose to the occasion magnificently,
going into emergency mode with all hands
on deck. Taxi drivers allowed bystanders to
pile in the dead and the injured and ferried
them to hospital free of charge. Medical
institutes threw open all their operating
theatres and casualty wards and recalled the
entire staff, including those who were off
duty.
A melee erupted outside the barred gates of
Harkisondas Hospital as distraught relatives
and doctors tried to fight their way through
crowds of anxious blood donors and
onlookers. Inside, the white tiles of the
casualty ward were marked with bloodied
footprints. The victims’ identities slowly
began to filter through. Twenty-one-year-old
Pankaj Soni, who worked with his father in
the family’s jewellery store at Lamington
Road, was in Zaveri Bazar for some work.
Onlookers say he had gone to khau galli to
eat when he was trapped in the blast. His
relative , Ramesh Soni, said that Pankaj was
declared dead at GT Hospital.
Suparna Adhikari was waiting at KEM
Hospital, Parel, for news of her father
Dhananjay Adhikari. She said, “He left our
home in Parel for Opera House at 3.30pm to
meet a friend.” When she heard about the
blast, she kept trying his phone but he didn’t
answer. Her brother then found out through
friends that their father was admitted to
KEM.
Dharavi resident Sanjay Jadhav had been
running from one hospital to another,
looking for his 55-yearold mother Bhima.
The woman, a fruit vendor, usually sat at the
site where Wednesday’s blast occurred. “I
went to the site but she wasn’t there. I have
come to KEM and her name is not in the list,”
Jadhav said.
There were others who survived by a stroke
of fate. Rajan Mandalik was close to the blast
site at Zaveri Bazar. He had walked a few
metres away from the spot to attend a
phone call seconds before the blast. His
friend Kishan Mandal (32), however , was
not as lucky. Mandal was missing till late at
night, by which time his friends had
checked out four hospitals. “His name is not
there on either the deceased or missing
persons lists,” said Mandalik. “He was sitting
on a bike and was dangerously close to the
blast spot. We are keeping our fingers
crossed.”
List Of Victims
GT Hospital
Sunil Raut, Shivraj Patil, Ravi Bora, Raju Yadav
Saifee
Sandeep Champaklal Shah, Ali Azgar
Batatawala, Tushar, Ramesh Chandra, One
unknown, Sanjay Mehta, Mohd Darodia
St Georges Hospital
Lalchand Ahuja
Harkisandas Hospital
Sunil Kumar Jain, Bhupat Nabadia, Mohan
Nair, 2 unknown
Bombay Hospital
Himmatbhai Kalubhai Gudiya

More than 128 including Children Dead in Russian Cruise Ship Sinking

Shadows casted on a wall near flowers, candles and toys left in memory of victims of the tourist boat that sank on the Volga river, at a port in Kazan on Monday.

The rain was not relenting on Sunday afternoon, as the Bulgaria left the riverbanks behind for the open expanse of the reservoir. So the babysitters gathered the children together and led them to the activity room to play.

When the cruise boat lurched on one side and then, slowly, onto its top, the room became a sealed container. Adults broke windows with the heels of their shoes, or slid down the corridor and scrambled into the water.

Meanwhile, babysitters managed to fasten life jackets on some of the children — there were 40 of them, by some estimates. But they could not break out of the play room. On Monday, divers were bringing the dead to the surface one by one. In all, 128 people were presumed drowned. It was the worst loss of life among children in Russia since 2004, when terrorists seized a school in the south.

Russian television showed rescued parents standing on a pier, screaming. “The child was left behind,” one man sobbed, wrapping his arms around a woman. “The child was left behind.” As many as 208 people were on board when the boat sank, including at least 59 children. About 80 people were hauled out of the water about an hour and a half later, when the third of three passing vessels stopped to help. Nikolai Laptev helped pull the survivors up, in shock and slick with diesel fuel, he told the newspaper Argumenty I Fakti. He could recall seeing only three children among them.

Authorities said the accident seemed to be the result of poor maintenance and a disregard for safety. Survivors said the 56-year-old boat was listing to the left even at port, which Russian maritime experts said was possibly because a sewage tank was overfull. Some passengers were so concerned by the tilt that they asked the captain to cancel the trip while docked at a port earlier Sunday, but the captain refused, Itar-Tass reported.

The boat suffered mechanical troubles that caused one of two engines to break down, according to the elite Investigative Committee,which is examining possible criminal misconduct. It was overburdened, carrying as many as 208 people when it was licensed to carry only 14o and crew. Twenty-three of the passengers were not registered. It had last been overhauled in 1980, and its operators had no license to carry passengers, the Prosecutor General reported.

Documents had been filled out sloppily — an official with the Emergency Situations Ministry told the RIA news agency that of the 59 children on board, 36 were listed as having been born on Dec. 30, 1999. President Dmitri A. Medvedev convened his senior ministers on Monday at his residence outside Moscow. “We have far too many old ships sailing our waters,” he said, according to a transcript on his Web site. “Just because up until now nothing had gone wrong did not mean that this kind of tragedy could not happen. It has happened now, and with the most terrible consequences.”

Accounts by survivors and rescue officials suggest that the children had little chance of escape. Capt. Aleksandr Ostrovsky — whose own family happened to be aboard that day — was trying to turn the tilting, underpowered boat in the choppy water of a dammed portion of the Volga River that forms a broad lake, called the Kuybyshev Reservoir. Witnesses said they were almost two miles from the nearest shore. As he turned, the captain exposed the boat’s length to waves, the news Web site Life News reported. One washed over the deck, sweeping some of the adults into the water, and the boat tilted. “It just tipped to the right, flipped over, and sank,” Nikolai Chernov, one of the survivors, told Russian television. “That was it,” he said. “There was no warning, nothing.”

Those who escaped had to fight their way out. Two dozen of the survivors picked up by the rescue ship, the Arabella, had lacerations and broken bones — caused by breaking the windows on their cabins and squeezing through, as the boat filled with water. One passenger said her teenaged daughter had pulled out life jackets and thrust them at her parents. She said her husband cracked the window with his foot, and they were sucked out and fought their way to the surface — but their daughter never appeared. Natalya Makarova told state television that her daughter slipped from her hands as they tried to escape.

“We were all buried alive in the boat like in a metal coffin,” said Ms. Makarova, who escaped through a window. “I practically crawled up from the bottom. My 10-year-old child was with me, I held onto her as long as possible.” Some survivors described moments of selflessness. Lilia Satarova, interviewed in a hospital in Kazan, said a man slammed against the glass window of her cabin until it broke — and then shoved her out first.

“By then, we were already six feet underwater,” Ms. Satarova said. The survivors spent an hour and a half in the water, clinging to debris and life vests. Two cargo barges passed without stopping, said Mr. Chernov. Another survivor told the Russia Today television station that passengers on one passing boat were taking cellphone videos of the people in the water. Russian television showed survivors shaking with grief or staring hollowly at the port in Kazan where they were taken. In one, a woman yells, “My granddaughter, she was only five years old.”

On Monday, the first divers to examine the wreck at the bottom of the river said more than 100 bodies were inside, some of them wearing life preservers, a rescue official told Russian news agencies. The name of the captain, Mr. Ostrovsky, was not among the list of rescued, and neither were the names of his wife and children, whom he had brought along on the trip.

More than 50 die as Russian Cruise Ship Sinks in Volga River

The death toll rose to 50 but officials said it was likely to climb further as divers continued the grim task of removing the dead from an overloaded Volga River cruise ship that sank in a storm Sunday afternoon. Dozens remained missing and presumed dead in Russia's worst marine accident in 25 years.

President Dmitry Medvedev declared Tuesday a national day of mourning and ordered officials to check the safety of Russia's aging fleet of cruise ships. "It's already clear that this disaster couldn't have happened if safety regulations were followed and inspections were conducted," a somber-looking Mr. Medvedev told ... Dozens survive, rescuers search for nearly 100 missing after a tourist boat, believed to have been carrying 182 people, sinks in Russia.  Video courtesy of Reuters.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin appeared to have tears in his eyes as he spoke of the disaster at a separate meeting with economists shown on state television.
Officials said 208 people among them many families with young children were on the two-deck Bulgaria. The vessel was built for no more than about 120, investigators said, and didn't have the proper permits to sail. Twenty-five of the passengers weren't on the official manifest, officials said. "We still need to figure out how they got there," Sergei Shoigu, minister of emergency situations, told Mr. Medvedev.

About 80 people were reported rescued, most by a passing ferry. Investigators said the half-century-old Bulgaria went to the bottom in just a few minutes after being swamped by a large wave as the crew tried to maneuver in a sudden thunderstorm storm on the huge Kuibyshev Reservoir on the Volga. Terrified passengers and crew managed to get only a few inflatable rafts off before the ship sank.

"The ship was just sailing along and then suddenly turned over," survivor Nikolai Chernov told the Komsomolskaya Pravda tabloid. His wife and five-year-old grandson were feared dead.

Alexander Bastrykin, head of Russia's Investigative Committee, arrived Monday at the scene to supervise the probe. Officials said the Czech-built Bulgaria was listing four degrees to the starboard and its port engine was inoperative when it left port for the return voyage from Bolgar to Kazan Sunday morning.
Prosecutors cited "numerous violations" on the part of operators, including the lack of the necessary license. Officials said its last major renovation was conducted in 1980.

Regulators stopped at least one cruise ship of similar design to the Bulgaria for inspection Monday, news agencies reported. But local news agencies quoted the Bulgaria's operator as saying it had been in working order.

"The ship was in good condition," Svetlana Imyakina, director of the Agrorechtur company that rented the ship, told the Interfax news agency Monday. "They wound up in a storm and the holds were flooded."

Waves remained as high as two meters Monday at the accident site, complicating the rescue efforts on the wide river. The wreck was about 2.5 km from shore. Divers worked to remove bodies from the ship, which lay in 18 meters of water, focusing on the restaurant and main hall where children had gathered for a party just before the ship sank. Rescuers combed nearby islands for any who might have survived.

"Divers are working in shifts and will continue around the clock," said Rustam Minnikhanov, governor of the Tatarstan Region, where the accident took place. "I promise that measures will be taken against the ship owners who allowed the Bulgaria out on the water," he told relatives of the passengers. "It's shocking that the ship sank in such a short time." He also promised to investigate two passing ships that survivors said didn't stop to help.

Relatives and survivors stood vigil in the rain on the shore Monday, news reports said, as divers brought bodies up from the wreck.
Officials said the accident was the worst in Russian marine history since 1986, when a passenger ship struck a freighter and sank off Novorossiisk in the Black Sea, killing at least 423.

Gunpowder explodes at Cyprus Naval base, 11 killed

Cypriot rescue workers assess the situation at the "Evangelos Florakis" naval base in Zygi

Huge blasts in a seized Iranian weapons cache at a Greek Cypriot naval base in the south of the Mediterranean island killed at least 11 people on Monday, state media said.

The force of the explosions blew out virtually every window in the nearby fishing village of Zygi, whose seafront restaurants are popular with the many tourists who frequent the resort island, an AFP correspondent reported.

The island's largest power station at Vassiliko right next to the base was virtually levelled by the blast, causing widespread power cuts that are likely to last for months.

Three of its four main buildings were virtually levelled along the generator's two main fuel tanks, the correspondent said.

The main motorway connecting the capital Nicosia with the island's second-largest city Limassol runs less than a kilometre (half a mile) from the plant and motorists passing at the time of the blasts reported debris flying through the air.

State television broadcast images of damaged vehicles, twisted road signs and debris strewn across the central reservation.

Five hours after the blasts, an AFP correspondent saw four fires still raging at the plant.

Interior Minister Neoklis Sylikiotis told the state CNA news agency that the village of Mari just east of the base was devastated by the explosion with virtually every home damaged.

Police prevented journalists from approaching the village or the Evangelos Florakis naval base itself, named after a military commander who died in a helicopter crash exactly nine years to the day before the blasts.

But the speaker of parliament, Yiannakis Omirou, who is a former defence minister and visited the scene, said the explosion had been so massive that the entire arms cache had been destroyed without trace.

President Demetris Christofias also visited the stricken base ahead of an emergency cabinet meeting.

According to public radio, the fire brigade was called to a wildfire near the base at 4:24 am (0124 GMT) and that the explosions followed at 5:50 am (0250 GMT) as the fire raged out of control.

Five firefighters were among the 11 dead, who also included four members of the Greek Cypriot National Guard and two sailors, CNA said. State television said at least 12 people were killed.

Wildfires are a frequent problem in Cyprus in the tinder-dry conditions created by the searing summer heat.

Health Minister Christos Patsalides said three people were undergoing emergency surgery after being seriously hurt by the blasts. Another 35 to 40 people had suffered more minor injuries, he said.

National Guard chief Petros Tsaliklides told public radio that the blasts struck among containers of Iranian munitions seized from Cypriot-flagged vessel M/V Monchegorsk in 2009.

It was intercepted in the eastern Mediterranean en route to Syria in January that year and, after repeated searches, its cargo was eventually seized.

A UN Security Council panel concluded that March the shipment was in clear violation of an arms embargo against Iran adopted as part of UN sanctions imposed over Tehran's controversial nuclear programme and the seized weapons were put into storage.

"There were 98 containers of gunpowder. Two of them (caught) fire and huge explosions occurred," a police spokesman told CNA news agency.

The Iranian ambassador visited the Cypriot presidential palace in Nicosia for a 20-minute meeting after the blast, public radio said.

Power was restored to the island's main international airport at Larnaca by mid-morning after extensive disruption to early flights but electricity remained out in the resort city and across much of the south of the island.

The Cyprus Electricity Authority appealed to consumers to cut down on their power use, as demand for air conditioning in the summer heat far outstripped supply from the two power stations still working, threatening to crash the entire national grid.

Cypriot authorities impounded the Iranian weapons under a 2007 sanctions resolution adopted by the Security Council.

It requires that "Iran shall not supply, sell or transfer from its territory any arms and related materiel, and that all states shall prohibit the procurement of such items from Iran."

Israeli media reported that the Monchegorsk was suspected of carrying Iranian arms destined for the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and was detained by the Cypriot authorities in response to requests from both Israel and the United States.

Israel has long accused Iran of arming Islamists in Gaza, a charge Tehran denies even though it says it offers moral support to Hamas.

Iran reacted furiously to the interception of the cargo bound for Syria, its main Arab ally, and strongly denied accusations that the weapons were intended for either Hamas or the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah.

Nine Congress MPs quit parliament on Telangana issue

Nine ruling Congress party MPs resigned on Monday to press their demands for a separate state of Telangana, roughly halving the government's majority and heaping more pressure on the beleaguered party.

The members giving up their seats called for government action on the long-standing demand for a new state hours after dozens of Congress lawmakers stepped down from the assembly in Andhra Pradesh.

If accepted by the speaker, the resignations are likely to further delay the ruling coalition's attempts to pass long-delayed reform bills key to continued growth in Asia's third-largest economy, but they are unlikely to lead to the fall of the government.

Government hand-wringing over the four-decades old demand has lead to violent street protests in Andhra Pradesh, which is likely to be a crucial battleground state in the 2014 election, sending 42 members to parliament in New Delhi.

Losing nine MPs will put Congress and its allies on the back foot when parliament reopens on August 1, and may disrupt business in a chamber that has lost months of legislative work because of opposition protests over corruption.

The failure to resolve the issue of the new state, after the government gave in-principle support for the creation of Telangana last year, underlines a sense of drift in Congress, with party chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seemingly unable to take big decisions.

"It was an accident waiting to happen. In a way, it was another case of mishandling a political situation," said political analyst Amulya Ganguli.

"(The government) will limp along for some time. It will be quite a stormy session."

FORCING THE ISSUE

Seven Lok Sabha MPs tendered their resignations in person to their speaker of parliament, and two others sent their resignations by fax, a Rajya Sabha lawmaker who also stepped down from his seat told reporters.

"We want to identify ourselves with the aspirations of the people of Telangana," said K. Keshav Rao.

The resignations must be accepted by the speaker and that may take weeks.

Analysts cautioned that the resignations may not be accepted in order to give Congress time to strike a deal with the rebel MPs and avoid losing their votes in parliament.

"It makes it more complicated for the government but the government is not in trouble," said political analyst Mahesh Rangarajan, adding that the political opposition was also weak in parliament.

"It will force the Congress party to make a decision on Telangana."

The Congress-led coalition, which before the resignations held a rough 18-vote majority, has seen its reputation damaged by widespread voter anger at a string of multi-billion dollar corruption scandals.

"Congress is not against Telangana. The government is trying for a consensus," Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmad told reporters.

"This is a highly sensitive and emotional issue, an appropriate decision will be taken at an appropriate time."

Last week, Manmohan Singh was forced to refute widespread accusations that he was a "lame duck" leader presiding over a government in paralysis, as a failure to tackle high inflation and graft made Congress appear out of touch with voters.

A failure to pass reforms such as bills to overhaul land acquisition policy, an archaic taxation system and to liberalise foreign direct investment rules have suffered as the government drifts, dampening market performance and spooking investors.

Flight chaos in Australia as ash cloud returns

Hundreds of flights were grounded Tuesday in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Canberra as the Chilean ash cloud returned to Australia with a vengeance, with the chaos due to worsen over coming days.

The cloud, created by the eruption of the Puyehue volcano high in the Andes more than two weeks ago, has looped the globe and made its way back Down Under to wreak fresh havoc.

State broadcaster ABC said the travel plans of more than 120,000 people had been thrown into disarray -- with an industry group saying it was Australia's worst air travel disruption for more than 20 years.

"The ash cloud is denser and larger than that which caused widespread disruption to flights last week," said Airservices Australia, adding that the plume was hovering between 20,000 and 40,000 feet (6-13 kilometres).

"It is also predicted to linger longer over southeast Australia. It is spread in a large band below the Australian continent and is predicted to continue to move to the northeast and east in coming days."

National flag carrier Qantas suspended services to and from the South Australian capital Adelaide as well as Canberra and Sydney -- Australia's busiest airport.

Qantas later announced that all flights into and out of Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra would also be grounded on Wednesday, including international routes.

Virgin soon followed suit, although its Melbourne services will be reviewed at 1.00pm (0200 GMT) and flights into and out of Sydney and Canberra at 4.00pm (0500 GMT).

"We estimate that we will be cancelling in excess of 200 flights on Wednesday," Qantas spokeswoman Olivia Wirth told reporters, adding that international arrivals and departures would be delayed until Thursday.

"The experts say we simply won't be able to operate in this situation. This has had a significant impact in the Qantas Group, but we will always put safety before schedule."

Qantas' discount airline Jetstar also called off Adelaide and Sydney flights Tuesday while Tiger Airways grounded its entire fleet, with no services anywhere.

Virgin suspended flights to Adelaide, Canberra and major hubs Sydney and Melbourne, as well as Tasmania.

Ash poses a significant threat to aircraft because once sucked into engines it can be transformed into molten glass by the high temperatures and potentially cause an engine to fail.

John Lee, chief executive of Tourism and Transport Forum, an industry body, said it was the largest disruption to Australia's aviation industry since a 1989 pilots' strike.

"We anticipate the total impact to the tourism industry will be something over Aus$10 million. It could be as high as Aus$13 or Aus$14 million but it's probably around Aus$11.5 million per day," Lee told AFP.

"It is a very substantial business disruption."

Meteorologists said that while the ash had thinned during its travels around the world it was still clearly visible on satellite images and was moving at an altitude where aircraft generally cruise.

"It is the same cloud that has gone right around the world. It is still dense and it is still hazardous to aviation," said a spokesman at the Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre.

The cloud first entered Australian and New Zealand airspace just over a week ago, causing some airlines to ground all flights to affected areas while others chose to divert their planes under and around the plume.

Flights were also affected across Argentina and Uruguay.

The Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre's director Andrew Tupper said the plume was a rare occurrence and a third loop back to Australia was not likely.

"A third time round would be unprecedented," he said, adding that it was a testing time for airlines.

"It is a very complex problem for the airlines to manage. Obviously they have to take a conservative approach."

American Airlines jet makes emergency landing in New Delhi Airport

An American Airlines jetliner carrying 231 passengers has made an emergency landing at New Delhi's international airport, but no one was injured.

Richa, an American Airlines official, says the aircraft returned to Indira Gandhi International Airport about 20 minutes after taking off for Chicago at midnight Monday.

Richa, who uses one name, says the pilot complained that the plane was having technical difficulties.

The aircraft dumped the fuel it was carrying before landing. Richa said that the passengers were in a hotel and that the flight would resume later Tuesday.

American Airlines operates a daily direct flight between New Delhi and Chicago.

44 dead in Russian plane crash

A plane carrying 52 people in northern Russia crashed late on Monday night, with many of the passengers feared dead.

The Tupolev-134 was travelling from Moscow to the northern Russian city of Petrozavodsk when it crashed just before midnight. It was carrying 43 passengers and nine crew.

Eyewitnesses said that the plane broke up and caught fire on landing.

"Preliminary information is that about 40 are dead. The other eight are in hospital," said a spokesman for the Russian Emergency Ministry. Later the death toll was revised up to 44.

Local news agencies reported that a Swedish national and Russian Premier League soccer referee Vladimir Pettay were among the dead.

Officials said the plane crash landed in a field, nine miles away from the airport. As it came down it narrowly missed houses built close to a motorway. Photographs from the scene showed firemen battling with fires among the wreckage of the plane.

The Tu-134 plane, belonging to the RusAir airline, was en route from Moscow to the city of Petrozavodsk, Emergencies Ministry spokesman Olga Semyonova said.

Her ministry said in a website statement that 44 people were killed. Eight survivors, including a 10-year-old boy, were hospitalised in critical condition in Petrozavodsk.

Ms Semyonova said the plane went down on its final approach to the airport in Petrozavodsk, making a crash landing one to one mile short of the runway. It was unclear if the plane had attempted to land on the road, or just happened to fall there, she said. Petrozavodsk is in Karelia province, near the Finnish border, about 400 miles northwest of Moscow.

Authorities had no immediate explanation for the accident, but the Interfax news agency quoted the airport director Alexei Kuzmitsky as saying there were "unfavorable weather conditions."