| India asks Pak to release Sarabjit on humanitarian grounds Posted: 11 Aug 2011 02:38 AM PDT 
NEW DELHI: India on Thursday asked Pakistan to take a humanitarian view and release Sarabjit Singh, an Indian national on death row following his conviction for alleged involvement in bomb attacks in that country in 1990. External affairs minister S M Krishna said in the Rajya Sabha that Sarabjit Singh has been sentenced to death on September 15, 1991 on allegations that he was involved in three bomb blasts in Lahore and one in Multan. "It is not our case that he was involved (in those blasts)," he said during Question Hour. "We don't share that (Pakistan's view of his involvement in the blasts)." India has taken up the matter with government of Pakistan "very seriously," he said. With Sarabjit's mercy petition pending before the Pakistan President, he said, "it is necessary for them to take a humanitarian view" of the petition. The issue was being pursued "with all diligence at our command," he added. "The government of India will do everything in its power to get the Indian national in Pakistan's custody released," he said. The government has given an ex-gratia of Rs 3 lakh to the next of kin of each of the persons in detention in Pakistan. Krishna said there are 558 Indian nationals in custody in Pakistan. Out of them, 232 are civilian prisoners, 252 fishermen and 74 missing defence personnel. The missing defence personnel include 54 Prisoners of War since 1971. "The government of Pakistan has acknowledged the presence of only 72 Indian civilian prisoners and 237 fishermen lodged in Pakistani jails. Pakistan does not acknowledge the presence of any missing defence personnel in its custody," he said. |
| South Asians take a hit in UK riots, 3 killed Posted: 10 Aug 2011 02:59 PM PDT 
LONDON: The riots in England claimed South Asian victims on Wednesday when three young men of Pakistani origin were killed in a "deliberate" hit-and- run incident in the country's second biggest city of Birmingham. While retailers of Indian origin were attacked in Birmingham, in the west London suburb of Southall, home to a large number of Sikh migrants, scores of men armed with swords and hockey sticks guarded their gurdwaras through the night. One of them said: "We'll take the law into our hands, bad luck." Although an uneasy calm returned to London, looting and arson continued in other English cities. A number of Indians suffered when their shops and properties were damaged by violent young men roaming the streets. An angry crowd of Pakistani residents gathered outside a Birmingham hospital where the victims were taken in a bid to save their lives. Suspecting that the three men were intentionally run over and killed, the police ordered a homicide probe into the deaths. A 35-year-old man was arrested and a vehicle seized. It is believed that the three men were protecting a mosque from hooligans who went on a looting spree in the central parts of the city. A police spokesman said: "West Midlands police have launched a murder inquiry and arrested a man. They have recovered a vehicle which will be examined by forensics experts." Two of the victims were identified as Shahzad and Harry Hussain. They breathed their last at the hospital soon after being admitted at 1.15 am. A third man, who was also in critical condition, was pronounced dead five hours later. According to the Birmingham Mail newspaper, the deceased had confronted the troublemakers. Indian retailers were targeted in Birmingham. Dhillon Catering, an enterprise owned by a Sikh family, was broken into by rioters. Its delivery van was set on fire. A family of Indian origin was rendered homeless after their house was gutted by arsonists at Croydon in south London. A woman and her son lost everything except their mobile phones. In Leicester, which has a high concentration of people of Indian descent, shops and restaurants were attacked, windows smashed. Two businesses run by Indians were looted. Among those keeping vigil at Southall gurdwaras were elderly Sikhs - some in their 80s. Reports suggested that every gurdwara in Southall was protected by around 200 men. A large number of Sikhs came out on the streets with sticks and metal bars in West Bromwich to save their place of worship from rioters. Devotees at one of the largest Sikh temples in London's Havelock Road telephoned young people for help. Across the country, the police arrested around 1,200 people, including 800 in London, since the violence broke out on Saturday. London courts worked through the night to process all those charged. Prime Minister David Cameron said on Wednesday that Britain will not let a "culture of fear" take over its streets. In a televised statement, he said: "We will do whatever is necessary to restore law and order." He said that the police have drawn up contingency plans to use water cannon, commonly used in Northern Ireland but never deployed in mainland Britain. On Tuesday, thousands of extra police officers kept a nervous London quiet after three nights of riots but looting flared in Manchester and Birmingham. In Nottingham, arsonists lobbed firebombs through the window of a police station. They set fire to a school and a vehicle. In Liverpool, about 200 young men hurled missiles at policemen and firefighters. Among the arrests for misuse of social networking sites were two 18-year-olds in Kent, adjoining London, a 19-year-old woman in Wakefield, in the northern county of Yorkshire, and a 16- year-old boy in Glasgow in Scotland. Cameron promised more arrests as police scanned CCTV evidence. "Picture by picture, the criminals are being identified and arrested," he said. |
| China to launch satellite for Pakistan Posted: 10 Aug 2011 02:58 PM PDT 
BEIJING: China announced on Wednesday it will launch a communications satellite for Pakistan at an "appropriate time" in the coming days. It will be carried by a Long March-3B carrier rocket. Both the satellite and rocket are currently in good condition, the official media quoted a spokesman of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province, as saying. The 30-transponder satellite will give Pakistan some strategic advantages in military and cross- border propaganda areas besides helping the country meet its communications needs, observers said. It has been "manufactured exclusively" for Pakistan, the National Space Agency of Pakistan, said recently. It will work on both KU and C bands and controlled by earth stations in Karachi and Lahore, the agency said. Pakistan is a member of the Beijing headquartered Asia- Pacific Space Cooperation Organization, which is implementing a project sharing of remote sensing data among member states. Other members include Bangladesh and Iran, who will also share date on early warning and mitigating disasters and exploitation of resources in the APSCO circuit. China began assisting Pakistan's space program after signing a strategic cooperation agreement in 2007. |
| Todays luck Posted: 10 Aug 2011 02:52 PM PDT |
| Prateik Babbar promotes ‘My Friend Pinto’ Posted: 10 Aug 2011 12:03 PM PDT |
| Help Akshay Kumar choose his new rowdy look!! Posted: 10 Aug 2011 11:59 AM PDT 
 The makers of 'Rowdy Rathore' have followed an all new idea of deciding the new look of Akshay Kumar for the film. They have launched an online hunt and the look that gets the maximum votes will be finalized for the film. The film is being directed by Prabhudeva and produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Ronnie Screwvala and designer Shabinaa Khan. Sonakshi Sinha has been signed for the female lead opposite Akki. The post on the production houses' online page reads: "Akshay is shedding the uber- cool avatar and is set for sporting a rowdy look in his upcoming film 'Rowdy Rahtore'. But he is not able to decide which moustache will bring out the rowdiness in him. Click to help him pick one." Check out the options and give in your comments………. |
| Asin finds a new admirer Posted: 10 Aug 2011 11:57 AM PDT 
 Before you let your imagination run loose, let us tell you that this new ardent fan of Asin is none other than the eight year old son of Sajid Nadiawala. Subhaan is so smitten by Asin that he kept following her around during the entire London schedule of his father's forthcoming 'Housefull 2'. To add to it, he kept wooing the lady by showering her with gifts from chocolates to lollypops, roses and teddy bears. Not to mention here that Asin too could not resist the charms of her youngest male admirer and spent as much time as she could with him!! |
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