Chandigarh, Jan 17 (IANS) Aiming to give a boost to agriculture in Haryana, a centre of excellence for vegetables has come up at Gharaunda town in the state's Karnal district, with support and expertise of Israel.
A senior leader of the Taliban in Pakistin today claimed responsibility for the bomb attack in Lahore that killed at least 24 people and wounded hundreds more, saying it was revenge for the army offensive against militants in Swat valley.
Hakimullah Mehsud, a deputy to the Pakistani Taliban chief, Baitullah Mehsud, told the Associated Press that the attack on the offices of the police chief and Pakistan's main spy agency, the ISI, was connected to the military operation.
"It was in response to the Swat operation where innocent people have been killed," Mehsud said. The little-known group Taliban Movement in Punjab has also claimed responsibility for the attack.
The attack was the third in Lahore in as many months and Pakistanis have been bracing themselves for violent retaliation since the army launched a sweeping operation against the Taliban in Swat valley three weeks ago.
"These terrorists were defeated in Fata [Federally Administered Tribal Areas] and Swat and now they have come here," the interior minister, Rehman Malik, said yesterday. "This is a war, and it is a war for our survival."
As Malik spoke, rescuers were scrambling to pull the dead and wounded from the wreckage of destroyed buildings. Twelve police officers and one child were among the dead, a television station reported. Twenty people were injured when the roof of the operating theatre in a nearby hospital collapsed on them.
Sajjad Bhutto, a senior government official, said four men had leapt from a car that pulled up outside a police building near the ISI headquarters. The men, who were described as young and clean-shaven by witnesses, started shooting.
Guards outside the spy agency returned fire, sparking a short gun battle that ended when the car, which had crashed into a security barrier, exploded. The blast levelled an emergency response building across the street and sheared a wall from the ISI office, where two intelligence officers and six others were killed.
It left a scene of devastation along the mall – a tree-lined, colonial-era thoroughfare. A petrol station was destroyed, and broken glass and crushed vehicles littered the road. Later distraught relatives turned up, looking for family members.
Bhutto said 100kg of explosives were used in the bomb.
The attack was no surprise, said Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi, a Lahore-based defence analyst. "We were expecting there would be some kind of retaliation," he said, drawing a link with the ongoing operations in Swat. "The surprise was that it was such a massive attack."
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/28/pakistan-bomb |
Sirsa (PTI): Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) on Thursday launched its campaign "Chalo Matdata Ki Aur" (let's go to the voters) in Haryana.
The campaign was launched by INLD chief and former Haryana Chief Minister Om Parkash Chautala here.
Mr. Chautala alleged said that the people were highly disappointed with the Congress party as it had failed to keep any of its election promises.
He called upon the people to teach a suitable lesson to the Congress party and support INLD-BJP candidates in the coming Lok Sabha elections.
The INLD chief said that BJP and INLD alliance is not only a coalition between two parties "but union of hearts".
He said that "whenever the two parties have come together, they have formed the government at the state and national level."
He said that the spiralling inflation, water-electricity scarcity, deteriorating law and order situation and corruption has made the life of common man difficult.
Mr. Chautala said under this campaign, the party activists will reach out to each and every voter in all the districts and Vidhan Sabha constituencies of the state. Various party leaders have been asked to look after the seven day campaign.
Source: http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200903122022.htm
In a criminal complaint filed before Mohali Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Jatinder Singh Aulakh and others, Fiza claimed that he ‘betrayed, used, blackmailed, intimidated and ditched’ her under the garb of ‘religion and marriage’.
Seeking registration of an FIR under Section 376 (Rape), 420 (Cheating), 295-A (Hurting religious sentiments), 500 (Defamation) and 506 (Criminal Intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, Fiza said that she was devastated by Chand’s betrayal. “I have lost everything and am unable to face society,” she said.
Fiza said that Chand along with his family may try to run away abroad to avoid legal action, she also sought security since she feared he may try to harm her.
Fiza submitted that she came into contact with the 43-year-old Chand in 2004 when he was elected to the Haryana Legislative Assembly for the fourth time. She said that he pursued her relentlessly, even visiting her residence in Mohali, till she relented and married him in December 2008.
Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/fiza/424348/
