2G losses: Lead auditor 'forced' to take CAG line?(http://ibnlive.in.com/exclusive-videos/2G-Scam.html)

New Delhi: More proof of the split in the CAG office has surfaced over the calculation of 2G losses.
CNN-IBN has copies of top secret notes exchanged between Deputy CAG Rekha Gupta and DG (Audit) RP Singh which shows that Singh was being coerced into toeing a line that Gupta and CAG Vinod Rai had already worked out.
A letter written by Gupta accused Singh of not auditing the 2G scam properly during 2009-10.
Singh had earlier maintained that he didn't agree with the methodology adopted to calculate the 2G losses.

You are watching the 2G Scam Stream(http://ibnlive.in.com/exclusive-videos/2G-Scam.html)

Singh is the person who had put his signature on the final CAG report pegging the loss in 2G scam at 1.76 lakh crore.
The Deputy CAG Rekha Gupta in her letter to the DG, said, "It appears that there is no strategy planned for auditing. Valuable time has been lost since October and he has yet to begin work."
R P Singh's responded to Gupta, saying, "My efforts, commitment to my job and dedication to the cause of audit to do my job with sincerity and integrity have been put to question and you have raised serious doubts about my present interest in the job. I have never been hit in such a way in my entire career. It is painful, hurting and less than fair. Your comments are exaggerated and overstretched. Your comments are demoralising and not inspiring at all. I request you not to prejudge work at this stage."
The letters exchanged between RP Singh and Rekha Gupta suggest that all was not well in the CAG institution when it came to the question of preparing this report.
The first letter was prepared by Rekha Gupta's officer on February 26 that raises serious doubts about the manner in which RP Singh was going about carrying out entire audit exercise.
RP Singh then joined the war of words and sent a rejoinder to Gupta on March 4.
This was when preparation of CAG report was in its final stages. The reason why RP Singh says he has been so hurt by the kind of attitude being displayed by his seniors because now these letters are proving to be an evidence that he was being forced by his seniors to arrive at a particular figure.
But he was just not willing to agree with the methods of carrying out these audits.
Earlier, RTI queries have revealed that Singh, in internal communications, had pegged the 2G losses at Rs 2645 crore, much less than the presumptive loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore stated by the CAG in its report

Flooded Bangkok braces for rising tide High tides expected to peak on Saturday as tens of thousands of people flee Thai capital. (Source: Al Jazeera and agencies)

Heightened alert

Friday morning's high tide - measured at 2.47m above sea level - was lower than expected, however, raising hopes that the Chao Praya's flood barriers would prevent a major overflow.

"The navy predicted 2.57m on Saturday but I think it will be bit lower based on today," an official at the city's drainage and sewerage department who did not want to be named, told the AFP news agency.

"So the walls can still hold it back, despite flooding on the river banks which is usual during high tide."

Seven of Bangkok's 50 districts - all in the northern outskirts - are already heavily flooded.

Residents have fled aboard bamboo rafts and army trucks and by wading in waist-deep water. Provinces north of the capital have been submerged, with factories and homes ruined.

Fears the inner city could flood prompted an exodus this week, as Thais and expatriates alike sought refuge outside Bangkok, and foreign governments urged their citizens to avoid unessential travel to the threatened city.

Flooded Bangkok braces for rising tide - Asia-Pacific - Al Jazeera English

Flooded Bangkok braces for rising tide - Asia-Pacific - Al Jazeera English

20 killed, 100 injured, as terror strikes Mumbai again ( www.thehindu.com)

Three bomb blasts go off within 11 minutes at Zaveri Bazar, Kabutarkhana, and Opera House

Three blasts between 6.54 p.m. and 7.05 p.m. rocked the crowded areas of Mumbai on Wednesday, killing 20 persons and injuring over a hundred, according to official sources. The most powerful one, suspected to have been set off by an IED (improvised explosive device) was at Zaveri Bazaar in south Mumbai, a congested part of the city, the second at Kabutarkhana near Dadar suburban railway station in central Mumbai and the third at Opera House also in South Mumbai.

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan confirmed that it was a terror strike and appealed to Mumbaikars to keep calm. Mr. Chavan said the first blast was at 6.54 p.m. at Zaveri Bazaar, followed by Dadar at 6.55 p.m. and Opera House at 7.05 p.m.

New footage emerges of bin Laden compound (http://english.aljazeera.net/)

New footage emerges of bin Laden compound

Al Jazeera obtains new pictures showing interiors of house in Pakistan where al-Qaeda leader was killed.Group confirms death of its leader in an online posting and says it will continue attacks on the West.Videos mainly show al-Qaeda leader rehearsing taped remarks, but also show him watching himself on TV.Pakistan army threatens to reconsider US ties.

Warning against future raid comes as US politicians question Pakistan aid following bin Laden's killing in Abbottabad.Obama rejects releasing bin Laden death photo.US president decides against releasing images of al-Qaeda leader's body as some raise concerns over legality of raid.

WikiLeaks Reveals Secret Files on All Guantánamo Prisoners

The Guantanamo Files
On Sunday April 24, 2011 WikiLeaks began publishing 779 secret files from the notorious Guantanamo Bay prison camp. The details for every detainee will be released daily over the coming month.

In its latest release of classified US documents, WikiLeaks is shining the light of truth on a notorious icon of the Bush administration's "War on Terror" -- the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, which opened on January 11, 2002, and remains open under President Obama, despite his promise to close the much-criticized facility within a year of taking office.

In thousands of pages of documents dating from 2002 to 2008 and never seen before by members of the public or the media, the cases of the majority of the prisoners held at Guantánamo -- 758 out of 779 in total -- are described in detail in memoranda from JTF-GTMO, the Joint Task Force at Guantánamo Bay, to US Southern Command in Miami, Florida.

These memoranda, which contain JTF-GTMO's recommendations about whether the prisoners in question should continue to be held, or should be released (transferred to their home governments, or to other governments) contain a wealth of important and previously undisclosed information, including health assessments, for example, and, in the cases of the majority of the 171 prisoners who are still held, photos (mostly for the first time ever).

They also include information on the first 201 prisoners released from the prison, between 2002 and 2004, which, unlike information on the rest of the prisoners (summaries of evidence and tribunal transcripts, released as the result of a lawsuit filed by media groups in 2006), has never been made public before. Most of these documents reveal accounts of incompetence familiar to those who have studied Guantánamo closely, with innocent men detained by mistake (or because the US was offering substantial bounties to its allies for al-Qaeda or Taliban suspects), and numerous insignificant Taliban conscripts from Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Beyond these previously unknown cases, the documents also reveal stories of the 397 other prisoners released from September 2004 to the present day, and of the seven men who have died at the prison.

The memos are signed by the commander of Guantánamo at the time, and describe whether the prisoners in question are regarded as low, medium or high risk. Although they were obviously not conclusive in and of themselves, as final decisions about the disposition of prisoners were taken at a higher level, they represent not only the opinions of JTF-GTMO, but also the Criminal Investigation Task Force, created by the Department of Defense to conduct interrogations in the "War on Terror," and the BSCTs, the behavioral science teams consisting of psychologists who had a major say in the "exploitation" of prisoners in interrogation.

Crucially, the files also contain detailed explanations of the supposed intelligence used to justify the prisoners' detention. For many readers, these will be the most fascinating sections of the documents, as they seem to offer an extraordinary insight into the workings of US intelligence, but although many of the documents appear to promise proof of prisoners' association with al-Qaeda or other terrorist organizations, extreme caution is required.

The documents draw on the testimony of witnesses -- in most cases, the prisoners' fellow prisoners -- whose words are unreliable, either because they were subjected to torture or other forms of coercion (sometimes not in Guantánamo, but in secret prisons run by the CIA), or because they provided false statements to secure better treatment in Guantánamo.

Regular appearances throughout these documents by witnesses whose words should be regarded as untrustworthy include the following "high-value detainees" or "ghost prisoners". Please note that "ISN" and the numbers in brackets following the prisoners' names refer to the short "Internment Serial Numbers" by which the prisoners are or were identified in US custody:

Abu Zubaydah (ISN 10016), the supposed "high-value detainee" seized in Pakistan in March 2002, who spent four and a half years in secret CIA prisons, including facilities in Thailand and Poland. Subjected to waterboarding, a form of controlled drowning, on 83 occasions in CIA custody August 2002, Abu Zubaydah was moved to Guantánamo with 13 other "high-value detainees" in September 2006.

Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi (ISN 212), the emir of a military training camp for which Abu Zubaydah was the gatekeeper, who, despite having his camp closed by the Taliban in 2000, because he refused to allow it to be taken over by al-Qaeda, is described in these documents as Osama bin Laden's military commander in Tora Bora. Soon after his capture in December 2001, al-Libi was rendered by the CIA to Egypt, where, under torture, he falsely confessed that al-Qaeda operatives had been meeting with Saddam Hussein to discuss obtaining chemical and biological weapons. Al-Libi recanted this particular lie, but it was nevertheless used by the Bush administration to justify the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Al-Libi was never sent to Guantánamo, although at some point, probably in 2006, the CIA sent him back to Libya, where he was imprisoned, and where he died, allegedly by committing suicide, in May 2009.

Sharqawi Abdu Ali al-Hajj (ISN 1457), a Yemeni, also known as Riyadh the Facilitator, who was seized in a house raid in Pakistan in February 2002, and is described as "an al-Qaeda facilitator." After his capture, he was transferred to a torture prison in Jordan run on behalf of the CIA, where he was held for nearly two years, and was then held for six months in US facilities in Afghanistan. He was flown to Guantánamo in September 2004.

Sanad Yislam al-Kazimi (ISN 1453), a Yemeni, who was seized in the UAE in January 2003, and then held in three secret prisons, including the "Dark Prison" near Kabul and a secret facility within the US prison at Bagram airbase. In February 2010, in the District Court in Washington D.C., Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. granted the habeas corpus petition of a Yemeni prisoner, Uthman Abdul Rahim Mohammed Uthman, largely because he refused to accept testimony produced by either Sharqawi al-Hajj or Sanad al-Kazimi. As he stated, "The Court will not rely on the statements of Hajj or Kazimi because there is unrebutted evidence in the record that, at the time of the interrogations at which they made the statements, both men had recently been tortured."

Others include Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani (ISN 10012) and Walid bin Attash (ISN 10014), two more of the "high-value detainees" transferred into Guantánamo in September 2006, after being held in secret CIA prisons.

Bin Laden killed in shootout with US forces (http://af.reuters.com)

By Steve Holland and Faisal Mehmood

WASHINGTON/ABBOTTABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) - Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed in a U.S. helicopter raid on a mansion near the Pakistani capital Islamabad early on Monday, officials said, ending a nearly 10-year worldwide hunt for the mastermind of the September 11 attacks.

U.S. officials said bin Laden was found in a million-dollar compound in the military garrison town of Abbottabad, 60 km (35 miles) north of Islamabad. After 40 minutes of fighting, bin Laden was among several people in the mansion killed. A source familiar with the operation said bin Laden was shot in the head.

"Justice has been done," President Barack Obama declared in a hastily called White House speech announcing the death of the elusive head of the militant Islamic group behind a series of deadly bombings across the world.

Leaders worldwide praised the killing as a dramatic success in the war against al Qaeda, a mood reflected in financial markets. The dollar and stocks rose, while oil and gold fell, on the view bin Laden's death reduced global security risks.

However, many analysts cautioned it was too soon to say his death would mark a turning point in the battle against a highly fractured network of militants.

Jubilant, flag-waving celebrations erupted in Washington and New York after Obama's announcement. It was the biggest national security victory for the president since he took office in early 2009 and could give him a political boost as he seeks re-election in 2012.

Obama may now also find it easier to wind down the nearly decade-old war in Afghanistan, begun after the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington that killed nearly 3,000.

But the operation could complicate relations with Pakistan, a key U.S. ally in the battle against militancy and the war in Afghanistan. Those ties have already been frayed over U.S. drone strikes in the west of the country and the six-week imprisonment of a CIA contractor earlier this year.
A U.S. official said Pakistani authorities were told the details of the raid after it had taken place.

The revelation bin Laden was living in style will also put Pakistani officials under pressure to explain how he could have been right under their noses. Residents in Abbottabad said a Pakistani military training academy is near the compound.

"For some time there will be a lot of tension between Washington and Islamabad because bin Laden seems to have been living here close to Islamabad," said Imtiaz Gul, a Pakistani security analyst.

U.S. officials said American forces were led to the fortress-like three-story building in Abbottabad after more than four years tracking one of bin Laden's most trusted couriers, whom U.S. officials said was identified by men captured after the September 11 attacks.

"Detainees also identified this man as one of the few al Qaeda couriers trusted by bin Laden. They indicated he might be living with or protected by bin Laden," a senior administration official said in a briefing for reporters in Washington.

Bin Laden was finally found after authorities discovered in August 2010 that the courier lived with his brother and their families in an unusual and high-security building in Pakistan, officials said.

"When we saw the compound where the brothers lived, we were shocked by what we saw: an extraordinarily unique compound," a senior administration official said.

"The bottom line of our collection and our analysis was that we had high confidence that the compound harbored a high-value terrorist target. The experts who worked this issue for years assessed that there was a strong probability that the terrorist who was hiding there was Osama bin Laden," another administration official said.

Bin Laden and three adult men, including a son of bin Laden, were killed along with a woman who was used as a shield by a male combatant, officials said
The New York Times said bin Laden's body was taken to Afghanistan and then buried at sea.

RESIDENT WOKEN BY BLASTS, GUNFIRE

A U.S. helicopter was lost due to a mechanical problem and its crew and assault force safely evacuated, officials said. No Americans were harmed in the operation, Obama said.

"After midnight, a large number of commandos encircled the compound. Three helicopters were hovering overhead," said Nasir Khan, a resident of the town.

"All of a sudden there was firing towards the helicopters from the ground. There was intense firing and then I saw one of the helicopters crash," said Khan, who had watched the dramatic scene unfold from his rooftop.

Authorities said bin Laden's hideaway, built in 2005, was about eight times larger than other homes in the area. It had security features including 12- to 18-foot walls topped with barbed wire, internal walls for extra privacy, and access controlled through two security gates.

It had no telephone or Internet connection.

"It is not a surprise that bin Laden was captured in an urban heartland," said Sajjan Gohel of the Asia Pacific Foundation.

"Many of al-Qaeda's senior leaders have been captured in Pakistani cities. It had become a myth that the al Qaeda leadership were hiding in caves in the tribal areas."

Killer Pesticide Endosulfan Banned

The Stockholm convention has come out with a global ban on Endosulfan which had caused more than 500 deaths and crippled more than 4,000 people in Kasargod.

“Even the countries which were in favour of Endosulfan at the Stockholm convention went against it once they saw the videos and photos of Endosulfan-inflicted people in Kasargod. Technological and financial aid will be given to the developing nation to find alternatives for Endosulfan,” informed Chief Minister Achuthanandan.

Rehabilitation of the affected people will be considered and the plantation corporation will have to give land to those affected severely by the pesticide. The pesticide lobby’s attempt at bribing the ministers for continuing the use of Endosulfan has failed, he added. Thanal’s Sridhar R reaffirmed that alternatives are there for Endosulfan and that this will be communicated to the Central authorities.

Earlier, at the convention India relaxed its stand and agreed to phase out the pesticide. With the declaration of the ban, many heaved a relief. Endosulfan hit Kasargod area welcomed the ban and rejoiced. It was a fight that was spread over decades and the result brought smiles to the faces of many in the state. It can be seen as a moral victory for V S Achuthanandan just prior to election results.

This ban means that Endosulfan will be listed in Annexe A of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. Chemicals listed in the Annex A of the Convention are banned for production and use due to the threat they pose to living beings and the environment. The ban will cover Endosulfan and its related isomers. However, the exemptions sought by India were granted and will be given to all the countries.

Convention meeting over endosulfan ( http://www.thehindu.com )

Endosulfan, which caused more than 500 deaths and maimed more than 4000 persons in Kerala according to Kerala government, has become a test case for the Stockholm Convention according to some of the delegates.

International Institute for Sustainable Development’s Reporting Service for Environment and Development Negotiations said on Wednesday that Tuesday morning’s plenary session of the conference of parties to the Convention was full and tense as it turned attention to endosulfan.

Endosulfan had hamstrung Stockholm’s sister convention, the Rotterdam Convention on prior informed consent procedure for certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides in international trade, for years. “This unfortunate precedent had many interpreting consideration of endosulfan as a significant test for the Stockholm. Will Stockholm too, succumb to politics? Have wizened parties developed new strategies to avoid political blockades? “.

As initial views were exchanged, some participants were pleased at the apparent openness of most parties to discussing the issue, other more seasoned delegates predicted long evenings ahead, the reporting service added. The contact group on endosulfan and new persistent organic pollutants, chaired by Qatar, began work in the evening on thrashing out possible exemptions associated with ban on endosulfan, notably those crop-pest complexes of particular concern to parties.

A minority of participants questioned the mandate of the group, but after confirmation from the legal advisor, continued work. While majority of the countries supported ban on endosulfan, some with riders; India has been stressing on consensus decision with the objective to postpone decision on endosulfan. Switzerland maintained that voting was an option for listing pollutants for ban. China and Japan opined that the recommendations of the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee (POPRC) to the Convention should be by consensus.

POPRC Chair Reiner Arndt (Germany), who introduced POPRC’s recommendation to list endosulfan in Annex A of the Convention (for ban) with specific exemptions, noted that the recommendation was taken by consensus by all POPRC members present and voting. (India had dropped out of discussions and had not voted at the committee along with a few other countries.)

Countries of Europe, Latin American and Caribbean Group and African Group are supporting the ban. The United States, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Oman, Argentina, Morocco, Jordan and Qatar are among the countries that expressed support for the ban during the plenary session. Cuba said the financial implications of listing must be clarified before it could support listing.

The International Stewardship Center emphasized that the proposed alternatives to endosulfan were not affordable and that its listing will be detrimental to farmers. Thanal, the non-Governmental orgnisation from Kerala, the Inuit Circumpolar Council (Canada), Pesticide Action Network and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation welcomed the proposal for ban. The Indian Chemical Council, representing the industry, said there was insufficient scientific evidence to justify a ban.

INDIA TAKES THE WORLD CUP IN GRAND STYLE

JOY UNBOUND: M.S. Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh celebrate after guiding India to a six-wicket win in the final of the World Cup on Saturday. Dhoni was named the Man of the Match; Yuvraj was adjudged the Man of the Tournament.

India vs SriLanka Final World Cup 2011 highlights-FINAL MOMENTS:INDIA WI...

US jet crashes in Libya

A US fighter jet crashed in Libya after a mechanical failure, but both crew ejected and were rescued safely. The plane crashed yesterday at 2130 GMT about 25 miles south-west of the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

A Marine Osprey search and rescue aircraft retrieved the pilot, while the second crew member, a weapons officer, was taken in by rebels and handed over to the US. Both suffered only minor injuries.

The two were separated after ejecting from the crippled F-15E Strike Eagle jet at high altitude and drifting down to different locations. The aircraft, based at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk was flying out of Italy's Aviano Air Base in...

OMG - U.S. F-15 Military Plane Crashes, Two Crew Members Ejected

thalasthanam.wmv

Libya- the aftermath of coalition air strikes ( war in Libya) 2011 .USA,...

Qaddafi Vows ‘Long War’ as U.S. Claims Initial Success in Libya Assault

A bomb from an allied aircraft exploded along the highway near Benghazi during an airstrike

Qaddafi Pledges ‘Long War’ as Allies Pursue Air Assault on Libya

It has been over 40 years since Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi came to power in Libya — and for nearly as long the West has watched his every move. The financier of an eclectic array of guerrilla groups around the globe, he was responsible, according to Western intelligence, for many of the deadliest terrorist attacks in the mid-80s, including the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270.

Muammar el-Qaddafi

In February 2011, rebellion erupted in Libya, the latest and bloodiest so far of the uprisings that have swept across the Arab world with surprising speed since January, toppling autocrats in Egypt and Tunisia, and challenging others in Bahrain and Yemen.

Though it began with a relatively organized core of antigovernment opponents in Benghazi, its spread to the capital of Tripoli was swift and spontaneous, outracing any efforts to coordinate the protests. Colonel Qaddafi lashed out with a level of violence unseen in either of the other uprisings, but the rebels fought back and won tribal leaders and an increasing share of the military to their side, seizing the eastern half of the country.

Momentum seemed to shift in March, however, as the superior Qaddafi forces sought to retake several eastern oil cities that slipped from the government’s control in the first days of the uprising, and the rebels faced the prospect of being outgunned and outnumbered in what increasingly looked like a mismatched civil war.

But on March 17, with the government forces closing in on the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, the United Nations Security Council authorized the use of force to protect civilians, and Britain and France began planning to swiftly deploy air power against Colonel Qaddafi's troops. His government responded the next day by announcing a ceasefire, but spokesmen for the rebels said attacks continued, and President Obama flatly declared that Colonel Qaddafi had to pull his forces back from major cities in Libya or the United States and its allies would stop him.

Gaddafi vows 'long war' in Libya ( http://www.bbc.co.uk )

Allan Little
BBC News, Tripoli

Col Muammar Gaddafi says Libya will fight a "long war" after Western air strikes against his forces to protect rebel-held areas.

US and UK cruise missiles hit more than 20 Libyan air defence targets, Pentagon officials said


The capital this morning is relatively calm, with traffic moving around as normal, although the atmosphere is quite tense.

At 0230 there was a loud barrage of anti-aircraft fire, but I could hear no sounds of incoming ordnance, and apart from that there's been no audible sign of the war here in Tripoli.

That is not to say targets on the periphery of the city have not been hit. State TV says 48 civilians have been killed and more than 100 wounded. Last night the speaker of the parliament said hospitals were filling up and that there had been a bombardment of a civilian part of the city, but there's been no independent confirmation of that.

We're reporting under restricted circumstances and can't go out independently. It's easy to find people swearing undying loyalty to Col Gaddafi - and there's no doubting their sincerity - but you wonder what's in the heads of the many millions who do not take part in these angry demonstrations of support for the leader

Sky to be lit up by Supermoon

Body of Indian girl killed in Australia cremated

Vadodara: The body of 24-year-old student Tosha Thakkar, who was allegedly raped and murdered in Sydney by a teenager who shared an accommodation with her, was cremated on Saturday.
Tosha, daughter of local businessman Sunil Thakkar, was murdered on March 9 and her body was found stuffed in a suitcase near a canal in Sydney in Australia.

( http://ibnlive.in.com)

Japan raises nuclear alert level ( Chris Hogg BBC News, Tokyo )

For seven days, workers and emergency personnel at the Fukushima plant have been battling to prevent a disaster turning into a catastrophe.

Radiation is still leaking from the site, and although levels dropped during the day, no-one involved in the operation is suggesting they are winning yet.

At the plant again today they pumped huge amounts of water through fire hoses on to the damaged reactors and the pools holding spent fuel rods to try to cool them.

The International Atomic Energy Agency says the situation remains very serious, but is not getting worse.

Japan's nuclear safety watchdog is now categorising this as an accident with wider consequences - an innocuous phrase that does not really do justice to the disruption that's been caused.

Yemen imposes state of emergency as 46 shot dead

Opposition says no compromise possible with Yemen govt
Yemen imposes state of emergency as 46 shot dead ( http://www.alarabiya.net )

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced a state of emergency on Friday after medics said 46 people were killed when pro-regime loyalists and police opened fire on protesters in Sanaa.

"The national security council announces a state of emergency across Yemen," Saleh told reporters. The state of emergency will bar citizens from carrying weapons.

More than 46 anti-regime protesters were shot dead and over 300 wounded during a demonstration in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Friday, witnesses and medics said as the opposition said that there was no more mutual understanding with the government.
"Armed elements"
Witnesses said pro-Saleh "thugs" opened fire on protesters from rooftops near the square at Sanaa University, where demonstrators calling for the fall of the president have been encamped since Feb. 21.

"The police were not present and did not open fire. The clashes happened between citizens and demonstrators," he told a news conference. "It is clear there are armed elements among the demonstrators."

An AFP correspondent later saw police firing at protesters as well.

Medics said that at least 41 people were killed and scores more wounded in the bloodbath.

Yemen's interior minister said 25 people had been shot dead at Friday's anti-government protest, far fewer than the 41 people doctors said had been killed.

Minister Muttahar al-Masri also said a curfew and other measures to prevent a further deterioration in the situation in Yemen were still being discussed.

"Most of the wounds were to the head, neck and chest," one medic said.
No mutual understanding
Yemen's opposition said there was no longer any way to reach a mutual understanding with the government after dozens of people were killed when security men and snipers fired into a protest.

"We condemn these crimes," said Yassin Noman, rotating president of Yemen's umbrella opposition group, asking President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step aside.

"There is no longer any possibility of mutual understanding with this regime and he has no choice but to surrender authority to the people."

Earlier, thousands of people have camped out in the square since Feb. 21, demanding the departure of Saleh, who has been in power since 1978.

The Friday bloodbath came after five Yemeni protesters were wounded in an attack on Wednesday night by masked men on the Sanaa University sit-in.

Anti-government activists told AFP that the attackers wielding guns, clubs and daggers were "thugs" loyal to the regime.

Witnesses said that dozens of people were injured when police and loyalists of the ruling General People's Congress party attacked protesters in the square with live rounds and tear gas on Sunday.
Protest after prayer
Gunfire broke out when security forces tried to prevent anti-government worshippers from marching after prayers near the protest base at the Sanaa University, and plumes of smoke from burning tires filled the air.

Yemen, next door to top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, has been rocked by weeks of demonstrations that have undermined Saleh's grip on power. Tens of thousands of protesters were also gathered in cities across Yemen, from the southern port city of Aden to Hodeida in the west.

The United States, which has long seen Saleh as a bulwark against a dynamic al Qaeda wing based in Yemen, has condemned the bloodshed and backed the right for peaceful protest, but has insisted only dialogue can end the political crisis.

Saleh has promised to step down in 2013 and offered a new constitution giving more powers to parliament, but he has refused his critics' main demand to quit immediately.

A string of Saleh's allies have recently defected to the protesters, who are frustrated by rampant corruption and soaring unemployment. Some 40 percent of the population live on $2 a day or less in Yemen, and a third face chronic hunger.

timesofindia.indiatimes (

Govt can't confirm veracity of cables leaked by WikiLeaks: PM
PTI | Mar 18, 2011, 02.44pm IST

NEW DELHI: Refusing to buckle under attack over the WikiLeaks expose, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today rubbished charges of bribery during the 2008 Trust Vote based on "speculative and unverified" cables and asserted that no one from Congress or government engaged in any "unlawful act". ( Read: Text of PM's statement in Lok Sabha on WikiLeaks )

Making a statement in both Houses of Parliament, an assertive Singh hit out at the Opposition for lending "dignity" to "purported" correspondence between the US embassy here and state department in Washington and raising "old charges that have been debated, discussed and rejected by the people of India."

Amid thumping of desks by the Treasury Benches, he said, "No one from the Congress party or government indulged in any unlawful act" during the July 2008 Confidence Motion. ( Read: I didn't authorise anyone to purchase votes, says PM )

"An issue was raised that the offence of bribery was committed in India. Government rejects the allegations absolutely and firmly," he said, referring to the charges in the WikiLeaks that bribes were paid to win the Confidence Motion of UPA-I after Left withdrew support over Indo-US nuclear deal.

Raising questions over the cables cited by the Wikileaks website, the Prime Minister said in identical statements in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha that, "The government cannot confirm the veracity, content or even the existence of such communication."

To press his contention, he said those who have been named by the Wikileaks have "stoutly rejected" the charges.

Hitting out at the Opposition, he said it was "unfortunate" that it continues to raise the "old charges".

"It is most surprising that speculative, unverified and unverifiable communications should be given dignity and seized upon by the Opposition parties to revive old charges that have been soundly rejected," Singh said.

He pointed out that the UPA-I had won the Confidence Motion in July 2008 with 275 votes in favour and 256 against.

These allegations of bribery were investigated by a committee of the 14th Lok Sabha which concluded that there was insufficient evidence to draw any conclusion.

"I am disappointed that the Opposition has forgotten what happened thereafter. The Opposition repeated the allegations of bribery and how did the people respond," he said, citing the increase in Congress seats from 141 to 206 in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls as compared to BJP whose tally declined from 138 to 116 and that of Left parties from 59 to 34," he said.

Tsunami Strikes Japan Malayalam Report by indiavision HD / 11 MARCH 2011

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Chile Earthquake Affects Earth Axis, Shortens Our Days Originally Posted: http://thetechjournal.com/science/chile-earthquake-affects-earth-axis-shortens-our-days.xhtml#ixzz1Gazwmb00

The recent 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile released so much energy that NASA scientists are saying that it has affected the Earth’s rotation and shortened our days! Richard Gross, a researcher at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, developed a computer model showing how the earthquake caused the length of the Earth day to be shortened by 1.26 millionths of a second. That is not a noticeable amount by any means, but it still gives us an idea of the immense power of the February 27 quake.

Originally Posted: http://thetechjournal.com/science/chile-earthquake-affects-earth-axis-shortens-our-days.xhtml#ixzz1Gb0ZHYu9

The change in the length of the day came as a result of the shift in the Earth’s axis that occurred because of the quake. The Earth’s figure axis, the imaginary line about which its mass is balanced, shifted by 2.7 milliseconds of arc, or about eight centimetres.

Gross said the same model estimated that the 2007 Sumatran earthquake, with a magnitude of 9.1, should have shortened the length of day by 6.8 millionths of a second, although its shift in the Earth’s axis was only about seven centimetres.

Gross said the smaller Chilean earthquake had a greater effect on the Earth’s rotation because it occurred farther away from the equator. As well, the fault responsible for the Chile quake dips into the Earth at a steeper angle, making it more effective at shifting the axis.
trong earthquakes have altered Earth’s days and its axis in the past. The 9.1 Sumatran earthquake in 2004, which set off a deadly tsunami, should have shortened Earth’s days by 6.8 microseconds and shifted its axis by about 2.76 inches (7 cm, or 2.32 milliarcseconds).

One Earth day is about 24 hours long. Over the course of a year, the length of a day normally changes gradually by one millisecond. It increases in the winter, when the Earth rotates more slowly, and decreases in the summer, Gross has said in the past.

The Chile earthquake was much smaller than the Sumatran temblor, but its effects on the Earth are larger because of its location. Its epicenter was located in the Earth’s mid-latitudes rather than near the equator like the Sumatran event.

The fault responsible for the 2010 Chile quake also slices through Earth at a steeper angle than the Sumatran quake’s fault, NASA scientists said.

“This makes the Chile fault more effective in moving Earth’s mass vertically and hence more effective in shifting Earth’s figure axis,” NASA officials said.

Gross said his findings are based on early data available on the Chile earthquake. As more information about its characteristics are revealed, his prediction of its effects will likely change.

The Chile earthquake has killed more than 700 people and caused widespread devastation in the South American country.

Several major telescopes in Chile’s Atacama Desert have escaped damage, according to the European Southern Observatory managing them.

A salt-measuring NASA satellite instrument destined to be installed on an Argentinean satellite was also undamaged in the earthquake, JPL officials said.

The Aquarius instrument was in the city of Bariloche, Argentina, where it is being installed in the Satelite de Aplicaciones Cientificas (SAC-D) satellite. The satellite integration facility is about 365 miles (588 km) from the Chile quake’s epicenter.

The Aquarius instrument is designed to provide monthly global maps of the ocean’s salt concentration in order to track current circulation and its role in climate change.

Originally Posted: http://thetechjournal.com/science/chile-earthquake-affects-earth-axis-shortens-our-days.xhtml#ixzz1Gb0mOyrN

Hans Rosling - 2020 Shaping Ideas

Oil refinery ablaze after devastating Japan earthquake, tsunami

Citizen Journalist: a father's cry for justice

Swati Vashishtha , CNN-IBN

Jaipur: On January 23, the police illegally called Shivdan Singh's daughter and two other students for questioning in the case of her friend who'd gone missing.
Singh accompanied her to the police station but they asked him to stay outside while they questioned her.
The police station is at secluded place operating out of a quarter with no women's desk, there were no women cops. The cops now admit they had no legal right to call her to the police station for questioning like that.

Singh said, "I could hear them scream in between. They took her upstairs where two rooms double up as quarters. I called up another cop I knew and told him to let me take my daughter. But they let us go only at 10 at night with a rider that she had to show up again the next morning."
In her suicide note she wrote how she was sexually harassed… She hurt herself so badly that now she may never be able to stand up on her own feet. Her back is numb after a spinal injury and her leg is badly hurt. The doctors say there's nothing they can do.
"The Chief Minister promised us Rs 10 Lakh but for my daughter, who will need a nurse all her life, that may not last for long. I learnt later that the cops were under pressure from a bureaucrat who's a relative of the missing girl to question her friends and find her whereabouts anyhow", said Singh.
Now the three cops who are responsible for her condition including SHO Ramniwas Bishnoi and Head Constable Ramlal Meena have been arrested on charges of attempting to rape her and extorting information but have not been charged for abetting suicide.
Also he fears that the bureaucrat in question might use his influence to protect the cops.
CNN-IBN sought an appointment with ADG CID, DIG CID and the IO for CJ Shivdan Singh so that he could clarify his doubts but after more than twenty requests over two days none of the cops from the Crime Branch agreed to meet him on camera.
Singh further added, "Though immediately after that his daughter was shifted to AIIMS for treatment and the state government sent eleven points for probe in the case to the Social Justice Secretary, including the possibility of the bureaucrat using influence and abatement to suicide."

Al Jazeera staffer killed in Libya

An Al Jazeera cameraman has been killed in what appears to have been an ambush near the rebel-held city of Benghazi in eastern Libya. Ali Hassan Al Jaber was returning to Benghazi from a nearby town after filing a report from an opposition protest when unknown fighters opened fire on a car he and his colleagues were travelling in. Two people including Al Jaber were shot. Al Jaber was rushed to hospital, but did not survive. Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley, reporting from Benghazi, said Al Jaber was hit by three shots and was wounded through the heart. "This is an extension of the campaign against Al Jazeera, and Al Jazeera Arabic particularly -...

Japan fears nuclear plant meltdown ( Blast reported at nuclear plant amid worries that quake-hit reactor can no longer cool radioactive substances. )

Radiation has leaked from a Japanese nuclear reactor and authorities say there is a possibility of a meltdown at a plant about 250km north of the capital, Tokyo.

But the government insisted on Saturday that radiation levels have reduced since pressure built rapidly last night near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, where five reactors were earlier under a state of emergency.

The cooling system of the plant was damaged in the massive earthquake that struck northeastern Japan and triggered a tsunami, killing hundreds of people.

An explosion at the nuclear facility tore down the walls of one building on Saturday, leaving smoke billowing out. But authorities said the explosion did not affect the reactor core container.

LIVE BLOG

However, local media reported that three workers have suffered radiation exposure.

"We are now trying to analyse what is behind the explosion," Yukio Edano, a government spokesman, said. "We ask everyone to take action to secure safety.

"We've confirmed that the reactor container was not damaged. The explosion didn't occur inside the reactor container. As such there was no large amount of radiation leakage outside, so we'd like everyone to respond calmly."

He added that engineers planned to fill the reactor container with sea water to cool the fuel rods and avert a melt down, after parts of the No.1 reactor's fuel were exposed.

Japan names new foreign minister

Matsumoto, a former banker, was first elected to parliament in 2000 [Reuters]


Takeaki Matsumoto's appointment comes with a long list of challenges, including managing strained ties with China.

Japan's twin disasters: March 13 liveblog(http://english.aljazeera.net/)

Blog: Mar11-12

(All times are local in Japan GMT+9)

11:06am
The Associated Press agency has reported that the Japanese authorities have said another reactor at the quake-hit nuclear plant was in trouble after its cooling system also failed.

"All the functions to keep cooling water levels in No. 3 reactor have failed at the Fukushima No. 1 plant," plant operator Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) said, adding that pressure was rising slightly.
7:15am
More on the danger posed by that second developing problem at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. A Tokyo Electric Power Co spokesman said:

All the functions to keep cooling water levels in No.3 reactor have failed at the Fukushima No.1 plant.

As of 5:30am, water injection stopped and inside pressure is rising slightly.

An emergency report on the plant's condition has been filed with the government, he added.

6:56am
AFP says the operator of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, where a second reactor system is overheating, says there is a risk of a second explosion. We'll keep you updated right here.

6:51am
The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission are sending a pair of its people to Japan. Chairman Gregory Jaczko said:

We have some of the most expert people in this field in the world working for the NRC and we stand ready to assist in any way possible.

The NRC is an independent agency mandated by Congress to regulate commercial nuclear power plants and other nuclear materials in the US, and said the pair were experts in boiling water nuclear reactors and were part of a broader US aid team sent to the disaster zone.

6:37am
Yesterday, we reported that three people had tested positive for elevated radiation levels. That number has now jumped to 160, says a Japanese nuclear safety official.

6:29am
Fukushima nuclear plant - where a huge explosion yesterday blew the outer walls and roof off the No.1 reactor building - faces a new problem.

The emergency cooling system of No.3 reactor has now also stopped working, the Japan Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency has announced.

Sea water is being pumped into the No.1 reactor chamber to cool its fuel rods - and officials are scrambling to secure a means of of supplying water to the No.3 reactor.

6:17am
First it was 6,000 - then 45,000... Now about 140,000 people have been told to evacuate areas near the two Fukushima nuclear power plants following Friday's earthquake, said the UN atomic watchdog. The International Atomic Energy Agency said:

Evacuations around both affected nuclear plants have begun ... but full evacuation measures have not been completed.

6:12am
After the devastating earthquake off the coast of north-east Japan damaged the cooling system of several reactors at Fukushima's nuclear power facility, a large explosion appears to have blown the external walls and roof off one of the reactor buildings.

Did ‘Supermoon’ Cause 8.9 Earthquake in Japan?

To see it on the Internet, the so-called supermoon could cause a climatological reign of terror on the entire planet. Although it’s more than a week away, some people say the devastating 8.9-magnitude earthquake that hit Japan today could be the latest natural disaster caused by it.

The 2005 Indonesian tsunami hit two weeks before the supermoon and for the 2011 supermoon, which is suppose to occur March 19, the moon won’t just be at its closest approach to Earth in its elliptical orbit, enthusiasts say, it will be closer to Earth than it has been in 18 years.

Paul Walker, senior meteorologist for AccuWeather Inc., said it’s unlikely the supermoon played a role in today’s earthquake.

“I don’t think you can attribute it to being a full moon, which is still eight days away,” Walker said. “These moon events can cause the tides to run higher than normal, but I’ve not heard of any correlation between them and extreme weather events.”

Where Did ‘Supermoon’ Come From?
AccuWeather blogger Mark Paquette said he thinks the phrase “supermoon” originated on the website of astrologer Richard Nolle and spread to astronomers online.

In a blog post earlier this month, Paquette said a new or full moon at 90 percent or more of its closest perigee qualifies as a “supermoon.” The moon’s orbit around us is slightly elliptical, and when the moon is at the near point, it is known as a lunar perigee.

Next weekend’s full moon won’t just be a supermoon but an extreme supermoon, he said, because the moon will be almost precisely at its closest distance to Earth.

According to “new age” forecasts, he said, the supermoon brings strong earthquakes, storms or unusual climate patterns.

“There were supermoons in 1955, 1974, 1992 and 2005,” he wrote. “These years had their share of extreme weather and other natural events. Is the Super Moon and these natural occurrences a coincidence?

“Some would say yes; some would say no. I’m not here to pick sides and say I’m a believer or non-believer in subjects like this, but as a scientist I know enough to ask questions and try to find answers.”

Astronomer: No Scientific Reason to Expect Extreme Weather
Paquette told ABCNews.com that he wants to remain “neutral” on the topic but said, “I do think it’s possible that it could bring earthquakes, volcanic eruptions or anything weather-related as well.”

But NASA astronomer Dave Williams said there’s no reason to believe that anything out of the ordinary — aside from an especially big and bright full moon — will take place next week.

“There’s nothing really special about this,” he said.

For starters, although the moon will be closer than it’s been for 18 or 19 years, it will only be one or two percent closer.

“It’s nothing you could notice unless you made really accurate measurements,” he said. “It’s a few thousand miles closer, but as far as the moon’s orbit is considered, that’s nothing.”

Moon Will Be as Big as It Gets
The moon orbits the Earth every 29 1/2 days, so it reaches perigee more than once a month. The orbit of the moon changes slightly over time, so the distance between Earth and the moon also changes — but only slightly, Williams said.

On March 19, it will probably be only about half a percent closer than it ever is every 18 years, he said, which is a “very, very small amount.”

And though the gravitational effect of the moon causes the tides (when the moon is closer, the tides are slightly larger), he said there’s “no scientific reason whatsoever” to expect that this supermoon will result in floods or other extreme conditions.

But, Williams said, on the night of March 19, you will want to peek up at the sky.

“Because it’s a full moon at its closest approach, it’s going to be big and really bright. It should be noticeably brighter than a normal full moon. I would suggest that you take the opportunity and go out at night,” he said. “This is the biggest full moon that you will ever see. You will see this moon again, but this is as big as it gets

Japan quake caused 'major damage': Japan PM

Tokyo: Japan's Prime minister said on Friday's 8.9-magnitude quake caused "major damage" in northeastern Japan, but that nuclear power facilities in the area were not damaged and there was no radiation leakage.
Friday's offshore quake triggered a tsunami that hit Japan's eastern coast, sweeping away buildings and cars. Officials were still trying to assess the extent of destruction.
"The earthquake has caused major damage in broad areas in northern Japan," Kan said during an emergency news conference. "Some of the nuclear power plant in the region have automatically shut down, but there as no leakage of radioactive materials to the environment."

The government's top spokesman, Yukio Edano, said that the country is sending troops to the quake-hit area to join relief efforts.
Kan also said that he has set up an emergency task force for rescue effort.
"The government will make an all-out effort to ensure the safety of all the people and contain the damage to the minimum," Kan said.

Hundreds killed in tsunami after 8.9 Japan quake

Tokyo: A ferocious tsunami spawned by one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded slammed Japan's eastern coast on Friday, killing hundreds of people as it swept away boats, cars and homes while widespread fires burned out of control.
Hours later, the tsunami hit Hawaii and warnings blanketed the Pacific, as far away as South America, Canada, Alaska and the entire US West Coast.
Police said 200 to 300 bodies were found in the northeastern coastal city of Sendai. Another 88 were confirmed killed and 349 were missing. The death toll was likely to continue climbing given the scale of the disaster.

The magnitude 8.9 offshore quake unleashed a 23-foot (7-meter) tsunami and was followed by more than 50 aftershocks for hours, many of them of more than magnitude 6.0.
Dozens of cities and villages along a 1,300-mile (2,100-kilometer) stretch of coastline were shaken by violent tremors that reached as far away as Tokyo, hundreds of miles (kilometers) from the epicenter.
"The earthquake has caused major damage in broad areas in northern Japan," Prime Minister Naoto Kan said at a news conference.
The government ordered thousands of residents near a nuclear power plant in Onahama city to evacuate because the plant's system was unable to cool the reactor. The reactor was not leaking radiation but its core remained hot even after a shutdown. The plant is 170 miles (270 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo.
Trouble was reported at two other nuclear plants as well, but there was no radiation leak at any.
Even for a country used to earthquakes, this one was of horrific proportions because of the tsunami that crashed ashore, swallowing everything in its path as it surged several miles (kilometers) inland before retreating. The apocalyptic images of surging water broadcast by Japanese TV networks resembled scenes from a Hollywood disaster movie.
Large fishing boats and other sea vessels rode high waves into the cities, slamming against overpasses or scraping under them and snapping power lines along the way. Upturned and partially submerged vehicles were seen bobbing in the water. Ships anchored in ports crashed against each other.
The highways to the worst-hit coastal areas were severely damaged and communications, including telephone lines, were snapped. Train services in northeastern Japan and in Tokyo, which normally serve 10 million people a day, were also suspended, leaving untold numbers stranded in stations or roaming the streets. Tokyo's Narita airport was closed indefinitely.
Jesse Johnson, a native of the US state of Nevada, who lives in Chiba, north of Tokyo, was eating at a sushi restaurant with his wife when the quake hit.
"At first it didn't feel unusual, but then it went on and on. So I got myself and my wife under the table," he told The Associated Press. "I've lived in Japan for 10 years and I've never felt anything like this before. The aftershocks keep coming. It's gotten to the point where I don't know whether it's me shaking or an earthquake."
Waves of muddy waters flowed over farmland near the city of Sendai, carrying buildings, some on fire, inland as cars attempted to drive away. Sendai airport, north of Tokyo, was inundated with cars, trucks, buses and thick mud deposited over its runways. Fires spread through a section of the city, public broadcaster NHK reported.
More than 300 houses were washed away in Ofunato City alone. Television footage showed mangled debris, uprooted trees, upturned cars and shattered timber littering streets.
The tsunami roared over embankments, washing anything in its path inland before reversing directions and carrying the cars, homes and other debris out to sea. Flames shot from some of the houses, probably because of burst gas pipes.
"Our initial assessment indicates that there has already been enormous damage," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said. "We will make maximum relief effort based on that assessment."
He said the Defense Ministry was sending troops to the quake-hit region. A utility aircraft and several helicopters were on the way.
A large fire erupted at the Cosmo oil refinery in Ichihara city in Chiba prefecture and burned out of control with 100-foot (30 meter) -high flames whipping into the sky.
From northeastern Japan's Miyagi prefecture, NHK showed footage of a large ship being swept away and ramming directly into a breakwater in Kesennuma city.
NHK said more than 4 million buildings were without power in Tokyo and its suburbs.
Also in Miyagi, a fire broke out in a turbine building of a nuclear power plant, but it was later extinguished, said Tohoku Electric Power Co. the company said.
A reactor area of a nearby plant was leaking water, the company said. But it was unclear if the leak was caused by tsunami water or something else. There were no reports of radioactive leaks at any of Japan's nuclear plants.
Jefferies International Limited, a global investment banking group, said it estimated overall losses to be about $10 billion.
The US Geological Survey said the 2:46 p.m. quake was a magnitude 8.9, the biggest earthquake to hit Japan since officials began keeping records in the late 1800s, and one of the biggest ever recorded in the world.
The quake struck at a depth of six miles (10 kilometers), about 80 miles (125 kilometers) off the eastern coast, the agency said. The area is 240 miles (380 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo.
A tsunami warning was extended to a number of Pacific, Southeast Asian and Latin American nations, including Japan, Russia, Indonesia, New Zealand and Chile. In the Philippines, authorities ordered an evacuation of coastal communities, but no unusual waves were reported.
Thousands of people fled their homes in Indonesia after officials warned of a tsunami up to 6 feet (2 meters) high. But waves of only 4 inches (10 centimeters) were measured. No big waves came to the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory, either.
The first waves hit Hawaii about 1400 GMT (9 a.m. EST) Friday. A tsunami at least 3 feet (a meter) high were recorded on Oahu and Kauai, and officials warned that the waves would continue and could become larger.
In downtown Tokyo, large buildings shook violently and workers poured into the street for safety. TV footage showed a large building on fire and bellowing smoke in the Odaiba district of Tokyo. The tremor bent the upper tip of the iconic Tokyo Tower, a 1,093-foot (333-meter) steel structure inspired by the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Osamu Akiya, 46, was working in Tokyo at his office in a trading company when the quake hit.
It sent bookshelves and computers crashing to the floor, and cracks appeared in the walls.
"I've been through many earthquakes, but I've never felt anything like this," he said. "I don't know if we'll be able to get home tonight."
Footage on NHK from their Sendai office showed employees stumbling around and books and papers crashing from desks. It also showed a glass shelter at a bus stop in Tokyo completely smashed by the quake and a weeping woman nearby being comforted by another woman.
Several quakes had hit the same region in recent days, including a 7.3 magnitude one on Wednesday that caused no damage.
Hiroshi Sato, a disaster management official in northern Iwate prefecture, said officials were having trouble getting an overall picture of the destruction.
"We don't even know the extent of damage. Roads were badly damaged and cut off as tsunami washed away debris, cars and many other things," he said.
Dozens of fires were reported in northern prefectures of Fukushima, Sendai, Iwate and Ibaraki. Collapsed homes and landslides were also reported in Miyagi.
Japan's worst previous quake was in 1923 in Kanto, an 8.3-magnitude temblor that killed 143,000 people, according to USGS. A 7.2-magnitude quake in Kobe city in 1996 killed 6,400 people.
Japan lies on the "Ring of Fire" — an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones stretching around the Pacific where about 90 percent of the world's quakes occur, including the one that triggered the December 26, 2004, Indian Ocean tsunami that killed an estimated 230,000 people in 12 nations. A magnitude-8.8 temblor that shook central Chile last February also generated a tsunami and killed 524 people.

2011 Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami

2011 Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami


A massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake hit the Pacific Ocean nearby Northeastern Japan at around 2:46pm on March 11 (JST) causing damage with blackouts, fire and tsunami. On this page we are providing the information regarding the disaster and damage with realtime updates.

The large earthquake triggered a tsunami warning for countries all around the Pacific ocean.

Emergency dials:
171 + 1 + line phone number to leave a message
171 + 2 + line phone number to listen to the message
Tsunami Waves Hit Hawaii Islands After Devastating Japan Coast

Oscar star Rubina among 2,000 left homeless as fire rips through shanty town

One of the young stars of the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire was among 2,000 people left homeless after a fire ripped through her shanty town.

Rubina Ali, 12, lost all the awards and newspaper and magazine articles she had kept as mementoes of the 2008 Hollywood film.Rubina, who played a young version of one of the two main characters in the movie, was watching television with her family on Friday night when they heard shouts of fire and ran out of their tin-roofed home in the huge Garib Nagar slum in Mumbai.She said yesterday: ‘It’s all gone. Even my best clothes, everything. My pictures at the Oscars, all my memories – all gone.’

Her father, Rafiq Qureshi, said: ‘We grabbed what we could but the fire spread so fast we couldn’t get back in.’ The family were waiting to move into a new apartment paid for by a trust set up by Slumdog director Danny Boyle.Azharuddin moved into his new home in July 2009 and Rubina is due to move into an apartment within two months in Bandra, one of Mumbai’s most expensive suburbs.

Meanwhile, police are investigating the cause of the fire, which left 21 people injured.

It also swept through hundreds of tenements near railway tracks close to Rubina’s home, which overlooked a drain near Mumbai’s Bandra train station.

£14 million Indian wedding criticised amid corruption scandal

Delhi businessman Kanwar Singh Tanwar, whose declared wealth is £20.4 million, has come under fire from senior party colleagues for staging an ostentatious display of wealth. The bride’s family gave the groom a Bell 429 helicopter, valued at more than £4 million as a wedding gift, as well as a silver model of the aircraft because the real one had to be left at Delhi airport.

Lalit Tanwar and Yogita Jaunapuria’s celebrations included a tent palace and a Bell 429 was among the presents. Kanwar Singh Tanwar, inset, has been criticised over the event
More than 18,000 guests are reported to have attended the wedding of Mr Tanwar’s son Lalit and Yogita Jaunapuria, the daughter of another prominent politician, in South Delhi earlier this week.

The groom’s arrival in a top of the range BMW was broadcast live on giant screens as guests waited in a ‘pandal’ tent replica of a Rajastani palace.

Aides said guests were waited on by more than a thousand staff who offered them a choice of a hundred different dishes, including Thai, Italian, Chinese and Indian delicacies. For pudding they were served 30 different kulfi ice creams.

Each guest was reported to have been given more than £30 in cash, a shawl, a suit of clothes and a silver coin. A local barber was given a £2,000 tip, it was claimed.

Mr Tanwar’s secretary last night confirmed his son had received a helicopter from his in-laws and told The Daily Telegraph the wedding had cost "many crores" (one crore is £136,000).

"Yes it’s true, but how much is the total cost, that’s the million dollar question. It is many crores but total expenditure will only be known when the wedding [celebrations] have ended," he said.

Commentators said the Indian wedding may be the most expensive and lavish in recent history amid claims that the total bill could top £30 million – more than the 2004 wedding of Britain’s richest tycoon Lakshmi Mittal’s daughter Vanisha at the Palace of Versailles.

Congress leader Ms Gandhi has criticised party colleagues for staging lavish displays of wealth and in 2009 led an austerity drive to encourage her MPs to show solidarity with the ‘aam admi’, or common man, by travelling economy.

Senior Congress leader and former minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said ostentatious displays of wealth like the Tanwar wedding sent a false signal about the Congress party.

"This kind of ostentation should be avoided. It’s unfortunate that this man has chosen to use his money in this manner. What’s needed is a stern warning to all Congress men that they should not indulge in this kind of ostentation. It sends the wrong signal about the Congress," he said.

India plans to send panel to U.S. to get evidence from Headley

India is contemplating sending a commission to the United States for getting evidence from Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist David Headley and his wife, who has been kept away from Indian investigators so far.

The National Investigation Agency, which is probing the case, also plans to file a charge sheet soon against the Pakistani-American terrorist who is accused of having done reconnaissance of targets before the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

Union Home Secretary Gopal K. Pillai said a Commission may even be sent to the United States for getting evidence, may be from Headley, his wife and from other people, for which it would talk to the U.S. authorities.

“We need to get evidence fully on board. We cannot call them here because the request for examining his wife is still pending with the US government. We have not received any response yet,” he said in an interaction with PTI journalists.

Mr. Pillai said when an NIA team had visited the US to question Headley, the examination was done under particular circumstances.

“It has no evidential value. It was just a statement, not in the presence of a magistrate… signed or sealed. It is just a hearsay statement. We have to make it into an evidential statement,” he said.
Asked whether India would seek permission from the U.S. to send the Commission, he said “Yes, that is the legal process which is required. Once the charge sheet is filed, it will be done.”

After filing the charge sheet, the government would take permission from the court to send a commission to Pakistan also to question those involved who helped Headley and was giving directions to ten terrorists.

The terrorists carried out the worst ever terror attack in India that killed 179 people.

Asked whether the U.S. authorities should have taken into confidence the Indian agencies before entering a plea bargain agreement with Headley as India was the place of his terror acts, Mr. Pillai said “oh yes, no doubt about that.”

“We made it very clear to the U.S., during discussion level, that they entered into an agreement with David Headley saying that he would not be extradited to India and plea bargain and so on and so forth, on something where not only Indians but Americans were killed,” he said.

50-year-old Headley, plead guilty to all the 12 terror charges of conspiracy involving terror acts in India, and entered into plea bargain with US authorities.

Under the plea bargain, Headley would not be extradited to India, Pakistan or Denmark for any offences for which he has pleaded guilty.

Mr. Pillai said the US court, which had issued summons to senior ISI officials, including its chief Major General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, along with 26/11 masterminds and LeT leaders Hafiz Saeed and Zakiur Rahman Lakhvi in response to a lawsuit filed by relatives of two American victims, would take note of this fact.

“I am sure it will come up even in the American court… in the case which was filled by the relatives of the Rabbi who was killed,” he said.

The relatives of Rabbi Gavriel Noah Holtzberg and his wife Rivka, who were gunned down by militants at the Chhabad House in Mumbai, had filed the 26-page lawsuit before a New York Court on November 19 accusing the ISI of aiding and abetting the LeT to carry out the attack.

Following this, the Brooklyn court issued summons to the accused.

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