Titanic dead buried at sea in haunting photo made public for the first time

Bodies stacked high in bags, a mass funeral is held for dozens of Titanic victims before they are buried at sea.

The haunting photo was taken days after the ship hit an iceberg on April 15, 1912, but has just been made public.

It is now set to fetch £5,000 at auction.

In the rare snap, two men can be seen dropping a victim over the side of body recovery ship the Mackay Bennett.

The boat Rev Hind leads the service as the solemn crew look on.

Some 1,522 people died and auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said: “This picture blows away the myth the burials were dignified.”

Henry Aldridge & Son will auction the photo on October 19 in Devizes, Wilts.

Malala Yousafzai honoured at Harvard for humanitarian work

London: The Taliban is afraid of women's power and the power of education, said Pakistani teenager activist Malala Yousafzai as she has been honoured by the prestigious Harvard University.

Yousafzai, 16, an outspoken proponent for girls' education who survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban, was at Harvard on Friday to accept the 2013 Peter J Gomes humanitarian award.

Harvard president Drew Gilpin Faust said she was pleased to welcome Malala because of their shared interest in education.

Malala was shot in the head last October. Militants said she was attacked because she criticized the Taliban, not because of her views on education.

"The so-called Taliban were afraid of women's power and were afraid of the power of education," Malala told hundreds of students, faculty members and well-wishers who packed Harvard's ornate Sanders Theater for the award ceremony.

According to a report in the Guardian, the teenage activist said she hopes to become a politician because politicians can have influence on a broad scale.

She spoke nostalgically about her home region, the Swat valley, and said she hopes to return someday.

She called it a "paradise" but described a dangerous area where militants blew up dozens of schools and sought to discourage girls from going to school by snatching pens from their hands.

Students, she said, reacted by hiding their books under their shawls so that people wouldn't know they were going to school.

Malala highlighted the fact that very few people spoke out against what was happening in her home region.

"Although few people spoke, but the voice for peace and education was powerful," she said.

Malala also described waking up in a UK hospital, where she was taken for emergency treatment following the assassination attempt in Pakistan.

"And when I was in Birmingham, I didn't know where I was, I didn't know where my parents are, I didn't know who has shot me and I had no idea what was happening," she said. "But I thank God that I'm alive."

The chairman of the Norwegian Nobel peace prize committee, Thorbjorn Jagland, paid a special tribute to Malala in a message read publicly during her award ceremony.

"Your courage," Jagland said in the tribute, "is sending a strong message to women to stand up for their rights, which constitutes a precondition for peace."

Asia Cup hockey: Indian women lose to Korea in semis, World Cup dreams end

India's dreams of earning a World Cup hockey berth were shattered when they lost 2-1 in a semifinal match of the 8th women's Asia Cup championship in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. The Koreans scored both their goals in the first half. Ritu Rani (in pic) pulled one back for India soon after halftime, but the Koreans held on to their slender lead. China and Japan will play the second semifinal. (India vs Korea match highlights)

The Koreans, who had scored 31 goals in their three group matches, were on the offensive from the start and scored both their goals in the first 10 minutes. The goals came from penalty corner conversions.

Korea took a 1-0 lead in the second minute of the match. Cheon Seul Ki converted the first penalty corner the Koreans earned. Twenty-four-year-old Cheon Seul Ki  is a veteran of 71 international matches and one of the best dragflickers in Asia. Korea make it 2-0 in the ninth minute. Cheon Eun Bi, who has played 43 matches for Korea, made no mistake.

The prolific Ritu Rani, who scored seven goals in India's first match against Hong Kong China, scored in the 41st minute. She converted a penalty corner. But the Koreans held on to their slender lead to shut the door on the Indians.

Earlier this week, India claimed a hard-fought 2-0 win against Malaysia, with Poonam Rani and Lily Chanu Mayengbam both scoring crucial second half goals. The result sealed a second place finish in Pool A behind China.

Korea continued their superb run of form with a blistering 16-2 win against Chinese Taipei to seal their place at the top of Pool B, while Japan confirmed their place in the competition semifinals with a thoroughly convincing 12-0 drubbing of Kazakhstan.

Sultan of Johor Cup hockey: India dismiss Pakistan 4-0, eye berth in final

In a dazzling second-half show, India whipped arch-rivals Pakistan 4-0 in a round-robin league match of the invitational under-21 Sultan of Johor Cup hockey tournament in Johor Bahru, Malaysia on Wednesday. Sukhmanjit Singh (38th and 46th), Imran Khan (45th) and Ramandeep Singh (61st) scored for India in what turned out to be a totally one-sided contest. The teams were locked 0-0 at half-time.

This was India's third straight win while Pakistan lost their first game in three outings. India and Malaysia are level on points (nine from three wins each) but the hosts are No. 1 in the six-team championship with a better goal-difference. India play Korea while Pakistan and Malaysia lock horns in key games on Thursday. A win against Korea should ensure India a spot in Sunday's final.

"It was a great performance from the players and I am both happy and proud. The players played to instructions, not falling into playing the pace of our opponents in the first half," said Indian team manager Baljit Singh Saini, who coached the team last year.

"The win was as a result of the ability of the players to finish off the chances created and this augurs well for our quest to make the final," the former Olympian added.

India looked a galvanized lot after the breather. Sukhmanjit scored in the 38th minute from India's second penalty corner of the game after his first-half effort hit the woodwork. It was a crisp finish after the Indians employed an indirect set-piece.

Imran's 45th minute field goal showed the Pakistan defence in poor light and after Sukhmanjit converted a stroke in the 46th, the Pakistanis looked completely gutted. Unlike the Indians, the Pakistanis had experience in their team but they looked completely out of sorts.

The hard-working Ramandeep Singh completed the rout in the 61st minute. It was a brilliant field goal and the best of the match. Imran and Mohammed Amir Khan set up Ramandeep with a simple finish after a sizzling move down the centre left the Pakistanis gasping.

With Pakistan making very little effort to hit back, India defended easily and even changed goalkeepers. India struggled to beat Argentina and England in their opening games but they looked good in a big game like Pakistan.

China to execute parking-row toddler killer

A court in China has sentenced a man to death for killing a two-year-old girl in Beijing over a parking space row, state media report.

Han Lei, 39, pulled the toddler out of her pram and threw her to the ground after her mother refused to make way for his car in July.

He fled the scene but was captured. The girl later died from her injuries.

He said the killing was unintentional, as he was drunk and had thought the pram was a shopping trolley.
"I did not know there was an infant inside," he previously said.

The case has provoked an outcry in China, with many people expressing their anger online, state media reported.

Many in China were shocked that an argument over a parking space could come to such a violent end, says the BBC's Martin Patience in Beijing.

The trial started on 16 September at the Beijing No 1 Intermediate People's Court.

Prosecutors had recommended the death sentence for Han, who committed the crime within a year of being released from prison, the Xinhua news agency said.

Han also beat the girl's mother during the altercation in Beijing's Daxing district.

Another man, Li Ming, who drove Han away from the scene, has been jailed for five years.

Ramandeep Singh stars as India register second win in Johor Cup

Johot Bahru, Malaysia:  A fighting India rode on Ramandeep Singh's brace to eke out a come-from-behind 3-2 triumph over Argentina and register their second consecutive win in the Sultan of Johor Cup Under-21 hockey tournament, here on Monday.

India trailed for a large part of the match but Ramandeep (60th, 62nd) found his scoring touch when it mattered the most and netted two field goals in final 10 minutes to turn the game in his side's favour.

Vice-captain Affan Yousuf (23rd) was the other goal-getter for India, while Isidoro Carlos Ibarra (16th, 42nd) scored both the goals for the mighty Argentines.

With two wins from as many games, India have consolidated their position in the league standings alongside arch-rivals Pakistan on six points apiece.

India had defeated England 2-1 in their tournament-opener yesterday.

Argentina, on the other hand, slumped to their second straight defeat after having lost 2-4 to hosts Malaysia yesterday.

Despite the win, it was a poor performance from the Indians who seemed lost in the midfield and lacked firepower and sting upfront.

Argentina drew the first blood in the 16th minute when Ibarra converted a penalty corner with precision that beat Indian custodian Harlot Singh all ends up. But the South American side's joy was shortlived as India drew parity seven minutes later when Affan Yusof scored with a reverse hit after some slick stickwork in the semi-circle.

Argentina restored their lead seven minutes into the second half from a penalty stroke which was awarded after Ibarra's flick from the Pan American champion's second penalty corner hit Indian skipper Manpreet Singh on the foot.

Ibarra stepped up to take the stroke and made no mistake from the spot to hand Argentina a 2-1 lead.

Thereafter, the Indians toiled hard for goals but their fowardline continued to disappoint the side.

Luck finally smiled on the Indians in the 60th minute when Ramandeep scored the equaliser from a goal-mouth melee with the ball bouncing off the Argentina keeper's pads into the net.

And two minutes later, Ramdeep was once again in the thick of things as he cleverly deflected in at the far post to score the winner for India.

After a rest day, India will play arch-rivals Pakistan in their next round-robin match on Wednesday.

Ishrat Jahan case: CBI questions Narendra Modi's minister, another summoned

Ahmedabad: Two ministers in Narendra Modi's Gujarat government are among four people to be questioned in connection with the Ishrat Jahan encounter case.

The Central Bureau of Investigation today questioned Gujarat Law Minister Pradeep Singh Jadeja at an undisclosed location, said sources. The agency has also summoned Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama over audio tapes of a meeting in 2011, on which voices purportedly belonging to ministers and officials of the state government discuss derailing investigations into the killing of 19-year-old college student Ishrat Jahan in 2004.

Advocate General Kamal Trivedi, in whose office the meeting was allegedly held, has also been summoned, along with former state minister, Praful Patel.

In that meeting, the ministers and officials allegedly discussed ways to discredit the Special Investigation Team's probe into the killings.

The CBI has already questioned two officials who attended the meeting, AK Sharma and GC Murmu.

Ishrat was shot along with three men on the outskirts of Ahmedabad in 2004, by the Crime Branch of the Gujarat Police, which claimed that all four were terrorists involved in a plot to kill Narendra Modi.

The CBI in its chargesheet in July said seven cops had shot the group "in cold blood" and destroyed evidence.

One of the accused policemen, senior IPS officer DG Vanzara, recently submitted his resignation accusing the Modi government of using cops to promote their agenda and then abandoning them. Vanzara said policemen like him had acted in compliance with a conscious policy of the Modi government.

Indian eves thrash Hong Kong 13-0 in Asia Cup

Kuala Lumpur:  With their eyes firmly set on a berth in next year's World Cup, Indian eves started the eighth Asia Cup hockery tournament campaign on a rollicking note, spanking minnows Hong Kong 13-0 in their opening Pool A match here on Saturday.

Knowing well that only a win in this tournament would secure a ticket to next year's World Cup to be held from 31 May to 14 June 2014 at the The Hague, Netherlands, the Indians eves meant business from the onset and scored goals at will against the hapless Hong Kong side to boost their morale ahead of tough games.

The Indians toyed with Hong Kong defence and scored as many as nine goals in the first half and four after the change of ends.

For India, star striker Rani (2nd minute, 6th, 23rd, 24th, 26th, 34th and 58th) scored as many as seven goals, Vandana Katariya (13th, 18th, 39th) three goals, while Poonam Rani (69th) and Joydeep Kaur (70th) found the opposition net once each.

The Indians will play nimbel-footed Chinese girls in their next pool match tomorrow followed by the last league engagement against hosts Malaysia on September 24.

Bangalore techie kills wife, then jumps to death from 13th floor

Bangalore: A software engineer allegedly stabbed his wife to death and then committed suicide by jumping from their 13-floor residence near Bangalore, a top police official said today.

Madhusudhan, allegedly murdered his wife, also a software engineer, following a quarrel late last night, in JP Nagar, DCP (South) Revanna told reporters.

In a fit of rage, Madhusudhan took out a knife and stabbed his wife all over the body and then wanted to end his life by hanging from the ceiling fan, but failed as the rope broke, Revanna said.

Thereafter, he tried to set himself ablaze with kerosene, but that also failed as he was unable to find a match-stick and ultimately he jumped to death from their 13th floor flat, he said.

When the incident took place, their six-year-old daughter was at her grand-parents house in the same locality, Revanna said.

Muzaffarnagar riots: Row after UP minister asks BJP MLA to 'shut up'

Lucknow: A political squabble over the Muzaffarnagar communal clashes, which left nearly 50 dead and 40,000 in relief camps, had legislators coming to blows in the Uttar Pradesh assembly today after a state minister asked an MLA to "shut up".

BJP MLA Upendra Tewari was in the middle of a sharp tirade against the Akhilesh Yadav government over the arrest warrants against his party colleagues when minister Ambika Choudhary interrupted him with a "shut up".

All BJP MLAs immediately stormed towards the Speaker's chair in protest, and moments later, several ministers and BJP legislators started pushing each other.

The unpleasant scenes had Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav offering a quick apology, "I regret the remarks of my minister. They should be removed from the records."

But Mr Yadav asserted that his concession did not mean that BJP MLAs booked for inciting communal violence in Muzaffarnagar would be spared. "Action will be taken against them," he said.

The UP police say MLAs against whom warrants were issued on Wednesday can be arrested "anytime". The arrests were suspended for the assembly session, which got over today.

Two BJP MLAs face arrest, along with seven others from the Congress, BSP and Bhartiya Kisan Party for addressing gatherings that were banned to prevent any flare-up after the killing of three young men, two Jats and one Muslim, in village Kawal.

The UP government has accused them all of stoking communal flames with incendiary speeches.

An earlier attempt to arrest the BJP MLAs ended with a dramatic show of strength by BJP supporters led by Uma Bharati just outside the state assembly on Wednesday.  A police team went and returned without arresting the MLAs, as Uma Bharati warned of "consequences".

'Sishya' Gaurav ropes in 'guru' Ravikumar to act

Director Gaurav of Thoonga Nagaram fame is currently busy with a film titled Sigaram Thodu. For this, he has roped in his guru, director KS Ravikumar, whom he has assisted in a few movies, to play an important role.

Says Gaurav, "These are the beginning scenes in the film. It involves a discussion between Sathyaraj (the hero's dad) and a cop, introducing the protagonist. Even while writing the scene, I wanted someone who was jovial and could carry the scene with ease. And, who better than my guru, KS Ravikumar, whose acting skills are well-known?"

So, was he nervous directing his guru? "I was hesitant if I could match his speed because he's a very fast worker. After shooting the sequence, he even told Sathyaraj sir that he liked the experience."

Naiyaandi earlier than expected

Looks like Dhanush's 'Nayyandi', a comic caper directed by Sargunam of Kalavani and Vaagai Sooda Vaa fame which was expected to hit the screens on Oct 11th, will have an early release. With them audio of the film launching today, the National Award winning actor Dhanush has revealed on his social networking page that the film will release sooner than expected.

The film starring Dhanush and Nazriya Nazim in the lead roles is village based romantic comedy film. Touted to be a comedy entertainer set in the backdrops of Kumbakkonam, the film was earlier titled as 'Sottavalakutty' and later rechristened as Naiyaandi as the makers felt it to be more apt. Saranya Ponvannan, Lakshmi Ramakrishnan and Soori will feature in supporting roles with Ghibran composing for the film.

Chinese woman survives 15 days in well

Beijing: A woman has been found 15 days after she fell into a well in central China's Henan province, local authorities said today.

38-year-old Su Qixiu was found at the bottom of an abandoned well at Zhongfeng village in Xiayi county aound 4 pm yesterday, Xinhua reported, citing the county's firefighting department.

Su was in the well for 15 days and remained undetected. The well is about one metre in diameter and four metres deep.

It is encircled by lush cornstalks and is difficult to see. The wall of the well is too smooth to climb up.

Su, who was found lying on her back with eyes open, was astonishingly skinny, said Chen Kui, a firefighter who participated in the rescue.

"Hungry! I'm hungry," said a feeble voice after Chen went down the well.

Chen asked her if she could move. She did not reply but extended her hands.

Although Su did not have any obvious injuries, she could not speak or eat. Functioning of her internal organs has not recovered, but she is in stable condition and receiving fluids.

Su survived by eating raw corn she was carrying when she fell into the well.

Two rain showers during the period gave here enough water to drink, according to her husband.

Su had gone out to pick herbs after lunch Sep 1 and did not come back that day.

Her family began searching for her the next day but their efforts failed, her husband said.

Import duty on gold jewellery hiked to 15%

New Delhi: The government today hiked the import duty on jewellery to 15 per cent from 10 per cent with a view to check the inward shipment of gold besides protecting domestic manufacturers.

Besides containing import of gold, the hike in jewellery duty seeks to provide level playing field to domestic jewellery makers.

The government had last month hiked import duty on gold for the third time in 2013 to 10 per cent. Duties for silver and platinum were also increased to 10 per cent. Besides, customs duty on gold dore bars, ore or concentrate were raised to 8 per cent from 6 per cent.

Further, the RBI also restricted gold imports on a consignment basis by banks.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram had earlier said gold import would be contained below 845 tonnes shipped in last fiscal.

Gold imports in value terms fell to $650 million in August, from $2.2 billion in July.

India is the largest importer of gold, which is mainly utilised to meet the demand of the jewellery industry.

High gold import strained India's current account deficit or CAD which touched a high of 4.8 per cent of GDP or gross domestic product in 2012-13.

School girl who alleged sexual assault is mentally unsound, says Asaram Bapu's lawyer, Ram Jethmalani

Jodhpur: Spiritual leader Asaram Bapu, accused of sexually assaulting a school girl, will stay in a jail in Jodhpur for now.

A local court extended his custody by 14 days. The 75-year-old guru was arrested on September 2.

In court, his lawyer Ram Jethmalani argued that the 16-year-old who says the religious preacher attacked her at his ashram in Jodhpur is mentally unfit. The prosecution said Mr Jethmalani, one of the country's most eminent advocates, offered no evidence to back his claim.

"He said the girl is medically unfit and that the warden had recommended that she be sent for treatment, but we have records to prove the girl is fit," said public prosecutor Anand Purohit.

Mr Jethmalani also questioned the victim's claims that she was a minor.

The girl and her family have accused the preacher of threatening to hurt them if they reported the alleged assault to the police.

The victim's father has also alleged death threats from the spiritual guru's followers. Alleged phone recordings of the threats will be produced in court on Wednesday as grounds to deny Asaram bail.

Asaram's son, Narayan Sai, had said last month that the teen complainant was mentally unsound. The guru's aides have told the police that on August 15, he spent an hour alone with her after telling her parents that he would exorcize evil spirits that had possessed her.

Ragging in 2 colleges: 4 students arrested, 22 suspended

Four students were arrested and 22 others were suspended on Saturday following complaints of ragging against them in two colleges of Hooghly district.

While four students of century old Government College of Engineering & Textile Technology, Serampore, were arrested, 22 students of Netaji Mahavidyalaya, Arambagh, were suspended.

A 2nd year Information Technology department student, Arijit Sikdar, lodged a complaint with the UGC’s anti-ragging cell that four senior students forced him to buy liquor threatening that otherwise he would be pushed from the 1st floor balcony of their hostel, college sources said.

Principal Sumanta Bhattacharya said the UGC cell informed the college about the complaint and the four students were show-caused.

After the complaints were proved in a probe of the college anti-ragging committee, an FIR was lodged against them according to law and the four were arrested, he said.

Superintendent of Police Sunil Chowdhury said Gobinda Seal, Anurag Mohanty, Apurba Talukdar and Pintu Rajak were arrested after an FIR was lodged by the college authorities.

In the second incident, authorities of the Netaji Mahavidyalaya of Arambagh suspended 22 students of 2nd and 3rd year, Principal Asim Dey said.

Sanjib Adhikary, a 1st year student of geography department, complained that he was severely tortured by senior students in the hostel in the night of September 9.

According to the complaint, he was made to sit on a chair with two light bulbs held before his eyes. When he wanted to drink water, he was given urine. After his four-hour ordeal ended at 2 a.m., he was instructed to get up early and wake up all students of the hostel.

However, he left the hostel and went home at Kotulpur in Bankura district from where he returned with his father and lodged the complaint to the principal.

Adhikary managed to record a portion of the conversations of that fateful night and the principal said he listened that recording.

He said all the 22 accused students were suspended and a meeting of the governing body was convened on Tuesday.

The meeting would decide on the fate of the students, he said.

Seven family members killed as car falls into canal in Meerut

Meerut: At least seven members of a family today drowned in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut district when a car in which they were travelling in turned turtle and fell in to the Gangnahar canal in Meerut, police said.

Harinder Nagar, a resident of Gautam Budh Nagar, along with family, was on his way to Haridwar to take a dip in the river Ganga when the tragedy struck, a police officer Sumair Singh said.

While bodies of Suman (22), Manju (28), Rashi (3),and Uday (3) have been fished out, efforts are on to take out other bodies as well, police said.

Except for the car driver Harinder, who escaped unhurt, all the car passengers died.

Pakistan Cricket Board hoping for tri-series invite to tour India

Karachi: Desperate for regular cricket clashes with India, the Pakistan Cricket Board is hoping to convince the BCCI to host a tri-series later this year when the officials from the two Boards come face to face during an Asian Cricket Council meeting in Chennai on Saturday.

Reliable sources in the Pakistan Cricket Board told PTI that Chief Operating Officer Subhan Ahmad will not only attend a meeting of the ACC but also hold discussions with BCCI officials.

"There is a strong chance that the BCCI might propose to have a tri-series sometime in December in India with Pakistan and Sri Lanka and the PCB is ready to accept this invitation," one source said.

He said even if the tri-series led to some rescheduling of Pakistan's home series against Sri Lanka in the UAE in December-January, the PCB and Sri Lanka Cricket would work out a joint solution.

"The PCB has got feelers from India that it is contemplating having the tri-series after having decided to curtail its tour to South Africa late in the year," the source said.

The BCCI is presently in disagreement with Cricket South Africa over the number of matches to be played in the series and on Wednesday even the ICC came out in favour of South Africa.

"But the Indians are clearly not happy with the re-entry of Haroon Lorgat into Cricket South Africa and are now thinking about the tri-series with Pakistan and India," he added.

Pakistan had toured India last December to play a short one-day series that marked the revival of bilateral ties between the two nations after 2007.

The source said the PCB is hoping that Ahmad would convince the Indian board to also talk in terms of a bilateral cricket series soon.

"PCB is keen for the tri-series as it will guarantee good money for both Pakistan and Sri Lanka," he added.

But the possible tri-series also comes at a time when the Indian government has not issued visas to the Faisalabad Wolves team to take part in the Champions League tournament.

"Subhan might also discuss this issue with the Indians. But apparently one thing is clear he is going there after the PCB got some sort of signal from the government," he said.

Pakistan's former captain Wasim Akram also told reporters here that Pakistan and India needed to have bilateral cricket ties.

"I have always said that politics should be kept apart from sports. If Pakistan and India play regularly against each other it will be good for the players of both sides."

"I have played many times against India and I know these matches are very special and unique and have pressure not only for the players but also for the people of both countries. In the past there is no doubt that cricket has played a big role in improving relations between the two nations," he said.

BCCI imposes life ban on S Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has imposed a life ban on tainted cricketers S Sreesanth and Ankeet Chavan. Sreesanth and Chavan were found guilty of spot-fixing during IPL 6.

Meanwhile Siddharth Trivedi has been handed a one-year ban while Amit Singh has been banned for five years. In a press statement the BCCI said:

The Disciplinary Committee of the BCCI, comprising Mr. N. Srinivasan, Mr. Arun Jaitley and Mr. Niranjan Shah, enquiring into the allegations of match-fixing against certain players, held a hearing on September in New Delhi.

After considering the evidence on record and hearing each of the Players in person, the Disciplinary Committee has passed the following order:

Mr. Amit Singh is banned for a period of five years from playing any representative Cricket, or in any way being associated with the activities of the BCCI or its affiliates.

The case against Mr. Harmeet Singh has been closed in the absence of evidence against him.

Mr. Siddarth Trivedi is banned for a period of one year from playing any representative Cricket or in any way being associated with the activities of the BCCI or its affiliates.

Mr. Ankeet Chavan is banned for life from playing any representative Cricket, or in any way being associated with the activities of the BCCI or its affiliates.

Mr. S. Sreesanth is banned for life from playing any representative Cricket, or in any way being associated with the activities of the BCCI or its affiliates.

Narendra Modi-for-PM announcement anytime now, say sources

New Delhi: The BJP is likely to announce within 24 hours that Narendra Modi will be its candidate for prime minister, according to sources, despite taut opposition from LK Advani, the party's senior-most leader.

"Nobody is angry or protesting", said BJP president Rajanth Singh, adding that Mr Modi's political future will be decided "after talks."

He met with Mr Advani again today this morning, after a round of negotiations yesterday cancelled any hope of consensus. Mr Advani, sources say, told the BJP president on Wednesday that an announcement of Mr Modi as the BJP's presumptive prime minister will be a "disaster" and could deliver a third straight defeat for the party in the national elections, due by May.

The BJP's ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh or RSS, believes that Mr Modi's surging popularity among party workers could echo among voters, and wants Mr Modi's candidature to be announced urgently.

The conundrum for Mr Singh as president is whether to proceed now with a meeting of the BJP's top 12 leaders or parliamentary board for a vote on Mr Modi. Mr Advani, 85, has allegedly said he will vote against the Gujarat Chief Minister; Murli Manohar Joshi and Sushma Swaraj could echo his dissent, said sources, laying bare the fissures that Mr Modi has etched within the BJP. The BJP chief will meet Ms Swaraj this afternoon.

Mr Advani has been trafficking in dissent against Mr Modi, once his protege, for several months. He resigned from all party posts for 24 hours after Mr Modi was picked campaign-in-charge; the RSS persuaded him to return to the fold.

Mr Advani claims that a campaign pivoted around Mr Modi will force the BJP to focus its campaign on defending the chief minister, who is regularly excoriated by other parties for being a divisive leader on account of the riots in his state in 2002, in which hundreds of Muslims were killed.

Somdev Devvarman knocked out in first round of ATP Challenger

 Istanbul:  After a terrific performance at the US Open, Somdev Devvarman has made a shock first round exit from the ATP Challenger event in Istanbul.

Somdev, seeded second, lost 2-6 3-6 to Russian Konstantin Kravchuk in the opening round the USD 75,000 hard court event.

It was first meeting Somdev, ranked 101 and Konstantin, who is placed 74 places below the Indian in the ATP ranking charts.

Somdev had won four matches in the US Open, before losing the second of singles main draw to Italian Andreas Seppi.

Meanwhile at the euro 64,000 Petange Challenger event in Luxembourg, third seeded pair of Divij Sharan and Purav Raja also bowed in the first round after a 3-6 3-6 defeat against Maximilian Neuchrist of Austria and Jurgen Zopp of Estonia.

Divij also had outstanding performance at the US Open, reaching pre-quarterfinals with Taipei partner Yen-Hsun Lu.

Two-year-old girl kidnapped, raped, left bleeding on roadside in Ludhiana

Ludhiana: On a day four men were convicted of the brutal gang-rape of a 23-year-old girl that horrified the nation, a two-year-old girl was hospitalized after being allegedly raped in Ludhiana, Punjab.

The toddler was assaulted and left bleeding by the roadside on Tuesday. She was spotted hours later by a man who alerted the police and took her to the hospital. She is said to be in a critical condition.

The police said the child was sleeping with her parents, both labourers, in the slums when she was kidnapped by her attackers. At 2 am, her father woke up and realized she was missing. He also alleged that the men stole Rs. 8,000.

Two people have been booked for the crime, which once again highlights that such assaults continue unabated despite the nationwide outrage after the Delhi gang-rape.

After nearly three months, prayers resume at Kedarnath temple

 Kedarnath: The Kedarnath temple, the site of death and untold devastation wreaked by the flash floods in Uttarakhand almost three months ago, today observed its first puja in a symbolic opening.

Prayers resumed at the revered 6th century shrine - dedicated to Lord Shiva - shortly after 7:30 am and went on till 11 am. The temple's chief priest, Rawal Bhima Shankar Ling Shivacharya, unlocked the portals of the temple and stepped into the sanctum-sanctorum to perform the puja.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, though, missed the prayers as his chopper could not take off from Dehradun due to inclement weather.

Several media teams, who had also arrived in the state to cover the ceremony, are also stuck in Guptkashi, nearly 22 kilometres from the Kedar Valley, which is enveloped with a thick cover of fog and mist.

But that has failed to dampen the spirits at the historic temple bore a festive look. The shrine, bedecked with flowers, reverberated with the collective recitals of Vedic hymns and blowing of
conch shells.

The puja began with a 'shuddhikaran' (purification) of the temple and 'prayashchitikaran' (atonement for prolonged suspension of prayers at the shrine).

Nearly 300 workers from the state Public Works Department (PWD) had worked tirelessly to ensure the success of the temple's opening. The workers, though, have succeeded in clearing debris from only 50 metres around the temple; the path to the temple's sanctum sanctorum has also been cleared. The destruction near the temple, though, will take months to clear.

The resumption of prayers at the shrine, located at a height of 13,500 feet is of limited nature, as no pilgrim is being allowed to visit the temple.

A meeting is scheduled to be held on September 30 to decide the date for resumption of Yatra for pilgrims to the famed Himalayan temple.

Syria accepts Russia's proposal to surrender chemical weapons: reports

Moscow: The Syrian government has accepted a Russian proposal to put its chemical weapons under international control to avoid a possible US military strike, Interfax news agency quoted Syria's foreign minister as saying on Tuesday.

"We held a very fruitful round of talks with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov yesterday, and he proposed an initiative relating to chemical weapons. And in the evening we agreed to he Russian initiative," Interfax quoted the minister, Walid al-Moualem, as telling the speaker of Russia's lower house parliament house in Moscow.

He said Syria had agreed because this would "remove the grounds for American aggression," the report said.

Muzaffarnagar violence: Toll rises to 38, curfew on

Over 360 people have been arrested in connection with the violence.

"A total of 38 people have died in various districts of western Uttar Pradesh with 32 deaths in Muzaffarnagar", Home Secretary Kamal Saxena told PTI in Lucknow.

While two deaths have been reported from Meerut, one each has been reported from Hapur, Baghpat, Saharapur and Shamli, he said, adding that 81 people have been injured in these districts and 366 people have been arrested.

The Home Secretary said no fresh incident has been reported and the situation was under control.

Curfew in three police station areas of Muzaffarnagar -- Civil Lines, Kotwali and Nai Mandi -- was continuing and army was patrolling the troubled areas in Muzaffarnagar, Shamli and Meerut, Saxena said.

Prohibitory orders are being enforced strictly and a strict watch is being maintained on mischievous elements.

FIRs were yesterday registered against BJP legislative party leader Hukum Singh, MLAs Suresh Rana, Bhartendu, Sangeet Som and former Congress MP Harendra Malik among others for violating prohibitory orders and some of the senior leaders who tried to go to Muzaffarnagar, including union minister Ajit Singh.

The injured are undergoing treatment in various hospitals and the affected people have been shifted to safer places.

The government has constituted a one-member judicial commission headed by (retd) Justice Vishnu Sahai to probe into the Muzaffarnagar violence starting August 27 from the Kawal incident till September 9 and would submit its report in two months time.

Concerned over the incidents, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday spoke to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and assured him of all help from the Centre to deal with the situation.

The opposition has accused the state government of failing to act in time to prevent the violence but the ruling Samajwadi Party hit back, saying its rivals were trying to stir up communal trouble.

The chief minister saw a "political conspiracy" behind the riots to destabilize his government while rivals BJP, BSP and RLD accused the SP of trying to advance its political interests by polarising voters. They demanded imposition of central rule in the state.

Union Home Ministry asked the state government to send Muzaffarnagar situation report every 12 hours. It also asked the state government to deploy enough forces in rural areas in the district where violence is yet to be contained.

Authorities cancelled 1,744 arms licenses in Bhorkala, Shahpur, Phugana and ome other areas of the district.

The state government also shunted out Saharanpur DIG, SSP Muzaffarnagar and SP Shamli. Violence-hit Muzaffarnagar lies in Saharanpur range.

UP Governor BL Joshi has sent a report on the Muzaffarnagar violence to the Centre, which, sources said in Lucknow, has details regarding the administrative lapses as well as the situation prevailing there.

Pro-Telangana groups call for strike on September 7

Hyderabad, Sep 5 (PTI) Alleging that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has adopted an anti-Telangana approach, pro-Telangana groups today called for a general strike in the region on September 7, the same day a rally of anti-bifurcation government employees is scheduled.

    The 24-hour bandh will begin this Friday mid-night, Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) chairman M Kodandaram told reporters here.

    The bandh call came following the city police giving conditional permission to the pro-united AP state government employees to organise a public meeting here on Saturday.

    On the other hand, permission to hold a rally on the same day was denied to pro-Telangana groups. The Telangana JAC dubbed this as discriminatory attitude of state government.

    TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao has appealed to the party activists and pro-Telangana outfits to voluntarily participate in the bandh and make it a success.

    APNGOs Association, which represents pro-united Andhra employees, has been granted conditional permission by the police to hold 'Save AP meeting' on September 7 at L B Stadium here. 

Two missile launches detected in Mediterranean, close to Syria, says Russia

Moscow: Russia on Tuesday announced that its missile early warning system had detected the launch of two missiles from the central part of the Mediterranean Sea fired towards the Sea's eastern coastline.

The launches took place at 10:16 am Moscow time (0616 GMT) and were detected by the early warning system in Armavir in southern Russia, the defence ministry said in a statement quoted by Russian news agencies.

It said Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had already reported to President Vladimir Putin about the event, which comes amid growing expectations of Western military action in Syria.

Pak troops violate truce again, target Indian positions

Jammu, Sep 2 (PTI) After a three-day lull, Pakistani troops today violated the ceasefire twice targeting forward Indian posts with small arms fire in two sub-sectors along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district.

       The Pakistani soldiers opened unprovoked firing on Indian posts in Balakote sub-sector at around 1113 hours and in Mendhar at 1 PM.

       The Indian troops fired back effectively and there was no loss of life or damage to property in the two sub-sectors.

      "Violating the ceasefire, Pak troops fired from small arms and automatic weapons on Indian forward posts along the LoC in Mendhar sub-sector," Defence spokesman S N Acharya said.

      "They targeted the Indian posts from 1300 hours to 1400 hours drawing strong retaliation from our soldiers," he said. Earlier, Pakistani troops opened small arms firing on four Indian forward posts in Balakote sub-sector at around 1113 hours.

        The two ceasefire violations took place after three days of lull along the LoC.

        Guns fell silent after Pakistani troops fired on Indian positions in Pallanwala sub-sector in Jammu district on August 29.