SRINAGAR: A policeman was on Wednesday killed and three civilians were injured as terrorists struck in the heart of Srinagar, entering a hotel lobbing grenades.
Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen, one of the rebel groups active in the area claimed responsibility for the attack by faxing a statement to the local offices of a news agency. ``The attack is in response to India's propaganda that the armed struggle has weakened in Kashmir,'' the statement said.
As it grew dark, the security forces put up floodlights around the Punjab Hotel building where the militants are holed up. The area has been marked off with concertina wires to ensure the guerrillas do not escape under the cover of darkness.
"We are cautious that no collateral damage takes place," a police officer said.
Police were not sure of any civilian trapped in the hotel building which hindered the prospect of launching the final assault. The militants were using the building as a fortified bunker and firing intermittently at the surrounding security forces.
"The hotel building will have to be stormed by commandoes if the militants refuse to surrender," said a paramilitary officer.
The dead policeman, identified as Mohammed Yusuf who was posted as driver of the Station House Officer of Maisuma Police station, was killed during the attack, official sources said.
Over 100 people, including women and children, who were trapped inside shops and other buildings near the scene of a gunbattle between militants and security forces at Lal Chowk here have been evacuated.
The injured civilians included a cameraman from a television news channel, said Sajad Ahmed, a police officer. The civilians were hospitalized with bullet and shrapnel wounds, he said.
Joint teams of police and CRPF personnel are engaged in the rescue operation and so far over 100 civilians trapped inside shops and other buildings have been evacuated from Court road, Pladium chowk, Koker Bazar and adjoining areas to safer places, a police officer said.
Three civilians, including Rauf, a cameraman of a Delhi-based private news channel, were also injured and have been rushed to a hospital, they said.
The terrorists are believed to be holed up in the hotel adjacent to historic Amira Kadal bridge in Lal Chowk area. The police had recently claimed that there had been a drop in militant violence.
Exchange of fire between the terrorists and the security personnel is continuing, the sources said. Grenade explosions and random gun-shots were heard, triggering panic among people.
The terrorists, believed to be "Fidayeen" (suicide squad), initially lobbed grenades on a CRPF picket at Pladium Chowk and followed it by indiscriminate firing around 2.15 pm.
The CRPF and police personnel deployed in the area retaliated and the militants, whose number could not be ascertained immediately, reportedly took shelter inside a hotel. They opened fire and lobbed grenades on the security forces.
The whole area was immediately cordoned off to neutralize the militants, a police officer said.
Immediately after the attack, people, including shopkeepers, present in the area fled to safety, while traffic went off the roads.
The entire area wore a deserted look with reinforcements rushing to the scene to tackle the situation arising out of the attack in the valley in more than two years.
The last suicide attack was carried out in Dal Lake area of Srinagar in October 2007 in which two terrorists were killed and three securitymen injured.
Today's attack came a day after the National Conference-led coalition government completed its first year in office and listed in its achievements, improved security situation.
It's no big deal, Amar Singh has resigned earlier as well: Mulayam
NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav today sought to downplay the resignation of his close associate Amar Singh from key posts of the party, saying there were no differences with him.
"It's no big deal, he has resigned earlier as well," Mulayam Singh said. "He has resigned only from the post of general secretary and not from the party," he said reacting to Singh's announcement that he had quit all the party posts - general secretary, spokesperson and member of party's Parliamentary board.
Yadav denied that there were any differences between him and Amar Singh.
"There is no such thing. I spoke to him only a couple of days back," he said when asked whether any differences had resulted in the step taken by the 53-year old leader, who was considered his right hand man.
Asked whether he would persuade Amar Singh to take back his resignation, Yadav said, "We don't share such a relationship."
Singh's decision came amid speculation that he had differences with Yadav after Firozabad Lok Sabha by-poll debacle. Amar Singh had criticised Yadav and his family, saying they were over confident, which had led to the defeat.
When pointed out that Amar Singh had cited health as the reason behind quitting the key posts, the SP chief said, "It is true that he is not well."
No soft approach towards India: Pak Defence Committee of Cabinet
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's political and military leadership on Wednesday decided not to adopt any soft posture towards India, saying that no one should underestimate Pakistan’s capacity to safeguard its sovereignty.
The decision was taken in a meeting of the Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC) in connection to the recent remarks of the Indian army chief Deepak Kapoor about pursuing a proactive strategy to simultaneously wage wars against China and Pakistan. The remarks of Indian army chief produced uproar in local media while the country’s military and political leadership responded by making bunt statements.
According to official sources, the meeting of DCC, the country’s highest forum for defence policy consultation and coordination, decided to bring Pakistan’s diplomatic and military policies in line with India’s aggressive stance towards the country. The committee said that Pakistan’s defence forces and its strategic and conventional capabilities would continue to be strengthened, the sources added.
The committee was also briefed on the latest security situation in the troubled North and South Waziristan tribal regions by the top military officials.
The briefing coincided with US drone strikes in North Waziristan, killing four militants and injuring two others, on Wednesday, local security officials said. “The missiles hit a militant compound in Datta Khel area of North Waziristan which was believed to be a training camp of militants. We have reports that four people have been killed,” an intelligence official said. It was the third drone strike this year in the lawless Waziristan region while 51 strikes were carried out in 2009, according to a Reuters tally.
The US has been pushing Pakistan to take action against other Taliban groups in North Waziristan, particularly the Haqqani network. North Waziristan on the Afghan border is a well-known sanctuary for al Qaeda and Taliban militants.
The DCC meeting decided, the insiders said, that Pakistan will not declare military offensive in North Waziristan under external pressure.
The participants of the meeting agreed that the final decision regarding a military operation in North Waziristan would be taken only after assessing ground realities.
The meeting was informed that the Nato commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, during his recent meetings with Pakistan’s top military leadership, had agreed to re-establish military posts along the Pak-Afghan border near the Waziristan region.
Oz asks India not to fuel 'hysteria' over student's killing
Melbourne: Australia on Wednesday asked India not to whip up "hysteria" over a young expatriate's murder in Melbourne saying such incidents occur everywhere including in Mumbai, London and New York and claimed it remained "safe" for foreign students, amid India's warning to its citizens to be cautious in this country.
There was no evidence to suggest that the attack on 21-year-old Nitin Garg, a student who was fatally stabbed in the abdomen on Sunday, was racially-motivated, acting Foreign Minister Simon Crean said, adding it was one of a spate of stabbings in Melbourne over the Christmas period.
"It so happens that one of the victims is Indian ... Melbourne is not the only city in the world where this happens. It also happens in Delhi and in Mumbai," Crean was quoted as saying by 'The Age'.
About comments by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna who termed the killing of Garg as a "brutal attack", Crean said he hoped "wiser heads will prevail."
Krishna had also warned that such incidents could have a bearing on bilateral ties.
The report said Crean asked Indian leaders not to fuel hysteria over the issue, while conceding that there could be economic repercussions of the issue.
Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, meanwhile, insisted that her country is safe for all international students and said "acts of violence" occur in big cities around the world.
Her comments came in the wake of India issuing a travel advisory for Australia.
Russian rape case: John Fernandes surrenders
Panaji: Goa politician John Fernandes, accused of raping a Russian girl on Colva Beach on December one, surrendered on Wednesday before the Crime Branch in Panaji almost a month after he went missing.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Chandrakant Salgaoncar told reporters that John has been placed under arrest and would be interrogated to get further evidence in the case regarding alleged rape of the 25-year-old girl.
The accused would be charged with destroying evidence as he had submitted his false clothes to the investigating agency earlier, the officer said.
John, a South Goa-based politician, who unsuccessfully fought 2007 assembly elections on Save Goa Front Party ticket, allegedly raped the girl by spiking her drinks at Colva beach. Salgaoncar said the accused was absconding from the time the Panaji bench of Bombay High Court rejected the anticipatory bail granted to him by District and Sessions court.
The accused also approached the Supreme Court with the anticipatory bail plea but the same was dismissed by the apex court.
Police stated that the accused walked into Crime Branch's office at Dona Paula with his lawyer at 1400 hours today. "He was immediately placed under arrested as we were looking out for him for his custodial interrogation," he said.
The Crime branch will also initiate inquiry into John's movement since he went missing. "If some people have helped him to hide, we will initiate action against them too for harbouring a criminal," the DSP said.
Police had issued look out circulars after John went missing and he was declared an absconder by Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC), Margao.
Business News
Sensex at 22-month high, see resistance
Mumbai: Equities stretched a rally into a fourth successive session on Wednesday, but there was resistance after the benchmark index hit a 22-month-high in early trade.
Investors took profits in export-focused outsourcers such as Infosys Technologies and Wipro that had more than doubled over the past year.
"The market is fairly priced at current levels. All eyes are now on earnings. Results are expected to be good, but that seems to be already there in the prices," said Gajendra Nagpal, CEO of Unicon Financial.
The 30-share BSE index closed up 0.08 per cent, or 14.89 points, at 17,701.13 after racing to 17,790.33 early, its highest level since Feb. 28, 2008.
Volume was relatively high for the third consecutive day, indicating longer trading hours kicked off on Monday were boosting business.
In the broader market, gainers led losers in the ratio of 1.1:1 on volume of 602 million shares.
Energy giant Reliance Industries, which has the highest weight on the Sensex, recovered 1.8 per cent to Rs 1,088.80 after dropping as much over the two previous sessions.
Financial stocks gained as investors were optimistic about their long-term prospects in a growing economy.
Top lender State Bank of India climbed 0.6 per cent while rival ICICI Bank gained 0.9 per cent.
Infosys shed 1.4 per cent and Wipro lost 1.7 per cent, after rallying 131 per cent and nearly 200 per cent respectively since the start of 2009.
Infosys, the No. 2 Indian outsourcer, is set to announce quarterly results on Jan. 12.
Google unveils Nexus One ‘superphone’
Mountain View: Google Inc took the wraps off the first of its smartphones on Tuesday, a device with speech recognition that it hopes can take on Apple's iPhone over time and help shore up the company's dominance in Internet advertising.
Analysts say the phone -- to be sold directly to consumers -- is not expected to dramatically alter the carrier-hardware vendor relationship the industry relies on, nor is it likely to yield a revenue windfall in the short term, though executives said it could be profitable.
Google plans to use what it calls a "superphone" -- the first of many types of smartphones that it will make -- to expand its reach from the PC to the mobile world and ensure its online products and ads get prominent placement on a new breed of wireless Internet devices.
The highly anticipated Nexus One, which marks the first time the 11-year-old Internet search titan has designed and sold its own consumer hardware device, could provide Google with a viable challenge to the iPhone and Research in Motion's BlackBerry.
It "wasn't the game-changer people thought it could be," Canaccord Adams analyst Jeff Rath said. Google could have shaken up the industry by offering the device for free, but instead chose more traditional pricing, he said.
Rath added that though his early impression was that the Nexus One was a good phone, it was unclear how much better it was than Motorola's Droid, released last year and that also runs on Google's Android operating system platform.
Indian Sports News
Mumbai to clash with Karnataka in Ranji Trophy final
Bangalore: Holders Mumbai earned yet another shot at the Ranji Trophy title as they entered the final of the domestic cricket championship on the basis of their first innings lead over Delhi in the semi-final tie, which ended in a draw in Mumbai on Wednesday.
The huge 289 runs first innings lead, that the 38-time champions took on Tuesday was enough to pilot Mumbai into the five-day final against Karnataka. Karnataka, six time winners, have also made the summit clash by the virtue of their first innings lead.
The final match will begin in Mysore from January 11. Mumbai have entered the final for the 43rd time.
The hosts were bundled out for 187 in their second essay with Delhi spin twins Vikas Mishra (6/49) and Aditya Jain (4/43) shared all the wickets between them.
Chasing 477 to win, Delhi then made 160 for four with left-handed opener Shikhar Dhawan (40) being the top scorer. Mumbai left-arm slow bowler Iqbal Abdulla grabbed three for 53, before play was called off by mutual consent.
Delhi's inability to grab the early advantage of having reduced the holders to 85 for three before lunch on day one was the turning point, according to Mumbai captain Wasim Jaffer.
The visitors allowed Mumbai to surge to a match-deciding first innings score, Abishek Nayar's gutsy 156 being the cornerstone.
"Abhishek Nayar played a great knock. We believed him when he said he was fit and he proved it. His partnership with Onkar Khanvilkar, who has been in and out of the team, when we were 85 for three was the turning point," Jaffer said.
Churchill players granted bail in airhostess molestation case
Three members of Goa's leading football club Churchill Brothers were granted bail on Wednesday after they were arrested in Mumbai for allegedly misbehaving with an airhostess and other cabin crew members on board a SpiceJet plane.
Nigerians Odafe Okolie (25) and Ogba Kalu (20), and goalkeeper Arindam Bhattacharya (20) were arrested last night from the Mumbai airport for allegedly pushing and teasing an airhostess of the SpiceJet flight they were travelling in.
All three were booked on charges of outraging the modesty of a woman, which is a bailable offence. They were granted bail on a personal bond of Rs 5000 each.
The team was on its way from Goa to Kolkata via Mumbai for their I-League match against Mohun Bagan on Friday. The trio were offloaded from the SpiceJet flight SG 804 after the incident was reported to the CISF.
England furious over ball tampering charges on Broad, Anderson
Cape Town:England coach Andy Flower has said that he has been taken aback by the ball-tampering row which overshadowed day three of the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town.
Flower’s comment came after the South African team raised their concerns over shots of fast bowler Stuart Broad treading on the ball with his spikes and James Anderson poking at it with his fingers at an early stage of the second innings.
“Over the years we have seen a lot of tall fast bowlers stop the ball with their boot, so I don’t see anything sinister in it at all,” The Telegraph quoted Flower, as saying.
The images can hardly be considered conclusive evidence of tampering, but the South African team alleged that the two bowlers were trying to alter the condition of the ball to aid reverse swing, one of England’s most potent weapons.
The incident was made official by South Africa at the close of play, which ended with the host nation at 312 for two, 330 runs ahead of England with two days to play.
“We have raised our concerns with the match referee over the condition of the ball and we have left it to him to decide whether action is necessary,” a South Africa spokesman said.
Meanwhile, England spokesman said: “We firmly rebut any accusations of ball tampering.”
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