Indian Latest News

Telangana: 45 injured as violence breaks out at Osmania University

HYDERABAD: Violence broke out at the Osmania University campus here today when police stopped students from staging a march with the the body of

a youth who committed suicide by immolating himself apparently due to delay in formation of a separate Telangana state.

Police said at least 30 students and 15 policemen, including Kachiguda ACP K Ramchander, were injured as the premises turned into a battlefield with students throwing stones and torching police vehicles.

Police burst teargas shells and fired rubber bullets and used water cannons to disperse them. Some mediapersons were also hurt during the clashes.

The violence broke out over shifting the body of K Venugopal Reddy, a 23-year-old final-year MCA student who set himself ablaze yesterday at the university, which has been a focal point for the youth demanding Telangana.

The students planned to take out Venugopal's body in a procession towards Gun Park near Andhra Pradesh state assembly from the Arts College premises where the body was kept since yesterday. Hundreds of students gathered at the Arts College premises to pay their respects to Venugopal.

But police stopped them from taking out any procession saying it may aggravate the situation in view of the bandh being already observed in the city in support of Telangana.

'India may lose patience in case of another 26/11'

New Delhi: Despite the great restraint shown by India after the Mumbai attacks by Pakistan-based militants, New Delhi could easily lose patience if there were a repeat attack, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Wednesday.

"I think it's not unreasonable to assume Indian patience would be limited were there to be further attacks, Gates told reporters on a trip to New Delhi."

Gates' comments highlight widespread fears among many diplomats that a second attack could provoke India to retaliate against Pakistan, further destabilising the region and putting US plans for peace in Pakistan and Afghanistan in jeopardy.

Gates said that terror groups working together around the Afghanistan-Pakistan border benefit from each other's success and pose a threat to the entire region.

He listed several terror groups that are operating under the umbrella of al-Qaeda, including LeT, blamed for last year's deadly attack in Mumbai, and the Taliban.

"LeT is operating in league with Al Qaeda as part of a syndicate of terror groups," Gates said. "The syndicate is dangerous for the whole region."

Gates said that when one group succeeds in carrying out an attack, all of them gain in capability and reputation.

Gates also said that India and Pakistan should cooperate against a threat that affects them both but remarked that "it would be unreasonable to assume that India have unlimited patience in case it faces a 26/11 type terror attack."

Attacks on Indians in Australia not good for ties: Krishna

New Delhi: Continued attacks on Indians in Australia do not "augur well" for bilateral ties, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said on Wednesday.

The minister was reacting to the latest attack on an Indian in Melbourne which was the fifth such assault on Indian cabbies within a week.

Krishna said he was expecting a report from the Indian High Commissioner to Australia on the incident.

"I have just heard the news. I am expecting a report from our High Commissioner and after getting the report perhaps I must have something to say.

"But it is very unfortunate that they keep repeating, which does not augur well for our bilateral relationship," the minister said.

Krishna has already indicated a possibility of Government advising Indian students not to go to Australia if the attacks on them, which has claimed one life so far, continued.

Pilot error cause of YSR helicopter crash, says probe report

NEW DELHI: The helicopter crash which claimed the life of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S R Reddy was caused by the error of pilots who lost control over the chopper and were engrossed for vital six minutes trying to locate a flight manual, the probe report said today.

The report, submitted to the government by the four- member inquiry committee, said the "probable" cause of the accident was that it "occurred due to loss of control resulting in uncontrolled descent in the terrain at a very high rate of descent due to entry into severe down draught".

The crew flew the helicopter under the instrument flying condition even though their flight plan was cleared for Visual Flight Rules (VFR), it said.

The crew noticed a snag and "was engrossed for vital six minutes before the impact in searching for the relevant checklist from the Flight Manual".

"This distracted their attention from the prevailing poor visibility weather conditions thus leading into the loss of situational awareness," the report, prepared by the Committee headed by Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited chief S K Tyagi, said.

Reddy, his special secretary P Subramaniam, Chief Security Officer ASC Weseley, and the two pilots Grp Capt S K Bhatia and Capt M S Reddy, were killed when the Bell 430 helicopter of the state government crashed in dense jungles of Nalamalla hills on September two last year.



Govt taking steps to tame inflation: FM

The Government said the current high inflation, which crossed 7 per cent in December driven by costlier food prices, is a matter of concern and it is closely monitoring the situation. "It (high inflation) is a matter of concern, no doubt ... Certain steps are going on. Situation is constantly under review," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said. Wholesale price-based inflation shot up to more than a year's high of 7.31 per cent in December on higher food prices, mainly sugar, pulses and potato. The December numbers have already overshot RBI's full fiscal forecast of 6.5 per cent. Mukherjee said the Government has already liberalized imports to meet the shortage of essential commodities. Most of these items are duty free, he said, adding, "We have also ensured availability of wheat and rice at different places through offloading and open market sales scheme by Food Corporation of India." Amid the Government trying hard to keep prices from rising, food inflation eased a bit to 17.28 per cent during the week ended January 2 from 18.22 per cent a week ago. The Government last week allowed duty-free white sugar imports till December, eased raw sugar processing norms and announced plans to off load 2-3 million tonnes foodgrain in the open market.