Russia bus bomb: Volgograd blast kills six

A suspected female suicide bomber has set off explosives on a bus in the southern Russian city of Volgograd, killing at least six people.

Officials believe the woman was from Dagestan in the North Caucasus and was the partner of an Islamist militant.
The blast, which happened just after 14:00 (10:00 GMT), also injured more than 30 people, some of them seriously.
An Islamist insurgency in the North Caucasus region has led to many attacks there in recent years.
The BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Moscow says the bombing has raised fears that militant groups may be planning to step up attacks in Russia in the run-up to the Winter Olympics in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi next February.
Students It is believed there were about 40 people on board the bus.

The last significant attack on Russia's transport system was the devastating bomb blast that killed 37 people at Moscow's Domodedovo airport almost three years ago.
The death toll from today's attack was much lower. But with just four months to go to the Sochi Winter Olympics, its significance will not have gone unnoticed in the Russian government or the international Olympic movement.

If indeed the explosion is linked to the North Caucasus region of the Russian Federation and its troubled republics of Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia, it is a reminder of how easy it is for a single suicide bomber to cause multiple deaths in any part of Russia.
The speedy identification of a suspect will not reassure anyone that the situation is under control, and everyone will be hoping this was a one-off and not the start of a bombing campaign.

Our correspondent says that all buses in Volgograd have been ordered back to their depots to be searched for any sign of explosives.

One man whose daughter survived the explosion told Moscow Echo radio: "It was a powerful explosion - a huge blast. There were lots of students on the bus."
Another man, who was driving behind the bus, told Rossiya-24 television: "There was a blast - a bang - all the glass flew out of the windows. The cloud of smoke quickly dissipated and then I saw people start to fall out and run out to escape the bus. It was a horrible sight."

Earlier reports had suggested the blast might have been caused by an exploding gas canister.
Volgograd lies about 900km (560 miles) south of Moscow and 650km north of the North Caucasus.
Vladimir Markin, of the Investigative Committee - Russia's equivalent of the FBI - told the RIA Novosti news agency: "A criminal case has been opened under articles outlining terrorism, murder and the illegal use of firearms."

Mr Markin was later quoted by the Interfax agency as identifying the suspected suicide bomber as a woman from Dagestan.
He said: "According to preliminary information, the self-explosion was carried out by a 30-year-old Dagestani native, Naida Akhiyalova.

"According to investigators' information, the woman entered the bus at one of the bus stops and, almost right after that, the bomb went off. That is also confirmed by one of the passengers who survived."

'Black widows' In recent years, Russia has seen a number of attacks by women suicide bombers known as black widows, who are often related to Islamist militants and carry out attacks to avenge their deaths.

Female suicide bombers struck at two underground railway stations in Moscow in 2010, killing more than 35 people.
They were also believed responsible for explosions on two passenger jets at a Moscow airport in 2004 that killed about 90 people.
Separatists in Chechnya have fought two wars with Russian forces over the past two decades.
But the violence has spread across the North Caucasus in recent years, including to mainly-Muslim Ingushetia and Dagestan.
Hundreds of people, including members of the government and security services, have been killed.
President Vladimir Putin has stepped up security in the North Caucasus ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics, which open in Sochi on 7 February.

 

 Russian TV broadcast footage said to show the moment the bomb went off

Earlier reports had suggested the blast may have been caused by an exploding gas canister

US sees Syria's Bashar al-Assad strengthened by rise of Islamist groups

Paris: The rise of Islamist groups fighting Syria's Western-backed rebels has emboldened the Syrian government and will make it harder to extract concessions from Damascus at any peace talks, a US official said on Monday.

The United States hopes to bring moderate elements of the Syrian opposition together with the government at a peace conference tentatively expected next month in Geneva to try to end a two-and-a-half year civil war in which more than 100,000 people have died.

The talks face great obstacles, including divisions within the opposition, fighting between rival rebel groups and President Bashar al-Assad's reluctance to give up power.


Speaking ahead of a gathering of ministers from some of the so-called Friends of Syria group seeking to bolster the moderate opposition, a senior US State Department official said that recent gains by Islamist groups would make the task harder.

Islamist groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have taken territory in parts of the north near the border with Turkey in recent weeks, forcing the Free Syrian Army (FSA) opposition force that is backed by some Western and Arab states to fight on two fronts.

"To me, the biggest single problem is that the regime probably feels more confident now because of the Islamic State of Iraq in Levant's actions on the ground," said the U.S. official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity.

He said this had forced the FSA to sent fighters north to confront these groups, weakening it against the government.

"That has to give the regime comfort and confidence, and it will make the task of extracting concessions from the regime at the negotiating table more difficult," the official said.

Kerry: 'Situation on ground irrelevant'

US Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters that events may have moved in Assad's direction since he and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced plans for the peace conference in May, but he sought to play this down.

"The situation on the ground is irrelevant to the question of the implementation of Geneva 1," Kerry said, referring to a 2012 UN-backed document that sought to end the war by getting the two sides to choose a transitional government.

"It doesn't matter whether you are up or whether you are down on the battlefield, the objective of Geneva 2 remains the same ... a transition government arrived at by mutual consent of the parties," he added.

"I don't know anybody who believes that the opposition will ever consent to Bashar al-Assad being part of that government," he said. "If he thinks he is going to solve problems by running for re-election, I can say to him ... this war will not end."

In a confident and animated performance on a Syrian television interview, Assad indicated he had no intention of quitting, saying he might run for re-election in 2014.

"Personally, I don't see any obstacles to being nominated to run in the next presidential elections," Assad told Syria's Al Mayadeen TV when asked if he thought it was suitable to hold the election, as scheduled, next year.

A number of officials, including Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby, have said they expect the "Geneva 2" conference to be held on November 23, though the United States, Russia and the United Nations have all said no date has been officially set.

Kerry will travel to London on Tuesday for a meeting of the so-called "London 11" nations seeking to bolster the Syrian opposition - to try to lay the groundwork for Geneva 2.

Britain, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United States will discuss the agenda for the meeting and how to help the opposition prepare for it, the US official said.

While Washington has said it is open to the possibility of Iran, which has supported Assad, coming to a Geneva conference, Kerry said it was hard to see Tehran playing a constructive role without its backing the idea of a transitional government.

​An app that sends alerts if satellites are spying on you

NEW YORK: A new smartphone app that tells you when and what imaging spacecraft might be watching you has been developed in the US.NEW YORK: A new smartphone app that tells you when and what imaging spacecraft might be watching you has been developed in the US.

The app, SpyMeSat, provides notifications when spy satellites and unclassified imaging satellites are zooming above your head and may be taking your picture.

All of the imaging satellites in SpyMeSat are in low-Earth orbit at an altitude of about 805km, SPACE.com reported. Enabled SpyMeSat satellites include such zoom-lens notables as GeoEye, the French space agency's SPOT-5, India's CartoSat-2A, DigitalGlobe's WorldView satellites and Canada's RADARSAT-2.

"I actually got the idea for the app from talking to friends outside the aerospace industry who were always very interested in space and satellites and imaging from space. This app answers those questions in a fun and interactive way," said Alex Herz, president of Orbit Logic in Greenbelt, Maryland which developed the app.

The app uses available public information about commercial and international imaging satellites. It also uses orbit data from the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). SpyMeSat does not include all imaging spacecraft. No classified imaging satellites, from any nation, have their orbit information published, so these satellites do not show up in the app.

Nokia counts on larger screens to help keep up momentum

In what could turn out to be its last big event before Microsoft takes over, Nokia Tuesday is expected to add large-screen smartphones and a tablet to its Lumia family as well as upgrade its portfolio of low-cost smartphones.

In less than a month, Nokia shareholders will vote on Microsoft’s offer to buy the company’s device business. But for now, the two companies are just close partners that continue to try to increase Windows Phone sales and, with the rumored launch of the Lumia 2520 tablet, turn around Windows RT’s fortunes.

Company official declined to comment on the rumors, but reports of a Nokia tablet based on Windows RT have been floating around for some time.

“The bottom line is the challenges with Windows RT remain, especially related to the ecosystem around the OS. That’s not going to go away tomorrow,” said Roberta Cozza, research director at Gartner.

TCS bags multi-million dollar IT deal from Bombardier

 

IT services major TCS has bagged a multi-million dollar deal from leading rail vehicles maker Bombardier Transportation for managing IT infrastructure of its newly commissioned data centres.

"The multi-year, multi-million deal, is the first that TCS has signed with a rail-transportation technology provider," TCS said.

It did not reveal financial details of the deal.

Bombardier Transportation is a world leader in rail transportation with operations in over 60 countries.

As part of the contract, TCS will provide remote infrastructure management (RIM) of Bombardier Transportation's recently established data centres in Germany.

The new data centres will establish a technology platform for Bombardier, through introduction of private cloud services paired with a high level of virtualisation, the statement said.

TCS will also provide SAP Basis support to Bombardier Transportation.

"India is central to Bombardier's Information Services strategy - our relationship with TCS offers operational excellence in markets around the world," Bombardier Transportation Vice President Thomas Leidenbach said.

Sapthagiri Chapalapalli, Head of Central Europe at TCS, said: "This is a strategic step forward for TCS as it establishes us as a partner of choice for infrastructure services in the German market."

TCS' Central Europe operations (an operating area cutting across Germany and Austria) comprise over 4,000 professionals, servicing more than 80 leading German and Austrian companies such as Commerzbank, Daimler, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Borse, as well as growing set of upper midsize companies.

Backed by large deal wins from Europe and the US, TCS last week announced better than expected 34 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 4,702 crore for the July-September quarter this year.

Sachin Tendulkar: Never before, never again

Introducing Sachin in our dna, a series leading up to Tendulkar's 200th Test at Wankhede.

Four weeks remain before Sachin Tendulkar’s illustrious career comes to an end at his home ground, Wankhede Stadium, against the West Indies. I have known Sachin for a long time and have spent a lot of time with him on the tours of New Zealand (1990), England (1990) and Australia (1991-92). He is extremely passionate about the game and simply cannot live without cricket.
For him, cricket is everything. I am sure his decision to retire must have been the toughest decision for him simply because he has been playing the game non-stop for 30 years. Right from his school days to now, he has been going to the gym, training hard and spending quality time in the nets. Even today, he is as motivated and as committed as he was when he started playing the game. That’s his level of passion. That he won’t be playing the game at the competitive level after the Mumbai Test (against the West Indies) would surely hurt him big time.

Sachin has achieved what nobody in the history of cricket has achieved. I cannot think of anyone even coming close to achieving what Sachin has. It’s tough for a great player to hang up his boots simply because he has spent all his life, or say the best years of his life, doing what he knows best besides, of course, working hard to keep up the standards he has set for himself. Suddenly, he won’t have to wake up and go to  the ground or play in a match. It will be tough, but I guess as time goes by, he will get used to it.

There is so much media hype surrounding his retirement, but Sachin has seen it all many a time in his career. He is no rookie when it comes to big occasions and I feel he will handle it the way he has been handling tough, emotional situations all his life. Surely, this one will be different; people will expect him to score a century in his last Test match.

There are always big expectations whenever Sachin goes in to bat. Such expectations come not just from within India but also from all over the world. I guess those who have watched Sir Don Bradman or Sir Garfield Sobers must have had the same feeling or expectations whenever and wherever they played.

For all that Sachin has achieved, to me personally, he is a wonderful human being. He is one who always respects his elders and is ever so humble. He is loved by all. Even after achieving so much, be it fame or fortune, his feet are rooted firmly to the ground. He hasn’t changed much since I saw him first in 1988. He is always helpful to newcomers and tries his best to make them feel at home.
When he first arrived on the international stage, he was extremely mature for his age. He was ready for big cricket. He had the head of a 24-year-old on his 16-year-old frame. Skill-wise, there is not much of a difference among most 15 or 16-year-olds, but those who are mentally tougher, play the game at the highest level earlier than those who are late bloomers.

Sachin looked exceptional for a schoolboy cricketer. When I took him to the nets to face Kapil Dev and other India bowlers, he was not at all overawed by the presence of some of the great players of that era. Besides, he had a lot of time while playing the pacers.
—As told to G Krishnan

(Dilip Vengsarkar has played 116 Tests for India from January 1976 to February 1992. He led India in 10 Tests and has the unique feat of scoring a century in each of his three Test appearances at the Lord’s Cricket Ground)

Laptops distributed by Rajasthan govt of little use to students in rural areas

 

 Leela was given an Acer laptop for topping her class but she can hardly understand the English stories recited on her new gadget. (IE Photo: Anil Sharma)

Gehlot govt may have distributed laptops, cheques for tablets under the Rajiv Gandhi Vidhyarthi Digital Yojana, but they are of little use to students in rural areas. Many feel hiring more teachers instead would have helped.
 
The new Mathematics teacher at Matasula Secondary School, located in an interior tribal village in Udaipur, is having nightmares. He has to teach simple addition, subtraction and multiplication to even Class IX and X students. Among the "brightest" students in these classes are Hitesh Kumar Ranji and Leela Kumari. 

Hitesh, a Class X student, has learnt division and Leela, a Class IX student, is learning "tenses".
Hitesh and Leela have been rewarded with an Acer laptop each for topping in Class VIII in 2011-12 and 2012-13 respectively. The others in the top 10 in Class VIII have got cheques of Rs 6,000 each to buy PC tablets. Their parents have submitted "receipts" from a stationary shop from where they purportedly bought them. The students, however, don't seem to have any clue about the PC tablets.
Ahead of the Assembly polls, this is the Congress regime's much-publicised contribution to GenNext in, what Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot says, making them "technically more proficient" under the Rajiv Gandhi Vidhyarthi Digital Yojana (RGVDY). 

About 3.5 lakh students across the state have got these cheques ostensibly to buy tablets. Toppers in Classes VIII, X and XII were given laptops by the debt-ridden Rajasthan government, taking the total expenditure under the RGVDY to an estimated Rs 422 crore. 

The laptop opens with the picture of the late prime minister on the screen. Hitesh and Leela know it is Rajiv Gandhi but don't know who he was. While Hitesh is more eager to know whether "the government can give him a job after studies", Leela's problem is more immediate. "I am trying to understand past continuous tense," she says. But that still won't be enough for her to understand the "English stories" that are recited on her new gadget.

For BJP state units, there is no bigger star than Narendra Modi

 

Unlike in the past, this elections none of the BJP units in the poll-bound states of Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan wants Bollywood stars or former cricketers to campaign for the party candidates. All they want is Narendra Modi. 

The demand for the BJP's prime ministerial candidate to attend rallies in these states has been such that the party central unit is struggling to accommodate the dates to their satisfaction, according to sources in the party. 

"No state unit is demanding actors and actresses for campaigning this time. The only hero they are demanding is Narendra Modi," confided a senior party functionary. 

He said Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who is the convenor of party's programme implementation and coordination committee that schedules election tour programmes of senior leaders, is struggling to accommodate the demands. 

Sources said the central party has secured at least 10 days from Modi in the next month — between November 2 and December 2 — for electioneering in these four poll-bound states. Modi is expected to address at least 25 election rallies in this period. 

While the exact dates and location of these rallies are still being worked out in consultation with respective state units, Modi is tentatively expected to devote four days in Madhya Pradesh and three days in Rajasthan. Additionally, his services will be used for at least two days in Chhattisgarh and at least one day in Delhi for the assembly elections. 

Party sources said that while these engagements of Modi are necessitated by the assembly elections, the party is not taking its eyes off the election preparations for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
The party plans to hold public meetings in 458 Lok Sabha constituencies that will addressed by about 30 top central leaders. They would include members of party parliamentary board, prominent general secretaries and chief ministers among others.

Sonam Kapoor, Sania Mirza are health freaks

 

More than 16,000 participated in the second Max Bupa Walk for Health initiative, flagged off by tennis ace Sania Mirza and Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor in New Delhi and Mumbai on Sunday (October 20). (PTI/Varinder Chawla) 

Max Bupa Walk for Health is a first of its kind initiative which aims to encourage people to walk more. (Photo: Varinder Chawla) 

Celebrities like Pooja Bedi, Kunal Kohli, Dilip Tahil, Raza Murad, Meiyang Chang and Smriti Irani also participated in Mumbai. (Photo: Varinder Chawla) 

 

The five kilometre walk in Delhi was flagged off by Sania Mirza. (PTI)  

 

Popular television host Manish Paul, who will soon make his Bollywood debut with 'Mickey Virus', was spotted at the event with Sania. (PTI)  

Expressing her belief in the initiative, Sania said, "More and more people are realising the importance of being fit and healthy." She added: "I personally believe that walking is a great way to stay fit and I encourage everyone to start walking as it is the easiest and the best way to get healthier." (PTI)

Raveena Tandon launches jewellery collection

Bollywood raised a toast to Raveena Tandon who has made her maiden attempt at jewellery designing. Bollywood's whos who including sisters Shilpa and Shamita Shetty, Shabana Azmi, Divya Dutta were spotted at the jewellery launch hosted by partner Raveena Tandona and Roop Vohra. (Photo: Varinder Chawla) 

 

Raveena looked radiant in a red-pink Anita Dongre outfit comprising plain hot pink tunic and palazzos. Raveena opted for her own jewellery which was well highlighted with the dress. (Photo: Varinder Chawla) 

Actress and entrepreneur Shilpa Shetty, attended the event in a Zara skirt that she paired with a white blouse and a belt. Shilpa opted for nude heels and added a Louboutin Tower clutch to her look. We like! (Photo: Varinder Chawla) 

Sister Shamita was spotted in an all black outfit. Shamita opted for no jewellery show, at the jewellery launch! (Photo: Varinder Chawla)

 

Ladies of the hour – Raveena Tandon poses with her partner Roop Vohra. (Photo: Varinder Chawla) 

I am not going to keep Karwa Chauth fast for Saif: Kareena Kapoor

Kareena Kapoor: I am a Kapoor... I can't live without food. (IE Photo: Vasant Prabhu)

Actress Kareena Kapoor will not observe fast on the occasion of Karwa Chauth tomorrow as she does not believe in going without food for her actor-husband Saif Ali Khan. 

"I dont need to starve to prove my love. I am not going to fast. I am a Kapoor... I can't live without food. I would celebrate it by eating, working, by promoting my film," Kareena, who got married to Saif last year, said. 

The actress, who is the brand ambassador of Malabar Gold and Diamond, launched a online store here.

She said that online shopping saves her a lot of time."Whatever jewellery I bought myself from my hard earned money is special to me. Gold and diamond are the best fashion statement in jewelry," she said. 

Kareena says she does not follow any trend and prefers to wear light jewellery.

Supreme Court blocks 157 clinical trials, says must follow new regime

SC made it clear that clinical trials being conducted in India must be done for the benefit of the people. (AP)

The fate of 157 government-approved global clinical trials seemed uncertain on Monday as the Supreme Court ordered the Centre to wait for its nod while the authorities re-examined the cases under the new regulatory regime. 

Making it clear that clinical trials being conducted in India must be done for the benefit of the people here, a bench of Justices R M Lodha and S K Singh directed the government to put the trials through the new stringent three-tier test. 

The Indian Express had reported that of the 162 approvals granted by the Drug Controller General of India until August 31 this year, 157 trials were cleared in 2012, after a nod from just the New Drug Advisory Committees (NDACs). They escaped the new regulatory regime — a three-tier test involving the NDACs, technical committee and apex committee — which was put in place following the SC's order in January. 

Between January 1and August 31 this year, only five trials were cleared under the new three-tier test.

After Additional Solicitor General Sidharth Luthra admitted that 157 trials were not evaluated by the technical and apex committees, the bench asked him to get it done, and submit the reports to the court by December 16. 

"The committees shall keep in view all the relevant aspects of clinical trials and efficacy data, particularly in terms of assessment of risk vs benefits to patients, innovation vis-a-vis existing therapeutic options, and medical needs of the country," it said. 

The bench said it would not pass any order on carrying out these 157 trials until it was satisfied that the safety of the subjects was not being jeopardised, and that the trials would benefit India.

On the remaining five trials, the bench said they could be proceeded with, but only after "proper framework is in place concerning audio-video recording for informed consent of the subjects and presentation of requisite documents while simultaneously adhering to the principle of confidentiality".

CBI directs its attention to PMO as coal scam investigation gathers steam

The Central Bureau of Investigation has directed its attention on the role of the Prime Minister’s Office. The agency says it is quite aware of the fact that the ‘competent authority’ as mentioned in its latest FIR on the coal blocks scam is none other than the PMO.
The CBI has made it clear that its investigation will look into role of ‘competent authority’ which the agency has mentioned in its FIR against industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla and former coal secretary PC Parakh.
CBI has claimed that during initial rounds of questioning, former coal secretary Parakh had disclosed that his decision was endorsed by “the competent authority”. The PMO in a recent statement confirmed that the prime minister, who was heading the coal ministry at that time, ‘approved the proposal on October 1, 2005’. “We knew that it was the Prime Minister’s Office which cleared that file of Talabira coal block. And this fact was endorsed by the former coal secretary PC Parakh also during his questioning. At this moment, we are not leaving any stone unturned, as  it is a Supreme Court-monitored probe. We are also looking into the role of the prime minister’s office as well,” said a top CBI official.

The CBI officials have also said that some officials of the PMO will be asked to explain their position at the later stage, when it is required.
“We cannot jump the gun by saying that PMO officials will be questioned. But, surely, some of them will have to explain their position, when required. After all, the PMO was the one which gave the final approval for Talabira allocation,” the official added.

The CBI is expected to file a chargesheet in the case against Birla and Parakh within the time limit of 60 days. For this, CBI will have to interrogate Parakh and other top office-bearers of Hindalco.
In a case registered last week, the agency said that two coal blocks in Odisha were illegally granted in 2005 by Parakh to Hindalco, an aluminium-making company owned by Birla. The agency says that Parakh’s decision was endorsed by the ‘competent authority’.

Even Parakh has also told media that he did not take the decision on his own and it was sanctioned by the minister-in-charge. And at that point of time the minister-in-charge was the prime minister Manmohan Singh.
Meanwhile, the CBI will file its status report in the Supreme Court on its coal scam probe on Tuesday.

Ceasefire violations: Sushilkumar Shinde to visit J&K today

Srinagar: In view of repeated ceasefire violations from across the border along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde will visit the areas along the International Border on Tuesday to assess the security situation on ground.

The Home Minister is expected to reach J&K at around 9:30 AM.



"We have sufficient information that there has been an infiltration. This might be the result of decisions taken by the Indian Government against militants in the past few years," Shinde told media yesterday. 

Shinde’s visit comes after J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday asked the Centre to explore other options if Pakistan continues to violate ceasefire.

Omar said ceasefire along the LoC and International Border was one of the major steps that was mutually agreed by both the countries.
A total of 136 ceasefire violations have been reported in 2013, the highest in the past 8 years.

Nitish Kumar cannot stop Narendra Modi from entering Bihar: Rabri Devi

"Lalu Prasad had the guts to stop the rath of L K Advani but Nitish Kumar does not have the strength to stop Narendra Modi," she was quoted as saying by party spokesman Randhir Yadav.

Rabri Devi

RJD leader Rabri Devi said Chief Minister Nitish Kumar does not have the strength to stop Narendra Modi from coming to Bihar, the way her husband Lalu Prasad Yadav had stopped L K Advani during his rath yatra in 1990.
"Lalu Prasad had the guts to stop the rath of L K Advani but Nitish Kumar does not have the strength to stop Narendra Modi," she was quoted as saying by party spokesman Randhir Yadav.
Advani was arrested on October 23, 1990 at Samastipur in Bihar by the then government of Lalu Prasad when the BJP patriarch was on his way to Ayodhya from Somnath via central India to garner support for the Ayodhya temple.

Hitting out at BJP too, Rabri Devi, who has been chosen by RJD leaders to 'guide' the party in the absence of her jailed husband Lalu Prasad, said notwithstanding the hue and cry raised by the party leaders, Narendra Modi would have "no impact" in Bihar.

The former chief minister also criticised Nitish Kumar for the acquittal of all accused in Lakshamanpur-Bathe massacre in which 58 dalits were killed.

"Nitish Kumar should tell the people that if all the accused acquitted by Patna High Court were innocent then who killed the innocent the dalits?" she said.
She also attacked the ruling JD(U) for terming the June mid-day meal tragedy in Chapra an RJD "conspiracy".

Citing the chargesheet filed by police in the incident against the school principal and her husband, she asked the JD(U) as to on what basis it had accused the RJD in the incident.

ITBP 'gags' itself on China border row because of PM's Beijing trip

NEW DELHI: Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has cancelled its annual press conference scheduled for Tuesday for the fear of media asking uncomfortable questions on Chinese border incursions at a time when PM Manmohan Singh is visiting the country.
Senior officers of the force, which is without a chief for almost two months now, are afraid if any statement issued on the situation at India-China border falls out of line with the mood at the bilateral meet in Beijing on Tuesday, it could not only vitiate the atmosphere but also lead to action against them for speaking out of line.
"The problem has arisen because of the PM's visit and press conference coinciding. There is no DG in the force and the officer in charge or even other officers are wary of fielding questions on China. Thus it has been decided to cancel the press conference," said a senior ITBP official.
The anxiety of officers is understandable given that border issues are expected to be top of the list in the discussions between Singh and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.
Before leaving for Russia-China visit Singh had indicated that the proposed border cooperation agreement with China will top the agenda and that he would discuss the issue with Premier Li with a forward-looking and problem-solving approach.
Singh had noted that together India and China have reached important consensus on maintaining peace and tranquility on the border and made preliminary progress towards settlement of the India-China boundary issue.
Officials on both sides are working on a Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) to avoid face-off between their armies against the backdrop of a prolonged intrusion by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops in the Depsang Valley in eastern Ladakh in April. There are indications that the agreement may be signed during the visit.