SC asks Centre for river linking report

New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to file a progress report by April 23 on the Rs 500,000-crore river networking project to link major rivers by 2016. Work has already started on the second phase of the project.

During the resumed hearings on the matter before a bench of Justices Y.K. Sabharwal and A.R. Lakshmanan on Tuesday, the ministry of water resources informed the court about the steps taken by the task force set up by the government in this regard.

The ministry, in an affidavit, said the task force had held dialogues with state governments to forge a consensus on acceptable linkages or alternatives.

The Centre’s counsel, Sayed Naqvi, said a critical review group constituted in June 2003 will try to reach a consensus among the states after a review of the links proposed by the National Water Development Agency.

Naqvi said two links which the task force found feasible for quick implementation was the Ken-Betwa link comprising Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh and the Prabati-Kalisindh-Chamba link covering Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Kanishka amnesic witness

Vancouver (PTI): The key witness in the Air-India bombing trial, who now claims she cannot remember the evidence against one of the main accused Ajaib Singh Bagri, had given unfaltering accounts over several years, an investigator has testified.

Willy Laurie, a former agent with the Canadian security intelligence service, described six interviews he had with the woman between 1987 and 1990.

He said that not once did the woman confuse or change the details of her story, saying she was “100 per cent certain” that Bagri had arrived at her home to borrow her car the night before the explosions. When she asked Bagri where he was going, he replied, “to the airport”, Laurie said the witness told him, the Canadian media reported.

Bagri said he wanted to drop off luggage that he was sending on the plane and that he would be back later that night with the car, said the woman, who cannot be identified under a court order.

During her testimony last month, the woman said she couldn’t remember Bagri showing up at her home to borrow the vehicle but said she refused his request. She repeatedly told she couldn’t remember telling the authorities about the role Bagri played in the bombing.

Laurie has been called to testify to have the woman declared a hostile witness.

Bagri and co-accused Ripudaman Singh Malik are facing murder and conspiracy charges in the June 23, 1985 Kanishka bombing that killed 329 people.

Fog causes road deaths

Jaipur (PTI): Eighteen people, including 11 labourers, were killed and 48 injured in mishaps due to fog in Rajasthan on Tuesday.

Fourteen farm labourers were killed and nine injured when a jeep carrying them collided with a truck in Theekaria village on the Jaipur-Ajmer highway. While 11 died on the spot, three succumbed to injuries in hospital.

In another mishap, one passenger was killed and 39 injured when a bus turned turtle at Karauli. Three others were killed when their jeep collided with a tractor trolley at Dausa.

Militants shot dead

Srinagar (PTI): Two Al-Badr militants, including a Pakistani national, were shot dead in an encounter with the security forces in Zethan-Dangiwacha in Baramullah district on Tuesday. In another operation, a Hizb-ul Mujahideen militant was held in Batmullah and 4.5 kg of RDX seized from him.

Cable strike

Patna (PTI): Over 300 cable operators here went on an indefinite strike on Tuesday demanding withdrawal of the hike in subscription of pay channels and rationalisation of entertainment tax by the Bihar government.

Prisoner protests

Dindigul (PTI): A prisoner dashed his head against a wall on Tuesday, unable to bear the abuses of policemen. “The oral abuse of the policemen was unbearable, and I, being very sensitive, had no other go except smashing my head,” Manikandan said.

ISI case arrests

Ahmedabad (PTI): Three persons, including two brothers of Rasool Parti, “a most-wanted criminal”, were arrested in connection with an ISI conspiracy case.

J&K cellphones

Jammu (PTI): The Jammu and Kashmir consumers and public distribution department has filed a case with the state consumer commission against Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited for its failure to provide satisfactory mobile telephone services to consumers and has claimed compensation for poor services.

A snow leopard cub was rescued by a youth from Anantnag district, who later handed it over to the wildlife authorities, official sources in Srinagar said. Manzoor Ahmed Bhat found the cub shivering in the cold at the Eidgah at Dooru Shahabad on Sunday.