Pope in Diwali plea for children

New Delhi: Pope John Paul II on Thursday urged Hindus and Catholics worldwide to work together and help the underprivileged and innocent victims of war and violence, reports our special correspondent.

?During this season of Diwali, as you strive to overcome darkness through light, evil through goodness and hatred through love, I would like to propose to you, as one of your Christian friends, that we focus our attention on the evils in our society that afflict children,? the Pope said in a Diwali message released by the Vatican.

Greeting Hindus worldwide, the Vatican asked them to suggest ?what could be done to give children their rightful place in society. ?Our children are our future; they are the future of humanity,? the message said.

?Collaboration between Hindus and Christians with special regard to children? is one of the themes the Vatican has adopted this year.

The Diwali message recalled Jesus Christ?s words that we must be ?like children? to enter ?the kingdom of heaven?.

Nafisa fiance gets breather

Mumbai (PTI): Bombay High Court on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to businessman Gautam Khanduja, who fears arrest in a case registered against him for allegedly abetting the suicide of his fiancee and former beauty queen Nafisa Joseph.

The judge hearing Khanduja?s plea ordered that in the event of his arrest, he may be released on providing a surety of Rs 25,000. The court also restrained him from leaving the city without permission. Khanduja had moved the high court after the sessions court rejected his bail plea.

Nafisa?s father lodged a police complaint against Khanduja on September 30 after his daughter committed suicide on July 29. Apprehending arrest, Khanduja had moved court for anticipatory bail.

Denying charges of abetting the suicide, Khanduja had pleaded that at the time of the incident, he was not with the deceased in her flat.

Nafisa was with her close friend Poonam Malhotra and her trusted maid Durga, he added. Khanduja relied on media reports to suggest that Durga had witnessed heated arguments between Nafisa and her mother before she committed suicide.

CBI probe cry in porn case

Jammu (PTI): The family of former Miss Jammu Anara Gupta, the prime accused in a case involving production of pornographic movies, has demanded a CBI probe.

?Our sister Anara is a victim, not a culprit or an accused as police have made it out,? Prince said. ?This is a conspiracy against us, why have not the police arrested the real culprits?? he asked.

Guest control

Jammu (PTI): Jammu and Kashmir High Court has stayed the state government?s guest control order, which restricts the menu and the number of guests during marriage and other such ceremonies.

Defence top post

New Delhi (PTI): The chairman of the chiefs of staffs committee, S. Krishnaswamy, has said the country can go ahead with the appointment of the chief of defence staff as the groundwork for the creation of the post is done and there will not be any turf war between the three services for it. He also said the army should accept as inevitable a permanent role in fighting militancy.

Fraud case

Ahmedabad (PTI): A case of fraud has been lodged against two persons, including the son of a Gujarat minister, for allegedly refusing to give a man his truck in Dahod district. A trader alleged that he had left his truck with Arvind Parmar during the post-Godhra riots. When he returned, Parmar told him the truck had been set ablaze by a mob. The complainant claimed he found the truck with Umesh, son of Prabhatsinh Chauhan, a state minister.

Hit and dumped

New Delhi (PTI): A youth allegedly knocked down an 80-year-old man in south Delhi and dumped him on the roadside after offering to take him to hospital. Umesh Yadav?s car allegedly hit Shiv Narayan Mehrotra on Wednesday. When a crowd gathered, Yadav said he would take Mehrotra to hospital, but left him bleeding by the roadside. The old man was later taken to hospital where he died.

The French ambassador to India, Dominique Girard, and French consul-general Michel Seguy paid homage at the war memorial in Pondicherry, maintained by the French government, to mark Armistice Day.