News around
Countdown for GSLV-D5 launch begins
 |
It will be launched at 4:50 PM on Monday.
Sindhurakshak tragedy: Navy divers open second access to submarine
 |
Battling
the odds, divers from the Navy continued their search for more bodies
on board submarine INS Sindhurakshak without any success but managed to
open a second access to the sunken vessel during an overnight "challenging but critical" operation.
The rescue team had extricated badly charred bodies of five of the 18 personnel trapped in the craft on Friday after gruelling efforts as naval authorities voiced worst fears that others on board might have been incinerated too.
"The divers have gained a second access to the submarine late last night when they successfully prised open the rear
escape hatch which was submerged below and jammed due to high
temperature," a release from the Navy said, terming the operation as "challenging but critical."
Also, opening of the jammed forward escape hatch is being attempted for an entry to the front portion of the submarine, it said.
Sources said the Navy divers are carrying out the task of searching within the submarine by "feeling each inch" due to zero visibility within flooded compartments to locate the missing bodies and mark a probable route to be used for further rescue operations.
The identification of the five bodies recovered so far is being given high priority and all means including DNA
profiling is being carried out, a Defence spokesman said.
Doctors at the state-run J J Hospital have completed post-mortem on the bodies recovered from the submarine.
"DNA samples and dental marks have been taken (to ascertain identity)," said an official, adding all these will
be sent for forensic analysis.
Jaiswal admits files missing
Union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal has admitted that some files related to coal block allocation were not with the Coal Ministry.
A committee headed by an Additional Secretary of the ministry is inquiring into how the files have gone missing.
It will also coordinate with other government departments for tracing their copies of the missing files.
The
opposition parties have meanwhile, expressed serious concern over the
missing files while Congress said that missing files will not hamper the
investigations. Hundreds missing in Philippine ferry disaster
Rescuers in helicopters and boats were on Saturday desperately searching for nearly 300 people missing after a ferry sank in the Philippines, with at least 24 already confirmed killed.The Thomas Aquinas ferry was carrying 870 passengers and crew when it collided with a cargo ship yesterday night in calm waters near the port of Cebu, the Philippines' second biggest city, authorities said.
While 572 people had been rescued by today morning, 274 were still unaccounted for and 24 bodies had been retrieved,
Rear Admiral Luis Tuason, vice commandant of the Philippine coastguard said.
The accident occurred in the mouth of a narrow strait leading into the port between two and three kilometres (1.2-1.8 miles) from shore at 9.00pm (1300 GMT), authorities said.
One survivor, Maribel Manalo, 23, recounted to her brother the horror of suddenly being plunged into the cold water in darkness, and emerging from the chaos without her mother.
"She said there was a banging noise then the boat suddenly started sinking," the brother, Arvin Manalo said.
"They quickly strapped on life jackets and then jumped into the dark sea. She said they felt like they were pulled under.
"My sister said she pushed our mother up, but they got separated. My sister was rescued. My sister knows how to swim, but my mother does not."
He said their mother, 56, remained missing. Fifty-eight babies were among the passengers on board the ferry, according to the coastguard, and it was unclear how many of them survived.
Tuason told DZMM radio just after sunrise there were hopes that some of the missing had been picked up by fishermen who had joined in the rescue effort, or were still at sea.
"We are planning to deploy airforce choppers so there can be an aerial survey so we can find those still on the life rafts," he said.
But Tuason said he expected the death toll would climb substantially.
"Yes, that will still be a big number," he said.
Rachel Capuno, a security officer for the ferry's owners, told Cebu radio station DYSS that the vessel was sailing into port when it collided head-on with the cargo ship.
"The impact was very strong," she said, adding that the ferry sank within 30 minutes of the collision.
Cebu coastguard commander Weniel Azcuna told reporters the cargo ship, Sulpicio Express 7, had 36 crew members on board, but it did not sink.
Egypt considers disbanding Muslim Brotherhood
Egypt's prime minister has proposed disbanding the Muslim Brotherhood of ousted President Mohamed Mursi, the government said on Saturday, raising the stakes in a bloody struggle between the state and Islamists for control of the country.
Live
television showed a gunman firing at soldiers and police from the
minaret of a central Cairo mosque, with security forces shooting back at
the building where Mursi followers had taken shelter.
The
interior ministry said 173 people died in clashes across Egypt on
Friday, bringing the death toll from three days of carnage to almost
800.
Among
those killed was a son of Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie, shot
dead during a protest in Cairo's huge Ramses Square where about 95
people died in an afternoon of gunfire and mayhem on Friday.
Egyptian
authorities said they had rounded up more than 1,000 Islamists and
surrounded Ramses Square following Friday's "Day of Rage" called by the
Brotherhood to denounce a lethal crackdown on its followers on
Wednesday.
Witnesses said tear gas was fired into the mosque prayer room to try to flush everyone out and gunshots were heard.
Army foils infiltration bid along LoC in Kupwara
 |
"We
are not leaving anything to chance and combing operations are going on
in the area. So far no recoveries have been made from the scene of the
gun battle," he said.
The official said there were no casualties reported in the operation.EU to review relationship with Egypt
The EU will review its relations with Egypt, according to a joint statement by President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy and President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso. The leaders of the 28-member bloc have called for an immediate halt to violence in Egypt, for the resumption of political dialogue and a return to democratic rule. “While all should exert maximum restraint, we underline the particular responsibility of the interim authorities and of the army in bringing clashes to a halt,” the statement reads.US ‘ready for female president’ - Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama waded into the debate about the 2016 US election, saying that America was “ready” for a woman as president. “It’s just a question of who’s the best person out there,” the First Lady said in an interview to Parade magazine. “Children born in the last eight years will only know an African-American man being president of the United States. That changes the bar for all of our children, regardless of their race, their sexual orientation, their gender. It expands the scope of opportunity in their minds. And that’s where change happens.” Michelle Obama refused to speculate, however, on whether former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would run for the presidency in 2016.Leader of powerful drug cartel arrested in Mexico
The leader of the cocaine-trafficking Gulf Cartel was arrested by Mexican security forces on Saturday, according to local media. Mario Ramirez Trevino, known as X-20 or “The Bald One,” was reportedly apprehended in Tamaulipas state by the military. Washington estimates that the Gulf Cartel controls most of the cocaine and marijuana trafficking to the United States. The US had offered a $5 million bounty for Ramirez. The previous head of the illegal organization, Jorge Costilla - otherwise known as "El Coss" - was arrested in September 2012.Weapons smuggled from Syria destabilize Iraq - PM Maliki
Weapons and militants are crossing the Syrian border into Iraq, adding to the overall instability in the country, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki said on Saturday. He added that weapons provided by foreign nations for Syrian rebels and other fighters are ending up in Iraq. "The weapons provided to those killers in Syria have been smuggled to Iraq and those wolves that came from different countries to Syria are now sneaking into Iraq," Maliki saidIsrael strikes Syrian military position after shells hit Golan Heights
Israel has carried out a “pinpoint strike” on Syria after three shells hit Golan Heights on Saturday, a military spokesman said. Israeli military “forces carried out a pinpoint strike, targeting the source of the shooting. A hit was confirmed.” Army radio said the strikes destroyed a Syrian military position.
20:02
