A major catastrophe was averted at the Mumbai international airport this morning when the engine on a Riyadh bound Boeing 747 Air India flight caught fire while the craft was taxiing to the runway.

AI 829 carrying 213 passengers was preparing for takeoff when a passenger noticed a spark go off on the right side of the craft and immediately informed the attendant who in turn alerted the pilot and takeoff was aborted. 

All passengers were evacuated to safety via slides and were taken back to the terminal while fire officials continued to work on the aircraft.

Fire tenders rushed to the spot to handle the situation.

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A qawwali spoof hailing Jaswant Singh's word of praise for Mohd Ali Jinnah is getting popular in Pakistan

His own party has spurned him like a pariah years after he helped found it.

But, Jaswant Singh's courageous book has earned him quite a few fans across the Line of Control.

The former armyman has been offered a 21-gun salute at Pakistan's Qaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah's mausoleum by a qawaal.

Banke Miyan, a spoof on legendary Pakistani qawwali singer Aziz Miyan, has come out with a qawwali praising Jaswant Singh for risking a "phadda" (enmity) with his own partymen.

 
Wah ustad! Banke Miyan a spoof on legendary Pakistani qawwal Aziz Miyan singing praises for Jaswant Singh
 

The hugely popular animated qawwali was posted on Youtube on August 23 and has already been viewed by 999 people.

Jaswant Singh has been referred as 'Jassu bhaiya' in the qawwali and hailed for being a fan of Qaid-e-Azam.

Jaswant's expulsion from the party proved a boon for his book 'Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence' that sold like hotcakes. In fact, the publishers got a number of orders from Pakistan and Bangladesh too.

The qawwal in the video rises to his knees in the style of Aziz Miyan.

He is responsible for the longest commercially released Qawwali, Hashr Ke Roz Yeh Poochhunga, which runs slightly over 115 minutes and was originally released on two cassettes.

Radio Fan

Jaswant Singh has got another fan in Pakistan, the Punjabi Durbar programme of Radio Pakistan.

In its latest edition, the Punjabi Durbar programme has described all political parties of India, be it Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress or Shiv Sena, as being anti-Pakistan for voicing objections to Singh's book on Jinnah.
Radio Pakistan said Singh has paid a huge price for his biography of Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan.

Many Indian scholars have sympathised with Singh, but have taken exception to Pakistan Radio describing all Indian political parties as anti-Pakistan.

Anil Kumar, a historian and a commentator on current affairs, said that political parties in India have tried their best to cultivate good relations with Pakistan ever since Independence. "India has been maintaining friendly relationship with Pakistan since 1947.

It is surprising that broadcasters of Radio Pakistan expect political parties in India to sing praise of Jinnah, who was chiefly responsible for the division of the sub-continent on the basis of religious identities," Kumar said.
 

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Shock and grief over the death of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy in a helicopter crash has claimed as many as 67 lives across the state since Thursday, media reports said Friday.

About 60 people died of shock on hearing the news of their leader's death over television, others committed suicide, unable to bear the loss. Most of those who died of shock were watching news of YSR's death on television.

Telugu television channels have put the number of YSR's admirers who lost their lives at 67. This is the first time in the state's history that such a large number of people have died of shock or committed suicide over the death of any political leader.

YSR, as the late leader was popularly known, has surpassed even in his death the popularity of actor and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) founder N.T. Rama Rao who died in 1996.

A large number of those who died of shock include young supporters and fans of YSR and the beneficiaries of various welfare schemes launched by him during last five years. They suffered cardiac arrest following the news of the chief minister's death in crash.

The deaths were reported from 19 out of 23 districts in the state. In the coastal district of West Godavari alone six people died of shock and four committed suicide.

"YSR dedicated his life to people, I am dedicating my life to him," a youth wrote in his suicide note before consuming pesticides.

A physically handicapped couple, who were getting monthly pension under a welfare scheme, attempted suicide by jumping into the Godavari river but were saved by fishermen.

In Hyderabad, 42-year-old Yadgiri died of shock while watching news of YSR's death on television. M. Srinivas, 30, suffered cardiac arrest.
 

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Andhra CM, YSR Reddy, Nallamalla forests, missing chopper  
 Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy and four others have been killed, officials in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) confirmed on Thursday, more than 24 hours after his helicopter went missing in a densely forested area.

"The bodies have been recovered. They will be taken to Hyderabad for post-mortem," a PMO official in New Delhi said shortly after the mangled remains of the Bell helicopter were found on a hilltop in Kurnool, about 200 km from here.

Helicopters, search parties and villagers had conducted the search in pouring rain for a whole day and night in the forested hinterland for the wreckage, which was finally located about 40 nautical miles east of Kurnool town.

The 60-year-old chief minister, popularly known as YSR, was going to Chittoor, 588 km from this state capital, for a mass contact programme when his helicopter went missing in inclement weather around 9.30 am on Wednesday in the Nallamalla forests.

With YSR, who this May steered the Congress to a second stint in power, was his principal secretary P Subramaniam, his chief security officer ASC Wesley and the two pilots of the ill-fated helicopter - Group Captain SK Bhatia and Captain MS Reddy.

The news stunned the Congress. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi are expected to reach Hyderabad on Thursday.

There was shock, disbelief and tears in Andhra Pradesh as news came in that there were no survivors from the crash.

"He is my god. I can't believe that he is no more," said an inconsolable Congress worker.

Crowds gathered outside the state secretariat, the chief minister's camp office and Gandhi Bhavan, the headquarters of the ruling Congress.

YSR was last seen on Wednesday morning when he went to launch the Rachcha Banda, a mass contact programme, in Chittoor despite apprehensions of bad weather.

It was only around 5 am on Wednesday that senior police officials in Chittoor district were informed by the chief minister that he would be visiting Anuppalle village to launch Rachcha Banda programme.

A day after the budget session of the state assembly concluded, YSR had chosen a remote village in Anuppalle to launch the programme of surprise visits to villages to know people's problems.

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Indonesian authorities on Wednesday issued a tsunami warning after an earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale rocked Java island, including the capital Jakarta.

The quake struck at 2.55 pm (0755 GMT) with its epicentre 142 km south-west of Tasikmalaya district in West Java.

It shook buildings in Jakarta, sending residents running out of their homes in panic.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

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Lady Di replied to him. So did Michael Jackson, Ronald Reagan, Yasser Arafat, Pele and David Beckham. Why you may wonder are royalty and legends corresponding with a humble Orissa villager? Because one fine day, to find out if celebs actually respond, he shot off a letter to Margaret Thatcher - and she wrote back!

And that was the beginning of a lifetime's passion.

Priyabrat Biswal, 40, a small time transporter, sits in his humble house in Olihan village in Puri district flipping through a carefully preserved album that contains hundreds of letters and signed photographs from the who's who of the world.

"When in school, I was curious whether celebrities reply when ordinary people write to them. I gathered the courage to write a letter to then prime minister Indira Gandhi way back in 1984. But unfortunately, the same month she was assassinated," said Biswal.

However, that did not dampen Biswal's spirit. He continued to write letters to world leaders and one day Biswal received a reply from former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher.

"I jumped with joy and showed it to everyone in my village. It was signed October 7, 1987," he said showing his prized collection.

His first success egged him on and he continued to write letters to people who had achieved glory in literature, sports, politics and other fields.

And his perseverance paid off. He got replies from former country heads, queens, Nobel laureates, astronauts and sports icons.

Biswal got responses from Michael Jackson, Dominique Lapierre, Kofi Annan, Bill Gates, George Bush Sr, Ronald Reagan, Yasser Arafat, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Corazon C Aquino, Lady Diana and the queen of Denmark.

Among sports legends, Pele, Mohammad Ali, David Beckham, Carl Lewis, Nadia Comaneci, Rod Laver, Steffi Graf, Michael Jordan, Florence Griffith Joyner and Goldie Sayers have responded to his letters.

Even astronauts like Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin have responded though he regrets not having a letter from Indian astronaut Rakesh Sharma.

The Indian celebrities who have replied to him are Amitabh Bachchan, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Ramesh Krishnan, Vikram Seth, JRD Tata, Sachin Tendulkar and PT Usha.

Biswal's collection is the envy of any collector despite the fact that he lost almost 500 photographs during the cyclone in Orissa in 1999.

He has some photographs in his collection of the times when the legends were not as well known as they are today. And he has collected these rare photographs despite having no access to modern means of communication. Sometimes he has written hundreds of letters to celebrities goading them for years.

"It has certainly not been an easy task. Sometimes I have to write hundreds of letters to get their response. I had followed Bill Clinton for eight years since he was the governor of Arkansas and I got a signed photograph after he assumed office," he said leafing through his meticulously preserved album.

"Sometimes I have to pay money to the agents of celebrities to get their addresses as celebrities don't disclose their address due to security reasons, especially after 9/11. I have paid anything from $2 to $50 to get their addresses," he said, adding that he was sometimes financially supported by his brother who is a software engineer in the US.

The letters have helped him strike a personal bond with these celebrities.

"Recently a noted sarod player came to my house and stayed with me for a few hours. British javelin thrower Goldie Sayers has said he will come to my house during the Commonwealth Games in Delhi."

Despite having many offers to auction his collection, he is reluctant to part with it. Instead he wants to set up a museum and donate the proceeds for setting up a school.

Olihan is some 60 km from state capital Bhubaneswar.
 

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Overcoming opposition from his family and community, a Muslim man left his ancestral profession of singing qawwalis to sing Hindu hymns in the temples of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. Today he is much sought after by devotees there.

For Rojan Ali, 55, a farmer living in Chaubeypur town of Varanasi district, some 250 km from here, singing was his way of reaching out to god.

"After offering morning prayers in the mosque, I go to a number of temples in the holy city to sing bhajans," Ali told IANS over telephone.

"I derive immense pleasure from this activity. I just cannot put my feelings into words. I can only say that the entire period during which I sing the religious songs, I feel connected with the almighty," he added.

It was nearly 30 years ago that he decided to stop singing qawwalis and opted for bhajans.

"I started giving stage performances with my father while I was just 15. At that time, I came into contact with some youths in Varanasi, who used to sing devotional Hindu songs that impressed me a lot. I started meeting them frequently and gradually we became friends."

"As I grew up, I realised I was not able to satiate my urge to sing devotional songs...Just to fulfil that urge I took up singing devotional songs when I reached 25," recalled Ali, who sings kirtans and also pens bhajans.

Ali had to face a lot of opposition from his family and community.

"My parents, relatives all opposed my decision... I expected strong reactions from them. It all continued for several months. However, during the period I managed to convince an aged Muslim cleric, whom my father respected a lot," he said.

"It was the cleric, who softened the stand of my father, who allowed me to sing devotional songs even though a number of relatives were still against the decision," he added.

Now, Ali, along with his 21-year-old son, performs in several of Varanasi's prominent temples, including Sankata Mata, Sheetla Mata and a number of mutts.

"Listening to Rojanbhai is really charming. We really feel proud to have him in our village as an example of the Ganga-Jamuni (syncretic) culture," said Aman Chandra, a resident of Jalhupur village near Chaubeypur town.

Echoing similar sentiments, Paras Kumar, a resident of the same village, said: "The best thing about Rojan is that he does not charge any money for singing bhajans. We voluntarily give him money for his performance."

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A government official, who was abducted by the Maoist guerrillas Monday, has been rescued, police said Wednesday.

Alok Kumar, Circle Officer (CO) of Paki block of Palamau district, was rescued from the forest of Manatu block in the district Tuesday around 11.45 p.m., a police officer said.

About 20 rebels of the Jharkhand Liberation Tiger (JLT) had abducted Alok Kumar at gun point from Kekargarh village of Palamau, 190 km from state capital Ranchi, late Monday evening.

Kumar was abducted when he went to the village for selecting the Aganwadi members. According to sources, the Maoists had demanded a ransom of Rs.20 lakh.

An operation was launched to rescue Kumar, the officer added. "It was the police operation that forced the rebels to release Kumar," he said.

Maoist guerrillas are active in 18 of the 24 districts of Jharkhand. Nearly 1,550 people have been killed in Maoist-related violence in the last eight years.

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The Delhi High Court on Wednesday upheld a Central Information Commission (CIC) order that judges should declare their assets and the office of the Chief Justice of India would be the public authority to assess those assets.

In a historical judgement, Justice S Ravindra Bhat said judges are accountable but they are also subjective to some constraints.

"The dignity of the judges add value to the democracy. Judges are under public attack and revealing of assets and other information may increase the reputation of the judges," Bhat said.

The judge also noted that the office of Chief Justice of India is a public authority and it is well within the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

"Chief Public Information Officer of the Supreme Court shall release the information about the declaration of the assets to the petitioner within four weeks of time," he said.

The court refused to comment on the recent development of declaration of assets by judges of various state high courts.

The Delhi High Court May 4 had reserved its order on an apex court plea challenging CIC's order that judges declare their assets.

Solicitor General GE Vahanvati contended before Justice Bhatt that disclosure of information on personal assets by judges will affect the independence of the judicial system.

"If we introduce transparency to an extent which would disturb the working of the judges, then it would affect the independence of the judicial system," Vahanvati had said.
 

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The US has taken very seriously the reports about illegal modifications made in the American-made Harpoon anti-ship missile by Pakistan, to expand capabilities to strike land targets, a potential threat to India, even as Islamabad has agreed for mutual inspections.

"This is something that we take very seriously. We have raised the issue with the Pakistani government. The (Pak) government has responded with an agreement in principle for mutually agreed inspections," the Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs PJ Crowley, said when asked about a news report published in The New York Times.

In a news report published August 30, The New York Times, quoting unnamed American official, said the US has accused Pakistan of illegally modifications in the Harpoon anti-ship missile to expand its capacity to strike land targets, a potential threat to India. Between 1985 and 1988 the Ronald Reagan administration delivered 165 Harpoon missiles to Pakistan.

"In this particular case, we have some concerns. We shared them with the Government of Pakistan. The Government of Pakistan has been responsive," Crowley said. "We would wait and see if those inspections can address the concerns that we have raised," he said.

The US has also accused Pakistan of modifying American-made P-3C aircraft for land-attack missions. Both are violations of the US law, including the Arms Control Export Act.

"I am not going to talk about specific issues, brought up in the story. We watch this closely. These are important agreements. This is not about any one country. With any country with which we exchange our defence articles, we have this kind of agreement," Crowley said.

"When we have concerns about how those systems should be used, we raise these concerns with the appropriate governments," he noted.

The violation by Pakistan were first noted by the American intelligence agencies on April 23, The New York Times said, when Pakistan had an unannounced suspicious missile test, that appeared to give the country a new offensive weapon.

While Pakistan has denied those charges. The modified version of the missile would be a significant new entry into Pakistan's arsenal against India as these would enable its small navy to strike targets on land in India, this complementing the sizable land-based missile arsenal that Pakistan has developed.

Since early this year, when the Obama administration had proposed to triple the non-military aid and also increase its military assistance to Pakistan, a number of US lawmakers have been making similar charges against Pakistan and demanding that any military aid to the country should be conditional.

The Congress is in the final stages of taking a decision on providing $7.5 billion in civilian aid to Pakistan. The latest expose has the potential to derail this, the daily said.
 

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