36 killed in fighting in eastern Libya

TRIPOLI: Libya´s Health Ministry says fighting between troops loyal to a rogue general and two Islamist militias in the country´s second-largest city has killed 36 people.

A statement Saturday said 139 people were wounded in the fighting that broke out a day earlier in Benghazi when army troops under the command of Gen. Khalifa Hifter besieged the bases of the two militias.

Military aircraft and helicopters under Hifter´s command also flew over the city. The fighting halted Saturday.

The central government criticized Hifter´s attack, although many in the country were divided over the offensive.

Benghazi has been gripped by violence blamed on powerful militias who act outside of government control.

Benghazi´s airport was closed for the second day Saturday because of the fighting.

 

Food shortage kills 7 children in two days in Tharparkar

MITHI: Food shortage is once again at its worst in the famine-hit Tharparkar District in the Sindh province that has taken life of seven children in the past two days, Geo News reported on Saturday.

According to the hospital sources, two children were admitted in critical condition in the Civil Hospital of Mithi where one child could not survive, raising the toll to seven in two days who lost life due to malnutrition and other related diseases.

There are still 43 children in the hospital who are currently being treated for the same diseases. Two severely ill children were shifted to the Civil Hospital in Karachi.

The locals told that the patients are facing severe difficulties in the Mithi Civil Hospital due to lack of medical facilities and shortage of doctors.

 

Poisonous food sends more than 50 people to hospital

KARACHI: Condition of more than 50 people deteriorated after eating poisonous food in a wedding ceremony in Korangi area of Karachi late Friday night, Geo News reported.

According to rescue sources, the affected people were shifted to a nearby hospital and later transferred to Jinnah Hospital for medical treatment where the victims were said to be in stable condition.

Several affected persons were discharged after being provided first aid. They told that they had consumed food in a wedding last night that took place in Coast Guard area in Korangi after which their condition deteriorated.

Police have started investigation of the incident.

 

Train at Kochuveli station on ‘FIRE’

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A train that was stationed at Kochuveli Railway Station suddenly catches fire. A bogey completely gets consumed by flames. Oh! FIRE! FIRE! – yell the passengers inside. Suddenly, from somewhere, a Fire Force vehicle rushes to the spot.   People crowd around the burning bogey hearing loud cries from inside. In their presence, Fire force personnel jump into the train and take out all the passengers. But by then one passenger is found to have been charred to death. Finally, when the onlookers see the body, all their tension got released….it is a dummy… They clap their hands… What you have read now WAS JUST A MOCKDRILL jointly enacted by Fire Force and South Indian Railway officials on Saturday at around 11:30 am. But nobody could resist from believing that it was a reality… The bogey used in the operation was damaged one and fire was set using wood and coconut husks. Four rescue vehicles, Ambulance, about 30 fire force officials from Chenkachula-Chackai Fire stations and Railway officials took part in the drill.   As soon as the crowd came to know that the incident was just a mock show, several among them started capturing the moments in their mobile phones.

Mine tragedy: Turkish police clash with protesters

Ankara: Turkish police Friday dispersed protesters who were demanding compensation for nearly 300 miners killed in Tuesday's coal mine explosion in the western town of Soma.

An eyewitness said that clashes broke out as police used tear gas, water cannon and plastic bullets to disperse demonstrators who chanted anti-government slogans in Soma, about 480 km southeast of Istanbul, Xinhua reported.

Angry young protesters first marched to a hospital in the town and then responded with stones when intervened by riot police.

Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz Friday said that the death toll from the Soma mine fire disaster had reached 284 with most of the victims dying of carbon monoxide poisoning. He added that the number may reach 300 as 18 miners are still unaccounted for but are believed to be in the Soma mine when the tragedy befell.

The mine's operator Soma Komur has denied any allegations of negligence, saying they had all worked very hard and not seen such an incident in 20 years.

The disaster has triggered nationwide protests against the government in the past three days.

Hundreds of women staged a protest in Istanbul demanding the government to step down. The Republic Women Association also charged that the government should bear the responsibility for those who were killed in the coal mine blast.

Turkey has announced a three-day mourning period for the victims.

Turkey currently has some 740 coal mines and more than 48,000 miners. Mine accidents in the country have killed over 3,000 people and injured more than 100,000 since 1941. Nearly one in every 10 accidents at work occurs in those mines.

BJP first party in 30 years to win parliamentary majority on its own

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was Friday set  to create an electoral record by becoming the first party in 30 years to  win a majority on its own in the Lok Sabha. The party is set to win around 280 seats, comfortably above the half-way  mark of 272 in the 545-member Lok Sabha, whose 543 members are elected and  two are nominated. This is in sharp contrast to the mere two seats the won in the 1984  general elections, its first after coming out of the shadow of the Janata  Party, into which the erstwhile Jana Sangh had merged to jointly fight the  1977 general elections after the emergency was lifted. The Congress, in fact, had swept the 1984 polls, riding a sympathy wave  following the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi and led  by her son Rajiv Gandhi, for a record tally of 414 seats. This time around, it has been the Congress' worst performance in the 16  general elections held so far, with the party likely to notch up only   about 50 seats.

We will take along everyone, says Modi

Vadodara: In his first comments after the BJP won the Lok Sabha election, party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi made it clear Friday that his government will take everyone along.

"The government belongs to all the people of the country, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, from Kutch to Kamrup," Modi said days before he will be sworn in as India's next prime minister."All the people of this country are ours," he added.

"It is our responsibility to take everyone along. A government cannot be of just a few people...Our mission will be 'sabka saath, sabka vikas'," he added.

"Our mantra will be inclusive growth."

As Modi spoke in Hindi, he was repeatedly interrupted by thunderous cries of "Modi, Modi". He was forced to halt at times before continuing with his talk.

In an obvious message directed at the Congress, Modi said that now that the country's most bitterly fought general election had ended, "there are no enemies in politics".

Describing himself as people's "mazdoor number one", he said: "The country will not get a mazdoor like me in the coming 60 months."

Referring to the sweeping BJP win, which is poised to give the party a majority on its own in the Lok Sabha, the Gujarat chief minister said: "I am very grateful to the people of India."

Modi said the Lok Sabha verdict was significant because a non-Congress party had gained parliamentary majority on its own for the first time in independent India.

It will also be the first time that India will be run by a leadership born after the country's independence, he added.

Modi said he had chosen to first speak in Vadodara after BJP's victory as the city had elected him to the Lok Sabha with a record margin.

He said Vadodra has given him a victory margin of 5.70 lakh votes, even though he could not campaign much in the city.

"In the history of elections, such margin has not happened in a general election. I am not talking about a by-election," he said.

He said Gujarat had created a record by giving all 26 Lok Sabha seats to the BJP.

"There were seven by-polls in Gujarat where six seats were with Congress. Today BJP has won in four," Modi said.

SC directs probe against Srinivasan, 12 players

New Delhi: In a set back to beleaguered N Srinivasan, the Supreme Court on Friday directed a probe against him and 12 prominent players in the IPL betting and spot-fixing scandal.

The apex court turned down BCCI's proposal to get the probe done by its panel and gave the task of investigation to Justice Mukul Mudgal Committee which had earlier also conducted the probe in the scandal and had submitted in a sealed envelop its report in which names of Srinivasan and 12 cricketers were mentioned.

A bench headed by Justice A K Patnaik asked the Mudgal Committee, also comprising Additional Solicitor General L Nageshwar Rao and advocate Niloy Dutta, to complete the probe and file its report in a sealed envelop by the end of August.

It said that a group of investigators headed by senior IPS officer B B Mishra will assist the Mudgal Committee in the probe. The panel would have the power to probe, search and seize relevant documents and record evidence, it said.

The court, however, said that the panel, which would also be assisted by Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai Police, would not have the power to arrest any person.

It also said that Sunil Gavaskar and Shivlal Yadav, who were appointed as interim presidents of BCCI after Srinivasan stepped aside from the post, will continue to do their job till further orders.

The apex court said that further probe by the Mudgal Committee itself is needed to maintain confidentiality of the allegations levelled against Srinivasan and others.

It said that the allegations would be known to other people if a fresh panel comprising new members is allowed to conduct the probe.

The court had on April 29 reserved its order on constituting a probe panel to investigate allegations against Srinivasan and 12 cricketers after the BCCI and Srinivasan opposed further investigation by Mudgal Committee and pleaded for setting up a fresh panel.

It had said it cannot come to any finding regarding the allegations levelled by the Mudgal Committee report against Srinivasan and 12 others until a duly constituted probe committee looks into the allegations.

Earlier, the apex court had asked the Committee whether it will be willing to conduct further probe against Srinivasan and 12 others in the scandal.

The BCCI had also informed the court that it had decided to constitute a three-member panel comprising former Calcutta High Court Chief Justice J N Patel, ex-CBI director R K Raghavan and former all-rounder Ravi Shastri.

Railways puts fare hike on hold

New Delhi: Developing cold feet within hours of announcing a steep hike in passenger fares and freight rates, Railways on Friday night put it on hold, saying a decision on the revision will be left to the next government.

The fare hike decision, which raised eyebrows as it came in the midst of Lok Sabha election results, led to a scurry of activities in Rail Bhawan here and the Board huddling into a meeting to discuss its fallout.

Amid mounting criticism over the timing of the announcement, a red-faced Railways deferred the decision.

Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge came out with a statement directing the Board to leave the decision on the hike to the new government.

"It is now informed that under the directions of the Minister of Railways Mallikarjun Kharge, the decision on the proposed hike in the freight charges and passenger fares have been kept pended till further advice for placing this proposal before the new government," the statement said.

Railways had earlier in the day issued a notification effecting hike in both passenger fares and freight rates by 14.2 per cent and 6.5 per cent respectively from May 20. This was followed up with the an official press release.

However, a fresh notification was issued, stating that the "revision of fares with effect from May 20 should be pended till further advice."

Pakistan newspaper questions Indian journalists' expulsion

Islamabad: A leading Pakistani newspaper today criticised the government's move to expel two Indian journalists and asked it to make their stand clear on the reason for its action.

In an abrupt action, Pakistan has expelled the two Indian journalists posted there and asked them to leave without assigning any reason.

Snehesh Alex Philip of the Press Trust of India (PTI) and Meena Menon of The Hindu newspaper were told to leave the country by May 20.

"The expulsion order handed out to the two Indian journalists in Pakistan, Snehesh Alex Philip and Meena Menon, hardly reflects well on either journalistic freedoms in Pakistan, or the latter's respect for the Fourth Estate," the editorial of the Dawn newspaper said.

The editorial asked Pakistan's Ministry of Information "to make its position clear, and at the very least make public the exact reason why Philip and Menon have been asked to leave."

Pakistan has a system of giving visas to Indian journalists for a few months at a time and they are then required to repeatedly seek extensions.

The Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi had earlier said that India intends to take up the matter with Pakistan.