KABUL, Afghanistan -  Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta has vowed that his country, the world's top source of opium, is determined to slash poppy production by 25 percent this year. Afghanistan grows about 90 percent of the world's illicit opium with production hitting a new high last year. Spanta said the Afghan counter-narcotics ministry was aiming to eradicate around 50 000 hectares of poppy land this year, which is more than double last year's figure.

 

 

KOLKATTA, India - India's West Bengal state was paralysed last Wednesday by a strike protesting against the police killing of five demonstrators who took part in an anti-unemployment rally. The day-long strike, called by a member of West Bengal's ruling Marxist coalition, was the latest challenge to the government of the impoverished state, which has been rocked by violent protests since early 2007. Protests last year in West Bengal against moves to take over agricultural land for industrial use claimed at least 34 lives. 

 

 

DHAKA, Bangladesh   An employee of Bangladesh's biggest state-owned gas company who earned a mere US$100 a month allegedly pocketed a colossal US$145-million in bribes over 12 years. "It is a theft of unimaginable scale," said the head of the government's anti-corruption body, Colonel Hasan. He identified the man as Abdul Kader Mollah, a former sales assistant with the Titas Gas Distribution Company who made illicit cash by undercharging thousands of factories before leaving his job in 1997. The country is considered one of the most corrupt nations in the world by Transparency International, which ranks graft worldwide every year.

 

 

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - A hand grenade attack inside Sri Lanka's main zoo wounded at least six visitors and prompted tighter security in the capital. The blast ripped through the aviary of the Dehiwala zoo, injuring the visitors who were rushed to the nearby hospital, the ministry said. The government in January pulled out of a tattered peace pact with the rebels, who have been fighting for a separate Tamil homeland since 1972, a conflict that has left tens of thousands dead.

 

 

PATNA, India - Police arrested two farmers and filed cases against 16 others after an angry mob in Bihar's Nalanda district threw stones at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar demanding more compensation for their lands acquired to set up a university.
Nalanda is the home district of Nitish Kumar where he is regarded as more popular than any other leader of Bihar. The Bihar government has acquired 446 acres of land at Rajgir near Nalanda to set up an international university. Government officials claimed that the farmers had been paid compensation, but were demanding more money.

 

 

NOIDA, India - The wife of a software engineer allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself from the ceiling fan in her house. However, her parents alleged that she was murdered for dowry. Hem Lata, 23, first attempted suicide by slashing her wrist but later hanged herself from the ceiling fan in her bedroom, the police said.  However, her parents have filed a complaint with the Noida police, accusing her husband Trilok Nath of murdering her for dowry and trying to make it look like a suicide.

 

 

MUMBAI, India - A domestic servant, unable to conceive a baby, was held in Mumbai for allegedly kidnapping a two-year-old boy outside his south Delhi home in October last year. Police have rescued the boy. Anjali, 32, was arrested from Sainath Chaal in Nala Sopara area of Mumbai, where she had hidden the abducted boy Mohit Singh. According to police, Rajbir Singh, father of the boy, his son had gone missing while playing near his tailoring shop.

 

 

CHENNAI, India - A court has sentenced a doctor to life term after finding him guilty of forcing women into commercial sex and act in pornographic films. L. Prakash, who ran an orthopaedic hospital in Chennai's Anna Nagar area, was arrested in 2001. The doctor and his three associates have been in jail for the last six years.  Prakash was found not guilty of rape and attempt to murder.  Delivering her judgement, Judge Radha said awarding "the maximum sentence will be appropriate" as all the crimes were "not of ordinary nature".

 

 

MUMBAI, India - South Indian actor Kunal Singh has committed suicide at his residence in Oshiwara, northwest suburb of Mumbai. Singh's close friend Lavina, found his body, the police said. Lavina, 23, who is into film production, had visited Singh's apartment to discuss his forthcoming untitled Hindi movie, police officials said. Police sources suspect marital discord between the actor and his wife as the motive behind the Singh's decision to end his life.  Singh has starred in Bollywood movie "Dil Hi Dil Main" opposite Sonali Bendre released in 2000.

 

 

KERALA, India - Kerala is once again set to host the Maramon convention, billed as the largest Christian congregation in Asia, which brings together bishops and priests from across the world. The 113th convention, which begins here Sunday, is held under the aegis of the Syrian Mar Thoma Church, headquartered at Thiruvalla. The weeklong convention will have a series of prayer and devotional music sessions.  Over the years, the Maramon convention has undergone several changes with religious aspects taking a back seat. The event in recent years sees a mad rush of politicians from various parties, who make their presence felt among their electorate.

 

 

ALLAHABAD, India - The body of internationally-renowned spiritual guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi who popularised transcendental meditation will be cremated on the banks of Ganga. The seer, who initiated the British pop-rock band Beatles into Indian spiritualism and transcendental meditation, died last week.  A chartered flight carrying the body of the Maharishi, along with at least 250 of his European devotees arrived in India over the weekend. The streets of Allahabad were clogged by the long motorcade that drew huge crowds to have a last glimpse of the spiritual icon.