KATHMANDU, Nepal
Just days before the abolition of Nepal King Gyanendra’s centuries-old crown, two bombs spread momentary panic in the capital on Monday, going off in the garden of the convention centre where a historic meet 48 hours later would end Nepal’s ruling dynasty. Police said motorcyclists hurled the bombs inside the Birendra International Convention Centre and scattered leaflets, claiming it to be the handiwork of the Ranavir Sena, an underground organization that is demanding Nepal be returned to its old status as a Hindu kingdom. There were no injuries
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India
Women in Kerala can now apply to become police sub-inspectors. Praising the "leadership qualities of women," Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan announced Saturday that as the first step towards revamping the state’s Police Act, women can now apply directly to be a sub inspector even if "male candidates may not like this idea." Women will have to compete with men for the job, although they will be exempt from physical tests.
NEW DELHI, India
Delhi Police’s claim of having made the capital safe for senior citizens was proved hollow when an elderly couple was found murdered Monday in their home in south Delhi with the prime suspect, their domestic help hired, missing. The bodies of Ashok Goel, 65, and his wife Lata, 61, were found with their throats slit lying in a pool of blood in their home. The house was ransacked and their servant Mukesh Yadav, a 20-year-old from Bhagalpur in Bihar, was missing. There have been several similar cases in recent months.
A powerful bomb blast, which ripped through a crowded rail coach at the edge of the Sri Lankan capital, has killed eight civilians and wounded 73 others. The deafening rush hour blast occurred as the train packed with people returned from work to their homes in the country’s Sinhalese-majority south.
Pakistan has handed over 99 jailed Indian fishermen, three days after the two countries agreed to grant consular access to prisoners in each other’s jails. A jail official said 375 Indian prisoners, all fishermen and none of them involved in any criminal activity beyond out-of-bounds fishing in the Arabian Sea, remain in Pakistani prisons. Meanwhile, more than 150 Pakistani fishermen are in Indian jails.
AHMEDABAD, India
The Deputy Inspector General of Gujarat police, Rajnish Rai, was found guilty of cheating in a law degree examination and was given a failing grade in all of his subjects. The officer appeared before an academic and a police panel and was grilled for about an hour before being awarded an F+0 letter grade. Rai claims his six-year-old son scribbled on the ruler which he brought to the exam hall.
BANGALORE, India
The number of people who have died recently after drinking illegally-brewed poisonous alcohol in the southern Indian states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu has risen to 168. About 27 vendors of the alcohol have been arrested and 17 policemen have been suspended for negligence. Several exercise department officials also have been suspended. At least 60 people died in the Karnataka state capital of Bangalore and another 30 in rural suburbs. The toll in the Kolar district adjoining Bangalore is 33.
Activists of a Dalit organization attacked several newspaper offices Monday over an article published by a local newspaper chain about the ‘untouchables.’ About 30 attackers, who came in two vehicles, ransacked the office and set it ablaze. The newspaper management, which had earlier requested protection following several threats, alleged that four policemen deployed at the office left a few minutes before the petrol bombs began flying.
NEW DELHI, India
as assistant engineer with the Airports Authority of India after remaining absent from duty for 15 years. The Calcutta High Court also ordered the AAI to pay him salary for half the time. S.N. Das was transferred to Delhi from Kokata airport but failed to report for duty on March 19, 1985 on account of his grandmother’s illness. Apparently, no one noticed his leave extensions until this year.