Showing posts with label News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label News. Show all posts

How did Yuri Gagarin die in 1968

Posted by webber | Sunday, June 16, 2013 | , | 0 comments »



After over 40 years of secrecy, the real cause of death of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space, has been made public. Prominent Russian cosmonaut Aleksey Leonov reveals the truth behind the events of that tragic day.

Yuri Gagarin - Death mystery revealed

On the morning of April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin lifted off aboard Vostok 1 to become the first human in space, spending 108 minutes in orbit before landing in the Saratov region of the USSR. The soft-spoken and well-mannered Gagarin, just 27 years old at the time, became an instant hero, representing the success of the Soviet space program (Alan Shepard’s shorter, suborbital flight happened less than a month later) to the entire world. Gagarin later went on to become a director for the Cosmonaut Training Center and was preparing for a second space flight. Tragically, he was killed when a MiG-15 aircraft he was piloting crashed on March 27, 1968.

According to an article published online on 14-June-2013 on Russia Today (RT.com) former cosmonaut Aleksey Leonov — who performed the first EVA on March 18, 1965 — has revealed details about the accident that killed both Yuri Gagarin and his flight instructor Vladimir Seryogin in March 1968.

Yuri Gagarin - Death mystery revealed

However, the name of the man responsible for Gagarin’s death is still not being disclosed. Keeping him anonymous was a condition under which Leonov was allowed to talk. It is only known that the pilot is now 80 years old and is in poor health.

Conspiracy theories have surrounded the events of that day for years. They included suicide – even a collision with a UFO.

But for all intents and purposes, the case is closed, and the newfound truth should provide those affected with closure. Such is the conclusion of the first woman in space, Russian Valentina Tereshkova. She spoke at a press conference at the UN headquarters in Vienna, where she participated in a conference of the Committee for the Peaceful Use of Outer Space.

"The only regret here is that it took so long for the truth to be revealed," she said. "But we can finally rest easy."

Jiah Khan buried in Mumbai

Posted by webber | Wednesday, June 05, 2013 | , | 0 comments »



Bollywood film actress Jiah Khan, who committed suicide, was buried this afternoon (05-June-2013) at a crematorium in Mumbai. Her body was taken in a funeral procession from her home to the graveyard.
Indian-filmstar-Bollywood-actress-Hindi-heroine-Jiah-Khan-funeral-last-rites-June-2013


Bollywood actress Jiah Khan, better remembered for her appearances in Hindi films NISHABD and GHAJINI, who was also known by the name Nafisa Khan, had committed suicide, as was reported by the Mumbai police. The 25-year old filmstar was found dead in her Juhu residence late Monday (03-June-2013) night.


Although she did not leave a note, police said a post-mortem had confirmed suicide. Meanwhile, police have been talking to Jiah Khan's family and her friend Sooraj Pancholi, son of actor couple Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab, reports say.


What incited Jiah to take such an extreme step is yet to be found out but her apparent tiff with boyfriend Sooraj Pancholi is believed to be one of the reasons for her acute depression. Jiah's mother and sister had gone out and she was alone at the house when she took the extreme step. Indian-filmstar-Bollywood-actress-Hindi-heroine-Jiah-Khan-funeral-last-rites-June-2013


With moist eyes, family members and close friends buried Jiah at around 2 PM at Juhu crematorium. It is learnt that Aamir Khan, with whom Jiah starred in Ghajini, visited her residence last night.


Celebrities like Aamir Khan's wife Kiran Rao, Riteish Deshmukh, Aditya Pancholi with son Sooraj, actor Raza Murad, TV actress Urvashi Dhokalia and others were present.

Jiah Khan kills herself - Bollywood mourns

Posted by webber | Tuesday, June 04, 2013 | , | 0 comments »



Bollywood actress Jiah Khan, better remembered for her appearances in Hindi films NISHABD and GHAJINI, who was also known by the name Nafisa Khan, has committed suicide, police in Mumbai said. The 25-year old filmstar reportedly hanged herself at her Juhu residence late Monday (03-June-2013) night.
Indian-filmstar-Bollywood-actress-Hindi-heroine-Jiah-Khan-suicide-June-2013


NDTV says, in an article that was posted after her sudden demise, "When Jiah Khan made her Bollywood debut, aged 18, the stars seemed her destiny. Her first co-star was no less a person than Amitabh Bachchan, in the controversial Nishabd, directed by Ram Gopal Varma. But after making a splash with her first film, Jiah Khan faded away by degrees."


Jiah's self-description on Twitter goes.. "actor, poet, singer, musician and dreamer." Calling her "full of life" and "high-spirited", Bollywood celebrities mourned the death of the young actress.


"What!!! Jiah Khan ??? what has happened ? is this correct ? unbelievable !!!," tweeted a shocked Bachchan.


Ram Gopal Varma, who gave Britain-born actress Nafisa alias Jiah Khan a Bollywood launchpad with his 2007 film 'Nishabd', is "shocked and choked" over the news of her death. He says she was depressed about her career, and scared about her future as she had no work the past three years.


"The last time I met her, Jiah told me that everyone around her makes her feel like a failure," Varma posted on his Twitter page, after hearing the news. "Inspite of being highly appreciated in 'Nishabd' and being a part of hugely successful 'Ghajini' and 'Housefull', she had no work for the last three years. I don't know the reason what led to this, but Jiah was very depressed about her career and scared for her future," he added.
Indian-filmstar-Bollywood-actress-Hindi-heroine-Jiah-Khan-suicide-June-2013


Bollywood actress and former Miss Universe Sushmita Sen tweeted: Remembering Jiah..a pretty little girl with kind eyes n an enduring smile!! Deeply saddened knowing she's no more. Rest in peace Jiah..


Renowned filmmaker Karan Johar tweeted: i never met Jiah....but feel terrible to hear this news....so young!!!! RIP Jiah....my thoughts and prayers with her family and friends....


Actor Riteish Deshmukh, who worked with Jia in Housefull, said, "Nothing worse than waking up to a bad news- shocked n dumb struck- RIP Jiah. She was full of life and had incredible sense of humour. She was a friend n will miss her. Am deeply saddened."


"Jiah Khan was full of life when I worked with her long time back. So sad that something drove her to take this extreme step. RIP," tweeted Anupam Kher who had also worked with the actress.

Mumbai Building kills at least 27 as it collapsed

Posted by webber | Friday, April 05, 2013 | , | 0 comments »



A building that was being constructed illegally in a Mumbai suburb has collapsed, killing at least 27 people. Over 50 have been injured.
Mumbai-Building-kills-collapsed-04Apr2013


Police Inspector Digamber Jangale said 54 people were injured in the collapse Thursday (04-Apr-2013) evening in the Mumbai suburb of Thane. Rescuers were searching for more casualties in the debris early Friday.


He said the building did not have clearances from local authorities to be built. The first four floors had residences and offices that were occupied at the time of the collapse.


Most of the dead were construction workers who were staying in the building, Mr. Jangale said. The condition of at least 10 of the injured was serious.


The cause of the collapse wasn't immediately known. Police have arrested the builder and his associate.


The injured were admitted to various hospitals including Thane Civil, CSM Civic hospital at Kalwa, Kalsekar hospital in Kalwa, while those in critical condition were shifted to Sion and JJ Hospital.


Several people remain trapped under the debris and the rescue operations still continue.

The Big Ben is becoming leaning tower of London

Posted by webber | Sunday, October 09, 2011 | , | 0 comments »



The Big Ben, the clock tower of the Palace of Westminster in London, is leaning and its tilt is now visible to the naked eye, engineers have claimed.
2011-October-The-Big-Ben-London
Civil engineers have discovered that the clock tower at the Palace of Westminster is no longer ramrod straight and the problem is getting worse every year.

The top of the tower is now almost one-and-a-half feet off the perpendicular and if left uncorrected it would eventually fall.

It would still take four thousand years for the tower to reach the angle of Italy's famous leaning tower of Pisa and even longer to reach tipping point.

The problem has been blamed on decades of building work that have gone on around the foot of the structure - 315ft (96m) tall, with 11 storeys and 393 stairs - since it was completed in 1858.

These have ranged from a sewer built in the 1860s to the District Line the following decade and an underground car park for MPs in the 1970s.

When the Jubilee Line was extended through Westminster in the late 1990s, special techniques were used to create a concrete barrier under the tower, in a bid to secure it.

Yet a new survey for London Underground and the Parliamentary Estates Department has found that the rate of movement has accellerated in recent years.

The tower is now leaning towards the northwest at an angle of 0.26 degrees, meaning the top of the tower is 1ft 5in from vertical. John Burland, emeritus professor and senior research investigator from Imperial College London who has worked on the Big Ben tower, said: "The tilt is now just about visible. You can see it if you stand on Parliament Square and look east, towards the river."

In an act of cold-blooded murder, a bus driver Wednesday (05-Oct-2011) ordered tourists to de-board and then ran the vehicle over them in Rajasthan, killing seven people including a girl, police said.

Ten others were injured in the incident, which occurred at college road this morning in Karauli, 160 kms from Jaipur. All the victims were from Agra, Superintendent of Police Omprakash said.

The passengers, who were on their way to Keladevi temple, had an argument with the driver (identified as Raju) of the private bus plying between Jaipur-Hindaun over fare.

The injured have been admitted to a nearby hospital, the police said, adding that the matter was under investigation.

The driver is absconding. A case has been registered against him under different sections including for 302 (murder) of IPC, Mr. Omprakash said.

6 injured as low-intensity explosion rocks Agra hospital

Posted by webber | Saturday, September 17, 2011 | , | 0 comments »



An explosion rocked a private hospital in Agra on Saturday (17-Sep-2011), leaving six persons injured. The blast took place in the reception of Jai Hospital where explosives were kept under a chair, said Inspector General of Police, Agra Range, PK Tiwari.

Police called it a crude explosive, but it was still too early to determine a motive or whether it was the handiwork of terrorists.

The Home Ministry said it had dispatched commandos to Agra and was in the process of collecting evidence from the scene.

"It was an explosion with a bang when I was getting down the stairs and when I turned back, there was panic all around," said an eye witness.

An team from the anti-terror squad has been sent to the hospital, Additional Director General of Police (Law & Order) Brij Lal told PTI.

The motive behind the blast is yet to be discovered, said Agra zone deputy inspector general of police Asim Arun. The police and administration is looking after the victims and all possible help is being extended, he added.

At least 10 people have been killed and 65 others injured in a bomb blast outside the Delhi High Court on Wednesday (07-Sept-2011) morning.
07-September-2011-Delhi-HC-powerful-blast
Confirming the toll, home minister P Chidambaram in his statement in Parliament severely condemned the bomb blast that killed at least nine people outside the Delhi high court.

Terming the blast as a terrorist attack, Chidambaram said it was not possible at this stage to identify the terrorists who exploded the bomb outside the court.

The blast, from a sophisticated explosive device, had a precursor just four months ago – on May 25 – when a low-intensity bomb had gone off in the same area, though outside a different gate.

Police officials said the bomb went off at 10.15 am outside gate 5 which was jampacked with visitors waiting for entry passes.

Local police said no one had claimed responsibility for the incident, but security officials suspected that the Indian Mujahideen, a home-grown extremist network, could have carried out the strike.

Senkodi, 27, a woman member of a Tamil chauvinist group died on her way to hospital within two hours after her self-immolation outside a government office in Kanchipuram, police said.
2011-August-Chennai-protest-against-death-penalty-for-Rajiv-killers
The campaign to seek commutation of the death sentences of three convicts in former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's assassination turned tragic on Sunday (28-Aug-2011) with a woman setting herself afire to allegedly press for the demand, according to a letter recovered from her.

P. Senkodi died within two hours after she set herself on fire. She emptied two litres of petrol from a bottle before setting herself ablaze.

Police sources said eyewitnesses had noticed a young woman, dressed in a salwar kameez, walking into the office around 5.45 p.m. Minutes later, they heard a woman's cries and rushed to the spot and noticed her engulfed in a ball of fire. Residents and the skeleton staff of government offices, including the police and fire stations, put out the fire. A government ambulance stationed nearby rushed her to the Government General Hospital, where she succumbed to injuries around 7.30 p.m.

Police sources said Senkodi was completely charred above her waist and her chances of survival were slim when she was brought to the hospital.

Elsewhere in Tamil Nadu various Tamil groups have launched fast demanding the commutation of the death penalty to the Rajiv assassins.

Kancheepuram police recovered a suicide note from Senkodi in which she urged Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to take a humane view and release the three convicts, who have already spent 21 years in jail. “If my life can save their three lives I will die happily’” she had said in the note.

The process to hold their death sentences was set in motion on Friday (26-Aug-2011) with the Vellore Prison authorities receiving the communication from Rashtrapathi Bhavan that the president has rejected the clemency petition filed by the three LTTE activists.

Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated while proceeding to an election meeting in Sriperumbudur on May 21, 1991.

The three convicts, along with 23 others, who stood trial in the case, were sentenced to death by the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act Court-1, Poonamallee on January 28, 1998.

The mercy petitions of the three were rejected by President Pratibha Patil earlier this month, 11 years after they were filed, and the Union Home Ministry has notified her decision to the Tamil Nadu government. Of the three, Murugan and Santhan are Sri Lankan Tamils.

The daughter of an IAF pilot, who was killed when a Pakistan Air Force combat pilot shot down his civilian aircraft during the 1965 Indo-Pak war, has 'forgiven' her father's killer.

A Pakistani fighter pilot who shot down an Indian civilian aircraft more than 40 years ago has written to the family of the dead Indian pilot.

The Pak pilot named Qais Hussain, in an unusual heart-warming gesture, sent a note of condolence to the daughter of the Indian pilot killed in the incident, and on Wednesday he (10-Aug-2011) received a response.

In his email, Qais Hussain said he was sorry for the loss of precious lives during the incident and was acting under orders from his superiors.

Mr Hussain was a young flying officer during the 1965 war between India and Pakistan.

Accepting the apology tendered by Pakistan Air Force pilot Qais Hussain for shooting down the aircraft flown by her father during the 1965 War with the very same tenderness with which it was offered, Farida Singh on Wednesday hoped his touching letter would heal wounds not just on a personal scale but in a much wider arena.

In her reply – which Mr. Hussain posted online with her permission – Ms. Singh said: “Most of all, my father would have liked that it goes towards bringing a spark of forgiveness between our two peoples, who after all were one.” Mr. Hussain wrote the letter on August 5 and it was reported in the Pakistani daily The News under the logo ‘Aman ki Asha’.

Explaining why he had chosen to get in touch with the slain pilot’s daughter, Husain says, “I have chosen to go into this detail to tell you that it all happened in the line of duty and it was not governed by the concept that ‘everything is fair in love and war’, the way it has been portrayed by the Indian media due to lack of information. I did not play foul and went by the rules of business but the unfortunate loss of precious lives, no matter how it happens, hurts each human and I am no exception. I feel sorry for you, your family and the other seven families who lost their dearest ones.”

Four days after DV Sadananda Gowda took oath as Karnataka chief minister, succeeding scam hit BS Yeddyurappa, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ministry in the state was expanded on Monday (08-Aug-2011) evening with the induction of 21 members.
Karnataka-politics-2001-August-DV-Sadananda-Gowda
It was raining the day BS Yeddyurappa walked to the Karnataka Raj Bhawan to submit his resignation. That set in motion fast-paced political developments, drama and dissidence that culminated in the swearing in of 21 Cabinet ministers today (08-Aug-2011). It rained again.

Karnataka Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda expanded his five—day—old ministry inducting 21 with Cabinet rank but left out the mining magnates Reddy brothers and their close associate Sreeramulu.

Also not included in Monday's list are Vijayshankar, forest minister in the Yeddyurappa ministry, and Mumtaz Ali Khan, Waqf minister in the previous ministry.

Out of 21 ministers, 12 are from the Yeddyurappa camp and nine from Jagadish Shettar faction.

Some more entries are likely to be made into the ministry over the next few days, BJP sources said.

NASA has launched a probe on a five-year mission to Jupiter to learn more about the giant planet and how the solar system was formed. It's the first solar-powered mission to venture so far from the Sun.

The unmanned Juno spacecraft costing $1.1bn (£0.7bn), launched from Florida, will cruise beyond Mars to put itself in orbit around the gas giant in 2016.

Scientists said the spacecraft will study the giant planet's core, atmosphere, powerful magnetic field and auroras.

Once it reaches its target it will be the furthest-travelled solar-powered probe and the fastest man-made object in history after travelling at 160,000mph.

If you take everything else in our solar system (not including the sun), it would all fit inside Jupiter. In terms of understanding our solar system, NASA says, Jupiter's importance cannot be underestimated.

Now NASA is looking for the clues to help answer pressing questions about the early days of the solar system. Because whatever was in Jupiter at the beginning — more than 4.5 billion years ago, when the solar system was formed — is still there, scientists say, hiding in a mysterious gas giant made up of dust and gas left over by the Sun.

World Breastfeeding Week - 1 to 7 August 2011

Posted by webber | Monday, August 01, 2011 | , , , | 0 comments »



With a goal to boost the health of infants worldwide and encourage mothers to breastfeed, nearly 120 countries around the world celebrate World Breastfeeding Week from 1-7 August every year.
World-Breastfeeding-Week-01–to-07-August
Breastfeeding is the best way to provide newborns with the nutrients they need. World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding until a baby is six months old, and continued breastfeeding with the addition of nutritious complementary foods for up to two years or beyond.

“Losing a child is a parent’s worst nightmare, especially when it can be avoided. Why let this happen when you can protect the health of your child simply by breastfeeding him or her?” asked Dr RK Agarwal, a paediatrician.

The World Health Organisation declared the first week of August as World Breastfeeding Week in a bid to ensure that children are not denied of the right to live simply because of lack of awareness on the part of the care takers.

Breastfeeding is known to reduce deaths among children aged below 5 by 13%.

According to statistics, out of 27 million babies born in India each year, close to 1.2 million babies do not get past the first one month. This is due to poor neonatal care and malnutrition which are the main reasons for infant mortality in India.

One million infant lives can be saved by just breast feeding in the 1st Hour following the birth of the child. If mothers and families comprehend the benefits of breast feeding for six months, it can save the lives of 250,000 babies annually.

At least two people were reportedly killed and nearly 30 injured in a train accident in West Bengal's Malda district on Sunday (31-July-2011) evening.

The accident took place near Jamirghata in Malda district. One bogie of the derailed train caught fire.

Two bogies and the engine of the Guwahati-Bengaluru Express, which was on its way to the southern city, derailed first and were hit by the Azimganj-Malda Town Passenger leading to further derailment of bogies of both the trains, Railway sources said.

An Eastern Railway spokesman said the injured had been admitted to local hospitals and efforts were on to rescue passengers trapped inside two bogies.

Senior Railway officials rushed to the spot to oversee the rescue operations and a relief train had been sent.

The railways has confirmed that the driver of the passenger train that was coming from the opposite side on the adjacent track tried to apply emergency brakes when he saw the derailed express train but could not completely prevent a collision.

TN Police: Stalin was not arrested

Posted by webber | Saturday, July 30, 2011 | , , | 0 comments »



Denying that Stalin, son of DMK chief M Karunanidhi was arrested or detained, Tamilnadu police said that he was merely moved as he was obstructing traffic.
Tamilnadu-DMK-politician-M-Karunanidhi-son-Stalin-2011-July
Earlier reports said that M K Stalin was detained by police at Tiruvarur. The DMK leader was trying to stage a protest, when police attempted to arrest DMK's Tiruvarur secretary Kalaivanan.

The police had been looking for the DMK functionary in connection with the death of a school student in a road accident in Tiruvarur on Friday.

Mr Stalin had reportedly demanded an arrest warrant or FIR copy before the arrest, and it was then that he was taken into detention.

The DMK had given the call for boycott of schools and colleges to press for implementation of the Uniform System of School Education (Tamil: Samacheer Kalvi), introduced by the Karunanidhi regime.

The AIADMK Government is engaged in a legal battle after it decided to defer implementation of the scheme citing its "lack of quality".

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa yesterday (29-July-2011) blamed the DMK protest for leading to the death of the boy and charged Kalaivanan with instigating his party workers to prevent students from attending classes.

Student's death

Police registered a case against Mr. Kalaivanan in connection with the death of Vijay of Manjakollai, an eighth standard student of the Government Higher Secondary School, Koradachery. Vijay died on his way home from school on Friday when the government bus in which he was travelling met with an accident.
Tamilnadu-AIADMK-politician-CM-Jayalalithaa-2011-July
The children were sent from school after an agitation organised by Mr. Kalaivanan for implementing the Samacheer Kalvi system immediately. Three other students were injured in the accident. Baskar, father of one of the injured students, lodged a complaint with police that Mr. Kalaivanan was responsible for the accident as he (Mr. Kalaivanan) had insisted on the students' boycotting classes.

The police registered cases against Mr. Kalaivanan under sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 188 (preventing people from discharging duties), 268 (conspiracy and 506/2 threat to murder.

As the news about the alleged arrest of Mr. Stalin spread, DMK cadres organised demonstrations at various places in Thanjavur and Tiruvarur districts. They were arrested by the police and later released.

Hacking group Anonymous is asking PayPal users to "immediately close their accounts and consider an alternative," as a way of protesting the arrests of 14 people tied to a denial-of-service attack on PayPal's website last December. That attack, which brought down the site, was said to be retribution against PayPal for dropping WikiLeaks' donation account.
PayPal-attack-anonymous-2011-July
"PayPal continues to withhold funds from WikiLeaks, a beacon of truth in these dark times," the groups said in a statement.

"We encourage anyone using PayPal to immediately close their accounts and consider an alternative," they said.

"The first step to being truly free is not putting one's trust into a company that freezes accounts when it feels like, or when it is pressured by the US government," they added.

Various Anonymous Twitter accounts are making a call for action. Anonymous Press tweets: "Paypal suspended the closing of accounts online, so call in and close ur account 1-888-221-1161 make sure 2 quote #OpPayPal via@odotm"

Wikileaks is showing support by tweeting: "We support the work of #Anonymous in drawing attention to the economic blockade of #Wikileaks by corrupt financial institutions. #OpPayPal"

So far, however, the campaign may not be having much effect.

"We haven't seen any changes to our normal operations (including account opening and closing) overnight," a PayPal spokeswoman told CNN via e-mail on Wednesday (27-July-2011).

Anonymous wants PayPal users to switch to other similar services.
"Get yourself a slice of MyBitCoin, Liberty Reserve, WebMoney, Neteller, Moneybookers, and start using prepaid credit and gift cards," tweeted allied hacking group LulzSec.

Foreign ministers of India and Pakistan begin talks

Posted by webber | Wednesday, July 27, 2011 | , , | 0 comments »



India's external affairs minister SM Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar on Wednesday (27-July-2011) began talks that are expected to culminate in a host of confidence-building measures (CBMs).
Pakistan-foreign-minister-Hina-Rabbani-Khar
While India will talk of eradicating terror in the region, Pakistan is expected to insist on maintaining peace in the area.

The foreign ministers of India and Pakistan are expected to follow a carefully drafted template to take the peace process forward through a 'step-by-step' approach.

In his public welcoming remarks, Mr Krishna said, "India looks forward to a cooperative relationship with Pakistan... it is in the interest of peace not only for our two countries but for the entire region and beyond. Perhaps we owe this to ourselves as well as to succeeding generations."

Ms Khar, who is Pakistan's youngest Foreign Minister, said, "Pakistan sees good friendly and cooperative relations with India as an important neighbour.
Indian-foreign-minister-SM-Krishna
"We feel the relationship between the two countries should not be held hostage by the past." She also stressed that officials on both sides must be "respectful of the reality of the two countries."

The meeting comes five months after the South Asian neighbours resumed bilateral discussions.

Talks were suspended after the 2008 Mumbai (Bombay) attacks which India blamed on Pakistan-based militants.

But earlier this year, leaders vowed to resume their dialogue.

Correspondents say the talks are unlikely to throw up any major policy statements, but they will be another step in improving relations between the neighbours.

Chennai - Fire in KMC, three dead

Posted by webber | Saturday, July 23, 2011 | , | 0 comments »



Three people have been confirmed dead after a fire broke out at the Asthama allergic treatment centre of the Kilpauk Medical College (KMC) Hospital in Chennai.

Two women died of asphyxiation due to the fire at the Intensive Care Unit of the government hospital early Saturday (23-July-2011) morning. Another male patient who was also in the unit died a few hours later.

Five others in the ICU were immediately shifted to different wards, hospital sources said.

Police said an electric short-circuit in the split air-conditioning unit in the ICU was the probable cause of the fire.

Fire fighters battled hard for more than three hours to put out the flames, the sources added.

Expressing sorrow over the incident, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa said she had ordered the authorities concerned to take adequate preventive measures in all government hospitals to prevent recurrence of such incidents.

The hospital authorities have instituted an enquiry.

Income tax sleuths have raided the houses, offices and hotels of Malayalam film stars Mammootty and Mohanlal. The searches started at 6.30am on Friday (22-July-2011) morning.
Kerala-Superstars-Mohanlal-Mammootty
The operation followed allegations of amassing wealth disproportionate to their income. More details about the nature of the raid have not been revealed.

The raids were conducted at premises in Kochi, Bengaluru and Chennai.

Mohanlal is currently shooting for a film in Rameshwaram and his statement is being recorded, while Mammootty is in Chennai.

On July 11, the Income Tax sleuths raided the houses of several Kannada film makers and distributors and seized many documents. Reports said that the I-T officials raided the houses of Kannada TV and film stars Ravikiran, Sihi Kahi Chandru and K Manju and others at Teachers Colony, J P Nagar, Vijayanagar, Sadashivanagar, Jayanagar etc.

A Jet Airways flight with 134 passengers onboard narrowly averted a mid-air collision over Lucknow today, triggering panic aboard, passengers said.

The jet flight was caught in severe turbulence, which the airline claimed was caused by a passing Boeing 747 jumbo.

The incident took place around 11.35 a.m. The Jet Airways flight landed safely in Guwahati around 1 p.m.

The identity of the passing Boeing 747 was being ascertained.

The sources said the Jet 737 and the Boeing 747, coming from the opposite direction, could have violated the mandatory separation between two aircrafts.

Among those aboard the plane included Assam Congress president Bhubaneswar Kalita and Congress MP Rani Narah. "God is great. We had a near brush with death," said Narah.

Jet authorities in Guwahati refused to comment on the incident saying a formal statement, if any, would be made from their head office in Mumbai.

"It is very serious. We will inquire into this incident," DGCA chief E K Bharat Bhushan told PTI. While a Jet spokesperson said the incident was caused by "rough air generated by a passing Boeing 747", sources in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said the two planes were far off and the turbulence was caused by winds and air pockets.

Asked about the conflicting reports, Bharat Bhushan said, "We will definitely probe when there is a conflict in the two versions".