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(SEPTEMBER, 2002)
India's First-ever Liquor Bash in Goa
(Go
To Top) PANAJI: India's first-ever drinking bash concluded on Sunday, September 29, 2002, in Goa. Nearly 4,000 beer lovers from 60 countries guzzled their way to glory in the three-day meet titled 'Interhash 2002' The event was organised by the Hash Club to throw back to the post-World War One days. The first bash was organised in 1938 when some out-of-work soldiers got together in a hotel in Malaysia called the 'Hash House'. Today the club has 1.5 million members and branches all across the world. They meet once in two years. Hash is basically an international running club. with a drinking problem. Dressed in the most bohemian fashion, the hashers participated in 25 runs all across the tourist spots of Goa. The day-long marathon ended in a night of music, dance and liquor. Spread over 3,700 square km, Goa is one of India's prime tourist destinations. It defeated Cardiff, a Scottish tourist town, to host this year's World Hashers' Meet. Cardiff will now host the next bash in 2004. Adieu
to the Last Train in Kochi (Go
To Top) KOCHI: Cochin (Kochi) Harbour Terminus, the railway station in Kochi, will soon bid goodbye to the last train that runs from Kochi to Shornnur. The Shornnur-Cochin passenger train is the only pair train left that runs from this station. But soon, this will be shifted to the Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) railway station. There were around 10-20 long-distance trains starting from here to Chennai (Madras), Mumbai (Bombay), Guwahati and other places. But today most trains leave from the Trivandrum railway station. The new route laid through Alleppey (Alappuzha) makes it easy for passengers to board from there. The Cochin Harbour Terminus, situated at Wellington island, was commissioned on October 1, 1940. Mumbai
Worst Hit by 'Bharat Bandh" (Go
To Top) MUMBAI: The shutdown call by hardline Hindu organisations on Thursday was marked by sporadic incidents across several parts of the country. But there were no signs of major Hindu-Muslim clashes. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Shiv Sena had called for a countrywide shutdown in protest against the massacre of 29 people in a temple in Gujarat on Tuesday, September 24, 2002. In the country's financial capital Mumbai, the strike hit public transport making it impossible for many people to get to work.VHP activists stopped trains at several stations to enforce the strike. A large number of passengers were stranded at the railway station, bus stands and airport. However, airlines operated normally and officials said airlines operated more bus links to the city. In Bhubaneswar and Patna, the activists marched down the streets and damaged vehicles to enforce the shutdown. In Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, there were reports of sporadic violence. Temple
Siege Ends in Gandhinagar: 31 Killed (Go
To Top) GANDHINAGAR: With the National Security Guards gunning down two terrorists who were holed up inside the Akshardam (Swaminarayan) temple here, the siege of the temple has finally ended more than 12 hours after it began. The gunmen in army fatigue had fired indiscriminately at the people attending the puja on Tuesday evening, killing 29 and injuring 70. The gun-battle with the security forces went on throughout the night. Two Gujarat policemen and one NSG commando died in the operation while three commandos were injured. Two letters written in Urdu found on the bodies of the terrorists revealed that they belonged to a newly-formed militant outfit called Tehreek-e-Kasas. The terrorists, suspected to be members of a suicide squad, had come armed with hand-grenades and AK-47 rifles. Gandhinagar happens to be the constituency of LK Advani, Deputy Prime Minister. It is the Capital of Gujarat, a state rocked by communal riots in March and April last. Khanna
to Inaugurate Kerala Boat Show (Go
To Top) THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Minister of State for Tourism and film star Vinod Khanna will inaugurate a three-day boat show at Bolgatty island in Kochi on October 5. An ambitious Tourism Secretary T Balakrishnan expects a host of overseas participants at the show and the travel mart, another event to attract tourists. A pageantry of house boat owners and adventure sports clubs will also be held as part of the boat show. 15
Killed in UP Bomb Blast (Go
To Top) LUCKNOW: Fifteen people were killed and two injured when a powerful bomb exploded in a tempo on Hardoi-Kanpur Road in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday, September 22, police said. The bomb, which was kept inside the tempo, went off near Farhat Nagar railway crossing, about 40 km from Hardoi, killing 14 of its occupants on the spot and injuring three others seriously, they said. Of the injured, a woman later succumbed in a hospital. The condition of another injured was stated to be crtical. Elephant
Delivers Mail! (Go
To Top)
JAIPUR: The residents of Jaipur now have a delightful new method to receive their mail. Instead of a uniformed postman knocking at the door, they have a pachyderm at their door-step. Although "elephant mail" is a four-day symbolic exercise, the campaign is already a big hit with schoolchildren. For students, it's a chance to get reinitiated into hobbies like philately. The huge but lovable four-footed giant animal, apart from delivering mails, will be busy promoting tourism, and selling the specially designed elephant postcards and stamps throughout the city. Advani
Flags Off Delhi Metro Trial Run (Go
To Top) NEW DELHI: The first metro train had a trial run in New Delhi on Tuesday, September 17. Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani flagged off the 8.3 km long maiden run of the train, which promises relief for the commuters in the congested areas, besides tackling the pollution problem. Trial of the service was conducted along a route connecting eastern Delhi to north-central Delhi and the route would become operational by December 2002. The Metro, which will have surface, overhead and underground sections, is complete with the state-of-art technology. Fully furnished coaches with automatic doors and public address system have been imported from a Korean firm. Each coach will accommodate about 380 passengers. Ticketing and passenger control would be through an Automatic Fare Collection System which is being introduced in the country for the first time. Construction work is in full swing across the national Capital. The metro is expected to reduce pollution by around 50 per cent when the first phase is completed in 2005. At least two million commuters are expected to use the service daily. Vehicular emissions account for nearly 70 per cent of Delhi's total air pollution. Mountaineer
Dead (Go
To Top) NEW DELHI: A member of an 18-strong mountaineering expedition from the Jawaharlal Nehru Uniiversity in New Delhi which went to Kinnaur in Himachal Pradesh has reportedly died in snowfall and storm. The student, Soumyajit Guha, had left Delhi alongwith the team on September 1. His body has not been traced. Meanwhile, another report from Dehra Dun said six people were trapped in Gangotri in Uttaranchal following heavy rain and landslides. Villages
to be Connected (Go
To Top) NEW DELHI: The khakhi-clad postman moving from house to house in the rural India will soon revolutionise the communication system of the villages when the Government implements its proposal to provide him with a mobile phone to operate like a PCO. According to the proposal of the Ministry of Communications, the postman will carry wireless-in-local-loop (WLL) phones by which people can make and receive calls. Rain
Paralyses Life in Capital (Go
To Top) NEW DELHI: Torrential, non-stop rain lashed the Capital on September 12 and 13 flooding several areas and dislocating traffic and communication system. Power cuts and waterlogging worsened the situatioin, paralysing normal life. Monsoon usually arrives in Delhi on June 29 but this year it was not so. There were no rains in July. In August it was scanty. However, in the two days in September Delhi received the month's normal quota of 14 cm of rainfall, according to the meteorological office. It said the monsoon totally withdraws from the region by September 15. The season's total rainfall till September 13 was 22 cm.
Train Mishap Toll 150
(Go
To Top) GAYA: Over hundred and fifty passengers were killed in a gruesome mishap when the New Delhi-bound superfast Howrah Rajdhani Express derailed while crossing the 86-year old Dhawa bridge near Rafigunj station in Bihar in the night of September 9. Many passengers lay trapped in mangled bogies for days as rescue operations lacked necessary equipments. A large number of the deaths could have been due to lack of timely help. A gas cutter equipment arrived at the site 16 hours after the accident. The engine and the parcel van had crossed the bridge and derailed. The following six coaches fell off the bridge. While one submerged in the river, two coaches were hanging from the bridge. About 17 coaches were there in all. There were tell-tale scenes of inadequate information management at the railway stations like New Delhi and Kolkata where friends and relatives of the passengers travelling in the ill-fated train crowded wanting to know about their kith and kin. Railway officials said that two fish-plates and 13-metre rail were found to have been removed. Man
Held with Knife in the Air
(Go
To Top) MUMBAI: An Indian, armed with a knife, made an attempt to hijack an Air Seychelles Boeing 737 which had taken off from Mumbai early morning on Monady, September 9, for Seychelles. The plane was carrying 70 passengers. Vaswani, who tried to enter the cockpit, was overpowered by the crew and was arrested when the plane landed in Male. One employee was injured in the process. It could not be established whether he smuggled in the knife at Mumbai airport or it was a cutlery supplied along with food. The Seychelles airline still uses steel cutlery while others have changed over to plastic. 38
Pilgrims Drowned: Only Five Bodies Found (Go
To Top) KULLU: Residents of Bhutti village in Himachal Pradesh are still to recover from the shock five days after 38 people died in a bus accident. At least 30 women of the village were killed when the bus taking them on a pilgrimage fell into Parvati river on Sunday, September 8, near Kullu. Rescue work was hampered by strong currents of the river and narrow gorges in the valley. Only five bodies have been found. Chand Ram, whose brother was travelling in the ill-fated bus, said: "He had gone for a pilgrimage. He left happily but did not return. We haven't even got his body back yet. What do we do?" Bhutti is famous for its shawls. The women had formed a cooperative Bhuttica Weaving Cooperative Society which had earned a reputation for quality shawls they produced. The villagers say they have suffered an irreparable loss. Officials said the driver of the bus, carrying 57 passengers, lost control and the vehicle slipped down a deep gorge and fell into the river, which was overflowing due to heavy rains in the upper reaches. The villagers complained that rescue work was going on at a snail's pace but officials said they were doing their best in the prevailing situation.
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