Hasina thanks Tripura CM for backing land swap deal

Agartala: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has thanked Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar for backing the India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) that the Indian parliament has passed, an official said here on Saturday.

"The Bangladesh Prime Minister on Friday night telephoned the chief minister and thanked him" for backing the LBA, a top Tripura government official told a news agency on condition of anonymity.

"With the endorsement of the LBA in parliament, India-Bangladesh relations would be strengthen further. Tripura`s relations with Bangladesh would get a new high," the official quoted Sarkar as telling Hasina. 

The Chief Minister also informed Hasina that the Tripura government is setting up an India-Bangladesh friendship park in the state to commemorate the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war.

"The Tripura government would invite the Bangladesh prime minister for the inauguration of the park. Hasina expressed her keenness to visit Tripura again," the official said. Hasina visited Tripura in January 2012.

The official said Prime Minister Narendra Modi also telephoned Sarkar on Thursday and discussed the LBA and "thanked Sarkar for his help".

Parliament on May 7 passed a constitution amendment bill for operationalising the LBA with Bangladesh, 41 years after the accord was signed between then prime minister Indira Gandhi and her Bangladeshi counterpart, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The land swap protocol envisages transfer of 111 enclaves with a total area of 17,160.63 acres to Bangladesh, while the neighbouring country is to transfer 51 enclaves with an area of 7,110.02 acres to India. 

A 6.1-km undefined border stretch will be demarcated with the bill being passed. The 51 enclaves fall in Indian states of West Bengal, Assam, Tripura and Meghalaya.

Under the LBA, the disputed Candannagar village would merged with the Indian territory while Muhuri Char land in southern Tripura would go to Bangladesh.

"There would be no problem if Tripura`s two areas exchanged under the LBA," Tripura Revenue and PWD Minister Badal Chaudhury told reporters.

He explained how the people of Belonia (currently south Tripura district headquarters) had suffered since 1965 over the disputed Muhuri Char land.

"Occasional firing from other side of the border killed some Indian citizens including children and prevented Indian farmers to cultivate in the Muhuri Char land adjoining Belonia town (110 km south of here)," said Chaudhury, who has been representing Belonia for many years.

In the Candannagar village, there were 51 families comprising little over 300 people and they except the two families left the village in 2002 after erection of border fencing and living in a near by village inside the fencing.

The villagers said they were allowed to cultivate in their deserted lands on the other side of the fencing and Dhalai river but in most times the Bangladeshi people have been taken away their crops.

In the disputed 64 acres Muhuri Char land, 57 families had been doing cultivation for more than five decades. 

There were also three very old crematories of three different religion groups in the Muhuri Char land of Muhuri river, which flows from Tripura to Bangladesh.

Tripura shares 856 km borders with Bangladesh and eight major rivers including Muhuri and Dhalai flows from the state to the neighbouring country.

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Putin brushes off Western snub at huge WWII victory parade

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday presided over a huge military parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany, brushing off a snub by Western leaders over Ukraine.

In what is seen as punishment for Kremlin meddling in Ukraine, 200,Western countries led by Russia's World War II allies are boycotting the May 9 festivities, leaving Putin to mark the day in the company of the leaders of China, Cuba and other Moscow-friendly figures.

Addressing thousands of foreign guests and veterans, Putin chose to ignore the boycott, thanking

Britain, France and the US for their "contribution" to the defeat of Germany.

"Our fathers and grandfathers went through unbearable suffering, deprivation and losses," Putin said, feting the country's veterans and the "grandeur of Victory over Nazism".

"We are grateful to the people of Great Britain, France and the United States for their contribution to victory," he added, also thanking those who fought against the Nazis in other countries including Germany.

In an apparent dig at the United States, Putin also criticized attempts to establish a "unipolar" world order and stressed the need to develop a "system of equal security for all states", but he conspicuously shunned more aggressive rhetoric and made no mention of the Ukraine crisis.

Speaking at a reception later, Putin said international relations should be guided by the WWII-era "spirit of allied partnership".

More than 16,000 soldiers including troops from China, India, Mongolia, Serbia and several ex-Soviet states marched past the leaders.

In a finely choreographed spectacle, troops including soldiers sporting Soviet-era uniforms and rifles and a cavalry regiment marched across Red Square's famed cobbles as Putin, seated next to China's Xi Jinping, looked on.

Cutting-edge military equipment including the next-generation Armata T-14 tank and nuclear missile systems rumbled through the square along with the famed war-era T-34 tank, in one of the biggest Victory Day celebrations in decades.

The parade also saw over a hundred military aircraft — including long-range nuclear bombers — swoop over Moscow in a spectacular fly-by.

In a gesture highlighting Russia's new-found religious fervour, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu crossed himself at the start of the parade, and at noon church bells tolled for fifteen minutes.

Besides China's Xi, other high-profile guests at the parade were United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon, India's President Pranab Mukherjee, and Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt.

Raul Castro of Cuba, Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Jacob Zuma of South Africa were also in attendance.

US actor Steven Seagal also attended the parade as did a leather-clad Alexander Zaldostanov, leader of a Kremlin-backed biker gang.

The Soviet Union lost an estimated 27 million soldiers and civilians in WWII — more than any other country — and the Red Army's triumph remains an enormous source of national pride.

Victory Day traditionally unites Russians across political divides and huge crowds were expected to flood into central Moscow.

But the Kremlin parade was overshadowed by the Ukraine crisis, with the West slapping sanctions on Moscow over Russia's seizure of Crimea and support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.

United States President Barack Obama has snubbed the festivities, as have the leaders of Russia's other key WWII allies Britain and France.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel ducked out of attending the parade but will fly to Moscow on Sunday to lay a wreath at the grave of the Unknown Soldier.

President Petro Poroshenko of war-torn Ukraine has branded Russia's show of military might a "parade of cynicism".

Muscovites marking the day sported Soviet army caps and the black-and-orange striped ribbons that have become a symbol of patriotism in recent years.

Dressed in a WWII-era uniform one man, Vyacheslav Ostrovsky, took a picture of his daughter in front of an armoured vehicle draped in a large red flag.

"It makes me dizzy just to think about all the blood that we spilt to raise our flag over the Reichstag," he told AFP. "Eternal glory to the defenders of the motherland!"

Over 70 percent of Russians say a close family member was killed or went missing during the war.

After the parade, nearly 200,000 people marched through central Moscow with portraits of relatives who fought in the war, in a campaign dubbed the "Immortal Regiment".

Victory Day was celebrated across Russia, with authorities staging parades involving thousands of soldiers, naval vessels and even nuclear submarines.

In recent years, victory in what Russians call the Great Patriotic War has been raised to cult status, with critics accusing Putin of seeking to co-opt the country's history to boost his personal power.

The Kremlin has also used WWII narratives to rally support for its current political agenda, painting the pro-Western Ukrainian government as Nazi sympathisers. Source: TOI

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Arvind Kejriwal alleges media took ‘supari’ to finish off Aam Aadmi Party

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday charged that there is a “conspiracy to finish off AAP” among a “very large” section of the media even as he supported “public trial” of the media.

Coming out with a strong response to the controversies in which the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) finds itself involved, he said that “a very big conspiracy” was going on.

“A very large section of the media has accepted ‘supari’ for finishing off AAP,” he said.

The ruling AAP has come under fire from opposition parties over the row in connection with Delhi Law Minister Jitendra Singh Tomar’s degree and in the matter of the alleged suicide by a farmer at a rally led by the party at Jantar Mantar here.

Stating that the matter needed to be taken up if any channel was found airing erroneous content, he declared, “If you see that a particular channel is showing something factually incorrect, then you should raise the issue.

“There can be a public trial. There can be 8-10 spots in Delhi where we can collect a group of people and show the erroneous clip. That way we can start a ‘janta ka trial’.”

Speaking at the launch of a news website jantakareporter.com, Kejriwal defended Tomar, who is facing allegations of possessing a fake LLB degree, saying, “I have no relation with Tomar nor is he my friend. Why will I save him. As soon as allegations were were raised, I wrote to him seeking an explanation.”

The chief minister added that “if you see his reply, even you will say he is innocent”.

“He (Tomar) is innocent and a conspiracy is being run against him,” Kejriwal maintained.

“He (Tomar) has sent his brother to collect his degrees… The court has not said anything but media is saying everything. They want him sacked,” he added.

On the issue of the alleged suicide by Rajasthan farmer Gajendra Singh at an AAP rally, Kejriwal said, “Nobody had even thought that such a tragedy will occur at Jantar Mantar. “We were sitting on the stage and where Gajendra was sitting on the tree was not visible,” he said.

“Had we announced anything, a stampede could have occurred because of the large crowd,” the chief minister said, adding that “police would have saved him if they knew it. When his body was brought down he was living. We should have stopped the programme then”.

Expressing regret over the incident, Kejriwal said that neither he nor the other AAP leaders could get sleep in the night after the tragedy at Jantar Mantar. Kejriwal also touched upon topics such as the performance of the Narendra Modi government and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi’s engagement with farmers’ issues and the recent row involving his government and Delhi Police.

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I don't mind making fool of myself on screen: Sunny Leone

Mumbai: She is known for her hot and glamorous avatar on-screen but actress Sunny Leone says she does not mind the audience to laugh at her if the role demands. Sunny, 33, will be next seen in adult comedy Kuch Kuch Locha Hai and she said the genre comes natural to her.

"Something that people don't know is that when I worked in the US, I was a part of a comedy group. There used to be acts, stand up comedies and in between we used to do comedy skits and comedy games."

"So, I have a little bit of training. I wouldn't say I am the funniest person ever but I have a good sense of humour. I am not afraid of tripping over myself or making fool of myself on camera so there is no embarrassment on-screen. I am usually up for anything," Sunny told reporters here.

The Ragini MMS 2 actress is aware that she is typecast as a sex symbol in her films, given her adult star background but Sunny is not keen of getting caged into an image.

"I don't know about breaking or recreating any image. My fans have been seeing me from a long time... Things change with time. This year you are going to see me in very different films. But there are a couple of movies which are not that glamorous," she said.

Kuch Kuch Locha Hai also stars Ram Kapoor, Evelyn Sharma. While praising her co-stars, Sunny said the film has given her great friends, who made her shooting experiences memorable.

The film is releasing on May 8 with Amitabh Bachchan-Deepika Padukone starrer Piku.

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Irish Sikh man, a candidate in UK polls, says he was forced to remove turban in Dubai

London: Northern Ireland's first-ever Sikh candidate contesting the UK general election has complained that he was allegedly forced to remove his turban by police at Dubai airport.

Amandeep Singh Bhogal, a Conservative party prospective parliamentary candidate for the May 7

polls, was on his way back to Belfast when he was allegedly made to remove his turban and 'kara' (bracelet).

Singh expressed his anger through a series of tweets and retweets - "My Sikh faith being grossly violated at @DubaiAirports by @DubaiPoliceHQ as not being allowed leave until I take off and leave my Sikh bangle".

An official statement from the Conservative Party is awaited as UK authorities got involved to try and resolve the situation. Bhogal, who was born in Jalandhar, has made his mark on the campaign trail for the Conservative party in his trademark blue turban.

The 31-year-old represents the Upper Bann constituency in the heart of Northern Ireland, which is 54% Protestant and deeply Christian and churchgoing.

His candidacy is attracting widespread media interest though he is not expected to win the seat, which is currently held by David Simpson of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

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This Kerala Police IG was caught cheating in exam and asked to leave

Thiruvananthapuram: The administration in Kerala was left red-faced on Monday after a top police officer was caught allegedly cheating during the Master of Law examination.

Inspector general of police (Thrissur range) TJ Jose had to leave the exam hall 30 minutes before the test ended at St Paul’s College in Kalamasserry, on the outskirts of the port city of Kochi, after invigilators found he was allegedly copying from a text book.

Jose denied the charges and described the incident as a conspiracy to defame him. “Nobody prevented me from leaving the examination hall. And no material was seized from me,” he said.

The invigilators said they weren’t aware of Jose’s designation when they caught him. They said they would ask Mahatma Gandhi University, which is conducting the exam, to take action against him.

The embarrassed state government asked additional director general of police Shankar Reddy to probe the incident and submit a report immediately.

Confirming the incident, VJ Peter, vice-principal of St Paul's College, said university authorities would be informed of the matter.

As news of the incident spread, student unions jumped on to the bandwagon and sought a high-level inquiry. Attempts were reportedly made to cover up the incident.

This isn’t the first time Kerala has seen such a high-profile case of malpractice during an exam.

In 2012, Communist Party of India legislator ES Bijimol was caught allegedly copying answers during an LLB examination but was let off for want of evidence. Jose, however, is likely to face debarment by the varsity and be subject to a departmental inquiry.

Director general of police K S Balasubramaniam said he would take necessary action once he received the report.

The cheating menace hit the headlines earlier this year after hundreds of people in Bihar were caught on camera perched on walls to pass on papers and notes to examinees. Source: HT

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AAP's Vishwas denies allegations of 'illicit relationship', accuses rivals of dirty politics

New Delhi: AAP's Kumar Vishwas, who has been summoned by the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on the basis of a complaint filed by a female party worker that he had an illicit relationship with her, on Monday dismissed all allegations and accused the media of planting baseless stories.

The DCW has asked Vishwas to appeared before it on Tuesday.

"The girl has given a complaint letter to the police commissioner and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal," said DCW chairperson Barkha Shukla Singh.

The Aam Aadmi Party leader, however, denied he has received any summon from the panel and asked the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress to stop playing dirty politics.

"All allegations are untrue. The BJP is running a false campaign to malign me," said Vishwas.

"We know the BJP and the Congress are in pain due to results of Delhi polls," the AAP leader added.

"This is only being done to bring us down, but I will keep on fighting against such dirty politics. We are not going to be scared."

Vishwas also attacked the media saying some news channels are trying to malign the characters of AAP leaders.

"Stories are being planted (by media) and a wrong campaign is being run but such people have forgotten that they too have families," he said.

"Please keep some moral discipline, don't attack our families."

The AAP leader also said the woman has filed complaint against 4 people and has said efforts are made to defame her and that no action has been taken till date.

"That woman has emailed me. She has clearly written that 'bhaiya' I have filed a complaint, what should I do next," he said.

His party too put its weight behind him with AAP's Sanjay Singh dismissing allegations against Vishwas and saying that all reports are baseless.

"I request the media to not run any baseless or false news against us. It affects our families," Singh told reporters during a press conference.

"The woman has filed a complaint against 4 people and her complaint does not say anything about an illicit affair. But it is still being propagated from that angle," he added.

Earlier, the AAP's political rivals were quick to react as reports of him being summoned by the DCW emerged.

"It's unfair on the part of Kumar Vishwas to keep quiet on issue of dignity of his female worker when the matter relates to him," said BJP leader RP Singh.

"Whether it's Kumar Vishwas or any other person, if a girl's dignity has been violated to such an extent, it must be probed," said Shazia Ilmi, Vishwas' former AAP colleague and currently a BJP leader.

Congress too wasn't far behind and sought an investigation into the "serious" matter.

"These allegations are very serious. There must be a thorough investigation," said Congress' Ajay Maken.

The allegations against Vishwas first emerged on March 31 when Twitter exploded with numerous photographs of Vishwas and AAP's women supporters, posted by various users.

The hashtag - #exposingkumarvishwas - started trending on Twitter, with users divided in their opinions about the poet-turned-politician. The controversy was fuelled by senior party leader Anand Kumar's statement that the party rift would reach the bedrooms and drawing rooms of the leaders.

A series of emails exchanged between the top leadership of the party, deciding the course of action - after they received a complaint against Vishwas - has come to light.

In December last year, senior party officials received an email from a man - claiming to be one Ajay Vohra - accusing Vishwas of accepting black money and indulging in a physical relationship with a volunteer from Amethi constituency, from where he was contesting.

In the emails, it was also alleged that Vishwas' wife also knew about it. Source: HT

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'I'm the American dream': Mayweather rumbles after Pacquiao bout as he joins the greats

Las Vegas: Floyd Mayweather danced his way to a unanimous decision over frustrated Manny Pacquiao here Saturday to win the richest fight in history and cement his place in the pantheon of boxing greats.

Boos rang out from a pro-Pacquiao Las Vegas crowd as Mayweather's emphatic victory was confirmed by all three scorecards after 12 rounds of cat and mouse action.

Mayweather comfortably picked off his Filipino rival to snuff out any chance of the full-blooded slugfest that the more aggressive Pacquiao was hoping to ignite in front of the crowd of 16,507.

The win extended Mayweather's remarkable 19-year unbeaten record to 48-0, putting him within one fight of equalling Rocky Marciano's legendary milestone of 49-0.

The 38-year-old Mayweather retained his World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association welterweight titles and seized Pacquiao's World Boxing Organization belt by winning the fight on all three of the judges' scorecards.

"I am the American dream," Mayweather said. "I knew I had him from round one. I have so much experience I could calculate his moves.

"I was born a winner and I am going to die a winner."

Mayweather said he hopes the win will silence critics who accused him of ducking Pacquiao and hand-picking opponents he knew he could beat in order to keep his unblemished record intact.

"Everyone said this guy could beat Floyd. That Floyd is a chicken. The non believers, well Floyd turned them into believers." 

Saturday's fight is widely believed to be the most lucrative in boxing history with revenues of $400 million.

Judges emphatic

Ringside judge Dave Moretti scored the bout 118-110 for Mayweather, while judges Glenn Feldman and Bert Clements both scored it 116-112 for the American.

But when the results were announced the pro-Pacquiao crowd booed lustily and tried to drown out Mayweather's interview inside the ring.

Their Filipino star Pacquiao suffered the sixth loss of his career to go with 57 victories and two draws.

Pacquiao said he was hindered by an injured right shoulder that he hurt in training several weeks ago.

"I did my best but my best wasn't good enough," Pacquiao said. "From the third round on I felt a pain in my shoulder."

Fans in the Philippines echoed the disappointment of those in the ring, crying foul over the judges' decision and claiming their man was robbed of a deserving victory.

They filled gymnasiums, cinemas and bars as the Southeast Asian nation of 100 million people stopped in its tracks for Pacquiao's battle with Mayweather.

"Pacquiao was cheated. Mayweather didn't land a single solid punch," said cable television technician Romeo Rivera, 41.

There is no denying that the 36-year-old Pacquiao made Mayweather work for the victory and hit the American with "three or four" thundering shots.

He was the aggressor, pressing the action from the first round and was able to land some right-left combinations on Mayweather's head, especially on the ropes and in the final seconds of the early rounds.

But ultimately Pacquiao wasn't able to keep up his frenzied early pace for all 12 rounds and Mayweather, who was the bigger of the two fighters, managed to set traps which allowed him to slip in counterpunches and hard right hands that kept the Filipino southpaw at bay.

Even so, Pacquiao said he thought he did enough to earn the victory.

"I thought I won the fight," he said. "He didn't do nothing."

September finale?

Mayweather reiterated afterwards that he plans to retire after his next fight in September which will fulfil his six-fight contract to Showtime Sports.

"My last fight is in September. I'll do that and I will hang it up," said Mayweather, estimated to have earned more than $200 million for one night's work. Pacquiao will receive well over $100 million in a 60-40 purse split the fighters agreed to beforehand.

The entrance of the fighters to the ring was delayed about 45 minutes because of problems with the heavy demand for pay-per-view telecast and the providers ability to distribute it.

Some of the biggest names in Hollywood, entertainment and sport were in attendance, including director Clint Eastwood, actors Robert De Niro, Jon Voight, Denzel Washington, Bradley Cooper, musician Sting, former NBA star Magic Johnson and talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, who visited Pacquiao in his dressing room before the fight.

Only a lucky few had tickets to the bout but thousands more milled around the outside of the Grand Garden arena and in the hotel's casino.

Mayweather made a grand entrance befitting of his superstar status. He was accompanied by his "The Money Team" which includes his father/trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr.

But Pacquiao arrived first to the ring, smiling relentlessly and even taking a selfie with long-time trainer Freddie Roach during his entrance. Source: HT

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Nepal: Man (101) rescued seven days after earthquake

Kathmandu: A 101-year-old man has been pulled alive from the rubble of his house in Nepal seven days after an earthquake hit the country, police said on Sunday.

Funchu Tamang was rescued on Saturday with only minor injuries and airlifted to a district hospital in Nuwakot district around 50 miles north-west of Kathmandu, said a local police officer, Arun Kumar Singh.

“He was brought to the district hospital in a helicopter. His condition is stable,” said Singh.

“He has injuries on his left ankle and hand. His family is with him.”

Police also rescued three women from beneath rubble on Sunday in Sindhupalchowk, one of the districts worst hit by the quake, although it was not immediately known how long they had been trapped.

One had been buried by a landslide while the other two were under the rubble of a collapsed house.

“They are being taken to hospital for treatment,” said Suraj Khadka, an officer with the Armed Police Force in Kathmandu.

Three other people were pulled out alive from the rubble of their home eight days after Nepal’s devastating earthquake, an official said on Sunday, but rescuers have found about 50 bodies on a popular trekking route that was hit by an avalanche.

The current toll of 7,056 dead is likely to rise as an entire village was carried away by the avalanche and many more people are believed to have died, officials said.

The news comes as the Himalayan country was forced to close its only international airport to large jets because they are causing damage to its runway as they bring in aid.

A home ministry official said police and army rescued three people from the rubble in the district of Sindhupalchowk, northeast of the capital Kathmandu and one of the worst-hit areas in the country.

No further details were immediately available. In the northern Rasuwa district, a Nepali police team has pulled out the bodies of about 50 people, including some foreign trekkers, from the avalanche-hit area, officials said.

The entire village of Langtang was wiped out by the avalanche, said Ganga Sagar Pant, the head of the Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal, who has a representative in the area. “All that is left is scattered belongings like bags and coats, all the houses have been thrown down the mountain,” he said. “There is nothing left. I don’t think anyone can survive that.”

The village is on a popular trekking route and has 55 guesthouses catering to visitors. It was not clear how many people were there at the time of the avalanche and whether they were foreigners or local villagers.

None of the recovered bodies has been identified, said Pravin Pokharel, deputy superintendent of police in the northern district of Rasuwa. Mr Pokharel, who led the police team, said the bodies were pulled out from under snow and ice on Saturday.

Rescuers were to return to the remote area on Sunday.

At least 200 other people are still missing in Langtang, including villagers and trekkers, said Uddhav Bhattarai, the most senior bureaucrat in the district. “We had not been able to reach the area earlier because of rains and cloudy weather,” he said by telephone. Tulsi Prasad Gautam, the head of Nepal’s tourism department, said: “The death toll (of foreigners in Nepal) will go higher because in the Langtang area a significant number are still missing.”

Customs inspections at Kathmandu airport are holding up vital relief supplies for earthquake survivors in Nepal, the UN has said, as the death toll from the disaster a week ago passed 7,000.

UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said Nepal had a duty to provide faster customs clearance for relief supplies.

Many people are yet to receive the aid, which is piling up at Kathmandu airport, a week after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake on April 25th.

But the Nepal government has complained it has been sent such unneeded supplies as tuna and mayonnaise and insisted its customs agents had to check all emergency shipments.

Finance minister Ram Sharan Mahat appealed to international donors to send tents, tarpaulins and basic food supplies and said some of the items received were of no use.

US military aircraft and personnel were due to arrive in Nepal on Sunday, a day later than expected, to help ferry relief supplies to stricken areas outside the capital Kathmandu, a US Marines spokeswoman said. Marine Brigadier General Paul Kennedy has said the delayed US contingent included at least 100 US soldiers, lifting equipment and six military aircraft, two of them helicopters.

The team arrives as criticism mounted over a pile-up of relief supplies at Kathmandu airport, the only international gateway to the Himalayan nation, because of customs inspections. United Nations Resident Representative Jamie McGoldrick said the government must loosen its normal customs restrictions to deal with the increasing flow of relief pouring in from abroad.

But the government, complaining it has received unneeded supplies such as tuna and mayonnaise, insisted its customs agents had to check all emergency shipments.

“They should not be using peacetime customs methodology,” the UN’s Mr McGoldrick said. Instead, he argued, all relief material should get a blanket exemption from checks on arrival. Kennedy also warned against bottlenecks at Kathmandu airport, saying: “What you don’t want to do is build up a mountain of supplies” that block space for planes or more supplies.

Nepal lifted import taxes on tarpaulins and tents on Friday but a home ministry spokesman, Laxmi Prasad Dhakal, said all goods coming in from overseas had to be inspected.

“This is something we need to do,” he said. Nepali government officials have said efforts to step up the pace of delivery of relief material to remote areas were also frustrated by a shortage of supply trucks and drivers, many of whom had returned to their villages to help their families.

Many Nepalis have been sleeping in the open since the quake, afraid of returning to their homes because of powerful aftershocks. Tents have been pitched in Kathmandu’s main sports stadium and on its golf course.

According to the United Nations, 600,000 houses have been destroyed or damaged. The United Nations said 8 million of Nepal’s 28 million people were affected, with at least 2 million needing tents, water, food and medicines over the next three months.

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Punjab bus molestation: Moga victim's family accepts compensation, ready to cremate body

The family of a 13-year-old girl who died after being thrown off a bus in Moga district by her molesters accepted compensation offered by the Punjab government on Sunday, ending a protest that Ceembarrassed the ruling Badal family and hogged national headlines.

Amid high drama, family members accepted the state government's offer of an ex gratia payment of Rs 20 lakh, another Rs 3.80 lakh to fund the education of the victim’s brother and Rs 5 lakh and a

semi-government job for the mother, who was injured in the incident.

According to the victim's mother, they both boarded the bus from Moga at 4pm on Wednesday and were pushed off after being subjected to indecent gestures and lewd comments following an altercation over fares.

There was widespread anger when it emerged that the bus was operated by Orbit Aviation, a firm owned by the son of chief minister Parkash Singh Badal.

Demanding that the bus owners should be booked and licence of the bus service cancelled, the family had initially refused to cremate the girl, accept compensation or allow a post-mortem amid a tense standoff between the state government and opposition parties, namely the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party, that joined protests outside the hospital where the mother underwent treatment.

Facing heat over the incident, deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal had ordered all buses of his transport company to be taken off the road on Saturday.

Earlier on Sunday, a change of stand on the part of the victim's family was evident when they gave an approval for conducting post-mortem on the victim's body, which has been lying in a mortuary. The family also said they were ready to cremate the body.

Meanwhile, the Punjab chief minister described the Moga incident as "intolerable" and "painful". "This (Moga bus incident) is intolerable. The death of a girl in such conditions is very painful to me...I am going to Moga (to meet the family of girl)."

The incident has sparked widespread outrage with many likening it to the December 16, 2012 gangrape in Delhi that galvanised the nation against crimes against women and sparked massive protests by civil rights groups and ordinary citizens.

Centre talks tough

The central government said it will take necessary steps, if required, on the Moga incident after getting a report from the state government.

Minister of state for home affairs, Kiren Rijiju, said the Centre had asked the Punjab government for a report on Thursday and it will not be in a position to react before going through it.
 
“But I am sure the Punjab government was taking appropriate steps," he said, adding that if the Centre felt appropriate steps have not been taken, "then necessary advisories or suggestions will be given".

"But right now, when the issue is directly under the domain of the state government, it would not be proper for the MHA to react."

Citing conflict of interest, Congress leader Amarinder Singh said chief minister Parkash Singh Badal should either resign or shut down his transport and other businesses.

The Congress' deputy leader in Lok Sabha alleged that number of Badal family-owned buses had increased from 40 to 250 since they came to power.

"All these years, in a clear case of conflict of interest, you have brutally abused your position and power and multiplied your fleet of buses from 40 to 250 by threatening and bullying not only other private transporters, but also the PRTC (Pepsu Road Transport Corporation) and Punjab Roadways into submission."

"No government official or the police can dare to stop these buses as your conductors and drivers misbehave with officials and get away with it," he told Badal in a statement, adding, "the Moga incident was the outcome of the same immunity from law you have provided to your erring and bullying drivers and conductors." Source: HT

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