Daily News (In Short)-4-July-2015

#* In Call to Wife From Jail, Yasin Bhatkal Said 'Will Be Out With Help From Damascus': Sources

NEW DELHI:  Yasin Bhatkal, the co-founder of banned terror group Indian Mujahideen, made a phone call to his wife last month from a jail in Hyderabad saying he will be out soon with the help from Damascus, say sources.

The phone call by Bhatkal to his wife Zahida, was allegedly made from an official phone in the high security Cherlapally Jail, and was intercepted by security agencies about a month ago. The call hints at him getting help from the Islamic State, which controls large swathes of territory in both Syria and Iraq.

All phone conversations are recorded by jail authorities.

VK Singh, Director General, Telangana Prisons, said if Yasin spoke about getting help from Damascus or was planning to run away from the jail through the official phone, then maybe he was trying to mislead the police as he knows that the phone is being recorded.

Mr Singh also denied the possibility of using mobile phones from inside the jail. Bhatkal is lodged in a high special security cell where he is always guarded by a security guard.

"There is no question of anybody talking from inside a jail (from a cellphone)... Yasin Bhatkal has been talking to his wife through court permission from our authorized phone. Such conversation is always recorded and made available to the investigating agency," Mr Singh told NDTV.

Yasin Bhatkal was arrested from Bihar in 2013 by the National Investigation Agency. He was the key conspirator of three powerful blasts which ripped through crowded areas in Mumbai - Zaveri Bazar, Opera House and Kabutar Khana - on July 13, 2011, killing at least 21 people and injuring 141.

#* Hema Malini discharged from hospital, flies home to Mumbai

BJP MP and Bollywood actor Hema Malini, injured in an accident in Dausa district of Rajasthan, left for Mumbai on Saturday after being discharged from Fortis Hospital in Jaipur.
According to sources in the hospital, Hema Malini’s condition is better and she was discharged at 930am on Saturday morning.Hema Malini, 66, left the hospital through a rear entrance to avoid the media and was driven in an ambulance to the airport, from where she flew to Mumbai in a chartered flight.

"On the request of family members, she was discharged around 930am," a spokesperson for Fortis Hospital said.

She sustained injuries when her Mercedes car collided with another vehicle on National Highway 11 near Dausa on Thursday night. A two-year-old girl named Sonam was killed and her parents, brother and aunt were injured in the accident.

The actor had undergone surgery for her wounds on Friday. She was also treated for a minor fracture on her nose.

Hema Malini faced criticism for her apparent insensitivity and for not taking the injured family with her to hospital. She later expressed grief at the death of the child and conveyed her condolences to the family.

Talking to the media before leaving the hospital on Saturday, her daughter Esha Deol said: “The incident was quite unfortunate and we extend heartfelt condolences to the family members who are in profound grief over losing their young daughter.

#* Iran's nuclear deal: The toughest of all challenges

We're fast approaching the 70th anniversary next month of the dropping of the first nuclear bomb, on Hiroshima.
The world changed on 6 August 1945. Arguably, the appalling effects of that first atomic strike - and the subsequent attack on Nagasaki - have played a large part in the determination to prevent the use of far more devastating weapons developed since.
Back then, the US was the only nation with "the bomb".
The story since has been of the steady spread, the proliferation, of nuclear weapons: first to Russia, Britain, France and China - then to Israel (although never officially acknowledged), India, Pakistan, North Korea.

#* Greece's bailout referendum: All you need to know

In the referendum on Sunday, nearly 10 million Greeks will vote 'Yes' or 'No' to more austerity measures in return for bailout funds.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called for a referendum, being organised in just nine days, on a deal with European governments, the European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The last referendum held in Greece took place 41 years ago, in 1974, when voters abolished the monarchy.
 
What is the question?

"Should the deal draft that was put forward by the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund in the Eurogroup of June 25, 2015, and consists of two parts, that together form a unified proposal, be accepted? The first document is titled 'Reforms for the Completion of the Current Programme and Beyond' and the second 'Preliminary Debt Sustainability Analysis'."

It's quite a mouthful and has been slammed by critics as confusing and overly technical.

Greece's creditors had asked for reforms in exchange for extending the country's bailout deal until November. But when negotiations between the government and creditors collapsed last week, the extension was refused and the bailout ended as scheduled on June 30.

#* Five guerrillas, one soldier killed near LoC

At least five guerrillas were killed when they tried to sneak into the Indian side of the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, an official said on Saturday. A soldier too was killed in the gunbattle.
The incident took place in the Uri sector of the Baramulla district when Indian troops “noticed suspicious movement on our side of the LoC yesterday (Friday)”.

“After being challenged, a group of heavily armed terrorists fired at the troops, triggering a gunfight in which one terrorist was killed yesterday (Friday) and a soldier sustained minor injuries,” a senior army official told IANS.

“Late last evening, four more terrorists were killed, while we also lost one of our soldiers,” the official said.

The militants were engaged in an infiltration bid, the official added.

The official said recovering the bodies of the guerrillas would take time because of the difficult terrain.
Some of the guerrillas might have fled back after their infiltration attempt was foiled, the official added. (IANS)

#* IRCTC targets 25,000 meals per day by the end of 2015

Massive chappati makers that roll out uniform-shaped chapatis in less than 80 seconds, steam kettles, which cook up tonnes of well made rice and a cutting machine that chops up about 400 kilograms of vegetables in an hour– the Indian Railway’s mammoth kitchen is a state-of-the art wonder.
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC), central kitchen in Noida, Uttar Pradesh works round the clock to provide “hygienic, competitively priced and affordable meals” not only to rail passengers but to corporate clients too.
The automated four-storeyed ‘Food Factory’, set up in February 2012 churns out over 10,000 meals per day to be served up on some Rajdhani, Duranto and August Kranti trains.
“The kitchen is fully automated with latest equipments from the best of the manufacturers in India and abroad,” says Sudheer Warrier, AGM IRCTC.Raw materials are stocked in a store room on the ground floor, with pulses, rice, spices, vermicelli, and other “dry” items segregated neatly with indicating labels.
“While all perishable items come in regularly every morning, the dry items are stocked for about three days,” says Warrier.
All perishable food items like vegetables and fruits are washed and sanitised before being moved to be chopped up on the upper floor. “We use chlorine tablets to sanitise vegetables,” Warrier says.
Vegetables are sourced from Mother Dairy and the non-perishable food items come from the Metro Cash and Carry outlet near Karkardooma Court.
The kitchen has just installed an Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) to segregate different forms of waste into reusable air and water.

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