London, April 6
An Indian was among three persons nabbed by the British police in connection with the biggest-ever seizure of heroin worth 15 to 20 million pounds,the police said today.

The Indian man was identified as 30-year-old Harminder Chana, who was taken into custody by the Metropolitan police.

Apart from Chana, a national of Pakistani-origin Atif Khan (31) and Dutchman Patrick Kuster (35) were arrested over the seizure of 350 kg of heroin valued at 15 to 20 million pounds.

The specialist crime central task force seized the huge quantity of heroin from two cars at a motorway service station in Kent on Thursday.

Chana and Kuster were arrested in the motorway service station, while Khan was taken into custody in Ilford in east London.

Officers saw the Dutchman transferring cardboard boxes from a BMW to another car in a parking lot off a highway southeast of London on Thursday.

The police found 10 more boxes full of heroin inside the BMW. They seized a total of 350 kg in the bust.

Detective chief inspector Peter Beyer said "this is one of the largest-ever seizures of heroin by the police in the UK.We've severely disrupted a highly organised criminal network engaged in the widescale importation and distribution of class A drugs." The three men will be produced in court tomorrow. — PTI

Los Angeles, April 6
Hollywood actor Charlton Heston, best known for his portrayal of a larger than life figure in the 1959 Oscar-winning film 'Ben Hur', has died at the age of 84.

He died at his Beverly Hills home last night with his wife of 64 years, Lydia, by his side, the family said today.The superstar, who was believed to be suffering from the late stages of Alzheimer's disease, is survived by a son and a daughter and three grandchildren.

"Charlton Heston was seen by the world as larger than life.He was known for his chiselled jaw, broad shoulders and resonating voice, and, of course, for the roles he played," the family said in a statement."No one could ask for a fuller life than his.No man could have given more to his family, to his profession, and to his country."The family said it would hold a private memorial service while no funeral plans have been announced.

"We knew him as an adoring husband, a kind and devoted father, and a gentle grandfather, with an infectious sense of humour," the actor's family said. Heston rose to fame in the 1950s with starring in movies like “Ben Hur”, for which he won an Oscar. He played Moses in the ” Ten Commandments”.

Heston's last acting assignment was playing an elderly Josef Mengele, the Auschwitz Nazi surgeon who performed medical experiments on concentration camp refugees during World War II, in the 2003 movie,”My Father, Rua Alguem 5555”. — PTI 

London, April 6
Krishan Attri, the British army's first Hindu chaplain, uses extracts from the Mahabharata to counsel British soldiers going to war in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Attri was among the first four faith chaplains appointed by the army in November, 2005.The other three were Mandeep Kaur (Sikh chaplain), Sunil Kariyakarawana (Buddhist),and Imam Asim Hafiz (Islam).

Britain's armed forces have 300 regular commissioned Christian chaplains serving 183,000 Christian personnel,but the four new chaplains were the first such appointments in the history of the forces.

Attri, who hails from Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh, says that he uses the Bhagwad Gita to explain the necessity of going to war to British Hindu soldiers deputed in Iraq or Afghanistan.

There are 470 Hindus in Britain's armed forces.

"I tell them, 'God has given you an opportunity to protect your country and maintain peace in the world'.They need to know they are not killing anybody but just performing a duty," Attri says.

When Attri was interviewed at the Ministry of Defence for the job, he was asked what he would say if a soldier did not want to go to war.

Hindu teachings, he responded, offered good guidance: "Duty is our priority. It's our karma, and we have to face it." Hindu teachings have armed most of the soldiers, he told The Times.

"They know they've undertaken a contract to look after the boundary walls of the country," he told the newspaper. — PTI

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is bracing for the possibility of conceding five to six cabinet posts to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in Sindh, party sources said here. A power-sharing arrangement being negotiated between the two sides included a key demand from the MQM that its nominee should be appointed as the Governor of the province.

The PPP, however, is inclined to name a person from urban Sindh as governor, who may not necessarily be a member of the MQM, but acceptable to it.

In 1990s Nawaz Sharif followed this stance and named Hakim Saeed as governor, who was later murdered. MQM activists were accused of masterminding the assassination and Nawaz Sharif launched an operation against the MQM snapping ties with the MQM as coalition partners in Sindh and the Centre.

BRIEFLY

Iraqi forces free 42 varsity students
Mosul: Iraq's security forces freed 42 university students kidnapped by gunmen near northern city of Mosul on Sunday, said a local Iraqi army commander. The students were ambushed and kidnapped in an area called Jorum on a highway near Mosul. Sattar said the gunmen ambushed two buses, which were ferrying students to Mosul from their homes in Hurkat, 70 km south of Iraq's main northern city. — AFP

Indian embassy outsources work
DUBAI: The Indian embassy in UAE has outsourced the collection of applications for passports and visas to help reduce the inconvenience caused to the public. The move is expected to make things easier for thousands of Indian nationals and others, who seek consular services every day, and will also reduce the heavy rush at the existing two offices in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. — PTI

Muslim graves vandalised in France
LILLE (FRANCE): Vandals desecrated 148 graves in the Muslim section of a military cemetery in northern France, hanging a pig’s head on one of the headstones, the police said on Sunday. French President Nicolas Sarkozy called the attack “a hateful act” and as many as 100 cops were sent to the Notre-Dame de Lorette cemetery near Arras to hunt for clues. — Reuters

New TV channel for British-Asians
LONDON: A new free-to-air television channel aimed at the British Asian audience, including those of Indian origin, will be officially launched on Monday. Brit Asia TV, a Birmingham-based channel, says that its aim is to “broadcast and promote Asian culture amongst British Asians” in the UK and across Europe. — PTI

B’desh Army Chief’s tenure extended
DHAKA: Bangladesh’s military-backed government on Sunday extended the tenure of Army Chief Gen Moeen U Ahmed’s by a year to June 2009. Gen Moeen was due to retire in June this year. He was promoted to the rank of General from Major-General in 2007. — TNS

3 bodies found during river clean-up
Kansas City: The police is investigating three bodies found near a river where city employees and volunteers were taking part in an annual clean-up programme.The bodies appear to be those of adults and are being looked at as homicides, the Kansas City police said. — AP

22 killed in Baghdad clashes
BAGHDAD: Twenty-two persons were killed and 55 wounded in clashes in Baghdad, the police said on Sunday, the worst eruption of violence in the capital since Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called his fighters off the streets a week ago. The violence in Sadr’s Baghdad stronghold, the Shi’ite slum of Sadr City, follows a week of relative calm after clashes throughout the south and Shi’ite neighbourhoods of the capital. It comes only days before US ambassador Ryan Crocker and US commander General David Petraeus are due to deliver key testimony to the US Congress on progress in Iraq. — Reuters