KUALA LUMPUR: A Beijing-bound Malaysian Airlines plane that went missing with 239 people on board, including five Indians, today crashed into waters off Vietnam's southern Phu Quoc Island, Vietnamese media reported.

The Boeing 777-200 Flight MH370 with 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board crashed 250 km off coast of Tho Chu island, Vietnamese newspaper Tuoi Tre (Youth) quoted Rear Admiral Ngo Van Phat, political commissar of the Fifth Naval Region of Vietnam, as saying.

A fresh passengers' list issued by the airline said five Indians were among the 239 passengers on board the aircraft, correcting its previous account in which Indians were not mentioned.

"At the moment, there are no Vietnamese navy boats in that area so we have to ask boats from Phu Quoc island to be prepared for rescue," the admiral said.

From the report it was not clear how the admiral knew about the crash or whether the wreckage of the ill-fated plane has been located.

There is no confirmation about the report from the Malaysian authorities.

Chinese media is reporting the plane may have crashed into the South China Sea, state-run Xinhua news agency said.

The plane took off at 12:41 a.m. (local time) and lost contact with Subang Air Traffic Control near Kuala Lumpur almost two hours later at 2:40 a.m, the airlines said.

The fresh list of passengers issued by the airline mentions people of 14 nationalities including Indians.

The plane disappeared in the night somewhere over South China Sea while enroute to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur.

"Focus of the airline is to work with the emergency responders and authorities and mobilize its full support," the Malaysia Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya earlier said.

He said the pilot of the missing aircraft, identified as Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah, had 18365 hours of experience and joined the airlines in 1981.

Those on board include 5 Indians, 152 Chinese, 38 Malaysians, 7 Indonesians, 6 Australians, 3 French, 4 including an infant from the US, 2 New Zealanders, 2 Ukrainians, 2 Canadians, 1 each from Russia, Italy, Taiwan, Netherlands and Austria.

Malaysia Airlines is currently working with the authorities who have activated their Search and Rescue team to locate the aircraft, Jauhari said.

"Our team is currently calling the next-of-kin of passengers and crew," he added.

Confusion and chaos prevailed in Beijing where the planed was due to land at 6.30 AM.

Relatives of the 152 Chinese passengers rushed to the airport and later the Malaysian Airline office to find about the fate of their near dear ones. - PTI

KATHMANDU: The rear landing gear of an Indigo Airlines aircraft caught fire after landing at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) Saturday afternoon, airport officials said, adding all the passengers on board were evacuated safely.

The aircraft, an Airbus A320, landed safely with 174 passengers on board, Xinhua reported citing the officials. The aircraft caught fire immediately after landing at the airport.

Rishikesh Sharma, general manager of TIA, told the media that the fire was immediately controlled. The reason behind the fire is yet to be ascertained. 

On Friday, a Twin Otter plane belonging to Nepal Airlines also made an emergency landing at Kathmandu airport after it experienced minor glitches in its engine.- IANS

WASHINGTON: Even as a visiting US official indicated the country's willingness to work with India's new leader post elections whoever it may be, Washington insisted there is no change in its visa policy in respect of Narendra Modi.

Bhartiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate was "welcome to apply for a visa, and obviously that would be considered through the normal process", State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters Friday repeating an old formulation.

"We don't speculate on visas, of course, and our position hasn't changed on this case," she said when asked to clarify remarks made by US Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Biswal to a TV channel in response to a specific question about Modi.

"I would just say that the United States has welcomed every leader of this vibrant democracy, and that a democratically elected leader of India will be a welcome partner," Biswal was quoted as saying when asked if Modi would be granted a US visa if he becomes prime minister.

But Psaki said "I think she was just reflecting the strength of our relationship with India" and it was "correct" to say that she did not mean to suggest that the Gujarat chief minister would indeed get a visa as it has been taken by some.

"Obviously, the elections haven't taken place at this point, but our position hasn't changed on this, which is that Mr. Modi is welcome to apply for a visa, and obviously that would be considered through the normal process," she said.

But as to whether Modi would get a visa if he applies, the spokesperson said: "We wouldn't make a sweeping prediction for anyone, given visas are confidential."

"There are some, perhaps, that may be easier than others," she added.

The US State Department revoked Modi's visa in 2005 over his alleged role or inaction during the 2002 Gujarat riots in which at least 1,000 people, most of them Muslims, were killed. Modi, who denies any wrong doing, has not applied for a new visa after that.

US officials have also shunned him since then. But indicating a major change of policy, US ambassador to India Nancy Powell met Modi at his residence in Gandhinagar last month.

But Washington has sought to portray it as a normal exchange of views with various party leaders before the April-May elections as it does not want to be seen taking sides in the coming elections.

Another indication of US change in policy was the omission of Modi's name from the State Department's annual human rights report. US has glossed over that too suggesting that the report essentially focuses on the previous year.

Asked if Biswal had talked about human rights with Indian officials given that the report mentioned rampant corruption as a major problem, Psaki said she didn't "have any more details on her trip" but "Obviously, we raise human rights issues whenever we can in a range of countries". - PTI

BASEL: Two-time winner Saina Nehwal of India has been seeded sixth at the $125,000 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold which starts at St. Jakobshalle here on Tuesday.

The Olympic bronze medallist will try to regain the crown which she won in 2011 and 2012 and reached the semi-finals last year. Saina's city-mate P.V. Sindhu is just a notch below her and has been seeded seventh.

Saili Rane is the other Indian in the main draw of the women's singles category.

Meanwhile, out of form Parupalli Kashyap has been seeded third in the men's singles draw, followed by fifth seed Kidambi Srikanth. 

Mumbai's Anand Pawar is the other Indian in the fray.

Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa have received direct qualification in the women's doubles main draw and Ashwini will also partner Tarun Kona in the mixed doubles. - IANS

SINGAPORE: Five women journalists from the Asia-Pacific, including an Indian, were honoured here for their outstanding work in support of women's empowerment issues.

Indian journalist Nilanjana Bhowmick, Time magazine's correspondent and South Asia bureau manager, won the 'Online Story of the Year' at Diageo's Women Empowerment Journalism Awards for her story 'India's Golden Girls: How Sports and the Olympics Can Uplift Women'.

CNN International's India correspondent Sumnima Udas won Journalist of the Year award for her reporting on Indian women.

Nepal-born Udas' winning entries include 'Being a women in India', a story on harassment faced by women, 'Acid Attack Victim', women attacked with acid in India and 'The Red Brigade', a group of young girls challenging discrimination in India.

Kathmandu-based Subina Shrestha of Al Jazeera won the Broadcast Story of the Year award for her entry 'Nepal's Slave Girls'.

'The Print Story of the Year' award was given to Denise Tsang of the South China Morning Post for her entry 'Engineering Change,' and Reuters' Aly Song won 'Photograph of the Year' award for 'The Women of China's Workforce'.

Women Empowerment Journalism Awards recognises and honours outstanding achievements in the reporting on women's issues across Asia Pacific and are part of our 'Plan W: Empowering Women through Learning' initiative, said Diageo, the international beverage group, in a statement.

The finalists were selected from over 300 entries received from media groups in Australia, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines. - PTI

NEW DELHI: A man smeared ink on AAP leader Yogendra Yadav's face during an event to mark Women's Day at Jantar Mantar here today.

The man was wearing an AAP cap and a badge, raising slogans "Bharat Mata ki Jai." He has been identified as 28-year-old Sagar Bhandari, a resident of Shalimar Bagh.

After the incident, Bhandari was thrashed by AAP volunteers following which he was taken away by police to Parliament Street police station.

Later, Bhandari was taken to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital for MLC by police.

He claims to be a disgruntled AAP worker.

"I do not know who this person is. I was talking to media when I was attacked. This time they have attacked us from behind. Next time they will attack us from the front," Yadav told reporters after the incident. - PTI