NEW DELHI: Noted author and journalist Khushwant Singh died here today at the age of 99. His son and journalist Rahul Singh said he passed away very peacefully at his residence in Sujan Singh Park here.

He led a very full life, he said, adding, he had some breathing problems. 

As a journalist he had edited the now defunct Illustrated Weekly of India and later the Hindustan Times. His weekly column 'With Malice Towards One and All' was very popular and was syndicated in many dailies.

Singh was nominated to Rajya Sabha by the government under late Indira Gandhi. He was a Member of Parliament from 1980 to 1986.

He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1974 but returned the decoration in 1984 in protest against the storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar by the Army. In 2007, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan.

Singh was known for his classics such as 'Train to Pakistan' and 'I Shall Not Hear the Nightingale'. - PTI 

NEW DELHI: President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today paid rich tributes to renowned author and journalist Khushwant Singh, describing him as a "fearless intellectual" and a "gifted author".

The Prime Minister, accompanied by wife Gursharan Kaur, and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi visited Singh's residence at Sujan Singh Park and paid homage to the author, known as one of the finest writers in English in contemporary India, who died today at the age of 99.

Condoling the author's death, President Pranab Mukherjee described him as a "fearless intellectual" who had sharp insight and unique wit, as well as sense of humour.

In a condolence message sent to his son Rahul, the President said he was deeply saddened to learn about the passing away of Singh.

The Prime Minister described Singh as "a gifted author, candid commentator and a dear friend" who lived a truly creative life." BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi tweeted, "My condolences on the passing away of noted author & journalist Khushwant Singh. May his soul rest in peace." Scores of eminent citizens including Kuldip Nayar, Bishan Singh Bedi and author Vikram Seth paid tributes to Singh at his residence.

Former IPS officer Kiran Bedi remembered playing tennis with Singh. "His hearty laughter over certain shots! He played to enjoy and not compete!" Calling him a remarkable man and a great writer, veteran journalist Mark Tully said Singh had a great sense of humour.

"He never minced his words and was a courageous person. I remember once having dinner with him when he showed up his tremendous knowledge about Urdu poetry. What a lovable man he was!" said Tully.

Leading journalist and author M J Akbar said Singh was an admirable man.

"I have this unreserved gratitude for him. I was a kid, 20-year-old in a newspaper, and he really picked us up from nothing. He gave us opportunities which were undreamt of for any young person wanting to do anything," he said.

"For him to recognise and bless you was virtually the hand of a benedict," Akbar added. - PTI

MUMBAI: Five men were today held guilty of gangrape of two women in the abandoned Shakti Mills compound here last year by a sessions court here.

The court will pronounce the quantum of punishment tomorrow.

A total of seven persons, including two minors, were arrested in both the cases in which three of them are common. The principal sessions court judge Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi convicted Vijay Jadhav, 19, Mohammad Qasim Shaikh, 21 and Mohammad Ansari, 28, in both the gangrape cases.

In addition to the trio, the court found Siraj Khan guilty in the photojournalist gangrape case on August 22, and Mohammad Ashfaque Shaikh, 26, guilty in the telephone operator gangrape case at the same compound on July 31, last year.

Two minors, one in each case, are being tried by the Juvenile Justice Board separately. The court today convicted the five men for gangrape, conspiracy, common intention, unnatural sex and offences under the Information Technology Act.

Welcoming the verdict, Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil, who was present in the court, said, "The cases were tried in fastest possible time and victims have got justice....Hope this verdict will act as a deterrent".

The first case pertains to the gangrape of a 22-year-old magazine photojournalist who had gone to the deserted Shakti Mills compound in Central Mumbai with a male colleague on an assignment on August 22, 2013.

Five men, (including a juvenile, whose case was separated), were charged with raping her there after assaulting her colleague. They are Vijay Jadhav, Kasim Bengali, Salim Ansari, Siraj Rehman and a minor. 
The other case is of an 18-year-old telephone operator who was gangraped by five persons (including three of the accused in the first case) at the same premises on July 31, last year.

The accused in this case are Mohammed Ashfaq Sheikh, Mohamed Kasim Hafiz Sheikh alias Kasim Bengali, Salim Ansari, and Vijay Jadhav. Vijay Jadhav, Kasim Bengali and Salim Ansari are common accused in the two cases.

The prosecution examined 44 witnesses in the photojournalist's case and 31 in the other case. The defence examined three witnesses in the photojournalist's case and only one witness in the other case. - PTI

Two objects possibly related to missing plane spotted 

MELBOURNE: Australia on Thursday said objects as large as 24 meters long possibly related to the search for the missing Malaysian plane have been spotted in the southern Indian Ocean, about 2,500 km south-west of Perth.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott told parliament that he called his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak to relay the “new and credible information” about potential aircraft wreckage.

Search teams involving 26 countries are trying to locate Boeing flight MH370, which went missing an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing on March 8 with 239 people on board, including five Indians and one Indian-Canadian.

“The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has received the information based on satellite imagery of objects possibly related to the search,”  Abbott said.

“Following specialist analysis of this satellite imagery, two possible objects related to the search have been identified,” he was quoted as saying by The Australian.

Tony Abbott said an Australian Air Force Orion has been sent to locate the objects and three more aircraft will follow this Orion. “They are tasked for more intensive follow up search. “The task of locating these objects will be extremely difficult...and it may be they do not relate to the aircraft,” he told parliament.

Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) official John Young said the objects were located in the southern Indian Ocean about 2,500km south-west of Perth on Australia’s west coast and the largest one sighted is 24 metres long. “The objects are relatively indistinct. Those who are expert say they are credible sightings,” he told reporters.

He said the objects were “probably awash with water and bobbing up and down over the surface".

Young said the weather conditions are moderate but poor visibility is hampering the search at the moment. “We have been in this business of doing search and rescue and using sat (satellite) images before and they do not always turn out to be related to the search even if they look good,” he cautioned. - PTI

MUMBAI: Snapping its three-session rising streak, the BSE benchmark Sensex on Thursday fell over 86 points in early trade on selling by funds and retailers amid a weak trend in the global markets.

The 30-share barometer fell by 86.44 points, or 0.39 per cent, to 21,746.42 with stocks of banking, PSUs, capital goods, power, oil and gas and realty sectors leading the fall.

The index had gained 58.25 points in the previous three sessions.

Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index, Nifty dipped below 6,500 level by falling 26.15 points, or 0.40 per cent, to 6,497.90.

Brokers said the sentiment turned weak on funds selling amid profit-booking by retail investors in line with falling trend on the other Asian markets after the U.S. Federal Reserve hinted that the central bank could hike interest rates earlier than expected.

In the Asian region, Japan’s Nikkei was down by 0.52 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.87 per cent in early trade.

The U.S. Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.70 per cent lower in Wednesday’s trade. - PTI 

CHANDIGARH: Former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today made it clear he is not interested in fighting the Lok Sabha elections from Amritsar where BJP has fielded senior leader Arun Jaitley.

Amarinder made his stand known against the backdrop of speculation that the top Congress leadership is keen on fielding him from Amritsar to take on the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.

In a statement, he maintained that Congress had strong, powerful and influential local leaders in Amritsar who can successfully take on Jaitley.

"Amritsar is a strong Congress bastion and the party has won the seat several times," he said.

Amarinder said besides being an outsider he does not know Amritsar as much as someone from that area. "I will also not be able to spend required period of time there." According to reports, the top Congress leadership has been told by Punjab Congress Chief Partap Singh Bajwa that Amarinder could be a formidable candidate to take on Jaitley, the SAD-BJP alliance nominee who has replaced sitting BJP member Navjot Sidhu.

Amarinder said even if he contested and was elected as an MP from Amritsar he will not be able to do justice for the people there as compared to a local.

"I would not be able to do justice with the people of Amritsar as their MP for multiple reasons, besides not being able to contest from there at the first instance," he said.

Amarinder said that about three weeks ago when he had met Congress President Sonia Gandhi, she had made an offer to him that he contest from Bathinda or Amritsar.

He said that he had clarified at that time itself that he will not be in a position to contest since his wife Perneet Kaur was contesting from Patiala.

"Moreover, he added, his presence was required across the state and contesting from Amritsar would simply confine him to one single constituency," he said, adding he had already a long list of requests from the sitting and prospective candidates from all parliamentary constituencies across the state that he campaign for them.

Arguing that the party must field a local candidate who is well versed with the local issues and problems, Amarinder said, the people of Amritsar are already fatigued and frustrated because of an "absentee MP" (Navjot Sidhu) and they will not like to replace one absentee MP with the other.

"While the previous one was still visible once in a while, the present one (Arun Jaitley) if elected, will never ever be seen around given his interests and commitments in Delhi," he pointed out. - PTI