Terror hits high-security zone of Srinagar

Srinagar, March 19 A huge blast on a flyover in the heart of the city today evening left one person dead and 17 injured, breaking a long spell of lull in the summer capital of the state. The Hizbul Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the blast. The massive explosion near Jahangir chowk, which blew apart the parapet and a section of thick flyover. A damaged vehicle under a flyover after a blast rocked the Lal Chowk area near the civil secretariat in Srinagar on Wednesday. — Tribune photo by Amin War

Hanging of Sarabjit put off by a month
New Delhi, March 19
Sarabjit Singh, on death row in Pakistan for his alleged involvement in bomb blasts in Lahore and Multan in 1990, today got a reprieve with his hanging being put off till April 30 by President Pervez Musharraf following India’s appeal for clemency on humanitarian grounds.           Sarabjit Singh

Rest in peace, voyager! His earthly odyssey over, sci-fi great Arthur C. Clarke travels to the Great Beyond Colombo, March 19 Arthur C. Clarke, a visionary science fiction writer who won worldwide acclaim with more than 100 books on space, science and the future, died on Wednesday in his adopted home of Sri Lanka, an aide said. He was 90. In Video (56k)
British science fiction writer Sir Arthur C. Clarke shows his book "3001: The Final Odyssey" at its launch held at Colombo's British Council in this undated file picture. — Reuters photo

Tibet Tide
China: ‘Life or death struggle’
Beijing, March 19
China said on Wednesday it was engaged in a “life or death struggle” over Tibet as it announced 105 people had surrendered over an uprising and exiled groups warned hundreds had been detained. (Details in World page)

Sensex up, bank stress in Europe
Mumbai/London, March 19
The markets looked upbeat today after yesterday's lull, with the benchmark Sensex gaining by over 160 points at close after the US Fed Reserve announced a 0.75 percentage cut in interest rates which buoyed the investor sentiments across the globe. (Details in Business page)

Mid-day meal kills two
Kandwala (Fazilka), March 19
Villagers of Kandwala, a sleepy village near Fazilka, have reason to seek sealing of the food meant for the mid-day meal in their primary school, as the stock has allegedly taken its toll with the death of two women and four of their kids hospitalised after they consumed the wheat in question.

Heritage urge about to consume a premier school in Kapurthala Chandigarh, March 19 Sainik School, Kapurthala, one of the five Sainik schools started in 1961 as nurseries for defence organisations like the NDA, IMA, NA, AFA and OTA, is piqued by the Punjab government’s new-found love for heritage. The government has been active to get the school relocated so that it could commercialise its premises — the historic Kapurthala Palace — and convert it into a heritage hotel.