Bangla Army to end rescue op as toll hits 1127
Savar: Bangladesh Army is planning to wrap up its 20 days of salvage campaign at the ruins of a garment factory building that collapsed last month, even as toll from the country’s worst ever industrial disaster rose to 1,127. “We have reached the fag end of our salvage operations here,” an army spokesman at the collapse site here on the outskirts of capital city Dhaka told reporters.
Benghazi car bomb kills 15: deputy minister
Tripoli: A car bomb that exploded on Monday in the parking lot of a Benghazi hospital killed at least 15 people and wounded 30, libya’s deputy interior minister said. “Fifteen people have been killed and at least 30 were wounded in the explosion of a car bomb near the hospital,” Abdullah Massoud said citing a preliminary toll. The attack in libya’s second city, cradle of the 2011 uprising that toppled veteran dictator Moamer Kadhafi, struck in the car park of Al-Jala hospital, a security official told AFP earlier.
Space tourism won’t hurt environment: Branson
Singapore: British billionaire Richard Branson on Monday said that rocket-powered space tourism flights by his firm Virgin Galactic would have only a minor impact on climate change. More than 500 people have already reserved seats — and paid deposits on the USD 200,000 ticket price — for a minutes-long suborbital flight on the SpaceShipTwo (SS2) set to begin by the end of this year.
Former UK minister, ex-wife released from jail
london: Disgraced former British Cabinet Minister Chris Huhne and his ex-wife who were jailed here in March for perverting the course of justice were today freed from prison with electronic tags to track their whereabouts. The former energy secretary and liberal Democrat MP described his time in jail as a “humbling and sobering experience”. He had been found guilty of an offence dating back a decade when his then wife Vicky Pryce took speeding points for him to shield him from losing his driver’s licence. The 58-year-old was released from leyhill Prison in Gloucestershire, having served eight weeks of his eight-month sentence and returned to the flat he shares with PR adviser Carina Trimingham in london.
India to step up welfare schemes for ex-Gorkhas
Kathmandu: India is planning to spend over `12 billion
this year in pension schemes and welfare activities for former Gorkha soldiers of the Indian Army, with the amount set to rise above `20 billion from the next fiscal. “We have asked the government of India to increase the money being distributed to the ex-servicemen to over 20 billion from next fiscal year and the government has agreed to allocate the money,” said Indian Ambassador to Nepal Jayanta Prasad here today. Currently, Indian Army spends `8.75 billion, including `7.5 billion alloted for pensions of the former Gorkha soldiers, Prasad said while inaugurating the 23rd annual meeting of Indian Ex-servicemen Welfare Organisation of Nepal (IESWON). There are more than 1,26,000 Nepalese soldiers who receives pension from the Indian Army.