Ahmedabad , April 3: One of the eight dhows hijacked by Somali pirates last week has been released and is on its way to India, Kutch Vahanvati Association (KVA) president Kasam Ali Bholim said here on Saturday.

“One of the eight vessels, Krishna Jyot, which is registered in Veraval in Gujarat, has been released by Somali pirates as there was not much fuel in the dhow. The dhow is on its way to India with 15 sailors on board,” Mr Bholim said.

New Delhi , April 3: The government appears to have a problem of plenty with the rabi season having yielded a bumper crop. So it has planned what is described as “heavy evacuation” of food grains with the procurement season having kicked off on April 1.

It is also making efforts to ensure that adequate storage space is available for the huge yield.

Hyderabad , April 3: Tennis star Sania Mirza has come out in defence of her husband-to-be, Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik, who is facing allegations of dumping a woman he had married. Shoaib was in Hyderabad to meet Sania on Saturday.

“Me and my family know what the truth is, we’ve known it all along and we have confidence in God’s justice,” Sania said in her Twitter feed. Though she did not mention Shoaib by name, it is evident that it was the controversy relating to him that she had in mind. 

Islamabad , April 3: In a new twist to the Mumbai terror attack case, Pakistan on Saturday approached Interpol seeking red corner notices for arresting Ajmal Kasab and Fahim Ansari, currently undergoing trial in India.

This was stated by special public prosecutor Malik Rab Nawaz Moon as an anti-terrorism court conducting the trial of the seven 26/11 attack accused, including LeT operations chief Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, adjourned the hearing in the case till April 17.

New Delhi , April 3: Following the Copenhagen conference on climate change, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has become extremely proactive on environmental issues. It was because of his personal intervention that urban development minister Jaipal Reddy gave his formal approval to the issuing of a notification banning all further construction on the Yamuna flood plain.

New Delhi , April 3: India has come out with its own wishlist of what China should be doing if the next 60 years of their diplomatic ties are to be qualitatively different from the first 60.

A detailed framework for resolving the border dispute in a manner that is politically feasible for both leaderships, sensitivity to India’s concerns over Kashmir and Pakistan, a stop to the practice of issuing stapled visas for Indians living in Jammu and Kashmir, 

 Worshippers near the Stone of Atonement as they enter the Church of Holy Sepluchre in Jerusalem’s Old City during a Good Friday procession on Friday. Thousands of pilgrims from around the world thronged the narrow cobblestone alleys of Jerusalem’s Old City to pray along the Via Dolorosa (Way of Suffering), the route tradition holds Jesus took to his crucifixion on Good Friday. PHOTO: AFP

A dust storm engulfs the city of Bikaner in Rajasthan on Friday. PHOTO: PTI

New Delhi , April 2: The government proposes to halve the pension benefits of former Haryana director-general of police S.P.S. Rathore, who has been convicted in the Ruchika Girhotra molestation case. Government sources said a decision to reduce his pension by half had been taken, and the Union home ministry had sent the proposal to the Union Public Service Commission for its approval. 

Washington , April 2: The Obama administration has asked Pakistan to take action against terror groups operating from its borders, such as the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT), saying this was in the interests of the United States, India and Pakistan itself.