Kasab confesses: I am guilty, end it

In a stunning confession, Ajmal Aamir Kasab of the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, the only Pakistani terrorist taken alive during the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, on Monday blew the lid off Pakistani involvement and confessed to his role.

Kasab confessed before the special court that he and his nine accomplices had sailed from Karachi to Mumbai and named the “ustaads (trainers)” who conducted training camps for them.

The confession could wrap up the trial into the attacks. The court will give its ruling on Tuesday on whether Kasab’s confession is acceptable and whether it can conclude the trial and pronounce judgment.

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Witness in Anil case dead

In a mysterious turn to the case of the alleged sabotage of industrialist Anil Ambani’s helicopter, the man who spotted sand and pebbles in its fuel tank was found dead on Tuesday on the railway track near Vile Parle in Mumbai.

According to the Andheri railway police, Air Works employee Bharat Bhorge (42), was crossing the railway tracks around 8 am on Tuesday, when he was run over by a Church gate-bound fast train near platform no four. He was dragged under the train for several meters and both his legs got cut off.

While the police has registered an accidental death report (ADR), they are also probing the possibility of a suicide as well.

The police found Borge’s Air Works identification card on him and contacted his family. His body was taken to the Cooper Hospital for post-mortem.

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Indian Premier League is back in India

The IPL has moved back to India for keeps, according to sources in the Deccan Chargers, the team owned by the promoters of Deccan Chronicle The decision will be made public in the next 36 hours after tying up the loose ends, sources said.

The schedule, from April 18 to May 24, will be more or less retained in India, sources said.

The decision was taken by the Centre hours before the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, left for London for the G-20 meet. The BCCI and the IPL franchisees have convened an emergency meet at 11 am at Mumbai on Wednesday to tie up the loose ends.

The Centre and the state governments have agreed to host IPL matches up to four days before the elections in the respective centres, and immediately after polling.

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India finds link in Kasab gene

DNA samples drawn from Ajmal Kasab, the only terrorist captured alive, have matched with imprints on a life jacket found on MV Kuber, the fishing trawler that brought the 26/11 gunmen to Mumbai.

“The sweat analysis from a life jacket found on the Kuber matched with the DNA samples of Kasab,” a top forensic official said. Kasab and nine others boarded the Gujarat-based fishing vessel in international waters sailed to within a few nautical miles off Mumbai.

DNA analysis of another five terrorists involved in the carnage is being conducted in the Kalina Forensic Science Laboratory.

In another development, the National Security Adviser, Mr M.K. Narayanan was contradicted for a second time in three days on Thursday by the home minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, who said that India had not received any response on the dossier given to Pakistan on the Mumbai attacks.

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Prime Minister warns Pak on terror

Hinting at external links to the terror attacks in Mumbai, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, warned that India would not tolerate the use of the territory of neighbouring countries to carry out such attacks on India.

In tough message, while cautioning neighbouring countries of the “cost” they will have to pay, Dr Singh said India would not only take up the issue strongly with them, they would be told in no uncertain terms that use of their territories “for launching attacks on us will not be tolerated.”

“It is evident that the group which carried out these attacks, based outside the country, had come with the single-minded determination to create havoc in the commercial capital of the country,” Dr Singh said.

He said the “well-planned and well-orchestrated attacks, probably with external linkages, were intended to create a sense of panic by choosing high-profile targets and indiscriminately killing foreigners”.

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Renigunta airport cleared

The Centre’s decision to develop Renigunta airport at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore will boost religious tourism and develop Rayalaseema region.

Thousands of devotees from the United States, Britain and other parts of the world visit Tirupati every year for the darshan of Lord Venkateswara.

At present, they are put to hardship because of the lack of connectivity and have to catch connecting flights from Chennai, Mumbai or Hyderabad to reach Tirupati. The frequency of flights will increase once the airport is modernised and the runway is extended to 11,000 feet from 7,500 feet. The airport will also be expanded to accommodate at least 700 passengers at once. Night landing facility is already present.

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Rushdie now woos Riya?

Speculation is rife that India-born British novelist Sir Salman Rushdie has been wooing Bollywood actor Riya Sen whom he met at a nightclub in Mumbai earlier in 2008.

The 61-year-old novelist has also invited her to New York where he has been spending much of his time after the end of his three year marriage to actress and model Padma Lakshmi in 2007, the Daily Mail reported.

According to the report, the pair have been exchanging emails on a regular basis since January when they met in India through a common friend, and the author is also “pursuing” the 27-year-old starlet.

“We get on really well but we are just friends. I met him through a family friend. I have spoken to him a few times,”Sen was quoted as saying.

She further said, “I think when you are Salman Rushdie, you must get bored with people who always want to talk to you about literature. We did not talk about any of that.”

She has also confirmed that she was invited to New York but insisted, “No really, we are not an item.” The controversial author of The Satanic Verses, who has been married four times, recently said that he did not think that marriage “is necessary”.

“It’s strange, given that I’ve been married four times but I actually don’t think marriage is necessary.

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