NEW DELHI : India and the US today asked Pakistan to work towards bringing the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attacks to justice even as they vowed to eliminate terrorist safe havens and disrupt terror networks including that of al-Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba.
In a joint statement after marathon talks between visiting US Secretary of State John Kerry and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, the leaders reiterated their condemnation of terrorism in all its forms.
They reaffirmed their commitment to eliminating terrorist safe havens and infrastructure and disrupting terrorist networks including al-Qaeda and the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the statement said.
“The leaders called on Pakistan to work toward bringing the perpetrators of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks to justice,” it added.
The statement came just days after India summoned Pakistan’s Deputy High Commissioner and lodged a strong protest against the adjournment of the ongoing Mumbai terror attack case trial in Pakistan.
For the seventh time in a row, a Pakistani anti-terrorism court, trying the seven accused in the Mumbai attacks case, adjourned the hearing last Wednesday.
The trial has been going on at a snail’s speed and key planner of the attacks – LeT founder Hafiz Saeed – continues to roam freely in Pakistan spewing venom against India as well as the US. (AGENCIES)

JAMMU, July 31:
At least 20 Vaishno Devi pilgrims today got injured when their bus collided with a truck on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway near Domail on the city outskirts.
“A bus carrying Vaishno Devi pilgrims from Katra to Jammu,  this evening at around 1700 hrs collided with truck coming from the opposite direction near Domail on the highway in Jhajjar Kotli area,” police spokesman here said.
He said 20 pilgrims sustained injuries in the accident. Police and locals rushed to the spot and shifted the injured to the Government Medical College and Hospital Jammu. (AGENCIES)

NEW DELHI: Petrol price was today cut by Rs 1.09 per litre, the second reduction in three-and-half-months, while diesel rates were hiked by 56 paise a litre.

The revisions will be effective midnight tonight, Indian Oil Corp, the nation’s largest oil firm, announced today.

Petrol in Delhi will cost Rs 72.51 per litre from tomorrow as against Rs 73.60 a litre currently. Similarly, diesel will be priced at Rs 58.40 per litre from tomorrow as compared to Rs 57.84 currently.

Petrol price was reduced following drop in international oil rates and rupee depreciation against US dollar, making imports cheaper.

For the same reason, price of bulk diesel, which unlike the subsidised fuel available at petrol pumps is priced at market rate, has been cut by 72 paise per litre.

Price of bulk diesel, which as per government policy is meant for large consumers like state road transport corporations, railways and defence, was last revised on July 16 when rates were cut by Rs 1.09 to Rs 59.32 per litre.

Besides, rates of non-subsidised LPG cylinders, which household consumers buy after exhausting their quota of 12 subsidised bottles, has been reduced by Rs 2.50 per 14.2-kg cylinder.

Petrol price was last cut by 70 paise on April 16 in line with declining trend in the international market. This reduction was excluding local levies and after including local sales tax or VAT, the actual reduction in pump rates came to 85 paise in Delhi.

Oil companies as practice announced price revisions without including local levies but today in case of petrol the reduction was announced after including local levies so as to boost up the headline cut. With including local levies, the reduction was about 91 paise a litre.

In case of diesel, IOC announced a increase of 50 paise, excluding local levies. After including local levies, the hike came to 56 paise per litre in Delhi.

The reduction in bulk diesel and non-subsidised domestic LPG rates was also after including local levies so as to give an impression of a bigger cut.

State-owned oil firms revise petrol prices on 1st and 16th of every month after considering the average of international oil rates and foreign exchange rates in the previous fortnight.

In case of diesel, they have been following the January 2013 policy of raising rates by up to 50 paise every month till such time that the under-recovery or the gap between the retail selling price and the actual cost, is bridged.

Even after today’s increase, oil firms are losing Rs 1.33 per litre on diesel and it will take three more monthly increases to bring retail prices at par with market rates.

The Government freed petrol prices from its control in June 2010 and since then state-owned oil firms have been revising rates on the 1st and 16th of every month based on the fortnightly average of international oil prices and the rupee-US dollar exchange rate.

For diesel, the Government had in January last year decided to allow oil firms to raise rates by up to 50 paise a litre, excluding local levies, every month until losses on the fuel are wiped out.

Diesel prices have cumulatively risen by Rs 11.24 a litre in 18 instalments since January 2013 when the previous UPA Government had decided on the monthly hikes. (AGENCIES)

SRINAGAR : Governor N N Vohra condoled the demise of mother of Chief Justice of High Court, M M Kumar, this morning.
The Governor spoke to Justice Kumar to convey condolences to him and all members of his family and prayers for the departed soul resting in eternal peace.
Speaker, Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, Mubarak Gul also conveyed his condolence to Justice Kumar on the demise of his mother who passed away this morning.
The Speaker conveys condolences to him and all members of his family and prayed for the eternal peace to the departed soul. (AGENCIES)

NEW DELHI : Nearly 6,000 Indians are currently languishing in foreign jails with maximum of 1,400 being lodged in Saudi Arabia, government said today.
Replying to a question in Rajya Sabha, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who also looks after the Overseas Indian Affairs Ministry, said a total of 5,986 Indians are reported to be lodged in foreign jails currently.
She said 1,400 Indians are lodged in jails in Saudi Arabia followed by 985 in the United Arab Emirates, 430 people in the United Kingdom, 377 in neighbouring Nepal and 128 in Bangladesh.
Swaraj said that as per the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, 219 civil prisoners, believed to be Indian, are languishing in Pakistani jails.
However, she said as per information provided by Pakistani authorities, 47 civil prisoners, believed to be Indian, are lodged in jails in Pakistan. Besides the civil prisoners, 249 fishermen are also in Pakistani jails.
The number of Indians lodged in China is 115 while 135 people are languishing in jails in Italy, 195 in the US, 86 in Bahrain, 274 in Kuwait, 128 in Bangladesh, 332 in Malaysia, 135 in Oman, and 73 in prisons in Myanmar.
The Minister said Indians are also lodged in jails in various other countries including Australia, Austria, Cyprus, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Iran, Mauritius and Denmark. (AGENCIES)

NEW DELHI : External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and US Secretary of State John Kerry today co-chaired fifth Indo-US Strategic Dialogue here today during which the two sides discussed “transformative initiatives” in key areas of security and energy.

The two leaders held nearly an hour-long restricted meeting before they were joined by their delegations comprising senior representatives from various ministries including energy and trade.

Ahead of the Dialogue, Kerry along with Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker met Finance and Defence Minister Arun Jaitely.

The US Secretary of State’s visit is first high-level interaction at the political level after the new government came to power here.

The visit two months ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trip to the US is aimed at instilling some vigour in bilateral ties, which appeared to have lost momentum in the final years of the UPA regime. (AGENCIES)