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/ 13 December 2005
Indian filmmaker and writer Ramanand Sagar, whose television series portraying Hindu gods battling demons captivated tens of millions and drew crowds of people who couldn’t afford TVs around shop windows on Sunday nights, has died, his family said. He was 87.
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/ 29 November 2005
Skipper Rahul Dravid’s composed half-century anchored India to a series-levelling victory by five wickets on Monday in the fifth and final limited-overs international against South Africa. Dravid’s unbeaten 78 steered India to 224 for five in 47,3 overs after South Africa had put on a challenging 221 for six from 50.
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/ 24 September 2005
Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly said on Saturday that a spat with coach Greg Chappell should stay between the two men and should not be allowed to drag down the team ahead of a busy international schedule. The coach-captain spat worsened on Friday when Chappell reportedly said in an e-mail sent to the Indian cricket board that he believed Ganguly was no longer fit to lead the side.
Workers began a massive clean-up and rescuers searched for survivors under mountains of debris in western India after record monsoon rains claimed 920 lives, officials said on Saturday. Mumbai received 944,2mm of rainfall in a one-day period ending mid-morning on Wednesday.
The number of people killed in record monsoon rains in west India climbed to almost 900 on Friday after a stampede sparked by rumours of a burst dam in a Mumbai township and a landslide in a village, police said. ”We are now confirming that the number of dead in Mumbai is 370,” said AN Roy, police chief of the western commercial hub.
At least 245 people have died in landslides and building collapses in western India following the heaviest rains recorded to date in the country, a government minister and police said on Thursday. Meanwhile, 351 workers were rescued from a blazing Indian offshore oil platform but at least 10 people died, a minister said on Thursday.
At least 99 people were reported killed and more than 100 trapped as India’s worst day of rainfall on record triggered landslides and building collapses in the western state of Maharashtra, a government official said on Wednesday. Mumbai, India’s commercial hub, was paralysed by 24 hours of pounding monsoon rains.
The strongest rain recorded to date in India shut down the financial hub Mumbai, snapped communication lines, closed airports and marooned thousands of people, officials said on Wednesday. As many as 87 people have been reported killed and another 130 are feared buried in landslides, said authorities and news reports.
An animal rights group on Tuesday called for an investigation into the deaths of four sea lions, 10 dogs and seven cats belonging to Russia’s state circus that burned to death in a fire in India. ”We are going to court to ensure that there is an inquiry,” said Anuradha Sawhney of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Tens of thousands of Mumbai’s bar dancers and owners staged a rally on Friday to protest against alleged police harassment and a draft municipal law that aims to clean up hundreds of drinking houses. The law requires, among other specifications, bar owners to ensure that dancers do not wear ”skimpy” dresses.
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/ 27 January 2004
The World Social Forum (WSF) took a historic step in moving from Brazil to India this year, but there is plenty of room for improvement, say activists, convinced that the global gathering should head to Africa in 2006. Delegates at the forum have welcomed suggestions of an African city as host
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/ 21 January 2004
Prominent South African Judge Seeraj Desai, who has been accused of raping an Aids activist during the World Social Forum in Mumbai, is a victim of blackmail, his lawyer said on Wednesday. The allegation came as the media in India and South Africa cast doubt on the case against the 53-year-old Desai.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=29925">Judge Desai ‘traumatised'</a>
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/ 20 January 2004
Police in Mumbai on Tuesday said they were investigating ”all the angles” after a prominent South African judge was accused of raping a delegate to the World Social Forum in Mumbai. Activists at the anti-globalisation forum protested on Tuesday against the alleged rape.
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/ 19 January 2004
Anti-globalisation activists on Monday sought to set up alternatives to the current world economic order to benefit the poor as their annual meeting was marred by the arrest of a South African judge on rape charges. More than 100Â 000 people are taking part in the six-day World Social Forum in Mumbai, India.
SA judge on rape charge in Mumbai
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/ 19 January 2004
Police detained a South African judge at the World Social Forum after another participant of the anti-globalisation conference alleged that he raped her in his hotel room, police said on Monday. The 27-year-old woman delegate, also from South Africa, told police she was raped on Saturday night.
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/ 1 September 2003
Three people have been charged for last week’s twin car bomb blasts in Mumbai that killed 52 people and injured more than 150.