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Moscow, Russia (CNN) -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin sent a strong signal Thursday that he has full hands-on control of his country.
As part of his annual town hall forum, Putin spoke for four hours and fielded 80 questions out of 2 million-plus submitted on a live call-in program, "Conversation With Vladimir Putin -- Continued."
Responding to a question on whether he had any plans to retire and enjoy the life of an ordinary citizen, Putin tersely replied, "Don't count on that."
And when asked whether he plans to run for the presidency again in 2012, he said, "I will think about it. There is plenty of time for that."
Speaking of his "tandem" with President Dmitry Medvedev, Putin said he had "known him for many years, graduated from the same universities, having been taught by the same professors."
"Those common principles allow us to effectively work together," he said, responding to the never-ending speculation about which one of the duo is more important and whether a rift between them is possible.
Putin juggled a myriad of facts and statistics, giving instructions to subordinates along the way to fix problems, as he responded to questions mostly on Russia's domestic issues. These covered pensions, medication prices, the overhauling of entire industries and Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization, Amur tigers and hip-hop music, and everything in between.
The program was broadcast live on government television and radio. It marked Putin's eighth annual year-end "town meeting," first launched in 2001 when he was president. This year's forum was his second as prime minister.
Representatives from all Russian industries as well as university students packed the auditorium in Gostiny Dvor, a large conference hall next door to the Kremlin, where Putin appeared.
Putin took questions from the hall's floor, with live cameras positioned in towns and cities across Russia, and he also responded to phone calls, e-mails and mobile SMS messages.
He started off by addressing the issue of terrorism, coming nearly a week after the derailment of a luxury Moscow-St.Petersburg express train, which left 26 people dead and more than 100 injured.
Russia's Federal Security Service said an improvised explosive device, which unknown bombers placed beneath the railroad bed, caused Friday's derailment. It was the biggest terror act outside Russia's troubled North Caucasus region since 2004.
"We did a lot [in recent years] to break the backbone of terrorism, but the threat has not been eliminated yet," Putin said. "The entire society, each of us, should be conscious of this threat and be vigilant."
Addressing the economy, Putin said the peak of the global economic crisis has passed, "although turbulent trends in the global and, as a result, the Russian economy, are still in place." "It will take time and effort to overcome the crisis," he said.
The past year has been "one of the most difficult" for Russia in this decade, Putin added, saying the 2009 gross domestic product will shrink by 8.5 percent to 8.7 percent. The slump in the country's industry will be even bigger, he said, around 13 percent, but the projected inflation for 2009 will be lower than in the past year, about 9 percent.
The prime minister also cited what he called "positive developments" in the Russian economy. He said some industries, such as military hardware production and agriculture, are even growing.
In the arena of international politics, Putin told a questioner that he and former President George W. Bush had a good relationship but have not been in touch. The prime minister described Bush as a "very honest and nice person," saying that if the ex-U.S. leader wanted to continue their relationship, he would be glad to do so.
Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, said the wide range of issues on which Russians posed questions "provides an excellent instrument for sociological study,
|
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question: who called bush an honest person, answer: Putin | question: what does Putin dismiss?, answer: any plans to retire and enjoy the life of an ordinary citizen, | question: did putin say anything, answer: spoke for four hours and fielded 80 questions out of 2 million-plus submitted on a live call-in program, | question: What does Putin call Bush?, answer: "very honest and nice person," | question: Will Putin retire?, answer: "Don't count on that." | question: Does Putin actually like George Bush?, answer: good relationship | question: who works well together?, answer: Medvedev, Putin
|
Moscow, Russia (CNN) -- Thousands of opposition demonstrators marched in front of the parliament building in Kiev, Ukraine, Saturday, protesting a deal reached earlier this week to extend Russia's military presence in the former Soviet Republic, national news media reported.
Parliamentary opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko -- the former prime minister who lost to Viktor Yanukovych in the presidential election run-off in February -- told protesters Saturday that the ratification of the treaty must be prevented at all costs.
She claimed that Yanukovych is "selling out" Ukraine, has "openly embarked on the path of destruction of [Ukraine's] national interests, and has actually begun the process of eliminating the state's sovereignty," according to a transcript of the speech on her website.
After the deal was signed Wednesday by Yanukovych and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Tymoshenko said it violated part of the Ukrainian Constitution, which forbids the country from hosting foreign military bases after 2017.
Saturday, protesters reportedly adopted a resolution calling the agreement an "unprecedented act of national treason and disgrace," and calling on all opposition groups to unite against it.
According to Tymoshenko's website, some 10,000 people gathered at the rally. But Ukrainian national news agency UNIAN estimated the number of protesters at 5,000.
The deal extends Russia's lease of a major naval base in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol, Ukraine, for an additional 25 years, in exchange for a 30 percent cut in the price of natural gas that Russia sells to Ukraine.
The agreement may bring an end to years of disputes over natural gas prices, which culminated in Russia turning off the pipeline to Ukraine. The dispute affected not only Ukrainians, but many Europeans who depend on Russian gas pumped through Ukraine.
The two countries had been at odds ever since the "Orange Revolution" swept Yanukovych's fiercely anti-Russian predecessor Viktor Yushchenko to power in 2005.
Throughout his time in office, Yushchenko repeatedly threatened to expel Russia's Black Sea Fleet from Sevastopol. The Russian military lease there was scheduled to expire in 2017.
"The prolongation of the Black Sea Fleet's presence in Sevastopol is essential to Russia," Yanukovych said Wednesday. "We understand that the Black Sea Fleet will be one of the guarantors of security on the Black Sea."
The Kremlin-friendly Yanukovych, who hails from predominantly Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine, trounced Yushchenko in national elections last January.
The Russian president said the new deal added a "concrete and pragmatic dimension" to centuries of relations between Ukrainians and Russians.
Opposition groups in Ukraine, however, were quick to denounce the agreement. Yuschenko's "Our Ukraine" party said the treaty would lead to the "Russification" of Ukraine.
Opposition activists decided Saturday to stage another protest in front of parliament April 27, when the deal will be put to a ratification vote.
CNN's Ivan Watson and Maxim Tkachenko contributed to this report.
|
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"to extend Russia's military presence in the former Soviet Republic,",
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"opposition demonstrators",
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] |
question: What deals was on for Ruusia?, answer: to extend Russia's military presence in the former Soviet Republic, | question: Who gets 30 percent cut in price of natural gas from Russia?, answer: Ukraine. | question: Who were marching in Kiev and why?, answer: Thousands of opposition demonstrators | question: Who march in Kiev?, answer: opposition demonstrators | question: Which countries had been at odds during previous Ukraine administration?, answer: Russia | question: What Ukraine gets from the deal with Russia?, answer: 30 percent cut in the price of natural gas
|
Moscow, Russia (CNN) -- Investigators have found "elements of an explosive device" at the site of the derailment of an express train in Russia and believe an act of terror caused the deadly incident.
The derailment killed at least 26 people and injured about 100, but there was no immediate word on who or what group might have been behind the action.
"One can say with certainty that that was indeed an act of terror," Vladimir Markin, spokesman for the investigative committee of the Russian prosecutor's office, told CNN.
He would not elaborate on exactly what kind of "elements of an explosive device" the investigators discovered earlier, but said the crater found beneath the railroad bed was "1.5 meter by 1 meter in size."
Later Saturday morning, a second device went off on nearby tracks going the opposite direction, Vladimir Yakunin, head of Russian Railways, told Russian TV. He said no one was injured in the smaller explosion.
Markin said investigators are "studying the site of the accident, questioning the witnesses and conducting all kinds of forensic and technical examinations."
Federal Security Service Director Alexander Bortnikov said, "Criminology experts have come to a preliminary conclusion that there was an explosion of an improvised explosive device equivalent to seven kilos of TNT.
"Several leads are being pursued now. A criminal case has been opened under Article 205 ("terrorism") and Article 22 ("illegal possession or storage of weapons or explosives") of the Russian Criminal Code."
Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev said on TV that there are possible suspects in this crime.
"There are several people who could be involved in this crime," he said. One of them, he said, is a "stocky-built man of about 40 years old, with red hair."
"There are some traces left at the crime scene which could help in the investigation," he said. "We are getting a lot of information now, and I am very thankful for people who have responded to our requests to render their assistance in investigating this crime."
A total of 681 people -- 20 of them employees -- were on the Nevsky Express as it traveled from Moscow to St. Petersburg on Friday night. The Nevsky Express is Russia's fastest train, equivalent to a bullet train.
The crash happened at 9:25 p.m. (1825 GMT) when the train was 280 kilometers (174 miles) from St. Petersburg, Russian state radio said.
At least three carriages carrying more than 130 people derailed and turned on their sides, and emergency workers were working to free anyone who may still be trapped inside.
Yakunin told Russian TV that the company will pay a compensation of 500,000 rubles ($17,240) to the victims' families and 200,000 rubles ($6,897) to those injured.
The crash happened 44 minutes after another high-speed train, the Sapsan, had successfully traveled from Moscow to St. Petersburg on the same rails, a representative of the Russian Transport Police said during a video conference call Saturday.
In August 2007, an explosion on the tracks derailed the Nevsky Express, injuring 60 people in what authorities called a terrorist act. About 27,000 passengers on 60 trains were facing delays Saturday as a result of the accident, Russian State TV reported.
CNN's Maxim Tkachenko contributed to this report
|
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question: "elements of an explosive device" were found where?, answer: derailment of an express train in Russia | question: How many people were killed?, answer: 26 | question: Are there any suspects yet?, answer: was no immediate word on who or what group might have been behind the action. | question: where was the train derailed, answer: 280 kilometers (174 miles) from St. Petersburg, | question: How many people were hurt?, answer: about 100, | question: What were the russian investigators investigating?, answer: derailment of an express train in Russia
|
Moscow, Russia (CNN) -- Russian investigators have identified the second suicide bomber in last week's fatal Moscow subway attacks as Maryam Sharipova, a 28-year-old schoolteacher from Dagestan, authorities said Tuesday.
Sharipova was born in the village of Balakhani, in Dagestan, a predominantly Muslim republic that lies beside Chechnya, in southern Russia, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Prosecutor's Office told CNN. Like Chechnya, Dagestan has been troubled for years by radical Islamic violence.
The committee said it identified Sharipova through forensic medical examinations.
Sharipova and another female bomber, Dzhennet Abdullayeva, detonated their explosives about 40 minutes apart on the morning of March 29. The blasts ripped through the Lubyanka and Park Kultury stations in central Moscow, killing 40 people and wounding more than 80. An estimated 500,000 people were riding trains in the capital at the time of the attacks.
Sharipova triggered a homemade explosive device at Lubyanka subway station, the investigative committee said.
Russian law enforcement bodies are continuing their "investigative and operational search actions to determine and arrest the organizers and masterminds behind the terrorist act," the committee said.
The woman's father, Rasul Magomedov, was flown to Moscow to identify the remains of what was believed to be his daughter, an investigative committee official told CNN on condition of anonymity.
Magomedov's account and forensic analyses left no doubt that the body was that of Sharipova, the official said.
Independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported Sunday in an exclusive article that Magomedov had identified his daughter in a photograph that was published on the Internet last week. The photograph was described as that of a dead unidentified suicide bomber of the Lubyanka metro station. Magomedov was sent the photograph on his mobile phone, the newspaper said.
"My wife and I have immediately recognized our daughter, Maryam," Magomedov told the newspaper in the article, which was reprinted across Russian media. "When my wife had seen our daughter last, she had been wearing that same red scarf that is depicted on the photograph," he said. "We didn't know her whereabouts ..."
Magomedov said he'd seen his daughter for the last time on March 26, while his wife had seen her in the afternoon of March 28, which was less than 24 hours before the deadly bombing.
Several other people who knew Sharipova also recognized her in the photograph, Novaya Gazeta said.
Sharipova -- who, like the other children in her family, was given the last name of her grandfather, Sharipov -- was born into a teachers family.
Her father teaches Russian language and literature at a local school in Balakhani. His wife teaches biology there.
Sharipova attended the same school her parents work in, the newspaper reported. She later graduated from a university in 2005 with a degree in mathematics and another in psychology, the newspaper reported. Recently, she had been teaching computer science at a local school.
"We still can't believe what happened," her father said, according to Novaya Gazeta. "We can't even imagine how she appeared in Moscow."
According to the newspaper, Magomedov described his daughter as "quite pious," but he said she never expressed any radical views.
"I totally rule out that someone might have manipulated her psychologically," he said, noting that she was a certified psychologist, the newspaper reported. "She lived with us, worked as a schoolteacher and led an open life," he said.
A person who knows the Magomedov family very well told the newspaper that Sharipova was a "calm and confident person."
The person, who was not identified, said that no one "ever heard her expressing any extremist opinions or displaying imbalanced behavior."
On Tuesday, Russian state television, citing law enforcement sources, said Sharipova had been the wife of 35-year-old Magomedali Vagabov, a local rebel leader who has been fighting government forces since the 1990s, and who reports directly to Dokku Umarov, the top Chechen rebel, who took responsibility for the bombings.
The investigative committee would not comment on the report.
Russian state television
|
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question: Who detonated their explosived about 40 minutes apart?, answer: Sharipova and another female bomber, Dzhennet Abdullayeva, | question: Who do the reports identify?, answer: Maryam Sharipova, | question: Who did the authorities identify as the first bomber?, answer: Dzhennet Abdullayeva, | question: What was she responsible for?, answer: fatal Moscow subway attacks | question: Who was identified as first bomber?, answer: Dzhennet Abdullayeva, | question: how many female detonated?, answer: Sharipova and another | question: Who do reports identify?, answer: Maryam Sharipova,
|
Moscow, Russia (CNN) -- Russian police released photographs Tuesday of two women suspected of being the suicide bombers who killed at least 39 people on the Moscow metro a day earlier.
Special services are also seeking three suspected accomplices of the bombers, Russian state TV reported, citing Moscow police spokesman Viktor Biryukov.
They are hunting for a 30-year-old man from the Northern Caucasus who was seen on security cameras wearing dark clothes and a black baseball cap, and two women, aged 22 and 45, both ethnic Slavs, who allegedly assisted the man, state TV reported.
Investigators believe that the three suspects accompanied the suicide bombers when they entered the metro, the report said.
They also believe Chechen rebels may have been behind the deadly strike, although nobody has claimed responsibility.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Moscow would "restore order by the use of force" in the region, as part of its "quest to eliminate terrorists and bandits" there.
But it was harder to root out corruption and clan structures, and to build an education system, he said in remarks televised by Russian state TV from his country residence.
"Those are the things that are much more difficult to handle. But it is our task and we will be dealing with those issues no matter what," he said.
Meanwhile, the Russian-backed leader of Chechnya wrote in a newspaper article Tuesday that terrorists who target innocent civilians must be "poisoned like rats."
"We have always believed and we continue to believe that terrorists must be hunted down and found in their lairs, they must be poisoned like rats, they must be crushed and destroyed," Ramzan Kadyrov wrote in the Russian daily Izvestia, a day after the deadly rush-hour attacks in two Moscow subway stations.
"The struggle against terrorists must involve the toughest measures and defeating this evil with only persuasion and educational measures is impossible."
Moscow paused to mourn its dead Tuesday, and flags across the city were lowered to half staff as hundreds of thousands of commuters returned to the transit system. Authorities said the attacks killed at least 39 people -- an increase of one since Monday -- and wounded more than 60 others.
Television stations canceled entertainment programming for the day, while some also pulled commercials.
After being closed most of the day, both stations that were bombed reopened around 5 p.m. (9 a.m. ET) Monday, said Veronica Smolskaya, a spokeswoman for the Russian Emergencies Ministry. A heavy security presence was apparent throughout the subway network as police officers were visible on train platforms.
"Our preliminary assessment is that this act of terror was committed by a terrorist group from the North Caucasus region," said Alexander Bortnikov of the Federal Security Service, in reference to the investigation at one of the blast sites.
The current round of the Russia-Chechnya conflict dates back nearly 20 years, with Chechens having laid claim to land in the Caucasus Mountains region. Thousands have been killed and 500,000 Chechen people have been displaced by the fighting.
Chechnya is located in the North Caucasus region of Russia between the Black and Caspian seas.
Monday's blasts tore through the Lubyanka and Park Kultury stations in central Moscow -- the female bombers detonating their explosives about 40 minutes apart, starting just before 8 a.m. (12 a.m. ET).
An estimated 500,000 people were riding trains throughout the capital at the time of the attacks.
CNN's Matthew Chance, Claire Sebastian and Max Tkachenko contributed to this report.
|
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question: Who returned to Moscow?, answer: commuters | question: What were lowered to mourn the dead across moscow?, answer: flags | question: Who else seeking the authorities?, answer: Special services | question: What did Russian police release?, answer: released photographs Tuesday of two women suspected of being | question: What images did Russian police release?, answer: photographs Tuesday of two women suspected of being | question: What are authorities seeking?, answer: three suspected accomplices of the bombers, | question: What sex are the suspects?, answer: women
|
Motozintla, MEXICO (CNN) -- "My life was sad before because I had to crawl on the ground," recalls Caesar Morales, a 24-year-old father in Mexico who, until recently, had only one limb and couldn't walk.
David Puckett's nonprofit has provided free artificial limbs, orthopedic braces and care to more than 420 people.
But today, thanks to David Puckett and his U.S.-based nonprofit, Morales has new prosthetic legs. Now, he's not only able to walk, but his newfound independence has made it possible for him to move to another town where he could find work.
"He lifted me up to where I am today," Morales says.
Morales isn't the only person in southeastern Mexico who credits Puckett with changing his life. Since November 2000, the certified, licensed prosthetist/orthotist from Savannah, Georgia, has been providing artificial limbs, orthopedic braces and ongoing care to hundreds in need in the communities of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and Chiapas -- free of charge.
"When someone loses a limb they immediately know what they've lost," says Puckett. "The goal is to restore the healthy self image again so that that person can see themselves whole."
Puckett first connected with the Yucatan people while volunteering on a mission there as a teenager. Struck by the overwhelming poverty and the physical challenges he saw people facing in the rural communities, Puckett vowed to return and make a difference there.
"When I finally got into the field of orthotics and prosthetics, I said, 'Ah-ha. Now, I know what I can do.' "
His nonprofit, PIPO Missions: Limbs and Braces to Mexico, collects donated, used orthopedic braces and artificial limbs in the United States and crafts new ones from their recycled components. On average, Puckett makes a six-day trip every two months to distribute the custom prosthetics and braces, while also providing ongoing care.
"To deliver an artificial limb or brace without follow-up doesn't help that person in the long run," says Puckett. "We need to make sure that they have what they need to continue living successfully for years to come."
Over the course of his 41 trips to the region, Puckett has helped more than 420 individuals. He's found that word of his work spreads fast through the villages and people will drive hours to attend his clinics. Puckett's trips are routinely extended to accommodate house calls to immobile residents of distant towns. Watch how Puckett brings prosthetic and orthotic care to people in Mexico »
"Someone might say, 'I wanna bring 10 people with me next time you come.' The mixed blessing is they'll bring 50 or 100 people that have physical needs," says Puckett. "The difficulty for me is, how do I say no?"
For Puckett, each trip demonstrates the immeasurable impact he is making on people's lives. Stories of previously unimagined independence, confidence and employment greet him from clinical waiting areas, often along with offerings of food, livestock and friendship. When his group helps one person, Puckett explains, it has an effect on an entire community. Watch Puckett describe how one patient in Mexico crafted himself a homemade foot »
"It opens a whole other door for many of these folks to experience the world in a way in which they've never even dreamt of," says Puckett. "And the world has an opportunity to greet them, accept them and welcome them back into society. So, it's a double blessing." Watch Puckett describe how he helped a woman now known as "the miracle girl" »
In between trips, Puckett also spends time soliciting the aid of surgeons, as he frequently encounters physical conditions that require surgery before prosthetic help can be successfully administered.
"If we had a surgeon here, we could see eight to 10 patients in a weekend and change their lives forever," he says. "It's tough for people to make the choice to give up time with their families and a portion of their
|
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question: Area the organization has helped hundreds?, answer: Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and Chiapas | question: How many people has David Puckett helped?, answer: more than 420 | question: Who does the nonprofit provide limbs to?, answer: hundreds in need in the communities of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and Chiapas | question: Who runs the nonprofit organization that provides free artificial limbs?, answer: David Puckett and his U.S.-based | question: What dies David Puckett's nonprofit provide?, answer: free artificial limbs, orthopedic braces and care | question: What is the name of the organization?, answer: PIPO Missions: Limbs and Braces to Mexico, | question: What does David Puckett's charity do?, answer: provided free artificial limbs, orthopedic braces and care to more than 420 people. | question: Where does this organization operate?, answer: Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and Chiapas | question: What does Puckett's organization do?, answer: has provided free artificial limbs, orthopedic braces and care to more than 420 people. | question: What has helped organization since November 2000, answer: prosthetist/orthotist | question: Where does the organization make the limbs?, answer: United States | question: Since when has the organization been running?, answer: November 2000,
|
Mount Everest, Nepal (CNN) -- Even from more than 21,000 feet up the world's tallest mountain, 13-year-old Jordan Romero couldn't resist the opportunity to greet his mother in a live television broadcast Monday.
"Hi, Mom," Romero said with a wave of his hand during the interview broadcast on CNN from the advance base camp on Mount Everest in Nepal.
The interview followed the first day of real climbing in Romero's attempt to become the youngest person ever to reach the summit of Everest, 29,028 feet (8,847 meters) above sea level.
Accompanied by his father and his father's girlfriend, and backed by a team of sherpas and yaks that helped transport their 2,000 kilograms (4,400 pounds) of gear, Romero needed 13 days just to reach the point where real climbing began.
Paul Romero, Jordan's father, said the first day of the actual ascent Monday required technical climbing in tough weather conditions, including ice and snow.
For Jordan, it's all part of the journey.
"It could take ... a couple of weeks or a couple of years," he said, sitting in a tent wearing a parka and fluorescent yellow cap, and with a blue sleeping bag over his legs. "This is the first of many attempts."
His initial impressions? The trip is both hard and great.
"It's Mount Everest. It's a tough mountain. The altitude is tough," Romero said. "It's both physically and technically hard. There's a lot of new things."
At the same time, "I've been able to see Mount Everest from wherever I go. I'm already happy with that."
In addition, Romero said, he was learning "a lot about culture, politics, religion, people, everything about Nepal and China."
"So it's been such a great trip, and I've learned so much from it," he said.
Paul Romero praised his son's climbing Monday, noting that they spent 10 hours on ice and snow.
"Knock on wood, everybody's healthy," the elder Romero said, adding: "Jordan today had a stellar day."
Before they started, Jordan said he wanted to climb Everest for himself and to inspire more young people to get outdoors.
"Obese children are the future of America, the way things are going," he said on April 9 in Kathmandu. "I am hoping to change that by doing what I do: climbing and motivational speaking. I want to motivate children and inspire them to get outdoors."
With a smile, he added: "I am doing this a little for myself, too, to do something big."
Romero has climbed five of the seven highest peaks on seven continents, known as the Seven Summits.
Having a very encouraging father and his girlfriend, who have gone around the world participating in climbing expeditions and competing in endurance racing competitions, certainly helps.
"This is not an isolated vacation," Paul Romero said before the climbing began. "This is a lifestyle. We travel everywhere and climb together."
The family started tackling the Seven Summits in summer 2005. Jordan was just 9 when they climbed the 19,341 feet to the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
Since there is a debate about whether the tallest mountain in Oceania is Kosciuszko in mainland Australia or Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia, Jordan and his family climbed both.
The only peak left for the adventurers to climb after Everest is the Vinson Massif in Antarctica; a trip is planned for December.
The idea to climb the Seven Summits came to Jordan when he saw a mural of the mountains in the hallway of his school when he was 9. Before sharing his dream with his father, he did all the necessary research and only two weeks later told him of his ambition.
"I was very shocked he even knew what the Seven Summits were," Paul Romero recalled. "But then, he is a complete nature fanatic."
Jordan's
|
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question: What culture is he learning about?, answer: Nepal and China." | question: what does the 13-year-old Californian aim to be?, answer: youngest person ever to reach the summit of Everest, | question: where is he learning, answer: advance base camp on Mount Everest in Nepal. | question: What mountain will the 13-year-old climb?, answer: Mount Everest, | question: Where is the mountain?, answer: Nepal | question: what cultures is he learning about?, answer: Nepal and China."
|
Mountain View, California (CNN) -- At this moment we have reached a major turning point for both science and the public at large. The SETI Institute is now offering the world the first taste of raw SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) data collected by the Allen Telescope Array in California. With this we move closer to fulfilling the institute's mission, which is to search for our beginnings and our place among the stars
Throughout the institute's 25-year history (we are a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to scientific research, education and public outreach), we have analyzed these raw data with custom algorithms operating on semi-custom hardware. Now we are transitioning to readily available hardware and servers because technology has caught up to us -- hooray!
In the future, we hope that a global army of open-source code developers, students and other experts in digital signal processing, as well as citizen scientists willing to lend their intelligence to our exploration, will have access to the same technology and join our quest.
As I look at my team at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, and at a handful of other SETI teams around the globe, I see very clever individuals who have been willing to forgo the traditional challenges and rewards of academic research to work on a program of immense potential -- to do work that can literally change the world. Many see SETI as a fascinating avocation, but few indeed are willing to make it their vocation.
Read more about Jill Tarter at TED.com
In 2009, when TED awarded me its TED prize and the opportunity to make a wish to change the world - -a wish they would help me fulfil l -- I thought of a mirror. It is the mirror that we hold up to the planet in our scientific search for the answer to the ancient question, 'Are we alone?' It is the mirror in which all humans can see themselves as the same, when compared to the extraterrestrial other. It's the mirror that allows us to alter our daily perspectives and see ourselves in a more cosmic setting. It is the mirror that reminds us of our common origins in stardust.
TED and technology are helping me and my team hold up that mirror to all inhabitants of this planet so that we can see our reflection as Earthlings. I told TED that "I wish that you would empower Earthlings everywhere to become active participants in the ultimate search for cosmic company."
Soon it will be time for you to get involved by participating at setiQuest.org, a website that will make available the results that we get from our telescopes. Right now the site is geared to those knowledgable about digital signal processing, but in the coming months, anyone -- from a child playing a setiQuest game to an interested adult -- can join the search for intelligent life in the cosmos.
It's been 50 years since Philip Morrison and Guiseppe Cocconi published their seminal scientific paper on SETI in the journal Nature, and since Frank Drake first used the Tatel telescope in Green Bank, West Virginia, to attempt to detect any radio signals from technologies he thought could be orbiting the nearby stars of Tau Ceti and Epsilon Eridani. Since then, only those of us privileged enough to use the marvelous tools of the astronomer have been able to shape this pursuit of cosmic company.
For the past decade, you and any other person around the globe have been able to leave your computer turned on and search through data recorded at large radio telescopes with the SETI@home screen saver. But you couldn't change or improve the search your computer was enabling, you couldn't get involved creatively. You didn't have to see your reflection in the cosmic mirror.
Now that computing has gotten fast enough, now that Amazon Web Services, Dell, Intel, Google and others have donated resources to the SETI Institute, my team and I can benefit from your skills and your energy. You can help us with our search.
Access the raw data we have published at setiQuest and show us how to process it in new ways, find signals that our current signal detection algorithms are missing.
This summer, when we openly publish
|
[
"What did Jill Tarter say that the SETI Institute is offering?",
"Jill Tarter says the SETI Institute is offering the world what?",
"She said technology has enabled nonscientists to help search for what?",
"what seti means"
] |
[
"the first taste of raw",
"(Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) data collected by the Allen Telescope Array in California.",
"our beginnings and our place among the stars",
"(Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence)"
] |
question: What did Jill Tarter say that the SETI Institute is offering?, answer: the first taste of raw | question: Jill Tarter says the SETI Institute is offering the world what?, answer: (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) data collected by the Allen Telescope Array in California. | question: She said technology has enabled nonscientists to help search for what?, answer: our beginnings and our place among the stars | question: what seti means, answer: (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence)
|
Multicultural, multilingual and multifaceted, there's more to Miami than meets the eye. Make the most of your stay with these tips.
Miami Beach during Spring Break may not be to everyone's taste.
Get around Miami is a sprawling city and exploring it on foot just isn't an option. Unless you're planning on spending all your time on the beach, you're probably going to want your own set of wheels.
There are car hire places scattered throughout the city, but if you want to cruise Ocean Drive in style you can hire a Harley-Davidson from Peterson's (19400 NW 2nd Avenue), from $100 a day. But before you hop on that hog, a word of caution: Miami's motorists have been named the most aggressive in the U.S. for the last two years.
If you're in Downtown, the Metromover is an automated monorail that you can ride for free. It also makes a good vantage point for photographing the surrounding skyscrapers. If you're out and about in Coral Gables you can take advantage of the recently launched a free shuttle service.
Life's a beach If you're in Miami, the chances are you'll be wanting to kick back and soak up some of that glorious Florida sunshine. South Beach is the classic Miami sunning spot, but if you want to avoid the crowds, Sunny Isles Beach, at the northern end of Miami Beach, is a better bet. Nearby, Haulover Beach is another good bet and is "clothing optional" -- handy if you're trying for an all-over tan.
A little further afield, Key Biscayne, five miles from the mainland, has some great beaches, as does Fort Lauderdale, some 30 miles north of Miami.
Do you live in Miami? Share some insider tips of your own.
Breaking point From early March to mid April Miami is plagued by a voracious swarm of college kids on their spring break. These exuberant youngsters descend on South Beach, intent on playing beach volleyball, partying hard and vomiting in public. Unless hanging out with beer-belching frat boys is your thing (and why wouldn't it be?), Miami is best avoided during this period.
A city for all seasons Because Miami is a beach destination, it has definite holiday seasons. December to March is the peak season. Hotel prices can double, or even triple, and you'll need to book well in advance. Summer means guaranteed sunshine, but it also means tropical downpours. It can also be unbearably humid, all of which means plummeting hotel prices. June to November is hurricane season, although Florida has an excellent advance warning system, which you'd do well to heed.
Evergreen Everglades If you can muster the energy to haul yourself off the beach, hire a car and head west to the Evergaldes, a vast, swampy area filled with alligators, flamingoes and hundreds of bird species. Entrance to the Everglade National Park is $10 per car, which grants you access to 1.5 million acres of a unique ecosystem.
Just off the southern tip of the Everglades are the Florida Keys, a 130-mile-long chain of coral islands linked by the Overseas Highway. These laid back islands are a world away form the frenetic glamour of Miami Beach. The Keys offer fishing, kayaking and snorkeling, as well as some fine beaches.
|
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"What can fluctuate wildly in Miami?",
"If you leave Miami, you could go to nearby places including the Everglades or where else?",
"What will you need to see Miami?",
"What will fluctuate wildly between low and high season?",
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"When is the high season?",
"What will you need to explore Miami?",
"What can you do in the Florida Keys?",
"Where should you take a day trip?"
] |
[
"Hotel prices",
"Florida Keys,",
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"Hotel prices",
"Miami",
"December to March is the peak",
"your own set of wheels.",
"fishing, kayaking and snorkeling,",
"Evergreen Everglades"
] |
question: What can fluctuate wildly in Miami?, answer: Hotel prices | question: If you leave Miami, you could go to nearby places including the Everglades or where else?, answer: Florida Keys, | question: What will you need to see Miami?, answer: your own set of wheels. | question: What will fluctuate wildly between low and high season?, answer: Hotel prices | question: What is described as a sprawling city?, answer: Miami | question: When is the high season?, answer: December to March is the peak | question: What will you need to explore Miami?, answer: your own set of wheels. | question: What can you do in the Florida Keys?, answer: fishing, kayaking and snorkeling, | question: Where should you take a day trip?, answer: Evergreen Everglades
|
Muscat, Oman (CNN) -- Cyclone Phet weakened as it churned along coastal Oman Friday, dumping up to 25 centimeters (10 inches) of rain on the region.
Phet, once a powerful Category 4 storm, has been downgraded to Category 1 with winds of about 140 km/hr (86 mph), according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
Yet Phet brought massive flooding to Muscat and whipped the capital with winds gusting above 200 km/hr (125 mph) at the height of the storm.
The storm is forecast to reenter the Arabian Sea late Friday or early Saturday before making a projected landfall near Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday.
In Pakistan, authorities dispatched Navy helicopters to alert fishermen near Karachi and parts of Balochistan to the expected arrival of Cyclone Phet and to urge them to return to shore, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan reported Thursday.
Navy units were on high alert should they be needed in the aftermath of the cyclone.
Fourteen families marooned Thursday by high tides were evacuated by helicopter to higher ground, said Pakistani Chief of Naval Staff Adm. Nauman Bashir.
Civilians along Pakistan's coast will receive priority in the relief effort, dubbed "Operation Madad," should it be needed, he said.
The Pakistan navy secured its ships near the threatened areas, Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (Operations) Vice Adm. Abass Raza told reporters in Islamabad.
"All the assets of Pakistan navy are safe and necessary precautionary measures have been taken to ensure their safety in case cyclone Phet hits the coastal areas of country," he said.
|
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"did the storm weaken?",
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"what happened to the storm",
"what has dumped heavy rain"
] |
[
"Sunday.",
"Karachi, Pakistan,",
"The storm",
"Karachi, Pakistan,",
"Cyclone Phet weakened",
"Cyclone Phet",
"downgraded",
"Cyclone Phet"
] |
question: when will phet hit pakistan?, answer: Sunday. | question: where is it forecast to hit, answer: Karachi, Pakistan, | question: What is forecasted to hit Pakistan on Sunday?, answer: The storm | question: where is the heavy rain?, answer: Karachi, Pakistan, | question: did the storm weaken?, answer: Cyclone Phet weakened | question: What dumped heavy rain along the coast of Oman?, answer: Cyclone Phet | question: what happened to the storm, answer: downgraded | question: what has dumped heavy rain, answer: Cyclone Phet
|
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- An Al Qaeda-linked militant group waging war against Somalia's fragile government is becoming an increasing threat to Western ally Kenya and could potentially destabilize the region with dire consequences for global security, officials and analysts warn.
Al-Shabab fighters count their bullets in neighborhood of Mogadishu.
Al-Shabaab, one of the strongest Islamic militias battling for control of Mogadishu, has gained ground in recent weeks, according to officials, and has started to flex its muscles beyond Somalia's border with terror strikes, kidnappings and recruitment drives.
They warn that unless the world takes action the group, which wants to impose an extreme type of Islamic sharia law, could extend its grip across parts of East Africa to gain control of a region that flanks busy shipping routes already plagued by Somali pirates
Appeals by Somalia's government for international help to unpick its long-running civil conflict have escalated Al-Shabaad's threats with the group behind warnings of an attack on the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
And, say experts, the group is being backed by foreign fighters -- some said to have links to Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network -- a situation that draws direct comparisons with the group's influence in pre-9/11 Afghanistan.
"Al-Shabaab is a threat to the whole world," Somali Information Minister Farhan Ali Mohamoud told CNN. "First to Somalia, to the neighborhood, and to everywhere they have disagreed with." Watch more on Somalian threat »
Mohamoud, whose transitional government has largely failed in its long-term goal of reconciling Somalia's militias, concedes Al-Shabaab is making major gains on his administration and says the global community must act to prevent their threat escalating.
"Somalia's problems are not for Somalia alone to solve. Not only for the African Union to solve. It is a global and regional issue. We are very appreciative that the international community understands that, but they need to act now, rather than later."
"The issue is not Somalis taking over from other Somalis. But the issue is foreign jihadists imposing their ideas into the region. So Somalia can be a launching pad for a greater and wider jihadist issue."
Kenyan government spokesman Alfred Mutua told CNN his country did not yet fear direct attacks from Al-Shabaab but said it was becoming increasingly alarmed about its activities and its links to foreign networks.
Despite the concerns, Mutua said the problem was nothing new and while his country struggled to exert control over its porous border with Somalia, it was taking steps to limit the danger. But he warned the threat was not limited to Kenya and could have global reach.
"We do believe that Al-Shabaab poses a threat, not only to Kenya, but to all neighboring countries such as Ethiopia and Eritrea," he said.
"It is not just a problem that we foresee in Kenya, just because we are neighbors to them, it is a problem that we foresee that may occur to a lot of countries and also poses a threat to outside even this region," he added.
"Our concern is not limited to Al-Shabaab. We know that Al-Shabaab are not able to do it without foreign intervention in terms of money and weapons that they are getting from other countries."
Ernst Jan Hogendoorn, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, told CNN that while Al-Shabaab had whipped up concerns with headline grabbing acts such as the recent kidnap of two French citizens in Mogadishu and three aid workers on the Kenyan side of the border, countries such as Kenya should pay heed.
"I think that Kenya could do a much better job. There is always the possibility that someone could sneak across the border and launch an attack against a soft target. Obviously Kenya has been the target of attacks in the past that are very, very challenging to prevent."
But, says Hogendoorn, with an African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia proving largely ineffective, and Ethiopian military presence withdrawn in January ahead of an Al-Shabaab push, Kenyan military involvement was unlikely to offer any
|
[
"According to Kenya, who is in danger?",
"What is experts warning about?",
"Who do experts warn of ?",
"What is the name of strongest Islamic militias battling for Mogadisu?",
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"Who is battling for Mogadishu?",
"What is Al-Shabaab?",
"what do experts warn of",
"What is the name of one of the strongest Islamic millitais battling for Mogadishu?",
"Experts warn of a growing threat from what group?",
"What militia is one of the strongest?",
"What did Kenya say about danger?",
"What do officials and experts warn about?",
"who is one of strongest Islamic militias",
"Who says danger is to region and world despite threats on Nairobi?"
] |
[
"all neighboring countries such as Ethiopia and Eritrea,\"",
"an attack on the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.",
"that unless the world takes action the group, which wants to impose an extreme type of Islamic sharia law, could extend its grip across parts of East Africa to gain control",
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"An Al Qaeda-linked militant group",
"one of the strongest Islamic militias",
"Al-Shabaab,",
"one of the strongest Islamic militias battling for control of Mogadishu,",
"An Al Qaeda-linked militant group waging war against Somalia's fragile government",
"Al-Shabaab,",
"Al-Shabab",
"Al-Shabaab,",
"it was taking steps to limit the",
"An Al Qaeda-linked militant group waging war against Somalia's fragile government",
"Al-Shabaab,",
"Al-Shabaab,"
] |
question: According to Kenya, who is in danger?, answer: all neighboring countries such as Ethiopia and Eritrea," | question: What is experts warning about?, answer: an attack on the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. | question: Who do experts warn of ?, answer: that unless the world takes action the group, which wants to impose an extreme type of Islamic sharia law, could extend its grip across parts of East Africa to gain control | question: What is the name of strongest Islamic militias battling for Mogadisu?, answer: Al-Shabaab, | question: Officials warn of growing threat from whom?, answer: An Al Qaeda-linked militant group | question: Who is Al-Shabaab?, answer: one of the strongest Islamic militias | question: Who is battling for Mogadishu?, answer: Al-Shabaab, | question: What is Al-Shabaab?, answer: one of the strongest Islamic militias battling for control of Mogadishu, | question: what do experts warn of, answer: An Al Qaeda-linked militant group waging war against Somalia's fragile government | question: What is the name of one of the strongest Islamic millitais battling for Mogadishu?, answer: Al-Shabaab, | question: Experts warn of a growing threat from what group?, answer: Al-Shabab | question: What militia is one of the strongest?, answer: Al-Shabaab, | question: What did Kenya say about danger?, answer: it was taking steps to limit the | question: What do officials and experts warn about?, answer: An Al Qaeda-linked militant group waging war against Somalia's fragile government | question: who is one of strongest Islamic militias, answer: Al-Shabaab, | question: Who says danger is to region and world despite threats on Nairobi?, answer: Al-Shabaab,
|
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- Ethnic fighting once again engulfed Kenya's western Rift Valley on Sunday as witnesses and Red Cross officials reported brutal attacks by members of President Mwai Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe on other ethnic groups.
Police attempt to secure a street in Naivasha, where violence flared on Sunday.
The violence spread to the Rift Valley town of Naivasha on Sunday, where the Red Cross said there were reports of people being burned alive in their homes. Kenya's main opposition party and the Red Cross said as many as 30 people were killed.
Ethnic killings continued in the nearby Rift Valley town of Nakuru, where another 47 people have died since the latest wave of violence began on Thursday, according to the opposition Orange Democratic Movement.
The opposition death toll is much higher than police figures, which do not include Sunday's violence in Naivasha. Police say 31 people have died in the Rift Valley region since last Thursday. Watch CNN's Zain Verjee report on the violence »
In a statement released Sunday, ODM leader Raila Odinga condemned reports of 30 people being burned alive in their Naivasha homes and blamed the Kibaki government for fomenting the violence in the region.
"I condemn this murderous and evil act in the strongest terms possible," he said.
"What is now emerging is that criminal gangs, in a killing spree, working under police protection, are part of a well-orchestrated plan of terror."
It is a dramatic turn of events, considering Odinga was shaking Kibaki's hand three days ago after the two met under the auspices of former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Many had hoped Thursday's meeting, arranged by Annan who is mediating peace efforts, would bring an end to the outbreak of bloody ethnic battles that followed last month's contested presidential vote.
But it seems to have had the opposite effect.
Odinga blamed Kibaki's government for orchestrating the Rift Valley violence "to try to influence mediation efforts" and "to divert (attention) from election malpractice to security and violence."
"After stealing the elections from Kenyans, Kibaki now wishes to deny them justice and peace," Odinga said.
A Red Cross official said the agency had received reports of a non-Kikuyu family burned to death in their house in Naivasha.
Television footage showed a man in the back of a police vehicle covered in blood with a large machete wound on the side of his head. Kenyan police dispersed large gangs and cleared rocks littering the streets of the lakeside town, which is dominated by Kikuyu.
Tree branches, heavy boulders and oil drums littered the streets of Naivasha's town center as the Kikuyu gangs erected temporary road blocks, CNN correspondent Zain Verjee reported. She said the atmosphere was tense as the gangs checked cars to identify rival tribes.
Verjee said there was a heavy police presence on the outskirts of the town. Some shops remained open but the town center was almost deserted except for the roaming gangs.
It was a similar situation in Nakuru on Sunday, where ODM member the Rev. Mike Brawan said members of the Kikuyu tribe "are flushing out the non-Kikuyus from their houses."
He said Kikuyus are going house-to-house, attacking civilians who are not members of the tribe, as well as looting and burning their property. Police, he said, "are not doing much."
Brawan said he saw homes burned and people hacked to death in the violence.
"They just die with a lot of pain," he said.
It is estimated -- depending on the source -- that between 500 and 1,000 people have been killed in the violence that followed the December 27 election in which Kibaki kept his post.
Odinga, the OMD candidate for president, and his supporters claim the election was rigged. International observers noted some irregularities in the voting.
Fighting, centered in western Kenya and Nairobi's slums, broke out between tribes loyal to Kibaki and Odinga after Kibaki was declared the winner of recent elections. E-mail to a friend
CNN's Zain Verjee and Stephanie Halasz contributed to
|
[
"Where are people being buried alive?",
"What number of people have been killed in violence that followed the election?",
"What does Red Cross report?",
"What number of people did ethnic fighting kill?"
] |
[
"Rift Valley town of Naivasha",
"between 500 and 1,000",
"brutal attacks by members of President Mwai Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe on other ethnic groups.",
"47"
] |
question: Where are people being buried alive?, answer: Rift Valley town of Naivasha | question: What number of people have been killed in violence that followed the election?, answer: between 500 and 1,000 | question: What does Red Cross report?, answer: brutal attacks by members of President Mwai Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe on other ethnic groups. | question: What number of people did ethnic fighting kill?, answer: 47
|
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- Gangs of young men armed with machetes are roaming the streets in Kenya as post-election violence threatens to engulf the country. Horrific attacks are being reported, including the torching of a church where people who had sought refuge were burned alive.
At least 148 people have been killed and about 75,000 have fled their homes since President Mwai Kibaki won a narrow victory, according to Kenyan government officials. The Associated Press reported a higher number -- about 275 -- have died since Saturday.
Much of the violence is between supporters of Kibaki from the majority Kikuyu tribe and backers of opposition leader Raila Odinga, who is from the Luo tribe.
The ethnic violence, previously rare in Kenya, is reminiscent of the strife that led to the Rwanda genocide. In a particularly disturbing incident, a mob appears to have burned a church filled with Kenyans seeking refuge from the violence.
The Red Cross told The Associated Press that at least 50 were burned to death at the church, some of them children. As many as 200 people were at the church, about 185 miles northwest of Nairobi, KTN reporter Tony Biwott told CNN. Watch as machete-wielding looters haul away goods »
Biwott said he counted at least 15 charred bodies, including children, in the burned church and an adjacent field.
"I'm sure there were more than 15 but I couldn't count the ones who were ashes," he said in a phone interview.
The wounded sustained gunshot wounds, burns and cuts from a panga, a machete-like weapon, the Red Cross said. Watch smoke darken skies near a burned church
The national police commissioner has said in Kenyan society, churches are considered sacred and no one would expect such violence there.
He said an investigation into the incident is under way.
About 120 people are reported dead and over 1,000 injured countrywide, according to The Red Cross.
Police and political backers of opposition leader Raila Odinga began clashing about four days ago as Odinga, of the Luo tribe, narrowly lost Kenya's presidential election to Mwai Kibaki.
Kibaki is a member of Kikuyu, Kenya's largest tribe.
Violence broke out in several cities as frustration mounted during the slow hand-count of the ballots. Kibaki was re-elected with 51.3 percent of the vote, to 48.7 percent for Odinga.
"What we now witness is a cold and calculated plan to organize and engage in massacres," government spokesman Alfred Mutua said.
Bringing in the New Year, Kibaki -- who rarely speaks to the press -- urged calm to the nation.
"It now is a time for healing and reconciliation amongst all Kenyans," he said.
Foreign Minister Raphael Tuju said the government is committed to taking control.
"If the tear gas doesn't work then unfortunately they have to use live bullets," he told CNN. "The president has been sworn in, the elections are over, the Kenyans have to accept the results, the opposition has to accept the results."
Tuesday, international observers said the balloting fell short of international standards for democratic elections.
Alexander Lambsdorff, the head of the EU Election Observation Mission in Kenya, cited discrepancies in vote counts, election observers being turned away from polling places and observers being refused entrance to the electoral commission vote-counting room.
The violence also has displaced some 75,000 Kenyans inside the country, Mutua said.
The government said Tuesday it will not allow any political rallies in the aftermath of the controversial election outcome.
Odinga's opposition Orange Democratic Movement had scheduled rallies for Tuesday, raising fears of more violence.
Mutua said there was no intention to impose a state of emergency or curfew at this point, and said police are handling the violence well and with "extreme restraint."
However, he warned that police restraint would not last forever. The violence is rare for Kenya, which has enjoyed relative calm even as war and chronic political violence wracked neighboring countries, such as Ethiopia, Sudan and Uganda.
The United States has withheld congratulations for Kibaki, citing concerns
|
[
"How many are dead?",
"WHo set fire to the church?",
"How many people have been reported dead?",
"Where are 120 reported fatalities?",
"How manyare injured?",
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"What is the number of people dead?"
] |
[
"148",
"Gangs of young men",
"About 120",
"Kenya",
"over 1,000",
"a church filled with Kenyans seeking refuge from the violence.",
"burned a church filled with Kenyans seeking refuge from the violence.",
"At least 148 people have been killed"
] |
question: How many are dead?, answer: 148 | question: WHo set fire to the church?, answer: Gangs of young men | question: How many people have been reported dead?, answer: About 120 | question: Where are 120 reported fatalities?, answer: Kenya | question: How manyare injured?, answer: over 1,000 | question: What did the mob set fire to?, answer: a church filled with Kenyans seeking refuge from the violence. | question: What did the mob do?, answer: burned a church filled with Kenyans seeking refuge from the violence. | question: What is the number of people dead?, answer: At least 148 people have been killed
|
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- George Obama, the half brother of U.S. President Barack Obama, told CNN on Sunday that he was released from a Kenyan jail hours after his arrest on suspicion of marijuana possession.
George Obama was arrested in Kenya on suspicion of marijuana possession, according to police.
Kenyan police did not confirm whether George Obama was still in their custody. Obama spoke to CNN from his cell phone, and a relative also said he was released.
He said he was arrested on Saturday and released later that day.
Obama was arrested on suspicion of possession of cannabis, known in Kenya as bhang, and resisting arrest, Inspector Augustine Mutembei said. He was held at Huruma police post in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, and scheduled to appear in court Monday, Mutembei said.
But Obama told CNN all charges against him were dropped. Police would not comment on that.
Speaking from behind bars on Saturday, Obama denied the allegations.
"They took me from my home," he said. "I don't know why they are charging me."
George Obama and the president barely know each other, though they have met. George Obama was one of the few people closely related to the president who did not attend the inauguration in Washington.
In his memoir, "Dreams from My Father," Barack Obama describes meeting George as a "painful affair." His trip to Kenya meant meeting family he had never known.
CNN tracked down George Obama in August 2008 and found him at a small house in Huruma, a Nairobi slum, where he lives with his mother's extended family. His birth certificate shows he is Barack Obama's half brother.
The two men share the same Kenyan father.
In the memoir, Barack Obama struggles to reconcile with his father after he left him and his mother when he was a child.
Barack Obama Sr. died in a car accident when George was 6 months old. And like his half brother, George hardly knew his father.
George was his father's last child and had not been aware of his famous half brother until he rose to prominence in the Democratic primaries last year.
Unlike his grandmother in Kogela, in western Kenya, George Obama received little attention from the media until reports about him surfaced in August 2008.
The reports sprung from an Italian Vanity Fair article saying George Obama lived in a shack and was "earning less than a dollar a day."
The reports left George Obama angry.
"I was brought up well. I live well even now," he said. "The magazines, they have exaggerated everything.
"I think I kind of like it here. There are some challenges, but maybe it is just like where you come from, there are the same challenges," Obama said.
Obama, who is in his mid-20s, said at the time that he was learning to become a mechanic and was active in youth groups in Huruma. He said he tries to help the community as much as he can.
|
[
"what has been dropped?",
"who won't confirm the statements?",
"What will Kenyan police not confirm?",
"who was arrested?",
"Who says he's out of jail, that charges have been dropped",
"Who is now out of jail?",
"What is the relationship to President Obama?"
] |
[
"all charges against him",
"Kenyan police",
"whether George Obama was still in their custody.",
"George Obama",
"George Obama,",
"George Obama,",
"half brother"
] |
question: what has been dropped?, answer: all charges against him | question: who won't confirm the statements?, answer: Kenyan police | question: What will Kenyan police not confirm?, answer: whether George Obama was still in their custody. | question: who was arrested?, answer: George Obama | question: Who says he's out of jail, that charges have been dropped, answer: George Obama, | question: Who is now out of jail?, answer: George Obama, | question: What is the relationship to President Obama?, answer: half brother
|
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- Heavy rains triggered by El Nino weather patterns could potentially prove devastating for east African nations that have been water-starved for months, the United Nations has warned.
A Turkana boy holds an empty cup in a village in northwestern Kenya.
Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda are facing mudslides, crop destruction, waterborne diseases and disrupted road networks, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Friday. Djibouti, Eritrea and Ethiopia could also be affected.
The effects of flooding are expected to be exacerbated because so much greenery has disappeared in the drought.
"More than 23 million people in pastoral, agricultural and suburban communities, as well as internally displaced people and refugees in the region, are reeling from the impact of water and food shortages, pasture scarcity, conflict and insecurity," said John Holmes, the under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs who is coordinating emergency relief operations.
"While we cannot prevent these climatic shocks, we certainly can mitigate their disastrous effects through forward planning and the right funding from the donor community," he said.
Uganda, hit by El Nino a decade ago, is planning to apply some of the lessons learned this time around, said Fred Opolot, a government spokesman.
"The government has allocated funds and resources to areas that will be affected," he said. "Our disaster preparedness department is using press briefings, among other ways, to inform the public."
Though the department is not very well-funded, he said, the government is working with groups such as the United Nations and international aid agencies to prepare for floods.
"It is a multifaceted effort ... we want to ensure citizens are sensitized to the dangers of El Nino and things such as bridges are in good condition."
The rainy season begins in the Horn of Africa in mid-October and runs through the end of the year. Meteorologists have forecasted that this year's rains will be more intense than usual because of the El Nino phenomenon, caused by a rise in temperature in the Pacific and Indian oceans.
Aid agencies are already buckling under the weight of helping millions of people who have suffered through months of failed crops, drought and erratic rains caused by climate change.
In Somalia, 450,000 people in the Juba and Shabelle river basins could suffer, the United Nations estimates. In neighboring Kenya, some 750,000 people -- 150,000 of whom are refugees -- could be affected.
The Turkana, a pastoral tribe in northeastern Kenya, is already reeling from a severe drought that has left scores of people dead and remains of skeletal cows strewn across the flat, arid land. The remote region has no access to resources, making it especially vulnerable to natural disasters such as floods.
CNN's Moni Basu and Faith Karimi contributed to this report.
|
[
"What nations are going to be affected?",
"What nations are facing flooding?",
"When does the rainy season in Horn of Africa usually strike?",
"What did the warning come after?",
"When do the rainy season usually start?",
"What nations are facing flooding and mudslides?",
"What is expected to happen in East Africa?",
"What warning comes after months of drought?"
] |
[
"Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda",
"Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda",
"mid-October",
"Heavy rains triggered by El Nino weather patterns",
"mid-October",
"Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania",
"mudslides, crop destruction, waterborne diseases and disrupted road networks,",
"Heavy rains triggered by El Nino weather patterns could potentially prove devastating"
] |
question: What nations are going to be affected?, answer: Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda | question: What nations are facing flooding?, answer: Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda | question: When does the rainy season in Horn of Africa usually strike?, answer: mid-October | question: What did the warning come after?, answer: Heavy rains triggered by El Nino weather patterns | question: When do the rainy season usually start?, answer: mid-October | question: What nations are facing flooding and mudslides?, answer: Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania | question: What is expected to happen in East Africa?, answer: mudslides, crop destruction, waterborne diseases and disrupted road networks, | question: What warning comes after months of drought?, answer: Heavy rains triggered by El Nino weather patterns could potentially prove devastating
|
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- Heavy rains triggered by El Nino weather patterns could potentially prove devastating for east African nations that have been water-starved for months, the United Nations has warned.
A Turkana boy holds an empty cup in a village in northwestern Kenya.
Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda are facing mudslides, crop destruction, waterborne diseases and disrupted road networks, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Friday. Djibouti, Eritrea and Ethiopia could also be affected.
The effects of flooding are expected to be exacerbated because so much greenery has disappeared in the drought.
"More than 23 million people in pastoral, agricultural and suburban communities, as well as internally displaced people and refugees in the region, are reeling from the impact of water and food shortages, pasture scarcity, conflict and insecurity," said John Holmes, the under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs who is coordinating emergency relief operations.
"While we cannot prevent these climatic shocks, we certainly can mitigate their disastrous effects through forward planning and the right funding from the donor community," he said.
Uganda, hit by El Nino a decade ago, is planning to apply some of the lessons learned this time around, said Fred Opolot, a government spokesman.
"The government has allocated funds and resources to areas that will be affected," he said. "Our disaster preparedness department is using press briefings, among other ways, to inform the public."
Though the department is not very well-funded, he said, the government is working with groups such as the United Nations and international aid agencies to prepare for floods.
"It is a multifaceted effort ... we want to ensure citizens are sensitized to the dangers of El Nino and things such as bridges are in good condition."
The rainy season begins in the Horn of Africa in mid-October and runs through the end of the year. Meteorologists have forecasted that this year's rains will be more intense than usual because of the El Nino phenomenon, caused by a rise in temperature in the Pacific and Indian oceans.
Aid agencies are already buckling under the weight of helping millions of people who have suffered through months of failed crops, drought and erratic rains caused by climate change.
In Somalia, 450,000 people in the Juba and Shabelle river basins could suffer, the United Nations estimates. In neighboring Kenya, some 750,000 people -- 150,000 of whom are refugees -- could be affected.
The Turkana, a pastoral tribe in northeastern Kenya, is already reeling from a severe drought that has left scores of people dead and remains of skeletal cows strewn across the flat, arid land. The remote region has no access to resources, making it especially vulnerable to natural disasters such as floods.
CNN's Moni Basu and Faith Karimi contributed to this report.
|
[
"What countries are set to be affected?",
"When does the rainy season start?",
"What do East African nations face?",
"When does the rainy season in Horn of Africa usually begin?",
"What does the warning come after?",
"What are East African nations facing?",
"When is the rainy season in Horn of Africa?"
] |
[
"Djibouti, Eritrea",
"mid-October",
"mudslides, crop destruction, waterborne diseases and disrupted road networks,",
"mid-October",
"Heavy rains triggered by El Nino weather patterns",
"mudslides, crop destruction, waterborne diseases and disrupted road networks,",
"in mid-October and runs through the end of the year."
] |
question: What countries are set to be affected?, answer: Djibouti, Eritrea | question: When does the rainy season start?, answer: mid-October | question: What do East African nations face?, answer: mudslides, crop destruction, waterborne diseases and disrupted road networks, | question: When does the rainy season in Horn of Africa usually begin?, answer: mid-October | question: What does the warning come after?, answer: Heavy rains triggered by El Nino weather patterns | question: What are East African nations facing?, answer: mudslides, crop destruction, waterborne diseases and disrupted road networks, | question: When is the rainy season in Horn of Africa?, answer: in mid-October and runs through the end of the year.
|
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- Iran's trial of more than 100 people who it has linked to post-election unrest is a "sign of weakness" and shows that the Islamic republic "is afraid of its own people," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told CNN Thursday.
Iran is "afraid of the truth and the facts coming out," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said.
"It is a show trial, there's no doubt about it," Clinton told CNN's Fareed Zakaria in a wide-ranging interview to be broadcast on his "GPS" program Sunday.
"It demonstrates I think better than any of us could ever say that this Iranian leadership is afraid of their own people, and afraid of the truth and the facts coming out."
Clinton spoke to Zakaria during her visit to Africa.
Those on trial include Newsweek reporter Maziar Bahari, who has dual citizenship in Iran and Canada, and Kian Tajbakhsh, an Iranian-American scholar. The trial, which began over the weekend, is scheduled to resume Saturday, according to Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency.
This week, the State Department issued a statement expressing deep concern for Tajbakhsh.
"Given that the charges facing Mr. Tajbakhsh are without foundation, we call on Iran's leadership to release Mr. Tajbakhsh without delay," State Department spokesman Robert Wood said Tuesday, reading a prepared statement. "He has played absolutely no role in the election and poses no threat to the Iranian government or its national security."
Wood said Tajbakhsh has not been provided an attorney, which he is entitled to, and warned Iran that "the world is watching what is happening in Iran and will bear witness."
Speaking on Thursday, Clinton said the United States also has "expressed our concern about Mr. Bahari's confinement and trial" to Canada's government, and offered its help.
All of those on trial in Iran -- who include Iranian journalists and supporters of the opposition -- have been charged for their alleged roles in protests that followed last month's disputed presidential election.
The June 12 election gave President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a second term in office, but it also sparked a massive opposition movement that has regularly protested against the Iranian leadership and has shaken the foundation of Iran's Islamic theocracy.
Those on trial will be placed into three categories, according to Fars: the "plotters, intriguers, and planners of the riots"; "the antagonists and those affiliated to foreign services"; and "the opportunists, hooligans, and hoodlums who set ablaze, or destroyed private and public properties, and those that have had hands in disturbing public security."
|
[
"Bahari is a dual citizen of what two countries?",
"Who is one of the accused journalist?",
"What did Clinton tell Fareen Zakaria?",
"What Iranian-American scholar is also charged with crimes?",
"What did Clinton tell Fareed Zakaria?",
"Maziar Bahari is a duel citizen of what two countries?",
"On what day will the interview with the secretary of state be broadcast?",
"Who will be interviewed on \"GPS\" Sunday?"
] |
[
"Iran and Canada,",
"Maziar Bahari,",
"\"It is a show trial, there's no doubt about it,\"",
"Kian Tajbakhsh,",
"\"It is a show trial, there's no doubt about it,\"",
"Iran and Canada,",
"Sunday.",
"Secretary of State Hillary Clinton"
] |
question: Bahari is a dual citizen of what two countries?, answer: Iran and Canada, | question: Who is one of the accused journalist?, answer: Maziar Bahari, | question: What did Clinton tell Fareen Zakaria?, answer: "It is a show trial, there's no doubt about it," | question: What Iranian-American scholar is also charged with crimes?, answer: Kian Tajbakhsh, | question: What did Clinton tell Fareed Zakaria?, answer: "It is a show trial, there's no doubt about it," | question: Maziar Bahari is a duel citizen of what two countries?, answer: Iran and Canada, | question: On what day will the interview with the secretary of state be broadcast?, answer: Sunday. | question: Who will be interviewed on "GPS" Sunday?, answer: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
|
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- Kenya needs $230 million over the next six months to feed millions affected by drought, the United Nations said in a new report.
Farmers carry food handouts from the World Food Programme at a distribution spot near Nanyuki.
The three-year failure of annual rains has reduced crop output, the main source of food for the country of 37 million. The drought has also affected water production and prompted power rationing in the east African nation. Kenya gets most of its energy from hydro-generation.
About 3.8 million Kenyans need emergency food aid, and conditions are expected to deteriorate in the next few months, the United Nations World Food Programme said Wednesday.
The rate among children under 5 suffering malnutrition has gone from 15 to 20 percent in some cases, the report said.
"People are already going hungry, malnutrition is preying on more and more young children, cattle are dying -- we face a huge challenge and are urging the international community to provide us with the resources we need to get the job done," said Burkard Oberle, Kenya director of the World Food Programme.
The organization said it is helping about 2.6 million people in Kenya affected by drought while the government is supporting 1.2 million more until the end of October.
"In order to feed all 3.8 million people for the next six months, WFP and the Kenyan government will require strong support from donors in the weeks ahead," the report said.
More than 17 million people across the Horn of Africa need help from the United Nations, which is battling funding shortfalls.
Some of the most dire nations include Somalia and Uganda, which need $164 million and $96 million respectively.
|
[
"How many people live in Kenya?",
"What is the population of the country?",
"Who needs emergency food aid?",
"How much money did the country need?",
"How much does Kenya need?",
"What country needed money?",
"What does Kenya need?",
"What has caused the problem?"
] |
[
"37 million.",
"37 million.",
"Kenya",
"$230 million",
"$230 million",
"Kenya",
"$230 million over the next six months to feed millions",
"drought,"
] |
question: How many people live in Kenya?, answer: 37 million. | question: What is the population of the country?, answer: 37 million. | question: Who needs emergency food aid?, answer: Kenya | question: How much money did the country need?, answer: $230 million | question: How much does Kenya need?, answer: $230 million | question: What country needed money?, answer: Kenya | question: What does Kenya need?, answer: $230 million over the next six months to feed millions | question: What has caused the problem?, answer: drought,
|
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- More than 100 people were killed and several dozen wounded when an overturned petrol tanker exploded in Kenya early Sunday, authorities said.
The blast is the second multi-fatality incident in the east African country in four days. A supermarket fire in Nairobi on Wednesday killed at least 27 people, with another 57 still missing.
The tanker explosion occurred near Molo, a small town in the Rift Valley Province -- about 130 kilometers (80 miles) from the capital, a spokesman for the Kenyan police said.
The tanker overturned along a highway spilling gallons of gas which hundreds of residents rushed to scoop up, said Titus Mung'ou of the Kenyan Red Cross.
"People were lining up trying to get the fuel," he said. "They were siphoning off petrol for over an hour. Some people had drilled holes in the tanker and were charging a fee for the assembled crowd."
The vehicle exploded about an hour later, apparently after one of the residents lit a cigarette or started a fire at the crash site, Mung'ou said.
Four policemen, who were trying to control the crowd, were believed to be among the victims, Mung'ou said.
Another 117 people were wounded in the blast, police said. The figures are expected to rise, officials said.
The Red Cross sent more than 80 people to help with rescue efforts. Those who were seriously wounded were flown to a hospital in Nairobi.
Meanwhile, the death toll from last week's Nairobi supermarket fire rose to 27 on Sunday, the Red Cross said.
Rescue workers found the latest victims as they searched through the rubble of the scorched structure in downtown Nairobi.
The fire ignited Wednesday afternoon during a somewhat busy hour in the 24-hour Nakumatt supermarket.
Police launched a criminal investigation to look into allegations that security guards locked people into the burning building. Employees of the supermarket refused to comment on the allegations.
The fire angered Kenyans for what they perceived as a lack of disaster preparedness.
Emergency numbers failed to work and water ran out during attempts to put out the fire, said Mung'ou of the Kenyan Red Cross.
"There is the need to strengthen the capacity in handling fires," Mung'ou said.
|
[
"where did tanker explosion occurred?",
"When did the explosion happen?",
"What exploded near Molo?",
"what exploded after an hour?",
"Is the explosion was caused?",
"who rushed to scoop up gas from overturned tanker?",
"What did the residents do when the truck overturned?"
] |
[
"Kenya",
"Sunday,",
"petrol tanker",
"petrol tanker",
"tanker",
"hundreds of residents",
"\"People were lining up trying to get the fuel,\""
] |
question: where did tanker explosion occurred?, answer: Kenya | question: When did the explosion happen?, answer: Sunday, | question: What exploded near Molo?, answer: petrol tanker | question: what exploded after an hour?, answer: petrol tanker | question: Is the explosion was caused?, answer: tanker | question: who rushed to scoop up gas from overturned tanker?, answer: hundreds of residents | question: What did the residents do when the truck overturned?, answer: "People were lining up trying to get the fuel,"
|
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- Officials found 13 bodies in the rubble of a scorched supermarket in downtown Nairobi Friday and are investigating a tip that security guards locked people in the burning building, a police spokesman said.
Members of the public helped to fight the fire which left at least 47 people missing.
The blaze started on Wednesday afternoon in the Nakumatt supermarket.
The Standard Newspaper reported harrowing tales of families trying to find their missing loved ones, at times making the job of firefighters more difficult.
So many people crowded the scene that police on foot and on horseback periodically chased them away. Riot police with tear gas and batons stood nervously around the edge of the scene -- where a barricade has been erected.
Joseph Mwangi waited among the crowd, hoping for news of his cousin Daniel. On Wednesday, Mwangi sent 16-year-old Daniel Njoge with 6,000 shillings (about $75) to the market.
"He was coming to shop for school," said Mwangi, a waiter at a nearby restaurant. "I sent him to the store to get stationery supplies."
"On Wednesday night, I got so worried. Now I think he is just in there," Mwangi said, pointing at the burned-out store.
"The response was not good," he said. "A person who fights a fire must go into the building, but they just stayed outside."
Mwangi registered with the Kenya Red Cross on the scene, as scores of others did, and now he waits.
Justin Mule, who works at the Stanley Bookstore across the road from the supermarket, described the start of the fire to CNN: "I saw smoke coming up from the building on Wednesday afternoon. In a few minutes, there were explosions. I saw some guys jumping from the burning roof. Soon after the fire, I saw the store security guards closing the doors because they feared looting. The doors were locked. That was a mistake. They shouldn't have locked the doors."
Other witness corroborated his account. Police launched a criminal investigation to look into that allegation, said Eric Kiraithe, a police spokesman
Employees of the supermarket refused to comment on the allegations.
The fire has angered Kenyans for what they perceive is a lack of disaster preparedness. Local newspaper editorials slammed the government's response to the tragedy.
"Disaster preparedness is still a challenge, and the operation was hampered by the Nairobi city layout," said Kenya Red Cross spokesman Titus Mung'ou said. Emergency numbers failed to work and water ran out during attempts to put out the fire, he said.
According to local news reports, the fire ignited Wednesday afternoon during a busy hour in the 24-hour supermarket. Hundreds of people crowded around the scene and tourists peered through their hotel windows as firefighters, security guards and civilians struggled to get the fire under control.
Periodic explosions rocked the city and debris fell around the building. The crowd cheered each incoming fire truck, and water had to be brought to the scene from a nearby soccer stadium.
|
[
"How many bodies were found?",
"Rescuers found how many bodies?",
"What is the number of bodies found?",
"In what country did the fire cocur?",
"Rescuers found bodies in which type of store?",
"Where were the bodies found?",
"In what country did the fire occur?",
"What city did the fire occur?",
"The incident happened in which African country?"
] |
[
"13",
"13",
"13",
"Kenya",
"supermarket",
"in the rubble of a scorched supermarket in downtown",
"Kenya",
"Nairobi",
"Kenya"
] |
question: How many bodies were found?, answer: 13 | question: Rescuers found how many bodies?, answer: 13 | question: What is the number of bodies found?, answer: 13 | question: In what country did the fire cocur?, answer: Kenya | question: Rescuers found bodies in which type of store?, answer: supermarket | question: Where were the bodies found?, answer: in the rubble of a scorched supermarket in downtown | question: In what country did the fire occur?, answer: Kenya | question: What city did the fire occur?, answer: Nairobi | question: The incident happened in which African country?, answer: Kenya
|
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- One of the FBI's most wanted terrorists escaped a raid over the weekend, Kenyan police said Monday.
Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a suspected terrorist, is shown in photos released by the FBI.
Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, indicted in the United States for alleged involvement in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, managed to evade police in a raid Saturday morning in Malindi, along Kenya's coast, said police spokesman Eric Kiraithe.
The United States calls Mohammed a senior al Qaeda operative in East Africa.
U.S. officials accuse him of being an architect of the embassy bombings that killed 225 people.
They also believe Mohammed was involved in attacks on an Israeli-owned hotel and airliner in Kenya in 2002.
Kiraithe said Kenyan authorities received information from "local intelligence networks" that led them to conduct the raid, which involved no foreign intelligence officials.
He said police know Mohammed had, in fact, been at the location they raided, because they found two passports under names Mohammed has used. Kiraithe did not say what countries the passports were from.
A massive manhunt is under way for Mohammed in Malindi and surrounding areas, "more intensive than ever before because we wouldn't want to miss him now," Kiraithe said.
The U.S. offers a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to his apprehension or conviction.
Mohammed has escaped capture and attacks before. Early last year a U.S.-led air strike in Somalia failed to kill him. In 2003, Kenyan police said he escaped authorities.
In December 2007, the U.N. Security Council amended a list of 25 al Qaeda suspects subject to sanctions, including Mohammed. The description of Mohammed offered numerous aliases and said he had "reportedly undergone plastic surgery."
The FBI description says Mohammed was born in the Comoros Islands, and has used birth dates indicating he was born in either 1972 or 1974. He also has citizenship in Kenya, the description says.
It adds, "Mohammed likes to wear baseball caps and tends to dress casually. He is very good with computers."
|
[
"When were the U.S. embassies bombed?",
"Who is the senior al Qaueda operative?",
"Who evaded the police raid?",
"What did he manage to evade?",
"Who provided authorities information?",
"Who did the authorities receive information from?",
"Who is a senior al Qaeda operative?",
"What was the suspect indicted for?"
] |
[
"1998",
"Fazul Abdullah Mohammed,",
"Fazul Abdullah Mohammed,",
"police in a raid",
"\"local intelligence networks\"",
"\"local intelligence networks\"",
"Mohammed",
"alleged involvement in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania,"
] |
question: When were the U.S. embassies bombed?, answer: 1998 | question: Who is the senior al Qaueda operative?, answer: Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, | question: Who evaded the police raid?, answer: Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, | question: What did he manage to evade?, answer: police in a raid | question: Who provided authorities information?, answer: "local intelligence networks" | question: Who did the authorities receive information from?, answer: "local intelligence networks" | question: Who is a senior al Qaeda operative?, answer: Mohammed | question: What was the suspect indicted for?, answer: alleged involvement in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania,
|
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- Pirates have hijacked a Thai cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden off the Somali coast, the Kenya Seafarers Association said Thursday.
The ship, the MV Thor Star, was hijacked Tuesday with 28 Thai crew members on board, said Andrew Mwangura, a spokesman for the association, which acts on behalf of merchant vessels in the region.
The Thai-flagged ship is owned by Bangkok-based Thoresen Thai Agencies.
Pirate attacks are frequent in the waters off Somalia, a notoriously unsafe area for unescorted vessels.
Earlier this month, Canada announced it was dispatching a warship to the area to protect U.N. aid ships after more than two dozen reported pirate attacks in the waters off Somalia this year.
|
[
"What was the ships name?",
"What was hijacked?",
"What was hijacked Tuesday?",
"Who was hijacked?",
"Who usually hijacks cargo ships?",
"Where are ships frequently hijacked?",
"When did the hijacking occur?",
"What was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden?",
"what number of people were hijacked?"
] |
[
"MV Thor Star,",
"Thai cargo ship",
"Thai cargo ship",
"MV Thor Star,",
"Pirates",
"in the waters off Somalia,",
"Tuesday",
"Thai cargo ship",
"28"
] |
question: What was the ships name?, answer: MV Thor Star, | question: What was hijacked?, answer: Thai cargo ship | question: What was hijacked Tuesday?, answer: Thai cargo ship | question: Who was hijacked?, answer: MV Thor Star, | question: Who usually hijacks cargo ships?, answer: Pirates | question: Where are ships frequently hijacked?, answer: in the waters off Somalia, | question: When did the hijacking occur?, answer: Tuesday | question: What was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden?, answer: Thai cargo ship | question: what number of people were hijacked?, answer: 28
|
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- Pirates holding a Saudi-owned oil supertanker off the coast of Somalia have set the vessel free after receiving a ransom payment, a piracy monitor in neighboring Kenya and the U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet said Saturday.
A small aircraft drops a ransom payment during a flight over the Sirius Star on Friday.
"The supertanker VLCC Sirius Star is currently under way to safe waters," Andrew Mwangura of the Kenya Seafarers Association said in an e-mail.
Mwangura said all 23 crew members of the Sirius Star, the largest ship ever hijacked by pirates, are safe and in good health. They are citizens of Croatia, Great Britain, the Philippines, Poland and Saudi Arabia.
"Anytime a ship is released, it is positive news," said Cmdr. Jane Campbell of the Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet. "But too many people see it as a ship and its cargo being released. When merchant mariners are released, it is always good news."
The ship is a VLCC, or "very large crude carrier." According to the Fifth Fleet, the tanker is more than three times the size of a U.S. navy aircraft carrier.
Pirates seized the supertanker November 15. The tanker was carrying two million barrels of crude oil worth about $100 million. The Liberian-flagged tanker is owned by Vela International Marine Ltd., a subsidiary of the Saudi Arabian-based Saudi Aramco.
Saleh K'aki, president and CEO of Vela International, said in a statement, "We are very relieved to know that all crew members are safe and I am glad to say that they are all in good health and high spirits. This has been a very trying time for them and certainly for their families. We are very happy to report to their families that they will be on their way home soon."
Mwangura said it would have been a "disaster" if the pirates had fired guns aboard the ship, harming the cargo or igniting a fire.
"The capture of the Sirius Star raised the specter of an environmental disaster should the hijackers decide to turn the ship into a weapon or foreign navies attempt to release it by force," he said.
The pirates had been expected to release the supertanker after receiving the ransom payment Friday, but four pirates drowned after their skiff capsized in rough seas while they were leaving the Sirius Star, according to a journalist who spoke to one of the pirates on board. Watch ransom being parachuted to ship »
There were five pirates in the skiff and one survived, the journalist said. The bodies of the other four were recovered, he said.
The pirates told another journalist they received $3 million in ransom money but lost part of it when the skiff capsized.
"Initially, the gunmen were demanding $25 million for its release but the latest reports indicate that the demand had been lowered to below $3.5 million," Mwangura said.
Meanwhile, pirates also have released the MV Delight, an Iranian chartered ship carrying wheat from Germany, Mwangura said. It was captured in November. Details were not immediately available.
Hijackings off East Africa are a cause of growing international concern, spurring a number of international navies to patrol the pirate-wracked Gulf of Aden. Dozens of ships have been attacked in the gulf by pirates based in a largely lawless Somalia in recent months. See how pirate attacks are on the rise »
Campbell said the number of attacks may have gone up in recent months, but the number of successful hijackings has gone down. She attributed that to measures taken by merchant ships, such as vigilant keeping of watch and evasive ship maneuvers, and the increased naval presence in the at-risk areas.
Campbell stressed, however, that they are only preventive measures.
"Piracy is a problem that starts on the shore," she said. "The international community needs to address the situation on the ground in Somalia."
CNN's David McKenzie contributed to this report.
|
[
"How many pirates drowned?",
"Who released the supertanker?",
"Who released the Saudi-owned oil supertanker?",
"How did four pirates die?",
"Was the second hijacked ship released?",
"What is the name of the supertanker?",
"What country owned this",
"What was the name of this supertanker?",
"Number of pirates who drowned?",
"How many pirates died in this scenario?",
"How many ships have been hijacked?"
] |
[
"four",
"Pirates",
"Pirates",
"drowned",
"the MV Delight,",
"VLCC Sirius Star",
"Saudi-owned",
"VLCC Sirius Star",
"four",
"four",
"Dozens of"
] |
question: How many pirates drowned?, answer: four | question: Who released the supertanker?, answer: Pirates | question: Who released the Saudi-owned oil supertanker?, answer: Pirates | question: How did four pirates die?, answer: drowned | question: Was the second hijacked ship released?, answer: the MV Delight, | question: What is the name of the supertanker?, answer: VLCC Sirius Star | question: What country owned this, answer: Saudi-owned | question: What was the name of this supertanker?, answer: VLCC Sirius Star | question: Number of pirates who drowned?, answer: four | question: How many pirates died in this scenario?, answer: four | question: How many ships have been hijacked?, answer: Dozens of
|
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- Pirates on a seized Saudi-owned oil supertanker are delaying release of the ship despite receiving a ransom because of a fatal drowning accident that killed four of their colleagues, a journalist who spoke with one of the pirates told CNN.
A small aircraft is observed by the U.S. Navy flying over the Sirius Star during a seeming ransom payment Friday.
The pirates had been expected to release the Sirius Star, which they've held since November 15, after a ransom payment was parachuted onto the ship.
The journalist told CNN that the pirate who spoke said four pirates drowned after a skiff carrying leaving the Sirius Star capsized due to rough seas. Sea charts showed that waves in the area were reaching 5 to 7 feet at the time.
There were five pirates in the skiff and one survived, the journalist said. The bodies of the other four were recovered, he said, adding that this will delay the exit of the pirates still remaining on board the ship and thus affect the ship's release after payment of the ransom.
The tanker was carrying two million barrels of crude oil worth about $100 million when pirates hijacked it off the coast of Somalia.
Pirates seized the Sirius Star more than 450 nautical miles off the African coast in one of their most audacious hijackings to date.
The pirates told another journalist that they received $3 million in ransom money, but lost part of it when the skiff capsized. The remaining ransom money is still aboard the ship with the rest of the pirates.
The U.S. Navy took photographs and observed as an apparent ransom payment was parachuted aboard the tanker. The pirates aboard the supertanker have equipment to check for counterfeit bills, authorities said.
"While the potential release of the Sirius Star is undoubtedly excellent news, we must not forget that nearly 300 other merchant mariners (on other ships) are still being held captive," said Commodore Tim Lowe, deputy Combined Maritime Forces commander.
Hijackings off East Africa are a cause of growing international concern, spurring a number of international navies to patrol the pirate-wracked Gulf of Aden. See how pirate attacks peaked in 2008 »
Dozens of ships have been attacked in the gulf by pirates based in a largely lawless Somalia in recent months. See a map of the region »
The area involved, off the coast of Somalia and Kenya as well as the Gulf of Aden, equals more than 1.1 million square miles. That is roughly four times the size of Texas, or the size of the Mediterranean and Red Seas combined.
|
[
"What was the tanker carrying?",
"From what country was the supertanker?",
"What was the crude oil worth?",
"When will the crew be released?",
"Who hijacked the tanker?",
"What did the U.S. Navy do?"
] |
[
"two million barrels of crude oil",
"Saudi-owned",
"$100 million",
"pirates had been expected to release the Sirius Star, which they've held since November 15, after a ransom payment was parachuted onto the ship.",
"pirates",
"took photographs"
] |
question: What was the tanker carrying?, answer: two million barrels of crude oil | question: From what country was the supertanker?, answer: Saudi-owned | question: What was the crude oil worth?, answer: $100 million | question: When will the crew be released?, answer: pirates had been expected to release the Sirius Star, which they've held since November 15, after a ransom payment was parachuted onto the ship. | question: Who hijacked the tanker?, answer: pirates | question: What did the U.S. Navy do?, answer: took photographs
|
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- Pirates who hijacked a crude oil tanker off the coast of Kenya are approaching a Somali port, the U.S. Navy says.
An undated photo of the Sirius Star in South Korean waters.
The Sirius Star -- a crude "super tanker" flagged in Liberia and owned by the Saudi Arabian-based Saudi Aramco company -- was attacked on Saturday more than 450 nautical miles southeast of Mombasa, Kenya.
The crew of 25, including British, Croatian, Polish, Filipino and Saudi nationals, are reported to be safe.
U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet Cmdr. Jane Campbell said the super tanker weighs more than 300,000 metric tons and "is more than three times the size of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier."
Oil industry insiders say a tanker of this size can carry up to 2 million barrels of oil, and the ship's operator, Dubai-based Vela International Marine Ltd, says it is fully laden.
A U.S. Navy spokesman said the tanker is approaching Eyl, Somalia, on the Indian Ocean coast. It is routine procedure for pirates to take hijacked ships to shore, where they will keep them while they discuss negotiations.
A multinational naval force including vessels from the U.S., the UK and Russia has been patrolling the Indian Ocean waters seas near the Gulf of Aden, which connects the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, following a sharp increase in pirate attacks in the region.
"It was attacked more than 450 nautical offshore of Mombasa. This means that the pirates are now operating in an area of over 1.1 million square miles. This is a measure of the determination of the pirates and ... a measure of how lucrative piracy could become," Campbell said.
Campbell said the Navy does not expect to dispatch a vessel to aide the super tanker because it does not have dangerous weapons aboard like the MV Faina, a Ukrainian ship loaded with arms that was seized by pirates on September 25.
The UK Foreign Office confirmed two Britons were aboard and said it was seeking more information about the incident.
South Korean officials said on Sunday that armed gunmen hijacked a Japanese freighter and its 23-member crew off the coast of Somalia. The hijacking came as the Korean government was considering sending a warship to join those of other countries to combat piracy in the area.
A Russian patrol ship also thwarted an attack on a Saudi vessel.
Eleven vessels are currently being held by pirates hoping to secure ransoms for their release, according to The Associated Press. They include the MV Faina, which was hijacked along with 20 crew and a cargo of weapons and T-72 tanks.
Ninety percent of ships transiting the perilous seas are using a guarded corridor and there have been no hijackings inside the zone since it was set up on August 22, Danish Commodore Per Bigum Christensen told AP last week.
Around 20,000 oil tankers, freighters and merchant vessels pass along the crucial shipping route each year.
"Our presence in the region is helping deter and disrupt criminal attacks off the Somali coast, but the situation with the Sirius Star clearly indicates the pirates' ability to adapt their tactics and methods of attack" said U.S. Vice Admiral Bill Gortney, commander of the Combined Maritime Forces.
"Piracy is an international crime that threatens global commerce. Shipping companies have to understand that naval forces can not be everywhere. Self protection measures are the best way to protect their vessels, their crews, and their cargo."
CNN's David McKenzie contributed to this report
|
[
"Who owned the super tanker in the story?",
"What was hijacked?",
"Where was the tanker hijacked?",
"Who has been patrolling the area?",
"Who owned the oil tanker?",
"What region or country were the pirates associated with?",
"How many crew were aboard the Saudi-owned oil tanker?",
"What did the U.S. Navy say was hijacked?",
"How many crew members were on the super tanker?",
"What has increased in the Gulf of Aden region this year?"
] |
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"Eyl, Somalia,",
"25,",
"crude oil tanker",
"25,",
"Pirates"
] |
question: Who owned the super tanker in the story?, answer: Saudi Arabian-based Saudi Aramco company | question: What was hijacked?, answer: crude oil tanker | question: Where was the tanker hijacked?, answer: off the coast of Kenya | question: Who has been patrolling the area?, answer: A multinational naval force | question: Who owned the oil tanker?, answer: Saudi Arabian-based Saudi Aramco company | question: What region or country were the pirates associated with?, answer: Eyl, Somalia, | question: How many crew were aboard the Saudi-owned oil tanker?, answer: 25, | question: What did the U.S. Navy say was hijacked?, answer: crude oil tanker | question: How many crew members were on the super tanker?, answer: 25, | question: What has increased in the Gulf of Aden region this year?, answer: Pirates
|
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- Somalis are so desperate to survive that attacks on merchant shipping in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean will not stop, a pirate leader promises.
A French warship keeps guard over commerical vessels in the Gulf of Aden last week.
"The pirates are living between life and death," said the pirate leader, identified by only one name, Boyah. "Who can stop them? Americans and British all put together cannot do anything."
The interview with the pirate was conducted in late August by journalists employed by the Somali news organization Garowe Online. The complete interview was provided to CNN last week and provides a glimpse of why piracy has been so hard to control in the region.
Recorded on grainy video, the interview took place in the Somali port city of Eyl, now a center of pirate operations. Eyl is on the east coast of Somalia in the autonomous territory of Puntland. It is a largely lawless zone, considered extremely dangerous for Westerners to enter.
The Puntland government said two unidentified Western journalists were taken hostage Wednesday as they attempted to report on pirate activity.
Boyah said that the piracy began because traditional coastal fishing became difficult after foreign fishing trawlers depleted local fish stocks. Traditional fishermen started attacking the trawlers until the trawler crews fought back with heavy weapons. The fishermen then turned to softer targets. Watch why fishermen turned to piracy »
"We went into the deep ocean and hijacked the unarmed cargo ships," Boyah said.
"For the past three years, we have not operated near the Somali coast. We have operated at least 80 miles [out], in international waters."
When merchant shipping started avoiding the Somali coast, Boyah said, "we went to ships traveling other routes."
Over the past year, the number of pirate attacks has increased dramatically. The International Maritime Bureau cites more than 90 pirate attacks off East Africa so far in 2008. When attacks are successful, the hijacked ships are taken to Somali waters, where the ships and crew are held until a ransom is paid. See how pirate attacks have increased »
Ships recently captured include a massive Saudi supertanker laden with crude oil valued at more than $100 million and a freighter carrying Russian-built tanks.
The hijackings have been profitable. Kenya's foreign minister, Moses Wetangula, estimates the pirates have been paid more than $150 million during the past year. One pirate gang wants $2 million dollars to release a Yemeni freighter and crew seized last week.
Facing increasing disruptions through one of the busiest sea lanes in the world, several countries have sent warships to patrol the area. There have been reports of skirmishes between pirates and naval forces, but the military presence does not concern pirate leader Boyah. He boasts the pirates literally sail in a vast ocean beneath the radar of the warships. Watch how piracy thrives off Somalia »
"No ship has the capability to see everything," he said. "A ship can see 80 miles or so [on radar]. It cannot see us at all. No one can do anything about it."
Boyah said it is unlikely the Puntland regional government would ever crack down on piracy because government officials are involved in financing the piracy and collect a cut of the ransoms.
"They motivate us. It's their money and their weapons," Boyah said. "Thirty percent belongs to them."
The Puntland foreign minister, Ali Abdi Aware, denied government involvement with the pirates, including taking bribes. The minister cited the arrest of six pirates earlier this year as evidence it is acting to stop piracy.
Pirate Boyah said he is unimpressed with the arrests by Puntland authorities.
"The pirates are at sea and Puntland does not approach them. The pirates are on land and Puntland does not approach them," Boyah said. "They arrest some small people and tell the world that they captured pirates, but they are liars."
While Boyah may have been outspoken about the government's ineffectiveness, he did not allow interviewers
|
[
"What is unable to stop pirates?",
"What amount did pirates gain from ransom?",
"How much have they gained in ransom?",
"How much money did the pirates gain last year?",
"What did the Somali pirate say about piracy?",
"Pirates gain how much in ransom money each year?",
"Somali fishermen turned to what?",
"What are governments unable to stop?"
] |
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"Americans and British all put together",
"$150 million",
"more than $150 million",
"$150 million",
"are living between life and death,\"",
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"piracy",
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] |
question: What is unable to stop pirates?, answer: Americans and British all put together | question: What amount did pirates gain from ransom?, answer: $150 million | question: How much have they gained in ransom?, answer: more than $150 million | question: How much money did the pirates gain last year?, answer: $150 million | question: What did the Somali pirate say about piracy?, answer: are living between life and death," | question: Pirates gain how much in ransom money each year?, answer: $150 million | question: Somali fishermen turned to what?, answer: piracy | question: What are governments unable to stop?, answer: pirates
|
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- Those most responsible for last year's post-election violence in Kenya may now be punished by the International Criminal Court, after Kenya missed a deadline to address the issue.
A man runs past a market set on fire in post-election violence in Nakuru, Kenya, in January 2008.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the chief prosecutor of the court, said in a statement Wednesday that his court will now step in to help Kenya address the post-election violence of early 2008.
"Kenya will be a world example on managing violence," he said.
Kenya's coalition government promised action after more than 1,000 people were killed following a disputed election in December 2007. Hundreds of thousands were displaced amid the bloodshed. One of the chief promises was the formation of a tribunal to try the perpetrators of that violence.
Now that Kenya has missed the deadline, Moreno-Ocampo announced a plan to address the issue.
In the statement, he said the International Criminal Court would prosecute those most responsible, and other perpetrators would be subject to "national accountability proceedings as defined by the Kenyan Parliament, such as a Special Tribunal."
Kenya will also create "other reforms and mechanisms such as the Justice, Truth and Reconciliation commission to shed light on the full history of past events and to suggest mechanisms to prevent such crimes in the future," the ICC statement said.
During meetings with Moreno-Ocampo in July, a delegation from Kenya said that prosecuting those responsible for the violence was necessary to prevent similar acts ahead of the 2012 election.
CNN's David McKenzie contributed to this report.
|
[
"how many were killed in 2008?",
"What amount of violence there were in 2008?",
"who will prosecute those most responsible?",
"what did the top court official say?"
] |
[
"more than 1,000",
"killed",
"Luis Moreno-Ocampo,",
"will now step in to help Kenya address the post-election violence of early 2008."
] |
question: how many were killed in 2008?, answer: more than 1,000 | question: What amount of violence there were in 2008?, answer: killed | question: who will prosecute those most responsible?, answer: Luis Moreno-Ocampo, | question: what did the top court official say?, answer: will now step in to help Kenya address the post-election violence of early 2008.
|
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- Three British guards jumped overboard and were rescued from the water after battling in vain to prevent pirates hijacking a chemical tanker off the coast of Somalia.
Three British security guards board a helicopter to be transferred to a Royal Navy vessel.
The Liberian-flagged Biscaglia came under "sustained and heavy attack" early Friday morning, Nick Davis, Director of Anti-Piracy Maritime Security Solutions (APMSS), said in a statement.
The three APMSS-employed security guards -- all former British servicemen -- mounted "sustained non-lethal resistance" but were unable to stop the attackers seizing control of the ship, Davis said.
The trio were airlifted to safety by a German naval helicopter and flown to a French frigate after the vessel summoned assistance from coalition warships. They were later transferred to a British Royal Navy ship. All three were unhurt, Davis said.
"I have spoken with my team leader on the phone and he informs me that the level of violence was significant and forced them reluctantly to leave the vessel after every effort was made to ensure the safety of the ships crew," Davis said.
Pirates continued to shoot at the three in the water, Davis said. "The hijacked vessel with pirates in control then attempted to run them down."
The Biscaglia is managed by Singapore-based Ishima and owned by Winged Foot Shipping in the Marshall Islands and was crewed by 25 Indians and two Bangladeshis who are believed to be still onboard.
The vessel is believed to be on its way to an anchorage in Puntland, northeastern Somalia, Davis said. iReport.com: Share your view from 'Inside Africa'
Also Friday, pirates released the Greek ship MV Centauri, which was hijacked in September off the coast of Somalia, according to Andrew Mwangura, the head of the Kenya Seafarers Association.
There was no immediate information about the 25 crew members on board the ship when it was taken.
A multinational naval force including vessels from the U.S., NATO member states, Russia and India has been patrolling the Indian Ocean waters seas near the Gulf of Aden, which connects the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, following a sharp increase in pirate attacks in the region.
Around 20,000 oil tankers, freighters and merchant vessels pass along the crucial shipping route each year.
So far this year, pirates have attacked almost 100 vessels off the coast of Somalia coast and successfully hijacked nearly 40, according to the International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Center.
The most high-profile hijacking so far came earlier this month, when pirates seized a Saudi oil tanker carrying $100 million worth of oil and a crew of 25, although that attack occurred outside the pirates' normal operational range, 450 nautical miles southeast of Mombasa, Kenya. Pirates are still holding the ship.
Another vessel held since September is the Ukrainian MV Farina, which was carrying a cargo of weapons and tanks and a crew of 22.
In an interview provided to CNN this week, a pirate leader claimed attacks on shipping would continue as long as life in Somalia remained desperate.
"The pirates are living between life and death," said the pirate leader, identified by only one name, Boyah. "Who can stop them? Americans and British all put together cannot do anything."
The interview was conducted in August by journalists working for the Somali news organization, Garowe.
|
[
"Who hijacked the MV Centauri?",
"From which country does the Mv Centauri come from?",
"when did this happen?",
"How many security guards battle pirates?",
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] |
[
"pirates",
"Greek ship",
"early Friday morning,",
"Three",
"pirates",
"German naval helicopter"
] |
question: Who hijacked the MV Centauri?, answer: pirates | question: From which country does the Mv Centauri come from?, answer: Greek ship | question: when did this happen?, answer: early Friday morning, | question: How many security guards battle pirates?, answer: Three | question: Who released Greek ship MV Centauri?, answer: pirates | question: Who rescued the British trio ?, answer: German naval helicopter
|
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- Two U.S. filmmakers were injured Saturday when their small plane crashed into a three-story residential building in downtown Nairobi.
People gather around the wreckage of a plane that struck a building in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Saturday.
Dan Parris, 25, and Rob Lehr, 26, both from St. Louis, Missouri, were shooting an independent documentary on poverty in Africa.
Both men were hospitalized and expected to survive, according to David Peterka, who was part of the film crew, but was not aboard the plane. He said that all four aboard the plane were Americans.
A flight engineer, whose name was not released, was critically injured and was in a coma, Peterka said. The pilot, whose name has not yet been released, was killed in the crash.
The crew had been in the east African nation for four days and was shooting video of Kibera, one of the largest slums in Africa.
The plane was headed to nearby Wilson Airport, where most light aircraft land in the Kenyan capital.
"The pilot had warned that he was going to hover and go slow," Peterka said. "They were surprised when they went to about 50 feet off the ground --- and then they hit electrical lines and the plane flipped into the building."
Just before the plane crashed, the listening devices went off and they could not communicate with the pilot, Peterka said.
Peterka said Lehr, who was ejected because the doors were open for filming, ran back in to rescue the others. Parris crawled out and Lehr, with the help of bystanders, pulled the pilot and the engineer out as the plane burst into flames, Peterka said.
"Local residents were using water, dirt to put the fire out" before the fire department arrived, Peterka said.
"Before the plane crashed, witnesses said it was flying unusually low," said Francis Mwaka, a Kenyan federal communications official.
The four-seater plane was owned by African Inland Missions company.
No one on the ground was injured, Mwaka said. The crash is under investigation.
CNN's Ben Brumfield contributed to this story.
|
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] |
question: who was taken to hospital?, answer: Dan Parris, 25, and Rob Lehr, 26, | question: Who were two of the victims?, answer: U.S. filmmakers | question: What do witnesses say about the crash?, answer: said it was flying unusually low," | question: where did the plane crash?, answer: three-story residential building in downtown Nairobi. | question: what was the plane doing before the crash?, answer: shooting video of Kibera, one of the largest slums in Africa. | question: What witnesses said?, answer: it was flying unusually low," | question: What did the plane crash into?, answer: a three-story residential building in downtown Nairobi. | question: who were two victims, answer: Rob Lehr, | question: Was there any witnesses?, answer: flying unusually low," | question: Who was killed in the plane crash?, answer: The pilot, | question: Where did the plane crash?, answer: a three-story residential building in downtown Nairobi. | question: Were there any taken to hospital?, answer: hospitalized | question: who was killed, answer: The pilot, | question: What were the two victims shooting?, answer: an independent documentary on poverty in Africa.
|
NAPA, California (CNN) -- If Barrett Wissman were in the ministry, his arts festivals would be sunny outposts on a fast-widening mission field. His Tuscan Sun Festival opens Saturday in Cortona, Italy. An all-new Singapore Sun Festival opens October 18.
And a secret known to missionaries everywhere is clearly in sway at the Festival del Sole in Napa Valley, which has just concluded its second year: Bonding with the locals.
With quick fervor, local leaders, the hospitality industry and those all-important vintners of Napa have embraced their festival.
When symphony conductor Stéphane Denève mentioned last year that he'd like to get married there, Tatiana and Gerret Copeland of the Bouchaine wine estate threw the ceremony for them in the vineyards. See images from a maestro's marriage in the vineyards of Napa during this year's Festival del Sole »
"It's a mission in my life to have more and more people enjoy and love the arts," Wissman says in an interview sandwiched between Denève's presentation of the Grieg piano concerto and Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet" suite with the Russian National Orchestra. Watch highlights and comments from Barrett Wissman and the artists of Festival del Sole »
"One of the reasons that we have these festivals -- engage local communities and have music, literature, art, film, cuisine, wine, all these subjects -- is we attract different people who like each one. And then get them to like something else. Today, our goal in education in the arts is to get everybody involved."
Wissman is uniquely positioned to "get everybody involved."
More than a priest or even a bishop in this arts-mission field, he's a cardinal in the industry, the chairman of IMG Artists, a major player in world artists' representation. IMG's roster includes violinists Joshua Bell and Itzhak Perlman, mezzo-soprano Fredericka von Stade, flutist James Galway, guitarist Christopher Parkening, the Joffrey Ballet and composer Jay Greenberg, among many others.
Wissman has just announced a new managing director for IMG in North and South America, Elizabeth Sobol. She is, herself, a co-producer of a new festival in Boca Raton, Florida, and architect of a highly publicized new joint venture for IMG with Gorfaine-Schwartz, the agency representing trumpeter-composer Chris Botti, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, singer-songwriter James Taylor and Hollywood film composer John Williams.
No matter how far-flung the festivals and events, Wissman stays near his roots. "I'm a pianist," he says, "a concert pianist. I still play, I play from time to time in the festivals. So I'm a musician, I come from the arts."
In the case of Napa's Festival del Sole, Wissman has a co-founder, San Francisco-based attorney Richard Walker, who has a specialization in artists' management. Watch an audio slide show in which Richard Walker talks about the atmosphere of the festival »
Having worked with Mikhail Pletnev's Russian National Orchestra, Walker says, since its inception in 1990 as the first symphonic entity founded after the Soviet Union's collapse, he emphasizes the stylistic range demanded in festival work.
And Walker echoes Wissman's interest in making these festivals oases in the itinerant lives of world-traveling artists. "The events that surround the musical performances," Walker says, "are attended by the artists, themselves -- a time of camaraderie for them because they see each other and spend time enjoying each other's company."
As if on cue, two world-class pianists, Polish-Hungarian Piotr Anderszewski and French-born Jean-Yves Thibaudet, are seated at the same table at a gala post-concert dinner held by Far Niente wine estate on a cloudless night in a circular arbor crowded with honeysuckle. Thibaudet jumps up at one point to accompany violinist Bell in Manuel Ponce's "Estrellita," watched by composer Marco Tutino and cellist Nina Kotova. Read about Joshua Bell's recent win of the $75,000 Fisher Prize
"We are located in a wonderful
|
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"Next in a growing series of arts festivals opens Saturday in Cortona, Italy",
"where is napa valley",
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] |
[
"Tuscan Sun",
"California",
"opens October 18.",
"Napa Valley,",
"Tuscan Sun Festival",
"Cortona, Italy."
] |
question: Next in a growing series of arts festivals opens Saturday in Cortona, Italy, answer: Tuscan Sun | question: where is napa valley, answer: California | question: when is the opening of the festival, answer: opens October 18. | question: where was the festival, answer: Napa Valley, | question: what happens in cortona, answer: Tuscan Sun Festival | question: Where is the Saturday festival?, answer: Cortona, Italy.
|
NAPLES, Florida (CNN) -- At least seven possible tornadoes were reported Tuesday in eastern Florida as Tropical Storm Fay battered parts of the state with high winds and heavy rain, the National Hurricane Center said.
Fay tore through Barefoot Bay, Florida, south of Melbourne Tuesday.
Fay could strengthen into a hurricane when it swings over Florida again Thursday, according to the center.
"This storm is going to be with us for a while," said Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. "Looks like it could be a boomerang storm."
A hurricane watch has been issued for Florida's east coast, from north of Flagler Beach to Altamaha Sound.
At 5 p.m., the center of the storm was about 60 miles southwest of Melbourne, the hurricane center said. Fay was traveling north-northeast at 8 mph.
Florida Power & Light reported more than 93,000 customers without power in 20 counties. Most of the outages -- 34,000 -- were in Collier County, where Fay came ashore earlier in the day.
As many as 9,700 residents in Brevard County were without power Tuesday evening, according to David Waters, the county Emergency Operations Center spokesman.
A Brevard County tornado that hit about 1:45 p.m. damaged more than 50 homes, leaving nine uninhabitable, according to the emergency operations center. Three people suffered minor injuries, officials said.
Fay's maximum sustained winds remained near 65 mph, with higher gusts, forecasters said. A storm tracker in Moore Haven, near the west bank of Lake Okeechobee, reported winds up to 81 mph in the afternoon.
"Some fluctuations in intensity are likely this afternoon and tonight as Fay moves inland over Florida. Some strengthening is expected when Fay moves over the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday," according to the hurricane center.
The storm was earlier buffeting Lake Okeechobee with high winds as it moved north and northeast through Florida, leaving a trail of flooding, broken trees and power outages.
At midday, the hurricane center issued two tornado warnings -- for St. Lucie and Indian River counties, and tornado watches were in effect for several areas, most of them ending at 4 p.m.
A possible twister hit Wellington in Palm Beach County, where the violent weather ripped a small barn off its foundation and left a horse standing unhurt on a concrete slab, authorities said.
Dr. Bob Smith, an associate veterinarian at the Palm Beach Equine Clinic, said an 8-year-old quarterhorse named Onyx was in a stall, untied, when the suspected tornado hit about 2 a.m. It destroyed the structure "and left the horse standing there unscathed," Smith said. iReport.com: Flooding, beached whale as Fay hits
When he came to work several hours later, a technician had rescued the horse, who was not visibly rattled, Smith said.
"She's just calm and cool," he said. "She's fine."
Smith said roof tiles flew off the veterinary clinic and broke car windows in a nearby parking lot. The storm also picked up a horse trailer and smashed it into another horse trailer, he said.
A tropical storm warning remained in effect along Florida's east coast from north of Ocean Reef to Flagler Beach, including Lake Okeechobee. A tropical storm watch covered that coast north of Flagler Beach to Fernandina Beach.
Fay is expected to produce 5 to 10 inches of rain over southern and east-central Florida, with possible maximum amounts of 15 inches. Three to 5 inches of rain were possible in the northwestern Bahamas.
Steve Delai, deputy chief of Fire and Rescue for Palm Beach County, said he could not confirm a tornado had hit the southeast county, but the damage was "consistent with a tornado."
"It's clear that the damage was in a very linear fashion," he said.
Crist said 31 schools were closed in the region Tuesday as a precaution. All but four, including Brevard County, will be open Wednesday.
"Floridians should continue to monitor local news reports, stay calm and exercise common sense," he advised. "Please remember to be cautious when testing generators and other
|
[
"What state had tornados?",
"What will Fay turn into?",
"What number are without power?",
"What did people loos in south Florida?",
"What was reported on Tuesday in Florida?",
"Where are the tornadoes that were reported?",
"When is the hurricane coming?",
"What is the name given to the hurricane?"
] |
[
"Florida",
"a hurricane",
"93,000",
"power",
"At least seven possible tornadoes",
"eastern Florida",
"Thursday,",
"Fay"
] |
question: What state had tornados?, answer: Florida | question: What will Fay turn into?, answer: a hurricane | question: What number are without power?, answer: 93,000 | question: What did people loos in south Florida?, answer: power | question: What was reported on Tuesday in Florida?, answer: At least seven possible tornadoes | question: Where are the tornadoes that were reported?, answer: eastern Florida | question: When is the hurricane coming?, answer: Thursday, | question: What is the name given to the hurricane?, answer: Fay
|
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) -- A singer took center stage at a Nashville honky-tonk to promote his new album. He had the good looks and easy charm of a movie star.
Kevin Costner is putting his energies into music. His new record is "Untold Truths."
Only in this case, he was a movie star.
Kevin Costner recently celebrated the release of "Untold Truths" -- his debut country record -- with a free show at The Stage on Broadway. He was backed by his band, Modern West, which also features guitarist John Coinman and bassist Blair Forward -- two men he met 20 years ago in an acting class. The three have been making music on and off since then, with Costner on lead vocals and rhythm guitar. Back in the day, they called themselves Roving Boy.
Truth be told, the 2008 incarnation -- Kevin Costner and Modern West -- does not sound like a movie star's vanity project. It's contemporary Americana set against a Western backdrop. Costner sings about freight trains, dusty avenues and broken dreams in a voice that's pleasant, if not terribly distinct. In faded jeans and a toffee-colored cashmere sweater, he commands the stage with the same understated sex appeal he has on the big screen.
At 53, Costner is the soft-spoken, heroic everyman we've seen time and again in such movies as "Dances With Wolves," "The Bodyguard" and "Field of Dreams" -- except today he's wielding an acoustic guitar instead of a baseball bat. The mission statement from "Field of Dreams" seems to apply to his philosophy as a recording artist: "If you build it, they will come."
Plenty of fans did come to his show that night, but earlier in the day, we caught up with the busy superstar during his rehearsal -- which he had opened up to a group of local college students in a Grammy-sponsored "SoundCheck" session. Listen to Costner kick it with his band »
CNN: Even though your album, "Untold Truths," is being marketed as a country album, your sound is really more rootsy than traditional country.
Kevin Costner: Yeah. It's just music.
CNN: What made you decide to put out an album?
Costner: My wife said, "Look, you are the happiest by far when you are making music. Why don't you keep on making music?"
CNN: People may not know this, but you've been making music for a long time.
Costner: Yeah, for a long time. I have been doing a lot of things for a long time. (chuckles) It's not like we called up and said, "Hey, we have a garage band. Can we show up?" We have been working really hard at this for three years. All of it has been under the radar just because we have not felt like publicizing it. It has kind of happened in the way we wanted it to -- which was more of a grassroots situation, people discovering the band.
CNN: When you were talking to the students, you spoke a lot about being fearless.
Costner: Their choices are going to be questioned not only by their colleagues, but by their parents. You only get one shot at this life. They can go to college and learn a lot of things, but they should also be encouraged to try things, even if they don't succeed. I am trying -- even if I don't succeed. You know, failure is completely underrated in America. (smiles)
CNN: With this new project, there's the possibility of having your head handed to you on a platter.
Costner: Well, that will happen no matter what I do -- so I'm not worried about that. I have to get over my own bar on what I think is acceptable.
CNN: And what is that?
Costner: I don't know. It's just a moment when you feel you've given an honest effort
|
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] |
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question: What is the album called, answer: "Untold Truths." | question: What is Costner not bothered by?, answer: having your head handed to you on a platter. | question: What is the name of Kevin Costner's band?, answer: Modern West, | question: Who's band happened organically?, answer: Kevin Costner | question: What kind of music?, answer: country | question: What does he try to do because he loves them?, answer: putting his energies into music. | question: What instruments does he play, answer: rhythm guitar. | question: Who has a band called Modern West?, answer: Kevin Costner | question: What is the name of the band?, answer: Modern West, | question: What is Kevin Costner's band called?, answer: Modern West, | question: What has Costner done for years?, answer: making music
|
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) -- The accused came from all walks of life: Retirees, dads and twentysomethings. An engineer, a business owner and an auto worker. A man in a wheelchair. Men in need of Spanish or Farsi translators.
Brett Beasley, with Nashville's Health Department, educates men arrested for trying to buy sex about STDs.
About 40 men somberly entered a classroom on a recent Saturday morning. About half of them wore shiny wedding bands.
All had tried to buy a prostitute's services and were caught by police. It was their first offense, and a county court referred them to a one-day program called the John School. It's a program run by volunteers and city officials in conjunction with Magdalene House, a nonprofit that works to get prostitutes off the streets.
"Prostitution doesn't discriminate," said Kenny Baker, a cognitive behavioral therapist who is the program's director. "Most of these men don't have a prior criminal history, so our goal is to help these folks understand why they put themselves in a bad position, to prevent it from happening again."
Set in a church in Nashville, Tennessee, the John School is led by former prostitutes, health experts, psychologists and law enforcement officers who talk to -- and at times berate -- the men about the risks of hiring a prostitute.
Prostitution is based on the law of supply and demand. The thinking is: Women won't stop selling sex until men stop buying.
So Nashville and a growing number of cities are shifting their focus from locking up suppliers to educating buyers. Across the country, about 50 communities are using John Schools. Atlanta, Georgia, and Baltimore, Maryland, are among dozens more cities that plan to launch similar programs by the end of the year. See where the John Schools are »
"It will make them [offenders] see that this is not a victimless crime, and they are contributing to the exploitation of women," said Stephanie Davis, policy adviser on women's issues at the mayor's office in Atlanta. "It's hurting them, the man, and it's hurting their families and its hurting the community."
No comprehensive effort has been made to track the numbers, but experts estimate 1 million to 2 million prostitutes work in the United States. The FBI's 2007 Uniform Crime Report lists about 78,000 arrests for prostitution and commercialized vice, but experts say those numbers are extremely conservative because many sex workers and johns aren't caught.
Experts add that easy accessibility to prostitutes and pornography on the Internet are feeding the problem.
In most communities, prostitution has been a one-sided battle focused on the women who offer sex. Their customers, when they are arrested, are usually cited for a misdemeanor and fined.
By comparison, prostitutes are often charged with more severe sentences and jailed for months, depending on the offense.
But in Nashville, the johns' faces are shown on a police Web site.
For decades, Nashville battled prostitution by arresting women on the streets and through stings. Still, the problem persisted, irritating business owners and residents.
In the early 1990s, Nashville's mayor helped launch the John School with the help of the Magdalene House, public defenders, prosecutors and police officers. Nashville became one of the first major cities in the U.S. to focus on the customers, predominantly men.
Only first-time offenders who solicit an adult are eligible for John School. Johns who pick up minors are not eligible and face much tougher sentences.
"If you get caught again and you get me, I will guarantee to put you in jail," warned Antoinette Welch, a local prosecutor, in speaking to the men in the class. "I've had men cry to me that they will lose their jobs or their wives, but you're all grown up and you make your own decisions."
The men listened carefully as Welch talked about their records; many had not yet told their wives or significant others about their arrest.
If the john pleads guilty,
|
[
"Where do the prostitutes work?",
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"What is the internet making it easier to buy?"
] |
[
"the United States.",
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"prostitutes and pornography"
] |
question: Where do the prostitutes work?, answer: the United States. | question: What city includes a speech from a former prostitute?, answer: Nashville, Tennessee, | question: Experts say how many prostitutes work in the US?, answer: estimate 1 million to 2 million | question: What is the internet making it easier to buy?, answer: prostitutes and pornography
|
NASSAU, Bahamas (CNN) -- John Travolta testified Wednesday that would-be extortionists threatened to go the media with stories implying "the death of my son was intentional and I was culpable somehow."
John Travolta's son died of a seizure in January at the age of 16.
Travolta testified for the second time in a case against paramedic Tarino Lightbourne and former Bahamian Sen. Pleasant Bridgewater. The defendants are on trial, accused of plotting to extort $25 million from Travolta after 16-year-old Jett Travolta died from a seizure in the Bahamas in January.
Travolta and his wife, actress Kelly Preston, entered the downtown Nassau courthouse Wednesday morning surrounded by security personnel. The actor took the stand appearing nervous, and he took a long, deep breath before beginning his testimony.
Travolta told the court a longtime employee of his became upset after learning someone was demanding money of the actor in the wake of his son's death. The employee learned through the family attorney, Travolta said, that it was "in regards to a paper I signed in the Bahamas."
In earlier testimony, one of Travolta's lawyers, Allyson Maynard-Gibson, said Bridgewater approached her in the days after the January 2 death of Jett, saying she had a legal client who had a document Travolta might want. Bridgewater gave her copies of the papers, which included ambulance dispatch reports and a paper signed by Travolta releasing the ambulance company from legal liability, Maynard-Gibson testified. Watch In Session's Ashleigh Banfield discuss case »
The paramedic expected Travolta would pay millions to prevent publication of the documents because "he would not want his name tarnished in media," Maynard-Gibson said.
Bridgewater told Travolta's lawyer that her client believed the documents could suggest that Travolta was negligent by wanting to take his unresponsive son to his private jet for a flight to a Florida hospital, instead of going directly to a local hospital, she said.
In testimony last week, Travolta said a nanny found Jett unresponsive at the home on the island of Grand Bahamas, where the family was spending their New Year's holiday.
Travolta said he initially told the ambulance driver to rush them to an airport where his private jet was parked. Travolta, who is a pilot, said he wanted to fly his son to a West Palm Beach, Florida, hospital instead of driving him to one in Freeport.
The paramedic, however, asked Travolta to sign a statement releasing the ambulance company from liability.
"I received a liability of release document. I signed it. I did not read it. Time was of the essence," Travolta testified last week.
Travolta said that while he and his wife were riding in the ambulance with their son, they decided to divert to the hospital. At the hospital, Travolta was told his son "wasn't alive," he said.
On Wednesday, Travolta testified that he learned of a demand for $25 million or "stories connected to that document would be sold to the press."
"The stories would imply the death of my son was intentional and I was culpable somehow," Travolta said.
An attorney representing Bridgewater and Lightbourne asked Travolta if the defendants ever contacted or threatened him directly. Travolta said they did not, that he heard specifics about the situation through his attorneys.
Travolta's testimony lasted only a short time. He was excused and is not expected to return to the witness stand.
One of the actor's attorneys, Michael McDermott, took the witness stand Wednesday afternoon and began testimony about a videotaped meeting between him and one of the defendants.
The video is expected to be played Thursday for the jury.
|
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[
"statement releasing the ambulance company from liability.",
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"John Travolta"
] |
question: What did Travolta sign?, answer: statement releasing the ambulance company from liability. | question: who signed the waiver, answer: John Travolta | question: who was in court, answer: John Travolta | question: What reason is Travolta in court?, answer: testified for the second time in a case against paramedic Tarino Lightbourne and former Bahamian Sen. Pleasant Bridgewater. | question: What do the defendants say?, answer: "the death of my son was intentional and I was culpable somehow." | question: What is his sons name?, answer: Jett Travolta | question: Who was extorted?, answer: John Travolta
|
NASSAU, Bahamas (CNN) -- John Travolta's lawyer testified Tuesday that the paramedic who drove Travolta's son to a hospital the day he died later wanted money for documents the driver suggested could be detrimental to the actor.
John Travolta's son died of a seizure in January at the age of 16.
Paramedic Tarino Lightbourne and former Bahamian Sen. Pleasant Bridgewater are on trial, accused of plotting to extort $25 million from Travolta after 16-year-old Jett Travolta died from a seizure in the Bahamas.
Travolta, who testified last Wednesday, is expected to return to the witness stand later in the week.
Travolta's lawyer, Allyson Maynard-Gibson, said Bridgewater approached her in the days after Jett's death on January 2, saying she had a client who had a document Travolta might want.
Bridgewater gave her copies of the papers, which included ambulance dispatch reports and a paper signed by Travolta releasing the ambulance company from legal liability, Maynard-Gibson testified.
The paramedic expected Travolta would pay millions to prevent publication of the documents because "he would not want his name tarnished in media," Maynard-Gibson said.
Bridgewater told Travolta's lawyer that her client believed the documents could suggest that Travolta was negligent by wanting to take his son to his private jet for a flight to a Florida hospital, instead of going directly to a local hospital, she said.
Maynard-Gibson said she called police, who then videotaped a hotel room meeting between the paramedic and another Travolta lawyer. Those investigators testified Tuesday, and their video was expected to be played in court later.
Travolta's testimony last week was the first time he spoke publicly about his desperate efforts to save his son's life after he suffered a seizure at the family's vacation home in the Bahamas.
Travolta and his wife, actress Kelly Preston, have been in seclusion for most of this year. Friends have described their deep grief over Jett's death.
Travolta said a nanny found Jett unresponsive at the home on the island of Grand Bahamas, where the family was spending their New Year's holiday.
A family friend with a medical background helped in urgent efforts to revive Jett, Travolta said.
"We continued CPR, and my wife was holding his head," Travolta said. His wife sat in the Nassau courtroom, sometimes crying as she listened to the testimony.
Travolta said he initially told the ambulance driver to rush them to an airport where his private jet was parked. Travolta, who is a pilot, said he wanted to fly his son to a West Palm Beach, Florida, hospital instead of driving him to one in Freeport.
The paramedic, however, asked Travolta to sign a statement releasing the ambulance company from liability.
"I received a liability of release document," he said. "I signed it. I did not read it. Time was of the essence."
Travolta said that while he and his wife were riding in the ambulance with their son, they decided to divert to the hospital.
At the hospital, Travolta was told his son "wasn't alive," he said.
|
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question: who was approached, answer: Travolta's lawyer, Allyson Maynard-Gibson, said Bridgewater | question: how much was asking for, answer: $25 million | question: How much did the paramedic try to exhort from John Travolta?, answer: $25 million | question: what do the papers say, answer: signed by Travolta releasing the ambulance company from legal liability, | question: How much was being extorted from the victim?, answer: $25 million | question: Who said she was approached in days after Jett Travolta died?, answer: lawyer, Allyson Maynard-Gibson,
|
NAZARETH, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- Traveling through the rolling hills of Pennsylvania's farmland, one can almost hear the music of days gone by.
The factory of C.F. Martin Guitars in Pennsylvania produces instruments used all over the world.
The sounds of an old guitar seem fitting for the rustic buildings and small towns that you pass through. It's almost as if you're being drawn in, closer and closer to where the sound originates: C.F. Martin Guitars in Nazareth, Pennsylvania.
Walking through the front doors of the factory, nicely tucked into a residential neighborhood, the floors are shiny, the smell of "newness" in the air, but somehow it feels old. It feels like you're stepping into a part of history. And you have.
Martin Guitars was established in 1833 when C.F. Martin, along with his family, immigrated to New York from Germany. Upon visiting some friends in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, the Martin family decided to trade in the hustle and bustle of New York for the open space and German heritage of rural Pennsylvania.
The story of Martin Guitars is not just one of building acoustic instruments, but also one of family. The company has passed the business down from one Martin to the next. While many guitar makers have been sold to corporations, Christian Martin IV, the company's current owner, speaks of the responsibility he feels as the fourth-generation family owner.
"Although other guitar makers may have the name, and they certainly do appreciate the history and the heritage, in my case, it's in my blood."
Chris Martin describes the business as "focused on one thing, and we don't get distracted easily." The one thing is perfecting the art of guitar making, and, musicians say, Martin Guitars has done it better than most.
Christian Martin says that what makes his family's line of guitars so popular is the firm belief that the "guitar is really meant to complement the singer, not to overshadow the person playing it." This idea has been the catalyst for some of America's most beloved singer/songwriters for choosing Martin Guitars. Among the artists who have chosen Martin Guitars as their "tool" are Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, David Crosby and John Mayer. Country music icons Hank Williams and Johnny Cash also were Martin men.
"You never know if six months from now Eric Clapton or somebody will be playing the guitar you just worked on," says George Molchany, a final inspector at Martin Guitars. Watch how the guitars are crafted »
A tour of the new 84,000-square-foot factory is overwhelming, to say the least. Each stop on the tour is a mix between old and new, hands-on craftsmanship and machined process. The hand sanding of the body of a guitar has been replaced with a belt driven sander; the cutting of the edges of the guitar is done with a router that fills the building with so much noise it is often hard to hear the person talking right next to you.
It's a sign that Martin Guitars has changed with the times. Automation has provided the company with more productivity, but if you look in certain corners of the factory, it is still a very hands-on process.
"It's tedious. Very much so," says Willard "Buddy" Silvius, a neck fitter at Martin who has been with the company for more than 43 years.
"You have to get the feel of the wood. You have to know exactly how much you have to chisel off to get the neck to where you want it to fit."
Chris Martin says that although the plant has been modernized to produce more guitars, "there are factories in Asia that make as many guitars in one month as we do in one year."
According to Chris Martin, the reason that Martin Guitars has been able to hold off the effects of the troubled economy is because of detailed records that date back nearly two centuries.
"Every time we celebrated a 25th anniversary, within a year or two, the economy was in
|
[
"What icons have played guitars?",
"Who have played guitars?",
"Name 2 icons that have played these guitars",
"What do you have to get the feel of, according to an employee?",
"C.F. Martin Guitars has been producing instruments since when?"
] |
[
"Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, David Crosby and John Mayer.",
"Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, David Crosby and John Mayer.",
"Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton,",
"wood.",
"1833"
] |
question: What icons have played guitars?, answer: Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, David Crosby and John Mayer. | question: Who have played guitars?, answer: Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, David Crosby and John Mayer. | question: Name 2 icons that have played these guitars, answer: Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, | question: What do you have to get the feel of, according to an employee?, answer: wood. | question: C.F. Martin Guitars has been producing instruments since when?, answer: 1833
|
NEW ALBANY, Indiana (CNN) -- President Bush vetoed a $600 billion spending bill Tuesday, accusing Democratic leaders of wasting money and plotting tax increases, then took his budget fight with Congress on the road.
Congress should cut spending "and send me a responsible measure that I can sign into law," President Bush said.
"The majority was elected on a pledge of fiscal responsibility, but so far, it's acting like a teenager with a new credit card," he said in a speech in New Albany, Indiana.
The bill -- which Bush said was laden with $10 billion in "pork" -- would have funded the departments of Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services. It also would have funded projects such as a prison museum, a sailing school and a program to teach Portuguese.
"Congress needs to cut out that pork, reduce the spending and send me a responsible measure that I can sign into law," the president said. Watch a report on the veto »
While polls show Bush's popularity remains at near-record lows, Congress ranks even lower as a whole. The president has taken numerous opportunities to mock the spending habits of the Democratic leadership and force confrontations over the appropriations bills needed to fund the government for the 2008 budget year, which began October 1.
The bill Bush vetoed Tuesday includes about $150 billion to run those departments and more than $450 billion in mandatory spending on Medicare and Medicaid, the federal health care programs for the elderly and poor, according to the House Appropriations Committee. The committee's chairman, Rep. David Obey, called Bush's veto "not responsible and not credible."
"This is a bipartisan bill supported by over 50 Republicans," Obey, D-Wisconsin, said in a statement issued after the veto. "There has been virtually no criticism of its contents. It is clear the only reason the president vetoed this bill is pure politics."
Bush said Democrats are supporting $22 billion in additional spending beyond his budget proposals this year and $205 billion over five years -- money he said would ultimately be raised by tax increases.
"When the bill for all that spending comes due, Congress is going to turn to the working people, to the small-business owners and the entrepreneurs," he said.
Tuesday's veto is the fifth cast since Democrats took control of Congress in 2006. Congress has overridden one of those, voting last week to authorize $23 billion in water projects nationwide over the president's objections.
Democrats will schedule another override vote this week, an aide to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said. But Antonia Ferrier, spokeswoman for House Republican Whip Roy Blunt, said Bush's GOP allies are confident they will be able to sustain the veto.
Bush signed a $470 billion Pentagon spending bill that covers the Defense Department's normal operations, but Democrats split $50 billion in spending for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan off into a "bridge fund" to which they plan to attach demands for Bush to withdraw U.S. combat troops. The measure sets up another confrontation with the White House.
Bush also demanded Congress reform the alternative minimum tax -- a measure originally aimed at preventing the wealthy from evading taxes, but one that increasingly affects middle-class earners -- without raising additional revenue. He said a plan proposed by Rep. Charles Rangel, the Democratic chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, to eliminate the tax was unacceptable.
"Preventing a tax increase in one area should not be an excuse for raising taxes in other areas," he said. "Congress should eliminate the tax increases in the bill and send the AMT relief to my desk as soon as possible."
The elimination of the tax would cause an estimated $800 billion to be lost over 10 years. To replace that, Rangel's bill would add a 4 percent surtax on individual incomes over $100,000, after deductions, and close corporate tax loopholes. The bill also would cut rates for many individual and corporate taxpayers. Republicans have already started calling it "the
|
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"who is to schedule override vote?",
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"who is confident about veto?",
"Who has vetod?",
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] |
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"Democrats",
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"funded the departments of Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services.",
"Democrats"
] |
question: who is to schedule override vote?, answer: Democrats | question: what bush said?, answer: Congress should cut spending "and send me a responsible measure that I can sign into law," | question: What would the bill have funded?, answer: projects such as a prison museum, a sailing school and a program to teach Portuguese. | question: Who did Bush say was "acting like a teenager with a new credit card"?, answer: Congress | question: what is the schedule?, answer: override vote this week, | question: Who scheduled an override vote?, answer: this week, | question: who is confident about veto?, answer: Bush's GOP allies | question: Who has vetod?, answer: President Bush vetoed | question: What will the bill do?, answer: funded the departments of Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services. | question: Who is scheduling to override the vote?, answer: Democrats
|
NEW DELHI (CNN) -- India's Tata Motors Monday announced it would begin delivery of the Nano, billed as the world's "cheapest car", in July.
Tata Motors expects to begin delivery of the Nano, billed as the world's cheapest car, in July.
The four-door Nano is currently being built in "limited numbers" at a company plant in the north Indian hill state of Uttrakhand.
Tata Motors, however, aims to make 350,000 Nanos a year from 2010 at another unit elsewhere in the country, a company statement said.
"It is to the credit of the team at Tata Motors that a car once thought impossible by the world is now a reality. I hope it will provide safe, affordable, four-wheel transportation to families who till now have not been able to own a car. We are delighted in presenting the Tata Nano to India and the world," company chief Ratan Tata told a news conference in Mumbai to announce the "commercial launch" of the $2,000 car. Watch more on the Nano »
Tata Motors said the Nano would initially be available through bookings or reservations filed on a request form priced around $6, or Rs 300. Tata will accept the bookings from April 9 to April 25.
Within 60 days of the closure of bookings, Tata Motors will process and announce the allotment of 100,000 cars in the first phase of deliveries, through a computerized random selection procedure, it added.
"Deliveries will commence from July 2009," said the company statement.
|
[
"What will begin?",
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] |
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] |
question: What will begin?, answer: delivery of the Nano, | question: What is a Nanos?, answer: world's "cheapest car", | question: How many will be made?, answer: 350,000 | question: What kind of car is it?, answer: Nano, | question: What is the car billed as?, answer: the world's "cheapest car", | question: Who aims to make 350,000 Nanos a year?, answer: Tata Motors, | question: The car is billed as what?, answer: the world's "cheapest car",
|
NEW DELHI (CNN) -- India's Tata Motors Monday announced it would begin delivery of the Nano, billed as the world's "cheapest car", in July.
Tata Motors expects to begin delivery of the Nano, billed as the world's cheapest car, in July.
The four-door Nano is currently being built in "limited numbers" at a company plant in the north Indian hill state of Uttrakhand.
Tata Motors, however, aims to make 350,000 Nanos a year from 2010 at another unit elsewhere in the country, a company statement said.
"It is to the credit of the team at Tata Motors that a car once thought impossible by the world is now a reality. I hope it will provide safe, affordable, four-wheel transportation to families who till now have not been able to own a car. We are delighted in presenting the Tata Nano to India and the world," company chief Ratan Tata told a news conference in Mumbai to announce the "commercial launch" of the $2,000 car. Watch more on the Nano »
Tata Motors said the Nano would initially be available through bookings or reservations filed on a request form priced around $6, or Rs 300. Tata will accept the bookings from April 9 to April 25.
Within 60 days of the closure of bookings, Tata Motors will process and announce the allotment of 100,000 cars in the first phase of deliveries, through a computerized random selection procedure, it added.
"Deliveries will commence from July 2009," said the company statement.
|
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"What costs $2,000?",
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"When is Tata Motors going to begin delivery of the Nano?",
"Who makes Nanos?"
] |
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"Tata Motors"
] |
question: What costs $2,000?, answer: Tata Nano | question: how many cars are made, answer: 350,000 | question: How many Nanos is Tata aiming to make?, answer: 350,000 | question: where are they manufactured, answer: India's | question: What will begin?, answer: delivery of the Nano, | question: How much does the Nano cost?, answer: $2,000 | question: When is Tata Motors going to begin delivery of the Nano?, answer: July. | question: Who makes Nanos?, answer: Tata Motors
|
NEW DELHI (CNN) -- Suraj Suroj uses his motorcycle for all of his family's transportation needs. In his case, that means transporting himself, his wife and his two sons to and from work and school. Typically, all four of them squeeze onto the motorbike together on the crowded streets of Delhi, India.
Suraj Suroj and his two sons weave through the streets of Delhi on his motorcycle.
"We need more space," Suroj says with one of his sons sitting in front of him and the other clinging to his back. "We can only travel about 20 kilometers or 25 kilometers, after that we get tired traveling on the scooter."
Never mind the fact that it's a very dangerous way to travel. The traffic is chaotic, constant, and congested and neither of Suroj's sons have helmets. Millions of people travel this way in India because helmet laws are not enforced and a two wheeler is the best they can afford.
Not any more.
Monday, Tata Motors finally released what has become known as the "world's cheapest car." With the basic model going for about $2,000, the Tata Nano is being touted as an alternative to motorbikes and scooters.
In dramatic fashion, three versions of the Nano were driven onto a dark stage with headlights flashing and invited guests clapping in Mumbai, India. Tata Motors says the Nano will be available for purchase on April 9 but won't be delivered to customers until July. Watch as Nano is unveiled »
The vehicle has received international attention since it was first revealed in January 2008 at an Auto Expo in Delhi. Tata promised it at an incredibly low price. As the economy began to falter last year and the cost of materials started to rise, analysts began to doubt whether Tata could pull it off.
Chairman of Tata group, Ratan Tata, answered those critics at the launch. "We made a promise and we've kept the promise. We hope this day we will usher in a new form of transport," Tata said.
But the launch of the Nano is months behind schedule. The company ran into trouble when a land dispute sparked angry protests over the building of the Nano plant in the communist stronghold state of West Bengal. Farmers said the land belonged to them.
In the end, Ratan Tata decided to stop operations and move to another state which caused a delay and cost Tata Motors millions.
But the Nano has finally arrived.
Industry experts say the base model is really basic but looks modern, is surprisingly spacious and handles well.
"I think it will live up to what has been promised but it will not live up to what some people may imagine," auto analyst Murad Baig said. "If some people may imagine that this is going to be a golden chariot, no it won't. But it will be an economical, safe, practical, economical to buy, economical to run and a very cute little car, I must say."
At only three meters long, the Nano fits four adults relatively comfortably. Critics point out that the cheapest version of the vehicle comes without air conditioning, airbags or power windows and it only has one side-view mirror. The Nano's speeds top out at 105 kilometers (65 miles) per hour.
Tata says the Nano, which meets Indian environmental standards, has the lowest emissions among cars in its class. But environmentalists are not cheering its arrival. They are worried the Nano will simply add to the number of vehicles already choking the roads.
"We are not saying no to Nano. We are saying no to all cars," said Amanita Roychowdry, a representative of India's Center for Science and Environment.
"What is happening right now is that already when car numbers are exploding in Indian cities what cheap motorization is going to do is going to give that extra push. And that is what worries us. Anything that increases the number of cars on our roads is a bad news."
No one knows, however, if the Nano will increase numbers or simply
|
[
"what says Industry Experts?",
"what kind of cars are they",
"where is tata motors"
] |
[
"the base model is really basic but looks modern, is surprisingly spacious and handles well.",
"Tata Nano",
"Mumbai, India."
] |
question: what says Industry Experts?, answer: the base model is really basic but looks modern, is surprisingly spacious and handles well. | question: what kind of cars are they, answer: Tata Nano | question: where is tata motors, answer: Mumbai, India.
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- About 13,000 employees at state-run Air India walked off the job for two hours Friday after the airline failed to pay their monthly wage.
A man walks past the Air India building in Mumbai. Staff staged a strike to protest against unpaid wages.
The strike was the last resort for some employees who say management failed to keep a promise to pay them Friday, said J.B. Kadian, the general secretary of the Air Corporation Employees Union.
There have been strained talks between management and three unions -- that includes everyone from the cabin crew to sweepers -- after Air India told the bulk of its employees their pay would be delayed by two weeks.
The unions said 13,000 employees participated in the strike but Air India did not provide a number.
The walkout comes after management did not follow through on its latest verbal agreement to pay the lowest paid employees by July 3, employees say. Employees normally get paid on the last day of the month.
The lowest paid unionized employees make less than $100 a week.
Employees said they were angered that their pay was delayed at a time when the airline has continued to buy new planes.
Air India's spokesperson J. Bhargava told CNN: "We will not tolerate any strike. Striking employees will be subject to loss of wages and productive incentives."
Air India is in deep financial trouble. It lost about a billion dollars last year alone.
It says it is in a fight for survival due to lower volumes of passengers, the high cost of employing about 31,000 employees as well as the current world financial downturn.
Analyst Kapil Kaul from the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation said Air India's problems may stem from bad business decisions rather than the global financial downturn.
"We have seen Air India continue to get planes when they have no money to pay salaries," Kaul said. "At the present time the airline does not have a well structure and realistic business case."
Air India has asked the government to bail it out. It also said it has avoided layoffs unlike other struggling airlines around the world.
|
[
"When would they be paid by?",
"What did Air India tell CNN?",
"what Some airline staff had been told they would be paid by?",
"who stages flash strike",
"when were they told they will paid",
"what Air India tells CNN?"
] |
[
"July 3,",
"\"We will not tolerate any strike. Striking employees will be subject to loss of wages and productive incentives.\"",
"Friday,",
"Staff",
"their pay would be delayed by two weeks.",
"\"We will not tolerate any strike. Striking employees will be subject to loss of wages and productive incentives.\""
] |
question: When would they be paid by?, answer: July 3, | question: What did Air India tell CNN?, answer: "We will not tolerate any strike. Striking employees will be subject to loss of wages and productive incentives." | question: what Some airline staff had been told they would be paid by?, answer: Friday, | question: who stages flash strike, answer: Staff | question: when were they told they will paid, answer: their pay would be delayed by two weeks. | question: what Air India tells CNN?, answer: "We will not tolerate any strike. Striking employees will be subject to loss of wages and productive incentives."
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Angry workers beat to death a human resources vice president after he laid off 42 employees at an auto-parts manufacturing company in southern India, police said Wednesday.
Roy George was vice-president for human resources at Pricol, the auto-parts company.
Some four to five workers, belonging to a union not recognized by the company, barged into his office and beat him up with iron rods, said N. Kannan, a police superintendent of Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu state.
George, 47, died from his head injuries Tuesday, Kannan told CNN.
Police have arrested nine people and are expected to round up more.
Last year the Indian head of an Italian company died after allegedly being beaten by a mob of sacked employees.
More than 60 people were charged with the murder of the chief executive of Graziano Transmissioni near New Delhi.
Earlier this month, India's Jet Airways had to cancel hundreds of flights after pilots struck work over the sacking of two of their colleagues in August.
Companies in the South Asian nation, despite its rapid economic growth in recent years, have often been faced with tough labor issues because of archaic laws and company policies on hiring and retrenchment.
Business consultants in India blame such labor standoffs on what they call lack of transparency in retrenchment or layoff policies.
Hiring and firing conditions are often not explained to workers by their companies, said Rajeev Karwal, founding-director of Milagrow Business and Knowledge Solutions.
Issues could spiral out of control if the businesses and bureaucrats are seen in a "corrupt nexus" by the employees seeking reprieve from labor authorities, he said.
|
[
"How many were arrested?",
"What was Roy George?",
"What did the workers do?"
] |
[
"nine people",
"vice-president for human resources at Pricol,",
"beat to death a human resources vice president"
] |
question: How many were arrested?, answer: nine people | question: What was Roy George?, answer: vice-president for human resources at Pricol, | question: What did the workers do?, answer: beat to death a human resources vice president
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Angry workers beat to death a human resources vice president after he laid off 42 employees at an auto-parts manufacturing company in southern India, police said Wednesday.
Roy George was vice-president for human resources at Pricol, the auto-parts company.
Some four to five workers, belonging to a union not recognized by the company, barged into his office and beat him up with iron rods, said N. Kannan, a police superintendent of Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu state.
George, 47, died from his head injuries Tuesday, Kannan told CNN.
Police have arrested nine people and are expected to round up more.
Last year the Indian head of an Italian company died after allegedly being beaten by a mob of sacked employees.
More than 60 people were charged with the murder of the chief executive of Graziano Transmissioni near New Delhi.
Earlier this month, India's Jet Airways had to cancel hundreds of flights after pilots struck work over the sacking of two of their colleagues in August.
Companies in the South Asian nation, despite its rapid economic growth in recent years, have often been faced with tough labor issues because of archaic laws and company policies on hiring and retrenchment.
Business consultants in India blame such labor standoffs on what they call lack of transparency in retrenchment or layoff policies.
Hiring and firing conditions are often not explained to workers by their companies, said Rajeev Karwal, founding-director of Milagrow Business and Knowledge Solutions.
Issues could spiral out of control if the businesses and bureaucrats are seen in a "corrupt nexus" by the employees seeking reprieve from labor authorities, he said.
|
[
"How many beat him with rods?",
"How many workers barged into his office?",
"What was used to beat him?",
"How many have been arrested?",
"Name the vice president?",
"Who was Roy George vice president of?",
"Who was the vice-president for human resources?"
] |
[
"four to five workers,",
"four to five",
"iron rods,",
"nine people",
"Roy George",
"vice-president for human resources at Pricol, the auto-parts company.",
"Roy George"
] |
question: How many beat him with rods?, answer: four to five workers, | question: How many workers barged into his office?, answer: four to five | question: What was used to beat him?, answer: iron rods, | question: How many have been arrested?, answer: nine people | question: Name the vice president?, answer: Roy George | question: Who was Roy George vice president of?, answer: vice-president for human resources at Pricol, the auto-parts company. | question: Who was the vice-president for human resources?, answer: Roy George
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Authorities are investigating reports that disabled children in India were buried up to their necks during this week's solar eclipse as a supposed remedy for their handicaps.
Hindu women pray as they bathe in the River Ganges after the total solar eclipse in India.
Officials said Thursday they were looking into reports that some 34 children aged 2 to 7 were buried in sand up to their chins -- with the consent of the parents -- in the belief that doing so during an eclipse would cure the children of their disabilities.
V. Anbu Kumar, caretaker deputy commissioner of Gulbarga district in the state of Karnataka, told CNN that everybody at the site had left when he and police officers arrived.
The act was apparently carried out in the early morning hours Wednesday, when the longest solar eclipse of the century turned day into night in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Vietnam, China and parts of the Pacific.
Kumar denied that the ritual takes place during every eclipse, but said authorities are "launching an awareness campaign" against the practice.
A complaint has been registered for "knowingly endangering human lives," Gulbarg police chief B.A. Padmanayna told CNN. Stronger charges could also be pressed against the offenders, he said. Watch the 'exceptional' eclipse »
So far, police have made no arrests in the case.
Wednesday's eclipse reignited some superstitions in India. Most pregnant women hope to avoid giving birth during an eclipse, and Indian astrologers even advise expectant mothers to stay indoors when the event occurs. View the eclipse in pictures »
"It may not cause any physical harm to the baby, but it may affect the child's overall personality," said R.K. Sharma, who describes himself as a "remedial astrologer."
A solar eclipse, he says, weakens the sun god temporarily because of an encounter with dragon Rahu and leaves some cascading results everywhere.
"Bathing in holy rivers and ponds during this time thus helps protect health and develop positivism and greater will power," he explained.
|
[
"What was it thought that the burials would achieve",
"did parents consent",
"what are reports of",
"Which countries authorities are said to be investigating the matter",
"how many kids buried"
] |
[
"cure the children of their disabilities.",
"with the",
"disabled children in India were",
"India",
"34"
] |
question: What was it thought that the burials would achieve, answer: cure the children of their disabilities. | question: did parents consent, answer: with the | question: what are reports of, answer: disabled children in India were | question: Which countries authorities are said to be investigating the matter, answer: India | question: how many kids buried, answer: 34
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appeared set for a second term as his Congress party and its allies scored a decisive lead over their opponents on Saturday in a vote count after the country's monthlong general elections.
Congress supporters in Banglaore Saturday celebrate the party's lead in election results.
The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance surged ahead in more than 255 of the 543 federal parliamentary boroughs, outpacing the main opposition composed of a grouping led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP).
BJP leader Arun Jaitley conceded defeat, stating that the ruling party will win the election.
"We respect this mandate and accept it," Jaitley said.
India's communists, who last year parted ways with the federal government for its civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with the United States, also suffered a massive blow in their stronghold state of West Bengal as they trailed their rivals in more than half of its boroughs.
Singh drove down to the home of Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born head of the Congress party, after trends gave out a clear mandate in favor of the ruling coalition.
Standing beside Gandhi, who once again endorsed the choice of Singh for her party's top job, he thanked voters for their support.
He vowed to maintain a stable government that he said would remain committed to secular values. Singh also remarked that he would like Rahul Gandhi, son of his party chief, to become a member of his new Cabinet.
Deepak Sandhu, the prime minister's spokeswoman, told CNN that Singh is expected to hold a meeting of his current Cabinet on Monday.
The prime minister, whose coalition may need some extra backing to be able to reclaim power with a majority of 272 lawmakers on its side, threw up an invitation to all secular parties to come and support his government.
The fifth and final phase of India's marathon general election to choose a federal government ended Wednesday.
Most of the results of the will be out by the end of the day, election officials said.
India is home to about 714 million voters. About 100 million voters registered for Wednesday's polling.
|
[
"Who is the Prime Minister of India?",
"What did Janata Party do?",
"Who did Singh thank?",
"Who looks certain to win"
] |
[
"Manmohan Singh",
"thanked voters for their support.",
"voters",
"Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh"
] |
question: Who is the Prime Minister of India?, answer: Manmohan Singh | question: What did Janata Party do?, answer: thanked voters for their support. | question: Who did Singh thank?, answer: voters | question: Who looks certain to win, answer: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Police imposed a curfew in Jaipur on Wednesday, a day after near-simultaneous bomb attacks in the ancient Indian city killed at least 63 people and wounded more than 200.
Indian women mourn the death of their relatives in the May 13 serial blasts in Jaipur.
Vasundhara Raje, chief minister of Rajasthan -- the state of which Jaipur is the capital -- blamed an "unnamed international terror group" for the attack, but said it was too early in the investigation to specify which one.
H.G. Ragavendhra, Jaipur's superintendent of police, told CNN that police found nine newly-purchased bicycles at the scene, and think they were used to carry the explosives. The owner of the bike shop is helping police draw a sketch of the person who purchased them.
Police have also picked up six suspects and were questioning them.
Jaipur, known as the "pink city" for its rose-colored forts and palaces, is a popular tourist attraction. The majority Hindu city of 2.7 million people has a sizable Muslim population.
The day-long curfew, authorities said, was meant to prevent "communal violence."
It was intended to prevent large crowds from gathering at the blast site and hampering the investigation, said Jaipur police director Kanhaiya Lal. Also, tempers could flare as mourners spend the day carrying bodies to their home villages and to crematoriums, he said.
Home ministry officials suspect the Islamic militant group Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJi) of being behind the attacks, according to CNN's sister network CNN-IBN and the Press Trust of India. No one has claimed responsibility.
In the past, officials have blamed attacks within its borders on "foreign" Islamic extremist groups fighting against Indian rule in the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir. It is a term that is commonly understood to refer to Pakistan.
Kashmir has been the source of bitter dispute and two wars between India and Pakistan. Both control parts of the region, which is predominantly Muslim.
Pakistan has denied any involvement in the attacks. See the aftermath of the explosions. »
Raje told reporters Wednesday that the military had been placed on alert and security tightened around the borders of the state, the western edge of which lies next to Pakistan.
She also took to task the central government, saying it had provided no advance warning about the possibility of such an attack.
Furthermore, Raje said, the central government left a state-proposed organized crime bill unapproved for two years. The bill would have allowed local police more leeway to interrogate suspects plotting attacks, she said.
On Tuesday evening, eight bombs tore through crowded markets and a packed Hindu temple in Jaipur's walled city. The blasts went off within a 12-minute span and within 500 meters (0.3 miles) of each other. Police defused a ninth bomb.
The Jaipur blasts bear an eerie resemblance in its pattern to a deadly attack two years ago in India's financial capital, Mumbai.
In July 2006, more than 200 people were killed when seven explosions targeted commuter trains in Mumbai, formerly Bombay. In that incident, the explosions went off within a span of 11 minutes.
Both attacks used RDX, one of the most powerful kinds of military explosives, and ammonium nitrate, an oxidizing agent in explosives.
And both attacks took place during the evening hours and on Tuesdays.
The Jaipur blasts occurred near the temple on a day when devotees pray to Hanuman, the Hindu monkey king. Nearby markets and bazaars that were also targeted were filled with tourists and locals.
In the Mumbai attack, the blasts were timed to go off during the height of rush hour. And authorities said the bombs all appeared to have been planted on trains that left the Churchgate station -- used daily by thousands of commuters in the metropolis of more than 11 million people.
Indian officials blamed Pakistan's intelligence services and a Pakistan-based militant group, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, for the attack. Pakistan, which banned Lashkar-e-Tayyiba in 2002, denied any involvement
|
[
"what local indian official blames?",
"What do police impose?",
"What did police suspect were used to carry the bombs?",
"Was anyone wounded by the bombs?",
"What number of people are wounded?",
"what's the amount of peopole that wounded?",
"Who is responsible for the bombing that killed 63 people?",
"what police impose?",
"Where did police impose a curfew?",
"Whom does a local Indian official blame for the blasts?"
] |
[
"\"unnamed international terror group\" for the attack,",
"curfew",
"bicycles",
"more than 200.",
"more than 200.",
"more than 200.",
"\"unnamed international terror group\"",
"curfew",
"Jaipur",
"\"unnamed international terror group\""
] |
question: what local indian official blames?, answer: "unnamed international terror group" for the attack, | question: What do police impose?, answer: curfew | question: What did police suspect were used to carry the bombs?, answer: bicycles | question: Was anyone wounded by the bombs?, answer: more than 200. | question: What number of people are wounded?, answer: more than 200. | question: what's the amount of peopole that wounded?, answer: more than 200. | question: Who is responsible for the bombing that killed 63 people?, answer: "unnamed international terror group" | question: what police impose?, answer: curfew | question: Where did police impose a curfew?, answer: Jaipur | question: Whom does a local Indian official blame for the blasts?, answer: "unnamed international terror group"
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Suspected Maoist rebels in eastern India who held up a train carrying 300 passengers Wednesday ended their siege after a four-hour standoff, officials said.
An election official in Maharashtra Wednesday. Maoist rebels seized the train as India continued to vote.
No one was hurt, said A.K. Chandra of India's east-central railway.
The suspected rebels seized the train, apparently to protest that some former comrades are taking part in general elections that are under way in the country.
The Maoists didn't want the former rebels "to join the mainstream and, therefore, stopped this train," said Sarvendu Tathagat, deputy commission of the Latehar district in the state of Jharkhand.
Jharkhand is a mineral-rich state where rebels -- known as the Naxalites -- claim to be fighting for the rights of the poor and the dispossessed who have not benefited from the state's resources.
About 300 men, apparently unarmed, boarded the train, disabling its braking system as it passed through a dense forest.
The hijackers released the train after "persuasion" by area villagers and railway officials, Chandra said.
"They wanted your (media) presence," he said of the hijackers' possible motive.
Jharkhand has seen stepped-up deadly attacks by rebels while the country is in the midst of month-long general elections. The second round of the elections begin Thursday.
On April 16, when the voting began, suspected rebels triggered an explosion that forced a bus carrying border security troops to stop in the same Latehar district.
When the troops stepped out, the attackers killed at least six in a three-hour gun battle.
And in neighboring Bihar state, suspected Maoists, who had called for a general strike, set eight trucks on fire, shot dead a driver, and blew up a government office on Wednesday, police said.
The Maoist insurgency has claimed more than 6,000 lives since the late 1960s. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called the rebels India's biggest security threat.
The elections, covering more than 3 million square kilometers of the planet, will run until next month in several stages of scattered polling. Then, elections officials will count the vote electronically in a single day -- on May 16, three days after the last round of polling.
It is an exercise that India undertakes every five years for its 1 billion-plus population. This year, the country is voting in 543 boroughs of the Lok Sabha, or the lower house of the Indian parliament.
In the elections this year, 714 million registered voters are eligible to cast ballots. The number is up 43 million from the last vote.
|
[
"Who stopped a train?",
"how many rebels stopped the train?",
"What has the insurgency claimed?",
"where was the train stopped?",
"What's the popultion of India?",
"What type of rebels are these?",
"What led to the insurgency?"
] |
[
"Maoist rebels",
"300",
"more than 6,000 lives",
"a dense forest.",
"1 billion-plus",
"Maoist",
"elections"
] |
question: Who stopped a train?, answer: Maoist rebels | question: how many rebels stopped the train?, answer: 300 | question: What has the insurgency claimed?, answer: more than 6,000 lives | question: where was the train stopped?, answer: a dense forest. | question: What's the popultion of India?, answer: 1 billion-plus | question: What type of rebels are these?, answer: Maoist | question: What led to the insurgency?, answer: elections
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- The death toll from a powerful cyclone that hit India and Bangladesh this week has climbed to at least 180, officials said Wednesday.
Cyclone Aila struck eastern India, causing an estimated $8 million damage in one district alone.
In Bangladesh, some 111 people have died and more than 6,600 others have been injured in the storm, said Sultanul Islam Chowdhury from the country's food and disaster management ministry.
Cyclone Aila, which made landfall on Monday, has swept away nearly 180,000 homes and affected the lives of more than 3.3 million people, he said.
In India, the number of storm-related deaths climbed to 69 Wednesday, according to an emergency official.
About a quarter of the total, 20 people, died in landslides triggered by Aila on Tuesday in a hilly region of West Bengal, said Debabrata Pal, a joint-secretary with the state's disaster management department.
CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh contributed to this story.
|
[
"how many people died?",
"which is the name of the cyclone?",
"How many people died in Indie by a cyclone?",
"How many people were killed in Bangladesh?",
"How many people were left homeless due to the cyclone?"
] |
[
"111",
"Aila",
"some 111",
"111",
"more than 3.3 million"
] |
question: how many people died?, answer: 111 | question: which is the name of the cyclone?, answer: Aila | question: How many people died in Indie by a cyclone?, answer: some 111 | question: How many people were killed in Bangladesh?, answer: 111 | question: How many people were left homeless due to the cyclone?, answer: more than 3.3 million
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- The fifth and final phase of India's marathon general election to choose a federal government ended Wednesday.
Indians voters hold up their voter ID cards at a polling station in northern India.
Home to about 714 million voters, India is now due to hold a single-day vote count Saturday for 543 seats in the lower house of its parliament.
India's election commission spokesman Rajesh Malhotra told CNN that a 62 percent voter turnout was recorded in the last phase of polling Wednesday.
Voting in the month-long exercise was spread across 28 states and seven federal territories.
Stock markets closed 138.4 points down -- as voting drew to a close Wednesday -- apparently over fears of political uncertainty ahead.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Congress party, which came to power in 2004 as head of a communist-backed coalition, is seeking re-election. The party mainly faces opposition from an alliance led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. Watch more about one village refusing to vote »
Over the years, regional parties have emerged as key players in government formation in India, creating a situation in which federal power is now shared by a coalition of groups.
Last year, Singh's Congress party lost the support of the communists, who opposed India's civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with the United States.
The party was able to survive primarily with the backing of a powerful regional party.
|
[
"What country held elections?",
"what was the vote for",
"What is the name of the Prime Minister seeking re-election?",
"Which day of the week is the vote scheduled to take place?",
"Amount of states where voting happened",
"How many states did the month-long exercise involve?",
"Name of the Prime Minister?",
"Who is the prime minister?",
"who is seeking re-election?",
"what is the prime minister name?",
"What is the number of states that voting was spread across?",
"Whose party is seeking re-election?",
"What country is voting?",
"till how far Voting in the month-long exercise was spread ?",
"How many states voted during the month long exercise?"
] |
[
"India.",
"general election",
"Manmohan Singh's",
"Saturday",
"28",
"28",
"Manmohan Singh's",
"Manmohan Singh's",
"Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's",
"Manmohan Singh's",
"28",
"Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Congress",
"India",
"across 28 states and seven federal territories.",
"28"
] |
question: What country held elections?, answer: India. | question: what was the vote for, answer: general election | question: What is the name of the Prime Minister seeking re-election?, answer: Manmohan Singh's | question: Which day of the week is the vote scheduled to take place?, answer: Saturday | question: Amount of states where voting happened, answer: 28 | question: How many states did the month-long exercise involve?, answer: 28 | question: Name of the Prime Minister?, answer: Manmohan Singh's | question: Who is the prime minister?, answer: Manmohan Singh's | question: who is seeking re-election?, answer: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's | question: what is the prime minister name?, answer: Manmohan Singh's | question: What is the number of states that voting was spread across?, answer: 28 | question: Whose party is seeking re-election?, answer: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Congress | question: What country is voting?, answer: India | question: till how far Voting in the month-long exercise was spread ?, answer: across 28 states and seven federal territories. | question: How many states voted during the month long exercise?, answer: 28
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- The only surviving suspect in last month's attacks in Mumbai has written a letter to the Pakistan High Commission, or embassy, seeking legal aid, CNN's sister network in India reported Saturday, quoting a Mumbai police official.
Flames and smoke gush from the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai, India, on November 27.
Investigators said that Mohammad Ajmal Kasab is from Faridkot village in the Okara district of Pakistan's Punjab province and that the other nine attackers also are from Pakistan. Pakistani officials have denied that assertion, blaming instead "stateless actors."
Rakesh Maria, Mumbai's joint police commissioner of crime, said Saturday that Kasab's three-page letter was written in Urdu. In the letter, Kasab confesses his role in the attacks, CNN-IBN said.
The letter is to be delivered to the commission's New Delhi, India, office, possibly Monday, the network reported.
Maria paraphrased parts of the letter at a news conference but did not release a copy to the media, CNN-IBN said.
More than 160 people were killed in the three-day Mumbai siege that started November 26 and targeted 10 sites, including two luxury hotels, a train station and other landmarks. Of the 10 suspects, only 21-year-old Kasab survived, according to police.
This week, Pakistani authorities banned a charity linked to the attacks and placed its leader under house arrest, Pakistan's information minister told CNN.
The move came after the U.N. Security Council designated the charity, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, as a terrorist organization because of its links to Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (known by the acronym LeT) and placed sanctions on the group.
India has blamed LeT for training the attackers who carried out the Mumbai attacks.
|
[
"What do investigators say?",
"Who is from Pakistan's Punjab province?`",
"Where is Mumbai?",
"Where is Punjab province located?"
] |
[
"said that Mohammad Ajmal Kasab is from Faridkot village in the Okara district of Pakistan's Punjab province and that the other nine attackers also are from Pakistan.",
"Mohammad Ajmal Kasab",
"India,",
"Pakistan's"
] |
question: What do investigators say?, answer: said that Mohammad Ajmal Kasab is from Faridkot village in the Okara district of Pakistan's Punjab province and that the other nine attackers also are from Pakistan. | question: Who is from Pakistan's Punjab province?`, answer: Mohammad Ajmal Kasab | question: Where is Mumbai?, answer: India, | question: Where is Punjab province located?, answer: Pakistan's
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Lorna Irungu sits on a hospital bed looking extremely frail. She has lupus and her kidneys continue to fail.
Lorna Irungu, 35, had to travel from Kenya to India to receive her third kidney transplant.
"At some point I just wanted it to be over," said Irungu, 35. "I was just tired. I was really, really tired of the fighting, of the struggling, of being sick."
But Irungu did decide to fight, with the help of a very giving family. Three times she has needed a kidney transplant, and three times her family members insisted on donating. First her father donated, then her sister, and then her brother.
Irungu says what she couldn't find was a doctor who would do the tricky third transplant in her own country of Kenya. When she checked in neighboring countries, the cost was impossibly high. Irungu, who's single and has no children, has no insurance. So the former television host was paying for the surgery and medicines out of her own pocket.
"When we looked at the price of getting things done in South Africa. I'm like, 'We're never gonna get there.' It's $45,000. Where do I even begin?"
The cost of a kidney transplant in the United States can be $25,000 to $150,000, also out of Irungu's price range. Watch more on Lorna Irungu's odyssey »
So she began looking elsewhere, sending out e-mails and making phone calls to hospitals in other countries. Doctors at Fortis Hospital in New Delhi, India, were the only ones who responded to her somewhat complicated case.
Dr. Vijay Kher, the hospital's director of nephrology, first talked to Irungu by phone.
"When she called me from Kenya, she was very sick," Kher said. "She had uncontrolled blood pressures, and she was having fever. She had been in ICU for about three weeks."
But Irungu made it to India. Once her condition was stabilized, doctors performed the third transplant, which is a rare operation in India.
Of the 1,500 kidney transplants performed at Fortis Hospital, doctors remember having done only two in which the patient was having a third transplant.
Doctors had to remove one of the previously transplanted kidneys to make room for the new kidney, Kher said. Doctors said it was unnecessary to remove the three other kidneys because they were not causing harm and they didn't want to subject her to more surgery than was necessary.
Even with the complications that can arise during a third transplant, the cost of it and the weeklong hospital stay in India came to about $8,000. It's a fraction of the price she was quoted elsewhere, as is the cost of the post-transplant medication.
"This last surgery, I keep saying, has been remarkable." Irungu said. "I haven't felt as good post transplant as I did this time around."
After three months in India, Irungu is leaving with four kidneys inside her. Irungu says for now the newly transplanted kidney seems to be working great.
"From my experience, the cost here and the quality of care is worth it," Irungu said. "It's worth it because instead of you sitting wherever you are, thinking, 'This is the end for me,' or just getting depressed or getting into this struggle, (you can) just pack up and go."
|
[
"What did the woman travel from Kenya to India for?",
"How many kidneys does she currently possess?",
"How many kidney transplants has the woman had?",
"What ailments does Lorna suffer from?",
"Who suffers from lupus and has received two transplants?",
"What was removed to make room for the new kidney?",
"Where did she travel for the organ transplant?",
"What amount of kidneys that Irungu has works?",
"Who had a third kidney transplant?",
"Who has four kidneys?",
"Where did woman travel for a tricky third kidney transplant?",
"How many kidneys does she have?"
] |
[
"third kidney transplant.",
"four",
"third",
"lupus",
"Lorna Irungu",
"previously transplanted",
"India",
"four",
"Lorna Irungu,",
"Lorna Irungu,",
"India",
"four"
] |
question: What did the woman travel from Kenya to India for?, answer: third kidney transplant. | question: How many kidneys does she currently possess?, answer: four | question: How many kidney transplants has the woman had?, answer: third | question: What ailments does Lorna suffer from?, answer: lupus | question: Who suffers from lupus and has received two transplants?, answer: Lorna Irungu | question: What was removed to make room for the new kidney?, answer: previously transplanted | question: Where did she travel for the organ transplant?, answer: India | question: What amount of kidneys that Irungu has works?, answer: four | question: Who had a third kidney transplant?, answer: Lorna Irungu, | question: Who has four kidneys?, answer: Lorna Irungu, | question: Where did woman travel for a tricky third kidney transplant?, answer: India | question: How many kidneys does she have?, answer: four
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- "Slumdog Millionaire" leaves audiences uplifted. But that is hardly how one of its child stars felt on Thursday.
Indian authorities demolished the home of "Slumdog Millionaire" child actor Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail.
Despite the hit movie's mega-millions in box-office receipts, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail's life changed little after he returned home to Mumbai, India's, Garib Nagar, or city of the poor.
On Thursday, even the roof over the real-life slum dweller's head was taken away as Indian authorities tore down the shanty where Ismail's family lived.
Authorities said the home and about 20 others around it were illegally built.
Senior Inspector Rahim Sheikh told CNN that the shanties were brought down as part of a municipal drive to clear encroachments on public land. Bulldozers leveled the slum built on a municipal garden, said Sheikh, who is in charge of the locality in Mumbai where Ismail lived.
The little boy sat among twisted corrugated metal and other debris, surrounded by filth and squalor. Memories of Hollywood's glitz and glitter were distant as tears streamed down his face.
He said his family was given no notice of the demolition and did not have time to remove their belongings. But, they said, they plan to return and rebuild. Watch 'Slumdog' actor's home razed. »
"Slumdog Millionaire" is the story of Jamal, an impoverished, uneducated teen who competes on an Indian game show. Ismail, who played a young Jamal's brother, Salim, traveled to Los Angeles, California, in February for this year's Academy Awards, where the movie won eight Oscars, including best picture.
CNN's Sara Sidner contributed to this story.
|
[
"What is the name of the city of the poor?",
"What is the number of homes illegally built?",
"What does Garib Nagar mean?",
"What did the family say?",
"Where is Ismail's home?"
] |
[
"Garib Nagar,",
"20",
"city of the poor.",
"was given no notice of the demolition and",
"Mumbai, India's,"
] |
question: What is the name of the city of the poor?, answer: Garib Nagar, | question: What is the number of homes illegally built?, answer: 20 | question: What does Garib Nagar mean?, answer: city of the poor. | question: What did the family say?, answer: was given no notice of the demolition and | question: Where is Ismail's home?, answer: Mumbai, India's,
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- A 3-month-old girl born to an Indian surrogate mother has flown to Japan to join her biological father after spending the first months of her life in legal limbo.
Baby Manjhi and her grandmother flew to Osaka, Japan, from the Indian capital, New Delhi, Saturday night, said family friend, Kamal Vijay Vargiya.
While some countries have banned surrogacy as a money-making venture, it has been legal in India since 2002.
Under the practice, infertile couples are matched with local women to carry babies for $12,000 to $30,000.
Baby Manjhi was conceived when a Japanese couple paid a clinic in India to have the husband's sperm and an anonymous donor's egg implanted in the womb of an Indian surrogate.
The plan worked. But a few months before Manjhi was born, the couple divorced. The intended Japanese mother decided she did not want the baby.
Manjhi was born on July 25. Her father, Ikufumi Yamada, and grandmother traveled from Japan to pick her up and take her to her new home. But Indian law stipulates that a mother must be present in order for a baby to receive a passport.
In this case, neither the birth mother nor the mother who had originally sought the child wanted to be involved.
Manjhi's father looked into a legal adoption, but Indian law does not allow single men to adopt.
The case garnered international headlines. Eventually, Manjhi was issued a birth certificate with just her father's name on it. And on Saturday, she left for Osaka to be reunited with him.
"This is for the first time in 28 years in Jaipur that somebody (in such a situation) has been issued travel documents by Indian authorities. And this became possible mainly because of media," said Sanjay Arya, the doctor who treated Manjhi at a Jaipur hospital.
-- CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh contributed to this report
|
[
"When did the couple divorce?",
"Surrogacy has been legal since when?",
"How long has surrogacy been legal in India?",
"Some countries have banned what?",
"The Japanese mother decided what?",
"Since when has surrogacy been legal in India?",
"What was made legal in India in 2002?",
"Who decided she did not want the baby?",
"What happened before Manjhi was born?"
] |
[
"a few months before Manjhi was born,",
"2002.",
"since 2002.",
"surrogacy as a money-making venture,",
"she did not want the baby.",
"2002.",
"surrogacy",
"intended Japanese mother",
"the couple divorced."
] |
question: When did the couple divorce?, answer: a few months before Manjhi was born, | question: Surrogacy has been legal since when?, answer: 2002. | question: How long has surrogacy been legal in India?, answer: since 2002. | question: Some countries have banned what?, answer: surrogacy as a money-making venture, | question: The Japanese mother decided what?, answer: she did not want the baby. | question: Since when has surrogacy been legal in India?, answer: 2002. | question: What was made legal in India in 2002?, answer: surrogacy | question: Who decided she did not want the baby?, answer: intended Japanese mother | question: What happened before Manjhi was born?, answer: the couple divorced.
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- A 43-year-old woman convicted in the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on Wednesday ended her hunger strike after authorities agreed to review her demand for early release.
Nalini Sriharan received a death sentence in 1991 for plotting to murder former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Nalini Sriharan, who has been in jail for 18 years, went on a fast Monday, said Jaya Bharathi, superintendent of Vellore prison in southern India.
Convicted of plotting the murder of Gandhi in a suicide bomb attack in 1991, she received a death sentence along with her husband and two others.
Sriharan's sentence was commuted to life imprisonment on a mercy petition by Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born widow of the slain former prime minister.
The other three remain on death row.
In India, a lifer becomes eligible for early release after serving 14 years, Bharathi said.
Authorities would consider setting up an advisory board on Sriharan's demand, Bharathi added.
"She ended her fast today and had her breakfast and lunch," Bharathi told CNN.
India accused Sri Lanka's Tamil rebels of ordering the killing of Rajiv Gandhi, who had sent Indian peacekeepers to the restive island nation while in power.
|
[
"What have authorities agreed?",
"How long has she been in jail?",
"How many years has Sriharan been incarcerated?",
"What did Sriharan start on Minday?",
"How long has the prisoner been in jail?",
"What age is the prisoner?",
"Is the case of Sriharan being reviewed?",
"What is the name of the prisoner?",
"What method is Sriharan using to get early release?"
] |
[
"to review her demand for early release.",
"18 years,",
"18",
"Nalini Sriharan, who has been in jail for 18 years, went on a fast Monday,",
"18 years,",
"43-year-old",
"authorities agreed to review her demand for early release.",
"Nalini Sriharan",
"hunger strike"
] |
question: What have authorities agreed?, answer: to review her demand for early release. | question: How long has she been in jail?, answer: 18 years, | question: How many years has Sriharan been incarcerated?, answer: 18 | question: What did Sriharan start on Minday?, answer: Nalini Sriharan, who has been in jail for 18 years, went on a fast Monday, | question: How long has the prisoner been in jail?, answer: 18 years, | question: What age is the prisoner?, answer: 43-year-old | question: Is the case of Sriharan being reviewed?, answer: authorities agreed to review her demand for early release. | question: What is the name of the prisoner?, answer: Nalini Sriharan | question: What method is Sriharan using to get early release?, answer: hunger strike
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- A Maoist group has claimed responsibility for the killing of a Hindu leader, whose death sparked a wave of Hindu-Christian riots in southern India.
Indian nuns protest against the recent violence which has seen Christians attacked.
Sabyasachi Panda, the head of the Communist Party of India-Maoist, told reporters of two private television stations that his group was behind the Hindu leader's death, the country's national news agency said Sunday.
The leader, Laxmananda Saraswati, preached the tenets of Hinduism to the tribal people of the state. And Panda said Maoists had earlier warned him to desist from "such works" or face consequences, PTI said.
Panda said the Maoists killed Saraswati because he was "spreading social unrest" in the tribal area, the news agency said.
The Indian government has consistently claimed the shooting death may have been the work of Maoist rebels.
But hardline Hindu groups blamed the state's Christian minority for Saraswati's death.
He and four others were killed in August when 20 to 30 gunmen barged into a Hindu school and began shooting.
Afterward, police arrested five Christians as suspects in the case.
The hardliners held up the arrests as proof of Christian complicity. They took to the streets in anger, rampaging through predominantly Christian neighborhoods, ransacking shops and torching houses.
A Christian orphanage was set on fire. A 20-year-old woman, who was teaching children inside, burned to death.
Christian resident fought back, and the clashes spread.
The communal violence left churches and temples razed to the ground. More than 20 people died, and hundreds were arrested.
Even after the Maoists' claim of responsibility, some fundamentalist Hindu groups blamed Christians for the death.
The hardline Vishwa Hindu Parishad, or World Hindu Council rejected the claim saying the communist group -- known as 'Naxals' -- did not have a religious agenda.
"Have the Maoists started fighting in the name of God now?" VHP leader Subansh Chauhan was quoted as saying by CNN-IBN, CNN's sister network.
The rebels, who claim to be fighting for the poor and the dispossessed, have been battling the government in an insurgency that has resulted in thousands of casualties since the late 1960s.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called Naxalism India's biggest security threat. Last year, more than 800 people were killed in Naxal-related violence across the country, according to local media reports.
CNN's Bharati Naik contributed to this report.
|
[
"What group claims responsibility for killing Hindu Leader?",
"What has India's PM called the Maoists?",
"Where were the riots?",
"What has Indias PM called the Maoists?",
"What was referenced as being the country's biggest security threat?",
"Who claimed responsibility for the killing?",
"Who claimed responsibility for killing the Hindu leader?",
"What has sparked riots in southern India?"
] |
[
"the Communist Party of India-Maoist,",
"biggest security threat.",
"southern India.",
"biggest security threat.",
"Naxalism",
"Maoist group",
"Communist Party of India-Maoist,",
"the killing of a Hindu leader,"
] |
question: What group claims responsibility for killing Hindu Leader?, answer: the Communist Party of India-Maoist, | question: What has India's PM called the Maoists?, answer: biggest security threat. | question: Where were the riots?, answer: southern India. | question: What has Indias PM called the Maoists?, answer: biggest security threat. | question: What was referenced as being the country's biggest security threat?, answer: Naxalism | question: Who claimed responsibility for the killing?, answer: Maoist group | question: Who claimed responsibility for killing the Hindu leader?, answer: Communist Party of India-Maoist, | question: What has sparked riots in southern India?, answer: the killing of a Hindu leader,
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- A Pakistani man using "colonel" as a title is one of about three dozen people wanted over November's terrorist attacks in Mumbai, but his connections with the Pakistani army have not been established, Indian prosecutors say.
Police patrol in New Delhi last year following warnings of possible attacks using hijacked aircraft, officials said.
"This is all a matter of investigation," special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told CNN Thursday when asked if India thought he had links to the Pakistani army.
Neither is it clear whether the "colonel" belonged to the Pakistan-based militant outfit Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, which is blamed for the Mumbai siege, Nikam said.
But India, the public prosecutor added, had "ample evidence" of his involvement in the November attacks.
Authorities say Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the only surviving suspect accused of taking part in the Mumbai siege, faces a multitude of charges, including murder and attempted murder.
Speaking outside Qila Court in Mumbai, Nikam said Kasab didn't attend the hearing for security reasons. The next hearing is set for March 9.
A 21-year-old Pakistani, Kasab was one of 10 men accused of participating in the coordinated sieges on buildings such as the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower and Oberoi-Trident hotels, Mumbai's historic Victoria Terminus train station and the Jewish cultural center, Chabad House.
Indian forces killed nine suspects. More than 160 people, including many foreigners, died during the three days of attacks that began November 26.
Authorities said Kasab was trained by Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, which was banned in Pakistan in 2002 after a terrorist attack on India's parliament. The group denied responsibility.
Nikam said on Wednesday that the 50-page document describing the charges against Kasab also contains the names of 35 other suspects being sought in the crimes, many of whom are thought to be members of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba.
The prosecutor said his office hopes to finish the trial for Kasab in three to six months. He has been in police custody since November 28.
Also charged Wednesday were two men accused of helping to plan the violence, Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed, according to the prosecutor.
|
[
"How many suspects did the Indian forces kill?",
"What title did the Pakistani man use?",
"what Pakistani man using \"colonel\" as a title is wanted over?",
"what was he using",
"what Indian prosecutors say man's connections with?"
] |
[
"nine",
"\"colonel\"",
"November's terrorist attacks in Mumbai,",
"\"colonel\" as a title",
"Pakistani army have not been established,"
] |
question: How many suspects did the Indian forces kill?, answer: nine | question: What title did the Pakistani man use?, answer: "colonel" | question: what Pakistani man using "colonel" as a title is wanted over?, answer: November's terrorist attacks in Mumbai, | question: what was he using, answer: "colonel" as a title | question: what Indian prosecutors say man's connections with?, answer: Pakistani army have not been established,
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- A dilapidated building collapsed in Mumbai, India, on Wednesday, killing at least 16 people who had defied orders to vacate the structure, a police spokesman told CNN.
Rescue workers clear away debris after a building collapsed Wednesday in Mumbai, India.
Another 26 people were injured and hospitalized, the spokesman said. Mumbai city officials had told residents living in the old building to leave it because of structural concerns.
The chief minister of Maharashtra state, Vilasrao Deshmukh, visited the building hours after the collapse to pay his respects to the victims.
Last July, another building collapse in Mumbai -- formerly Bombay -- killed 26 people.
|
[
"What is wrong with the building?",
"What were officials warning people about?",
"How many people are injured?",
"How many people were injured?",
"Who came to pay respects to the victims?",
"What was the number of people injured",
"Who paid their respects to the victims"
] |
[
"dilapidated",
"had told residents living in the old building to leave it because of structural concerns.",
"26",
"26",
"Vilasrao Deshmukh,",
"26",
"Vilasrao Deshmukh,"
] |
question: What is wrong with the building?, answer: dilapidated | question: What were officials warning people about?, answer: had told residents living in the old building to leave it because of structural concerns. | question: How many people are injured?, answer: 26 | question: How many people were injured?, answer: 26 | question: Who came to pay respects to the victims?, answer: Vilasrao Deshmukh, | question: What was the number of people injured, answer: 26 | question: Who paid their respects to the victims, answer: Vilasrao Deshmukh,
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- A high court in northern India on Friday acquitted a wealthy businessman facing the death sentence for the killing of a teen in a case dubbed "the house of horrors."
Moninder Singh Pandher was sentenced to death by a lower court in February.
The teen was one of 19 victims -- children and young women -- in one of the most gruesome serial killings in India in recent years.
The Allahabad high court has acquitted Moninder Singh Pandher, his lawyer Sikandar B. Kochar told CNN.
Pandher and his domestic employee Surinder Koli were sentenced to death in February by a lower court for the rape and murder of the 14-year-old.
The high court upheld Koli's death sentence, Kochar said.
The two were arrested two years ago after body parts packed in plastic bags were found near their home in Noida, a New Delhi suburb. Their home was later dubbed a "house of horrors" by the Indian media.
Pandher was not named a main suspect by investigators initially, but was summoned as co-accused during the trial, Kochar said.
Kochar said his client was in Australia when the teen was raped and killed.
Pandher faces trial in the remaining 18 killings and could remain in custody, the attorney said.
|
[
"What was the amount of children murdered?",
"When was Pandher sentenced to death?",
"The court aquitted Moninder Singh Pandher of what crime?",
"who was acquitted",
"who was sentenced",
"What was Moninder Singh Pandher acquitted for?",
"Who was sentenced to death in February?",
"how many people died",
"How many children and young women were murdered?"
] |
[
"19",
"February.",
"rape and murder",
"Moninder Singh Pandher",
"Moninder Singh Pandher",
"the killing of a teen",
"Moninder Singh Pandher",
"19",
"19"
] |
question: What was the amount of children murdered?, answer: 19 | question: When was Pandher sentenced to death?, answer: February. | question: The court aquitted Moninder Singh Pandher of what crime?, answer: rape and murder | question: who was acquitted, answer: Moninder Singh Pandher | question: who was sentenced, answer: Moninder Singh Pandher | question: What was Moninder Singh Pandher acquitted for?, answer: the killing of a teen | question: Who was sentenced to death in February?, answer: Moninder Singh Pandher | question: how many people died, answer: 19 | question: How many children and young women were murdered?, answer: 19
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- A mob killed a Hindu man in the Indian state of Orissa Thursday as another group attacked a church in another part of the state's troubled Kandhamal district, authorities said Friday.
Christian activists stage a peace march in Mumbai, India earlier this month.
Krishan Kumar, Kandhamal's top administrative official, told CNN the Hindu man was hacked to death at Raikia.
Orissa state, which is dominated by tribal people, borders the Bay of Bengal in east-central India, and Kandhamal is located in the center of the state, which has been racked by Hindu-Christian violence.
Praveen Kumar, Kandhamal's superintendent of police, said an investigation is under way in both incidents, and did not say whether any suspects were being sought.
Twenty-three civilians, excluding police, have died in the Hindu-Christian violence in Kandhamal this month, according to the administrator.
"Arrests are continuing," Praveen Kumar said when asked how many people have been held so far in connection with the violence.
The latest attacks occurred on a day when India's federal government called upon the state administration to take "effective, focused and firm measures" to control the conflicts.
On Thursday, federal Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta asked the Orissa government to ensure effective deployment of paramilitaries in the state.
-- CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh contributed to this report.
|
[
"cause of death",
"What has been racked by Hindu-Christian violence?",
"How many civilians have died?",
"Where was the violence?"
] |
[
"hacked to",
"Orissa state,",
"Twenty-three",
"the Indian state of Orissa"
] |
question: cause of death, answer: hacked to | question: What has been racked by Hindu-Christian violence?, answer: Orissa state, | question: How many civilians have died?, answer: Twenty-three | question: Where was the violence?, answer: the Indian state of Orissa
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- A portion of a partially built bridge for New Delhi's metro rail network collapsed Sunday, killing five people and injuring 15, authorities said.
A crane clears away wreckage from a collapsed carriageway on Sunday in New Delhi, India.
The crash occurred when a metal beam supporting pillars gave way, Delhi Metro Rail Corp. spokesman Anuj Dayal told CNN.
Concrete slabs came crashing down, burying workers beneath, officials said.
The dead included one site engineer, said Mohammad Akhlaque, police sub-inspector.
The man in charge of building the Metro system offered to quit the project Sunday.
"I take full moral responsibility for this accident. And having taken this moral responsibility, I have decided to resign as the managing director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation," Elattuvalapil Sreedharan told a news conference.
Sreedharan, 77, however, noted that Sunday's crash would set the metro project back by three months.
New Delhi launched its metro system six years ago, a project that cut through India's bureaucratic red-tape that usually holds back big infrastructure programs.
Construction on new lines has been proceeding at a frenzied pace as the city gets ready to host the Commonwealth Games in 2010.
Hailed as a relief in India's traffic-congested capital, the metro has a tarnished safety record.
Part of a another bridge being built to extend the rail system collapsed last October, pinning a bus underneath and killing its driver.
|
[
"what collapsed?",
"Where were five people killed?",
"How many were injured?",
"what caused the collapse",
"how many were killed",
"What happened to the bridge?",
"what was being built"
] |
[
"A portion of a partially built bridge for New Delhi's metro rail network",
"New Delhi, India.",
"15,",
"metal beam supporting pillars gave way,",
"five",
"beam supporting pillars gave way,",
"bridge"
] |
question: what collapsed?, answer: A portion of a partially built bridge for New Delhi's metro rail network | question: Where were five people killed?, answer: New Delhi, India. | question: How many were injured?, answer: 15, | question: what caused the collapse, answer: metal beam supporting pillars gave way, | question: how many were killed, answer: five | question: What happened to the bridge?, answer: beam supporting pillars gave way, | question: what was being built, answer: bridge
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- A train collision in northern India killed at least 13 people early Wednesday.
Indian Railway Protection Force personnel look at a damaged carriage after the collision Wednesday.
The death toll remained uncertain. Railway officials said 13 people were killed and 15 injured in the crash. But the top administrative official of Mathura, where the collision occurred, put the number of dead at 21, with about as many injured.
The Goa Express slammed into the stationary Mewar Express apparently because the driver overshot a signal to stop, said Anant Swaroop, spokesman for India's northern railway.
Indian Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee ordered an inquiry into the crash, according to CNN's sister station in India, CNN-IBN.
The Goa Express, bound for New Delhi from the western coastal state of Goa, was running on the same track as the Mewar, which shuttles between New Delhi and Udaipur, in western Rajasthan state. Both trains have stops in Mathura, about 90 miles south of New Delhi.
Rescuers had to cut trapped passengers from a wrecked car of the Mewar Express. The car had a special compartment for women, disabled passengers, cargo and train guards, said Aditya Verma, a senior police official in Mathura.
Bannerjee said victims' relatives would receive compensation of about $10,000, according to CNN-IBN.
Several other trains that go through the Mathura station had to be diverted. Trains are the most widely used mode of transportation for national travel in India.
CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh in New Delhi contributed to this report.
|
[
"what time did the accident happen",
"How many people were injured ?",
"Trains collided apparently because driver overshot what?",
"How many people were killed?",
"what did the driver do",
"according to railway official how many people died",
"how many were killed?"
] |
[
"early Wednesday.",
"15",
"a signal to stop,",
"13",
"overshot a signal to stop,",
"said 13",
"at least 13 people"
] |
question: what time did the accident happen, answer: early Wednesday. | question: How many people were injured ?, answer: 15 | question: Trains collided apparently because driver overshot what?, answer: a signal to stop, | question: How many people were killed?, answer: 13 | question: what did the driver do, answer: overshot a signal to stop, | question: according to railway official how many people died, answer: said 13 | question: how many were killed?, answer: at least 13 people
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Air India took two pilots and two cabin crew off-duty over allegations that they had a fist fight during an international flight with 106 passengers aboard, the state-run airline said Monday.
Faced with tough competition from private carriers, Air India has struggled with financial and image crises.
The scuffle allegedly took place on flight from the United Arab Emirates to New Delhi, while the plane flew over Pakistan.
An investigation had been launched into what Air India spokesman Jitender Bhargava called "charges and counter-charges."
In a police complaint made on landing Saturday, a 24-year-old flight attendant alleged a molestation attempt.
But pilots Ranbeer Arora and Aditya Chopra alleged that the molestation claim was an attempt to deflect attention from misbehavior by a male purser. Have you ever experienced poor crew behaviour on a flight?
"All the four have been de-rostered and an inquiry committee is examining versions of each of them," Bhargava said.
Faced with tough competition from private carriers, Air India has struggled with financial and image crises.
Rats have been spotted on two Air India international flights in less than a month, according to news reports.
An investigation in May revealed that the carrier had loaded a flight three passengers beyond capacity. Several employees were de-rostered as a result.
"Privatize Air India before it's too late," warned a column in the Hindustan Times newspaper Sunday.
"As long as the government runs Air India, it will continue to strangle it," columnist Vir Sanghvi wrote.
|
[
"What does the flight attendant allege happened?",
"What was the flight destination?",
"where did the scuffle take place",
"Which company has struggled with financial and image crises?",
"who has struggled with financial and image crises",
"What air carrier has struggled with financial and image crises?",
"who alleged a molestation attempt"
] |
[
"a molestation attempt.",
"New Delhi,",
"on flight from the United Arab Emirates to New Delhi,",
"Air India",
"Air India",
"India",
"a 24-year-old flight attendant"
] |
question: What does the flight attendant allege happened?, answer: a molestation attempt. | question: What was the flight destination?, answer: New Delhi, | question: where did the scuffle take place, answer: on flight from the United Arab Emirates to New Delhi, | question: Which company has struggled with financial and image crises?, answer: Air India | question: who has struggled with financial and image crises, answer: Air India | question: What air carrier has struggled with financial and image crises?, answer: India | question: who alleged a molestation attempt, answer: a 24-year-old flight attendant
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- An Indian paramilitary trooper shot dead six colleagues and fled his military camp with an AK-47 rifle in the remote northeastern state of Manipur, a spokesman for his unit said Thursday.
Indian Assam Rifles paramilitary soldiers on duty in the eastern state of Manipur.
"He shot dead one junior commissioned officer in a fit of rage after having an altercation with him and then turned the gun on five other troopers (who arrived at the scene)," said Shamsher Jung, the spokesman for the Assam Rifles.
Authorities launched a manhunt for the trooper.
The Assam Rifles are stationed in Manipur, on the India-Myanmar border, to combat some 30 active insurgent groups that are believed to be operating there.
The rebels want a separate homeland and have accused the Indian government of exploiting the region's natural resources, while doing little in return to help the indigenous people who live there.
In the last decade, thousands have died in separatist violence.
-- CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh contributed to this report.
|
[
"What was wrong with the trooper?",
"Who shot the officer?",
"Trooper was apart of what?",
"Where were they shot?",
"Who did he shoot?",
"Who had shot who in the event?",
"Where was he stationed?"
] |
[
"fit of rage",
"An Indian paramilitary trooper",
"paramilitary",
"remote northeastern state of Manipur,",
"six colleagues",
"An Indian paramilitary trooper",
"Manipur,"
] |
question: What was wrong with the trooper?, answer: fit of rage | question: Who shot the officer?, answer: An Indian paramilitary trooper | question: Trooper was apart of what?, answer: paramilitary | question: Where were they shot?, answer: remote northeastern state of Manipur, | question: Who did he shoot?, answer: six colleagues | question: Who had shot who in the event?, answer: An Indian paramilitary trooper | question: Where was he stationed?, answer: Manipur,
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- An Indian woman accused of being a witch was tied to a tree and beaten by a mob, with television footage of the incident aired in India on Friday.
Villagers tied the woman to a tree after a man accused her of practicing black magic.
Nishant Tiwari, a police official in northeastern India, said a journalist who filmed the beating called him Thursday to report the incident, which took place in the village of Dumaria in central eastern Bihar state.
He arrived to find the woman tied to a tree, her hair partially cut and her complexion ruddy from being slapped. She had no serious injuries.
"I was appalled at what I saw because people should be more socially responsible than to do this," Tiwari said.
Authorities arrested six people, including the man who admitted to hiring her services as a witch. They were due to appear before a magistrate on Friday.
Ram Ayodhya, who could face up to seven years in prison for his role in the attack, told police he was justified in beating the woman, Tiwari said. Graphic content warning: Villagers beat woman »
Ayodhya said he paid her to use magic and prayer to improve his wife's health.
When his wife's condition deteriorated, Ayodhya accused her of performing black magic, Tiwari said, and a crowd soon gathered and tied her to the tree.
The woman seen being attacked is expected to testify when the suspects appear before the magistrate.
Tiwari said he was disturbed by the fact that a journalist filmed the incident before contacting authorities.
"The media filmed the incident, then called the police -- instead of the police first," Tiwari said.
CNN's partner network, CNN-IBN, reported that the incident took place close to the local police station.
It reported that there had been other such occurrences of mob justice in the state.
In Bhagalpur district in August 2007, a man caught trying to snatch a woman's chain was beaten up, with police looking on, and later tied to a motorcycle and dragged around by a police officer.
In September, in Lucknow's Wazirganj area, an angry mob beat a man to death after a 2½-year old girl was allegedly found sexually assaulted and murdered in his house. E-mail to a friend
|
[
"Who was accused of being witch?",
"Who admitted to hiring her services as a witch?",
"Who called the police?",
"what was accused India?"
] |
[
"An Indian woman",
"Ram Ayodhya,",
"journalist",
"being a witch"
] |
question: Who was accused of being witch?, answer: An Indian woman | question: Who admitted to hiring her services as a witch?, answer: Ram Ayodhya, | question: Who called the police?, answer: journalist | question: what was accused India?, answer: being a witch
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- At least 43 people are feared dead after a massive mudslide swept away three hamlets in northern India, authorities said Sunday.
Two small villages were completely destroyed Saturday while one was partially knocked down, said Manoj Pande, a senior disaster management official in Pithoragarh district.
Rescuers have pulled 15 bodies from the debris and many more may have been swept into the river, Pande said.
More than 2.9 million people in India have been affected by floods since June, according to federal officials.
Yearly monsoon rains sweep across the subcontinent from June till September. Though they bring much-needed relief to often-parched farmlands, they also leave a trail of landslides, home collapses and often fatal floods.
|
[
"What were affected by recent mudslides in India?",
"since what month have been afected the millions of people in India?",
"how many hamlets were afected by the recent mudslide in India?",
"What is feared of the 43 people?",
"Who have been affected by floods since June?",
"been affected by floods since June, officials say"
] |
[
"2.9 million people",
"June,",
"three",
"dead",
"More than 2.9 million people in India",
"India"
] |
question: What were affected by recent mudslides in India?, answer: 2.9 million people | question: since what month have been afected the millions of people in India?, answer: June, | question: how many hamlets were afected by the recent mudslide in India?, answer: three | question: What is feared of the 43 people?, answer: dead | question: Who have been affected by floods since June?, answer: More than 2.9 million people in India | question: been affected by floods since June, officials say, answer: India
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- At least 441 people have died in floods in India from this season's monsoon rains, federal authorities said in their latest report.
An Indian child plays in a flooded street in Mumbai earlier this month.
Flooding has affected more than 1.5 million people in parts of India, said the disaster management division of the federal home ministry.
The country's main weather office has warned of more heavy rain in western and central parts of India.
Monsoon rains sweep across the subcontinent from June till September. Though they bring much-needed relief to often-parched farmlands, they also leave a trail of landslides, home collapses and floods that can kill.
In neighboring Pakistan, torrential monsoon rains left more than three dozen people dead and broke a 32-year record over the weekend.
CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh contributed to this report.
|
[
"Were there anyone injured",
"what is the count of dead"
] |
[
"441 people have died",
"At least 441"
] |
question: Were there anyone injured, answer: 441 people have died | question: what is the count of dead, answer: At least 441
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- At least 441 people have died in floods in India from this season's monsoon rains, federal authorities said in their latest report.
An Indian child plays in a flooded street in Mumbai earlier this month.
Flooding has affected more than 1.5 million people in parts of India, said the disaster management division of the federal home ministry.
The country's main weather office has warned of more heavy rain in western and central parts of India.
Monsoon rains sweep across the subcontinent from June till September. Though they bring much-needed relief to often-parched farmlands, they also leave a trail of landslides, home collapses and floods that can kill.
In neighboring Pakistan, torrential monsoon rains left more than three dozen people dead and broke a 32-year record over the weekend.
CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh contributed to this report.
|
[
"who was among the dead",
"How many died in the accident?",
"What was the total number of fatalities?"
] |
[
"441 people",
"441",
"441"
] |
question: who was among the dead, answer: 441 people | question: How many died in the accident?, answer: 441 | question: What was the total number of fatalities?, answer: 441
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Authorities were carrying out raids at medical stores in India's western Gujarat state for bogus drugs and recycled syringes after a hepatitis B outbreak left 32 people dead, officials said Saturday.
Hepatitis-B patient Mahir Husain, center, is comforted at The Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad, Wednesday.
Five medical practitioners were also arrested for violations, said Malayappan Thennarasan, the top administrator of the state's Sabarkantha district.
One of those arrested is being held for allegedly reusing injection syringes, Thennarasan said.
Health authorities have recorded 111 cases of hepatitis B infection in the district over the past two weeks, he added.
"Of them, 32 have died," he said.
Health officials have launched an awareness campaign in the district, Thennarasan said this week.
Hepatitis B is a contagious liver disease resulting from infection with the hepatitis B virus, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It usually spreads through blood, semen, or other bodily fluids, often through sexual contact or sharing needles or syringes with an infected person, the CDC says.
The disease can range from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a serious, chronic illness resulting in long-term health problems or death, according to the CDC.
|
[
"What caused the outbreak?",
"how many people died?",
"what Officials record 111 cases of the disease?",
"where The victims died in the state of Gujarat in western?",
"how many cases are there?"
] |
[
"bogus drugs",
"32",
"Health authorities",
"The Civil Hospital,",
"Health authorities have recorded 111"
] |
question: What caused the outbreak?, answer: bogus drugs | question: how many people died?, answer: 32 | question: what Officials record 111 cases of the disease?, answer: Health authorities | question: where The victims died in the state of Gujarat in western?, answer: The Civil Hospital, | question: how many cases are there?, answer: Health authorities have recorded 111
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Doctors say an encephalitis outbreak has killed 130 people -- mostly children -- in northern India since January.
The outbreak of acute encephalitis -- an inflammation of brain tissue -- is mostly concentrated in eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh, said V.S. Nigam, the state's nodal officer for tackling the disease.
He told CNN that 640 patients had tested positive for the infection, including 30 with Japanese encephalitis, which is spread by mosquitoes.
Acute encephalitis can be spread in various ways, including a bacterial or viral infection; the ingesting of toxic substances; and complications of a disease.
The disease has mostly struck children up to 15 years old, Nigam added.
|
[
"What is an inflammation of brain tissue called?",
"where have these people been killed",
"who many people have been killed",
"Where did the outbreaks occur?",
"what outbreak has killed 130 people",
"What parts of Uttar Pradesh was the outbreak concentrated in?",
"What caused the outbreaks?"
] |
[
"Acute encephalitis",
"northern India",
"130",
"in northern India",
"an encephalitis",
"eastern",
"mosquitoes."
] |
question: What is an inflammation of brain tissue called?, answer: Acute encephalitis | question: where have these people been killed, answer: northern India | question: who many people have been killed, answer: 130 | question: Where did the outbreaks occur?, answer: in northern India | question: what outbreak has killed 130 people, answer: an encephalitis | question: What parts of Uttar Pradesh was the outbreak concentrated in?, answer: eastern | question: What caused the outbreaks?, answer: mosquitoes.
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Expanded testing across India in the past three years shows a 2,000 percent jump in the number of HIV cases among children, the country's health minister announced Wednesday.
An HIV-positive Indian child at a government treatment center. More than 14,000 children get free care.
In November 2006, health authorities counted 2,253 children in India with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, Ghulam Nabi Azad told parliament. The number went up to a "cumulative total" of 52,973 in May this year, he said.
The huge increase in the number of confirmed cases may be due to the expanded testing for the virus. India, home to more than a billion people, currently has 217 facilities for HIV/AIDS treatment and 5,155 counseling and testing centers.
The minister insisted that overall, HIV prevalence had decreased in India from 0.45 percent in 2002 to 0.34 percent in 2007.
At present, 758,698 HIV-positive patients are being treated under the country's AIDS control program, Azad said.
More than 232,908 AIDS patients, including 14,474 children, are receiving free treatment at the designated facilities, he added.
Authorities say mother-to-child transmission is a major source of infection among children.
Last year, 19,986 pregnant women among more than 4 million tested were found to be HIV-positive, said Azad.
Of them, 10,179 received treatment to prevent transmission to their babies.
|
[
"In which country has there been this increase?",
"What may the increase be due to?",
"What is a possible reason for the increase in confirmed cases?",
"What group has had a 2000% increase in HIV?",
"Where was testing done?",
"What jumped 2000 percent?"
] |
[
"India",
"expanded testing for the virus.",
"expanded testing",
"children in India",
"across India",
"HIV cases among children,"
] |
question: In which country has there been this increase?, answer: India | question: What may the increase be due to?, answer: expanded testing for the virus. | question: What is a possible reason for the increase in confirmed cases?, answer: expanded testing | question: What group has had a 2000% increase in HIV?, answer: children in India | question: Where was testing done?, answer: across India | question: What jumped 2000 percent?, answer: HIV cases among children,
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Facing intense government pressure, Indian oil workers agreed to call off a three-day strike and go back to work, the Oil and Petroleum Ministry announced.
Long queues at gas stations have become a common sight across India in recent days.
The workers ended the strike Friday, after the government threatened to suspend, fire or arrest workers who did not return to their jobs.
The impact of the strike had been felt across all major cities in India, including Mumbai and New Delhi, where motorists waited in long lines to purchase fuel. Police had been called in to maintain order at many stations.
Power plants that rely on gas ran out, causing power cuts, and airlines were forced to delay flights.
Some 45,000 workers walked off the job at the government-controlled oil companies Wednesday after the government refused their demands for higher pay.
India's Home Minister P. Chidambaram had called on workers to end the strike immediately, saying it was "placing an intolerable burden on the people."
He had said the army could be called in if the crisis deepened.
Meanwhile, a separate nationwide strike by truck operators entered its sixth day, with some truck operators saying arrested strikers had to be released before talks could take place, the Press Trust of India reported.
Five All India Motor Transport Congress leaders were arrested Friday on charges of disrupting the supply of commodities, the Indo-Asian News Service reported.
"We will not give up our agitation and will not hold any talks with the government until we are released unconditionally," AIMTC Secretary-General S. Venugopal told the news service.
The AIMTC is demanding a reduction in diesel and tire prices, the Indo-Asian News Service reported.
On Saturday, the transport minister, Thiru T.R. Baalu, said the government was "ready to discuss" the truck operators' demands, the news service reported.
However, he warned the government could suspend or revoke workers' permits, according to a summary of his remarks released by the government.
-- CNN's Sara Sidner and Bharati Naik contributed to this report.
|
[
"How many workers walked off the job at govt.-controlled companies Wednesday?",
"Government had refused their demands for what?",
"Workers ended strike after govt. threats to what?",
"Who were protesting?",
"Where was the strike?",
"Whad government had refused their demands",
"What workers ended the strike"
] |
[
"45,000",
"higher pay.",
"suspend, fire or arrest",
"Indian oil workers",
"in India,",
"India's",
"Indian oil"
] |
question: How many workers walked off the job at govt.-controlled companies Wednesday?, answer: 45,000 | question: Government had refused their demands for what?, answer: higher pay. | question: Workers ended strike after govt. threats to what?, answer: suspend, fire or arrest | question: Who were protesting?, answer: Indian oil workers | question: Where was the strike?, answer: in India, | question: Whad government had refused their demands, answer: India's | question: What workers ended the strike, answer: Indian oil
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Flashback to 1984: As a child, I am glued to my family's black-and-white television set for our daily dose of evening entertainment and news on India's national broadcaster.
India holds its first rocket launch from a fishing village in southern India on November 21, 1963.
But this is no ordinary newscast: Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is speaking via videolink with astronaut Rakesh Sharma, who is aboard a space station.
Indian pride soared as Squadron Leader Sharma, an Indian Air Force pilot, became the first in the nation to explore the celestial realm, part of a joint mission with what was then the Soviet Union.
I don't remember what show it was, but it etched India's "astronomical feat" in the minds of those who watched it, including a 10-year-old like me.
But the Indian connection to space was much older than that milestone.
In the country's space calendar, November 21, 1963, is a key date: It marks the first rocket launch from a fishing village in southern India.
Nike-Apache, a two-stage sounding rocket imported from the United States, took off that day from Thumba, a site that eventually became a favorite location for similar experiments by international scientists.
So far, there have been some 2,200 sounding-rocket launches from that facility, according to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center.
But the South Asian nation's space program has been far more expansive -- the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has more than 60 events that it lists as "milestones" since 1962-63, which includes the successful use of polar and geosynchronous satellite launch vehicles. See India's space odyssey in photos »
Fast forward to 2008: The country launches its first unmanned mission to the Moon in what is being seen as the 21st-Century, Asian version of the space race between the United States and the USSR -- but this time the two nations involved are India and China.
In September of that same year, a Chinese astronaut took a spacewalk, his country's first.
A month later, India sent Chandrayaan-1 -- Chandrayaan means "moon craft" in Sanskrit -- on a two-year mission to take high-resolution, three-dimensional images of the lunar surface, especially the permanently-shadowed polar regions.
The craft, carrying payloads from the United States, the European Union and Bulgaria, will search for evidence of water or ice and attempt to identify the chemical composition of certain lunar rocks.
Nonetheless, India maintains competition does not drive its space program.
Vikram Sarabhai, seen as the father of India's space program, made this case for government funding of the program in the 1960s:
"We do not have the fantasy of competing with the economically-advanced nations in the exploration of the Moon or the planets or manned space-flight," Sarabhai said, according to ISRO's Website.
"But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to the real problems of man and society," said Sarabhai, in what the agency described as a "vision" for India's space endeavors. Earlier this year, the Indian government increased the federal budget for space research to around $1 billion from some $700 million, ISRO spokesman S. Satish told CNN, as scientists propose to send astronauts into space by 2015 on solely Indian missions.
ISRO was also studying the feasibility of sending a manned craft to the Moon by 2020, Satish said, adding that plans for unmanned Mars missions in the coming years have not been finalized.
The space agency dropped a TV-sized probe on the Moon last November that it said sent sufficient signals to the mother craft before a crash landing.
But the country's space ambitions are not limited to public research endeavors, Satish said.
"We have just entered the commercial satellite launch market," he said, including what ISRO noted is now the
|
[
"How many events does the Indian space group list?",
"Which asian countries are involved in a space race",
"When does India launch it s first unmanned mission?",
"when did india launch its first rocket",
"When did India make its first rocket launch?",
"When did India launch its first unmanned mission to the moon?",
"when will india launch its first mission to the moon",
"How many milestones did the Indian space group list?"
] |
[
"60",
"India and China.",
"2008:",
"November 21, 1963.",
"November 21, 1963.",
"2008:",
"November 21, 1963.",
"more than 60"
] |
question: How many events does the Indian space group list?, answer: 60 | question: Which asian countries are involved in a space race, answer: India and China. | question: When does India launch it s first unmanned mission?, answer: 2008: | question: when did india launch its first rocket, answer: November 21, 1963. | question: When did India make its first rocket launch?, answer: November 21, 1963. | question: When did India launch its first unmanned mission to the moon?, answer: 2008: | question: when will india launch its first mission to the moon, answer: November 21, 1963. | question: How many milestones did the Indian space group list?, answer: more than 60
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Flight attendant Sheela Joshi is 5 feet, 4 inches and 148 pounds.
Air India has strict weight parameters that all attendants must meet. When they don't, the airline grounds them.
Her employer, Air India, says she is too fat to fly.
Joshi, 50, has been an air hostess -- as they are still called in India -- for the national airline for 26 years. But she's been grounded because the airline has done away with its wiggle room on weight.
Until two years ago, Air India allowed an attendant's weight to vary within 6.6 pounds (3 kilograms) of a specified limit. It has since put in place strict weight parameters that all attendants must meet. When they don't, the airline grounds them without pay until they shed the excess pounds.
The airline says that someone who is Sheila's age, height and weight should weigh 143 pounds (65 kilograms). She misses the mark by 5 pounds.
"It's very demoralizing," Joshi told CNN. "And ... it's quite humiliating."
"Weight is always on my mind," she added. "They can tell you, 'You look overweight. Please go.'"
Joshi and 12 other grounded attendants sued the airline for weight discrimination. Air India fought back, saying the employees knew the job requirements when they signed up and didn't express concern. Watch airline defend its position »
Furthermore, it said, appearance and physical fitness are vital parts of an attendant's job.
"(A) safety concern is also there," said Air India's lawyer, Rupinder Singh Suri. "Because it's a high action job. And in case of emergencies, the person has to accelerate and move at a very, very fast pace."
Weight used to be a consideration for airlines in the United States, as well. Then, a series of weight-discrimination lawsuits forced carriers to do away with it.
Now "most airlines want candidates with weight proportionate to height," according to the U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Outlook Handbook.
In the India case, the airline hasn't deemed any of the attendants medically unfit -- just over the weight limit.
Their attorney contends the move is actually about getting rid of older, well-compensated women in favor of younger ones who will do the job for less money.
"They have spent their entire life working for Indian airlines," said lawyer Arvind Sharma. "They were small girls when they came in now. They are 45-plus and they feel bad."
The Delhi High Court recently sided with Air India in the case. Joshi's attorney has vowed to appeal to the Supreme Court.
In the meantime, Joshi and some of her colleagues say they aren't taking any chances.
They are going on diets to get airborne again.
|
[
"what is weight limit in india",
"What forced U.S. carriers to do away with weight limits?",
"Until when did Air India allow an attendant's weight to vary within 6.6 pounds?",
"In what country arethe attendants not deemed medically unfit -- just over the weight limit?"
] |
[
"143 pounds",
"weight-discrimination lawsuits",
"two years ago,",
"India"
] |
question: what is weight limit in india, answer: 143 pounds | question: What forced U.S. carriers to do away with weight limits?, answer: weight-discrimination lawsuits | question: Until when did Air India allow an attendant's weight to vary within 6.6 pounds?, answer: two years ago, | question: In what country arethe attendants not deemed medically unfit -- just over the weight limit?, answer: India
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Hundreds of Indian army troops were using helicopters and boats Wednesday to deliver supplies and rescue villagers stranded by the worst flooding in decades, after the Kosi River breached an embankment in Nepal to the north.
The death toll in the hard-to-reach Bihar state in northeastern India has been difficult to determine. Bihar emergency management official K.K. Agarwal confirmed 10 deaths to CNN on Wednesday, but the news agency Press Trust of India (PTI) reported 55.
Phone lines and electricity are out in the flooded areas.
In the Supaul district city of Birpur, Mohd Rauffudin's hopes were fading. He told IBN -- a CNN partner station in India -- that while he was trying to stay afloat, he lost contact with his wife and children, as well as his nine brothers and his parents.
"I wish the help had reached (us) on time. That way at least my children could have been safe," he said.
A woman who called herself Ruby told IBN her baby has been sick for four days, she can't reach medical help and she has lost track of her family.
"My child is so ill. I cannot do a thing about it. I wonder what I did wrong that my child must suffer," the mother said.
The flooding began when the river burst through an embankment in Nepal more than a week ago, swallowing villages and destroying about 225,000 homes, officials and UNICEF India said.
Water flowed so forcefully from the breach that the river changed course, making a new channel about 75 miles (120km) east of its river bed, flooding areas unaccustomed to water that high. Watch survivors find safety on roofs »
Agarwal said the disaster affected about 2 million people and 725 villages in Bihar, India's poorest state. Ninety-five relief shelters had been set up, 44 health-care camps and 22 shelters for animals, he said.
Army spokesman Lt. Col. A. K. Mathur said 400 troops were involved in rescue operations, and the military had dispatched at least 20 rescue boats. Three army helicopters were dropping thousands of food packets, he said.
PTI reported earlier in the day that bad weather had prevented Indian air force choppers from conducting relief drops in the worst-hit districts of Bihar: Supaul, Saharsa, Araria and Madhepura.
Officials told CNN it was the worst flooding in Bihar in 80 years. Watch more on people stranded »
The Kosi is known to Indians as the "River of Sorrow" because of its flooding during the monsoon season, which lasts from June to September. The river flows into the Hindu-revered Ganges River.
Video has shown residents huddled atop low-rise buildings, standing in waist-high water in the streets and trying to escape in boats. The flooding has submerged roads and railway tracks, and cut off electricity.
|
[
"what was the tragedy",
"how many people died",
"In what country did this disaster take place?",
"what supplies are delivered",
"How many homes were reported destroyed by flooding?",
"What did the troops use to deliver supplies?",
"how many shelters were set up?",
"how many homes were destroyed?"
] |
[
"worst flooding in decades,",
"55.",
"India",
"food packets,",
"225,000",
"helicopters and boats",
"22",
"225,000"
] |
question: what was the tragedy, answer: worst flooding in decades, | question: how many people died, answer: 55. | question: In what country did this disaster take place?, answer: India | question: what supplies are delivered, answer: food packets, | question: How many homes were reported destroyed by flooding?, answer: 225,000 | question: What did the troops use to deliver supplies?, answer: helicopters and boats | question: how many shelters were set up?, answer: 22 | question: how many homes were destroyed?, answer: 225,000
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- India Friday announced it has banned import of Chinese toys for six months.
The move was announced by India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade of the Commerce Ministry.
The ministry notification gave no reason for the six-month ban effective immediately.
In 2007, there were recalls in the United States of Chinese-made toys over concerns of excessive amount of lead paint.
Also that year, China suspended export of a bead toy that was contaminated with a "date rape" drug, Chinese media reported. Some children who swallowed the beads vomited and lost consciousness.
|
[
"What did India say?",
"What was the reason",
"What year were the recalls on Chinese products?",
"Which country banned imported toys from China?",
"How long was the ban for?",
"When did this happen?"
] |
[
"it has banned import of Chinese toys for six months.",
"concerns of excessive amount of lead paint.",
"2007,",
"India",
"six months.",
"2007,"
] |
question: What did India say?, answer: it has banned import of Chinese toys for six months. | question: What was the reason, answer: concerns of excessive amount of lead paint. | question: What year were the recalls on Chinese products?, answer: 2007, | question: Which country banned imported toys from China?, answer: India | question: How long was the ban for?, answer: six months. | question: When did this happen?, answer: 2007,
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- India launched its first lunar mission on Wednesday, with hopes of achieving high-resolution images of the moon's topography and diving into the international space race.
The spacecraft carrying India's first lunar probe, Chandrayaan-1, lifts off in Sriharikota on Wednesday.
The unmanned lunar orbiter Chandrayaan-1, or "moon craft" in ancient Sanskrit, came at 6:20 a.m. Wednesday (8:50 p.m. ET) from the Sriharikota space center in southern India.
The two-year mission seeks high-resolution imaging of the moon's surface, especially the permanently shadowed polar regions, according to the Indian Space Research Organization. It will also search for evidence of water or ice and attempt to identify the chemical breakdown of certain lunar rocks, the group said.
Despite the numerous missions to the moon over the past 50 years, "we really don't have a good map of the moon," said Miles O'Brien, CNN chief technology and environment correspondent. "The goal is to come up with a very intricate, three-dimensional map of the moon."
The Chandrayaan-1 is carrying payloads from the United States, European Union countries Germany, Britain, Sweden and Bulgaria, and India plans to share the data from the mission with other programs, including NASA. Watch the launch of India's first lunar mission »
ISRO said on its Web site that the mission would lay the groundwork for future lunar missions and "probe the physical characteristics of the lunar surface in greater depth than previous missions by other nations."
"It will also give us a deeper understanding about the planet Earth itself or its origins," a statement on the Web site said. "Earlier missions did not come out with a full understanding of the moon and that is the reason scientists are still interested. This will lay the foundation for bigger missions and also open up new possibilities of international networking and support for planetary programs."
Until now, India's space launches have been more practical, with weather warning satellites and communiations systems, The Associated Press cited former NASA associated administrator Scott Pace as saying.
To date, only the U.S. Russia, the European Space Agency, Japan and China have sent missions to the moon, according to AP.
Critics of the mission have questioned its $80 million price tag, saying the money should have been spent by the government to improve education and fight poverty.
But, "there are scientists that would argue that there are plenty of things we don't know about the moon ... and India might have the know-how" to find answers, said CNN's Sara Sidner in New Delhi.
The United States and the Soviet Union dominated the field of lunar exploration from the late 1950s. The United States is preparing for its own mission slated for next spring -- the first U.S. lunar mission in more than a decade, according to NASA.
Soviet spacecraft were the first to fly by, land on and orbit the moon. Luna 1, launched on January 2, 1959, and sped by the moon two days later.
Luna 2 was launched on an impact mission on September 12, 1959, striking the surface two days later. Luna 9 launched on January 31, 1966, becoming the first craft to successfully land on the moon and send back data, touching down on the surface on January 31, 1966, and transmitting until February 3, 1967, when its batteries ran out.
Luna 10 was launched March 31, 1966, entered lunar orbit on April 3, and operated for 56 days.
But the United States' Apollo missions were the first manned missions to reach the moon, culminating with six missions that set down on the surface. The first, Apollo 11, left earth on July 16, 1969, and landed astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin on the lunar surface on July 20 while command module pilot Michael Collins orbited above. The astronauts returned safely to earth on July 24.
Most recently India's fellow Asian nations, China and Japan, put lunar orbiters in place. Japan launched the Kaguya orbiter in October 2007, followed by China
|
[
"What follows Japan and China's missions to the moon?",
"What does Chandrayaan mean in Sanskrit?",
"What does the two-year mission seek?",
"What is carrying payloads",
"Chandrayaan-1 follows which countries missions to the mooon?",
"How long is the mission?",
"One of the countries Chandrayaan-1 is carrying payloads from?",
"What does Chandrayaan mean?"
] |
[
"India",
"\"moon craft\"",
"high-resolution imaging of the moon's surface,",
"The Chandrayaan-1",
"China and Japan,",
"two-year",
"United States,",
"\"moon craft\""
] |
question: What follows Japan and China's missions to the moon?, answer: India | question: What does Chandrayaan mean in Sanskrit?, answer: "moon craft" | question: What does the two-year mission seek?, answer: high-resolution imaging of the moon's surface, | question: What is carrying payloads, answer: The Chandrayaan-1 | question: Chandrayaan-1 follows which countries missions to the mooon?, answer: China and Japan, | question: How long is the mission?, answer: two-year | question: One of the countries Chandrayaan-1 is carrying payloads from?, answer: United States, | question: What does Chandrayaan mean?, answer: "moon craft"
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- India on Wednesday urged Sri Lanka's Tamil rebels to "release" civilians, who it said numbered about 70,000 in Sri Lanka's war zone.
A Sri Lankan soldier poses in front of a Tamil Tigers emblem in the rebel group's former military headquarters.
India is ready to help evacuate them, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Indian parliament.
"Estimates on the number of civilians trapped vary, but 70,000 or so are estimated to be there now. The LTTE were reportedly using them as human shields," he said, referring to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, also known as the Tamil Tigers.
"As the conflict enters what may be the final phase of military operations, the LTTE would best serve the interest of the Tamils by immediately releasing all civilians and laying down arms," Mukherjee added.
He noted that some civilians had either been caught in cross-fire or "stopped and even killed" by Tamil rebels as they tried to escape.
Government troops and the Tamil Tigers are locked in a battle over the rebels' remaining territory in northern Sri Lanka's Vanni region.
The rebels have been fighting for an independent homeland for the country's ethnic Tamil minority since 1983.
Tens of thousands of people have fled the region as government forces have advanced and rebels have been pushed into a smaller and smaller patch of land.
CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh contributed to this report.
|
[
"where was the conflict",
"Who has been fighting for independent homeland since 1983?",
"What is the estimate of people trapped in the region by conflict?",
"What is India urging the Tamil Tiger rebels to do?",
"when Tamil Tigers have been fighting for independent?"
] |
[
"Sri Lanka's war zone.",
"The rebels",
"70,000",
"\"release\" civilians,",
"since 1983."
] |
question: where was the conflict, answer: Sri Lanka's war zone. | question: Who has been fighting for independent homeland since 1983?, answer: The rebels | question: What is the estimate of people trapped in the region by conflict?, answer: 70,000 | question: What is India urging the Tamil Tiger rebels to do?, answer: "release" civilians, | question: when Tamil Tigers have been fighting for independent?, answer: since 1983.
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- India on Wednesday urged Sri Lanka's Tamil rebels to "release" civilians, who it said numbered about 70,000 in Sri Lanka's war zone.
A Sri Lankan soldier poses in front of a Tamil Tigers emblem in the rebel group's former military headquarters.
India is ready to help evacuate them, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Indian parliament.
"Estimates on the number of civilians trapped vary, but 70,000 or so are estimated to be there now. The LTTE were reportedly using them as human shields," he said, referring to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, also known as the Tamil Tigers.
"As the conflict enters what may be the final phase of military operations, the LTTE would best serve the interest of the Tamils by immediately releasing all civilians and laying down arms," Mukherjee added.
He noted that some civilians had either been caught in cross-fire or "stopped and even killed" by Tamil rebels as they tried to escape.
Government troops and the Tamil Tigers are locked in a battle over the rebels' remaining territory in northern Sri Lanka's Vanni region.
The rebels have been fighting for an independent homeland for the country's ethnic Tamil minority since 1983.
Tens of thousands of people have fled the region as government forces have advanced and rebels have been pushed into a smaller and smaller patch of land.
CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh contributed to this report.
|
[
"What did India estimate?",
"What do the Tamil Tigers want?",
"What is India urging Tamil Tiger rebels to do?",
"Number India estimates are trapped in the region by the conflict?",
"How many are estimated to be trapped?",
"What does India urge?",
"What is happening to 70,000 people?",
"Who did India urge to allow civilians to leave?",
"What other country is communicating with the Tamil Tigers?",
"Who locked in battle?"
] |
[
"\"Estimates on the number of civilians trapped vary, but 70,000 or so are estimated to be there now.",
"an independent homeland for the country's ethnic",
"\"release\" civilians,",
"70,000",
"vary, but 70,000 or so are",
"urged Sri Lanka's Tamil rebels to \"release\" civilians,",
"trapped",
"Sri Lanka's Tamil rebels",
"India",
"Government troops and the"
] |
question: What did India estimate?, answer: "Estimates on the number of civilians trapped vary, but 70,000 or so are estimated to be there now. | question: What do the Tamil Tigers want?, answer: an independent homeland for the country's ethnic | question: What is India urging Tamil Tiger rebels to do?, answer: "release" civilians, | question: Number India estimates are trapped in the region by the conflict?, answer: 70,000 | question: How many are estimated to be trapped?, answer: vary, but 70,000 or so are | question: What does India urge?, answer: urged Sri Lanka's Tamil rebels to "release" civilians, | question: What is happening to 70,000 people?, answer: trapped | question: Who did India urge to allow civilians to leave?, answer: Sri Lanka's Tamil rebels | question: What other country is communicating with the Tamil Tigers?, answer: India | question: Who locked in battle?, answer: Government troops and the
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- India's child-rights watchdog has sought a report from police investigating allegations by a tabloid that the father of a "Slumdog Millionaire" child star tried to sell her to an undercover reporter, the watchdog's leader told CNN.
Rubina Ali has backed her father over newspaper allegations he offered her to an undercover reporter.
"We have sought a report from them and will take a decision after seeing it," said Shantha Sinha, who heads the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.
Meanwhile, authorities in Mumbai have recorded the statements of Rafiq Qureshi; his "Slumdog" daughter, Rubina Ali; and his former wife, Khurshida Begum, senior police inspector Prakash Salunke told CNN.
Qureshi has denied allegations made in Britain's News of the World that he tried to sell 9-year-old Rubina for £200,000 ($290,000), Salunke said.
In her statement, the child-actor favored her father, according to the police.
Qureshi's former wife, whom he divorced several years ago, endorsed the allegations leveled against him by the British newspaper.
Police are investigating, Salunke said.
"Slumdog Millionaire" won eight Oscars this year, including best picture.
Director Danny Boyle's rags-to-riches movie tells the story of a tea-boy at a Mumbai call center who earns a spot in the Indian version of the quiz show "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?" He raises the suspicion of the show's host when, despite the lack of a formal education, he begins to answer the increasingly difficult questions with ease.
The movie is set largely among the poverty-stricken districts of Mumbai, which is home to Rubina and other "Slumdog" child stars in real life.
|
[
"What allegations is the father denying?",
"What are Indian police investigating?",
"What is the father of Rubina Ali being accused of?"
] |
[
"that he tried to sell 9-year-old Rubina for £200,000 ($290,000),",
"allegations by a tabloid",
"tried to sell her to an undercover reporter,"
] |
question: What allegations is the father denying?, answer: that he tried to sell 9-year-old Rubina for £200,000 ($290,000), | question: What are Indian police investigating?, answer: allegations by a tabloid | question: What is the father of Rubina Ali being accused of?, answer: tried to sell her to an undercover reporter,
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- India's financial capital of Mumbai was put on a high-tide alert with officials expecting a water rise of up to 197 inches (5 meters).
High tides lash the coast near the Gateway of India in Mumbai on Thursday.
Sea tides are expected to rise 5 meters Friday, 4.9 meters Saturday and 4.7 meters Sunday, according to a bulletin by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai.
"We have installed water pumps along the coast and advise the people to avoid beaches," said Jagtab, an official at the disaster management control room.
Floodgates may also be closed in case the threat mounts, he added.
High tides are also forecast from August 19 to 23.
At least 467 people have died in floods in India from this season's monsoon rains, federal authorities said in their latest report.
Flooding has affected about 1.7 million people in parts of India, according to the disaster management division of the federal home ministry.
The country's main weather office has warned of heavy rains in western and central parts of India.
|
[
"When we're high tides also forecast?",
"what is the name of india's financial capital",
"Up to what did officials expect a water rise of?",
"What has been put on high-tide alert?",
"will sea tides also rise by a large amount",
"To how high were sea tides expected to rise?",
"to what extent will the water rise be",
"What do the officials expect to happen with the water?",
"What is expected of the sea tides?"
] |
[
"from August 19 to 23.",
"Mumbai",
"197 inches (5 meters).",
"India's financial capital of Mumbai",
"are expected to",
"5 meters Friday, 4.9 meters Saturday and 4.7 meters Sunday,",
"197 inches (5 meters).",
"rise of up",
"to rise 5 meters Friday, 4.9 meters Saturday and 4.7 meters Sunday,"
] |
question: When we're high tides also forecast?, answer: from August 19 to 23. | question: what is the name of india's financial capital, answer: Mumbai | question: Up to what did officials expect a water rise of?, answer: 197 inches (5 meters). | question: What has been put on high-tide alert?, answer: India's financial capital of Mumbai | question: will sea tides also rise by a large amount, answer: are expected to | question: To how high were sea tides expected to rise?, answer: 5 meters Friday, 4.9 meters Saturday and 4.7 meters Sunday, | question: to what extent will the water rise be, answer: 197 inches (5 meters). | question: What do the officials expect to happen with the water?, answer: rise of up | question: What is expected of the sea tides?, answer: to rise 5 meters Friday, 4.9 meters Saturday and 4.7 meters Sunday,
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- India's lower house of parliament elected a woman as its speaker Wednesday, a first in the male-dominated chamber's history.
Meira Kumar was nominated by the ruling Congress party.
Meira Kumar is also a member of the "untouchable" Dalit class, the lowest rung in the centuries-old caste system in the country.
The speaker conducts the proceedings of the house. She will preside over 543 elected members, of which 58 are women.
Kumar, 64, was elected to the position unopposed. She was nominated by the ruling Congress party but also had the backing of the alliance led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.
Women play a prominent role in the politics of India, the world's largest democracy. The South Asian country of 1.1 billion people has a female president, Pratibha Devisingh Patil.
And four of the country's political parties, including the Congress Party, are led by women.
Hindus believe there are five main groups of people. The last group is the Dalits. They're considered impure and are often forced to work in menial jobs. They drink from separate wells and use different entry ways to come and go from buildings.
Dalits number about 250 million in India, about 25 percent of the population, according to the Colorado, U.S.-based Dalit Freedom Network.
India's constitution outlaws caste-based discrimination, and barriers have broken down in large cities. Prejudice, however, persists in some rural areas of the country.
CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh contributed to this report.
|
[
"How many members have Dalit Class?",
"What is the lowest rung?",
"How many elected members are women?",
"How many elected members?",
"What will she preside over?",
"What is Kumar's age?",
"Meira Kumar is a member of what class?",
"what is her age",
"Who is a member of the the Dalit class",
"Meira is a member of what?",
"What amount of members will she preside over?",
"What age is Meira Kumar?",
"Mrs. Kumar will preside over how many members?",
"What age is Mrs. Kumar?"
] |
[
"250 million in India, about 25 percent",
"\"untouchable\" Dalit class,",
"58",
"543",
"543 elected members, of which 58 are women.",
"64,",
"Dalit",
"64,",
"Meira Kumar",
"\"untouchable\" Dalit class,",
"543 elected",
"64,",
"543",
"64,"
] |
question: How many members have Dalit Class?, answer: 250 million in India, about 25 percent | question: What is the lowest rung?, answer: "untouchable" Dalit class, | question: How many elected members are women?, answer: 58 | question: How many elected members?, answer: 543 | question: What will she preside over?, answer: 543 elected members, of which 58 are women. | question: What is Kumar's age?, answer: 64, | question: Meira Kumar is a member of what class?, answer: Dalit | question: what is her age, answer: 64, | question: Who is a member of the the Dalit class, answer: Meira Kumar | question: Meira is a member of what?, answer: "untouchable" Dalit class, | question: What amount of members will she preside over?, answer: 543 elected | question: What age is Meira Kumar?, answer: 64, | question: Mrs. Kumar will preside over how many members?, answer: 543 | question: What age is Mrs. Kumar?, answer: 64,
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Indian authorities Tuesday filed a police complaint against Continental Airlines for frisking a former president of the country as he was to travel to New York in April.
Former president APJ Abdul Kalam was exempt from body checks, officials said.
Civil aviation officials in New Delhi accused Continental of gross violation of Indian security rules that prohibit pre-embarkation body checks on certain dignitaries like a former president.
The police complaint followed a probe that had established that APJ Abdul Kalam was subject to frisking before he boarded a flight from New Delhi to New York on April 21, the Indian civil aviation ministry said in a statement.
The ministry also alleged the airline did not respond to its show-cause notice in connection with Kalam's body checks.
In its police complaint, Indian civil aviation authorities accused the airline staff of "willful violation" of their directions on exemptions from pre-embarkation frisking.
Continental, however, insisted it followed standard American air-safety procedures.
"TSA (Transportation Security Administration) requirements impose a final security check in the aerobridge just before boarding the aircraft.
"This procedure is followed by all carriers flying to the U.S. from most of the countries in the world and there is no exemption to this rule," it said in a statement.
|
[
"What is the name of the former Indian president?",
"what do officials say?",
"who files complaint against Continental?",
"Who was exempt from body checks?",
"Which air safety procedures does Continental insist it followed?",
"who followed standard U.S. air-safety procedures?",
"What did Indian authorities do?",
"Who filed a complaint against Continental?",
"What company has a complaint filed against it?",
"What is the name of the former president?",
"who does not follow the rules",
"What was the complaint for?",
"Who is Abdul Kalam?"
] |
[
"APJ Abdul Kalam",
"Former president APJ Abdul Kalam was exempt from body checks,",
"Indian authorities",
"APJ Abdul Kalam",
"American air-safety",
"Continental,",
"filed a police complaint against Continental Airlines",
"Indian authorities",
"Continental Airlines",
"APJ Abdul Kalam",
"Continental",
"frisking a former president",
"Former president APJ"
] |
question: What is the name of the former Indian president?, answer: APJ Abdul Kalam | question: what do officials say?, answer: Former president APJ Abdul Kalam was exempt from body checks, | question: who files complaint against Continental?, answer: Indian authorities | question: Who was exempt from body checks?, answer: APJ Abdul Kalam | question: Which air safety procedures does Continental insist it followed?, answer: American air-safety | question: who followed standard U.S. air-safety procedures?, answer: Continental, | question: What did Indian authorities do?, answer: filed a police complaint against Continental Airlines | question: Who filed a complaint against Continental?, answer: Indian authorities | question: What company has a complaint filed against it?, answer: Continental Airlines | question: What is the name of the former president?, answer: APJ Abdul Kalam | question: who does not follow the rules, answer: Continental | question: What was the complaint for?, answer: frisking a former president | question: Who is Abdul Kalam?, answer: Former president APJ
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Indian police swiftly handled a "security scare" at New Delhi's major airport early Friday amid heightened concern in the wake of last week's terror attack in which gunmen killed 179 people in Mumbai.
An Indian soldier joins the beefed up security detail at New Delhi airport.
New Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said police responded to reports of gunfire at Indira Gandhi International Airport but found no casualties or damage. Bhagat said there was "no terror threat."
"And there's no cause of panic," he added.
Uday Banerjee, the head of India's Central Industrial Security Force, told reporters at the airport that something sounding like gunshots was heard, but no one saw anything and no bullet casings were found.
Indian authorities stepped up security at the nation's airports on Thursday after receiving intelligence reports that terrorists might be planning an air attack.
At Indira Gandhi, four armed police stood guard at each entrance, and people waiting for arriving passengers were not allowed inside. Watch what triggered the security scare there »
"There have been intelligence inputs about some terrorist activity, and therefore security has been tightened (at airports)," civil aviation spokesperson Moushmi Chakraborty told CNN. Watch heightened anxiety after the attacks »
Police beefed up security at all airports including in the capital New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore, Chakraborty said.
A spokesman for the Indian Navy, Cmdr. Nirad Sinha, also confirmed to CNN that security officials had received warnings about an airborne attack. Watch more on increase in security »
The Press Trust of India, a nonprofit newspaper cooperative, said that reports had suggested that terrorists could have sneaked into the country to carry out strikes on the anniversary of the Babri mosque demolition. The mosque -- one of the largest in the Uttar Pradesh state -- was destroyed on December 6, 1992, by Hindu nationalists who believe it was built on the site of an existing temple.
On Wednesday India's defense minister met with the chiefs of the army, air force and navy and discussed what the ministry in a news statement called "possible terror threats from air."
The officials also discussed the country's coastal security plans and how to tighten security along the military line of control dividing the disputed region of Kashmir between India and Pakistan to "prevent infiltration of terrorists," the statement said.
India ranks among the countries where terrorism is most common, according to the U.S. State Department.
CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh and Sara Sidner contributed to this report.
|
[
"Where was security raised?",
"When is the possible strike supposed to occur?",
"Who discussed the country's security plans?",
"Who discussed country's security plans?",
"Who reported that there might be an attack on Dec 6?",
"What caused security to be raised?",
"Who said that there was no cause for panic?",
"When do reports say there could be a strike?"
] |
[
"New Delhi airport.",
"the anniversary of the Babri mosque demolition.",
"India's defense minister met with the chiefs of the army, air force and navy and",
"India's defense minister",
"Press Trust of India,",
"last week's terror attack in which gunmen killed 179 people in Mumbai.",
"New Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat",
"on the anniversary of the Babri mosque demolition."
] |
question: Where was security raised?, answer: New Delhi airport. | question: When is the possible strike supposed to occur?, answer: the anniversary of the Babri mosque demolition. | question: Who discussed the country's security plans?, answer: India's defense minister met with the chiefs of the army, air force and navy and | question: Who discussed country's security plans?, answer: India's defense minister | question: Who reported that there might be an attack on Dec 6?, answer: Press Trust of India, | question: What caused security to be raised?, answer: last week's terror attack in which gunmen killed 179 people in Mumbai. | question: Who said that there was no cause for panic?, answer: New Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat | question: When do reports say there could be a strike?, answer: on the anniversary of the Babri mosque demolition.
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Indian police swiftly handled a "security scare" at New Delhi's major airport early Friday amid heightened concern in the wake of last week's terror attack in which gunmen killed 179 people in Mumbai.
An Indian soldier joins the beefed up security detail at New Delhi airport.
New Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said police responded to reports of gunfire at Indira Gandhi International Airport but found no casualties or damage. Bhagat said there was "no terror threat."
"And there's no cause of panic," he added.
Uday Banerjee, the head of India's Central Industrial Security Force, told reporters at the airport that something sounding like gunshots was heard, but no one saw anything and no bullet casings were found.
Indian authorities stepped up security at the nation's airports on Thursday after receiving intelligence reports that terrorists might be planning an air attack.
At Indira Gandhi, four armed police stood guard at each entrance, and people waiting for arriving passengers were not allowed inside. Watch what triggered the security scare there »
"There have been intelligence inputs about some terrorist activity, and therefore security has been tightened (at airports)," civil aviation spokesperson Moushmi Chakraborty told CNN. Watch heightened anxiety after the attacks »
Police beefed up security at all airports including in the capital New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore, Chakraborty said.
A spokesman for the Indian Navy, Cmdr. Nirad Sinha, also confirmed to CNN that security officials had received warnings about an airborne attack. Watch more on increase in security »
The Press Trust of India, a nonprofit newspaper cooperative, said that reports had suggested that terrorists could have sneaked into the country to carry out strikes on the anniversary of the Babri mosque demolition. The mosque -- one of the largest in the Uttar Pradesh state -- was destroyed on December 6, 1992, by Hindu nationalists who believe it was built on the site of an existing temple.
On Wednesday India's defense minister met with the chiefs of the army, air force and navy and discussed what the ministry in a news statement called "possible terror threats from air."
The officials also discussed the country's coastal security plans and how to tighten security along the military line of control dividing the disputed region of Kashmir between India and Pakistan to "prevent infiltration of terrorists," the statement said.
India ranks among the countries where terrorism is most common, according to the U.S. State Department.
CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh and Sara Sidner contributed to this report.
|
[
"Who discussed the country's security plans?",
"Where was security raised?",
"India's top military officials discuss what?",
"Who said that there was no cause of panic?",
"Why was security raised?",
"What might happen on December 6?",
"Where was security raised in India?"
] |
[
"India's defense minister",
"New Delhi airport.",
"\"possible terror threats from air.\"",
"Rajan Bhagat",
"terrorists might be planning an air attack.",
"terrorists could have sneaked into the country to carry out strikes",
"New Delhi airport."
] |
question: Who discussed the country's security plans?, answer: India's defense minister | question: Where was security raised?, answer: New Delhi airport. | question: India's top military officials discuss what?, answer: "possible terror threats from air." | question: Who said that there was no cause of panic?, answer: Rajan Bhagat | question: Why was security raised?, answer: terrorists might be planning an air attack. | question: What might happen on December 6?, answer: terrorists could have sneaked into the country to carry out strikes | question: Where was security raised in India?, answer: New Delhi airport.
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Indian tourism authorities will be holding English classes for auto-rickshaw drivers in New Delhi as the city prepares to host the Commonwealth Games in 2010.
Auto-rickshaw drivers are being taught English ahead of the Commenwealth Games.
More than 40,000 natural gas-fueled auto-rickshaws, or motorized three-wheeled taxis, run on the Indian capital's dilapidated roads, according to the city government statistics.
The city is expected to host around 100,000 tourists during the Commonwealth Games scheduled from October 3-14 in 2010.
About 9,000 athletes and officials of 52 Commonwealth countries are likely to participate.
Some 8,000 auto-rickshaw drivers will be enrolled in the training program that will involve classes in yoga, life skills, first aid, spoken English and psychometric tests, federal Tourism Secretary Sujit Banerjee announced Tuesday.
Each trainee will be paid Rs 200, or about $4, daily for attending the program spread over 200 sessions for a year.
Indian auto-rickshaw drivers have often been accused of overcharging, refusing short trips and misbehavior.
Traffic authorities have in the past opened a range of avenues for passengers to lodge their complaints -- such as on help lines, via text messages or simply calling a telephone number printed on the three-wheeled cabs.
"The India image that we strive to convey to a foreign tourist depends, to a large degree, on how good the taxi/auto-rickshaw (driver) that he or she meets is in his demeanor and conduct," Banerjee remarked.
|
[
"What is the course of study for the 8,000 auto-rickshaw drivers who will be enrolled in the training program?",
"How many auto-rickshaw drivers will be enrolled in the training program?",
"In what city will the Commonwealth Games be expected to host 100,000 tourists?",
"What is going to be at the city?",
"What is the number of tourists expected during the Commonwealth Games?",
"How many tourists is the city expected to host during the commonwealth games?",
"On what date will more than 40,000 auto-rickshaws ply the roads of the Indian capital?",
"What is the number of drivers being enrolled in the training program?",
"How many auto-rickshaws ply roads of indian captial?",
"How many rickshaws ply the roads of Indian capital?",
"How many tourists are expected during the Commonwealth Games?",
"How many rickshaw drivers will be enrolled in the training program?",
"What is the capital of India?",
"How many rickshaw drivers will be enrolled in training?",
"Where will auto-rickshaws ply roads?",
"When are the Commonwealth games?",
"How many tourists are expected for Commonwealth Games?"
] |
[
"yoga, life skills, first aid, spoken English and psychometric tests,",
"Some 8,000",
"New Delhi",
"Commonwealth Games in 2010.",
"100,000",
"around 100,000",
"October 3-14 in 2010.",
"8,000",
"40,000",
"More than 40,000",
"100,000",
"8,000",
"New Delhi",
"8,000",
"New Delhi",
"2010.",
"100,000"
] |
question: What is the course of study for the 8,000 auto-rickshaw drivers who will be enrolled in the training program?, answer: yoga, life skills, first aid, spoken English and psychometric tests, | question: How many auto-rickshaw drivers will be enrolled in the training program?, answer: Some 8,000 | question: In what city will the Commonwealth Games be expected to host 100,000 tourists?, answer: New Delhi | question: What is going to be at the city?, answer: Commonwealth Games in 2010. | question: What is the number of tourists expected during the Commonwealth Games?, answer: 100,000 | question: How many tourists is the city expected to host during the commonwealth games?, answer: around 100,000 | question: On what date will more than 40,000 auto-rickshaws ply the roads of the Indian capital?, answer: October 3-14 in 2010. | question: What is the number of drivers being enrolled in the training program?, answer: 8,000 | question: How many auto-rickshaws ply roads of indian captial?, answer: 40,000 | question: How many rickshaws ply the roads of Indian capital?, answer: More than 40,000 | question: How many tourists are expected during the Commonwealth Games?, answer: 100,000 | question: How many rickshaw drivers will be enrolled in the training program?, answer: 8,000 | question: What is the capital of India?, answer: New Delhi | question: How many rickshaw drivers will be enrolled in training?, answer: 8,000 | question: Where will auto-rickshaws ply roads?, answer: New Delhi | question: When are the Commonwealth games?, answer: 2010. | question: How many tourists are expected for Commonwealth Games?, answer: 100,000
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- More than a dozen trucks loaded with fruits, spices and other goods Tuesday crossed the line dividing Kashmir as India and Pakistan opened a symbolic trade route in the disputed region for the first time in more than 60 years.
Kashmiris watch as Indian trucks cross into the border town of Chakothi in Pakistani-administered Kashmir.
To cheers and band music, the first trucks rumbled from the Pakistani side across a white bridge to a brightly decorated trade center festooned . Apple-laden Indian trucks heading the other way were also warmly welcomed.
It is hoped the move will ease tensions in the troubled Himalayan region, which has been a conflict flashpoint between nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan who both lay claims to the territory.
"Today, we have regained our lost market," said Ghulam Rasool Bhat, president of the Kashmir fruit growers' association. Watch more about the historic day »
"We are sending the sweet Kashmir apple as the first consignment. This is sure to sweeten the relation between the two neighbors. The beginning of the trade between the two Kashmirs will further improve the relations and lead to a peaceful resolution of the bitter problem," he said.
The trucks were subjected to thorough security checks before they crossed the bridge, one of the few crossing points in the heavily militarized 742-kilometer (460-mile) Line of Control, the de facto frontier that divides the region.
Kashmir has been a major source of dispute between India, and Pakistan since the two countries were partitioned at the end of British rule in 1947. Muslim Kashmiris sided with Pakistan to the north, while the Hindu south joined India.
For the past 18 years, Kashmir has been wracked by a bloody separatist campaign. Authorities say up to 43,000 people have died, but rights groups and non-governmental organizations put the death toll at twice that.
Violence had dropped off since the countries began a peace process in 2004, but it surged after the state government in Indian-controlled Kashmir announced plans in June to donate land for a Hindu shrine.
Muslim protests following the decision prompted a government U-turn that triggered Hindu demonstrations calling for it to be restored. Subsequent violence left 40 dead and hundreds wounded.
It is hoped Tuesday's route opening will bolster the peace agreement and combat lingering mistrust between India and Pakistan. A bilateral cease-fire has been holding in the region for more than four years.
A bus service connecting the divided Kashmir began amid much fanfare in 2005 but struggled under the weight of elaborate security checks and stifling bureaucracy.
"This is a great emotional moment, as it brings to mind my grandfather, who used to drive lorries on this road," said Muzhar Hussain Naqvi, who drove the leading Pakistani truck.
CNN's Sara Sidner and Mukhtar Ahmad contributed to this report
|
[
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"Kashmir has been a source of dispute between which countries?",
"The trade route was the first in how many decades?",
"What is a source of dispute between India and Pakistan?",
"How long has it been since there's been a trade route between the two sides?",
"What is the name of the strip of land where there is a heavy military presence?",
"What is the strip of occupied land known as?",
"Who signed the 2004 peace accord?",
"What is happening for the first time in six decades?",
"What is the number of decades since the trade route was open?",
"When did the dispute begin?",
"How long has Kashmir been a source of bitter dispute?",
"Trade route between the two sides the first in how many decades?",
"How long has Kashmir been a point of dispute?",
"What is the strip of land known as?",
"What nations are in conflict over Kashmir?",
"When was the peace accord between the South Asian rivals?",
"What area is occupied by a strong military presence?",
"What is the trade meant to bolster?",
"What is a source of a bitter dispute?"
] |
[
"Kashmir",
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"Kashmir",
"60 years.",
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"60 years.",
"end of British rule in 1947.",
"more than 60 years.",
"more than 60 years.",
"60 years.",
"Kashmir",
"Pakistan",
"2004,",
"Line of Control,",
"the peace agreement",
"Kashmir"
] |
question: What is the name of the source of a bitter dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947?, answer: Kashmir | question: Kashmir has been a source of dispute between which countries?, answer: India and Pakistan | question: The trade route was the first in how many decades?, answer: more than 60 years. | question: What is a source of dispute between India and Pakistan?, answer: Kashmir | question: How long has it been since there's been a trade route between the two sides?, answer: 60 years. | question: What is the name of the strip of land where there is a heavy military presence?, answer: Kashmir | question: What is the strip of occupied land known as?, answer: Kashmir | question: Who signed the 2004 peace accord?, answer: Kashmir | question: What is happening for the first time in six decades?, answer: India and Pakistan opened a symbolic trade route in the disputed region | question: What is the number of decades since the trade route was open?, answer: 60 years. | question: When did the dispute begin?, answer: end of British rule in 1947. | question: How long has Kashmir been a source of bitter dispute?, answer: more than 60 years. | question: Trade route between the two sides the first in how many decades?, answer: more than 60 years. | question: How long has Kashmir been a point of dispute?, answer: 60 years. | question: What is the strip of land known as?, answer: Kashmir | question: What nations are in conflict over Kashmir?, answer: Pakistan | question: When was the peace accord between the South Asian rivals?, answer: 2004, | question: What area is occupied by a strong military presence?, answer: Line of Control, | question: What is the trade meant to bolster?, answer: the peace agreement | question: What is a source of a bitter dispute?, answer: Kashmir
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Police in India have charged 63 people with murder in the beating death of a company boss who fired them.
Labor minister Oscar Fernandes was criticized for saying Chaudhary's death was warning to management.
The 63 were among 137 people police had rounded up by Wednesday -- two days after a mob of fired employees attacked L.K. Chaudhary, the chief executive of an Italian car parts manufacturing company.
The others were charged with disturbing the peace in the Monday incident in Noida, located in the outskirts of the capital New Delhi.
More arrests are likely, said R. K. Chaturvedi, the senior superintendent of police in Noida.
The former employees of Graziano Transmissioni had gone to meet with company management over their reinstatement, said Noida police Inspector Manoj Pathak.
The meeting turned violent, and the mob attacked Chaudhary with iron rods, Pathak said.
On Tuesday, India's labor minister, Oscar Fernandes, drew sharp criticism after he said Chaudhary's death should serve as a warning to management, according to CNN's sister network in India, CNN-IBN.
"The workers should be dealt (with) with compassion and should not be pushed so hard that they resort to whatever that had happened in Nodia" CNN-IBN quoted Fernandes as telling reporters.
The minister later apologized, telling CNN his comments had been taken out of context. He said the murder of the boss could never be justified.
The Italian Embassy said the company had, for several months, been facing "violent forms of protest by self-proclaimed workers' representatives."
"The situation had been repeatedly brought to the attention of the competent Indian authorities, both at central and local level," it said in a statement.
Business groups condemned the killing with the Confederation of Indian Industry calling it "tragic, unwanted and gory."
"Such instances of industrial violence cannot be a solution to any problem and must not be tolerated," said Salil Singh, chairman of the group that promotes industrial growth.
Meanwhile, authorities sought to appease businesses that police were aggressively investigating the case.
"The legal course will be followed and all culprits brought to book," Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said. "This stray tragic occurrence would not be allowed to mar India's position as an investment-friendly destination."
CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh contributed to this report.
|
[
"WHo was murdered?",
"How many people have been charged with murder in India?",
"What kind of a company was it?",
"What is the name of the murdered boss?",
"What did the labor minister apologize for?",
"Who did the employees attack?",
"How many people were charged with murder?",
"Where did the people work?",
"How many did police arrest?",
"Who was attacked by a mob of fired employees?",
"What company were they fired from?",
"Did India's labor minister apologize for his statement?",
"what did the mob do",
"where did the police charge 63 people",
"What crime were the 63 people charged with?",
"for what did the minister apologize",
"What was the apology issued by India's labor minister?",
"What type of company was run by the chief executive who was attacked?",
"What were the sixty-three people charged with?",
"In India, how many people did police charge with murdering their company boss?",
"What number of people were charged?"
] |
[
"L.K. Chaudhary,",
"63",
"Italian car parts manufacturing",
"L.K. Chaudhary,",
"his comments",
"company boss",
"63",
"Graziano Transmissioni",
"137",
"L.K. Chaudhary,",
"Graziano Transmissioni",
"later apologized,",
"attacked L.K. Chaudhary,",
"India",
"murder in the beating death of",
"his comments",
"comments had been taken out of context.",
"Italian car parts manufacturing",
"murder",
"63",
"63"
] |
question: WHo was murdered?, answer: L.K. Chaudhary, | question: How many people have been charged with murder in India?, answer: 63 | question: What kind of a company was it?, answer: Italian car parts manufacturing | question: What is the name of the murdered boss?, answer: L.K. Chaudhary, | question: What did the labor minister apologize for?, answer: his comments | question: Who did the employees attack?, answer: company boss | question: How many people were charged with murder?, answer: 63 | question: Where did the people work?, answer: Graziano Transmissioni | question: How many did police arrest?, answer: 137 | question: Who was attacked by a mob of fired employees?, answer: L.K. Chaudhary, | question: What company were they fired from?, answer: Graziano Transmissioni | question: Did India's labor minister apologize for his statement?, answer: later apologized, | question: what did the mob do, answer: attacked L.K. Chaudhary, | question: where did the police charge 63 people, answer: India | question: What crime were the 63 people charged with?, answer: murder in the beating death of | question: for what did the minister apologize, answer: his comments | question: What was the apology issued by India's labor minister?, answer: comments had been taken out of context. | question: What type of company was run by the chief executive who was attacked?, answer: Italian car parts manufacturing | question: What were the sixty-three people charged with?, answer: murder | question: In India, how many people did police charge with murdering their company boss?, answer: 63 | question: What number of people were charged?, answer: 63
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Police tightened security Wednesday in India's Punjab for the funeral of a preacher whose killing in Vienna, Austria sparked violent protests in the Sikh majority state last week.
The body of Rama Sand lies in state in Vienna before being transported to India.
Top-ranking officers are camping in Jalandhar district, where Rama Nand will be cremated Thursday, said Parag Jain, Punjab's inspector-general of police.
"Security arrangements are elaborate," he told CNN.
Nand's body is due to arrive from Vienna early Thursday in Sachkhand Ballan, a monastery dedicated to Guru Ravidass, a 14th-century low-caste Hindu spiritual figure.
Guru Ravidass' writings are predominantly found in the primary Sikh scriptures called the Guru Granth Sahib, placed in the sect temples as in the Sikh houses of worship.
Sect head Niranjan Dass, who was injured in the Vienna assault, will also be arriving Thursday, Sachkhand Ballan secretary S.R. Heer said.
The sikh guru's death led to widespread violence across the Punjab region, which resulted in the army and federal security forces being called in to restore order.
Thousands took part in demonstrations across the Doaba region, where protesters attacked public transportation, knocking out train service in some areas. They also blocked a national highway to Jammu, CNN sister network CNN-IBN reported.
A number of businesses were ransacked as well. Police reported one death.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, himself a Sikh, appealed for calm, in a statement.
"There is no place for violence in a secular society like India's and certainly no excuse whatsoever for the violation of the sacred premises of a (Sikh temple) for narrow sectarian or other purposes," India's Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
|
[
"Who was killed",
"what caused widespred violence",
"what will come in on thursday",
"who was shot dead in temple",
"What is due to arrive"
] |
[
"Rama Sand",
"The sikh guru's death",
"Nand's body",
"Rama Sand",
"Nand's body"
] |
question: Who was killed, answer: Rama Sand | question: what caused widespred violence, answer: The sikh guru's death | question: what will come in on thursday, answer: Nand's body | question: who was shot dead in temple, answer: Rama Sand | question: What is due to arrive, answer: Nand's body
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- President George W. Bush called India's prime minister Thursday to push a proposed nuclear partnership that sparked an unsuccessful no-confidence vote against the Indian leader this week, a White House spokesman said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh won a confidence vote despite opposition to the nuclear deal.
"Both leaders expressed their desire to see the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear issue move forward as expeditiously as possible," Gordon Johndroe said.
The phone call took place two days after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh narrowly survived the no-confidence vote in the lower house of Parliament. The vote was sparked by concerns from the opposition that India was kowtowing to the U.S.
The tentative deal was announced in 2006 and signed by Bush and Singh a year ago.
Under the agreement, which will need to be approved by the U.S. Congress, India would have access to U.S. nuclear fuel and technology for its civilian nuclear power plants. That would happen even though New Delhi, which tested nuclear weapons in 1974 and 1998, has declined to join international non-proliferation agreements.
In return, India has promised that it would not transfer the fuel and equipment to its weapons program, and it would allow the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect at least 14 of its 22 nuclear plants.
The plan would also expand U.S.-Indian cooperation in energy and satellite technology.
The plan was approved by India's Cabinet last year, and does not have to be ratified by the parliament.
The leaders of India's two communist parties -- which hold about 60 seats in Parliament -- have accused Singh of surrendering India's sovereignty to the United States with the deal.
A no-confidence vote would have forced Singh to resign, and required the government to hold early elections unless a new coalition could have been formed. The Congress Party-led coalition has governed India since 2004.
Tuesday's 275-256 vote was so crucial to the survival of Singh's government that five members of parliament serving prison sentences were freed to cast votes -- under the watchful eyes of their jailers.
Shortly after Singh survived the vote, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino praised the deal as "a good one for everybody."
"It's good for India because it would help provide them a source for energy that they need, one that is nonpolluting and one that doesn't emit greenhouse gas emissions," she said.
"And we think that we can move forward with this. If their legislature lets it move forward, then we can do the same here and then we'll be able to get this wrapped up."
|
[
"Who was freed to vote?",
"who president bush calls?",
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"What were the Indian people angry about?",
"what amount of parliament members were freed to vote?",
"What does President Bush call India to do?",
"What was there anger about?",
"what did bush propose",
"What was the final vote count?",
"When did Bush call?",
"How many serve prison sentences?",
"Who won confidence vote?",
"What were they voting for?",
"Who were freed to vote?",
"What did Bush want from Indian PM?",
"Who calls India's PM to push a proposed nuclear partnership?"
] |
[
"five members of parliament serving prison sentences",
"India's prime minister",
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"India's prime minister",
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"Prime Minister Manmohan Singh",
"proposed nuclear partnership",
"five members of parliament serving prison sentences",
"proposed nuclear partnership",
"President George W. Bush"
] |
question: Who was freed to vote?, answer: five members of parliament serving prison sentences | question: who president bush calls?, answer: India's prime minister | question: what did indian governemnet win, answer: confidence vote | question: Who is President Bush calling on to push a nuclear partnership?, answer: India's prime minister | question: What were five parliament members freed from prison for?, answer: to cast votes | question: What were the Indian people angry about?, answer: India was kowtowing to the U.S. | question: what amount of parliament members were freed to vote?, answer: five | question: What does President Bush call India to do?, answer: proposed nuclear partnership | question: What was there anger about?, answer: kowtowing to the U.S. | question: what did bush propose, answer: nuclear partnership | question: What was the final vote count?, answer: 275-256 | question: When did Bush call?, answer: Thursday | question: How many serve prison sentences?, answer: five members of parliament serving | question: Who won confidence vote?, answer: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh | question: What were they voting for?, answer: proposed nuclear partnership | question: Who were freed to vote?, answer: five members of parliament serving prison sentences | question: What did Bush want from Indian PM?, answer: proposed nuclear partnership | question: Who calls India's PM to push a proposed nuclear partnership?, answer: President George W. Bush
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Tensions eased in the northern Indian state of Punjab on Tuesday, following widespread violence across the region after a Sikh guru was shot to death and another was wounded at an Indian temple in Vienna, Austria.
Sikh demonstrators brandish sticks as they shout slogans during a protest in Amritsar.
The situation was tense, but under control, Punjab's inspector general of police said Tuesday morning. The army and federal security forces were called in to restore order, added inspector general Parag Jain.
Thousands took part in demonstrations across the Doaba region, where protesters attacked public transportation, knocking out train service in some areas. They also blocked a national highway to Jammu, CNN sister network CNN-IBN reported.
A number of businesses were ransacked as well. Police reported one death.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, himself a Sikh, appealed for calm, in a statement.
"There is no place for violence in a secular society like India's and certainly no excuse whatsoever for the violation of the sacred premises of a (Sikh temple) for narrow sectarian or other purposes," India's Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
Killed in Sunday's attack in Vienna was 57-year-old Sant Rama Nand.
A second guru, Sant Niranjan Dass, 68, was seriously injured. His health has improved noticeably, according to the Indian Embassy, the Austria News Agency reported. Fifteen others were also wounded.
"Sant Niranjan Dass is doing well," the embassy said. "He could soon be released from the hospital."
Six people were arrested in connection with the attack, which occurred Sunday afternoon in Vienna's 15th district, police spokesman Schwaig Hofar told CNN.
One suspect shot the two gurus, and five other attackers wielding knives assaulted people in the congregation during prayer, Hofar said.
Four of the wounded were suspects, two of them in serious condition, he said.
About 150 people were in the room when the violence took place, he said. Authorities are investigating what triggered the attacks, but Austrian Interior Minister Maria Fekter said Sikhs have lived "exceptionally peacefully" in Austria.
CNN's Ben Brumfeld and Harmeet Shah Singh contributed to this report.
|
[
"When did the violence begin?",
"Who was shot dead in Vienna?",
"What caused the tensions in Punjab",
"Where did the shooting take place?"
] |
[
"Sunday afternoon",
"a Sikh guru",
"a Sikh guru was shot to death and another was wounded at an Indian temple in Vienna, Austria.",
"Indian temple in Vienna, Austria."
] |
question: When did the violence begin?, answer: Sunday afternoon | question: Who was shot dead in Vienna?, answer: a Sikh guru | question: What caused the tensions in Punjab, answer: a Sikh guru was shot to death and another was wounded at an Indian temple in Vienna, Austria. | question: Where did the shooting take place?, answer: Indian temple in Vienna, Austria.
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- The alleged surviving attacker from last month's Mumbai terror attacks is seeking help from Pakistani officials, India said Monday.
Guests arrive at the reopening of the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai.
The suspect, Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, wrote a letter to Pakistan's High Commission in India that was handed over to Pakistan's acting high commissioner in New Delhi on Monday evening, India's foreign ministry said.
Asked about the statement, Pakistan's foreign ministry said the government in Islamabad "has so far not received any information or evidence relating to the Mumbai incident from the government of India."
According to India's foreign ministry, Kasab, 21, stated in his letter that he and the other attackers were from Pakistan and asked for a meeting with Pakistan's High Commission.
Indian authorities said Kasab had admitted he was one of 10 gunmen who attacked several targets in Mumbai on November 26, sparking three days of battles with police and Indian troops in the heart of the city that is the hub of India's financial and entertainment industries.
India said Kasab told investigators he and the others were trained for more than a year in Pakistan by Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, a banned Islamic militant group.
The attacks left more than 160 people dead, as well as nine of the gunmen.
Most of the deaths occurred at the Taj Mahal Palace and the Oberoi-Trident hotels, which reopened on Sunday -- three weeks after the attacks.
CNN's Sara Sidner in New Delhi and Zein Basravi in Islamabad contributed to this report.
|
[
"when was the attack?",
"What did Kasak admit to?",
"what did officials say",
"Who does the surviving attacker seek help from",
"who wrote a letter",
"what did kasab admit",
"Who did Kasak write a letter to?"
] |
[
"November 26,",
"he was one of 10 gunmen who attacked several targets in Mumbai",
"Kasab had admitted he was one of 10 gunmen who attacked several targets in Mumbai on November 26,",
"Pakistani officials,",
"The suspect, Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab,",
"he was one of 10 gunmen who attacked several targets in Mumbai",
"Pakistan's High Commission in India"
] |
question: when was the attack?, answer: November 26, | question: What did Kasak admit to?, answer: he was one of 10 gunmen who attacked several targets in Mumbai | question: what did officials say, answer: Kasab had admitted he was one of 10 gunmen who attacked several targets in Mumbai on November 26, | question: Who does the surviving attacker seek help from, answer: Pakistani officials, | question: who wrote a letter, answer: The suspect, Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, | question: what did kasab admit, answer: he was one of 10 gunmen who attacked several targets in Mumbai | question: Who did Kasak write a letter to?, answer: Pakistan's High Commission in India
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- The chairman of India's fourth-largest software-services provider resigned Wednesday after confessing to inflating the company's profits for years with "fictitious" assets and non-existent cash.
Satyam Chairman B. Ramalinga Raju
The news sent stocks of the Hyderabad-based Satyam Computer Services into free fall. Stocks plummeted more than 70 percent within hours after the revelation.
The major stock index in India -- the BSE SENSEX -- fell 7.3 percent Wednesday.
Satyam employs 53,000 people, operates in 65 countries and serves almost 700 companies, including 185 Fortune 500 companies. More than half of its revenue comes from the United States.
Satyam Chairman B. Ramalinga Raju said the balance-sheet padding began several years ago to close "a marginal gap" between actual operating profit and one reflected in the company's accounting books. It continued through the years, he said.
"It was like riding a tiger, not knowing how to get off without being eaten," Raju said in a letter to the company's board of directors.
Raju said no board member was aware of what he was doing and he did not profit from the inflated accounts.
The deception came to light after Raju tried to plug the hole by getting Satyam to buy his son's construction companies. The acquisition was "the last attempt to fill the fictitious assets with real ones," he wrote in his letter.
The deal would have cost Satyam $1.6 billion -- but the company's board vetoed it.
Stocks fell following the botched deal. Soon afterward, Raju came clean, saying he was doing so "with deep regret, and tremendous burden that I am carrying on my conscience."
Analysts say Satyam is ripe for a takeover, and the government is expected to submit a formal report on the matter Thursday.
-- CNN's Bharati Naik contributed to this report.
|
[
"Who is Satyam's Chairman?",
"What happened to the stocks of Satyam Computer Services?",
"How many countries do they operate in?",
"In how many countries does Satyam operates in?",
"How many people do they employ?"
] |
[
"B. Ramalinga Raju",
"plummeted more than 70 percent",
"65",
"65",
"53,000"
] |
question: Who is Satyam's Chairman?, answer: B. Ramalinga Raju | question: What happened to the stocks of Satyam Computer Services?, answer: plummeted more than 70 percent | question: How many countries do they operate in?, answer: 65 | question: In how many countries does Satyam operates in?, answer: 65 | question: How many people do they employ?, answer: 53,000
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- The chief financial officer of India's Satyam Computer Services Ltd. was arrested Saturday, the third person taken into custody in a scandal that began when the company's chairman admitted inflating profits with "fictitious" assets and non-existent cash.
Satyam founder B. Ramalinga Raju is shown Saturday being sent to prison in Hyderabad.
Vadlamani Srinivas will appear Sunday before a special court, said A. Sivanarayana, additional director general of police in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, told CNN.
Company founder B. Ramalinga Raju and his brother, Rama Raju, Satyam's managing director, were arrested Friday in connection with the scandal. In a letter written to investigators, B. Ramalinga Raju admitted that he and his brother were responsible for cooking the books at Satyam, according to CNN's sister network, CNN-IBN.
Satyam, India's fourth-largest software-services provider, serves almost 700 companies, including 185 Fortune 500 companies, and generates more than half its revenues from the United States. It employs some 53,000 people and operates in 65 countries.
B. Ramalinga Raju resigned Wednesday and confessed to padding company balance sheets. The practice began several years ago to close "a marginal gap" between actual operating profit and one reflected in the company's accounting books, he said, but continued for several years.
"It was like riding a tiger, not knowing how to get off without being eaten," B. Ramalinga Raju said in a letter to the company's board of directors.
He said no board member was aware of what he was doing and he did not profit from the inflated accounts.
The deception came to light after he tried to plug the hole by getting Satyam to buy his son's construction companies. The acquisition was "the last attempt to fill the fictitious assets with real ones," he wrote in his letter.
The deal would have cost Satyam $1.6 billion -- but the company's board vetoed it. Stocks fell following the botched deal. Soon afterward, B. Ramalinga Raju came clean, saying he was doing so "with deep regret, and tremendous burden that I am carrying on my conscience."
After his confession, stocks of the Hyderabad-based company fell more than 70 percent, causing India's major stock index, the BSE SENSEX, to fall 7.3 percent Wednesday. The BSE SENSEX on Thursday deleted Satyam Computer Services from its indices.
The company's interim chief executive officer said Thursday the company's immediate goal is to continue its operations uninterrupted.
CNN's Bharati Naik and Harmeet Singh contributed to this report.
|
[
"Who is the chairman of the company?",
"What was the basis for the fraud charges.",
"Amount of people that the computer giant employs?",
"Who is the chairman?",
"How many countries does the computer giant operate in?",
"What was Satyam's chief financial officer arrested for?",
"What is balance sheet padding"
] |
[
"B. Ramalinga Raju",
"company's chairman admitted inflating profits with \"fictitious\" assets",
"53,000",
"B. Ramalinga Raju",
"65",
"scandal that began when the company's chairman admitted inflating profits with \"fictitious\" assets and non-existent cash.",
"marginal gap\" between actual operating profit and one reflected in"
] |
question: Who is the chairman of the company?, answer: B. Ramalinga Raju | question: What was the basis for the fraud charges., answer: company's chairman admitted inflating profits with "fictitious" assets | question: Amount of people that the computer giant employs?, answer: 53,000 | question: Who is the chairman?, answer: B. Ramalinga Raju | question: How many countries does the computer giant operate in?, answer: 65 | question: What was Satyam's chief financial officer arrested for?, answer: scandal that began when the company's chairman admitted inflating profits with "fictitious" assets and non-existent cash. | question: What is balance sheet padding, answer: marginal gap" between actual operating profit and one reflected in
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- The collective cry throughout India of "Jai ho" (May you win) received a resounding answer when composer A.R. Rahman took home two Oscars for the movie "Slumdog Millionaire."
Composer A. R. Rahman, "The Mozart of Madras," celebrates his double Oscar win -- for Best Score and one for the song "Jai Ho" from the film.
Rahman's wins -- one for the song "Jai Ho" and the other for Best Score -- were just two reasons for Indians to erupt in boisterous celebrations Monday morning.
"Slumdog," which was shot in the streets and slums of Mumbai bagged eight golden statuettes in total, including one for Best Sound Mixing. Indian Resul Pookutty shared it with fellow sound editors who worked on the film.
"This is the finest hour of Indian cinema in the global scenario," said Anand Sharma, the country's junior external affairs minister.
Indians crowded around television sets in dorm rooms, restaurants and homes, exhaling in relief as Rahman's name was announced as the winner. They high-fived each other, hugged, shrieked and wept.
"I cannot describe this feeling," said Nikhil Jyonti, a Mumbai resident. "I'm bursting with pride for India."
In the Mumbai slum of Dharavi, where many of the scenes in "Slumdog" were shot, a television was set out for the street children to watch the ceremony. Few in the teeming slum of one million people had heard of the Oscars, but they knew Rahman's win was a source of pride for the country.
Danny Boyle's rags-to-riches film tells the story of a tea-boy at a Mumbai call center who earns a spot in the Indian version of the quiz show "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?" He raises the suspicion of the show's host when, despite the lack of a formal education, he begins to answer the increasingly difficult questions with ease.
The movie also won four Golden Globes and a host of honors at other award shows.
While the overwhelming sentiment was one of pride Monday, the movie has faced backlash from many Indian movie critics who took exception to its depiction of Mumbai's underworld without highlighting any of the city's achievements.
Among the most notable criticisms was one offered by Amitabh Bachchan, considered the most successful movie star in Bollywood history, and a former real-life host of the Indian "Millionaire."
The film," he said, "projects India as the third world's dirty underbelly ... and causes pain and disgust among nationalists and patriots."
But most Mumabikers, still reeling from a terrorist attack in their city in November, embraced the movie while looking for something positive to root for.
They found that in Rahman, a composer who has consistently broken barriers in his musical scores for dozens of Bollywood hits and is known as the "Mozart of Madras." Rahman has sold more than 200 million albums worldwide -- more than the Beatles -- but has remained relatively unknown in Europe and the United States.
Director Spike Lee used one of his songs in his 2006 heist film, "Inside Man."
Many hope the Oscar win will bring Rahman greater exposure. Rahman and Pookutty, however, aren't the first Indians with Academy Awards to their names.
In 1992, legendary Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray received an honorary award for his contribution to world cinema. And in 1982, Bhanu Athaiya shared an Oscar for costume design for the movie "Gandhi."
CNN's Saeed Ahmed and Harmeet Shah Singh contributed to this report
|
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"What did A.R Rahman win?",
"Who did India celebrate at the Oscars?",
"What did Resul Pookutty win?",
"what did India celebrate last night",
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"Where is A.R. Rahman from?",
"What did A.R. Rahman win at the Oscars?",
"what awards did Rahman win"
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"two Oscars",
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"Best Score and one for the song \"Jai Ho\"",
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question: What did A.R Rahman win?, answer: two Oscars | question: Who did India celebrate at the Oscars?, answer: Composer A. R. Rahman, | question: What did Resul Pookutty win?, answer: Best Sound Mixing. | question: what did India celebrate last night, answer: double Oscar win | question: what Indian made documentary win, answer: A.R. Rahman | question: Where is A.R. Rahman from?, answer: India." | question: What did A.R. Rahman win at the Oscars?, answer: Best Score and one for the song "Jai Ho" | question: what awards did Rahman win, answer: two Oscars
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- The death toll from an outbreak of hepatitis B in India's western Gujarat state reached 38 on Sunday as authorities prepared to begin a vaccination drive against the disease.
Hepatitis-B patient Mahir Husain, center, is comforted at a hospital in Ahmedabad.
Malayappan Thennarasa, the top administrator of the affected Sabarkantha district, told CNN the toll had climbed to 38 and that shots would be administered free of cost starting Monday.
Health officials have recorded 125 cases of the infection in two weeks. Authorities were carrying out raids at medical stores for bogus drugs and recycled syringes.
Police have so far arrested five medical practitioners. One of them was charged Sunday with attempted murder. The doctor is accused of reusing syringes, Thennarasa said.
Hepatitis B is a contagious liver disease resulting from infection with the hepatitis B virus, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It usually spreads through blood, semen, or other bodily fluids, often through sexual contact or sharing needles or syringes with an infected person.
The disease can range from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a serious, chronic illness resulting in long-term health problems or death, the CDC said.
|
[
"Where did the victims die?",
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"how many recorded?",
"How many people died?",
"what state the victims died?",
"What is the recorded number of cases?",
"what was contagious?"
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question: Where did the victims die?, answer: state | question: What disease killed 38 people?, answer: hepatitis B | question: how many recorded?, answer: 125 | question: How many people died?, answer: 38 | question: what state the victims died?, answer: Gujarat | question: What is the recorded number of cases?, answer: 125 | question: what was contagious?, answer: hepatitis B
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- The father of a baby born with his heart protruding from his chest has told CNN about the 1100 km train journey he made to save his son's life.
Chander Majhi's son was born with his heart outside his chest and faces complex surgery.
Chander Majhi, 24, became a father last week but he had to leave his wife behind in hospital and make a train journey from a remote region along India's border with Nepal to the capital New Delhi.
His son was born with his heart protruding from his chest, an extremely rare condition called ectopia cordis, which only affects five to eight cases in one million live births.
The parents did not know about the defect until the child was born on August 25 at a government facility in Majhi's home state of Bihar in eastern India.
"We didn't go for any (pre-natal) tests," Majhi told CNN.
Doctors at the government facility referred him and the baby to New Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
Professor of cardiothoracic surgery at AIIMS, A.K. Bisoi, told CNN the baby was admitted to the hospital with dehydration and a severe infection which he probably suffered because of the arduous train journey.
Doctors were surprised that the child had been able to survive despite so many complexities, he said.
Doctors at the state-run AIIMS are now planning a complex surgery on Thursday for the boy, referred in their records as "baby of Vibha," his mother.
His heart has been covered with a synthetic membrane and infected blood fully replaced from his body, said A.K. Bisoi, professor of cardiothoracic surgery at AIIMS.
Surgeons may now plan a total circulatory arrest procedure that will also involve creating a home for the heart in the chest, said Bisoi.
The baby, who suffers from immunodeficiency, will be put in a state where his blood will be cooled down to 18 degrees (64 Fahrenheit) for a half-an-hour stage of the operation, he explained.
"We could carry it out in one go, if the child is able to tolerate. If not, we will do it in stages," he said.
"We are working with hope," Bisoi remarked when asked about chances of success.
And it was the same hope that drove Majhi to Delhi.
"That is why I am here. There's hope. My child is a fighter," he said.
In 2006, doctors in the U.S. state of Florida carried out a similar operation on Naseem Hasni who was born with his heart outside his chest.
The operation was carried out immediately after Naseem was born by caesarean section at a Florida hospital.
Doctors wrapped his heart in Gore-Tex, a waterproof, breathable fabric used in outdoor clothing and medical applications. His heart was then wrapped in a layer of his own skin, to substitute for his missing pericardium, the sac that encloses the heart.
The heart was then slowly eased inside.
|
[
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"When will the baby have surgery?",
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question: What issues did the baby suffer from?, answer: immunodeficiency, | question: When will the baby have surgery?, answer: Thursday | question: What distance did the father travel?, answer: 1100 km | question: In what area did the baby have to have the procedure?, answer: heart | question: What is wrong with the baby?, answer: born | question: How far was the train journey?, answer: 1100 km | question: What distance did he travel?, answer: 1100 km | question: What is the chance of this happening?, answer: five to eight cases in one million live births.
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- The number of dead in devastating floods triggered by torrential rains in India has risen to at least 271, and about a million people have fled their homes, officials said Monday.
An aerial view of a flood-affected area in Bijapur district in North Karnataka, India.
At least 192 people have died in the southern state of Karnataka, its disaster-management secretary H.V. Parshwanath told CNN.
More than 450,000 people there have been housed in 1,330 relief camps as authorities completed rescue operations in most of the flooded zones in the state, he said.
"The focus is now mainly on relief," Parshwanath said, adding that rains have now eased in Karnataka.
In neighboring Andhra Pradesh, authorities put the death toll at 51. Some 531,000 people have been evacuated to safety, with more half of them now sheltering in relief camps, said Dinesh Kumar, the commissioner of the state's disaster-monitoring department.
India has deployed the military to help with relief and rescue in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
More than a dozen teams of naval divers have been sent to the two flood-hit states, the country's defense ministry said.
Air force planes and helicopters have also been dropping food packets in the submerged regions.
The military has been able to rescue 1,336 people so far, it added.
Flood waters were now receding in two of the five worst hit districts of Andhra Pradesh, disaster official Kumar said.
But floodwaters from a local river might submerge the remaining three, he warned.
Flooding also killed at least 25 people in Maharashtra state, officials said. Three others died because of lightning strikes, said S.C. Mohanty, director of Maharashtra's disaster-management department.
About 3,000 people have been displaced because of flooding, he told CNN. Thousands of people die each year in India during seasonal monsoon rains.
More than 1,100 had been killed in monsoon-triggered flooding in different parts of the country as of last month, according to the disaster-management division of the federal home ministry.
|
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question: Where is Karnataka located?, answer: India. | question: What number of people have been forced to flee their homes?, answer: a million | question: where are refugees, answer: 1,330 relief camps | question: What number of people are housed in relief camps?, answer: 450,000 | question: How many people are known to have died in floods in India?, answer: 271, | question: What is the death toll from floods in India?, answer: 271, | question: What natural disaster has occurred?, answer: floods | question: How many people approximately are housed in relief camps?, answer: More than 450,000 | question: What is the deathtoll?, answer: 271,
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- The wounds of partition festered again this week in India, resulting in the banning of a book and the expulsion of a respected politician.
Protesters burn an effigy of Jaswant Singh over his book; the former foreign minister was ousted from his party.
The home state of the father of Indian independence, Mahatma Gandhi, forbade the sale and circulation of a new book it says spews revisionist history about the birth of secular but predominantly Hindu India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Written by Jaswant Singh, a former federal minister and senior member of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the book calls Mohammed Ali Jinnah, considered by Indians the architect of the partition, a great man who is wrongly demonized. Jinnah went on to become the first governor general of Pakistan.
In "Jinnah: India, Partition and Independence," Singh absolves the Pakistani leader as the man responsible for dividing the subcontinent, suggesting instead that it was another beloved independence leader, Sardar Patel, who played a major role.
"The book wrongfully portrays the fateful partition of our nation," the Gujarat state government said in a statement. " Such a brainchild has no historic background at all. In the larger interest of society, the state government has decided to impose a ban on the book."
The BJP accused Singh of deviating from the party's "core ideology".
"We always respect freedom of expression but can never compromise our ideology," Sidharth Nath Singh, a party spokesman, told CNN. "You just can't eulogize Jinnah and accuse Sardar Patel instead."
Singh, a widely respected politician known for his moderate views within the ranks of a conservative party, found it appalling that freedom of expression was threatened in the world's largest democracy.
"The day we start banning books, we are banning thinking," Singh told reporters.
He defended his work and said he did not understand the objection to his writings about Patel, who, as India's first home minister, banned the Hindu revivalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the mother organization of the BJP, after the assassination of Gandhi in 1948.
"I don't know which part of the core belief I have demolished," Singh said.
Nearly 350 years of British rule ended in 1947 when an agreement for independence was reached to give Muslims their own homeland. Indians think of Jinnah as the man who pushed a two-state notion based on religion as a prerequisite for freedom.
In the days that followed, an estimated 1 million people died in a border-crossing exodus. Muslims fled from India into Pakistan while Hindus clamored to find new homes in India.
The animosities fueled by that bloody birth -- including three wars fought by India and Pakistan over the disputed territory of Kashmir -- continue to haunt Indians, said journalist and author Tarun Tejpal.
"This flashpoint played out in public is a reminder of those wounds," Tejpal said of the book dispute.
As a book of history written by a politician, it might have been inconsequential, Tejpal said. But as a book about the partition, it was incendiary.
"What happened 62 years ago continues to haunt us in a very bitter way," Tejpal said. "We can't seem to leave our baggage in the past."
This isn't the first time that Pakistan's founder has caused trouble for a Hindu nationalist. BJP President Lal Krishna Advani was forced to temporarily step down in 2005 for praising Jinnah's secularism during a trip to Pakistan.
Political observers say the Singh controversy reflects a battle for the soul of the BJP, beleaguered by electoral defeats and vicious infighting.
Many in India view the BJP as a divisive force attempting to gain power by exploiting Hindu-Muslim tensions. Advani was charged in the 1992 demolition of the 16th-century Babri mosque in the central Indian city of Ayodhya, though he was later acquitted in that case.
Journalist K.G. Suresh, a longtime observer of conservative politics in India, said the BJP is struggling to figure out how to stay electable,
|
[
"on what countries does the animosities took over?",
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"according to the book who was the architect of the division",
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] |
[
"India and Pakistan",
"a new book it says spews revisionist history about the birth of secular but predominantly Hindu India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.",
"Mohammed Ali Jinnah,",
"Sardar Patel,",
"Mohammed Ali Jinnah,"
] |
question: on what countries does the animosities took over?, answer: India and Pakistan | question: What did the home state of Mahatma Gandhi ban?, answer: a new book it says spews revisionist history about the birth of secular but predominantly Hindu India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. | question: according to the book who was the architect of the division, answer: Mohammed Ali Jinnah, | question: who was the leader the book suggested?, answer: Sardar Patel, | question: Who does the book suggest was behind the India-Pakistan partition?, answer: Mohammed Ali Jinnah,
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Three weeks after an apparent misunderstanding sparked a confrontation, deadly Hindu-Christian riots continue unabated in the remote east Indian state of Orissa.
Police officers chase away a protester in Mangalore, India, Monday.
By Tuesday, about 20 deaths had been reported, said Praveen Kumar, the superintendent of police in the worst-affected Kandhamal district.
The latest casualty is a police officer who died after an armed mob of about 400 to 500 mostly Hindus torched a police station in the district on Monday, Orissa state police said.
Orissa's Director General of Police G.C. Nanda the policeman died when the mob opened fire at officers fleeing the burning building.
The attack, he said, may have been in retaliation for arrests that police made in the ongoing communal fighting. Watch more about the riots in India »
The attack came two days after police fired on a crowd to prevent it from attacking Christian residents. Between three and six people died in the shooting, CNN's sister network CNN-IBN reported.
The violence spread to southern India over the weekend when vandals attacked 14 churches in an hour in the state of Karnataka Sunday, the network said.
The Christian community in the Karnataka -- numbering about 2.5 million -- said right-wing Hindus are targeting them for opposing the violence in Orissa.
By Tuesday, police had arrested about 140 people in connection with the riots, said Karnataka's Inspector General of Police A.M. Prasad.
Sixty of them -- all Hindus -- were arrested for the church attacks, Prasad said. The rest, mostly Christians, were charged with disturbing the peace, he said.
Orissa has historically been a tinderbox of Hindu-Christian tensions.
Some Hindu groups view the work of Christian missionaries in the state with suspicion. They accuse missionaries of bribing or forcing Hindus into converting.
The seeds for the current conflict were planted on August 23, when Hindu leader, Laxmananda Saraswati, and four others were killed in Kandhamal after 20 to 30 gunmen barged into a Hindu school and began shooting, the Orissa chief minister's office said.
The authorities have not determined who killed Saraswati, but after the incident they detained five people who are Christians, said Sukanta Panda, spokesman for the chief minister.
The government says the killings may have been the work of Maoist rebels -- investigators have many unanswered questions -- but some hardline Hindus blamed a Christian minority.
They took to the streets in anger, rampaging through predominantly Christian neighborhoods, ransacking shops and torching houses.
They chopped down trees to block roads, making it difficult for police to reach trouble spots. A Christian orphanage was set on fire. A 20-year-old woman, who was teaching children inside, burned to death.
Christian residents fought back, and the clashes spread. Authorities imposed a night curfew in many towns and deployed state and federal forces in the troubled areas, Kumar -- the police superintendent -- said.
Both sides said the violence has left Christian churches and Hindu temples razed to the ground.
This is not the first time the simmering anger has boiled over in the state with deadly consequences. In 1999, a Hindu mob burned to death an Australian missionary, Graham Staines, and his two children while they slept inside their car.
And last Christmas, clashing groups killed four people and burned several churches in the same Orissa district -- Kandhamal.
Maoist rebels, who claim to be fighting for the poor and the dispossessed, have been battling the Indian government in an insurgency that has resulted in thousands of casualties since the late 1960s.
Some Christians accept the Maoist theory, saying the rebels have also struck against hard-line Hindus because they associate them as being closely aligned with the government.
But Hindu groups insists that Christians were behind Saraswati's death.
Unlike Orissa, Karnataka has until now been spared the large-scale clash between Christians and Hindus.
But now, many in the Christian community fear their calm and prosperous state may become another battleground between the two religions, CNN-IBN said.
CNN's Harmeet Singh contributed to
|
[
"What state was a tinderbox of Hindu-Christian tensions?",
"What was the latest casualty?",
"Where has violence spread?",
"Who died after a Hindu mob torched a police station?",
"who was the latest casualty?",
"What state of India violence spread?",
"WHen did the attack happen?",
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question: What state was a tinderbox of Hindu-Christian tensions?, answer: Orissa. | question: What was the latest casualty?, answer: is a police officer | question: Where has violence spread?, answer: southern India | question: Who died after a Hindu mob torched a police station?, answer: officer | question: who was the latest casualty?, answer: police officer | question: What state of India violence spread?, answer: Orissa. | question: WHen did the attack happen?, answer: Monday, | question: What did the police fire upon?, answer: a crowd
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Tibetan exile leaders, meeting in northern India to debate a potential new approach to Tibet's decades-long struggle for autonomy, have voted to stay with the Dalai Lama's current "middle way approach," according to a spokesman for the spiritual leader.
Some have sought Tibet's independence from China, but the Dalai Lama has sought autonomy.
"The majority of the people have spoken and have requested his holiness the Dalai Lama to continue with his middle way approach," said spokesman Tenzin Taklha.
The meeting was called after the Dalai Lama acknowledged he had failed in his efforts to convince China to restore the territory's autonomy. He did not attend the week-long conference in Dharamsala, a town in the hills of north India where he lives in exile. He called the meeting, he said, to offer the exiles an opportunity to discuss "the best possible future course of action" for Tibet.
Takhla said the Tibetans demonstrated that the Dalai Lama was their undisputed leader, and they hoped China would recognize him as such and negotiations toward a realistic solution could be held.
There was a small minority who said they wanted to demand Tibet's independence, Takhla said.
The "middle way" approach with Beijing is one in which Tibetans want a level of autonomy that will allow them to protect and preserve their culture, religion and national identity. In exchange, China could continue to claim Tibet as part of its territory.
Some in Tibet have advocated independence from China, but the Dalai Lama has long called for genuine autonomy.
Tibet is technically autonomous from the central Chinese government, but the Dalai Lama and others have said they favor real autonomy and resent the slow erosion of their culture amid an influx of Han Chinese, the largest ethnic group in China. Learn about Tibet's history of conflict »
The resentment spilled over in March, when Buddhist monks initiated peaceful anti-Chinese protests in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa. The demonstrations began March 14, the anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising against Beijing's rule that sent the Dalai Lama into exile.
The protests soon turned violent, with demonstrators burning vehicles and shops. Some protesters advocated independence from China, while others demonstrated against the growing influence of the Han Chinese in Tibet and other regions of China with ethnic Tibetan populations. The subsequent crackdown left 18 civilians and one police officer dead, according to the Chinese government. Tibet's self-proclaimed government-in-exile put the death toll from the protests at 140.
China blamed the Dalai Lama and his followers for the March riots -- a charge he has consistently denied.
|
[
"Who did they back?",
"Who wnated Tibet's independence?",
"What does Lama seek?",
"What does a small minority demand for Tibet?",
"What do Tibetian leaders back?",
"What does the Dalai Lama seek from Bejing?",
"What does Dalai Lama seeks?",
"What does the minority want?",
"What do the Tibetan exile leaders back?"
] |
[
"the Dalai Lama",
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question: Who did they back?, answer: the Dalai Lama | question: Who wnated Tibet's independence?, answer: small minority | question: What does Lama seek?, answer: autonomy. | question: What does a small minority demand for Tibet?, answer: independence, | question: What do Tibetian leaders back?, answer: the Dalai Lama's current "middle way approach," | question: What does the Dalai Lama seek from Bejing?, answer: autonomy. | question: What does Dalai Lama seeks?, answer: autonomy. | question: What does the minority want?, answer: Tibet's independence, | question: What do the Tibetan exile leaders back?, answer: "middle way approach,"
|
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