Rajiv remembered

NEW DELHI: India on Saturday remembered late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 61st birthday as a host of leaders led by Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi paid glowing tributes to him. A wreath was laid on behalf of President APJ Abdul Kalam at Rajiv Gandhi’s memorial, Vir Bhoomi, here. A recorded speech of Rajiv Gandhi, who was assassinated by the LTTE suicide bombers on May 21, 1991 in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, was also played on the occasion. — HNS

Hindu ultra killed

Kashmir: Indian troops today shot dead a Hindu fighting for the biggest Islamic separatist rebel group in Kashmir, police said. They said the militant, gunned down in the southern district of Doda, belonged to the pro-Pakistan Hizbul Mujahedin. Police said Uttam Singh was serving as a “sectional commander” for the rebel outfit, when he was killed in a pre-dawn clash in Gandoh village. “Singh was one of seven Hindu members of Hizbul active in the district,” a police officer said. — AFP

Strike in Bangladesh

DHAKA:Bangladesh was brought to a standstill on Friday, a weekday, by a nationwide strike called by the opposition, Awami League, to protest a wave of bombings earlier on Wednesday

linked to an Islamic extremist group. Security was tightened as police kept up a massive hunt for the bombers and their alleged leader, Shaikh Abdur Rahman. — AFP

Soldier hanged

Multan: A Pakistani army man accused of involvement in a plot to kill President Pervez Musharraf two years ago was executed today, jail authorities said. Islam Siddiqui, 35, was hanged before dawn in central Pakistan’s Multan prison, said jail superintendent Malik Ataullah. Siddiqui, a former soldier, was sentenced to death by a military court for involvement in a plot to kill Musharraf.— AFP