Snippets

Mumbai blasts verdict

MUMBAI: A special anti-terror court here on Thursday sentenced one man to life and another to 10 years rigorous imprisonment for their role in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts. Judge PD Kode of the TADA Court awarded life imprisonment to Sheikh Ali Sheikh Kumar for criminal conspiracy. The court sentenced mobster Ejaz Pathan to 10 rigorous imprisonment on three counts. — HNS

B’desh tycoon jailed

DHAKA: The owner of a Bangladeshi television channel and close aide to the influential son of former premier Khaleda Zia was jailed for three years on Thursday by a fast-track anti-graft court, an official said. Giasuddin Al Mamun was the second person to be jailed by the special courts as part of the emergency government’s crackdown on corruption. Mamun was sentenced for failing to submit details of his financial affairs as demanded by the authorities. — AFP

Sino-Indian army drill

NEW DELHI: India and China have agreed to hold their first ever joint army exercise as part of a wider effort to improve ties between the one-time Asian enemies, military officials said on Thursday. The manoeuvre is slated for October and will see 100 Indian troops sent to China for a workout in anti-terrorism tactics, the Indian army chief, General JJ Singh, was quoted as saying by the Indian Express newspaper. “We had a small thing earlier — not an exercise but a mountaineering expedition — two years ago,” army spokesman Colonel S.K. Sakhuja told AFP. — AFP