Indian News Headlines....(30/09/08)

Shrieks punctuate sombre atmosphere in Chamunda temple...

JODHPUR: At least 80 people have died and more than 100 people injured in a major stampede in the Chamunda Devi temple at the start of Navaratri festival on Tuesday according to Police officials.According to reports, rumours of a bomb in Mehrangarh near Jodhpur area led to the stampede.

More than 30 bodies were brought to Mahatma Gandhi Hospital and at least 10 to Mathura Das Hospital here, Divisional Commissioner Kiran Soni Gupta said.The devotees in huge number, especially women, had gathered at the temple from early Tuesday morning in view of the Navratra festival starting from Tuesday.

India, France finalises civil nuclear cooperation pact...

Paris, Sept 30 (PTI) India and France today finalised a landmark agreement on civil nuclear cooperation that covered supply of reactors and atomic fuel in the first concrete step to bring New Delhi back into the nuclear mainstream ending 34 years of nuclear isolation.

The agreement to be initialled later in the day after summit talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and French President Nicolas Sarkozy will form the basis of wide ranging bilateral cooperation from basic and applied research to full civil nuclear cooperation including reactors and fuel supplies, nuclear safety, radiation and environment protection and nuclear fuel cycle management.

Malegaon explosion was bomb blast: police

Malegaon, Maharashtra: The explosion that claimed four lives in this Maharashtra town Monday night was caused by a bomb placed on a motorcycle, police said Tuesday. Earlier reported to be a gas cylinder explosion, the blast at Bhikku Chowk in the heart of the town left over 50 people injured.

U.S. crisis will hit software exports...

The National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) on Monday said the Indian software industry might be hit by the financial crisis in the U.S. and global slowdown; and it could have to lower the software export target set for the current fiscal.

Several injured in fresh violence in Orissa..

More than a dozen people were injured in fresh violence Tuesday in Orissa's Kandhamal district, where clashes between Hindus and Christians have claimed at least 30 lives in the past month.