SRINAGAR: The 2,895 metre high Chandanwari in Kashmir Himalayas has been made base camp for registration of yatris for the annual Amarnath pilgrimage which commences on Saturday. The base camp at Chandanwari started functioning from Friday. Adequate security arrangements have been made all along the 47-km route.

J&K operations

SRINAGAR: The new headquarters which will be responsible for counter insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir was formally inaugurated at Sharifabad on the outskirts of Srinagar. The raising of this headquarters was carried out last month in the wake of Operation Vijay to ensure better coordination amongst all the Rashtria Rifles and central police organisation units handling counter-insurgency operations within the state.

Chandra shuttle

CAPE CANAVERAL: The space shuttle Columbia roared off into space and into history early on Friday for the first time with a woman space commander, Eileen Collins. Themission is to launch the four-story Chandra X-Ray observatory named after Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, the Indian-born astrophysicist.

Japan hijack

TOKYO: A Man who wanted to `soar through the air' on Friday hijacked a Japanese airliner with 517 people on board, stabbed the pilot to death and briefly seized control of the plane before he was overpowered, authorities said.

`Deceased' in court

NEW DELHI: In a bizarre case, three accused in a three-year-old murder case have been set free by a Delhi court after the "deceased" girl personally appeared before it stunning everybody. ASJ Naipal Singh recently acquitted accused Asif, his brother Arif and Rashid after the "victim" Maya made a surprise appearance stating that she had voluntarily left her home and married Asif.