Jammu, Aug 29 (ANI): Talks between a Jammu and Kashmir Governor's panel and Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti was put off for the second consecutive day on Friday as the normal life remained paralysed in the Jammu region in response to the continuing bandh over the issue.

The meeting has again been deferred today in view of the illness of Chairman of the Governor's panel and Adviser S S Bloeria," Sri Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti (SAYSS) spokesperson Narinder Singh said.

He said the government's decision on the postponement of the talks was conveyed to the SAYSS and that no fresh date was fixed for the parleys.

However, sources in the government said that the meeting is expected to be held on Saturday.

Thursday's scheduled round of talks between the panel appointed by the Governor N N Vohra to resolve the issue in the wake of a two-month long agitation by the SAYSS was deferred due to Bloeria's ill health.

Shops and market places were closed and vehicles were off the roads in response to the bandh called by SAYSS which entered the 62nd day today.

Work in educational institutions and banks remained badly hit and attendance in government offices was thin.

Traffic plied on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway where authorities have imposed prohibitory orders and the army has been given the charge of ensuring smooth movement of trucks from Lakhanpur to Jawahar Tunnel.

On the issue of the talks with the official panel, the SAYSS said it has submitted written demands to it and was expecting a "favourable" response.

The group earlier held three rounds of talks with the governor's panel on 23rd August.

However, the talks remained inconclusive and it was agreed by both sides that they would resume the discussions at a later stage.

A five-point agenda had been set for the talks which included reconstitution of the Amarnath shrine board, clarifying in appropriate details its role and duties.

It also includes assessment of the total requirement of land by the Shrine Board and working out an arrangement for use of 100 acres of land at Baltal-Domail by the SASB during the period of yatra.

Meanwhile, curfew continued in Poonch town for seventh consecutive day today. (ANI)

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Kolkata, August 29 (ANI): Central committee member of the Communist Party of Marxist Shyamal Chakraborty on Friday said that West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee has been censured by party's Politburo for his anti-bandh stand and he has accepted the punishment.

"The Chief Minister has been censured by the Politburo for his anti-bandh stand and he has not opposed it and accepted the decision," Chakraborty said.

Chakraborty said the "censure" is one of the several penal provisions in the CPM constitution.

While reacting to Buddhadev's action against shutdown the CPM Politburo had said on Thursday that the party firmly stood for the "fundamental right" of the working class to strike.

Buddhadev had said on August 26 during an Assocham interactive session that he would not keep silent if a shutdown was called by his party.

"I do not support any bandh, but at the same time, I am member of a political party. So long I have kept mum. But now I will speak out," he said. (ANI)

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London, Aug.29 (ANI): British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's job for the time being is safe, thanks to the threat of a new Cold War with Russia.

According to The Sun, fears of a coup to unseat Brown appear to be fizzling out because of this new major crisis.

The tabloid says that with Foreign Secretary David Miliband, Brown's only rival for the post of Prime Minister, being preoccupied with Russia's aggression against Georgia, Cabinet ministers are now shrinking away from forcing Brown out.

Labour MPs who were so keen to give Brown the boot just a few weeks ago, have also gone quiet.

Brown, it appears, may stay on as Prime Minister until the May 2010 election.

Brown will now focus on a mini-Budget, in a fortnight, aimed at easing the cost of winter fuel payments. He has already begun work on a barnstorming speech to Labour's annual rally in Manchester at the end of September.

A reshuffle of his top team will come in October as the PM tries to keep some momentum going. (ANI)

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Melbourne, Aug.29 (ANI): An exploding oxygen tank forced the emergency landing of a Qantas jet in Manila after it blew a hole in the fuselage, air safety investigators have found.

According to news.com.au, the tank failed and burst, blasting through the cabin floor from a storage area between business and economy class seats on a Hong Kong to Melbourne flight last month.

The website quoted a preliminary report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) as saying that investigators are yet to determine why the tank exploded, almost two months after the July 5 incident. They could not rule out such an incident occurring again.

Safety investigators said passengers and crew were extremely lucky not to have been injured by the exploding oxygen tank. All 346 passengers and 19 crew aboard the flight escaped injury when the Boeing 747-400 made the emergency landing after the mid-air explosion. The aircraft involved in the Manila incident was repairable at a cost of less than 10 million Australian dollars and would be back in service in November 2008. (ANI)

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