Shillong, April 13: Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday criticized senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Lal Krishan Advani stating that the Kandahar episode and the 2001 Parliament attack had occured when he was the Union Home Minister of the country.

"When Advaniji was the home minister, a terrorist who was captured and kept in jail here was released and escorted as a guest to Afghanistan. The terrorist then went to Pakistan and planned attacks against India, including the attack on our Parliament," she told an election rally at Shillong on Monday.

Hosur (Tamil Nadu), Apr 13: Hundreds of people attended a special yajna (religious fire ritual) ceremony held here for world peace on the last weekend.

Organised by Chinmaya Mission at Hosur in Tamil Nadu, the religious ceremony witnessed an overwhelming participation of people irrespective of their person religious faith.

The yajna was performed along with the recitation of powerful ''Gayatari Mantra'' for 108 times to promote harmony and seek relief for everyone suffering worldly troubles.

Nairobi - Crew members of the Maersk Alabama, whose captain Richard Phillips was freed from the clutches of Somali pirates in a dramatic Navy operation, paid tribute to their captain Monday and called on President Barack Obama to tackle piracy off the coast of Somalia. US Navy snipers on Sunday shot dead three Somali pirates who had been holding Phillips in a lifeboat since Wednesday, following a failed attempt to seize the Alabama.

A fourth pirate - who was on a US Navy ship, the USS Bainbridge, to negotiate Phillip's release at the time of the shooting - is in custody.

Hong Kong - The Hong Kong government Monday issued a travel warning for its residents to stay away from Bangkok as anti-government protests escalated in the Thai capital. Secretary for Security Ambrose Lee said the government of Hong Kong was the first to issue such a severe warning.

Lee called on tour operators and individuals to scrap their plans to Thailand due to the political unrest and said several tour operators had already cancelled packages.

Imphal, April 13: The unabated violent incidents by various militant groups in Manipur are creating uncertainty in people's lives.

Various women vendors staged a sit-in protest at a blast site to protest and express anguish against the recent grenade attack at Mayang Imphal Bazar, which wounded eight persons.

The incident occurred after some unidentified persons threw a grenade inside a grocery shop at Mayang Imphal Bazar.

According to the Sunday Times, an 800-million pound refinancing loan for the Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) appears to be on the cards, given the "advanced talks" of the company with British ministers and a banking syndicate led by the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds TSB.

The talks have been somewhat slow since November 2008, with officials being overwhelmed by "the size and power of the vast Tata business empire."