Current News & Affairs - India

Cheapest Indian Android ICS tablet iBerry Auxus coming soon

2012-02-14T22:24:00.000-08:00

Chennai based iBerry India, a brand associated with the manufacture of low cost Android tablets in the country, will launch its first Google Ice Cream Sandwich tablet for the Indian audience in the coming month.

While talking to The Mobile Indian, iBerry India spokesperson Musthafa Kamal informed us that "iBerry India is getting ready for the launch of its first Google Ice Cream Sandwich based tablet, which will take place in the month of March. This will also be the cheapest ICS based tablet with a price tag of about Rs 10,000."

Initially, iBerry entered the Indian market with two Android models, the BT07 7 inch version and the BT10 10 inch tablet, which were launched last year during September. Following the launch of the ICS based tablet, iBerry has plans to launch a slew of new products in the Indian market in the times to come.

The 7 inch iBerry Auxus AX02 will have a 1 GHz processor with dedicated graphics engine for speed and better graphic capabilities as well. Along with that the Auxus will feature 1 GB of DDR2 RAM, HDMI output and support for a 3G USB modem.

The 7 inch display will have 800 x 480 pixel resolution and a capacitive touch based input system with multitouch for pinch to zoom functionality. For better gaming support it will have a gyro based motion sensor.

The device will be based on Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) operating system and will be capable of handling up to 32 GB of expandable memory via microSD cards. Also the device will get mini USB on the go port support for pen drives and other peripherals.

iBerry is all set to launch the device countrywide in the next month. Auxus AX02 will be available through the online retail network and retail sale partners in various cities across India. The company is offering a one year comprehensive warranty for the devices, which will be handled by the company's service network throughout India.

iBerry has also set up a toll free number for easy and reliable servicing. Along with that the tablet will come with an on-site warranty, which means if the tablet is not working the company will get it picked up from your home for servicing and repairs and users will not have to worry about searching for service centres

Anna Hazare's effect not lost in the margin

2011-10-17T21:24:00.001-07:00

The Congress finished a poor third and forfeited its deposit in the Hisar Lok Sabha by-election, results for which declared on Monday. Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) candidate and Bhajan Lal’s son Kuldeep Bishnoi was the victor.

Bishnoi scraped through with a narrow margin of 6,323 votes over his main rival Ajay Chautala of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD). Bishnoi polled 3,55,941 votes while Chauthala got 3,49,618 votes. Bishnoi’s father, late Bhajan Lal, had won the Hisar seat in 2009 by a margin of 6,983 votes.

Congress’ Jai Parkash polled 1,49,785 votes, which is much reduced from the 2,04,539 he got in 2009 and when too he had trailed third. The party had nearly 54,000 votes less this time round, while the change in margin of the winner was about 660 votes.

Team Anna was happy that the Congress had lost but it tried to distance itself from the victory of Bishnoi, who said his victory was not because of the Anna-factor. “This was not our seat. It was held by Bhajan Lal who passed away recently, and there is nothing surprising about his son retaining it. This does happen in Indian politics,” said Congress spokesperson Renuka Chaudhary.

She asserted that the defeat was not a verdict on Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. “One by-election does not mean any such thing. The Congress has been in power for some time, so it does lead to some fatigue, but then as chief minister he still has some battery left,” she said, adding that chief minister’s do not come with an expiry date.

On Team Anna taking credit for this outcome, Chaudhary said that the right thing would have been if Arvind Kejriwal was fielded.l

He is the local man and that would have been the right thing to do, if they wanted to claim any credit,” Chaudhary said.

Speaking to DNA, Congress general secretary and party in-charge in Haryana BK Hari Prasad said that the verdict was on expected lines. “Congress lost Hisar even during the Sonia Gandhi wave in 2009. Kuldeep Bishnoi won on the sympathy vote for his late father, Bhajan Lal,” he said, denying that the Anna Team had any contribution to make in the Congress defeat. “They are shining on borrowed feathers.”

But Team Anna had its own take. “Congress doesn’t understand the language of fast. It only understands the language of votes.

Hisar elections were a sort of referendum for the Jan Lokpal Bill. The results have given clear indications to the Congress about what people want. They should learn from it,” said Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal. “We are not against any party. If the Congress passes a strict Lokpal Bill in the upcoming winter session, we will end our protest against it. We are protesting and asked people to vote against the Congress as that will put pressure on it to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill.”

Kejriwal cleared the air on why Anna decided not to go ahead with his UP tour. “We are not anti-Congress. Annaji would have come to this UP tour but he has given time to the government till the winter session. The prime minister has written a letter to him and we respect that. He has asked people to keep a watch on Parliament until the bill is passed,” Kejriwal said. He, however, warned the Congress that if it didn’t pass the Jan Lokpal Bill in the winter session, Team Anna would ask people to vote against Congress in UP assembly elections.

Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_anna-hazare-s-effect-not-lost-in-the-margin_1600241

Kuldeep Bishnoi wins Hisar by-polls, Congress third

2011-10-17T21:17:00.000-07:00

Hisar (Haryana), Oct 17 (IANS) Haryana Janhit Congress' Kuldeep Singh Bishnoi won the Hisar parliamentary by-election while the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) was number two and the state's ruling Congress was trailing a distant third.

Bishnoi won by over 20, 000 votes. Meanwhile, Arvind Kejriwal said that Team Anna had no role in Bishnoi's win. Their aim was to make sure the Congress lost.

As speculation mounted over the role played by Anna Hazare and team, which stepped into the political fray to campaign against the Congress, Bishnoi said he owed nothing to the anti-corruption crusader.

'I attribute it only to my father and the (alliance with) BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party),' Bishnoi told reporters here, as officials placed him on the victory lap with a lead of 32,000 votes over his nearest rival.

By the time Team Anna began campaigning in Hisar against the Congress for its refusal to back the Jan Lokpal Bill, people had decided to vote for him, he said.

Bishnoi, son of former Haryana chief minister Bhajan Lal, however, added that he respected anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare and would vote for the Jan Lokpal Bill in parliament.

The Hisar seat had fallen vacant in June following the death of Bhajan Lal, a three-time chief minister.

As Bishnoi looked forward to victory, the son of another former chief minister was looking at second position in the crucial election result. Ajay Singh Chautala is the son of former Haryana chief minister, Om Prakash Chautala.

The Congress' Jai Parkash had come third in the last election as well. Although Bishnoi refused to give the Team Anna any credit, some analysts said the campaign had also affected the Congress prospects.

Surprisingly, Jai Parkash also denied that Team Anna had anything to do with the Hisar result. 'The caste factor undid me,' he said.

The election, held on Oct 13, witnessed 70 percent polling. About 9.3 lakh voters (nearly 70 percent) of 13.32 lakh registered voters had voted.

Results will be announced by Monday afternoon.

There were around 40 candidates, mostly independents, in Hisar.

In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, Bhajan Lal of HJC got 2.48 lakh votes. He was followed by INLD's Sampat Singh (2.41 lakh votes). Congress' Jai Parkash had stood third with 2.04 lakh votes.

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/bishnoi-races-towards-victory-hisar-congress-third-062226300.html

Angry Supreme Court asks govt why it did nothing to stop 2G scam

2011-10-13T10:19:00.001-07:00

The Supreme Court today expressed its anguish that the stand ofPrime Minister Manmohan Singh favouring"auctioning" of 2G spectrum was ignored and no timely action was taken to prevent the scam.

A bench of Justice GS Singhvi and Justice HL Dattu criticised the government for its handling of the situation ahead of 2G spectrum allocation in which the policy of "auction" was given a go by the telecom ministry under A Raja on the first-come-first served policy.

The bench said even when the then Telecom Minister did not agree with the Prime Minister for auctioning the "scarce" spectrum and went ahead with issuing Letters of Intent (LoIS), no timely action was taken to prevent the situation which has arisen today and the matter reached the courts.

The bench was hearing the bail pleas of jailed Managing Director of Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Pvt Ltd Sanjay Chandra and Swan Telecom's Director Vinod Goenka in the case.

"You are expressing apprehension that the accused may tamper with the evidence and affect the CBI case if granted bail. The charge sheet contains a date, November 2, 2007 which is a crucial date. Everybody knows about that date and you (CBI) also know.

"The head of the government writes a letter that spectrum is scarce commodity and it should be auction. The minister (then telecom minister A Raja) did not agree. The Finance Department also objected. Do you thinkthe government was not aware of what was going on," the bench said while Raval was opposing the bail pleas of the accused.

The bench also referred to the scheduled Telecom Commission meeting of Janaury 9, 2008 which was postponed to January 15 and on January 10, Raja issued 122 LoIs for the 2G spectrum without following the policy of auction.

"At this stage you could have avoided entire exercise by taking a decision this way or that way. What prevented the government to take a step for all these three years," the bench asked and said "LoIs in itself does not create a right and government should have taken a step".

"Three years from September-October 2008 when complaints in writing were made including to the CVC about the seriousness of the issue, couldn't steps have been taken to put an end," it further said.

The ASG responded to the remarks by saying that it was on January 10, 2008 that it came to the knowledge of the Government that a decision has been taken by the then telecom minister for allocating the 2G spectrum.

"Today we are examining the role of these persons who have involved in the decision of January 10," he said.

The ASG said "the involvement of the sitting minister (Raja) reflects the gravity and nature of the offence".

The bench was questioning the CBI about the delay in completing the procedure which was coming in way of commencing the trial of the case.

"The question is how many days they are going to be behind bars as the trial is yet to start. Will it be over in seven years," the bench asked.

It observedthat senior advocate Ram Jethmalani, who is representing some of the accused in the case, will take his "sweet time" to cross-examine the witnesses and it could be possible that he may take a month to examine even a single witness.

Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_angry-supreme-court-asks-govt-why-it-did-nothing-to-stop-2g-scam_1598429

Terror strike in Delhi foiled; cops suspect LeT-Babbar link

2011-10-13T10:17:00.000-07:00

A terror strike, possibly in Delhi ahead of Diwali, plotted by Let and Babbar Khalsa was foiled with police seizing over 5 kg explosives from a car outside Ambala Cant Railway station.

A team of Delhi Police and their Haryana counterparts found the explosives in a blue Indica car parked outside the railway station, about 200 km from Delhi, last night following probe into inputs provided by intelligence agencies ten days ago that a consignment of explosives is headed to a north Indian metro.

Though the initial inputs were general in nature, sources said, Delhi Police was provided specific inputs, including the make of the vehicle used for carrying the explosives and that the exchange will take place in Ambala, last evening.

The information was passed on to Haryana Police and a joint team of Delhi and Haryana Police tracked down the car to Ambala railway station. Sources said the vehicle had yesterday passed from the Lakhanpur toll barrier along Jammu-Pathankot barrier.

Sources said the car-laden with explosives, which one would have needed to assemble to carry out a blast, was abandoned by its occupants who may have become suspicious when police carried out searches after waiting for someone to turn up.

"We had inputs that an LeT module active in Jammu and Kashmir was planning to strike in Delhi. Investigations were done and found that the explosives were meant for BKI and to be used in Delhi. We received a specific input yesterday about the movement," Arun Kampani, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell), told reporters in Delhi. The recovery of the explosives came a month after a bomb blast outside High Court in Delhi.

"Ambala was the place where the explosives were meant to be exchanged. Bomb disposal squads and forensic experts from Madhubani FSL rushed to the spot. Five kg of black explosives contained in three packets wrapped with brown adhesive tapes were recovered," Kampani said.

Five detonators contained in a plastic box wrapped with brown adhesive tapes, two 'ABCD' timers hidden in the cavity of window rolling machine of the front door of the car, registration papers of the car and two toll receipts of Shambu Barrier and Ladowal were recovered.

A box of sweets was found lying in the car, which showed that it was purchased from Jammu's Bari Brahmna area besides two newspapers from Jammu and Kashmir.

The car was bearing a fake Haryana registration number and police suspect that it was a stolen one. The number plate on the car and the RC recovered were not the same, a senior police official said.

Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_terror-strike-in-delhi-foiled-cops-suspect-let-babbar-link_1598270

Temporary workers at Manesar may be an option: Maruti

2011-10-13T10:15:00.000-07:00

The crippling labour strike at Maruti's Manesar plant continues. Striking workers are coming under fire from the authorities, with the Haryana government declaring the strike illegal and directing protesting workers to vacate the factory.
Late in the evening, the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed that there would be no sit-in strike within 100 meters of the premises of the Manesar plant. The judge directed striking workers to be taken out. He also directed that loyal workers be allowed to join their duties.
RC Bhargava, chairman of Maruti Suzuki tells CNBC-TV18 that the court's verdict is no where close to resolving the deadlock between management and striking employees.
He says alternative ways are currently being looked at to resume and maintain production. The last time when the workers went on strike, temporary workers were brought in to continue production. While Maruti’s management hasn’t made any firm decision, Bhargava does acknowledge that it’s an option which is certainly available to them.
Below is an edited transcript of his exclusive interview with CNBC-TV18’s Shereen Bhan. Watch the accompanying video for more.
Q: The court has now directed the Maruti workers to vacate the premises. While this may end the occupation, does this bring us any closer to a possible breakthrough?
A: No, it’s not necessarily going to lead to any breakthrough because so far the workers who have been on strike in illegal occupation have shown absolutely no concern about legalities or agreements or any regard for the law at all. Whether this is going to help in any way in resolving the issue is very doubtful.
Q: The workers say they are keen to negotiate with Maruti’s management and one of their demands is reinstating the 44 dismissed employees. The other demands they claim is that the Maruti management had agreed to deduct the salary for only 34 days when they were on strike but they have actually deducted the salary of about 64 days. Is that accurate? Is there any breakthrough on these contentious issues?
A: As far as the 44 workers are concerned, the agreement which was signed about a week ago with the state government involvement was that these 44 workers would remain suspended and that they would face disciplinary proceedings according to law. Now because they went on another illegal strike it would be very odd if we were to concede any demand for reducing the severity of this agreement and saying that these people should be taken back. I don’t think that’s ever likely to happen.
The other demand also for deduction of wages is not correct. We never agreed to deduct only 32 day wages. According to law, if a person goes on an illegal strike deduction can be up to eight times the period of absence. So for 34 days it could have been 8 times. We have reduced that 8 times to 2 times and that is what the agreement was about.
Q: You are not willing to make any concessions as far as the 44 dismissed employees are concerned, but on the matter of salary if that’s what it was to boil down to, to broker a peace between management and the workers, would you concede on that demand?
A: At the moment its not just 44, it is more than 44 because as a result of what has been happening in the last week, where these people have indulged in a lot of violence and a lot of loyal workers have been beaten up. Several more are likely to be charge sheeted and suspended and some have already been suspended and dismissed, so it’s not just going to be 44, its going to be more than that.
Q: Are you saying that as far as disciplinary action is concerned, Maruti is not going to concede on any ground. Even if it means loosing more production and loosing more days, you are not going to concede on that demand?
A: We may look at alternative ways of resuming production and maintaining production but we would certainly not concede as a result of another illegal strike and a great deal of violence and a breach of the agreement made this a means of reducing the severity or the contents of the agreement which were signed earlier. That would be very wrong.
Q: You talked about how you could look at alternate ways. The last time around when they went on strike you had brought in temporary workers. What could you possibly do this time around?
A: We could do similar things this time around also.
Q: Are you looking at bringing in temporary workers?
A: I am not sure that we have made any decision on that yet because that’s a matter which would be taken by the management. But it’s an option which is certainly available to us.

Source: http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/temporaryworkersatmanesarmaybeo_598973.html

Maruti to shut Gurgaon plant two days; Manesar strike on

2011-10-13T10:12:00.000-07:00

Maruti Suzuki India on Thursday said it will shut its main plant at north Indian city Gurgaon for two days starting Friday due to component supply constraints from SPIL, where workers are on a stir in support of the striking colleagues at the country's largest car-maker's Manesar plant.

"Maruti Suzuki has decided to suspend production at the Gurgaon plant on October 14 and October 15. This is in view of the non-availability of components for cars," the company said in a statement.

Production at Gurgaon plant remained low Thursday and rolled out only 600 vehicles as against the normal daily production of 2,800 vehicles, it said.

While models like M800, Omni, Eeco and Gypsy are not dependent on the component supply from Suzuki Powertrain India Limited (SPIL), it was considered that operating the plant only for these models will not be viable, it added

"The production loss for these models can be recovered once the production resumes," it said.

Workers at SPIL and Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt Ltd (SMIPL) have gone on a simultaneous strike since October 7 in support of their colleagues at MSI Manesar plant.

SPIL supplies engines and transmission to MSI.

The strike by the workers entered the seventh day on Thursday despite the Haryana government declaring it illegal Wednesday for violating a settlement agreement signed on October 1 to end a 33-day-long standoff.

The Haryana Labour Department on Thursday filed a civil suit in a Gurgaon court alleging that that unions of SPIL and SMIPL and representatives of MSI' Manesar plant workers had violated agreement and action must be taken agains them.

Source: http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/maruti-gurgaon-plant/1/19318.html

With Anna factor looming large, Hisar goes to polls on Thursday

2011-10-12T02:28:00.001-07:00

HISAR (HARYANA): With Anna Hazare factor looming large raising stakes for the ruling Congress, the stage is set for a triangular contest in the bypolls for Hisar Lok Sabha seat to be held on Thursday.

There has been a fortnight of frenzied campaigning as heavyweights find themselves locked in a keen contest, which has been overshadowed by Hazare's call to voters to shun the Congress and inflict a "historic defeat" for its failure to bring the Jan Lokpall Bill in Parliament.

Congress has fielded three-time MP from Hisar Jai Prakash. He is pitted against Haryana Janhit Congress' Kuldeep Bishnoi, son of late Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, and main opposition INLD's Ajay Singh Chautala, MLA from Dabwali and son of INLD President Om Prakash Chautala. The contituency has a voter strength of 13.32 lakh which includes 7.29 males.

Out of the 40 candidates in the contest, mainly independents, Bishnoi is the richest in the fray having declared assets worth Rs 48.85 crore while Ajay Chautala is at number two spot in terms of assets worth Rs 40.16 crore and Jai Prakash having assets worth Rs 3.16 crore, according to the Haryana Election Watch, an NGO.

For the first time, videography will be done at all the polling stations in Hisar, according to Haryana's Chief Electoral Officer, Sumita Misra.

She said that foolproof security arrangements have been made to ensure fair and free elections with 40 companies (4,000 personnel) of central forces being deployed in addition to the police force spread across 1506 polling booths, out of which 339 have been declared as 'hyper sensitive' and 387 others as 'sensitive'.

The results of the bypolls, which certain Anna team members and opposition parties have been claiming will be a a "turning point" in country's politics, would be declared on October 17.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/With-Anna-factor-looming-large-Hisar-goes-to-polls-on-Thursday/articleshow/10325801.cms

No more roaming charges - New Telecom Policy

2011-10-11T04:44:00.000-07:00

Telecom minister Kapil Sibal unveiled the draft National Telecoms Policy 2011, containing new rules for the sector. This new policy would replace the existing framework that has been in place since 1999.

In a move that could help ease pressure on big carriers that have been rapidly adding users to increasingly crowded airwaves, India's new telecoms policy will allow carriers to share and trade spectrum.

The draft plan also advocates one nation, one license across services and service areas; this would imply that roaming charges would soon be done away with.

The policy proposes to introduce a stronger customer grievance redressal mechanism, recognize telecoms as an infrastructure sector giving it tax concessions, and extend preferential status to 'Made in India' hardware products.

It will also include a policy for allowing operators to exit the market, telecoms minister said, which could eventually lead to consolidation in an industry where more than a dozen players compete, keeping tariffs and margins low.

India's new telecoms policy will focus on building access in rural areas and promoting the domestic production of equipment, Sibal said.

India decided to overhaul its decade-old rules for the industry after alleged rigging in the grant of licences in 2007/08 came to light late last year, which the CAG said could have cost the government as much as $39 billion in revenue.

The policy will focus on convergence of TV, internet and internet services. Broadband download speed will be revised to 512 kbps vs 216 kbps. Sibal said that the government will audit the use of spectrum.

Source: http://in.finance.yahoo.com/news/New-Telecom-Policy-No-roaming-yahoofinancein-2175859066.html

Dalit woman forced to parade naked in UP - Wealthy UP family parades Dalit woman naked

2011-10-11T03:55:00.000-07:00

A middle-aged Dalit woman was brazenly paraded naked in Chandwapur village of Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri district on Saturday.

An affluent Dalit family put Ram Pyari, 45, through this public humiliation as they believed her husband, Darbari Lal, had helped their daughter Jayanti elope. Jayanti, a divorcee, had been living with her parents for the past two years. She had eloped with Mannu, a youth from the village.

SP Amit Chandra confirmed the incident and said five youth from the family have been arrested. “ It was a well- planned crime. While Haridwari Lal, Jayanti’s father, was registering a complaint against Darbadi Lal at Isanagar police station, his family members were torturing Ram Pyari,” he said.

“They had kidnapped and locked her in their house on Friday night. However, they paraded her naked the next morning when she couldn’t give any clue about Jayanti’s whereabouts,” he further said. Ram Pyari later told the police that out of the 500 in the village no one had dared to intervene to save her.

“They abducted and locked me in a room. But they got furious when I told them that I had no idea about where Jayanti was and who she had eloped with. So they dragged me into the street and ripped off my clothes. They also groped and beat me with batons and belts,” she told the police.

The incident is gradually taking on political hues with Iqbal Ahmed Khan, Congress district president, saying his party will not sit by and allow such injustice to take place. “The victim is a poor Dalit woman while the accused are wealthy Dalits with political links... Recently, a girl was raped and killed in a police station in the same district. These incidents took place in a state where the CM herself is a Dalit woman. We will raise the issue of rising crimes against women,” Khan said.

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/wealthy-up-family-parades-dalit-woman-naked.html

Cricket Australia terms Majeed's 'Oz players biggest match-fixers' claim as "outlandish"

2011-10-11T03:52:00.001-07:00

Cricket Australia has hit back at the claims against Australian players made by Mazhar Majeed, an agent accused of taking bribes to fix matches, terming them as "very outlandish".

Majeed, 36, told an undercover journalist that Australian cricketers and Pakistan stars were involved in betting scams, Southwark Crown Court was told on Monday.

"The Australians, they are the biggest. They have 10 brackets a game," he said in the tape played to the court hearing the spot-fixing case against the tainted Pakistani trio- Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif- as well as alleged bookmaker Majeed.

"We were very surprised to hear the report this morning," Cricket Australia General Manager Public Affairs Peter Young said in response to the controversial claims made by Majeed.

"We are aware that some very outlandish claims have been made by a person of very dubious repute and they've apparently been replayed to the court," he said.

"We're very conscious of respecting the judicial process and we're very conscious of the importance of not saying anything that might inadvertently compromise that process," he added.

"What we can say is that we are not aware of any evidence and our long standing formal view for well over a decade has been that any credible evidence needs to be pursued and investigated with vigour by the ICC ASCU and that is our position today."

Young said the CA would contact the Dubai-based International Cricket Council (ICC) later today to understand any advice they might have.

"It's important for the sport that the public has the ability to have absolute confidence in the outcome of the game that it watches," he said.

While there is a court proceeding under way, the ICC anti-corruption process continues to work and the CA is pleased about that, he added.

"We do note that the ICC has had an anti-corruption expert scrutinising every single ball that we've bowled and every single ball that we've faced for well over a decade and there has been no suggestion of any concerns about Australian cricket," he pointed out.

"We support that scrutiny, we support that it continues and we support that any credible evidence be pursued with forensic rigour," Young said.

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/cricket-australia-terms-majeeds-oz-players-biggest-match-044002089.html

Leave politics to politicians, Khurshid advises Anna

2011-10-11T03:49:00.000-07:00

Union Law and Justice Minister Salman Khurshid Saturday took a pot shot at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) stating that it has no right to question the constitutional validity of the National Advisory Council (NAC). He also advised activist Anna Hazare to leave politics to politicians and work on social issues.

On Hazare's campaign against the Congress in the ensuing state elections, he said: 'Anna should leave politics to us. He should concentrate more on social issues.'

Speaking to reporters at a function organised by Nagpur Union of Working Journalists, Khurshid's comments on the RSS came after the organisation's chief Mohan Bhagwat criticised the NAC which is led by United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

'Those who do not unfurl the national tricolour (flag) at their headquarters and buildings on Independence Day and Republic Day have no moral right to talk about the constitutional validity of NAC,' Khurshid said.

During a Dussehra rally Thursday, Bhagwat criticised the NAC and opposed the Communal Violence Bill drafted by the panel.

Bhagwat called the bill a 'deceitful action of destructive minds detrimental to democratic values'.

Khurshid, when later questioned about the Lokpal Bill, said that the bill would be brought in the ensuing winter session of parliament for debate and consideration.

'The government is keeping its word given to (activist) Anna Hazare when he broke the fast that the Lokpal Bill will be re-drafted. The standing committee (of parliament) is holding deliberations to make the bill a comprehensive piece of legislation,' he said.

Khurshid said that by December the government would bring a slew of legislations including a bill on transparency in public procurements, citizens' charter, electoral reforms, protection to whistle-blowers and strengthening the Central Vigilance Commission.

Responding to a query about Hazare's demand for right to recall an elected representative, Khurshid said it was as impractical as holding elections all over the country on one day.

'Conducting free and fair elections takes too much time and effort, the recall facility would only complicate the matters,' he said.

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/leave-politics-politicians-khurshid-advises-anna-134904392.html

Steve Jobs helped me in my fight for Jan Lokpal, says Anna

2011-10-11T03:33:00.001-07:00

New Delhi: Anna Hazare, who followed the crucial debate on Lokpal in Parliament on his iPad during his fast, has paid rich tributes to the gadget's creator Steve Jobs, saying his innovations have helped him in his fight for Jan Lokpal Bill.

"Steve Jobs will always be remembered for his unparallelled contribution to the world of technology. The news of his death is saddening," Hazare said in his latest blog posting. Jobs, the co-founder of Apple which developed the iPad, died in California on October six after fighting pancreatic cancer for years.

Hazare remembered Jobs as one of those who "sculpted the history of technology by bringing about a revolutionary change" that brought the world together.

"He enabled a line of direct inter-personal communication between people staying in different places at different levels. His contribution will be remembered forever. Jobs used his imagination and futuristic viewpoint as he worked on his research hence his revolutionary thoughts will always hold an important place in modern history," he said.

Acknowledging that technology has been helpful in organising people to fight against injustice and corruption, he said Jobs' innovations have brought about a revolutionary change.

"I have personally experienced this during my fight for Jan Lokpal Bill. Without any doubt, we will need it at every step of our life," he said.

"Though he is not present physically, his work has immortalised him forever. Here, I will quote Samarth Ramdas, a saint from Maharashtra, 'marave pari kirti rupi uraave' (When a person is no more, he should be remembered for his work)," he said.

Hazare had on August 27, the 12th day of his fast in Ramlila Maidan demanding a strong Lokpal Bill, followed the crucial debate in Parliament over Lokpal Bill on his iPad.

"Bahut achaa hai (it is very good)," the 74-year-old Gandhian had then remarked as he watched the proceedings in his makeshift room at Ramlila Maidan here.

Source: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/steve-jobs-helped-me-in-my-fight-for-jan-lokpal-says-anna-140014

Hisar turns into battleground between Team Anna, Congress

2011-10-11T03:31:00.000-07:00

Hisar: Anna Hazare isn't in Haryana. But you wouldn't know it from the sea of posters and topis (caps) that can be seen everywhere. At the huge election rallies, his team members - Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi - speak on his behalf. Vote against the Congress, they say.

Hisar votes on Thursday this week for its next Lok Sabha MP. The by-election comes after Bhajan Lal of the Haryana Janhit Congress Party died in June while still serving his term. His son, Kuldeep Bishnoi, is the party's candidate, and has the BJP's support. Up against him is Ajay Chautala of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).

The Congress has chosen as its candidate Jai Prakash. He placed third in the elections for the same Lok Sabha seat in 2009. That could explain why his party has roped in not just Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda but other senior politicians from neighbouring states for the campaign.

The prestige point of the election is lost on nobody. Just in case his proxies don't make his point clearly enough, Anna has sent a 10-minute CD describing the Congress as the government of the corrupt." Team Anna's point is simple: the Congress has failed to introduce the new anti-corruption Lokpal Bill so far. Defeating the party will prove that the bill must be passed in the winter session of Parliament. Or else.

There are several big states scheduled to vote soon - including Uttar Pradesh. Anna has vowed to campaign against the Congress once again if it doesn't rush to get the Lokpal Bill approved as law.

The Bill provides for an ombudsman agency - the Lokpal - that will be empowered to investigate complaints of corruption among government servants. In August, Anna went on a 12-day fast, refusing to eat till Parliament approved in principle three powers for the Lokpal that he deems necessary.

The Congress has tried to dismiss Anna's tactics as blackmail. The party's Digvijaya Sigh has repeated the accusation that Anna is a man on an undeclared mission for the BJP. The 74-year-old activist rejects all allegations of political affiliation. "It is not votebank politics, but politics for the people" Mr Kejriwal said today at a rally. "Our movement is a people's movement and we want it to remain so. Our main agenda is to get the Jan Lokpal Bill passed."

Source: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/hisar-turns-into-battleground-between-team-anna-congress-140103&cp

How talks between Govt and Team Anna broke down: Excerpts from the Lokpal tapes

2011-10-11T03:26:00.000-07:00

New Delhi: Anna Hazare's team of activists met with the government nine times to discuss the anti-corruption Lokpal Bill between April and June this year. Anna and four of his nominees were inducted into a committee that paired them with five ministers. The ten members of the Joint Drafting Committee were to draft the Lokpal Bill, which creates a new ombudsman agency that will investigate complaints of corruption against government servants. (Audio files of meetings on Lokpal Bill)

Now, after the government made the audio tapes from those meetings public, for the first time people will know just how talks between the two sides broke down. (The Lokpal tapes: What went wrong)

Here are some excerpts from the last meeting which was perhaps the most acrimonious and the two sides decided to present separate drafts of the same bill.

Excerpt 1:

Pranab Mukherjee: I welcome you all to this ninth meeting of the joint drafting committee. Yesterday, we mentioned about the confirmation of the minutes of seventh meeting, which was circulated yesterday. If you do not have any problems, we can confirm the minutes.

Secretary: Sir, the Home Minister had suggested a slight modification. He had suggested para 5.1 of these minutes... Eighth line sir...

Pranab Mukherjee: You can just check your copy if you want to

Secretary: Para 5.1 of the minutes, page eight... In line eight...instead of the word "wonder"... it is "questioned "... and then the next sentence was deleted... Minister of Home Affairs was of the views that these powers cannot be given to the Lokpal...he has said that these need not be mentioned and then further down, when we are referring to Mr Kejriwal's statement - Shri Arvind Kejriwal made a statement that the CBC makes recommendations but its recommendations are never acted upon... Minister of Home Affairs informed that in his capacity, earlier as Finance Minister and now as Home Minister, he had almost never disagreed with the recommendations of the CBC.

Pranab Mukherjee: It was said also...

Secretary: Yes sir... So, there was a slight error in our recording, so we are correcting that.

Pranab Mukherjee: Is it agreed upon?

Prashant Bhushan: One more is on page 3...

Pranab Mukherjee: Page?

Prashant Bhushan: Prashant Bhushan said that none of them had made any specific charge against any member of the committee - that is fine. One line should be added after that - He said that the charges were against the government and the Congress party.

Pranab Mukherjee: What do you want to add?

Prashant Bhushan: One sentence which says he said the charges were against the government and the Congress party.

Pranab Mukherjee: You have corrected it? You have noted it?

Secretary: We have corrected it. With this minutes would be confirmed with these two amendments?

Pranab Mukherjee: Yeah, with these amendments. Any other?

Prashant Bhushan: No, it's okay.

Pranab Mukherjee: Then you should confirm it. As was agreed yesterday, I would request the secretariat to circulate the copies of draft Lokpal bill to all the members of the Joint Drafting Committee of the Lokpal bill. Has it been circulated?

Secretary: Yes, we have the copies sir.

Pranab Mukherjee: So circulate the copies. Just one second. On the principles, and there was an agreement in the JDC. Action has been taken to incorporate appropriate clauses in the draft bill. Where ever we have agreed to disagree, the person of the civil society will be included in the revised draft bill which will be submitted to the...

Excerpt 2:

Kapil Sibal: The problem is fundamentally this - that we are setting up through your... we are not arguing here... through your structure, we are setting up a parallel agency which is accountable to nobody. This is a big problem that we have...

Santosh Hegde: Accountable to the court.

Kapil Sibal: What court? Who is going to complain to any court against any inspector? You find any complaints nowadays against any inspector? People are afraid. You see, this is the fundamental problem...

Santosh Hegde: I can tell you I have faced three defamations in Prevention of Corruption Act...

Kapil Sibal: Ordinary persons don't dare complain against any enforcement agency. We all know that. This is the rule of... this country, we have seen it. That's the fundamental issue.

Shanti Bhushan: The entire criminal law today, for investigation and after investigation, registration of a case for prosecution never requires even an opportunity to an accused. This is for the first time that before you launch a prosecution, you are the accused person. The accused person will be heard by the court, not before by anybody. Every case, whether it is murder, even corruption case, the law requires after investigation when a chargesheet has been filed and as Justice Hegde has pointed out, the question of sanction doesn't arise in case of Prevention of Corruption Act, because no corruption can be regarded as in the discharge of public duty...

Salman Khurshid: But you only said we are removing sanction?

Shanti Bhushan: That's right, but Mr Sibal said because you are removing sanction...

Kapil Sibal: What is the protection to a government servant to a parallel government that is not accountable to anybody? Today the executive is accountable. That's the problem.

Pranab Mukherjee: We all have to discuss all this. Just one small clarification from your draft - Page 13C... functions of the Lokpal. After completion of investigation in any case involving an allegation of an act of corruption, to impose punishment of dismissal, removal or reduction in rank against government servants after giving them reasonable opportunities of being heard. That means here in this case even dismissal can take place after completion of investigation, not necessarily of the trial. Is that the meaning?

Shanti Bhushan: It happens already...

Pranab Mukherjee: No, no. I am not entering into argument. I just wanted to know that even before commencement of the trial, after the completion of the investigation to the extent dismissal of the public servant is possible?

Arvind Kejriwal: It happens today also. Today, the power to order dismissal after departmental enquiry lies with the department. The prosecution takes place parallel in the court. The same powers are there. All that we are doing is transferring the same powers from the department to the Lokpal. That's all we are doing.

Source: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/how-talks-between-govt-and-team-anna-broke-down-excerpts-from-the-lokpal-tapes-140158&cp

Digvijaya Singh writes an open letter to Anna Hazare

2011-10-11T03:24:00.000-07:00

New Delhi: Hisar in Haryana votes on Thursday for its next Lok Sabha MP. The election has turned into a huge prestige point between the Congress and anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare.

Anna and his activists have asked voters not to support the Congress. A defeat for the party, they say, will prove that its leaders need to ensure a new anti-corruption Jan Lokpal Bill (People's Ombudsman Bill) is passed in Parliament in the winter session.

Digvijaya Singh of the Congress has today written a letter to Anna, asking the Gandhian to reconsider his stand. "I am writing this open letter to you with great regret. I have great respect for you and this is a sentiment that I have held ever since I visited you in Ralegaon Siddhi. However, a few developments in recent weeks have put me in a dilemma. It looks as if a few people who are close to you are influencing you. These are people who have always opposed Congress ideology," Mr Singh said.

"If you are willing to take part in political process, you should participate openly," he has dared. Mr Singh has repeatedly accused Anna of being propped up by the opposition BJP, and its right-wing parent body, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS). He boosted those allegations by recently stating, "I have heard that BJP has told Anna Hazare that he could be the all-party candidate for the 2012 President's election. It is for Anna Hazare to tell us if anything like this has been proposed to him since he always says that he is not a political person."

Anna is not visiting Hisar personally. But his representatives including Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi have addressed numerous rallies urging people to prove to the Congress that they will not tolerate "a government of the corrupt." In retaliation, Mr Singh has said in his letter today, "The government is committed to pass the Lokpal Bill. Why have you adopted an anti-Congress stance?"

The by-election comes after Bhajan Lal of the Haryana Janhit Congress Party died in June while still serving his term. His son, Kuldeep Bishnoi, is the candidate for the Haryana Janhit Congress. He faces stiff competition from Ajay Chautala of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD). The Congress has chosen as its candidate Jai Prakash. He placed third in the elections for the same Lok Sabha seat in 2009, but enjoys the confidence of Haryana Chief Minister Bhoopinder Singh Hooda.

Source: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/digvijaya-singh-writes-an-open-letter-to-anna-hazare-140276

Haryana boy woos ‘uncles and aunts’ - Hazare associate Kejriwal stresses his Hisar roots as he campaigns against Congress

2011-10-10T22:56:00.000-07:00

Hisar (Haryana), Oct. 10: The scions of Haryana’s two big political families are in the fray for Thursday’s Lok Sabha by-election but for now, a third son of the soil is hogging the limelight.

Arvind Kejriwal, key member of the Anna Hazare team, hails from Hisar and isn’t shy of advertising the fact at his rallies where he campaigns against the Congress.

He stressed his local roots at today’s rally at Adampur grain market: “My aunt hails from Adampur. I am from Hisar. Many of you must be my distant relatives — grandparents, uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters.”

Loud cheers.

Kejriwal had arrived on Saturday armed with a recorded message from Hazare asking people to vote against the Congress. He and his associates have addressed up to half-a-dozen meetings every day across the constituency.

The RTI activist has been urging voters to teach the Congress a lesson it won’t forget, one that would force it to get the Jan Lokpal bill passed.

“Vote for anybody but the Congress,” exhorts the former revenue service official whom Hazare’s movement in Delhi has turned into a household name in urban middle-class India.

Kejriwal denies that he or any other Team Anna member has any political ambitions apart from forcing the passage of the bill in Parliament’s winter session. But to the 2,000 gathered at Adampur, Kejriwal was already their leader.

“He is one of our own. He is qualified and is fighting corruption,” said Vikas Bansal, 25, who claimed to have donated handsomely to fund Kejriwal’s meetings. Bansal was one of many traders at the meeting.

With Hazare strategically keeping himself away from Hisar, Kejriwal is clearly the leader of Team Anna, which includes one of his uncles. The activist’s appeal to vote against the Congress has been received well, at least by the crowds at Adampur and other non-Jat gatherings.

The traders, as Bansal and others readily conceded, are traditional BJP voters. Elsewhere, the fight is one between Jats, represented by Congress chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and non-Jats. Of Hisar’s 13 lakh voters, five lakh are Jats. Team Anna has focused on the non-Jat areas.

“Hooda has done very little development work for Hisar because his party lost here in 2009,” said Sunil Kumar, a Bishnoi and a supporter of former chief minister Bhajan Lal’s son Kuldip Bishnoi.

Kuldip belongs to the Haryana Janhit Congress, a BJP ally, and is seen as the favourite. His rivals are former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala’s son Ajay Chautala and the Congress’s Jai Prakash.

In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, Bhajan Lal of Janhit had won a close contest against Sampat Singh, Chautala’s candidate from the Indian National Lok Dal. Bhajan’s death in June precipitated the by-election.

Kuldip’s supporters hope that the Congress and Chautala will divide the Jat votes between themselves while their leader garners the support of the other communities, including the sizeable Dalit population. The Bahujan Samaj Party is not contesting.

The Congress had nearly thrown in the towel because of infighting over the ticket, but Hooda has made it a matter of prestige now that Team Anna has entered the scene.

He has been in Hisar since September 27 and has visited 100-odd villages. The Congress is under pressure to do better than 2009, when Jai Prakash came third. Jai Prakash has won the seat three times before.

In his speeches, Kejriwal says he knows the Congress is losing. “But it should be a loss that it remembers a long time. But please, do vote or these Congresswallahs will cast fake votes,” he says.

Hisar’s political workers are aware of the battle’s significance. “It will be like the 1977 Jabalpur by-election, which signalled the end of Indira Gandhi’s Congress in the post-Emergency polls,” said RSS worker Hans Raj.

If Kejriwal is right, the by-election should rather be a repeat of the 1988 Allahabad by-election when V.P. Singh returned to his hometown to campaign against the Congress at the height of the Bofors controversy. A united Opposition defeated the Congress, heralding the Rajiv Gandhi government’s ouster in the 1989 general election.

“If the Congress loses here, India will win. The Congress does not understand the language of fasts but that of votes,” Kejriwal said.

His rallies haven’t been uneventful: at nearly every meeting, a lone Congress worker has got up to ask questions.

“There might be some bad apples in the Congress but not all are corrupt,” a Congress worker, Rajkumar Khichar, shouted at one meeting but was hooted down.

At another, a Congress worker asked Kejriwal why he was asking people to choose between Chautala and Bishnoi. “Are they not corrupt?”

“But they support the Jan Lokpal bill. Once the bill is enacted, it will take care of all corrupt MPs, including the one you elect from here,” Kejriwal said, imploring the crowd not to expect cash or liquor bottles this time.

The warning seemed necessary in an area where liquor shops are the first to open in the morning and the last to close at night.

Source: http://telegraphindia.com/1111011/jsp/nation/story_14609550.jsp

Rupee hits 50 per dollar for first time in over 28 months

2011-09-24T01:28:00.000-07:00

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee weakened to 50 against the dollar on Friday, a level not seen in more than 28 months, as investors globally continued to dump high yielding riskier assest for the safety of government bonds.

At 9:28 a.m. (0358 GMT), the partially convertible rupee was at 49.82/83 per dollar, after hitting 50 in a one-off deal, its weakest since May 14, 2009. It had closed at 49.57/58 on Thursday.

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/rupee-hits-50-dlr-first-time-over-28-040542416.html

Manmohan Singh keeps up hectic diplomacy at UN

2011-09-24T01:04:00.001-07:00

United Nations, Sep 24 (IANS) Keeping up a hectic round of diplomacy ahead of his address to the United nations Saturday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has met the leaders of Iran, Japan and Sri lanka.

He started Friday with a meeting with the new Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, where he noted the intensification of relations with Japan in recent years, Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai told reporters Friday.

They reviewed their bilateral relations, the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, regional affairs in the context of the forth coming East-Asia Summit and the global partnership between India and Japan.

They agreed to continue discussions on nuclear cooperation after noting that all countries are continuing safety reviews.

They also agreed to continue consultations among G-4 nations on reforms in the UN Security Council, where the two

countries are aspirants of permanent membership along with Brazil and Germany.

Then Manmohan Singh met Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad just a day after the latter had triggered a US-led Western walkout from the UN General Assembly with a combative speech.

'The previously planned meeting basically focused on our bilateral relationship,' when asked if the meeting with Ahmadinejad coupled with Indian support for Palestine - would have an impact on New Delhi's ties with Washington, Mathai said.

In his meeting with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa the two sides discussed the devolution of powers to the Tamil-dominated northern province. They also agreed that meetings between the fishermen of India and Sri Lanka.

He would also be meeting with the new Nepalese Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai and the President of South Sudan, Salva Kiir Mayardit the newest nation to join the world body after his address to the UN Saturday.

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/manmohan-singh-keeps-hectic-diplomacy-un-044551240.html

Sonia asks party leaders to back Chidambaram

2011-09-24T01:02:00.000-07:00

As speculation mounts on the equation between Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P. Chidambaram, who has been named in the 2G scam, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has directed top leaders to put up a joint defence, party insiders said.

Gandhi, who has recently returned after a surgery abroad, is learnt to have stepped in to resolve the crisis involving one of the government's most high profile ministers.

The controversy surfaced after a RTI answer revealed that the finance ministry - headed by Mukherjee - had sent a note to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in March 2011 that 2G spectrum licences would have been auctioned in 2008 if then finance minister Chidambaram had acted.

This has led to the opposition asking for Chidambaram's resignation and speculation that things are not as they should be between the two ministers.

'Soniaji has asked all top leaders - from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to party spokespersons - to defend Chidambaram and the government,' a senior Congress leader told IANS on condition of anonymity.

'She knows that this is an explosive issue. Yesterday it was A. Raja and Dayanidhi Maran (ministers who had to quit over the 2G spectrum row), today it is Chidambaram and tomorrow it can be Manmohan Singh. She wants to stop the slide,' he added.

Corporate Affairs Minister M. Veerappa Moily's strong defence of Chidambaram Friday and the home minister's statement that he would not comment on the issue till the prime minister returns from his foreign visit are learnt to have been directed by Gandhi.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the AIADMK have launched a vehement attack on the government and demanded Chidambaram's resignation.

Though Congress leaders deny talk of a Mukherjee-Chidambaram rift being the root cause behind the controversial note, political analysts and party insiders say there is a 'recurring cold war' between the two.

'The rivalry between the two financial wizards have been escalating in the past two years. Soniaji was aware of the issue and had intervened to defuse the situation occasionally,' said a Congress leader.

'The cold war has been surfacing through various incidents and on different occasions. A major incident was when Mukherjee confirmed June 22 that he had suspected that his finance ministry offices were bugged in September 2010 and had sought a secret inquiry,' said an analyst.

The needle of suspicion then had pointed to intelligence agencies controlled by Chidambaram's home ministry.

Supporters of Mukherjee are believed to have told Gandhi that the veteran leader's trouble-shooting capabilities and political skills were often ignored and 'administrative tough actions' advocated by Chidambaram were enforced, leading to fresh crises.

'The latest example was the handling of the fast by civil society leader Anna Hazare in August,' said another party leader.

He said Hazare was arrested Aug 16 on the direction of Chidambaram, prompting massive protests that led to the activist being released.

The group of ministers led by Chidambaram, who were handling the Hazare fast, was replaced by a team led by Mukherjee and Law Minister Salman Khurshid. The new team could broker peace and end the 10-day-old fast by Hazare, the Congress leader added.

Kerala-based political analyst B.R.P. Bhaskar told IANS that the Mukherjee-Chidambaram rift may continue till Rahul Gandhi takes a more leading role in the Congress.

'Some infighting had been common in Congress... With a member of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty usually on the top slot earlier, the fight had been for the second or the third place.

'But now it is different. With Sonia Gandhi recuperating and Rahul Gandhi yet to take over the top post in the party or the government, several leaders and ministers will be working against each other,' Bhaskar told IANS over the phone.

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/sonia-asks-party-leaders-back-chidambaram-105644379.html

Destination India says US firms, 'India one of most appealing growth venues globally'

2011-09-24T00:25:00.000-07:00

Promising demographics, freedom of speech and respect for investor rights make India one of the most appealing growth venues, says a leading American B-school head while advising that the country must 'truly' integrate into the global economy - despite the risks - to be a world leader.

'India represents one of the most appealing growth venues in the world today. The reasons for this are its geopolitical setting and the respect for investor rights,' Robert F. Bruner, dean of the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia, told IANS in an interview.

In the robust and large emerging economies that have the potential to stimulate growth in the rest of the world, India 'represents one of the bright spots in the global economic scene', said Bruner, who has authored seminal works on mergers and acquisitions and the US stock market crash of 1907.

India's growth rate during the 2010-11 fiscal ended March 31 was 8.5 percent.

Noting that India is one of the few economies that is 'growing robustly' and had diversified the basis for growth, he said: 'It has one of the most promising demographics of any large country in the world. This means that the growth is probably sustainable in the later stage of the century.'

'And then, there is the freedom of speech, respect for the right of the property holders and rule of law, to mention just a few,' said the head of Darden, which Forbes has ranked ninth in its list of top US B-schools.

Bruner, who joined Darden in 1982, became its dean in 2005. He was on his seventh visit to India, which boasts of a vibrant alumni association of the B-school.

Stressing the need for greater globalisation, Bruner disagreed that the checks and balances in place in spite of the liberalisation process that began in 1991 were responsible for India remaining immune to the East Asian meltdown of the mid-1990s and emerging relatively unscathed from the global meltdown of 2008.

'You can build a wall around the country that excludes the impact of foreign influences, panics and crashes, and there are always elements in society that are used for that. Certainly we have it in the United States, it's there in Germany and in Japan, but that comes at a cost,' Bruner maintained.

He enumerated the cost as very slow transfer of technology, of best practices and even of capital.

'The question that India must ask itself is can it strike a balance between the benefits of more openness with the potential costs and risks?'

Saying this is 'possible', Bruner said: 'Indeed, my counsel to India would be that India will never attain a role of true global leadership, to which its size and dynamism might entitle it to, unless it becomes truly integrated into the global economy.'

'If that happens then India will be vulnerable to periodic crashes and panics, market upsets and reversals,' he added.

What then would be the benefits of greater globalisation?

I've looked into the flows of capital in and out of India: they have become more amplified and extreme in the past five years. This is just a small manifestation of the means to be more integrated into the global economy,' Bruner said.

Admitting that there is 'no perfect system' in the world, he added: 'You have a choice between pretty good or not so good. Given the huge welfare implications to the millions of citizens of India I'd say put your bets on the integration in the global economy.'

Speaking about the global economy in the context of the Indian experience, Bruner said developed economies 'are struggling even to grow at all'.

'Japan is still contracting, Europe is on the brink of either success or potential collapse of the European Union, the US continues to struggle with relatively high rates of unemployment and stubborn reluctance on the part of companies to invest,' he said.

Source: http://in.finance.yahoo.com/news/-India-one-most-appealing-ians-3102257044.html

BMW's Concept E Electric Scooter

2011-09-24T00:16:00.000-07:00

Building on almost 90 years of experienced in the field of motorised two-wheel vehicles, BMW Motorrad is drawing on the conceptual benefits of single-track vehicles to develop innovative solutions, adding a new dimension to the area of urban commuting.

Photo/ Pictures of New BMW E Scooter:

Based on the BMW Group's sustainability strategy, BMW Motorrad aims to put a premium offer on the market in the area of electromobility in the foreseeable future. At the Frankfurt International Motor Show (IAA), BMW will be presenting its design concept in this area for the first time: "BMW Concept e".

With its Concept e, BMW Motorrad shows how attractive and fascinating the interpretation of the theme of electrical drive on two wheels can be in terms of design, while at the same time attracting attention to its new business area "Urban Mobility".

The shaping and precision achieved reflect the core values of BMW Motorrad: emotion, dynamic performance and innovation. At the same time, the purist, clear design, colouring and choice of materials instantly suggest a clean, efficient yet agile single-track vehicle which allows one to move effortlessly through city traffic.

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/photos/bmw-s-concept-e-electric-scooter-1316427043-slideshow/bmw-concept-e-scooter-photo-1316426703.html

Tired of IIT, An IIT student commits suicide

2011-09-24T00:07:00.000-07:00

A student of Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur (IIT-K) was found hanging from his hostel room, police in this Uttar Pradesh town said Friday, suspecting that he was depressed over a failed love affair.

Mahtab Ahmed, 18, a first year student of B.Tech material science and engineering from Kannauj, was found hanging from the ceiling fan in his room Thursday.

While no suicide note was found, police believe Ahmed was in depression, as evident from the writing on the walls of his room.

'I am tired of IIT...What is the meaning of happiness, yet trying to get answer,' wrote Ahmed on one of the walls.

'We suspect a failed love affair as one of the possible reasons... We have learnt that Mahtab was having a love affair with a girl, who was from outside the campus,' a senior police officer told IANS.

'We have also come to know that Mahtab used to write poems over his relationship with the girl, who is yet to be identified,' he added.

When contacted, Inspector Rajesh Kumar, who is investigating the case, said: 'We are probing the case from all the angles. Love affair is also one of them.'

According to IIT-K Registrar Sanjeev Kashalkar, the suicide was detected Thursday evening when Ahmed did not respond to the repeated door knocks by his friends.

'We informed the police and they broke open the door,' said Kashalkar.

Source: http://campus.yahoo.com/news/yeduyahooindia/tired-iit-student-commits-suicide-20110923

Hyundai to launch Eon at 2.5 - 3 lakh, Hyundai Eon to bowl over the small car segment

2011-09-24T00:03:00.000-07:00

When you think Hyundai, the word 'style' pops unbidden to mind. Whether it's an i10, Verna, Sonata or Santa Fe, the company never compromises on style and seamless finish. Underscoring this fact is Eon, the latest offering from the Hyundai stable that is expected on Indian roads in October, priced around 2.5 lakh.

The Eon has a very intricate design accentuated with the fluidic lines we saw on the 2011 Verna. According to Autocar, the wheel arches and shoulder line are so complex that you'd have to go all the way up to a Mercedes-Benz CLS to see anything similar — and that's no overstatement.

Generally, A-segment cars disappoint on the interior. But Eon, unlike any other in the segment, gets a neatly finished and spacious interior. Also on offer are USB-supported music system, remote locking and even tiltable steering.

The Eon will be powered by an 814cc IRDE petrol engine developing 56bhp, which is definitely zippy on a car that weighs at 715-795kg. To add joy, Hyundai is claiming 21.1 kmpl, too.

Overall, the Eon is going to be more powerful, sleek, futuristic and hopefully equally priced as the super seller Maruti Alto. Who knows, this car might even dethrone Alto as India's best-selling car.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee's 2002 letter returns to haunt Narendra Modi

2011-09-18T23:18:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: As Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi begins his three-day fast on Saturday for "peace, unity and harmony" in his state, an unpublished letter addressed to him almost nine years ago by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee may come back to haunt him.

The letter dated June 1, 2002, reveals Vajpayee's concern for the fragile communal situation in the state and reflects his doubts over whether the interests of the riot-hit were being properly looked after. The letter was sent three months after the Godhra incident and the post-Godhra riots. It came two months after Vajpayee's advice to Modi that as CM, he must adhere to " Raj dharma" and not discriminate on the basis of caste, creed or religion.

The letter, obtained through an RTI application, shows that a PM who seldom relied on detailed correspondence with CMs had thought it necessary to interfere in the affairs of Gujarat. Its tenor makes it clear that Vajpayee was concerned if enough was being done for relief and if a sense of assurance and security was being really conveyed to those who had fled and taken shelter in makeshift camps.

In the letter, Vajpayee brought to the notice of Modi that there had been "gross under-assessment of damages" to the victims' homes. "It is possible that, for various reasons, the teams involved in work have assessed the damages on the lower side. In the interest of justice and fair play, it will be expedient to conduct test checks in selected areas. If the test checks do confirm under-assessment, the state government will reassess the damages in areas with large-scale complaints," he wrote. He even went to the extent of assuring Modi that there would be a greater flow of funds from the Centre to help meet additional expenses.

Vajpayee further said, "I have also been informed that in a large number of cases, the relatives of the dead are yet to be paid the ex gratia because bodies are yet to be identified and, also, applications regarding missing persons are yet to be disposed of. The inordinate delay in the disbursement of ex gratia payments is a matter of concern." The then PM argued that taking DNA samples and thereby establishing identities would be a time-consuming process, "leading to further unacceptable delay".

He also wrote to Modi on the widespread feeling of insecurity. He said, "It is natural that the residents of the worst-affected areas may be reluctant to return to their original places of residence and demand relocation in safer areas. Ideally, an atmosphere should be created whereby these people gain enough confidence to resettle at the original place of residence." He even told the chief minister that in case relocation could not be avoided, "particularly in worst-hit areas like Naroda Patiya in Ahmedabad and Lunawada in Panchamahal, active government support during their relocation will only protect them from unscrupulous elements". He added, "Needless to say that undue influence by such elements will only exacerbate the already complicated situation."

It is more than clear that the letter was penned by a PM who was dissatisfied with the state government's steps and had carefully studied the shortcomings. Vajpayee wanted to see improvements on the ground and, therefore, did what was very unlike him, interfered in the functioning of a state by offering direct advice on how to manage relief and rehabilitation. The Gujarat riots had bothered Vajpayee immensely and this letter is a proof of the anxiety he experienced for a major part of 2002.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Atal-Bihari-Vajpayees-2002-letter-returns-to-haunt-Narendra-Modi/articleshow/10011704.cms

BJP reiterates mid-term polls in Haryana

2011-09-18T23:16:00.001-07:00

ROHTAK: Feeling rejuvenated after striking an alliance with the Haryana Janhit Congress of Kuldeep Bishnoi, the BJP has launched frontal attack on the ruling Congress in Haryana in the run up to the Hisar byelection.

The BJP national secretary from Haryana, Capt Abhimanyu, while claiming that the party workers across the state had become active for ensuring the win of the alliance nominee Kuldeep Bishnoi in Hisar, claimed that the Congress government could fall after the outcome of the Lok Sabha byelection.

"This is a minority government which has the support of some independents MLAs and those who break away from the HJC. The Hisar result is likely to create a new political scenario in the state min which the Congress government led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda could be reduced to a minority government", Abhimanyu claimed.

He maintained that the issues of corruption, inflation, water shortage and power would ensure defeat of the Congress in the October 13 byelection. "This election would be the turning point in Haryana politics, as some political groups could go into political oblivion, while the Congress would have to bear the fruits of its misrule in the assembly elections, which would be necessitated mid-term after the fall of the present government", he held.

The BJP leader informed that about 1,500 party workers belonging to the Rohtak parliamentary had been deputed for canvassing in the Hisar byelection.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/BJP-reiterates-mid-term-polls-in-Haryana/articleshow/10035148.cms

If Amar Singh speaks, many will be in trouble: Jayaprada

2011-09-18T23:06:00.000-07:00

Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh's close confidante, actress and MP Jayaprada Thursday warned that many will be in trouble if truth is revealed by the former Samajwadi Party leader, an accused in cash-for-votes scandal during the July 2008 trust vote in parliament.

Talking to reporters here, the Lok Sabha member said Amar Singh, who is in hospital due to poor health, had asked her and others to remain quiet, despite suffering himself.

'Despite being treated so badly and attempts being made to spoil his image, he maintained silence himself and also asked us to keep quiet. At the right stage, he himself will reveal everything,' Jayaprada said.

The actress broke down while talking to the media and expressed anger against both politicians and celebrities for not showing sympathy towards Amar Singh.

'On the disproportionate assets case, respectable Amar Singh supported Mulayam Singh... he did not even care about his life. I want to ask, if Amar Singh has become such a big enemy? Why has he not come, even for humanity (sake)...is he so afraid of the society and the politics?' she asked.

'The big celebrities whom he helped, he fought to get them land...the famous people, where are they?' Jayaprada asked in an apparent reference to Amitabh Bachchan and his family.

Giving details of the ailing leader's health, she said: '(Amar Singh's) infection has reached the grafted kidney, how will the person live. He is having bleeding from his urinary tract.'

Amar Singh was Thursday granted interim bail till September 19 on health grounds by a Delhi court.

The 55-year-old former Samajwadi Party general secretary was granted interim bail by Special Judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal. He was in judicial custody for nine days.

Amar Singh Sep 6 became the latest high-profile politician to be sent to the Tihar Jail after he along with two former Bharatiya Janata Party MPs was arrested for alleged involvement in the attempt to bribe MPs ahead of the trust vote in parliament.

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/amar-singh-speaks-many-trouble-jayaprada-153640988.html

Go stylish the Sun Sign way

2011-09-18T22:55:00.001-07:00

Just like your favourite stars of Bollywood and Hollywood, you can also become a style icon. That too, without having to shell out huge money from your pocket. Knowing your sun sign can help you in setting a style statement. Take a look of what your sun sign has to say about your fashion style. Style according to your sun sign and there YOU go as the trendsetter! However, remember the basic mantra – be comfortable in what you wear.

Aries
Come what may, an Aries will ALWAYS look good. Whether it is a last minute purchase or a carefully chosen dress, trust an Aries to look great. The same thing may look ordinary on anyone else, but an Aries can make it look right out of a designer store! Fashionable clothes and nice make-up, that`s an Aries!

Stars: Lara Dutta, Victoria Beckham, Robert Downey Jr

Taurus
Ah! The choosy Taurus will take time to decide what they are going to wear, even if it is for a walk! Taureans love to look good and will give a lot of thought to their clothes. Of course, expect a Bull to buy tasteful and exclusive clothes. With careful planning and exclusive clothes, a Taurean will look well-turned out. Expensive, that`s the Bull!

Stars: Penelope Cruz, David Beckham, Megan Fox

Gemini
Blue or white? Checks or plain? Trust a Gemini to always be locked between two choices at any given time! A Gemini will always end up wearing a lot of clothes and discarding them before wearing something totally different than the original choice. But, expect the twins to always carry off whatever they wear with style. AND they have the largest wardrobe, of course!

Stars: Sonam Kapoor, Angelina Jolie, Sonakshi Sinha

Cancer
The Crab does mood dressing. Blue or grey when sad, red when upbeat, orange when hopeful. The Cancerian always knows what he/she is trying to show. Also, a Cancerian will always be found neatly dressed, if not in the most expensive of clothes. Good and `different` clothes are their trademark. They also like to accessorize and be casual.

Stars: Katrina Kaif, Tom Cruise, Priyanka Chopra

Leo
The Lions love their colours to be solid, deep, dark and their fabrics unfaded. A Leo is not afraid to make a statement with his/her clothes although they are choosy about what kind of statement they make, and how. And, Leo might just be tempted sometimes to tell someone they want to impress just what brand they are wearing.

Stars: Charlize Theron, Genelia D’souza, Saif Ali Khan

Virgo
A Virgo will darn their clothes even before the first hint of wear! They mend their hems and replace their buttons. This sign is very particular about cleanliness and makes sure their clothes are always colour coordinated. Is it any wonder they are always well-turned out?

Stars: Kareena Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Blake Lively

Libra
Here`s a perfectly dressed person. A Libra never wears too much or too little. Whatever the weather outside, a Libran is always prepared. Also, this sign knows how to balance it all: not a shirt more not a dress less. The Libran will follow fashionable recommendations only if they feel it suits them. They create a personal style and make that a fashion statement!

Stars: Kate Winslet, Monica Bellucci, Ranbir Kapoor

Scorpio
Honestly, it doesn`t really matter what a Scorpio wears, because people are going to notice them anyway! Who has the time to notice clothes when the person is as sexy and wow as a Scorpio? The Scorpio isn`t afraid of experiments and can turn old clothes into the most fashionable of all. Bright colours, silhouettes and trimmings are something the Scorpio loves.

Stars: Aishwarya Rai, Shah Rukh Khan, Demi Moore

Sagittarius
The busy Sagittarius is too occupied with other things to be bothered about dressing up. The Archer wants to wear clothes that will serve them under any kind of weather condition. What`s interesting is that they always manage to look pretty hot, too.
Stars: John Abraham, Brad Pitt, Diya Mirza

Capricorn
Capricorn likes natural fabrics. The Goat likes to dress practically, and no synthetics, please! They are a little finicky, but they always come out looking understated, elegant and good! They have a very nice taste and prefer to be traditional in their dressing style. Jewels are not something a Cappie is fond of, unless they are family jewels.

Stars: Deepika Padukone, Hrithik Roshan, Salman Khan

Aquarius
Here is a practical dresser. An Aquarian would rather wear jeans. They hate to be dressed to kill. You would find this Water Bearer always keeping it simple. You will find an Aquarian dressed in whatever he/she likes the best, not necessarily what`s in fashion. Comfort, not trendsetting, is their mantra.

Stars: Jennifer Aniston, Preity Zinta, Mischa Barton

Pisces
Ah! The Fish doesn`t care about the latest fashion. They prefer clothes that breathe, natural fabrics, nothing synthetic. They also like clothes with `different` sort of cuts. A Piscean has taste and will be dressed nattily, with a good colour combination. And, yes, a Pisces just can`t have enough footwear!

Deaths, destruction as strong quake hits India, Nepal

2011-09-18T22:51:00.001-07:00

Gangtok/New Delhi, Sep 18 (IANS) At least 13 people were killed and about 100 injured Sunday as a 6.8 intensity earthquake ravaged the Sikkim-Nepal border region, jolting large parts of India, Bangladesh and Nepal and causing widespread panic.

Tens of thousands scurried out of their homes just after 6 p.m. in numerous cities, including New Delhi, following the powerful tremor that was quickly followed by two major aftershocks.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the epicentre of the quake was on the Sikkim-Nepal border.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh immediately convened a meeting of the National Disaster Management Authority. The Indian Army was put on alert for deployment in Sikkim.

In no time, the Indian Air Force flew five cargo planes with relief material and rescue personnel for deployment in Sikkim and West Bengal, which accounted for eight deaths.

Five people have been killed and around 60 injured, Sikkim Chief Secretary Karma Gyatso said, adding the toll could go up as reports from various villages were still pouring in.

One of the dead was a child, officials in Gangtok said. Another was Sandipan Banerjee, an official with a pharmaceutical company who died when a house collapsed in Rangpo, 40 km from Gangtok.

Another man died when his vehicle was trapped in a massive mudslide on the outskirts of Gangtok.

The worst, officials said, was feared in the Sikkim-Nepal border region, where mudslides had blockaded roads.

Gyatso said army and paramilitary personnel were engaged in rescue and relief efforts in the affected areas.

The quake also damaged some Indian Army bunkers in eastern Sikkim near Nathu-La pass along the India-China border and left many soldiers injured, said sources.

Helicopters were deployed to evacuate the soldiers, said sources adding that on-ground army installations were intact. The required soldier strength in the sensitive area was in place, they said.

Three people were killed, at least 46 injured and power supply was disrupted in parts of northern West Bengal. Many buildings developed cracks.

North Bengal Affairs Minister Gautam Deb said the deaths were reported from Siliguri in Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri district, while police reported another death in Kalimpong hills of Darjeeling.

'One person died in Siliguri. Another died in Jalpaiguri district,' Deb told IANS over phone.

The quake triggered landslides in Kalimpong and Kurseong hill sub-divisions while several patients in a nursing home in Siliguri sub-division of Darjeeling district were injured, he said.

In New Delhi, Cabinet Secretary Ajit Kumar Seth told TimesNow: 'As time passes, we will get more information... Everyone is helping out.'

At least five people were killed in Nepal, three of them in Kathmandu alone, triggering panic and chaos all across the Himalayan kingdom, news reports said.

A wall of the British embassy in Kathmandu, located in the Lainchaur area close to the Indian embassy, collapsed after the quake, smashing a car and killing three people inside.

Dozens were injured as houses crashed across the mountainous country, snapping power supply and communication lines.

Across India, buildings shook triggering panic almost all over northern and eastern India, including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam and Mizoram.

In Assam's major city Guwahati, people ran out of their homes.

Power supply was disrupted in parts of northern West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in Kolkata.

'In no time all the people in my neighbourhood were out of their apartments,' said Anjani Kumari, who lives on Boring Road in Patna, Bihar.

The experience was particularly frightening for those in high rises.

'I was watching TV and for a few seconds thought my head was spinning. When I realised it was an earthquake, I ran out,' said Meenakshi Sinha, who lives on the seventh floor of an apartment complex in Noida.

She said the tremors lasted 30 to 40 seconds.

Lucknow resident Vijay Dutt told IANS: 'There were strong tremors. In our building, everybody rushed out fearing the worst. The furniture shook and windows rattled. It was scary,' he added.

In Tripura, officials said the quake was also felt in neighbouring Bangladesh.

This is the fourth earthquake to hit India this month.

An earthquake measuring 4.2 on the Richter Scale had shaken north India Sep 7 at around with its epicentre near Sonepat in Haryana, 65 km from New Delhi.

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/deaths-destruction-strong-quake-hits-india-nepal-161133794.html

Miss Universe 2011 Leila Lopes faked documents?

2011-09-18T22:49:00.000-07:00

Controversy hounds the 2011 Miss Universe pageant after new allegations that the winner, Miss Angola Leila Lopes, used false documents to enter and win a qualifying contest in England.

The Argentinian newspaper Infobae published a report Thursday alleging that Lopes was unfairly allowed to participate in a Miss Angola competition for Angolan citizens living in the UK, even though she has never lived outside of Angola, reports ABC News.

The report claimed that a man named Charles Mukano helped falsify documents identifying Lopes as a student of business management at a British school, enabling her to enter and win the contest there.

Infobae cites reports in Angolan media that allege that Mukano may have even bribed judges in England to ensure Lopes' win.

Lopes was the first Miss Universe from her country, but came under attack in the following days by Miss France and fans of Miss Phillipines as undeserving of the crown.

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/miss-universe-2011-accused-faking-documents-enter-pageant-094625558.html

Youngest Female Sarpanch Makes Her Village IT-Enabled

2011-09-07T04:55:00.000-07:00

It's a story that's actually many stories.

A village named Soda didn't have water. So the young sarpanch, Chhavi Rajawat (incidentally a young, female MBA graduate) got inquisitive about the funds allocated to the village. Since more had been spent than allocated, she raised funds on her own.

Money came from family and friends - 20 lakh rupees wasn't enough for the Rs 3.5 crore that the reservoir needed.

So Chhavi Rajawat got more even inquisitive about the funds sanctioned to her village. Files at the district headquarters in Tonk revealed a calculation error. Chavi decided to get proactive about the lack of transparency and accountability. Soda thus became India's first IT-enabled village, after tying up with a German software vendor to set up an internet and intranet portal. along with a technology education lab.

The portal allows Soda's 10,000 strong population 24x7 access to the funds sanctioned for the village.

There's also online postings of birth and death certificates, besides posting land records online.

"A fire in Tonk had destroyed land records of many villages," says Rajawat. "This ERP (enterprise resource planning) application will have an electronic database, and store all land records in servers."

Rajawat recently represented India at a recent UN poverty summit.

"Most youth in the village are unemployed, as they don't have higher education due to absence of a college. We want to change that with e-education," says she.

There's even a website, www.soda-india.in where Chavi posts info about funds allocated for projects such as a village bank, community centre for weddings and cataract surgery for the needy.

Theres even plans to link Soda's portal with the state government's websites.This will make Soda the first fully computerized Panchayat in India. While there has been a sanction by the Central government (Rs 4,500 crore) for the e-panchayat project, matters of fund allocation and project monitoring are not clearly mentioned.

Blast outside Delhi High Court

2011-09-07T02:45:00.000-07:00

AIIMS HELPLINE: 011-2610 1925

RML HOSPITAL HELPLINE: 011- 2374 4721/ 2336 5525

SAFDARJUNG HOSPITAL HELPLINE: 011- 2670 7444

**********************

2:30 pm: NIA chief has announced that HuJI has sent mail claiming the responsibility of Delhi blast. The mail is being seriously looked at.

2:20 pm: We will crush the scourge of terror: Manmohan Singh

2:10 pm: Delhi govt announces compensation: Rs 1 lakh compensation for those seriously injured and Rs 50,000 for those who sustained minor injuries.
2: 00 pm: Rs 4 lakh to kin of dead

1: 55 pm: Blast is shocking and numbing, says Abhishek Manu Singhvi
Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi addessed the media outside the court. He said, "this is a terrible tragedy. This is something which is shocking and numbing. Our hearts go out to each litigant. They've come with great pressure and to be torn away suddenly out of the blue is terrible.

1: 50 pm: Chemical analysis on bomb likely by evening, CNN IBN

1: 45 pm: Sheila Dikshit at RML hospital
Delhi CM visits the injured in RMLhospital and says doctors are doing the best they can.

1: 35 pm: Will not succumb to pressure of terrorism: PM
Dr Singh said that all political parties and people of India must stand united. The PM is expected to return to India this evening.

1: 25 pm: Major metros placed on high alert after Delhi HC blast

Major metros of India have been placed on a state of high alert after Wednesday morning's explosion outside gate number five of the Delhi High Court.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of senior Home Ministry and police officials. The emergency meeting was chaired by Union Home Secretary R.K. Singh.

Thirteen members of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the bomb squad are at the blast site collecting evidence as to what caused the explosion at around 10. 15 a.m. this morning. More here

1: 20 pm: Terrorism in Delhi - A timeline

With today's bomb explosion outside the Delhi High Court, the number of terrorist attacks on the capital since 1997 has gone up to 30.

Among the most recent incidents, 59 people were killed and 155 injured during the October 18, 1997 serial bomb blasts that ripped through the markets of Sarojini Nagar, Paharganj and Govindpuri.

On September 13, 2008, five low-intensity explosions were set off within minutes of each other, beginning with Ghaffar Market, two explosions at Connaught Place, one at Barakambha Road and another near the Central Park Metro station at 6.31 pm. Blasts also rocked M-block market in Greater Kailash-I. Within seven minutes another bomb exploded in the same market. Twenty-five people were reported killed and 150 injured.

On September 27, two men on a motorcycle dropped a polythene packet containing a low-intensity explosive in the crowded Flower Market in Mehrauli. Three people, including a nine-year-old boy who picked up the bag, were killed and 21 people were injured.

On September 19, 2010, two armed men opened fire at Taiwanese tourists as they boarded a bus in the crowded Jama Masjid area. A Maruti car also went up in flames near the mosque, triggering panic. No casualties were reported though 14 injuries were claimed. The attack came two weeks ahead of the Commonwealth Games.

1: 15 pm: PM's statement on the blast
Dr Manmohan Singh says the terror strike is a "cowardly act". Meanwhile, Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit visits at the RML hospital and HM Chidambaram visits the blast sight.

1: 10 pm: 4 kg explosive used for the blast: HT
Hindustan Times tweets, "4 kg explosive used for the blast, crater of 4x4 feet formed at the site: reports"

12: 36 pm: Chidambaram addresses Lok Sabha; 10 dead, 65 injured

Addressing the parliament on the blast, Home Minister P Chidambaram said 10 people have died while 65 are injured. The investigation into the blast will be handled by the NIA. He added, "Delhi is a target during parliament session. Delhi is on high alert. Intelligence pertaining to threats from certain groups was shared in July. Right now it is not possible to identify those behind the attack yet. Despite Delhi Police remaining alert, the tragic incident occurred today. Govt unequivocally condemns today's attack...Condolences to families of those who lost their lives...I appeal to the parliament and the entire nation, we must remain resolute and united...

Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday told Members of Parliament that the capital city of Delhi had been targetted again by terrorists, and that a nation-wide security alert has been issued following the explosion outside gate number five of the Delhi High Court.

Reading out a statement in the Lok Sabha, Chidambaram said the number of dead was nine and that the injury toll was 47 as per latest reports from investigating agencies and hospital officials.

He described it as a tragic incident and added that the government condemned it in the strongest possible terms. Offering the government's condolences to families of the dead victims and the injured, he said that no effort would be spared to pursue the perpetrators of this horrific crime.

He also said that with parliament and other important institutions being in Delhi, the national capital is being targetted. He said terrorist groups were trying to destablise the state and should not be allowed to succeed.

In his statement, Chidambaram said the investigation into the blast has been handed over to the National Security Guard (NSG) and the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The SWAT team and the bomb disposal squad are also at the site to search for key clues, he added.

Chidambaram said that his ministry has ordered a multi-pronged probe into the incident.

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani said that the opposition was one with the government in condemning this shameful incident, and hoped that the government would take appropriate steps to prevent such incidents from taking place in the future.

He requested Speaker Meira Kumar to adjourn proceedings in parliament as amark of respect to the dead and injured.

The explosion took place outside the Delhi High Court at around 10.14 a.m. Police officials and eyewitnesses said that the bomb components were found in a brief case.

The death and injury toll was confirmed by U.K.Bansal, Secretary (Internal Security) in the Ministry of Home Affairs. Home Secretary R.K. Singh also presided over an emergency meeting of ministry and police officials and it was decided to place key metros on high alert in the wake of the blast.

The injured have been taken to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and the Jayprakash Narayan Hospital for treatment.

The area has been completely cordoned off to enable investigating agencies and others to assess the situation and the causes for the blast. Three CAT ambulances and several fire engines have arrived at the blast site.

Top Delhi Police officials, including Police Commissioner B.K.Gupta are at the spot. They are in touch with Home Ministry officials, media reports said. The Home Ministry is also assessing the situation, the reports added.

Gate number five is the main gate of the Delhi High Court from where most lawyers and litigants enter.

Police described the blast as a medium to high intensity one.

12: 29 pm: Number of injured rises to 50

Special Commissioner Dharmendra Kumar said the number of injured admitted in various hospitals is at 50. Most of them have sustained leg injuries.

12: 07 pm: Opposition parties react to blast

BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad: It is a matter of great distress...Why isn't the government taking any action? How many more deaths? There is no proper security, no intelligence inputs...We condemn the attack.

CPI's D Raja: We condemn the attack in all possible terms...the government should come up with the right probe and share what went wrong... what is going on, what is wrong with our intelligence network? We strongly condemn this attack. Nobody should go scot-free. There is a failure on the government's part.

12: 00 pm: SAFDARJUNG HOSPITAL HELPLINE: 011- 2670 7444

11: 55 am: No intelligence inputs on the blast: MHA

11: 47 am: High intensity bomb used

Lok Sabha condemns the blast, is adjourned till 12:30 pm, reports HT.

11: 45 am: All metros on high alert

11: 35 am: MHA assesses situation

Times Now reports the MHA is in constant touch with investigative teams at the blast sight. The bomb was concealed in briefcase and place outside gate no 5.

11: 27 am: Delhi Blast: There was blood all over, says eyewitness

"It was a powerful blast...there is a lot of blood there," said a shocked woman lawyer, who was just driving up to work at the Delhi High Court when the explosion took place near Gate no 5.

Lawyers said the blast could be heard at the Patiala House two or three kilometers away. Kavita, an eyewitness said she was in a judge's chamber when she heard the blast. "The windows rattled she said."

"It was a powerful blast...there is a lot of blood there," said a shocked woman lawyer, who was just driving up to work at the Delhi High Court when the explosion took place near Gate no 5.

Lawyers explain that 10.30 am is peak hour at this gate, which is used by litigants to enter and exit the courts. On Wednesdays there are more of them a it is a day for public interest litigations. This gate is crowded as entry passes are given out here. It is also the entrance closest to the parking area.

Lawyers said the blast could be heard at the Patiala House two or three kilometers away. Kavita, an eyewitness said she was in a judge's chamber when she heard the blast. "The windows rattled she said."

Early reports say the explosives were kept in a briefcase near the gate. Ten people were killed and at least 56 others injured. Most of the wounded have been taken to RML hospital.

The legal fraternity has not forgotten another blast a few months ago outside Gate no 7 of the Delhi High Court. That blast was of a lower intensity and caused lesser damage.

11: 17 am: 9 dead, 45 injured: Union Home Secretary

Medium to high intensity bomb used. He added that Delhi is on high alert and that investigations have begun.

11: 15 am: Parliament adjourned, Home Minister to make a statement at 12:30 pm

11: 12 am: NIA to help investigate

Besides the Delhi police and the forensic team, the NIA and NSG are also being rushed to the spot.

11: 09 am: 4 dead, 30 injured: Special home secy

A lawyer tells NDTV, that gate no 5 used to issue passes to litigants. He also said that 10 am is peak hour. Special home secretary tweets that so far four have been confirmed dead and 30 injured.

11: 04 am: Officials confirm four are dead, reports HT

Hindustan Times tweets that officials have confirmed four people have died in today's blast.

11: 00 am: Second blast in 4 months

This is the second blast in the Delhi High Court premises. On May 25, also a Wednesday, there was a low intensity blast.
10: 53 am: Blast happened at 10:17 am: Police

The blast happened in the area where people wait for passes to enter the court premises, said special officer Special Commissioner Dharmendra Kumar.

10: 46: Bomb could have been placed in a briefcase: Police

A police officer at the blast area say there is a possibility that the bomb could have been placed in a briefcase. Delhi police have asked people to clear the High Court area. The injured have been taken to Safdurjung hospital and RML hospital.

10: 43 am: HC building being evacuated: Lawyer

A lawyer present at the blast sight tweets, " Blast in delhi HC. Right in front of me. *shudders* the whole car shook" ..."The bomb was very powerful it seems. Everyone is outside. Lots of injured. The gates are closed now. Can hear sirens"...The bomb was very powerful it seems. Everyone is outside. Lots of injured. The gates are closed now. Can hear sirens"..."Many hurt. Building being evacuated. The Judges are themselves out in the corridor."

10: 40 am: Two feared dead, says NDTV

The nature of the blast is yet to be identified. So far, two people are feared dead in the explosion, reports NTDV, while CNN IBN says the number of injured may be around 20.

10: 38 am: Police cordon off the blast sight, fire tenders rush in.

10: 35 am: The injured are being taken to Safdarjung hospital, reports Times Now

10: 30 am: Ambulance rushed in

Ambulance arrives at the explosion site. The number of injured is still not confirmed. The reason for the explosion is not known yet.

10: 25 am: Explosion outside Delhi High Court gate no 5

Blast outside Delhi High Court. Television channels report of injuries to people. There are more people at the court premises than other days of the week since Wednesdays are when PILs are heard.

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/live--blast-outside-delhi-high-court.html

TCS bids $500 mln for Lufthansa IT unit - report

2011-09-06T05:12:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday 6 September 2011, 9:40 AM

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Tata Consultancy Services, India's biggest software services exporter, has put in a $500-million bid to buy a controlling stake in the information technology unit of German flagship airline Lufthansa, the Economic Times reported on Tuesday.

TCS is also in talks to negotiate a multi-year contract from Lufthansa that could add revenues of more than $2 billion for the company, the newspaper's sister television channel cited unnamed people familiar with the bidding process as saying.

Credit Suisse is advising TCS on its bid for Lufthansa IT unit, the paper said. Both TCS and Lufthansa declined comment, the paper said.

Lufthansa is close to selling a majority of Lufthansa Systems, publication Manager Magazin reported last month. The two remaining bidders are IBM and Indian conglomerate Tata Group, the magazine had reported.

(Writing by Devidutta Tripathy; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan)

Source: http://in.finance.yahoo.com/news/TCS-bids-500-mln-Lufthansa-IT-reuters-4186885654.html

Need to raise petrol prices to cut losses - IOC exec

2011-09-06T05:10:00.001-07:00

On Tuesday 6 September 2011, 10:57 AM

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - State-run Indian Oil Corp said petrol prices need to be raised as revenue losses for refiners widen, its head of finance P. K. Goyal said on Tuesday.

Revenue losses on petrol sales now stand at about three rupees compared to about 0.41 rupees a litre in the fortnight ending Aug. 31 due to an increase in Singapore spot prices of the fuel, he said.

"There is scope to raise petrol prices. In the last fortnight (ending Aug. 31), our revenue loss was 41 paise a litre. It has now risen to about three rupees," Goyal told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference (APPEC).

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma and Florence Tan)

Source: http://in.finance.yahoo.com/news/Need-raise-petrol-prices-cut-reuters-2649235543.html

No more pesky calls, messages from Sep 27: TRAI

2011-09-06T05:09:00.000-07:00

New Delhi, Over 850 mobile subscribers across the country are likely to get relief from pesky commercial calls and messages as the telecom regulator Monday said new laws governing such communications would be implemented from Sep 27 and violators penalised heavily.

'Relevant clauses of regulations have been amended and the regulations are being implemented from Sep 27, 2011,' said the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in a statement.

To avail the services, the customers will have to get themselves registered with the National Customer Preference Registry, earlier known as 'Do Not Call' Registry. The regulations include fines ranging from Rs.25,000 to Rs.250,000 for the defaulting companies.

According to reports, while the number of pesky calls has come down lately, the messages still remained a menace. On an average, as many as 47,454 complaints per month are being registered in this regard.

Although over 130 million mobile subscribers had registered with the national do not call registry till Aug 25, consumers are still pestered with unwanted commercial calls and messages.

The telecom watchdog had announced a set of new measures last year to curb such unsolicited commercial communications which were to be implemented from Jan 1, but it kept repeatedly postponing the implementation sate.

The department of telecom (DoT) has provided '140' number series to be allocated to telemarketers for a fixed line network. Access providers have to make relevant provisions in their network before allocation of resources to telemarketers using '140' numbering series from fixed line network.

Unlike the previous regulation that asked customers to register their numbers in 'Do Not Call' list, the new regulations allows customers to choose from different categories like 'Fully blocked' or 'Partially blocked'.

TRAI has disconnected over 72,000 telephone connections of registered telemarketers and over 118,000 of unregistered telemarketing companies for breaching guidelines related to commercial calls and messages up to May 2011.

http://in.finance.yahoo.com/news/No-pesky-calls-messages-Sep-ians-1101886839.html

Mayawati rubbishes WikiLeaks cables, calls Assange mad

2011-09-06T04:21:00.000-07:00

Lucknow, Sep 6 (IANS) Calling WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange 'mad', Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Tuesday rubbished US embassy cables leaked by the online whistleblower that said she had sent a special jet to Mumbai to bring her sandals.

'These reports are baselesss,' Mayawati told reporters here.

'The owner of Wikileaks should be sent to a mental asylum for what the kind of baseless allegations his organisation had been making against me,' Mayawati told reporters in a no holds barred press conference.

The cables that portray her as a dictator, she said, were a ploy by vested interests to malign her image and that of her party.

'They are playing into the hands of opposition parties,' she said.

Confidential US embassy cables leaked by WikiLeaks project Mayawati as a dictator who had food tasters to sample her meals and 'a security entourage to rival a head of state'.

A cable in October 2008 entitled 'Mayawati: Portrait of a Lady' describes how she once dispatched a plane to fetch her favourite sandals from Mumbai.

'When she needed new sandals, her private jet flew empty to Mumbai to retrieve her preferred brand,' the cable said.

Mayawati retorted in response: 'As far as I am concerned, I do not know of any such thing. But if WikiLeaks and BJP leaders are making such a wild claim, then I would like to ask them, if they also flew down in that plane to get me those special sandals?'

Referring to the opposition reaction and a press conference by Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Mayawati said: 'The smirk on the face of the BJP leader as also some other opposition leaders who were busy getting cheap thrills out of the Wikileaks cables shows that the opposition parties were in league with Wikileaks, obviously with the sole intent of tarnishing my image.'

She also hit out at WikiLeaks and opposition leaders for propagating that she had hired a whole team of cooks and food-tasters.

'It appears that some of these people are washing utensils in my kitchen, otherwise how else could they be cooking up such stories?' Mayawati asked with a smirk.

According to the US cables, state Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh and close aide Satish Chandra Misra also spoke against Mayawati.

She responded by saying: 'Certain statements about me attributed by WikiLeaks to my two trusted men - Satish Chandra Misra and Shashank Shekhar Singh - were also evidently motivated with petty politics.

'As a befitting reply to all those who were behind this conspiracy, let me make it loud and clear that all this has only prompted me to give both of them greater importance in my scheme of things.'

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/mayawati-rubbishes-wikileaks-cables-calls-assange-mad-080103043.html

Cash-for-vote scam: Amar Singh arrested

2011-09-06T04:19:00.001-07:00

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha MP and former Samajwadi Party MP Amar Singh was Tuesday arrested and sent to judicial custody until Sep 19 for alleged involvement in the cash-for-vote scandal that rocked the parliament in 2008.

Amar Singh entered the Tis Hazari court around 12.35 p.m., surprising the media and the court staff, including Judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal.

The leader marked his attendance, pleading before the judge that he could not appear in the morning as he is suffering from infection in a kidney which was transplanted one and a half years ago.

'My body has built resistance against the kidney as it is a foreign element,' Amar Singh said.

'I was at home but seeing the TV channel showing that I am not appearing before the court, I rushed to the court personally as I have faith in judiciary and the Constitution of India. So, I have moved my interim bail,' he added.

He also submitted his medical certificate along with medical history. The court asked his doctor to come before the court but the doctor was not present in the courtroom.

Opposing the bail application, public prosecutor Rajiv Mohan said the leader might tamper with the evidence or may flee. 'Once the accused surrender before the court, they have to be taken into custody,' he added.

However, defence counsel submitted that the court should allow the status quo to be maintained regarding his arrest as he never tempered the evidence.

The judge adjourned the matter till 3.30 p.m. as she will pass the order.

Amar Singh's counsel said in the morning they had moved an application to exempt him from appearing before the court since he was unwell.

'Amar Singh is not well and is confined to bed. The doctor has advised him not to move around. That's why we have moved an application that he will not be able to appear in the court today (Tuesday),' his lawyer told reporters outside the court premises.

The application stated that Amar Singh had undergone a kidney transplantation some years ago and needed to visit the hospital regularly. He also suffered from high blood pressure.

In response, Special Judge Sehgal asked his counsel to submit the medical report of his health, mentioning the specific date on which his kidney was transplanted and on how many occasions he had visited the doctor.

'Submit your specific medical report mentioning all the dates by 12.30 p.m. today (Tuesday),' Sehgal said.

Singh came to the court after that.

Amar Singh and three others were to appear before a trial court here Tuesday after the Delhi Police filed a charge sheet in the corruption scam.

The judge had Aug 25 issued summons to Amar Singh, former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs Fagan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Bhagora, and Sudheendra Kulkarni, a former associate of BJP leader L.K. Advani.

'The charge sheet is based on weak circumstantial evidence,' Amar Singh's lawyer said.

Kulaste and Bhagora appeared before the court and moved a bail application.

Amar Singh's former aide Sanjeev Saxena and middleman Suhail Hindustani both are in judicial custody and appeared before the court.

On the other hand, counsel defending Kulkarni submitted before the court that his client was unable to appear because he was in the US.

'My client (Kulkarni) left for the US before the Delhi Police filed the charge sheet in the case. Therefore, I need two weeks' time on behalf of my client to call him before the court,' his counsel said.

On July 22, 2008, three BJP MPs waved wads of currency notes in the Lok Sabha ahead of a trust vote, alleging they were given the money to vote in favour of the Manmohan Singh government.

The charge sheet alleged that during investigation 'sufficient evidence' came on record that on the morning of July 22, 2008, Amar Singh 'hatched a criminal conspiracy with his secretary Sanjeev Saxena to deliver cash of Rs.1 crore as illegal gratification'.

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/cash-for-vote-scam--amar-singh-arrested.html

UP policeman kills man for Rs 50 bribe

2011-09-06T04:14:00.001-07:00

Lucknow, Sep 6 (IANS) A policeman was arrested for allegedly killing a man after he refused to pay him Rs.50 bribe for moving into a no-entry zone, authorities said Tuesday.

The incident happened in Panki area of Kanpur district Monday.

Irshad, a truck driver, and his assistant Siyaram were assaulted by two constables Lal Singh and Surendra Kumar after they refused to pay Rs.50 bribe to the two constables.

'After ruthlessly beating Siyaram and Irshad, the two constables escaped when they noticed the condition of the victims was deteriorating. Later, Siyaram succumbed to injuries on way to hospital,' police inspector Sanjay Kumar told reporters in Kanpur, some 80 km from here.

Singh was arrested late Monday.

'The two policemen have been booked for murder, and also placed under suspension with immediate effect,' Sanjay added.

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/policeman-kills-man-rs-50-054849742.html

IIM-Rohtak building stuck on foundation stone

2011-08-31T05:53:00.001-07:00

ROHTAK: The proposed construction of newly established IIM, Rohtak, building has got struck in bureaucratic hurdles. After 11 months of the laying of foundation stone of its building, the institute has still not got ownership of land in Garnawathi village of Rohtak district from Haryana government.

Rohtak had got the prestigious management institute after Haryana government promised to provide land even as the institute became functional in June 2010, operating from a hired building on Maharshi Dayanand University campus with a first batch of 50 students.

In October 2010, Union human resource development minister Kapil Sibal had laid the foundation stone of the building in Garnawathi village, with the state government promising to provide around 200 acres for setting up its own building.

According to IIM sources, following the government promise, the institute authorities had gone ahead with the process of inviting expression of interest for construction of building and finalized the building plans.

IIM, Rohtak, director P Rameshan confirmed that they were still waiting for the land ownership papers. Work would start as soon as the papers are handed over, he claimed. "According to my information, the matter (of land transfer) is pending with the Haryana technical education department. We have been following it up regularly and hope to get it done soon," he added. Joint director technical education Manish Jindal said the land was likely to be transferred to the IIM within a month or so.

"There was some problem in demarcation of land for the institute. Some portion has been exchanged with the police department for better building plan at the site. The village panchayat had transferred the land to the technical education department and it would now be registered in favour of the institute," he said.

Source: http://campus.yahoo.com/links/detail/student-drowns-after-campus-gang-chases-him-river-times-india-4b579d7e2b70060f550ce9daa74e2880e61c8f9589170ee84a1f6a1a07f24933

Melbourne world's best city to live, Mumbai among worst: Survey

2011-08-31T05:52:00.000-07:00

MELBOURNE: Australian city Melbourne has been named as the world's most liveable city, while India's business capital Mumbai placed at 116th position in an annual survey that assessed living conditions in 140 global cities.

According to the Economic Intelligence Unit's new Global Liveability Survey, Melbourne dislodged Vancouver to become the best city in the world to live.

The Canadian capital city that topped the survey since 2002, fell this year to third place behind Vienna, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

According to the report, India's commercial hub Mumbai is ranked 116th, one place up from its previous year's ranking.

In 2010, Mumbai was ranked 117th while Delhi was at 113th position. Though Delhi figured in the new survey, its current ranking was not mentioned in the media report.

Other Australian cities in the top 10 included Sydney, which is placed at 6th, while Perth and Adelaide ranked eighth and ninth.

"Australia, with a low population density and relatively low crime rates, continues to supply some of the world's most liveable cities," survey editor Jon Copestake said.

The top 10 liveable cities included Toronto, which is placed at 4th, followed by Calgary (5th), Helsinki (7th) and Auckland (10th). London was ranked 53, while at 26 position, Honolulu was the top US city.

The worst places to live among the 140 locations surveyed by EIU were Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, Bangladesh's Dhaka and Zimbabwe's Harare.

Scores in Europe had been pushed slightly down by the eurozone crisis, while the Arab Spring had affected ratings across the Middle East and North Africa.

The cities were gauged on five categories -- political and social stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.

They were scored out of 100 and the report noted that the top 10 cities were only separated by 1.8 percentage points.

Source: http://campus.yahoo.com/links/detail/student-drowns-after-campus-gang-chases-him-river-times-india-4b579d7e2b70060f550ce9daa74e2880e61c8f9589170ee84a1f6a1a07f24933

Not taking part in protest cost him his life - Student drowns after campus gang chases him into river

2011-08-31T05:49:00.000-07:00

CHENNAI: In a horrifying incident of campus violence, a student of an arts college in Chennai was chased into the Adyar river, pelted with stones as he tried to get back to the riverbank, and left to drown by a group of fellow students. His body was recovered from the Adyar on Tuesday. Classmates said the gang chased 21-year-old K Thanikaivel into the river, and as he tried to save himself, hurled stones at him. The police have registered a case of "suspicious death" and made no arrests so far.

Thanikaivel`s classmates, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he was chased by a group from the Nandanam Arts College on Monday afternoon after a quarrel over an anti-corruption protest in which he refused to participate. "Some 20 students chased him. He ran towards the back of the college. The gang returned half-an-hour later, but Thanikaivel didn`t," said a student.

When he failed to turn up until Monday evening, his friends informed the family and they lodged a complaint at Saidapet police station. Thanikaivel studied economics and lived on New Avadi Road here. Acting on Thanikaivel`s father Kannappan`s complaint, Saidapet police searched for the missing student. On Tuesday morning, they found his body in the river.

The body was sent to Government hospital in Royapettah for postmortem. "We will get the autopsy report on Wednesday. We are waiting for the doctor`s report to continue our investigation," said Adyar deputy commissioner of police K A Senthilvelan. Police said there were no external injuries on the body.

"Thanikaivel and his friends refused to take part in the protest," said N Prakash, a college student. In the last one year, there have been four incidents of campus violence in the college in which students were seriously injured.

The two groups of students quarreled inside the college on Monday. "One group overpowered the other. They then targeted Thanikaivel as he was the leader, and chased him into the river," said Prakash, quoting eyewitnesses. "They said Thanikaivel jumped into the river to escape beating. But the students followed him and pelted stones at him. When Thanikaivel fainted, the students returned to the college leaving him in the river," said Prakash.

Saidapet police have registered a case under section 174 (suspicious death) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Kannappan, who is a retired head constable, has lodged a complaint with the Saidapet police demanding a probe.

Source: http://campus.yahoo.com/links/detail/student-drowns-after-campus-gang-chases-him-river-times-india-4b579d7e2b70060f550ce9daa74e2880e61c8f9589170ee84a1f6a1a07f24933

Pranab asks MPs to discuss Anna's three key demands

2011-08-27T02:55:00.000-07:00

New Delhi, Aug 27 (IANS) Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Saturday reiterated the government's commitment to bring an 'appropriate' legislation to eradicate corruption in the country. He asked MPs to discuss three key demands on the Lokpal bill raised by Anna Hazare.

He asked the MPs to discuss whether:

- The jurisdiction of the proposed Lokpal should cover all employees of the central government. This is Hazare's key issue asking the government to include lower bureaucracy, which interacts with the common man and often harasses it, within the ambit of an independent and strong anti-graft watchdog

- Lokpal will operate through the institution of the Lokayukta in all states. This is Hazare's second demand.

- Lokpal should have the power to punish all those who violate the 'grievance redressal mechanism' to be put in place.

Hazare in his communications with the government had demanded that parliament pass a resolution agreeing in principle to set up Lokayuktas in states, frame Citizen's Charters for all government departments and include lower bureaucracy in the ambit of Lokpal.

Mukherjee said the 'specific issues' raised by Hazare were important.

'They deserve our serious consideration. In case a consensus emerges at the end of the discussion, the Standing Committee will, in the course of their deliberations, take into account their practicability, implementability and constititutionality,' he said, adding that whatever the house decides should be 'consistent with the principles enshrined within our constitutional framework'.

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/pranab-asks-mps-discuss-annas-three-key-demands-064459189.html

Nation at crossroads, discuss Lokpal issue dispassionately: Pranab Mukherjee

2011-08-27T02:53:00.001-07:00

New Delhi, Aug 27 (IANS) Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee Saturday said the world's largest functional democracy was at crossroads and urged parliament to discuss 'dispassionately' the Lokpal bill issue and arrive at a strong anti-graft law keeping in mind its 'constitutionality, practicability and implementability'.

Initiating the debate in the lower house during a historic special sitting Saturday, Mukherjee said the specific issues raised by fasting Anna Hazare relating to eradicating corruption are 'important' and deserve the consideration of parliament.

He hoped that there could be a consensus in the house on the issues contained in the Jan Lokpal bill propsed by Team Anna so that the sense of the house could be conveyed to the parliamentary committee that is currently examining the government version of the Lokpal bill.

'The standing committee can take up their practicality, constitutionality and implementability,' Mukherjee said.

'We are at the crossroads. This is a rare occasion when the proceedings (of the house) are drawing the attention of the entire nation and perhaps outside the nation also

He hoped for an objective discussion to 'ensure we can resolve the impasse' and without compromising parliament's supremacy and the framework of the constitution.

Anna Hazare's fast for a stringent Lokpal bill entered its 12 day Saturday. Team Anna has made three demands: that the lower bureaucracy be brought under the purview of the Lokpal, that Lokayuktas in the states be brought under the Lokpal and that a citizen's charter for government departments be worked out.

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/nation-crossroads-discuss-lokpal-issue-dispassionately-pranab-060609238.html

Lokpal alone cannot root out corruption, says Rahul

2011-08-27T00:37:00.000-07:00

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Friday doubted the proposed Lokpal's ability to root out corruption. It would be only one element in the legal framework to combat corruption. The Lokpal institution alone could not be a substitute for a comprehensive anti-corruption code, he said in the Lok Sabha.

While welcoming civil rights activist Anna Hazare's fight against corruption, Mr. Gandhi said, amid thumping of desks by the Congress benches, “however individual dictates, no matter how well intentioned, must not weaken the democratic process.”

Raising the corruption issue during zero hour, even as the BJP members vehemently questioned on what basis he was allowed to speak suddenly, Mr. Gandhi said the Lokpal could be fortified by making it a constitutional body accountable to Parliament like the Election Commission.

“I feel the time has come for us to seriously consider this idea.”

Mr. Gandhi went on to state that the democratic process was often lengthy and lumbering, “but it is so in order to be inclusive and fair. It provides for a representative and transparent platform, where ideas are translated into laws.”

A tactical incursion, divorced from the machinery of an elected government that sought to undo the checks and balances created to protect the supremacy of Parliament sets a dangerous precedent for a democracy. “Today, the proposed law [Jan Lokpal] is against corruption. Tomorrow the target may be something less universally heralded. It may attack the plurality of our society and democracy.”

Political will required

Mr. Gandhi said removing the evil required a comprehensive framework of action and a concerted political programme supported by all levels of the State from the highest to the lowest. “Most importantly, it requires a firm political will.”

An effective law was required to deal with some critical issues such as government funding of polls and political parties, transparency in public procurement, proper regulation of sectors that fuelled corruption like land and mining, grievance redress mechanisms in public service delivery of old age pensions and ration cards; and continued reforms to end tax evasion.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2399610.ece

Anti-corruption crusader and Anna's supporter killed in Bhopal

2011-08-17T01:11:00.001-07:00

Bhopal, Aug 16 (IANS) Shehla Masood, an anti-corruption crusader and Right to Information activist, was Tuesday shot dead outside her residence here, police said.

Masood was in her car in the Koh-e-Fiza area when she was shot in the neck, Inspector General of Police Sailendra Srivastava told IANS.

Masood headed the Madhya Pradesh chapter of India Against Corruption group. In April, she led protests when Gandhian Anna Hazare had fasted in New Delhi for a strong anti-graaft law.

'She was shot dead when she was in the driving seat. The car was parked at her residence,' Srivastava said.

Masood had Monday pledged to expose widespread corruption and said she had several vital documents to back her claims.

Masood was also a green activist and had fought for the Save Tiger project in Madhya Pradesh.

'As Shehla had raised questions regarding several tiger deaths across the state, people involved in the racket may have killed her,' fellow activist Ajay Dubey said.

He demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the killing. 'We have no faith on the state government, so the matter should be investigated by the CBI.'

Mehsood, an active campaigner aginst corruption, had once expressed fear that she could be killed.

In a complaint filed at the Maharana Pratap Nagar police station in Bhopal, she had accused a senior police officer, Pawan Shrivastava, of making threatening phone calls.

Masood reitered her complaint to Madhya Pradesh Director General of Police S.K. Raut Jan 19, 2010.

Recently, Masood had filed a RTI application seeking information on at least 19 Indian Administrative Service officers, 13 Indian Forest Service officers and seven Indian Police Service officers, informed sources said.

Abdul Jabbar, a social activist fighting for the cause for Bhopal gas disaster survivors, told IANS: 'She has been killed because of her fight against widespread corruption in the state.'

--Indo-Asian news Service

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/anti-corruption-crusader-killed-bhopal-091901261.html

Anna Hazare to be released: Police

2011-08-16T09:06:00.000-07:00

Social activist Anna Hazare and his supporters will be released from Tihar Jail, Delhi Police said on Tuesday evening, hours after arresting the 74-year-old for breach of peace.

"We have sent the release warrant of Anna Hazare and his supporters," Delhi Police PRO Rajan Bhagat told IANS.

Hazare was detained on Tuesday morning ahead of his planned fast-unto-death for a stronger lokpal bill.

He was arrested when he refused to sign a bail bond and was sent to Tihar Jail along with his key confidante Arvind Kejriwal and other supporters.

Bhagat said the Tihar Jail authorities would take a final call on when Hazare will be released.

His arrest triggered swathes of unrest across the country and pitting the government against not just the opposition but also large sections of the public.

Bedi and Kejriwal were later released from preventive custody.

"Anna Hazare refused to sign a personal bond and has been sent to seven days judicial custody," Bhagat told reporters, describing it as a preventive arrest.

The opposition went on the warpath to demand Hazare's release.

As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the move smacked of the excesses during Emergency and parliament was stalled, the outrage spread across the country, with reports of protests coming in from virtually every corner.

Hazare and Kejriwal were whisked away as they stepped out of an apartment in east Delhi on their way to the JP Park where police had clamped prohibitory orders and where the activists were planning to set the stage for their strike against the government's version of the bill that keeps the prime minister, judiciary and junior officials out of its ambit.

Hazare's supporters, who had gathered in hundreds in the apartment complex, shouted anti-government slogans and lauded the anti-corruption crusader who had gone on a hunger strike in April.

Just before his arrest, Hazare said in a recorded video message: "Don't let my arrest stop this movement. This is the nation's second struggle for freedom." Read full story | Watch video

As news of his arrest spread, thousands took to the streets in Delhi, denouncing the government and hailing Hazare. The biggest gathering took place at the Chattrashal Stadium in north Delhi.

Major protests were also reported in Delhi University, outside the Tihar Jail, and on the street leading from Rajghat to JP Park.

Security forces had a tough time handling the crowds.

Protests also gripped many states including Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa where people trooped out of their homes to voice their anger. Many shopkeepers downed shutters.

In Mumbai thousands gathered at various places.

"We are also requesting supporters to strike work tomorrow and support Annaji," a volunteer for India Against Corruption said.

Celebrities too stepped in to verbalise their distress.

Lyricist Javed Akhtar said: "I have had certain reservations about Anna's method but his arrest cannot be condoned. It is undemocratic, unacceptable."

The ripple effect was widespread.

"In a democracy, one has the right to protest in a peaceful manner. By detaining Hazare, the government is depriving the citizens of their constitutional rights," said PK Garg, a retired professor in Lucknow.

As the protests spread, the government attempted to clarify its position and said Delhi Police was not acting under political pressure and had made the detentions because Team Hazare had refused to agree to certain terms.

"If someone says we will defy the orders, I think this is unacceptable in a democracy," said home minister P Chidambaram.

"It is a real regret that police have taken this action."

The crisis for the government comes soon after the clampdown on a protest by yoga guru Ramdev on June 5.

The opposition was quick to seize the opportunity.

BJP president Nitin Gadkari and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), neither of which agree fully with Hazare, called for demonstrations across the country Wednesday.

"This government is bent upon crushing anyone who wants to protest against corruption," BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

The CPI-M said Hazare's detention and the police ban on his hunger strike showed how "the Congress leadership is intolerant to any anti-corruption movement as its government is steeped in high-level corruption".

The volatile situation was set to snowball further with protests planned through the day.

Using SMS messages, twitter and television, Hazare supporters called for people to gather in protest.

Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/Anna-Hazare-to-be-released-Police/Article1-733990.aspx

Market rate was Rs60L/acre, but Rajiv Gandhi trust got it for Rs3L

2011-08-06T02:52:00.000-07:00

http://haryanahighway.com

CHANDIGARH: The land lease for Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust in Gurgaon was "awarded" by the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government just about a month ahead of the Haryana Assembly polls in October 2009, which saw Hooda return as chief minister.

TOI has learnt that while the Haryana cabinet had given the 5-acre land in Ullahwas village on lease to the trust for just Rs 1,000 an acre annually on August 21, 2009, the trust had written back saying it did not want any concession and was willing to pay the market rate. The government then fixed the lease amount at Rs 3 lakh an acre annually.

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi are trustees of the trust.

Sources said the Gurgaon administration, while sending the case for approval of the state government, had informed it that the land was going at Rs 60 lakh per acre, which was the "collector rate." This is the rate at which the land could have been sold.

Besides giving the land on lease, the council of ministers also decided that 5% of the beds in the hospital that was planned on the land would be reserved for patients recommended by the state government at concessional rates.

On November 19, 2009, Manoj Muttu, managing trustee of the trust, made a request to the sarpanch of the gram panchayat, saying they did not want any concession.

In the communication, Muttu had also requested that the clause in the state government order -- which had fixed the lease at Rs 1,000 per acre annually -- be amended.

After getting a proposal from the panchayat and the deputy commissioner, the state cabinet on February 4, 2010 decided that the gram panchayat would get the lease amount of Rs 15 lakh annually for the 5-acre land. The amount will be increased by 5% every five years, the cabinet decided.

Confirming that the state government had initially given the land to the trust at Rs 1,000 per acre, a senior officer in the chief minister's office said the cabinet had approved the proposal of the village panchayat. Sources said the Ullahwas panchayat on July 20, 2009 passed a resolution for leasing its land to the trust for setting up an eye hospital on terms and conditions decided by the state government.

The panchayat had given the approval on the condition that poor families would get free medical facilities and that villagers would be given preference in appointment as class four employees. It was also decided that the lease money will be as per the collector rate. The government had accepted these general conditions.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Market-rate-was-Rs60L/acre-but-Rajiv-Gandhi-trust-got-it-for-Rs3L/articleshow/9499345.cms

To heaven and back in 90 minutes

2011-08-05T08:16:00.000-07:00

Here's how heaven looks like!

Washington: August 4 (ANI): What happens when you die? It is most certainly one of life's biggest questions.

Several near-death survivors have come forward to narrate what they had a glimpse of when they were in heaven.

Now, Don Piper, an ordained Baptist minister, who was once pronounced dead following a car accident, has shared his intriguing story.

He says he remembers music that was "beyond spectacular" and aromas he'd never smelled before. His grandfather was there to greet him warmly, as dozens of others who had died in years past stood before him in front of a magnificent gate, reports ABC News.

Piper, who insists it was no dream and visited heaven, has chronicled his experience in the New York Times bestseller, "90 Minutes in Heaven." "It was the most real thing that ever happened to me," he said.

There were lights reflecting off the gates, which looked like they were "pulsating with life. "That's because in heaven there is no artificial light, God illuminates it with his glory. In front of the gate stood his grandfather, welcoming him "home," he said.

"I was heartbroken when he died," he said. "Now I'm at the gates of heaven (and) he's the first person to greet me."

Piper, who was ordained in 1985, said he could not have imagined what he saw in heaven. "You know, if I was having a dream about it, this wouldn't be in it," he said. "Some of these people who met me at the gates, I haven't thought of in decades."

He believes he was sent back to spread a special message: "Heaven is a real place."

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/heres-heaven-looks-091558378.html

Haryana's growth higher than country's GDP: CII Report

2011-08-05T08:10:00.000-07:00

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Led by stupendous performance of services sector, Haryana has been able to post higher growth over the country's GDP growth during 2004-05 till 2009-10, a Confideration of Indian Industry (CII) report said.

Sharing the details of the report, Malvinder Mohan Singh, Deputy Chairman, CII Northern Region said that during the period 2004-05 to 2009-10, the state's economy grew at an annual rate of 9.7%, much higher than the rate of growth of Indian economy at 8.6%.

"This growth has been led by mainly the services sector, which grew at 13.5%," he said.

Contributing only 4.41% of the country's industrial output, the state's manufacturing potential is yet to be fully realized.

The new progressive Industrial Policy of the state coupled with its focus on infrastructure, is expected to help Haryana emerge as one of the leading investment destinations in the country, he added.

To commemorate 20 years of Economic Reforms in India, CII Northern Region came out with a report 'Investment Climate in Haryana'.

Haryana has a rich industrial base supported by robust infrastructure said Vijay Thadani, Chairman, CII Northern Region while talking about the report.

With one-third of Haryana falling under the National Capital Region, the state has been able to attract sizable investments from multinational companies, large business houses, foreign investors, NRIs and small scale entrepreneurs,
he added.On the social development front the state ranks 21st on the Human Development Index (HDI), 2006, highlighted Raj Bhatia, Chairman, CII Haryana State Council.

However, in terms of improvement in HDI over the decade 1996-2006, the state ranked 15th. The state needs to up its expenditure on health and education, he added.

The state has managed its finances fairly well with the 12th Finance Commission (TwFC) of India commending its performance on this front said Anmol Jain, Vice Chairman, CII Haryana State Council. VAT continues to be the most important tax revenue for the State amounting almost 70% of Own Tax Revenue (OTR) of the state, he added.

Elaborating on the importance of reforms, Pikender Pal Singh, Regional Director, CII Northern Region said the reforms have resulted in massive economic and social transformation in India setting the nation on a stable and sustainable path to inclusive development.

Source: http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/current-affairs/haryanas-growth-higher-than-countrys-gdp-cii-report_573565.html

Amarnath 'Shiva lingam' melts again before 'yatra' ends

2011-08-04T01:14:00.000-07:00

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It's bad news for fervent devotees of Lord Shiva as the holy 'Ice Lingam' at the Amarnath cave has melted 10 days before the yatra formally ends, Times of India reported.

Times of India reports that unprecedented rush of devotees has contributed to the ice lingam completely melting away days before the 'yatra' ends. This year has seen the highest number of devotees visiting Amarnath.

In less than a month, nearly 600,000 pilgrims have so far performed the annual pilgrimage to the cave shrine of Amarnath, officials said.

Authorities say the increased number of pilgrim rush and high temperatures in Kashmir over the past few weeks can be attributed to the premature melting of the 'Lingam'.

Use of camera flashes, burning of agarbathies and other human interferences were responsible for the premature melting of the 'Lingam'.

The early melting of the 'Ice Lingam' is not a new phenomenon as in 2007 the ice stalagmite melted away completely.

In 2006, the Amarnath Shrine Board was embroiled in a huge controversy as it was alleged that to keep the yatra going, authorities dumped ice over the original 'Lingam' as at the very start of the 'yatra' size of the 'Shiva Lingam' was very small.

Last year, nearly half-a-million pilgrims visited the shrine despite the summer unrest in the Kashmir Valley that left 110 people dead in clashes between mobs and the security forces.

The Amarnath cave, in which the Lingam is formed, is situated in a narrow gorge at the far end of the Lidder valley at an altitude of 3,888 metres. Temperature here is always at sub-zero level.

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/amarnath--shiva-lingam--melts-again-before--yatra--ends.html

Google blasts Apple, Microsoft for patent gang-up

2011-08-04T01:11:00.000-07:00

http://haryanahighway.com

On Thursday 4 August 2011, 4:51 AM

LOS ANGELES/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc, fresh off losing a bid to buy thousands of valuable patents from bankrupt Nortel, accused its biggest rivals on Wednesday of banding together to block the Internet giant in the red-hot smartphone arena.

In a rare public outburst, Google Chief Legal Officer David Drummond blasted Microsoft, Apple, Oracle and "other companies" for colluding to hamper the increasingly popular Android mobile software by buying up patents, effectively imposing a "tax" on Android cellphones.

Apart from increasing costs for consumers, snapping up the patents will stifle technological innovation, he said.

"Microsoft and Apple have always been at each other's throats, so when they get into bed together you have to start wondering what's going on," Drummond wrote in a blog post.

He referred to "a hostile, organized campaign against Android by Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and other companies, waged through bogus patents."

An Apple spokesman declined to comment.

Google is forging ahead in the smartphone market but has been hampered by a lack of intellectual property in wireless telephony, which has exposed it to patent-infringement lawsuits from rivals including Oracle.

It lost out on the Nortel patents to a consortium grouping Apple, Microsoft, Research in Motion and others, which together paid $4.5 billion.

Google individually had bid up to $3.4 billion for those patents before teaming up with Intel Corp, which on its own had bid up to $3.1 billion, according to a source familiar with the matter.

They bid through $4 billion and then tapped out, another source had told Reuters.

INCREASING PATENT LAWSUITS

The Internet search leader is now in talks to buy InterDigital, a key holder of wireless patents valued at more than $3 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Google, being a software company, was not focused on patents for a long time but is now shopping to stock up. It recently acquired over 1,000 patents from IBM.

Drummond said Google was looking to further strengthen its patent portfolio.

The wireless industry has been embroiled in a wave of patent suits in recent years as incumbents try to protect their position against newcomers like Google, which entered the market three years ago with Android.

The software, which is now used by phone makers including HTC, Motorola and Samsung, has rapidly overtaken Nokia to become the world's most popular smartphone platform, with about a third of the market.

HTC received a setback last month when a U.S. trade panel said HTC had infringed two of Apple's patents.

Also, Samsung has delayed the Australian launch of its latest Galaxy tablet due to a patent dispute with Apple, which says the South Korean electronics giant "slavishly" copied the iPhone and iPad.

Oracle is suing Google, claiming the Internet search company's Android software infringed on Java patents that it inherited through an acquisition of Sun Microsystems in 2010.

Patent acquisitions are expected to accelerate, with IBM and Kodak often mentioned as shopping intellectual property on the market.

Source: http://in.finance.yahoo.com/news/Google-blasts-Apple-Microsoft-reuters-3126366167.html

Dada slams India for being underprepared, Ganguly criticises India for being under-prepared

2011-08-03T08:43:00.000-07:00

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London, Aug 2 (IANS) Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has said the current team was under-prepared and asked the players to 'put their bodies on the line' if they want to turn it around in the remaining two cricket Test matches against England.

India followed a 196-run defeat at Lord's with a 319-run loss at Trent Bridge on Monday to go 0-2 down in the series with two Tests to play.

Ganguly, who led India to more Test victories (21) than any other skipper, blasted India for playing just one-warm up game in England.

I am a firm believer that every time you tour you need at least two warm-up games, and they absolutely could have played an extra game,' Ganguly told BBC Sport.

'They have been very ordinary. I expected a lot more from this team, especially the way they performed here in 2002 and 2007.'

Ganguly, who played 113 Tests and 311 one-day internationals for India between 1992 and 2008, was harsh on the batsmen as India have failed to reach 300 in any of their four innings.

'Sachin Tendulkar hasn't really got going yet, V.V.S. Laxman has been on and off, the openers have struggled,' he said. 'Dravid is the only player who has really batted well.

'When you see 500 runs on the board and a game slipping away you need characters to stand up. They haven't done that yet, but there are two Test matches to go and hopefully they can turn it around.

'I believe they can. But they need to be determined, bat better and put their bodies on the line.'

'I'm not a big believer in the rankings but I honestly don't know if India is the number one team in the world - to be number one you have to win in England and in Australia,' added Ganguly.

'This was a series between two teams that could be number one and if England win they will deserve it.'

Source: http://cricket.yahoo.com/cricket/news/article?id=item/2.0/-/story/cricket.indiaabroad.com/ganguly-criticises-india-being-underprepared-20110802/

Nudity v/s Aesthetics: To show or not to show

2011-08-03T08:16:00.000-07:00

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In the wake of Ketan Mehta's RANG RASIYA winning the Audience Prize at the London Indian Film Festival, the issue of nudity in cinema surfaces once again. Made in 2008, the film is yet to be released in India reflecting the ambivalent attitude of the Censor Board towards nudity in films.

Clothing did not evolve merely to mask a particular part of the body. Across the international spectrum, there are conspicuous inconsistencies about which parts of the body people elect to cover, if they choose any part at all. In some places, the feet are to be covered for the sake of modesty. In other places, women's lips are believed to be so seductive that wearing veils in public is imperative.

Everywhere, customs and traditions symbolically confirm human uniqueness in the biological world. Some maintain this dichotomy by equating public nudity with bestiality. But things are changing. Over the last 10 years, the Indian audience, specially the Y generation, has developed a liberal approach towards body display in films, though not so much on television except on the news channels that generously display clippings from Indian films with partially clothed men and women. But public display of the human form with minimum or no clothing still evokes disgust and ridicule making viewers feel uncomfortable.

But the private, in some sense intimate and dark interiors of a theatre hall, strips us of our socially conditioned inhibitions. Filmmakers bank on this voyeuristic trait and insert scenes in their films based on the viewer being absolved of a sense of guilt while watching what he/she apparently should not watch. Indian filmmakers are testing the waters of morality that is forever in a state of flux. Live-in relationships and pre-marital sex are out in the open while homosexuality is now talked about as alternative sexual orientation. Yet, revealing of the barest essentials, especially in case of the female, remains a big no-no.

The problem with nudity - partial or entire - in Indian cinema is that the aesthetics of beauty is not considered even when a film like RANG RASIYA presents it as an element essential to the content. The film is the story of the once severely criticised painter Raja Ravi Verma (1848-1906) who painted without inhibition though he was distanced from the late M.F. Husain by nearly a century. The film has been adapted from the Marathi biographical novel Raja Ravi Varma by Ranjit Desai. Ironically, Raja Ravi Varma is not famous for painting women in the nude. He is renowned for his paintings of mythological women wearing the sari. Many of his paintings, however, display the women in white translucent saris that reveal more than they conceal, proving his belief in the artist's freedom of expression.

The film is about the painter's deep involvement with his muse, Sugandha portrayed by Nandana Sen who, incidentally, is a Harvard graduate, daughter of Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen and renowned litterateur and academic Nabaneeta Deb Sen. "I had to expose for a few scenes in this film but I consented because I felt that the scenes were integral to the context of the story and the character and was executed extremely well. It was not an easy decision for me but by the time the shots were taken, I had made myself thoroughly comfortable," says Nandana. One wide angle shot shows a bare breast of a skimpily clad Sen who did a similar scene in TANGO CHARLIE some years ago.

On the other hand, the aesthetics of nudity gets a short shrift in the world of Indian advertising and films. Calendars bank on skimpily clad beautiful women to make a fashion statement. Was the Madhu Sapre-Milind Soman embrace in the buff with a serpent coiled around their seemingly writhing bodies aesthetic? Or was it meant to titillate and attract both male and female viewers? Was Mandakini's shower bath under the waterfalls wearing a transparent white sari in Raj Kapoor's RAM TERI GANGA MAILI necessary to the form and content of the film? It was aimed at the box office and it hit the target right on. What kind of 'aesthetics' did we discover in Bipasha Basu's slow walking out of the waves of the sea barely clothed in Jism that made her famous overnight?

In a recent tribute to the late M.F. Husain, economist Ashok Mitra in an article in the popular newspaper commented on the tragedy of a painter being thrown out of his home country for having painted the Goddess Saraswati in the nude while crowds of Indian and international tourists continue queue up to ogle at the frescoes of Khajuraho (built around the 10th and 11th Century A.D.), Ajanta and Ellora in the country that is famous for Vatsayana's Kamasutra. The present form of the text was compiled in the second century BC. These heritage frescoes generously display well-endowed, voluptuous women, whose breasts are covered only with heavy jewellery.

Conrad Rook's SIDDHARTHA (1972) based on Herman Hesse's novel of the same name shot by Sven Nykvist starred Shashi Kapoor and Simi Garewal. It was about the young Siddhartha, born into aristocracy who sets out in search of the true meaning of life and wanders through the worlds of harsh asceticism, sensual pleasures and the like. Simi Garewal plays his sensual consort and is shown wearing only jewellery to cover her body. This created a furor in the Censor Board at that time because in those days, kissing too was not permitted on screen. Garewal reportedly took the case to court claiming that she was wearing something under loads of jewellery. She reportedly lost which is a pity. The Indian audience missed out on one of the most brilliantly cinematographed nude scenes on an Indian story shot by one of the best cameramen the world has ever produced.

Attitudes toward nudity may change dramatically from one generation to another within the same society. Though the Central Board of Film Certification raised issues about Nandana Sen's scenes in RANG RASIYA, Hindi films with their item songs that reveal expanses of thigh and cleavage in hip swinging and cleavage heaving gestures performed to bawdy lyrics cheerfully entertain the new generation audience in films -and approved by the Censor Board. Anyone wants to talk about aesthetics?

Cognizant overtakes wipro, Cognizant eyes strong growth while Indian IT rivals fret

2011-08-03T08:10:00.000-07:00

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BANGALORE: US-based Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp continued its scorching growth and forecast a strong third quarter, at a time when rival Indian IT services exporters have warned of slowing technology spending.

Discretionary development spending by clients has been spurring growth at Cognizant, while many top players in India's showcase $76 billion software and services sector have raised concerns over economic uncertainties restricting their growth.

"(Our) clients are spending on discretionary projects. These projects are generally related to innovation and growing their own top line," Chief Financial Officer Gordon Coburn told Reuters.

Cognizant, which saw its revenue jump 40 percent last year, expects 2011 sales growth to be at least 32 percent, outshining Wall Street estimates of 30 percent growth.

"This is way ahead of investor expectations," Kaufman Bros. analyst Sachin Jain said.

"During the downturn, unlike some of (Cognizant's) offshore tier-one peers, they invested heavily and probably they are still reaping the benefits," Jain added.

Global economic uncertainties could lead to lower customer spending and India's No. 2 software services provider Infosys had warned it could face slow client spending. Tata Consultancy also flagged concerns about economic uncertainty.

Wipro Ltd said the uncertain economic environment had resulted in volatility in business, but it was not seeing delays in the IT spending decision making process by customers.

Cognizant has traditionally worked with lower margins than its rivals to gain market share. It has no intention of changing this strategy, CFO Coburn said, adding that he is comfortable with margins of 19-20 percent on an adjusted basis.

The company, which has not missed market estimates for over two years, projected third-quarter adjusted earnings of at least 76 cents a share, on sales of at least $1.57 billion.

Analysts, on average, were looking for earnings of 70 cents a share, on sales of $1.54 billion, for the third quarter, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Teaneck, New Jersey-based Cognizant's shares, which have lost 16 percent of their value in the last three months, rose 5 percent to $74.49 on Tuesday on Nasdaq.

Cognizant's quarterly revenue, which grew 34.4 percent to $1.49 billion, outpaced India's No.3 software services exporter Wipro's IT services revenue of $1.41 billion.

"If you look at it historically, Cognizant have had industry leading growth rate and they are maintaining that," analyst Jain said.

For the second quarter, the company earned 72 cents a share, excluding items, surpassing market expectations of 66 cents a share.

Source: http://in.finance.yahoo.com/news/Cognizant-eyes-strong-growth-yahoofinancein-3935186790.html?x=0

Maoists win power war in Nepal

2011-08-03T08:03:00.000-07:00

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KATHMANDU: Nepal's former Maoist guerrillas once again proved their dominion over the government on Monday by forcing Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal to reshuffle the cabinet despite stiff resistance from the premier's own party as well as the biggest opposition party.

The communist leader, who came to power in February riding piggyback on the Maoists and is solely dependant on their support for the survival of his five-month-old government, inducted 10 more ministers in his 34-member cabinet, with nine of them being from the Maoist party and the 10 th from Terai party Madhesi Janadhikar Forum.

The new Maoist ministers include one of the three deputy chiefs of the party, Narayan Kaji Shrestha, who got the coveted home ministry, Hisila Yami (land reforms), the wife of another deputy, Dr Baburam Bhattarai, and Jayapuri Gharti Magar (women, children and social welfare), who is from the faction loyal to the third deputy, Mohan Baidya, and had refused to take oath of office for the same portfolio two months ago.

The reshuffle, at a time the fate of the government will become uncertain after Aug 31, became necessary for Prachanda. Facing a triangular tussle for leadership in his party, this was the best sop he could offer his contending deputies and keep his grip on the party leadership. For Khanal, the revamp was necessary for his survival with the Maoists recalling their existing ministers Sunday and threatening to withdraw support to the government.

However, though the weak but wily PM has managed to save his skin for now, he has more challenges to overcome. The immediate one is to get parliament to function. The houses has remained obstructed since last month by the opposition Nepali Congress, who say they will keep up the protest till Khanal resigns.

Also, just 30 days later, Khanal will have to promulgate the new constitution, an impossible task. Failing that, he would need to show two-third majority in the house to amend the interim constitution and continue his stint in power. The opposition is certain to seek its pound of flesh then.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/Maoists-win-power-war-in-Nepal/articleshow/9445385.cms

Blonde bombshell adds new spice to Sobhraj saga

2011-08-03T08:01:00.000-07:00

http://haryanahighway.com

KATHMANDU: He may be behinds bars since 2003 but Charles Sobhraj, the dishy villain of the 1970s who was wanted for crimes in over a dozen countries, has apparently not been forgotten by the outside world.

The Frenchman's nearly four-decade-old saga in Nepal, that includes murder, possible espionage and drug deals, and an incredible love story behind bars, has now received a new twist with a "blonde bombshell" walking inside prison and avowing she would get him released.

The new woman in the 67-year-old's life described herself as a British lawyer from London, Elizabeth Stubbs. In her 40s, the blonde provided high drama in Kathmandu's Central Jail on Friday, persuading the jailer to let her meet Sobhraj though visits are not allowed on Fridays. To add icing to that, she was also allowed to meet "The Serpent", as Sobhraj was dubbed by the tabloid media, outside the normal visiting area, where a wire mesh separates the detainees from the visitors.

She then hugged and kissed the astonished Sobhraj, saying she had set up an organisation in London - Sobhraj Services - that purportedly provides free legal information and services. The woman then told Sobhraj - who is serving a 20-year term for the murder of an American tourist in 1975 - that she would leave no stones unturned to get him released.

Quick to recover his balance, the suave Sobhraj told her that his mother-in-law, who was also his lawyer, was handling his review petition in Supreme Court on his behalf and was capable of doing everything that needed to be done. However, if she wanted to help, he said she could always contact the Human Rights Committee in Geneva, to whom he has complained of wrongful imprisonment by the Nepali authorities.

The mystery about Stubbs, whose web site www.sobhrajservices.com is as enigmatic as she herself is, thickened with the visitor reportedly singing a different tune that same evening when she had a meeting in her hotel with Sobhraj's Nepali fiancee Nihita Biswas and her mother, Shakuntala Thapa.

She reportedly advised Nihita, who says she married Sobhraj inside prison and has been campaigning in the media and elsewhere for his release, to forget him and start life afresh. She also reportedly offered to sponsor Nihita's education in the UK for two years. When the young woman refused, the blonde reportedly said she could make life difficult for the mother-daughter duo.

Stubbs is the second mysterious visitor Sobhraj received this year. The other was an Indian contract killer, whose identity is still not confirmed. The Indian tried to kill an influential Nepali, billeted in the same prison as Sobhraj for running a fake Indian currency trade, and has now been sentenced to prison for five years.

Sobhraj fears his enemies, worried that he could be released soon, are on his trail. He suspects they sent the woman to reconnoitre and the mission would be followed by an attempt on his life.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/Blonde-bombshell-adds-new-spice-to-Sobhraj-saga/articleshow/9455740.cms

Nepal's 'singing nun' comes to gangraped nun's rescue

2011-08-03T07:54:00.000-07:00

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KATHMANDU: A 40-year-old Buddhist nun who began as a rebel and then transformed into one of Nepal's most popular singing stars, has now created another milestone in Nepal's religious as well as social history by offering sanctuary to a nun half her age, who became stigmatised after being gangraped last month.

Choying Drolma, the red-robed, tonsured Buddhist nun whose prayer chants have won her thousands of followers in Nepal, China and the West, has now also become the saviour of a 21-year-old nun who was thought to have lost her right to remain a nun after being raped by five men in a bus.

On Tuesday, after the dazed victim was discharged from hospital, Choying offered her a new home at Arya Tara, the school run by Nuns' Welfare Foundation. Choying founded the non-profit organisation with the money earned through her singing to provide education to Buddhist nuns - anis - who mostly remain neglected while monks have greater access to education.

Once criticised by the Buddhist community for her global tours, big cars and unashamed fondness for Hindi films and songs, Choying has continued on her own way, heedless of critics. She has featured in magazines like Marie Claire and co-authored a biography, Singing for Freedom", using the royalty from the book to start a diagnostic centre for treating kidney diseases.

When the raped nun's uncle came to her seeking help, Choying immediately put up NRS 30,000 for medical treatment, following it up with appeals to friends. Now they have opened an account in Kathmandu's Mega Bank in the name of the nun, raising over NRS 200,000 within a short while.

"This is for her financial security," Choying told TNN. "The law says the rapists will have to pay her compensation. But the way things work here, that will take a very long time. We have to find a way to protect her."

Choying has also been in touch with Kran Bajracharya, a police officer who, she said, helped immensely by taking up the rape with police in eastern Nepal to ensure that the five men arrested for the attack were not freed. However, she is now concerned that the worst is yet to come.

"When the trial starts, the attackers will get lawyers who will try to pin the blame on the victim," she said. "It will be an ugly thing and my primary concern is how she will deal with it emotionally."

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/Nepals-singing-nun-comes-to-gangraped-nuns-rescue/articleshow/9469374.cms

Delhi high court says 'gift of love' to Mayawati not taxable

2011-08-03T07:52:00.000-07:00

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NEW DELHI: In a relief to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati, the Delhi high court on Wednesday dismissed an appeal filed by I-T department challenging a tax tribunal order exempting from tax gifts received by her during the assessment year 2003-04.

A division bench of justices AK Sikri and Suresh Kait upheld the order passed by Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) that gifts received by the BSP supremo from party supporters were not taxable under the Income Tax Act.

ITAT had accepted Mayawati's claim that immovable property worth Rs 62.72 lakh and cash payments of Rs 2 lakh were gifts given by her supporters out of love and affection.

The government in its appeal had held her claim as unacceptable and contended that cash and property given to Mayawati should be included in her annual income tax return.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Delhi-high-court-says-gift-of-love-to-Mayawati-not-taxable/articleshow/9470229.cms

2G scam: Not a single paisa was paid to A Raja, says Ratan Tata

2011-08-03T07:50:00.000-07:00

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MUMBAI: Tata group chairman Ratan Tata has rejected allegations of giving bribe to former telecom minister A Raja to secure 2G spectrum allocation and said charges being made in the court proceedings were an attempt at diversion.

Facing questions from a shareholder at the AGM of Tata Steel company, he said unfortunately there are defamation laws in the country and one can say anything in court and get away with it.

"Not even one paisa was paid to Mr A Raja. The money was for the hospital and medical equipment meant for people. Since no hospital was built and no equipment was purchased, no money was paid.

"We do not make payments in advance. The statements made in courts are to create a diversion," Tata said while replying to a question on reports that the company had paid Rs 20 crore to a hospital in Raja's constituency.

On Tuesday, jailed Swan Telecom's promoter Shahid Usman Balwa had said that Tatas gave donation to the tune of Rs 20 crore to a hospital in Tamil Nadu.

"We have not paid Rs 20 crore to A Raja. It's being said in the court for other reasons of diversion," Tata told the shareholders at the 104th AGM of Tata Steel.

"Lots of things we have not said in public because we have given all the information to the agencies. Besides, the matter is sub-judice and we may risk contempt of court, if we see anything more," he said, adding, "We have never been asked or given any sort of bribe or gratification to A Raja or anybody else."

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/2G-scam-Not-a-single-paisa-was-paid-to-A-Raja-says-Ratan-Tata/articleshow/9469593.cms

Hooda Must Quit: Gadkari on Rajiv Gandhi Trust Issue

2011-08-03T07:47:00.000-07:00

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Stepping up its attack, BJP today demanded the resignation of Haryana Chief Minister M Bhupinder Singh Hooda for "illegal" denotification and lease of land in Gurgaon to Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust.

BJP chief Nitin Gadkari charged Congress president Sonia Gandhi, her son and party general secretary Rahul and daughter Priyanka Vadhra of taking more than five acres of panchayat land in Haryana's Ullahawas village on lease for a rent of Rs 3 lakh per annum.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadhra are trustees of the charitable body.

"All laws were set aside by the Hooda government to give this land worth Rs 50 crore on lease to the Gandhi family. The land was denotified before it was leased to Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and daughter Priyanka. Why this double standards of the Gandhi family?" Gadkari alleged.

The land, which belonged to the panchayat and hence was a collective property of the village, was reportedly alloted to the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust and one H R Sachdeva, a dentist alleged to be close to the Gandhi family.

A case is pending in the court on the matter.

"If Yeddyurappa had to resign due to denotification of a land, the Hooda government should also resign for denotifying this property," Gadkari said.

He insisted that his party will appeal to the Haryana High Court that all aspects of this deal should be investigated by a Special Investigation Team. He also demanded that a retired judge conduct a probe into all land acquired by the Hooda government during its tenure.

"We also demand that the land scams in Uttar Pradesh should be inquired into. Rahul Gandhi did a 'padyatra' (march) there," Gadkari said, alluding to the Congress leader having different sets of norms for UP and Haryana.

Rahul Gandhi had visited Bhatta-Parsaul in Greater Noida to meet the farmers whose land had been acquired by the Mayawati government without paying adequate compensation.

Gadkari maintained that during the court proceedings when the judge wanted to know names of the trustees of Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust, the lawyers were reluctant to name Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and Priyanka.

"When we want land for the Deen Dayal Trust there is a hue and cry but not for this Trust. Why this drama about land acquisitions? On the one hand, they are fighting for land rights and on the other they are taking away this land. The matter should be investigated," Gadkari said.

Asked if BJP would raise this issue in Parliament, Gadkari said he has raised his voice on this matter and his party would bring it up in the House.

Source: http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?730005

College student strip-searched. Why?

2011-08-03T00:46:00.000-07:00

http://haryanahighway.com

In shocking incident, a college girl was stripped and searched, just to find a cell phone. This happened at the Prince Venkateshwara College of Arts and Sciences near Selaiyur. The student was taken to rest room and stripped by the physical education teacher. Following the incident 150 students went to the Vice Chancellor of Madras University to file a complaint. A woman’s modesty shaken and a student’s trust breached, all this just to find a concealed cell phone. If we don’t respect college students how can we expect the world to change its attitude towards women? What action should be taken against the college authorities? Share your views.

Source: http://in.education.yahoo.com/forum/detail/post/college-student-strip-searched-325109

Delhi Slutwalk held successfully

2011-08-01T22:46:00.000-07:00

As many as 700-800 people walked at Delhi Slutwalk arthaat Besharmi morcha today at Jantar Mantar, making it a success. But among the hundreds of people comprising students, foreigners, and activists, who were there to protest against sexual harassment of women, there was a glaring absence of people from the the lower classes.

Inspite of that, the excitement among the participants was palpable. Enthusiastic participants shout slogans during and held placards during short walk from Jantar Mantar via YMCA back to Jantar Mantar.

he organiser Umang Sabarwal, attended the event along with her family, amidst police security. Grinning from ear to ear, the 19-yr-old- Delhi University student, couldn't contain her excitement, "I'm very happy with the response, the event was energetic and clean. Whatever misconceptions people had that it will become tamasha, have been proved wrong. This is just the beginning, our aim is to keep this going and create awareness about women's issues."

Interestingly, there were as many men participating in the march as women. Belinda Fleichmann, an activist from Switzerland, created quite a stampede when she lifted her short to write a slogan on her tummy. Blissfully unaware of the leering male attention, she looked happy at being at the center of such change, "This is a very good start, small or big doesn't matter, the fact that women are taking to the streets and men are supporting them. The big thing is that the issue is being discussed in public."

The walk was followed by a streetplay by Asmita Theatre group. Arvind Gaur, director of Asmita Theatre Group said, "We want to fight for an equal place for women in this society. We can't change the law but we can change the society. Our street play, Dastak, attempts to engage in dialogue directly with the public and create awareness."

Commenting on the government's irresponsible attitude, he added, "Our administration is very weak, instead of doing something they comment that the city is unsafe, girls shouldn't wear short clothes etc. Only 2% people get justice in rape cases, and eve teasing is not even considered a crime. Today I can see that youth will begin the change because they think about social issues. It's not a woman's fight, its society's fight for justice."

Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/news-feed/newdelhi/delhi-slutwalk-conducted-successfully/article1-727672.aspx

Haryana gets SC notice on land takeover

2011-08-01T22:38:00.001-07:00

http://haryanahighway.com

The Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from the Centre and the Haryana government on a petition, seeking its directions to restrain the state government from acquiring 2,700 acres of land for a township in Rohtak.

A bench of justices JM Panchal and HL Gokhale issued notices to
the Union ministry of environment and forest, Union ministry of urban development and the Haryana government on a petition filed by Bharat Bhoomi Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, an NGO.

The NGO said the agricultural land, which is “one of the most fertile land of India”, was being acquired for the proposed township, while barren land was available in a nearby area.

“Though there was a barren land which was available in the same tehsil Rohtak, most suitable for the purpose of acquisition for establishing the township, the government has tried to acquire huge tracts of arable land surrounding the same,” said Ramesh Dalal, NGO president.

The HSIIDC had acquired about 1,800 acres of land in Rohtak in 2006-08 for the first and second phase of the project.

Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/Haryana-gets-SC-notice-on-land-takeover/Article1-728288.aspx

'Gurgaon land deal favoured Gandhi family'

2011-08-01T22:37:00.000-07:00

http://haryanahighway.com

CHANDIGARH: The Haryana government has adopted a pick-and-choose policy in acquiring land in Gurgaon and has favoured a trust run by the Gandhi family by exempting their land from the acquisition process, the Punjab and Haryana high court was told.

This was learnt during the hearing of a bunch of petitions filed by landowners, including artist Anjolie Ela Menon, against the acquisition of 1,417 acre of land in Sectors 58, 63, 65, 67 in Gurgaon.

While the case is on for the last one week, the Haryana government on Monday told the HC that it has set up a high-power committee to sort out the issues raised by landowners. Artist and Padma Shri awardee Menon said, "It is probably being done to take the matter away from judiciary so that it can be decided administratively."

The case will come up for hearing on Tuesday.

During the hearing of the petitions in the last seven days, it was revealed that the state government released land in favour of the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust. UPA chairwoman Sonia Gandhi, her son Rahul and daughter Priyanka are its trustees. The trust was supposed to set up an eye hospital and research centre in Ullawas village.

The trust was given the exemption by the Haryana government at a time when the entire 1,417 acre land was being acquired and notification had been issued under Section 4 and Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act.

The Punjab and Haryana high court asked the state government to inform if there was any policy about leasing land even after notification to acquire land is issued under the Sections 4 and 6. In her main petition Menon asserted the "acquisition is for proposed development that is clearly violative of several environmental laws and directions of the Supreme Court of India, and additionally, is apparently detrimental to the sensitive ecological balance and water table of this region since it forms a catchment area of the Aravali mountains".

Other petitioners have alleged discrimination and favoritism by the state government. They claimed that Haryana government acquired the vacant land belonging to those who have collaborated with private builders.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/9450879.cms

‘Khap’ film draws ire of panchayats

2011-07-31T00:15:00.000-07:00

http://haryanahighway.com

Among this Friday’s other releases, there is a low budget and less publicised, perhaps deliberately, a film on honour killings.

The film has already invited the wrath of caste panchayats in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring states.

As the movie – “Khaps: A story of Honour Killing” – hits theaters today, hardline Khap panchayats have started demanding a ban on its screening. They say the movie is an attempt to present Khap panchayats in bad light and could incite tempers. These establishments, some self-styled, have threatened theater owners and public to boycott the movie in Haryana. The film has been inspired by series of honour killings in Haryana and some other northern states post the whimsical diktats by many Khaps.

Veteran actor Om Puri’s character in the film, portrayed as a hardline village sarpanch, too is courting controversy in Jat-dominated Haryana. The actors first time (Om), and his costume in the movie, sporting a green turban, has an uncanny resemblance with former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala. The veteran actor although rubbishes it as purely coincidental.

Film producers Sangita Sinha and Siddhant Sinha, however, deny that the movie is an attempt to tarnish the image of any such “social” organisation.

Khaps in Haryana and UP have hogged media headlines for some time now. They have also drawn flak from various courts for their arbitrary diktats on inter-caste marriages, many which have led to gruesome killings of innocent runaway couples.

Vote bank politics has helped these Khaps enjoy the “patronage” of politicians in the state.

Source: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/179774/khap-film-draws-ire-panchayats.html

Delhi's own 'Slutwalk' all set to grab eyeballs

2011-07-30T11:16:00.001-07:00

New Delhi: It might not change the mindsets it tends to challenge, but Delhi's own 'Slutwalk', which will see women take to the streets to press for their rights to do what they like, is certain to grab eyeballs.

Four months after women in Toronto staged such a protest agitated by a constable's remark that "women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimised", some of Delhi's women and supporting activists will come out on the streets of the capital.

The event, that has been much talked about ever since it was announced, will see women start their walk from the capital's protest hot bed Jantar Mantar before travelling some distance.

"We have students and a number of groups supporting us for the event. We will hold talks, stage street plays on the way to highlight the fact that what women do and what they wear should have no bearing on the way they are treated," said Ritesh Sharma, a student filmmaker, who is one of the organisers of the event.

Labelled 'Slutwalk Arthaat Besharmi Morcha', the campaign has been active for a few weeks now, with a number of debates and discussions held on issues of gender discrimination and cases of sexual assault and violence against women.

While the event will not change stereotypes and mindsets, organisers said the message of the campaign is that women have to wear what they like and decide the course of their own lives.

The Slutwalk in Toronto where women walked the streets wearing striking lingerie garnered much attention. It is to be seen what response the Delhi event elicits.

Source: http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/delhi-s-own-slutwalk-all-set-to-grab-eyeballs_723229.html

Nokia slips from 1 to 3 in smartphone sales

2011-07-30T11:09:00.000-07:00

Helsinki: Apple and Samsung Electronics ended struggling Nokia's 15-year reign at the top of the smartphone sales rankings in the second quarter, researchers said on Friday.

Nokia has dominated the smartphone market ever since its 1996 launch of the Communicator model, but competition from its two nearest rivals and a slump in its own sales sent it straight from first to third place in the three months to June as growth in the sector starts to slow.

Apple sold a record 20.3 million iPhones in the quarter despite the fact that its iPhone 4 model is now more than a year old. Usually success of smartphone models does not last so long.

Apple unveiled its sales last week, but on Friday analysts also estimated Samsung sold 19 million smartphones in the quarter, well ahead of Nokia's 16.7 million as it was able to benefit from booming demand with smartphones using Google's Android software. "Samsung's Galaxy portfolio has proven popular, especially the high-tier S2 Android model," said Neil Mawston, analyst at Strategy Analytics."

Strategy Analytics estimated smartphone market volume grew 76 percent from a year ago in the second quarter. ABI Research was somewhat more cautious estimating market grew 62 percent.

Slowdown Worries

Growth on the overall cellphone market slowed too in the April-June period, as sales of basic phone models dropped for the first time in seven quarters due to consumers reining in spending, research firm IDC said on Friday.

IDC said strong smartphone demand boosted the market to still grow 11.3 percent from a year ago to 365.4 million phones, but this was a clear slowdown from the 16.8 percent growth seen in the previous quarter.

Strategy Analytics estimated the total market at 361 million cellphones in the quarter.

In a Reuters’ poll, 29 analysts' average forecast for the total market stood at 374 million phones.

IDC said sales of simpler so-called feature phones fell 4 percent from a year ago due to conservative spending and continued shift to smartphones, most visible in developed markets, such as the United States, Japan and Western Europe.

"The shrinking feature phone market is having the greatest impact on some of the world's largest suppliers of mobile phones," analyst Kevin Restivo said in a statement.

"Stalwarts such as Nokia are losing share in the feature phone category to low-cost suppliers such as Micromax, TCL-Alcatel and Huawei."

Struggling Nokia, still the world's largest phone maker by volume, saw its phone sales shrinking 20 percent from a year ago. This helped Samsung to close the gap to the Finnish firm in the overall cellphone market to the lowest level ever.

Some analysts already forecast for Samsung to become the world's largest cellphone vendor next year.

Source: http://zeenews.india.com/business/gadgets/featurednews.aspx?newsid=338

Amitabh vs Rajinikanth

2011-07-30T10:53:00.000-07:00

The recent buzz in the B town is that Bachchan saab will add his presence to Rajinikanth's next flick 'Rana'. The film will have super stardom with Rajinikanth playing three roles and have the towering Big B to add to its power.

The two have given big hits in the past in films like Andha Kanoon, Geraftaar and Hum. Meanwhile, the fact that Rajinikanth's earlier year hits are unabashed remakes of Amitabh Bachchan is not a secret. But this get-together of the biggest stars of the North and the South spurts one vital question in the minds of the fans – who is the King of the entertainment industry of India?

Well, Rajinikanth, known as the Thalaivar or the chief, and Big B are like demigods in India. Many argue that the two are superstars in their own rights and comparing them will be unfair. But there is definitely no harm to find out who rules India's hearts.

The soon-to-be Grandpa has been ruling Bollywood for years and is now looking strong even at 64. From his debut film Saat Hindustani to his latest release, he has proved that he is a versatile actor. In fact, there is no need to highlight his works, as everybody in the country knows every little thing about him.

Rajinikanth, on the other hand, is no doubt the king of south Indian cinema. People simply go mad over him and his films. He has been climbing the ladders of success consistently since his debut film Apoorva Raagangal. His style and dialogues have become a fest for his fans.

There is no doubt that comparing the two will be a herculean task. A recent poll conducted by a television channel showed that 82 percent of the voters favoured Rajinikanth to be the King of Indian hearts as opposed to the 18 percent who think Amitabh is the best. .

If we compare the work that the two do – Amitabh does 7 to 8 films in a year on an average while Rajinikanth does 1 film in two years. Rajinikanth charges a huge price of Rs.16 crore to Rs.35 crore per film while Amitabh is paid Rs.3 crores per film. In fact, Rajini is the second highest paid actor in Asia after Jackie Chan. Another fact to point out is that Amitabh has 20 registered fan clubs while Rajini is said to have a whooping 63,000 fan clubs across the globe. Big B endorses multiple brands while Rajinikanth does not endorse any. This limits the exposure of 'brand Rajinikanth' to Amitabh making him among the most elusive of movie stars to the general public. This makes him a more 'enigmatic' brand as compared Bachchan whose exposure levels today, have peaked.

Statistics clearly go in favour of Rajinikanth. However, the concerned actors beg to differ. Rajinikanth does not want to be compared with Amitabh. "Comparison with Amitabh disturbs me. He is my idol, an inspiration," said the superstar. He also added that Amitabh is an emperor while he is only a king. Amitabh Bachchan too is all praise for the South Indian star. He said that Rajini is a great actor and a good human being, who has reached the top position from a modest family. According to Mr. Bachchan, no actor in the country could reach the height Rajini has scaled.

Amitabh Bachchan cares about his looks and behaviour on and off screen but Rajini does not. Rajini is an actor in front of the camera but off it, he is himself and doesn't even care to cover his bald head.

Let's look at what is in store for the two great actors…

Big B's astrological chart predicts … He has a cusp of Mercury, Moon and the Sun which provides him with the strength to do unthinkable things. It is a good period for him at the career front. He is going through Ketu's dasa from January 2007 to January 2014. He will be busy acting in films throughout this period. Jupiter will be on his side and will help him come up with another unforgettable hit. The fortunate period will last up to September 2011. Saturn aspecting Ketu from the star of Moon will prompt him to take rest and work "behind" the screen as well. He may need medical attendance at this point of time. From the above analysis it seems that Mr. Bachchan is going to have a very good period till September 2011.

The Padma Bhushan Awardee Rajinikanth's vedic astrology birth chart shows enormous success in financial and professional matters. During the period of March 2010 to September 2011, Rajinikanth will face severe health issues. However, he will have some relief.

Hence, both the stars have a great time as far as career is concerned.

As for the comparison of who will rule the Indian entertainment industry, statistics are clearly in favour of the South Indian king. However, the zeal and enthusiasm with which the soon to be granddad Amitabh Bachchan is working, his future doesn't seem to be bleak at all. At best, one can easily predict that the two stars will together rule the heart of India.

Source: http://in.horoscopes.lifestyle.yahoo.net/astrology-article/amitabh-vs-rajinikanth.aspx

Ex-Air India official charged with cheating

2011-07-30T10:46:00.000-07:00

http://haryanahighway.com

Mumbai, July 29 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation has charged a former Air India general manager and an entertainment company with cheating the airline to the tune of Rs.14 million.

Anil Kumar Sharma was general manager in the airline's in-flight service department when he allegedly approved fake bills of in-flight entertainment programmes supplied by Eros International Media Ltd, a CBI official said Friday.

The airline had appointed Eros to supply short video programmes for screening on its flights but the company charged for a duration more than the actual one, the CBI said.

Eros was also accused of billing the airline twice.

Sharma is accused of fraudulently approving the bills sent by Eros without verifying them, in connivance with the latter's officials, the CBI said.

Sharma and his family members were accused of having several bank accounts and owning three bank lockers in Mumbai, New Delhi and Chandigarh.

The CBI said he recently bought a flat in Defence Colony in south Delhi.

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/ex-air-india-official-charged-cheating-143123132.html

Anti-terror training for Haryana police officers

2011-07-30T10:17:00.000-07:00

http://haryanahighway.com

Chandigarh, July 30 (PTI) Officials of Haryana Police Department would be imparted training to deal with the incidents of terrorism, Home Minister Gopal Kanda said today. The intelligence wing of the police department would also be strengthened to control such incidents. Kanda in a release issued here said the officers would also be given training on how to deal with cyber crimes.Also, those posted in the National Capital Region would be acquainted with the skills required to handle modern technology.He said a 12-day training programme on how to tackle incidents of terrorism has already been organized at Haryana Police Academy, Madhuban by Bureau of Research and Development, New Delhi.This training was imparted by the Police Officers of the USA to about 18 police officers of different states including Haryana.He said all police stations have been connected with internet so as to improve their efficiency in the state. PTI CHS

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/antiterror-training-for-haryana-police-officers/770218.html

Lokpal Bill row: Delhi Police denies Team Anna permission to hold fast

2011-07-29T23:21:00.000-07:00

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New Delhi, July 29 (ANI): Delhi Police on Friday denied permission to veteran social activist Anna Hazare to hold an indefinite hunger strike at the Jantar Mantar here on August 16.

The Delhi Police referred to the Supreme Court's 2009 order to deny team Anna permission for the indefinite strike anywhere in Delhi, the Times Now channel reports.

The police, in its letter to Hazare, said that as Parliament would be in session, no group could be allowed to capture the entire space at Jantar Mantar, as many groups come out on protests during that period.

The letter further states that if team Anna wished they could hold their strikes in Delhi's outskirts, or give a definite time limit during which they would be allowed a sit-in protest.

Charging the government of bringing a fractured Lokpal Bill, Hazare had said on Thursday in Maharashtra's Ralegaon Siddi town that he would protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on August 16.

"The entire country will protest with me at Jantar Mantar on August 16...This is not Hazare's protest but the entire country's. The people need to look at this as a second fight for their freedom and they should all come out on the streets," Hazare said.

The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the official draft of the Lokpal Bill and trashed the key proposals moved by Team Anna.

The Bill provides for the establishment of the institution of Lokpal to inquire into allegations of corruption against certain public functionaries and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

The Bill envisages setting up the institution of Lokpal consisting of a chairperson and eight members with the stipulation that half of the members shall be judicial members.

It will have its own Investigation Wing and Prosecution Wing with such officers and staff as are necessary to carry out its functions.

The Lokpal shall inquire into allegations of corruption made in respect of Prime Minister, after he has demitted office; a Minister of the Union; a Member of Parliament; any Group "A" officer or equivalent; Chairperson or member or officer equivalent to Group "A" in any body/ Board/ corporation/ authority/ company/ society/ trust/ autonomous body established by an Act of Parliament or wholly or partly financed or controlled by the Central Government; any director, manager, secretary or other officer of a society or association of persons or trust wholly or partly financed or aided by the government or in receipt of any donations from the public and whose annual income exceeds such amount as the Central Government may by notification specify.

However, the organisations created for religious purposes and receiving public donations would be outside the purview of Lokpal.

The Lokpal shall not require sanction or approval under Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 or Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, in cases where prosecution is proposed.

The Lokpal will also have powers to attach the property of corrupt public servants acquired through corrupt means.

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/lokpal-bill-row-delhi-police-denies-team-anna-070326140.html

Kasab challenges death penalty in Supreme Court

2011-07-29T23:19:00.000-07:00

http://haryanahighway.com

NEW DELHI (AP) — The only surviving gunman of the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks has appealed a death sentence handed down by a trial court.

The Mumbai court convicted 22-year-old Mohammed Ajmal Kasab of murder, waging war against India, conspiracy and terrorism in May last year and sentenced the Pakistani national to death. The sentence was confirmed by the state High Court in February this year.

Police officer Rajinder Dhamante said Friday Kasab has appealed to the Supreme Court in New Delhi, which is expected to take the case.

The three-day siege in Mumbai in November 2008 killed 166 people.

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/gunman-mumbai-attacks-appeals-death-sentence-075443548.html

Apple has more cash than US government today

2011-07-29T23:16:00.000-07:00

http://haaryanahighway.com

New York, July 29 (IANS) As of today, Apple boss Steve Jobs is richer than Uncle Sam.

While the world's most powerful government has just $73.76 billion in its reserves, the world's top technology company has a neat cash pile of $75.87 billion Thursday.

The US Treasury Department Thursday warned that it has now only this much operating budget as Republicans and Democrats fight over raising the nation's debt ceiling. With only that much reserve at its disposal, the Obama White House has warned the Republicans that the US government won't be able to meet its obligations as of Aug 2.

Facing a government default, Obama can definitely turn to Steve Jobs to give him a very brief breathing space.

The failure by the Republicans and Democrats to come to a compromise to raise the current $14.3 trillion debt ceiling by Aug 2 could lead to a hike in interest rates. The already battered dollar may also plunge further.

With its market capitalisation of $363.25 billion, Apple is the second largest company on the planet after American oil giant Exxon Mobil. The Cupertino-based Apple started rising suddenly in 2007 when it entered the smart phone market with the launch of its first version of the iPhone.

Within three years, Apple went on to overhaul BlackBerry company Research In Motion (RIM) which invented the smart phone and dominated the market.

But its fortunes skyrocketed last year with the launch of the iPad tablet which has sold in millions. In fact, the iPhone and the iPad have made Apple the czar of mobile computing technology as rivals play up catch-up.

The stock of the company, which doesn't pay dividends, has now touched $400.

After Apple, another non-financial company sitting on a huge cash reserve is Microsoft whose own pile is about $40 billion.

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/apple-more-cash-us-government-today-074252423.html

2G: Raja aide Chandolia accuses CBI of blackmail

2011-07-29T00:30:00.001-07:00

http://haryanahighway.com

New Delhi: Former telecom Minister A Raja's close aide RK Chandolia on Friday accused the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) of blackmailing him in connection with the 2G case.

Raja's private secretary claimed that the probe agency bargained with him to become a witness or an accused in the spectrum scam.

"They roped me in because after one year of investigation, the CBI bargained with me that either you become a witness or be an accused," said Chandolia.

Defending himself in the 2G case, Chandolia said that he was not the decision making authority.

"I was assisting my minister. Can an assistant ask his lord what decision have you made. I am not concerned whether their decision is right or wrong. I am no one, just a pawn in the chess game. I challenge the CBI. Let them show one sign on a single document. There are a number of people who have signed on papers but CBI has not called them in," said Chandolia.

Saying that the Tatas and Nira Radia are equal conspirators in the 2G scam, Chandolia accuses the CBI of letting them off.

"Why is the CBI not going near Ratan Tata and Nira Radia? If I committed a crime then so are Tata and Radia on equal footing," he said.

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/2g-rajas-aide-accuses-cbi-of-blackmail/171229-3.html

Speak Asia COO Tarak Bajpai in police net

2011-07-29T00:27:00.001-07:00

http://haryanahighway.com

New Delhi: Speak Asia COO Tarak Bajpai was detained by the Economic Offenses Wing of the Mumbai police for questioning on Friday. The online survey company hit controversy in a multi-crore scam.

The move comes just two days after CID froze the online survey company's bank accounts.

Bajpai, who is the most prominent face of the online survey company's India operations will be flown from Indore to Mumbai.

Speak Asia is being investigated for a multi-level fraud. FIRs and PILs have been filed against it. The company has maintained that it collects money only for its online magazine and that the survey is just a benefit.

Speaking to CNN-IBN, Kirit Somaiya said that three other officials of speak Asia are likely to be arrested soon.

"Pranab Mukherjee had assured me that strong action would be done at the initial stage so that such frauds do not go on. Hope Pranab Mukherjee gives some assurance in Parliament this session," he said.

Who is Tarak Bajpai?

Tarak Bajpai is the face of Speak Asia's India operations. He mainly handled training, communication with members and hosted the retreat for Speak Asia investors in Goa this year.

The Singapore-based company Speak Asia, which is yet to be incorporated as a company in India, would be inspected under section 591 of the Companies Act, which is applicable on companies incorporated outside India and has established a place of business within the country, sources said.

The company charges a membership fee is Rs 11,000 for a year. The members are expected to conduct online surveys for clients of the firm. Members are paid for conducting the surveys. The company said that it pays Rs 500 for every survey to its member.

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/ed-detains-speak-asia-coo-tarak-bajpai/171145-7.html

Rs 215 cr Reddy money stashed abroad: report

2011-07-29T00:26:00.000-07:00

http://hryanahighway.com

New Delhi: The Lokayukta report indicts not just politicians but also corporate houses and the mining mafia. The report names Jindal Steel among the corporates that should be investigated for giving bribes.

The Bellary mining mafia is exposed and it cost BS Yeddyurappa the job of the chief minister. The mighty Reddy brothers might find it tough to recover from here all because of the meticulous probe by Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde and his team.

CNN-IBN has the report which indicts the chief minister and several other leaders cutting across party lines. The nation was robbed of precious iron ore by the greedy.

Between 2006-2010, 3.98 metric tonnes of iron ore worth Rs 12,228 crore was illicitly exported. This could not have happened without the government machinery's help.

Not just politicians, India's top business houses also benefitted from this. The Lokyayukta report indicts Jindal subsidiary South West Mining. They are accused of paying bribe to Yeddurappa's family to secure a mining lease.

Lokyayukta probe says the company paid Rs 20 crore for a plot in Bangalore belonging to Yeddyurappa's son-in-law while the market price was only Rs 1.24 crore. The company also profited by breaking the law and selling iron ore to a third party between 2003-2004 instead of using it in its own steel plants.

Hegde says bribe givers are also equally guilty. Jindals have refused to comment.

The Reddy brothers operated a mafia operation in Bellary to facilitate illegal mining says the Lokyayukta report.

In all, 382 companies indulged in this rampant illegal trade and the ringleader are the Reddy brothers. According to the Lokayukta report, they allegedly paid Rs 41 crore as protection money to K Mahesh. Profits of this were also stashed away abroad. Janardhan Reddy allegedly parked Rs 215 crore rupees in British Virgin Islands.

Lokayukta now wants the RBI and Central government to probe the money stashed away in British Virgin Islands.

Justice Hegde says the scam could be even bigger than what he could unearth. Now it remains to be seen whether the report is probed and acted on or will this also like many others gather dust with time.

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/rs-215-cr-reddy-money-stashed-abroad-report/171149-3.html

Liquor vendor murdered

2011-07-29T00:24:00.000-07:00

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Ambala, Jul 28 (PTI) A liquor vendor was allegedly murdered by two personnel of the Haryana Armed Police here. Police said here today that the constables went to a liquor shop last night and quarrelled with the vendor over some issue. The policemen allegedly hit the head of the vendor with a brick, injuring him seriously. He was rushed to local civil hospital and later shifted to a hospital at Chandigarh, where he died. The police have registered a murder case against the two policemen, who were yet to be arrested.

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/liquor-vendor-murdered/768540.html

Three government officials caught taking bribe in Haryana

2011-07-29T00:23:00.000-07:00

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Chandigarh, Jul 28 (PTI) Three government officials, including an police ASI, were today allegedly caught red handed by Haryana vigilance bureau while they were accepting bribe in different parts of the state. An assistant sub inspector was allegedly caught red handed by the bureau while he was accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 in Rohtak district. ASI Pawan Kumar, in-charge of Sukhpura Chowk police post in Rohtak was caught by the sleuths of the vigilance bureau while he was accepting the money from a resident of Makdoli Kalan, a vigilance official said. A case has been registered against the accused under section 7 of Prevention of Corruption Act at vigilance bureau's police station in Rohtak, a spokesman of the bureau said. He said that the bureau had also arrested Mithun Lal Rohilla, SDO in Irrigation Department Panipat while allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 10,000 from a resident of Assan Khurd village of Jind district . Bal Kishan Verma, an inspector in Cooperative Society, Shahbad had also been caught by the bureau while allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 3,000 from a resident of Gumti village, in Kurukshetra district. Cases had been registered against the accused under Prevention of Corruption Act, he added.

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/three-government-officials-caught-taking-bribe-in-haryana/768201.html

Work Resumes at Maruti Suzuki Plant After Brief Strike

2011-07-29T00:21:00.000-07:00

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NEW DELHI – Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. said Thursday it resumed production at one of its factories after a temporary strike by workers protesting about the suspension of some of their colleagues.

"A handful of workers had struck work but normal production resumed within an hour," a Maruti spokesman said.

He said the workers at Maruti's Manesar plant in northern India's Haryana state were protesting about the suspension of four other employees who had manhandled a supervisor Wednesday evening. "A disciplinary committee took action against them and suspended them today [Thursday] morning."

This is the second time in two months that Maruti, the country's largest car maker by sales, had to halt production due to labor unrest at the Manesar factory. The company stopped production for 10 days there in June after nearly 2,000 workers went on a strike to demand recognition of a new union and the reinstatement of 11 colleagues who were sacked for indiscipline.

Shares of Maruti fell as much as 2.4% after news of the strike. They later recovered to close 1.7% down at 1,186.45 rupees ($26.92) on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The benchmark index closed 1.2% lower.

The Maruti spokesman said the loss of car production from Thursday's strike is marginal and will be recovered Friday.

The local unit of Suzuki Motor Corp. makes the Swift and A-Star hatchbacks, and the SX4 and Swift Dzire sedans at the Manesar plant. Diesel models, which already have a waiting period of a few months due to high demand, are produced at Manesar. Maruti has another factory in Gurgaon, which is also in Haryana state.

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904800304576473591683493356.html

Gambling in stock market, with other people’s crores

2011-07-29T00:19:00.001-07:00

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Chandigarh From luring investors into supposedly “high return” schemes — sometimes getting them to sign blank forms — to massive trading in the stock market, Citibank executive Shivraj Puri’s alleged role in a multi-crore fraud has been detailed in a probe report submitted by the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to the Haryana police.

Puri and his associates were involved in trades to the tune of Rs 1.13 lakh crore in the National Stock Exchange, the report says. It says he lost Rs 228 crore after having got bank clients to invest over Rs 400 crore. The Haryana Police Crime Branch has now written to the NSE and to Ernst and Young to verify whether he did suffered such losses.

The police have charged Puri, some members of his family and accomplices with impersonation, cheating, fraud, forgery and criminal conspiracy. Based on the SEBI report (a copy with The Indian Express), the police plan to file a supplementary chargesheet on the Rs-400-crore-plus scam.

Of the investments he allegedly ensured, over Rs 150 crore came through blank forms that clients signed. “Shivraj was a relationship manager for 51 customer accounts (excluding Puri family-linked accounts) involving 30 households. Shivraj offered fabricated investment schemes, which guaranteed high returns, and received signatures on blank fund transfer forms. Through these forms, Shivraj made demand drafts favouring stockbrokers and invested in the securities market and also transferred funds to Puri family-linked accounts. To hide his misconduct, he issued false certificates on Citibank stationery and dispatched fabricated account statements to investors. This started from February 2009. The total amount received from these clients was Rs 150.35 crore up to December 2010.”

Another Rs 328 crore came from investors in the corporate sector. “Shivraj in collusion with Sanjay Gupta, chief financial officer of Hero Corporate Services Limited, solicited investments from the Munjal group [report names group’s individual entities] by promising them guaranteed high returns based on a forged SEBI letter purportedly issued by SEBI to Citibank, where three individuals — K K Malhotra, Premnath Puri (Shivraj’s step-grandfather) and Rajendra Khosla — were notified as custodians of Citibank. This started from May 2010, where funds were transferred through RTGS in the Premnath account. It was observed that only the Premnath account was used by Shivraj for the fraudulent transactions. The total amount received from these clients was Rs 328.30 crore up to December 2010,” the report says.

“The Premnath account was opened by Shivraj (as the relationship manager) in September 2009 at the Gurgaon branch of Citibank in the joint names of Premnath, Sheila Premnath (Puri’s grandmother) and Deeksha Puri (Puri’s mother),” the report says.

About the investments in the stock market, it says, “Shivraj traded in the futures and options segment of the NSE, predominantly in Nifty Index options. From the data, it is observed that Shivraj lost a total sum of Rs 228 crore while dealing in the stock market... It is observed that the Puri group traded in futures and options segment of the NSE, particularly in Index options, to the tune of Rs 1,13,000.80 crore.”

Haryana’s additional DGP Sharad Kumar, who is heading the police investigation, said that the SEBI report is “quite exhaustive” but added, “We are still not sure if the losses the accused have shown were actually incurred. We have written to the National Stock Exchange to verify the losses and send us a report.”

Rap for Citibank

The report also questions the role of Citibank. “Citibank customers had entrusted their funds to Citibank and it was Citibank that employed the relationship manager to manage their assets. It was the responsibility of Citibank to perform necessary due diligence with regard to the conduct of its relationship manager,” it says.

“Sanjeev Aggarwal in an FIR said Citibank has developed a practice of getting blank demand draft requisition forms signed by customers on the pretext that people being busy would not be available for signing. It was also observed that these clients were not present in the bank when the demand drafts were issued, neither was a call made to them for verification. Such operations, which continued for more than two years, could not have been possible without the implicit knowledge of more employees of Citibank,” it adds.

Source: http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Gambling-in-stock-market-with-other-peoples-crores/823923/

Police complaint authority formed in Haryana

2011-07-29T00:18:00.000-07:00

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Chandigarh, Jul 28 (PTI) The Haryana Government has constituted a State Police Complaint Authority to conduct independent and impartial investigations in cases of serious misconduct by police personnel. The Authority will have all the powers of civil court trying a suit under the Code of Civil Procedure 1908 in matters like summoning and enforcing the attendance of witness and examining them on oath; discover and production of any document, an official spokesman said today. The Authority will also be able to receive evidence on affidavits; seek any public record or copy from any court or office and issue authorities for the examination of witnesses or documents and any other matter as may be prescribed. The office of the Authority has been set up in old building of Public Works (Building and Roads) Department, Chandigarh, he said. He said that retired IAS officer H S Rana has been appointed as State Police Complaint Authority, which would send its recommendation to the state government for taking action against the officials found guilty of serious misconduct. The misconduct will include custodial death, attempt to rape or rape by police personnel, grievous hurt, illegal detention and any other unacceptable behaviour of police personnel amounting to occurrence of a crime.

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/police-complaint-authority-formed-in-haryana/768512.html

52 Tihar inmates selected in fresh recruitment drive

2011-07-27T10:29:00.000-07:00

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New Delhi, July 27 (PTI) Buoyed by the success of the first recruitment drive inside the prison premises in February, Tihar jail authorities today conducted a fresh round of campus placement interviews in which 52 inmates were selected. A total of 90 inmates had appeared for the campus interviews. Of these 52 were selected by different companies. "This is the second time in a row that we have been able to conduct a campus placement for our eligible inmates successfully.During the first round five months back, 43 inmates were hired by different companies. "We had put across the profile of 90 inmates," Director General (DG) Tihar Prisons Neeraj Kumar said. "Of all the 52 inmates, Nishar Ahmed, a convict here has got the best offer," he said. Ahmed has been selected for the post of a tailor with Roman Garments with a monthly package of Rs 20,000. "The campus recruitment was conducted in Jail No.2.Five companies were here for the campus recruitment. They include Haldiram, Vedanta Foundation, GI pipes, Prado Security and Roman Garments amongst others. "90 professionally qualified inmates faced the campus interview," Sunil Gupta, spokesperson, Tihar Prisons said. "They have been selected for vacancies in the posts of different designations like manager, stenographer, driver, security guard, salesman, secretary etc. The salaries that all 52 have been offered range between Rs 7,500 to Rs 20,000,' Gupta added. Prado Security has selected a maximum number of candidates by hiring 25 inmates for their offices. This was followed by Haldiram, Vedanta Foundation, Roman Garments who selected ten each and six have been hired by GI Pipes.

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/52-tihar-inmates-seleted-in-fresh-recruitment-drive/767327.html

Haryana cabinet regularises services

2011-07-27T10:27:00.000-07:00

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Chandigarh, July 27 (PTI) Haryana government today announced it would regularize the services of group �B�, �C� and �D� employees working on adhoc/contract/daily wages and part time basis. A decision to this effect was taken here by Haryana cabinet which met under chairmanship of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. As a result of this decision, a large number of employees stand to benefit including 3,000 in group 'B' alone, Hooda told reporters. The services of group �B�, �C� and �D� employees will be regularized subject to the condition that the employees should have continued to work for not less than ten years as on April 10, 2006, and are still in service but not under cover of the orders of the Courts or Tribunals, against vacant posts. The period of continuous break in such service should not be more than one month in a calendar year and the employees must possess the minimum prescribed qualifications for the post on the date of appointment. Among other conditions include that the concerned employee should have been appointed only after either his/her name has been sponsored by the Employment Exchange or has been appointed on the basis of recommendations made by the departmental selection committee by inviting applications through advertisement against duly sanctioned vacant post. This policy is a one-time gesture on humanitarian ground, the Chief Minister said, adding that in future, no irregular appointment/employment on adhoc/contract shall be made against sanctioned posts.

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/haryana-cabinet-regularises-services/767064.html

Haryana to amend its Rehabilitation and Resettlement policy

2011-07-27T10:25:00.000-07:00

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Chandigarh, July 27 (PTI) The Haryana Government today decided to amend its Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy-2010. It was decided to fix floor rate of Rs 25 lakh per acre for area situated within the final development plan of Faridabad-Ballabhgarh Controlled Areas-2011. The same floor rate will be fixed for those situated within the area of development plans of Bahadurgarh, Rohtak, Rewari, Dharuhera, Bawal and Panipat towns, excluding the areas forming part of the notified limits of Faridabad Municipal Corporation. Besides, a floor rate of Rs 16 lakh per acre has been fixed for land situated within the development plans of towns other than the district headquarters outside the National Capital Region, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who chaired a meeting of the State Cabinet here, told reporters later. The Cabinet also revised the eligibility criteria for allotment of industrial plots in lieu of acquisition of land. Earlier, irrespective of the area acquired, the oustee was eligible for an industrial plot of 450 Sq Meters. Under the revised provisions, size of the industrial plot to be allotted has been linked with the area acquired. Under this for an area acquired between 1-2 acres, the industrial plot to be allotted shall be 450 Sq. Meters and for an area acquired between 2-4 acres, industrial plot size would be 800 Sq. Meters and for an area acquired above 4 acres the industrial plot size would be Rs 1000 Sq. Meters. The amendments will be applicable with effect from the date the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy came into force, which is September 7, 2010.

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/haryana-to-amend-its-rehabilitation-and-resettlement-policy/767345.html

Haryana pays interest to pensioners for delayed payment

2011-07-27T10:22:00.000-07:00

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Chandigarh, Jul 27 (PTI) Haryana government today released over Rs 6.02 crore for the payment of pension to more than one lakh people under various social security schemes, an official spokesman said here. The total amount also included interest at a rate of 4 per cent for the delayed payment of pension, he said. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had recently ordered that the amount of pension, the payment of which got delayed, be released to the beneficiaries along with interest at the rate of savings bank account, he said. The Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) scheme was introduced to bring more transparency in distribution of various social security pensions and to further facilitate the beneficiaries, he said. Out of 93,000 accounts integrated in the month of July for 16 districts - Ambala, Bhiwani, Kaithal, Kurukshetra, Karnal, Panipat, Sonepat, Faridabad, Rewari, Palwal, Mewat, Narnaul, Panchkula, Sirsa, Fatehabad and Jind - under the EBT scheme, 41,234 accounts were not paid pension for March 2011 and 59,631 for April 2011.

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/haryana-pays-interest-to-pensioners-for-delayed-payment/767308.html

Killer of Haryana village sarpanch arrested

2011-07-27T10:18:00.000-07:00

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New Delhi, Jul 27 (PTI) A 30-year-old man, who was absconding after allegedly shooting dead a village sarpanch in neighbouring Gurgaon a month ago in broad daylight, was arrested here, police said today.Sanjay, against whom Haryana Police had declared a reward of Rs 50,000, was apprehended from Rohini yesterday on a tip off, Ashok Chand, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime), said.On June 23, Rakesh, the headman of Hayatpur village, was shot dead and enraged villagers had retaliated by thrashing and burning alive one of the attackers.Sanjay told the police that he and his brother Rakesh had a long standing dispute with Rakesh."In 2009, the sarpanch had got a case of attempt to murder registered against Sanjay and his brother Rakesh in Gurgaon. About three weeks before the incident, both the parties had again fought each other. This time too, the sarpanch had got criminal proceedings instituted against Rakesh and Sanjay," Chand said.This provoked the brothers and they allegedly decided to murder Rakesh. "They hired Praveen of Muzaffarnagar to kill the sarpanch. Praveen was promised Rs one lakh. After committing the crime, Praveen was caught by the villagers and killed. His associate managed to escape," Chand said.Sanjay is a vegetable supplier in Azadpur Sabzi Mandi, who got his supplies from Hapur. His brother Rakesh, who is absconding, is a property dealer in Gurgaon.Sanjay has a criminal history and five criminal cases have been registered against him in Haryana. He has been declared a proclaimed offender in three of these cases, Chand said.

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/killer-of-haryana-village-sarpanch-arrested/767326.html

Rakhi Sawant desires to marry Yoga guru Baba Ramdev

2011-07-27T09:49:00.000-07:00

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New Delhi, July 27 (ANI):Controversial Bollywood actress and TV personality Rakhi Sawant expressed her willingness to marry Yoga guru Baba Ramdev. While addressing mediapersons on the sidelines of a promotional event in New Delhi, Sawant spoke of how she also admired Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi. The Drama queen admitted that Ramdev's yoga sessions have made an impact on her life.

Known to be in limelight for all wrong reasons and numerous controversial acts, she has always been in the news for her raunchy videos to her controversial stay on 'Bigg Boss', or walking out of 'Nach Baliye' finale in a huff and leaving Salman Khan high and dry.

If this was not enough to satiate her hunger for publicity, she hit headlines for her infamous romance with commoner Abhishek Awasthi, followed by a kissing episode with singer Mika. Her 'Rakhi Ka Swayamvar' on NDTV Imagine opened a pandora's box that not only entertained people but also had the gossip columns buzzing for months.

All this helped her in paving way to one of Bollywood's most sophisticated filmmakers Karan Johar's chat show 'Koffee With Karan'.

For the last one year Rakhi has been constantly courting controversy for her non-stop bloopers and blunders on the reality show 'Raki Ka Insaaf'. If one tries to list her bunglings on the small screen, it would be difficult to pen all as she has been in the limelight for all the wrong reasons for more than five years. No wonder she is crowned the controversy queen.

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/rakhi-sawant-desires-marry-yoga-guru-baba-ramdev-114919289.html

HC notice to Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh on noise pollution

2011-07-25T23:42:00.000-07:00

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CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked Chandigarh and the States of Punjab and Haryana to direct the companies not to manufacture audio equipments beyond a permissible limit so that no noise pollution is caused. The directions were passed during the resumed hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL) arising out of a suo motu notice taken by the High Court on a letter written by a Punjab-based resident. The resident had alleged that people living in his colony have to suffer noise pollution as the authorities were doing little to keep a check on the menace. A division bench on Monday directed the counsels appearing on behalf of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh to seek instructions from the state authorities and direct the companies not to manufacture audio equipment such as loudspeakers beyond the permissible decibel limit

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Briefly-Region/822187/

Eight labourers die in Haryana building collapse

2011-07-25T23:41:00.000-07:00

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PALWAL: Eight labourers were on Monday killed and 12 injured, three of them seriously, when a portion of an under-construction building of a private engineering college collapsed in Palwal district, the police said. The labourers were laying lintel of Sri Ram College of Engineering when the mishap occurred. Some labourers were believed to be buried under the debris. Senior police and district administration officials have rushed to the spot for rescue operations.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Briefly-Nation/822240/

Haryana college bans use of mobile phones by girls

2011-07-25T23:39:00.000-07:00

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JIND: In an incident that conforms to the prevailing gender bias in Haryana, the Priyadarshni Indira Gandhi Govt College for Women here has imposed a blanket ban on students bringing mobile phones in the college even as Govt Postgraduate College for Men, located in the same campus, has not imposed any restriction on mobile use by students.

The women's college authorities maintained that the ban had been enforced to ensure discipline in the college as it had become an instrument of disturbance in the college. The college had formed two separate committees to implement the decision against use of mobile phones by students.

When contacted by TOI, college principal Dr S K Ahuja stated that college staff had collectively taken a decision to this effect before the start of fresh academic session last week. "We announced the decision in the general assembly on July 22 held in the college at the beginning of the session. With mobile phones in their hands, students could not concentrate on lectures during classes. Moreover, they exchange SMSs during classes. Students even bunk classes as it has become easier to communicate with their known persons outside the college", the principal stated.

He informed that the college had constituted two committees - mobile search committee and committee to decide cases of mobile recovery -- comprising teaching and non-teaching staff of the college.

"The mobile search committee could raid students randomly any time anywhere in the campus and hand over the set to the other committee. A fine of Rs 50 to Rs 100 could be imposed on the guilty student on first recovery and the set would be returned only to her parents after a written undertaking. If the same student is found in possession of the mobile again, she could be suspended from the college", he stated adding that college wants the students to concentrate on studies and excel in their lives.

Staff members of the college also backed the decision stating that girl students are often disturbed by outside elements by sending SMSs. Students however opposed the move saying they need mobiles as they could contact their parents in case of any emergency.

"There are so many instances of teasing that sometimes we have to call our family members or police to get rid of the anti-social elements. College authorities could direct us to switch off mobiles on entering the college for maintaining better discipline but a blanket ban is uncalled for", said a first year student, on condition of anonymity.

Surprisingly, the Govt Postgraduate College for Men, located in the same campus, which shares the entrance with the women's college, has no such restrictions on students. Dr Mehtab Singh, principal of men's college, stated, "Though we discourage use of mobiles in the college, we have not taken a decision to ban it. Boys are very difficult to discipline and even if we take such a decision, it would be tough to enforce the same".

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Haryana-college-bans-use-of-mobile-phones-by-girls/articleshow/9366751.cms

Hooda seeks people's cooperation to eliminate corruption

2011-07-24T02:18:00.000-07:00

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Panipat | Saturday,Jul,23,2011 IST
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today sought cooperation of the people to eliminate corruption from society and also urged them to come forward and contact MLAs, Ministers and MPs so as to get their grievances redressed. Mr Hooda was addressing a gathering after inaugurating Mini Secretariat building constructed at a cost of Rs 22 crore in here today. On this occasion, he also laid the foundation stones of various projects for Panipat town worth crores of rupees, including Railway over Bridge at sector-7 and 8, HUDA office building in Sector-18 and housing complex in mini secretariat compound. The Chief Minister said Panipat town was having historical importance at national and international level and the state government would never lag behind in further accelerating the pace of development of Panipat so as to maintain its importance. He said special emphasis had been laid on the development of infrastructure during the tenure of present Congress government in the state.

Source: http://news.webindia123.com/news/articles/India/20110723/1798105.html

Stay on land acquisition an attempt to hide scams: INLD

2011-07-24T01:59:00.000-07:00

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Chandigarh:

The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) has alleged that Haryana government’s decision to put on hold the process of land acquisition in the state was a poor attempt to hide the irregularities and scams in the land deals with major industrial houses and mafia.

In a statement issued here, Secretary General INLD Ajay Singh Chautala said that all such shady deals must be cancelled by the state government, and the land must be returned to farmers.

Chautala alleged that the scams in Haryana relating to land acquisition are far bigger than those reported in Greater Noida Extension. the INLD has also demanded high-level investigation into the land scams in Haryana, and the dismissal of the Hooda government on this issue.

Keeping in view the likely introduction of the Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 in the coming session of Parliament, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had on Friday ordered a stay on the process of land acquisition in the state.

It was announced that all the matters pertaining to the acquisition of land where Section 4 notifications have been issued on or after February 1, 2011, new notification under Section 6 would be issued only after seeing the outcome of the Central law.

The government had specified that these instructions would not be applicable to cases of acquisition for essential infrastructure projects such as roads, sewerage system, canals and power projects.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/stay-on-land-acquisition-an-attempt-to-hide-scams-inld/821365/

INLD supremo, 2 others asked to leave House

2011-07-23T11:12:00.000-07:00

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Jind, July 19
The meeting of the zila parishad here today witnessed uproarious scenes like the state Assembly and ‘suspension’ of three members from the House.

The Leader of Opposition, Chautala, who came to attend the meeting as an MLA, was among those who were asked to leave the House by the chairperson of the zila parishad. This has perhaps been the first time that an MLA and a former Chief Minister was asked to leave the meeting following a commotion.

The meeting had been convened to discuss and allocate funds for development in various wards in the district.

It later adopted a resolution unanimously to authorise the parishad chief to decide the allocation of the funds to the tune of Rs 31,91,200.

It is reported that Chautala, accompanied by members whom the INLD supported, including Parminder Dhull, reached the meeting venue at the DRDA hall at around 10 am. Since several members, including the chairperson herself, had reached the hall late, Chautala took them to task for the delay.

The start of the meeting was marked by protests and counter criticism from both sides as the INLD members demanded voting on the agenda itself.

The commotion resulted in the chairperson, Veena Deswal, ordering three opposition members, including Chautala, to leave the House for creating “disturbance”.

While no one was evicted from the meeting, the disturbance at the meeting stopped after some time due to intervention by some leaders, including the Congress MPs from Sonepat, Jitender Malik, and Sirsa, Ashok Tanwar.

The members agreed to authorise Deswal to allocate funds. A resolution was adopted in this regard.

The differences between members of the ruling and opposition parties over the issue of allocation of additional funds to the zila parishad chief were also resolved later and all members approved it unanimously.

Source: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110720/haryana.htm#1

State may emulate Haryana model of R&R

2011-07-23T11:02:00.000-07:00

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BHUBANESWAR: Even though the implementation of Forest Rights Act (FRA) in the State has drawn flak for irregularities in big ticket investments like Posco and Vedanta, Orissa is among the top States in the country in its implementation.Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday reviewed its implementation and directed the officials to settle claims under the FRA quickly and in a transparent manner.The State Government is also working towards a people-friendly land acquisition policy following strong opposition by locals to almost all the projects. Revenue Minister Surjya Narayan Patro told TNIE that the Government is planning to introduce a provision of annuity for landlosers by amending its resettlement and rehabilitation (R R) policy, 2006 to overcome difficulty in acquiring land for industries.The Government might adopt the Haryana model of R R where landlosers will get some amount every year, besides compensation for their land. The Chief Minister has set up a committee, headed by the Chief Secretary, to submit details on the proposal.Patro said ` 30,000 would be paid to landlosers annually per acre of land. The annuity will be paid to a land loser for 33 years. There is also a proposal that irrigated land cannot be acquired for industries by the Government. A decision will be taken after the committee submits its report, Patro said.Meanwhile, sources said so far 2,74,653 individual cases have been settled under the FRA. The beneficiaries were covered under Indira Awas, Mo Kudia, Mo Pokhari, Horticulture Mission, Bamboo Mission and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) under FRA.The district level committees (DLCs) had approved 2,85,653 applications for pattas. These include 17,007 persons from the primitive tribal groups (PTGs). The PTGs have been handed over 4,36,221 acres of land. The Chief Minister on Friday directed the officials to settle the claims of all the PTGs as their population in Orissa is only 18,454.

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/state-may-emulate-haryana-model-of-rr/169709-60-117.html

Haryana puts land acquisition plan on hold

2011-07-22T23:35:00.000-07:00

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NEW DELHI: In a move to silence rising political criticism and protests over compensation and land issues, Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Friday put on hold the process of acquiring land till Centre introduces an amendment to the Land Acquisition Act.

The state government will not go ahead where the land acquisition process has been initiated since this February. The move came a day after the state issued notification under Section-4 (intent to acquire) in Bawal and Rewari to acquire 3,766 acres for the development of a multi-modal logistic hub. This is one of the early bird projects relating to the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project.

Sources said Friday's decision to defer the process could bring some respite to farmers and landlords who have fertile land. Apart from some local protests, Opposition has tried to pressure Hooda as well. Despite the Haryana model being held up by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Hooda is playing safe.

The announcement of the order also gains significance in light of the recently held coordination meeting on land acquisition in the capital where a demand was raised that no fertile land should be acquired for industrial development.

Sources in the Centre said the proposed amendment bill could put the need to acquire fertile land for development as the least priority. Some of the state level leaders in Haryana have openly demanded the need to spare fertile land for industrial development.

Meanwhile, to ensure that the recent state government directive does not affect the infrastructure development, an official statement said that this order will not be applicable in cases of land acquisition for projects such as roads, sewerage system, canals, water channels, drainage system and power.

It said that that the state revenue secretary, who functions as the nodal official for all land acquisition-related activities, has been asked to issue necessary instructions.

In the recent months, Haryana government has issued notifications under Section-4 to acquire land in Daruhera, Rewari and other parts of the state. While Hooda's direction has been welcomed by his critics, the CM's supporters have claimed this as a landmark and that other states should follow this.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Haryana-puts-land-acquisition-plan-on-hold/articleshow/9329514.cms

3-D, 4-D ultrasound scans make PNDT Act redundant

2011-07-22T23:31:00.000-07:00

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Pregnant women, attendants can see foetus’ sex on screen

Gurgaon, July 22
The Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994, which was enacted to check female foeticide, has become redundant with the advent of 3-D and 4-D ultrasound techniques these days.

These 3-D and 4-D ultrasound scans, which are readily available at diagnostic centres across the country, enable a pregnant woman and her relative/attendant to see the sex of a foetus on the screen.

Thus, the PNDT Act, which prohibits sex-determination tests, has been rendered practically useless, with 3-D and 4-D ultrasound scans .

Curiously, 3-D and 4-D ultrasound scans are being carried out frequently, though according to medical experts, the conventional 2-D ultrasound examination serves the purpose quite well.

“The 2-D ultrasound scans are adequate for checking the growth and well-being (and disorders, if any) of the foetus and it serves our purpose quite well…Still, people are being lured into going in for 3-D and 4-D ultrasound scans, which are more likely to be misused for knowing the sex of the foetus,” said Dr Smiti Nanda, head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Pt BD Sharma University of Health Sciences, Rohtak.

Medical specialists maintain that owners of diagnostic centres exploit the people’s curiosity for knowing the sex of the foetus and charge heavy fees for the service.

Dr Bharat Singh, Civil Surgeon, Jhajjar, has been writing to top government functionaries, including the Prime Minister, apprising them about the gravity of the matter and urging them to intervene.

The PNDT Act also prohibits any advertisements relating to pre-natal determination of sex and prescribes punishment for its contravention.

Source: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110723/haryana.htm#5

Daughters cremate mother, disregarding tradition

2011-07-22T23:23:00.000-07:00

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Sirsa, July 22
Deviating from the age-old patriarchal traditions, daughters carried the body of their mother on shoulders and lit the funeral pyre here today. Ginno Devi, a septuagenarian, died at her Parmarth Colony residence here.

She is survived by two daughters and a son.

When her funeral procession started , the deceased’s daughters, Angoori Devi and Santosh Devi, and two daughters-in-law, Ramo Devi and Santosh Devi, carried the body on their shoulders.

Ginno Devi was cremated at Shiv Puri here, where her daughters lit the funeral pyre.

Ramesh Insan, a son of the deceased, said his family had followed the teachings of Dera Sacha Sauda, which considered women and men equal in all respects.

Source: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110723/haryana.htm#5

Haryana man shot dead in US

2011-07-22T23:21:00.000-07:00

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Kurukshetra, Haryana: A man from this Haryana town was shot dead by unknown assailants at Indiana in the US while he was on his way back from work, his family said here Wednesday.

Deepak Sharma, 31, migrated to the US around two years ago and worked at a shopping mall. He was killed Monday while he was returning from work.

"Indiana police officers called us yesterday and gave us the news. They said that their investigation was on and so far nobody has been arrested," Pardeep, Deepak's younger brother, said.

"We also confirmed this from Deepak's Punjabi employer," he said.

"I have also talked to some of his colleagues. They suspect he was killed for money," he added.

"We have appealed to the Indian government and the Indian consulate in the US to help us in bringing back his body," said Shravan, Deepak's father.

Deepak last visited India in February this year.

Source: http://zeenews.india.com/news/haryana/haryana-man-shot-dead-in-us_719343.html

Quack sent to police remand for making obscene MMS

2011-07-22T10:43:00.000-07:00

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Jind: A quack, who allegedly made an obscene MMS of a 15-yr-old girl and circulated it in Singhpura village here, was on Thursday sent to two days police remand by a local court.

"Satish, a quack, used to run a medical clinic in a shop constructed inside a house and on June 15 when the girl was alone as the house owner's family had gone somewhere, the accused made an obscene MMS," police said.

The girl's father alleged that Satish started blackmailing her and circulated the MMS to other mobiles following which a case was registered against Satish, they said.

"We will interrogate Satish and will try to trace the mobile which he used to make the obscene MMS and to whom it was forwarded," the police said.

Source: http://zeenews.india.com/news/haryana/quack-sent-to-police-remand-for-making-obscene-mms_718176.html

Kurukshetra University (KUK) Results 2011

2011-07-22T09:33:00.000-07:00

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Kurukshetra University Announces its results for BA, B.Com, B.Sc, B.Tech, B. P. Ed., B.Sc. BioInformatics, BCA, BBA, BALLB, BAMC, BIM, BTM, MA, MBA, MPhil, MCom, Mhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifCA, MTech, MBBS, Prabhakar, Shashtri, B Arch, BA Hons, Certificate Course in French

To view your result: Click below link

http://result.kuk.ac.in/

Kurukshetra University - An Introduction

The Kurukshetra University was established in 1956 as a unitary residential University and its foundation stone was laid by late Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India. Located in the holy city of Kurukshetra, land of the historical battle of 'Mahabharata' and the great message of Bhagwad Gita, its campus is situated on the western bank of Brahm Sarover (the holy tank) and extends over an area of over 400 acres. Starting with only the Department of Sanskrit, it has grown into a multi-faculty University as one of the premier centres for advanced study and research in the region.

Be widely acknowledged as a distinguished seat of higher learning, ever striving to become a leading centre of academic excellence by expanding the frontiers of knowledge in global encompassment, with due emphasis on societal concerns and our rich cultural heritage.

Mission:

Preparing a class of scholars and professionals with ingrained human values, adequately equipped with enviable competencies and dedicated to the advancement of society through preservation, creation and application of knowledge in the emerging global.

To know more about KUK visit http://kuk.ac.in/