India News

Jaipur: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Mohan Bhagwat today said that the Bharatiya Janata Party needs a complete overhaul to improve its image and performance at the national level.

Bhagwat said this while addressing a gathering of the RSS at Jaipur on Tuesday. The latest remarks have come from the RSS, the parent ideologue of the BJP, after the latter has been routed in all three state assembly elections.

“As far as the BJP is concerned, I don’t know what medicine, surgery or chemotherapy they need. They themselves have to diagnose it. If they being a volunteer of RSS need any help in their organisation, we are happy to do it,” Bhagwat said.

“And even if some other party wants our help for a good cause we are ready to do that. But we don''t want to enter politics and takeover in politics. We are deliberately keeping out of it because we have to build society. Today, who so ever enters politics has to see things by breaking up society. We are not going to do that,” he added.

Meanwhile, in New Delhi, BJP president Rajnath Singh termed the RSS chief’s remarks as crazy and one short of eccentric.

“Our morals are high. (Q: Some one has said that your party needs a surgery.) Who has said this? Whosoever said this has gone mental,” said Rajnath Singh.

BJP has been termed as the party of history by some of its rivals including Congress party General Secretary Rahul Gandhi who opined that the party is in wilderness with no vision to attract the masses as well as the classes.

Source ANI

New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Tuesday that the  country’s economy is responding well.

Addressing the media here, Mukherjee said: "The economy, I would like to say is responding well, the policy statement which we have initiated, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Finance Ministry are working in close co-operation and this will continue for future.”

He noted that the economy was likely to expand in the range of 6.5 to 6.75 percent during the fiscal year ending March 2010.

Mukherjee further elaborated that the easy monetary policy is likely to continue until economic recovery is firm after the RBI started the first phase of its exit from easy policy but held rates steady.

Earlier in the day, the RBI laid the groundwork for a rise in interest rates by tightening credit to the commercial property sector, lifting its inflation forecast and warning of the threat of asset price bubbles.

The RBI left key interest rates on hold but surprised markets by removing emergency liquidity support measures that were implemented to protect Asia''s third-largest economy from the global downturn.

Mukherjee also informed that the government took essential measures to tackle the adverse impact of inflationary pressure.

"In respect of the inflationary pressure I can tell you that we have taken major steps to ensure that the adverse impact of inflationary pressure is reduced by strengthening the supply management,” he said

“Commodities of short supply are imported though there is likely to be shortfall of Kharif crops but the existing stock is sufficient. There would be no shortage of food grains," Mukherjee added.

Source ANI

Bashthala (West Bengal): Top Maoist leader Koteshwar Rao alias Kishanji on Tuesday denied allegations of the rebel outfit kidnapping a train driver.

In the afternoon, it was reported that suspected Maoists had abducted the driver of the Delhi-Bhubaneshwar Rajdhani Express at Bashthala station in West Bengal.

Speaking to a private news channel from an undisclosed location, Kishanji said: “ We (Maoist) are not responsible for the kidnapping. We have not given call for the bandh. It was Peoples Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA), which called for it. But we are supporting the bandh”

“I can assure you that both drivers are safe and would be released soon,” he added.

Meanwhile, PCPA sources claimed responsibility for the kidnapping and have asked Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee to come for the talks.

The villagers stopped the train, and forced the drivers to come out, they will be released by evening, a private channel reported quoting PCPA sources.

Source ANI

New Delhi: The chairman of the Pakistani Senate’s Foreign Relation Committee, Senator Mushahid Hussain, today alleged that Indian elements in Afghanistan are responsible for destabilising Pakistan.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a seminar titled “Terrorism -- National and International” on Tuesday, Hussain accused India of having adopted the principle of its politician guru and master strategist Chanakya, who postulated that ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’.

“Our neighbour India, somehow takes vicarious pleasure in the fact that Pakistan is facing the menace of terrorism, which is a common enemy of mankind and perhaps India is basing its premise on the old principle of Chanakya (Indian politician, strategist and writer from 350 BC-275 BC).

“So, in that perspective, there is a view in Pakistan that from Afghanistan, Indian elements are destabilising Pakistan,” said Hussain.

India hopes to deliver goods to Afghanistan through the Iranian port of Chahbahar, and this has triggered fears in Pakistan that it is being encircled.

Pakistan is also consistently alleging Indian spy agencies for fomenting trouble in restive Balochistan province.

The issue also figured in the India- Pakistan joint declaration issued by Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan at Sharm-al-Sheikh earlier this year.

Hussain said if India doesn’t stop playing games, the corridor of terrorism might end up in India as well.

“There is a corridor of terror which is now stretching from Iraq and it may end up in India if India does not stop playing those games. This issue is too serious to be confined to gloating or exulting to problems faced by neighbours. We are at the same boat,” he added.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik, in a recent interview to a television channel, had alleged that India was encouraging unrest within his country by funding Taliban fighters based along the border with Afghanistan.

However, Defence Minister A K Antony today refuted Pakistan’s charge of India funding Taliban and terms the claim as “baseless”.

Source ANI

London/New Delhi: President Pratibha Devisingh Patil, who is currently on a visit to the United Kingdom where she will official accept the baton to signal the launch of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October 2010, has told the BBC that the Indian capital is fully geared to stage the mega sporting event.

"No. Delhi is quite prepared and they (the visitors) can come, they are most welcome and Delhi is very, very ready to welcome all those people who want to come here. No problem," Patil said in an interview to BBC television.

Patil further went to state that her visit to London, the first by an Indian Head of State after nearly two decades, is  aimed at strengthening the India-UK strategic  partnership that was conceived in January 2004.

Describing the United Kingdom as India''s fifth largest global partner in trade, Patil said her country looks forward to more investment.

"Now, mutual trade has gone up to 12 billion pounds...The UK is also the fourth largest investor in India and India is the third largest investor in the UK, second largest so far as creation and securing jobs are concerned," said Patil.

Accepting the fact that Britain is experiencing one of its longest periods of recession in history, Patil, however, said that inspite of this adverse situation, there was plenty of scope and opportunities in both countries to improve, and or, increase trade relations.

"We think that in spite of this adverse situation (economic slowdown), there are plenty of scope and opportunities in both countries to improve trading relationship," she said.

On the issue of terrorism and the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai, Patil described it as a crime against humanity, and urged the international community to work together to counter such audacious attacks by terrorists.

On the issue of climate change, which likely to be addressed in greater detail during the Copenhagen Summit in December, Patil said the UK and other countries have the technological knowhow and skills to assist lesser developed countries counter the problem.

"India wants to have cooperation in that field and also financial assistance so that we can also take immediate action on that," she said.

"About eight missions have been set up for that (climate change). India is seriously looking into this, how to fight this. We are working on conservation of energy and new renewable sources. We look forward to having cooperation with the UK," she added.

She also revealed that in the cuurent time of global recession, India was focussed on inclusive growth, with a special emphasis on improving standards of education and rural health. India, she said, was also for promoting the empowerment of women, and in this regard, the government has created a national mission for social and economic empowerment.

Source ANI

New Delhi: Defence Minister A.K. Antony announced here on Tuesday that the new defence procuring procedure (DPP) would be effective from November 1.

Addressing a national seminar on defence acquisition, organized by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) Antony said: “The new policy would be akin to the existing make procedure with a vital difference that the production and development by Indian industry will be through transfer of technology and not through Research and Development.”

“The move is primarily aimed at encouraging pro-active participation by the Indian industry who could establish joint venture production arrangements with any foreign manufacturer,” he added

Antony said the needs of the services would be shared with capable Indian firms who in turn would submit a roadmap for development and production of a particular item over its life cycle.

“This would help Indian Industry to work out the technological requirements and build in-house capabilities in order to meet the future defence requirements. I am sure that the industry will respond positively to this proposal,” he said.

Under the current procedure in buy and make cases request for proposal (RFP) is issued only to foreign vendors, who are required to transfer technology to Indian defence industry. This does not promote setting up of joint ventures or co-production arrangements in India by big foreign original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

But the new policy has the potential to revolutionize the Indian defence industry, with its clause buy and make (Indian) which can issue RFP to Indian industries having requisite financial and technical capabilities to absorb technology and undertake indigenous manufacture.

The Defence Minister said, the twin objectives of DPP-2009 aim at promoting and facilitating wide participation of defence industry, while enabling transparency and integrity in all acquisitions.

“To ensure transparency and enhanced awareness in the Indian industry, the government will prepare a public version of the fifteen years long term acquisition plan of the armed forces,” Antony said.

“This will be placed on the Defence Ministry’s website and shared with industry associations to create requisite awareness amongst them,” he added.

The DPP-2009 made it mandatory for the ministry to issue of Request for Information (RFI) all acquisition cases on its websites.

According to Defence Ministry, to enable participation of industry in defence acquisition planning, it will henceforth invite industry representatives for consultations and presentations in high-level procurement meetings before a decision is taken on the source and methodology for procurement of defence weapons and equipment.

The new policy also proposes to enhance the role of independent monitors, to scrutinize complaints with regard to violations of integrity pact, which prohibits corruption in defence deals.

In order to facilitate discharge of offset obligations, an enabling clause has also been incorporated to permit change of offset partners in exceptional cases.

“The offset provisions for the option clause has been amplified to state that the Offsets will not be applicable in cases where the same was not included in the original contract,” Defence Ministry stated.

Antony expressed hope that these changes will bring in greater degree of probity in the procedure and also encourage domestic defence industry to develop.

Antony asked defence personnel to ensure that the qualitative requirements (QRs) formulation is done in a manner that fulfils the end user’s basic requirements while at the same time it should encourage the widest possible competition.

“It is only through competition that we can ensure the maximum value for our money. It is important to have broad-based and realistic QRs that would lead to multivendor competition”, he said.

Noting that the occasional changes in QRs by the services also led to delays in defence acquisitions, Antony said: “Acquisitions once approved by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), changes to RFP and QRs should be avoided and exercised only exceptionally.”

Referring to the technical and commercial aspects of evaluation, Antony said: “We need to ensure these vital stages are completed not only in a fair, objective and transparent manner, but within the stipulated time frame.”

Source ANI

Bashthala (West Bengal): Maoists have reportedly abducted the driver of the Delhi-Bhubaneshwar Rajdhani Express at Bashthala station in West Bengal today.  

According to sources, the Maoists stopped the train at Bansthala in West Midnapore District, by blocking the track and then kidnapped the driver.

All passengers were asked to get off the train and are reportedly safe.

Source ANI

New Delhi: Union Minister of State for Rural Development Agatha Sangma attended a function at a Government school here on the occasion of Global Hand Washing Day on Tuesday.

Kevin St. Louis, Deputy Representative, The United Nations Children''s Fund (UNICEF) said by washing hands the chances of those infections can be reduced by 25-30 per cent.

"Hand washing is so important if you wash your hands with soap regularly. We all now know that because of the medical reasons that we can reduce various diseases like Cholera and Pneumonia. We know that we can reduce those infections by 25-30 per cent in many instances. Washing our hands protects us and it''s not just for children but for everyone," said Louis.

Global Hand Washing Day will be the centerpiece of a week of activities that will mobilize millions of people in more than 70 countries across all five continents to wash their hands with soap.

Global Hand Washing Day 2009 revolves around schools and children.

On Global Hand Washing Day, playgrounds, classrooms, community centers, and the public spaces of towns and cities will be awash with activity to drive hand washing behavior change on a scale never seen before, bringing the critical issue to center stage.

Source ANI

Bhopal: Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor rode a cycle here on Tuesday to spread awareness about the benefits of a pollution free environment.

The ''Green Planet Bicycle Riders Association'', a voluntary organisation promoting awareness of environment protection and global warming, sponsored the event.

Kapoor joined other cyclists, thereby suggesting that others cycle at least for short-distances to help save energy and improve their health.

"Our universe is going through global warming. Petroleum and other fuels are causing pollution, so whatever we can do to protect our health, our planet and to save greenery should be done. I believe cycling is a great mode of transportation. I completely encourage it. It not only helps in maintaining good health but also saves our planet," said Kapoor.

Kapoor was shooting for his forthcoming film ''Rajniti'' in the city.

Film director Prakash Jha also took a cycle ride.

"Our universe is facing the brunt of energy consumption. So I believe this first initiative to promote greenery via cycling is a great effort. If most of the people would walk or cycle or use no-fuel consumption vehicle, it would be great help in saving our planet," said Jha.

Source ANI

Jhargram (West Bengal): An indefinite shutdown called by a pro-Maoist organisation disturbed normal life in Jhargram region of Midnapore district in West Bengal on Tuesday.

The shutdown is observed on the call of the People''s Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA), a pro-Maoist organisation that represents local tribesmen, against the anti-Maoist operations by para-military forces in the forest areas.

Shops, educational institutions and business establishments remained closed in the Jangal mahal area of West Midnapore district.

Similar shutdowns were also witnessed in the Bankura and Purulia districts of West Bengal.

Meanwhile, residents said the administration should initiate dialogue instead of using force to solve the issue.

"The administration should take responsibility and sit with them (Maoists) those who have called the strike and try to solve the issue," said Sukumar Buniya, a resident.

Maoists have ignored repeated calls to renounce violence and negotiate. They stepped up their attacks in recent months, prompting the government to go after them in a concerted strike.

Source ANI

New Delhi: Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal PV Naik, today said that the current Defence Procurement Policy (DPP) has to be streamlined and simplified.

Efforts towards the revision of the present procurement policies are going on and the DPP 2009 is expected to be out by November 1, 2009, said Air Chief Marshal Naik.

He was speaking at a session organised jointly by the Centre for Air Power Studies and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

ACM Naik stated that India has shown to the world that it has intellectual prowess to move forward.

“The Indian defence Industry still faces the challenges of developing core competencies and attaining self reliance. Therefore the government, PSUs and private players need to work together and interact in a more pragmatic and practical manner to achieve defence objectives,” he added.

He further stressed on the need for the industry to brainstorm for technology identification in the backdrop of short shelf life and rapid obsolesce.

ACM Naik listed need for strengthening the domestic industry, which can be engaged to contribute towards the need of defence in the domains of metallurgy, UAVs, NFDs, turbine blades, communication equipments, simple microchip, etc.

The Indian Air Force Chief also said that the Air force would like to sustain on a domestic industry for its entire shelf life.

Source ANI

New Delhi: The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has issued advisories for horticultural farmers in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka to tackle diseases, pests and physical damage to crops caused by heavy rains and flood.

Farmers have been advised to drain out excess water from the field / basins and provide required support to young plants suffering from the problem of bending.

The canopy touching to ground should also be removed.

One spray of Dithane M45 (2 g/l) is suggested in all fruit crops, in view of possibility of spread of diseases particularly leaf spot.

For effective management of Sigatoka leaf spot in banana, calixin (1 ml/l) alongwith sticker should be sprayed.

To control late blight and buck eye rot in tomato, phytophthora rot in onion and bacterial wilt/phytophthora fruit rot in brinjal, spray of Equation-pro (1 ml/l) or Acrobat (2 g/l) has been advised. For purple blotch disease of onion, Dithane M-45 or Kavach (2 g/l) should be sprayed.

Anthracnose in chilli may be controlled by the spray of Topsin M (1 g/l). In black pepper and cardamom, the plant basins need to be drenched with copper oxychloride (0.2 percent) and spray bordeaux mixture (1 percent) while in ginger and turmeric, the beds should be drenched with Mancozeb (0.31 percent) or Metalaxyl-mancozeb (0.05 percent).

Source ANI

New Delhi: Families of the two cops'' who were kidnapped by Maoists on July 30 as they stepped out of their security camp in Dharampur in Lalgarh District have arrived in the national capital to meet with Railways Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram.

Sources said that Banerjee is aiming to derive the maximum political capital from the West Bengal Government''s inability to counter the Naxal menace effectively, by bringing relatives of two kidnapped policemen and having  a meeting with Chidambaram.

Trinamool leader Partha Chatterjee, who is accompanying them to the national capital, said before boarding the train at the Howrah Railway Station that they were going to Delhi on Banerjee''s instructions.

The two policemen kidnapped are sub-inspector Kanchan Garai and constable Sabir Mollah.

On Saturday, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya had erroneously told a press conference that the two policemen had been killed, but changed his statement later.

The chief minister''s statement took the state administration by surprise because police had information to the contrary.

The families are desperate to have the two kidnapped policemen rescued.

Source ANI

Bangalore: Foreign Ministers of India, China and Russia (RIC) on Tuesday urged the international community to deal with terrorism with an iron hand.

The 9th RIC Foreign Minister’s meeting also expressed concern over the continuing deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan.

The joint communiqué issued after the trilateral meeting called for concerted action against terrorism, transactional crime and drug trafficking.

A consensus was also reached on continuing the effort to achieve a political and diplomatic settlement of the Iran nuclear issue, the communiqué stated.

The meeting felt that despite the impact of the international financial crisis, the pace of development in the three countries has improved, contributing to a faster growth among them.

It said enhanced engagement among them, would strengthens their influence in a multipolar world order reflecting the diversity of world cultures and civilizations.

The meeting also discussed ways in which the meetings of the business forum could be more meaningful to the business communities in the time ahead so that new opportunities may be grasped to expand trade and investment.

All three ministers agreed that a trilateral dialogue in areas such as global economic governance architecture, climate change, trade policy and development cooperation would contribute greatly to global peace and prosperity and that concerted trilateral action against international terrorism, transnational crime and drug trafficking would promote stability and all-round development in today''s inter-dependent world.

They welcomed the decision made at the Pittsburgh Summit to designate G20 as the premier forum for international economic cooperation. They stressed that the future global economic governance should feature in balanced representation, equality and result-orientedness, and ensure the voice and representation of emerging market and developing countries.

The three countries advocated that future G20 summits should be held in developed countries and emerging market and developing countries by rotation based on the principle of transparency and equity.

The Ministers emphasized that one of the ultimate goals of governance structure reform for international financial institutions is equitable distribution of voting power between developed countries and developing ones.

The three countries reiterated that they take the issue of climate change very seriously and that they are ready to strengthen international cooperation and make active effort to jointly tackle climate change.

They reiterated that there was a need for a comprehensive reform of the United Nations with a view to make it more efficient so that it can deal with the current global challenges more effectively.

Source ANI

New Delhi: An Australian court has sentenced a youth to four-and-a-half years'' jail with a minimum non-parole period of two years for attacking an Indian student, Sukhraj Singh.  

This is another demonstration of the zero-tolerance approach being taken by Australian authorities in response to cases of violence against Indian students.  

Australia’s High Commissioner to India, Peter Varghese, said today “Australian authorities are taking such incidents extremely seriously.”

“There is no place in Australian society for racism or racist violence and the perpetrators of any such acts will face the full force of the law.”  

Mr Varghese said “our legal system has delivered justice in the Sukhraj Singh case in a prompt and efficient manner.”  

“This judgement will send a strong signal to the community that such acts will not be tolerated and will be investigated and punished.”  

In handing down her judgement, Judge Pamela Jenkins said it was "particularly shameful" that the defendant had vented his rage on international students.

Four of the individual’s co-offenders, aged between 14 and 17 at the time of the attack, have already received 12-month sentences in a youth detention centre and a fifth teen received a 12-month youth supervision order.

Source ANI

Mumbai: The first session of the newly constituted 12th Maharashtra Assembly is likely to begin from November 3.

The session is likely to be of three -day long.

According to sources, all the 277 newly elected members would be sworn in during the session.

State Governor S C Jamir will address the newly constituted assembly.

The house will also elect new Speaker during the session and Chief Minister Ashok Chavan is likely to move a confidence motion in the floor of the house.

Sources added that swearing in ceremony of Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, Deputy Chief Minister Chagan Bhujbal and a team of ministers is likely to tale place in a day or two.

Winter session of the assembly will be held in Nagpur in December.

Source ANI

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday set aside the Allahabad High Court''s order that stayed the construction of houses by the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA).

The houses were constructed for the people living in economically weaker sections in Uttar Pradesh.

A Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, while setting aside the High Court order, asked it to dispose of all the petitions pending before it at an early date.

“As there are several petitions pending before the High Court, the same Bench may hear all these petitions,” the apex court opined.

Earlier, the apex court bench had issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh Government, Sahara India Commercial Corporation, 11 other developers in the case.

The Ghaziabad Development Authority''s (GDA) had submitted that land had already been taken over by it and the construction was going on in the properties.

Sahara India Commercial Corporation challenged acquisition of its 93 acres of land by the GDA in some villages of the Ghaziabad District.

In its order the High Court had asked GDA to maintain status quo on construction on the ground that the Uttar Pradesh Government had only given symbolic and not actual possession of more than 1,234 acre of land to GDA.

The Sahara claims that all the parties who were benefited by the 2006 order were not before the apex court and any order cannot be passed in their absence.

The GDA said that the land acquired by  it couldn’t be reserved for the 11 developers, as they were not registered.

Source ANI

New Delhi: Union Telecom Minister A Raja said here on Tuesday that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was consulted at every step during spectrum allotment.

Raja also maintained that the spectra were allocated on a first-come-first-serve-basis in accordance with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) norms.

Commenting on the opposition''s demand for his resignation in view of an ongoing investigation involving his ministry Raja said: "Where is the question of resignation, That question does not arise."

“Any procedural error by DoT officials will be in front of the investigating agency. I should not comment or interfere in course of investigation," he added.

Last week Raja had snubbed media reports saying he had been following the footsteps of his predecessors.

On Monday, the Rajya Sabha Opposition leader Arun Jaitley said: "No single transaction of Government since independence has caused losses of more than Rs 50,000 cr. Therefore in terms of financial value, this is the largest ever scam in independent India."

The Telecom Ministry is under attack for doling out 2-G spectrum licenses cheaply compared to its actual market value. A total of 120 licenses were sold for Rs 1,651 cr each in 2008, and subsequently 2 telecom companies re-sold these licenses for Rs 9,000cr each - the total loss to the government is estimated to be Rs 50,000 crore.

Source ANI

New Delhi: Vice President Hamid Ansari has said that it is important to remember that those advocating extremist, fundamentalist and terrorist causes constitute a tiny minority. They neither have the religious nor political mandate for their abhorrent actions and ideologies.

Delivering inaugural address at the "Second International Conference titled "Terrorism - National and International" organised by the Jama Masjid United Forum here today, Ansari said that a majority of humanity is too poor and is focused on trying to survive.

"Their vulnerability lies in their poverty; it is this that provides an opportunity to peddlers of extremism. This opportunity gets fructified only because those tasked with political governance and religious and moral leadership have failed," he added.

He said that the pedigree of terrorism in modern times could be traced to the policies of the colonialists.

"The label of ''terrorist'' was liberally used by the British against Indians, Burmese and Malays and by the French against the Algerians. More or less every movement in the modern era had been labeled ''terrorist'' by different parties - whether it was the Jewish Underground in Mandate Palestine, the ANC in South Africa or various Palestinian groups," he said.
 
The Vice President expressed his concern that it is not thus of recent origin but globalization and technology has now made it trans-national in reach and devastating in its impact.

"It has surfaced in most parts of the world and is not country, region or community specific. It has been resorted to by the oppressed as well as the oppressors. It is disruptive of normal life and its principal targets are innocent bystanders," he added.

For this reason alone, he said, it is cowardly, unethical and immoral. It cannot be, and has not been, condoned in any belief system and yet at different points of time, adherents of various religions have been labeled as terrorists.

"Those trying to locate the origin of terrorism in Islam or in any other faith display ignorance of history or downright prejudice," the Vice President added.

Source ANI

New Delhi: The Reserve Bank on India (RBI) on Tuesday raised the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR), the portion of deposits that banks are required to keep in government securities, by 100 basis points to 25 percent.

However, the RBI, kept other key rates and ratios like repo, reverse repo and cash reserve ratio unchanged.

The decision to raise SLR, in the second quarterly review of the credit policy, is aimed at reducing liquidity and fighting inflationary expectations, which have started building up, especially in the case of food items.

According to the new credit policy both reverse repo rates and repo rate are unchanged at 3.25 per cent and at 4.75 per cent respectively.

According to the RBI, the hike in the SLR will not impact liquidity.

The SLR is the minimum percentage of deposits that banks have to park in assets like government bonds.

The banking sector feels that a hike in SLR signals some degree of monetary tightening in the future. But for now, the RBI would focus on supporting the growth process.

The SLR has historically been at 25 percent and banks are currently holding bonds beyond this limit.

Source ANI

Bangalore: A three-nation meet of Russian, Indian and Chinese Foreign Ministers to expand business ties and increase regional cooperation began here today.

S. M. Krishna, Yang Jiechi and Sergey Lavrov are expected to discuss the role of Pakistan in stabilising the region.

The threat of rising Taliban violence in Afghanistan and ways to rebuild the war-torn country are expected to be major topics at the meet.

The three sides will discuss their response to climate change negotiations in Copenhagen in December.

Focus also remains on a bilateral meeting between the Indian and Chinese Ministers to try to scale down differences over their disputed border and unequal trade that have flared in recent months and sparked fears the rivalry could spin out of control.

The three Ministers will also explore business opportunities in key sectors, including infrastructure and energy that will be mutually beneficially to the three countries in the region.

Subjects like global economic slowdown, energy, banking and financial sectors and global warming are expected to be considered.

Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and Joint Secretary (East Asia, China, Japan affairs) Vinay Gokhale will assist S M Krishna in the talks.

Source ANI

New Delhi: Defence Minister A K Antony has termed Pakistan''s allegations that India is providing funds for Taliban fighters as "absurd" and "totally baseless".

"It is absurd and totally baseless. India cannot support Taliban, which is the greatest threat to world peace," said Antony on the sidelines of a defence function here.

Earlier in the day, External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna said that India wants the Taliban and Talibanism to be totally eliminated.

Refuting Pakistan''s allegations, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said India is not in the business of destabilizing its neighbors.

"We don''t believe that there is any such evidence because we know we are not a country that believes in de-stabilizing our neighbors. We would not be interesting in fomenting any trouble in Pakistan, that''s not our style, that''s not the kind of policy we conduct. But if they feel they have any information to share with us, why should we refuse to receive it?," said Tharoor.

"They have had plenty of opportunities to meet Indian officials and so far we have not seen any evidence," he added.

The reaction came a day after Pakistan''s Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that India is providing funds for Taliban fighters located along the Afghanistan border for creating chaos in Pakistan.
 
Malik said that he is completely "convinced" that India is one of those "certain hostile agencies" which are providing funds for the Taliban for creating unrest in Pakistan.

Malik also added he was ready to confront the Indian Government with evidence in this regard.

Source ANI

New Delhi: The Union Government on Tuesday cleared the Dalai Lama’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh next month, dispelling speculation over the Tibetan spiritual leader’s trip.

The Dalai Lama is expected visit the border state from November 8. During his visit, he is expected to visit the Tawang Monastery. He is also expected to inaugurate a super-specialty hospital.

On October 19, the Arunchal Government’s state reception committee had cleared the Dalai Lama’s visit to the state.

“It is a purely religious visit and during his four-day stay at the Tawang monastery, the Dalai Lama will give sermons to his followers,” said T G Rinpoche chairman of the state reception committee.

The Dalai Lama had recently offered prayers at Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh for four Tibetan youths executed by the Chinese Government, for their alleged role in the 2008 anti-China unrest in Lhasa.

Controversy arose over his visit, when China raised strong objections to it on grounds of Arunachal Pradesh being a disputed territory and the Dalai Lama being seen as a dissident and renegade leader.

New Delhi retaliated by saying that Arunachal Pradesh was an integrated part of India and that it saw the Dalai Lama as an honoured guest of the Indian Government. This view was conveyed by the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, when he met hi Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Hua Hin, Thailand, last week.

The formal announcement of the visit comes on the day of a meeting between External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi on the sidelines of the trilateral Russia, India, China (RIC) meeting in Bangalore.

Source ANI

New Delhi: The Government of Japan has committed an amount of 2,606 million yen for the Engineering Services Loan under Dedicated Freight Corridor Project (Phase-I).

The objective of the project is to cope with the increase of freight transport demand in India by constructing new dedicated freight railway system, thereby promoting comprehensive regional economic development along the freight corridor, through improvement and modernization of inter-modal logistic system handling considerable freight.

The notes to this effect were exchanged between Kumar Sanjay Krishna, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Hideaki Domichi, Ambassador of Japan to India, here today.

India and Japan have had a long and fruitful history of bilateral development cooperation since 1958.

In the last few years relations between India and Japan have steadily progressed based on India-Japan Global Partnership.

The visits of the Indian Prime Minister to Japan in 2006 and 2008 and the visit of Japanese Prime Minister to India in 2007 have further strengthened the India-Japan Global Partnership by adding greater substance to the bilateral relations based on India-Japan Global Partnership.

Source ANI

New Delhi: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has advised Indian citizens to avoid visiting Pakistan in view of deteriorating security situation there.

In an advisory, the MHA has said that the Government of India is of the view that it is not advisable for the Indian pilgrims to visit Pakistan in the prevailing situation when frequent terrorist attacks are taking place in Punjab province of Pakistan, where all gurudwaras are situated.

Accordingly, the Government has advised all Indian citizens to avoid undertaking any visit to Pakistan for this purpose, till the improvement of the security situation in Pakistan.

Source ANI

Vadodara: Australian fast bowler Brett Lee''s mystery elbow injury is threatening to derail his Test comeback hopes, reports The Herald Sun.

Australian team physiotherapist Kevin Sims confirmed that apart from Lee, Mitchell Johnson and James Hopes have had scans in Vadodara, and added that Cricket Australia is viewing the injuries to be serious enough to warrant reinforcements.

"Brett Lee has a mild right elbow strain and will continue to be treated and assessed prior to the next game. Mitchell Johnson suffered an inversion strain of his left ankle. He will now receive treatment and, as with Brett, it will depend on how he responds to treatment over the next two days before a decision is made on his availability," Sims was quoted, as saying.

As far as Lee is concerned, the timing of his injury could not have come at a worse time, with him trying to convince the selectors of his durability.

The national selectors will have noted the 76-Test Lee''s failure to get through 10 overs when skipper Ricky Ponting needed him in Sunday''s nail-biting, four-run win in the series opener against India at Vadodara.

Ponting wanted Lee to bowl at the death against Harbhajan Singh and Praveen Kumar, but wisely decided against gambling on Lee''s fitness.

"I would have liked to have bowled him in those last few overs of the game. It would have been nice to have Brett and hopefully we have got him for the second game," Ponting said.

Lee was impressive taking 1-28 from his six overs before exiting the attack with elbow soreness.

Source ANI

Bangalore: Rejecting to Islamabad''s charge of New Delhi funding the Taliban, External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna on Tuesday said that India wants the Taliban and Talibanism to be totally eliminated.

The reaction came a day after Pakistan''s Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that India is providing funds for Taliban fighters located along the Afghanistan border for creating chaos in Pakistan.
 
Malik said that he is completely "convinced" that India is one of those "certain hostile agencies" which are providing funds for the Taliban for creating unrest in Pakistan.

Malik also added he was ready to confront the Indian Government with evidence in this regard.

Refuting Pakistan''s allegations, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said it''s not at all in the business of destabilizing its neighbors.

"We don''t believe that there is any such evidence because we know we are not a country that believes in de-stabilizing our neighbors. We would not be interesting in fomenting any trouble in Pakistan, that''s not our style, that''s not the kind of policy we conduct. But if they feel they have any information to share with us, why should we refuse to receive it?," said Tharoor.

"They have had plenty of opportunities to meet Indian officials and so far we have not seen any evidence," he added.

Krishna is in Bangalore to attend the ninth trilateral meeting of Russia, India and China (RIC).

Foreign Ministers of India, China and Russia S M Krishna, Yang Jiechi and Sergey Lavrov respectively will discuss the trilateral issues in the meeting.

Source ANI

New Delhi: The official car with a parliament entry sticker belonging to the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman K. Rehman Khan was found abandoned in Rangpura area of New Delhi.

The vehicle has been seized by police.

According to sources, the Bolero car was last seen at 11 on Sunday night, when Khan''s driver dropped him off at home.

The driver had taken the car to his house in South Delhi, from where it was reported missing.

Security at the Parliament complex was immediately alerted.

Security forces at the complex were asked to flag the car down the minute it tried to enter Parliament.

Source ANI

New Delhi/Kolkata: Aiming to derive the maximum political capital from the West Bengal Government''s inability to counter the Naxal menace effectively, Railways Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has decided to bring relatives of two policemen kidnapped by Maoists in West Bengal''s Lalgarh District to Delhi on Tuesday for a meeting with Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram.

Trinamool leader Partha Chatterjee, who is accompanying them to the national capital, said before boarding the train at the Howrah Railway Station that they were going to Delhi on Banerjee''s instructions.

The two policemen kidnapped are sub-inspector Kanchan Garai and constable Sabir Mollah. They were nabbed from their camp at Dharampur on July 30.

On Saturday, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya had erroneously told a press conference that the two policemen had been killed, but changed his statement later.

The chief minister''s statement took the state administration by surprise because police had information to the contrary.

The families are desperate to have the two kidnapped policemen rescued.

Source ANI

Mumbai: The Indian Navy has reportedly decided to deploy two warships in the Indian Ocean area to counter the threat from Somali pirates.

According to sources, the warships will be deployed near Mauritius and the Seychelles.

A private channel quoted Captain Manohar Nambiar, Chief PRO, Defence (Western Region), as saying: "We can confirm to you that the Indian Navy now has a presence in that region. We can not speak much about operations there, but yes, our ships are into surveillance activities. This is apart from our ship already patrolling the Gulf of Aden."

The INS Tabar, a warship sent last year to counter the pirates of Somalia, will be deployed. Joining the Tabar will be the INS Shardul, a fully armed amphibious ship which can carry more than 500 troops, and the ICGS Varuna, an offshore patrol vessel armed to the teeth. The Varuna can travel 4000 nautical miles at a stretch, enough to go around the world.

The deployment of warships is being undertaken in the wake of Somali pirates kidnapping over 100 Indian citizens in raids on the high seas.

Source ANI

New Delhi/Srinagar: The Centre has reportedly directed the Jammu and Kashmir Government and security forces in the state to step up vigil following intelligence inputs that Hizb-ul-Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin has asked his cadres to step up violence ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh''s visit to the region.

The Prime Minister will undertake a two-day visit to the state on October 28 and 29 during which he will inaugurate the Anantnag-Qazigund section of the Kashmir rail link project.

A senior Home Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told a private channel that intelligence agencies have intercepted communications between the Hizbul headquarters in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and cadres operating in Kashmir which suggested that Salahuddin was very upset over the killing of top Hizb militant Omer Maviya and wanted revenge.

According to the intercepts, Salahuddin has directed his cadres to step up violence ahead of the Prime Minister''s visit and disrupt his programmes.

In the wake of these intercepts, security forces have been deployed in all sensitive areas and searches are also being carried out in specific pockets to flush out militants.

Source ANI

Nagpur: Injured Australian fast bowlers Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson have been ruled out of the second one-day international against India to be played in Nagpur on Wednesday.

Lee was diagnosed with a mild elbow strain following the opening game at Vadodara, while scans showed Johnson had sustained a minor ankle strain while fielding.

The injuries are minor and both are expected to play in the third game of in the seven-match series.

All rounder James Hopes had already been ruled out of contention for the Nagpur game due to a hamstring injury

New South Wales all rounder Moises Henriques has been called up as cover and will stay with the squad until after game four, the Courier Mail reports.

Henriques will depart Australia on Tuesday night and will arrive in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Source ANI

Giridih: Maoists blew up two middle schools in Jharkhand''s Giridih district on Tuesday.

According to police officials, Maoists packed explosives inside Upgraded Haridih School and Upgraded Dharpahari School, damaging the structures.

However, there was no report of causalities.
 
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described Maoists as the biggest internal security challenge since independence, which began four decades ago championing the cause of poor peasants in the east, but has now spread to about 20 of India''s 29 states.
 
Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram said the government was willing to talk to the Maoists about issues such as poverty and corruption that are often blamed for stoking the insurgency, but insisted the rebels must first stop violence.

Source ANI

Bangalore: The ninth trilateral meeting of Russia, India and China (RIC) will begin here today.

Foreign Ministers of India, China and Russia S M Krishna, Yang Jiechi and Sergey Lavrov respectively will discuss the trilateral issues in the meeting.

The three Ministers will also explore business opportunities in key sectors, including infrastructure and energy that will be mutually beneficially to the three countries in the region.

Issues concerning political and economic spheres involving the three countries will also be discussed.

Subjects like global economic slowdown, energy, banking and financial sectors and global warming are expected to be considered.

Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and Joint Secretary (East Asia, China, Japan affairs) Vinay Gokhale will assist S M Krishna in the talks.

Source ANI

Haryana: Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda will prove his majority on the floor of the Assembly today.

 

Protem Speaker Captain Ajay Singh Yadav will administer the oath of office to newly elected MLAs.

 

On October 25, he was sworn in as Haryana’s Chief Minister for a second consecutive term.

 

Previously, Hooda has been the Lok Sabha member for four terms in 1991, 1996, 1998, 2004 and the leader of opposition in Haryana''''s Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2004.

 

He also served as the President of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) from 1996 to 2001.

 

In March 2005, Hooda replaced Om Prakash Chautala as the Chief Minister of the State.

Source ANI

Bashthala (West Bengal) / New Delhi: The Delhi bound Bubaneshwar Rajdhani Express, which was abducted and released by the pro – Maoist organisations, is all set to start from the Bashthala railway station.

According to Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, the relief train has already reached the spot and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has  taken control of the train.

"The state police have reached the spot and the train has been secured," said Chidambaram.

"The released train will move in the next few minutes. The train is safe and all the passengers are safe," he added.

Chidambaram, also denied reports that there were any exchange of fire with the red ultras who had abducted the driver and assistant driver of the train.

I would like the media to show some restraint. Don''t report rumours. A civilian driver has been injured. There was no exchange of fire. No CRPF person has been injured," he said.

A medical team is also accompanying the relief train.

Meanwhile, the Railway ministry has suspended all the trains on the Jhernram-Sardia route till further orders.

Source ANI

New Delhi : Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee accused West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee, of misleading the country  over alleged killing of a two policemen by the Maoists.

 

On Saturday, Bhattacharjee had erroneously said the two policemen had been killed, but changed his statement later.

 

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Banerjee said  : "We thought it is a big case to meet the Home Minister and if a Chief Minister misleads the country like this, distorts the facts and misinforms the people and the family members, then it is (a matter) of great concern," Banerjee said.

 

Earlier in the day, she had called on Home Minister P. Chidambaram with the family members of the abducted police personnel Sabir Mollah and Kanchan Gorai.

 

On July 30, both Sub Inspector Garai and Constable Mollah were reported missing from the police camp in Lalgarh, West Medinipur District.

 

Banerjee said, that Chidambaram has had assured all help to the families of the abducted cops.

 

"He (Chidambaram) assured the family members in front of us that whatever help and co-operation is needed from the state government to search…. would be given by the central," she added.

 

Banerjee also said that the Left Front Government in West Bengal has massacred democracy in the state and is inefficient of tackling the Maoist menace.

 

On this score, she demanded the Indian Army to be deployed in the state.

 

"If you want to combat the Maoists, then don''t trust the state government. You go for army operation. You do it. This government is doing only politics and there is no democracy," Banerjee noted.

 

The Maoists recently released Athindranath Dutta, officer-in-charge of Sankrail Police Station in West Medinipur district of West Bengal, in exchange of 26 detained tribal women, owing allegiance to the Maoists.

 

Police obtained bail for the tribal women and set them free, following which the Maoists released Dutta in full media glare.

Source ANI

Bangalore : Wipro Limited, India''s No.3 software services exporter, robust outlook fuelled optimism is a result of overseas clients boosting its orders in an improved economic environment.

 

The results justified investors'' faith that has helped IT stocks beat the broader market this year, hot on the heels of a strong performance by global tech firms.

 

Wipro, the country''s No. 3 software services exporter, behind Tata Consultancy and Infosys, added 37 new clients in July-September.

 

The worst seems to be over for India''s 60 billion dollars outsourcing sector as bigger firms win large deals and pricing pressure eases, after the industry''s core financial clients cut technology spending during the economic downturn.

 

Business from sectors such as telecoms and manufacturing, however, still remains sluggish and India’s two-decade-old IT sector faces cut-rate competition from the bigger players.

 

“There is no question that the economic environment has stabilised, and going forward things are looking much better than what they have looked in the past one year. I think there is more confidence in the system.

 

“Customers are now back to decision making. That is not to say that there is a huge amount of optimism in the market place, there certainly isn''t pessimism in the marketplace and that is a very welcome change from what we have been experiencing in the past 12 to 15 months,” said Wipre chairman Azim Premji on Tuesday.

 

Wipro, which counts Citigroup and Cisco among its 800-plus clients, expects IT revenue to rise 3.8 to 5.7 percent in Oct-Dec from the preceding quarter to 1.09-1.11 billion dollars.

 

The company, which integrates IT systems, develops software applications and manages call centres, posted a 1.9 percent sequential rise in July-Sept IT revenue.

 

“We are seeing an overall uptake in the demand environment as we had stated in the beginning of the year that we expect the second half to be far superior to the first half. You saw Quarter One, we were exhibiting without good number and Quarter-3 guidance of 2.5 to 4.5 percent is also very good quarter,” said Suresh Senapaty, company''s chief financial officer.

 

New York-listed Wipro also runs consumer care and lighting businesses.

 

Infosys, Wipro and Tata Consultancy are expanding in markets such as Europe and the Asia Pacific to cut their dependence on the U.S. market, which brings in more than half the sector''s revenue.

Source ANI

Bashthala (West Bengal) : Activists of the pro-Maoist group, the People’s Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) have released the  New Delhi-bound Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express late on Tuesday evening.

According to Railway Ministry, the train will come to Delhi in the protection of the central police forces.

The pro –Maoist group abducted the train in the afternoon.

Speaking to the media, Home Minister P Chidambaram said all the passengers in the train are safe.

He added that the Central Reserve police Force (CRPF) and state police have reached the spot and the area has been secured.

Chidambaram also said a special relief train has been sent from the nearest station to the spot of the incident.

Earlier, both Chidambaram and West Bengal Chief Minister Budhadeb Bhattacharjee took a firm stand to not release any of the activists demanded by the pro –Maoist groups.

The pro- Maoists were made to toe down and release the train after a five hour-long abduction drama

Source ANI

New Delhi : Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram said here on Tuesday that massive expansion of the central police forces (CPF) is indicative of inadequacies of state police.

 

Addressing the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Home Affairs on the topic ‘National Police Mission,’ Chidambaram said : “The police-population ratio in the country is much lower than the desired level of 220 and there is also wide variation among the States. He also drew the attention to other problems like outdated equipment and lack of training.”

 

He expressed concern over the least efforts made to fill a large number of vacancies which exist in state police at lower as well as higher levels.

 

“Inadequacies of police in the States and their over-dependence on the central police forces is not a good sign for the federal structure. The States are now realizing the gravity of the situation and concentrating on recruitment, training and modernization of their police forces,” Chidambaram said.

 

“Policing in the country has long been neglected and urgent reforms are needed in the state police system,” he added.

 

Chidambaram also drew the attention to problems like outdated equipment and lack of training.

 

The Home Minister informed the meeting that four projects submitted by the Micro Missions, set up under the National Police Mission have been approved for implementation throughout the country.

Source ANI

Ranchi : An indefinite shutdown called by a pro-Maoist organisation hits normal life in five districts of Jharkhand on Tuesday.

 

The shutdown is observed on the call of Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI (Maoist), which blamed the local police for the arrest of their cadres.

 

The shutdown was effective in Ranchi, Ramgarh, Gumla and Simdoga districts of the state. Vehicular traffic and the rail traffic were affected and everything came to a standstill.

 

Israel Mullik, a bus agent, said the Maoists should think before giving the call for a bandh.

 

"With shutdown people face a lot of problem and if you have observed all the people have come from their villages in recently concluded Chhath Puja and today as the Maoist have called for the shutdown normal routine of so many people has been disturbed. Those who call for the shutdown should think before giving a shutdown call that how much damage will be done by their call," he said.

 

Sayeed Hassan, a railway passenger, said, a bandh affects everybody across the board. "All the people irrespective of their financial status face the problem of shutdown. The business is suffering immediately after the festive season everything is shutdown. The government officials are sitting in Delhi and if they want they can being the things under control but they are hardly doing anything."

 

Maoists have ignored repeated calls to renounce violence and negotiate. They stepped up their attacks in recent months, prompting the government to go after them in a concerted strike.

Source ANI

Moradabad : The aluminium industry here is producing household and decorative items in the colour green with the theme of environment conservation.

 

These green household items made from aluminium and wood are in a great demand both in the country and abroad.

 

According to Ajijul, a manufacturer the customers are always demanding  products that are green in colour, whether they are utensils or any other  household product.

 

 “We have chosen this colour because it symbolizes peace and greenery, we want to promote the message of world peace among the customers through our products,” he added.

 

Ajijul elaborated that with the introduction of green coloured products, his export company was getting huge orders from abroad.

 

"Earlier, the demand for these products was very low, but now our products are becoming very popular among the customers in India and abroad. We have used green colour as it’s related to the environment and the greenery," said Faizal, a worker.

 

According to Faizal, the demand for household goods phas lunged due to the global recession but after this initiative, the industry has picked up.

Source ANI

Imphal : The Manipur Government has organised a fish fair cum competition to promote the fish business and help people get fish at reasonable prices in the state.

 

The fair is being organized by the Directorate of Fisheries on the occasion of Ningol Chakkouba  every year.

 

"The demand of the fish is very high on this occasion. Most of the population in. Eat fish that is why we organize this fish fair. To make available fish in plenty and at reasonable rates," said Kesar Kumar, Directorate of Fisheries.

 

The fair is also aiming to promote and encourage fish farmers to produce more.

 

Hundreds of buyers rush to the fish fair for best purchases.

 

"The price of the fish in the fair is almost same as in the market. But we get a fair deal here. They provide us the fishes in right quantity whereas in the market we are given less," said a local.

 

Over a hundred fish farmers in the state are participating in the fair.

Source ANI

New Delhi : Cherie Blair, wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, on Tuesday said that the society must consider the plight of widows and suggested that their social concerns need to be addressed in right earnest.

 

Cherie, who is currently on a brief visit to India, expressed her views while speaking at an event held at Sanskriti School in New Delhi.

 

She is president of the Loomba Trust, which was founded by Raj Loomba, a British industrialist of Indian origin with am aim to alleviate the plight of widows and their children.

 

At the Sanskriti School, Cherie inaugurated a Children’s Art Exhibition on Peace, Non-Violence, Tolerance and Compassion and also took part in the prize distribution ceremony.

 

Later in her address, she mentioned that the plight of widows is a global anguish and the entire society must act in unison to mitigate the worries of the hapless women.

 

“There is no country in the world where women and girls are treated as truly equal to men. And that is still a cause that we have to aspire to and fight for. I think the widows in many ways exemplify that particular problem of women forced to fend for themselves in a man’s world.

 

“Because of the particular cultural views about widows in Indian society, they are particularly disadvantaged. But I don’t want you think that widows are only an Indian problem, they are not even a problem in Asia the plight of widows is an international one,” Cherie said.

 

She further noted that the main aim of the Loomba Trust is to get UN recognition for June 23 as the International Widows Day and a global campaign is on to this end.

 

The Loomba Trust believes that a recognition by the UN would transform the outlook for disadvantaged widows and their dependents the world over.

 

Cherie said that India''s support to the campaign will highlight the plight of widows across the world.

 

“We hope with the help of the Government of India who is supporting this campaign, with the hope of many other governments to highlight the plight of widows across the world,” Cherie said.

 

There are more than 35 million widows estimated in India, many of whom suffer dreadful prejudice and discrimination.

 

The Loomba Trust educates over 3,000 children of poor widows in India out of which 100 are from Delhi. The Loomba Trust now wishes to expand its activities and extend the benefits to an additional number of 1000.

Source ANI