India News

New Delhi: Campaigning for the Assembly by-elections in seven States ended on Thursday evening.

Constituencies in the States of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Kerala, Rajasthan, Assam, Himachal Pradesh and Chattisgarh are going for polls on Saturday.

A total of 31 constituencies --11  in Uttar Pradesh, 10 in West Bengal, 3 in Kerala, 2 each in Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and one in Chhattisgarh will witness by-polls.

Polling for the by-election to the Firozabad Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh will also be held tomorrow. Counting of votes will be held on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, tight security arrangements have been put in place ahead of the 7th Nov bypoll to the Kannur assembly constituency in the wake of alleged anomalies in fresh voters list.

Source ANI

New Delhi: Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday underlined the need for higher investment in health sector.

Azad said that the present health care system put a heavy burden on poor people who had to incur substantial out-of-pocket expenses for their treatment.

Chairing the meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Health Ministry, Azad said the National Rural Health Mission has made serious effort to address decentralisation, shortage of human resources, infrastructure gaps and new construction.

Azad also listed the reforms in the Medical Education sector to increase the number of post graduate seats and to also simplify and rationalize the process of setting up of new medical colleges in deficient States and regions.

“Many old rules regarding availability of land, case load etc. have been modified to enable a faster expansion of medical graduate and post graduate education without compromising on quality in any manner. These steps will increase the intake at Post Graduate level from the existing 13000 to 18000 seats,” he said.

Talking about National AIDS Control Programme, Azad said an estimated population of 23 lakhs are HIV infected.

“The NACP –III aims at halting and reversing the trend of the epidemic in the country over the next five years. The programme will continue to attempt to address preventing new infections by focusing on the High Risk Groups and simultaneously implementing an intensive care, support and treatment to people living with HIV/AIDS,” he said.

Source ANI

Ranchi (Jharkhand): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday arrested Vikas Sinha, an associate of former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda, for his alleged role in the hawala transactions and the illegal investments.

Vikas Sinha, the brother of another associate Binod Sinha, will be produced before a local court where the Enforcement Directorate will seek his police remand before he is sent to the Directorate''''s regional headquarters in Patna.

The sources in the Enforcement Directorate said that Vikas is allegedly involved in investing and routing Koda''''s money through the hawala channels.

Vikas Sinha, who was arrested when he appeared before the ED, is the first associate of Koda to be taken into custody by the Directorate, among the eight people it has summoned for questioning in the multi-crore scam.

The department has also issued a Red Corner notice against Koda and eight others for their alleged role in money laundering, diversion of state funds and indulging in huge illegal investments abroad.

It has been reported that Koda''''s personal secretary Harendra Singh is also in the dock for his relations with the tainted minister.

An ED team from Delhi had earlier arrived in Ranchi to obtain documents on the alleged hawala transactions carried out by Koda and his associates. It intends to obtain material evidence and documents seized by the income tax department and source information from the records of the tax searches against Koda and others.

Nationwide raids were conducted for three days to unearth the assets of the former Jharkhand Chief Minister and his associates. Koda had on Tuesday complained of a pain in his abdomen, giddiness and vomiting. He was admitted to Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Apollo Hospital in Ranchi.

The IT department had set November 6 as the deadline for six of Koda’s alleged aides to appear before it to explain certain transactions and events. They have been told that if they fail to appear, they will be liable for legal action.

Income Tax sleuths have indicated that Madhu Koda will be arrested as soon as he is discharged from the hospital in Ranhi.

Source ANI

New Delhi: Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh here today said that India and European Union have set one-year deadline to conclude a free trade agreement, at a joint press conference attended by the Swedish Prime Minister and European President at the Hyderabad House.  

Addressing media after holding talks with Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and Chairman of the Swedish Presidency of the EU and President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, Dr. Manmohan Singh said,  " We would conclude free trade agreement within a year".

He further said an important outcome was the signing of India-EU agreement in the field of fusion energy research.

"This agreement underscores the growing importance of energy security and clean energy in our co-operation. We also reviewed the progress on the joint action plan that was adopted in 2005 and agreed on measures to speed up its implementation," he added.

He also said that India has a progressive and ambitious plan to tackle climate change.

"We have a very ambitious national plan to combat climate change. We recognise climate change is a global phenomenon. All of us have an obligation to work together and we placed before our country the eight national missions, which constitute our response. Now the question arises whether we can quantify it into a precise emission reduction targets. We haven''t reached that stage so far," he added.

Seven rounds of discussions between the representatives of both sides have already taken place but so far no agreement has been hammered out.

European Union  is India''s largest trading partner and India exports 23 percent of its manufactured goods to countries of  the group.

Duty cuts, market access on services sector, IPR as well as toning down non-tariff barriers have remained the main sticking points during the discussions and have remained main obstacles in conclusion of the agreement.

What has made the discussion even more complex is the European Commission insistence on including non-trade issues like human rights and child labor policies in the duty free trade talks.

Indian negotiators are insisting that social agenda should not be included in the Free Trade Agreement and it could be accommodated through other mechanisms.

Experts believe that adoption of Lisbon Treaty by the European Union will make the negotiations even tougher as according the new arrangement each and every bilateral agreement will be discussed in the European Parliament.

Source ANI

Kangra (Himachal Pradesh): At least 22 passengers were killed and 48 injured when an overcrowded bus rolled down a gorge near Haripur area of Kangra district, about 45 km from Dharamsala.

The bus driver lost control of the vehicle, which was on its way to Dehra from Nagrota Suriyan. It fell into the 100-feet deep gorge, said Atul Fulzele, Superintendent of Police.

The injured have been admitted to the Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College in Tanda. The casualty figure is expected to rise.

Senior civil and police officers are at the accident site monitoring rescue operations.

Source ANI

New Delhi: In a move aimed at breaking the political logjam in Karnataka and to bring dissident leaders to the negotiating table, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa today transferred his Principal Secretary V P Baligar.

The Chief Project Officer of Karnataka Highway Development project, I S N Prasad has been nominated in his place.

Baligar, who had been the target of an attack by the Janardhana Reddy faction, now holds the post of Principal Secretary, Industry and Commerce.

Meanwhile, media reports of the resignation of MLAs loyal to the Janardhana Reddy faction have been denied.

State Chief Minister Yeddyurappa has cancelled a meeting of his council of ministers for today in Bangalore.

He has also postponed his return journey from Delhi to this evening.

Source ANI

New Delhi: The Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Friday said that Pakistan has not provided any input on David Coleman Headley, who was arrested by the FBI for plotting a major attack in India at the behest of terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Earlier in the day, Home Minister P Chidambaram had disclosed that the United States security agencies informed India that Pakistan has links with the terror plot of the Lashkar -e- Tayebba busted recently in the US.

Chidambaram pointed out that the fact that Hedley, against whom the FBI filed affidavit in the court, visited Pakistan several times showed the country''s links with the aborted plot which sought a large-scale terror attacks.

Two or more people have also been arrested in Pakistan in this connection on the advice of FBI.

Dr. Singh said that India is intimately affected by developments in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Addressing the India EU summit in New Delhi, Dr. Singh said that New Delhi has a stake in maintaining peace and stability there.

Dr. Singh said Pakistan has not provided any input on David Coleman Headley, who was arrested by the FBI for plotting a major attack in India at the behest of terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

He also expressed hope that negotiations on broadbased trade and investment agreement with European Union will be concluded in a year.

On the issue of climate change, Dr. Singh said that climate is a complex issue but a broad agreement needs to be arrived at.

Source ANI

Guwahati (Assam): Security has been tightened for the sixth one-day international between India and Australia to be played here on Sunday.

Police and sources said that a three-tier security blanket has been thrown in and around the Nehru Stadium, the venue of the match.

Both teams will arrive in the city on Friday, a day after playing a humdinger of a match in Hyderabad, which India lost by three runs.

"We have made all the arrangements and for this purpose, we have been given sufficient number of security and officials from other district of the state, including CRPF (Central Paramilitary Force, an India paramilitary force). So, they will be deployed, it will be secure," said Pradeep Chandra Saloi, Senior Superintendent of Police, Guwahati City.

Security has been beefed up in view of the fact that there are about two-dozen armed insurgent groups operating in India''s northeast. Most of them are either fighting for an independent homeland or for more political autonomy.

Source ANI

New Delhi: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K. Rosaiah will arrive here today on a one-day visit with a heavy official and political agenda.

Issues pertaining to the proposed alliance between the Congress and the Praja Rajyam of Chiranjeevi and the impending Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting to elect a new leader in place of YS Rajasekhara Reddy will come up for discussion during Rosaiah''s meeting with Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

He is also likely to brief her about the party''s efforts to wrest the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections.

Rosaiah will also meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other Central ministers to apprise them about the situation in the state and the need for further assistance.

The State Government has already submitted a report to the Centre on the estimated loss/damage of about Rs 12,824.70 crore caused by floods.

Source ANI

New Delhi: Defence Minister AK Antony will be leaving for Japan on Saturday on an official visit at the invitation of his Japanese counterpart Toshimi Kitazawa to review the on-going defence related interactions between both the countries and to explore ways to enhance such exchanges to the mutual benefit. 

 

This will be the first visit of a Cabinet Minister to Japan after the taking over of the new DPJ led Government in Japan.

 

The conduct of joint exercises between Armed Forces of both the countries and exchange of students in the defence training institutions of both the countries would also be discussed with the Japanese side. 

 

In addition, possibilities of coordination of efforts in anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and other maritime security challenges are also likely to be discussed.

 

The Defence Minister will be accompanied by the Defence Secretary, Scientific Adviser to Raksha Mantri and senior officials from the Armed Forces. 

 

The Minister will return home on November 10, 2009.

 

The bilateral security and defence cooperation between India and Japan are guided by the Joint Statement issued by the Defence Ministers of both sides during the visit of the then Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee to Japan in May 2006 and the Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation between Japan and India which was issued during the visit of PM Dr. Manmohan Singh to Japan in October 2008.

Source ANI

Hyderabad/Mumbai: Cricket fans here and in Mumbai have hailed batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar''s landmark feat of 17,000 one-day international runs.

Tendulkar achieved the record against Australia in the fifth game of the seven-match series here on Thursday evening.

Tendulkar, who is to complete two decades in the game at the international level later this month, scored 175 during his side''s unsuccessful attempt of chasing Australia''s massive 350 runs down.

He was adjudged man of the match for his superb innings in the game.

"He (Sachin Tendulkar) comes off with flying colours in every test. I would want to congratulate him for his 17,000 runs," Mohan, a Tendulkar fan, said in Hyderabad.

An Australian, who was in the city for the game also praised Tendulkar for his brave effort.

"Yes, I thought India played well...it was a pitch with lot of runs in it, so 350 was a huge total but also very good, I thought India''s batting sort of let them down a bit. Obviously Sachin was amazing but he needs someone at the other end to support him up, he cant to..." Cera said.

Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan also extended his greetings to Tendulkar.

"Every time he (Sachin Tendulkar) sets a new example and limit of success in front of us. I congratulate him and the entire country is proud of him," said Bachchan.

Tendulkar, 36, holds the records for the most Test runs (12,773), Test hundreds (42) and one-day hundreds (45).

India trails 3-2 in the seven-match series.

Source ANI

Mumbai: Cine icon Amitabh Bachchan was felicitated with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 11th Mumbai Film Festival on Thursday for completing 40 years in the film industry.

The festival, which concluded on Thursday, hosted over 200 films from 56 countries.

"White Lightnin" directed by Dominic Murphy was adjudged the best film at the festival.

The annual event''s budget was boosted with 40 million rupees from Reliance Big Entertainment, a division of the Reliance ADA Group.

Greek filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos was also honoured with a Lifetime Achievement award.

Fellow actor Dev Anand''s production house Navketan films, was also felicitated for completing 60 years in the film industry.

Speaking to media persons on receiving the award, an excited Bachchan shared the award with his colleagues of the film industry.

"No person can rise in his talent without others support, especially in this industry. Unless you  have the support of others, you are nowhere. So, I would like to congratulate everybody of the film industry, who supported me from director to music director, assistant, spot boy, all my leading ladies and all my leading men that I had the good fortune to work with, because of whom I was able to spend so many years in the industry," said Bachchan.

He also thanked the people of India for their unconditional support and love.

"I do want to thank primarily the people of my country for giving me their love, their support, their affection and their prayers on many an occasion, trial and tribulation that I have gone through and I truly feel very, very humble in their presence. May they continue to like what we do and hopefully the few years that are left in my career, may they continue to enjoy what we do," Bachchan added.

Fellow actor Preity Zinta described Bachchan as a "wonderful actor".

"There is nothing you can say about Mr Bachchan because he has been acting before I was born and he is a wonderful actor. You always get to learn with him," said Zinta.

Born on October 11, 1942, Amitabh Bachchan first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Bollywood cinema, and has since become one of the most prominent figures in the history of Indian cinema.

He has won numerous major awards including three National Film Awards and twelve Filmfare Awards. He holds the record for most number of Best Actor nominations at the Filmfare Awards.

He is married to actor Jaya Bahaduri and they have two children Shweta Nanda and Abhishek Bachchan.

Source ANI

Hyderabad: Australian skipper Ricky Ponting and former captain Mark Taylor have said that New South opener Phillip Hughes could re-ignite his Test career during the series against West Indies.

The endorsements follow support from chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch ahead of the first Test against the West Indies at the Gabba on November 26.

“It was obviously a tough call to leave him out during the Ashes series. He will be back. It is just a matter of when,” Fox Sports quoted Ponting, as saying.
 
“He will definitely be in the mix for the Test matches. It will be a really tough selection for the summer. I think we all saw he was going to be a long-term player for us with his debut in South Africa,” he added.

While, Taylor said that the 20-year-old is the logical Test partner for Simon Katich, as he has a great technique.
 
“I would definitely like to see Phil Hughes force his way back into the (Test) side. Yes he has his limitations in terms of his technique, but he is such a good striker of the ball and has very much his own style,” Taylor said.
 
“Shane Watson and Simon Katich come back to potentially open the batting for New South Wales and you have Phil Hughes and Phil Jaques wanting to open the batting as well. It is going to be a tough one,” he added.

Hughes was Australia''s youngest Test debutant since fast bowler Craig McDermott, but Taylor said that he has shown maturity in the games that he has played, which is a major asset.
 
“There is no doubt he has very good mental approach to the game and if he can make some runs in the near future he will force his way back into the side pretty quickly,” Taylor said.

Source ANI

Hyderabad:  Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram today disclosed that the United States security agencies have informed India that Pakistan has links with the terror plot of the Lashkar -e- Tayebba busted recently in the US.

Chidambaram pointed out that the fact that Hedley, against whom the FBI filed affidavit in the court, visited Pakistan several times showed the country''s links with the aborted plot which sought a large-scale terror attacks. Two or more people have also been arrested in Pakistan in this connection on the advice of FBI.

Asked to comment on the statement by the Maoist leader Koteshwar Rao that the Government of India should declare a cease-fire before talks could commence with them, Chidambaram said that he has no information about the demands from the Maoists.

Chidambaram denied that the Centre was launching an ''Operation Green Hunt''. He said the Center was only providing paramilitary assistance, intelligence and technical help to the States wherever necessary. The State Governments were carrying out counter- insurgency measures against the Maoists.

Earlier, addressing Indian Police Service (IPS) probationers at a passing out parade at the Sardar Vallabhabhai National Police Academy, Chidambaram said that the country was better prepared today to face any challenge to its security, sovereignty and integrity.

The government had taken several steps to mount confidence and competence among not only the police, but also the common people. He announced that a corpus fund with 25 million rupees would be set up during the next financial year for research activity in the academy.

On the occasion, 91 IPS probationers including 23 women and 8 Royal Bhutan Security forces passed out after a 45-week long vigorous training course at the Academy.

Source ANI

New Delhi: Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will inaugurate the three-day India Economic Summit here on Sunday.

The agenda for the Summit will focus on how to ensure India''s aspiration to emerge as one of the world''s four largest economies by 2020, skill development, financial empowerment of the poor and development of female talent.

This year''s Summit has set a new record for total participation with over 800 leaders from industry, government, civil society and academia from over 40 countries.

The theme of the Summit is "India''s Next Generation of Growth.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Home Minister P. Chidambaram, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora,  Transport Minister Kamal Nath will participate in the event.

Besides, business leaders Chanda Kochhar (ICICI Bank), Indra Nooyi (PepsiCo-U.S.), Shumeet Banerji (Booz and Company-U.K.), Carlos Ghosn (Renault-France) will also participate in the event.

Source ANI

New Delhi: Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan today held discussions with Congress President Sonia Gandhi, a day after the party sealed a deal with its ally, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to form a government in the state.

Chavan is understood to have discussed the allocation of portfolios at the meeting. Senior Congress leaders A K Antony and Ahmad Patel were also present.

The Congress and the NCP announced on November 5 that they had reached an agreement on power sharing and a new government is likely to be sworn in on November 6.
 
The Congress and the NCP rode back to power for the third time in a row defeating the opposition Shiv Sena-BJP in a mainly four-cornered contest in which the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and the Third Front successfully made inroads.
 
The NCP is expected to retain the key portfolios of Home, Finance, Power and Rural Development, while the Congress could get Public Health.

State Governor S C Jamir had earlier nudged both the parties to form a government at the earliest.

New Delhi: India and the European Union will sign civil nuclear cooperation agreement at their Summit today. The two sides are also expected to give a political push to free trade pact negotiations.

The issue of climate change and the global financial crisis will also figure prominently in talks between Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and his Swedish counterpart Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country is the current chair of the 27-nation European grouping.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso will also participate in the 10th annual Summit where the two sides will also discuss stepped up cooperation in counter-terrorism and look at ways to double trade to USD 200 billion by 2013.

Civil nuclear agreement is expected to facilitate a joint research in fusion energy and will aim at intensifying cooperation to develop scientific understanding and technological capability.

It will develop a specific agenda for fusion research cooperation that goes far beyond ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Research project)," the European Commission said.

The pact will mark India''s formal participation in ITER, an ambitious multi-country project to be based in Cadarache in France at an estimated cost of about 4.6 billion Euro (USD 5.4 billion or Rs 25,000 crore). The project also involves the US, EU, Russia, China, Japan and South Korea.
 
Ahead of the Summit, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma met EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton and said both sides are looking at doubling trade to USD 200 billion in the next four years.

On the negotiations for a free trade pact, which have been dragging for two years, Sharma made it clear that the agreement would be delayed because of persisting differences.

The two sides would also be discussing collaborative ways to tackle the global financial crisis as well as the reform of multilateral financial institutions.

Climate change would also be high on the agenda in view of the upcoming Copenhagen Summit.

India has been showing its willingness to do its bit to fight the climate change, but is refusing to accept any binding commitments on cutting the greenhouse gas emissions.

Source ANI

New Delhi: Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh has termed the Delhi government''s initiative to set up a system for mapping carbon emission as the right thing at the right time.

Addressing a seminar on Climate Change here on Thursday, Ramesh described the Delhi Government''s initiative is commendable and very timely.

He also said India is probably the most vulnerable land in the world as far as climate change and related adverse trends are concerned.

"So on monsoon, on glaciers, on sea levels and on natural resources we are extremely vulnerable. Maldives is vulnerable only from mean sea level point of view; Bangladesh is also vulnerable only from mean sea level point of view. That''s why I said that there is no country in the world out of 192 countries which is as vulnerable across four dimensions as India is," he said.

He also released a publication titled Climate Change Agenda of Delhi 2009-2012 and congratulated Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit for taking the lead and making Delhi a pioneer state in this direction.

Delhi is the first state in India to come out with an Action Plan to tackle the Climate Change. Many other states are in process of following suit and prepare their Action Plans.

Among the states, which are in the penultimate stage of finalising the strategies, are Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

Source ANI

New Delhi: India and Sweden have signed two Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) for enhancing cooperation in the fields of defence and environmental protection.

The two MoUs were signed after talks between Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and his Swedish counterpart Fredrik Reinfeldt at Hyderabad House here last evening.

A host of other regional and international issues also came up for discussion during the meeting.

Reinfeldt, who is in New Delhi to attend the Tenth India-EU Summit, that begins today, has said developed countries have a vital role to play in curtailing the effects of global warming.

Interacting with TERI University students here on Thursday, Reinfeldt said it would be incorrect to say that only rich nations have to sort out the problem of climate change.

Reinfeldt also strongly pitched for an agreement on a successor to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol at the Copenhagen talks in December and said the absence of a clear deal would mean lack of infrastructure to tackle climate change.

The two sides launched negotiations in 2007 for a free trade agreement (FTA), but progress has been hampered because of differences over intellectual property rights and EU efforts to link trade with climate and India''s social sector performance.

An FTA between the EU and India could improve market access for goods and services, covering all trade except for public procurement, which India is reluctant to include in the pact. India is also concerned, among other things, about costly certificates for exporting fruit to the EU and conformity procedures for the EC mark.

India, which insists developed countries take deeper carbon emission cuts and fund developing nation''s climate actions, has opposed efforts, including by the EU, to remove the distinction between rich and poorer countries.

Source ANI

New Delhi: The Central Government has reportedly refused permission to foreign media to travel to Arunachal Pradesh to cover the proposed visit of the Dalai Lama.

The Union Government on Thursday revoked its earlier permission given to four foreign correspondents, besides cancelling fresh permits.

Earlier, fourteen Delhi-based foreign journalists and five others had sought permission to travel to Arunachal Pradesh to cover the visit. The Ministry of External Affairs said that these applications were being processed.

As per the rules, foreigners have to approach the MEA for Restricted Area Permit to travel to the state.

The Dalai Lama will be undertaking a week-long visit to Arunachal Pradesh, a visit over which China has raised strong objections.

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.

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 his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Hua Hin, Thailand, last  week.

Source ANI

Mumbai: The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today soared by 208 points in early trade on continued buying by funds, driven mainly by the firming global trends after a better-than-expected US economic data.

The 30-share BSE index, shot up by 208.47 points to 16,272.37 in the opening trade as all the sectoral indices were trading in the positive zone with gains up to 3.22 per cent.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty also gained 65.50 points to trade higher at 4,831.05.

The brokers said the pick up in buying by the foreign funds, bolstered by the firming trends in the other Asian markets in line with the overnight gains on the US market on the positive jobs data.

Besides, the stocks of public sector undertakings remained in a good demand for the second straight session after the government''s decision to increase the public holding in all the listed profitable Central PSUs to 10 per cent.

The major gainers were Infosys Technologies by 0.58 per cent to Rs. 2,236, Wipro by 1.86 per cent to Rs 609.45, Reliance Industries by 1.16 per cent to Rs 1,962.25, ITC Ltd by 0.52 per cent to Rs 253.70 and Maruti Suzuki by 1.63 per cent to Rs 1,513.

Hong Kong''s Hang Seng index was up by1.88 per cent, while Japan''s Nikkei by 0.97 per cent higher in the morning trade today. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 2.08 percent higher on November 5.

Source ANI

New Delhi: There seems to be no end to the bitter political battle in Karnataka. The BJP central leadership has not been able to defuse the crisis.

Fifty-two rebel MLAs have reportedly faxed their resignations to Janardhan Reddy, who is with the Speaker of the Assembly, Jagdish Shettar in Delhi. Reports say that state Chief Minister Yeddyruppa has denied this development.

Meanwhile, the Reddy brothers have toughened their stand. They have stuck to their demand of removing Shobha Karandlaje, the State Rural Development and Panchayat Raj minister.

Yeddyruppa has agreed to it, but wants to reinstate her as the state BJP chief. The rebels have not agreed to that. They also want a few others known to be close to Yeddyruppa to go.

Senior BJP leaders are holding hectic talks with the two factions. One headed by Yeddurappa and the other led by the rebel Reddy brothers who want a change in leadership.

After days of hectic parleys, the BJP had come up with the new compromise formula on Thursday. As per the formula, Yeddyurappa would continue as chief minister and Karnataka Rural Development Minister Shobha might be dropped from the cabinet.

However, the compromise formula was facing a bit of opposition.

Yeddyurappa on Thursday met BJP leaders LK Advani, Venkaiah Naidu, Sushma Swaraj and Ananth Kumar.
 
However, the CM has been asked to be flexible to the demands of the rebels.

 "I hope the high command listens to us in the interest of the party. I will not meet Yeddyruppa at all," said the Reddy brothers after their meeting with Venkaiah Naidu.
 
The party has been struggling to find a solution to the ongoing tussle between the Karnataka Chief Minister and mining barons - the Reddy brothers.

"99 percent of all issues will be resolved today. We must sit together, discuss and resolve issues," said a confident Yeddyruppa.

Earlier, Sushma Swaraj had held several rounds of discussion with the Reddy brothers to find a way out of the crisis, but no consensus has been reached yet.

The meeting has come at a time when the BJP leadership reportedly weaned away Assembly speaker Jagdish Shettar from the rebel camp. The Reddy brothers had propped up Shettar as their choice for the next chief minister.

The CM had a midnight meeting with rebel leader Jagdish Shettar, the man being projected by the Reddy camp as Yeddyurappa''s successor. Senior BJP leader Anant Kumar acted as the mediator.

Yeddyruppa has also cancelled the cabinet meeting that was to be convened in Bangalore today.

Source ANI

New Delhi: Noted journalist Prabhash Joshi died of a heart attack here last night.

Joshi, 72, was admitted to a private hospital after he complained of chest pain where doctors declared him dead.

Joshi, who began his career with Nayi Duniya, was the founder editor of leading Hindi daily "Jansatta" in 1983.

He also worked with the Indian Express as the resident editor at Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Delhi.

He was also famous for his writings on cricket. He was a popular television commentator and mainly invited for his views and comments on national politics during the Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha elections.

Source ANI

Nainital (Uttarakhand): To give the tourism sector a boost in the Uttarakhand’s Kumaon region, the scenic Nainital city is hosting this year''s edition of the annual autumn festival named ''Sharadutsav''.

At a colourful event, the ''curtains-up'' for ''Sharadutsav-2009'' was witnessed to an overwhelming response of locals and tourists on Thursday.

The five-day festival promises to showcase a lot of programmes to entertain the audience and tourists visiting the hill station.

Apart from presenting the local cultural dance to the audience the programme included a mimicry show by stand up comedian Sudha Mishra.

Renowned Sufi singer Kailash Kher enthralled the audience in his melodious voice with a blend of Bollywood songs and Sufi music.

According to the officials of the Tourism Department, the inflow of tourists this year has increased by 15 percent and no wonder, they expressed happiness at these trends.

“If we look from a broader perspective, last year around 6,39,000 tourists visited Nainital. This year till October around 6,50,000 people visited Nainital and by the end of this year we expect the number to reach the range of 7 to 7.45 lakhs, an increase of 15 percent,” said J C Beri, Regional Tourist Officer of Kumaon.

On their part, the audience at the festival was thrilled to see popular as well as talented singers and artists performing in the town, famous for its lake.

“Till now we had only seen Kailash Kher on television. It was for the first time that we saw him performing live. We really enjoyed his performance and wish that he performs next year also,” said Kanika, a local. 

Braving the drop in the mercury, the visitors with utmost enthusiasm have been enduring the chill and enjoy the warmth of the festival to the fullest.

On 9 November, it will be ''curtains-down'' for the festival ''Sharadutsav Nainital-2009'' and the enthralled audience will have to wait for the next year''s edition with hopes of similar thrills.

Source ANI

New Delhi: Defence Minister A K Antony on Friday said that all the militant camps in Pakistan are intact with many of them operating in the shadow of army bases.

Addressing the media on the sidelines of a function hosted in the national capital, Antony said: “There are various terrorists groups operating from Pakistan, but despite our repeated requests, all terrorist camps are intact. Many of them are in the vicinity of their army bases. It is a matter of concern and worry to us.”

He further said that concrete dialogues with the Pakistan Government can only be possible when Islamabad takes steps against militant outfits operating on its soil.

“Unless Pakistan takes sincere action against these terror groups and dismantles these terror outfits, it is very difficult to improve our relationship with Pakistan,” Antony said.

Earlier on October 28, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had expressed the Indian Government’s willingness to “talk to anyone” having “meaningful ideas” to promote peace in Jammu and Kashmir and had offered to resume dialogue with Pakistan provided it curbed activities of those engaged in terrorism in India.

Source ANI

Dimapur (Nagaland): An orphanage in Nagaland’s Dimapur district is rehabilitating destitute children who have fallen victim to terrorism in the region.

The orphanage was founded by a local resident, Akum Amri, with the support of Ebenezer welfare society in 2005.

Amri has his own vision for the institution to guide the deprived children into independence through education. 

Elaborating about his plans, Amri said, “Our future plan, I have lots to develop, if any fund agency or sponsors come up. Main thing is that we want our own land, so that we can have our own development.”

The orphanage currently supports twenty-five children, who are under the able guidance of teachers to provide them primary education.

“We are staying in this home, struggling for our future and education, so I request everyone to support us in our daily prayers,” said Moiling, a nine-year-old orphan.

Source ANI

New Delhi: Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Friday deeply condoled the passing away of veteran journalist Prabhash Joshi, who died of a heart attack here last night. 

In his condolence message to Joshi’s wife Usha Joshi, Dr. Singh said: “I am deeply grieved to learn of the sudden and sad demise of your husband Prabhash Joshi, a veteran journalist of our country.”

“Joshi was a man of extraordinary intellectual courage and professional integrity. He acquired an iconic status as the founder-editor of the Hindi daily, Jansatta. A whole generation of journalists drew inspiration from him, especially in questioning the current orthodoxy,” he added.

“On this sad occasion, I convey my heart felt condolences to you and other near and dear ones of your husband. I pray for peace of the departed soul,” the Prime Minister said.

Joshi, who began his career with Nayi Duniya, was the founder editor of leading Hindi daily “Jansatta” in 1983.

He also worked with the Indian Express as the resident editor at Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Delhi.

He was also famous for his writings on cricket. He was a popular television commentator and mainly invited for his views and comments on national politics during the Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha elections.

Source ANI

Bolangir (Orissa): A farmer in Orissa’s Bolangir district committed suicide after incurring huge losses due to pest attack.

According to reports, Baldev Barik of Keseipalli village in Bolangir district allegedly committed suicide on Thursday by consuming pesticide after insects and pests attacked five acres of his cultivated agricultural land.

Jasoda Barik, the crestfallen widow, said that in the morning Baldev went to the fields and on returning he informed that he had consumed the poison since he had taken loan.

She also said that they had cultivated two out of the five acres of land on lease and insects had damaged all their crops.

While, Sudhir Parihha, a local leader of farmers'' forum, said: “Pests infested his rice fields because of which he lost his mental stability. Few days ago he spoke to a few people describing his plight and his insecurity to run his family. He had also taken some loan and was worried about repaying it making him depressed.”

Soon after the news of Baldev’s death, District Collector Sashwati rushed to the spot and assured a proper inquiry into the entire incident.

“We have sent a team consisting of both agriculture and revenue department officials to the concerned villages. So, once we get the inquiry report then we will be able to give you the details,” Sashwati said.

Debt ridden farmers in several districts of Orissa are committing suicide due to failed crops and inability to repay the money lent by private moneylenders for growing cotton.

According to unconfirmed reports, more than 10 debt-ridden farmers have committed suicide during the past one-month.

Source ANI

New Delhi: Defence Minister A.K. Antony on Friday underlined the need for greater investment and innovation in the field of research and development (R and D) in Defence.

Addressing a function at the Raksha Mantri’s Awards for Excellence in the national capital, Antony said the Defence Public Sector Units (DPSUs) and Ordnance Factories should invest substantially in R and D to build capability in design and development to create synergy between DRDO Labs and production agencies.

Referring to the emerging demand of new and high technology products and services, the minister called for continuous updating of technologies through in-house development and other methods of acquisition.

“Each of the Defence PSUs and Ordnance Factories (OFs) are in possession of several technologies and exchange of information and pooling of these technological resources will ensure better utilization of assets and product improvement,” Antony said.

He added that it would also avoid duplication of efforts and help achieve better value for money.

Antony further said the economic reforms being implemented since the 1990’s have dramatically changed the conditions under which the Public Sector Enterprises have to function, while many sectors, including the Defence Industry, which were earlier reserved for development only in the public sector, were also opened to the private sector.

He was of the opinion that Public Sector Enterprises will have to continue their adjustment process and improve their competitive edge to survive.

Referring to the dependence of the Armed Forces on arms import, Antony said: “It is the area where we need to concentrate and reduce our dependence on imports by taking effective steps to achieve self-reliance in defence preparedness to the maximum extent possible.”

“The goal of self-reliance can be best achieved by optimal utilization of national resources, and the Defence PSUs, Ordnance Factories, DRDO and Armed Forces must follow an integrated approach towards indigenization efforts,” he added.

Antony also informed that an investment of over Rs.2,100 crores is being made for the modernization programme of Defence Shipyards.

Source ANI

New Delhi: The Left parties today decided to oppose the Union Government’s decision to disinvest 10 percent shares in all profitable public sector units.

 

Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat, Communist Party of India’s A.B. Bardhan, Revolutionary Socialist Party’s (RSP) T.J. Chandrachoodan and Forward Bloc’s Debabrata Biswas signed the joint statement.

 

“The Manmohan Singh government has embarked on this patently anti-national step along with measures to remove the FDI limit in various sectors and open up more areas to foreign capital including vital sectors like the media,” said the joint.

 

“(With this) the Congress-led Government has laid out a road map for the privatisation of the public sector units as it will require only a small step to bring down the Government stake to a minority, that is below 50 per cent,” the joint statement added.

 

The Left parties also asked to “all patriotic forces” to demand cancellation of the disinvestment measures.

 

“The Left parties will actively mobilise and lend support to the struggles of the public sector employees and the working class against disinvestment,” the statement said.

Source ANI

Kolkata: An Indian man with a penchant for collecting railway stamps has compiled a book “The Great Indian Railways Through Philately”, which has exclusive, pictorial story of Indian railways depicted through stamps.

 

The man behind this unique book is Mujibullah, who has a vast personal collection of rare stamps issued on the railways.

 

He feels that his book will not only visually appeal or generate interest in railways but also into the fantastic world of history of stamps.

 

"Just to focus this book because stamp collection is dying in the world. To promote this book is written on railways philately through railways," said Mujibullah.

 

For the rail lovers and philatelists, the book contains stamps varying from Victorian Railways to Different Rakes, State Rail Stamps issued by Indian Postal Departments.

 

Mujibullah''s book has all the stamps from 1937 till 2009 issued by the Indian postal department.

 

"From 1937 onwards till 2009 all the stamps which have been issued by the Indian postal department on railways have been clearly described in this book and this book is going to help the young collector who wants to collect railways stamps is going to be good guideline for them," said Mohammed Mujibullah.

 

He adds, he has 38 different collections of stamps varying from personalities to toys, manufacturing, railways, engines, super fast trains etc. It is complete 10 frames exhibit which shows history of steam locomotive from A point.

 

Among his rare collection, he owns the First Postal Currency Stamp, also called Fractional Currency, issued in 1866 during the Civil War in the Honduras.

 

Other rare pieces include the New Brunswick stamps of 1860, the first postage stamps in the world with locomotives. The steam engine on the stamp commuted between St John. to Mancton railway stations.

 

The eye-catching category of stamps includes cartoon rail stamps showing different cartoon characters in different locomotives. From Mickey Mouse in a parcel van or driving a steam engine.

Source ANI

Singhbum (Jharkhand): Rasika Koda, father of former Jharkhand Chief Minster Madhu Koda, on Friday defended his son and said that his son is a simple man and not a corrupt politician who indulged in money laundering to amass wealth and allied assets.

While talking to the media at Patahatu, the native village of Kodas in Jharkhand’s Singhbum district, the 68- year-old father, sternly ruled out his son Madhu Koda''s involvement in the scams, which is believed to be in the range of Rs 400 crore. 

“He (Madhu Koda) doesn''t steal from anyone. He never fights with anyone either. He is same the way he was in his school. He is a very simple man,” Rasika Koda said.

While, Damu Singh, a childhood friend of the former State chief, said: “He is a good man as I know him from the childhood.” 

The Enforcement Directorate had charged Koda and his former Cabinet colleagues under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on October 9, for allegedly amassing assets worth several hundred crores.

Estimated at Rs 300 to 400 crore, his investments are allegedly spread from Singapore to Thailand to Dubai to Liberia. 

Koda is currently admitted to Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Apollo Hospital in Ranchi, after he complained of health complications such as pain in his abdomen, giddiness, nausea, and vomiting, and was admitted in a city hospital on Tuesday (November 03).

Income Tax sleuths have indicated that Madhu Koda will be arrested as soon as he is discharged from the hospital in Ranhi.

Source ANI

New Delhi: The Editors Guild of India has deeply mourned the untimely demise of veteran editor, columnist and Gandhian activist Prabhash Joshi in New Delhi on the night of November 5.

 

Joshi was one of the active members of the Guild, who had strived hard throughout his career in journalism to uphold freedom of the press and worked for perfecting professional standards.

 

He was one of the pioneers of Hindi journalism, who introduced new styles of writing both in political and sports fields.

 

Joshi launched Jansatta and as its editors for 12 years, broke new ground in journalism.

 

He continued as the chief editorial adviser. He was also very adept in English journalism, as he served the Indian Express as Resident Editor at Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Delhi.

 

Joshi’s column Kagad Kare and his commentaries on proceedings of Parliament and state legislature were eagerly anticipated by readers of the newspapers he served.

 

Recently he had launched the weekly column Aughat Ghat in Tehelka Hindi.

 

Joshi has led the struggle against repression of press freedom during the Emergency.

 

He always believed that freedom of the press was not only for journalists and editors, but it was a right enjoyed by the citizen.

 

Hence he was always insistent that journalists should use press freedom only on behalf of the people, and on behalf of any vested interest.

 

The Guild conveys its heartfelt condolences to Usha Joshi and other members of the bereaved family.

Source ANI

New Delhi/ Deoband: Activists and supporters of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) staged a mass protest in New Delhi against Muslim clerics for issuing fatwa (legal pronouncement in Islam), asking Muslims not to sing national song “Vande Mataram” on Friday.

 

The Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind passed the fatwa on Vande Mataram during its 30th general session held at the Islamic seminary in Deoband on Tuesday (November 3) by contending that some of the verses of the song are against the tenets of their religion.

 

Carrying placards and shouting slogans, the agitated right wing Hindu activists of the VHP also burnt an effigy.

 

The VHP activists demanded that Union Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram and Indian yoga guru Baba Ramdev, who were present at the Deoband convention should apologise.

 

Chidambaram, however, had denied his presence at the function when the fatwa was endorsed.

 

“Our demand is that Muslim clerics should take back their irresponsible and anti-national step and P Chidambaram (India''s interior minister) and Ramdev (Indian yoga guru) both should apologised to the country because this is against the constitution,” said B L Sharma, a former parliamentarian and a leader of VHP.

 

Some Muslim groups also say singing the national song "Vande Mataram" would be against Islam because it had strong connotations of Hindu deity worship as it reveres India as a holy goddess.

 

Vande Mataram written by Bankim Chandra Chatterji was expected to become the national anthem when Indian became independent in 1947.

 

But objections by Muslims resulted in another song, Jana Gana Mana Adhinayak Jaya He, written by Rabindranath Tagore becoming the anthem.

Source ANI

Srinagar: Activists of the People''s Democratic Party (PDP) led by chief Mehbooba Mufti, staged a peaceful march in Srinagar on Friday to protest against the ban on prepaid mobile phone connections in the State.

Earlier, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had decided not to issue fresh pre-paid mobile connections in Jammu and Kashmir on account of security concerns. And as per the policy the existing pre-paid SIM cards were banned in the State on November 1.

Mehbooba Mufti said that the decision has resulted in complete chaos, as thousands of people who were associated with recharge kiosks in the State have been rendered jobless. 

“Because of this ban 40,000 youth of the state have gone jobless. When prepaid mobile services are available throughout the country, it is a discrimination against the 3.8 million people using this service in the state,” Mehbooba Mufti said.

Mufti further said that that the residents of the State consider the decision as lack of faith in them.

“The State Chief (Omar Abdullah) and the Home minister have said that situation is improving in Jammu and Kashmir and the number of militants operating in the State are reducing. In this scenario, they should have tried to win the faith of people. We ask them to show faith oin the people of the State,” Mufti added.

Mobile services were introduced in the Kashmir valley a few years ago. It is estimated that there will be business loss of around Rs 3 billion in the State as out of the 45 million connections, 3.9 million connections are pre-paid.

The Ministry had even asked the Department of Telecommunications to take appropriate action in the matter for implementation of the decision.

The step came in the wake of the reports that proper verification was not being done while providing such pre-paid mobile connections by the service providers/vendors.

In some cases, a single person had been issued with multiple number of connections. Fake documents/identity numbers were also reportedly being used by the vendors particularly, in the case of pre-paid connections. This situation had given rise to serious security concerns.

Source ANI

Ahmedabad: The Kamala Nehru Zoological Park in Ahmedabad has offered a chance to its residents to adopt wild animals and birds through a scheme. 

The scheme “friends of the zoo”, was launched last year, and invites the locals to adopt an animal against some money, which is utilized by the zoo authorities to feed the animal.

According to Deputy Superintendent of the zoo, Dr NK Savdhariya, around 37 persons adopted a total of 57 animals at a total cost of Rs. 10, 56, 000 last year. However, only 20 persons have come forward this year, he added.

Reacting to question that the adoptions till date highlights a preference among the adopters for herbivores animals, Dr Savdhariya said: “Every individual has a budget of his own. Not every individual is capable of investing a large sum of money. The cost must be such that the individual is able to bear it. The visitors who come here to adopt birds or animals, mainly belong to the middle class, they are not millionaires.”

“That is why they invest keeping their budget in mind. Due to budget restraints, most of the people prefer to adopt birds and it isn''t the case that that they have an allergy towards carnivorous animals. They just go by their budget,” he added.

Alok Jain, a businessman who has adopted a peacock from the zoo, said that he had adopted the bird, as he believes that every animal has the right to be free.

“They are giving vegetarian food to the peacocks. There are many animals like lion and tigers, but they are taking non-veg intakes. So, we prefer that the bird which we are planning to adopt, must be a vegetarian, as we strongly believe in our principle of to live and let live,” Jain said.

Source ANI