India News

New Delhi: Bhutan King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Tuesday signed agreements in various sectors, including water resources to civil aviation.

The 29-year-old Bhutanese sovereign is on his first foreign visit since his formal coronation in November 2008.

“This is a reflection of the importance that Bhutan attaches to Indo-Bhutan friendship and at the same time it is also reflection of the commitment that I have towards further strengthening the cooperation and the friendship that exists between our two countries,” Wangchuck said.

On Tuesday, Wangchuck began his programme with a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. He then proceeded with a memorial of Mahatma Gandhi at Raj Ghat.

Wangchuck also met Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna, who had called upon him at Taj Hotel.

He is also slated to meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj, President Pratibha Devisingh Patil and Vice President Hamid Ansari.

India and Bhutan share a historic friendship and India has been the forerunner in providing assistance towards Bhutan''s development.

India will help Bhutan in setting up ten projects by 2020 to generate 11,000 MW of hydroelectric power.

Bhutan, with a population under 700,000 people, is becoming an important source of hydroelectric power for India.

It sells power to India at a subsidised rate in return for financial help in building hydroelectric plants.

The new Bhutanese government is aiming for annual economic growth of around nine percent over the next decade, and much of this will come from Indian investment.

Source ANI

Jaipur: A photo exhibition drew fans from all over the country to see many unexplored facets of Late Gayatri Devi the princess of Jaipur.

Organised by a close friend of Gayatri Devi has many blown up photographs from her album for public view- a fantastic experience for her admirers.

"This exhibition should go round the country, even the photographers are enjoying the beauty of the photographs. Even the paintings, which were painted by the famous painters and artist, we have replicas with us here in the exhibition. the paintings are also getting appreciation by the artists. so, I would say that not only for the people of Jaipur but for every photographer and painter it is very inspiring and educative," said Sudhir Kasliwal, exhibitor and a close friend.

It has a unique collection of more than 250 photographs, some in black and white and some in bright colours adding grace to the one of the most beautiful woman in the world.
The exhibitions encompasses every moment of her life, right from three-months old Gayatri till the last photograph clicked when she was 90 years of age but yet graceful.

"I have always been an admirer of Maharani Sahiba (Gayatri Devi) and this is an opportunity to see her entire life in a capsule and some of the photographs are very rare which we as ordinary people or citizens have never seen. And it is a wonderful experience," exclaimed Madhuri Dayal, a visitor.

Projected as one of the most beautiful women in the world by the Vogue Magazine, Gayatri Devi breathed her last on July 29, 2009 after a prolonged illness.

Born into the royal family of Cooch Behar, Gayatri Devi married Sawai Man Singh, the then ruler of the princely Jaipur state, in 1939. She was his third wife.

Source ANI

Many more professional training institutions have mushroomed, including dental, nursing and even fashion technology.  Who has not heard of Aishwarya Rai and Shilpa Shetty who belong to the region?   
 
The two coastal districts had the advantage of having colleges within an hours’ bus travel from any village.  The spread of education has seen young men from the area settle in almost all parts of the country in banks or professional institutions – as doctors or engineers and now IT experts.  A question that must have risen among many elders must have been – is our Tulu culture being swept away?  
 
It was natural that many must have felt that it was necessary to conserve the culture of the region, which has produced authors of the repute of Shivarama Karanth, Muddana, Manjeshwar Govind Pai , Sara Abubakar , and many others
 
  A fallout has been the organization of the International Tulu Convention --Vishwa Tulu Sammelano 2009 – organized from  September 19 to December 13 at different centers in Tulu speaking districts.  An effort was made to project the Tulu language, attire of the people of the area, their food specialties and life style. 
 
 The Tulu Convention was organized by Padma Bhushan Dr Veerendra Heggade. Among the Tuluvas  who visited the convention and participated in various events included the Swamiji of Pejavar,  the Chief Minister of Karnataka, Mr Yediyurappa, Home Minister of Karnataka, V.S. Acharya, the Central Law Minister Veerappa Moily, the Governor of Uttaranchal Margaret Alva, and  former Central Minister Oscar Fernandes, Fifteen persons from Tulu Nadu, who had distinguished themselves in various fields , were honoured at the convention.
 
Participating in the convention were artistes from the region, who performed traditional Yakshagana episodes, the bootha (or spirit) worship, Tulu dramas and Hari Kathas. A typical Tulu village was erected which depicted how in village schools, temples, masjids and churches co-existed, along with local officials and professionals like teachers and doctors.  The village also depicted the crafts that still exist and depend on local crops like rice, sugar cane, areca and cocoanut.
 
Over seven lakh people participated in the culminating phase of the Tulu convention, which succeeded in instilling in the people a pride in the Tulu culture.  The address by Law Minister Veerappa Moily, a prominent Tuluva who was the Chief Minister of the State and a well –known scholar having authored the Ramayana Anveshanam and other works which won him the coveted Moorthidevi award from the Jnanapith foundation, echoed the desire of the listeners. 
 
Veerappa Moily told the listeners that he would try to follow the appeal of the Tuluvas for inclusion of their language in the Eighth Schedule of the constitution.  The demand for inclusion was made in 2002, following a conference in the national capital, but it foundered.  He said that there have been recent instances when languages which did not have an active script were given the status. 
 
The epilogue to the conference was an address by its President, Veerendra Heggade, a Jain heading the Hindu Dharmastala Manjunatheshwara temple, who said that his greatest satisfaction was to see the active participation of Hindus, Christians and Muslims in the Tulu sammelan, in a spirit of togetherness and feeling that they belonged to a family.
 
Having witnessed it, I wish the sentiment echoes in other parts of the country as well.
 
I. Ramamohan Rao, former Principal Information Officer, Government of India.  
E:mail: raoramamohan@hotmail.com

Source ANI

The month of December was marked by agitations in different parts of the country for the carving out of separate states like Telangana in Andhra Pradesh, Gorkhaland in West Bengal, Bodoland in Assam, Vidharbha in Maharashtra and Harit Pradesh in Uttar Pradesh.
 
For a while, the agitations made people ask whether it was time for the appointment of a second States Reorganisation Commission after half a century.
 
In contrast to all the turbulence, I was witness to another effort along the western coast of India, the South Kanara and Udupi districts of Karnataka,  to revive and consolidate the centuries old Tulu culture. According to scholars, Tulu was the first off shoot of the Proto-South Dravidian language family 2000 years ago.  The people of the region find mention in Asoka’s edicts, which refer to them as ‘Satiya Puta’ while Tamil Sangam literature refers to them as ‘Kosher’.  
 
The inhabitants of Tulu Nadu, which includes the former district of Dakshina Kannada -- now divided into South Kanara and Udupi districts -- along with the adjacent areas of Kasaragod district of Kerala, have a distinct culture, though their mother tongue, Tulu, has no living script.  The original Tulu script, which is over twenty centuries old, is now defunct and has not been in vogue for over 300 years.
 
The present culture of Tulu areas is composite in nature.  People of different communities — Hindus, Muslims-referred to as Beary --Christians, Jains – live together.  Besides the famous Sri Krishna Temple of Udupi, the area also has Jain temples, Christian churches and Masjids.
 
The most famous Jain temple is the 1000 pillar ‘Basadi’ at Moodubidri and the stone statue of Mahabali or Mahaveeera at Karkala, Venoor and Dharmastala.  People of the region are keen to conserve the old Tulu culture, which is in danger of being swept away by modernisation.
 
Tulu Nadu is located west of the Western Ghats, along the Arabian Sea coast from Coondapur in the north to Kasargod in the south.  It has retained and absorbed various cultures, for centuries, and grown richer in the process. Today, the languages that are used in the region include Tulu, Kannada (the state language), Konkani ,  Hindi and Urdu. An estimate is that nearly a million people speak Tulu. 
 
Tulu Nadu is also well known for the banks that have originated there.  It was said that people of the area may not be rich, but they know how to manage the money of the rich.  The banks, which originated in the area, are the Canara Bank, the Syndicate Bank, the Corporation Bank and the Vijaya Bank – which have all been nationalized  -- and the Karnataka Bank, which is still a private holding.
 
The area is also known for its educational institutions. The Basel Mission was followed by the Roman Catholic institutions.  The district was known for the famous St Aloysius College, which is more than a century old.  It is now known for its medical, engineering and other professional institutions.  The earliest came under the umbrella of Manipal—the Kasturba Mediacal College and the Manipal Institute of Technology – were founded four decades ago.

Source ANI

New Delhi: India''s second largest IT firm Infosys is all set for a change in its leadership with Infosys chief NR Narayana Murthy most likely to retire in 2011.

In an interview to a news channel, Murthy shared his opinion on who will take over as the next chief after his retirement, saying that Infosys has a lot of talented people and indirectly hinted out that somebody loyal to the organisation will take the charge, selected mainly on the basis of merit and competence. 

"I would not like to rule out bringing talent from outside. Will first assess talent from within and reward loyal people," he added.

Infosys Human Resources Head Mohandas Pai also gave his opinion on who would take over from Narayana Murthy. He said the biggest challenge for Infosys is the transition from a founder-led to a non-founder led firm, but was adamant on his point that the brand equity of Infosys is much larger than those of its founders.

Infosys has created a strong structure and is not dependent on any individual, added Pai.

Source ANI

New Delhi: Reacting to the comments made by Pakistan''s High Commissioner in India, Shahid Malik, that India is not fulfilling its commitments to de-link the composite talks from action on terrorism, Minster of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday said the onus is on Pakistan to make the ground for a suitable dialogue.

In an exclusive interview to a news channel on Sunday (December 20), Shahid Malik referring to the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani in Sharm-el-Sheikh said, "Something that we agreed on, has not been acted upon."

Malik said Pakistani investigators were looking for full proof evidence to take action against all those involved in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, and defended the speed with which Pakistan was dealing with the case.

Source ANI

Chandigarh: The Rajya Sabha discussed the Ruchika molestation case on Tuesday, as accused former Director General of Police (DGP) of Haryana, SPS Rathore got a six month jail term for the heinous act committed 19 years ago.

SPS Rathore was charged with molesting a 14-year old girl. He has been convicted and sentenced, but got bail almost immediately.

CBI'' special magistrate J S Sidhu while sentencing 67-year-old Rathore to six months rigorous imprisonment (RI) during in-camera proceedings also imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 on the accused who will have to further undergo one month of RI in case of default.

Rathore allegedly molested teenager Ruchika Girhotra, a promising young tennis star in 1990. He was then an Inspector General of Police and the head of Haryana''s Lawn Tennis Federation.

Teenager Ruchika killed herself three years after the incident by drinking poison.
 
Ruchika''s family says the police constantly harassed them not to file a case against Rathore.

Source ANI

Indore: Indore police claims to have solved the murder of Amrita Pancholi, a lady professor at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Indore, with the arrest of her driver.

The body of 32-year old Amrita Pancholi was found inside the university campus at the Indian Institute of Management Indore (IIM-I) on Friday (December 18) morning with stab injuries.

The victim was a resident of Udaipur and had been living inside the university campus for the last one and a half years.

Amrita Pancholi worked as an associate professor in Human Resources Management. Pancholi was also working as a consultant on behalf of the IIM-I for at least three major Corporate Houses.

The police had sealed her residence inside the campus, and began the inquiry to track down what exactly had happened.

Source ANI

Samba (Jammu and Kashmir): The Border Security Force (BSF) hindered major infiltration bids by militants to enter Indian territory on Tuesday as Pakistani troops fired at two forward posts in the Samba sector.

Firing began on Monday night from the Pakistani side. The BSF retaliated after Pakistani troops opened fire at the Kandral border outpost.

This is the fifth case of ceasefire violation within a week.

The officials posted at the site claimed that a BSF patrol party noticed some movement of militants at two posts - S M Pur and S M Pur-one - in Ramgarh sub sector of Samba and challenged the militants.

Inspector General (IG) of BSF, Jammu frontier, A K Sarolia said a red alert has been sounded across the region and patrolling has been intensified.

The militants did not succeed in infiltrating into Jammu and Kashmir added the BSF IG.

In a pre-dawn attack on Sunday, border outposts at Londi and Bobiya were targeted and at a flag meeting held, India decided to lodge its protest against ceasefire violation.

A BSF jawan was killed on Saturday, while two others were injured in the cross border firing that took place at the Kranti post near the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch.

Source ANI

Nagpur: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Nitin Gadkari has said he would hold internal consultations before deciding on re-inducting estranged leaders.

He was reacting to a question on taking back firebrand leaders like Uma Bharti, Kalyan Singh and K N Govindacharya.

"I have not got gone to Delhi. After going, I will hold discussions with party leaders, then only I can tell what is the decision," he told reporters here.

Gadkari said a decision on finalizing the name of the party''s state unit chief for Kerala would also be taken after consultations with colleagues in New Delhi.

"There are different views on taking a decision. I have just arrived yesterday in Nagpur after taking charge. I was in Delhi only for four-five hours. We work as a team. I will hold discussions with my colleagues, then we would take a decision on that and then I would be able to say anything," he said.

After major changes in the BJP, Gadkari replaced Rajnath Singh as the President of the BJP while Advani stepped down for Sushma Swaraj to be elected as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

Source ANI

Palasia (West Bengal): Hundreds of villagers owing allegiance to People''s Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA), a pro-Maoist organisation, stormed the premises of the Range Forest office near Palasia in west Midnapore district of West Bengal and set it on fire on Monday.

The irate villagers said that they torched the office in retaliation to the police highhandedness and as a protest against the arrest of their local PCAPA functionaries.

"On the evening of sixth December 2009, the police swooped in here and dragged people who were working in the fields. They rounded up locals named Joydeb Bera and Raju Adak. And when ladies of the village went to question such atrocities, they charged canes...to protest against such a cruel attitude of the authorities, we have gathered here under the banner of People''s Committee against Police Atrocities, we are staging a sit in strike. Zindabad (hail) our crusade against police highhandedness and we will protest till Joydeb Bera and Adak are released," said Sanatan Hansda, a PCAPA leader.

West Bengal is among the most Maoist-affected states in India.

The Maoist violence -- estimated to have caused 600 to 700 deaths annually and the displacement 100,000 civilians -- has spread to 182 of India''s 602 districts and has been declared as the country''s single biggest internal security threat.

The Maoists have stepped up violence across eastern and central India.

They have attacked schools and police stations, and used landmines and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) to disrupt infrastructure development projects.

The main objective of the Maoists is to prevent the development of infrastructure in remote areas, which so far has remained their exclusive domain.

Thousands have been killed by Maoists in the recent past. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the Maoist threat one of the gravest homegrown threats to India''s internal security.

The Maoists claim they are fighting for the rights of poor farmers and landless labourers, but they are fast losing credibility as they continue attacking schools, hospitals and infrastructure projects.

Source ANI

Darjeeling: Union Home Secretary G K Pillai has said the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) has asked for a political-level discussion at the next round of talks.

Talking to reporters after holding tripartite talks with representatives of the GJM and the State government here on Monday, Pillai said: "We had detailed discussions with the state government and the GJM on various aspects of the formation of the state of Gorkhaland, the issues involved and the political consensus that needed to be created which is not there at the moment."

"We looked at the various Constitutional provisions as well as the manner in which new states are created...giving the present circumstances, the GJM indicated that they would like the next round of talks to be held at the political level. They suggested that these talks be held at the political-level within 45 days," he added.

The state government and the Centre will give their views and we will come before them (GJM) within that period," Pillai said.

Asked if the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC), set up in 1988, would continue to function, Pillai said: "It will do so if it is not repealed. In the last tripartite meeting in Delhi on August 11, it was agreed to abolish DGHC and work for an alternative framework in Darjeeling."

However, representatives of the GJM said the only solution was to create a separate state.

"They said that they would be getting back to the Home Minister. They will be talking with them...our only demand is Gorkhaland, we didn''t budge an inch from the demand of Gorkhaland. We have made it very clear that nothing sort of Gorkhaland is created the problem can''t be solved," said Roshan Giri, general secretary of GJM.

Gorkhas, who are ethnic Nepalese, have been demanding that a separate state should be carved out of the Darjeeling region, which would help them to protect their culture and heritage.

The demand for Gorkhaland gained momentum after New Delhi announced last week that it would carve out a new state of Telangana out of the present state of Andhra Pradesh in south India.

Source ANI

Patna: Former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi held a protest demonstration against the State government for its failure to check rising prices.

Hundreds of activists belonging to different political parties protested in front of the Bihar Legislative Assembly.

Rabri Devi accused the Nitish Kumar government of failing to check rising prices.

"The government should stop black-marketing of food commodities. He (Nitish Kumar) is encouraging businessmen and the black marketers and is anti-poor. The people of Bihar are seeing this and the leaders of Bihar are looking at this and demanding action against the rising prices," she said.

Meanwhile, Sharavan Kumar, the convener of Janata Dal (United) said that if it was the state government''s duty to check rising prices, why was New Delhi also facing a similar problem.

"If the prices are high in Bihar. I would like to know why are they high in Maharashtra and Delhi. Congress is ruling in two-thirds of the states, and if the state government was responsible for the price hike, then prices should not have been high in Delhi," Kumar claimed.

Heavy rainfall and floods this year has hurt summer crops and pushed up food prices.
India''s annual wholesale price inflation was 1.34 percent in October, but the benign numbers just reflect the high base effect of prices a year ago, and hide the real rise in prices of food articles. The WPI has already risen over 6 percent from the beginning of the 2009-10 financial years that started in April.

Economists have said inflation could rise to as much as eight percent by the end of the financial year -- above the central bank''s perceived comfort zone of around five percent.

Source ANI

New Delhi: Former Australian High Commissioner to India John McCarthy has been appointed as the new Chair of the Australia-India Council (AIC).

McCarthy brings a wealth of experience to his role as Chair of the Council having served with distinction as Australia’s High Commissioner to India for five years from 2004 to 2009.

His distinguished forty-year diplomatic career has included postings as Australia’s Ambassador to the United States, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. McCarthy is currently Australia’s Special Representative to Sri Lanka.

The Australia-India people-to-people links are increasing, along with an elevated bilateral relationship to the level of a strategic partnership. The Australia-India Council ensures that the relationship extends into diverse fields such as culture, economics, science, public health and sport.

The Australia-India Council was established by the Australian Government in 1992 to broaden and deepen Australia-India relations through contacts and exchanges in a range of fields that promote mutual awareness and understanding.

McCarthy joins three other new Members appointed to the Australia-India Council Board by the Governor-General in September 2009:

Professor Brien Holden OAM: Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Eye Research, the International Centre for Eyecare Education (ICEE), the Vision Cooperative Research Centre (Vision CRC) and Professor of Optometry at the University of New South Wales. Professor Holden has long enjoyed a relationship with India in research and education, particularly with the LV Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad.

Professor Margaret Sheil: Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Research Council (ARC). Prior to her appointment to the ARC in 2007, she had a long and distinguished academic career in chemistry, most recently as Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) at the University of Wollongong.

Professor Gillian Whitlock: Professor of English at the University of Queensland. She is the author and editor of a number of books on life narrative, Australian literature and Australian Studies.

Other AIC Board Members are: Mr Vinod Daniel, Chairman of AusHeritage; Ms Suzanne Davies, Director and Chief Curator of the RMIT Gallery; Indian politics and media expert Professor Robin Jeffrey; and, DFAT Deputy Secretary Mr Miles Kupa.

Source ANI

New Delhi: Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh will on Tuesday make a statement in the Rajya Sabha on the Copenhagen Accord.

The Copenhagen Summit has been described as an accord, a non-binding agreement that was arrived at the very last minute by a small group of countries to fight climate change. Both India and China walked out of the summit and this has exposed a failure of leadership when faced with a great global challenge.

After two-weeks of hectic negotiations that continued in the Copenhagen Summit, Jairam Ramesh is expected to put forward the point that the sovereignty of India has been well protected and table the strategies of the Central Government post Copenhagen.

Source ANI

New Delhi: The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh is at present holding a discussion on the Telangana issue with his cabinet colleagues, and the Central Government is most likely to issue a statement on Tuesday on the same.

The Core Group of the Congress party has also met to discuss the issue.

Earlier on Monday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured delegation of MPs from Coastal Andhra and the Rayalaseema region that he would come out with a solution over the issue by Tuesday.

Apprehensive over the Telangana issue, the delegation met the Prime Minister and urged him to take a firm decision in the matter.

Union Ministers Panabaka Laxmi and Subbirami Reddy were among the MPs, who met the Prime Minister.

One of the delegates, K S Rao said on Monday that the people of coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema were worried after Home Minister P Chidambaram announced that the process for the formation of the Telangana State has begun.

The Centre''s decision to initiate the process for the formation of the Telangana State has stirred a hornet''s nest, as various political outfits in Andhra Pradesh have raised objections over the issue.

The Central Government has to consider consequences before making a final statement. The UPA government at the Centre is also under pressure from the pro-Telangana group of MPs and MLAs.

Source ANI

New Delhi: Union Agriculture and Food Minister Sharad Pawar on Tuesday appealed to the sugar mills to ensure continuous and adequate supplies of ethanol to the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) not only to make ethanol blending programme a success in India, but also to ensure adequate price for ethanol as well as sugar in all the years.

Addressing the 75th Annual General Meeting of Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) in the national capital, Pawar informed that a broad agreement has emerged on the supply of ethanol and its pricing which will be announced very soon.
 
He said that only after a successful implementation of five percent ethanol blending programme, that the Government can have the confidence to embark upon a higher percentage of ethanol blending, which may go upto ten percent.
 
Pawar also said that the Government has already fixed the fair and remunerative price (FRP) of sugarcane for 2009-10 sugar season at Rs.129.84 per quintal, which is more than 50 percent higher than the cost of production and transportation incurred, on an average, by the sugarcane farmers in India.

The FRP is a benchmark price fixed by the Central Government and sugar factories cannot pay a price for sugarcane below this FRP.

He urged the sugar factories to consider paying a reasonably good price to farmers for sugarcane, which should be about 70 percent of the price of sugar received by the mills in view of the current prevailing sugar prices.

Referring to the criticism of the Central Government for having not been able to correctly estimate the production figures for 2008-09 sugar season, the Minister pointed out that the estimation of sugar production is dependent on several factors, including the estimates made by the concerned State Governments as well as the sugar industry itself.

Source ANI

Shadipora (J-K): After a gap of 11 years, Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ganderbal district are celebrating Pushkar festival with fervour and gaiety in the Shadipora area.

 

Kashmiri Pandits in the region have been closely associated with the festival. It is based on the belief that those who take a dip in the waters of the Sangam get their souls cleansed of all sins. The waters of the Sangam are believed to be holy and that they cure several diseases and ailmetns.

 

The ongoing 11-day long festival is held on the banks of the confluence of two rivers, Jhelum and Sindh. The point of confluence of rivers, or "Sangam", is 30 kilometres from Srinagar, city.

 

"So, we have come here to take bath and we will pray for our forefathers and all other things. For doing prayers, we have come here," said Bharat Raina , a Kashmiri Pandit.

 

The event is a major draw for devotees from all over India.

 

According to a tourism officer, Abdul Aziz Mir, around 7,000 devotees have arrived in the Valley to take part in the festival, and all necessary arrangements have been made for them.

 

"So, we have come here to take bath and we will pray for our forefathers and all other things. For doing prayers, we have come here," said Janardan Reddy, a devotee from Andhra Pradesh.

 

After performing the ritual prayers for their forefathers, devotees also pray for world peace.

 

"Everybody benefits from the ongoing festival. And that includes hotel owners, taxi drivers, houseboat owners and handicraft makers. Everybody profits. Devotees come and spend money here. If just one tourist spends around 10,000 rupees ($213), then you can imagine how much profit we make from the festival," said Hilal Ahmed, a Kashmiri Muslim.

 

During the festival, locals create temporary shelters for devotees and ensure that all basic facilities such as food, water, health-care and transport are readily available.

 

The festival began on Sunday (December 20) and will last till Friday (January 01).

Source ANI

New Delhi: Union Railways Ministry on Tuesday said that it will soon introduce the first ever ‘Yuva Trains’ which are targeted mainly for the unemployed youths of the country.

Initially two separate weekly trains will be started as a pilot service between Mumbai to Delhi and Delhi to Kolkata, and if successful it will be extended to other parts of the country.

The concept of the ‘Yuva Trains’ was initiated and announced by Union Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee in her Railway Budget 2009-10.

“The young generation is our asset and we are proud of them. Due to economic difficulties poor youth are not able to travel on our trains. I will run “Yuva Trains” dedicated specially for the young generation,” Banerjee had said.

“These trains will be introduced between major cities to ensure that the youth and low income groups can travel at low rates between these cities. The new low-priced fast train service will be started to connect youth in rural hinterlands to major metros/cities,” she added.

The total chargeable fare for ‘Yuva’ passengers inclusive of reservation fee, superfast train charge and development charge would not exceed Rs.299 up to a distance of 1500 kilometres and Rs. 399 for distance beyond 1500 up to 2500 kms.

Minimum distance for charge will be 100 kms for both Yuva and Non-Yuva passengers, and children in the age group of five years and above, but below 12 years will continue to be charged half fare.

The ‘Yuva Train’ fares will be applicable to unemployed persons between the age group of 15 to 45 years, who fulfill the criteria of Yuva to be ascertained on the basis of Certificate issued under National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREGA) and valid Registration card issued by a Government run Employment Exchange.

Tickets will be issued on production of original of any of the above certificates at the counter, a photocopy of which should be retained along with reservation requisition as in the case of other concessions.

Tatkal scheme would not be applicable in this category.

Initially, 60 per cent of the total number of coaches will be earmarked for ‘Yuva’ category and the remaining will be earmarked for general passengers (non-Yuva). It will be reviewed after six months of introduction of the trains.

Source ANI

New Delhi: Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal on Tuesday called on U.K. Business Secretary Lord Mandelson in the national capital and underlined India’s intent to expand education sector without compromising the quality.

Sibal said that the Indian entrepreneurs and industry will need to get involved more in education in order to supplement the Government’s efforts, which is required for adequate capacity building in education.

The Minister also emphasized that Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has said that 500 million Indians must be skilled by 2010.

“Not only is capacity building required for this, but we also need to work with industry for skills to be developed for the market,” Sibal said.

Sibal is scheduled to visit U.K. in January and there he will be taking a first hand look at the education system, especially the school education system in the context of accreditation, vocational training and skill development.

Source ANI

Bangalore: Sixteen enthusiastic bikers, all cadets of the National Cadet Corps, embarked on a bike rally in Bangalore on Tuesday to spread awareness about historical monuments and the need to protect heritage.

During the rally the bikers will cover historical monuments of Karnataka and Goa, and a distance of 5,000 kilometers in 14 days.
Vani Aggarwal, a biker participating in the expedition, said that the main aim of the expedition was to spread the message of the need to protect our heritage.

“This expedition is mainly to protect our heritage so that the future generations can see our heritage,” Aggarwal said.

Captain Ajay Pavithran, leader of the group, said that this is the third expedition that he has participating in for a noble cause.

The bikers will visit the cities of Belur, Udipi, Panaji, Badami and Hampi.

The team will also strive to create awareness to about AIDS among the local people.

Source ANI

Pulwama (Jammu-Kashmir): At least one Special Police Officer and three other policemen were injured, two of them critically, when a police team came under a terrorist attack here on Tuesday evening.     

 

The incident occurred in Pampore area of Pulwama district of the State, a private channel reported.

Source ANI

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Police have arrested three militants of Hizbul Mujahideen from Srinagar.

 

Police claimed to have recovered one AK 47 rifle and two grenades allegedly from their possession.

 

The three militants have been identified as Rafiq Magray a.k.a Aadil, Mohammad Ramzan a.k.a Ibrahim, and Iqbal Haroon a.k.a Muzaffar.

Source ANI

Chennai: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader M. Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday called upon the leaders and students to give up their hunger strike and allied protest demonstrations for and against the carving of a separate Telangana state out of Andhra Pradesh.

Addressing the media in Chennai, Naidu said: “I appeal to the leaders who are on fast in the Andhra region and other regions to give up their fast. You have sufficiently brought the issue to the notice of the Central Government and to the people. Lives of all people are important.”

He further said that the Congress party should take charge of the situation, and stop the on the issue of Telangana from deteriorating further.

“The Government should have done homework within the party, within the MLAs, within the MPs, within the ministers. They (should) have taken the Chief Minister into confidence, (who) would have talked to opposition. But, they have not spoken to opposition so far,” Naidu said.

“Okay, they have not spoken to their own party men. That''s what they are saying and I am not saying it. They are saying that they have not taken into confidence. It is very typical situation. So, it is high time for the Congress party to take charge,” he added.

Source ANI

Allahabad: Rise in temperature coupled with pollution has led to a sharp decrease in the number of migratory birds visiting the wetlands of Sangam, Uttar Pradesh’s Allahabad city.

The Triveni Sangam, a confluence of three rivers, the Ganges, the Yamuna and the Saraswati, has attained international importance as a breeding ground and an alternate habitat for a large variety of migratory as well as domestic birds.

With the onset of winters, these birds migrate from Siberia, as their home grounds freeze.

“Due to global warming, the migratory birds visiting this region are very less. The birds like cold weather, but due to high temperature the birds are not able to adjust to this region,” said Professor Ram Kirpal.

According to locals, the global rise in temperature is the main reason behind the poor numbers of birds.

“This year, the migratory birds are very less in number due to the rise in temperature. These birds do not like a hot region, which is why they are fewer in number. If this trend continues for the next few years, then these birds will stop visiting this place,” said Shambhu Nath Tripathi, a local.

He further said that many birds have already left, and are exploring other wetlands in the nearby region.

From early November onwards, these migratory birds keep arriving till December and return during the spring season.

Among the popular varieties of migratory birds visiting this wetland are large cormorant, pond heron, great egret and little egret.

Source ANI

Cuttack (Orissa): Indian middle order batsman Yuvraj Singh was on Tuesday ruled out of the ongoing one-day international (ODI) series against Sri Lanka after failing to recover from a finger injury.

“Due to the finger injury sustained earlier, Yuvraj Singh has been advised rest and therefore he will not play in the fourth and fifth ODI matches against Sri Lanka,” BCCI Secretary N. Srinivasan said in a statement.

The left-hand batsman had injured his finger during the second Twenty20 International against Sri Lanka in Mohali, which forced him out of the first two ODIs of the series at Rajkot and second Nagpur respectively.

He did take part in the third ODI at Cuttack on Monday.

Both teams will play the fourth ODI in Kolkata on December 24, and the fifth game in Delhi on December 27.

The injury is also likely to force Yuvraj out of the forthcoming tour of Bangladesh, where Team India will play a tri-series against the hosts and Sri Lanka, and a three-Test series.

India currently leads the five match series 2-1.

Source ANI

New Delhi: British Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Tuesday invited External Affairs Minister S.M.Krishna to attend the Conference on Afghanistan to be held in London on January 28, 2010.

 

Both the leaders exchanged views on bilateral relations and regional and international issues of common concern during their telephonic conversation held today following which the Miliband  invited the Indian External Affairs Minister Krishna for the conference.

 

External Affairs Minister Krishna underlined the importance of the international community reaffirming unambiguously its commitment to strengthening the Government of Afghanistan and continuing its support to the development and reconstruction of the country.

 

Krishna conveyed India’s position that the international community must show unwavering commitment in resolutely opposing, resisting and overcoming terrorism and those who nurture, sustain and give sanctuary to terrorists and extremist elements.

 

He reiterated India’s determination to fulfill its commitments to the Afghan Government and people as they build a peaceful, democratic and pluralistic Afghanistan, an MEA release stated.

Source ANI

Agartala: The Meitei Manipuri people in Tripura, who have settled and made this State their homeland, celebrated Lai Haraoba recently with pomp and show after a gap 30 years since peace has started returning to Tripura.

 

The objective of the celebration was to keep alive the cultural heritage of Manipuris who are living away from their home State and let the new generation know about their cultural heritage.

 

A team from Manipur was invited to conduct this special programme.

 

Lai Haraoba, which literally means pleasing of the Gods, festival is the biggest single key to the religion, culture and history of the Meitei Manipuri.

 

It is celebrated through oral literature, music and dance, ceremonial and ritual, which presents a unique pre-Hindu Vaishnav religion of the Manipuri people. Some believe it is the festival of Shiva and his consort Parvati.

 

The Manipuris believe that Lai Haraoba dance represents the concept of the beginning of the world.

 

“This festival is taking place at least after 25 years. I am enjoying it for the first time. Lai Haraoba is the biggest festival of the Manipuris and it means pleasing of the Gods. I think such festival unites people, said Swapna Sinha, one of the audience.

 

Hymns are narrated on the creation of this universe; the sun, the stars, the planets, the moon, the earth, air, water, etc. accompanied with dances shown through different khut-theks (hand movements).

 

Legend about the origin of the festival is that the gods held the first Lai Haraoba on the Koubru hill, so that their descendants should imitate them and perform the same as it had been done by the deities so that they will never forget the secret and sacred story of the creation of this universe and the birth of the different lives on this earth.

 

Meanwhile, people thronged the venue to have a glimpse of the classical dances and spectacular martial arts of Manipur.

 

The Manipuris have inherited their martial arts tradition from their forefathers who had to defend themselves from the attack of neighboring countries. Therefore, Manipuris developed and mastered sophisticated forms of martial arts since olden times. 

 

Of the various forms of Manipuri martial arts, sword fighting, spear fighting and wrestling are well known. A fascinating display of these martial arts skills was displayed during the function.

 

Lai Haraoba is the only cultural activity in which social, philosophical and religious life of the Meiteis is depicted.

Source ANI

Chandigarh: In a bid to promote tourism, the Chandigarh Golf Association organized a golf tournament for non-resident Indians here.

As many as 113 non-resident Indians (NRIs) from across 12 countries took part in the recently concluded 5th Chandigarh Golfing Tournament, which lasted for three days.

The Centrally administered northern enclave of Chandigarh, which also serves as the capital of the northern states of Haryana and Punjab, has several golf courses, some of them being the best in the country. These include Chandigarh Golf Club, Chandi Mandir Golf Course, Punchkula Golf Course, and the one managed by the Chandigarh Golf Association.

Promoters of the game say, Chandigarh offers a cost-effective venue for playing golf, as compared to any of the major golf hubs in the world. For a large number of expatriates visiting the region, a golf tour would be an added attraction.

D.K. Tiwari, Managing Director, Chandigarh Industrial Tourism Corporation, said that now Chandigarh was attracting a lot of people thanks to the introduction of golf.

"See, CITCO (Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation Limited) promoted tourism through its various outlets. Through its hotels, we have been encouraging tourists to visit Chandigarh. Now golf attracts a lot of people," said Tiwari.

The golf courses in the region also provide coaching to upcoming players, both residents and visitors.

Famous Indian golfer, Jeev Milkha Singh, lauded the fact that many Indians were taking to the sport.

"I think it''s fantastic to see so many Indians are playing golf all over the world. They are so keen that they have flown from each and every part of the world to see and participate in this tournament, and I''m proud to be born in the city like Chandigarh. They are hosting a tournament like this, and everybody has made the effort to come down and play and mingle with each other and, you know, make the most out of it," said Singh.

Chandigarh, which is strategically situated and well-connected to all neighbouring states of Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, besides the national capital New Delhi, has excellent infrastructure facilities in the hospitality sector.

The city also hosts an annual Chandigarh Golf Open Championship, which attracts national and international players.

Designed by the Swiss-French architect, Le Corbusier and his team of architects, Chandigarh is the first ''planned'' city of India. The city has neatly laid out roads and parks, buildings ranging against mountain peaks, boulevards and streets lined by rows of trees and shrubs.

Source ANI

Samba: Alert Border Security Force (BSF) personnel successfully foiled an infiltration bid by militants at the International Border (IB) in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday.

It was a third attempt to cross the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border in last four days.

Militants targeted Indian posts of SM Pur, SM Pur-1 and Kangral besides surrounding areas in Ramgarh sector to enter the Indian territory.

The BSF personnel, who were maintaining a high alert along the IB, observed movement of some people on their sophisticated gadgetry.

The militants reportedly started firing at the security personnel to sneak-in, to which the security forces retaliated by firing and thwarted the infiltration bid.

The Inspector General of BSF said that the militants might have been injured during the firing, however, presently the situation was under control.

"One or two militants must have suffered injuries. They might have evacuated them to their site. The situation at the moment is under control and peaceful…..the infiltration bid has been successfully foiled. It has been a serious bid and the search operation is still going on but the situation is under control," said A.K. Surrolia, Inspector General of Border Security Force.

Director General of Police in the State, Kuldeep Khudda, said that the infiltrators usually prefer to use the areas of Poonch and Rajouri to cross into Indian territory because the regions get no snowfall during winter, unlike other parts of the State.

"Attempts are on to push in the infiltrators. Snowfall is expected in the upper reaches within the next two months. During that time, the passes will close. Before that, the infiltrators will try to enter the Indian region. During winters, some areas of Poonch remain clear. No snowfall occurs in those parts of Poonch. So the infiltrators prefer to enter the Indian soil from Poonch and Rajouri during the winters," said Khudda.

Officials say incidents of infiltration by Pakistani militants have risen over the past few months.

According to the official reports, nearly 395 infiltration attempts were reported this year as compared to 342 in 2008.

Source ANI

New Delhi: Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday said that the climate change accord presented in Copenhagen was not legally binding.

The agreement between U.S and BASIC countries in Copenhagen has been described as an Accord, which is a "non-legally binding agreement" and was arrived at during time for curbing climate change.

Previously, during the Heads of State meet both India and China objected to certain alleged insertion of clauses into the proposed draft.

While addressing the Rajya Sabha in Parliament, Environment Minister Ramesh said that the Accord was not adopted as an outcome of the conference.

"Since the conference works on the principle of consensus, the Copenhagen Accord was not adopted as an outcome of the conference. It was, however, taken note of. The contents of the Accord are not legally binding, nor do they constitute a mandate for a new negotiating process under the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change)," said Jairam Ramesh.

Jairam emphasised the Accord obliges developed countries to limit the global temperature rise by 2050 to below 2 degrees Celsius. India also insisted and was successful in ensuring that the yardstick for any kind of mitigation should be temperature change and not emission cuts.

"The Accord recognizes the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respected capabilities of parties in combating climate change. The Accord recognizes the need to limit the global temperature rise by 2050 to below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. While doing so, the Accord clearly sets out the goal in the context of equity and sustainable development. This ensures that in achieving this goal, the right of developing countries like India to have an equitable share in access to global atmospheric resources, cannot be ignored and is actually ensured," said Jairam Ramesh.

Many nations said the deal fell far short of UN ambitions for Copenhagen, which was meant to be a turning point to push the world economy towards renewable energies, such as hydro, solar and wind power, and away from fossil fuels.

The deal has set a deadline at the end of January 2010 for all nations to submit plans for curbs on emissions to the United Nations.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday expressed dissatisfaction over climate accord saying it was not in India’s interests. It says the documents clearly betrayed the developing nations, and the interests of the country had not been protected.

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said, "The accord says one thing, the government understands another."

“The developing countries have been betrayed in the name of the Copenhagen Summit, and the accord helps the developed countries to avoid the commitments they made under the Kyoto Protocol, added Jaitley.

Lashing out at the government, Jaitley said: " The problem with the government is that it is suffering from the Sharma-el-Sheikh syndrome."

Prior to Jaitley''s comments, Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh put forward the point that the sovereignty of the country has been well placed and tabled the strategies of the Central Government post-Copenhagen.

He said the Copenhagen accord protects India''s interests.

Ramesh said: " The Copenhagen Accord was not adopted, it was taken care of," and added: "Copenhagen accord is not legally binding.”

The United States and four major developing countries India, China, South Africa and Brazil reached a legally non-binding agreement on cutting greenhouse gas emissions and restricting the increase in temperature to two degree Celsius.

Ramesh added that Copenhagen conference decided to continue negotiations under the mandate of Kyoto Protocol and Bali Action Plan to be completed at the end of 2010.

Ramesh said the report of mitigation actions, supported or unsupported, will be made to the Secretariat of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) through the National Communications that will be made every two years.

On Monday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh talked about the Copenhagen developments at his office in Parliament.

Developing countries wanted 30-35 percentage emission cuts from the developed world, but had to settle for just 20-25 percentage at the Copenhagen Summit.

Source ANI

New Delhi: Describing China as hegemonistic and very aggressive, former National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra today called on the Indian Government to adopt the right combination of strategic and diplomatic policies to counter Beijing''s dangerous designs.

Describing India as the weakest among China’s three rivals in Asia – Japan and Australia – Mishra cautioned that China is just waiting for some years before it would assert itself.

Mishra noted that while Japan and Australia have nuclear umbrellas for their protection, India would have to defend itself from two fronts – both China and Pakistan.

“Though both fronts are not active simultaneously now, it is probable and possible that both fronts become active,” he said.

Mishra was releasing two books – “The Dragon’s Fire: Chinese Military Strategy and Its Implications for Asia” (by Rajeswari Rajagopalan) and “Arming the Indian Arsenal: Challenges and Policy Options” (by Deba Mohanty) published by Observer Research Foundation, a public policy think tank headquartered in Delhi.

Mishra, who was the NSA during the premiership of Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, said unlike other countries, India is handicapped by the absence of national security culture among politicians who compromised national security because of electoral politics.

“Even 20 years after Bofors scandal, the burden on politicians is still continuing. They are afraid to take decisions because of fear of allegations of corruption. Unless this situation changes, we will never be able to become a great power,” Mishra, who is also a Trustee at ORF, warned.

Looking back his long years of service in government, he described bureaucrats as “unguided missiles”,  who will not act without guidance from the political leadership.

Describing China as “very strong” economically and militarily, Mishra said “China is bent upon cutting India down to size.”
He said China has become very aggressive against India – at Line of Control, in the writings in official media, think tanks and party media.

Mishra minced no words in saying that you cannot trust China whose only all weather friend is Pakistan. They don’t see any other country, including Russia, as its friend, he said.

Mishra also blamed the armed forces for their cumbersome test trials which take years to decide on weapons.

“Substandard clothing and equipment is affecting our jawans badly. Many jawans die in Siachen because of substandard clothing,” he said.

Mishra said there is no change in the policy of Pakistan where the Army dictates terms. He said as far as India, Afghanistan and the authority of Army are concerned, it is still the Army which decides in Pakistan, he said.

Chairing the book release event at ORF, Gen. V.P. Malik, President of ORF Institute of Security Studies, said the nexus between the defence PSUs, the Ordnance Board and the Defence Ministry is creating a “protective mindset” which does not facilitate private sector participation in defence production.

Underlining the need for a transparent procurement policy, Gen. Malik, who had to face the Kargil War with “whatever we have”, said the absence of a “stated defence procurement policy” was a big problem in meeting the requirements of the forces.

Gen. Malik said there is an urgent need to include defence economists in integrated defence planning.

He also warned against the territorial ambitions of China where it appeared to be a gap between the Peoples Liberation Army and the political leadership.

Brig. (Retd) Gurmeet Kanwal, Director of the Centre for Land Warfare Studies, said though there is a strategic stability along the India-China borders, there is aggressiveness at the tactical level.

Noting that the gap between the capabilities of India and China are growing in favour of our big neighbour, he opined that it is better to resolve the border disputes quickly  because China would be capable of dictating terms in 15 years from now.

Source ANI

Kolkata: A large number of children of sex workers drop out from school at the secondary level out of embarrassment over their family background or lack of financial support and remedial tuition. 
 
Till primary level, queries from peers on family are limited. But children studying in standard V to VIII are curious enough to ask questions related to each other’s family background, residence and profession of parents. But this causes humiliation to the kids of red light areas. Friends often start shunning them or insulting them once they learn the truth. 
 
Tanzia Khatun, a school drop out, said the boys in her class started insulting her once they came to the know her background. Even the teacher started indicating that it was all her fault.
 
She tells that she developed hatred for going to school after that and despite wanting to continue her studies and join a profession; she quit it after standard VI.  
 
According to a study commissioned by the Women and Child and Social Welfare Department, Government of West Bengal and UNICEF and conducted by the Kolkata-based Jayaprakash Institute of Social Change (JPISC), the high school drop out rates of sex workers’ children was also caused due to the inability of the aging mothers to fund their education and lack of space to study at home. Weak students are also unable to get remedial tuition due to economic considerations.
 
However, the study found that in certain cases child abuse and poor mixing with peers at school and beyond school hours were the major reasons for such children quitting school. 
 
Red light areas like Sonagachi in Kolkata have more than one State-run school in the vicinity and the children have easy access to both primary and high schools. The school authorities too cooperate sufficiently regarding admissions etc, according to Professor Joydev Mazumdar, Director, JPISC.
 
“Dropout rate is very high amongst children of standard V to VIII (in schools), more specifically among the girls. We have observed that the children whose mothers are little aged, their dropout rate is higher because the age of the sex workers has an inverse relationship with the income of the mother. Higher the age, lower is the income,” said Professor Joydev Mazumdar. 
 
But things go awry, as there is improper mixing of these children with kids coming from other areas and backgrounds. There is need to promote more intermixing through recreational activities, play groups etc to increase understanding between the children irrespective of background, he added.
 
The study surveyed 1,200 sample families and found that of the 2,003 children 471 never attended school, 384 stopped going to school in the pre-primary stage, 758 stopped going to school after the primary level, 377 completed secondary level while only 13 managed to continue till the higher secondary level. 
 
Loknath Bhattacharya, who studied up to standard X, said he left school because he was increasingly made to feel like an alien by his peers in school. They treated him as abnormal because he belonged to a red light area. 
 
The study found that all sex workers were keen to see their children receive education and almost all enrolled their children in school. Seventy per cent of the children of sex workers are admitted to schools by the mothers themselves while about 27 per cent were helped by NGOs like CINI-ASHA and Sanlaap to join school.
 
Bharati Dey, the Programme Director of the sex workers’ own Durbar Mahila Samanway Committee, pointed out that earlier the school drop out rates were much higher but since the Committee started functioning in the area, there has been a tremendous improvement in the situation. 
Money is no doubt a major constraint in educating a child.
 
According to Professor Mazumdar, aging of a mother and subsequent decrease in her income has a direct relationship with the dropping out of a child. The annual educational expenditure of a child varies from Rs. 100 to 2,099 for lower classes and Rs. 2,100 to 3,099 for higher classes in government schools, some of which are charging development fees and also compelling students to buy various student guidebooks. 
 
Among other things, the study recommended introduction of vocational training courses for children of sex workers, particularly adolescent girls who are pushed into the profession by aging mothers looking for income. As the profession of the mothers, who are busy working in the evenings, affect the infants and minors the most, the study also recommended that the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) Centres have flexible timings and improve on their toilet and other infrastructure facilities. Saving schemes for adolescents, close monitoring of school going children of sex workers etc were some of the other recommendations.

Source ANI

Mumbai: India''s only aircraft carrier -- the INS Viraat -- will have a special guest on Wednesday -- President Pratibha Devisingh Patil.

Patil, the supreme commander of the country''s armed forces, will get on board the ship at around 11 a.m. tomorrow, a spokesman of the Indian Navy said here.

The President is expected to witness Sukhoi Su-30 and Sea Harrier fighter jets take off from the ship during her three hour stay.

The 28,000-tonne INS Viraat, the Centaur class aircraft carrier, was originally commissioned in the British Royal Navy as HMS Hermes Nov 18, 1959. The Indian Navy acquired it in 1987.

The President also scheduled to attend a Fleet Review early next year.

Source ANI

Agra: An altercation between villagers and members of a religious sect took a violent turn on Tuesday, as the latter burnt vehicles and went on a rampage in Agra.

Tension had been brewing over a disputed piece of land for some time between the villagers and Satsangis, and things took an ugly turn when the members of the sect attacked some villagers in the morning.

Police were called in to control the situation.

"The satsangis from Dayalbagh go to the fields for working. Some dispute was going on between them and the villagers. This morning, there was some altercation between them and the villagers, as result of which this violence started. Reportedly, firing also took place and 5-6 people are injured. We are present at the site and the situation is under control," said Mrityunjay Narayan, District Magistrate (DM), Agra.

The police have been installed in the area to keep the situation in check.

An investigation has been launched into the matter.

Source ANI

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) expressing discontent over India''s stand on the Copenhagen Climate Accord, on Tuesday said the documents clearly betrayed the developing nations, and the interests of the country had not been protected.

Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said, "The accord says one thing, the government understands another."

The developing countries have been betrayed in the name of the Copenhagen Summit, and the accord helps the developed countries to avoid the commitments they made under the Kyoto Protocol, added Jaitley.

Lashing out at the government, Jaitley said: " The problem with the government is that it is suffering from the Sharma-el-Sheikh syndrome."

Prior to Jaitley''s comments, Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh put forward the point that the sovereignty of the country has been well placed and tabled the strategies of the Central Government post-Copenhagen. He said the Copenhagen accord protects India''s interests.

Ramesh said: " The Copenhagen Accord was not adopted, it was taken care of."

"Copenhagen accord is not legally binding," he added.

The United States and four major developing countries India, China, South Africa and Brazil reached a legally non-binding agreement on cutting greenhouse gas emissions and restricting the increase in temperature to two degree Celsius.

Ramesh added that Copenhagen conference decided to continue negotiations under the mandate of Kyoto Protocol and Bali Action Plan to be completed at the end of 2010.

Ramesh said the report of mitigation actions, supported or unsupported, will be made to the Secretariat of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) through the National Communications that will be made every two years.

On Monday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh talked about the Copenhagen developments at his office in Parliament. US President Barack Obama''s comments with respect to BASIC- Brazil, South Africa, India and China might allow both the sides to claim victory.

Developing countries wanted 30-35 percentage emission cuts from the developed world, but had to settle for just 20-25 percentage at the Copenhagen Summit.

Source ANI

Chandigarh: Former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala on Tuesday said on the Ruchika molestation case that the punishment given to the accused-- former Director General of Police (DGP) SPS Rathore-- was not adequate.

Earlier on Tuesday, Chautala had said that he did not have enough time to discuss such frivolous issues.

Chautala''s statement comes in the backdrop of a verdict made on Monday against Rathore, who was handed out a fine of Rs 1000 and a six-month jail term for the crime committed 19 years ago.

Chautala was then chief minister of the state.

The Rajya Sabha also discussed the Ruchika molestation case today.

Rathore allegedly molested teenager Ruchika Girhotra, a promising young tennis star in 1990. He was then an Inspector General of Police and the head of the Haryana''s Lawn Tennis Federation.

Teenager Ruchika killed herself three years later by drinking poison.
 
Ruchika''s family has said that the police constantly harassed them not to file a case against Rathore.

Source ANI