India News

Violence was witnessed in Nainital district of uttarakhand on Sunday following death of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Balawant Singh, which occurred on Saturday.

Singh was allegedly shot dead by an activist of Bahujan Samjaj Party (BSP).

BJP supporters went on a rampage, torched police station, vandalized property and damaged dozens of vehicles.

Uttarakhand’s Principal Secretary Subhash Kumar said punitive action has been taken against erring officials.

“The officials, be it Station House Officer, Sub-Inspector or constable, who were there at the time of the incident have been suspended. We don''t have such information (death of police personnel in violence), though the protestors have blocked road at two places,” Kumar said.

“They have set property on fire in the police station, have even burned one or two buses and damaged light vehicles. Now the situation is under control, protestors have opened the blockades and kin of the deceased have taken his body for cremation,” he added.

Kumar further said that a constable was injured in the violence.

Source ANI

The Border Security Force (BSF) said on Sunday that an investigation was being carried out into this week''s incident of nine Pakistani fishermen illegally entering Indian territorial waters off Gujarat.

Three of the nine Pakistanis, who were arrested on August 17 by the BSF from a boat in the Sir Creek area in Gujarat''s Kutch district, would be subjected to polygraph test, said Raman Srivastava, the Director General of BSF.

“Six of the nine Pakistani fishermen who were held had fishing permits issued by Pakistan. The rest three did not even have that. They said they came here for fishing. We need to investigate to find out what the truth is,” Srivastava said.

“The state police and the Border Security Force are investigating into the matter. Nothing can be said at the moment. But, these fishermen are definitely from Pakistan. Investigation is being carried out to find out other details,” he added.

The arrest of nine Pakistanis came just two days after India''s Independence Day and hours after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh warned of terror groups in Pakistan plotting fresh attacks in India.

Fishermen of either country often stray into each other''s territorial waters and the neighbouring countries have instituted measures to facilitate their early repatriation, but the Mumbai attacks have made Indian Coast Guard and BSF to step vigil.

Source ANI

A total of 131 fresh cases of swine flu were reported from different parts of the country on Saturday, Health Ministry sources said in Delhi.

The new cases included 44 in Delhi, Karnataka 21, Bangalore 19, Gadag 1, Belgaum 1, Tamil Nadu 20, Chennai 17, Coimbatore 3, Maharashtra 23, Pune 1 and Nagpur 3.

Out of the total cases reported, six in Delhi and two in Kerala are cases with recent travel history to affected countries.

Meanwhile, the countrywide death toll due to HINI virus climbed to 66 on Sunday with one person each succumbing to suspected swine flu in Delhi, Chandigarh and Jalna in Maharashtra, even as 131 fresh cases of infection were reported from various states.

Maharashtra now accounts the highest cases with 35 flu deaths, followed by Karnataka with 12 casualties.

Source ANI

Following apathetic attitude of the administration in Madhya Pradesh’s Ashoknagar district where there are no bridge or culvert over Kathon river, children of several villages are compelled to use automobile tyres to cross the river to reach their school.

The students say that often they face the danger of losing balance and falling in the river.

“We come to school using a rubber tube. Sometimes our bags get wet. We get wet and there is always the danger of falling in the river. We are always scared,” said Ram Mani Sharma, a student.

While, a school teacher, Pratibha Jain, said that a few students had lost their lives while crossing the river, yet the administration has not paid attention to the plight of the children.

“Children come here to study from places 10 kilometres far away from this school. There is a river nearby. During the rainy season, children face a lot of problems. Children often fall in the river from the rubber tubes that they use for crossing the river. The administration does not pay any attention. Unfortunately, some children have died too,” Jain said.

Repeated complaints from the parents and the elders of the villages have fallen on deaf ears, the District Collector refrained from making any comment.

Source

The cast and crew of ‘Baabarr’, an upcoming Bollywood film based on the saga of nexus between the police and the underworld, unveiled the music album of their movie in here on Saturday.

The entire team of ''Baabarr'' launched the music of the film, which has been composed by Anand Raj Anand, the producer and director of the movie also introduced Soham Shah who has made his debut in this movie.

The music director of the film Anand Raj Anand said that the rave reviews about the music indicate signs of success for the film and him.

“I am very happy with the response, when I came to know that the BIG music gave good reviews for the music of ''Baabarr'' after looking at the posters, it was a kind of achievement for me as I did the film with new star cast. BIG music sponsored the music after listening to it. I will not consider it less than a success,” said Anand Raj Anand.

The female lead of the film, Urvashi Sharma, looked pretty in a green gown and seemed quite happy with the music of the film.

“Superb music. We are getting very good response for it. Promos of our two songs are already on air and we are receiving very good response. The rest depends on the people whether they like it or not,” said Urvashi Sharma, who plays the lead role in the film.

Directed by Ashu Trikha, the film throws light upon ambitions of the youth and how their aims shift to organised crimes with an underlying message that crime never dies, it just modifies faces.

The film also stars Om Puri, Mithun Chakravorty and Mukesh Tiwari among others, and is slated to hit the screens on September 11.

Source ANI

Indian Army on Sunday foiled an infiltration bid by a group of heavily armed militants and killed two of them in Kupwara  district of Jammu and Kashmir at Sonapindi near the Line of Control.

According to the Defense spokesperson, the militants had sneaked into this side in the wee hours. But they were confronted by troops guarding the border at Sonapindi near the Line of Control, defence spokesman said.

The two militants were killed during the security personnel’s retaliation as after militants opened fire at them.

Source ANI

Two members of the Maoist Resistance Committee (MRC) in Sakhabanga village, 50 kilometres from Lalgarh in West Bengal’s Midnapore district were found dead on Sunday.

It is suspected that Maoists killed the two, who were active members of the recently formed committee to resist Maoist activities in the area.

Karan Murmu and Lal Murmu, went missing on Saturday night (August 22), were found dead in a pool of blood on Sunday with bullet wounds on their bodies. The two were active members of the MRC.

Rupali Murmu, wife of Karan Murmu said that she was worried when her husband, having gone for a walk after dinner, did not return home till midnight.

Murmu further said she had no knowledge on who would have killed her husband and his accomplice.

Meanwhile, Maoists have called for a 48-hour shutdown, beginning Monday in Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh in protest against the arrests of two Maoists in Bihar on August 19.

Source ANI

Congress party on Sunday announced the list of seven candidates for the upcoming State Assembly by-elections in Bihar.

The party has decided not to get into any alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) during the by-elections and decided to go it alone.

According to an official release issued by the Central Election Committee in-charge Oscar Fernandes on Sunday, Pheku Ram will contest from Bochaha assembly segment in Muzaffarpur and Noor Alam from Aurai seat in the same district.

The other candidates are Mukund Kumar from Kalyanpur, Anita Ram from Warisnagar, Parshuram Tiwari from Ramgarh in Kaimur, Shah Nawaj Khan from Chainpur (Kaimur) and Murari Prasad Gautam from Chenari in Rohtas.

During last Lok Sabha elections, the Congress party contested the polls alone and won two of the 40 seats in the state.

Over a dozen assembly seats in Bihar fell vacant following the election of sitting MLAs as MPs in the last Lok Sabha elections.

The Congress Party, meanwhile, has also announced name of Tilottama Sharma as its candidate from the Dwarka assembly seat in Delhi.

The seat fell vacant as the sitting MLA Mahabal Mishra was elected to the Lok Sabha from Delhi West parliamentary constituency.

Source ANI

Residents of Tamra village in Orissa’s Sundergarh district are living a frightened life since the Maoist activists blew up the Forest Department’s property recently.

A 30-member group of the Maoist activists on Thursday blew up the housing buildings and other infrastructures belonging to state forest department at Tamra in Bonai sub division.

The Maoists act has created fear in the entire village and nearby areas.

According to sources, the Maoists had hijacked a bus to reach village. They also took a generator set from the forest beat house.The villagers are  hence preferring  to stay indoors during the day, they are reluctant to speak anything against the ultras.

"They were armed with guns. We tried to hide here and there. They shouted slogans of ''zindabad'' to their movement," said a villager of Tamra.

Meanwhile, S.K.Ali, Deputy Commandant, Orissa State Armed Police said the security forces were conducting the massive search operations in the region.

"Maoists came in a vehicle. They planted bombs and left away. Normally, no one stays in that beat house. Police and CRPF are deployed here. Search operations and combating operations are on," Ali said.

While the drive to handle Maoists is being carried out by security personnel with much precaution so that no innocent is affected, the rebels in the state have resorted to the strategy of sabotaging governmental establishments, industrial projects and allied institutions.

Source ANI

Madhya Pradesh Police on Sunday arrested eight bookies here for betting during the final Test match of the ongoing Ashes series between England and Australia.

Acting on a tip off, the police raided a residential building and detained the bookies indulged in inter-state gambling.

Police also recovered laptops, computers, mobile sets and other data from their possession.

"Acting on a tip off, we raided a house in city''''s River View Colony and found people betting on cricket matches and other thing, we have arrested eight people in this connection and recovered six laptops, three computers, 27 cell phones, two fax machines and four mobile telephone sets from their possession," said In-Charge, Murar Police Station.

The police have registered a case under the Gambling Act and further investigations are on.

Source ANI

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has reportedly allowed former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje to stay on as Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly till the end of the upcoming Assembly session.

A short duration Rajastahan Assembly session is scheduled for the first week of September.

After expelling former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, the BJP is playing safe on the Raje’s issue. The BJP does not want to project itself as undemocratic and harsh against some of its leaders.

On August 10, party President Rajnath Singh and asked Raje to resign as Leader of Opposition as part of the BJP’s plan to replace all state unit chiefs as well as leaders of the legislative parties where the it had performed poorly during the last general elections.

According to sources an agreement has reportedly been reached between Raje and Singh on the issue.

Raje met Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani and Singh in their respective residences on Saturday.

Last week, Raje’s paraded her supporters before the senior leaders in a show of strength.

In the 2009 general elections, the BJP was reduced to four seats from 23 that it had in 2004 in Rajasthan.

Source ANI

The constant shrinking of agriculture lands in the Kashmir valley has become a cause of concern to farmers of the state.

The rapid increase in the urbanisation and allied infrastructure development activities are considered as the main reason for the shrinking of agricultural land in the valley.

The farmers fear that the growing trend of private builders purchasing the agricultural land for building residential colonies, complexes.

The farming community also fears that this would lead Kashmir valley towards a devastating situation of food crisis in coming years.

"From the past ten to twenty years, there have been no restrictions on the construction of these houses. Although the government has laws, rules and regulations, but till now they haven''t been implemented yet. If government agencies will not pay attention to this problem, then it is possible that in years to come, sufficient land might not be available for our next generation," said Bilal Wani, a farmer.

Ninety five per cent of land in Kashmir valley is not suitable for any kind of cultivation activities and land sharks are encroaching upon the remaining 5 per cent of cultivable portion.

These trends have become a cause of immense worries among the farmers and evident are the instances of extensive construction activities.

Though the law prevents the use of agricultural land for the non-agricultural purposes, the authorities express helplessness sighting poor or no updated land records.

"Our revenue records are not updated as yet. The revenue records still have the usual statement that this land is barren. And because of such a state, the houses are being constructed on the agriculture land. As and when the authorities check the record books regarding the condition of the land to grant permission, they give permission on the basis of what is written in the reports. So the need of the hour is to update the record books," opined Bashir Ahmed Dar, Director of Agriculture.

Presently around 1.60 thousands hectares of land is under paddy cultivation while it is believed that over the past decade, ten thousand hectares of cultivable land in the valley region has been usurped due to urbanisation.

Source ANI

The Uttar Pradesh Government on Sunday initiated distribution of relief material to the flood affected families of Munda village in Faizabad District.

The affected families of Mudna have been provided temporary shelter at the Bachulal Inter College campus. The district administration distributed the relief packets containing necessary commodities like foodgrains, ready food, candles and matchsticks and other items.

Incessant monsoon rains in the past couple of days coupled with release of a huge amount of water from barrages in neighboring Nepal, have created havoc in the state.

Most of the villages in Gorakhpur, Sitapur, Sant Kabir Nagar, Kushinagar, Maharajganj, Bahraich and Faizabad districts have been inundated by floodwaters.

Several rivers, including the Ghaghra, Rapti, Sharda and Saryu are reportedly flowing above the danger mark at many places.

"Our houses are submerged in floodwaters and our children are dying of hunger. There is no food to eat and we are staying in this school, hoping to get some relief," lamented Durpata, an affected person.

Meanwhile, Munindra Nath Upadhyaya, Sub Divisional Magistrate, Faizabad district, said that as many as 400 families have been shifted to safer places.

"Right now the danger level has gone down. Eight villages of Bandhu are marooned in floodwaters and 1, 200 families with population around 6, 500 people have been badly affected and nearly 400 families have moved out and many people of Rampur, Hazirpur villages are still holed up in their houses," Upadhyaya said.

Thousands of villagers have been forced to live in temporary shelters in the wake of floods, in several districts of the state,  which have swept across large expanses including agricultural fields and human habitations of the region.

Source ANI

On the occasion of Ganesha Chaturthi (birthday), many devotees in different parts of the country like to pay their special obeisance to Lord Ganesha in distinct ways.

In Bhubaneshwar, an artist has sculpted Lord Ganesha idols from soap for the 10-day annual Ganesha Chaturthi which commenced on Sunday (Aug.23).

Rao sculpted different kinds of idols of Lord Ganesha to exhibit them during the festival. Till date, he has sculpted 36 idols with soap.

"Ganesh festival has arrived and so I am sculpting different models of Lord Ganesha from different soaps. During Ganesha festival people including kids will come to watch these idols. I will teach the art free of cost to kids who are interested to learn," said L. Eshwara Rao, an artisan.

In Bangalore, a man is running a museum where he has exhibited a wide variety of Ganesha idols for people.

S.Tyagarajan is a collector of Ganesha idols and has put on display 2,000 different idols of the deity in his museum.

He started collecting Ganesha idols after the death of his wife who was a devotee of Lord Ganesha.

Tyagarajan procured some of the idols from his friends living overseas. He says that people feel rejuvenated after visiting the museum.

"I see in everybody''s face who come to see my museum happiness. And they say that there is some sort of positive energy and positive aura when they come inside the museum. And some of them say that here they get a sort of feeling that they felt when they meditated when they come in museum," said S.Tyagarajan, owner of a museum of Lord Ganesha.

Ganesha Chaturthi is one of the most important festivals of Hindus in India.

On the concluding day of the festival, the idols are carried in grand processions and immersed in rivers or seas.

Lord Ganesha, is one of the most revered Gods of Hindus, and is worshipped at the beginning of every auspicious occasion.

Ganesha, as the God of knowledge is described as “Vinayaka”and as remover of obstacles he is called “Vighanharta”. He is worshipped at the beginning of every auspicious occasion for blessings of luck and success.

The son of Shiva and Parvati, Ganesha has an elephantine countenance with a curved trunk and big ears, and a huge pot-bellied body of a human being.

He is revered as the Lord of success and destroyer of evils and obstacles besides being worshipped as the God of education, knowledge, wisdom and wealth.

Legend has it once Goddess Parvati, while bathing, created a boy out of the dirt of her body and assigned him the task of guarding the entrance to her bathroom. When Lord Shiva, her husband returned, he was surprised to find a stranger denying him access, and struck off the boy''s head in rage.

Parvati broke down in utter grief and to soothe her, Shiva sent out his squad (gana) to fetch the head of any sleeping being who was facing the north. The company found a sleeping elephant and brought back its severed head, which was then attached to the body of the boy. Shiva restored its life and made him the leader (pati) of his troops.

Hence,  his name ''Ganapati''. Shiva also bestowed a boon that people would worship him and invoke his name before undertaking any venture.

Source ANI

The Indian Government has reportedly approached Interpol and requested it to issue a Red Corner Notice (RCN) against Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief and 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed.

Sources said that they expect the RCN to be issued some time next week, possibly by Tuesday.

The request from New Delhi is reported to have been made in the wake of a Pakistan court ordering the release of Saeed from nine months of house arrest on grounds that there was insufficient evidence to detain him in connection with his role in the 26/11 massacre in Mumbai that claimed nearly 170 lives and maimed more than 300.

Officials in New Delhi are reportedly of the view that Saeed should be chargesheeted and prosecuted for masterminding the Mumbai carnage on the basis of the six documents of evidence that they have handed over to the Pakistan Government through diplomatic channels.

Government sources said that the CBI, which acts as the nodal agency for all dealings with Interpol, has already written to the world police body, based on the 26/11 chargesheet, to get an RCN issued against Saeed who was let off by the Lahore High Court as Islamabad didn''t press charges against him.

Interpol issues an RCN against any accused after it receives all information and evidence against him from the country in which the crime has been committed.

The RCN will be issued on the basis of the non-bailable warrant issued against Saeed by a Mumbai court earlier and also all the evidences gathered against him by the Mumbai police.

According to the Mumbai police, Saeed is among the 35 people who provided training to all the terrorists who executed 26/11.

Pakistan has defended its refusal to act against Saeed by saying that India has not given evidence against him.

Source ANI

Maharashtra’s Agriculture Minister Balasaheb Thorat has apologized to the Ministry of Environment and Forest for violating the Wildlife Protection Act by entering the cage of a tiger cub at Nagpur Zoo.

"I met Union Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh and explained him my side of the story. I had no wrong intention except the development of the zoo," Thorat said.

"I also apologized for having violated any norms by entering the cage and the minister would decide further," he added.

Thorat, who is also the district in charge minister of Nagpur, had visited the Maharajbagh Zoo on Independence Day along with city Congress officials.

The Maharashtra Congress unit claimed that Thorat acted at the behest of zoo officials.

His action drew flak from wildlife and environment conservationists. They have demanded action against Thorat as he violated zoo rules and the Wildlife Protection Act.

Meanwhile, member-secretary of the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) B. R.Sharma has given a clean chit to a Thorat and his associates saying they cannot be held responsible.

"Yes prima facie, there is a violation of the Act as the minister had entered the tiger cage on August 15, but the zoo administration is responsible for the Act," Sharma said.

Sharma was deputed by the CZA and the Ministry of Environment and Forest to get first-hand details of the incident.

The Maharajbagh Zoo is maintained by the Punjabrao Deshmukh Agriculture University''s College of Agriculture. Thorat, who is also the Pro Chancellor of the University, in his capacity as Agriculture Minister, had entered the tiger cage during a routine inspection visit.

Source ANI

BJP spokesperson Balbir Punj on Sunday said that Sudheendra Kulkarni''s move to leave would not affect the party

Describing Kulkarni as a "valuable colleague", Punj said: "If Kulkarni feels that he is uncomfortable in BJP and he has taken a decision to leave the party, well, that is his decision. This decision of his is not going to affect the BJP."

Another BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said Kulkarni has not been a member of the BJP since 2005.

"He was associated with election-related work. The whole election mechanism was wound up immediately after the Lok Sabha polls by party president Rajnath Singh," he told a private television channel.

Kulkarni, an IIT graduate and a columnist, was national secretary of BJP when Advani was the party president. However, he resigned in 2005 in the wake the controversial statement made by Advani in Pakistan, where he described Mohammad Ali Jinnah as "secular".

That speech of Advani was reportedly written by Kulkarni. But Kulkarni continued to serve the party through his close association with Advani. He had served as director and later as an Officer on Special Duty in the PMO under Vajpayee.

During the recent Lok Sabha elections, Kulkarni was active in the election campaign management and was even seen defending the party on news channels and through his columns.

However, he embarrassed the BJP soon after the poll results when he wrote a piece in a magazine where he took a very critical view of the party''s election campaign strategy. He even stated that Advani had failed to assert himself during crucial times in the course of the campaign.

The party had distanced itself from his views when senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj described Kulkarni as an "independent journalist" who was free to air his opinion.

She had said the views expressed by him in the article were not that of the party. Since then, Kulkarni has been virtually inactive within the BJP.

Source ANI

Sudheendra Kulkarni, who has quit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over ideological differences with its present leadership, has equated one time mentor L.K. Advani with expelled party leader Jaswant Singh in  so far as remarks on Jinnah are concerned.

In an interview with the Times Now television channel, Kulkarni described the expulsion of Jaswant Singh as unfortunate, and as a graceless and baseless action.

"There is nothing in the book (Jinnah: India, Partition Independence) to suggest that Jaswant Singh has denigrated Jinnah and Sardar Patel, or he has gone against the ideology of the BJP. In fact, I don''t see any essential difference between what Advani has written about Jinnah in his book and what Jaswant Singh has written about Jinnah in his book. The only difference is that the entire book by Jaswant Singh is a political biography of Jinnah, but there is no essential difference between the basic arguments. Therefore I consider it very unfortunate that such a graceless action should have been taken against Jaswant Singh," Kulkarni told the channel.

He said that he has decided to end his active association with the BJP because of ideological differences.

He told the channel: "I want to remain honest and sincere to my own conviction and ideas. I also want to have freedom to express them. At the same time I entirely recognise that the party has its own discipline and it is not proper for an individual to remain inside the party and express his views. The right was for me to come out of the party, which is what I have done. I continue to remain a well-wisher of the BJP," he said.

He, however, refused to elaborate on his differences with the party.

"I came to the conclusion that I cannot make meaningful contribution to the party anymore. Therefore I decided to step out," he said.

"Going forward, I continue to remain active in public life and in my own small humble way, try to promote the ideals of good governance and building national consensus on national issues. This, I would like to work closely with like minded people in all political parties," he added.

He also said that his decision had nothing to do with Jaswant Singh''s expulsion from the BJP.

"I had taken my decision several weeks back and communicated it to Mr. Advani. I am proud of having spent 13 very satisfying productive years working closely with two of the tallest leaders of India -- Vajpayee and Advani. I hold them in the highest respect. My decision will not diminish my respect for them. I am greatful to them as well as all other senior leaders of the party for giving me an opportunity to work for this great party. But, when you have differences, the right thing is to step out which is what I have done," he said.

Source ANI

Muslims across the country have started observing the holy fasting month of Ramadan from Sunday except in Kerala, where devouts have started the fast from Saturday.  

Muslims around the world unite in a period of fasting and spiritual reflection. However this year Ramadan is subdued due to the prolonged recession and rising inflation.

Source ANI

Women activists of Janata Dal (United) women’s cell staged a protest here against soaring prices of essentials commodities on Saturday.

The protestors wearing vegetable garlands and holding brooms raised slogans against the UPA Government for not checking the price rise.

"Today, we are staging the protest because of inflation…whatever money we have is spent on food commodities, stationery items, etc…women of Bihar are badly affected by this, that''''s why we are staging the protest…our main slogan is remove (federal ruling) Congress from power…we will continue our protest until this government check prices of basic food items," said Usha Sinha, the president of the state J.D (U) women''''s cell.

With output of rice and oilseeds expected to drop, food prices have risen at annual rates of more than 10 percent in early August, although the country''''s wholesale price index has shown a year-on-year decline for 10 weeks in a row.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, the country needed to crackdown on hoarders and impose on what stock traders could keep.

Analysts say government action is needed to tame rising food prices caused by insufficient rainfall and a monetary policy that cannot tackle supply-side economics bottlenecks.

Source ANI

Residents of Lakhimpur District in Assam are protesting against the construction of a dam over fears that their properties could be submerged.

The protests were staged as the Assam Government initiated construction of Lower Subansiri Hydel Power Project (LSHP) in the district.

Led by `Akyamancha'' (unified forum), the protesters said,” We don''t want dams. In the past years we have seen how the villagers have been hit due to damage caused to paddy fields, because of dams like the Ranganadi Project or the Karbi Langpi Project.”

The construction work of LSHP is running behind the schedule due to the non-availability of environmental clearance from the Union Environment and Forest Ministry and border disputes between Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.

The contractor has completed nearly 30 per cent of the construction. The project is expected to be operational by 2012.

Source ANI

Five policemen, including an assistant sub-inspector have been killed and two injured in a naxal attack in Sono Bazar area of Bihar''s Jamui district.

Police sources said four of those killed belonged to the Special Auxiliary Police.

Around 50 armed Maoist activists assembled in the main market roundabaout at Sono and sprayed bullets at the policemen patrolling in a jeep. The Maoists also looted six rifles and ammunition from the policemen before fleeing.

Four policemen died on the spot.The two injured policemen have been admitted to Jamui Hospital.

The attackers fled from the scene of the attack under cover of darkness.

Senior police officials said all entry and exit points of the district have been sealed to nab the ultras.

District Magistrate Prem Singh Meena said the Central Reserve Police Force and the Special Auxiliary Police have cordoned off the area and search operations have been launched.

Source ANI

Kaziranga National Park authorities have put up barricades to slow down vehicles to ensure safe passage for migrating animals.

Heavy downpours during the monsoon season submerge almost 40 percent of the park, posing a grave threat to animals.

The animals traditionally cross over to the Karbi Anglong Hills, situated in the southern part of the park, in search of food and safe shelter.

To reach this destination, animals have to cross the National Highway No. 37, which is known as the migratory corridors.

"During flood’s wild animals migrate from the National Park towards the southern boundary. At that time vehicles knock down some animals. But this time we have put up barricades to slow vehicles to 40 kilometers per hour," said D.P. Boro, District forest officer, Kaziranga Forest Range.

Park authorities have also deployed round the clock security cover to prevent poaching.

Last year, animals fled to the higher reaches waters of the River Brahmaputra flooded most of the park.

Kaziranga is home to more than half of the world''''''''s population of one-horned rhinoceros.

Source ANI

Leading audit, tax and advisory services firm KPMG has reportedly identified eleven keys areas in which India and Bhutan can cooperate.

Titled a ‘Study of Investment Climate in Bhutan,’ the KPMG report identifies environment management, tourism, agro processing, non-timber forestry, horticulture, ICT, education, medicinal plantations, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications and automobiles as investment opportunity areas.

The report was done on behalf of the joint task force of confederation of Indian industries (CII) and Bhutan chamber of commerce and industry (BCCI) to enhance economic cooperation between India and Bhutan and investments in Bhutan.

Financed by India'' External Affairs Ministry, the report suggests that Bhutan could seek help from the Indian dairy association to build a regional agro-processing brand that could meet the shortage of milk and dairy products in parts of Bhutan and north-eastern areas of Bangladesh and India.

“The government can also invite large Indian dairies to set up plants, by arranging for land, power and transport,” says the report.

It identifies Paro, Haa, Chukha and Gelephu as suitable places. Investment in higher secondary education and vocational training institutes are the main areas identified under education.

The report also suggests the government consider aligning Bhutan’s curriculum on technical subjects along ICSE/CBSE lines of India. It also says that Bhutan could tie up with Indian universities to have virtual classrooms.

“Our aim is to work together for investments in Bhutan and from this we can gain technology transfer, business partnerships, give a platform for our business and also explore business and investment opportunities together,” said BCCI general secretary Phub Dorji.

With urbanization increasing, the report identifies opportunity for private players in waste treatment and recycling under environmental management. It also identifies environmental audit and consultancy to maximise carbon credits that Bhutan can earn.

In horticulture, the key opportunity is in food processing. It says the government should encourage small players to set up processing plants near food production centres by providing fiscal benefits.

Indian companies, the report says, could set up manufacturing centres in Bhutan, like in Nepal, if transportation is improved and incentives given. Under information communication technology and information technology, the report suggests that Bhutan could be a data centre for many Asian countries, set up 500- to 600-seat call centres, be a source of low cost software and have IT training for graduates.

With IT players like Infosys, TCS and others interested, it says Bhutan should seek technical help from NASSCOM in setting up telecom and broadband backbone, training manpower and marketing. In automobiles, Bhutan could collaborate with Indian players on after sales service.

For medicinal plantations, the report says, “Bhutan can seek help of large Indian pharmaceutical companies in marketing and branding their high value and low volume product. It also says that Bhutan could pick up new techniques from India to extract lemon grass.

On non-forest products, it says the government should hand over large areas of the forest to community forest management groups to manage and harvest these products like Matsutake mushrooms.

The report also advises that Bhutan seek help of the Indian drugs manufacturing association to prepare a feasibility report in setting up a manufacturing unit.

On tourism, Bhutan needs to focus on marketing like the Indian government, which is promoting less popular tourist spots and also focusing on online marketing.

Under telecommunications, internet is the main opportunity for growth with only 5 percent reach currently.

Indian companies could bid in joint ventures with Bhutanese companies when BICMA issues fresh licenses.

Source ANI

Bhutan''s first private insurance company has opened shop here with a promise of providing quality and speedy service to become the country''s insurer of choice.

According to a report filed by Chennai Online, except for life insurance, Bhutan Insurance Ltd (BIL) will offer all schemes available with the state-run Royal Insurance Company of Bhutan Ltd (RICBL) at the same premium. These include personal, commercial, industrial and liability insurance.

"We''ll speed up the insurance claim process with honesty, sincerity and integrity," said company chairman Ugyen Rinzin, who along with former RICBL employee Tshering Gyaltshen are the promoters.

Each of them own 20 per cent share of the company, established with an initial paid up capital Nu 100 million.

The remaining 60 percent is being raised from the public. The public float has already begun.

Source ANI

The cargo on board the suspect North Korean vessel MV Mu San will be off loaded here on Sunday and searched for any suspect material onboard.

Sources said central security agencies and nuclear scientists will conduct a thorough investigation to check if the ship is carrying any radioactive and nuclear material.

Apart from that the 39-member crew of the ship, its North Korean captain Yun Jong Sun, would be questioned by the authorities at the port itself.

The vessel from Pyongyang has raised eyebrows for a number of reasons.

Firstly, there are fears that it may contain traces of chemical or radio active material and secondly another point of contention is the fact that there is a North Korean government official onboard, which prompts questions on the credibility of the claim that the ship is a merchant vessel.

Another critical question which needs to be answered is why were there conflicting claims made by the crew on their entry to different international ports, which did not corroborate with their passports.

Earlier, the seized North Korean vessel M V Mu San left Hut Bay in Andaman waters for Kakinada Port.

The Indian Coast Guard escorted the North Korean vessel, official sources said.

The MV Mu San is likely to be booked under the Indian Maritime Act for illegally entering in to the Indian waters.

According to sources, the Union Home Ministry, Defence Ministry and External Affairs Ministry are coordinating with each other to finalise procedure in this regard.

The Coast Guard detained the North Korean vessel after chasing it for over six-hours near Andaman and Nicobar Islands on August 6.

The Union Home Ministry had sent a letter to Port Blair Police asking it to file a report on entire chain of events, which led to the interception of the ship.

A team of two nuclear scientists from the Kalpakam Nuclear Power Station has carried out a preliminary investigation of the ship and ruled out the existence of any chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear (CRBN) traces on board the vessel.

Indian security agencies want to find out whether there was any CBRN consignment with sophisticated equipments.

The ship is said to be carrying 3.3 lakh gunny bags of sugar weighing 16,500 kilograms, sources said.

Source ANI

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani''s close aide, Sudheendra Kulkarni, on Sunday announced that he was quitting the party because of ideological differences with it.

Kulkarni, who has been with the BJP for 13 years as a party activist and political advisor, said: "I have ideological differences with the party, especially where it stands today. I have been a full time activist of the party, I am now ending my activist association with the party."

Kulkarni also said that his decision had nothing to do with Jaswant Singh''s expulsion and that he still holds Advani and Vajpayee in high regard.

He also went on to say that he would remain a well wisher of the BJP even if he is not contributing towards the party goals.

During his stint with the BJP, he worked as a close aide of former Prime Minister Vajpayee and then led the entire L K Advani''s 2009 campaign machinery.

In 2005, Kulkarni had stepped down as an office-bearer of the party over a controversy generated by Advani''s quotes on Jinnah.

He had then sent a letter to Advani calling for “recasting” the RSS-BJP relationship, distancing the party from extremist elements and solving the "organisational disarray".

Source ANI