India News

New Delhi: Union Home Mnister Chidambaram  has suggested that government will launch an all out offensive against the maoists.

The Govewrnent sources, however, have said that Government has not yet zeroed in on a strategy to be adopted against the Naxals.

Authoritative sources have said that Government is still mulling over the strategy and decision will be only taken after approval of approriate commitee on Naxalism.

However,  sources, have confirmed that Chidambaram''s  suggestion will hold weight and will have an impact on the final decision.

The Home Ministry is  deliberating on raising unprecedeted violence and calibarating a new strategy to take on Naxals.

Source said government may employ special forces and is debating   the type and Quantam of force to be used agaisnt the Naxals.

The government  holds the view that Naxalism has lost public support, but is apparently upset over continued support to the militant movement by the intelligentsia.

Source ANI

Kotkhai (Himachal Pradesh): Hundreds of apple farmers are facing trouble in Himachal Pradesh, as their produce is not able to reach markets on time due to bad road conditions in Kotkhai subdivision of Shimla.

The cultivators complain that potholes on the roads and landslips are not taken care due to which the apple-loaded trucks get stuck in long jams.

They further said that sometimes the trucks, instead of reaching in a day, take almost three days to reach the markets in Delhi and other cities, which damage the fruit.

“At present the rate is Rs. 1400 per box. After three days, if the market goes down, the rates would slide to Rs. 1000 to Rs. 1200 per box. So, we can incur losses of about Rs. 300 to Rs. 400 per box, as due to bad roads it won''t reach on time,” said Sanjay Chauhan, an apple grower.

The apple growers also complained that the State Government was not taking any action to help the cause.

“There are 6 to 7 hours of traffic jams almost everyday. The Public Works Department (PWD) or any other department is not doing anything to help us. Even the government is not doing anything because of this the apple growers are finding it difficult to send their produce to the markets,” said Gopal Rathore, apple grower.

Meanwhile, P.C. Kapoor, Secretary of PWD, has ensured that necessary steps are being taken, and said that damaged roads are being repaired in a phased manner.

“We understand that that it is the apple season and the produce has to reach the market. The department has started working on it. And the roads are open. There is also a plan in the pipeline for the maintenance of the roads, we will repair all the damaged roads in a phased manner,” said P.C. Kapoor.

Himachal Pradesh is also known as the ''Apple Bowl of India'', as on an annual average it produces 5,50,000 metric tons of apples.

Source ANI

Jaipur: Chief of Army Staff General Deepak Kapoor reassured on Wednesday that the country’s border with China is secure.

Recent reports in Indian media said the Chinese troops breached the international border earlier this year in northern Ladakh region and painted ‘China’ on some boulders and rocks.

Reports said the Chinese troops had entered nearly 1.5 kilometres into the Indian territory near Mount Gaya, which is recognised as an international border by both India and China.

The red markings were found around 1.5 to 1.7 kilometres inside the Indian territory.

“The Indian borders are extremely safe. There is nothing to worry that should concern any normal citizen of the country. We are fully alive to any challenges that we may face at any point and there is nothing to worry about,” said General Kapoor on the sidelines of a function in Jaipur city.

China has also denied any border incursions by its troops, and blamed Indian media of trying to stoke tensions.

“The number of transgression is exactly at the same level in comparison to last year and media should not go on overdrive on this sensitive issue. We have a proper mechanism to resolve these incursion issues whenever a violation takes place,” General Kapoor said.

China lays claim to 90,000 sq km of land on the eastern sector of the border in Arunachal Pradesh, earlier known as NEFA (North Eastern Frontier Agency).

Source ANI

Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh): Thousands of devotees converged at the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati hills on Wednesday to take part in the religious processions during the nine-day Tirumala Brahmotsavam.

Tirumala Brahmotsavam, celebrated on the occasion of Dussera festival, commenced today and will culminate on September 27.

It is an annual festival and millions of devotees witness the processions and participate in the celebrations.

The Utsavs are carried out on different chariots, in which the idols of the presiding deity for the procession are taken around the temple premises to the music of Nagaswaram and the beats of the drums.

The shrine of Lord Venkateshwara atop the 860 metres high hills of Tirumala in Tirupati is the revered by Hindus as one of the most venerated pilgrimage centres in the country.

Source ANI

Mumbai: Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor is leaving no stones unturned for promoting his upcoming film ''Wake Up Sid'', as he spoke about the film while attending a show in Mumbai.

Kapoor was enthusiastic about his role and said that he has great hopes from the film.

“Our film is about these two characters and a lot of conservations between them and how the character of Konkana Sen Sharma and the character she plays Ayesh Banerjee and how the character is instrumental in Sidharth''s (Ranbir Kapoor) coming of age,” said Ranbir Kapoor.

''Wake Up Sid'' is a story of Sidharth Mehra played by Ranbir Kapoor an unmotivated boy from Mumbai whose life undergoes a series of changes after taking his final year college exams.

The film is produced by Hiroo Yash Johar and Karan Johar and directed by Ayan Mukherji.

The film is slated for an October 2 release.

Source ANI

Srinagar: The businessmen and workers associated with walnut woodcarving industry in Jammu and Kashmir are a worried lot, as the scarcity of walnut has hit the industry hard, which is affecting their livelihood.

“Once upon a time our export of furniture was worth Rs. 15 billion and out of that the walnut woodcarving business used to be around Rs. 3.5 billion, but now it has decreased to Rs. 2.5 billion,” said Syed Shakeel Qalander, President of Federation Chamber of Industries Kashmir (FCIK).

Earlier, the walnut raw material was available in sufficient quantity and the artisans in this trade earned good amount of money as items made of Walnut are in demand across the country.

Now, this age-old craft is losing its charm as the raw material meant for walnut furniture is being used in house building.

Traditional items made of walnut, a dark brown wood - copper samovar, teapot and houseboats are famous for their excellent craftsmanship in the region.

The walnut wood has a unique color, grain and sheen and the carving and fretwork done on it is of the finest quality.

Walnut is the most common wood used for carving and Jammu and Kashmir is one of the few places where walnut trees thrive.

Source ANI

Nayagarh (Orissa): Micro financing by a voluntary organisation, ''Adhikar'', is helping women weavers in Golabai village in Orissa’s Nayagarh district to become self-reliant and weave their own destiny away from the clutches of moneylenders.

Earlier, these women weavers had to take loans from the moneylenders to buy raw material, and they also used to work on a daily wage basis.

The village, which comprises of 70 families, has been benefited by ''Adhikar'', which started a micro-financing scheme in which an initial loan of Rs. 10, 000 is given to a group of women to buy raw material and establish looms.

“I was working as a weaver since I was 12 years old. Earlier, we used to work for the Sahukar (moneylender) and we used to get daily wages. But, thanks to Adhikar’s micro financing programme, it has made us self reliant, we are now the owners of our own product,” said a weaver.

Following the finance scheme, the earnings of these women have also increased from a meagre Rs. 80 to Rs 1000 to 1200 per day, making it easy to have a better standard of living and also to repay their loans.

The scheme falls under the poverty elimination programme of the organisation and the results, as seen in Golabai village, have been encouraging.

“The motto of this micro finance scheme is poverty elimination. So, as per that we build an association in the village and then give loans to the weavers and they weave saris, “ said Aniudh Bera, an official with ''Adhikar''.

Source ANI

Bhopal: Bhopal Group for Information and Action (BGIA), a voluntary group representing the victims of 1984 gas tragedy at the Union Carbide, has demanded for clean and potable water for the affected families.

On the night of December 2, 1984, tonnes of a toxic gas leaked from the pesticide plant owned by Union Carbide, killing 3,800 people almost immediately.

Salinath Sandgi, Convenor of the BGIA, said that people who were affected by the gas tragedy were still being forced to drink polluted water, as chemicals lying in and around the site have seeped into the earth and contaminated the groundwater sources.

“On behalf of three organisations working for the victims of the Bhopal gas holocaust, we are asking the Madhya Pradesh Government that if they do not provide clean drinking water to the villages around the Union Carbide plant, we will, on the 25th anniversary of the tragedy on December 2-3, take serious action, and the Government will be responsible for it,” said Salinath Sandgi.

“For the past 19 years, the State Government knows that almost 25 to 30 thousand people living near the Union Carbide factory have been drinking polluted water,” Sandgi added.

He further said that people, who had initially survived the disaster, are dying a slow and painful death by drinking the polluted water.

“Till now, out of the 14 villages, nine villages are drinking polluted water and suffering from diseases like cancer, and there are many instances of the children being handicapped due to consumption of the contaminated water,” Sandgi added.

Source ANI

Gaya (Bihar): Members and activists of Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-M) continued with their Foundation Day anniversary celebrations in several parts of rural Bihar for the second day on Tuesday.

The banned outfit was formed with the merger of the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) and the People''s War Group (PWG) on September 21, 2004.

The Maoist rebels are hosting a fortnight long celebrations in the state to mark the fifth Foundation Day anniversary marked by the active cadres swapping their training sessions with dancing and singing among the villagers and instructing them of their movement.

“We are servants of the people. They are our patrons. We are protecting them. They are looking after us and they are joining our ranks. We are asking them to join our ranks,” said Aadwani, a senior functionary of the Maoist movement.

“We follow the ideologue of Marxist, Leninist and Mao Zedong. We are following them (Karl Marx, Lenin and Mao). Their policy is pro-poor. The present bourgeoisie government''s policy is wrong. They are bringing CoBRA police to suppress people. We oppose that and for that our army of Maoists is ready to tackle the police oppression,” Aadwani added.

Since the merger, the Maoists have been carrying out their operations in rural Bihar with renewed strength and reinforce their base.

Before the merger, both groups (MCC and PWG) were engaged in bloody fights killing many leaders on both sides.

However, ever since they became a single outfit, the activists have emerged as one of the strongest rebel groups in the country.

Source ANI

Mumbai: Poonam Mahajan, daughter of slain Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pramod Mahajan, on Wednesday filed her nomination for the forthcoming Maharashtra assembly elections.

Poonam would be contesting as BJP candidate from Ghatkopar constituency in suburban Mumbai.

“This is not a new constituency for me like I have said before. Since 1984 my father (Pramod Mahajan) has been contesting the elections from here. I was born in Chembur, for me this is an old area, but the challenge is new to me and it is a different role for me. I''ll try my level best so that the Shiv Sena and BJP coalition wins from here,” said Poonam.

Earlier on Sunday, Poonam''s candidature had sparked opposition within the party as hundreds of BJP activists took out a protest in Mumbai.

Source ANI

Rajkot: An all-women musical group is enthralling the local residents in Rajkot city during the ongoing nine-day Navratri festival with various renditions of folk and Bollywood songs.

The ''Hollywood Bollywood Orchestra'' is a 15 member-group who belong to different parts of the country. The musical group performs during the Navratri in various parts of the country.

"It feels good that there are all girls. Today. girls have risen to such a level. They are playing as professional artistes, because it is not easy to play such heavy instruments like drums and all. And I can challenge that our group is best amongst all the other groups," said Binal Prajapati, a singer in the orchestra.

The musical group has captivated attention of one and all Dandiya-dance lovers.

Thousands of girls and women on Tuesday danced on this group’s tunes during the ongoing Navratri festivities. What made the festivities all the more fun for women was the fact that it did not have any men.

"We were a bit sceptical about this women orchestra, thinking how would they play. Today was the first day and it was nice, it seems all the nine days are going to be fun," said Nisha, a reveller.

Dandiya is an immensely popular traditional dance form of Gujaratis.

Navratri is a big occasion in Gujarat, where women and men dress up in traditional dresses and perform ''Dandiya'' or, stick dance to the tunes of the folk songs.

"Navratri," which literally means nine nights, is celebrated twice a year. Celebrated in the months of April-May and September-October, it lasts for nine days in honour of nine manifestations of Goddess Durga.

Source ANI

New Delhi: India on Wednesday assured the representatives of the participating countries of the Common Wealth Games 2010 of providing adequate security during the games to be held next in October.

The Home Ministry''s international security liaison group has organised a two-day conference for the participating countries of Commonwealth Games 2010 who are attending the liaison conference,

The conference will last till Thursday (Sep.24).

On Wednesday, the first day of the conference, Minister of State for Home Ajay Maken informed media that he has told the participants that security would be up to the mark and Commonwealth games scheduled to be held in the city in 2010 would be completely safe.

"I have also personally ensured them and told that there will be no dearth of resources or manpower for security. We''ll be using the best available technologies available globally; we''ll be using the best brains available with us for security purposes. And there''ll be no let up in security in any way. Well as far as the security aspect is concerned we are fully geared up and fully satisfied," said Maken.

Suresh Kalmadi, Chairman of the Organising Committee, said that representatives would be taken on venue visit on Thursday so that they return to their countries with confidence.

He said that India is getting a lot of communication and security equipment into the system. “They are going to all the venues and we are giving them venue briefs; how security is there on the venues, so they go back all confident," said Kalmadi.

About 30 Embassy chiefs or their representatives were briefed about the security measures for next year''s Commonwealth Games earlier in September.

Games organisers have said security will be at par with last year''s Beijing Olympics when they stage the Games from Oct. 3-14 next year.

However, the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) president Mike Fennell last week slammed the organising committee over the slow pace of work for the games, scheduled from Oct. 3-14 next year.

Safety concerns have escalated in South Asia since militant attacks in Mumbai last November killed 166 people and gunmen ambushed the Sri Lanka cricket team bus in Pakistan in March.

Further concerns flared up last month when England pulled out of the world badminton championships in Hyderabad.

Home Minister P.Chidambaram personally attended the final day of the championships in Hyderabad as any ordinary viewer and showed that India was capable of providing security for any major sports event.

Source ANI

Kolkata: Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said that India is not recommending an exit strategy for stimulus packages given to all nations in the ensuing G20 Summit to be held at Pittsburgh.

He noted these observations while speaking to the media persons on the sidelines of the Annual General Meeting of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry at Kolkata in on September 23.

The two-day G20 Summit is due to hosted at Pittsburgh in the United States from Thursday (September 24).

Mukherjee said this in the context of a proposal in the G20 Finance Ministers'' meeting to work out an exit strategy for stimulus packages being extended to all nations.

He said that an exit strategy should not be implemented presently, as world economy is still to recover.

“There was a proposal in the G20 Finance Ministers meeting work out an exit strategy. But the decision, which we arrived at that, we are not recommending the exit strategy to the leaders who are assembling at the summit in Pittsburgh on 24, 25 September right now. We should wait till the recovery in the world economy are (is) more stabilised,” said Mukherjee.

Members of the G20, which represent about 85 percent of the world economy, will be meeting Thursday (September 24) and Friday (September 25), where European leaders are expected to push for a deal to curb bankers'' pay and bonuses.

While there has been welcome news that the recently that the economy is recovering, some analysts think that could hamper reform efforts.

The Wall Street Journal reported that a U.S. proposal to the rest of the G20 group foresaw a new global economic framework under which the United States would save more and cut its budget deficit, China would rely less on exports and Europe would make structural changes, possibly in areas such as labour law, to make itself more attractive to investment.

Further the report mentioned that the G20 countries have not decided how detailed to make their pledges to change their economies and there would be no specific sanctions for those falling short.

The G20 leaders are due to discuss other issues in Pittsburgh, including climate change ahead of important United Nations negotiations on emissions levels in December.

But differences between rich and developing countries already prevented G20 finance ministers from agreeing measures to curb global warming, casting more doubt on UN efforts to agree a new climate treaty.

Source ANI

Gandhinagar: Indian Air Force Chief, Air Chief Marshal P.V.Naik, revealed on Wednesday that country’s air force power is just one third of the capacity of China.

Air Chief Marshal Naik also said that India is far short of aircrafts required to meet the security challenges it faces, but added that the government is doing a lot to augment air force capability.

The air chief’s statement gains significance in the backdrop of the media report about the Chinese incursions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Naik said there were two ways to counter China''s reported incursions, one, to take up weapons and go to the border and the second is to build systematic weapons capability to tackle the threat.

Earlier in August, the then Naval Chief Sureesh Mehta had said that India could not compete with China on defence spending, and warned New Delhi about Beijing’s efforts of creating formidable military capabilities.

Source ANI

New Delhi: President Pratibha Patil today called on youth to concentrate on acquiring new skills and knowledge which can be used for the welfare of the people.

Speaking after presenting the Rashtrapati Scouts and Guides Award Certificates at a function at Rashtrapati Bhavan here, President Patil said advances in science and technology have opened new areas of activities and new fields of knowledge.

"Country needs to harness the talent of its people and the advances of science and technology for increasing productivity of agricultural, industrial and service sectors," she added.

She appealed to the youth to prepare well for meeting life''s challenges and be ready so that there are no missed opportunities.

"The youth must concentrate on acquiring new skills and knowledge, which can be used for the welfare of the people of the country. Hard work, discipline, commitment and determination will be the wheels on which one can navigate through tough terrains and reach the destination," she added.

Concerned over corrupt practices, President Patil said that it is important that we should be honest and abide by rules and regulations.

The President appreciated the role of the Bharat Scouts and Guides for creating an atmosphere of cooperation that promotes national integration.

"The nation needs the contribution of every individual to strengthen every fabric of our nation. Movements like the Bharat Scouts and Guides create an atmosphere of cooperation that promotes national integration," she said.

Highlighting the importance of mitigating global warming she said that every countrymen has to contribute towards this goal to save the world from the menace.

Source ANI

New Delhi: President Pratibha Patil today congratulated the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) team for the successful launch of Oceansat-2 satellite.

Describing it as a proudest moment for the whole country, President Patil said this would herald a new beginning in understanding of the oceans.

Earlier, Vice President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh greeted the ISRO scientists and technocrats.

ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair also congratulated all the staff of the organisation for their effort in making this launch a great success.

The ISRO successfully launched seven satellites in 1,200 seconds with the help of its most trusted Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV- C-14) from the Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh coast.

The launch was carried out as per schedule at 11.51 a.m. (IST) and ended at 12.06 p.m. (IST).

India placed its second Ocean observation satellite Oceansat 2, along with six other nano satellites including two German two Rubinsats Rubin 9.1 and Rubin 9.2,  and four cubesats - the Beesat (assembled by Technical University, Berlin), UWE-2 (University of Wuerzburg, Germany), ITU-pSat (Istanbul Technical University, Turkey) and SwissCube-1 (Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne, Switzerland).

Source ANI

New Delhi: Union Rural Development Ministry on Wednesday asked the State Governments to ensure timely payment to the workers under National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGA).

The ministry’s request came after receiving of complaints over non-payment of wages by the state government officials under the NREGA scheme from various parts of the country.

Ministry has asked the Chief Secretaries of the states to remove bottlenecks for ensuring timely payment to the beneficiaries.

It has also asked them to inform about the remedial measures taken by states to ensure timely payment of wages to NREGA workers.

According to the ministry sources, it has enhanced the limit of allocation on administrative expenditure from four per cent to six per cent to ensure speedy distribution of wages and was in regular touch with the Ministry of Finance.

As per the NREG Act, payment of wages to the workers under this scheme should be paid within 15 days of the completion of work and in case, it is delayed, the state government concerned will have to pay compensation to the worker in accordance with Payment of Wages Act, 1936.

In some cases, the payment of wages were delayed due to faulty handling of muster rolls and shortage of staff at block and Gram panchayat, sources added.

According to the new guidelines the NREGA workers are now being paid through their bank or post office accounts, but the officials felt that some times the time taken in completing the transactions also results in the delay of payment.

Source ANI

Silliguri: Security has been beefed up on the border areas of Siliguri in West Bengal for Durga Puja.

The Sahastra Seema Bal (SSB) and the Border Security Forces (BSF) have been put on
high alert and police patrolling has been increased.

"There is a general threat that terrorists from across the border might come and attack us. For that we have alerted the BSF there and requested them to seal the border. We have also asked the local police stations along the border to have patrolling done and seal the area," said Kunda Lal Tamta, inspector-general of police, North Bengal.

Paramilitary forces are on a vigil in areas bordering with Bangladesh and Nepal.

Certain stretches on the border have been sealed and vehicles entering India are being checked.

State police have also increased their patrolling in major towns of the north Bengal plains and checking vehicles coming from Assam.

Apart from that, security in public places has also been increased for the ongoing festival. Puja pandals are being sanitised by police dog squads.

"There are 75 big pujas in Siliguri and other areas. For big puja, we have made crowd management programmes. We have 35 police assistance booths. The pandal will be sanitised every day," said Tamta.

Anti Sabotage Wings of police are checking the movement of people in public places, including puja pandals and bus/railway stations in major towns of the region.

The security has also been increased to avert any possible attack from militant insurgent groups like the United Liberation Front of Assam and the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation.

Source ANI

New Delhi: The medical superintendent of New Delhi''s Safdarjang Hospital, Dr. Jagdish Prasad, on Wednesday, accused the Delhi Police of harassment and of attempting to frame him with a case for failing to deliver on a request made by a concerned officer.

Addressing a news conference in the capital this afternoon, Dr. Prasad claimed he was approached by the station house officer (SHO) of the Sarojini Nagar Police Station, Ramesh Kakkar, in the second week of July with a request to admit someone close to Deputy Commissioner of Police, South Disitrict, H.S. Dhaliwal, to the post-graduate course in medicine of the national board of examinations.

He said that he was offered gifts to accomodate the request. On his refusal to accede to the demand, he said he was put in touch with DCP Dhaliwal via mobile phone. He repeated that he was not in a position to accomodate the request, as admissions were solely on merit. Dr. Prasad thereafter claimed that DCP Dhaliwal threatened him with dire consequences. The SHO also left his residence in a huff with the gift pack, he added.

He said that soon after, a case of cheating was filed against him at the above police station. He contacted the SHO for details, but received no response. He claimed the media, or specifically The Mail Today tabloid, had lapped up the cheating case, bismirching his name and credibility in the public domain.

Releasing a four-page letter addressed to Delhi Police Commissioner Y.S. Dadwal, Dr. Prasad said that an Additional Director-General of Health Services and a Padam Shree awardee would never compromise his integrity or self-respect in such a manner. He also said that he had spent large part of his life serving the public.

Urging the police chief to inquire into the incident on a priority basis, Dr. Prasad said specific investigations should be initiated into DCP Dhaliwal''s alleged threat and the blind person who had filed the case and named a so-called non-existent relative who allegedly acted as the conduit for the transaction.

Several attempts were made to contact DCP Dhaliwal on his mobile phone for his reaction, but he did not respond.

Source ANI

New Delhi: Labour Minister Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday condemned the lynching of a company official in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.

Reacting to the tragedy, Kharge said: Lynching of the company vice-president by workers is an unfortunate incident. I have asked the Tamil Nadu Government to provide a detailed report of the incident.

A group of agitating workers of an auto parts manufacturing company on Tuesday lynched the Vice President (Human Resource) of the company to death.

Six workers barged into Pricol Limited and attacked employees of company''''''''s human resource department including Vice-President Roy J George got badly hurt.

George, 47, succumbed to serious head injures in hospital.

According to the police the assault was a reaction to their dismissal from service.

The company had dismissed around 42 workers on Saturday on account of indiscipline.

In a statement, the company stated that its utilisation capacity was slipped to ten percent and some workers were not letting the others work.

George was trying to initiate a dialogue with the agitating workers to bring the operations back on track.

Police arrested twelve workers of the company belonging to All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) on charges of murder. A case has been registered against them under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Earlier, the AICCTU had made various demands before the management.

Company sources said trouble between the workers and the management had been on for the last two years.

Security has been beefed up as a precautionary measure in the company premises.

Source ANI

Srinagar: Four army men including a Major and five militants were killed in two separate encounters in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday.

The gun battle with militants is going on in Bandipora and Rafiabad areas of the Kashmir Valley.

Major JS Suri of the Special Operation Group was martyred along with a soldier during the Bandipora encounter. Two soldiers also died during gunfight with militants in Rafiabad area.

The Rafiabad gunbattle, which began on September 22 evening around 4.30 p.m., two army personnel, including a Major are also severely injured so far.

Five militants have been killed so far in both encounters, as they were trying to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir, defense officials said.

The gunfight started in Gurez Sector, 130 km north of Srinagar, the capital of the state.

"The army has succeeded in foiling an infiltration bid along Gurez sector by killing five militants. The contact with the group was established late Tuesday night but the gunfight broke out early Wednesday morning and all the five militants were eliminated," said a defence official.

According to sources, the security forces have blown up a terrorist hideout in the region. The Army suspects that at least five terrorists are holding up inside a house.

The Bandipora encounter is 34th encounter in 46 days in the state.

Source ANI

Onboard Air India One: With austerity being the buzz word in Indian corridors of power, it seems, that every area of government-public interaction is being hit by the bug.

News is already out that the Prime Minister''s delegation has been pruned for his Group of Twenty trip to Pittsburgh via Frankfurt in Germany.

That, it seems, is not enough! Staff on Air India One, the Prime Minister''s official aircraft, were reportedly given advance instructions to trim the contents on offer in the official menu.

Following the order to a tee, the staff did not serve expensive biscuits and eliminated caviar, but in a concession to the media accompanying the delegation, served all those on board the choicest of liquor en route to Frankfurt, where there will be an overnight halt.

The UPA Government’s austerity drive is being followed by the Prime Minister, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party general secretary Rahul Gandhi.

It is expected to be extended to all Members of Parliament (MPs) following an all party meeting, sources have said in the recent past.

Vice President Hamid Ansari will call an all-party meeting to decide on the issue once Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar’s returns from Rome, inside sources said.

Following the top party leaders’ much publicized economy class flights and train rides, the UPA had requested Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha chairpersons to convince all MPs to join the austerity drive.

The Chairman of the Rajya Sahba and the Lok Sabha Speaker are expected to hold a discussion on the austerity drive.

The move is to promote the austerity comes in the wake of the country experiencing a crippling drought.

The Congress party has already advised its ministers and lawmakers to donate 20 percent of their salary towards draught relief.

They have also been told to travel economy class and not hold press conferences in five-star hotels.

Gandhians associated with the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad have lauded the initiative.

The Gandhains, who themselves live a life of extreme simplicity, following the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, said that if politicians lead a simple life, people would certainly follow in tune with the adage: Follow the leader.

Amrut Modi, the managing trustee Sabarmati Gandhi Ashram, a staunch Gandhian himself, is a firm believer in Gandhi''''s teaching of ''''doing one''''s work by oneself'''', and professes it religiously.

Appreciating the austerity drive of the government, he said that politicians through such measures inspire people towards leading a simple life, as the Mahatma did.

“If simplicity is acquired, it can lead to change. Gandhiji himself had brought about change in the country. He prepared the people for independence and self-rule. The principle of simplicity is included in his teachings. He inspired the common man, through his simple life. Even today if our politicians adopt simplicity, then people will take inspiration from them,” Modi said.

Several other believers of Gandhi’s teaching also said that simplicity could help the nation develop, and also set an example in front of the whole world.

“The ministers should adopt Gandhiji''''s principles and teachings pertaining to simplicity. This will help in the development of the country financially and otherwise and they can also send the message to the world, that how beneficial it can be to walk on Gandhiji''''s principles,” said Dhimant Badiya, another Gandhian.

Source ANI

Bandipora, (Jammu and Kashmir): In two separate encounters with the militants on Wednesday, in Bandipora and Baramullah, respectively at least one-army soldier was killed and three others were injured.

According to sources two militant were also killed in the encounters.

The Banadipora encounter, started at around 4.30 p.m. on Tuesday was still continuing even after 22 hours.

According to sources the security forces have blown up a terrorist hideout in the region.

The Army suspects that at least three terrorists are holding up in a house.

It is the 33rd encounter in 46 days in the state.

Source ANI

Sriharikota / New Delhi: Vice President Mohd Hamid Ansari greeted the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists and technocrats for the splendid achievement of successfully launching PSLV C-14 on Wednesday.

Ansari was present at the Satish Dhavan Space Centre SHAR to witness the launching of seven satellites.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has congratulated the ISRO team for the successful launch of Oceansat-2 Satellite.

In his message, Singh stated: “I am delighted to learn that the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C14 (PSLV-C14) launched today from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR, Sriharikota has successfully launched India’s OCEANSAT-2 satellite and six nano satellites from European Universities and agencies.

“PSLV has once again demonstrated its versatility and reliability through this fifteenth successful launch in a row. The OCEANSAT-2 satellite will herald a new beginning in our understanding of the oceans,” Singh stated.

He added, “I congratulate the entire ISRO team responsible for this achievement, and wish ISRO continued success in future missions.”

ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair also congratulated all the staff of the organisation for their effort in making this launch a great success.

The scientists and technocrats hug each other as the screen in the control room started showing the successful placing of the satellites in the orbit.

India launched its second ocean observation satellite along with six other nano satellites from the Sriharikota spaceport.

Source ANI

New Delhi: The founder and CEO of BharatMatrimony, Murugavel Janakiraman, has described the interim injunction granted by the Madras High for restraining Google from infringing Chennai-based Consim Info Pvt Ltd''''s registered trademarks like Bharatmatrimony.com, as a landmark judgment.
 
In a telephonic conversation with Asian News International (ANI), Janakiraman said: "It is a good thing for protecting trademarks. Google should not use trademark names as a heading for its competitors advertisement."
 
He further added, "Google should not allow to sell or bid ad words that are related to Bharatmatrimony brand names to competition."
 
When asked about its impact on the online industry in India, Janakiraman said: "The order has set an example in the online industry with respect to protecting trademarks."
 
Janakiraman said, a copy of the order has already been sent to Google.
 
"The official copy will be sent by the Madras High Court," he said.
 
On September 18, the interim injunction granted by the Madras High Court had restrained Google and others from infringing and/or enabling others to infringe Consim''''s registered trademarks like Bharatmatrimony.com, Tamilmatrimony.com and Telugumatrimony.com by including them as adwords, keyword suggestions tool programme.
 
In its application, Consim had asked that Google should stop using these trademark names as a heading for its competitors advertisement.
 
The case was filed under Sections 27,28,29, 134 and 135 of the Trademarks Act, 1999.
 
The Company also sought damages of Rs 10.5 lakh from Google and other four respondents  - People Interactive Pvt Ltd, Jeevansathi Internet Services Pvt Ltd and Times Business Solutions Ltd.

Source ANI

New Delhi: Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh here today left for USA to attend Summit of G-20 leaders.

In his departure statement, Dr. Singh said, "This is the third Summit of the G-20 leaders in less than a year. This reflects the seriousness, which the G-20 countries attach not just to the recovery of the global economy and financial system, but to a recovery that is coordinated, sustainable and enduring.

"The Summits in Washington and London were convened at the height of the global economic crisis, and therefore focused on the urgent and the immediate. The London Summit resulted in ambitious liquidity stimulus measures and growth packages. Importantly, it pledged to mobilize USD 1.1 trillion of resources for international financial institutions, largely to sustain growth in emerging markets," he added.

"The steps taken by the G-20 to augment the resources of multilateral development banks have led to substantial stepping up of the World Bank lending to India," he said.

He said the global economy and financial markets have shown a distinct improvement since then, but we are still not out of the woods.

Even though our economic growth rate has slowed to 6.7 percent in 2008-09, India approaches the Pittsburgh Summit with a sense of confidence. Our growth is primarily driven by domestic demand, our savings rate is robust and the external sector has exhibited resilience," he added.

Dr Singh further said that the Pittsburgh Summit is expected to focus on medium and long-term issues such as a framework for sustainable and balanced growth, strengthening the international financial regulatory system, reforming the mandate mission and governance of the IMF and development banks, strengthening support for the most vulnerable, an open global economy and energy and climate change.

"It is necessary for India to engage in the management of the world economy because we have a lot at stake, and a lot to contribute," he said.

"The expansion and strengthening of the erstwhile the Financial Stability Forum, and now the Financial Stability Board, and the Basel Committee on the Banking Supervision was a step in the right direction to address the regulatory aspects. There is a need to carry the process of governance reform of international financial institutions further to give greater voice and representation to under-represented countries," he added.

He said the G-20 process is a continuing one and it is in our interest to ensure that it succeeds both in its short term and long term objectives.

The Prime Minister will arrive in Pittsburgh on Thursday where he will attend a reception and dinner by US President Barack Obama on the same day.

The next day, there will be a summit plenary and a lunch, which will be attended by world leaders.

He will leave Pittsburgh on September 25. Dr Singh will also be interacting with other heads of government and hold bilateral meeting with some of them.

Source ANI

Gandhinagar: Indian Air Force Chief  Air Chief Marshal P.V.Naik on Wednesday downplayed the Chinese threat, saying there have not been air incursions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Addressing the media over the issue, Air Chief Marshal Naik said, "Our strategy is to play it cool. We are not downplaying anything. As far as the Air Force is concerned there has been no reason to downplay anything. There have not been any incursions reported at the LAC."

He also hinted that the Indian Air Force is upscaling its strength to make sure the situation along LAC remain undisturbed.

On Tuesday China flatly denied reports of any incursions along the LAC.

Talking to reporters after meeting with Home Secretary G K Pillai in New Delhi Chinese Ambassador Zhang Yan said: "Nothing is happening. You listen to your leaders."

Last week, Yan had met National Security Adviser M K Narayanan and Joint Secretary in-charge of China in Ministry of External Affairs Vijay Gokhale.

Earlier, reacting to Chinese incursions, the Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor said there had been no increase in Chinese incursions along the Sino-Indian border.

Source ANI

Mumbai: ''Tum Mile'', a forthcoming film on the 2005 Mumbai floods, is all set to recall the horror of the calamity and the devastation caused by it.

Set against the backdrop of the fateful day on July 26, the film delves into the happenings of that day and recreates them.

The film revolves around the story of two persons who part ways and meet after six years in a flight back to Mumbai. How they get sucked into the catastrophe and are forced to stick together during the floods, forms the storyline of the film.

"The idea was to personalise what happened in the floods. It is not a story on floods. It is a story on the people who were stuck in the floods. So I''ve chosen a couple and showed what happened on that day and night," said Kunal Deshmukh, director.

The film was a traumatic experience to shoot as most of the people involved in the film were in some way or other affected by the floods.

"I was also stuck in the floods. I was on SB road, so all the memories came back to me. Of course, what all incidents that we are showing in the film, I was never in such life threatening situations, but I''ve heard a lot of stories. It is a traumatic film to shoot and relive," said Soha Ali Khan, one of the lead actors of the film.

Source ANI

Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh): The Indian Space Research Organisation  (ISRO) on Wednesday successfully launched seven satellites in 1,200 seconds with the help of its most trusted Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV- C-14) from the Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh coast.

The launch was carried out as per schedule at 11.51 a.m. (IST) and ended at 12.06 p.m. (IST).

India placed its second Ocean observation satellite Oceansat 2, along with six other nano satellites including two German two Rubinsats Rubin 9.1 and Rubin 9.2,  and four cubesats - the Beesat (assembled by Technical University, Berlin), UWE-2 (University of Wuerzburg, Germany), ITU-pSat (Istanbul Technical University, Turkey) and SwissCube-1 (Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne, Switzerland).

Vice President Mohd Hamid Ansari who was present at the Satish Dhavan Space Centre SHAR,  congratulated the scientists and technocrats over  this splendid achievement for the nation.

Earlier, in April 2008, ISRO launched 10 satellites in one go.

Oceansat-2 is carrying an Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) and a Ku-band pencil beam Scatterometer, besides a Radio Occultation Sounder for Atmospheric Studies (Rosa), developed by the Italian Space Agency (ASI).

The Ku-band pencil beam Scatterometer with a ground resolution cell of 50 KMs X 50 KMs is expected to provide the wind vector range of four to 24 metres per second with better than 20% accuracy in speed and 20 degree in wind direction.

The on-board Scatterometer is a very good instrument for getting surface wind on the sea. It is required for sea state forecasting. And for maritime navigation, the wave height and disturbance is also important.

The eight-band OCM is similar to the one in Oceansat-1 with appropriate spectral bandwidth modifications based on the previous experience.

The OCM, with 360 metres spatial resolution and a swath of 1,420 kilometres would provide extensive communication links.

Since Oceansat-2 is a continuity mission to Oceansat-1, the same polar sun synchronous orbit of 720 kilometres has been retained.

However, unlike the Oceansat-1 that could essentially look at only the colour of the ocean, THE Oceansat-2 is a comprehensive system and would look at surface winds and temperature, among other things.

The satellite is intended for identification of potential fishing zones, weather forecasting and other trends of the sea, coastal zone studies and providing inputs for general meteorological observations.

Source ANI

New Delhi: The Ministry of Tourism, the Government of India in association with the Indian Mission in Russia and the Experience India Society will organise Incredible India Events in Russia from October 22-27 as part of celebration of the "Year of India in Russia".

The primary objective of the Incredible India Events is to showcase the tourism potential of India and to place India as favoured destination for the Russians.

The highlight of the Incredible India Event is an India Evening at the Moscow Ritz Carlton Hotel on September 22 and at the St. Petersburg Grand Hotel Europe on September 24.

The ICCR will be putting up a cultural performance of leading Indian artist, Tanusree Shankar, to showcase India''s rich culture during India Evenings organized at both cities.

The India Evenings will be followed by four-day long India Food Festivals at the respective cities.

A team of twelve top chefs from India''s premier hotel chains have been specially flown to Russia to popularize the best of Indian cuisine in Russia.

The Ministry of Tourism is also participating in the Otdykh Leisure Show 2009 in Moscow by putting up an India Pavilion.

The show opened in Moscow on September 22 in which the India Pavilion was inaugurated by Sanjay Kothari, Additional Secretary -Tourism, Government of India in the presence of travel partners from India.

For providing wide publicity for the events in Russia, an integrated outdoor advertising campaigns and print media campaigns have been launched by Indiatourism Office, Frankfurt in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Tourist arrivals from Russia to India is showing a steady growth.

In the year 2008, India received a total of 91,423 tourists from Russia as against 75543 in 2007.

The Incredible India Events provides an effective platform for showcasing Indian culture, cuisine and myriad tourism products to a large gathering of elite audience in Russia.

Russia is an important source market for Indian tourism, reflecting high growth rate over the last few years and it is expected that this growth will increase still further.

Source ANI

Vellore: Nalini Sriharan, who is serving a life term in connection with the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, ended her fast on Wednesday after Vellore jail officials assured her that her plea for premature release after 18 years in jail would be considered.

Nalini was on a hunger strike in the jail for thee days. She had filed a revised petition before the Madras High Court seeking her premature release.

The court had ordered the government to constitute a new advisory committee to consider her release.

She had also sought her release on the ground that she had spent more than the mandatory maximum 14 years in jail.

Nalini had accompanied a suicide bomber squad to the election rally in Sriperumbudur where Rajiv Gandhi was killed on May 21, 1991.

Three other convicts sentenced to death in connection with the same case, had appealed for release on the grounds that they had waited for years for the hangman - a condition worse than capital punishment. Further, they said they had also completed the life imprisonment period.

Nalini, her husband and former Tamil Tiger guerrilla Murugan and two other rebels were sentenced to death for their role in Gandhi''s assassination.

The Madras High Court had upheld Nalini''s plea for clemency on a technicality ground and on the basis of an earlier ruling of the Supreme Court, which said that both the parents of a child should not be put to death. She bore a child after being arrested and while facing a trial.

Her death penalty was commuted to a life sentence.

Source ANI