ABC NEWS NETWORK LIVE

Indian Food Industry Expects Favorable policy in budget

2006-10-07T18:58:00.000+05:30

The ministry of food processing industries of India has accepted the request of the delegation of the food processing industry to consider tax reduction policies for the improvement in the growth rate of the food Industry and the ministry has agreed to introduce few new plans in the preparation of the forth coming budget.
The ministry is also ready to recommend the reconsideration of the licensing system, and enhancement of the moratorium on interest payments for the industry to the finance ministry of India. It also consulted the confederation of Indian industry (CII) for suggestions for the overall development of the food processing industry.
The valuable points suggested by CII will be the part of its recommendations for the budget. The ministry would also scrutiny the lending processes and equal tax rate system to help in the reduction of transaction cost for the small-scale food processing industry. For the benefit of the Industry the ministry would recommend the simple policy for distinguish units in different parts of the country, there are abnormalities in taxes resulting differences in excise duties up to 16% on different food products and eatables like non cocoa confectionery items are liable 50% less than of the cocoa confectionery items in excise duty. The retail price of some food products might effected because of the planning of the ministry to implement same tax on all distinguish food products. The reformed policy in this sector will definitely be welcomed at the stage where food products industry has already shown the highest growth rate of 26.8% in the India’s industrial output which is 12.4% it is the highest growth in a decade.

Brijesh Verma
ABC NEWS NETWORK

2006-09-22T17:56:00.000+05:30

Mass communication has been always a fast changing subject from verbal to print, and print to electronics to online. The participants in different phases of mass communication journey were remained same i.e. Special class, which called themselves as forth pillar of democracy mean journo. Every medium and media has remained fully depended on their feeds. There is no doubt that their have made excellent contributions in development in every spheres of lives. But in knowledge revolution era mass communication is demanding more feeds and information which can not be provided alone by our journalists fraternity so active participation of citizens are require to meet the expectations. This active participation of citizens in mass communication delivery system is now named as citizen journalism or citizen journalist. In this process for future mass communication delivery system some serious researchers have working hard. In them are young mass communication researchers from developing nation India. They have grouped themselves under a company ABC NEWS NETWORK (P) LTD. This has head quarter in New Delhi. Apart from them there are also others who are putting their in-depth researches on future media and medium like
www.italknews.com
www.ohmynews.com
www.citizenxpress.com
etc. I have mentioned the name of ABC NEWS NETWIORK because these young Indian mass communication researchers are marching with their international counterparts with no real time financial supports but their determination and in-depth know how of the subject are making them pioneer in citizen journalism in world wide. Their portal dedicated to this cause has been coming soon in name of
www.citizenxpress.com
in month of October this year. It is really a good sign for future mass communication because citizens of future are coming out to take their responsibilities in advance in that part of globe which is considered less developed.
Dinesh Singh Rawat
Managing Editor
ABC NEWS NETWORK(P) LTD

Vaastu and Feng for websites designers

2006-06-14T23:12:00.000+05:30

Cutting edge technology is increasingly falling back on ancient knowledge systems or so it seems, with Vaastu and Feng Shui experts promising help to ensure more hits and visiblity to website designers and clients. Ritu Kapoor, a Feng Shui practioner says “Vaastu and Feng Shui tend to combine a bit of numerology and astrology and takes into account a person's zodiac to fine-tune the website and turn around its fortunes”. The position of different elements affects the performance of the site, explains Smita Jain Narang author of 'Web Vaastu', a book that marries design principles and working of conventional websites with Vaastu knowlegde.
Vaastu experts maintains that from the right colours to font, placement of graphics and navigation bar to the correct time to upload the website, the ancient sciences have a solution for all."We made changes in accordance with the Vaastu principles for a kitchenware website . We changed the colour from light blue to green and the results were encouraging." Brijesh Aggarwal of Indiamart, a website design company says.
Aggarwal further admits that though the concept of Vaastu and Feng Shui are new, he is optimistic that it may catch on and with awareness, it could mean extra moolah for the designers offering websites compliant with these principles.

Floating nuclear power station planned in Russia

2006-06-14T23:10:00.000+05:30

Russia will construct its first floating nuclear power station which is due to become operational by October 2010, would provide energy for the giant Sevmash plant as well as export a fifth of its produce, the project will cost 9.1 billion rubles (USD 330 million)
Acting chief of Russia's Rosenergoatom nuclear power producer Obozov also noted that Russia needs to create a typical power unit for a floating station, because there are foreign clients in the Pacific Asia region.Russia may set up as many as six floating power stations in the future, with plans for Kamchatka, Chukotka, Yakutia and the Krasnoyarsk region now in the works.

26 projects under the Indian National e-Governance Plan

2006-06-14T23:06:00.000+05:30

Information Technology Minister Dayanidhi Maran unveiled 26 projects under the National e-Governance Plan, which would cost the government around Rs 23,000 crore over the next five years.
"Central and state governments are already spending Rs 3,000 crore every year on various e-governance initiatives. The national plan is consolidating them and trying to set common standards for them," Maran said at a press conference.He said by setting standards deliverables are ensured.Apart from 26 mission mode projects, the plan has eight support components. States will have the flexibility to add up to five state-specific projects."The entire effort involves 500 implementation agencies, two lakh sites and an estimated 70,000 man-years of effort.The major projects to be taken up by the plan include common service centres, land records, commercial taxes, agriculture, police, education, pensions, income tax and banking.Maran said a body serviced by the Department of IT and Chaired by Prime Minister is being constituted to provide a thrust and drive to the implementation of the plan.He said an Apex Committee chaired by he Cabinet Secretary has already been set up to oversee implementation and provide policy and strategic directions.As many as 22 states have started implementing state wide area networks that would provide at least 5 mbps connectivity up to the block level all over the country, Maran said adding that the roll out will cost Rs 3,300 crore and would be completed by 2007

Key Saddam witnesses say they were bribed, coerced

2006-06-14T00:08:00.000+05:30

Four defense witnesses in the trial of Saddam Hussein recanted their testimonies, saying they were coerced into speaking on behalf of the Iraqi ex-president.
Two of the witnesses said they were offered money for their testimony and two said their families had been threatened, according to confessions that were read out in court.
"My family is detained in Syria until I provided my testimony in defense of Saddam," said the confession of the first witness.
"I had to say I received 500 dollars from (chief prosecutor Jaafar) al-Mussawi, in order to divert the attention of the world away from the Dujail case."
The confession of the second witness also indicated that he testified under threats to his family, but the final two witnesses admitted they did it for money, also 500 dollars.
"Khalil Dulaimi promised me he would get me appointments with (Saddam's daughter) Raghed and (wife) Sajida," said the confession, referring to Saddam's lead defense attorney. "Then my fortune would be assured and I would get residency outside Iraq."
For all the recanting witnesses, the deals were organized by Saddam's former bodyguards with the final coaching on their court testimony performed by Dulaimi, according to the confessions.

The Government is likely to set up sixth pay commission

2006-06-14T00:02:00.000+05:30

The Government is likely to set up sixth pay commission to revise wages of its employees early in July, five months after the announcement by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Finance Secretary Adarsh Kishore said that the ministry is contemplating the proposal for consideration of the Cabinet on the subject so that Cabinet may consider all aspects and decide appropriately in the month of July.The Finance Secretary did not elaborate but another official, confirming the development, said Cabinet note is being prepared and it is expected to go before the Cabinet in the first or the second week of July.The official said the detailed terms of reference was yet to be worked out but all efforts would be made to ensure that the Centre and states are not put to financial difficulty as was the case after implementation of the fifth pay commission.The official said efforts would be made this time to see that the increased wage burden was reasonable, appropriate and affordable and in consonance with modern requirements.While ensuring employees get reasonable compensation, affordability by the government should also be kept in mind while formulating the recommendations by the pay commission.Admitting that both the Centre and states were put to financial difficulty as a result of implementation of the fifth pay commission report, the official said fortunately all of them are now out of the financial distress.The "rightsizing" efforts has enabled the Central Goverment to cut staff strength to 32,74,145 in 2006 from 37,82,177 in 1996-97, before the fifth pay commission.

Rural India more industrious than urban counterpart

2006-06-12T23:36:00.000+05:30

Rural India is far more enterprising than urban areas, as it accounts for 61.3 percent of the country's industrial units compared to just 38.7 percent in towns and cities, says the Economic Census 2005. The census document notes that Tamil Nadu was top in terms of states with highest number of industrial units, 44.5 lakh, while Maharshtra was the largest employer with 1.18 crore jobs.Gujarat, supposed to be an economically advanced state, is conspicuously missing from the list of toppers in the census.Even in average annual growth in employment, rural areas fared better than urban areas with 3.33 percent and 1.68 percent, respectively. The share of urban and rural area in total employment is 49 percent and 51 percent, respectively.
"We have collected data from the largest number of enterprises and contacted 21.1 crore households," Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation G K Vasan said releasing the cesus document.The previous Economic Census was conducted in 1998.
He said unlike previous Census', the fifth Census would have a directory of enterprises employing 10 workers or more to help undertake detailed surveys in respect of services sector, which contributes 54 percent to GDP.As per the provisional results (the final results would come by December), there are 42.12 million enterprises engaged in different economic activities other than crop production and plantation.Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal together account for 50 percent of the total enterprises in the country.Interestingly, the terror-ravaged Jammu and Kashmir registered a growth of 6.82 percent in total employment growth followed by Sikkim (5.52 percent), Kerala (5.39 percent), Haryana (5.12 percent) and Tripura (5.07 percent).While Tamil Nadu topped with highest number of units, Mizoram clocked the highest growth in enterprises at 9.60 percent followed by Kerala, Tripura, Tamil Nadu and Assam.Among the Union Territories, Delhi tops the list in both the number of enterprises, 7.53 lakh (1.79 percent) and in total employment, 4.08 lakh (4.12 percent) followed by Chandigarh and Pondicherry.The total number of people working in the enterprises is about 98.97 million, which is more or less equally distributed in rural and urban areas.At the country level, hired workers account for about 52 percent of the total persons employed. Adult female workers are 19 percent of the total people employed and the corresponding figures in rural and urban areas are 24 and 14 percent respectively. At all India level, average employment per enterprise is 2.35 and the figures for rural and urban areas are 1.94 and 2.99 respectively.The first Economic Census was done in 1977 and the fourth Census was done in 1998.

Five journalists and 13 police personnel injured in Kashmir.

2006-06-12T23:33:00.000+05:30

Five journalists and 13 police personnel, including a senior officer, were among 25 people injured when violent demonstrators clashed with police at Trehgam in Kashmir.
Eighteen year old Javid Ahmad Malik was hit by a bullet when the police fired few rounds to disperse the demonstrators. He was later rushed to Srinagar hospital.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (Dy Sp) Sajjad Hussain was also injured in the incident.
Life in the frontier district of Kupwara was paralysed due to spontaneous strike in protest against the alleged desecration of a mosque and killing of a youth reportedly in the firing by the security forces.Hundreds of people, mostly students, again took to the streets at Trehgam, demanding action against security personnel responsible for sacrilege of a mosque and killing of a youth in firing on Saturday.The police resorted to lathicharge and burst teargas shells as the demonstrators were pelting stones on security forces and passing vehicles.

Al-Qaida in Iraq has announced that a militant named Abu Hamza al-Muhajer its new head

2006-06-12T23:31:00.000+05:30

Al-Qaida in Iraq has announced that a militant named Abu Hamza al-Muhajer has been appointed as the group's new leader to succeed the slain Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed by the US forces in last week. According to a Web statement posted Al-Qaida in Iraq made this announcement. The name al-Muhajer, Arabic for "immigrant," suggested he was not Iraqi.
"Al-Qaida in Iraq's council has agreed on Sheik Abu Hamza al-Muhajer to be the successor for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in the leadership of the organization," said a statement signed by the group on an Islamic militant Web forum where it often posts messages.It said al-Muhajer was "a beloved brother with jihadi (holy war) experience and a strong footing in knowledge."The authenticity of the statement could not be independently confirmed. Al-Zarqawi, who founded the group, was killed Wednesday in a US airstrike northeast of Baghdad.

Three months imprisonment to Zaheera Shaikh, prime witness in the Best bakery case

2006-06-12T23:29:00.000+05:30

A sessions court has sentenced Zaheera Shaikh, prime witness in the Best bakery case, to three months imprisonment for giving false evidence, the judge Abhay Thipsay also imposed a fine of Rs 500 on Zaheera. If the fine is not paid, she will have to undergo 10 days additional jail term, the order said.Three months's rigorous imprisonment imposed on Zaheera, would begin after she completes the one year sentence already imposed on her by the Supreme Court for contempt of court.Zaheera is currently undergoing the sentence at the Byculla jail here. The judge found Zaheera guilty of giving false evidence on 15 counts.Earlier, the court had sentenced Zaheera's mother Sehrunnisa, and sister Sahira to three months' RI and fined Rs 500 each on similar charges.However, the court decided to put her brother Nasibullah -- who too faced similar charges on probation considering his young age.

06/06/06

2006-06-06T23:12:00.000+05:30

It is the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth year of the new millennium on the calendar, a date that has spawned vigorous debate in the West because of its biblical linkage to Satan.
The rare calendar event when the date, the month and the year are the same numbers began from the start of the new millennium. It was 01/01/01 on 1st January 2001, and every year ever since has had a date, month and year number that reads the same on the calendar.
The occurance will last till it is 12/12/12.
However, of all these calendar events, it is 6/6/6 or 666 that has generated the maximum interest.
While the doomsayers, citing a reference in the book of Revelation (13:16-18) say antichrist will exercise power over Earth, others point out that the day has come and passed in 1906, 1806, 1706 and in the earlier millennia.
The day was popularised by the 1970s film 'The Omen' starring Gregory Peck and Lee Remick.
A remake starring Mia Farrow, Liev Schreiber and Julia Stiles is being released, coinciding with the date.

Australia has decided to establish a taskforce to review uranium mining, processing

2006-06-06T23:10:00.000+05:30

Amidst demand from countries like India for uranium supplies, Australia, one of the world's top producers of the nuclear material, has decided to establish a taskforce to review uranium mining, processing and nuclear energy in the country.

While speaking to the reporters in Canberra, Prime Minister John Howard said, “Cabinet has approved the establishment of a prime ministerial taskforce to review uranium mining, processing and nuclear energy in Australia."
Howard said Australians need to keep an "open mind" on uranium enrichment and nuclear power.

"There is significant potential for Australia to increase and add value to our uranium exports," he said.
Notifying the country uranium resources, the premier said, Australia does hold up to 40 per cent of the world's known, low-cost, recoverable uranium reserves and there is significant potential for Australia to increase and add value to our uranium extraction and exports.
Further he said, "It is foolish to see ourselves simply as an exporter of uranium ... I think we should also look at the value-added process.”
"We should also look at whether a nuclear power station is becoming feasible," Howard said.
Former chief executive of telecom company Telstra Dr Ziggy Switkowski will head the federal government's inquiry into the viability of a domestic nuclear power industry, he said.
Howard, however, said he did not expect nuclear power stations to come up in Australia in the next two to three years.

However the recent statement by the Prime Minister John Howard today said has angered environmentalists who want the country to maintain its nuclear-free stance.
Australia holds about 40 per cent of the world's uranium reserves and is a major exporter of the material, but has no nuclear power or enriching industry of its own and has only one research reactor, in suburban Sydney.
''I have always maintained that holding the reserves of uranium that we do, it is foolish to see ourselves simply as an exporter of uranium,'' Howard told reporters.
The Australian Greens said Howard's position put the environment behind the needs of the international nuclear industry.
''The nuclear debate is a sideshow to the greatest challenge facing Australia, and that is climate change,'' Greens Senator Christine Milne said in a statement.
There are currently 441 nuclear power plants worldwide. More are planned in China and India to meet growing energy demands, while South Korea and the Russian Federation also intend to increase nuclear power generation.
Besides a survey in 2005 found 47 per cent of Australians supported nuclear power, while 40 per cent opposed it.

Iraq gunmen kill 24 civilians at checkpoint

2006-06-05T00:24:00.000+05:30

At least twenty four civilians, including students, children and elderly men have been shot down when a gunmen dragged them out of their cars at a makeshift checkpoint in a town north of Baghdad and shot them in an ''execution style''.
According to the senior police official in Diyala province, the attack took place in Udhaim, 120 km (80 miles) north of Baghdad.
Insurgents are waging a campaign of bombings, shootings and kidnappings in a bid to topple the U.S.-backed government and sectarian killings mostly between Shi'ites and Sunnis are also tearing the country apart.

underworld don Dawood Ibrahim as 'Foreign Narcotics Kingpin'

2006-06-03T01:38:00.000+05:30

early three years after designating him as a global terrorist, the US has declared India's most wanted underworld don Dawood Ibrahim as 'Foreign Narcotics Kingpin', which means any of his assets in America will be frozen and he will not be able to transact with US nationals or companies.An US embassy statement in New Delhi has said President Bush designated three foreign individuals, including Dawood Ibrahim, and two foreign entities, including Dawood's business empire, in the seventh annual set of determinations of drug traffickers who would be subject to the sanctions provided in the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act ('Kingpin Act').The foreign individuals and entities the President designated as appropriate for sanctions under the Kingpin Act were: Dawood Ibrahim (India), Fahd Jamil Georges (Brazil), Ali Naway (Iran), Dawood Ibrahim Organisation (India/Pakistan/UAE) and Amezcua Contreras Organisation (Mexico).
The sanctions would deny Dawood, who was wanted in India for among other crimes the 1993 serial Mumbai blasts, and his organisation in India, Pakistan and UAE access to US financial system.The Kingpin Act, which became law in December 1999, targeted significant foreign narcotics traffickers, their organisations and operatives worldwide, denying them access to the US financial system and all trade and transactions involving US companies and individuals.
The Kingpin Act did not target the countries in which these foreign individuals and entities were operating or the governments of such countries.
Dawood had been widely reported including in the Pakistani media to be living in Pakistan under 'official patronage'.
So for all practical purposes, Dawood can continue to live comfortably in Pakistan.In October 2003, the US Treasury Department designated Dawood Ibrahim as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224 and requested the United Nations list him as well.''This designation signals our commitment to identifying and attacking the financial ties between the criminal underworld and terrorism,'' Deputy Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes Juan Zarate had stated.The UN listing required all UN Member States take similar actions.''We are calling on the international community to stop the flow of dirty money that kills. For the Ibrahim syndicate, the business of terrorism forms part of their larger criminal enterprise, which must be dismantled.''
The US had previously shown little inclination to go after Dawood, or help India get him, despite connecting him to al-Qaeda and worldwide terrorist activity.

The University Grants Commission has declared as fake more than 20 universities

2006-06-03T01:37:00.000+05:30

The University Grants Commission has declared as fake more than 20 universities and educational institutions across eight states and warned students against taking admission in those places.Releasing a list of the fake universities in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, the Commissioner, Higher Education Department of UGC Anil Kumar advised students not to seek admission in these institutions.Uttar Pradesh had the dubious distinction of topping the list with as many as 10 fake universities operating in the state followed by Delhi which ran six such institutions.Mahila Gram Vidyapith and Vishwavidyalaya, Varanasi Sanskrit Vishwavidyalay, Indian Exuction council of UP and Gandhi Hindi Vidyapith figure among the unrecognised universities of UP, Kumar saidDelhi Bioinformatics Institute of India and St. John's University were among those operating without recognition in Delhi.The list also included Maithili University and Vishwavidyalaya from Bihar, Kishanattam in Kerala, Raja Arabic University in Maharashtra, Kesarwani Vidyapeeth in Madhya Pradesh, Sanskirt University in Tamil Nadu, Badaganvi Sarkar World Open University Education Society and Handwriting University India in Karnataka, Kumar said.

RSS HQ in Nagpur @militants target

2006-06-01T22:41:00.000+05:30

Maharashtra and Gujarat announced Rs 10 lakh each as rewards for the Nagpur policemen who shot dead 3 armed militants as they attempted to enter the RSS HQ in Nagpur in the wee hours of the day. Earlier in the day, three militants dressed as Police Sub-Inspectors and traveling in a white ambassador car with a red beacon light tried to pass through the barricade but were challenged by policemen deployed there.
RSS Chief K S Sudharshan was not present at the headquarters at the time.
Giving details of the encounter, City Police Commissioner S P S Yadav told reporters at the site that a police team gave chase to their vehicle after they broke the first barrier about 200 metres from the headquarters.
When challenged by the police, they opened fire from their AK-56 rifles, he said, adding the trio was killed in retaliatory firing.PM condemns attack on RSS HQ
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the terrorist bid to attack the RSS headquarters in Nagpur and appealed for calm and communal peace. He said that the entire nation was united against terrorism and all communities should live in amity and peace.The encounter started at about 0430 hrs.

The Swiss water expert would deliver his final verdict on 6-8th November in Washington DC that would be binding on the two sides.

2006-06-01T01:08:00.000+05:30

The Swiss water expert appointed by the World Bank to arbitrate the Baglihar dam dispute between India and Pakistan would deliver his final verdict on 6-8th November in Washington DC that would be binding on the two sides.
The announcement was made by Pakistani officials in Islamabad after attending yet another hearing on the Baglihar project held by the Swiss expert, Ramind Lafeeti, in London on Tuesday.
The head of Pakistani delegation and Federal Secretary (Water and Power) Ishfaq Mehmood said Pakistan was satisfied over the way the hearings were conducted.
State-run APP newsagency quoted Mehmood as stating that it gave them a good opportunity to effectively put across their viewpoint.
During the discussion on the Baghliar dam, the technical experts of the two countries gave their oral arguments because they had already submitted their viewpoints in written form.
Ishfaq said the mediator would convene another meeting of the representatives of the two sides in October in Paris to have further discussion on the draft prepared by him before announcing his decision. This is to provide another chance to the two sides to air their views.

Uncle Sam asked India to throw open the financial services sector including the pensions and insurance,

2006-05-31T00:48:00.000+05:30

The US has asked India to throw open the financial services sector including the pensions and insurance, so that the American capital flows into the Indian market get a fillip.
Expressing concern over the restrictions in India in the financial services sector, the US took up this issue at the India-US Trade Policy Forum, the high level institutional set-up between the two countries.
''Restrictions adversely impact the flow capital,'' US Deputy Trade Representative Karan Bhatia said after the meeting of the Forum which he co-chaired along with Commerce Secretary S N Menon.
Five focus groups agriculture, trade, tariff and non-tariff barriers, services, investment and innovation will thrash out the difficult issues in each of the five areas.
Bhatia, said if India aspires to become a financial services hub like London, Hong Kong and New York, New Delhi must do away with the entry norms for the financial services players.
The level of India-US trade dialogue has come a long way as the two-way trade is close to touching US$ 27 billion from a level of US$ 7.5 billion in 1994.
He added, while the level of the US foreign direct investment (FDI) in India at around US$ 6 billion, is much below the potential, it increased in 2004-05 by 28 percent and Indian FDI to the US went up by 82.5 percent at US$ 522 million.
As regards the multilateral talks, Bhatia said he has taken up the issue with Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath and emphasised the need for maintaining the level of ambitions in the ongoing Doha Round of trade negotiations in the World Trade Organisations.
Agriculture remains the backbone of the negotiations. He denied the charge that the US was not forthcoming in giving meaningful offers.
He said any deal in agriculture, which is not ambitious enough, would not be ''embraced'' by the US Congress

"Office of Profit"A P J Abdul Kalam returned the Bill on the issue for reconsideration

2006-05-31T00:44:00.000+05:30

In a dampener on efforts to exempt a number of posts from the purview of Office of Profit, President A P J Abdul Kalam returned the Bill on the issue for reconsideration by both houses of Parliament.
Official sources said Kalam sent a message to the Government seeking "comprehensive criteria" for exemption of posts to protect MPs and MLAs against disqualification.
Returning the Bill that was passed in the just-concluded budget session of Parliament, in his communication Kalam said that the criteria should be fair and reasonable and can be applied across all states and union territories in a clear and transparent manner,
The other point on which the President is said to have reservation was about the propriety of applying the law with retrospective effect.
He wants this also to be considered afresh, the sources said.
Kalam, who received the Bill on 25th May for assent, took the decision after giving "careful" thought and wider consultation with judicial and legal experts, the sources said.
In the bill that was passed, 56 posts, including that of National Advisory Council Chairpersonship, a post earlier held by Congress President Sonia Gandhi, were exempted from the definition of office of profit.

Indian universities have serious shortage of faculty :Parliamentary Committee

2006-05-28T00:24:00.000+05:30

While serious efforts are underway to implement the quota regime in Central universities, a Parliamentary Committee has said that there is a serious shortage of faculty at the current level of demands.
As per the information available, in the 16 Central universities, there were 1,988 vacancies as on March last year, with the Banaras Hindu University and Delhi University having as many as 687 and 396 vacancies respectively, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on HRD said in its report.
"Situation is also far from satisfactory in JNU, Visva Bharti and Mizoram University", it said noting that out of total vacant 1,988 posts, 1,056 posts belonged to lecturer category.
Expressing surprise over such a large number of posts of lecturers lying vacant, which was the entry point to a University, the Committee apprehended that situation might be worse in State Universities.
In order to attract and retain the qualified and highly motivated teachers, the Committee felt that there was a need to supplement their salaries with an attractive package of perquisites and support for academic activities coupled with appropriate recognition with outstanding achievement.
"Our higher education system is faced with many challenges today. The pressure on higher education system is going to further increase due to large number of additional students expected to join the higher education institutions in coming years, particularly due to upward pull generated by popular interventions like Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and Mid-Day Meal Scheme", it said.
Expressing dismay over the "tremendous imbalance" in access to higher education in urban and rural areas, the Committee said higher education in the country was largely a "pro-rich and urban phenomenon".
Turning to SCs/STs in the higher education, the Committee noted the UGC had introduced the scheme of establishment of SC/ST cells in the universities in 1983 with a view to provide information regarding facilities available for them in universities and colleges.
But these attempts have not helped much, it said adding the enrolment of SCs in higher education has ranged between 8.6 per cent in 1990-91 to 11.3 per cent in 2002-03. Enrolment of ST students in higher education was between 2.1 per cent to 3.6 per cent in 1990-91 and 2003-04 respectively.
It recommended that special programmes for encouraging students from backward and minority communities also needed to be prepared urgently as their participation in higher education was "abysmally low", as compared to their percentage in total population.
On women's participation in higher education, the Committee said their participation in the areas with great demand such as management, engineering, technology and medicine was very low in the country.
"Can a nation progress in real terms and catch up with others in this fiercely competitive world with their women- folk remaining virtually outside the higher education system", it asked.
The Committee recommended that the participation of women in professional courses, which is abysmally low at present, needed to be improved manifold without further delay. More and more women as engineers, professors, lawyers, doctors, architects and extrepreneurs could mould the face of the country to a great extent, it said.
Emphasising on vocational education, it felt that industry-institution linkages may be encouraged as this would take care of many problems simultaneously - promote relevance in the curriculum, enhance the employability of students, provide training facilities and mobilising some resources.
On the importance of management in higher education, the Committee recommended to ensure that academic decision in the institutions of higher learning was taken on merit and the government control must be reduced.
On the role of private universities, the Committee desired that the government should bring a comprehensive legislation for providing effective machinery to ensure that only genuine and quality private providers of higher education services remained in the field.

Suu Kyi's house arrest has extended by another year,

2006-05-28T00:22:00.000+05:30

Myanmar's military junta has extended the period of house arrest for opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi by another year, a Home Ministry official said.
Security outside Suu Kyi's lakeside home in the capital, Yangon, had been stepped up ahead of the extension of her detention, with armed police and barricades preventing any traffic from passing.
After Suu Kyi was allowed to meet a senior United Nations official a week ago, members of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party had been quietly hoping the former Burma's military rulers might release her.
Amid the growing optimism, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan made a direct appeal to junta supremo Than Shwe yesterday to free the Nobel peace laureate when her existing six-month detention order expired this weekend.
''I take this opportunity to appeal to General Than Shwe and the government to release her,'' Annan said in a statement. ''I am relying on you, General Than Shwe, to do the right thing.''
Suu Kyi, 60, has spent more than 10 of the past 16 years behind bars or under house arrest. Her latest stretch of detention started ''for her own safety'' on 30th May, 2003 after clashes between her supporters and pro-junta demonstrators.
Today is also the anniversary of the junta's 1990 ballot-box humiliation at the hands of the NLD, which won 392 of 485 parliamentary seats in the first multi-party elections in three decades but was denied power by the military.
Myanmar has been under military rule since a 1962 coup.

Almost 3,000 people were killed as a powerful earthquake near the ancient city of Yogyakarta in central Indonesia.

2006-05-28T00:20:00.000+05:30

Almost 3,000 people were killed as a powerful earthquake measuring 6.2 quake on the Richter scale struck at 0524 hrs IST (5:54 am local time) near the ancient city of Yogyakarta in central Indonesia.
Social Affairs Ministry official Sopar Jaya said that fourteen hours after the quake struck, the number of dead stood at 3,002, with more than two-thirds of the fatalities occurring in Bantul, closest to the epicenter.
Arifin Muhadi of the Indonesian Red Cross said that the numbers just keep rising, adding that nearly 3,400 people were hurt.
Activity picked up at nearby Mount Merapi, one of the world's most active volcanoes, and one geologist warned that the temblor could still spark a large eruption.
Houses, hotels and government buildings collapsed, sending hysterical people running through the streets. Many roads and bridges were destroyed, hindering efforts to get taxis and pickup trucks filled with wounded to hospitals overflowing with patients.
In hardest hit Bantul district, rescuers tried to pull bodies from the rubble as residents started digging mass graves, rows of corpses awaiting burial beneath the blazing sun.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered the army to help evacuate victims and arrived in densely populated Central Java province with a team of Cabinet ministers to oversee rescue operations.
UN, EU express condolences, announce aid
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed his deep condolences to Indonesia following the devastating earthquake in the island of Java.
A UN spokesman said that the Secretary-General was deeply saddened by the loss of life, the hundreds of injuries and the destruction suffered by the people of Indonesia after the earthquake that struck Yogyakarta on the southern coast of Java.
He added that Annan extended his deepest condolences to the families of those who have been killed or injured in the earthquake.
The spokesman added that the UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) teams have been alerted to lend their assistance to efforts to respond to humanitarian needs created by the disaster and to mobilize international support.
In Brussels, the European Commission announced that it would release USD 3.8 million in emergency aid in response to the quake.
The EU's executive body said in a statement that it had mobilised staff in southeast Asia and in Brussels in response to the quake.
In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered urgent assistance to Indonesia and ordered the country's rescue teams to be on standby to fly to the Indonesian island.
In a message to his Indonesian counterpart Susilo Yudhoyono, Putin reaffirm their solidarity and readiness to provide assistance in overcoming the consequences of the natural catastrophe.

The Indian government has announced caps on margins on the sale of pharmaceutical products

2006-05-25T21:34:00.000+05:30

The government has announced caps on margins on the sale of pharmaceutical products, the wholesale margins should not exceed 15 percent while the retail sales should not exceed 35 percent for generic drugs.
Union Chemicals and Fertiliser Minister Ram Vilas Paswan has said the government had also fixed the cap on margins for branded and other branded generic drugs.For these categories of drugs, the margin should not exceed 150 percent of the production cost, he said.Official in the ministry said the decision of the government would help in making drugs "more affordable" to the consumers one of the promises of the UPA's common minimum programme."Earlier, there were no caps on margins and some drug makers were even charging 1,000-2,000 percent, which made the medicines out of reach of many consumers," the official said, adding there were lot of complaints against the high margins.He said the cap on margin should bring down the cost of some of the generic drugs.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said that up to 3,000 people have fled their homes in southern Afghanistan

2006-05-25T21:33:00.000+05:30

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said that up to 3,000 people have fled their homes in southern Afghanistan because of heavy fighting between Taliban and security forces.
There have been fierce clashes west of southern Kandahar city for weeks, with three major encounters in the Panjwayi district including a battle that started on Sunday and left around 100 people dead, most of them rebels.

At least 16 of the dead were civilians, with coalition and Afghan officials saying Taliban had forced their way into locals' homes during the encounter, effectively using them as human shields.
About four to five villages had been evacuated in the area, about 35 kilometres west of Kandahar city, an IOM official told AFP, estimating this would cover between 2,000 and 3,000 people.
The villagers were coming to Kandahar and moving in with relatives and friends in the city, Kandahar programme officer Nasim Karim said.
"They are scared, they are terrified. If they don't support the Taliban, they are threatened. If they do, then from the other side they are being bombed and shot at," the programme officer told the news agency.

Karim said that about 25 to 30 families at a camp for internally-displaced people in the region had also packed up and moved into the city.

Registration for the annual Amarnath yatra in Jammu Kashmir

2006-05-25T21:31:00.000+05:30

Registration for the annual Amarnath yatra, that commences simultaneously from Baltal and Pahalgam routes in Kashmir on 11th June, begins from Thursday.
Pilgrims planning to visit the cave shrine situated in the Himalayas in south Kashmir can from 25th May book in advance via designated branches of Jammu and Kashmir Bank across the country as per the practice followed during previous years, Arun Kumar, Chief Executive Officer, Amarnath Shrine Board said.
Kumar said arrangements for on-the-spot bookings, subject to weather and route condition, were also being worked out.
Infrastructure facilities were being raised on a war footing at advanced base camps and along the route holy shrine, he said.

Iran has Soften its stance on nuclear programme

2006-05-24T19:39:00.000+05:30

Softening its stance, Iran has requested through intermediaries direct talks with the US over its nuclear programme, according to American officials and foreign diplomats.
The requests follows Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent letter to President George W Bush. Senior Iranian officials have asked a multitude of intermediaries to pass word to Washington making clear their desire for direct talks, Saeed Laylaz, a former government official and prominent analyst in Tehran, told a newspaper.

He said Ali Larijani, chairman of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, passed that message to the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, who arrived in Washington on Tuesday for talks with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley.

Iranian officials made similar requests through Indonesia, Kuwait and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, Laylaz said. American intelligence analysts also say Larijani's urgent requests for meetings with senior officials in France and Germany appear to be part of a bid for dialogue with Washington.

"They've been desperate to do it," said a European diplomat in Tehran.

The Centre has cleared 108 road projects for Jammu and Kashmir under the PM's Gram Sadak Yojna and the Bharat Nirman Scheme

2006-05-24T19:37:00.000+05:30

The Centre has cleared 108 road projects for Jammu and Kashmir under the PM's Gram Sadak Yojna and the Bharat Nirman Scheme, which will be completed at an estimated cost of Rs 144 crore.
Under phase one and two of the PMGSY scheme, 19 roads would be completed by the end of June, while the rest were likely to be completed by September this year, Charak said after reviewing the pace of work on roads being executed by the State Rural Road Development Agency (SRRDA).He said the state government would earmark funds for maintenance of rural roads that were being executed under the PMGSY.Minister of State for Roads and Buildings Gulchain Singh Charak said the executive engineers concerned would be empowered to ensure that the contractors maintain the prescribed quality and standards, while carrying out the road projects.

Voice Browser

2006-05-23T21:33:00.000+05:30

The telephone was invented in the 1870s and continues to be a very important means for us to communicate with each other. The Web by comparison is very recent, but is rapidly becoming a competing communications channel. The convergence of telecommunications and the Web is now bringing the benefits of Web technology to the telephone, enabling Web developers to create applications that can be accessed via any telephone, and allowing people to interact with these applications via speech and telephone keypads. The W3C Speech Interface Framework is a suite of markup specifications aimed at realizing this goal. It covers voice dialogs (VoiceXML), speech synthesis (SSML, PLS), speech recognition (SRGS, SISR, PLS), telephony call control for voice browsers (CCXML) and other requirements for interactive voice response applications, including use by people with hearing or speaking impairments.
http://www.w3.org/Voice/Activity.html

Pakistan has clinched a USD 600-million defence deal with China

2006-05-23T20:35:00.000+05:30

Pakistan has clinched a USD 600-million defence deal with China, which includes construction of four F22P frigates for the Pak Navy, upgradation of the Karachi dockyard and transfer of technology for indigenous production of modern surface fleet.
The deal has been finalised and the keel for construction of the F-22P frigates would be laid at the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard in Shanghai this year, Chief of Pakistan Navy, Admiral Muhammad Afzal Tahir, who concluded a week-long visit to China on Monday.
Under the deal, three frigates would be built in Shanghai and the fourth one would be constructed at Karachi dockyard which would also be upgraded to enable Pakistan to build its own fleet of frigates later.
Tahir said the first frigate would be delivered to Pakistan in 2008 and the other three by 2013 along with transfer of technology.
The frigates would be equipped with organic helicopters specially designed for surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles along with numerous associated self-defence systems, he said, adding that the "modalities of design and configuration are at the final stages."
The four Chinese Frigates would be in addition to the four Pakistan Navy would be buying from Greece. The deal to buy four naval vessels from Greece was struck during the just concluded visit of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to Athens.
The frigate deal with China follow the two sides' decision to jointly develop JF-Thunder fighter, which they plan to begin shortly. Also Pakistan Air Force plans to buy new Chinese made J-10 fighters in big numbers.Pak offers passage for oil and gas pipelines to China
Pak offered China to lay pipelines which will enable Beijing to procure gas and oil through Iran and Central Asian Republics and insisted Beijing to build more nuke plants to offset US refusal to extend the Indo-US nuclear deal to it.
While addressing a seminar organised by Institute of Strategic Studies to mark 55 years of Pakistan-China ties in Islamabad, the Pakistan PM Shaukat Aziz said that Pakistan is exploring possibilities to construct an oil pipeline from its Chinese aided Gwader port in southwest Balochistan to Western China which would considerably reduce time and distance for transportation of oil to China from the Gulf countries.
Pakistan and China would soon be undertaking up gradation of the Karakorum highway that had been built with Chinese assistance, Aziz said.
Gwader port in southwest Balochistan is being built with Chinese assistance.
Further on its part, Pakistan wants China to build more nuclear power plants in addition to the two 350 mw reactors.
China built Chiasma-I and is currently building the second plant at the same place.
With Washington refusing to extend the Indo-US nuclear deal on civilian energy to it, Islamabad wants Beijing to build more, preferably a bigger plant with a capacity to produce 600 mw.
Beside the Pak premier pointed China’s cooperation in the field of research and development, trade and in the sphere of space technology.

Two members of Knowledge Commission quit

2006-05-23T00:30:00.000+05:30

Pratap Bhanu Mehta and Andre Beteille, two leading members of the National Knowledge Commission set up to advise Prime Minister Manmohan Singh resigned from their posts protesting quotas in central educational institutions.
Mehta and Beteille said they had quit the Commission as its views on reservation had come under attack from HRD Minister Arjun Singh.

When contacted, Beteille, a professor emiritus of Sociology, confirmed that he had submitted by resignation earlier in the day.

Mehta and Beteille were among the six members who opposed reservation proposals at a meeting of the Commission in Bangalore recently.

In his four page resignation letter addressed to the Prime Minister, Mehta said that many of the recent announcements made by “your government with respect to Higher Education leads me to the conclusion that my continuation on the Commission will serve no useful purpose."

Mehta further added that the government's recent decision to extend quotas for OBC's in Central universities, the palliative measures the government was contemplating to defuse the resulting agitation and the process employed to arrive at these measures were steps in the wrong directionExpressing his deep disappointment with the quota proposals, Mehta said they will not achieve social justice.He held that every student must be enabled to realise their full potential regardless of financial or social circumstances and achieving “the aim requires radical forms of affirmative action. But the numerically mandated quotas your government is proposing are deeply disappointing.”He said SC/STs and OBCs should not be put together in reservation as the "nature of deprivations they (SC/STs) face is qualitatively of a different order than those faced by OBCs."Alleging that the government has "foreclosed" other mechanisms to address the issue, Mehta said in doing so, it has revealed that it cares about tokenism more than social justice."Pointing out that government's move was contemplating violation of diversity principles, he question as to why all the institutions in a country the size of India adopt the same admission quotas?Finding fault with the constitution of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on the issue, Mehta said that as an academic, he found it to be an appalling spectacle when a GoM was empowered to come with admissions policies, seat formulas for institutions across the country.

Tehri hydel project would start generating electricity by 15th June,

2006-05-21T23:55:00.000+05:30

Union Power Secretary R B Sahi informed that if everything went well, the Tehri hydel project would start generating electricity by 15th June, Union Power Secretary R B Sahi said.
Talking to newsmen while visiting the Tehri dam site to inspect the progress of the project, Sahi said that the first unit of the project, which is being built at a cost of Rs 7000 crore, would produce 250 MW of power with the dam authorities already testing the turbine in the regard.
It follows an increase in the inflow of Bhagirathi river waters which was presently hovering at around 740 metre above sea level at the Tehri dam reservoir.
Along with Sahi, Uttaranchal principal secretary power N Ravishanker and head of the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDC) R K Sharma were also present.
Uttaranchal would get 12 per cent of the electricity from Tehri free of cost.
The preparations for starting the 250 MW second unit are also in final stages.
Sahi said that by 15th July, they expected another 250 MW that would take the total production from the project to 500 MW.
He added that by the end of the year, the Tehri project would generate nearly 1000 MW of power.

Ban on plastic carrybags not practical: Delhi govt

2006-05-21T23:52:00.000+05:30

Delhi government informed the High Court that it would not be possible to ensure mandatory use of only bio-degradable plastic carrybags in the capital as it was economically unviable.
However, the government has assured it was considering the possibility of making it mandatory in certain sectors which use huge quantum of ubiquitous plastic bags every day.
In an affidavit, R T L D'Souza, Deputy Secretary, Department of Environment, stated that the government in order to check the indiscriminate use of the plastic bags has decided to extend the provisions of the Delhi Plastic Bag and Non-Biodegradable Garbage Act 2000 to all restaurants and eating jaunts with more than 50 seats; fruit and vegetable outlets of Mother Dairy, shopping malls and liquor vends.
Presently, the ban on the use of non bio-degradable plastic bags is being implemented by the government at five-star hotels and hospitals with 100-bed facilities.
According to the government, non bio-degradable bags are comparatively cheaper than bio-degradable bags and as such any ban on the former would jack up the prices of carrybags in the city.
The government's response comes in the wake of a direction by the Delhi High Court seeking a reply as to why no serious effort had been made by it to ban non bio-degradable plastic bags despite the Act coming into force from 2000.
Vinod Kumar Jain of Tapas, an NGO, had earlier filed a PIL complaining that the government had failed to implement the Act thereby causing serious environmental pollution in the national capital.

U.S soldier killed, six wounded in Afghan

2006-05-20T10:39:00.000+05:30

One U.S. soldier was killed and six others were wounded during a battle with the insurgents in the southern province of Uruzgan in Afghanistan, as U.S led and Afghan forces were conducting a joint operation. 24 U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan this year including 10 who died this month when their helicopter crashed during an operation in an eastern province.About 100 people, including a Canadian soldier, were killed in violence on Wednesday and Thursday, most in fighting in the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandaha
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A Q Khan not be surrendered to US for questioning: Kasuri

2006-05-19T23:00:00.000+05:30

Pak said that it was willing to share information with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on disgraced nuclear scientist A Q Khan's involvement in proliferating nuclear tech, but it would not hand him over to the US.
During a debate on Pakistan's foreign policy in Islamabad, Foreign Minister Khurshid M Kasuri told the Senate that they “have certain bottom lines" and added in "unequivocal terms" that Pakistan "will not surrender him (Khan) to the United States."
Describing Pakistan's foreign policy as the balanced one which was based on protection of national interests, he said "we value our relationship with the US but will never give in where our national interests are concerned."
Khan has been under house arrest for the past two years after he admitted proliferating nuclear technology to Libya, Iran and North Korea.
He was subsequently forgiven by President Pervez Musharraf. Also almost all of Khan's colleagues who were taken into custody for investigations have been released.
Recent reports said Khan's security has been tightened and the government has withdrawn permission to his daughter to meet him.
Khan was in the news recently after a report by the US Congress said that he also aided Syrian nuclear programme.

United States to consider India's candidature to the United Nations Security Council very carefully

2006-05-18T19:51:00.000+05:30

India's candidature to the United Nations Security Council is something that the United States has to consider very carefully but the membership issue is less of a question pertaining to India than how Washington would want to go about in its discussions with other nations on the eventual composition of the Council," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Richard Boucher said.Asserting that his country has thought about it "very carefully," Boucher in reply to a question at the Asia Pacific sub-committee of the House International Relations Committee, said, "We have thought about this. We have thought about this very carefully. The thinking about India takes place within a broader context, first of UN reform, where we want to see many aspects of the United Nations reformed, and the US priority is to see many of those things done first.""We are going to take up the issue of Security Council reform at some point. There's not really any kind of consensus now. I think our judgment and the best way to approach this is not to have the United States take out a position for particular countries in advance, but rather to maintain a certain flexibility as we go in."

Ban on non-iodised salt sale comes into effect from 17.05.2006

2006-05-17T22:51:00.000+05:30

The ban on sale of non-iodised salt for direct human consumption will come into effect and can be used only for the purpose of iodisation, iron fortification, preservation, medicinal and industrial use subject to proper label declaration.
The Union Health Ministry had issued a notification to this effect on 17th November, 2005 and the ban was to come into force after six months, Director General of Health Services R K Srivastava told a news agency. He also clarified that the ban on sale of non-iodised salt is valid only for direct human consumption and not for the purpose of iodisation, iron fortification, preservation.The sale of non-iodised salt would also be permitted for animal, medicinal and industrial use subject to proper label declaration, he added.

Netaji did not die in plane crash: Comm; Govt disagrees

2006-05-17T22:48:00.000+05:30

The Mukherjee Commission on alleged disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose has inferred that he did not die in a plane crash in 1945 but Government said it did not agree with the findings. In the Lok Sabha, the Government also disagreed with the Commission's report that the ashes in Renkoji Temple in Japan were not of that of Netaji.
The Justice M K Mukherjee Commission concluded that Bose "is dead", "he did not die in the plane crash, as alleged", "the ashes in the Japanese temple are not of Netaji" and that "in the absence of any clinching evidence a positive answer cannot be given" to the terms of reference.
The views of the Government were given in an Action Taken Report (ATR) along with the three-volume report of the Commission set up by the previous NDA Government in 1999 to inquire into the circumstances concerning departure of Bose from Bangkok in August 1945, his reported death in an air crash and subsequent developments connected therewith.
The ATR, tabled by Minister of State for Home S Regupathy along with the panel's findings, said Government has examined the Commission's report submitted to it on 8th November last year "in detail and has not agreed with the findings that - Netaji did not die in a plane crash and the ashes in the Renkoji Temple were not of Netaji".The Commission said in the absence of any clinching evidence to prove that 'Bhagwanji-Gumnami Baba was Netaji, the question whether Netaji died in Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh on 16th September, 1985 as testified by some of the witnesses, need not be answered".

New draft of Unorganised Workers' Bill presented to PM

2006-05-16T22:36:00.000+05:30

The Arjun Sengputa Commission has submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh a new and modified draft of the Unorganised Sector Workers' Bill to cover 362 million workers lying at the bottom of the economic pyramid.
After much dilly dallying and three draft Bills, including one by the National Advisory Council (NAC) previously headed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and another by the Labour Ministry, the new Bill is significant as it coincides with the second anniversary of the UPA government.
The new Bill has proposed a National Minimum Social Security Scheme for all unorganised workers whose monthly salary is less than Rs 6,500 benefits like health cover, sickness allowance, maternity benefit and life insurance.
There is also a Provident Fund cover with an assured returns of 10 percent and an old-age pension of Rs 200 per month for below poverty line (BPL) workers.
The Sengupta-led National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector reckons the cost of the scheme, a much-debated issue that is said to have delayed the Bill, to be Rs 7,367 crore (.20 percent of GDP) in the first year and Rs 25,401 crore (.48 percent of GDP) in the fifth year when it reaches the last worker.
''It's not the Commission's job to say how the financial cost will be borne. That is the responsibility of the government,'' said Dr Sengupta.
According to him, the government could find the money through reallocation, from existing revenue or by imposing a social security tax.
''The expenditure will be worth it considering the huge benefits from the scheme for the poor workers,'' he said.

Govt will try to remove LPG shortage in one month: Minister

2006-05-16T22:33:00.000+05:30

The government would try to remove the shortage of LPG in the country within a month, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora has informed Rajya Sabha during Question Hour that in many states, there were indeed waiting 'queues' for LPG.
But the government was doing its best to remove the shortage as soon as possible.
Admitting to pilferage by some vested interests in LPG supply to consumers, the Minister said so far government agencies had conducted 30,592 inspections all over the country during the past one year.
About 1180 irregularities had been detected and action had been taken against 875 offenders.
He said the centre could not take action on its own but was trying to get the relevant laws implemented through state governments.

Former Army Chief Gen V P Malik has cautioned india on demilitarization of the world's highest battlefield.

2006-05-15T00:24:00.000+05:30

Former Army Chief Gen V P Malik has cautioned the country's decision makers to insist on delineation of positions on Saltoro ridge before agreeing on demilitarization of the world's highest battlefield.
"Most people in India and Pakistan believe that demilitarization of Siachen is feasible as it could be the first political achievement in dialogue to take the peace process forward," he states in his just-released book Kargil - from surprise to victory.Malik says that it should not mean going back to the pre-1984 days when, without any delineation on the maps, it was possible for either side to lay claim or encroach into each other's territory.Saying that there is still "immense mistrust" between the two countries, Malik said India should only agree for delmilitarization of the Siachen Glacier after Pakistan agrees to delineation of the 101 km-long Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL) on the map or marking the position through aerial or satellite photography."It is essential to mark the ground position on the AGPL so that future verification is possible, if any party violates the agreement," the General states.

S Korean cloning scientist Hwang indicted on fraud charges

2006-05-12T16:32:00.000+05:30

South Korean prosecutors indicted disgraced cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk for alleged fraud, embezzlement and bioethics violations in a scandal over faked stem cell research that shook the scientific community.
However, prosecutors said they accepted one key argument Hwang has used in his defence, that some of his now-discredited claims were due to a junior researcher deceiving him into believing his lab successfully created patient-specific stem cells from cloned embryos.
Prosecution official Lee In-kyu announced the indictments of Hwang and five members of his research team during a nationally televised news conference.
Lee said prosecutors had decided not to take them into custody.
Hwang, once hailed as a stem cell pioneer and treated as a national hero, was fired in March from his post as a professor at Seoul National University's veterinary department after admitting he fabricated data for two high-profile papers published in academic journals in 2004 and 2005.
Their claims of advances in embryonic stem cells, basic human cells that can develop into nearly any kind of tissue, had offered hope of new treatments of debilitating diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
Hwang was charged with fraud for accepting USD 2.1 million in private donations based on the outcome of the falsified research, Lee said. Hwang also embezzled about USD 0.86 mn in private and government research funds, the official said.

Bhutto claims she vetoed plan by Pak generals to attack US

2006-05-11T23:33:00.000+05:30

In a startling revelation, former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has claimed that during her tenure some Arab militant leaders and Pakistani generals had planned to start a war against the US in association with Osama bin Laden but she vetoed it.
Following the disintegration of the USSR after the Soviets defeat in Afghanistan, some Arab militant leaders and Pakistani generals planned to start war against the United States.
"However, I vetoed this plan. Thereafter, Osama started his endeavours to pull down my government. Ramzi Yusuf tried to assassinate me," Bhutto said.
Yusuf was the mastermind behind the first World Trade Centre attacks in the US.Two senior Army Generals, Army Chief Aslam Baig and Director General ISI Gen. Hamid Gul who turned out to be bitter critics of US and defenders of militant group, served during Bhutto's second tenure between 1988 and 1990.
In a free-wheeling TV interview to an American journalist, she said the Saudi King had told her in 1989 that he declined to provide money to destabilise her government.
"The adviser to Saudi king told one of my ministers that Osama provided 10 million dollars for toppling my government," she said, adding terrorist activities started following the dissolution of her government in 1990.
She said Ramzi Yusuf has toyed with the idea of attacking World Trade Towers in 1990s and United States then sought cooperation of her government.

Laden prays to Pak tribesmen to assassinate Pak Prez

2006-05-08T00:14:00.000+05:30

Declaring Pak Prez Musharraf as a "slave" of US Prez Bush, the world most wanted al-Qaida Chief Osama Bin Laden has prayed the Pakistani tribesmen, whose houses were destroyed by the Pak army, to assassinate him.
According to the news agency, in pamphlets distributed to Pakistani tribesmen, Bin Laden has purportedly called for help of the tribesmen as recently their homes were destroyed by the Pakistan army in the Waziristan tribal region for "American pleasure."
"I pray to God, without whom there is no other God, that Bush, Pervez and his army meet the fate that they deserve, and give someone among the lions of God the opportunity to kill this slave of Bush in Pakistan," Bin Laden purportedly said in the message.
The pamphlets were distributed by suspected local tribal militants on Satiuday in Mir Ali, a town in the North Waziristan tribal region that borders Afghanistan.
The message begins with a paragraph in Arabic that mentions bin Laden's name, then says in Urdu, Pakistan's primary language: "(A) new message by Sheikh Osama bin Mohammed bin Laden to Muslims about the atrocities by the Pakistani army on the tribes of Waziristan, the bloodshed and destruction of their homes."
However, the top spokesman for Musharraf, Shaukat Sultan did not comment on the authenticity of the statement.
Further he urged the media not to "spread" it, referring to a line in the message saying that Muslims who receive it would reprint it and distribute it.

Bush asks US youth to gear up to face competitors like India

2006-05-08T00:11:00.000+05:30

Citing the rise of "competitors" like India, President George W Bush asked American youngsters to enhance education and help foster technological advances needed by the US to compete with the world's economic powers.
Addressing graduate students of Oklahoma State University, Bush said that was a rise of new competitors like China and India, and it created uncertainty.
The President said that some perceived the changes occurring all around, and began to worry about the future, adding “their reaction is to wall America off from the world, and to retreat into protectionism. This is a sure path to stagnation and decline."
Bush persuaded the students against “this kind of pessimism.”
Bush urged the youth not to become isolationists but to help enhance education and foster technological advances the US needs to compete with the world's economic powers.
He stressed that US should welcome competition because it makes the country stronger and more prosperous.

Power Stortage In northern states continues

2006-05-07T00:39:00.000+05:30

Amid acute shortage of electricity, Centre appealed to all north Indian states not to overdraw power from the northern grid and proposed to impose penalty on those who withdraw power beyond their entitled quotas.
After a two-hour long meeting with the chief secretaries, secretaries and principal energy secretaries of the northern states, Power Secretary R V Shahi said that they discussed the power scenario in the northern region and all the states agreed to maintain the grid code and not to overdraw power.
While talking to newsmen, he added that the situation was slowly improving, but the demand-supply mismatch still continued.
Shahi said that they had started getting 1600 MW from the Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam in HP, which has relieved the situation quite a bit, but the states were required not to overdraw power than their entitled quota.
Elaborating on the setting up of a deterrent to discourage states to overdraw from the grid, Shahi said all the states had proposed that the charge of Rs 5.70 per unit be enhanced.
He said Centre would be taking the proposal to Central Electricity Regulatory Commission and Central Electricity Authority for a final decision.
Shahi said the efforts taken in the previous months had begun to show results and the grid frequency was now at 35 Hertz that was slightly better though it should be maintained at 48.5-49 Hz as prescribed by the regulator.
He said situation would further improve with 1600MW from Nathpa Jakhri, 250 MW of wind energy in Rajasthan and commissioning of Tehri Hydro Power Project by the end of the month.
The states have also postponed the maintenance of some of the plants to meet the demand in May.
Shahi said that although it was not desirable to postpone the maintenance as it affects the health of the plant, but due to the demand- supply mismatch, the decision has been taken.
To solve the crisis, the shops in UP had been asked to shut down by 7.00 pm, Shahi said. In Delhi too, an advisory has been given to the shops to wind up by 7.30 pm.
However, Shahi did not favour for any law to control usage of electricity. He appealed for judicious use of power especially during the peak hours.
In the capital, the power shortage was to the tune of 450 MW per day, which officials said had come down to 300 MW. He said another review meeting would be held on 31st May with the state officials.

Pak not a failed state: US

2006-05-07T00:34:00.000+05:30

The US has said that a Washington- based foreign policy journal and think tank's rating of Pakistan as one of the top 10 failed states had noting to do with its official policy, noting that the South Asian country cannot be put in that category as its economy was booming.
"On the basis of my interaction with Pakistan and the American business community, I can say with confidence that Pakistan is the opposite of a failed state," US Under Secretary for International Trade Franklin L Lavin, who is on a visit here, told the media on Friday.
Lavin said the country was facing some challenges but it had the "capability, leadership and necessary policies" to keep up its economic momentum.
Disagreeing with a report released by the Foreign Policy Journal and Fund for Peace, a think tank, rating Pakistan among one of the 10 failed states, Lavin said the views expressed in the report had nothing to do with official US policy.
Lavin noted that Pakistan's economy was booming and performing well.
With strong leadership and policies in place along with a national consensus on these policies, Pakistan can effectively face the challenges, he said.
Pakistan had termed the report as "rubbish", saying that the research methodology adopted was "faulty

Delhi Govt issues guidelines to tide over power crisis

2006-05-05T23:13:00.000+05:30

According to new directives issued by Delhi administration, govt offices in the capital will have to restrict the use of air conditioners till 6.30 PM, shops and business establishments will have to close before 7.30 PM, while ACs in residential areas can be switched on only after 9 PM.
As per the new guidelines issued by the Power Ministry, industrial units have been barred from functioning between 6.30 PM and 11 PM and shops across the city will have to remain closed for a day in a week apart from the normal market holidays.
Talking to newsmen in New Delhi, Electricity Minister Haroon Yusuf said after a high-power meeting reviewed the power situation in the city, it was also decided that advertisement hoardings would not be allowed to draw power for illumination.
He added that they were appealing to the citizens of Delhi not to use air conditioners before 9 PM., as all these efforts would lead to conservation of 250-300 MW of power.
Presently the city is facing a shortage of 400 MW, he said.
The city has been reeling under severe power crisis for the last few days because of shortfall in supply due to "over-drawing from the northern grid by neighbouring states", resulting in rotational load shedding in several areas.
Yusuf said Himachal Pradesh has agreed to provide 200 MW of power from next week in addition to the 190 MW supplied by the state.
The Dadri plant will start functioning from 15th May and would generate 210 MW of power.

Second Indian-origin girl in space: Sunita follows Kalpana

2006-05-04T23:12:00.000+05:30

Nasa has picked Indian-American Sunita Williams nee Pandya as part of the 14th international space station crew, Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams has been appointed along with two others as part of the replacement crew for the six-month-long International Space Station Expedition to be carried out in September this year.
Sunita's selection caps the prospects, which began in 2003 when she was selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Agency as a backup crew member for one of its missions to the space station orbiting about 240 miles above Earth.
She is the second astronaut of Indian origin after Kalpana Chawla, whose space odyssey had a tragic end on February 1, 2003, when space shuttle Columbia exploded over Texas during re-entry.
The US-born Sunita Williams will serve as a flight engineer for the six-month mission, Nasa announced on Tuesday. Her colleagues on the expedition will be Nasa astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria, who will be the commander and the station science officer, and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, who will serve as flight engineer and Soyuz commander. Nasa's long expected announcement concerning Sunita Williams comes just ahead of the visit to India this week of Nasa administrator Michael Griffin to finalise American participation on India's unmanned Chandrayaan moon mission. Griffin is expected to sign a MoU with ISRO for placing American scientific instruments in Chadrayaan-I on its scheduled 2008 launch.
According to Nasa's biography of Sunita, she has a US Navy background. A graduate of Florida Institute of Technology, she received her commission as an Ensign in the US Navy from the US Naval Academy in May 1987.
She was designated a Naval Aviator in 1989, and graduated from the Naval Test Pilot School in 1993.
She was later assigned to Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 8 in Norfolk, Virginia, and made overseas deployments to the Mediterranean, Red Sea and the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Desert Shield.
She was selected for the astronaut programme by Nasa in June 1998, in part because of her extensive experience on more than 30 different aircraft. She has since been an "Astronaut Candidate" under training waiting for her space flight assignment which Nasa announced on Tuesday. Sunita, who was born in Ohio (Kalpana Chawla was born in Karnal, Haryana), is married to physicist-turned-US deputy marshall, Michael J Williams.
She is the daughter of Deepak Pandya, an India-born physician who migrated to US in the 1960s and now works at a veterans hospital. Her mother Ursaline, a home-maker, is an American of Slavic descent.
In a previously published interview, she described her father as a traditional Hindu and therefore a vegetarian. "My mother would cook two different meals each day one Indian and one meat and potatoes so I got to eat a little bit of both and a good variety. I still like spicier food," she recalled, speaking of her fondness for samosas. About her father, she said, "He was orphaned and so is very accepting of others' goals and trying new things."

Oil-for-food scam: Centre says it is not shielding Reliance

2006-05-04T23:11:00.000+05:30

Denying charges that it was shielding the Reliance Petroleum Limited, the Centre has informed the Delhi High Court that the Enforcement Directorate had initiated investigations into the company's alleged role in the Iraqi oil-for-food programme as referred to in the Volcker Committee report.
Responding to a PIL filed on the issue, the Finance Ministry, in an affidavit submitted to the court, said the Enforcement Directorate had recorded statements of senior functionaries of Reliance Industries and further investigations were under progress.
The investigations pertained to suspected violation of provisions of FEMA by Indian persons and entities referred to in the Volcker Committee report.
"The action of the Government to exclude any company from the purview of the Justice R S Pathak Inquiry Authority is not biased nor arbitrary and once the inquiry, conducted by the EC, is over, suitable proceedings, if any, will be initiated under FEMA against those who have violated the provisions," the Centre told the court.
Quoting the Volcker report, the affidavit submitted by V P Arora, Under Secretary, Finance Ministry, said the Reliance Petroleum Limited was allocated five lakh barrels of oil, but the company lifted 2,832,811 barrels without making payment of surcharge.
On the issue of lifting of oil as a non-contractual beneficiary, the company would face investigations under relevant laws, the Government said.
Since the company was issued separate contracts in the categories of contractual and non-contractual companies, the Government of India had shown the company as non-contractual beneficiary in replies submitted in the Rajya Sabha, the affidavit said.
However, the Centre denied that exclusion of the company from the purview of Justice R S Pathak Inquiry Authority was biased or arbitrary as alleged in the PIL.

Massive immigration protests hit US

2006-05-02T12:05:00.000+05:30

From the streets of New York to the lettuce fields of California, hundreds of thousands of immigrants left their jobs, shunned business as usual and marched in a powerful bid to legitimize millions of workers now in the United States illegally.
In what may have been the largest outpouring the land has seen on the divisive issue, hundreds of restaurants, factories and other shops closed, construction projects were disrupted, day labor jobs went begging, children stayed home from school and massive waves of humanity poured through city streets.
''If these people are good enough to pay taxes, they're good enough to be citizens,'' said Chris Delgado, a tax preparer from Skokie, Illinois, who came to a Chicago rally.
Los Angeles prepared for two rallies where more than a million were expected. In Chicago, more than 300,000 marched for miles, waving flags and pushing baby strollers. Major demonstrations unfolded in Denver, Houston, San Francisco and many other cities.
The common bond was a bid to win from the US Congress rights for an estimated 11.5 million to 12 million illegal immigrants, and to scuttle a proposal that would criminalize them and anyone who tries to help them. Thousands also marched in Mexico in solidarity with their compatriots who make up the bulk of the undocumented immigrants.
It was not clear what the economic impact of the boycott work day would be. Some fast food operators had expressed concern since they rely heavily on immigrant labor.
Illegal immigrants, who flood across the Mexican border at a rate of half a million a year, work mostly at low-paid jobs in agriculture, construction, restaurants, as janitors, meat packers, maids and gardeners and many other occupations.
At the headquarters of American Apparel in Los Angeles, sewing machines at the largest garment factory in the United States fell silent when managers shut down to allow all 3,000 workers a chance to join the protests.
''The government has to realize how important Latinos are to this economy and give us full rights,'' said American Apparel customer service representative Ruben Eustaquio.
In Florida, about of half of farm workers stayed away from the fields, according to the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association, and up to 75 percent of workers abandoned some construction sites in south Florida, according the contracting officials there.

At least 22 Hindu massacred in Jammu and Kashmir

2006-05-01T19:13:00.000+05:30

In a pre-dawn strike, militants killed 22 members of a community and seriously injured five others in remote villages of Panjdobi and Thava in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Heavily-armed Lashkar-e-Toiba militants, wearing combat dress, gathered the villagers outside the houses of the heads of Panjdobi and Thava hamlets in Udhayanpur belt of the district around 2 a.m., over 350 kms from Jammu city, and shot dead 22 Hindus, Inspector General of Police, Jammu, S P Vaid told a news-agency.

Five others were seriously injured in the firing, he said adding an ex-serviceman, who escaped from the spot, later informed the police about the killings.
Chronology of major terrorist attacks against minority communities(Hindus) in J&K since 2002:-
2006:1st May: Militants gun down 22 Hindus in remote villages of Panjdobi and Thava in Doda district of J&K.
2004:5th April: Seven persons killed in Pahalgam area of Anantnag district.
2003:4th Mar : 24 Kashmiri pundits killed by militants in Nadimarg village near Shopian in Pulwama district.
2002:
24th Nov : 14 persons killed and 53 injured when militants attacked the historic Raghunath temple in Jammu.29th Aug : Ten Hindus killed in Rajouri and Doda districts of Jammu and Kashmir.
6th Aug : Nine Amarnath pilgrims killed and 32 wounded when militants attacked a base camp at Nunwan near Pahalgam.
13th July: 28 Hindus gunned down in Qasim Nagar area of Jammu and Kashmir.
14th May : 33 persons, including women and children, were killed when militants opened indiscriminate fire on a bus and stormed an army camp on the Jammu-Pathankote highway.
17th Feb : Eight Hindus gunned down in Rajouri district.
7th Jan : 17 Hindus killed in Ramsoo area of Jammu district.

Brigadier A K Chowdary said army choppers were being pressed into service to rescue the injured persons.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the killing of 22 Hindus in two villages in Doda district in Jammu region.
The Prime Minister said that the people of Kashmir have rejected and rebuffed terrorists repeatedly.
Condemning the strike, Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kasmhir Muzaffar Baig said the attack was against the Indo-Pak peace process.
He said that by singling out Hindus for such a major massacre, the militants were sending a message to the entire Indian nation that the peace process undertaken by the government was futile.

Thrity million cases are pending in Indian Courts

2006-04-30T22:09:00.000+05:30

About three crore cases are pending adjudication in various courts across the country even as nearly 3,000 posts of judges lie vacant.
As on 31st December last year, a mind-boggling 2,92,10,015 cases were pending before the Supreme Court, 21 High Courts and the subordinate courts under them, according to the first issue of Court News, a quarterly newsletter published by the apex court.That the existing courts are overburdened is compounded by the fact that there remain 2,886 vacant positions of judges as on 14th April this year.In Delhi alone, the High Court has six positions and subordinate courts have 123 positions waiting to be filled where 78,379 and 7,86,464 cases respectively were pending.But it is the District and Subordinate Courts in Uttar Pradesh that have by far the largest number of vacancies with 756 out of an approved strength of 2,172 seats lying unfilled.It is no surprise then that UP's subordinate courts also have the highest pendency of civil and criminal cases, with 44,58,861 cases still left to be dealt with.The other High Courts are not far behind. The Patna High Court tops the list for vacancies with 22 out of the total 43 positions remaining unoccupied. The court has a pendency of 91,580 cases.Sikkim High Court is the only High Court to have all three judges sitting on the Bench. It has the lowest number of cases i.e. 42 pending at the end of the last year. It had also the lowest 747 cases pending in trial courts.

US forces kill 20 foreign insurgents in Iraq

2006-04-30T22:02:00.000+05:30

The US military along with Iraqi forces killed 20 foreign insurgents with some wearing suicide vests, during the raids conducted in the area militants of Youssifiyah, a town about 20 kilometres south of Baghdad.
According to the US military the raids have taken place in Youssifiyah, where an American helicopter apparently was shot down by insurgents nearly a month ago, killing the two soldiers aboard.
In the latest operations on Saturday, US and Iraqi forces attacked areas being used by foreign insurgent groups such as al-Qaida in Iraq, and captured seven militants and detained more than 50 suspected ones, the US command said.
Recently more than 20 foreign insurgents, several of them caught wearing suicide vests have killed in such operations, the military said
Further giving the details of the killed insurgents, the US military said, it included twelve insurgents, in which at least five of them were foreign, who were killed in Youssifiyah on Tuesday.
The insurgents were killed when US troops backed by a helicopter and jets struck a suspected safe house there, the US military said.
Further it said insurgents have been using the Youssifiyah region as a staging area to conduct suicide attacks in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital.

Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh expressed strong disapproval of his cabinet colleague Kapil Sibal's ''dissenting statement''

2006-04-30T21:58:00.000+05:30

Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh expressed strong disapproval of his cabinet colleague Kapil Sibal's ''dissenting statement'' on the reservation issue saying the Cabinet had taken the decision collectively.
He also appealed to the agitating medical students not to listen to those ''instigating them'' and promised to speak on the issue in detail after 11th May, the day the ongoing Assembly election in five states end.
The Minister said as no decision was taken in isolation, so it was not desirable that a senior Cabinet colleague should go public against it.
When asked about Sibal's reported view against quota in the IIMs and other professional institutions, Singh, without naming the Science and Technology Minister, said it was not desirable for Cabinet colleagues ''to do that once a decision has been taken on some issue.''
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Singh said that he had apprised the Prime Minister of the statement given by the Cabinet colleague.
On Saturday, Sibal had sought to clarify that he was not against reservation, saying he had not talked about quota or reservation policy of the government.
Strongly dismissing the view that he was being isolated in his party, Singh said he
has brought up no issue which does not conform with the party's views.
He, however, refused to answer all other questions relating to the quota saying his lips were sealed till 11th May as per the directives of Election Commission.

Taliban militants will kill an Indian engineer

2006-04-29T22:24:00.000+05:30

Taliban militants will kill an Indian engineer, identified as K. Surya Narayana, being held hostage in southern Afghanistan if all Indians don't leave Afghanistan within 24 hours.
Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, who releases regular statements on behalf of outlawed Taliban fighters, accused the Indian contractor, who was abducted on Friday in the southern Zabul province, of being an "American spy."
"We warn all Indians working here to leave Afghanistan within 24 hours starting 6 pm local time (2200 hours IST) Saturday otherwise we will kill him," Ahmadi said after contacting a international news agency by telephone.India's ambassador to Kabul, Rakesh Sood, said the threat was "not a very positive development."
Sood identified the hostage as K. Surya Narayana, a father of three from Hyderabad aged in his early 40s, who had been employed here since January by a Bahrain-based company, al-Moayed.
The firm has been contracted by an Afghan mobile phone company, Roshan, to expand its mobile phone network across volatile provinces in southern Afghanistan.
Sood said that he was in contact with officials from Roshan, the Afghan government and the US military to secure the captive's release.

Asian Development Bank has warned that job reservation in private sector could lead to brian drain

2006-04-27T23:36:00.000+05:30

Asian Development Bank has warned that job reservation in private sector could lead to swift flight of skilled labour from India, said "After so long, India has become a global player. Now why should we go back. Reservation would prove counterproductive". ADB Chief Economist Ifzal Ali told reporters on the sidelines of a function to release a book on labour markets in Asia."The changed economic system in the era of globalisation demands that Indian companies must be one step ahead of their competitors and cope up with the forces unleashed by competition," he said, adding ,"We are living in a different world, our policies are circumscribed by what others do."
If the companies do not stay ahead of competitors, the skilled labour would move out of them, he said.
"We have seen this happening in the Philippines, where the middle class left the country," he said.
In India, while quality of unskilled labour is poor, skilled labour move swiftly between companies and from one region to the other, he said.On talks of reservation for other backward castes in professional institutions like IITs and IIMs, Ali said such quota would fail in its purpose of broad basing employment since these institutes cover only handful of the people.Such talks are in fact "red herring", when issue should have been raising productivity and increasing employment, he said.The ADB chief economist favoured affirmative action and training of labour to broad base employment.

Disaster Management Force to fight tsunami, earthquake

2006-04-26T23:25:00.000+05:30

A National Disaster Management Force fully equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and trained professionals, comprising eight battalions, will be formed to fight natural calamities like tsunami, earthquakes and landslides. Taking to newsagency in Ahmedabad, Vice Chariman of recently constituted National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Gen (Retd) N C Vij said that each battalion would have 18 teams including medical experts.The battalions would be stationed in the state, prone to various types of natural disasters and will act immediately in case of any such disaster, he added. One of these battalions will also be stationed in Ahmedabad, he added.Vij said that when the tsunami had struck the eastern coast of the country or after the earthquake of Kutch, they were not able to do much for immediate rescue operation as they lacked trained professional and equipment to rescue those trapped in the debris.
He added that they were in the process of acquiring all the modern equipment for the battalions and personnels would be specially trained to work in a situation where immediate rescue operations were required.

Names of MPs and MLAs put on EC website

2006-04-25T23:55:00.000+05:30

EC posted a list of 43 MPs including Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, Union Ministers Pranab Mukherjee, Sharad Pawar and more than 200 MLAs including several CMs whose disqualification has been sought for allegedly holding office of profit on its website.
References have been received from President A P J Abdul Kalam and Governors of various states by the Election Commission against these lawmakers that were under “various stages of consideration”, the Election Commission said.
The names of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and industrialist Anil Ambani also figure in the list but the two have since resigned from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively after the office of profit controversy broke out last month in the wake of disqualification of actress-turned-MP Jaya Bachchan.
The complaint against Sonia was also declared by the Commission as "infructuous" after her resignation.
Other prominent MPs against whom complaints have been made included Karan Singh, Najma Heptullah, Ajit Singh, V K Malhotra, Amar Singh, Sajan Kumar, Anuradha Chowdhury, N Jothi and Naveen Jindal.
Chief Ministers against whom references have been made included those of Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh as also Leader of Opposition in Nagaland, besides several ministers in these states.

Complaints of misuse of German visa by Indians: Germany

2006-04-25T00:19:00.000+05:30

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has expressed reluctance to relax the visa regime for Indian businessmen and professionals, saying there have been complaints of its misuse.
Answering a query if Germany could introduce a liberalised visa regime for Indian businessmen and professionals, especially in the IT sector, Merkel said that there had been complaints of the misuse of the German visa.
Merkel was interacting with the press along with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Hannove on Sunday.
The comments came against the backdrop of the recent controversy involving a senior IFS official, Rakesh Kumar, who has been charged with facilitating the flight of a dance troupe to Germany with fake docments.
Both the Prime Minister and Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal took up the issue of a liberalised visa regime for Indians during the meeting with the German Chancellor.
They were of the view that a rigid visa regime was coming in the way of enhanced trade and economic ties between the two countries as well as in the migration of Indian professionals to Germany.

2006-04-22T22:00:00.000+05:30

Indian Naval Ship Prahar, a 450-ton patrol vessel, met with a collision with MV Rajiv Gandhi a container carrier of the Shipping Corporation of India. The collision occurred at about 2145 h on 21 Apr 06, 35 km west of Goa. Following the collision, the naval ship sank just after midnight. The damage to MV Rajiv Gandhi has been minimal and she is presently anchored off Goa.73 crewmembers have been rescued. The rescued crew has been evacuated to Goa. Six naval, two Coast Guard ships, passing merchant vessels, one Dornier aircraft and two helicopters of the Navy have been deployed for search and rescue in the area. The cause of the incident is yet to be ascertained. A board of inquiry has been ordered to investigate into the incident.

Rise in number of cars could undo CNG's effects in Delhi: CSE

2006-04-21T22:55:00.000+05:30

The burgeoning number of private vehicles in Delhi, which now has 17 per cent of the cars in the country, threatens to undo the "healthy" effects of introduction of the green fuel CNG for the city buses. According to the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) publication 'The Leapfrog Factor: Clearing the air in Asian cities', Delhi has more cars than the total number of cars in the states of Gujarat and West Bengal.It added that the sheer number of vehicles was threatening to undo the gains that the capital had garnered from improvement in vehicle technology and fuel quality.Even though Delhi leapfrogged from dirty fuels and emission technologies to much cleaner options, says the book, "the gains can be lost if we do not get our act together as congestion and pollution could from these vehicles is threatening to destroy the quality of life in the city."It said a car caught in a congestion can emit nearly four times more.
The report held that cars and two-wheelers take up nearly 90 per cent of the road space, carry lesser numbers of people and pollute excessively.The most oppressive problem of current times, according to the book, is the exploding number of vehicles that are choking our cities and immobilising them.

The Supreme Court directed the Union Health Ministry to keep 10 per cent seats in AIIMS

2006-04-21T22:51:00.000+05:30

The Supreme Court directed the Union Health Ministry to keep 10 per cent seats in each subject in abeyance for the reserved category students in admission to Post-Graduate medical science courses in All India Institute of Medical Sceinces (AIIMS).
The two member bench issued the directions when the matter was mentioned before the bench contending that the first counseling for admissions to PG medical science courses was to start earlier in the day and unless and until interim relief was granted by the court no seat will be left for reserved category students. The matter has been listed for hearing on Monday.
Earlier, the Centre had reversed its decision to cancel the All India Entrance Test after allegations of wide spread copying in the test when Supreme Court showed its disinclination against such a stop. The CBI detected only 20 cases of localised cheating in the test confined only to Chennai and Delhi centres. The Court felt that a test in which about 40,000 candidates appeared could not be scrapped on the basis of 20 cases of cheating.
The court directed that these 20 candidates shall be debarred and if further evidence was collected against any other candidate during investigation, he or she may be debarred.
About a dozen arrests were made by the CBI in the connection and those taken into custody included senior professors and faculty members.

Indo-US N-deal is for India to achieve energy goals:Montek Singh Ahluwalia

2006-04-20T23:26:00.000+05:30

Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia said that Congressional approval of the US-India nuclear deal is imperative if India is to achieve its energy goals.
Underlining the importance of the US civilian nuclear technology to India’s economic growth, Ahluwalia said the US-India civil nuclear deal would also help open up possibilities of private sector and foreign direct investment in civilian nuclear plants, once uranium is imported to India under IAEA safeguards.
This would in turn boost the economy, creating jobs and facilities for research and development in the energy sector, he added.
Ahluwalia, who is also co-chair of the Indo-US Energy Dialogue was talking to reporters at a media breakfast hosted by The Energy Daily and co-sponsored by BP America.
He said the Indian economy is going through a gradual acceleration of growth and in the last two years, the growth rate averaged at 7 per cent or 7.1 per cent.
Since the economy has been strong, India would like to achieve a growth rate of 8 per cent in the next five years and reach a 10 per cent growth rate at the end of five years averaging around 9 per cent, he said, adding that kind of growth involves meeting India’s huge energy needs.
Even though India has several conventional sources of energy, there is nothing like nuclear energy to power its growth engine, the Deputy chairman said.
According to ''our estimates if we can get the civil nuclear technology agreement through the US Congress which will relax the restrictions on the supply of uranium and also supply of civil nuclear technology by the year we could increase the nuclear energy capacity from somewhere under 4,000 MW in 2006 to something of the order of 63,000 MW by the year 2032.

CII against mandatory reservation in private sector

2006-04-20T23:24:00.000+05:30

Apex industry chambers CII has strongly objected to any mandatory reservation for socially underprivileged in the private sector even as it forecast 8.3 percent GDP growth target for this financial year.
R Seshasayee, the new President of CII said in his inagural press conference that mandatory reservation in any form is not conducive to competitiveness of the industry and is not acceptable.
However, even as he objected to any mandatory reservation policy for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, he said industry needed to take positive action to empower the backward classes to join the mainstream.This he said would empower them in terms of education and deployability skills.Sheshasyaee, said riding on robust growth in industrial and services sector the GDP would grow 8.3 pc this fiscal while agriculture was expected to grow 3 percent, industry 9.1 percent and services 9.9 percent.

The judges of Supreme Court and High Court will be addressed as ''Your Honour'' instead of ''My Lord'' or ''Your Lordship''

2006-04-19T23:14:00.000+05:30

The Bar Council of India vide resolution dated 8th April 2006 has decided that the judges of Supreme Court and High Court will be addressed as ''Your Honour'' instead of ''My Lord'' or ''Your Lordship'' as such system of addressing is a hangover of the colonial past.
So far as subordinate court and tribunals are concerned it is open to the lawyers to address the court as ''Sir'' or the equivalent word in respective regional language.
The Bar Coucil of India rule under section 49 (1) (j) is to be circulated to all the state bar councils with the request to circulate the same to all the bar associations in their state and to the courts.
The latter shall also be sent to the Supreme Court bar association, Registrar General of the Supreme Court of India and to the registrars of all the High Courts.
It may be noticed that the full Supreme Court had in 1993 resolved that it is for the Bar Council to decide the form of address to the courts and expressed thanks to the Bar Council of India that it was conscious of its obligations to be respectful and dignified in its attitude towards the bench.Early this year a bench of the Supreme Court headed by the Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal while dismissing as withdrawn a PIL filed by the progressive and vigilant lawyers forum had also expressed the same view that it was for the lawyers community to decide whether they want to change the system of addressing the court in India and court has nothing to do with it.

50,000 Mega watts of nuclear power by 2030: Kalam

2006-04-18T23:10:00.000+05:30

President A P J Abdul Kalam has said the country's nuclear power capacity would be scaled up from the current 2,720 MWs to 24,000 MWs by 2020. In his address at the inauguration of the South Asian Conference on Renewable Energy here, Dr Kalam said Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) is expecting the capacity to be 24,000 MWs by 2020.''Hence there is a need to plan right now to increase this capacity to 50,000 MWs by 2030'', the President said.He said the country's nuclear power generation has been given a thrust by the use of uranium based fuel. However, to meet the increased needs of nuclear power generation, it is essential to pursue the development of nuclear power using thorium reserves within the country.''Technology development has to be accelerated for Thorium based reactors since the raw material for thorium is abundantly available in our country''. It is in this context that to maximise the thorium utilisation the development of Fast Breeder Reactor has been rightly taken up.Giving a perspective, the President said the energy consumption from renewable resources has to be maximised for all nations irrespective of their economic status if the world has to remain a liveable habitat for future generations.

50,000 Mega watts of nuclear power by 2030: Kalam

2006-04-18T23:09:00.000+05:30

Stolen Lord Vishnu's statue on its way to India

2006-04-18T23:02:00.000+05:30

After a tortuous journey to New York, the stolen 9th century stone idol with carvings of all ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu sets off its journey back home, to be reinstalled in Varaha temple Mandsour in MP from where it was chipped off six years ago. According to the news agency, the 127 cm tall and 71 cm wide idol is in good condition with only a mark at the back from where it might have been chipped off. In a brief ceremony on Monday, the Indian Consul-General Neelam Deo and Special Agent in charge of investigation at the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Martin D. Ficke signed the papers and formally handed it over to India.This was one of the two idols stolen; the search for the other is still on.Highlighting the US cooperation, the news agency said that the recovery is described by Indian and US officials as the "fruitful" result of coordinated investigations carried out in India and the United States.Lauding the US cooperation, the Indian Consul-General said "the government and people of India greatly appreciate this gesture of goodwill from the government and people of the United States.”While signing the documents, Ficke commented” that when someone loots or steals a cultural artefact from a country, that country loses a part of its identity and its heritage. Today, we are able to return the Varhaha idol to the government and people of India and restore a part of its cultural heritage that had been stolen from her." According to the Senior Special Agent James McAndrew, who investigated the case, said the probe led the investigators to Namkha Dorjee, owner of the Bodh Citta Gallery, who was operating from his apartment in New York. Once agents closed in, he voluntarily surrendered the statue, he said. However no arrest has yet been made in the United States as crime could not be pinned on any individual, officials said. Earlier the statue was originally destined for Switzerland but then was diverted to Britain and papers were altered somewhere along the journey.According to the American investigators the person who was responsible for sending it from Britain to the United States was reportedly killed in Afghanistan some time ago. He was apparently trying to smuggle out that country's heritage. It was only in 2003 that ICE received information from the Indian police and Interpol that the statue was in the United States which ultimately led to its seizure. The principal subject of the sandstone idol is Vishnu in his third incarnation as boar and it shows killing of Hiranya demon and the liberation of the earth.
On the left elbow, earth is shown as feminine figure. Depicted around the idol are other incarnations of Vishnu.In Varaha incarnation, Vishnu was said to have rescued the earth from being drowned by Hiranyaksha. Varaha using his boar attributes saved the earth from being drowned in the cosmic sea.

Experts confirmed the authenticity of Saddam Hussein's signature

2006-04-17T22:00:00.000+05:30

Experts confirmed the authenticity of Saddam Hussein's signature on documents connected to a crackdown on Shiites after a 1982 assassination attempt against him in the town of Dujail, that led to 148 deaths and imprisonment and torture of many others.
In a new session of the trial of the former Iraqi leader and seven co-defendants, prosecutors informed that the report from handwriting experts said a signature on a document approving rewards for intelligence agents involved in the crackdown was that of Saddam's.
In an earlier session, Saddam had refused to confirm or deny his signature.
Some of his co-defendants had said their alleged signatures on other documents were forgeries.
They face possible execution by hanging if convicted.

A strong earthquake of 6.2-magnitude centered in the Pacific Ocean

2006-04-16T23:32:00.000+05:30

A strong earthquake of 6.2-magnitude centered in the Pacific Ocean, shook the south eastern Taiwan, however no serious damage or injuries have been immediately reported
According to the Central Weather Bureau the quake occurred at 20 kilometers east of Taitung County, at a depth of 12 kilometers. Taitung is 250 kilometers southeast of the capital, Taipei.
The tremor strike at 6:41 a.m. (0411 IST), as many people have been sleeping, but did not cause undue alarm on the island frequently rattled by temblors.
At least four aftershocks were registered within hours, measuring between 4.3 and 4.5, the weather bureau said.

Swami Ramdev to conduct Yoga camps in Pakistan

2006-04-16T23:26:00.000+05:30

After winning millions of followers in India, renowned Yoga Guru Swami Ramdev is all set to conduct his training camps on foreign soil, starting with Pakistan in July, motivating people there to practice the traditional Indian vedic system.
A newspaper survey, voted him as the ''most popular Indian in Pakistan'', ranking even Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan behind him.
S K Teijarewala,the spokesman of the Haridwar-based Patanjali Yogapeeth, headed by the yoga Guru said that Swami Ramdev believes that his mission for bringing health and peace is for the entire humanity, transcending the geographical boundaries.

Listed companies should have 25 pc public shareholding: SEBI

2006-04-14T23:02:00.000+05:30

Market regulator SEBI has amended the Clause 40A of listing agreement, making minimum public shareholding of 25 percent on a continuous basis mandatory for listed companies from 1st May 2006. However companies, which at the time of initial listing, offered at least 10 per cent of the total number of issued shares are exempted from the new rule. But they need to maintain the 10 per cent limit on a continuous basis.Also companies, which at the time of initial listing, reached a size of two crore or more in terms of number of listed shares and Rs 1,000 crore or more in terms of market capitalisation, are exempted from the 25 per cent minimum public holding limit.

Violance hit day for India

2006-04-14T22:42:00.000+05:30

1.13 injured in blasts inside Jama Masjid in News Delhi.

Thirteen people have been injured, one of them seriously, in two explosions that took place in quick succession inside the Jama Masjid in Old Delhi when the devout were offering Friday prayers.
While the first explosion occurred at around 5.20 pm, another took place 15 minutes later near a pond used by worshipers for ablutions in the courtyard of the mosque build by Mughal emperor Shahjahan

2.5 killed, 35 injured in seven grenade blasts in Srinagar in JK

in Jammu and Kashmir, militants have launched a series of grenade attacks in busy areas of the city killing five civilians and injuring 35, including 10 security personnel.
Those killed in the seven separate grenade attacks were two women Deepika Joshi, a Nepalese labourer, and Shahina, a local, and three men one of whom was from Punjab, official sources said.
The attacks took place at Exchange Road, Magarmal Bagh, Hari Singh High Street, Batamaloo, Dalgate, Sekidafar Chowk and Bhori Kadal, the sources said.
Official sources said the highest number of deaths were caused at Badyari Chowk in Dalgate area where three persons were killed and seven injured.
At least 15 people, including six paramilitary and police personnel, were injured when militants hurled a grenade, sixth of the day, at security forces at Sekidafar Chowk, the sources said adding while one person was wounded in another blast at Bhori Kadal.
They said in the attack at Exchange Road in the Lal Chowk area two BSF jawans and three civilians were injured.
Four militant groups - Jamiat-ul Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Islamic Front and Almansoorian separately claimed responsibility for the attacks saying their targets were security forces.

3.8 dead in Bangalore violence

The toll in violent incidents during the funeral procession of the late Kannada Matinee idol Rajkumar has risen to eight with seven people killed in police firing and a young trainee constable lynched to death by a frenzied mob even as the situation in the city limped back to normalcyThe toll in violent incidents during the funeral procession of the late Kannada Matinee idol Rajkumar has risen to eight with seven people killed in police firing and a young trainee constable lynched to death by a frenzied mob even as the situation in the city limped back to normalcy.

Compensatory tax must be proportionately beneficial to payers: SC

2006-04-14T01:08:00.000+05:30

The Supreme Court has held that compensatory tax must be proportionately beneficial to the payers.
A five-judge constitutional bench headed by Justice Ruma Pal overruled the earlier law laid down by this court in Bhagatram's case which said that even if the tax is imposed in public interest, it can be classified as compensatory tax.The court held that the concept of compensatory tax is in the nature of reimbursement and the payers of compensatory tax must be compensated in terms of quantifiable benefits and facilities provided by the state.The ruling came on a bunch of petitions challenging the validity of the act enacted by Haryana.The petitioner Jindal Stainless Limited had contended that the law laid down in Bhagatram's case was not correct and it desereves to be reconsidered.Other judges on the bench were Justices B N Shrikrishna, S H Kapadia, Tarun Chatterjee and P P Naolekar.The judgement was read out by Justice Kapadia. The court said restrictions on freight rate can be imposed only if it is the interest of the nation or the people.

The Bombay High Court has lifted the ban imposed on dance bars

2006-04-13T00:10:00.000+05:30

The Bombay High Court has lifted the ban imposed on dance bars across Maharashtra last year by the state government while it stayed its operation for eight weeks to enable the State Government appeal against it in the Supreme Court.
A division bench comprising Justices F I Rebeillo and R S Dalvi, while lifting the ban, stayed its operation for eight weeks to enable the State Government appeal against it in the Supreme Court.The court observed that while dancing at pubs and discotheques was permissible, banning the performance by bar dancers was ''discriminatory and in violation of the law.''The court also directed Mumbai police to renew licenses of the dance bar owners, which were cancelled, after eight weeks and to take help of various NGOs and SNDT Women's University to monitor the illegal activities, as alleged by Government in these bars.The court also asked the police to check whether any minor girls were being employed by the bar owners, as alleged by the State, and if any affected minors were found then they should be rehabilitated.

India may develop uranium detection system

2006-04-11T23:35:00.000+05:30

Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar has said that India will be in a position to develop indigenous time domain electromagnetic system in a year or two.
This will help to detect deeply-concealed uranium deposits in the country.Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research was collaborating with institutions in public and private sectors and may even go in for outsourcing of data collection to ensure the state-of-the-art system was in place quickly, Dr Kakodkar said He was delivering the Prince Mukharramjah Endowment Lecture organised by the Indian Geophysical Union at the prestigious National Geophysicial Research Institute. Pointing out that the geological setting in India was such that there was no reason why rich and extensive deposits of uranium in India could not be found, he observed, ''while we have made impressive progress in our atomic energy programme, the fact remains that uranium resources available to us are modest and of very poor grade now.'' Projecting the country's energy requirement to grow by ten fold in the next five decades, he said, ''nuclear energy provides sustainable solution, since the quantity of material that needs to be extracted from earth for meeting a given requirement, is extremely small on a relative basis. ''This can become even smaller if we can explore richer deposits of uranium like the ones that have been found in countries like Canada.

HIV/AIDS Alerts for India

2006-04-07T23:52:00.000+05:30

Prof Suzanne Crowe, Deputy Chairperson of Australia-India Council (AIC) has said that despite India's dubious distinction of ranking second in HIV/AIDS cases in the world, next to South Africa, the country is yet to wake up to the alarming situation.
Prof Crowe was here to conduct symposia on HIV/AIDS across the country with the help of CII. She lamented that the Centre had failed to release the latest data on the number of HIV/AIDS cases in the country after 2003, when the figures had touched five million. ''With the Government not coming out with the latest figures and with only five per cent of the youth subjected to HIV/AIDS test, it is very difficult to judge the present scenario,'' she said.Though a recent study reported that the number of HIV/AIDS affected people had come down by 30 percent in South India, she advocated caution in interpreting such results. Prof Crowe informed that AIC, set up by the Australian Government in 1992 to deepen relations between the two countries, had spent over $ 2,00,000 for creating awareness about the global epidemic. As language proved to be a hindrance in spreading the message among the rural masses, the AIC had decided to take the help of local associations in its endeavour. Attributing population explosion, poverty and illiteracy as reasons for the spread of the disease, she called for the active participation of every organisation in the task of educating both urban and rural people about the disease. Citing Australia as an example where the country had managed to bring down the number of affected to less than 10,000 with its untiring efforts, she warned that if India did not check the spread of the epidemic, it would be forced to go the South African way.

A bill is likely to be brought in the next session of Parliament in May, to raise the size of cabinets in smaller states

2006-04-07T23:48:00.000+05:30

A bill is likely to be brought in the next session of Parliament in May, to raise the size of cabinets in smaller states where the strength has been put at 12 by a Constitutional amendment.
While speaking to reporters in Shillong, Union DONER and Tribal Affairs Minister P R Kyndiah said that he had taken the initiative for it along with CWC member and cabinet colleague Oscar Fernandes.
An amendment had become necessary in view of "certain imbalances" which caused "difficulties" for smaller states like Meghalaya, which had representations from various communities, Kyndiah added.
States having a 40-member assembly or less were getting more representation in the government, while those with 60 seats had to be content with a same-sized cabinet of 12 members.Meghalaya Chief Minister D D Lapang and some of his cabinet colleagues met him recently to discuss the issue.Kyndiah's statement comes in the backdrop of a similar move initiated by Lapang and some of his counterparts in other north-eastern states, who approached the Congress high command in view of growing dissidence among the MLAs following the downsizing exercise of the cabinet undertaken in July 2004.

30th April WTO deadline not at farmers' cost: India

2006-04-06T00:28:00.000+05:30

India informed the World Trade Organisation that the 30th April timeline for achieving full modalities for conclusion of the Doha Round cannot be adhered to, unless interest of its 650 million subsistence farmers is fully protected and the industrial sector gets a fair deal for growing in the globalised world.
Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath conveyed this message to visiting Director General of the World Trade Organisation Pascal Lamy at his two-hour meeting here. Mr Lamy indicated, however, that a deal was possible if India agreed to reduce the gap between the applied and bound rate of tariff and the European and the US removed the tariff peaks and escalations.
Mr Lamy, who is here on a two-day visit, would be meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as well as Finance Minister P Chidambaram. Besides, he attended a stakeholders' meeting organised by the UNCTAD India office . He would also be participating in a meeting being organised by the India Council for Research in International Economic Relations (ICRIER).
''If India and other developing countries get more than what they pay for, a deal is possible,'' Mr Lamy said.
The WTO chief has not really given up his hopes on the 30th April deadline which was decided at the last WTO Ministerial Meeting in Hong Kong.
He said a lot would depend on some of the tough negotiations beginning next week in Geneva. The General Council meeting, scheduled for April 18, would finally review the ground reality and ascertain whether the Doha negogiations can meet the challenge of 30th April.
However, Mr Lamy did not see any possibility of scaling down the ambitions of the ongoing Round. '' Cheap Round is not available'', the WTO chief said.
This is because three-fourth of the developing countries, would not agree to a watered down deal.
Mr Kamal Nath requested Mr Lamy to convey India's concerns on the agriculture and industry to the developed countries. India is seeking a substantial reduction in both domestic and export subsidy being doled out by the rich nations to their farmers.
It is also seeking an adequate protection for its infant and small scale industries.
''The developed nations gave a long protection to their industries; we need to develop our industries as well,'' Mr Kamal Nath said.

Union Railway Minister, Lalu Prasad gets membership of the Supreme Court Bar Association

2006-04-06T00:23:00.000+05:30

Union Railway Minister, Lalu Prasad has joined the league of legal luminaries cum politicians including Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and several Union Ministers like Pranab Mukherjee, P Chidambaram and Kapil Sibal by getting the membership of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA).
According to the SCBA President Pravin Parekh, the RJD chief has been granted the non-active membership of SCBA as he is in the regular job like his cabinet colleagues. He said that the decision to accept his application for SCBA membership was taken last week.Lalu, who holds a LL.B degree from Patna University, was already a member of the Bar Council of Bihar and the Patna High Court Bar Association.Anyone holding a law degree is eligible to be a member of the SCBA, Parekh added.However, Prasad, who is an accused in the fodder scam cannot don black robes to argue his own case.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will give a US$ 20 mn technical assistance (TA) loan to India for carrying out reforms in the judicial system

2006-04-04T00:45:00.000+05:30

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will give a US$ 20 mn technical assistance (TA) loan to India for carrying out reforms in the judicial system in the country. ADB Deputy Director General in charge of South Asia, John Samy said the loan has been approved while work is going on the core system. He said though the TA was small, but it will help in improving the administration of justice in India.ADB had cleared the proposal for the technical assistance programme for the Indian judiciary system in the third week of March.The assistance by the Manila based bank would strengthen the legal framework and will step up the system's efficiency, which is crucial to promote economic growth.India has got the highest number of pending cases in the world due to lack of adequate infrastructure, which often delays in getting justice.The multilateral development financial institution is participating aggressively in India's infrastructure development and capability creation in various sectors.

The genuine citizens that they would not be harassed in the name of detection of foreigners,:Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

2006-04-01T22:15:00.000+05:30

Assuring the genuine citizens that they would not be harassed in the name of detection of foreigners, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made it clear that Government will deal firmly with illegal infiltrators.
Addressing a press conference in Guwahati, the Prime Minster asserted, “we will show no mercy on the issue of illegal infiltration.”
Singh added, “at the same time all genuine citizens of the state have my assurance that in the name of detection of foreigners they are not harassed."
Firmly ruling out any discussions with the insurgent outfit ULFA in Assam on the issue of sovereignty, he said "the question does not arise. We are all servants of the Constitution of India and the Constitutional position is quite clear on this."
He was answering a question whether the government would hold talks with ULFA over its sovereignty demands."If ULFA wants to talk they are open to raise any issue they want but that does not mean all issues are open for negotiations," the Prime Minister added.
Asked about the perception that there were differences between the Centre and the state on tackling the ULFA problem, he said "we want peace to prevail. We want to ensure that the state develop in an atmosphere of peace and tranquility."

India's external debt declined by five billion US dollar to 119.2 billion dollar at the end of December 2005

2006-04-01T00:11:00.000+05:30

India's external debt declined by five billion US dollar to 119.2 billion dollar at the end of December 2005 from the previous quarter ending September following the redemption of India Millennium Deposits.
The four percent decline in external debt from 124.2 billion dollars during September-end 2005 was due to a drop in external commercial borrowings, reflecting IMD redemption by the country's largest bank State Bank of India in December. Of the total external debt, long-term debt fell 5.4 billion dollar to 110.26 billion dollar while short term rose by 533 million dollar to 8.9 billion dollar in December-end, according to official statistics. The external debt to GDP ratio has further dropped to 17.3 percent as of March-end 2005 from 17.8 percent in the previous year.The proportion of short-term debt in total debt as well as the ratio of short-term debt to foreign current assets rose to 7.5 percent and 6.8 percent respectively in December-end 2005.
Under long-term debt, multilateral debt increased by 370 million dollar to 31.79 billion dollar in December as compared to 31.42 billion dollar in the previous quarter. However, this was offset by a decline in bilateral credits by 322 million dollar, which stood at 15.55 billion dollar. Export credit outstanding at 5.16 billion dollar showed no significant change during the October-December quarter. ECBs stood at 22.43 billion dollars, lower by 5.88 billion dollars mainly due to IMD redemption and contraction in FII investment in Indian debt papers.

President A P J Abdul Kalam has referred the NDA petition

2006-03-31T00:00:00.000+05:30

President A P J Abdul Kalam has referred the NDA petition, signed by over 200 MPs, demanding the removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla, who has been accused of having links with the Congress, to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The NDA had submitted the memorandum against Chawla, who was appointed as Election Commissioner last year, after it was reported that his family trusts received over Rs.85 lakh from Congress MP’s.Official sources informed that Kalam forwarded the memorandum earlier in the month
In the memorandum, the NDA contended that Chawla's continuation, as Election Commissioner would jeopardize credibility of the Election Commission in the upcoming elections to five state assemblies.
They demanded his removal from the EC for his alleged links with the Congress party and the role he played during Emergency. The NDA has also sent a copy of their memorandum to the Chief Election Commissioner.

Plant Steroids in Transgenic Plants Safe for Humans?

2006-03-30T23:48:00.000+05:30

For many years, it was presumed that the regulators of growth and development in plants are distinct from the hormones that regulate growth and development in animals. Yet, many of the pesticides used to control insects and fungi were found to disrupt the endocrine systems of animals.
In 1979, steroid compounds called brassinosteroids (BRs) were discovered in the pollen of Brassica napus (rapeseed). Later studies showed that BRs are ubiquitous among plant species. BRs are similar in structure to animal steroid hormones, including ecdysone, progesterone and testosterone. Steroid hormones regulate transcription through nuclear receptors and by membrane bound cell surface receptors. Trans-membrane BRs receptors have been recognized in plants. Recently, nuclear transcription factors regulated by BRS were recognized. Like animal steroids, BRs act on a number of aspects of growth and development, and function in a broad range of disease resistance as part of an innate immunity system.
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A number of BR inhibitors and analogues have been produced, and BR analogs with high growth promoting activity have been patented.
BR analogues proved active in the control of mosquitoes through their resemblance to the insect molting hormone. Synthetic BR analogues selectively inhibited multiplication of herpes simplex virus by interfering with late viral protein synthesis. BR derivatives were also effective in inhibiting replication of the measles virus. These finding suggest that BRs are active in both invertebrate and vertebrate animal viruses including those infecting humans. Might they not interfere with the synthesis or action of human steroid hormones?
As in the synthesis of animal steroids, synthesis of BR is achieved using certain cytochrome p450 molecules. Researchers from the Salk Institute patented transgenic plants altered to either impair or over-express a gene for cytochrome p450 activity. The resulting transgenic plants could be manipulated to produce insect resistance, dwarfism and darker green foliage compared to wild type plants. Another cytochrome p450 gene was isolated from dwarf plants and that gene and protein patented. Cotton plants with improved fibre characteristics resulted from treatment of cottonseeds with BRs prior to planting, or by producing cotton fibre in liquid cell culture. Transgenic cotton plants also produced fibres with improved characteristics when sprayed with BR analogues.
BRs are versatile and allow the production of greater cell mass if desired, as for example in forage. BRs may also provide dwarfism for grain crops to avoid lodging of the crops. BRs appear to be associated with multiple disease resistance. However, manipulation of BRs may create unexpected toxins as byproducts of the modified p450 genes.
BR analogues may provide the happy prospect of making crops grow larger, while warding off insect pests and curing genital herpes. But it is imperative that BRs and transgenic crops producing them should be tested thoroughly for untoward toxicity for human beings and other non-target species.

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India along with Japan, Pakistan and Bangladesh submits notices displaying its intention to contest for Human Rights Council in May

2006-03-30T01:27:00.000+05:30

As the UN General Assembly gears up to hold the first elections for the newly established 47-member Human Rights Council in May, India along with Japan, Pakistan and Bangladesh submits notices displaying its intention to contest for the newly created council.
According to the UN sources the other declared candidates for 13 seats allotted to Asia are Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Indonesia and South Korea.
However, so far 8 candidates have offered themselves for the 13 seats but sources say more countries are expected to jump in fray in coming days.
The 191-member General Assembly will conduct elections for the Council, which has replaced the much criticized Human Rights Commission, on 9th
May and a member to be elected would require a majority of the total membership of the world body or a minimum 96 votes.
Pointing at the voting criteria, the sources told that it will be done through the secret ballot.
The United States has yet to formally declare its candidacy but officials say they expect Washington to contest. There is still a lot of time, a diplomat said.
The Western Europe Group, from which US would contest, has been allotted seven seats and so far Britain, France, Germany and Finland has made their intention known to seek the Council's membership.
Notifying at the Africa status, the officials said that Africa too has been given 13 spots and Morocco, Algeria, Senegal and Nigeria have made their intention to contest known.
Further the sources said that eight seats are allotted to the Latin America and the Caribbean, the eight candidates are Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Peru, Cuba, Mexico, Uruguay and Honduras and they have already declared their candidacy.

A total eclipse of the Sun will occur in the afternoon of Wednesday, 29th March, 2006 (8 Chaitra 1928).

2006-03-28T00:46:00.000+05:30

A total eclipse of the Sun will occur in the afternoon of Wednesday, 29th March, 2006 (8 Chaitra 1928).
The eclipse will be visible in India as a partial eclipse from the areas covering North-Eastern parts of India, Northern as well as Central India and North-Western parts of India.
In general, the eclipse will be visible in the region covering Brazil, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, North-Western parts of Chad, Libya, North-Western tip of Egypt, Turkey, North-Western parts of Georgia, South-Western parts of Russia, Kazakstan, the Southern tip of Russia and ends in the Northern tip of Mongolia.
Considering the Earth as a whole the eclipse begins at 1307 hrs., when the shadow of the Moon first touches the Earth at total sunrise at a point in the South Atlantic Ocean, West of St. Helena at latitude 140 28’ South and longitude 220 06’ west. The eclipse ends at 1816 hrs. I.S.T. when the Moon’s shadow finally leaves the Earth at local sunset at a point in the North-Western parts of China, near Urumchi at latitude 430 26’ North and longitude 830 03’ East. The Total Phase begins at 1405 hrs. I.S.T. at a point in the North-Eastern parts of Brazil in south America near Recite at latitude 060 18’ South and longitude 370 16’ West. The Total Phase ends at 1717 hrs. I.S.T. at a point near border of Russia and Mongolia, West of Irkustsk at latitude 510 34’ North and longitude 980 49’ East. The greatest Phase of the eclipse with magnitude 1.052 occurs at 1541 hrs. I.S.T. at a point in Libya of Africa, East of Murzug at latitude 230 06’ North and longitude 160 46’ East. At this point the duration of the Total Phase is 4minutes 11seconds.

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The Government of India has decided to grant a one-time reduction of four percentage points in the interest payment liability on the bank loans of all

2006-03-26T21:24:00.000+05:30

The Government of India has decided to grant a one-time reduction of four percentage points in the interest payment liability on the bank loans of all types taken by the poultry units. This will apply to accounts of all poultry units with all banks including commercial banks, cooperative banks and Regional Rural Banks ( RRBs). This was announced by the Minister of Agriculture, Shri Sharad Pawar after a meeting with the representatives of the poultry industry held at Krishi Bhawan in the afternoon, here today.
The Minister said that the amount required for this purpose will be released to the banks for crediting to all such accounts very soon. This measure has been announced in view of a few instances of outbreak of Avian Influenza in limited areas of the country which have had an extremely damaging effect on the poultry industry in the country resulting in steep fall in the demand for and prices of poultry products. As a result poultry units throughout the country are passing through an extremely serious crisis.
The Reserve Bank of India has also issued following instructions to provide relief to the poultry industry in the wake of the outbreak of Avian Influenza:-
(i) A moratorium of one year on payment of principal and interest (for term loans and working capital due to all scheduled banks and RRBs). The same will be considered separately for district central cooperative banks and urban cooperative banks.
(ii) Conversion of working capital into term loan and making them payable over three years to be permitted. The first year of repayment would be after the expiry of the moratorium period.
(iii) Reschedulement of term loans availed by poultry units over an additional period of two years from the agreed tenor of the term loan.
(iv) After conversion of working capital into term loan, poultry units to be permitted to draw additional working capital depending on commercial viability of each unit.
(v) Barring willful default, defaulted accounts not to be treated as NPAs.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi has announced her resignation as a Lok Sabha member and Chairperson of the National Advisory Council

2006-03-23T23:05:00.000+05:30

Congress President Sonia Gandhi has announced her resignation as a Lok Sabha member and Chairperson of the National Advisory Council even as BJP said the resignation was a desperate attempt to 'save her face.'
The resignation comes following complaints seeking her disqualification for holding an office of profit.In a statement, Gandhi said that in the last two days an atmosphere was being built up in the country to give an impression that the government and Parliament were ''being misused for my cause only.''

Sting operations are ''lucrative business venture:I&B Minister

2006-03-22T00:47:00.000+05:30

Describing 'sting operations' as a ''lucrative business venture'', I&B Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi said action would be taken against a the TV channel itself that aired story on renting of official residences by Ministers' and MPs. On Monday, a private TV channel carried a news-story in which occupants of the servant quarters' of some MPs and Ministers residences admitted that they were paying monthly rent ranging from Rs 1500 to Rs 2500.Munsi asserted that the whole operation is meant to increase the TV Programme ratings of the channel.Referring to sting operations against MPs, Munsi said the private channels were more interested in sensationalism and fooling the people in believing what they telecast.The issue was raised Santosh Gangwar (BJP) in the Lok Sabha. He questioned whether those who conducted the sting operation in the residences of MPs and Ministers had taken the permission from the House.Gangwar said that the story lowered the prestige of the sovereign Parliament and belittled the elected representatives in the eyes of the people.

Mental disorder is good ground for nullifying the marriage:Indian Supreme court

2006-03-22T00:43:00.000+05:30

The Supreme Court ruled that the young age of the spouses coupled with remote possibility of procreation of children due to mental disorder of one of the spouses furnishes a good ground for nullifying the marriage.
A two member bench laid down the law while setting the appellant wife free from the shackles of dead relationship which she has been living with for last 13 years.Appellant wife Vinita Saxena, a Ph. D., was married to Pankaj Pandit on 7th Feb, 1993 in Delhi. The fact that the respondent husband was suffering from 'Paranoid Schizophrenia' and was under the constant treatment was concealed from her. After the marriage the appellant was subjected to extreme cruelty by her mother-in-law and her husband and. She was thrown out of her matrimonial home on 9th Jul,1993. Since then the parties have been living separately and are involved in legal battle since 1994.The wife sought divorce on the grounds of mental and physical cruelty and insanity of her husband. The Supreme Court considered 11 aspects of the matrimonial relationship before coming to the conclusion that the impugned orders of the courts below have resulted in grave miscarriage of justice to the appellant who has been constrained into living with a dead relationship for over 13 years.
The resultant agony and injustice that has been caused to the appellant, it is a fit case for interference under article 136 of the Constitution of India and reversal of the findings of the courts below which have resulted in grave miscarriage of justice, the apex court ruled.

The father of India's 'white revolution' and Chairman of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMMF) Verghese Kurien, resigned

2006-03-20T23:57:00.000+05:30

The father of India's 'white revolution' and Chairman of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMMF) Verghese Kurien, resigned from his post, apparently pre-empting a proposed moved by the dairy federation's Board members to oust him.
Reacting to reports on passing a non-confidence motion against him by the Board members on 24th March, Kurien said after hold the post of the Chairman of the GCMMF board for over five decades he deserved better treatment from the board members.Anguished by the move, Kurien, also the Chairman of Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), said such a behaviour pained him and he was concerned about the future of GCMMF.Kurien added that his decision to quit as Chairman of GCMMF was in wake of the recent order by the Gujarat High Court on the issue of coopertion of members on the management committee of the cooperative bodies in Gujarat.

The Central Information Commission (CIC) has upheld the CBI's decision to withhold certain information

2006-03-19T23:37:00.000+05:30

The Central Information Commission (CIC) has upheld the CBI's decision to withhold certain information from an IRS officer facing probe by the agency's Anti Corruption Unit. The Commission agreed with the CBI's contention that disclosure of the information sought by the appellant would impede the process of prosecution of the offenders and hence rejected his claim as sought under Section 7 (1) of the Right To Information (RTI) Act.The official R C Sankhla had moved an appeal before the Commission, after the Deputy Inspector General of Police and Appellate Aurhority of CBI dismissed the appellant's appeal for certified copies of certain statements recorded during investigation by the agency and the Metropolitan Magistrate.Sankhla sought access to certain files and also take out extracts wherever required as it concerned his life and liberty.However, the CBI contended that the exemption from disclosure of information is justified under Section 8 (h) of the Act as the disclosure of the documents asked for and permission for inspection of the case file would impede prosecution offenders.Asserting that the accused officer was not entitled to have a copy of the statement of the co-accused given to the police, the agency suggested the official can apply to the trial court for copies of the statements and documents not relied upon by prosecution.

Rs 16,852 crore worth of non-performing assets (NPAs) of public sector banks have been written off in the past three years in India

2006-03-17T21:50:00.000+05:30

Finance Minister P Chidambaram has informed the Lok Sabha that a whopping Finance Minister P Chidambaram has informed the Lok Sabha that a whopping Rs 16,852 crore worth of non-performing assets (NPAs) of public sector banks have been written off in the past three years.
While Rs 4,416 crore was written off in 2002-03, Rs 6,328 crore was written off in 2003-04 and Rs 6,108 crore in 2004-05, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said during Question Hour.He said the RBI had issued guidelines to banks and financial institutions not to grant any additional facilities to listed wilful defaulters of Rs 25 lakh and above.In addition, banks, which have identified the defaulting entrepreneurs or promoters of companies, should debar them from institutional finance, he said.Replying to another question, Chidambaram said scheduled commercial banks have Rs 5,380 crore as outstanding from sick small scale industries (SSI) and about Rs 29,110 crore from sick units other than those in the SSI sector.

DAE has stepped up uranium exploration everywhere in the country just in case of disruption in foreign supplies.

2006-03-16T23:36:00.000+05:30

India will begin to drill for uranium in Chitrial area of Nalgonda district in Andhra Pradesh for which the Atomic Minerals Division (AMD), a unit of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), located in Hyderabad, has invited tenders for exploratory drilling.
According to AMD officials the tenders will be opened on 29th March and work could begin from April and be completed in eight months.
The new drilling area, approximately 130 km southeast of Hyderabad, is at the heart of Rajiv Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary that is one of India's tiger reserves.
Chitrial, is an important area in Nalgonda district where radioactivity is spread over an area of 50 square kilometres, according to AMD which says the area "is expected to add significantly to the uranium resource of the country.
A spokesman for the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL), a DAE undertaking in charge of uranium mining, informed that the presence of uranium in Lambapur and Peddagattu in Andhra Pradesh was established 10 years ago but local opposition held up actual mining by UCIL
For years many have opposed uranium mining in the district fearing it might poison nearby Nagarjunasagar reservoir, a major source of drinking water.
The spokesman said that earlier in the month the government of Andhra Pradesh cleared the project.
The Indo-US deal may have cleared the way for uranium import but a cautious DAE has stepped up uranium exploration everywhere in the country just in case of disruption in foreign supplies.
Meghalaya contains largest and richest sandstone-hosted uranium deposit of the country at Domiasiat in West Khasi Hills district, says AMD. However mining in the region has been held up for environmental reasons.
Former DAE Secretary P K Iyengar said that he did not believe India has no uranium, it just had to look harder.

The World Bank approved today a US$216 million loan to finance the delivery of urban services in the state of Karnataka

2006-03-15T20:04:00.000+05:30

WASHINGTON, March 14, 2005 ─ The World Bank approved today a US$216 million loan to finance the delivery of urban services in the state of Karnataka through enhancing urban in frastructure, and improving the institutional and financial frame works at the state and local levels.The Karnataka Municipal Reform Project is designed to support an evolving process of urban reforms in Karnataka that focus on large-scale restructuring of urban governance and management. These reforms are expected to result in the creation of well-governed and functioning cities that are able to finance and deliver basic urban services for the urban poor in a sustainable manner.With a total population of about 53 million and a level of urbanization of 34percent, Karnataka is one of the most rapidly urbanizing states in India. Its growth in urban population, incomes, and competitive business has created a strong demand for quality services across all urban areas. Infrastructure investments have become an urgent priority for the state, yet the shortfall in meeting the investments need is huge.“This project will significantly enhance the State’s urban services—from water supply and sewerage system to urban roads and slum up-gradation,” said Michael Carter, World Bank Country Director for India. “It will also contribute to improved health conditions of the poor by improving access to sanitaryservices.”The project is designed around four main components:• Institutional Development: Strengthen the institutional capacity inundertaking basic urban planning and management functions at state and locallevel institutions.• Municipal Investment Support: Enhance urban infrastructure and services delivery through the provision of investment support for upgrading urban services.• Bangalore Development: Enhance Greater Bangalore metropolitan area’s critical infrastructure and services delivery, particularly in roads and sewerage.• Project Management: Support project implementation, including incremental operating costs of relevant implementing units and a Project DevelopmentAdvisory Facility to support preparation and implementation of sub-projects byUrban Land Bodies (ULBs).This project is the second World Bank engagement with Karnataka in the urban sector—the first was the water supply-related Karnataka Urban Water SectorImprovement Project, approved on April 8, 2004—and it complements and builds upon experiences of parallel initiatives by other donors working in the sector.The loan, from the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD),the World Bank’s lending arm, is a Variable-Spread Loan with a maturity of 20years, including a grace period of five years.
World Desk
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''India will not accept the safeguards meant for non-nuclear weapon states''

2006-03-12T19:50:00.000+05:30

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the Indo-US deal was aimed at addressing the energy needs of the country, without compromising on its nuclear doctrine and minimum credible deterrence.
PM was assuring Parliament that the proposed ''unique India-specific'' IAEA safeguards for civilian nuclear facilities would virtually recognise New Delhi as a nuclear weapons state.
''Our safeguards will not be a carbon copy of model one or model two. It will be a unique safeguards agreement,'' Dr Singh said while replying to a day-long debate on the Indo-US nuclear deal in the two Houses of Parliament. Asserting that ''India will not accept the safeguards meant for non-nuclear weapon states'' which were signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), he said the India-specific safeguards would be on the lines of those signed by the first five nuclear weapon states as there was already an ''implicit recognition'' across the world of New Delhi's nuclear weapon capabilities.

Khadi and Village Industries Commission (amendment) Bill which passed by voice vote

2006-03-11T22:02:00.000+05:30

Government said it will modernise Khadi and Village Industries to meet the challenges of globalisation and ruled out any move to dissolve KVIC which is being restructured into six zones.
This was stated by Minister for small scale industries, agro and rural industries Mahavir Prasad in the Rajya Sabha while winding up the discussion on the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (amendment) Bill which was subsequently passed by voice vote.Prasad said the legislation was necessary to give a boost to the sector which had stagnated over the last few years.He said nearly 40 lakh persons are employed in Khadi and village industries and Government was committed to infuse modern and scientific technology and introduce efficient marketing strategy to make Khadi products more acceptable.He said the Bill sought to enhance the investment for these industries in the hilly areas to Rs 1,50,000.Prasad said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had already stated the government's determination to strengthen Khadi and Village Industries which has been given prime importance in the National Common Minimum Programme."Our intention is to strengthen the Khadi and village industry and not to dissolve it", he said while referring to the disbanding of the KVIC board. He also promised to investigate all corruption charges levelled against Khadi officials.Lok Sabha has already passed the Bill.

2006-03-09T22:05:00.000+05:30

Head of Arcelor, Guy Dolle, said a merger between steel giants Mittal and Arcelor does not contribute to the sensible consolidation of the European steel industry or create value for shareholders.
"A merger only makes sense if the combination of two companies creates more value than the sum of the individual companies," Dolle told the daily Die Welt."Simply adding together the tonnage of steel produced and then speaking of an intelligent consolidation of the market falls short of the mark," Dolle said.Arcelor, the world's second-biggest steel maker, is the target of a hostile takeover bid by the world's number one, Mittal. But the two companies simply do not fit together, Dolle said."Mittal Steel and Arcelor are not complementary," he said. Neither would a tie-up make sense from the point of view of shareholders, he continued."From the shareholders' point of view, there is no strategic, value-adding basis for a merger. I don't believe many people will let themselves be duped by the simple but wrong mathematics, size plus size equals success."Dolle insisted that Arcelor shareholders would benefit a lot more if the Luxembourg-based company remained independent