Saturday 12 May 2012

Bihar News, Latest News from Bihar, News of Bihar, Biharprabha News

Bihar News, Latest News from Bihar, News of Bihar, Biharprabha News

Center to resolve the Assam Arunachal Border issue in coming months

Posted: 12 May 2012 05:25 PM PDT

The decades-old boundary dispute between Arunachal Pradesh and Assam would be resolved amicably soon with the one-man boundary commission constituted by Supreme Court working out modalities for the same, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said at Itanagar today.

“The one-man committee headed by Justice Tarun Chaterjee is looking after the issue and he is scheduled to convene a meeting with the chief ministers of both the states on June,” Chidambaram said during a press conference here.

He said, Centre last year sanctioned an amount of 154 crore to Arunachal Pradesh for development of areas along the inter-state boundary. “This year an amount of Rs 92 crore was sanctioned for the same,” he said.

No Bharat Ratna for Sachin Tendulkar says Justice Katju

Posted: 12 May 2012 03:18 PM PDT

Cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar should not be honoured with the Bharat Ratna as the demand to give the award to filmstars and cricket players spoke of ‘the low cultural level’, Press Council of India Chairman Justice Markandey Katju said today.

“Somebody says the award should go to Tendulkar or to Sourav Ganguly. I say it should be given to none of them,” Katju said. “Sometimes demands are made to give Bharat Ratna to filmstars and cricketers. This shows the low cultural level in the country,” he told a function organised by the Kalidas-Ghalib Foundation run by him at Kolkata.

Pointing out that the Bharat Ratna has also been given posthumously like in the case of Dr B R Ambedkar, he said “I see no reason why Kazi Nazrul Islam, the great nationalist poet who fought for the emancipation of women, poor and the downtrodden, should not be given the award.

“There is tremendous diversity in India and Kazi Nazrul Islam represented that. He inspired many Urdu poets,” Katju said while regretting that the works of the ‘rebel’ Bengali poet have not been translated into Hindi. “This is how people outside Bengal will be able to read his works.

I have told Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to see that it gets translated. She has liked my suggestion,” he said. The award should also be given to Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Munshi Premchand and Tamil poet Subramania Bharathi, he said. He announced the Kalidas-Ghalib Samman award to Nazrul Islam’s daughter-in-law, Kalyani Kazi.

Akshay Kumar to become Father 2

Posted: 12 May 2012 02:17 PM PDT

Actor Akshay Kumar is going to become father for the second time, and his and wife Twinkle’s bundle of joy is expected to arrive in September. “Thank you…thank you very much. She is fine,” an elated Akshay told reporters when asked about his wife’s second pregnancy.

After being engaged twice to actress Twinkle Khanna, the daughter of actors Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia, he married her on 17 January 2001. Their first son named Aarav was born in September 2002.

Twinkle is likely to make her appearance during filmmaker Karan Johar’s 40th birthday party on May 25.

Post her marriage, Twinkle quit acting and since then has been working as an interior designer.

Kerala Firm taking Intelligent Gaming to new horizons

Posted: 12 May 2012 11:17 AM PDT

Schogini Systems, a Technopark IT firm, is trying to wean young minds from blood-thirsty computer games to intelligent gaming.

Schogini Systems has charted out this strategy of intelligent gaming as a commitment towards the teenagers and young people who are reading less and spending more time before computers or on mobile phones.

As part of the firm’s strategy, FIDE (World Chess Federation) ranked chess player Mohammed Salih, Schogini’s brand ambassador, will challenge laser game Khet’s inventor Luke Hooper to a game at the Technopark campus here.

Khet is an abstract strategy board game using lasers, where players take turns to move Egyptian-themed pieces around the playing field, and fire their low-powered laser diode after each move. Most of the pieces are mirrored on one or more sides, allowing the players to alter the path of the laser through the playing field.

The laser game Khet 2.0 was a Toy of the Year finalist, Mensa Select award winner and was featured in Wired magazine in 2011.

Schogini has also created the mobile version of Khet for iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows Phone.

N. Sree Prakash, managing director, Schogini Systems, said technology is advancing at an alarming rate.

“With smart phones being more popular these days, it is no longer about making or receiving calls or SMS. Instead of blaming technology for youngsters staying glued to their mobile phones or laptops, we should find ways to tap its potential to bring back the youngsters from all pitfalls of technology,” said Prakash.

Schogini has also partnered with Don Dailey, Larry Kaufman and Luke Hooper to implement Komodo 4, a top rated chess engine AI (artificial intelligence).

In the company’s efforts to empower the blind, Schogini will also showcase the Talking Chess Board, Talking Chess Application (Apps), Talking Khet Apps, Colouring Apps and Seeing Apps.

In less than two years, Schogini Systems has made giant strides in mobile applications. Starting with just six, they have touched 46 professionals in the past few months.

Norway warns India of Political consequences if Uninor forced to exit

Posted: 12 May 2012 10:09 AM PDT

Norway has warned India of Political consequences if its promoted company Telenor Fails in India. Telenor holds 67 percent stake in Uninor, a cellphone operating Company

“Telenor is not just any company. 54% of the shares are owned by Norwegian people through state and thus, it has even further political implications that such a company will be harmed. If this investment fails, it will be probably the biggest loss a Norwegian company has in foreign investments ever. I think also it will be fair to say that it will influence the view of India as an investment country,” Norwegian trade and industry minister, Trond Giske, told reporters.

Giske is the representative of Norwegian government on the board of Telenor, which holds 67.25% stake in the telecom operator, Uninor. The balance is held by realty major Unitech.

As many as 22 licences of Uninor were among the 122 licences cancelled by the Supreme Court on February 2, issued during the tenure of the then telecom minister A Raja. Uninor has been permitted to operate till September 7.

Giske added that Norway and India share good bilateral relations and expressed hope that the issues will be resolved soon.

“Bilateral relations between India and Norway are strong and they can handle any challenges. It might have effect on investors but government to government cooperation continues throughout all problems,” Giske said.

“This situation after the Supreme Court ruling with the withdrawal of licences and proposals from Trai for new auction, have created obstacles to our future engagement,” he said.

To continue its telecom operation, Telenor needs to acquire new licences and win spectrum through the upcoming auction. However, the company has expressed concern over the auction proposals of telecom regulator, Trai.

The Trai had suggested a base price of Rs 3,622 crore for one megahertz (MHz) for pan-India spectrum. This is around 10 times higher than the price at which 2G licences bundled with 4.4 MHz spectrum were allocated in 2008 during Raja’s tenure.

According to Trai’s recommendations, a minimum of 5 Mhz spectrum should be allotted, which means that pan-India airwaves in 1800 MHz band will cost Rs 18,100 crore.

Telenor has objected to the high base price recommended by Trai along with network roll-out obligations and the quantum of spectrum proposed for auction.

Giske said the Norwegian government fully respects the rights of Indian institutions’ to take decisions but have “innocently harmed” the interests of Telenor and Uninor.

“I think it is truly possible to strike a balance and find a common ground where both Supreme Court decisions are fully respected, revenues to the Indian government is secure and competition and good service are provided to customers through participation of Telenor,” Giske said.

Taj City to donate Human Body for Medical Research

Posted: 12 May 2012 10:05 AM PDT

An organisation has been launched in the Taj city to promote the donation of human bodies for educational research and more.

The body, a brainchild of eminent educationist Ram Avtar Sharma, is networking with 175 medical colleges across India.

Talking to IANS, Sharma said: “More than 500 donors have already registered. A website would soon be launched to interact and provide info to prospective donors.”

He added: “We are trying to arrange for free retinas, kidneys, livers and other body parts to the needy poor.”

Sharma and retired banker Dinesh Agnihotri have pledged their bodies to the anatomy department of S.N. Medical College.

“We are trying to get President Pratibha Patil to formally inaugurate the campaign next month,” Sharma told IANS.

Complete Details of Ambedkar Cartoon Controversy

Posted: 12 May 2012 09:41 AM PDT

An Old Cartoon by renowned cartoonist Shankar, depicts Nehru, with a whip in his hand, chasing Ambedkar, who is seated on a snail. In the cartoon, Nehru is asking Ambedkar to speed up the work on the constitution.

The controversial cartoon, first published in 1949 by cartoonist Shankar in his weekly magazine and reproduced in NCERT Class 11 political science textbooks.

The issue was raised by Dalit activist Thol Thirumavalavan, the Lok Sabha MP who heads the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi of Tamil Nadu, where protests were staged over the row.

Thirumavalavan, supported by members cutting across party lines, flashed a placard highlighting the issue and walked towards Speaker Meira Kumar’s podium.

He said the cartoon was “insulting to Ambedkar, Nehru and the whole nation”. At one point, an agitated Thirumavalavan even sought Sibal’s resignation over the issue.

Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said in parliament earlier that he was not personally responsible for the row but had “no hesitation in apologising to the nation”.

According to Sibal, the issue came to his notice last month and he decided April 26 that the cartoon be withdrawn from the NCERT books on political science and the Indian constitution.

“Much before the issue came to parliament, I had already taken action. I called for the NCERT text books and I looked at other cartoons. I realised that there were many other cartoons that were not in good taste and disparaging in nature. They were not sending the right message to our children in classrooms,” he added.

A group of persons on Saturday ransacked the office of Prof Suhas Palshikar, who resigned as NCERT adviser in the wake of the row over a cartoon of BR Ambedkar in school text books. Police said Palshikar was unharmed in the attack and three persons have been detained.

Palshikar justified the cartoon, and stated that there was nothing offensive about the cartoon and that it was drawn just for the better understanding of students.

Palshikar, a former head of Pune University’s department of politics, had resigned after the uproar in parliament over the issue Friday.

Palshikar was a member of the ministry’s textbook development committee which approved the Class 11 textbook that contained the cartoon.

Political scientist Yogendra Yadav, who was the chief advisor of the committee, has also resigned.

Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya to get High Courts soon

Posted: 12 May 2012 08:58 AM PDT

Three northeastern Indian states of  Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya would soon get their own high courts as a necessary amendment bill was passed by the Lok Sabha amid cheers from lawyers, politicians and commoners of the states.

Tripura’s law department secretary Datamohan Jamatia  on Saturday said that establishment of separate high courts would help in quicker disposal of cases, save litigants’ time and money, and fulfil a long-standing demand of these states.

By amending the North-Eastern Areas (Re-organisation) Act, 1971, the North-Eastern Areas (Re-organisation) and Other Related Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2012, was passed by the lower house of parliament Friday, paving the way for creation of full-fledged high courts in the three states.

Now the amendment bill will be presented in the Rajya Sabha before it is sent to the president for her assent.

Currently, the six northeastern states – Tripura, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh – have benches of the Guahati High Court. Sikkim has a separate high court.

Under the North-Eastern Areas (Re-organisation) Act, 1971, Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya became full-fledged states on Jan 21, 1972.

“In Tripura alone over 52,000 cases had been pending in different lower courts and 5,000 cases are awaiting disposal in the Agartala bench of the Gauhati High Court,” Jamatia told reporters.

He said the necessary infrastructures were ready for the functioning of full-fledged high courts.

Khagen Das, MP from Tripura, who had moved a private member’s bill in the Lok Sabha for amending the necessary act to set up the high courts, said that he had met union Home Minister P. Chidambaram and union law minister in New Delhi a number of times to expedite the process.

“The demand for a separate high court in Tripura has been vigorously pursued from 1987. The Tripura assembly had passed unanimous resolutions requesting the central government to set up a separate high court,” Das, a member of the central committee of the Communist Party of India-Marxist, told IANS by phone from New Delhi.

An all-party team from Tripura also had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other central ministers over the issue.

The All India Democratic Lawyers Association’s Tripura state secretary Pankaj Bhattacharjee and opposition Congress’ Tripura legal cell president Pijush Biswas hailed the long awaited approval of the amendment bill by the lower house.

“A decade old demand is going to be fulfilled. This is a victory in a long struggle,” said Bhattacharjee, a senior lawyer.

The Congress has also demanded that after setting up of the high courts, a circuit bench of the Supreme Court be established in Tripura to help the litigants of the northeastern states.

For quick disposal of pending cases, the Guahati High Court had introduced in May last year video conference systems in its benches spread across six northeastern states.

The high court, which was constituted April 5, 1948, initially had its sittings in Meghalaya’s capital Shillong but shifted to Guahati Aug 14, 1948. It came to be known as the High Court of Assam and Nagaland on the constitution of the state of Nagaland Dec 1, 1963.

On the re-organisation of the northeastern region by the North-Eastern Area (Re-organisation) Act, 1971, a common high court was established for five northeastern states – Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura – and the two erstwhile union territories (now full-fledged states) – Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh – and named as the Guahati High Court.

A Song dedicated to Amitabh Bachchan

Posted: 12 May 2012 07:30 AM PDT

amitabhMumbai-based music band named Dedh iinch upar has composed a song dedicated to Bollywood’s megastar Amitabh Bachchan.

A tribute to the cinematic legend, the song, written by Navin Jha and composed by band’s vocalist Charu Moohan, is called “Amitabh uncle”.

Produced by AB Fans Foundation, an NGO aimed to promote new talent in music, film and literature, the song is part of the album “Thank you Mumbai”, which is the band’s way of thanking the city and the people who make it what it is.

“Amitabh uncle” is the second song to be released and will be available online later this month. The song depicts the journey taken by a fan from his hometown to see his childhood hero.

A CD of the song has been sent to the 69-year-old actor.

“Amitabhji knows about this fan foundation, but he is not directly involved in it. I had sent him the audio CD of the song and also met him after that,” Shivananda Chand, founder, AB Fans Foundation, said in a statement.

Dedh iinch upar comprises seven members — two vocalists Charu Moohan and Anubbhav Sumann, keyboard and trumpet player Robin, bassist Steve, lead guitarist Deepak Sinha, drummer Abhishek and percussionists Atul Pandey and Atul Dutt (who is also manager for the band).

Some Interesting Facts about Indian Parliament

Posted: 12 May 2012 06:45 AM PDT

Our Parliament completes 60 years on May 13, 2012. The first meeting of Lok Sabha was held on May 13, 1952. Since then, it has kept the Foundation of Indian Democracy alive. Below are few facts about Indian Parliment

First chairman of Rajya Sabha – S. Radhakrishnan.

First Speaker of Lok Sabha – G.V. Mavalankar.

First Lok Sabha meeting was on May 13, 1952.

First Lok Sabha held 677 sittings for about 3,784 hours.

Around 48.8 percent of time of first Lok Sabha was used for legislative business.

Percentage of graduates has increased from 58 percent in 1952 to 79 percent in 2009 (includes post-graduate and doctoral degrees).

Women constitute 11 percent of members in the 15th Lok Sabha. In comparison, only 5 percent of MPs in the first Lok Sabha were women.

In the first Lok Sabha, there was no MP over the age of 70. This number has risen to 7 percent in the current Lok Sabha.

The first Lok Sabha passed an average of 72 bills each year. This has decreased to 40 in the 15th Lok Sabha.

Parliament passed 118 Bills in 1976. This was the highest number of Bills passed by Parliament in a single year.

The lowest number of Bills was passed in 2004 when only 18 Bills were passed by Parliament.

Lok Sabha met for an average 127 days in the 1950s and Rajya Sabha for 93 days. This has decreased to 73 days for both houses in 2011.

(with inputs from PRS legislative Research)
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