Saturday, 31 March 2012

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

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

The AURA of Defense Expo 2012

Posted: 31 Mar 2012 06:33 AM PDT

It is not a carnival in the truest sense, but the four-day defence exposition in progress at the Pragati Maidan, India’s major trade exhibition venue, is attracting both young and old, with love for all things military.

The biennial exposition, said to be the largest in Asia, is in only in its seventh edition, and it mainly focuses on land and naval military systems, be it the hard, rugged weapons and vehicles, to the soft and trendier electronics and communications equipment.

But for all the huge billboards that dot the city’s main thoroughfares, particularly in Lutyen’s Delhi, those who come to the event are mostly businesslike.

“I am an electronics and communication engineering student and I am here to see what is the latest stuff available in my area of interest,” said Nikhil Mishra, a student of an engineering college in the city under the Indraprastha University.

“I am mainly keen on learning about the new technologies that are available in India on robotics,” Mishra told IANS.

Is he enjoying the show here? “Well, yes, but in a serious kind of way. This show is not for fun and frolic,” he added.

This year’s defence exposition has over 500 international and national defence manufacturers vying with each other for attention. They represent over 30 nations including the world’s largest defence majors such as American Boeing, European EADS, French DCNS and Thales, Russian Rosoboronexport, and British BAE Systems. They are all here for the official defence ministry and military delegations from over 60 nations that are its actual direct customers.

But a majority of the companies participating in this year’s exposition are Indian — nearly 60 percent. These include Larsen and Toubro, Tatas, Mahindras and public sector players such as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, the Defence Research and Development Organistion, and Ordnance Factory Board.

These companies have all sorts of rugged military stuff on offer — from main battle tanks, artillery guns, rifles and pistols, unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned underwater vehicles, hovercraft, ordnance such as missiles, rockets and explosives.

There are also hand-held communication sets, radio communication sets and highly secure online communication systems, all on the softer side of the military.

“This year’s show has all the hardware in plenty such as vehicles, weapons, ordnance, delivery platforms and such. But it does not have some modern, latest such as structural simulators. Electronics side is a bit lacking,” said an Indian defence ministry official, on condition of anonymity.

His sentiment is echoed by the engineering student, Mishra. “DRDO has done some good work on robotics, but the progress is gradual. We are lacking in indigenous systems. Investing in such critical areas is important for us,” he said.

While there are no children playing around the Pragati Maidan as part of the defence exposition, where there are plenty of colours in the form of buntings and banners put out by different defence companies to attract attention, women too are few and far between.

Except for those women hired by the defence firms to man their stalls and direct employees, not many were seen at the exposition venue.

“This is the first time I am at a defence exposition. I am here because I am an employee of a global defence firm. Otherwise, I may not be here. But I am enjoying, as I am learning from the show, as part of my career growth plan,” Neethu, 24, a just out-of-college new recruit of the firm she did not want to name, told IANS.

The four-day show — with the last day, being a Sunday, open for the general public — attracts over 100,000 footfalls every edition, but in terms of real time business orders, no official figures are available.

The show does generate interest among both local and global defence firms and some memorandum of understandings do get signed, providing for future business opportunities that might galvanise the Indian defence sector.

The thrilling Entertainment at IPL 5 Ceremony

Posted: 31 Mar 2012 06:00 AM PDT

Glitz, glamour and game. The opening ceremony of the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament will see a lot of fireworks in Chennai Tuesday – from American pop icon Katy Perry’s performance to Indian dancing sensation Prabhu Deva’s act to Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan’s poetry recitation.

If that is not enough, Bollywood stars Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and music band Colonial Cousins are geared up to set the stage afire.

“There will be good things, lots of entertainment and cricket. It’s the first time that such a large-scale, separate concert is being organised for the IPL, so big things have been planned,” Wizcraft Entertainment director Sabbas Joseph told IANS.

The performer line-up is impressive.

“Amitabh Bachchan will be opening the night. He will render a poem written by Prasoon Joshi. And Salman Khan will give the show a fitting finale…all performers will bring something unique to the show,” said Joseph.

Joshi says it was challenging to pen the verse.

“The challenge before me was to write in verse about the spirit of cricket. The poetry captures this spirit and makes a commitment that whatever one may do in life, one would always want to be connected to the game of cricket,” he said.

A huge highlight of the ceremony, to be held at the YMCA Grounds in Chennai, is pop icon Katy Perry.

The singer, who tied the knot with now estranged husband Russell Brand, in India in 2010, returns to the country to give her maiden performance at the ceremony. She is set to enthrall the audience with her hits like “Fireworks” and “California Gurls”.

“Katy will add a different flavour to the event. She is coming down April 2, but leaving almost in a jiffy after her performance,” said Joseph.

Another highlight will be Big B – he returns to work after two abdominal surgeries earlier this year. The 69-year-old veteran has been home ever since his treatment, and looks forward to step out for the event.

Contrary to recent media reports, Big B is unlikely to dance, clarifies Joseph.

A rare sight would be dancing sensation Prabhu Deva on stage. Other attractions include performances by Bollywood beauties Priyanka and Kareena, whose performances have been choreographed by Shiamak Davar and his team.

Stepping up the fervour will be music maestros Colonial Cousins, who will team up with international percussionist and composer DJ Ravi Drums and a group of talented percussionists known as First Project and local percussionists, d’Frens.

“Whether it is international tracks, the ‘Dhinka chika’, southern tracks or the dances…the combination from across the country is aimed at entertainment and entertainment,” said Joseph, who says the performers have been chosen on the basis of their profile and passion for cricket.

The fifth edition of IPL will be held during April 4-May 27. With nine teams and 76 games across 12 locations, it promises to be a treat for cricket fans.

The captains of the nine participating teams will also be present at the opening ceremony, where they will take a pledge.

The tickets for the star-studded opening night are priced at Rs.1,500. And, needless to say, the organisers are expecting a “full house”.

Are you ready for the Earth Hour ?

Posted: 31 Mar 2012 05:26 AM PDT

earth hour 2012An hour of darkness is due to set in, quite literally, when Delhi along with 5,500 cities across the globe turn off lights as part of a global effort to save power Saturday.

As the clock strikes 8.30 p.m., houses, public buildings, business centres and even the Rashtrapati Bhavan will turn off lights, turning the spotlight on climate change.

An initiative by World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the 60-minute mass campaign will witness participation by switching off all electrical appliances and lighting fixtures. Running in its fifth year, the Earth hour is now what experts call the largest mass movement for awareness on reducing carbon footprints.

“A total of 5,251 cities were a part of Earth hour 2011, 1.8 billion were reached out in the last campaign,” a WWF official said. The hour-long campaign is organised annually on the last Saturday of March.

With a couple of hours remaining to go for the Hour, last minute SMSes, mails and messages on social networking sites are doing the rounds as distcoms and environment action groups urge people to contribute to the voluntary initiative.

“I wish such events happened more than once a year. I am trying to reach out to all my friends and colleagues,” banker Abhishek Bhandari posted on Facebook.

While many would be joining the campaign from their homes, people have also formed groups to gather at India Gate for candle vigils for the cause.

“My friends will be going to India Gate, but I have not yet decided to be a part of any such group. Fuel energy spent in reaching the spot will be much more than energy saved… so better do it at home,” Harry Vashishtha, working with an IT firm in national capital region, told IANS.

According to a statement, the Rashtrapati Bhavan – the presidential palace – too will observe Earth Hour by switching off all the lights in the building’s exterior. Other popular landmarks such as the Qutub Minar and the Red Fort in Delhi, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and the Gateway of India in Mumbai, national defence establishments, universities, hotels, cinema complexes and shopping malls across the nation will also participate in the event.

“During the Earth Hour, we will set up telescopes at India Gate between 7.30 p.m. and 9.30 p.m. for the public to view celestial objects. We as urbanites are able to see only Moon and few other celestial objects even in clear skies; the reason is too much of light pollution in metropolitan cities,” said Mila Mitra, scientific officer at Science Popularization Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE).

“SPACE will be showing views of the night sky through telescopes to make people aware of how much more you can see when ambient lights are lower,” Mitra added.

Delhiites saved around 300 MW power in the last Earth hour, distcom BSES said.

Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million individuals and over 2,000 businesses turned their lights off for one hour to take a stand against climate change. India joined the campaign in 2009 and currently, mainly the urban centres in the country are participating.

The difference between Indian and Italian Politics

Posted: 31 Mar 2012 04:24 AM PDT

India need to learn many  things from Italy whose 2 marines are prisoners in Kerala jail. While thousands of Indians are prisoned abroad but not a single leader goes to express any solidarity, but since February, three Italian ministers have come to express solidarity with two of their marines  in a prison here after shooting dead two Indian fishermen off the Kerala coast. The Italian foreign minister, his deputy and the defence minister are among those who have come and gone. Their visits have come at a time when hundreds of Keralites and thousands of other Indians are in jails in the Middle East.

But few can recall a visit made by an Indian minister to any of these jails abroad to express solidarity with the Keralites or Indians. According to official figures, there are about 2,000 Keralites in various jails in the Middle East.

“The figure of 2,000 was given in reply to a question in the Indian parliament. If one considers unofficial figures, it would be more than 4,000 serving jail terms for crimes ranging from murder to petty crimes,” said a Kerala government official on condition of anonymity.

A rare public utterance from an Indian leader on the matter was by leader of opposition and veteran Communist V.S. Achuthanandan who said on the floor of the Kerala assembly that the two Italian Marines who shot dead the Indian fishermen were given VIP status.

“Do you know there are so many Indians languishing in jails abroad and you just see the two Italians, who are murderers, put up in guesthouses and eating five-star food. Why is this happening?” asked Achuthanandan.

Thursday, it was Italian Defence Minister Giampaolo Di Paola, a highly decorated naval official, who flew down in a special plane and drove to the Central Prison to be with Latorre Massimillano and Salvatore Girone – the two Italian Marines who were on board the vessel Enrica Lexie when they allegedly shot dead the Indian fishermen Feb 15 after mistaking them for pirates.

Since Feb 20, the two Italians have been in judicial custody and are now lodged in a special room in the prison here.

A family member of an official of a Keralite merchant ship, which has been in the custody of Somalian pirates since September 2010, told IANS, “Look at the zeal of the Italian officials who are staying put in our state, fighting for the welfare of their nationals who killed two Indian nationals.

“It has been 18 months since my dearest has been in the custody of Somalian pirates and despite promises from the prime minister down that very soon things would be sorted out, nothing has moved. Are Indian lives less precious than those of other nationals?”

Alexander Jacob, additional director general of police, jails, however said there are international rules and conventions that have to be made applicable to international prisoners.

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said: “The Italian ministers who have been here have pointed out that their nationals in jail are entitled to certain privileges and we have assured that these would be adhered to.”

All eyes are on the Kerala High Court which is expected to give a final judgement on the quashing of the FIR against these two Italian, who have been insisting that they are governed only by international maritime laws and not Indian ones.

But as far as jailed Keralites and other Indians abroad are concerned, the spotlight is certainly not on them.
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Friday, 30 March 2012

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

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

US Court jails a Kashmiri who worked for ISI

Posted: 30 Mar 2012 07:17 PM PDT

A US Court has acquitted the Kashmiri Separatist leader Ghulam Nabi Fai for spying   and lobbying for Pakistan based ISI and sentenced him for a 2 years of Jail.

After 2 years in Jail, he will remain under Government supervision for under 3 years.  Fai was also ordered not to maintain any contact with the officials and agents of the government of Pakistan and the ISI.

The verdict was announced by Judge Liam O’Grady of the US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, a suburb of Washington DC.

Fai headed an outfit called Kashmiri American Council (KAC), which was “a front” for ISI to lobby US government, lawmakers and opinion-makers on Kashmir, taking a line laid out by his ISI handlers.

Ghulam Nabi Fai  was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on July 19 last year and had pleaded guilty in December to one count of conspiracy and one count of corruptly endeavouring to impede the Internal Revenue Service.

Fai told the court he would surrender after graduation of his daughter on June 25.

He admitted that the KAC received money from the ISI and other Pakistani government agencies and was untruthful about the origins of the funds. His plea agreement says that he concealed at least $3.5 million sent to the lobbying group between 1990 and 2011.

Prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum that Fai “laboured mightily” to hide his association with the ISI and the sentencing guidelines “do not even purport to measure the harm caused by Fai’s concealment of the fact that the influence he peddled through his conferences and campaign contributions was financed by the ISI”.

Court records say he organised conferences, contributed to candidates and met with congressional officials about unifying Kashmir. Fai duped the American people by pretending that the funds for those efforts came from American citizens, rather than the ISI, according to prosecutors.

In a seven-page letter to O’Grady, Fai said his commitment to peace in Kashmir led to his crimes. “The reason for going astray of U.S. law was that I was passionate about freedom for the Kashmiri people,” Fai wrote.

Fai was born in the Wadwan village of Badgam district in Jammu and Kashmir, which forms the part of Kashmir administered by India. He completed his graduation from Srinagar's Sri Pratap College. He then did MA from Aligarh Muslim University before studying on a scholarship in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. He then moved to the United States in 1977 and read towards a PhD in mass communications from Temple University, Pennsylvania on Television in Saudi Arabia. He became a U.S. citizen in 1990. He was a member of Jamaat-e-Islami during his college days. During his childhood he was friends with Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist leader, Muhammad Yusuf Shah, better known by his nom-de-guerre, Sayeed Salahudeen.

British Model to woo Bhojpuri super Ravi Kishan

Posted: 30 Mar 2012 05:37 PM PDT

Hazel CrowneyBritish model Hazel is all set to woo Bhojpuri star Ravi Kissen in her traditional avatar in the movie “Jeena Hai Toh Thok Daal”.

The model, who has earlier featured in films like “MP3 – Mera Pehla Pehla Pyaar”, “U, Me aur Hum” and “Dunno Y… Na Jaane Kyon”, will be seen grooving in a red chiffon sari in the locales of Bihar for the movie.

She joins the league of Madhuri Dixit who did it in the “Dhak dhak” song, Sushmita Sen oozed oomph in her saris in “Main Hoon Na” and Sridevi did it in “Kaate nahin kat tey” in “Mr. India”.

“Jeena Hai Toh Thok Daal” is a gangster movie, directed by Manish Vatsalya. It attempts to show horrid realities of the underworld crime as well as the changing times of Bihar state.

The movie also features actors Sharat Saxena, Murali Sharma and Yashpal Sharm

Say No to foreign arms and ammunition – Army Chief

Posted: 30 Mar 2012 11:32 AM PDT

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Vijay Kumar Singh who has been under the radar of Controversies this year, is not happy with the use of Foreign Arms  and ammunition.This causes a larger dependancy of other countries which is harmful for the defense of the nation.

“We source 70 percent of equipment from outside and need to reduce this dependence. Defence is trying to reduce dependence on foreign firms. We need to be self-reliant and maintain independent capability,” V.K. Singh said at an Assocham meeting.

The army chief said the issue of private sector participation had been debated for a long time and there was need for closer coordination between industry and armed forces for long term investment.

“The demand of private participation has gone up in the recent times. Joint ventures must go to joint design and joint production. Private industry would not invest if there are no gains. So there needs to be more coordination,” he said.

Making his first public appearance since his letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on shortcomings in the forces was leaked, he, however, refused to comment on the controversy.

“I have nothing to tell you… have already told yesterday (Thursday) what I want to,” V.K. Singh told reporters, a day after his statement rebutting charges that he had leaked the letter.

In his letter to Manmohan Singh, V.K. Singh had pointed to a shortage of arms and ammunition in the armed forces.

According to reports, the letter, which was written March 12, 2012, states that army tanks have run out of ammunition. The letter emphasises the need to bridge the shortcomings and bring the army to a fighting level.

Internet under threat, may shut down on Saturday

Posted: 30 Mar 2012 07:14 AM PDT

) Come Saturday and there is a strong possibility that you won’t be able to indulge in your favourite internet activities like shopping and surfing due to a hacking group – Anonymous – which has threatened to shut down the net.

“Operation Global Blackout 2012 looks to shut down the internet for a whole day tomorrow (Saturday) by disabling its core DNS servers, making websites inaccessible,” said Interpol’s Secretary General, Ronald K. Noble.

Noble was speaking at the thirteenth D.P. Kohli memorial lecture on “Multijurisdictional Investigation: Operation Unmask” in the capital.

According to Noble, “Anonymous” is protesting against several reasons including the crash of Wall Street and irresponsible leaders.

“Investigations have already been launched by Colombia, Chile and Spain as their private and public websites have been attacked by the group,” he added.

Meanwhile, Interpol has launched Operation Unmask to deal with the group and arrested 31 alleged members in two different phases in February and March, 2012.

However, Anonymous vowed vengeance and retaliated through a global wave of cyber-attacks on Interpol Feb 28.

“At its peak, the wave reached 400,000 attacks per minute. My parents’ home address and phone number were published on websites,” said Noble.

According to Noble, there are around 2.3 billion internet users in the world and more than one million of them are affected by cybercrime every year while $388 billion dollars is the global cost of such crimes.

Supreme Court rejects clemency plea of Rajoana

Posted: 30 Mar 2012 03:03 AM PDT

In a major verdict, Supreme Court of India on Friday dismissed a petition seeking stay of the death sentence of Balwant Singh Rajoana, convicted for theassassination of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh.

An apex court bench, headed by Justice T.S. Thakur, dismissed as withdrawn the petition by advocate Abhinav Ramkrishna on the ground that the petitioner had no locus standi to make such an appeal. The court also asked how, in a criminal matter, could a person other than the accused move the higher court seeking relief against the award of a sentence.

The court also noted that there was no pressing situation as the government had already put on hold the implementation of Rajoana’s death sentence.

India successfully fires up supersonic Bramhos Missile

Posted: 30 Mar 2012 02:29 AM PDT

India has successfully tested and fired Supersonic missile BrahMos  in Odisha Friday.  The missile was launched from a mobile launcher at the Integrated Test Range in Chandipur in the district of Balasore, about 230 km from here.

The BrahMos has a range of 290 km and can carry a conventional warhead of up to 300 kg. It has a top speed of Mach 2.8, which is about three times faster than the US subsonic Tomahawk cruise missile. This makes BrahMos one of the fastest cruise missiles in the world.

It can be launched from submarines, ships and aircraft. Sea and ground launched versions of the missile have been successfully tested and put into service with the Indian Army and navy.

Meet some Instant Fame Divas

Posted: 30 Mar 2012 01:15 AM PDT

Getting  fame in the Industry is considered a daunting task, but recently we saw several divas enjoying such fame  thanks to controversies they created in mass media.  They changed the  age-old perception that you actually need to be  asuper star to hit headlines. Lets have a look at some selected girls who became instant celebrities in past.

Nupur Mehta: She had a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it role in Sunny Deol- starrer “Jo Bole So Nihal”. But the aspiring actress got her 15 seconds of fame after her name cropped up in match-fixing allegations stemming from the India-Pakistan World Cup match last year. The actress added fuel to fire after admitting she was dating Sri Lankan cricketer Tillakaratne Dilshan. Post her confession, she has been splashed on TV news channels and chat shows.

Paoli Dam: Bengali actress Paoli Dam was nobody before she appeared in the poster of “Hate Story” where she shows a tattooed bare back with a strategically placed gun. It was followed by an uncensored clip of “Hate Story”, showing Paoli delivering sexually explicit and abusive dialogues, going viral on the net. Ever since, she has been hogging the limelight for her uninhibited views on nudity and boldness in front of the camera. Last year she got negative publicity for her bold scene in Bengali film “Chatrak”.

Poonam Pandey: The 19-year-old aspiring model created a frenzy last year after offering to go nude in the green room before Team India if they won the Cricket World Cup. Though she didn’t bare all after the win, she did post a topless picture of hers after India defeated Sri Lanka during the Tri-Series at Hobart in February. It made her the most sought after person on the internet and landed her a place in the adventure reality show “Khatron Ke Khiladi 4″.

Veena Malik: The Pakistani actress has been talked about for all her linkups with Pakistani cricketer Mohammad Asif and Bollywood actor Ashmit Patel and her alleged nude photo shoot for FHM magazine. In fact, religious fundamentalists were so upset with her nude pictures that they issued a fatwa against her. Once the hype around died down, she hogged media attention when she went missing from the sets of her upcoming film “Mumbai 125 Kilometres”.

Pooja Misrra: This VJ grabbed eyeballs for being aggressive and loudmouthed in the fifth season of the reality show “Bigg Boss”. After being evicted from it, she accused host Salman Khan of being biased. She was even embroiled in a war of words with her “Bigg Boss” house inmate Pooja Bedi.

Rakhi Sawant: She is tagged as drama queen by many. Item girl Rakhi Sawant has always made headlines either for making sarcastic remarks on actresses like Katrina Kaif or Malaika Arora Khan or her kissing episode with singer Mika or for her fight with her ex-boyfriend Abhishek Awasthi. It helped her become so popular that she appeared on Karan Johar’s chat show and bagged item numbers in big banner movies.

Sherlyn Chopra: Sherlyn made her Bollywood debut with the 2007 film “Red Swastik” in which she had quite a bold role. However, the film didn’t help her much. But she managed to be in the news for posting nude pictures on Twitter.

Sambhavna Seth: The Bhojpuri item girl set the TRPs soaring with her high-voltage drama on the reality shows – “Bigg Boss” and “Desi Girl”. In “Bigg Boss”, she got involved in an argument with television actress Shweta Tiwari’s ex-husband Raja Chaudhary, while in “Desi Girl” she locked horns with Kashmira Shah.

Indian hacks a major Pakistani website

Posted: 30 Mar 2012 12:28 AM PDT

An Indian  has reportedly hacked a major Pakistani website bringing it down. The website of  Pakistan’s Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) website was hacked  today   and pro-Indian slogans were  displayed  on it.
The website  www.fto.gov.pk/  is described as a critical component of the Pakistani government’s strategy to strengthen complaint filing and decision support system for aggrieved taxpayers.

The website’s hacked “About FTO” section displaying photographs of Indian freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru, with “Hindustan Jindabad” and “Jai Hind” written on the page instead of “Pakistan Zindabad”.

The website provides information on the legal and procedural framework, organisational and administrative set-up of the FTO Secretariat. It also provides the address of FTO Secretariat in Islamabad and its regional offices.

India to observe Earth Hour on March 31

Posted: 29 Mar 2012 08:29 PM PDT

Whole World is observing Earth Hour  on March 31st. Worldwide campaigns are being organized to  appeal people to switch off lights during Earth Hour  in order to save Electricity.

Over a billion people in over 5,500 cities across the globe, will participate in the largest voluntary action for environment by switching off all electrical appliances and lighting fixtures.

Powe distribution firm BSES has appealed its consumers to switch Off Lights during Earth Hour.

“BSES appeals to its customers to unequivocally support the event and voluntarily switch off their non-essential electric appliances on Saturday, March 31 for an hour staring 8.30 pm,” a BSES official said.

The distcom will be sending SMSes and mailers to nearly 8 lakh customers other than reaching out to resident welfare associations (RWA) in the national capital and engaging BSES employees in the initiative.

“It takes around 5,000 tonnes of coal to generate 1 MW of power, so with every megawatt saved Delhiites will be doing their bit to save the environment,” the official said.

Delhiites enjoy the highest per capita 1,651-unit power consumption and Delhi is looking at close to 5,400 MW peak load during the summer of 2012, according to the official.

An initiative by World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the hour-long mass campaign saw Delhiites save around 300 MW power in 2011.

BRICS urge to make World Bank MD selection process open and fair

Posted: 29 Mar 2012 07:40 PM PDT

BRICS Nations have urged that the next Chief of World Bank should be selected on the basis of merit rather than amid political pressure or International Lobby-ism.  BRICS   representing almost 43 percent of the world’s population demanded that the selection should be through an “open and merit-based process”.

“We welcome the candidatures from developing world for the position of the president of the World Bank. We reiterate that the heads of IMF and World Bank be selected through an open and merit-based process,” leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa said in a joint statement after their one-day summit here.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigerian finance minister and a former managing director of the World Bank, has gained the support of African leaders. Brazil has nominated former Colombian Finance Minister Jose Antonio Ocampo, now a professor at Columbia University in New York.

Their candidatures are in direct opposition to Jim Yong Kim, a Korean-American health expert whose name was put forward by President Barack Obama last week.

The World Bank board would meet in April to select the new president to replace Robert Zoellick, who has been holding the post since July 2007.

The World Bank and its sister Bretton Woods institution, the International Monetary Fund, have been headed by an American and an European respectively as part of a so-called “gentleman’s agreement” between the U.S. and Europe since their founding after World War Two.

Leaders of the emerging countries empahasised that the selection of the World Bank chief should be on the basis on merit and not the nationality.

“The new World Bank leadership must commit to transform the Bank into a multilateral institution that truly reflects the vision of all its members, including the governance structure that reflects current economic and political reality,” the BRICS leaders said in a joint statement called “Delhi Declaration.”

The developing countries also called for ending the “outdated donor-recipient dichotomy” saying the multilateral institutions should work on the philosophy of equal partnership.
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Thursday, 29 March 2012

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

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

Work on Kundankulam Nuclear Power Plant to continue says India

Posted: 29 Mar 2012 03:04 PM PDT

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Russian Counterpart Dmitry Medvedev had a healthy discussion on the fate of Kundakalam Nuclear Power Plant and assured him that the project would continue as planned. The two leaders reaffirmed their cooperation on the Russia-aided Kudankulam nuclear plant that is facing agitation amid safety concerns raised by NGOs in Tamil Nadu.

Kudankulam Atomic Power Project is a nuclear power station under construction in Koodankulam in the Tirunelveli district of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Construction has been delayed due to anti-nuclear protests by the locals and People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy.

Thousands of protesters, belonging to the vicinity of the plant, have used various means to protest against the plant fearing a Fukushima like disaster. The protesters base their objection on the “more than 1 million people live within the 30 km radius of the KKNPP which far exceeds the AERB (Atomic Energy Regulatory Board) stipulations. It is quite impossible to evacuate this many people quickly and efficiently in case of a nuclear disaster at Koodankulam”, etc.

Work was stalled at the plant but has resumed recently.

Manmohan Singh assured Medvedev that despite the agitation the work on the nuclear plant will continue according to the roadmap outlined in 2010.

They also discussed the agreements for the units III and IV of the Kudankulam nuclear plant that will enhance the civil nuclear ties between the two countries.

The pacts were “almost ready”, Russian Ambassador Alexander M. Kadakain said in an interview early this week.

Medvedev who arrived here Wednesday was conferred the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Honoris Causa) by Jawaharlal Nehru University.

His visit coincided with the celebrations to mark the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between New Delhi and Moscow.

Russian President Medvedev’s Cat trending on Twitter

Posted: 29 Mar 2012 02:05 PM PDT

Moscow: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s Cat Dorofey, briefly entered Twitter’s top trends after rumors of his disappearance. The Sobesednik weekly reported Wednesday that Dorofey was being searched for by police in the Odintsovo district.

However, police rubbished rumors that the cat had run away from Medvedev’s residence near Moscow and the president himself confirmed that the presidential tomcat was safe.

“About the cat. A source close to Dorofey says he has not got lost anywhere. Thank you all for your concern!” Medvedev tweeted.

A Twitter account in the cat’s name (@KotDorofey) created Wednesday already has some 400 followers.

Is Google spying behind You?

Posted: 29 Mar 2012 09:57 AM PDT

Internet users watch out! The online search giant Google has unveiled a new “Account Activity” page which can sum up who you’ve emailed, what devices you’ve used to access Google and even where you’ve been.

It’s an alarming insight into how much information a signed-in Google user actually hands over to the company — with the report offering a summary of what machines you use, who you email most, and even your location via Google Latitude, the Daily Mail reported Thursday.

The weekly report even tells you “how you spend your time per week” based on location information gleaned from GPS signals.

A post on the official Google blog this week said: “We want Google to work so well, it just blends into your life.”

“Today we’re introducing Account Activity, a new feature in your Google Account. If you sign up, each month we’ll send you a link to a password-protected report with insights into your signed-in use of Google services,” said the Google blog.

The move has come in the wake of Google’s controversial new “privacy policy”, which allowed the search giant to “pool” information from 60 separate services including Gmail, Google Search and Android phones, to create “personalised” advertising.

Beware if you are romancing Online

Posted: 29 Mar 2012 02:52 AM PDT

The incidence of online romance scams is increasing by the day and has already victimized an estimated 230,000 people in Britain alone, costing them nearly $60 billion a year, a study reveals.

Online dating scammers pretend to initiate a romantic relationship through online dating services and then defraud their victims of large sums of money over a period of months or longer.

Monica Whitty and Tom Buchanan from Universities of Leicester and Westminster, respectively, document the rapid growth in these serious crimes and how cybercriminals pursue and steal from their victims.

They describe the devastating financial and emotional losses the victims suffer. Online romance scam is a relatively new form of fraud that became apparent in about 2008.

“This crime is very serious and unfortunately often overlooked. The costs to the victim are both hidden (emotional) and more visible (monetary),” said Brenda K. Wiederhold, editor-in-chief of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, which published the study.

India to setup 50 Innovation Clusters by 2012 end

Posted: 29 Mar 2012 12:05 AM PDT

India has planned to setup 50 innovation clusters by the end of this year. These clusters would cater Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and would be setup by National Innovation Council(NIC).

“We plan to finish pilot, learn from it and then take this project to 50 clusters. I would like to see 40-50 clusters doing such innovations by the end of 2012. Ideally, would want 150 clusters in India to have innovation centre by the end of next year,” Sam Pitroda, Chairman of NIC said, giving an update on the Innovation Cluster initiative launched in November 2011.

The Indian government has declared 2010-2020 as the “Decade of Innovation”. The cluster initiative aims to facilitate creation of ecosystems that will enable generation of new products, services, processes and business models, spurring job creation and inclusive growth.

In both developed and developing countries, MSMEs and start-ups are viewed as major engines of growth and employment. In 2010-11, Indian MSMEs represented 45 percent of manufactured output and 40 percent of exports.

India is estimated to have 5,000 regional MSME clustures that include the gems cluster in Surat (Gujarat), brassware cluster in Moradabad (UP) and textile clusturs at Tirupur (Tamil Nadu).

But most MSME clusters in India suffer from lack of access to technology, research and development (R&D), financing and skills which in turn impact their growth and productivity.

NInC aims to create models for transforming regional MSME clusters into innovation ecosystems with collaborative partnerships among stakeholders.

Samir Mitra, a senior expert at NInC, said the Cluster Innovation Centres (CICs) acting as networking hubs for innovation ecosystems are being created in 8 clusters. In many instances, interactions between industry, research and development (R&D), academia and others had happened for the first time within the cluster.

The NInC has partnered with Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd (ILFS), Foundation of MSME Clusters (FMC), Tata Management Training Center (TMTC) and industry lobbies CII and FICCI for the 6 months pilot phase of this initiave which started in November 2011.

Every Second American owns an Apple product: Survey

Posted: 28 Mar 2012 11:57 PM PDT

Americans have a unnatural craze for Apple products. This is what was revealed in a survey which showed that almost half of American households own at least one Apple product.

According to CNBC’s All-America Economic survey released Wednesday, the Apple-buying household on average has a total of three Apple products.

Overall, the average household has 1.6 Apple devices with almost one quarter planning to buy at least one more in the next year, Xinhua reported.

The survey, collecting answers from 836 Americans, found that Apple buyers tend to be male, college-educated and younger.

Ownership is strongly related with household income. Only 28 percent of those making less than $30,000 a year own at least one Apple product, compared with 77 percent of those making more than $75,000.

Households on the higher end of the income own an average of about three Apple devices, while the average number of Apple products for lower-income homes is only 0.6.

Meanwhile, the age gap in purchasing Apple products is not as wide as people usually think.

Some 63 percent of people between 18 and 49 said that they own an Apple product and 50 percent of people between 50 and 64 owned one. Among those at the age of 65 or older, Apple owners still reach 26 percent.

Families with children are also more likely to own an Apple device. Around 61 percent of households with children own Apple devices, compared with 48 percent of homes without kids.

“It’s a fantastic business model — the more of our products you own, the more likely you are to buy more,” said Jay Campbell, a vice president of Hart Research Associates, which conducts the CNBC survey.

“Planned obsolescence has always been a part of the technology industries sales model, but Apple has taken it to a whole new level,” Campbell added.

Rubbing toothpaste on gums protects against cavities

Posted: 28 Mar 2012 11:51 PM PDT

Brushing your teeth twice daily may be sensible advice, but rubbing toothpaste on your gums after lunch also hugely lowers the risk of developing cavities.

“Rubbing toothpaste on to your teeth (and gums) increases the flouride protection by 400 percent,” said Anna Nordstrom from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden who led the study.

“This ‘massage’ method proved to be at least as effective as a third brushing in increasing the amount of fluoride in the mouth,” added Nordstrom.

Gothenburg researchers were testing the effect of a high-fluoride toothpaste sold over the counter in Sweden. They asked volunteers to brush various numbers of times a day and also tested out the ‘finger rubbing’ technique, the Daily Mail reports.

“Rubbing the front of your teeth with toothpaste can be an easy way of giving your teeth a third ‘shot’ of fluoride during the day, after lunch for example,” said Nordstrom.

Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral that prevents decay by strengthening the protective enamel coating on teeth.

Fourth BRICS summit begins in New Delhi

Posted: 28 Mar 2012 11:25 PM PDT

BRICS is the  group of five emerging countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – which represents almost 43 percent of the world’s population and one-fourth of the global economy. The fourth BRICS summit started in New Delhi today wit  the theme of  Partnership for Global Stability, Security and Prosperity.

BRICS are major actors on the stage of the global economy, said Chen Yuan, chairman of the board of governors of China Development Bank.

More than 70 Chinese journalists are covering the 4th BRICS summit in New Delhi.

Encapsulating China’s ambitions for BRICS and its own aspiration to emerge as a world power, Chinese President Hu Jintao said in an interview that BRICS countries are “the defender and promoter of the interests of developing countries.”

With such soaring ambitions, the Chinese are not happy about the choice of the accommodation for the visiting president and his delegation at the Hotel Oberoi.

The hotel is too small for the delegation, said a Chinese official. Hu has brought in over 200-strong delegation to what is his last trip to India before he steps down later this year.

Besides, there are around 150 Chinese business leaders and officials who have come for the BRICS summit Thursday.

BRICS traces its origin to the BRIC acronym coined by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’ Neill in a paper entitled “The World Needs Better Economic BRICs,” based an economic modeling exercise to forecast global economic trends over the next half century. O’ Neill predicted that Brazil, Russia, India and China will become major economic powers over the next few decades. He had little inkling it will evolve into an influential multilateral grouping.

From BRIC to BRICS: BRIC became BRICS after South Africa, Africa’s economic powerhouse, was invited to attend the third BRICS Summit in Sanya on April 14, 2011.

BRICS accounts for 26 per cent of the world’s landmass and 42 per cent of the global population, including India and China, two of the world’s most populous countries.

BRICS accounts for 40 percent of global GDP ($18.486 trillion) and its proportion is rapidly increasing. Goldman Sachs predicts that “BRIC can become collectively bigger than the G-7 (the top industrial powers) by 2035″. BRICS countries have accounted for over 50 per cent global economic growth in the last decade.

Intra-BRICS trade is growing at an average of 28 percent annually and currently stands at about $230 billion.

The first BRICS summit was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia (2009), followed by Brasilia (2010), Sanya, China (2011). New Delhi hosts the 4th BRICS summit March 29, 2012.

BRICS has no fixed agenda or secretariat, but can identify certain contemporary themes like reform of United Nations; greater representation in Bretton Woods institutions; managing global financial crisis and boosting intra-BRICS trade and cooperation.

 

A tale of India born Pakistani Pakistani Army officer cum Journalist

Posted: 28 Mar 2012 10:44 PM PDT

“I advise: don’t touch Pakistan, Bangladesh and India. There can be a subcontinental union, but absolutely no reunion. The people of Pakistan have a deep love for India, but they love their Pakistan more…India can be a master of the subcontinent but not in the way you (India) want,”  Pakistani Brigadier (retd) Abdul Rahman Siddiqi told IANS here in an interview. He is also a  journalist,  writer,  commentator and an old “Dilliwallah” from Ballimaran in Chandni Chowk.

“After all, we are all very poor countries. And we are not apes, but humans in essence. But we have sold our freedom to the US,” said 88-year-old Siddiqi, who retired in 1973 as the head of Inter-Services Public Relations.

Recalling India’s reaction to the US post-9/11, Siddiqi said: “Jaswant Singh, the then defence minister, offered everything to the US, including naval bases, even before (then joint chiefs of staff committee) General Colin Powell and the US president telephoned India for help.”

“But they called (then Pakistani army chief and president Pervez) Musharraf, after which he pledged support,” Siddiqi said, pointing out the difference.

The writer, who is in India to launch his book, “Smoke Without Fire”, a memoir of his pre-partition days in Chandni Chowk published by the capital-based Aakar Books, left India in 1947 for Pakistan to work as a journalist.

“I flew out to Lahore from Safdarjung airport in March 1947 in a chartered plane. It cost me Rs.98 (about $2 at current rates),” Siddiqi recalled. He then shifted to Peshawar before opting for the army.

An alumnus of St Stephen’s College, Siddiqi is the author of “East Pakistan: Endgame: An Onlooker’s Journal (1969-1971)”.

Siddiqui said he was in the then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in 1965 with his “best friend General Osmani (known as Bangabir General MAG Osmani). Osmani, who had retired from the Pakistani Army in 1967 trained the Mukti Bahini and commanded it during the 1971 liberation war.

Commenting on the communal harmony inherent in Indian society, the writer said: “The culture is still Ganga-Jamuna tehzeeb (the co-existence of Hindu and Muslim cultures of northern India).”

“There will be no improvement in relations between India and Paksitan till India tries to stop saying that Pakistan is responsible … (for terror),” he said.

Siddiqi said Delhi has not changed much over the years because the people still relieve themselves under the sky. “My home is still there. I became emotional when I visited it, but I knew I couldn’t stay there for more than a night. But there is no nostalgia left,” he said.

Siddiqi said “his home in Ballimaran had one lavatory – without a flush – for the entire family”.

“There were two mugs – one of which was to wash oneself. During the rainy season, we – the Siddiqi brood – ate a lot of spicy food like keema parantha and suffered from dysentry. My mother, a stickler for cleanliness, said why do you have to go to the toilet every day… I was perennially constipated,” Siddiqqi laughed. “I still remember the day when the first flush toilet came to our neighbourhood. I gave a speech. I was barely 8-9 years old,” Siddiqi said.

The Siddiqi clan of Punjabi Saudagar Muslims from Multan and Punjab, was the most affluent in old Delhi and lived in Haveli Hissamuddin Haider – a Punjabi traders’ citadel, the writer said.

Old Delhi has left an indelible mark in Siddiqi’s early education. “I was getting proper education but I had to join the Oriental College at Fetehpuri Mosque (after his grandfather objected to his regular education), where I studied Persian, Arabic and Urdu. I was in the company of Pathan students and joined an akhada (wrestling club) for one and a half years,” he recalled.

The publication and the launch of Siddiqi’s book in India, an initiative of the Policy and Planning Group, is an attempt to bridge the divide between India and Pakistan, said Diljeet Titus, the Group’s secretary.

Meet 3 IITans who revolutionized goods transport in India

Posted: 28 Mar 2012 08:45 PM PDT

Mumbai-based entrepreneur Vikas Parashar wanted to rush a consignment of consumer goods to Ludhiana, necessitated by heavy demand. But he also feared cancellation of the order if it failed to materialise on time.

His trusted transporter could not be of much help as all his 14 heavy and light vehicles were already booked indefinitely by a big industrial house. Parashar avoided other operators because of past experiences.

Finally, he approached IRTEX – the Indian Road Transportation Exchange – which processed Parashar’s request promptly, located a medium-sized truck and had his goods moving within a few hours. IRTEX, the brainchild of three Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Bombay batchmates, is said to be the country’s single biggest platform to sort out all shipment problems, involving manufacturers and fleet operators, in a highly efficient and cost-effective way.

IRTEX is one of the largest electronic information and reservation systems in the road freight industry. Shippers can share their shipping requirements and the rates with carriers and intermediaries operating from anywhere to anywhere in the country. Carriers have access to this information 24X7 through our state of art web and mobile based solutions.

IRTEX's neutral real-time marketplace helps in reducing lead time by fulfilling transportation requirement of any size by bringing all stakeholders of transportation industry to a common platform. This allows engagement and collaboration with existing and new trading partners in real time.  Through IRTEX, freight booking that can be made include one-time freight booking, project based contracts and long term contracts.

It has facilitated 10,000 transactions in over a year, involving industrial and fast-moving consumer goods.

Set up in June 2009 by IITans Ankur Tripathi, Nitin Gupta and Saurabh Gupta, it could be operationalised only in December 2010. The trio worked tirelessly to root out inefficiency in the sector and optimise movement of goods.

“IRTEX is moving the road transport industry online by using technology that automates the sourcing of trucks, shipment execution and processing of payment between carriers and shippers,” Tripathi, managing director of IRTEX, told IANS from Mumbai.

“A growing road transport industry, made up of national, regional and local truck operators, suffers from low occupancy. We saw an opportunity to induct technology to improve the occupancy levels, from current 60 percent to 80 percent,” he said.

By helping truck operators manage their daily operations, IRTEX helps improve fleet utilization. The cascading effect spells increased revenues and naturally, profits. Services include tracking with the help of manual and GPS systems and authentication of vehicles by vetting of documents, before any transaction.

The fragmented road transport industry comprises a few national transport companies with up to 1,000 trucks such as GATI, Transport Corporation of India, Safe Express and Patel Roadways. Several regional operators run between 50 and 500 trucks and thousands of local fleet operators between one and 20 trucks.

IRTEX connects small operators, comprising 90 percent of transporters, owning five vehicles or less, according to the ‘Road Transport Reorganisation Committee’. The small number prevents satisfactory and efficient service to end users. Prices of petrol and diesel are rising and making the mode of transport more costly.

IRTEX also offers a cellphone-based service and operates a multi-lingual call centre.

“It’s a multi-technology product since we have to cater to different kinds of people like local brokers and truck drivers who are not well versed with technology,” Tripathi explained to IANS.

Nitin Gupta, IRTEX’s chief technical officer, said it may take as many as 12 hours to arrange transport through an agent for a consignment lying at the airport and required by a service provider. He may approach the IRTEX website, filling a form about the nature of cargo, route, destination and time for the shipment to be moved.

These requirements would be matched with the list of transport houses or their agents registered with the site, helping the user choose the best option.

IRTEX has started operations in Delhi and plans to expand to three more locations in the eastern and southern parts of the country this year.
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Wednesday, 28 March 2012

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

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

Britain to award 60 Jubilee Scholarships to Indian Students

Posted: 28 Mar 2012 05:00 PM PDT

Indians have more chances of getting scholarship in  Britain. British Prime Minister David Cameron Wednesday announced 60 new “Jubilee Scholarships” to be awarded in India for one-year masters course in Britain, a statement said.

Funded by the British Council and the British government, the scholarships have been launched as part of the celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee. The aim is to enable exceptional talent from across India to come and study masters courses in business, administration, manufacturing, science or technology.

“We’re delighted that we’re able to offer this opportunity for sixty Indian scholars to study in the UK. A scholarship is a fitting way to mark the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee, as it is the creation of new opportunity – not just for the student, but for the host institution to benefit from Indian perspectives and ideas, for new friendships to be made and new links to be created and fostered between our two countries,” said Rob Lynes, the British Council’s director in India.

The awards will be open to applicants from all over India, and the scheme aims to include students from every Indian state among the awardees. Each award will cover university tuition fee, living expenses for the duration of the scholarship (maximum 12 months), a month-long internship in the Britain, return airfare and a British visa.

The last date to apply online is April 30. Further details are available on the British Council’s website: www.britishcouncil.org/india-scholarships-jubilee_scholarships.htm

Narayana Murthy among Fortune 12 greatest Entrepreneurs

Posted: 28 Mar 2012 09:26 AM PDT

Fortune magazine has listed Infosys co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy among the 12 “greatest entrepreneurs of our time” with Apple’s late chief Steve Jobs, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

The list is topped by Jobs, whom Fortune calls “our generation’s quintessential entrepreneur. Visionary. Inspiring. Brilliant. Mercurial” while Gates is second for turning “concepts into companies” and changing the “face of business”.

“The outsourcer” Murthy, who has been ranked tenth, “proved that India could compete with the world by taking on the software development work that had long been the province of the West,” the US magazine said.

The “visionary founder” of Infosys, has built “one of the largest companies in India, helping to transform that economy and put it on the world stage”, it noted citing his lesson that an organisation starting from scratch must coalesce around a team of people with an enduring value system.

“As one of six co-founders of Infosys and the CEO for 21 years, Murthy helped spark the outsourcing revolution that has brought billions of dollars in wealth into the Indian economy and transformed his country into the world’s back office,” the magazine said.

“It is all about sacrifice today, fulfilment tomorrow,” Murthy, 65, who is now chairman emeritus, is quoted as saying. “It is all about sacrifice, hard work, lots of frustration, being away from your family, in the hope that someday you will get adequate returns from that.”

Government stays the Death Sentence of Balwant Singh Rajoana

Posted: 28 Mar 2012 09:03 AM PDT

Indian Government has finally put a temporary full stop on the death sentence of Balwant Singh Rajoana, which was scheduled for Saturday.

The Government will wait for the verdict of Supreme Court in this matter. The union ministry of home affairs (MHA), in a letter to Punjab’s home secretary Wednesday (March 28), stated that the execution of Rajoana is stayed till the apex court’s order on the appeal is received or the president decides on the mercy petition for Rajoana filed by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC).

The development was revealed by Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal and his deputy Sukhbir Singh Badal in New Delhi after their meeting with President Pratibha Patil to whom they submitted a petition seeking mercy for Rajoana.

“As per the procedure regarding petitions of mercy in death sentence cases, the execution of Balwant Singh Rajoana is stayed till the order of the Supreme Court in the matter of Criminal Appeal No. 2277/2011 and 1464/2011 or till the order of the President of India on the said mercy petition, whichever is later,” said MHA’s joint secretary (judicial) J.L. Chugh said.

The Badal father-son duo had told reporters that they have a letter from the central government staying the hanging of Rajoana, convicted and sentenced to death by a Chandigarh court.

The central government’s move comes after a tense build-up in Punjab in the last few days culminating into a bandh (shutdown) across the state Wednesday called by radical Sikh organisations.

Chief Minister Badal welcomed the decision to stay Rajoana’s execution.

“We welcome the decision. We are committed to maintaining peace and law and order at all costs,” he said.

Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh also welcomed the move.

“This will go a long way in maintaining peace in the state,” Amarinder Singh said in Chandigarh.

The stay on Rajoana’s execution came on a day when Punjab saw a shutdown to protest the scheduled hanging. The bandh affected life in most parts of Punjab but the man facing death remained defiant.

Rajoana, lodged in Patiala’s central jail, 80 km from Chandigarh, issued a letter through his sister Kamaldeep Kaur Wednesday appealing to people to maintain peace even after his death.

He said he will not submit any mercy petition to the president or prime minister to get his death sentence commuted, and added that he was waiting to die Saturday.

Quoting her brother’s letter, Kamaldeep Kaur told media outside Patiala jail Wednesday: “My brother has appealed for peace. He said that he will not seek clemency.”

The area around the prison came under heavy security cover, said Patiala police chief Gurpreet Singh Gill. Barricades were put up on roads leading to the complex.

On Wednesday, shops and commercial establishments were closed in most places across Punjab. Saffron colour flags were put up on buildings as well as houses and shops to portray defiance and protest marches were taken out in many places demanding clemency for Rajoana.

Educational institutions too were closed. There were fewer state transport and private buses on the roads.

But other traffic was normal on most national and state highways. Protesters did block some roads in Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Bathinda, Patiala and Amritsar for some time.

Additional Director General of Police S.K. Sharma said there was no major incident of violence.

Minor violence was reported from Patiala. There was tension at Lehra and Tapa towns in southwest Punjab as Rajoana supporters forced traders to close down their establishments.

In Patiala, a clash took place between two groups. In Jalandhar, police used batons to disperse a mob at Adda Hoshiarpur area as some people armed with swords tried to stop a train.

A clash was also reported in the industrial town of Phagwara, 120 km from here between two groups, forcing the police to intervene.

The call for the shutdown was given by Sikh organisations like Khalsa Action Committee, Dal Khalsa, and Akali Dal (Panch Pardhani). The head clergyman of the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikh religion, had also appealed to the people to stay indoors.

“The bandh was complete across Punjab,” Dal Khalsa spokesman Kanwarpal Singh told IANS.

A court in Chandigarh Tuesday directed that the BKI terrorist be hanged Saturday, for the high-profile assassination that took place some two years after a bloody decade-long Sikh separatist campaign was crushed in 1993 after the loss of some 25,000 lives.

In New York, Human Rights Watch urged the Indian government not to hang Rajoana, saying it was opposed in principle to capital punishment.

Bihar CM Office goes Green

Posted: 28 Mar 2012 05:57 AM PDT

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has opted to go green. Solar energy will now light up his official residence-cum-office.

“The cabinet has approved Rs.4.5 crore for installing sloar panels and other equipment,” an official said.

The Bihar Renewable Energy Developoment Agency has been assigned the work.

Last year, Nitish Kumar had expressed a desire to convert the thermal power system to a solar one.

Officials say that new and renewable energy sources have the potential to generate around 2,000 MW of power in the state.

Army Chief’s Letter creates ruskus in Paliament

Posted: 28 Mar 2012 04:01 AM PDT

Army Chief of Staff General V.K. Singh, in a letter to Manmohan Singh, had pointed out a shortage of arms and ammunition in the armed forces and raised questions if the country was ready for a war.

According to reports, the letter, written March 12, states that army tanks have run out of ammunition. The letter emphasizes the need to bridge the shortcomings and bring the army to fighting level.

The Defense Minister said successive governments attach priority to the defence preparedness and that the government was committed to providing the best equipment to the forces.

“I can assure this nation it is our intention to keep it (armed forces) strong. Government will do everything necessary to ensure that our defence forces are provided and trained to make them best fighting forces in the world,” he said.

Agreeing that the issue should not be raised publicly, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley asked for assurance on the “integrity” of the procurement process.

“While I agree we will all have to exercise utmost restraint and not make it issue of public debate… across the media, too many pieces of information which disturb us are coming with regard on procurement process,” Jaitley said.

“Attach utmost priority to the fact that there are no malpractices in it,” he said.

The defence minister then assured the members that procurement process was amended time to time and strong action was taken if any violation was found.

The minister expressed happiness that the opposition and government were united on the issue of national security.

“I am very very happy to hear observations of the opposition leader and other leaders of the house… whatever be our difference, when it comes to national security we are one,” Antony said.

While the Rajya Sabha saw two adjournments, the Lok Sabha was adjourned twice but over the issue of statehood to Telangana.

“Why was this letter written and how was it leaked and reached the media… there are a lot of questions that need to be answered as it relates to the country’s security,” Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi told reporters.

Salman Khan becomes an Investor in Yatra.com portal

Posted: 28 Mar 2012 03:00 AM PDT

Bollywood star Salman Khan has turned into a businessman – he has invested in the online travel portal Yatra.com and will also be the face of its new marketing campaign in India and the US.

The association will strengthen the company’s connect with the masses and increase the brand’s recall value in tier-II and III towns, said a press statement.

Salman is looking forward to the venture.

“I am really excited about my association with Yatra.com. This is not a normal brand association, where I am there just for face value. With Yatra, I am also now a shareholder,” said Salman in a statement.

“I have immense confidence on the brand and am hopeful that the association will be beneficial for the both of us,” he added.

The “Dabangg” star’s NGO, Being Human, too will benefit from this association.

As part of the endeavour, Yatra.com will contribute a token amount to Being Human every time a transaction takes place on their website. The company will also sell Being Human merchandise on its website, the sale of which, again, will be contributed to the NGO.

“We have always wanted expand to newer mass markets and associating with Salman would enable us to do the same,” said Dhruv Shringi, CEO and co-founder, Yatra.com.

The new marketing campaign of the brand will be launched in April.

Sachin will play IPL 5 says Mumbai Indians

Posted: 28 Mar 2012 01:54 AM PDT

Mumbai Indians says skipper Sachin Tendulkar, who is in London for a routine check-up of an old toe injury, will be available for the fifth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) that begins April 4.

“Mumbai Indians captain Sachin Tendulkar will be joining the in-progress camp at Wankhede Stadium from 31st March 2012 and is fully available for the entire IPL season 5. Sachin is in the UK to consult his doctor and will be back in India to join the camp from 31st March,” Mumbai Indians said in a statement Wednesday.

Tendulkar had to rush to London Tuesday for a checkup on an old toe injury, which has resurfaced and might need surgery. He also missed Rahul Dravid’s felicitation ceremony here Tuesday evening.

Tendulkar picked up the injury nearly a decade ago. But it came back to haunt him last years forcing him to miss the ODI series in England in September. He had to consulted a specialist in London and was advised four weeks’ rest.

Tendulkar was also ruled out of Champions League Twenty20, which Mumbai Indians won under the stand-in-skipper Harbhajan Singh.

The IPL starts in Chennai, where Tendulkar-led Mumbai Indians, the last year’s runner-up takes on defending champions Chennai Super Kings, led by India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhone at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.

The Biography of Indian Army Chief V K Singh

Posted: 28 Mar 2012 01:43 AM PDT

Indian Army Chief of Staff VK SinghGeneral Vijay Kumar Singh (Gen. V. K. Singh) is the 24th Indian General of the Indian Army and currently the Chief of Army Staff.  He was born on 10 May 1951 at Khadki Military Hospital, Pune. His Family comes from Bapora village in Bhiwani district in Haryana. His father was a Colonel in the Indian Army and grandfather a senior Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO)

He graduated from the Defence Services Staff College as a honours graduate of the United States Army Infantry School, a graduate of the Rangers Course at Fort Benning and the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.In the US for the Rangers course, he came first in combat operations.

After joining army in 1970, he had fought Indo-Pakistan War of 1971 and was also the Part of Operation Pawan. which was aimed to take control of Jaffna from the Tamil Tigers in late 1987 to enforce the disarmament of the LTTE as a part of the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord.

He became Chief of Army Staff on 31 March 2010, and was the first commando to achieve that position.

Age Controversy

As a fourteen year old boy, Singh wrote his year of birth as 1950 in his application form for admission to the National Defence Academy (NDA) in 1965. His father provided the NDA with documentation (a certificate from 14 Rajput Regiment’s commanding officer certifying Vijay Kumar Singh’s date of birth as 10 May 1951 as per service records of the father) on 3 August 1965 correcting the mistake much before VK Singh took the NDA’s written exam in June 1966. The Indian Military Academy (IMA) where he received training also corrected his date of birth as 10 May 1951 when he submitted documentary evidence. However, the Military Secretary branch recorded his date of birth as 10 May 1950 on the basis of his application form to NDA.  The records in Adjutant General (AG) Branch of the Indian Army, which is the official record keeper of the army, show Singh’s date of birth as 10 May 1951

 

 

Indo American Upendra Chivukula to run for US Congress Seat

Posted: 28 Mar 2012 01:24 AM PDT

Upendra Chivukula, an Indian American member of the New Jersey state assembly, plans to run for US Congress with the hope of unseating Republican Leonard Lance, who is seeking a third term.

Chivukula, a 10-year assembly veteran who chairs the Telecommunications and Utilities Committee, is the state’s first and only Indian-American lawmaker. He is also a former mayor and councilman in Franklin Township.

Only two Indian Americans have served in the US House of Representatives to date. Dalip Singh Saund was the first Asian immigrant to be elected to Congress in 1956 from California. He was re-elected to a 2nd and 3rd term, winning over 60 percent the votes.

Louisiana governor Bobby was the second Indian American elected to Congress in 2004. Jindal secured reelection in 2006 with 88 percent of the vote, but quit in 2007 when he was elected governor.

“If you look at the Congress, there’s a 10 percent approval rating,”

Chivukula, 61, an electrical engineer who moved to the United States from India when he was 24, was quoted as saying by nj.com

Chivukula said he wants to run “given all the debacles that happened last year because of the stalemates in Congress and the lack of focus on how we can come out of this recession and create jobs and the economy.”

“With my background I think I can contribute to having some discussion and making a difference,” he said.

Chivukula said he does not know if anyone else is seeking the Democratic nomination to run against Lance.

If he wins the nomination, he faces an uphill battle in the November election as the 7th District, once competitive, got more friendly for Republicans after a state commission redrew congressional district lines in December.

“Well, unless you try you never know,” said Chivukula.

Upendra Joge Chivukula – A short Biography

Born on October 8, 1950) is an American Democratic Party politician, who has served in the New Jersey General Assembly since 2002, where he represents the17th Legislative District.

In 2001, Chivukula became the first Indian-American elected to the New Jersey General Assembly and the fourth Indian-American in the United States to be elected to state office.

Chivukula has been the Assembly’s Deputy Speaker since 2007. He serves in the Assembly on the Telecommunications and Utilities Committee (as Chair) and the Appropriations Committee.

Assemblyman Chivukula previously served on the Franklin Township Council, joining in 1997, and serving as its Mayor of Franklin Township, New Jersey in 2000 and its Deputy Mayor in 1998.In Franklin Township, he has also served on the Franklin Township Community Foundation, Finance Oversight Committee, Traffic Management Committee, Fire Prevention Board, Emergency Life Support Delivery, Integrated Communications Committee, Emergency Management, Franklin Township Planning Board, Economic Development Committee, Community / Senior Center Steering Committee and the Bicentennial Celebration Committee. Chivukula has served on the Somerset County Affordable Housing Board of Trustees and the Middlesex County Cultural and Historic Commission. He was appointed by then Governor of New Jersey James Florio to be a Public Member of the New Jersey State Board of Social Work Examiners, where he served from 1994 to 1997.

Sikhs in Jammu and Kashmir join protests of Death for Balwant Singh Rajoana

Posted: 28 Mar 2012 01:00 AM PDT

Sikhs in Jammu and Kashmir Wednesday joined their counterparts in Punjab to protest Balwant Singh Rajoana’s hanging scheduled for Saturday.  Hundreds of Sikhs held a sit-in at Raj Bagh, blocking the Jammu-Pathankote route that brings supplies to the state from outside, demanding that Rajoana not be hanged. The state’s summer capital Srinagar also saw protests at city centre Lal Chowk.

“This protest is in solidarity with Sikhs in Punjab who have joined the cause of saving the life of Rajoana,” Sukhdev Singh, a protestor at Raj Bagh, told mediapersons.

Rajoana’s hanging has become an issue in Jammu and Kashmir because the mercy petition of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, a Kashmiri, is still pending with President Pratibha Patil.

Sikhs comprise around 3.6 lakhs of Jammu and Kashmir’s one crore population.

During the 1980s, Jammu region had witnessed a series of acts of terror by Sikh terrorists.

Dozens of Sikh protesters also assembled in Srinagar’s Lal Chowk area, demanding that the hanging of Rajoana be deferred. They raised slogans against United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

“The culprits of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots are roaming free while the hanging of Balwant Singh is being hastened,” said a Sikh protester.

Police intervened to disperse the protesters. Around a dozen Sikh protesters were arrested.

Police have mounted a vigil across the state because of the fear of protests flaring up in Sikh dominated areas.

“We are alive to the situation,” a senior police officer told IANS.

Rajoana has been convicted in the assassination case of Beant Singh, who was Punjab chief minister between 1992 and 1995 and was largely credited with wiping out terrorism there. He was killed by a human bomb, Dilawar Singh, at the high security Punjab civil secretariat here Aug 31, 1995. Rajoana was the second human bomb to be used in case the first assassin failed.

Rajoana, during the entire 11-year trial, had admitted that he alone was responsible for the killing of Beant Singh. He had refused to defend himself in court.
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