Thursday, 28 June 2012

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

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

IIT Alumni reject new IIT Entrance Examination Pattern

Posted: 28 Jun 2012 06:30 PM PDT

IIT Delhi Alumni Association have  rejected the human resource development (HRD) ministry’s new formula for tests for entrance into the premier institutes and demanded a status quo in 2013.

The ministry’s fresh proposal enables only top 20 percent scorers of any board in Class 12 exam to enter the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

The association’s decision was taken here after a two-hour meeting with representatives of IIT faculty, following a compromise between the HRD ministry and IIT Council Wednesday over the entrance exam pattern for admission to engineering institutes.

As per the new formula, there will be a “main” test for the top 20 percent scorers of all boards, and then a final “advanced” exam, under the IITs supervision, for the top 150,000 applicants. The new format will come into effect from 2013, if accepted by the ministry.

“The 20 percent criteria and 2013 to be the beginning year of the new proposal stands rejected because such patch-work solutions have been taken in haste to meet deadlines,” said a statement by the association.

The HRD ministry and IIT Council Wednesday agreed to have a new two-stage entrance test formula proposed by the IITs following opposition from some of the premier institutes to the single entrance examination mooted by HRD Minister Kapil Sibal. The meeting was attended by directors of all IITs.

As per the new formula, All India Engineering Entrance Examination and and IIT-Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) will be combined in a common entrance test.

The association said that the new formula was contrary to the objectives set out by the ministry and “prejudicial to the interests of the present students of Class 12 and from rural India where school education is in a shambles.”

The association said that it will wait for the decision of the senates.

“We will follow up with the senates on the question of 20 percentile and 2013 to be the beginning year,” said the statement.

“We want status quo till 2013 and in the meantime we expect deliberations to meet the diverse objectives of the HRD ministry, the IITs and other stake holders,” it added.

Punjab Village warmly welcomes Surjeet Singh

Posted: 28 Jun 2012 05:46 PM PDT

Hundreds gathered in Phidde village of Punjab’s Ferozepur district to give a rousing welcome to Surjeet Singh, who returned home after more than 30 years of incarceration in Pakistan. Relatives distributed sweets and burst crackers to mark his return.

Surjeet, 69, was given a tumultuous and teary-eyed welcome as a near stampede-like situation was witnessed when hundreds of residents of the village and nearby areas gathered in the village, 35 km from Ferozepur town (260 km from Chandigarh).

Family members, relatives and friends assembled at the house of Kulwinder Singh, Surjeet’s son, to celebrate his home-coming and gave him a hero’s welcome. They distributed sweets and burst fire crackers.

Surjeet’s wife, Harbans Kaur, who could not meet him at Attari border checkpost where he crossed over from Pakistan into India, owing to the chaos on his arrival, met him in the village.

“I am very happy to be back with the family and meet my children,” Surjeet said after returning home after over three decades in Pakistani jails.

Held in Pakistan on spying charges in the early 1980s, Surjeet was released from Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail early Thursday and made the road journey to Wagah, on the Pakistan side of the border, before entering India.

Surjeet looked weary after the hectic day of his release from Lahore. Following the grand welcome at Attari border checkpost, he offered prayers at Harmandar Sahib, the holiest of Sikh shrines popularly known as the Golden Temple, in Amritsar before arriving in his village.

As the car carrying Surjeet neared the village, he was virtually lifted by villagers and taken on an open vehicle through the village to his house.

After reaching the Indian soil, Surjeet, a former trooper, had promptly admitted that he had indeed been sent to spy for India. He was arrested inside Pakistan 1982 on charges of spying and sentenced to death. His death penalty was later commuted.

He said he would rest in the village and meet people in the next 2-3 days before approaching the government for his next course of action.

Alan Issac takes over ICC Leadership from Sharad Pawar

Posted: 28 Jun 2012 01:30 PM PDT

India’s Sharad Pawar stepped down as the president of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and was replaced by New Zealander Alan Issac.

Isaac, the former chairman of New Zealand Cricket, became the eighth president of the ICC.

Former South African Test player David Richardson, who was the general manager (cricket), was also confirmed as the next chief executive and successor to Haroon Lorgat, who stood down after four years.

Isaac will serve for a two-year term and he expressed his honour at his election.

“When I look at the list of previous Presidents, I am reminded of the importance of this office. In the midst of my pride at being chosen as President, I recognise that there is, of course, much hard work and much progress needed if we are to maintain the game’s current healthy state,” said Issac,

“I believe that the challenges ahead are no less daunting than those we have faced in the last two years if we are to maintain the vibrancy and viability of the three formats of the sport,” he added.

“We are fortunate as a sport – indeed unique – to have three different formats at international level. We will all strive not only to preserve those formats but to build on their foundations. In that way the ICC will continue to oversee a great sport and we will all work to make it even greater.”

Issac said, “I look forward to serving the game with honesty and integrity and to the best of my ability. I look forward to handing on the guardianship of the sport with the game enjoying even greater health.”

Richardson, who played 42 Tests for South Africa, has been ICC’s general manager – cricket for the last 10 years.

“It is a real honour to be confirmed as the ICC Chief Executive and I want to pay tribute to Haroon Lorgat. I have learnt much in the last four years and I inherit a game in great health with much to be optimistic about. I look forward to building on that and tackling the challenges ahead,” he said.

The ICC Annual Conference agreed to create the post of ICC chairman, remove the role of ICC vice-president and vary the role and powers of the ICC president, all with effect from the close of the 2014 Annual Conference. The formalisation of these amendments give effect to the principles agreed by the ICC Board earlier this year.

Until the end of the 2014 Annual Conference, the role of the ICC president will remain in its current form, but from the end of the 2014 Annual Conference it will become ceremonial in nature with a term of only one year.

A new role of chairman of the ICC will be created from the end of the 2014 Annual Conference. The term of office will be two years and the chairman will be appointed by the Board at its first meeting following the 2014 Annual Conference.

Russia and Hungary were confirmed as new Affiliate Members of the ICC but Switzerland was removed as an Affiliate Member having been suspended at the 2011 Annual Conference for failing to comply with the ICC’s membership criteria and remaining unable to do so by the 2012 Annual Conference. There are now 106 members of the ICC.

Tata Motors Jamshedpur Plant stops Production

Posted: 28 Jun 2012 12:30 PM PDT

Tata Motors Thursday halted production at its Jamshedpur plant for three days to adjust production targets with shrinking demand.

“Production at the Jamshedpur plant is being suspended for three days under a block closure for aligning production with demand,” a Tata Motors spokesperson told IANS in New Delhi.

The Jamshedpur plant of the automobile giant is known for producing commercial vehicles.

According to the official, the halt in production comes in the wake of a slowdown in the domestic economy.

As per the recent data released by the Central Statistics Office last week, India’s industrial output grew marginally by 0.1 percent in April due to poor show of capital intensive mining and manufacturing sectors.

The factory output, measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), declined by 3.5 percent in March, the first such contraction in factory output since October 2011, when it shrank by 4.7 percent.

This has in turn effected the sales of key economic activity indicator segment — medium and heavy commercial vehicles which include trucks and buses — fell by 10.58 percent at 22,227 units in May 2012 from 24,858 units sold in the corresponding month of last year.

Earlier, the company had halted production at its Pune-based plant for three days starting June 22, 2012.

Other automobile companies too have been observing NPDs (no production day), as high fuel and interest cost have dampened the consumer sentiment in the auto sector, with nearly all categories except that of two-wheelers taking a hit due to these factors.

Indian Companies buy all 7 Teams of Sri Lanka Premier League

Posted: 28 Jun 2012 11:19 AM PDT

India Inc. has owned all the seven franchises in the Sri Lankan Premier League (SPL), ignoring the decision of the Indian cricket board not to allow its players to take part in the island’s Twenty20 tournament.

The Indian business houses have outbid all others to sweep all the franchises on offer for the league to be played August 10-31. The matches will be played in Colombo and Pallekele.

Wadhawan Holdings bought Wayamba for the highest bid of $5.02 million while Number One Sports Consulting got Kandurata for $4.98 million.

The Uva and Ruhuna went to Success Sports and Pearl Overseas for $4.6 million. Indian Cricket Dundee bought Basnahira for $4.33 million while Uthura went to Rudra Sports for $3.4 million. Varun Beverages bought Nagenahira for $3.22 million.

Each franchisee will be allowed a maximum of 18 players, including six foreign cricketers. But a team is allowed to play only two foreigners in the playing eleven. The players’ draft will be held July 5-6.

Fight over Custody of Abu Jundal between NIA, Delhi and Mumbai Police

Posted: 28 Jun 2012 10:30 AM PDT

Abu Jundal PhotoMumbai police has again petitioned a court in New Delhi  for 26/11 suspect Abu Jundal ‘s custody to bring him face-to-face with Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab caught alive during the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) also sought his custody.

Mumbai police told Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vinod Yadav that Hamza was required to be confronted with convict Kasab, who has appealed in the Supreme Court against his conviction and death sentence for the terror strike.

They also separately moved a petition for Hamza’s custody in connection with the investigation in the Mumbai serial blasts of 2006.

The court would next hear both the applications July 5.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) also sought Hamza’s custody in connection with a fresh first information report (FIR) lodged June 8 in a terrorism case.

The NIA alleged that Hamza, along with another accused, was collecting explosives in the country for carrying out terror attacks.

The agency told the court that he was required to be presented in a designated NIA court July 6.

The court would next hear the NIA’s plea July 4.

The court Wednesday dismissed Mumbai police’s earlier application for the custody of Hamza.

Hamza, an Indian mastermind of the attack and an alleged member of the outlawed Indian Mujahideen group, was arrested at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here June 21 after his deportation from Saudi Arabia.

Bihar moves to Computerize all its Jails

Posted: 28 Jun 2012 09:48 AM PDT

Bihar has roped in the National Informatics Centre(NIC) to develop a software to computerise all prisons.

“NIC is developing a software for the computerization of prisons and to upload all data. It will be in our hands within six months,” Inspector General of Police (Prisons) Anand Kishore said here.

The software will be launched at the Beur Jail here as a pilot project followed by 54 other jails in the state, Kishore told IANS.

According to him, all important information about prisoners including their crime history, date of entry into prison, date of production in the court and the wages earned in jail would be fed into the computers.

A record of visitors to jails would be maintained. All the visitors would have to get their photographs clicked and fingerprints scanned.

“It would help in detecting crime in a big way as many people with criminal history reportedly visit jails to meet inmates,” he said.

Killer Disease in Bihar is not Japanese Encephalitis

Posted: 28 Jun 2012 09:45 AM PDT

It is official now. The acute encephalitis syndrome(AES) that has killed 233 children in Bihar since May is not Japanese encephalitis, it was announced Thursday.

The ruling has come from the Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV).

“In fact the disease remains a mysterious one,” Additional Secretary (Health) R.P. Ojha said.

“NIV has told the Bihar government that no one had a positive strain for Japanese encephalitis,” he said.

According to him, the NIV collected cerebral spinal fluid and blood samples of 73 patients from Muzaffarpur district.

Earlier this month, Health Minister Ashwani Kumar Choubey announced that the mysterious disease was AES.

Ojha said of the 599 children with AES symptoms admitted to hospitals in Muzaffarpur, Patna and Gaya, 233 have died.

India’s First 16 Lane Expressway to be constructed in Gurgaon

Posted: 28 Jun 2012 09:30 AM PDT

Real estate giant DLF and Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) Thursday announced commencement of work on the 8.3 km, 16-lane signal free road being built at a cost of Rs.540 crore in the city.

The project, under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) was a culmination of years of planning, said an official.

“AECOM consultants developed the concept to upgrade this spinal road to international standards. The contract for project execution has been awarded to IL&FS Engineering and Construction Company Ltd., while renowned international consultant Parson Brinckeroff is the project management consultant”, said an official from DLF.

The road extends from Gateway Tower on NH-8 to the end of Sector 55-56 and is designed to accommodate higher traffic volume. The corridor would be fully integrated with the Rapid Metro system.

“The 16-lane corridor would be signal free, providing free movement for commuters on either side and will feature six underpasses that would reduce noise pollution. There is also a dedicated corridor for sector 25 to sectors 55 and 56, which will mitigate traffic and thereby enable smooth flow of main traffic. The estimated project cost will be Rs.540 crore and completed in three years,” the official added.

HUDA had provided land for the project and DLF is providing funds.

Surjeet Singh admits Espionage Charges

Posted: 28 Jun 2012 09:06 AM PDT

After more than 30 years of incarceration in Pakistan, Surjeet Singh returned home Thursday to a tumultuous and teary welcome from family and friends and promptly admitted that he had indeed been sent to spy for India.

Held in Pakistan on spying charges in the early 1980s, Surjeet, 69, was released from Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail early Thursday and made the road journey to Wagah, on the Pakistan side of the border, before entering his homeland.

“I was a RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) agent. No one bothered about me after I got arrested. Don’t ask me too much…,” Surjeet told reporters soon after stepping on Indian soil.

He was garlanded and hugged by family members and fellow villagers from Phidde in Ferozepur district. Dozens of camera crews and media persons jostled with each other to capture the moment.

The crowds were so frenetic that Surjeet, who completed his life term in 2005, couldn’t even meet his wife Harbans Kaur. They were taken to Amritsar, where the family offered prayers at Harmandar Sahib, the holiest of Sikh shrines, in separate vehicles.

Smiling and waving to family members, friends and supporters, a tired but beaming Surjeet thanked Pakistani border officials as he walked across the zero line at the international border.

“I am very happy to return after 30 years and meet my children and family,” he said.

“Indian prisoners are treated well in Pakistan jails. Sarabjit Singh is also doing well there. I met him recently though I couldn’t meet him today before leaving. He has sent no message with me. Leave it to me, I will get him released… Please don’t ask anything more,” Surjeet said, referring to Sarabjit Singh, also from Punjab who has been in Kot Lakhpat jail.

Downplaying the confusion over the release, he said: “In Urdu, the way they write Sarabjit and Surjeet is almost the same. This led to the confusion. Otherwise, everyone knew that the matter was regarding my release only.

“I will never return to Pakistan again,” Surjeet, with a grey flowing beard, told reporters in Punjabi, his head and finger indicating a firm “no” gesture.

“I was arrested earlier for spying charges. If I return again, the security agencies might suspect that I have come for spying again.”

Surjeet said prisoners on both sides of the border should be released by the respective governments.

“I was treated well by prison officials and I am thankful to them,” he said.

Dressed in a white kurta-pyjama and black turban and carrying two bags, Surjeet had been brought to the Wagah border on the Pakistan side in a prison van.

Though he had been freed, his left hand was in handcuffs. The accompanying policemen got down with him but did not open the handcuffs immediately even as he smiled and hugged his lawyer.

Once the formalities were completed, he crossed to the Attari side of the joint border checkpost, about 30 km from Amritsar, where his family and friends waited excitedly to meet him.

His son Kulwinder, holding a box of sweets, couldn’t hold back his tears. The family had given up hope of seeing him again, presuming him to be dead after he went missing near the border in Ferozepur sector in 1982.

“I was only two-three years old when he went missing. This is the biggest day of my life,” said Kulwinder.

Surjeet’s release came in the midst of the controversy and flip-flop over the release of Sarabjit Singh.

The Pakistan side was Tuesday widely reported to have announced that Sarabjit, who is facing death penalty on terrorism charges, would be released after his death sentence was commuted by Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari.

In an apparent flip, this was retracted later at night with the government clarifying that it was not Sarabjit but Surjeet who was being freed.
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