Bihar News, Latest News from Bihar, News of Bihar, Biharprabha News |
- Amarnath Yatra Claims 98 Lives in 30 Days
- BJP dissociates from Sangma’s Challenge to Pranab Mukherjee’s Nomination
- Call Tax Return Preparer to your Home for Rs 250
- Baba Ramdev to begin his Indefinite Fast from August 9
- Former Beauty Zeenat Aman calls for a Ban on Horse Driven Carts
- Government of India approves 14 FDI in Financial Services Sector
- Abhijit Mukherjee to replace father Pranab Mukherjee as Jangipur MP
- Tool to inculcate Learning in Dyslexic Children
- Sex Workers Freedom Festival being Held in Kolkata
- Pranab Mukherjee’s first Speech as President of India
| Amarnath Yatra Claims 98 Lives in 30 Days Posted: 25 Jul 2012 10:45 AM PDT
A crucial factor that could contribute to the deaths of pilgrims is the lack of acclimatization which is an absolute must before undertaking high-altitude expeditions, said Parvaiz Koul, head of medicine at the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Jammu and Kashmir’s only super-specialty hospital. “Pilgrims just get up from Baltal and Pahalgam (the two base camps for the Yatra) and start the uphill trek without any proper acclimatization. To safely negotiate the high pressure gradient, one must acclimatize for at least three to four days,” Koul told IANS. “Acclimatization must be made compulsory for the pilgrims to avoid high altitude sickness and associated complications”. “I personally believe there is a systemic failure somewhere. It does not necessarily have to be in either Baltal or Pahalgam, although there is always scope for improvement of medical facilities provided to the pilgrims at these places,” Koul said. “We have been receiving cases of pulmonary oedema, cerebral oedema and myocardial infarction, which are all manifestations of high altitude sickness and can be causes for pilgrim mortality. “We will have to remember a few basic facts before reaching reasonable conclusions. Medical fitness certificates have been made mandatory for every pilgrim, but bogus fitness certificates being obtained against monetary considerations by over-enthusiastic pilgrims remains a serious possibility. “For example, we have been seeing patients with known histories of ailments that necessitate that the patient should not undertake the difficult high-altitude trek,” Koul said. Jammu and Kashmir Governor N.N. Vohra, who is also chairman of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) that manages the affairs of the Yatra, has been regularly visiting the base camps and other halting points of the Yatra to ensure that sufficient stocks of oxygen cylinders, oxymeters and other medical facilities are made available for the pilgrims. Khurshid Iqbal, a senior cardiologist at SKIMS, said: “When 300,000 people assemble at a place in three or four weeks, there is always a natural reservoir of diseases among otherwise healthy people.” “These illnesses spread and can cause mortalities. Secondly, there are patients who hide their ailments while declaring facts for obtaining medical fitness certificates in order to undertake the Yatra,” Iqbal added. Renowned neurologist Sushil Razdan, who has performed the Yatra a number of times, told IANS: “Mahagunas top en route to the shrine (on the south Kashmir trek) is more than 14,000 feet high while the shrine is situated at 13,000 feet.” “At altitudes like these, people otherwise healthy get high altitude sicknesses which can vary from simple headaches, lethargy and disorientation to pulmonary or brain oedema. “Those with cardio-vascular vulnerability are highly susceptible to these illnesses. Going from plains to high altitudes is always risky,” Razdan said. “Pilgrims undertaking the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra have to undergo strict medical checks and even then, fatalities occur among the pilgrims while the total number of pilgrims is not beyond a few thousand,” he added. Last year, 107 pilgrims had died due to natural causes during the Yatra. In 2010, 78 and in 2009, 42 pilgrims died due to natural causes. About 750,000 pilgrims visited the cave shrine last year. The figure was 600,000 in 2010 and 450,000 in 2009. This year, 580,000 pilgrims have so far performed the Yatra. Statistics reveal the overall mortality rate of pilgrims seems to have gradually increased over the years as the number of pilgrims has also increased. Whether it is lack of proper acclimatization or bogus fitness certificates that are the culprits, the fact remains that pilgrims across age groups are among 98 who have died due to natural causes during this year’s Yatra, which is definitely a reason for concern. The Supreme Court had Monday expressed shock over the fact that 10 pilgrims had lost their lives the past three days. “It is a very sad thing. Within three days, the toll has gone up from 87 to 97. We are worried that more people should not die,” an apex court bench of Justice V.S. Chauhan and Justice Swatanter Kumar observed. The court has also directed that medical facilities at the north Kashmir Baltal camp be augmented three times over what these presently are. “At least in this session, no more deaths should take place,” the apex court judges hoped, asking the state government to take help from other states to improve medical facilities for the pilgrims.  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BJP dissociates from Sangma’s Challenge to Pranab Mukherjee’s Nomination Posted: 25 Jul 2012 10:38 AM PDT Bharatiya Janta Party has dissociated itself from any attempt by P Sangma to Challenge the Nomination of Pranab Mukherjee as the President of India. Earlier Sangma’s lawyer and BJP Leader Satya Pal Jain had indicated of challenging the decision of Poll Panel in Supreme Court. “Any decision by Mr. Sangma to approach the Supreme Court will be his personal initiative,” said Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy. “BJP has respectfully welcomed Mukherjee as the president of India and the party and the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) will not be associated with any such step,” Rudy said. Sangma, who lost the presidential election to Mukherjee, was backed by BJP and several other opposition parties. Rudy, in a routine party press briefing, said the BJP association with Sangma’s activities ended with the dissolution of the election campaign committee formed for the presidential polls. BJP’s legal cell head Satya Pal Jain, however, still remains Sangma’s lawyer. Rudy said if he fought Sangma’s case, it will be “in his personal capacity as a lawyer”. Jain had Tuesday said the “final decision” on the election petition would be taken by the end of this week. The statement was made after Sangma and Jain met senior BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj, Ananth Kumar and S.S. Ahluwalia. Sources close to Sangma say he is likely to approach the apex court by the end of next week. Before the election, Team Sangma, as the group backing Purno Sangma came to be known, had raised objection on Mukherjee’s nomination stating that he held an office of profit as chairman of Indian Statistical Institute at the time of the nomination. They also alleged that a copy of resignation letter submitted by Mukherjee carried a forged signature. An objection was raised at the time of scrutiny of nomination forms, but was rejected by returning officer. BJP and allies had at that time backed the move. It had also backed the team’s decision to move to the election commission to ask for rejecting Mukherjee’s nomination. The election commission had then directed them to approach Supreme Court with an election petition, which could be filed only after the results were declared. However, the BJP has now done a U-turn.  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Call Tax Return Preparer to your Home for Rs 250 Posted: 25 Jul 2012 07:30 AM PDT Under a new Government you can call Tax Return Preparer to assist you in filing IT Returns for sake of a Nominal Charge of Rs 250. This Scheme started by Income Tax Department in order to help small tax payers who face difficulty while filing. “This scheme is applicable to individual and Hindu undivided family (HUF) tax payers who can take assistance of Tax Return Preparers (TRPs) in preparation and filing of their income tax returns,” it said. The TRPs are self-employed graduates who are trained by the income tax department for filing of tax returns as well as quarterly tax deducted at source (TDS) statements. “TRPs are authorised to collect a nominal charge of Rs.250 or less from the tax payers for preparing their income tax returns,” the ministry said. The income tax department also pays incentive to the TRPs for preparing of returns, which is a percentage of the total tax paid as per the returns prepared by the TRP and subject to a maximum of Rs.1,000. The home visit facility of TRPs has been made available in few cities such as Bangalore, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, New Delhi and Patna. It would be extended to more cities in the next phase, ministry said. The income tax department has launched a website, trpscheme.com, on which the tax payers can put their requests for help. There are two options — one can choose between “online help” and “home visit”. For online help, the taxpayer can fill in his tax related query along with his contact details. The query will be answered by tax experts through Email or phone within 24 hours. A taxpayer who chooses to register for home visit will be asked to indicate in short the help required and a convenient date and time when the TRP can visit him/her for assistance. The visit is arranged accordingly.  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Baba Ramdev to begin his Indefinite Fast from August 9 Posted: 25 Jul 2012 06:30 AM PDT  All is not well between Team Anna and Baba Ramdev Baba Ramdev will begin his indefinite Fast against Black Money from August 9 which is immediate after Anna Hazare’s Fast gets Over on August 8. “We have got the permission from July 25 to Aug 30,” said S.K. Tijarawala, a close aide of Ramdev. “The fast will begin at Ramlila Maidan from Aug 9 as the ground will be prepared for the gathering till Aug 8,” he added. According to Tijarawala, huge crowds from Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and other nearby states will pour in the capital on Aug 9. The government will have to end corruption and bring back all the black money, and if it fails, it will be thrown out of power, said a statement from the yoga guru. Calling upon his supporters to join him, Ramdev thanked the Delhi Police and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi for the no-objection certificate. Meanwhile, Team Anna too will sit on an indefinite fast at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar from Wednesday, the day when new president Pranab Mukherjee will be sworn-in. Hazare said he would join his team members if the government does not agree to bring Jan Lokpal Bill in parliament within four days of the beginning of their indefinite fast.  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former Beauty Zeenat Aman calls for a Ban on Horse Driven Carts Posted: 25 Jul 2012 05:30 AM PDT Yesteryear’s glamour girl Zeenat Aman has written to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) calling for a total ban on horse-drawn carriages within the city. The 60-year-old has joined hands with animal rights organisation People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India to fight for the cause. While several people enjoy horse-driven carriage rides in the Marine Drive area of the metropolis, Aman wrote: “Both tourists and locals are saddened and appalled by the plight of these horses. These gentle animals are often malnourished, injured and ill yet are forced to haul carriage loads heavier than their bone-thin bodies can bear.” Zeenat’s letter has been addressed to BMC commissioner Sitaram Kunte. “Mumbai has so much to offer, but the pathetic spectacle of horse abuse is the first thing that many tourists see, and it taints their impression of our great city,” she further wrote. Aman joins a growing number of celebrities, including Hema Malini, John Abraham, Jacqueline Fernandez, choreographer Sandip Soparrkar and his supermodel wife Jesse Randhawa, who have expressed support for the cause, and asked the government to ban horse-drawn carriages.  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Government of India approves 14 FDI in Financial Services Sector Posted: 25 Jul 2012 04:30 AM PDT Government of India has approved 14 proposals of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Financial Srevices Sector worth Rs.1,584.11 crore. The Details of of all Approvals given at end. The overseas investment proposals have been approved on the of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB). Rs.674 crore overseas investment is approved in Abhijeet Power Limited of Maharashtra. The approval is for induction of foreign equity in an investing company to make downstream investment. Pune-based Bajaj Finserv Limited has got approval to raise Rs.100 crore. The company will issue and allot equity shares to carry out the business relating to non-banking financial company (NBFC) activities directly and through subsidiaries under rights issue. The government has rejected seven proposals while the decision on 15 proposals have been deferred. Details of Proposals considered in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) Meetingheld on 29.06.2012
Following 14 (Fourteen) proposals have been approved:
COMMERCE
ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
FINANCIAL SERVCIES
HEALTH & FAMILY WELFARE
HOME AFFAIRS
INDUSTRAIL POLICY & PROMOTION
POWER
DEFENCE PRODUCTION
EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
INDUSTRIAL POLICY & PROMOTION
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
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| Abhijit Mukherjee to replace father Pranab Mukherjee as Jangipur MP Posted: 25 Jul 2012 03:30 AM PDT Abhijit Mukherjee the son of President Pranab Mukherjee, has expressed his desire to contest from the Jangipur Lok Sabha seat which has fallen vacant due to his father’s elevation, a Congress leader said Tuesday. “Abhijit Mukherjee told me that he wants to contest from the Jangipur Lok Sabha seat, which till date was held by Pranabbabu. We are very happy with Abhijit’s request. I have told him that I don’t have any problem with his candidature. But the final decision will be taken by the party high command,” said Congress MP Adhir Choudhury, a prominent leader of Murshidabad district. Pranab Mukherjee has been a two-time MP from Jangipur Lok Sabha seat in Murshidabad district since 2004. Choudhury also said Abhijit’s victory prospects would be high from the seat as he can easily bank on the developmental work done by his father. It was at Choudhury’s request that Pranab Mukherjee had opted to contest from Jangipur. “If Abhijit contests from Jangipur seat then his victory is 100 percent guaranteed as he can easily bank on the developmental work done by Pranabda in the last eight years,” he said. However, Abhijit, who is currently a first-time Congress lawmaker from Nalhati assembly seat, was unavailable for comment.  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tool to inculcate Learning in Dyslexic Children Posted: 25 Jul 2012 02:30 AM PDT Indian Schools can now have an easy learning tool kit for dyslexic children, making learning easy for such students with reading and spelling disabilities. The kit was launched at New Delhi on Tuesday for the first time by a publishing house. The psychologically screening test, Dyslexia Screening Test (DST), identifies children at risk for dyslexia – a neurological condition that affects 10 percent children in the country. “The DST is globally recognized as the most successful and effective screening tool for dyslexia. It empowers the teachers to identify academic problems before children fail, and helps them to learn,” said Angela Fawcett, vice president of British Dyslexia Association. “These conditions and other learning difficulties lead to failure and distress for up to 20 percent children across the world,” Fawcett added. The tool kit, launched by Pearson Clinical and Talent Assessment, will help train school teachers, special educators and psychologists across schools in India. The kit, costing Rs. 9,700, containsg learning tools such as a manual, flash cards, wooden beads, scoring sheets and Indian norms. “The kit aims to reach out to 8,000 English-medium schools across eleven cities,” said Nitin Anand, senior product development leader with the Pearson group.  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sex Workers Freedom Festival being Held in Kolkata Posted: 25 Jul 2012 01:30 AM PDT Sex Workers Freedom Festival, a meeting of over 500 Sex Workers is taking place Kolkata these days which has seen tha participation from 41 Nations. The July 22-27 festival is being jointly hosted by the Global Network of Sex Work Projects (GNSWP) and the city-based Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC) and All India Network of Sex Workers (AINSW). Kolkata is also hosting the Alternative International AIDS Conference. The sex workers were denied visas by the US government to participate in the XIX International AIDS Conference which began Sunday in Washington D.C. and has a live digital link with the Indian hub. Dwelling on the society’s refusal to recognise their calling, GNSWP president, Australian Andrew Hunter said it was “sheer hypocrisy” that the people who buy sex are the ones condemning it as a moral sin and denying the basic rights to sex workers. “We need to be recognised as an individual, as a person. We are human beings after all.” In France, according to male sex worker Thierry Shaffhauser, “Sex work is considered a moral sin. We are denied basic rights like health, safety and travelling permits. It is killing us.” Seconding Thierry, Khartini Slamah, a Malaysian transgender sex worker, said: “We do not want to be saved. We just want to be treated as equals. Sex work is work.” But the picture is somewhat rosy in New Zealand, where decriminalisation of sex work in 2003, has given them back their rights to a large extent. Elaborating on this, Anna Pickering said: “If a client refuses to pay up the amount then we can go to a judge and take action against the client.” A far cry from this is Serbia, where sex work is illegal. Said Rada, a Serbian sex worker, “It is quite common for the police to arbitrarily imprison sex workers if they are found with condoms.”  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pranab Mukherjee’s first Speech as President of India Posted: 25 Jul 2012 01:17 AM PDT
Below is the text of his First Presidential Speech. “I am deeply moved by the high honour you have accorded to me. Such honour exalts the occupant of this office, even as it demands that he rises above personal or partisan interests in the service of the national good. The principal responsibility of this office is to function as the guardian of our Constitution. I will strive, as I said on oath, to preserve, protect and defend our Constitution not just in word but also in spirit. “We are all, across the divide of party and region, partners at the altar of our motherland. Our federal Constitution embodies the idea of modern India: it defines not only India but also modernity. A modern nation is built on some basic fundamentals: democracy, or equal rights for every citizen; secularism, or equal freedom to every faith; equality of every region and language; gender equality and, perhaps most important of all, economic equity. For our development to be real the poorest of our land must feel that they are part of the narrative of rising India. “Our national mission must continue to be what it was when the generation of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Rajendra Prasad, Ambedkar and Maulana Azad offered us a tryst with destiny: to eliminate the curse of poverty, and create such opportunities for the young that they can take our India forward by quantum leaps. “There is no humiliation more abusive than hunger. Trickle-down theories do not address the legitimate aspirations of the poor. We must lift those at the bottom so that poverty is erased from the dictionary of modern India. “What has brought us thus far, will take us further ahead. India’s true story is the partnership of the people. Our wealth has been created by farmers and workers, industrialists and service-providers, soldiers and civilians. Our social harmony is the sublime co-existence of temple, mosque, church, gurudwara and synagogue; they are symbols of our unity in diversity. “Peace is the first ingredient of prosperity. History has often been written in the red of blood; but development and progress are the luminous rewards of a peace dividend, not a war trophy. The two halves of the 20th Century tell their own story. Europe, and indeed the world, reinvented itself after the end of the Second World War and the collapse of colonization, leading to the rise of great institutions like the United Nations. Leaders who ordered great armies into the field, and then understood that war was more barbarism than glory, transformed the world by changing its mindset. Gandhiji taught by example, and gave us the supreme strength of non-violence. India’s philosophy is not an abstract in textbooks. It flourishes in the day-to-day life of our people, who value the humane above all else. Violence is external to our nature; when, as human beings, we do err, we exorcise our sins with penitence and accountability. “But the visible rewards of peace have also obscured the fact that the age of war is not over. We are in the midst of a fourth world war; the third was the Cold War, but it was very warm in Asia, Africa and Latin America till it ended in the early 1990s. The war against terrorism is the fourth; and it is a world war because it can raise its evil head anywhere in the world. India has been on the frontlines of this war long before many other recognized its vicious depth or poisonous consequences. I am proud of the valour and conviction and steely determination of our Armed Forces as they have fought this menace on our borders; of our brave police forces as they have met the enemy within; and of our people, who have defeated the terrorist trap by remaining calm in the face of extraordinary provocation. “The people of India have been a beacon of maturity through the trauma of whiplash wounds. Those who instigate violence and perpetuate hatred need to understand one truth. Few minutes of peace will achieve far more than many years of war. India is content with itself, and driven by the will to sit on the high table of prosperity. It will not be deflected in its mission by noxious practitioners of terror. “As Indians, we must of course learn from the past; but we must remain focused on the future. In my view, education is the alchemy that can bring India its next golden age. Our oldest scriptures laid the framework of society around the pillars of knowledge; our challenge is to convert knowledge into a democratic force by taking it into every corner of our country. Our motto is unambiguous: All for knowledge, and knowledge for all. “The weight of office sometimes becomes a burden on dreams. The news is not always cheerful. Corruption is an evil that can depress the nation’s mood and sap its progress. We cannot allow our progress to be hijacked by the greed of a few. “I envisage an India where unity of purpose propels the common good; where Centre and State are driven by the single vision of good governance; where every revolution is green; where democracy is not merely the right to vote once in five years but to speak always in the citizen’s interest; where knowledge becomes wisdom; where the young pour their phenomenal energy and talent into the collective cause. As tyranny dwindles across the world; as democracy gets fresh life in regions once considered inhospitable; India becomes the model of modernity. “As Swami Vivekananda in his soaring metaphor said, India will be raised, not with the power of flesh but with the power of the spirit, not with the flag of destruction, but with the flag of peace and love. Bring all the forces of good together. Do not care what be your colour-green, blue or red, but mix all the colours up and produce that intense glow of white, the colour of love. Ours is to work, the results will take care of themselves. “There is no greater reward for a public servant than to be elected the first citizen of our Republic. Jai Hind.”  |
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